All I Can Do Is Mutter 'Why?'

I have yet to come up with an answer. Jeremy Hermida, another Ramon Ramirez, Marco Scutaro, that Atchinson guy, Max Ramirex, and Boof Bonser.

Please, someone answer me why.

I will have a farewell Mikey post up as soon as I stop weeping dramatically.

Wait.... Perspective: I Lost It

Because I am a thoroughly irrational and ridiculous girl, despite my well-documented love for most things Red Sox, I am angered this morning. Are you kidding me, Theo? SERIOUSLY?! You're going to get rid of my Mikey? NO! I do not accept this. I was supposed to get one more damn year of Mike, and now you are trying to take him away from me? Do. Not. Want.

I am horribly, terribly angry this morning, and I'm allowed to be. Mike is definitely one of my favorite players. As a matter of fact, his handsome face is staring at me from my calendar this month. It is the month of the Mikey, and now I am losing him? Horrendous. Unacceptable. My sentimentality is offended beyond belief, so much that I refuse to even look at this from a rational, team-benefiting perspective. Nope, I'm just going to bitch and moan about it until I feel better or take a liking to one of the spare pieces of garbage that Theo's been amassing.

Really though, I'm angry, and so very sad. And no, I don't think any player that Theo's been coveting or acquiring will do anything to improve our team. I think his additions are actually going to make the team worse. We need a bat, so... we trade away one of the guys who was actually pretty good with a bat? What? I know he hit into a ton of double plays, and his 3B range wasn't so hot any more, but come on! And yes, I get it. Theo has surrendered this year as a rebuilding year, but does that mean he has to take away our opportunities to win? I'm starting to think my dream about him trading Jon Lester might not be so crazy after all. Now I am concerned. And again, I'm aware that I'm being irrational, but I don't care. I'm allowed to be irrational when I want to be. And right now, I want to be.

Winter Meetings: Cold This Year

I always get my hopes up for the winter meetings and end up sleeping most of the way through them. Why? Because they're boring. Really, when's the last time Theo did anything fun at the winter meetings? Nope, can't think of anything, can you? You can't, because he didn't. Or maybe he did, but nothing is coming to mind.

Our signings thus far, that I've heard of, are Scutaro, Atchinson, and Hulett. Should I be jumping for joy over these acquisitions, because I'm not. I was almost not interested enough to even look up the spelling of Hulett's name. I hear the Yankees are getting/have gotten Curtis Granderson? That's great. I've mentioned before that I like grouping all the players I dislike together, so Granderson would be a good fit for the Yankees. Some may recall that Curtis is officially on my shit list forever because of that whole 'breaking up Beckett's no-hitter' thing back in June. I'm not worried about Granderson anyhow.

But other than that, it's been quiet. I hear Penny signed with the Cardinals? I guess he missed Smoltz. Together, their ERA's can balloon up and they can ride them off into the sunset, or some other such silliness. Yeah, still disappointed that I never got around to watching Smoltz pitch live and that i DID get around to watching Penny pitch live, but I'll survive this disappointment. I'm a trooper, after all.

I've gone through the schedule, up to the All-Star Break, and used my incredible powers of deduction and my mind-blowing ability to count to five, and I've pegged the games I plan on getting tickets for next season. There are only a few, but I'm sure I'll be at more than a few games. What would the season be like without the Red Sox live at Fenway and Camden? I just don't know.

And yes, I am still mourning the fact that Gonzo is a Blue Jay.

Perspective: I Haz It.

Once or twice, every December, I like to go back to 2004. Don't get me wrong, I like to go back there all the time, but in December especially. December is cold, and stressful, and right now the Patriots suck, so I go back and relive it. You know what I'm talking about. October 27th, 2004. Remember? Of course you do.

See, I like to do this because it helps keep everything in perspective, and it helps make the pain of the off-season so much more tolerable. And I don't know about you, but every time I look back, I can remember it all. I remember where I was, watching on a TV with a time-delay of a few seconds. Being on the phone with a friend whose TV did not have a time delay. Hearing her stifle her screams of excitement as Foulke threw to first because she didn't want to ruin it for me, and celebrating madly after it was done. I can't forget. I can't forget the excitement I felt.

I can't even imagine what it was like for people who lived and died with the team their whole lives. In 2004, I was all of 20 years old and I definitely didn't grow up in a sports-oriented house. I never even HEARD of the Red Sox until 8th grade. Don't ask me how that happened. I'm not sure, but Nomar was the first player I ever heard about. Strangely, I never took a liking to him. I didn't live a sheltered life. We owned a TV and had the newspaper delivered. I had friends who were, presumably, sports fans. But the fanaticism didn't get passed to me for whatever reason. So, no, I didn't suffer the way everyone else did, but the joy I felt was still incredible. I still like to think I did my time. There was no one in my family that I could think back and say "Man, I wish so-and-so was still around so they could have seen this." Nope. Nothing. But it was still incredible.

So, here we are, on the verge of hitting 2010 on the calendar. 11 years since I discovered this team. Five full seasons have passed since we first raised that 2004 championship banner. Does anyone remember April 11, 2005? You bet your ass you do. So do I. Of course I do, because I love the Sox. I love to remember. I love each and every member of that 2004 team... maybe not LOVE everybody, but I can't dislike any of them. It's illegal. You CANNOT, as a Red Sox fan, openly dislike any member of that team, with the obvious and glaring exception of Johnny Damon (though if he signs with a different team, he can be sort of loved again). I don't want to hear how you all hate Manny now. I'll never hate Manny. I can't. And yes, I still love Pedro, because I HAVE to. I keep my tabs on Arroyo. I grinned every time I heard Dave Roberts in the broadcast booth this season, even if he wasn't so good. I keep tracking devices on Doug Mirabelli. My love for Bellhorn has never wavered. Never. And it won't. I think back to Bill Mueller and smile all the time. Orlando Cabrera... no matter what uniform he's in, I want o hug him. Wherever Kevin Millar goes, I go. Baltimore, Toronto, doesn't matter. I plan my vacations based on where he's playing. Hell, I rallied to get Trot Nixon a job. Why? Because he's one of the 25, that's why.

Why the heck am I bringing up all this anyway? Well, for one, it's my blog and I can. Two, it reminds me that despite what I think about the team, it can get better. You never know who's gonna click and bring us back to the promised land. Why am I not waxing poetic about 2007? Well, because you just sort of knew, didn't you? I know I did. It wasn't surprising and death-defying (except for that whole Cleveland thing....) 2007 was fantastic, don't get me wrong, and I loved that team... except Lugo... but even that doesn't measure up to 2004. Nothing will ever measure up to 2004. 2004 gets me through any awful, long, winter day. It reminds me of spring, and sunshine, and Pedro's afro, and I can't help but feel good. I love feeling good, so I go back to 2004.

Now that I feel good, I can stay positive about the silly things Theo is doing. By all means, GM. Continue on! You've got my support. I've got visions of spring training dancing in my head.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn: Good morning!

I've been hibernating. Feels like a whole new year already. We're close to one, but not there yet. Tickets for spring training went on sale already, and soon we'll be in virtual waiting hell. No, I'm really not looking forward to it, but I'll be there because hell, I love those stupid Red Sox.

That being said, I'd like to welcome everyone back into the revolving shortstop door of hell. I'm going to absolutely hate to do it, but it's time to update my cast of characters again and move Gonzo back into the former player category. So now we're stuck with Scutaro. Pardon me if my enthusiasm for this isn't shining through in my writing. It's only because, well, I'm just not enthusiastic about it. You know what the Twins did? They got J.J. Hardy. I wanted J.J. Hardy. I knew that the Sox wouldn't bring back Gonzo, but I hoped to high heavens that they would consider trading for Hardy. Young, relatively talented, certainly no worse than anyone else we've had in here (except Gonzo), and controllable in the arbitration market.... to my knowledge anyway. Listen, I like him. It's not just because his name is Hardy. I think he would have been good for this team. But no. We've got Scutato. Hoo-ray.

So now we wait for the craziness of the winter meetings to hopefully produce a left fielder for us. Or a center fielder if they move Jacoby to left. Hell, let's get Coco Crisp back! Is Manny available? No? Pity, I would have liked to see him in a Sox uniform again. And yes, I know I am the minority in that opinion. Honestly, I'm not going to panic whether we get Bay, or Holliday, or none of the above, because my expectations of the team coming into this year are ZERO. I expect it to be a complete re-building year as we prepare for the final bows of Papi and Mikey, and the last appearance of the shell formerly known as Jason Varitek. We'll probably see Beckett pack up his huntin' rifles (and possibly Jonathan Papelbon) and head for greener pastures. Lord knows Theo won't think about giving him a long term contract. It's crazy how fast we've gone through four seasons of the Commander and Mr. Awesome. Feels like they've been part of the team forever. I like it that way, but I guess I have to be prepared for that to end.

I had an awful dream that Theo traded my Binky to the Yankees, which I KNOW he would never do, but it was a tad traumatizing, and it made me lose even more faith in our GM. I know the phrase is "In Theo We Trust" but there are just so many of his moves that seem completely boneheaded that I have to, you know, not trust him. I'd like to see Theo pick up some talented "talent" this offseason instead of picking up some high-ranked "potential." Though I will have to say, Tug might be the most ridiculous name I've experienced.

Someone call Julian Tavarez, please. One thing we do need on this team is personality. Munchkin's giant ego can't do all the work itself. Even with him, the giant hole left by the departure of Manny's ego is still just painful to acknowledge. I want fun! I want bowling on the field, taping guys to the dugout, wacky handshakes and hugs everywhere. If we're gonna suck this year, it might as well be fun to watch!

Welcome to the Winter Meetings, everyone. Some of my favorite times of Hot Stove Season.

Unbelievable: Nothing has changed

Yes, I'm upset we got swept. Yes, I blame Tito for a handful of stupid moves, and Paps for blowing game 3 when, really, he should have been ready. But I blame the team as a whole for looking positively pathetic in the first two games.

That being said, if you're one of those people who have demanded to trade or release any of the following players based on the playoffs (Papi, Tek, Beckett, Lester, Papelbon, Youk, Pedroia, Bay... ok, ANYONE on the team), please leave now because your kind are not welcome here.

I keep insisting that everyone has bad days, and yes, Papelbon picked a very bad time to have a bad day, but that doesn't negate his value. Seriously? We've won two world series championships this decade! Can we put the damn pitchforks down and realize that we had some bad luck? Every team goes through streaks, and ours happened to hit on a bad one during the playoffs. Really? REALLY, you're going to blame Beckett and Lester for the losses in games one and two? Can I please remind you that we had what, eight hits? One run. In two games. Come on! Blaming the pitchers for lack of offense. Sure, I would have loved to see them pitch better, but three runs a piece shouldn't kill a team with such good offense. It did. Nothing can be done now.

This is the last I'm going to say about the playoffs in this blog, because really, I don't care once the Sox are eliminated. I don't have a particularly soft spot in my heart for any of the teams involved. I'm just going to tip my imaginary hat to another winning season and playoff appearance and start back up with the rumor mill after the winter meetings. Enjoy the break, folks. A lot of us need it.

Twins: AL Central Champs

Wow. Way to choke, Tigers.

And congratulations, Twins. You assholes better bring that fight to Yankee stadium, or I am going to be pissed.