The Red Sox showed why they are the best team in baseball, not just in record, but in their ability to put a great team together. Tuesday was the trade deadline and they added what every team needs to win a world series, which great pitching. Gagne was by far the best pitcher available, and historically was one of the strongest closers in baseball. He is coming off two years of being hurt, but he has been strong this year, and has pitched very well. He will be a great setup man for Papelbon, and if he proves himself I anticipate that we will be able to sign him to close next year so that Papelbon can move into the rotation. If we dont sign him then we will get two extra first round draft picks as compensation for letting him go at the end of the year. Win win situation.

As far as who we traded, probably neither of the two position players were ever going to be playing for the BoSox, and Kason Gabbard, though he pitched well in his time up, was not a top prospect for the Red Sox and had yet to prove himself against good major league teams. Giving him up for a proven guy like Gagne was a no-brainer.

By the way you might be wondering what big move the Yankees made to counter the Red Sox slick dealing. They signed a back up out fielder and first baseman who will sit on the bench because the Yankees already have a crowded first base and outfield. I am not just saying this because I am a Red Sox fan. Really everyone is scratching their head now concerning this move by the Yankees, and though they are winning games now, they did nothing to improve their chances of catching the Red Sox or doing well in the playoffs. If they make the playoffs, and thats a big if, then they will be hard pressed to make it past the first round.

By the way there is a great video in the link above of Gagne’s first interview as a Red Sox. I can easily see him becoming a fan favorite and fitting into Boston well.

Who wouldn’t want to be a Red Sox fan?

Hey I’m back! Its been a while I know, but for those who still check in now and then here are a few things:

First of all happy fourth of July! Its glorious to be American and we should all appreciate the risk, dedication, and sacrifice it took to sign the declaration of independence and officially make America the land of the free.

As many of you know I am in MA for the week for work and went to see a Red Sox game last night with Jillian. It was a great experience, almost unreal, and it was a learning experience too. I would like to say that it was like returning home, but it really felt more like an introduction. Its been so long since I was last at Fenway that it felt like my first game and my first day as a fan. Sweet Caroline!

Here are some links:

NC State was endowed with $2 million to promote capitalism. Wouldn’t surprise me if UNC countered with some socialism.

Tom O’Brien has been very successful recruiting, not for this comming year, but for the next years football season. Sounds like he is putting a good program together.

The Swiss won the America’s cup over New Zealand, 5-2. I am kind if disappointed because New Zealand was dominant coming into the Americas cup, and it just doesn’t seem right for Sailings most esteemed trophy to be held for another four years by a landlocked country.

Yesterday the Mets beat the cardinals (something that should have happened about 5 months ago) to open the baseball season. Today the rest of the league begins games. The day has finally arrived! GO RED SOX!

I have been busy lately and not very inspired which is why I haven’t written much. Here are a few things:

• At the Raleigh REI garage sale I got a hammock with a mosquitoe net that packs up super small and will be really nice in the summer for backpacking on sunny weekends since I’ll be able to leave my tent and sleeping pad and still wont have to worry about bugs. I also got Ian a LED head lamp (absolute backpacking necessity) and got dad a new backpack. All great deals.
• The fantasy draft for my fantasy baseball league is tonight and I am too excited. Its the first year of a three year keeper league so that adds a new element, and things should be really interesting. I hate the pressure of not knowing what kind of team you are going to end up with but I love the excitement of the draft. Once its over then it’ll be a relief to at least know who I have to work with this year.
• We are planning a backpacking trip for next weekend that should be a lot of fun. James Ian and I are going with mom out to shining rock. We are all geared up and ready to go and just need some nice weather. Shining rock is so beautiful year round and should be even more so in the spring.
• I am very excited for baseball season to start next week. The Red Sox are looking good, with their one major question mark answered, moving Papelbon into bullpen as the closer. The rest of the guys in the pen should be great, and Taverez should be ok holding down the fifth spot in the rotation until Lester is ready to start. One guy that has been great this spring is Devern Hansack. Some are saying he could take over the role of closer by the end of the season and allow papelbon to move back into the rotation. Lester could then fill in for any injuries to starters down the road. You can never have too much pitching.
• NC State baseball is doing well this year too. They have won their last two ACC series, both two games to one, over VT and WF, after losing their opening ACC series one games to two. I would like it better if they were sweeping series, but the ACC is very good and winning series is doing very well. The greatest thing about the win over WF is the emergence of Jimmy Gillheeney as a dominant starter. He is only a freshman, but against Wake forest he pitched 5 and 2/3 three hit innings with nine Ks. Pretty awesome, and its nice to know he’ll be sticking around for the next two years. NC States series this weekend is at Boston College.

A little while ago Curt Schilling started a blog called 38 pitches and i have been enjoying every post. Everyone knows that Curt loves to talk, and he usually has lots of great stuff to talk about. Some notable topics:

• how he feels after every outing, sometimes a pitch by pitch review
• lots of optimism for the coming season
• shares his testimony as a Christian
• tells why he is a republican
• shares thoughts on his team mates and other guys in the league, without saying anything stupid… yet.
• he talks about his family
• his cousin who was part of the real black hawk down
• and much much more

So check it out. He has said he will keep the blog going at least for this whole season and perhaps beyond. I think its awesome that he has bridged the gap between the big time star and the fans, and its really neat to see the kind of person he really is.

The Red Sox play Seattle in their 7th game of the season and their first home game, and Dice-K could be the starting pitcher for that game. Since Ichiro leads off for Seattle then Matsuzaka’s first batter he will face in Fenway Park could be Ichiro. So this video is a great preview for the match-up.

If you follow the Red Sox then you know that they have done a lot to improve this season, adding some great starting pitchers and filling some gaps in the lineup. They have even improved the bullpen. However there is one area that has been a question mark, and that is our closer. We brought in several guys and the word has been that its up to them to earn the role in spring training. One of the guys they brought in was Joel Pineiro, and a lot of people have been scratching their head about him, because on paper he seems to be a pretty lousy pitcher. However this article suggests that he is much better then last years numbers suggest. After reading the article I am excited that he could be great as our closer. We’ll see how things pan out.

Looking forward to seeing the Red Sox in their first spring training game this evening against Minnesota. Go Sox!

After reaching an initial agreement with JD Drew for 5 years $70 million, the Red Sox did a physical on Drew and that has held up negotiations for 7 weeks now. The good news is that finally the deal is done and everything is agreed to. The big change that came about by the delay is that if Drew has problems with his shoulder in the next three years then the Red Sox can opt out of the last two years of his contract, making the contract only three years $42 million.

My biggest fear with Drew was that he would be hurt a lot and signing a five year contract with someone like that is risky. However Drew now has a great reason to not miss games and if he does then the Red Sox haven’t lost so much.

I think that he will do well in Boston because he is hitting behind Manny and Ortiz and he doesn’t need to replace either of them. As long as Drew is healthy I think he will do a fine job replacing Nixon in right field and Varitek in the fifth spot in the rotation. If he gets hurt we have a good fourth outfielder in Willy Mo. Win win.

Dennis Miller on WMDs and Osama Bin Laden

Also Tim Kurkjian on Fenway Park

Hiking, as defined by Demetri Martin and noted by Cutter, is “walking where it’s okay to pee.”

Also from The Piton: what ever happened to that guy from Blues Clues? Here is his webpage. Pretty sweet!