One man’s humble opinion on this fine 2008 MLB season which began with a comeback win by the Red Sox literally moments ago. Get ready!
Al East
Red Sox
Yankees
Anti-Christ Rays
Blue Jays
Orioles
AL Central
Detroit
Cleveland
Minnesota
Chicago
KC
AL West
Seattle
Anaheim
Texas
Oakland
Yesterday marked the 7th annual draft of my most important and competitive fantasy baseball year. My life and happiness is based around waiting for this draft to happen and then the ensuing season. Every year I do a recap of the draft and each team. Most likely you out there in the internet do not care. That’s fine. But if you are interested in seeing how a 29 round incredibly deep draft is adjudged by me in 4000 words, read on. Enjoy.
The Red Sox are in Japan and along for the ride is Joe Castiglione, the voice of the Red Sox. Castigs, 61, isn’t just in Japan for baseball. With plenty of off-time expected, the high-pitched vociferator has a full itinerary during his time in the land of the Rising Sun. Due to some clever detective work on our behalf, we managed to steal a copy of it for you to peruse.
Friday 3/21 – Red Sox train at Tokyo Dome in the morning, afternoon to be spent visiting a Buddhist temple, participate in 6:30pm Dance Dance Revolution tournament followed by an evening of libations at the Absolute Ice Bar.
Saturday 3/22 – 5am – Tsukiji Fish Market, wander through the booths, checking out all the fresh poisson, participate in fish auction, available budget: $750. Afternoon – return to hotel, drop off giant 6 foot tuna, quick nap and head to the Maid Bar.
"These women will do anything for me... CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!"
Sun 3/23 – Breakfast with the team at hotel, afternoon and evening to be spent with Dustin Pedroia, Curt Schilling and Manny Ramirez sharking on the many subway lines around town. Dinner at Ninja Akasaka.
John Patterson has been released by the Nationals!
Now the Nationals have a stellar starting rotation with Shawn Hill (97 IP) , Jason Bergmann (115 IP), Tim Redding (84 IP), Odalis Perez (137 IP, 5.37 ERA) and either Matt Chico (167, 4.63 ERA) or John Lannan (34 IP). Wow. Last year the Nationals surprised everyone by not being the absolute worst team in baseball. Looks like this year that might not be the case.
You may have seen news of a prank several Cubs pitchers pulled on their strength coach where they destroyed his 1995 Nissan Sentra and then later gave him a brand new SUV. After seeing the brand new car that they had purchased for him, Tim Buss, the coach in question said, “They’re great guys.” That may be, but, after seeing how happy they made him can only lead to the Cubs pitchers who pulled this prank to take it further and further. Bolstered by hs reaction, they have already planned several new pranks. Thanks to the federal government illegal wire-tapping, the Slanch Report has hacked into their emails and found out what is planned for later in the season.
Presumably there is an agreement of some sort as the stadium announcer just announced to a big cheer from the crowd that the spring training game between the Jays and Sox will start at 1:10. Likely something has been solved or else the Sox wouldn’t be going out there.
I’ll update as soon as I hear anything new.
It’s not often that multimillionaires think of others, (hello, Mr. Google, my bank account would like to meet you…) but I for one am glad at the action of the Red Sox right now.
Unhapy that MLB was going against their promise of paying the coaches the same appearance fee as was promised the players, the Red Sox are refusing to play their spring training game against the Blue Jays right now.
For many of the coaches the $40,000 appearance fee they were originally promised represents two-thirds of their salary.
While the game is being delayed because of this dispute, the Sox players are all out on the field signing autographs for the fans who are awaiting the game, just one more example of how well they are handling this whole situation.
(more after the jump)
Dodgertown is closing after this spring training as you may have heard, and Tommy Lasorda was on hand for the final game. The legendary manager came close to tears, but never took the final plunge. With real manager Joe Torre in China with the rest of the Dodgers, Lasorda has been managing the team that remains, going a robust 1-6.
Too strong a man to cry after seeing 60 years of history end, Tommy does have real emotions, strong men also cry you know.
Here are some of the things that actually have made Tommy Lasorda cry over the years.
(More after the jump) Continue reading ‘Things that WILL make Tommy Lasorda Cry’
The Nationals expect that Shawn Hill, who was likely going to be the #1 starter for the Nats (Ugh,) is not going to break camp with the team. I like GM Jim Bowden’s approach here, generally mediocre pitcher, combined with arm surgeries just this past November, sounds like an ace to me!
Manny Ramirez has been involved in plenty of controversies and other circus like actions throughout his career, particularly as a member of the Red Sox. However, over the weekend these two little bon mots appeared in the respective Boston newspapers, from the Boston Herald, “Ramirez has talked about his new commitment to yoga and meditation at the urging of his uncle. He is reading “The Secret” (Spanish version).” And then from Nick Cafardo in the Boston Globe, “Apropos of nothing…4. Something I never thought I’d see: Manny Ramírez sitting in the clubhouse, engrossed in a book that he’s marking with a pink highlighter.”
Now, call me crazy, but Manny, known more for his reticence in speaking with the media and his bizarre antics than for being a voracious reader doesn’t strike me as the type of man who is reading multiple books at any given time. Therefore, we can safely presume that the book he was so engrossed in and highlighting was the one and the same, The Secret.
It turns out that this is not something new in Manny Ramirez’s life, every year he arrives at spring training with a helpful new tome to guide him that season. As he wants to stay in Boston for the next few years, he has released some of this information to us, in the hard-hitting media of blogs for public consumption and I present it to you now
Wily Mo Pena has been diagnosed with an oblique injury and will likely be out for 4 weeks.
It looks like the World Series dreams for the Nationals are gone now.
I thought they had a great chance too…
Clay Buchholz, the star Red Sox prospect who threw a no-hitter in his second major league start, already is enjoying the life of a baseball superstar.
According to his father on a radio show on Boston’s Only Home for Classic Rock, WZLX, “I know he’s met her, gone out with her, but I don’t know if you consider that dating . . . but hey, a boy could do worse. It doesn’t surprise me any. Last year up in Boston he was dating a Victoria’s Secret model, so he’s moving up the ladder…I mean, he’s got pretty good taste.”
Oh yeah, this is the she that his dad is referring to:
2008 Penthouse Pet of the Year, Erica Ellyson.
And this is Clay’s feeling on the matter,
Once we look past the mild creepiness of his father really enjoying his son’s sex life, it seems that for Buchholz, who is likely to break camp with the Sox, life certainly seems to be moving in a positive direction.
(Some NSFW pics after the jump)
Continue reading ‘It’s Good to be a Phenom’
The Slanch Report has started an online petition asking the MLB Network to air the Dock Ellis no-hitter he threw on June 12, 1970 against the San Diego Padres. The moment was a seminal piece of baseball history and is certainly worthy of being rerun.
Please join us in this cause and sign the petition below so we can all share in this special and fantastic moment of baseball history. THANKS!
SIGN THE PETITION HERE! AND PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND PASS THIS ALONG!
The Slanch Report 
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