Danny Can You Hear Me?

The fifth pick, seriously? Good joke NBA but really where are the Celtics picking in the draft next month? Oh you weren’t kidding, they are actually picking fifth. How did this happen? Wasn’t fifth the worst case scenario?

In the back of my head I was nervous that the worst could definitely happen. That’s the cynical Bostonian in me, but I was more excited than I was nauseous. I was fully prepared and ready to go into talk people (a.k.a. my two green bleeding friends Joey & Joey) off any ledges they may have been near if the C’s didn’t get one of the top two picks last night. Then it happened for real, and I lost it. Things are not going to be okay.

The number one and two picks in this year’s NBA Draft are franchise changing players and realistically those two players, Oden and Durant, were the only thing that should be able to save Danny Ainge’s career and life. I, like many others, including the Boston media have been blinded by a likeable coach who says all the right things and a group of talented youngsters that are supposed to be full of tremendous upside potential. How in the name of Red Auerbach is 24-58 an acceptable record in this town? How could a coach with a career record of 273-312 and one winning season in three years get resigned to a new deal? How has no one requested, wait requested, fuck that, demanded Danny Angie’s head on a stake yet?

Danny took over a team that went to the conference finals in 2001-02, blew the team up getting rid of pretty much every player with the exception of Pierce and for a short time Antoine Walker and has since run the team into the ground. What other executive can get away with this. I feel like every baseball writer during the 1998 season they all felt like something was up but never spoke up now the whole steroid thing has become a shit show. Well that’s what has happened to the once proud Celtics.

The ultimate demise of the Celtics can’t completely be blamed on Ainge, some blame falls on Rick Pitino and just general bad luck. Lenny Bias and Reggie Lewis aren’t Danny’s fault but he hasn’t exactly done a bang up job either. Blowing up the 2001-02 Celtics didn’t seem like a horrible idea at the time. The team was full of likeable players that got the job done but they had probably gone about as far as they were going to go with guys like Walter McCarty and Erik Williams.

I’ve heard people say they were good in 2001-02, you’re wrong they weren’t. The Celtics, and the Nets for that matter, overachieved. As far as good teams go the 2001-02 Celtics weren’t a good team. They were a group of role players that complimented Pierce and Walker and they were certainly fun to watch but they overachieved and they probably weren’t going to get much better. So when Danny took over the team we as fans were pretty optimistic, even if he did get rid of Jim O’Brien and Antoine.

At first you had to agree with Angie’s moves, by bringing him in the new ownership forced douche bag former GM Chris Wallace to a different role. Yes, the Chris Wallace that brought in Vin Baker. With the situation that the Celtics were in blowing up the team was something we were convinced was necessary. However six years later it hasn’t really shown much promise.

Danny has drafted “well”, at least that what we’ve been told. Actually we’ve been badgered with the fact that Al Jefferson and Gerald Green are the next NBA superstars. Unfortunately it seems like Celtics fans are the only ones that have bought into that line of thinking. Maybe now that we are picking fifth in the Draft we’ll start to wake up. Jefferson is a solid player he could definitely be the next great Boston star, but what’s the next move for this team?

We were willing to give Danny a pass if they got one of the top two picks, but they didn’t, so what happens now? Are we willing to wait on these young kids and see if they can turn things around? One thing is clear and that is the fact that the current path the Celtics are on is not working and needs some kind of change. The Celtics and their fans were dealt a devastating blow by losing the lottery. The Celtics also lost a chance to buy themselves some time by resigning Doc Rivers. The C’s could have dumped Rivers and hung some blame on him, that most likely would have bought Danny another year to make some moves and try to get this team back to at least the playoffs.

Now I don’t think just making the playoffs is going to be enough. Fans need to see some results. We’ve waited for Danny’s plan to come to fruition and now it might be time to make some moves and either try to bring in veteran help or move Paul Pierce. Either way Danny Ainge has run out of time.

What has happened to the fans that ran Rick Pitino out of town on a rail? Are we this complacent? Imagine if Theo Epstien had run the Red Sox into the ground, there would be riots. And maybe that is part of the issue. The Celtics have dropped so far off the casual fan radar that Danny Ainge can get away with turning the team into the NBA’s second worse.

The Celtics storied history is exactly that a storied history. They don’t have the pink hat wearing casual fans that the Red Sox or Patriots have. The team that turned Boston into a basketball city has gone by the wayside with fans and it’s not going to get any better. I’m 22. I was too young to remember when the Celtics were a dominant team but the Patriots and Red Sox have been contenders for the majority of my sports fan-formative years. I’m still a big C’s fan but I think people like me that are around my age have forgotten about them because they’ve been so irrelevant lately.

The NBA needs the Celtics to be competitive again because the league is losing out on one of its most prominent basketball cities. The Celtics need to be competitive again because they are rapidly losing ground to the other teams in the region. Before you know it the Celtics and Bruins will be all but forgotten tenants in the FleetCenter/TD Banknorth Garden or whatever the hell it is called now.

It’s time for a change. Danny has had his chance and hasn’t delivered. It’s a desperate time for the Boston Celtics and as likeable this group of players may be something drastic needs to happen. Do you need to blow the team up again? Maybe, or maybe not, regardless I think there are going to be a few of our favorite lovable losing youngsters on different teams at the start of next season.

Think Good Thoughts

Ok we are back…finally. I decided that something really has to be said for the way the Red Sox are playing right now. Sunday’s game (aka the Mother’s Day Miracle) was unreal the complete game from Dice-k wasn’t half bad either.

Mother’s Day was indicative of the way we started to look at the Red Sox the last three years, mainly because of Big Papi and Manny but even thought it was 5-0 in the bottom of the ninth I still felt like “hey, we could still come back” and Julio Lugo agreed with me after the game when he waxed Yogi saying “with us it’s not over till it’s over”. Sounds dumb obviously the game isn’t over till the last out but with the Red Sox this year its 100% true.

When Coco popped up I was thinking this might be it, two outs down five but then an error he gets on and all of a sudden it’s a new ball game and I don’t know about you but I felt like they had a great chance to come back. Then after they scored twice I knew they were going to at least tie it. Even on Lugo’s grounder I new he was going to be safe some how. It’s unlike any other time I’ve ever felt as a Red Sox fan, but I’ve still heard and read some things that make me feel like people aren’t appreciating what we are seeing.

Maybe I’m not a typical sox fan, I always thought I was, ok maybe not typical but average. After the start the Sox have had I’ve been thinking differently. That’s because I’m not waiting for the bottom to drop out, I’m not waiting for everything to fall apart. I know the team isn’t going to win 140 games but they’ve got a great chance to win 90+ games. And as far as I am concerned is fine if it gets them into the playoffs and gives them a shot at the World Series.

Why are “fans” still buying into the whole negativity thing in Boston? I don’t get it. I always thought that was an aggravating stereotype that Boston fans had because of the heartbreaking losses. I know there were times when I was thinking the worst was going to happen but I was dreading it. In 2004 when the Yankees went up 3-0 I was absolutely floored. I felt physically exhausted by those three games and even thought the sweep felt inevitable it was still going to be hard to swallow. With that said, feeling that way did make coming back and winning made it pretty much sports utopia but what is the point of being a sports fan if you are miserable and thinking the worst all time?

To me being a sports fan is like being that kid in the Incredibles (yeah so what if it’s a Disney movie) the kid goes “waiting for something incredible”. Part of being a sports fan is about rooting for the moments where you see something that is completely unexpected. We don’t get that every day but it’s a huge part of being a sports fan, every single game has the potential to be something amazing. It’s also about putting stock into something you can’t control, something that is bigger than you are. I can’t control the out come of games, no matter how many times I knock on wood or where I sit or what t-shirt I am wearing, but the fact that I do all those things that proves how great sports are and how great being a fan can be.

I am definitely cynical, a lot of the time. I used to be a ‘glass half empty’ kind of person (I saw a t-shirt that said cheer up emo kid and my life turned around…just kidding) and I understand the whole negative outlook Red Sox fan thing but things have changed. Like I said it always feels like they have a chance. Every hitter makes me think they can get on base or drive in runs, except maybe Pedroia, same goes for the pitching staff it’s one of the most solid in the majors in my opinion and I think they’ve proved that. The starters have been getting deep into games and the relievers are getting the job done. There are going to be a few hiccups, that goes without saying but if they can keep getting solid outings from the pitchers then the offense is going to win them a lot of games.

I know a lot of that is obvious, if everything holds up they’ll be a great team, yeah thanks for the update Big Ben. I just can’t take people saying they are waiting for the wheels to fall off. That’s horrible, what the hell kind of fan are you, if you are just sitting around waiting for the worst. I want to see how well the team can do. I am waiting for something amazing.

Up next is an admitted cheater, Giambi, not get the same treatment as other accused or admitted steroid users – And we did it Papelbon’s new song is Shipping up to Boston

F*ck You Very Much Roger

Excuse me. I seem to have left someone out in ‘who is really a traitor’ section of that Tom Brady thing. Yup you guessed it, the quintessential duke of douche-baggery himself, Roger Clemens.

The Rocket announced yesterday that he’ll be returning to the Yankees, whoopdideedoo Basil. Am I the only one that doesn’t care about this? Am I the only person who didn’t want Clemens back? He signed with the Yankees, was that really a surprise to anyone?

I can’t seem to figure out why everyone so surprised at this ‘development’. It’s all over sports radio, hell it’s all over non-sports radio and it’s been all over TV. To me this was a story when I first saw it yesterday and now its old news. Maybe that’s because I’m not on the fence about hating Clemens. I think he’s a prick and I wouldn’t have wanted him back, so in my opinion it’s fine. Go to New York, good riddance now we don’t have to worry about people defending him anymore, everyone is going to be on the hating Roger bandwagon.

The Clemens issue is a perplexing one because of the fact that some people just won’t let it be and just settle for him being a piece of shit. People want to think about when he was a Red Sox, well he’s not he hasn’t been for a long time and he used to kiss a bronze plaque of Babe Ruth before every start, I loath that fucker with every ounce of my being.

I’ve even heard people say they don’t think this is about money…he’s a douche-bag! This is the same guy that said he wanted to be closer to his family in Houston then signed with the TORONTO BLUE JAYS. Oh yeah and he said he wanted to win a world championship but the Blue Jays offered him a few million more than the Yankees. If you were picking between New York (defending champs) and Toronto in 1996 and you wanted to win a championship who would you pick?

So the difference for Clemens was two to three million bucks. Now this is were you could say well he was in Boston and didn’t want to be a traitor and go to New York but two years later he wiggled his way south of the border to the Bronx.

He really doesn’t care about any group of fans. Think about it he screwed Sox fans and now he’s screwed Astros fans by bailing on them. Is this the year that he breaks down, is a waste of money and lets down Yankee fans? I sure hope so.

I think the Red Sox are a better team than the Yankees are this year. New York has an incredible lineup and they will be in the hunt because of it, but adding Clemens alone doesn’t change the fact that they are in trouble with their pitching. Also Clemens would destroy the club house in Boston. They have a good thing going so far and adding in this guy at a prorated 18 million over three months or whatever his deal is for, after not resigning Schilling would just mess everything up. The Sox did the right thing they extended an offer, a chance at redemption with some Boston fans and again Clemens showed he’s about the money. And that’s alright because a lot of guys are, but don’t be all about getting straight cash and then try to act like it’s something more. It’s not. You know what George said to him that was so special?
“How much?”

The fact that he’s slated to return to the mound against the Red Sox at Fenway really just solidifies him as the sports anti-Christ. Sox fans were pretty gracious to him in his “final” start in Boston. I highly doubt he’ll be extended the same courtesy this time around.

When he gets elected to the Hall of Fame and he absolutely will, most likely on his first ballot, he should do the honorable thing and wear a Blue Jays or Astros hat, fucking prick. If I had to think of the most hated sports figures in New England Clemens would at the top of that list along with Ulf Samuelson and Peyton Manning.

At the beginning of the summer one of my friends (a Yankee fan) got me a Red Sox t-shirt and a Celtics hat as a thank you for making sure he and his girlfriend got to the airport and didn’t have to pay to park or any of that stuff (if you didn’t know I am pound for pound the best third wheel in the world). The Red Sox t-shirt was one of those Cooperstown collection Clemens ones. I joked around and said I could never wear it, but now it turns out I wasn’t joking. I can never put that shit on without feeling like I’ve sold out a little each time. Why do they even make those anyway? Is that just some ones idea of a good joke? Like oh we’ll make this shirt then people can buy it for other people as a cruel but kind of funny joke.

Alright I’m done with Clemens, I hope he gets lit up, remember he’s returning to the AL after being in the NL and that always seems to be a tough transition.

There’s a good piece of nostalgic Bill Simmons on ESPN today about Clemens being the Anti-Christ

Real quick aside about the fight – Well worth the 5 dollar and 12 pack of Corona price of admission to watch at Joey’s. I know everyone was pulling for De La Hoya but it turned out exactly as I figured it would. Oscar fought his balls off but lost, and in doing so he made the fight worth watching. Mayweather is incredibly quick and punishing but he dances and most of his punches were counter punches. I’m not Max Kellerman but I liked the split decision because as De La Hoya said after the fight you have to beat the champ and Mayweather did but not as decisively as some make it sound.

You knew there wasn’t going to be a knock out, or even a knock down but as a casual fan I enjoyed the fight because of the way De La Hoya fought. Maybe I’ve been conditioned to root against a loud mouth, cocky, Clubber Lang like athlete but I wanted to see De La Hoya pull off the upset.

The one thing I was disappointed in was the under-card bout(s). Give us a knock out or two there, come on, for 54.99 we can’t get some one that gets knocked cold?

All in all a pretty good weekend thought, the Sox took two of three from Minny in the dome and we had a big boxing match, good stuff. Now we just have to tolerate all kinds of talk about whether or not the horse that won the Kentucky Derby will win the Triple Crown. I’ll save you some time, it’s not happening.

I love you Tom, no matter what

Tom Brady is not a traitor; if I was Neil Diamond I would smack you in the mouth for even thinking that. I won’t listen to that horse shit anymore I’ve seriously had quite enough. Are we really branding our golden boy as a traitor because he wore a Yankees hat? Granted I don’t like that he was wearing one and had he been wearing a Red Sox hat it would have been cooler and he would just be further cementing his legacy as New England’s golden boy. But come on lets not go overboard here.

Is the fact that he wore a Yankees hat going to change the way anyone looks at him? No. Is he still one of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game? Yes. Am I still going to vote for him when he eventually runs for President? Yes. Would you want anyone else in the NFL to be lining up under center for the New England Patriots? Um NO FUCKING WAY!!!!

Brady and Belichick are the best thing to ever happen to the Flying Elvi, Yankees hat or not. I only got to see the tail end of Bird and even at that I was so young that I wasn’t able to fully appreciate Larry Legend. The way that people revere Larry Bird is the way I look at Tom Brady (and in a lot of ways Big Papi & Manny). I just can’t imagine people would even entertain the thought that he’s a traitor for wearing a Yankees hat.

Brady was born in San Mateo, California not Brockton, so it’s completely understandable that he didn’t grow up as a Red Sox fan. Now I don’t think he was a Yankees fan living in the Bay Area but to most people the Yankees hat is a style thing not a where do your loyalties lie rivalry. And Brady dates Giselle now I’m thinking style is a big part of that relationship. He’s an absolute pretty boy off the field too, guy has a gleaming smile and he’s always dressed to impress.

In my opinion he was just wearing the hat as a fashion accessory. As much as we love to refer to Boston as the Hub and claim it’s the Hub of the universe New York is a one of the most major cities on the planet. To us, as Red Sox fans, the intertwined NY means something completely different than it does to other people. Other people see it as New York they don’t see the Aaron Boones, the Bucky Dents and all the other history they simply see it as a symbol of the real life Gotham City and that symbol doesn’t mean to them what it means to us.

I would love to see Brady rocking a Sox hat but it makes no difference to me if he wears a Sox hat, a Yankees hat, a Devil Rays hat, a Giants hat or an Expos hat (he got drafted by the Expos out of high school as a catcher). As long as he keeps throwing touchdowns and leading my favorite football team to Super Bowls and winning games.

In all honestly we should be more worried about the man purse looking thing he’s got under his arm in the picture.

In the end you can’t even say he’s a traitor. He’s not Roger Clemens, he’s not Johnny Damon and he’s not Benedict Arnold. Seriously think about the fact that they are truly traitors…now think about people calling Brady a traitor…it’s just silly isn’t it?

We love you Tom, Yankees hat or not, I promise.

A Day at Fenway

Sox game last night was awesome, granted Dice-k didn’t pitch all that well and Papelbon sat out a save opportunity the game was still one of the best I’ve ever attended. So good in fact that I’d say it was the second best, just behind the only Pedro game I saw in person. That was a walk off win courtesy of an Orlando Cabrera double that hit the top of the scoreboard and allowed Johnny Damon to score from first in the bottom of the ninth.

That game notwithstanding last night was pretty incredible. Both Manny homers where the kind that you could feel coming. That’s my favorite part about Manny and Big Papi, sometimes you can just tell they are going to do something amazing. I’ve seen plenty of Manny blasts on TV but watching him just flip the bat and stroll to first live was awesome. He knew it was gone and so did everyone else.

It was really something to behold, I know that sounds a little bit too biblical for a sporting event but that’s why I love sports so much because you never know when you’ll see something incredible. It was almost as if he was feeding off the crowd too, after a long at bat and hearing 36,000 people chant “let’s go Manny” he just decided he was going to give us what we wanted, a bomb over the bullpens.

After seeing Manny send a souvenir into the stands I was thinking we’d get to see Papelbon in the ninth but Tito stuck with Brendan Donnelly (who is the odds on favorite to be my buddy Jon’s favorite player by mid May – his other fav’s include Brian Daubach and Mike Lowell) until he walked the first batter then to my surprise went with JC Romero. Now Romero has been lights out on the old xbox 360 and he’s been solid for the Sox but I was surprised to not see Paps. Anyhow he got a big double play ball then got Richie Sexton to hit a chopper to Lowell to end the game.

Ok that’s enough recapping you get NESN, the Globe and have internet access you know what happened. Here’s my take on all the things you can’t get from the broadcast.

First and foremost, since it’s the name of this blog, the red seat. Holy shit! 502 feet is so far. I’ve seen it before but I forgot how much of an absolute bomb Ted Williams’s homer must have been. I took some pictures and I’ll put them up once I get them off of my camera so you can see how far it is.

I’ve been into the city three times in the past week, Wolfmother and Paramore concerts (which were awesome) and last nights game. Twice I took the T, which I happen to really enjoy. I’m not really sure why I enjoy it after all most of the stops smell like piss and 45 year old axel grease but I guess its just part of the city experience since I live 25 minutes outside of it. There is something cool about riding in and listening to everyone talking about 400 different things, seeing little kids with there gloves and Sox hats and the sound, look and feel of the trains or street cars, depending on which line you are riding.

With that said I have a small issue with the old MBTA. What’s with the Charlie cards? I ask this question for two reasons. One – I like the tokens they added to the rustic, vintage feel of the subway and you didn’t have to figure how to buy them from a BALCO ATM. I’ll get over the coins though; it’s not really that big of a deal. My main issue or the main issue is the fact that the fare system is now on Charlie cards. I don’t know how common knowledge the origin of Charlie is, not that I’m some great genius or something I just wonder if people know the connection between Charlie and the MBTA.

Well if you don’t I’ll enlighten you. The Charlie card comes from an old song, 1948 to be exact (and it was redone in 1959 by the Kingston Trio), called ‘Charlie on the MTA’ or ‘the MTA song’ (Thanks Wikipedia!). Anyhow the song is the tale of a guy named Charlie who got on the subway in Boston and couldn’t get off because he didn’t have enough money to pay the exit fare. It cost a nickel to get on and a nickel to get off back then.

The song goes on to talk about Charlie’s wife who passed him a sandwich everyday. Now this is where my problem is. Why the hell didn’t she just give him a nickel? Seriously according to the song the guy never got off the train so in the entire lifespan of this guys wife she couldn’t figure out that she should just toss him a nickel. That’s almost as dumb as Brian Adams saying he bought his guitar at a “five and dime” no you didn’t broseph you are from Canada, they don’t have dimes.

I mean it’s certainly not that big of an issue and in actuality it’s kind of cool that we have something like that in Boston that has that cool kind of history to it (one of the reasons Fenway should never go). But come on, she couldn’t toss him a nickel? No one on the train could help him out? I guess we really are massholes.

As most people can probably tell I’m a bit of a history buff especially when it comes to baseball. I was a history minor in college (a.k.a. last year) and I’ve always been fascinated with baseball history, mostly due to my relationship with my grandfather. One of the reasons I love Fenway and why David Halberstam’s passing actually hit home for me, when most of my friends just disregarded the news when we heard it on the radio. Not that they are bad people they just had no interest in him where as I did. ‘Summer of ‘49’ and ‘the Teammates’ are two incredible books and ‘the Teammates’ is one of my all time favorite books.

I was turned onto ‘the Teammates’ by a friend of mine, a Yankees fan actually, who after reading five pages told me I’d love it and wouldn’t be able to put it down. He was right. I read it twice in the span of a few weeks. It’s just an amazing chronicle of four of the Red Sox greatest players, playing during a time period that I’ve always been fascinated with. Every Red Sox fan proudly spouts the fact that Ted Williams is the greatest hitter who ever lived but to get a glimpse of his life before, during and after baseball and to have Halberstam doing the story telling is something else. Being at the game last night really got me thinking about this because Fenway is full of little nostalgic bits and pieces.

I already talked about the red seat but there is also Pesky’s pole, Fisk’s pole, the row of retired numbers, the bullpens, Yawkey Way and Landsdowne Street. Yes even the seedy underbelly of the stadium. It’s an incredible experience to take in a game at Fenway and I hope it’s something every sports fan has the chance to do. I mean I had standing room only “seats” and that didn’t faze me at all. 36,000 people singing along to “Sweet Caroline” even after the song was cut by the stadium PA to allow for a batter, it’s an awesome atmosphere. Hmmm…Sweet Caroline, Dirty Water…when can we add Shipping Up to Boston to that list?

On thing that I do have a problem with at Sox games and just in life in general. Why oh why are we making and selling home white Red Sox jerseys with names on the back. I’m glad you’re a fan and you want a Big Papi jersey and those are cheaper, amen to cheaper, but they don’t ever have names on the back of their home white jerseys. Why even bother making them?

Ok that’s enough semi-coherent rambling for today. I’ll just leave you with a few more thoughts before I sign off.

If you like baseball and have any interest in its history go get ‘the Teammates’ it’s an incredible book by an incredible author. If you aren’t down for that then I recommend ‘the Education of a Coach’ about Bill Belechick another one of Halberstam’s great sports books. One of the things that make his sports books so cool is that he was world renowned for his reporting on major issues and sports books were like his vacation. They were a pleasure for him to write and they are a pleasure to read.

I can’t wait for the De La Hoya – Mayweather fight. I will definitely have something about that after Saturday. It’s a real life Rocky 3…Floyd Mayweather Jr. = Clubber Lang the similarities are crazy. Also I think we need Eric Cartman to run around the streets yelling race war before the fight.

Mayweather has met some serious adversity but because he’s studied the Clubber Lang manifesto he’s getting hated on bad core for being a “thug”. I don’t follow boxing closely enough to pass judgment but I hate seeing race as such an issue. I’m not Martin Luther King Jr. or anything I just wish race didn’t have to be at the heart of everything. I wish we could accept that we have cultural differences but work to get rid of all the crazy race issues we’ve had lately.

I’m no expert on black culture that’s for sure but if you want to read further on some of this stuff I recommend Scoop Jackson , LZ Granderson , and Jemele Hill (yeah even if she said Kobe was better than Jordan)

Big thanks go to Adam 12, the finest radio DJ in all of Boston, for giving me the idea to write about changing Papelbon’s entrance music and for giving me a shout out on the air about it. It not only killed a couple of hours at work but also got me fired up to write more and more on this blog.

Post Script – Adam 12 is on weekdays from 9-3 (love that extra hour by the way) on the rock of Boston 104.1 WBCN. Check him out on bcn and at www.djadam12.com

Papelbon Needs Shipping Up to Boston

Good news. I have tickets to tonight’s Red Sox game and Dice-k is pitching…yeah I’m pumped what is your point? There is something I feel like talking about today but I promise I’ll have something about the game tomorrow since every time I go to Fenway I feel like I’m ten years old. Seriously I’m beaming right now I’ll be giddy all day and have a shit eating grin all the way from the Malden Center T stop to Yawkey Way.

I brought this up yesterday but after listening to Adam 12 on wbcn it needs to be addressed again. Is there any song that is more played out for a pitcher to come out to than “wild thing?” No there isn't, it’s as simple as that. It's cool the first time or two and everyone gets a nice little piece of nostalgia because we all loved Major League but give me a break. Papelbon is not Rick Vaughn; he is actually far superior in the closers role in my opinion.

Here is a scouting report on Vaughn from The Soul of Baseball.

Strengths - Plus-Plus fastball ... Four seam fastball was clocked consistently in mid-to-high 90s while pitching for Portland...Fearless. Is not afraid to come inside with the fastball…Flashes an above average slider...Two seamer has great movement -- a swing and miss pitch...”

Weaknesses - Wild. Buries his slider often and has no fastball command ... Doesn't have a third pitch. Might be better in the bullpen...Control problems have haunted him his entire career.

Now let’s look at the scout on Papelbon from Soxprospects.com.

Good pitcher's build with a live arm and solid delivery. Fastball has been clocked up to 95 mph, typically hitting the low-90s with great command. Very good slider and changeup, as well as a curveball. All can be thrown for strikes, and Papelbon has improved his consistency with these pitches. Papelbon also added a splitter to his arsenal in the spring of 2005, after some tutoring from Curt Schilling. Looked to be moved to the starting rotation after the 2006 season, but in Spring Training 2007 Papelbon stated his desire to return to the closer's role, where he hoped to remain for his entire career.

Even though Vaughn hit 99 and 101 at the end of Major League in the Indians pennant clinching game against the Yankees he and Papelbon have a very similar fastball. Paps has more pitches overall and much, much better command. Also after his first season, Rick Vaughn became a huge vagina and tried to be a breaking ball pitcher and got tagged in most of Major League II. So far things are going much better for Papelbon’s second season, granted he blew a save the other night but he’s still a dominant closer. When you watch Major League were people 100% confident that the Wild Thing would close out the game. Nope, so why are we comparing Papelbon to someone he is superior to. Paps needs his own unique entrance music selection and that selection should be “I’m Shipping Up to Boston”.

It’s similar to wrestling really. Is anyone else ever going to come out to “I am a Real American” no it’s not going to happen because that song belongs to Hulk Hogan and anyone trying to do so would immediately become a known as a poser. Riveria has ‘Enter Sandman’, now it’s time to make ‘Shipping Up to Boston’ synonymous with Papelbon.

I honestly can't think of one good reason not to have Paps come out to Dropkick it just makes sense, this is a perfect song I don't know anyone who doesn't love it even if they don't like the Dropkick Murphy's. Plus they are a Boston band...Everyone go to wbcn.com and vote, let’s make this happen.

From the Bullpen to Boston – wbcn.com

Red Sox Wiki

Do you like the Red Sox?

Yes...good answer...you should probably check out the new Red Sox Wiki at wetpaint

It's got a bunch of cool info and maybe even a thing or two from me during the season.