Hiatus? We don't need no stinkin' hiatus

Being of hardy New England stock, I should have known the Puritan work ethic would kick in and prove difficult to ignore … So where were we last?

Mike:
Wow, so Schilling is staying and Lowell as well?

 

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Mike:
Aftah the deep cull the front office made aftah the last World Championship, I didn't see this coming.

 

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Bill:
Seriously. Just when you think you've got the Red Sox figured out, they throw you a gyro.

 

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Mike:
I couldn't be happiah.

 

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Bill:
Yeah, all this and it seems our fears of seeing A-Rod on the rostah were totally unfounded.

 

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Mike:
We really should have gone with the Occam's razor approach on where A-Rod would head.

 

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Bill:
The simplest solution tends to be the right one? How so?

 

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Mike:
When you remembah that the uni has to match the lips on the color wheel, Dodger blue is a no-brainah for Slappy McBluelips.

 

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Bill:
Ah, yes, it's chromatically judicious!

 

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Author's Notes
I still don't think we'll be at a regular 5-day a week routine during the offseason, but the "only on Fridays" idea is officially shelved. 

Comments

[Harwich Rich]

I love this site :)

[Youk Rules]

I would have liked to see A-Rod at shortshop.

Even the haters would have come to love him pretty quickly.

[vancouversoxfan]

h.b.

I love your "puritan work ethic" as long as it means more humour from you.

I like to think I am as well read as any other Soxaholix but where in God's green earth did you learn about Occam's Razor? I must have been asleep in class!

[yazbread]

A day without Soxaholix is like a day without sunshine.

[da kine]

Does it make me obsessive that I said to myself, "Don't bother checking Soxaholix. There won't be a new one 'til Friday," yet I checked anyway? If so, my obsession is rewarded.

We need Senor Doble back, and Youk Rules, I must unfortunately disagree. I think A-Fraud must be clubhouse poison. There's a reason, as Gammo said, that he's never been to the World Series.

[ParkerStPete]

As another puritan -- my mother's maiden name, no kidding, is Patience Baker -- all I can say is: "Their foot shall slide in due time." Jonathan Edwards probably didn't have baseball in mind, but who really knows?

[Scott]

I was starting to warm to the idea of A-Rod at SS. If the Pats can transform Corey Dillon and Randy Moss then why couldn't the Red Sox do it with Slappy?

And if you don't think that the league has it out for the Pats then look no further than those calls on Sunday.

[CuracaoSox]

Good thing I checked if there was something new. Thanks H.B.
I still hope they don't sign Lowell. We would have the most unproductive left side in baseball in two years if they do.

[beth]

neither the schilling or lowell contracts are a done deal. i'm not celebrating anybody staying till they officially announce they've signed on the dotted line. remember a-rod himself was all but a done deal three years ago; resigning johnny damon was also a "priority" but he didn't like their offer.

[COD]

Schilling appears to be official.

[Kaz]

8+2 is a good price for Schilling and I think he's going to be happier with his gaming company being out in Maynard and all. Beckett, Matsuzaka, Schilling, Lester, Buchholz...Wake and Tavarez in the pen....ain't nothing wrong with that!

[Ryan with a capital "R"]

Chromatically delicious. I wish I could put words together that well.

[Harwich Rich]

Petitte just bailed on the Spanks,so he's out there.

[Natalie]

Ah, hb, making my rainy Tuesday.

For those fellow Soxaholix who are market research/stats/trends geeks like me, here is something interesting a friend passed along to me, in his words:

"A company called Turnkey Sports & Entertainment has constructed a way to measure and rank a sports team’s brand strength by using an index. Today inside Street and Smith’s Business Sports Journal the report was released breaking down and ranking teams from the NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB. On ESPN, they read off all of the breakdowns of the major sports cities (Boston’s most powerfully branded team was surprisingly the Pats; Buffalo’s was expectedly the Sabres; Chicago’s was da Bears (mainly because they didn’t test the “Ditka” brand); and the most powerful team brand was the Steelers).

Here's the article released exclusively today by Street and Smith’s Business Sports Journal: http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.main&articleId=56926&requestTimeout=900.

Here is how the teams rank: http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article.main&articleId=56964

Enjoy!

[Bob]

What the deuce? A surprise strip from H.B.? Sweet.

I guess all the Sox are waiting on regarding Schilling is an MRI.

[lc]

Look at us. All the ol' gang is back, counting the days until Truck Day [91 by my count]

Thanks, h.b. To all you unbelievers, just as an RSS feed for this creepy site and then you will know if there is something new.

Glad to hear about the $chill, I hope the optimism in re: Lowell is well-founded. As for the "too many starting pitchers" argument, see e.g. Brinson Arroyo.

Love you, love the show.

lc

[tessie]

Schilling reaches agreement with champs on deal
ESPN.com news services

Does this mean we get a strip?

[tessie]

sorry about that. new brain....

new and improved world series champion brain, that is :D

[lc]

heh. very bad typing skills today. I'm in mid-season form.

sbl,

lc

[h.b.]

Speaking of RSS, the redesigned site will feature a distinct RSS just for comments, so you can be alerted as soon as their is a new comment.

Also the comments will be paginated, so you won't have to scroll through the old ones unless you choose to.

[Mike H]

Hiatus - what's going to happen when we are 19 games up next season and there is no drama at all to talk about? Are the characters going to sit around and keep toasting each other about the team's continued dominance of the AL East? Bill gonna call Marty everyday to make fun of him?

I am hoping they sign ARod and make him play shortstop just so we have something to talk about because, jeez, it looks like the FO, players and fans are all on the same page about what needs to happen for the team. I want the Sox to be successful and think we do have something special in the making but don't really know what everyone's going to be talking about when they are going on 20 game win streaks every other month.

No controversy means we all get to sleep soundly and the anxieties go away. In turn, I fear this strip itself might become obsolete as the dialogue we all identify with as fans becomes mundane talk about our team's dominance and the wisdom of management.

h.b.: how about we develop some Yankees fan characters just to keep it interesting? Some pant suited Goomba that barely speaks English (calls the language American), some naive youngster who was raised to think the Yankees will always be the best, some home town girl with long braided pony tails who is no longer that young and still has a crush on Jeter, a faceless cop who's seen some bad stuff and his only joy is the Yankees, a large talking bucket of turds with a sunny disposition who still idolizes Billy Martin for his professionalism, a couple guys who work at the stadium and share ironically insightful observations about what has been...

At least that would give us something to hate on.

M

[Tim]

I was actually checking in to see the beatdown on that pouting hillbilly that's one of the pleasures here.

Delighted to see Sox news, though. You've got a few more weeks until you fall back to once a week...

[james]

"I would have liked to see A-Rod at shortshop. Even the haters would have come to love him pretty quickly."

Nope, not a chance. And arod playing short at his current size is different than 5 years ago. You're living in denial.

"I still hope they don't sign Lowell. We would have the most unproductive left side in baseball in two years if they do.
Posted by: CuracaoSox"

Please go root for the yankees.

[Kaz]

Hiatus?

Yeah, I been there. Nice beach.

Not as nice as Chat'em...but still pretty nice.

[Jim]

Long time reader/lurker, but I must weigh in on payrod - does the FO really want to be burdened by another ginourmous contract? I doubt it, even for the best regular season player in the ML. Wouldn't it be great to boycott all Boras clients? At least once the current slate is cleared.

HB - thanks for delaying the once/week schedule.

Good news re: Schill.

[Harwich Rich]

...or whats left of Chat'm

[professional hitter]

Brinson - lc, I thought you were doing your McCarver impression. Thanks for the bonus strip, h.b. I feel like I just reached into my winter coat pocket after the summer and found a 20 in there. Sweet.
Bring on Mikey!

[louclinton]

Hiatus?

As long as $chilling didn't (see article re: weight restriction in his contract)

[Sonoma Sox]

HB - way to rock the party.

Maybe Schill will hire someone w/ that 8mill to handle his gaming biz so he can stay out of his basement & lay of the cheesy poofs.

[stratomaticboy]

thanks for the hiatus break h.b.!

[maggietozier]

This means I can go back to calling him A-Fraud, right?

Thank Gott. I was scared for a minute there.

[soxdownunder]

Thanks hb. Forget 'RSS' (whatever that be) and make 'holix your home page.

My signed by 2007 [except Jacoby :(] arrived and I thought 'I'm rich' and then noticed that http://www.sportsmemorabilia.com/sports-products/2007-boston-red-sox-autographed-baseball-bat.html "> ebay was selling them for $110 but not its up to $700 and I'm laughing.

PS Would never sell.

[soxdownunder]

Sorry about the link Bob. If it's any consolation it takes me minutes and minutes and I have to have the tip of my tongue sticking out and cut and past Kaz's original tips.

[yazbread]

Evidently an incentive clause in Schilling contract resolve around his weight. So much for the cheese puffs.

[Suldog]

To answer an above comment: Nope. Not in a million years. I would NEVER come to love A-Rod. If he somehow ends up on the Sox, that's it for my rooting for them. He and his agent are the biggest pair of a-holes in baseball (and that covers a lot of ground, I know.)

[Bob]

//Sorry about the link Bob...//

I don't begrudge you your newfound skills, SDU. I was just going a little Dana Carvey "Grumpy Old Man-ish."

[Bob]

Schilling is officially officially signed. Just got the email from RedSox.com

[DickRaditz]

AROD in a Red Sox uniform would be like Terrell Ownens suiting up for the Pats.
To those who were tempted...look at yourselves in the mirror closely. Find the brighter side of your nature and repent.

There is Light in Mike Lowell.

[h.b.]

Mike Lowell? Seems like just the sort of signing the Moneyball thinking would advise against.

I'll be surprised if it happens.

Meanwhile, T.0. cracks me up in a way A-Rod never would or could. Lousy comparison IMO.

[NolaSox]

I know this may be entering pink hat territory but chixappeal.com is giving away 10 of the blinged out World Champs shirts the Sox wives wore since they can't sell them due to MLB licensing restrictions.

[Betsy in Rhode Island]

I like TO - he has a lot of bravado that topples over the edge sometimes. Mostly it makes me smile. ARod seems kind of grim.

I also like having Shilling next year sitting on the bench advising some of our younger pitchers - Lester, Bucholz...

[Bob]

Youk won the Gold Glove.

[Designated Sitter]

But nothing for Coco.

[Bob]

Some guy named Orlando Cabrera unseated Jeter (not like A-Fraud does, but for the Gold Glove).

[Sonoma Sox]

How does Coco miss out?

Must've been those refs from Indy looking at the tape. Times when Coco missed - no other human would have even made a play. What's next - Joel Pinata winning comeback player of the year

[Primitive Screwhead]

Occam's Razor
Makes the cutting clean.

Fantastic moves so far in this offseason.
They better close the deal with Lowell.

[Survived75]

I think perhaps Hanlon's Razor, rather than Occam's, might be more apropos the Payrod Follies:

"Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."