Deadline Day
Today's the trading deadline and in celebration, I will be live blogging from 3pm-5pm with news, rumors and reaction to what happens during the day. Feel free to stop by and comment.
The Times is reporting that David Ortiz failed the same drug test in 2003 that A-Rod did. In addition, Manny Ramirez also failed that test.
I have said all along that I think baseball players just need to come out as a group and admit what they did. Having the news come out in fits and starts damages the game more than a huge mea culpa would.
As for Ortiz, this report certainly makes his statement from February hard to understand. At the time he said the following:
"I think you clean up the game by the testing. I test you, you test positive, you're going to be out. Serious. I know that if I test positive for using any kind of substance, I know that I'm going to disrespect my family, the game, the fans, and everybody. I don't want to be facing that situation, so what I will do, I won't use."
I hope that Yankees' fans do not celebrate this news. This doesn't invalidate any championships Boston won it just makes it clear that the Red Sox's cheaters were better than the Yankees' cheaters in 2004 and 2007. That is the sad truth of all of this.
Watching Mark Buehrle today reminded me of a day almost 15 years ago to this day. July 28th, 1994, was the day I sat in the stands and saw a perfect game.
Yup, I am one of the lucky few to have actually seen one in person. I was living in Dallas, TX, at the time and I spent a large part of that summer going to the ballpark. The strike was looming and wanting to see as much baseball as possible, a co-worker and I decided to go out to Arlington and catch a game.
We got to the park and amazingly, there were no tickets left. In Texas the baseball season usually ends when the Cowboys start training camp, but I think that summer people felt like they had better watch baseball while they had a chance. Luckily, the Ballpark in Arlington (as it was called then) had a TGI Friday's built into the outfield. You could walk in there and watch the game through the windows or from the special seating section they had in the upper deck. For the first few innings we focused more on buffalo wings and beer than baseball, but around the fifth inning we realized what was going on and we headed out into the Texas heat to experience the game.
The two events I remember vividly from that night are an amazing catch (like today) by Rusty Greer to save the perfecto and Bo Jackson coming up in the 7th or 8th inning. Bo wasn't the player he had been at that point, but he was a scary sight at the dish. I still remember him striking out and feeling an enormous sense of relief.
One of my favorite things about baseball is that for one day you can attain perfection. I was lucky enough to see it that day, I wish every fan got that chance.
UPDATE: This made me laugh, Yahoo Sports decided BJ Upton was Tampa's "top batter" with his 0-3 night. In their defense it is hard to pick someone when they all go 0-3!
What was the last trade between the Red Sox and Yankees?
Thanks to Andy for giving me the idea.
UPDATE: The answer is that the Yankees acquired Mike Stanley and Randy Brown for Tony Armas, Jr. and Jim Mecir.
I watched HBO's new documentary last night "Ted Williams" and I would encourage everyone to watch it. It does a very good job of telling the story of Ted Williams and it doesn't shy away from some of the "tough" topics like what happened to Ted after he died.
Among the things I found interesting.
The relationship between Ted and Boston. I always knew it was rocky, but I didn't realize the extent of it or the fact that he was booed so viciously. And, he did not react well to it at all. You get the sense that if Ted Williams had played today he would have been run out of Boston. Yet, time softened the divisions and Ted became loved in Boston which is well chronicled. They even named a tunnel after him. (On a side note, why didn't they name it after Bill Russell? He would have been my choice or Bobby Orr) Nomar talks about how special it was to be a part of Ted's life.
I found the DiMaggio-Williams dynamic fascinating as well. Not surprisingly, Joe was jealous of Ted and dismissed his accomplishments as "individual" efforts. (On a side note, Ted and Joe really switched places after they stopped playing. Williams became loved, DiMaggio has falled well out of favor as his true character has come to light. Quick New Yorkers, what's the official name of the highway down the westside of Manhattan? Does anyone call it that?)
Dan Shaughnessy gives a very moving talk about his daughters fight with cancer and how great Ted Williams was through all of it despite the fact that Dan was part of the press.
The relationship Ted had with his kids, especially John Henry is very interesting stuff.
All in all it is a very good documentary and I think fans of all teams will enjoy it.
According to Jon Heyman, the Blue Jays have told the Yankees and Sox they "much prefer" to trade Halladay outside of the AL East.
Can you really blame them? Trading him is going to be tough enough on that franchise and its fans, having to face him 5 times a year would be awful. Unless the Yankees or Sox agree to trade prospects and take on Vernon Wells' contract, I don't see a deal being made in the AL East. Much, much more likely in my mind that he ends up in St. Louis or Philadelphia. In many ways this is a replay of the Santana deal. Boston and New York are probably both rooting for a trade to the NL.
And, today means it is two weeks to the deadline. Get your hot stoves ready.
Ok, so big game and a 2-0 lead and Halladay can't protect it? This guy wouldn't last two minutes in the Northeast!
(I kid, I kid)
Just wanted to respond via a post to an email I got about comments and why we require registration to leave one.
First off, we love comments, make as many as you like. What we don't love are spammers. I don't know about you, but I don't need any drugs from a Mexican pharmacy and my wife would probably be upset if I ordered one of those Russian brides. Those are just some of the offers we get many, many times on a daily basis here at YankeesRedsox.com. We have had days with over 100 of these types (and much worse types) of comments and to prevent them from actually being posted, we require registration.
You can do that by creating a Type Key ID and Password and post under those or just put your comment up and we will approve it manually (usually a few hours later) Maybe one day the internet will be free of these annoyances and maybe one day the Cubs will win the World Series. You just never know.
Ok, so a few questions today to get you ready for tonight's game.
1- When was the last time the National League won the All-Star Game?
2- Who was the first Yankee to be named All-Star MVP?
3- Who was the last Red Sox to be named All-Star MVP?
BTW- check out Joel Sherman's ideas on how to make the HR contest better. Some are clever and I am all for aluminum bats if they put nets around the stands and use a pitching machine. Otherwise it is just too dangerous.