T-shirt from Red Sox Life: a must-have.
The last two blogs have been business. This is pleasure.
Because this is about the Sox, who at three o'clock this morning guaranteed their place in the play-offs and, maybe tonight, will win the American League East.
This year has been a pleasure right from the start.
I'm not talking solely about the results, even though we've been out of first place for only a few days since that very first game when we beat the Yankees 8-2.
I'm talking about what a great bunch of guys this Sox team is. They love playing baseball. They love playing in a Boston uniform. They love winning.
And they love their beards.
How great was it to watch us thrashing the Yankees recently? The contrast between the clean-shaven Yankees and the weird beards of the Sox?
Didn't remind you of the 2004 ALCS, did it?
It did. And it put me in mind of the picture of Johnny Damon having his hair cut and beard shaved before signing with the Yankees after the 2004 Series.
It didn’t sit right, then. But it did sum up the difference between the two franchises.
The one is about the noumenal, the thing in itself and for itself: baseball. The other is about the phenomenal, the world of appearances.
As we learned in Moneyball, it's not about guys "who look good in designer jeans". It’s about guys who can do it on the field, when it matters.
Look at the current Town Nine. It's clear they are all great athletes. But with a few exceptions, Jacobi being the obvious one, they don't necessarily look it.
If you saw Mike Napoli in a restaurant, and you probably would, you might not immediately identify him as a great ball-player. It’s only when you see him on the bag or at the plate that you appreciate just how good this guy is.
Or look at Dustin Pedroia. Almost every other franchise knew he was too small to make it. Not thought, knew. They knew nothing.
Or Daniel Nava, who didn’t even make his High School team. But is now an everyday player with the leading team in the Majors.
As my friend Rick Hough pointed out, this is one easy team to like. And we would like them even if they hadn’t given us such a great ride so far.
The bizarre and surreal beard night at Fenway the other day could only have happened in Boston. Can you really imagine a similar event at Baghdad in the Bronx? George Steinbrenner would be turning in his grave.
I wrote on the day before the season began that we would reach the play-offs, but we would need some luck and a signing or two for the Series.
Well, we’ve had some luck, but these guys made it themselves.
And we've signed Jake Peavy.
We have also signed John McDonald to a more subdued fanfare. I remember seeing him in 2006 at Fenway when he was the shortstop for the Blue Jays and being very impressed with his defence and coolness. I liked him then. I like him even more now as a utility infielder in a Sox uniform.
He may not play at any point in October. In fact, I hope he doesn’t. But I am happy that he is available. It’s another judicious Cherington signing.
Did Ben know how well these guys would gel when he was putting everything together? Did he foresee the beard-tugging and the high fives and the laughter? Did he predict this level of commitment and professionalism?
If he did, he's a better man than any of the highly paid baseball pundits.
And of course, he is.
Here’s to Ben. Here's to John Farrell and his team. And here's to the bearded ones and their clean-shaven team-mates who have already confounded the critics, and could go all the way.
Go Sox!
Today from the everysmith vault: having a few days with the Pixies, prompted by the single and four new songs released on EP1. They are in the UK at the moment and I can't seem to find a hole in my diary that accords with one of their gigs. I'm working on it, though ...
Because this is about the Sox, who at three o'clock this morning guaranteed their place in the play-offs and, maybe tonight, will win the American League East.
This year has been a pleasure right from the start.
I'm not talking solely about the results, even though we've been out of first place for only a few days since that very first game when we beat the Yankees 8-2.
I'm talking about what a great bunch of guys this Sox team is. They love playing baseball. They love playing in a Boston uniform. They love winning.
And they love their beards.
How great was it to watch us thrashing the Yankees recently? The contrast between the clean-shaven Yankees and the weird beards of the Sox?
Didn't remind you of the 2004 ALCS, did it?
It did. And it put me in mind of the picture of Johnny Damon having his hair cut and beard shaved before signing with the Yankees after the 2004 Series.
It didn’t sit right, then. But it did sum up the difference between the two franchises.
The one is about the noumenal, the thing in itself and for itself: baseball. The other is about the phenomenal, the world of appearances.
As we learned in Moneyball, it's not about guys "who look good in designer jeans". It’s about guys who can do it on the field, when it matters.
Look at the current Town Nine. It's clear they are all great athletes. But with a few exceptions, Jacobi being the obvious one, they don't necessarily look it.
If you saw Mike Napoli in a restaurant, and you probably would, you might not immediately identify him as a great ball-player. It’s only when you see him on the bag or at the plate that you appreciate just how good this guy is.
Or look at Dustin Pedroia. Almost every other franchise knew he was too small to make it. Not thought, knew. They knew nothing.
Or Daniel Nava, who didn’t even make his High School team. But is now an everyday player with the leading team in the Majors.
As my friend Rick Hough pointed out, this is one easy team to like. And we would like them even if they hadn’t given us such a great ride so far.
The bizarre and surreal beard night at Fenway the other day could only have happened in Boston. Can you really imagine a similar event at Baghdad in the Bronx? George Steinbrenner would be turning in his grave.
I wrote on the day before the season began that we would reach the play-offs, but we would need some luck and a signing or two for the Series.
Well, we’ve had some luck, but these guys made it themselves.
And we've signed Jake Peavy.
We have also signed John McDonald to a more subdued fanfare. I remember seeing him in 2006 at Fenway when he was the shortstop for the Blue Jays and being very impressed with his defence and coolness. I liked him then. I like him even more now as a utility infielder in a Sox uniform.
He may not play at any point in October. In fact, I hope he doesn’t. But I am happy that he is available. It’s another judicious Cherington signing.
Did Ben know how well these guys would gel when he was putting everything together? Did he foresee the beard-tugging and the high fives and the laughter? Did he predict this level of commitment and professionalism?
If he did, he's a better man than any of the highly paid baseball pundits.
And of course, he is.
Here’s to Ben. Here's to John Farrell and his team. And here's to the bearded ones and their clean-shaven team-mates who have already confounded the critics, and could go all the way.
Go Sox!
Today from the everysmith vault: having a few days with the Pixies, prompted by the single and four new songs released on EP1. They are in the UK at the moment and I can't seem to find a hole in my diary that accords with one of their gigs. I'm working on it, though ...
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