Remember in June when the Yankees were floundering at .500 and almost 10 games back and I told you that they’d be fine.  I wasn’t wrong.  It’s not like this is a new occurrence for the Bronx Bombers.  Oh and, by the way, they just added a .330 slugging outfielder to the mix by acquiring the X man, Xavier Nady, and reliever Damaso Marte for a few luxury box tickets, a bag full of trinkets, and a minor leaguer.

Joba Chamberlain is slowly working his way up the list of people I am a fan of.  It’s not because of his awesome autographed picture that’s available in SkyMall and other flight magazines and it’s not because he almost seamlessly converted from a set up man to the best starter in the Yankees rotation.  It’s because, despite his impeccable pitch location for 99% of the league, he magically loses a ball or two when Kevin Youkilis steps in the box.  Combine that with my open hate for the Red Sox as an organization and we have a good match.

I’m not advocating throwing at players heads, lets make that clear right now.  Pegging people, however, is part of the game.  It’s the pitchers job to intimidate; if he can’t strike fear into the batter with an inside fastball or two, he’ll get shellacked.  Hence, after Chamberlain gassed one over Youkilis’ head and luckily hit his bat for strike one, he came back with sliders and cheddar on the outside corner that Youkilis had no chance at hitting.  Intimidation.

I can almost guarantee you that someone on the Yankees will get dotted today for Joba’s actions last night.  Warnings will be issued, benches might stand up and glare at each other, and ESPN will assuredly blow it out of proportion and re-run all those clips of A-Rod and Varitek slugging at each other and Don Zimmer getting thrown by Pedro.  It’s inevitable.  But it’s part of the game.  I’m just glad to see that, in today’s society where stepping on toes will shatter your image in the public eye, someone like Chamberlain has the stones to play the game with some grit and lawlessness.  And hey, what do you know, at only three games out, the Yankees are right back in this thing.  I told you so.

The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros displayed Earth Day awareness this past Tuesday. The two clubs took different routes, but both clubs showed they cared. I am surprised that more teams didn’t take part in the observance simply because it was being pushed by Major League Baseball.

In a nice gesture, the Boston Red Sox wore “Go Green” patches on their left sleeves in Tuesday night’s game against the Angels. The design is pretty cool, a nice initiative by the team to make a conscious effort for Earth Day.

Over in the National League the Houston Astros wore green hats in observance of Earth Day. The caps had a message on the side that read “Play Green”. Again just like the Red Sox I find it neat to see teams making a bit of an effort to do something nice on a day like Earth Day.

All in all, I really love what the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros did. Hopefully, the actions of these two clubs start a movement for other teams to follow next year. The Red Sox “Go Green” jersey can be purchased at jersey-joe.com

Hosts: Sonny and Ryan. In our final Major League Baseball preview podcast, Sonny and I assess one of the league’s toughest divisions, the AL East. Can the Boston Red Sox continue their dominance with another World Series berth? Or will Joe Girardi close out Yankee Stadium in style with championship #27? Also, how will the up-and-coming Tampa Bay Rays fare? Because this is the last preview, Sonny and I also sound off on our World Series predictions.

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When you talk about the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, history as well as tradition and coincidence are variables that have to come into play. I’ve read some strange things that connect these two teams, but this story may take the proverbial cake. A 13 year old girl named Alexis Rodriguez was with her school touring Fenway Park when a hawk swooped from the heavens to maliciously attack her.

Isn’t it an interesting parallel that the girl’s name is eerily similar to Yankee’s short stop Alex Rodriguez and that A-Rod wears the number 13? Was this a message by the ghosts of past Red Sox lore to a young girl? But instead of getting caught up in all the ironies of the story, we should take a step back and look at the bigger picture here.

A. What the hell is a hawk doing in downtown Boston? I’m not from the area, so I could be wrong about my assumptions that hawks don’t patrol the skies of any major city especially Boston. B. Did the hawk mistake the girl for a young rodent or rabbit? How does this kind of thing even happen? I can only imagine the scene that must have ensued both leading up to the attack and following it. “Okay kids, does anyone know what this foul pole is called? That’s right, Pesky’s Pole. It was named after- CACAWWWWWWWWW swoooosh.” The pandemonium that followed must have been epic.

Take this as a warning, Alex. Next time you try and bring your MVP hardware and your 54 home runs into Fenway, you will get attacked by a bird. On that note of karma, can I get someone in the Bay Area named Berry Bonds or Bart Bonds who is willing to get attacked by a seal for karma’s sake?

Note: I don’t think young children getting hurt is funny. I think the irony of a hawk attacking anyone or anything in a setting like Fenway is funny.

Second Note: We apologize for the goofy picture alignments some articles have had. The new WordPress is awful. We’re trying to sort out the issues.

Sox Set to Defend Crown. The Red Sox are coming off a successful 2007 campaign where they once again managed to capture the World Series title, in four quick and easy games against the Colorado Rockies. This team will no doubt be one of the favorites to win the World Series again as they return most of their key starters. They will no doubt have to duke it out with the New York Yankees in the AL East, but a playoff berth seems likely for this team.

Bats. Of course the Red Sox are returning their two major threats, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz to anchor the lineup. While both are beginning to get a little up there in age, there is no doubt that they are still two of the premier power hitters in baseball, and will scare the crap out of any opposing pitcher in the three and four slots in the lineup. In addition, the re-emergence of Mike Lowell as a good hitter last year gives the Red Sox one more threat if he can manage to reproduce that same success. Of course in right field they have perennial underachiever J.D. Drew who will be good for frustration and about nothing else during the course of the 162 regular season games. Jacoby Ellsbury looks to earn a slot in the starting lineup, and based upon his stretch run performance as well as his key contributions in the playoffs, it looks like the Red Sox have a very good offensive center fielder for this year. Julio Lugo is clearly still with this team for his defensive abilities, but he brings speed to the basepaths, and somehow managed to drive in 78 runs last year, something he will look to come close to this year. The right side of the infield in Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis will provide consistency throughout the year as both of these players continue to develop in their own right. Pedroia can hit for average and certainly is a rally starter, and Youkilis is just a solid all around offensive player, though I think the Red Sox would like a little more pop out of the first base position. And of course at catcher is the old standby in Jason Varitek who will contribute as much as he does every year. Read the rest of this entry »

From time to time, we’ll be sounding off on what sports figures would be better off shutting their mouth. We start with Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who has come out and criticized players for using steroids.

Curt Schilling loves opening up his mouth. He’s done it his entire career, whether it’s criticizing Phillies closer Mitch Williams or sounding off on steroids. It looks like Curt has opened up his mouth again, stating that steroid users should have all their accomplishments erased from the records. But for once, somebody besides the blogging world is sick of Curt Schilling. His name is Jose Canseco.

“What a horrendous performance he put on with the spotlight on him in front of the whole world and he could have said something important. Of all people to be saying something like that. Are you kidding me? He’s a complete hypocrite. Nobody takes him seriously. People around baseball all feel the same way about him.

“I could care less what Schilling thinks.”

For once, Canseco isn’t talking out of his ass and making some sense here. When various Major League Baseball players went in front of Congress in 2005, they all gagged in the spotlight and said nothing worthwhile. Sammy Sosa forgot English, Mark McGwire didn’t want to talk about the past, and Curt Schilling simply talked out of his ass, something he does quite a bit. Two years ago, Schilling said the steroid problem in baseball was “overstated and that he “never saw a syringe.” Now he’s bashing his fellow players. Tell us Curt. What do you really think?

For being an incredibly clutch pitcher and one of the best in the last 25 years, it’s really hard to like Schilling. He’ll throw fellow players under the bus when talking to reporters or writing on his blog. But when the time comes for Schilling to make a difference and take action, he backs into a corner. Do us all a favor, Mr. Schilling. Shut the hell up. Thank you.