$99 down. $99 a month.

Bill:
OK, I can't help it...

 

---

Bill:
Every time I see a photo of Bobby V in a suit I think —

"What's it gonna take to put you folks into this car today?"

 

---

Mike:
Yeah, and Ben's the guy who ends up having "to run that number by my sales managah."

 

---

Bill:
"Good Credit, Bad Credit, No Credit you're always welcome at Lucky Larry's new and used cars."

 

---

Mike:
"Lucky Larry, his prices are IN-SA-A-A-A-A-ANE!"

 

---

Comments

[yazbread]

Read a few Gary Carter obits with the obligatory rehashing of 1986. Some pain never goes away.

[COD]

I've was never able to work up any level of dislike for Carter. Probably because I was a catcher through high school baseball and even fast pitch intramurals in college.

57 is too young.

[James]

Excellent strip today. Keep on keeping on!

[Bob]

"Isn't this team a thing of beauty, fans? It's gonna get off to a faster start...zero to sixty wins by mid-July, I guarantee it. Now, I'm sure you want clearcoat with that bullpen, right? I'll have to talk to my manager, but I'm pretty sure I can also throw in some rust protection on Beckett."

[soxinsix]

Lost my dad to a brain tumor at 63. An absolutely horrible way to go. I'm glad his suffering is over. RIP Gary.

[Rob in CT]

What makes it so great for me is that smile plastered on his face. Is there a more disingenuous set of pearly whites in the MLB?

Count your fingers and rings after shaking hands with that huckster.

[lc]

Nailed it, hb. nuffin more to say.

I do not trust BV in the slightest.

love,

spam

[Jack Wrong (aka Follower of Tito)]

"Look, it is the end of the month, and I have already made my numbers, so I am going to throw in a triple-A right-handed bat GRATIS...you can't get that kind of deal ANYWHERE!"

[urm]

@Jack W: golf clubs, yes, OK. But bats?

[Harwich Rich]

Oh Timmuh-so near and yet so far.

[COD]

Wakefield retiring.

[sonomasox]

Over under on the number of Wakefield Days held at the Fens this year?

I say 4 - just enough for two sets of home & away "collectable, once in a life time" Timmy jerseys.

Gonna miss him being around every 5th day.

[Bob]

They'll have to hold a "wake," too.

[Lc]

@ss dr.Charles Steinberg is back with the sox as "special advisor to the President" . I cannot take the under, given that. Can Glenn Geffner be far behind?

Blessings, spam

[h.b.]

Bittersweet on Wakefield's retirement. It was time and yet seems too soon. (Also makes me realize how long in the tooth I'm getting.)

[HunterStars]

So Wake is heading off into the sunset. It was probably time, but it's hard to imagine the Sox without him.

Makes me wonder about Tek, too...

[Natalie]

Wow, the Wakefield news really has me down in the dumps. I was already negative on this season, now I am positively gloomy. Sigh. Maybe I take a year off from the Sox and focus on rooting for the Mets, you know, for shits and giggles; lord knows the bf would love it...

[Natalie]

Also: I think Tek will be the next announcement (leaving or retiring) and I can't form words about how sad that makes me (unless the Sox do the right thing and offer him a coaching position). This team is NOT my Red Sox. It doesn't feel good at all. At all.

[Yossarian]

I still say they should sign Wakefield for a 1/2 season. That's about all he lasts the past few years anyway. Since his profile already suggests too much... ohh, I don't know .... fried chicken... we don't have to worry about him staying in shape. Bring him on board for the second half of the season.

[ogie oglethorpe]

If Wake is retiring, then so am I - as a Masshole Boston sports fanatic. I was already feeling emotionally detached from the Sox. The Pats SB loss was a blow from which my Boston sports fan psyche cannot recover. So I am cashing out. But don't cry for me Argentina. 3 SB, 2 WS, and Lord Stanley's Cup. What a specatacular ride, more than any of us could ever have hoped for. I can think back to so many different peiods of my life and remember the red sox team that season - with Wake in the mix. I'm out with him. But fear not, i will still read this strip. Along with the guy that sits across from South Station with his whiteboard, this strip will be my primary source of information going forward. Good night and God bless everyone. Go Sox!!! -Ogie

[buckner was framed]

definitely sad about Wake. It always seemed as though he was pitching whenever we made the pilgrimage into Fenway. Plus he gave hope to all of us slightly overweight middle aged white guys that we too could contribute in a meaningful way. It was time to hang 'em up but I will always be disappointed that we are now stuck with Capt Winstrol as our alltime wins leader. It would have been fitting for Wake to get those last 7 or 8 he needed

[soxinsix]

Capt Winstrol, that's funny buck. He probably heard me chuckling with that third ear that grew out of his forehead.

[urm]

looking at 2011 stats to provide evidence for my opinion that Wakefield should stay and pitch a bit more, thinking if they were paying him a gazzilion $ like they pay the chinless doofus, they'd have him out there every 5 days and w-l 's be damned...and I noticed that Charlie Furbush had a worse era and whip than Wake, but way better'n that chinless doofus. And of couse I started to wonder: has Charlie Furbush ever been to Tanglewood?

[yazbread]

Beginning the weekend early. Hopefully we will have something to yak about in 2013.

[Harwich Rich]

It wasn't me Bob,I swear ;O

[Jack Wrong (aka Follower of Tito)]

I agree I am not happy about Wake retiring. He was the only player born in the same decade as me, but I can't see quitting sports. I mean, as a New Englander, born and bred, I'd like to think we are made of sterner stuff. Honestly, if you can live through the '75, '86 WS and Dent in 1978 and Boone in 2003, then last September, the SB loses and Wake retiring, while heart-wrenching, won't turn me off. Hell, I am still mad about them trading Reggie Smith. But I still love this team. It runs deeper than that - at least for me.

See you on the other side

[soxinsix]

Bummed about Wake, not turning away from all sports. We are indeed made of sterner stuff. Though I must admit I still hate Jimmy Fallon and won't watch Fever Pitch after their filming took away from the 04 celebration. Some grudges die hard.

[Bob]

Quit on Boston sports? Never. If nothing else, a down period makes it easier to get tickets. (I purchased my Pats season seats the year before Parcells and Bledsoe came to town). And the up periods provide the kind of memories you can't buy. I was at the Snow Bowl and Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS just to name two.

Plus it's fun to complain.

Anyway, have a great weekend all. Hopefully we'll have something fun to yak about on Monday.

[Steve in MD]

So long Wake and many thanks for all the times you made mfy hitters look clueless! Have a great retirement and enjoy your beautiful family.

[sonomasox]

@LC - didn't know the dentist was back in the FO. I think the over/under just moved to 6.

@ Jack Wrong - ditto.

[soxdownunder]

Ambivalence defined:

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/okajima-fails-physical-with-yankees/

[lc]

sorry, it's a true story.

Wake

[SAC]

Like knowing where you were when (name momentous event)...I'll never forget stopping dead in my tracks at Logan on way to the gate, watching a TV monitor on which a ball delicately floated, then fluttered and finally twisted its way across the plate. At first, I thought the Sox were now broadcasting batting practice or something.

I will miss the crafty Knuckler.

[PaPesky]

Whatever anyone says about Wake--we would not have won or even been on the Series if Wake hadn't gone those extra innings in that extra inning game (17?). OK, I can't help it...why is the "review" on Bobby V just like a column from "Oh, ye dammed Curley-Boy?" At least give the guy a month with the team