Without Canadians.

I suppose that it comes as no surprise with Jason Varitek taking over the role of backup catcher but the Sox have released George Kottaras--it's a complete non sequitur at the end of the article. Maybe he'll be able to find a job elsewhere.

And I Shut My Eyes and I Curl Up Small, And Nobody Knows That I'm There at All.*

Orlando Cabrera was having a difficult time with Wake's knuckleball last night. So much so that he turned to George Kottaras for advice. Georgie K. was less than helpful:

“I was telling George (Red Sox catcher Kottaras) behind the plate, 'How do you even catch that ball?”' Oakland shortstop Orlando Cabrera said. “He was like, ‘I just close my eyes.'

“And I said, 'OK, I'm going to try that one, I'm going to close my eyes and swing.' And nothing.”

The idea of Kottaras crouching back there, cringing as the pitch approaches amuses me. A lot.


*A. A. Milne.

Battery Bonding.

It may not seem like it but I do my best to ignore Heidi Watney; grumbling to myself each time she pops up on my television screen offering some insipid "enlightenment" that "she's just window dressing" and as such, she is very good at her job. She reminds me of the first example of female behavior in the second situation described in "100 Easy Ways to Lose a Man" from Wonderful Town. I've never bothered to read her blog before (a good thing because, as it turns out, she isn't much of a writer either) but today she has a story I haven't seen anywhere else.

In an apparent bonding exercize between the two men, George Kottaras and Tim Wakefield engaged in a mano-a-mano, no-holds-barred round of mini golf. Georgie K ended up winning the competition but Heidi does provide a complete play-by-play.

In His Wake.

Watch this at Boston.com

There aren't too many questions during this spring training. Besides a little bit of intrigue in the shortstop department and maybe a concern or two about the health of extra outfielders, the only spot really up for grabs is that of the backup catcher. Of course, with someone having to catch Wakefield it's not as easy a task to pick one as it might be otherwise.

Peter Gammons takes on the problem in the clip. He talks with Kottaras (which he pronounces "Cot-er-us" not "Co-tar-us" but he's probably right), Bard, and Wakefield.

Georgie K. says that the goal is:

"Just to relax and don't give a target because Wake's throwing to a general area. So just relax, keep the body loose, and let the ball come to you."

Bard:

"There's no really way to practice for it. There's only one guy in the world right now that throws a world class knuckleball. I think the biggest thing is just being aggressive, having the mindset of, you know, Red Sox Nation isn't on my back every pitch--if you miss a ball, you miss a ball and I just have to control what I can control."

And always the gentleman Wakefield chimes in with:

"I think everybody that I've thrown to already this spring is has, you know in my opinion, got the hands good enough to catch it."

Don't Knock Softball

If you were wondering who won the team's Drop Drill Contest (I know I read about it somewhere) for catchers, Kottaras was the victor. There's an interesting article on SouthCoastToday about him.

Another thing I didn't know about him: He played fast pitch softball until he was 15 and didn't play high school baseball (because it wasn't an option.)

He's generally had pretty good offensive numbers but lacked in defensive ability. According to the article, though, both Theo and Varitek believe that he could figure out how to be a good catcher.