A Tale of Two New Old Socks.

Sean Casey has decided to retire from Major League baseball. Instead, he'll be taking his act on the road this season (or at least as far as New Jersey) as he has accepted an on-air position at MLB Network, the breadth of which has yet to be determined. It seems like it would be a good fit. Best of luck to him.

Alex Cora, who has abandoned his ducklings by signing with the Mets for next season, will remember them fondly (of Pedroia):

"I don’t have a little brother, but now I do. I feel a part of [Pedroia’s] career, getting to the point of seeing him getting the rewards for everything he’s been preaching, I feel very proud of him."

He's also a big Mike Lowell fan (and what rational person isn't?):

"Getting to play with a great teammate and [an even] better person like Mike Lowell was special. I consider him a friend."

And the rest of us? Yeah. He likes us too:

"It was more than work, it was a family. Obviously, the stage you’re on with the fans, that’s something everyone needs to experience. You can talk all you want about Red Sox Nation, that kind of stuff, being all around the country but until you’re part of it, you don’t have a clue. And I was one of those guys who was like, ‘Hey, that stuff’s no big deal.’ It is a big deal."

Say it with me: Awwww.

Fun in the Sun.

The party is on down in the Dominican as David Ortiz's golf tournament got underway today. You know when some tiny little minor puzzle presents itself and you become absolutely obsessed with figuring it out? No? Just me? Well, I've been staring at this picture for an inordinately long time trying to figure out whose jersey the person in front of David is wearing. It looks like it has an "o" and an "n" at the beginning of the name. It's probably ridiculously obvious but I can't figure it out.

Unlike that stupid jersey, the instantly recognizable Luis Tiant. Tiant is, once again, up for induction into the Hall of Fame via the Veterans' Committee vote. He's nonchalant about it, though:

"Those are the best players in the world there. That's as big an honor as any player could have. I'm not going to lose a day of sleep. I'm proud of what I do. I did what I never thought I would do in my life. If they pick me, fine; if not, fine. The game gave me a lot, more than I ever expected."

This one made me smile. I was reading an article in the Daily News this morning about Pedro's plans for next season. They wrote that he hopes to play next season but that he's made no effort to find a team yet and that his dad's death was really hard for him. The article also stated that he wasn't going to be playing in the tournament, which clearly seems to be wrong, so who knows.

Ignore the man on the right. Instead, admire the oh so dapper sweater vest that David wore for the tournament. He seems to have taken the idea of the golf outfit very seriously; in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he was wearing plus fours.

Lastly, the ruddy complexion of Sean Casey. Sunburn? Windburn? Clearly the man's ancestors came from climes much further to the north.

Casey the Generous.

Apparently, Sean Casey is not only passing out Woooooooo! shirts but also hats from his Labels are for Jars charity. Mikey's hat declares him to be 'Hungry'. Hopefully, that's hungry to play and hungry to win and hungry to be awesome. And if Mike bought the hat for himself, that's pretty cool too.

Inspector Papi Closeau.

So, Sean Casey has been vlogging for WEEI. He mostly talks about wrestling (which pretty much goes right over my head) but the latest entry features David Ortiz's top five movies. Turns out David's tastes are eclectic: Gangster, Action, Sci-fi, Imaginary (there is no movie called Anna Likes This on IMDB), and slap-stick comedy.

I chose to believe that Papi's fav Inspector Clouseau was Peter Sellers and not the more recent Steve Martin. And if that is the case, I definitely wouldn't mind going to the movies with him-except for the Rambo 3, not sure I could watch that.

Happy Birthday Sean!

Today marks Sean Casey's thirty-fourth birthday. To be honest, I didn't know much about Sean Casey when he first showed up here. But with a-mile-wide grin plastered to his face (perhaps he was hired to replace Hinske in more ways than one), a twinkle in his pale blue eyes, an apparent love of wrestling, stories about eating food off the floor, his nutty batting stance, and being ready to go to the mattresses, he's worked his way into my heart. And he's not a bad baseball player to boot. There's an open and honest quality about him that's very appealing. So happy birthday Sean and many happy returns.

It Really Brings Out the Leprechaun in His Eyes.

Yesterday, while rehabbing in Pawtucket, Sean Casey bought in steaks for the class after their afternoon game. Then, he headed back up to Boston to take in the Celtics game. There, he worked on his nicest-guy-in-the-world reputation by trading away the court side tickets (that he surely must have been able to score) to the Grannys and the short people sitting behind him until he ended up sitting with the riff-raff. No doubt, he continued to be displeased that there were still people sitting behind him who wouldn't trade with him.

Smiles Times.

I have a theory about Sean Casey. He's the type of guy who always wants everyone around him to be happy. He's now witnessed the intensity and acrimony that goes along with Red Sox-Yankee games and felt the need to lighten the mood, to remind everyone that it's just a game.

He also seems like the type of guy who is unafraid to make an ass of himself for the amusement of others. So knowing that he would be safe (the second baseman was nowhere near the bag) he decided to go for it. He decided to make everyone smile. I giggled for quite awhile after I saw that, the people in the staduim laughed, and I'm still chuckling about it now.

Or it could just be that he fell and made it back to the bag anyway he could. It would certainly make him a better baseball player than if he was just some guy goofing around on the field. In fact, if I actually believed my theory, I would probably be pretty annoyed with him.

But I like my theory better because I hate Yankee games. And he made this one better.

Dueling Leprechauns

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if these two end up on the bench together they'll spend they're time trying to out-leprechaun each other. In order to avoid that catastrophe (and in honor of St. Patrick's Day), I say we have an old fashioned Irish brawl right now-Limerick style (I imagine that people from Limerick speak in limerick all the time.) Ideally, I would have embedded the clips, as the website seems to indicate you can do, but that since that didn't work, I shall link it up. We certainly wouldn't want my poetic genius to be lost.

So, without further ado. In this corner we've got the ginger from California Bobby Kielty! And in the other corner, though he looks less the part, he's most certainly a man from Erin. How could he not be with a name like, Seaaaan Casey! Fight!

Notes: I realize that he's not a hobbyist but there really aren't too many words that rhyme with Bobby, so just go with me on that. Also, Sean may need some translating. He stands on first base and we'll not well at the end. The apostrophe was in there but he just didn't seem to be able to pronounce it.

It's Official

Like a floor bagel, Sean Casey has stolen my heart. I didn't think it was possible for me to love a baseball player any more than I love Lowell or even Papelbon (and it really is a disproportionate amount to what sanity would dictate as reasonable) but last night in his interview with Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, Casey drew even with the two of them in my affections.

Then this morning I read this interview and he's moved into the lead. Turns out the summer he played on the Cape, Casey wasn't such a good guy afterall.

"The incident took place when Casey was playing in the Cape Cod League for the Brewster Whitecaps in 1994 and his part-time job was working in the bakery at the Stop & Shop in Yarmouth. We'll let him fill in the rest.

"I didn't make any money back then and I was always starving," he said. "The baking lady told me that if anything fell on the floor I could have it. So I would knock a bagel off the table every morning, put some cream cheese on and eat it."

Hee! I'm sure he did it all furtively-like, thinking he was pulling a fast one on the "baking lady", when she was totally aware of his antics, but having been utterly charmed by the baseball playing muscle who was helping her out, she let him get away with it.

Sean Casey, no.--

Pending a physical, meet the newest (and possibly the friendliest) member of the 2008 Boston Red Sox.

Birth Date: July 2, 1974 in Willingboro Township, NJ

Height/Weight: 6'4", 215 lb

College: University of Richmond (majored in Communications)

Contract: 1 year for either $700,000 (per Peter Gammons) or $800,000 (per Boston Globe)

Last year, Casey played 143 games for the Detroit Tigers. He had 453 At Bats and scored 40 Runs off 134 Hits. He had 30 Doubles, 1 Triple, and 4 Home Runs. His Batting Average was a pretty good .296. The mighty Casey (I know it's obvious but I can't resist) Struck Out 42 times. He Walked 39 times, he was Intentionally Walked 11 times. His On Base Percentage was a decent .353. His Slugging average was kind of low at .393. The two combine for a below average On base Plus Slugging of .746.

At first base last season, Casey had 992 Put Outs, he had 42 Assists, and was charged with 2 Errors. He turnd 87 Double Plays (78 more than he grounded into.) His Fielding Percentage was .998, which was slightly above the league average (.995). His Range Factor (9.41) was above the league average of 9.10.

I don't think anyone has ever said a bad thing about Sean Casey. He was overwhelmingly voted the game's friendliest player. He talks to everyone who happens to make it to his corner. He has a charity in Lawrence, MA that he supports that works to feed hungry people and to eliminate stereotyping.