Yankees fan resorts to anonymous name-calling

So this is the comment I got after yesterday's post discussing the travesty of Derek Jeter's fifth Gold Glove. I really wish "Anonymous" had elaborated: am I an idiot for agreeing with baseball-reference that Jeter didn't deserve the award? For intimating that the Yankees would sign him for more than his market value? For calling your precious Captain Jetes less than a team player?

Whatever it was, "Anonymous," at least I have enough conviction behind my views to post them with a name so everyone knows who I am. Why the "anonymous" tag? You can sign in with Blogger, Google, AIM, iChat, WordPress, LiveJournal, and several other services, so don't give the "I don't have an account" excuse.

You commented as "anonymous" because you're afraid I'm right. Your precious Captain is not the player he once was, and "the player he once was" was never all that impressive, at least defensively. I'll tell you a secret, anon: I'm HARDLY the only one who thinks this way. I don't pull the topics for my posts out of thin air. I read dozens on sports sites and stats sites every day, including many who report for neither the Red Sox or Yankees (like, I don't know... BASEBALL-REFERENCE).

The next time you come to my blog to insult me and spew your vitriol without any evidence or reasoning, find the courage to do it under your own name. And if you're still thinking that I was targeting poor Derek Jeter because I hate the Yankees, here's some links to people who wholeheartedly agree with the entire premise of yesterday's post.

NBC Sports: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/11/10/what-theyre-saying-about-jeters-gold-glove/

The New York Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2010/11/10/2010-11-10_derek_jeters_selection_as_american_league_gold_glover_at_shortstop_exposes_flaws.html

ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5784846

Bleacher Report: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/513590-highway-robbery-derek-jeters-gold-glove-win-is-inexcusable

MLB Fanhouse: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/11/09/derek-jeters-fifth-gold-glove-evidence-of-award-gone-wrong/

So, anonymous, next time you want to call me an idiot, please take all of thirty seconds to Google "Derek Jeter Gold Glove" and check that 90% of the internet doesn't agree with me. Bye-bye, now.

Long live Derek "E6" Jeter!

I love baseball-reference. This is not news to any of you, but today, more than other days, I wanted to start a post with my appreciation of that particular site, rather than tucking a parenthesized citation into the middle of a stat-laden paragraph.

So why today of all days? Because if you went to www.baseball-reference.com earlier today, you were greeted with this fantastic chart listing the 2010 American League Gold Glove recipients:

The "We can't believe it either" has since been taken down, presumably so that they'll have space to list the National League Gold Glove shortstop tomorrow, but it was just too funny. The fact that a statistic-based website feels it is necessary to openly mock the AL GG selection should show how flawed the system has become.

Derek Jeter is not a good defensive shortstop, and he hasn't been for quite some time. Wanna know why he only made six errors this season? Jeter has no range, so the same hits that someone like Elvis Andrus knocked down but couldn’t get over to first in time just rolled right on by Captain Jetes. Errors are a fail-stat; they prove nothing.

Jeter's UZR is horrible: -4.7. He can't get to anything anymore, and all of the intangibles and calm eyes in the world aren't going to change that. I can't wait for the Yankees to sign him for the next four or so years for three or four times as much as he'd be worth on the open market. I can't wait for his skills to erode on the field before our eyes eighteen times a year. And I can't wait for the inevitable temper-tantrum "Mr. Team Player" will throw when the Yankees start to phase him out at shortstop.

"Past a diving Jeter." = music to my ears.

Don't kid yourself into thinking he'll move without drama - that is, if they can find somewhere to put him... first base, third base, and DH are pretty much covered in Yankee Stadium for the next five years. Despite a reputation for being a team-first type of guy, Jeter flat-out refused to shift to third base in 2004 when A*Rod came to town, despite the fact that Jeter was the inferior shortstop, even then.

So I'm sure he'll demand his "due respect" and stay at short for a few seasons longer than is wise. And I'll even support the additions of more Gold Glove awards to his trophy cabinet, so long as I get to see "E6" in the New York box scores for years to come.

Fenway Park Tour, 2010

This Sunday, my friend Steph and I took an impromptu trip to Boston. We thought we were going to see our college field hockey team play in the NESCAC Finals, but our athletics website had a a typo, and it turned out that they weren't playing after all.

So there we were, sitting on Tufts' campus with nothing to do. We were watching the first half of the Tufts/Bowdoin game when I remembered that I hadn't redeemed my Red Sox Nation Fenway Park tour for 2010. Steph and I promptly decided we would leave at halftime and head to Yawkey Way.

I always forget that you can park on Yawkey Way when it's not a game day...

When we arrived, there was a bigger crowd than I had initially expected, but I was okay with that. Steph had never taken a Fenway tour before (she's more of a Pats fan), and the only time I'd taken one, I had gotten the handicapped accessible version (which did allow me to see a lot of the hidden areas of the ballpark), so we were both pretty excited.

Our tour guide was an older gentleman named Steve who referred to his 2004 and 2007 World Series rings as "chick magnets," and continually made jokes about the group of Canadian Naval officers on the tour, referring to them as "the whole Canadian navy."

When we reached the first stop on the tour, the EMC Club level, we were greeted with a view of the latest renovations, this time to the right field grandstand and right field box sections:


Last year, Tom Werner, John Henry, and co. replaced the damaged cement under the left field side, as well as painting the wooden seats and fitting them with springs so they retract by themselves when you stand up. This winter, the right field sections get the same treatment: the seats have been removed so that the cement can be repaired, and they will be returned in time for Opening Day. As I'm sure you all know, Fenway Park is the oldest Major League ballpark still standing, and it also boasts the oldest seats: these same wooden ones, installed in the 1930's.

The tour then moved through the park, and we were ushered through the Red Sox Hall of Fame:


Steve was quick to share that the late, great Ted Williams is a member of several different Halls of Fame: the Red Sox HoF at Fenway, the Baseball HoF in Cooperstown, the Fly Fishing HoF in Livingston, New York, and the Marine Corps. HoF at Quantico.

The tour moved on, through the bowels of the old ballpark, and on towards the Green Monster seats.



Of course, I'm much too poor to buy those tickets, so getting up on the Monster during a tour is the only time I'll sit there. That said, it is quite a view.

The tour wrapped up over in the left field infield grandstand seats, where Steve regaled us with anecdotes about the team's and park's history. I have to admit, I was dissappointed that the organization is still perpetuating the myth that Harry Frazee financed No, No, Nanette with money from selling Babe Ruth, when it's simply not true. Sure, it's a cute story, but spreading misinformation isn't going to do anything for Sox fans' reputation for being somewhat informed.


That aside, I was happy simply to be at Fenway Park once more, since I haven't been since returning to school in August. I also won't be seeing any games until at least late May, since my study abroad program is keeping me out of the country until then, so it was definitely nice to get a chance to bid the park adieu for now.

Oh, and I made sure to yell "SIGN V-MART" in the general direction of the front office on my way out.

[All pictures in this post were taken by me (Kayla Chadwick), but can be reproduced so long as you credit me as the photographer.]

Fire Joe Morgan? Check.

That's right, Red Sox Nation. ESPN has officially parted ways with announcer Joe Morgan, whose voice assailed our ears on Sunday Night Baseball for more than two decades.

Gone are the days when we'll have to dread the Sox playing the Sunday night games for any other reason besides Monday-morning fatigue. There will be no more meandering stories about Morgan's days as a player, and, alas, not more reason for snarky Twitter users to point out that according to baseball-reference, Morgan wasn't even playing in the game he's waxing poetic about.

It is the end of an era, as ESPN has failed to renew his contract, as well as that of Jon Miller. No official word yet on who will replace them, but as long as it's not Tim McCarver, I think we'll be able to handle that.

One more year of Big Papi

As I'm sure you've heard by now, the Red Sox have acted to pick up David Ortiz's option for 2011, and will pay the slugging - and aging - designated hitter $12.5 million next season.

Now, as soon as we hit the middle of April and Papi is sitting at .145 with no homers and a single RBI, fans will be screeching that he's washed up, overpaid, and taking up valuable roster space. We all know this will happen: for one, it's happened the last two years, but he's also not getting any younger.

Ortiz would not be worth $12.5 million on the open market. Despite the fact that he was one of the few 2010 Opening Day starters who managed to stay off the disabled list, and finished the year with a .270 average, 32 home runs, and 102 RBIs, DHs aren't as valuable as they once were.

No matter what he might tell you, David Ortiz cannot be an everyday first baseman, and so he must play in the American League. Most teams with a choice these days opt to keep the DH spot open to rotate in their aging or injured players when they need some rest, and so full-time DHs are not in particularly high demand.

However, this is be now means a bad decision from the Red Sox' point of view, as it prevents them from having to commit to him for more years, as they certainly would have had to do if they wanted him to take a pay cut. It is very likely that 2011 will be a farewell tour for Papi, unless there's some sort of 2006 revival, and/or witchcraft.

To be perfectly honest, I think this is for the best. David deserves to have a farewell tour that showcases him before the inevitable decline intensifies. Hopefully, after this year, the two can part ways amicably: Papi will retire with dignity, and the Sox will bid him farewell in a classy manner. This is unlikely, because baseball players, as a rule, keep playing long after they're particularly productive. But hey, a girl can dream, right? And you know me... I'm always dreaming of baseball.

Kevin Youkilis talks 2010 and beyond

"I try to be unique."

Gee, thanks.

2010 World Series, in Tweets

So that's it. The World Series is over, and it's taking baseball with it. The Giants are world champs, and while I was rooting for the Rangers, I can handle this result. I could tell you my thoughts on the matter, but I think it's more interesting to get the reactions of others, so here are some of the tweets that made the round last evening:
















As always, if you are the author of any of these tweets, and would like yours removed, contact me and I will be happy to oblige.