Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu!

1.) It means: Happy Birthday, person I don't know particularly well! It was intended for Hideki Okajima, whose 32 birthday is today. But I suppose you could also apply it to Jesus, if that's the way you swing.

2.) This was my brother's Christmas Eve present:

It's a set of Boston Red Sox Uno cards. In and of itself, it's kind of neat. For the most part, it's just normal Uno but the cards have pictures of Sox players on them (not being rule readers, we didn't know what to do with the Daisuke card but that's beside the point.) This is the point:

You can't see it clearly (because I have a crappy camera) but that is a picture of Alex Cora. Someone over at MLB merchandising, however, seems to believe that his name is Alex Cara. Along the ellipse, under his left hand, they've spelt his name CARA. I even thought that maybe the licensing had been agreed to via implied, oral consent and was, therefore, unofficial. But nope, there was a nifty little hologram on the back of the package and a claim that it was official. Seriously people, how do you get that wrong?

In Defense of Red Sox Fans

Terry got a write-up in the December 31 issue of ESPN magazine. There's nothing too substantive to it. He talked a little bit about his dad and growing up in baseball, managing Michael Jordan, cribbage, sticking to his guns, handling the media, spitting, and his health.

The writer of the article seems to think that nobody appreciates Terry enough or gives him enough credit for what he has done for the Red Sox. This is not true. Yes, there are armchair manager types who figure they know best but that's not a Red Sox/Terry Francona phenomenon. And yes, he does spit a lot (and I cringe every time I have to see it).

But that doesn't mean he isn't appreciated. I appreciate him. Hell, I sent him ten bucks to buy lunch for himself and to thank him for all he has done.

I don't imagine that managing a baseball team is an easy task. I can't imagine it would be any easier when the team is composed of so many "personalities." Yet, he seems to do it with grace and finesse; gaining the respect and admiration of his players. I think he is gaining the respect of the fans, as well. Why else would we have been so up in arms about the Francona Rule?

Has Anyone Seen my Underwear?

"Bidders Batty for Manny's BVDs" so read the headline on The Boston Herald's Inside Track. My first thought: Good God! What is he up to now?

Turns out that it is not, in fact, Manny selling his underwear but a memorabilia store employee (hopefully the owner, I wouldn't want to be given that assignment by my boss), Phil Castinetti. It seems that Phil dug through the trash at Fenway to retrieve his prizes. In addition to Manny's underwear and do-rag, he netted Tek's, Matt Clement's, Okajima's, Youkilis', and Papelbon's underwear, as well. Maybe ol' Phil is less squeamish than I am but I've got to assume that these are unwashed, caked in dry sweat, and probably reek pretty badly.

Manny's hand-me-down underwear earned Phil $160. Tek's brought in $255. Weirdly, a pair of Matt Clement's underwear (perhaps because it was in the most pristine condition: the least sweaty and smelly) is worth $430 to someone; someone who happens to go by the handle: Clement30.

This year in baseball, Red Sox pitching was on.

Red Sox pitching has really cleaned up in MLB's This Year in Baseball awards. Josh got Starting Pitcher of the Year, Papelbon got Closer of the Year, and now, Clay has picked up Performance of the Year for his no-hitter. Good on him.

Addendum: Okajima just picked up Setup Man of the Year. So congratulations to him.

Too Many Outfielders

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about Bobby Kielty. In the whole Coco v. Ellsbury who-gets-to-play-center-next-season saga, he's really gotten the raw end of the deal. Coco and Jacoby will be playing somewhere next season, they have no say in where that somewhere will be, but it is a certainty. Meanwhile, Kielty gets to sit at home, twiddling his thumbs, wondering if there will be a place for him on the team or if he should start looking elsewhere.

My concern for Bobby started when someone over at NYYfans (I really should stop going over there) was covetous of him. It made me quite indignant, not indignant enough to register at the site and register my indignation, but indignant nonetheless. The man has Boston area roots, apparently wants to come back (according to an article that appeared in the Herald. I can't link to it because it was more than a week ago and I'm cheap), and is seemingly content to be a fourth outfielder. Besides which, if they don't bring him back I wouldn't have an excuse to post that fabulous picture or a reason to hope that he grows his hair out again. (Seriously? His hair when he played for the A's? Pretty awesome.)

If they were going to sign him (which the Herald article did seem to indicate they were thinking about), then they should just do it already. The longer this whole thing drags on, the more likely it is that he'll find somewhere else to play. Perhaps they're worried about his knees and his calve muscles but he's got hea-a-a-art (and all you really need is hea-a-a-art). And any way you slice it, there will be a position for him next year.

If either Ellsbury or Crisp are moved, then he's all set. If neither one of them is traded then I would imagine that Crisp would (and probably should) demand a trade. I agree with Coco, or more possibly his agent, (again from the Herald. Damned Herald!) when he says that he isn't a fourth outfielder. He used to be able to hit and defensively, the man is a gem. There was talk that they surgery he had on his finger might have screwed up his ability to hit, but I really do believe that he will find his swing again. I suppose that the Front Office could refuse to trade him but it seems all kinds of stupid to bench him when you're paying all that money to have him play.

Lastly, the apostrophe in the Oakland A's name is completely and utterly wrong. I know it's wrong but that's the way it is written on their uniforms and on their website, so that's the way I wrote it. It doesn't signify a possessive nor does it denote a contraction. I suppose its purpose is to keep them from being the Oakland As but that is not one of the ways apostrophes function. Someone should sic the apostrophe police on their Front Office. I'll stop now.

A Year in Review with Hideki Okajima

For the past two days, the Globe has run a transcript of a radio interview that Okajima did back home in Japan. It was translated by Globe staffer Daigo Fujiwara and can be found here and here.

He spoke about being uncomfortable at the beginning of the season, being willing to adapt as the situation warrants, a hint about the bullpen, and the grueling season. And he's just so wonderfully Japanese; he's not out there for individual glory but for the good of the team.

It was good to hear from him because I don't recall hearing a single word out of his mouth (or, really, out of his translator's) during the whole season. It was good to learn a little bit about who he is, what he's about.

And big surprise here: I like him. He seems diplomatic, though that might just be the Japanese-thing. [Aside: I have a theory as to why Japanese people are so friggin polite. In spoken Japanese, there are a lot of words that are deemed unnecessary and can just be left out of the sentence. A subject? You don't need a subject. Why in the world would you possibly want to know who (or what) I'm talking about? So in order to avoid confusion, anything that might be slightly controversial is just not discussed.] He also seems smart and not just baseball smart. He figured out what he needed to do to succeed and then did it. Although, sharing his pitching secrets with the world might not have been the best idea.

I think it bodes well for his continued success. It seems to me that a lot of Japanese pitchers come over here and are lights out for a year, only to be figured out by the American batters the next and become really hittable. If he's willing to learn new pitches and relocate his spots, then he might be able to avoid that.

Lastly, I know that it's an old joke, but Nippon Ham Fighters gets me every time.

Jacoby Speaks or Damn it! Why does he have to be so adorable?

I've been on a bit of an emotional roller coaster lately for which I blame Mr. Ellsbury.

I was lying on my kitchen floor a couple of weeks ago when it occurred to me that I was beginning to develop a crush on him. It started with his scoreboard fixing shenanigans, then he seemed to be such a sweet kid during the whole fall run, and finally the stories about him going home to a hero's welcome. He was just too cute for words.

But the crush needed to be squelched; not just because it was silly or because he is too young for me but because it signaled a return to my fourteen-year-old self. I've long suspected that any semblance of maturity on my part was just a front for a psyche that was still a young teenage girl who lives in a fantasy world and develops crushes on movie stars. She couldn't be let out-for the good of everyone.

But then he switched his agent to Scott Boras and all was right in the world. It turned out that he wasn't such a nice guy after all, just human. That I could live with.

But then yesterday I read this:

"I am just trying to stay in shape and be ready for spring," Ellsbury said. "I am actually taking yoga classes, to keep stress off my joints. It's
great. You have these big strong guys and little old ladies all doing
it--it's not just sitting on your butt, stretching. I am telling you, yoga
is tough."

from this and it all came back to me.

It's not as strong, for sure, so maybe I'll be able to defeat it if I don't really hear anything about him for the next couple weeks. Or maybe just the act of publicly acknowledging it will kill it dead. If this isn't the case, then I would like to apologize profusely in advance should my inner fourteen-year old be unleashed unto the world.

In other news, over at NYYfans they were making fun of the hype that surrounds Jacoby with a bunch of Ellsbury-is-God type posts. Some were actually quite funny. A couple of my favorites:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury is so fast that he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.


2. Jacoby Ellsbury doesn't wear a watch, he says what time it is.
3. (My personal favorite) Didn't you know? Jacoby Ellsbury is so fast that he can play center field and left field at the same time.

Note: I would have gone back to look for the authors of those but the Santana thread is a beast over there and I couldn't find a search feature.

Francona Rule? How about: Francona rules?

This has really ruffled my feathers.

I've got no problem with a dress code. I'm not allowed to wear provocative clothing to work. The rules are there for a reason; in my case, to maintain a professional atmosphere.

If major league baseball wants to maintain a professional appearance on the field, then that's fine. The thing is, I don't think that Terry looks unprofessional. It's not like he's showing up to games in a Man Utd jersey, a Packer's hat, sweatpants, and flip flops. It's official MLB gear, for God's sake (it probably even came with a niftly little hologram attached to it), not an old sweatshirt speckled with paint from some home improvement project.

What really bothered me, though, was the utterly unprofessional and condescending tone of the press release. Plenty of managers wear pullovers, so why call out Francona specifically? Also, a nightshirt? Seriously? Maybe Bob Watson is too cheap to turn on the heat and needs to sleep in fleece or maybe he's old-fashioned enough that he actually has a night shirt and cap that he wears to bed but come on.

Anyway, Terry himself said it was actually not a big deal so I guess I'll try to put it behind me.

In other Terry news, he was named manager of the year by Baseball America. So good on him for that.

The Admiral Returns

According to the Globe, the Sox have reached terms with Mike Timlin. They're supposedly going to pay him three million for the year. It seems like a lot for a guy who only played in fifty games last year but I don't really mind. He was quite good in those fifty games.

And, without any proof, I have to believe that he was the one who decided the bullpen was a pirate ship. And if all that silliness was on him, then I'm happy to have him back.

Also, on an unrelated note, I have figured out from whence my Papelove has sprung. This may come of as regional-ist (if that were a real thing) but it's the goofy-ass way he speaks. Even reading the quotes from his WEEI interview that were in the Globe made me smile. I don't know if it's truly possible to speak in run-on sentences but he seems to have mastered it. Also, he's completely guileless. He's gonna be a ca-drillionaire, baby.