The Nest

The Red Sox said good-bye to outfielder Coco Crisp yesterday in a trade for relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez.

Ramirez, a 27-year-old righty, was 3-2 in 2008 with a 2.64 ERA in 71 games. He struckout 70 in 71 2/3 innings. Boston desperately needs to bridge the gap between long relief and the ninth inning and Ramirez has had success in that role in the past.

The free agency of reliever Mike Timlin necessitated the move. While Coco was instrumental in getting the Sox as far as they went this post season, his major role this year was off the bench and a terrible waste of talent.

Boston’s need to shore up its dwindling bullpen far outweighed the need for two speedy outfielders.

Epstein once said he wouldn’t actively seek to trade Coco unless it improved the team. Let’s hope a different Ramirez can do that.

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Watching them during the season, it was no surprise when Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis took 1st and 3rd in this year’s American League MVP Award voting.

It was also no surprise when, upon hearing the news each was happier for their teammate than themselves.

Dustin took a day off from his winter workout schedule (at the urging of his wife) to make travel plans to accept the award.

The guy who’s been told his whole life he was too small, that he couldn’t compete at the Major League level was going home to collect an MVP trophy.

He would be joined by his infield counterpart, Kevin Youkilis. The versatile Youkilis divided his time between 1st and 3rd this year, filling in when Mike Lowell went down.

Asked about the third place finish, Youkilis said:

“I wouldn’t ever say you lose an MVP race,… It’s more or less finishing in a certain place. Anyone who gets mentioned, that’s a tremendous honor.

This year’s Red Sox team was built on the backs of players like Petey (a nickname used by Francona) and Youk. Hard-nosed play and a willingness to sacrifice for the team were the hallmark of these two kids and the Red Sox as an organization couldn’t be happier with them or for them.

So, does this take a little of the sting of a game 7 loss to the Rays in the ALCS?

Probably not. Job 1 for these guys is to come home with a ring and anything less is failure.

The awards are a great symbol of being recognized for how hard you work and how much of yourself you give to your team and to the game but it’s like icing on a cake you never got to eat.

pedroia youkilis mvp baseball red sox

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t follow the Celtics as closely as I do the Red Sox and Patriots. I enjoy watching segments of their games but I could never see the point in watching an entire game in which the score would begin 2-0 and often end up in triple digits. Once they’ve made the playoffs, my tv time escalates to approx 50% of the game and if they make the finals I can go a strong 80-90%. Just can’t seem to watch the entire thing. Short attention span.

I have great admiration for the physical ability stamina of an NBA player. As a baseball/football player in my youth, I gained a real appreciation for anyone who could dribble and run at the same time - an athletic skill I never mastered. That being said, watching an entire game is beyond me.

It seems the past couple years they’ve been the Celtics of old, beginning last season with the same intensity and hoisting championship banners. Their latest win came this past Saturday at the expense of the Milwaukee Bucks and on the heels of only their second loss of the season giving them a 9 -2 record. I’m happy for the die-hard fans who live and die with the celtics wins and losses. It’s been a while for them and they deserve to see their team in the winner’s circle again.

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Given that the Patriots played this past Thursday night (a loss against the Jets), they might find their time well spent in prayer this Sunday.

After losing two out of the last three games, Bill Belichick and his charges may want to look to a higher power for some answers. And I’m not talking about Roger Goodell. Injuries and some questionable on-field decisions have taken the Pats off their game. I watched a recent press conference by Belichick where he says they haven’t changed their game plan. They clearly have and it’s obvious to anybody watching. They are running the ball more often and with surprising efficiency. Cassel has been forced to shorten his passing game and they are paying the price for it.

The obstacles are mounting every week, forcing New England to use Plan B (C, D, E…). It’s impressive that they’re even able win as much as they do; but it’s becoming more and more obvious to this observer every week that if something doesn’t happen, and soon, to stem the tide of injuries, sloppy play and miscues, the Pats can plan on an early season.

They may need to spend some time on bended knee to whatever god(s) they recognize, imploring him/her/them to lend a hand. Help them find their way through this Valley of the Shadow of Death, help them overcome the temptation to let their minds wander during the game, give them the widsom to use their time(outs) more productively.

Give them the light they need to see, the strength they need to compete and the will they’ll need to succeed…Amen.

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I’m afraid we can’t lay the blame on the referees this time. The phantom holding penalty on Mike Vrabel in the 4th quarter gave Favre 4 new downs - replay showed no such penalty - and the Jets went on to score, going up by 7. It did make for an exciting finish though.

With a few exceptions, last night’s matchup with the New York Jets was all Jets.

Every time the Pats got something going, they’d do something to stall the drive. A Watson (unforced) fumble on the Jets 22 nullified a first down and gave New York the ball. Dan Koppen snapped the ball to Cassel who was busy handing out defensive assignments. The ball sailed past Cassel’s right shoulder. He recovered but the play lost 24 yards and stalled yet another drive.

Never was the impact of the growing injury list more apparent than last night. Blown defensive coverages, overly cautious pass attempts and generally sloppy play were the order of the day for the Patriots.

One of the few brightspots - the last Patriots drive in the 4th quarter did look Bradyesque. Cassel took the team down the field, looking for all the world like it was destiny. Then, on 4th and 1 with only 8 ticks left in regulation, the young QB avoided a near sack, rolled out to his right and hit Moss in the endzone who lept sideways for the ball dragging his big toe in the turf to tally the score.

Except for the luck of the coinflip at the beginning of OT and a blown coverage, 3rd down completion - when the Pats had Favre pinned deep in Jets territory with 3rd and 15, New England might have walked away with this one…

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In a move that can only be described as smart, the Red Sox announced they would not be raising ticket prices for the 2009 season.

Red Sox Tom Werner, Red Sox’s chairman:

“As stewards of this great franchise, John, Larry and I hold our positions as a kind of a public trust, and from that perspective, a freeze in ticket prices for the 2009 season is both fair and appropriate for the times and economic conditions,”

Willing to eat the extra income a raise in prices would bring in order to foster goodwill among your supporters is another in a laundry list of brilliant ideas the front office has hatched these past few seasons.

I will admit that when I first heard they were putting seats on top of the Green Monster, I hated the idea. Well after a few seasons of watching homeruns pinball amongst the crowd sitting in those seats, I couldn’t imagine Fenway without them. The EMC Club is another. It’s a climate controlled area overlooking both the field and the cityscape with restaurants and bars for the upscale crowd.

This latest brainstorm is a bit easier to get my head around and I’m sure Red Sox Nation will agree. With the economy the way it is, Tom (Werner) and John (Henry) know keeping prices fixed at 2008 levels will probably encourage those who were sitting on the fence and having to weigh their entertainment dollar options. Again, I say brilliant. It’s actually an investment in the future - give up the buck today to reap more in the future, once the economy turns around.

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I was really happy to see that Jon Lester had won the 2008 Hutch Award.

The Hutch Award is given annually to a Major League player who best exemplifies the honor, courage and dedication of baseball great Fred Hutchinson, both on and off the field.

Back in August 2006, the Tacoma Washington native had to be scratched from a start due to what they thought at the time was a back injury.

Further testing revealed the bad news:
Jon was diagnosed with anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. and referred to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

6 rounds of chemo therapy followed and within 4 months he was cancer free.

He’s gone through a lot in the past couple years and at the same time had many opportunities presented to him. He has taken on each challenge with courage and strength. He’s made the most of the opportunities that have come his way.

It’s easy to root for a guy like Lester. Somebody who gets knocked down, stands back up, brushes himself off and goes on to shine. He spends time visiting with young fans going through cancer treatment themselves and on January 21st will visit with children at the Hutchinson Center’s Hutch School in Seattle Washington. It is there that Jon will be presented the award in a ceremony at Safeco Field.

Congratulations Jon!

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According to the Patriots’ website, Bill Belichick (along with Falcons Mike Smith and Giants Tom Coughlin) has been nominated for Week 10 coach of the week.

You can cast your vote here.

With all the accolades Belichick has been receiving recently, it’s not hard to believe. He’s successfully maneuvered his team into a first place tie with the New York Jets (pending this week’s outcome on Thursday night) despite losing key players starting with start quarterback Tom Brady in Week 1, quarter 1. Among other key players, he’s lost Maroney, Harrison and most recently Adalius Thomas.

Belichick has so far proven he can win without the roster that tore up the AFC East last year.

Just a few of the many adjustments Belichick has had to make this season:

• The introduction of BenJarvus Green-Ellis, nicknamed the Law Firm by his team mates, has given the Pats a much needed shot in the arm of their running game. With Cassel still maturing in the field general’s role, New England needed to alter its offensive attack from being a primarily passing team to a more balanced run/pass threat
• Randy Moss has been all but neutralized as a deep threat for now so he’s been breaking off the deep patterns and cutting across the middle with some effectiveness
• Wes Welker has been mixing in some deeper patterns with his usual 7 and 8 yard completions

Can they sustain this momentum into the post season? My guess (hope) is that no matter what adversity fate and the rest of the league throws at him, Belichick will find a way to overcome. It won’t seem as effortless as some of last season’s matchups that were decided in the first 30 minutes of games but somehow it makes it more interesting. How’s he gonna pull the rabbit out of his hat this time?

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So another week (10) goes by in the NFL and another too-close-to-call play involving a touchdown.

The play:
An Adrian Peterson 29-yard touchdown run pushing the Vikings 1 point (28-27) past the Packers with 22 ticks over 2 minutes to go in the game.

The challenge (by Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy):
McCarthy contends Peterson’s knee was down before the ball broke the plain of the endzone.

The ruling:
No indisputable evidence that Peterson’s hadn’t crossed the plain before the knee was down. The play stands.

The FOX Network cameras showed the replay from 4 different angles, none of which gave a clear indication of the timing of the ball crossing the goal line and the knee hitting the ground.

At issue:
Should there be cameras specially mounted at the endzones to monitor this scenario? Would it solve the problem?

Back in September, Bill Belichick advocated the use of such cameras:

“It’s been brought up many times, but the league refuses to do it,” Belichick said. If implemented, “if you do challenge that play, then there’s absolutely one look at it and that will tell you did the ball cross [the goal line] or didn’t it cross it.”

It’s hard to argue his point. One concern is (assuming you’d need 2 cameras per endzone times 30 stadiums is 120 cameras) the cost/benefit ratio. Sure, the NFL has millions to spend on such technology. It would be a very small drop in the NFL bucket for them to shell out that kind of money.

But the NFL is a business and who do you think would ultimately foot the bill for those cameras? I’ll leave it to your imagination.

I’m all for getting the call right and for those fans who would feel the eventual trickle-down effect of the cost of those cameras? They’ll tell you it’s worth the extra few dollars per ticket if it means getting the play right. Nobody wants to see a game decided by a referee.

Tell us what you think!

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Troy Brown will be honored at the newly built Patriot Place at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough during the week of Nov 10th to the 16th. On display will be jerseys, shoes, photos and other items used by the wide receiver during his 15 year tenure with the New England Patriots.

Brown occupies a special place in the hearts of Pat’s fans. He not only caught passes for a living (all-time leading receiver with 557 career receptions), his special teams play as punt returner (all-time leader with 252 returns for 2,625 yards and 3 TD’s) and the occasional, emergency defensive role (ranking second on the team in interceptions [3] behind Eugene Wilson) earned him a reputation of jack of all trades and a guy willing to do anything to help his team win. He even starred in commercials where he answered the phones for the team presumably because the receptionist was out sick. That’s dedication!

He was the quintessential Patriot, serving as the model for all others to emulate. His no-nonsense style of play, his “get the job done” attitude and his lack of an over-the-top touchdown celebratory dance made him a humble hero in the eyes of New England fans.

So to Troy Brown I say Thank you and congratulations on a fantastic career, the recognition you deserve and the ability to retire while you’re young enough to enjoy life!

Hours for the display:
Mon., Nov. 10 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Tues., Nov. 11 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Wed., Nov. 12  10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Thurs., Nov. 13 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Fri., Nov. 15 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sat., Nov.  10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 16 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

The event at “The Hall” inside Patriots Place will require tickets.
Visit The Hall for more information.

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