Tag: Red Sox

Schilling wants surgery

Keep in mind that there’s no way Dr. Craig Morgan could have given this remarkable interview to the Globe’s Gordon Edes without Schilling’s permission. I’m speculating, but it looks to me like Schilling still believes he needs shoulder surgery, and that he backed down only to protect his contract. Now he’s hoping to make the Red Sox’ position look unreasonable.

“I trusted him with my career then, and always will,” says Schilling of Morgan.

Sadly, I think we all know what should happen. Schilling should retire. He was pretty amazing in the postseason, but a repeat performance is looking like an increasingly remote possibility.

Update: The Herald’s Rob Bradford had a Morgan interview yesterday, which means he talked with Morgan sometime Thursday. (I don’t have a print edition of yesterday’s Herald handy, but the story made it to LexisNexis, which usually means it was in print and not just on the Web.) Dirt Dog in chief Steve Silva noted on Boston.com yesterday that Morgan also appeared on WEEI’s “Dennis & Callahan” yesterday morning. And Edes’ own interview with Morgan was posted online shortly after noon yesterday.

So Bradford gets the gold. And Schilling is pretty obviously playing hardball to persuade the Red Sox to let him go under the knife.

Of pitchers and Patriots

This Sunday we can finally get that Super Bowl thing over with and start talking about baseball. Spring training’s just a few weeks away. Two quick hits this morning:

  • I’m actually glad that Johan Santana has gone to the Mets, preferring to watch the Red Sox win (or lose) with the kids. As Tom Werner says, at least he’s not going to the Yankees. And I know Pedro’s near the end of his career, but can he handle not being the Man?
  • Roger Clemens’ protestations of innocence don’t add up, but he’s made them so vehemently that I had decided to suspend judgment. But if Andy Pettitte is ready to say Clemens used steroids and human growth hormone, it’s lights out.

Oh, one other thing. Go Pats.

Outrageous

Jim Rice is passed over for the Hall of Fame again. Goose Gossage, who did make it, says:

Just from what I know and facing these guys, I think Jim Rice does belong in the Hall of Fame and I’ve said that all along. No hitter scared me, but Jim Rice came the closest. What a tremendous hitter he was. He made that whole Boston lineup a better lineup.

No kidding. I understand that Rice is a marginal candidate. But he had a fine career, and in the late 1970s he was the most devastating hitter in baseball.

Today’s media scandal

How was it that the names of players who were not in the Mitchell Report wound up being identified as steroid users earlier in the day? As Dan Shaughnessy writes in the Boston Globe, “Some of the names were pretty interesting. Where do those players go to reclaim their reputations?”

By many accounts, the false positives originated with WNBC in New York, which posted a correction late in the afternoon, after George Mitchell had finally released his report. But was WNBC alone, with others merely following the station’s lead? Or were there others who also broke this toxic non-story?

(Rotten) apples and oranges

Shouldn’t we make a moral distinction between Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds, who’ve been accused of taking steroids in order to throw harder and hit the ball farther, and Andy Pettitte and Mo Vaughn, who alleged took human growth hormone so they’d be able to bounce back from injuries more quickly? It seems to me that the former compromised the integrity of the game, whereas the latter was merely dangerous and stupid.

Here’s a PDF of the Mitchell report. Search for Pettitte’s and Vaughn’s names and you’ll see what I mean.

An inside pitch

“Looking for the perfect gift this holiday season for the baseball fan in your life? Look no further than NESN’s DVD that chronicles the championship journey of the Red Sox.” — Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, writing in today’s Boston Globe. The Globe, of course, is owned by the New York Times Co., which also owns 13.6 percent (if I’ve done by math right) of NESN.

A smart move if it happens

The Boston Herald reports that beleaguered relief pitcher Eric Gagné may accept arbitration and give it another shot with the Red Sox next year. Good. Yes, he became the human surrender flag. But he’s one of the great relievers in baseball history, and he was pitching well before coming to the Sox in mid-season. He may have been hurt. He may heal over the winter. Why dump the guy when he might prove to be valuable?

Saturday update: Gagné’s gone, according to the Globe. Too bad.

Just say no, Theo

Over at Boston.com, it’s running 82 percent to 17 percent against trading Jacoby Ellsbury as part of a package to land Johan Santana. And I didn’t even vote.

Yes, by any traditional baseball measure, the Red Sox should be willing to give up kids to get a great pitcher like Santana — even kids who thrived in the World Series spotlight, like Ellsbury and Jon Lester, or who have incredible promise, like Clay Buchholz.

But it shouldn’t be all about winning — sometimes it should be about winning a certain way. As a fan, I’m tired of seemingly every star player whose current team has decided it can’t afford ending up with either the Red Sox or the Yankees. Major League Baseball is not healthy right now. After the steroid scandal, the second-biggest problem is the economic dominance of Boston and New York.

Of course, I realize that if Santana doesn’t wind up with the Sox, the Yankees are likely to land him. Let them do it. It won’t be good for the Red Sox, and it won’t be good for baseball. But I’d rather see what the kids can do than land yet another proven star and pencil in a guaranteed (barring injury) 18 to 20 wins.

It’s supposed to be competition, not annihilation.