John Henry Blasts Boston Media !!!!

(photo from nesn.com/johnhenry)

For those of you that don't know, Red Sox (and Fenway and NESN) Principal Owner, John Henry, has started blogging... weeeee hooooo, I'm in good company !!!! This very unprecedented move is the type of ownership that Red Sox Nation enjoys.... owners for the people.

Anyway, while watching last night's game at "Fenway South", uh, Baltimore, NESN reported a snippet that Mr. Henry had posted an article on his blog "Blasting the Boston media"... or at least that's how I took it.... actually it was more like "John Henry [demands] that the Boston media apologize to David Ortiz".... obviously a subject near and dear to his heart as he posted it at 7:47 last night - DURING THE RED SOX GAME !!!!

At a time when a baseball owner is watching his team battle for a spot in the post-season, THIS owner is blogging about the respect that David Ortiz DESERVES!!!! I, of course, immediately grabbed my Blackberry and logged on to NESN.com to try to see exactly what was going on - what John Henry's post was about.

Much to my excitement, I was able to determine that the post referred to all the BULL[CRAP] that the media put Big Papi through at the beginning of August over Papi's name being included on "The List"... KUDOS TO MR. HENRY !!!!

My immediate reaction, of course, was, "I need to blog THIS !!!"... recalling that I had posted a similar, although MUCH more emotional, post back in August.

My thoughts ranted to self-promotional titles for this post like "Great John's Think Alike" but have since subsided... although, if I don't promote me, WHO WILL !?!?!?!

Nope, no self-promo from this "kid" today... this post isn't about me... it's about John Henry, David Ortiz and the "top-notch" Boston media..

HUGE kudos to John Henry.... first for having the "testicular fortitude" to enter the blogosphere and share insights with the Nation that no one else could/would.

SECOND.... kudos to Mr. Henry for recognizing the fact that Big Papi was treated 100% unfairly. The media that put him on a pedestal over the last several seasons, COLLECTIVELY crumbled that very pedestal in a time when Papi and the Nation needed their support most....

Back-stabbers and "Benedicts" came to my mind through this whole ordeal. True, they say that Boston is one of, if not THE, toughest towns to be an athlete in... BUT, my assumption was always that those who said this were alluding to the fact that the fans are so passionate... NOT, because the media turns their back on you (well ok, I knew the media was tough too)... making you out to be a criminal when you've done NOTHING illegal...

But "tough" is a gross understatement of how the hero of a Nation was treated by our "beloved" Boston media... the same hero that has kept them employed, bringing them records and championships to report about... some appreciation, huh???

Massaroti, Shaughnessy etc etc etc - each and every one of them ripped Papi before during and after the press conference in which he flat out said he never bought or did steroids.... Nuf Ced right ?!?!?! WRONG !!!!!!!!!! That statement just made them all flat out call Papi a liar !!!! ....

All of them EXCEPT..... Nick Cafardo !!! Hats off to Nick Cafardo !!! as his statement after the Papi conference was "If David Ortiz says he didn't do it, he didn't do it!!!" SOMEONE with a brain !!!!!!!!!

Perhaps NOW the media will look in a mirror and see themselves for what they really are.... and remember that when you point a finger at someone, 3 fingers are pointing at you !!!!

The BOSS has spoken.. and I thank John Henry for doing so !!!! Although I highly doubt that anyone in the media will apologize... their "creed" being... NEVER RECANT, fearing that it undermines a reporter's "credibility".... hmmmm, never recant huh, remember that John Henry owns your [butt], anyone at NESN !!!!!!!!

Personally, I found it INcredible that they messed with Papi (and the Nation) in the manner that they did !!! .... and think that it would add to their credibility and their persona to just "fess up"... although, it shouldn't have taken Mr. Henry's blog to make this happen - if it happens at all.....

-Nuf Ced

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Sox Recap - game from August 26th, 2009

Wait til your Papi gets HOME !!!
OR... Going Once, Going TWICE, Going for a Walk(OFF) in the Park !!!!

Now THAT is the Papi of old... photo from NESN.COM

It was a scene so familiar to citizens of the Nation... A scene we'd come accustomed to... mmmm, almost EXPECTED, from the BEST CLUTCH HITTER in Red Sox history. Perhaps we had become spoiled by the 10 or so walk-off homers that Big Papi had treated us to - ESPECIALLY, the playoff "shots"......perhaps not...

If Big Papi hasn't FINALLY been able to put the past in the past, I would hate to be opposing pitchers when he does. Papi is tearing the cover off of the ball... and I believe it was I that pointed out that despite his AWFULly slow start this year, history showed that he could still "easily" blast more than 30 homers... Nuf Ced

David Ortiz came one...uh TWO, steps closer to making that prediction come true last night... and brought the past into the present... and oh so nice it was to see the bench greet Papi at home plate.... memories..... "dirty" water colored memories (like the new lead-off tune on the blog?!?!?!).... after belting a walk-off homer (his second dinger of the night) in the bottom of the 9th... I can get used to THAT again !!!! Nuf Ced

It was a game that COULD have gotten away... Wake, uh... Hop-A-Long... was making his return to the rotation... and obviously not 100% physically... not to mention he was tossing to VMart, whom had never caught a knuckle-ball... a recipe for disaster... as was proven by the very first pitch of the game.. which DID get away....I had flashbacks to Josh Bard's days...

But VMart sucked it up like a vacuum cleaner after that... but, obviously vacuum cleaners don't throw to second base often.... but Wake was wonderful... going 7 frames, giving up 6 hits and a lone run.... AND, he threw 94 pitches... 73 of which were strikes !!!! including a dozen pitches in the 1st, ALL for strikes !!! Nuf Ced

Wake "gimped off" after 7 strong with our boys leading 2-1 - on big flies by Papi and Alex Gonzalez, whom also sent one GONZO..... I wish this kid was more than a "defensive acquisition"... I'll bet Beavis (Jed Lowrie) TRULY wishes that... ah well, there's always next year, kid... Nuf Ced

Anyway, RamRam relieved Wake in the 8th and PROMPTLY relinquished the lead on a long ball - talk about going from hero to heel... what a difference a day makes... TRULY... as Danny Boy Bard was back in the saddle and mowed down all 4 batters he faced, picking up his first major league win - striking out 3... perhaps he had some beans before the ballgame... he was on high octane (gas) last night - NO WAIT, THAT was me !!!!!!!!!! Nuf Ced

So, it's 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th.... 1 out, nobody on base... BIG Papi at the plate... The Faithful were on the edge of their seats..... uh STANDING on their seats is more like it... deja vous set in as the big guy wrapped one around Pesky's Pole off of White Sox' pitcher, Tony Pena... and the Fens exploded, the Sox bench, uh "dancing?" at the dish awaiting their Papi to get home... Nuf Ced

As Papi was beating the White Sox, the uh YANKERS were downing the Rangers..... Sox' lead in the Wild Card.... 2-1/2 games !!!!!!

Taz takes the hill tonight... hopefully continuing the whirlwind he started against the Bummers last week....

I end today's post on a somber note... sorry for the mood swing but....
photo from Boston.com


As I'm sure you all know, the Nation(s) lost one of it's PROMINENT citizens just before midnight on August 25th...... and a great tribute was put on by John Henry, et al, at the Fens and on NESN last night....
RIP Senator "Ted" Kennedy... one of the greatest advocates for the state of Massachusetts, hometown sports, and the nation of the United States of America as a whole. He will surely be missed....
As a native son of the Commonwealth, "the Kennedys" family became a household name early in life, JUST behind the Red Sox. And, I also lost my father to the BEAST, cancer - [crap] today is the anniversary of that day..... [FREAK !!!]
I send my deepest condolences to ALL of the Kennedys and their kin on his passing... and so soon after Eunice passed.....but trust me, they are in a much better place !!!!





Tying it all together is the fact that Ted Kennedy's grandfather, John F. "Honey Fitz" "Fitzy" Fitzgerald - the middle name of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy... get it???... was once (or twice) the mayor of Boston... AND threw out the first pitch at the grand opening of Fenway Park in 1912... NOT TO MENTION, Fitzy was a staunch member of the Royal Rooters.... yes, THE ROYAL ROOTERS !!!! (uh, read the footer at the very bottom of the page)

Needless to say, it was a sad day for the Nation.... but say hi to grandpa, Ted, and give Michael T. McGreevy a BIG "thank you" from me........ NUF CED

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Señor David "Big Papi" Aramis (now Ortiz)

As I was typing yesterday's post, SPECIFICALLY as I was saying that at this point, a week after the allegation "leaked" that he is named on "The List", Papi really needs to hold a BIG press conference clearing up the situation, it was announced on NESN that Papi will hold a press conference tomorrow afternoon in front of a national audience, as the Sox and Yankees play on national TV. To some degree, I guess my "plea" was answered as I was making it. ESP ???

So as I ponder this perplexing situation, I have some thoughts and opinions regarding it - GO FIGURE !!!!

I will start by re-iterating a "brief" history... "The List" is the list of players that tested positive for using Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) in a survey performed by MLB in 2003.... a survey that was supposed to be anonymous in order to determine if a drug policy needed to be implemented. It is the same list that Alex Roderigues confirmed that he is named on... and a list that was supposed to have never existed - so the players were told....

So why was this list created in the first place ??? Did MLB double-cross it's athletes and "order" the testing company to secretly create this list unannounced to the players ??? Did the US Government order this list be created to help their investigation into the illegal steroid problem in America as a whole ??? Steroid use was not "illegal" in baseball in 2003.... although surely it was illegal in our country.... so, only the government would actually benefit from knowing the names of those tested positive.. HMMMM....Does ANYONE know the answer ??? Will WE ever know ???

None the less... this list of actual names WAS created BUT was supposed to be destroyed shortly after the testing... leading me to believe that it's creation had something to do with MLB. So, why wasn't it destroyed ??? Perhaps it's creation indeed WAS at the hand of our government, and they also ordered that it not be destroyed... and subsequently seized possession of the list during the Balco investigation. And now the list is part of the evidence of said investigation and is SUPPOSED to be sealed...

So HOW are these names getting out ??? Who is ILLEGALLY slowly leaking information and constantly casting black clouds on our beloved pass-time ??? Why are they leaking the names that they have ??? 4 out of the 7 names made public to date are of Dominican decent... Is there a coalition between the US and Dominican governments against illegal steroids ??? Is there a prejudice against Dominican players ??? and by whom ??? MLB ??? the government ??? and for what reason ??? The Dominican Republic has produced some very famous MLB players... Juan Marichal, Cesar Geronimo, the Alou boys, to name a few. So why prejudge players that have added so much to the game ??? and in the process discredit our national pass-time as a whole...

A-Rod publicly denied the use of PEDs... Papi denounced it (and Manny? he's just Manny)... is there a conspiracy to discredit players that speak out against the use of steroids ??? and why ??? it just continues to discredit the game in general...

Does any of this matter ??? Are we not all in "acceptance" that steroids was (is?) a major part of the game for some time ??? and in other sports as well ??? Personally, I AM... I accepted it year's ago so ???.... I still like to taunt players I'm not fond of for it tho !!! HA !!!

So, as I await Big Papi's press conference, more confusion envelopes my thought pattern.. if all of the players listed were supposed to have been informed (and interviewed by the government) why was Papi "shocked" at the news of his inclusion on said list ??? is he TRULY named on the list or is someone purguring themselves ??? is Papi guilty of drinking those Dominican "supplement" shakes and they actually contain PED's, making Big Papi guilty by "association" ??? but wait, if he tested positive because of the shakes, wasn't he already informed ??? were those on the list ACTUALLY informed of their status ????

Did Papi even TAKE the test ??? (as apparently many players opted not to in order to register a "positive" result to "pad" the survey in an effort to force MLB to institute mandatory drug testing). Would this explain his "confusion" at allegedly being named ??? Would this explain the length of time taken to "find the truth" ??? (or did it take this long so he could formulate an excuse ???) It WOULD, however, confirm his denouncing of the use of PED's - himself not taking the test in an effort to raise the positive result....

Whereas this revelation hits close to home for me, I urge the MLB (or the government) to simply publish said list publically, deal with it all at once and be done with it !!! It doesn't seem like rocket science to do that - unless an aforementioned ulterior motive is involved. The game will be much better for everyone then......

In all honesty, whether or not Papi (or ANYONE else in MLB, for that matter) has done or does steroids and/or PED's is a mute point for me (but I could argue both sides for hours). If you did Papi, I'll respect you more for just admitting it so we can all move on and put that mistake behind us. But he certainly doesn't bolster what one wonder think of as a "juicer's physique". HMMMMM...

I'm pretty sure that around the time of Mark McGwire's "discovery" I simply assumed that most (if not all) of them did it anyway - that it was just part of the game... Although that doesn't make it legal or an example to follow, it also does NOT taint the championships and awards won by the teams and players themselves. It has been estimated that actually up to 30% of the league were "users" at times - that pretty much makes it a level playing field in my book.

By the same token, I'm even more on the fence about Hall of Fame induction for "Steroid Era" players. The players shouldn't necessarily be punished for playing during a particular era, especially since the wide-spread use did INDEED benefit all teams, but maybe the era itself should carry an asterisk.... I may never be sure ............. Good thing it isn't up to me to decide !!!!

-Nuf Ced

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