Toeing the Rubber

Kyle Snyder shown here to cleanse our palates of the asshattery I write about in this post.

I’ve been writing stories and such since I was about 8 years old.  (Cyn trivia:  The first piece I ever wrote was a 13-page script for “Charlie’s Angels”.  It was to win a contest in “Tiger Beat” magazine.  I never submitted it, but haven’t stopped writing since.)  I have some formal writing training and am always looking for a good class to help me bone up, especially since I’ ve been baseball blogging more than any other kind of writing for a while now.  I will never claim to have talent on the same level as a Dan Shaughnessy (try to remember back to the days when he wrote some amazing  pieces on the Boston Celtics and forget, for a moment, about the hack work he’s done lately) even though I do think I have it in me to make it professionally at some point (not necessarily in sports writing) if I’d just get off my ass and focus.

I was offline for most of last week and only today read Curt Schilling’s latest entry in his blog over at WEEI.com that he posted on Christmas (quick plug, I’m 99% certain I’ll be over there next week.  January 5th is supposed to be the start date.  There’s just the matter of a little paperwork to be finished up.) and for the most part it’s a big “whatever”.  Some interesting views on how he feels about Teixeira.  Fairly  innocuous stuff.  Until I came to this passage:
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Oh and one more thing. I really loathe to even mention CHB in anything anymore, due to his irrelevance on the Boston sports scene but I suck at keeping my tongue in places like this. CHB wrote the other day (thanks to the person forwarding this as it’s the first thing I’ve read that he’s written in five months)

“Best part of Curt Schilling’s blog on the WEEI website? Schill claims, ’I don’t get edited.’ Could he be more of a diva? Here’s a clue for the Big Lug - Ernest Hemingway had an editor. And Schill needs an editor more than I need a pitching coach.”

By edited I meant content Curly, because Lord knows I sure as hell need help with anything I write. But your last statement is laughable, because I think — and correct me if I am wrong — I am doing what you do for a living right?

I am pretty sure you’ve never stepped on a mound, well a field of any kind for that matter, and competed for something that truly mattered to people not on the field? So I am comfortable saying I am a lot closer to being able to do what you do, than you are able to do what I did …

The bolding is mine.  Good God in heaven above, does this  man really think he’s doing what Dan Shaughnessy does for a living?  Seriously?  He thinks writing a blog, on the level that HIS is, is the same as writing for a major newspaper?

And before I go on about the writing, how about the “you’ve  never stepped on a mound and competed for something that truly mattered” crap?  How does he know that the CHB didn’t play ball on any level (including little league)?  He doesn’t.  It’s just ego driving him yet again.  What HE does is amazing and difficult but what Shaughnessy does is so easy that HE can do that as well????

There are many, MANY well-written blogs out there.  Some written by professional writers, some written by people who aspire to be a professional writer and have the talent, just not the resume, some who just like to write and can do it well and some written by people who have an opinion they want to share but not necessarily the tools for writing well.   With respect to Curt, his blog can be interesting because it is written by a professional athlete who has an opinion on everything and loves to share it - especially when he knows it’s going to raise the hackles of many people.  This does not equate doing what Dan Shaughnessy does for a living.  It doesn’t even come close, unless you count the part where he pisses off a lot of people on a fairly regular basis.

How pissed am I that I’m in the position to defend the CHB??

Curt thinking he’s doing what any other professional writer is doing is laughable.  He doesn’t have a deadline, he doesn’t have to work to get people to talk to him, he doesn’t have to answer to anyone but himself and, most importantly to me, he doesn’t have the command of the English language or exceptional writing skills that you associate with a professional writer.  I know he has a hard-on for CHB and he’s just trying to get his licks in, but he’s working on a site with ACTUAL writers who have honed their craft and bust their butts to do what they do.  Belittling their profession is beneath even him.

Dan Shaughnessy might be a horse’s ass, but, in this case, so is Curt Schilling.  Pot, kettle and all, Curt.

(Kyle Snyder photo courtesy of drownedworld73 @ flickr)

Photo from WBZ.com

I don’t know that I’ve ever read Brian MacPherson from the Union Leader before, but if this article is any indication, I’m not missing much.

Okay, that’s a bit harsh.  MacPherson isn’t a terrible writer, just a stereotypical member of the New England sports media looking for trouble where there most likely isn’t any.  His article today is nothing but a whinefest about how horrible the Red Sox (specifically Theo and Tito) are to their players.   Listen, I can give  you a laundry list of players who I felt got the shaft by the team.  But it’s a personal feeling and in no way takes away from the fact that I understand the team does what it does, ultimately, for the betterment of the organization as a whole and it’s not anything personal.  MacPherson seems to be taking fanboyishness to a new level today:

WHETHER OR NOT the Red Sox sign Mark Teixeira this week — or next week or the week after — Theo Epstein and Terry Francona are going to have some serious work to do.

They’ll have some work to do with Mike Lowell, first of all. He signed a team-friendly contract just a year ago, turning down more years and bigger money elsewhere, but he became trade bait as soon as the Red Sox began courting Teixeira.

It’s not just Lowell, though. They’ll have work to do with Kevin Youkilis — and Josh Beckett, and even Dustin Pedroia.

The Teixeira negotiations have sent a message to everyone who wears a Red Sox uniform: We don’t care who you are. You are expendable.

Is he for real? He thinks these players don’t know that baseball is a business and the teams they play for will do whatever they can to sign players who will help the team win?

He thinks that, after the season he had physically, Mike Lowell didn’t know this would possibly be happening?

And Kevin Youkilis is on record as having said:

If we add a guy like Mark Teixeira to the team, that would be great,” said Youkilis. “You never know - I might be the guy traded (to make room). But I don’t mind it; I get to play baseball for a living.”

MacPherson is right. Youk sounds pissed to me. (Shout out to SG for the heads up on that story.)

MacPherson gives no reason Beckett will need to be “worked” with and he goes on to admit that Pedroia doesn’t have to “worry”.   Hell, though, he even throws Jason Bay into the mix.   He needs to be concerned that the Red Sox have no loyalty to their players.  He brings up Bronson Arroyo.  You remember Bronson.  He was traded in 2006.  Red Sox stuck a knife in his heart when they traded him (and got suck in return).  It was shitty and  many people thought so.  Funny, though, how it hasn’t stopped players from signing with the Sox.  Funny how it hasn’t affected the success of the team.

Here’s how MacPherson ends his piece:

Baseball is a business, sure. But when your product is your people, you have to treat them a certain way.

I, actually, don’t entirely disagree with this.  But here’s the thing for me, loyalty goes both ways.  The Red Sox treated Manny like a God and he gave them the finger.  They made really good offers to Pedro Martinez and Johnny Damon and were told “we’re going where the money is”.  There is practically NO loyalty in baseball (Bronson Arroyo aside) but to blame it solely on the owners (and, in this case, the entire Red Sox front office) makes no sense to me.

I often say that if I were GM, John Valentin would have been the shortstop until he shattered into a million pieces.  This is one of the many reasons I’m not a general manager of a baseball team.  I’ll tell you what, I don’t want to see Mike Lowell go anywhere.  He’s been great for this team, he seems like a genuinely good guy, and in a time when he could have taken advantage of the free agent market, he, essentially, took a discount to stay in Boston.  I think it would stink on ice if he got booted just because someone younger and shinier came to town.  But as much as I would hate it, I understand it.  And so do the players - I’m guessing more than I.

Baseball is a business.  It’s lousy, but true.  And it’s probably the first thing these guys learn about baseball once they hit the bigs.  This isn’t news to anyone.

This photo has now been emailed to me by 3 different people. I have no idea the origins (so if it's yours, let me know!). All I know is it was taken this Halloween. Lenny as Indiana Jones and Bronson as Kid Rock. You're welcome.

I grudgingly admit that I enjoyed the WBC first time around.  I went in kicking and screaming.  Didn’t see the point of it, didn’t want to have it, blamed Bud Selig for another money-making venture that didn’t take the fans or players truly into consideration…I hated the entire idea of it all.

Then it started and I got quite into it.  No surprise really, I love baseball…this is baseball and you get to see players you don’t normally watch.  Fun for all.

Until my favorite player spent the better parts of the regular season either on the disabled list or just fighting through his dead arm  - and my opinion of the tournament began to sour again.  (Granted, he busted his ass in 2005, pitching more than he ever had in his career,  and I’m sure that also had a lot to do with it.)

This year we’re already being told Daisuke Matsuzaka and Dustin Pedroia are both going to play in the WBC.  - Matsuzaka for Japan and Pedroia for the USA - and I choose to agree with our manager when he says, in regard to players in WBC, he’s all right with position players playing but not pitchers:

“But just you look at it, regardless of whose team, these guys are not ready to compete. That’s why when they get to that third inning or whatever, the first count of the day, we take them out of the game. If they want to throw more we take them down to the bullpen where it’s a controlled environment. Now all of a sudden they have two on base and two out and it makes you nervous.”

Tito is nervous at the idea of his pitchers participating in the WBC.   And now we all get to be “nervous” about Daisuke (as if we aren’t usually nervous about him already).

But fear not fans!  There is one pitcher we don’t have to worry about:  Joshua Patrick Beckett.  According to MLB.com:

The Boston Globe has confirmed that Beckett will pass on the international tournament in order to fully heal from an oblique injury suffered toward the end of the 2008 season and ensure that he’s ready for Opening Day.

The Red Sox would have advised Beckett to skip the tournament, since compared to pitchers, they feel that position players can better deal with the rigors of playing in a tournament before the season begins, as evidenced by Mike Timlin’s difficulties in 2006.

Poor Mike Timlin. He will always be held up as the reason why no pitcher should play in the WBC.   Such a legacy.

Anyway, both Beckett and Mike Lowell have decided that it’s better to rest up than it is to play in the WBC.  I’d love for Matsuzaka and Pedroia to make the same decision, but who am I to judge?

In NON WBC-related news, Old friend Lenny Dinardo has signed a minor-league deal with the Kansas City Royals.  Well, KC is closer to Cincinnati than Oakland is.  Still no word on where Kyle Snyder will be landing in 2009.  I still have hopes for a Lenny/Kyle/Bronson bullpen at some point in my lifetime!

A storm is coming, it’s 36 degrees out (feels like 29 according to weather.com) and I have baseball on the brain.  February, truly, can’t get here soon enough.

Theo working hard, as usual - Photo by Jim Davis

I started writing this piece last  night about money and how the entire country has money problems except Major League Baseball.  Then I put it aside for two reasons 1) it was depressing.  The amount of  my debt is minimal compared to most, but it’s still my debt and I’d like to get out of it.   But that isn’t happening right now so I have trouble garnering excitement about a player signing a deal that will get him $160 MILLION dollars.

Normally, I don’t get into money discussions about baseball.  I know the baseball world and our world are two vastly different places so I try not to write things like “For THAT amount of money, he should be able to throw a strike whenever he wants!” - but this year, seeing so many struggling, reading about the absolutely ridiculous contract the Yankees gave CC Sabathia just makes me groan.

So I won’t write about that.  (Oh yeah, I said 2 reasons, huh?  The other reason?  Once Manny Ramirez, Derek Lowe, AJ Burnett and Mark Teixeira are done, there’s going to be a lot more to write about in regard to money.)

Then I was going to write about Curt Schilling and our brief back and forths online lately.  But I usually don’t talk about politics here (which is, essentially, what we were discussing) and the last thing I want to do is alienate anyone.  I will say this - WEEI is missing out on a much more interesting coupling than Dennis and Callahan in Schilling and Donnelly.  I don’t believe there are two more different people in the world than Mr. Schilling and myself.  If we were on the air together it would probably only take about five minutes before we were beating the crap out of one another.  Ratings gold!

So what am I going to write about?

Eric Byrnes for Julio Lugo?  Is Byrnes going to be happy being a fourth outfielder?  Will we end up with another Jay Payton?  If Varitek is still on the team will he taunt Byrnes mercilessly about not touching home?

I find Byrnes to be…how shall I put this…I think my friend Cindy said it best when she wrote “Eric Byrnes is a douche”.   It is tough for me to erase the Eric Byrnes of 2003 out of my mind.  Who knows, though, maybe  he’d be a good addition to the team?  It seems I end up having one player, each season, who I can’t stand.  It isn’t fair to deny Byrnes that opportunity, right?

This weekend I’m in the odd position of mourning a loss in our family and then heading up north to spend my annual December weekend with my sistahs.  My emotions for the weekend will be high, to say the least.  Let’s hope baseball doesn’t add to that with some insane trade involving Buchholz, Masterson or Bowden.

Some news about Kyle’s status for 2009 would be most welcome, though.  Someone out there has to know SOMETHING, right?

I guess it wasn’t as difficult for me to come up with something to write about as I thought.

*  That Todd Walker is in the LSU Hall of Fame?  He was inducted in 2006 and was described as “Arguably, the best pure hitter in the [then] 113-year history of the program”.  (Side note about Walker.  He was, in 2003, the very first recipient of a postcard shower.  We used his improvement after he received the cards as proof they worked!  And we also saw one of the cards hanging in his locker at the end of the season!)

*  From June 2007 through the end of that season, Bill Mueller was the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers?   I honestly didn’t know this.  I have no idea how I missed it.  He’s now back in the front office in L.A. - I’m going to guess he tired of dealing with the likes of Jeff Kent. 

*  Pokey Reese is a free agent now who strained both his hamstrings in 2008 while playing for the Columbus Clippers?  Pokey has had his troubles before the Nationals picked him up.  I hope he finds a team for 2009.

*  Kyle Snyder and Bronson Arroyo share the same agent and have been known to go fishing together.  Seriously - if I could be under THAT boat with a tape recorder - I’d be pretty damn happy.

Todd Walker and some guy in 2003 - Photo by Jim Davis (Yeah, you were expecting a photo of Kyle - I know - suprise!)

Kyle the exhibitionist (I have a lot of questions for him about the parade as well!!) Photo by Violentz on Flickr

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to interview famous people.  Not just any famous people, only the ones I liked.   And I’d ask questions like “Do you ever feel like punching a reporter in the face?” not “What were you thinking when you hit that home run?”.

So whenever a magazine or newspaper or website offers up one of those q&a’s or profiles of a famous person I like, I’m all over it.  My friend Beth gave me the heads up on one such profile in the December 8 edition of “The Sporting News”.  The profile?  Why Bronson Arroyo, of course.  TSN claims it is “What you won’t find on Facebook…even if you are approved as a friend” - which is a bit misleading since quite a few answers you can find on, oh say, Wikipedia.  I won’t give it all away (lest The Sporting News comes down on me) but here are a few interesting nuggets (with notes from me in purple):

Worst habit: Biting my fingernails (I share this habit, which is why you usually find me with acrylic nail tips - so I can’t bite them. Bronson should try that!)
Favorite value in others: Organization (If this is a deal-breaker, I’m doomed. Organization is a four-letter word, dude.)
Dream Date: Jewel. Just to sit and jam. (”Jam” with Jewel? Is he serious?? I have to go weep. I’ll be right back.)
My motto: ‘It ain’t no fun unless the homeys can have some!’ — Snoop Dogg (Um. Okay. I’m not much of a Snoop fan, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the implication is here. Let’s just say “Yuck” and be done with it.  There are some things I really don’t need to know.)

I’m a bit disappointed. I have a bunch of questions that would have generated better responses than these (and much less icky responses than that last one). Alas, that ship has now sailed. I’m going to have to focus my efforts on someone else.

How about Kyle Snyder? What are my chances of tracking him down and getting him to submit to a question and answer session? Seriously, I could get some genuine questions off (not just “How sick are you of people comparing you to Bronson Arroyo?”). I’m curious about the time he spent in the GCL and in Lowell last year and I want to know about his health now and where he sees himself going….hell, I know lots of folks who visit here would find it much more interesting reading than ‘It ain’t no fun unless the homeys can have some!’.

People weren’t thinking about Bronson this off-season and now, thanks to The Sporting News, he’ll be getting some winter mentions around the internet.  Kyle needs some representation here so people have him on their minds.  It’s all about publicity, dude.

Okay, fine, I just want an excuse to write about Kyle - but this could benefit us both.

Now I just have to figure out how to get this done.   It’s good to have a dream, huh?  

Jason Varitek Photo by Kelly O'Connor

Two items of real interest this morning:

Jim Rice is, once again, on the ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Last year, he was 16 votes short of making it in.  This 2009 will be his last chance to get voted in (aside from the Veterans voting him in) and I know he’s on the bubble for a lot of folks, but I absolutely believe he should be in.  We’ll find out on January 12, 2009.

And the Red Sox only offered arbitration to two of their eligible players - Paul Byrd and Jason Varitek.  I have nothing on Byrd.  I don’t care either way.  Let him stay, let him go.  No skin off my nose.  But, I’ll come out and say it:  I want Tek back in 2009.

So the whole arbitration thing fascinates me.  I wonder how this, coupled with the rumors of a one-year offer from the Sox, is going to make other MLB teams balk at trying to sign Tek.  I don’t want Theo to give Tek the moon, but I think Theo can come up with something that Tek (if not Boras) can live with.  Maybe I’m in denial, but I still see Tek in red socks come March 2009.

Still no news on Kyle’s future.  It’s only the beginning of December - we have a long way to go!