Pedro Martinez has said that he will announce his retirement from baseball very soon now 2 years after his last official Major League start.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner, now 40, had never fully closed the door on a potential return after his last Major League outing, in Game 6 of the 2009 World Series with the Phillies. Martinez said that his life in Miami and in the Dominican as well as his family and charity work will now be what he focuses on.
He said that he will most likely sign his retirement papers in the Dominican, but that he wants to throw a party and make his retirement special in all the places that touched his life. Martinez’s final numbers with five teams include a 219-100 record, a 2.93 ERA, 3,154 strikeouts, eight All-Star selections and a .687 winning percentage — second among pitchers with at least 300 games since 1919. Read more... (366 words, 1 image, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)
There may not be a manager with a personality more apt at taking over the Boston Red Sox job than Bobby Valentine, and that’s exactly why he is now set to be the 45th manager in franchise history.
While the hiring isn’t expected to be official until Thursday, one of baseball’s all-time legendary managers confirmed the Valentine hiring in an interview with the Associated Press.
“He’s got it. I just spoke to him a little while ago,” Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda, who managed Valentine in the minors with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Valentine, 61, was a finalist for the job along with current Detroit Tigers third-base coach Gene Lamont. And nothing against Lamont, but if there is going to be a guy to turn around this club—not just their performance on the field, but their attitude inside the clubhouse—it’s going to be Bobby V. Read more... (327 words, 2 images, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)
Ben Cherington may now be rethinking his decision to fill the vacancy left by Theo Epstein as the new GM of the Boston Red Sox. He must have known prior to signing on that it would be an arduous task, but he definitely wasn’t planning on having to deliver a bit of bad news so early on in his tenure—that news being that John Lackey needs Tommy John surgery.
“He had, as most of you know, some intermittent elbow soreness throughout the season,” Cherington said of Lackey, who went 12-12 with a 6.41 ERA in 28 starts this season. “We decided—he decided—it’d be a good idea after this season to get that checked again…. After more consultation [with doctors], John has decided to go ahead with Tommy John surgery.” Read more... (318 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)
The 2011 World Series may be in full swing, but there is still quite a bit of drama going on between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs.
But unlike the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers, the theatrics between the Red Sox and the Cubbies has been going on behind closed doors instead of on the field.
Although it was already reported nearly two weeks ago that Theo Epstein had parted ways with the Red Sox and signed a lucrative contract to become the new president of baseball operations for the Cubs, the deal isn’t going as smoothly as the Cubs would have hoped.
Now MLB commissioner Bud Selig is saying that he’ll intervene if the Red Sox and Cubs can’t agree to compensation for Theo Epstein by Nov. 1. Read more... (263 words, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)
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Red Sox and Cubs Now Have Deadline to Get Epstein Deal Done
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While Manny Ramirez awaits to see if MLB will reinstate him after he bailed on the Tampa Bay Rays while being caught cheating again earlier this year, Ramirez has pleaded not guilty to a domestic battery charge involving his wife.
The former Boston Red Sox star’s attorney filed the written plea ahead of Friday’s scheduled arraignment. His wife told investigators Ramirez slapped her, causing her head to strike a bed headboard. Naturally, Man-Ram, who was freed on $2,500 bail, has denied slapping her.
It’s hard to believe that the 2004 World Series MVP is now out of baseball and awaiting trial for abusing his wife.
How the mighty have fallen.
photo credit: OctopusHat
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Lance Berkman’s season isn’t even over yet, but he has already proved to the rest of the league that 2011 was quite a season for him.
In fact, the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder finished off the regular season by hitting .301 with 31 home runs and 94 RBIs, earning him this year’s National League comeback player award.
After suffering through an injured left knee and trying to find his place while splitting timee with the Astros and Yankees in 2010, the career .296 hitter batted .248 with just 14 homers and 58 RBI. At the time, it wasn’t too far fetched to think that Berkman, now 35, was in the twilight of his career. Read more... (315 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)
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Lance Berkman, Jacoby Ellsbury Win MLB’s Comeback Awards
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Boston Red Sox fans may have seen this coming, but it will still be strange once the 2011-12 season begins and Theo Epstein won’t be up in his usual press box at Fenway Park.
That’s because Epstein and the Chicago Cubs have agreed to a five-year deal worth nearly $20 million, according to sources. WEEI, which first reported an agreement between Epstein and the Cubs, said that a title has not yet been agreed upon, but it has been assumed that he will get a higher title than what he had on the Red Sox, executive vice president/general manager. Read more... (206 words, estimated 49 secs reading time)
First Terry Francona, now Theo Epstein?
It would seem that in the blink of an eye, the 2011 Boston Red Sox have gone from “the greatest team ever assembled” to a team on the verge of implosion.
Although Epstein isn’t gone yet, it almost sounds like his departure is a mere formality. At least that’s the way owner John W. Henry made it sound in a recent radio interview.
“I think there’s a certain shelf life in these jobs,” said Henry, who appeared Friday with Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino on “The Dennis and Callahan Show” on WEEI. “You can only be the general manager if you’re sane. You can only be the manager for a certain amount of time. It’s a tremendous pressure cooker here, 162 games. It’s a long season, and the pressure here is 365 days. Read more... (334 words, 2 images, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)
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Is Theo Epstein to Follow Terry Francona out the Door?
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Not even the weather could keep the Boston Red Sox from fulfilling one of the greatest choke jobs in MLB history Wednesday night.
The ominous gathering of clouds that collected over Camden Yards during the middle of the seventh inning probably put everyone in the Boston dugout on edge. Sure, they held a 3-2 lead over the Baltimore Orioles and could clearly see on the out-of-town scoreboard that the New York Yankees were doing their part in helping them procure the AL Wild Card by leading the Tampa Bay Rays 7-0 in the seventh inning of their own game.
But then the Red Sox remembered that this was September. Read more... (434 words, 2 images, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)
The Empire strikes back!
I am one of the many who believes that ESPN and the other powers that be in the sports media world try their darnedest to make the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees “rivalry” something more than it really is.
At the end of the day, they’re just two really good teams, with really big payrolls, who happen to play in the same division.
Well, apparently, Yankees GM Brian Cashman hates the Red Sox more than you probably think.
Cashman actually admitted Thursday that he feigned interest in Carl Crawford last offseason in order to drive up the price for Theo Epstein and Boston Red Sox. Read more... (325 words, 2 images, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)
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New York Yankees, Brian Cashman Drove up Price on Carl Crawford
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