R.I.P., the Kid

Very saddened just now to hear about the passing of Hall of Fame Catcher Gary Carter. As a Red Sox fan, I'll admit to having mixed feelings about him (memories of '86 die hard) but their is no denying the unbridled enthusiasm with which he played the game, as few players seem to have as much fun playing it as Carter. (Though Kirby Puckett comes to mind.) And as I was not aware of his cancer diagnosis last May, his passing comes as a great shock to me. Baseball has lost one of the few remaining players who gave it all he had, but managed to remember that it was still all a game.

Can't believe it's almost time...

...for Pitchers and Catchers to report to camp!

Yeah, I know: I've been neglecting this blog for some time now. But I would like to get back into the swing of things, and get rather a few updates done by the time the season starts. I've revised the selection rules a little bit (thanks to the inability of enough Diamondback players to qualify in order to make a full team!) and have corrected a few over sights - some of which were pointed out to me in the comments.

Most importantly, I've got updated rosters for all teams to reflect players' 2011 performances, and adding new players who've climbed their team's all-time WAR rankings high enough to boot some old-timer of the roster. I will focus on getting the individual team pages updated (at this time NONE have been) and getting some more pictures and stats posted. In the meantime, I would like to extend my congratulations to Miguel Cabrera, Chris Campuano, Chris Carpenter, John Danks, Alex Gordon, Jeremy Guthrie, Corey Hart, Chase Headly, Jeremy Hellickson, Tim Hudson, Matthew Joyce, Howie Kendrick, Ian Kennedy, Jon Lester, Tim Lincecum , Nick Markakis, Kazuo Matsui, Dustin Pedroia, Ricky Romero, Justin Verlander, C.J. Wilson and Kevin Youkilis for making their respective 2011 All-Time, All-Star Teams.

Checking in, Jim Thome, Mo Rivera & Rico Petro

Whew. I haven't checked in in a while and it been a pretty eventful couple of months!

I missed an opportunity to congratulate Jim Thome on his 600th Home Run. Thome is one of the last few guys who's still old-school when it comes to the role that athletes should play in the community and he's always been a class act as a teammate on and off the field. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving player. (And given most of the recent 600 clubber's, other than Junior, I'd say it HASN'T since Willie Mays!)

I was saddened to hear about the passing of both Hideki Irabu and Mike Flanagan, both from suicides. Both men saw great highs in their careers, pitching for World Championship teams. Neither should have looked back at their lives with any regrets, but you can never foretell what challenges life will throw at you and how equipped any one person will be to face them. It's a shame that this happened, but I hope that both men have found peace, small consolation as that may be to the loved ones they leave behind. What a shame.

I'd like to congratulate Marino Rivera on breaking the All-Time Save record last night. I'd have been a little sore if the record was still Lee Smith's (who I was a big fan of) but since it was Trevor Hoffman's (who I respect, but... meh, he was a National Leaguer.... LOL) I can tip my hat to guy who beat us (the Red Sox) often enough, even if we had his number more so than any other team. (2004, baby!) Anyway, there are not many Yankees I'll tip my cap to, but Rivera (along with Derek Jeter) is truly deserving. That I cannot deny. Also... It seems that he did to Trevor Hoffman what Smith did to Jeff Reardon a generation ago: Just as it is largely forgotten that Reardon held the All-Time Saves Record for just a single year, few may remember (years from now) that Hoffman also held that title at some point, being that it was also for such a short time. BUT... that's how it goes. I'd put all four of them in the Hall of Fame, but I don't get a vote. (And... that might be a good thing!)

Finally, I had a phone conversation just now that I'm not going to forget for quite awhile. As my father and I were driving beck to his house just now, a friend of his called and asked to speak to me. And when I picked up the phone, Rico Petrocelli was on the other line! No kidding! I was blown away. I was only three years old when he retired, so I never saw him PLAY, of course, but I'm a HUGE fan of Rico from all the history - He was part of the Impossible Dream in '67, in fact he caught the final out of the regular season, the day they clinched the division; in '69 he hit 40 Home Runs as a Shortstop, an American League record that stood until 1998 and (unless I've forgotten someone) remain the A.L. Record for any Shortstops not named "Alex Rodriguez;" in '75 he had a slow regular season, but tagged the Big Red Machine for a .308 Average in the World Series, playing flawless defense at Third along the way; and you know what? He's a hell of a nice guy! So we talked about the Red Sox for a while - how they're doing their best to make a pennant race out things this year, and he told me about his blog: Petrocelli Sports, so, not that he needs my help, there you go, check it out. Anyway, it's not every day you get to talk to one of you childhood idols, so that was... pretty cool.

And here's hoping he was right, and that the Sox will manage to pull it out this year. I'd really like to irritate my co-workers back in Detroit a bit, should there be a Tigers-Red Sox series sometime this October.

Congratulations, Mister November

Though a lifelong Red Sox fan, I wish to extend my congratulations to Derek Jeter on reaching the 3,000 career hit plateau.

And here we though though Craig Biggio would be the last guy to do it with one team!

I've never liked you Derek - you beat us too often! But I've always respected you.

Well done.

RIP, Dick Williams

I am very saddened this evening to hear about the passing of Hall of Fame Manager Dick Williams.

From the 1967 Impossible Dream Red Sox, to a trio of post-Season appearacne with the 1971-'73 A's (their first since the days of Foxx, Grove, Simmons and Cochrane, I might add!) culminating in a pair of World Chapionships, to bringing the Expos to their first (and as it urned out, last) post-season appearance in 1981 and then bringing the Padres to their first post season appearance in 1984, Williams persistant focus on the development of young talent and on the importance of play samrt, fundamentally strong Baseball brough success and glory to cities that had forgotten what it felt like to win and in some case, never knew. He was a class act with a genuine love for not only the game, but of everything that made the game great. Lie your favorite teacher growing up he was tough, but he molded many a raw talent into bonafide major-leaguers of the years and he will sorely missed.

Tonight their is one less person in the world who insists on playing the game the way it was meant to played, and who truly appreciates all the small things that make it great.