Hopefully everyone has a fun and safe Fourth of July. I’ll be doing the family thing and waiting for 1:05pm and the carnage I hope one Joshua Patrick Beckett will unleash on the Yankees. Today is George Steinbrenner’s birthday. I think a loss for the Yankees is a wonderful present, fellas. Keep that in mind. Happy Independence Day! ... More ...

From Amalie Benjamin’s “Minor League Notebook” today, this is how she reported on Dustin Richardson and Kyle Snyder: Pitchers Dustin Richardson (Portland) and Kyle Snyder (Pawtucket) have made rehab appearances as they work toward coming off the disabled list . . . Chock full of information, that sentence is. I know the Globe doesn’t like to focus much attention on the Minors and this Amalie spends more time focusing on one story (that of Luis Exposito, which is actuall... More ...

I had an odd calm about me all day. Thought I’d be pissy and grumpy about the Tampa series and instead spent the better part of many baseball discussions talking about how “good” I felt about Lester pitching tonight. I can’t explain it still, but I was positive he was going to do well tonight. Considering I usually have scoffed when he’s been put in the position of “stopper”, no one was as surprised as I was that I was sure he’d come out on top. ... More ...

Best of luck to Kyle!!! Kick some ass in Lowell!!! (Special thanks to Kelly for making me aware of this!) ... More ...

Photo including my man Mike that I’ve never seen before - lifted from “Mr. Irrelevant” Wow. I don’t mean leadership just from your manager or your coaches either. Maybe there really is something to be said for having a veteran presence in the bullpen? With the ‘kids’ hanging out there on their own, they’ve been a little ineffective, eh? Well, fear not! Last night (around midnight? Yeesh.) Mike Timlin was activated off of the disabled list and Chris... More ...

(Totally ripped off from the PawSox site!) Unrelated to the Sox, I have a headache and had shut the television off before the suckage began (am listening to the radio broadcast). So it’s probably better that I didn’t actually see the bullpen implode or I’d be even crankier than I am. But on to the good stuff! First off, JD Drew: AL Player of the Month for June. Well-deserved, JD. Unlike last season when I crossed my fingers and just hoped he’d start to catch fire, th... More ...

A loss tonight will piss me off. Because Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen suck up the joint, everything the Sox did tonight goes down the shitter? It’s only the seventh inning, and the way the Sox have been hitting tonight it’s still possible for them to come back.  But I’m disgusted with the bullpen right now.  Just disgusted. You’ll forgive my venting tonight.  I’ll be back later with less negative thoughts regardless of how this game turns out.  But right now... More ...

For $35 I can join the Yankees Fan Club (according to the Michael Kay narrated ad on YES that I just saw). Where is the righteous indignation from the Yankees fans?  How is this different from “Red Sox Nation”? A team-sponsored “fan club”?  Sounds like they want their bandwagon fans back. ... More ...

I make it a point to not pimp other blogs. Even those written by friends of mine. I have a link list and most people who read this blog are probably reading other blogs as well. Y’all don’t need me pointing you in any directions. Today, I pimp for someone else. And as I do I realize I don’t have this blog on my blogroll. (It was in my link list back when I was on MLBlogs and I must have mistakenly dropped it since then.) I read this blog all the time and today it really st... More ...

In case anyone who can’t “comment” somewhere else finds their way here. ... More ...

Note from Cyn: Longtime readers and friends of the RSC know “Tru” very well! He has graciously offered to occasionally contribute to the blog in times when the spirit moves him. Below is his latest offering Boston, MA July 2, 2008 Boston Gullible By U. Ben Hadd Strawbery Banke Inks with Red Sox Portsmouth, New Hampshire is roughly an hour and ten minute drive from Yawkey Way. It’s longer if you take the scenic route, meandering up route 1A and 1B. Featuring one of the shortest co... More ...

* There’s talk of Mike Timlin joining the team this weekend in New York. He’s also ‘able” to come off the disabled list today and is in Boston getting his knee checked out. He’ll pitch during at LEAST one more game in Pawtucket before the weekend.   The end of the Chris Smith era could be upon us. * Manny issued yet another quote about the incident with traveling secretary Jack McCormick being “over”. Let’s see, Manny, Tito, McCormick and t... More ...

The Red Sox were in second place, 8.5 games behind the Yankees and had lost their third game in a row. Folks who weren’t around in 2004, or who have selective memories, don’t remember how painful the 2004 season was.  We were discussing in my office today about how most of us spent the better part of that season thinking that maybe the 2003 post-season was setting us up for more disappointment.  It wasn’t until Kevin Millar’s famous speech from his locker about “C... More ...

I just love this photo. Courtesy of Kelly O’Connor PawSox won again last night. This makes me very happy. Guys are on a tear right now. BoSox? Well, not so much. But they tried for a comeback in the ninth and just fell short. So there’s that. (Hey I’m “Editing to add…”! It’s after midnight - only one reading is probably John in NZ right now so no one else will notice - “Hi John!!” ) To add more to the Timlin update from earlier, we g... More ...

To the folks at the White Sox interactive message board. Thanks for the traffic, folks. I surely appreciate it. Too bad your team’s manager is still an ass. (I love being called a “pink hat” fan by members of a fanbase that includes someone who, a week after his team won the World Series, couldn’t tell me who their right-fielder was.) I guess the blog is more popular than I thought. ... More ...

Mike Timlin entered the PawSox game in the 6th inning tonight (replacing Clay Buchholz) striking out the first batter he saw in three pitches (swinging), getting the second batter to ground out on two pitches and getting the third batter to ground out with one pitch.  (3-2-1 - way cool!) Three batters, six pitches, six strikes.  Listening to the Paw Sox is much more entertaining than watching the Red Sox tonight. PawSox are winning 5-0 in the seventh inning; Red Sox are down 4-2 in the seventh... More ...

If you go to ProJo online, click on “sports” and then click on “PawSox” the first thing that appears on the PawSox page is a photo of Daisuke Matsuzaka from when he was with the team rehabbing on June 16th. Jonathan Van Every (you know him because he got to high five Manny in Baltimore when Manny high-fived a fan before completing a double play) hit three homeruns yesterday. Three. And the team as a whole hit six homeruns yesterday. Six. But the picture on the front pag... More ...

Note from Cyn: I’m going to swear in this piece and I’m going to swear a lot. F-bombs will be dropped, this I promise you. So, in the interest of not offending those offended by such things, I’m inserting the cut here. Click on the “more” link if you like. Oh yes, I’m in rant mode right now. (more…) ... More ...

So much for winning the series. Sox go in to Tampa a half game behind the Rays tomorrow night. I’m certainly not ‘worried’. Hell, little competition is great. But, honestly, right now the Sox can’t beat a team that isn’t even at .500, so what are they going to do with the Rays? PawSox won today - 10-0 in Rochester (in a game ‘called’ because of rain). Devern Hansack threw 7 innings of 2-hit ball. Seems like most of the PawSox pitchers really have it... More ...

That Lester/Aardsma/Hansen/Delcarmen shit show?  Never happened. Yep, I stayed up to watch the Pirates beat the Rays in 13 innings - on a two-out homerun by Jason Bay.  (If you’ve never heard the Pirates announcers, they’re highly entertaining.  And, rivalries aside, I got excited for them and their fans when they started yelling “J Bay!!! J Bay!!! J Bay!!!” when Jason Bay hit his walk-off home run.) Congratulations Pirates.  And thank you for helping the Red Sox keep... More ...