December 17, 2003

Today's news out of Boston: is that when ARod is acquired, Nomar will be traded for Magglio Ordonez. So much for my theory that getting ARod would limit the Sox in left. This makes the Sox pretty much awesome. Seems like we have a Sox or Yankees post every day here. When will it end?

posted by Bernreuther to baseball at 09:48 AM - 54 comments

ARod is scheduled on the Today Show this week. Why the hell would ARod be on the Today Show offseason, not hawking any new products...? Perhaps he's sharing a homemade recipe for sugar cookies, or he'll be making some potpourri with Al Roker... Actually no! Katie Couric is the girlfriend of Red Sox owner Tom Werner. Oh what a tangled exciting media savvy web we weave. I don't know when it will end, but I can't stop smiling. And I'll tell you what: When they announce ARod as the new #3 and Ordonez as our new outfielder... I will go into a gleeful little coma until Opening Day.

posted by jerseygirl at 10:02 AM on December 17, 2003

soon, I hope. I hate learning stuff.

posted by garfield at 10:21 AM on December 17, 2003

When did the Red Sox turn into the Yankees?

posted by 86 at 10:50 AM on December 17, 2003

When is all of this going to end? At first, it was pretty exciting now it is getting quite annoying. Don't some of you agree?

posted by jasonspaceman at 10:52 AM on December 17, 2003

At first, it was pretty exciting now it is getting quite annoying. Don't some of you agree? Yeah, mainly 'cause it keeps dragging on and because it gives bandwagon-jumpers something to bother fans about in the off-season, e.g., "Yuh, weah gettin' A-Rawd. Weah definit'ly winnin a Series, guy." Some way of keeping a topic like this alive so it didn't require multiple threads to stay on the front page would help.

posted by yerfatma at 10:57 AM on December 17, 2003

"Weee-ah gettin a-rawwwd!" ;) I love making fun of Bahston accents. When did the Red Sox turn into the Yankees? When they got a smart owner and a smart GM, and the Yankees owner returned to his stubborn dumbness.

posted by Bernreuther at 11:58 AM on December 17, 2003

It is annoying, I just want to know how it ends. I agree about the bandwagon-jumpers. Generally, they come into the office and say something that is 4 days old. "I just heard they're gonna re-sign Nomah huh?" Or you get the Yankee fans that insist that Steinbrenner is going to get ARod... still. I have no patience for it anymore. When did the Red Sox turn into the Yankees? When they got a smart owner and a smart GM, and the Yankees owner returned to his stubborn dumbness. what he said.

posted by jerseygirl at 12:35 PM on December 17, 2003

But following a series of skeptical postings about the trade on a Red Sox fan Web site, a participant identified as "JohnWHenry" said, "Come on now. Don't start to waver on us. It's the holidays. Be of good cheer! It's going to be just a great, exciting season. Hang in there." The postings came at 4:26 a.m. Henry has confirmed that he uses that screen name for the "Sons of Sam Horn" bulletin board. Why don't worried owners and questioning GMs post HERE?!? We all love you, JohnWHenry! I will go into a gleeful little coma until Opening Day. You'll be in another one right after Martinez and Schilling hit the DL in May or June. :P

posted by wfrazerjr at 12:56 PM on December 17, 2003

You'll be in another one right after Martinez and Schilling hit the DL in May or June. :P You're off my christmas card list, pal.

posted by jerseygirl at 01:13 PM on December 17, 2003

AL Red Sox = EPL Chelsea AL Yankees = EPL Manchester United AL Baltimore = EPL Liverpool AL Okaland = EPL Charleton (?)

posted by billsaysthis at 01:37 PM on December 17, 2003

is chelsea bad or good to you footie boys?

posted by jerseygirl at 01:44 PM on December 17, 2003

If the Sox get A-Rod and Maggs for Nomar and Manny then Epstein should get the GM of the century award, it's the best moves I''ve ever seen a GM make. This kid has been nothing short of brilliant so far. Sox vs Yankees games are going to be better then ever this year. Of course, I can't dish out all this praise for the Sox without getting a dig in. The Sox are still the Sox, so I expect something to go wrong for them. It's the Curse vs Epstein's gang of greatness, will the Kid's gang be able to overcome the Bambino's Ghost? Stay tuned to NESN this year sports fans for the answer.

posted by jbou at 01:46 PM on December 17, 2003

All you Sox and Yankees fans are just jealous that the Mariners got Scott Spiezio.
If only Bavasi's grand plan to bring back Omar would have worked, that would have put us over the top for sure. It's a conspiracy. [/bitter sarcasm]

posted by jeffmshaw at 02:37 PM on December 17, 2003

jeffmshaw: Don't worry. You can still bask in the glory of the, uh, Raul Ibanez signing. *snicker* As a Blue Jay fan, it will be an even sweeter moment when the Jays win the AL-East title from the beasts of Boston and NY. *snicker* Oh, I can't even convince myself of that anymore. If they were to pull of this miracle of miracles, I'm pretty sure that our boy J.P. will be granted sainthood by the sabremetric hordes.

posted by grum@work at 03:13 PM on December 17, 2003

Isn't anyone scared of the Orioles if they sign some combination of Irod/Javy Lopez, Vlad, and Ponson in the coming days or weeks to go along with Tejada?

posted by trox at 03:35 PM on December 17, 2003

I'm excited about the AL East. I'm happy the Os and the Jays are making some nice moves. Its going to be a fun season.

posted by jerseygirl at 03:57 PM on December 17, 2003

I don't care what anyone says about the AL East - just you wait until interleague play. You will know the merciless might that is the Milwaukee Brewers.

posted by rocketman at 04:19 PM on December 17, 2003

You all are counting way to many chicken embryos on so many levels that this place looks like a genetics laboratory. Did that make any sense? I'm going back into my winter hole.

posted by Dick Paris at 04:32 PM on December 17, 2003

Isn't anyone scared of the Orioles if they sign some combination of Irod/Javy Lopez, Vlad, and Ponson in the coming days or weeks to go along with Tejada? Nope. The Oriole pitching staff is absolutely abysmal. They would be better, yes. Would they compete? No.

posted by wfrazerjr at 05:01 PM on December 17, 2003

GENE ORZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAA! you bastard.

posted by jerseygirl at 05:07 PM on December 17, 2003

All you Sox and Yankees fans are just jealous that the Mariners got Scott Spiezio. Well, you know the old saying: As goes Quentin McCracken, so goes the AL West... Jesus, no joking, the M's new GM Bavasi may be the shittiest shitmonger since Shitty von Shittystein, III took over GM duties for the legendary Shitsville Shitters... his off-season deals have done more to make the M's unequivocally worse than any team in recent memory. When one of your offseason moves is to get a guy so bad, he had a negative Wins Above Replacement Player (meaning a scrub just called up from AAA would be worth 2 wins in the standings over this hack), the fans should be burning you in effigy. Luckily for Bill, most M's fans are fairweather fans and ignorant soccer moms who just want a non-offensive bunch of "good guys" to root for. Who needs a hitter with plate discipline when you can get a role model for kidz and big screen boat races during innings?!? Geezus....

posted by hincandenza at 05:10 PM on December 17, 2003

...may be the shittiest shitmonger since Shitty von Shittystein, III took over GM duties for the legendary Shitsville Shitters... Definitely the shittiest sentence on SpoFi....ever. That fucking killed me.

posted by garfield at 05:58 PM on December 17, 2003

Geez, after all the clamoring the last couple of years, the Ms finally bring in a guy who has baseball in his blood and then you guys jump on him in less than a month!

posted by billsaysthis at 06:03 PM on December 17, 2003

Hal: You cracked me up on that one.

posted by jerseygirl at 06:31 PM on December 17, 2003

SoSH just pulled the curtains -- no more viewing for non-members. Interesting times.

posted by Bryant at 09:01 PM on December 17, 2003

That sucks. Not that I could read it at work anyway.

posted by jerseygirl at 09:18 PM on December 17, 2003

billsaysthis: you're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding.

posted by jeffmshaw at 11:22 PM on December 17, 2003

SoSH is back for non-members. Unsuprisingly, the traffic and member applications have spiked since it's mentioned in every paper covering the story. You can blame JohnWHenry.

posted by yerfatma at 06:39 AM on December 18, 2003

I'm a zombie today.

posted by jerseygirl at 09:18 AM on December 18, 2003

In your head.

posted by garfield at 10:14 AM on December 18, 2003

I guess my real question is 'if I wanted to have a web browser open to get the news first, when it happens, where would I point it?' jg, any tips? is SOSH the right place?

posted by tieguy at 10:52 AM on December 18, 2003

seems like we, nyyfans.com, SoSH, and even just ESPn would have it right away - something like this is followed pretty closely everywhere. However we the boards have great discussion :)

posted by Bernreuther at 11:00 AM on December 18, 2003

This is fun!

posted by rocketman at 11:01 AM on December 18, 2003

boy was this jerk wrong.

posted by djacobs at 11:11 AM on December 18, 2003

Nice call, djacobs! Me, I dunno, I'm assuming that there'll be a non-test of the Emergency Broadcast System in Boston when the deal gets made. Trucks with loudspeakers will drive slowly down the streets, announcing the trade(s). Mitt Romney will personally parachute out of a low-flying plane, trailing a banner which states "A-ROD IS HERE." So I'm not worried about finding out about it myself. Dunno how the rest of the country will get the news, though.

posted by Bryant at 11:31 AM on December 18, 2003

I suggest Royal Rooters (redsoxnation.net) or SoSH. Those seem to sniff out the story first. Someone who participates in the royal rooters board also works in the building where the MLBPA is. He broke the news on Tuesday that ARod signed into building security at 11:10. There are moles all over those boards. If you are in the boston area, you may want to tune to WEEI (850am), like I do. My WorkFilter blocks nyyfans.com and SoSH, so I am a royal rooter. Plus, they let me join royalrooters, so I am all over it. Not a big fan of espn.com during this whole thing. They aren't getting the scoop right away. If I hear anything, I'll post it here after I stop crying or screaming, whatever reaction applies. 3 and a half more hours.

posted by jerseygirl at 12:25 PM on December 18, 2003

jeffmshaw, why should i be kidding? did bavasi only get the gm job after the ws or not?

posted by billsaysthis at 01:10 PM on December 18, 2003

on the radio: If Selig gets involved and arbitration is initiated, this could drag on for weeks. Courts, lawyers, depositions, testimonies... Its a good time to start drinking heavily. Extra booze in the eggnog this weekend, I'll tell you that. This is a tremendous PR fuckup for baseball in general, the MLBPA if it gets to that point.

posted by jerseygirl at 01:15 PM on December 18, 2003

that was the summarized quote of Sean McAdam. and also "This could go on into the new year." *twitch* *twitch* *twitch*

posted by jerseygirl at 01:17 PM on December 18, 2003

no, no! Hop from one foot to the other! That's funnier!!!

posted by wfrazerjr at 01:26 PM on December 18, 2003

like Bugs Bunny being shot at by Yosemite Sam?

posted by jerseygirl at 01:30 PM on December 18, 2003

nice piece over at BP regarding the whole mess. i think that the more the whole things goes on the more chance there is that arod isn't going anywhere. and frankly, i also think that the red sox would benefit much more for this not to happen. obviously i also believe that arod isn't worth the money....what you can do with that extra money (what's the number $80m?) could be used in much more responsible ways. and i also agree that the union is right to step in so as to ensure that arod doesn't leave 8 digits on the table. it just isn't cool.....and it's not good business.

posted by oliver_crunk at 01:41 PM on December 18, 2003

trying to get the gist of it all, so I am summarizing and typing the best i can...but... Curt Schilling just called into The Big Show on WEEI and is "pissed" about the players association nosing in on the ARod deal. "These people work for us, not the other way around" He's going to call the union because he's not happy. God, I LOVE Curt Schilling. And he just ripped Tony Massarotti from the Herald a new one for bitching about John Henry posting to SoSH. Mazz is complaining that the players/owners posting to the message board leaves the media out. Curt: "Its your job to get the story. Not the other way around...You have to report with integrity... without personal vendettas" etc. etc. He defends the right to go talk directly to the fans. "If I want to say something to the fans at 2 o'clock in the morning, I cannot do that through ESPN" He was excited about playing with Nomar and Manny, but he's really excited about possibly playing with one of the "5 best players of all time possibly" and Magglio. Ordway: "You are welcome to call here anytime you want" Schilling: "If you are badmouthing me or my teammates, I will" LOVE IT.

posted by jerseygirl at 02:12 PM on December 18, 2003

Schilling is awesome. Why does he have to play on my arch rival? Damn it!

posted by Bernreuther at 02:44 PM on December 18, 2003

on the plus side, if they trade him to chicago, I can root for Nomar. I've always thought he was cool.

posted by Bernreuther at 02:45 PM on December 18, 2003

I have more and more respect for Schilling every day. Of course, it helps now that he is pitching for a team I like instead of shutting them down.

posted by trox at 02:46 PM on December 18, 2003

More like this, jgirl: Schilling rocks ass.

posted by wfrazerjr at 03:54 PM on December 18, 2003

Curt Schilling is my dad.

posted by rocketman at 03:59 PM on December 18, 2003

ITS 5 O CLOCK.

posted by jerseygirl at 04:00 PM on December 18, 2003

This trade will happen. My theory is Boras was using the Union in a good guy / bad guy set-up, and they'll both fold at the last minute. They both work for A-rod, in the end.

posted by djacobs at 04:06 PM on December 18, 2003

With apologies to Tim Rice... I've a duty as the union rep At the end of each trade On behalf of all the players I must scrutinize Every deal -- for a catch I don't care if you're an MVP No one messes with me I am ruthless in upholding What I know is right Black or white -- as you'll see I'm on the case Can't be fooled Any objection Is overruled Yes I'm the union rep and I know best "He's impartial, don't push him, he's unimpressed!" You've cut your pay Good for you But a reduction cannot go through Oh I'm the union rep, I know the game From the draft to the Hall of Fame If you're thinking of the kind of thing That we've seen in the past Big incentives, player options, Media coverage, private jet planes -- Not so fast These do not add up to salary They don't make up for cash In the end we're talking twenty-five per year So don't be rash Don't cut your pay It's bad for us Transcendent precedent sucks I am the union rep, and I know best -- "He's impartial, don't push him, he's unimpressed!"

posted by Bryant at 04:18 PM on December 18, 2003

Who's Tim Rice?

posted by wfrazerjr at 04:45 PM on December 18, 2003

Yeah, I'm old and grey... Chess, the musical.

posted by Bryant at 05:31 PM on December 18, 2003

thanks bryant. just as i was getting ABBA out of my head you had to go put Benny and Björn back in there.

posted by goddam at 05:43 PM on December 18, 2003

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