Discussing the place that profanity has in sports

I am not even talking about racism or homophobia. I am talking about simple, common profanity in sports and how it offends and turns away potential fans and makes light of a part of American vocabulary that should only be used in very select situations. Throughout the wide array professional and recreational sporting leagues set forth in our country, there are words said “in the heat of the moment,” that would otherwise be frowned upon. Those words are at once tabooed and widely used aspects of Americanized English, the line between where they can be used and where they are most offensive is hard to draw. But regardless the field in which such profanity is used the most publically is that that takes place on the field. Whether it be hockey, football, basketball or baseball, trash talking and curse words are thrown around nearly as much as the ball or puck. Their constant repetition makes them seem like crucial parts of the games. But after all, what would sports be without profanity? Would they really be that much worse? Would they be at all worse in fact?

Recently, a local street hockey league set up in Hudson Massachusetts set forth new rules regarding the use of profanity in its games. The league, which divides its 100+ players up into four age categories had seen an uptick in profane language in its top two age groups in the past few years. The uptick was shocking enough to solicit anger from parents and an eventual amendment to the rule book that set forth a “three strike system” for discipline regarding profanity. The first time the referee spoke to a player about swearing, they would be given a 1 minute minor penalty. The second time, the player would be ejected from the game and suspended for the ensuing one as well. On the third offence, the player would be expelled from the current season and forbidden from competing in the next one. This league was not kidding around.

Making rules like these are important because unfortunately, many members of society make it seem like it is “cool” to swear. For many, the only thing that keeps them in check is parental bans on swearing. But how effective are those bans when a child is allowed to swear so angrily in a sporting event? When referees let 14, 13 and even 12 year olds curse at each other or themselves when they miss a pass, a shot or a catch; they devalue self-control that keeps someone from swearing to a teacher, a parent, a boss, etc. Furthermore for student athletes that treat sports as one of the biggest parts of their lives, being allowed to swear by a referee or coach makes those parental and teacher mandated bans on profanity seem like afterthoughts.

But why is this a problem? Why are 12 year olds swearing so much that a tiny street hockey league has to institute these groundbreaking rules? Those facts are strange and hard to comprehend but not impossible to understand. Obviously due to movies, television and social media, swearing has been slowly glorified and made mainstream even for toddlers and elementary students. You see Facebook memes of a new born accidently extending his middle finger or laugh when America’s Funniest Home Videos shows a bleeped out version of some adorable voiced 2 year old cursing at something. People laugh at these things and share them. Sometimes they slip letting younger and younger people hear words that they should not know. And thus you are given a youth population who know what an a** is before they know what a verb is.

But beyond the multimedia distribution of profane vocabulary to all, the sports loving children are taught curse words by the sports figures they idolize and the sports stories and videos they read and watch. When those sports figures swear they are celebrated and showered in phrases like “oh my god, I can’t believe he/she just said that, he/she’s so cool.” Younger children see that and take that as a license to do the same in their own games. After all, they just want to be like their idol, right?

So it is shown how, while it is generally more okay for adults to swear, but still, when those adults are role models to 7 year olds the words they say have only that much more impact due to their importance to the fan. 

As a result the debate is open regarding whether or not spots players should have to eliminate swearing from their vocabularies just because some 1^stgraders are going to hear? The answer to that one is simple. These players are paid 10 million dollars per year to do what they love. They ought to simply just embrace the idea that the title “role model” goes hand in hand with the title “professional athlete.” But at the same time, there remain moments where, though detrimental to the youth population’s innocence, sparkly placed profanity memorializes a moment worth remembering.

One of the strongest, most controversial examples of that occurring took place in the first Red Sox home game following the Boston Marathon Bombings. David Ortiz took the microphone during a pregame ceremony and, at the conclusion of his speech about local pride and resilience belted out the words “this is our f*****g city! And nobody is going to take away our freedom!” The moment was highly controversial. It was defended by people saying that he spoke of a hard time using dramatic words that called attention to his closing statement. At the same time though it was attacked and slandered by those who pointed to the fact that he swore on live television. They said that no matter the situation profanity is not okay.

 After all is it? Again I am not talking about slurs. I am simply looking at the use of profane, exclamatory words in the run of play or on the bench. I am talking about words whose usage is defended by the claim that they were “said in the moment”. I am talking about words that stick in the minds of 7 year olds and suddenly flood out when they miss a pass in a 12 year old’s divisional game. 

These words are bad, they sound wrong and strange coming out of a 6^th grader’s mouth.

So how do we keep rules like the ones made in the recreational street hockey league from being needed? We get sports players to stop swearing in press conferences, we get them to stop swearing in speeches but we compromise and let them keep the foul mouthed speech on the ice. Honestly, these players must find a happy medium in which they recognize their freedom to get caught up in a physical game and express anger while also understanding that children are watching and they will hear the words they scream into a microphone. 

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Red Sox wreck Jays in possible season changing win: 14-1 final

Let me just throw some of these numbers out for you. Four RBI's and a home run for Stephan Drew, two long balls for David Ortiz, 3 hits each for Xander Bogarts and Mike Napoli, and above all, 14 runs for the previously offensively challenged Boston Red Sox. 

After the Red Sox closed out the first half with an abysmal last few weeks, the team has come out of the break with something to prove. In winning all four games since the break, the Sox have combined to score 27 runs. That statistic is a huge improvement upon the pathetic numbers turned out by the same players in the first half of the season. 

Regardless though, Monday was just that much better than even the three games before that that took place on it. 

Beginning early, the Sox chased Jays starter, Drew Hutchinson from the game after he recorded just 8 outs against them. In just that two and two thirds inning span of time though, the Sox were able to nurse 9 hits, a home run and 6 scores out of the under matched Hutchinson. A true measure of the Sox easy exploitation of Hutchinson's incapability to throw a ball past the Sox bats was thus: in less than 3 innings, Boston sent 17 batters to the plate forcing a total of 68 pitches by Hutchinson. When he was finally pulled in the third inning it evoked that feeling among Red Sox fans that went somewhere along the lines of "oh come on leave him in, we were having ALOT of fun!" For Jays fans, it was merciful none the less. 

But as the game resumed, things prove to get no better for the Jays and thus, no worse for the Red Sox. After Brad Mills managed to draw Christian Vasquez into a fly out situation, John Lackey worked past back to back doubles given up to start the bottom half of the 3rd inning with just one run against his name. Over the course of the night, things like this were commonplace for Lackey who though lackluster at some points (only three strikeouts) more than made up for such shortcomings by walking nobody and allowing just 1 earned run.

Therefore, with their defense playing a strong game, the bats came out even harder in the middle innings than they had in the first 3. After Brock Holt hit a lead-off double, David Ortiz came in to rake a 4th inning two run home run deep into straightaway center field. By that point the Red Sox held a whopping 8-1 lead over the sputtering Blue Jays and the game seemed out of reach. 

The weight of these statements were amplified one inning later when Boston nearly doubled its lead. Rattling off 5 straight hits to lead off the 5th inning, the Sox sent their power trio of, Dustin Pedroia, Ortiz and Mike Napoli to the plate having already scored 3 times in the inning. That should have been enough. But no, like that one really great kid in the youth soccer leagues, the Sox continued to shell the outfield stands with souvenirs. With a runner on at second base, Ortiz cracked his second home run in as many innings. Napoli made it double when he came up next in the order, placing his 12th home run of the season just over the right field wall. Reliever Brad Mills was pulled following the back to back homes runs and left the game having allowed 8 runs. Finally the Sox quit their bombardment notching just 2 more hits before the end of the game. 

Nonetheless, when they walked off the field Monday night, the Red Sox did so knowing that they had played their best ball of the year in the game. They plated 14 runners and tallied 18 hits. They chewed through a substantial chunk of the Rays pitching staff and drew within 5 games of .500 for the first time since May. 

Overall, the team was buzzing after the game.

"We're getting good offensive approaches over the past 10 games or so," said Red Sox manager John Farrell. "There's been good energy throughout and when David [Ortiz] is doing what he's capable of, it's the hub of what our offensive is."

John Lackey admired the ease with which the team scored and won Monday as well.

 "The guys swung the bats great tonight. it was a fun night, kind of fun to have them every now and then. The season can be a grind at times and it's nice to have a little fun," Lackey said. "The way they were swinging, I was trying to get quick outs and get our guys back in there, keep them in a rhythm."

Overall, this win was convincing. It proved that the Sox still have the DNA within them that won the World Series last year. As of now, they sit in 4th place in the AL East 7.5 games out of first and 6 out of the second wild card. The hole is deep but with 63 games left to dig out of it, so is the mountain of possibilities. 

Who knows, the Boston Red Sox could surprise us once again.

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The difference between Bobby Valentine and John Farrell: Incumbant Sox manager manages morale, will not let team quit on 2014

As of now, the Red Sox are on pace to have a record of 73 and 89 come season's end. If that actually happens, the Sox will almost surely finish in the bottom half of the division missing the playoffs and unfortunately assuring fans that their 2013 season of drama and magic took a perfect storm of luck to pull off and may never be repeated with the same group. However, in a season that as of now (I urge you not to give up on them just yet) is just a few wins better than the famed 2012 season, the media perception and public opinion as it pertains to this team is slightly different. Guys who were not catching as much flack back then such as Dustin Pedroia or David Ortiz are getting crushed by the media while some guys like John Lackey who were absolutely hated that year are praised as lonely bright in the dark listless night that is this 2014 Red Sox team.  

                    

But while those differences are noticeable they are nothing compared to the differences in hatred directed at those filling the managerial positions in these two different seasons.

After the Sox September collapse in 2011 resulted in the firing of manager Terry Francona and resignation of Theo Epsteen as GM, the Sox appointed Ben Cherrington as their new GM and Cherrington soon hired former Rangers and Mets manager Bobby Valentine as manager of the club. As Sox fans soon learned, Valentine was a flamboyant manager who lacked a backbone much less any control over his team. Though there were no calls similar in badness to the chicken and beer scandal of 2011, there was anger in the clubhouse that spiraled into general bad mouthing of the team from within. There was a blatant hatred of Valentine by players like Dustin Pedroia and a two way feud that exploded mid-season between Kevin Youkolis and Valentine.  The battle between the manager and his 3rd basemen ultimately resulted in Youkolis' being traded to the White Sox. By the time Kevin was sent packing on June 24th, 2012, the Sox were actually above 500 in the winning percentage column and Valentine was still yet to hit rock bottom. Nevertheless he was still hated in Red Sox nation.  

But rock bottom did eventually come. In late August of the 2012 season, with his team teetering on the line of mathematical elimination, Bobby V had some choice words for WEEI's Glen Ordway when the host asked him on LIVE radio if he had checked out on the season. 

"What an embarrassing thing to say," said Valentine. "If I were there right now, I'd punch you right in the mouth. Ha. How's that sound? Is that like I checked out? What an embarrassing thing."  

Over the next 5 minutes, Ordway and fellow host Michael Holley shot back at Valentine who continued to spout excuses, diminish the skill of his team and punctuate the true idiocy of his reign as the head honcho of one of the most famous franchises in sports. 

Because of his inability to interact with the media, to motivate his team and to put in the hours needed to prepare for a professional baseball game, Bobby Valentine was fired within 24 hours of the conclusion of the season. His replacement was a welcome breath of fresh air into a Red Sox nation still stunned by the disaster that was 2012. 

Since he was signed on October 20th, 2012, John Farrell has managed his starting pitchers and bull pen personal with a level of precision that is almost artistic. Though he never had much expertise in regards to batting (Farrell was a pitching coach in Toronto), it was he who put together the gritty middle part of the lineup in David Ortiz and Mike Napoli that at least in 2013 worked wonders for Boston's run production. But as many would wisely point out, many of the managerial decisions that Farrell has implicated this season have not worked nearly as well as they did last season. However, one Farrell quality that has carried over from last season to the present one is the professionalism practiced in the clubhouse. 

Farrell fosters camaraderie and team accountability. But at the same time, when his team messes up, he stands by them, trusting the guys he pays and trying to remedy a problem using tools he already has. In the worst and best of times, Farrell works the morale of his team using diagnostic comments to the team and a scrupulous ethic regarding what he says and does not say to the media. 

As 2014 begins to look like a lost season, we begin to see the real makeup of the manager the Red Sox signed 2 seasons ago. We see that he is a smart man lacking the arrogance of his predecessor and worshiping the codes of baseball both written and unwritten. He stands by his team, never makes excuses and keeps his head on straight in even the worst of times.  

If the Red Sox do not turn things around in the second half of the season there will be huge questions asked about what went wrong. It will be easy to blame the manager because unfortunately, that is simply what happens in baseball. But hear me out, John Farrell is not to blame for this 2014 debacle. In fact, as bad as things are right now, Farrell is the kind of guy who could turn things around and get this team to sneak into the wild card game. Why? Because unlike Valentine in 2012, he will make sure his team does let their mindset eliminate them, before the math does. 

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Red Sox and Rays start playing dodge-ball at Fenway: Umpires lose control in game where benches clear and 3 batters hit

Last year when Ryan Depster drilled Alex Rodrigiuez with a pitch, it was a bit of a revival of the nasty bench clearing brawls we saw between Boston and New York back in the early 2000's. However, when the Red Sox and Rays brawled on May 25th and then followed it up with an even rougher game 5 days later, that pegging of A-Rod suddenly looked petty.

The game started with fire. With 2 outs in the first inning, David Ortiz walked to the plate and stood in against former Cy Young winner, David Price. Price proceeded to drill a 95MPH fastball right into the Sox slugger's spine. Immediately, home plate umpire Jeff Kellog emphatically warned Price, the Rays bench as well as the Red Sox bench and Ortiz ferociously stared down Price as he began his trot towards first. 

But the fun was not done, even for that inning. As Ortiz finished delivering his death stare to David Price, John Farrell emerged from the dugout and began barking at a crowd of umpired between home plate and the pitcher’s mound. Before Farrell said anything though, he was ejected and we had ourselves yet another vicious baseball game. As the game dragged on though, Price proved that he seemed to be on a mission to turn this baseball game into a dodge-ball game. With 2 outs in the 4th inning, Price pegged Mike Carp with another 90MPH+ fastball and drew both teams out of their dugouts. Immediately, David Ortiz jumped into the scrum and began screaming and shoving Jose Molina in an attempt to get at Price. Also erupting during the fight was Rays bench-warmer Sean Rodriguez who despite being on the other side of the pile than the Red Sox was absolutely fuming. And yet as the umpires convened again, Price was not tossed. Acting manager Torey Lovullo however came out, got ejected after he spiked his cap and then started screaming at the officials of this game. Probably for good reason, the Red Sox got absolutely whacked by the umpires Friday night in Boston and nobody was happy. 

But anyway, with Lovullo gone, the Sox moved on to their 3rd  manager of the night: Brian Butterfeild. Miraculously, we made it to the 6th inning before anything more developed. With 1 out and 1 ball thrown to Evan Longoria in the 6th, Brandon Workman chucked a rising fastball behind and about 2 feet ABOVE Longoria. The pitch was without a doubt at least a bad attempt at a bean-ball and finally, the umpires recognized that. Workman and Butterfeild were both sent packing and suddenly we ended up with hitting coach Greg Coulbern acting as Boston's 4th manager of the night.

Coulbern would manage for all 5 innings between the Workman debacle and AJ Pierzynski's walk off triple in the 10th inning. But after dotting their opponents with baseball sized bruises and screaming copious amounts of profanity, the Sox and Rays took to the microphones after the game to further attack one another. One of the most blatant of this verbal attacks was made against David Price by David Ortiz. 

"It's a war," Ortiz said after the Red Sox victory, "It's on. Next time I see him, he better put his gloves on. I have no respect for him anymore."

Ortiz also eluded to the fact that Price may still be angry about last year’s wild card round when Ortiz shredded him with multiple home runs. He hinted that Price's lingering hatred is a sign of bad sportsmanship.

"I had a lot of respect for the guy, man," he said. "It is over now. I have no more respect for him. Last year, we kicked his butt in the playoffs and he went off talking crap about everyone. We go to talk on the phone after we kind of straightened things out. He was upset, and then I let him know how I felt. Later on he called me and apologized because he knew he was wrong. Everything was cool, so the first at-bat of the season against him, he drills me." 

John Farrell then came to the podium and cast a heavy eye on the umpires for allowing Price to stay in the game after the Ortiz bean-ball. 

"David's a heckuva pitcher," Farrell said regarding Price. "He comes in with two hit batters and eight walks on the year. He's got the lowest walk rate in the American League. And when he throws a ball and hits David Ortiz in the back, there is intent to that. They can dispute that all they want. There is intent to that pitch. As emphatic as Dan Bellino's warning was, it sure seemed like Dan Bellino felt there was intent as well."

He then started talking about how in the world Price survived the Mike Carp hit batter incident 3 innings later. Farrell obviously disagreed with the umpires' handling of the warning system and why a second warning was not issued after Carp was hit. 

"I disagreed with it," Farrell continued. "He took the ball out of our hand, and after [Red Sox first baseman] Mike Carp got hit with a ball up around his neck and they didn't make a move, then the umpires allowed this game to escalate even further. When we have four people ejected and also three players hit by pitches and they have none, that's a hard one to figure out," Farrell said. "He threw at Ortiz and hit him in the back. There's intent to that."

Umpire Dan Bellino defended his decision in the Carp incident while not speaking directly to the Ortiz handling.

"Again, if we feel there was intent to hit the batter, he would have been ejected," Bellino said of Price after the game. "We felt the pitch was certainly inside, but not intentional, so that's why he stayed in the game."

All and all, Friday night was a dark night for the umpiring universe. In a game with bean-balls galore, post-game comments of great foreboding nature, 4 umpires let a game get out of control and possibly set the stage for Ortiz's little feud with David Price to turn into the war he declared against him. 

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Sox spinning out of control: With the roster pretty much identical to that of 2013, this years Red Sox are a team obliterated by inexcusable deficiencies

After the Boston Red Sox went 69 and 93 in 2012, a reworked coaching staff and front office gave up on many of the younger players it was trying to develop and replaced them with a cast of characters who at best had 5 years left in the league.

Their desperate reinvention of the Boston Red Sox job description earned the team a historic turnaround that spawned an AL East division title, a tie for the best record in baseball and in the end, a 3rd World Series in the past 10 years. After such excellence, the Sox locked down stars like Shane Victorino, Mike Napoli and Johnny Gomes and penciled that cast of 2013 Sox in as a team that could earn them additional championships in the coming years. In fact, the only actual major loss the Sox suffered during the summer was that of Jacoby Ellsbury but even that was not to huge a loss because unlike years before, the combination of Shane Victorino and Xander Bogaerts meant that Ellsbury was not the only Boston base runner capable of reaching incendiary speeds.

But if someone was not familiar with last years Red Sox watched the first 2 months of this season, the expected impression of the team would not be an accurate representation of this team. Simply speaking, the Red Sox do not look like defending champions. With a win/loss record of 20-26, the Sox are playing like a team that has either been bad for a decade or has just lost all of their star players in the most catastrophic of ways.

But that is not the case. So as we examine, the 26 losses the Sox have suffered this year and even more so the 7 straight they have lost since May 15th, what do we see? Well first of all, we see a Boston defense that has been downright pathetic in comparison to last years immaculate, error less play. One of the biggest problems on the defense has been the Boston pitching. After a bizarre off-season of bargaining and taking huge salary cuts, Boston's ace, Jon Lester, has been nothing like he was post all-star game last year. Beyond him, the shaky invalid that is Clay Buchholz has played straight up horrible in 2014 earning just 2 wins out of 9 games. In those 9 games Buchholz has allowed 71 hits. By comparison, in 16 games the year before, he allowed 75. The average of close to 8 hits per game has translated to a ERA of 6.32 for Clay Buchholz and in turn one of the worst seasons by a Red Sox pitcher in years.

Beyond the lack of pitching prowus, the Sox bats have been in hibernation all year long. They have whacked just 185 runs in 46 games which translates out to a pathetic runs-per-game average of just over 4.0. Furthermore, players like David Ortiz and Mike Napoli have lacked power and clutch hitting. Ortiz has drove in just 25 runs while Mike Napoli has driven in just 22. With strikeouts running rampant throughout the Sox lineup and the absolute meat of the batting order failing to produce in the most clutch situations games have been lost when they should have been won and runners have been left on base in 8th or 9th inning situations where they absolutely had to score.

"We're in a stretch of games here where we're giving up too many runs early and we're scuffling to score runs," John Farrell said. "That's a dangerous combination right now."

As for the pitching, after Jon Lester allowed 7 runs in the first two innings of the team's most recent game, Lester was highly critical of his season and his style. 

"I've got to do a better job in the second inning minimizing damage," Lester said. "A ball that gets chopped off the plate, if it's hit a little harder, we get an out, maybe two, but that's neither here nor there. I've got to flat do a better job in that second inning of minimizing damage and do a better job of getting these guys back in the dugout, especially after that first inning when we put up one and we're trying to keep a little bit of momentum on our side, and I flat-out didn't do it."

No matter how you look at it, this years Red Sox team is playing terrible. After flopping in every majior category in the first quarter of the season, questions have begun to appear in regards to the true identity of this team. Are its players, namely Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino superstars or spotlight hungry has-been's? Is this team capable of winning again? And finally, was 2013 a fluke?

It is not my job to answer these questions. It is the job of the Red Sox and they better get started on answering these questions. 

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Thoughts on error call that preserves Yu Darvish no hitter against Red Sox: Official scorer is only partially at fault

Yu Darvish has played in the MLB for 3 seasons. In those 3 seasons he has now twice carried a no hitter right down to the final out of the 9th inning and lost it. The most recent of those 2 almost no hitters occurred Friday night against the Red Sox. But this one was different. 

As good as Darvish was striking out 12 batters and maintaining control through a gargantuan workload of 126 pitches, many believe that the no hit bid should not have lasted to the 9th inning. In the court of public opinion, the no hit bid should have ended with Darvish's perfect game bid; in the 7th inning when a botched play on an Ortiz fly ball  was ruled an error rather than a hit.  

At that point, Darvish was on fire as he had mowed down each of the first 20 Red Sox who came to the plate. To that point he had kept his pitch count low and had logged 10 strikeouts and was pitching one of the best games of his career. To those watching this game, the play of Darvish did not look like some lucky fluke. This was a guy who knew what he was doing. He was playing the right mind games, making the right pitches and simply harnessing that little bit intangible magic that a pitcher needs to be as close to perfect as it takes to hurl a perfect game or no hitter. But then David Ortiz came to the plate and reminded the baseball world that he is ALWAYS ready to hit the baseball. 

With 2 outs and a favorable 3-1 count to the Red Sox DH, Darvish left a 93 MPH fastball over the middle of the plate. Though Ortiz did not hit the ball perfectly, he got some serious air under it and lofted a high fly ball out into shallow right centerfield. After right feilder, Alex Rios, called off 2nd basemen, Rougned Odor, he failed to actually pursue the ball. Odor noticed this at the last moment and upon doing so launched himself towards the falling ball. He failed to catch it though meaning that right then and there the perfect game was gone. But what was still up in the air was a debate as to whether or not the play would be ruled an error or a hit. If it was ruled an error than Darvish would still have a no hitter going. If it was not ruled an error than David Ortiz would be given a hit and Darvish would likely have left the game with a far less prestigious 7 to 8 inning 1 hit outing. 

So who was to make this weighted decision? According to MLB regulations that role would be filled by the official scorer of the game. In this case that was Steve Weller who was watching the play from the scorers booth behind home plate. In his time of confusion he went to the MLB rule book where he reread rule 10.12a1. It states that "a fly ball that lands -- that's allowed to hit the ground, that in the judgment of the official scorer under normal effort could be caught -- you're to award an error on the play."

Weller decided that either Rios or Odor should have made the catch and so he ruled an error on the play. But it took a while. For over a minute, fans watched the scoreboard while Weller said he actually called the Elias Sports Bureau to get their opinion on the call. He said they concurred with his judgment and so he punched the play in as an error. 

"My feeling was Rios called him off and he made a last-ditch effort. I felt Rios had an easier play coming in,'' 

Even Rios did not necessarily agree with the call. He said that he had once experienced a very similar play that had been ruled a hit and fully expected this one to be no different. 

David Ortiz was more decisive in his judgment of the call. 

"I know I hit a ball that was supposed to be caught," Ortiz said. "The guy is throwing a no-hitter. We all understand, but when it comes down to the rules of the game, that's a hit. That's the rule that we all know and that's the rules that the game had for more than 100 years."

He also said he did not care that the play could have broken up the no hitter. He just wanted to be credited with a hit. 

"They have to [overturn the ruling], otherwise they are going to have to fix some s--- up. I wouldn't have minded if the guy was throwing a no-hitter. I wouldn't have minded, to be honest with you."

You see David Ortiz has something going with that comment. It should not matter that the play broke up a no hitter. Furthermore, there is even a case to be made that a team should not supply the official scorer simply because of the fact that in baseball you "root, root, root for the home team". I would not go so far to accuse Steve Weller of giving into home town bias but I definitely think that he allowed the magnitude of the play to influence his decision. 

Lucky for Weller though, the no hitter was eventually broken up by Ortiz with 2 outs in the 9th and he is not facing nearly as much scrutiny as he would be if Darvish was able to finish off the no-no. 

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That's more like it: After a so-so month of April the Red Sox are finally at .500 gain...and they are only getting better

For the first time in almost a month, the Boston Red Sox have the same number of wins as they have losses. After an April of shortcomings where lack of run production coupled with inaccuracy and lack of stamina on the part of the team's pitching, the past week or so of games have whispered that May would not follow the same template. 

In their first 7 games of April, the Sox have gone 4 and 3, twice dragging games out past the end of the 9th inning and on three occasions did they amass more than 5 runs in a game. Perhaps the most stunning display of offensive power at least came in the team's series with Oakland.  In the 3rd game of the month back on May 3rd, the Sox sent a shaky Clay Buchholz to the mound against an equally shaky Oakland team devoid of any bullpen talent.   

After Buchholz retired the first 6 of 7 batters he faced, the former Sox stud ran into trouble in the 3rd and 4th innings but did not completely loose it as the Sox were able to not only stay in the game but, through 3 innings hold onto a 2-1 lead. Over the course of the next 3 innings, the Red Sox sank, all be it briefly, back into their pattern of leaving runners in scoring position. Between the 3rd and 6th innings, 4 Red Sox reached base. None of them scored.  But all was made better in the 6th inning when, with the bases loaded, Sox 2nd basemen, Dustin Pedroia, smacked his first home run of the year effectively putting the game out of reach for the Athletics. In true irony, the homer was Pedey's 100th of his career and it lofted him up into an esteemed club of Sox players with 100 homes runs and 100 stolen bases. 

"That's a moment I'll always remember -- being on base as he hit his 100th, and it also being his 500th RBI," said Sox centerfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. "That was special. After a tough day yesterday, to come back out the way we did today, play the ball we were capable of, it feels good." 

The game was immediately hailed as a revival of the Red Sox ideals and the mantra of play that they have won with such proficiency and dominance. Little did those who were labeling the game as such know but less than 24 hours later, the Red Sox would duplicate their feat once again. In the middle game of the 3 game set with the A's, home runs by David Ortiz and David Ross coupled with a first inning grand slam by Johnny Gomes helped seal the series victory while almost overshadowing one of the greatest games in Jon Lester's career. The Sox southpaw pitched 8 innings of 1 his baseball walking 2 batters and shutting out A's for the entity of his time in the game. But all of those stats are rendered mute by the historic number sitting in the strikeout column. Out of the 26 batters Jon Lester faced, he struck out 15 of them. To put that in perspective that is a whopping strikeout percentage of 57%. 

Sox manager John Farrell was impressed.

"Just the combination of power and command was impressive," said Farrell. "He was locked in seemingly from the first pitch of the game. He maintained his stuff throughout -- four pitches for strikes, and three of those on both sides of the plate. So he was in command from the start." 

Though the home field dominance would end momentarily in the rubber match of the series with Oakland, the Sox got things back together in dramatic fashion against the Reds at the midpoint of this past week. In the team’s longest game of the year, the Sox and Reds battled it out for 12 innings. The length of the game was mainly prolonged by stunning defensive work by Dustin Pedroia and Shane Victorino who were constantly diving around for balls that seemed like sure base hits fresh off the bat. 

Perhaps the most stunning of these plays was made by Victorino in the top of the 9th inning. With the game tied Tucker Banhart got behind a fastball from Koji Uehara and lifted it high and deep to right field. In true loyalty to his nickname, the Flyin Hawiian tracked the ball down and hauled it in before it left the yard.

"If there's anything that's going to stay in the ballpark, there's always confidence that Vic is going to get under it," said manager John Farrell. "Barnhart puts a good swing on a ball off of Koji [Uehara], but Vic seemingly is all over the field on defense."

Unfortunately for Boston, the Reds matched them when they were on defense and the game remained tied.

However the stalemate was finally ended in the final minutes of May 6th when Sox newcomer Grady Seizemore crushed a hard line drive off the left-center-field wall, scoring Dustin Pedroia from 3rd and ending the game on a high note. 

                                                                      

I was pretty psyched," said Sizemore. "It was a good feeling. I try not to get too emotional out there, try to keep it on the same level, but right there, I let it out a little bit." Seizemore in particular has been one of the most impressive bright spots in Boston sports right now. After he was signed as an afterthought during the off season, the former all-star made his first appearance since 2011 as the opening day starter for the defending World Series Champions back in April for the Sox. Since then he has exhibited truly magical drive for victory and statistical success. The walk off single was just a culmination of that. 

"He has been doing great," said David Ortiz. "He's not out there every day, but every time he is, he does something special. I think as the season goes, you start getting more confident and more comfortable and things start getting better, especially in a player like him."

It seemed the only bad part of the late game on Tuesday was the fact that the Sox had to play again the next day in the rubber match of the series on Wednesday. Though they started slow however, all would end well in that game as Boston rallied in the 8th inning to grind out yet another 1 run victory. 

As bad as April was for this team that is expected to challenge for the AL East crown come September, May has shown the true identity of the Boston Red Sox. Once again they are a gritty team with an omnipresent obsession with professionalism and camaraderie.

The only thing different between the 2013 Sox and the May 2014 Red Sox is the fact that there are a few less beards on the bench. 

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One Year Later: The evolution of 'This is Our City"

David Ortiz stands at the center of Boston sports. He stands at Fenway Park, microphone in hand as the 30,000+ fans packed into the stands await whatever words of condolence or uplift he has prepared.

It turns out he has prepared none and yet here he stands, preparing to play in his first game since a freak achilles injury the year before with this microphone in his hand and a city on his shoulders. Less than 5 days earlier, that city upon his shoulders had been attacked by two men with a kind of hate in their minds we hate to admits exists and at that very moment, less than 1 mile and a half away, yellow tape blocked off Copley Square and broken glass and disheveled barricades littered the Square’s sidewalks.

And so as David Ortiz prepared to speak that day, no one expected or even wanted him to say this it was all alright. What we wanted, what we were given was an emotionally charged battle cry that said to this city, those vile monsters who bombed us and the entire world that we were Boston Strong.

“Alright Boston,” he said pausing “this jersey that we wear today, it don’t say Red Sox, it say Boston.” He paused again, contemplating what to say next “We want to thank you mayor Menino, governor Patrick, the whole police department for the great job they did this past week.” With one final pause, the camera on NESN’s broadcast of the game panned over to the line of officials standing beside Ortiz. But the focus soon returned to him.

“This is our f***** city and nobody is goanna dictate our freedom, stay strong” He boomed slamming his first to the sky and walking off to a booming echo of strength and power that never left the hearts of Bostonians.

The speech took 51 seconds and yet is was the turning point in the story surrounding the Marathon Bombing. On that day, one of the suspects in the bombing has been killed while the other had been arrested. Our plight our fear had been ended and as we cheered in delight as that man, David Ortiz, screamed the most famous F-Bomb in Red Sox history to his city we proved to ourselves, to the world that we were strong.

And Ortiz was never punished for swearing on national television. He should not have been punished because he really did speak from the heart with that phrase. And yet he prepared nothing.

It was reported by Boston sports writer Gordan Edes Ortiz said in the dugout prior to the speech “The boy they killed was 8, my boy is 8”.

Ortiz of course was talking about Martin Richard who became a martyr for peace after he was brutally killed by the second of the 2 bombs.

So was that the inspiration. Maybe. You see, this speech was something not said out of anger, it had fear, understanding that 3 people who were far too young were killed by this bombing and all of it was intentional.

During all the pauses he took during his speech, Ortiz was thinking, going over in his mind the words he was about to say as he knew that he needed them to be perfect. And they were.

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We do it for the money: Thoughts on David Ortiz's taking money from Samsung in exchange for yesterday's selfie with the President

Selfie-gate? 

Sorry, I admit that was a bad pun that needed to be made but anyway, just 1 day after making their season debut in Baltimore on Monday, the World Series Champion Red Sox made the customary trip to the White-house to be congratulated by the President of the United States. 

While going into the visit, the big story was that speculating weather or not we would see a repeat of the Manny Ramirez or Tim Thomas no shows in 2007 and 2011 that Boston sports has generated by these meetings with the Commander and Cheif, a "spontaneous" selfie alongside the president posted on David Ortiz's Facebook page soon stole the show. 

At first people just smiled at the picture laughing at "the state of technology" but by this morning, it was said that the selfie had been no ware near as spontaneous as people thought. As it turns out, David Ortiz picked up a promotional contract in exchange for his taking the selfie. The deal was worth an undisclosed amount of money but was handed to the superstar DH from Samsung, his telephone provider. 

In a statement made through ABCNews.com, Samsung said "We have a relationship with David and the Red Sox. We partner with people who have like-minded values and fit with who we are as a brand," 

The photo sure got plenty of attention (all be it, not so many people actually knew the name of the phone which was out of the picture) as on top of the some 600,000 Ortiz followers it was sent out to, the photo was re-tweeted 39,577 times while being favorited 45,989 times.

As for the other people in the photo, most notably, John Farrell, Shane Victorino and Koji Uehara, none of them knew about Ortiz's plans. 

"At the time I didn't know it," Farrell said on the Boston sports radio station WEEI. "No one can get closer to the president [than Ortiz was]. When David was on stage and kind of put his arm around [Obama] and put up a phone, it was only a moment that David Ortiz could seemingly pull off. I read about it this morning that this was maybe a little brought along by Samsung. ... That didn't take away from a pretty special day."

All and all, there is no reason to get all bent out of shape over a money hoarding superstar doing what he has grown to do (sorry David but after this off-season and all the antics it involved, you are a money hoarding superstar) so therefore, this situation seems to look more like one made to seem ridiculous by a story starved media than anything else. 

My opinion on all this is simple: come on people, it’s time for the home opener, this is absolutely nothing. 

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Cursing at Boston not for Boston: David Ortiz's comments about his contract and those to critisize them are beginning to feel like betrayal

After taking his city on his back last season, David Ortiz assembled one of the best statistical campaigns of his career. Just a few months after that campaign ended with Ortiz' hitting .684 in the World Series and winning the title of series MVP, he has asked the team to extend his current contract an additional year. 

Yet as we are now more than a few weeks removed from the start of this debacle that has since spilled into a spot where it is a major talking point down in spring training, it really is getting old. To give some background, David Ortiz was first signed to the Red Sox back in January of 2003. It would be 8 years in which the Red Sox spent upwards of 80 million dollars before the subject of Papi's contract ever came up again. 

But unfortunately for the Red Sox front office, something changed prior to that 2012 season in which that 8 year span of complacency ran out. Ortiz had since blossomed into a role as one of the best designated hitters in the game and had cemented a spot for himself within the middle portion of the Red Sox batting order. On a nearly annual basis, Ortiz had come up all aces at just the right time for his team as all and all, the 15 postseason home runs hit in his first 8 years with Boston tell the whole story. 

He was granted free agency for the first time as a Red Sox following the 2011 season.

While it took less than a month for the Red Sox to recognize that resign their star DH, Ortiz was sort of like a little kid, learning that with a little well placed whining he could goose a few extra years and an extra million dollars here or there out of this team that had nurtured him to his current spot as a hall of fame caliber DH.  

They added 2 million dollars to his 2012 salary but only inked 1 year of that contract. That meant that 1 year later, even after seeing his season ended prematurely due to a bizarre achilles injury, Ortiz was whining again and this time, the Red Sox gave in not to his desire for more money but this time to his desire for more years. Ortiz signed a 2 year 29 million dollar contract where the second year was labeled as a club option to either retain or drop him. Once again Ortiz seemed satisfied with the deal and yet, as we go into that 2nd year of the deal once again he is vocal. 

While the Red Sox not invoking the club option is not something that has ever been considered, Ortiz who will turn 39 shortly after this season has good reason to begin to worry about his future as a ball player. Even in baseball where players generally have the capabilities to play a bit longer than they would in other sports, 39 years is pretty old. Additionally, if you look at this Red Sox roster, they are not a team devoid of power. Mike Napoli crushed 28 home runs last year and fell just 8 RBI's short of 100. Johnny Gomes led the league in pinch hit home runs and at 6-1, 230 pounds he is certainly a man who could develop into a prime power threat. Ortiz knows that if he suddenly hits say 15 home runs and bats in 60 scores, he will not be getting resigned and will likely be forced into retirement.  

Why retirement you may say. Well the fact of the matter is that 40 years after it was first instated, the value of the DH has decreased. In this day and age, the position is used more as a half day off for players than an actual weapon in a batting order. Though we have been spoiled since 2003 when Papi came to town, it is not unusual for a DH to bat sub .200 and hit single digit home runs. For reasons like these, much of the American League has grew wary of designated hitters regardless of the history they bring with them. For reasons like these, Boston may be the only destination for David Ortiz if he wants to stay in the big leagues for any period of time past 2014. 

But judging by Ortiz's words this week, he either does not recognize that or simply does not care. 

“I just want people to stop talking to me about that,” Ortiz told the Boston Herald earlier this week. “When you put up numbers like I’m putting up, who’s thinking about retiring, know what I’m saying? People keep on asking me, how long do you want to play? When are you going to retire? Dude, look at my numbers. I ain’t planning on retiring right now. When I slow down, then I’ll retire.”

Arrogant? Yeah a little, but it gets worse. 

“I don’€™t even know why they’€™re [expletive] about me talking about contracts,” he said. “Guys putting up my numbers, they’€™re making 25 million, 30 million. I’€™m not asking for that. I’€™m asking for half of it. And they’€™re still [expletive] about it? [expletive] them. I’€™m tired of hearing them talk [expletive] about me when I talk about my contract. Hey, every time I talk about my contract, I earn it, [expletive]. So don’€™t be giving me that [expletive].” 

Instead of  the "this is our [expletive] city" speech which in its own right drew some criticism, David Ortiz has said just said "F you"to his fans and that is something that will draw criticism across the board. 

But back to the general topic of this all, the request for more cash. 

Why is he asking for more? Well, we do not really know. 

What we do know is that it takes a lot of forgiveness coupled with probably a bit of undeserved tolerance on the part of the Red Sox to grind their way through this on what has become a near annual basis. 

It seems mean, unfitting that this is how David Ortiz decided to follow up his MVP performance last October. But more so it makes some of what Big Papi has said in his time with Boston seem as if it has been fake. Last April when Ortiz took the city on his back, his support, his words seemed like more than just those of a journey man without much connection to the team and the city that paid and cheered for him. We knew...we thought that this was a man who loved Boston through and through and yet when he says things like he has this past week, his cursing at Boston not for Boston has begun to feel like betrayal. 

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2013 in 8 days: Top Game of 2013

Christmas has come and gone and New Years Day is just around the corner. During the 8 days spanning from Christmas morning to New Years morning Go, Titletown will add daily updates to an 8 part series remembering the highs lows and all around heartwarming moments of 2013 in Boston Sports as well as a look ahead to what we might see in 2014. This is not a statistical analysis of these 298 professional sporting events that took place in Boston in 2013, this is a written rehashing and a reminder that we are the greatest sports town on the planet. 

Complete Schedule 

December 25th- A Year of Leaders

December 26th - Best Patriots Moments 

December 27th - Best Red Sox Moments

December 28th - Best Bruins Moments

December 29th - Top Plays 

December 30th - Top Games

December 31st - [To be determined] Is the Boston Athlete of 2013

January 1st - The Promise of 2014

The top sporting events of 2013...

1) Game Seven ECQF: Bruins vs Toronto Maple Leafs

 The intensity of having your season on the line can in many cases spell disaster in regards to the amount of nerves and inability to execute that a young player suffers in such a situation. However, at the same time, moments and situations like these can at the same time bring out the best in players with the mental makeup that allows for that to happen. That was exactly what happened on May 13th 2013 when, with their backs against the wall a host of age old veterans and relentless skill players stormed the Boston ice and reversed the storyline of a night that up until that point was one of failure, imperfect performance and the possibility of a looming firing for Claude Jullian. With the goalie pulled, the Bruins made history scoring twice in a span of 20 seconds to tie the game and send it to overtime.

6 minutes and 5 seconds into the first-goal-wins-overtime period it was all over as Patrice Bergeron did it again and the Bruins emerged victorious.

Throughout a 90 year history where last second comebacks a thrilling finishes have been far from rare from now on when Bruins fans say the words "Game Seven" that alone will be enough to remind Bostonians of THE Game Seven. The game that rescued the Bruins season or more simply, "The Comeback."

2) Game Two ALCS: Red Sox vs Tigers



No matter what the masses say, without the existence of what transpired during Game Two of the ALCS, the Boston Red Sox would not have won the AL and by extension the World Series. David Ortiz saved the Boston Red Sox that day and yet his 8th inning grand slam was not the only piece of saving majesty exhibited in the final innings of that historic game.

Before Boston even weathered an out in the bottom of the 9th inning, Jarrod Saltilamaccia came to the plate an slammed a near golf shot of a hit past Tigers shortstop Jose Iglacias to win the game and tie the ALCS at 1 game a piece.

3) Game Three ECF: Bruins vs Penguins



When you think about the Boston Bruins season, you remember two things. The 6 minutes of overtime it took for Patrice Bergeron to save the season and the 17 seconds it took for the Blackhawks to end it. However what is forgotten in this season of miracles and improbable happenings is Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals that better than any other proved once and for all the dominance the Bruins had over a Penguins team heavily favored to win the Eastern Conference Finals. Even after taking a 2-0 lead in the series, the Bruins were still the underdog as Evgeni Malken and Sidney Crosby were still playing and so long as they had the puck on their stick, anything could happen. Game 3 quashed those roomers.

After jumping out to an early 1-0 lead in the game, Chris Kunitz of the Penguins mashed a booming slap shot past Tuukka Rask to tie the match-up midway through the 2nd period. After scoreless 3rd and 1st OT periods however this one once again came down to "Mr. Clutch", Patrice Bergeron. After a giveaway in the neutral zone, Brad Marchand grabbed the puck and immediately broke up ice almost parallel to Bergeron who took off directly towards the net. With 4:42 left in the 2nd OT of this one, Marchand threw the puck to the net and Bergeron did his best to make it count. After seeing the puck deflect insanely off of Bergeron's stick the Penguins were forced to watch as an improbable Bruins team celebrated the win that effectively sealed the series for Boston.

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2013 in 8 Days: Top Red Sox moments in 2013

Christmas has come and gone and New Years Day is just around the corner. During the 8 days spanning from Christmas morning to New Years morning Go, Titletown will add daily updates to an 8 part series remembering the highs lows and all around heartwarming moments of 2013 in Boston Sports as well as a look ahead to what we might see in 2014. This is not a statistical analysis of these 298 professional sporting events that took place in Boston in 2013, this is a written rehashing and a reminder that we are the greatest sports town on the planet. 

Complete Schedule 

December 25th- A Year of Leaders

December 26th - Best Patriots Moments 

December 27th - Best Red Sox Moments

December 28th - Best Bruins Moments

December 29th - Top Plays 

December 30th - Top Games

December 31st - [To be determined] Is the Boston Athlete of 2013

January 1st - The Promise of 2014

On April 20th, David Ortiz, took to the mic and screamed to the world that his city did not belong to the terrorists who tried to break it. "This is out F****** CITY" he yelled with a rallying ferocity, "and nobody going to dictate our freedom, STAY STRONG!"

On April 20th David Ortiz screamed otherwise offensive profanity into a microphone that broadcast the now famous quote to millions live and even more through you tube clips and radio cuts and yet the FCC, surprisingly seemed to do the best job at describing the feeling Bostonians were feeling as Ortiz's battle cry rang through the nooks a crannies of Fenway Park.

"David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today's Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston" FCC Chairmen Julius Genachowski tweeted following the committees decision not to fine Ortiz.

Much like Genachowski, whether you like it or not, Ortiz's proclamation united a team, a fan base and a city scarred by the actions the evils that descended on the city on Marathon Monday 2013. But there was more that one cry to this season.

It seems like decades ago when we were questioning whether or not Ortiz would ever hit another home run following his Achilles injury the year before while we all wondered how John Lackey would respond to the urgency that Boston fans were rapidly demanding. There sure was no lack of talent on this team but what there also was not was allot of young talent. Between guys like Mike Napoli, and Shane Victorino many believed that they would never return to the hall of fame kind of play they showed in their early years in the league. How did they respond? Well, Victorino won a gold glove and delivered the Bob Marly walk up song to Fenway while Mike Napoli ground through horrendous slumps and slammed 28 home runs from his spot as David Ortiz' safety blanket.

The 2013 Red Sox World Series winning season gave us so much. We watched Koji Uehara become the most dominant closer in baseball while David Ortiz played his best baseball in his career. Between all this magic it would be tough to rank categorically the best of it all but nevertheless, we will try.

Below are the top 3 moments of the Red Sox season...

1) October 13th: David Ortiz ties Game 2 of the ALCS



It was Shane Victorino not David Ortiz who brought Red Sox fans to their feet singing Bob Marly's Three Little Birds this season and yet as Tori Hunter went head over heals into the Boston dugout the reaction of Boston area police officer Steve Horgan said it all. As David Ortiz's 2 out 2 strike Grand Slam eluded the glove of Hunter every little thing really was alright.

2 games into the ALCS, the Red Sox had been absolutely dormant smacking just 1 hit in Game 1 before being shut down once again in Game 2 by Cy Young winning, Max Schurzer. 4 outs away from going down a prohibitive 2-0 in the best of 7 series, the Red Sox sent David Ortiz to the plate with one mission and one mission only. Clear the bases and by extension, tie the game. 16 years into his illustrious career it was no secret that David Ortiz knew the story of the postseason long ball well and yet, as he strode to the plate the odds were still stacked against him. Even Papi, mighty old Papi had never before hit a grand slam in October while also never homering off pitcher Haquim Benouit all together. But even with all that stacked against him, you got the feeling that Ortiz would somehow make it happen. We believed he would hit it simply by rationalizing what was needed and while it really only boils down to just hitting a home run, when that ball eventually left the yard we were as shocked as humanly possible.

While it is debatable as to whether or not the Sox would have still won the ALCS without Ortiz's slam, those 4 runs turned the tide of the whole reminder of the Red Sox postseason reminding the team and their fans that this team was and will never be out of a game until the 27th out is recorded.

2) November 2nd: Red Sox Rolling Rally



One of the greatest moments of this Red Sox season was not a single event but the celebration that followed it. 3 days after Sox fans were treated to their first world championship since 2007, the team as well as millions of fans took to the streets of Boston to celebrate together, the absolute unity that this team had provided the city with. Close to 8 months after the Marathon attacks, the 2013 Red Sox Rolling Rally seemed to be one of the biggest steps the city took finally vanquishing the fear and horror brought out by the Marathon Bombings in one day of delirious cheering.

3) April 20th: "This is our F***** city"



On that day the Sox wore a jersey that instead of reading 'Red Sox' read the single word, 'BOSTON'. 5 days after the city was torn apart by the maliciousness of those 2 bombs, David Ortiz took to the mic prior to his first game of the season and screamed those words now forever immortalized as one of the most remembered quotes in the history of sport. 5 days after the attacks, David Ortiz's rally cry served as the sole culmination of the professional sports world's support of Boston and it's people. 

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