Month: April 2005

Most of you know that I really don't care for the Boston Dirt Dogs web
site, partially because of the content, and partially because I've seen
the true nature of the man behind the scenes.  Some of you may
recall the little dust-up exposed over at Boston Sports Media Watch
that showed the Dirt Dog ran with a completely fabricated story
regarding Nomar not wanting his World Series ring.  (By the way, I
was accused by the Dirt Dog of being the mastermind behind that whole
thing, a patently ridiculous accusation).

Evidently one of you noticed enough to send me an anonymous email last
night showing that this same garbage is still going on over
there.  I'll swear on a stack of bibles that I knew nothing about
this until I got an email last night, mainly because I rarely visit the
Dirt Dogs site anymore.  The following is an email sent to Dirt
Dog, and his reply:

From: ItFinalyHappened@aol.com
[mailto:ItFinalyHappened@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2005 10:41 PM
To: bigdog@bostondirtdogs.com
Subject: Desperate Red Sox Wives

 

Hello!
Great job with your website. It's one of the highlights of my Red Sox
season. The big Red Sox story this season in the clubhouse won't involve the
players. It's going to be all about the Red Sox wives. Remember how every
high school has cliques? The ladies make 90210 look like Sesame Street. There are basically two
factions: Michelle Damon's and Shonda Shilling's. And Schilling's group is
giving a huge freeze out to Michelle and her gals because of Johnny's upcoming
book. If Schilling stays on the Sox for another season, look for the team to
not re-sign Damon and move Jay Payton to center. Shonda's chickies are
infuriated that Michelle was given a regular gig on NESN and has no patience
for Millar, Manny and Boomer's wives. Can you say catfight? MEOW!!!

 

Have
a great season and enjoy the Spring!

 

Tania

And the Dirt Dog's response:

Subject:      RE: Desperate Red Sox Wives
From:      "Big Dog" <bigdog@bostondirtdogs.com>
Date:      Sun, April 3, 2005 11:00 pm
To:      ItFinalyHappened@aol.com

Hey there Tania,
 
Sounds like you know the score on this. I knew about the cat fight last
season during the playoffs but couldn't name names. I see Michelle,
(supposedly a former stripper who was married to a guy from Southie and
didn't fight for custody of her kid… another story) and Juliana Ramirez
together all the time. I know that Millar and Boomer are tight (drunk
all over Ft. Myers this spring) so it figures their wives are tight and
part of the Damon faction. The Shonda faction is everyone else
basically, including the younger Amy Arroyo. It's like the First Wives
Club vs. the Second Wives Club.
 
Keep me in the loop if you get any scoop.

Best,
 
Steve

The initial email went up on bostondirtdogs.com word for word, with all
of the names edited out.  I have not edited out any names because there
is nobody to protect…it is entirely made up.  What is even worse is
the way the Dirt Dog throws Michelle Damon, Kivin Millar, and David
Wells under the bus to this random emailer, about 15 minutes after he
initially got the message.

I ask you; what does the above crap have to do with being a Red Sox
fan?  Is it me; or is it irresponsible to post stuff like this on your
website, especially when you are such a high profile one?  And
evidently, boston.com doesn't care a lick.

And for the record, if anyone pulls any more of these scams, don't send
them to me anymore.  I think that those of us with a head on our
shoulders realize what Boston Dirt Dogs is about, and it sure isn't
about being a Red Sox fan.

{mos_sb_discuss:502}

…losing 2 in a row to the Devil Rays would be depressing.  But
what the heck; the Sox are the defending World Champs, and they were
close games.  I hope that Schilling will come around, and it looks
like Ortiz is showing signs of breaking out of his doldrums. 
Regarding Ortiz; and I can't be bothered to look this up right now, but
isn't he a slow starter in general?  And he's still not doing too
badly…

As for our friends to our south, Dom Amore, the Hartford Courant Yankee
beat writer, had this little tidbit in his Yankee notebook column this
morning:

NEW YORK —

Next Sunday is Bat Day at Yankee Stadium. Fans 14 and under will receive an Alex Rodriguez model bat.

But this is strictly a souvenir. It's not recommended for use with runners in scoring position.

That is some funny stuff.  I nearly choked on my eggs.

{mos_sb_discuss:501}

OK, I wasn't paying full attention to the game; and the last inning I
had the sound on mute as to not disturb my sleeping wife…and I have
not read any papers yet today…but why wasn't Bill Mueller batting in
the bottom of the 9th last night with runners on the corners?  And
why does Tito insist on bringing Foulke into a tie game?  And why
does Alan Embree get to pitch in every single game?  And why
remove Manny AND Millar for defensive purposes in a one run game?

Bunch of brain farts last night, in my opinion.  Oh, well.

In Yankee land, the jubilation over the 19-8 victory has subsided
(remember what happened last time the Yanks won 19-8?).  First of
all, I would think that 19 runs aside, they would be concerned that
their starter got the win after giving up 8 runs.  And I was only
flipping back and forth last night, but I saw Randy Johnson leaving the
game having allowed 4 runs, and when I flipped back shortly after I saw
that Tom Gordon allowed 2 more of RJ's runners to score.  Yes, it
is only April…but there has to be some concern there.  The
pitching juggernaut just isn't shaping up that way thus far, is it?

On Monday, I had my first venture on top of the Monster.  What a
great place to watch the game.  If you can somehow get the chance
to get Monster SRO tickets, get there early and plant yourself next to
the foul pole on the railing.  Best $25/$30 in the park.

{mos_sb_discuss:500}

Hope they hit Randy Johnson like that all year!

But on to the important stuff, right? That fan, and every other fan
in that right field corner that reached over the wall for a ball in
play, is an idiot. They should all be kicked out of the park. If there
was a competent umpiring crew last night (and there was plenty of
evidence to the contrary there), Tek would have been sent back to
second base, and Ortiz back to third.

However, that fan's idiocy does not excuse the reaction of
Sheffield.  Said competent umpiring crew should have thrown him
out of the game, and I'll be shocked and surprised if he is not
suspended for a game or two.  And as for media outlets portraying
the fan as taking a punch at Sheffield; come ON.  That's pathetic.

{mos_sb_discuss:499}

8/19: chat may be down for a little while this afternoon for some configuration. Hope to have it back up shortly. Thanks!

Wow. That was something else. Got a little dusty in the bleachers; especially when the rings were brought out by the servicement. Some comments:

• The nice receptions for Lowe and Roberts, the booing of Mendoza that you couldn’t really hear on TV, and the one by one of Pesky going down the line that I was not aware of until I saw it on tv. Great.
• While it was GREAT to see the current players mingle with the past players as the banner was raised; that song was terribly freaking lame. Awful.
• The merciliess booing of everything Yankee; and then the standing O for Rivera when he was introduced was PRICELESS. He even seemed to get a kick out of it, and the definitely paused for effect. Good stuff.
• Nice touch with the Boston Championship legends throwing out the first pitch. And the flyover was timed perfectly.
• What can I say about the game? Doug is a stud who hits bombs; and the mocking cheer of ARod when he cleanly fielded a ball was hilarious.

{mos_sb_discuss:497}

Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration…but the time has FINALLY come where you don’t feel like the game is over if you are playing the Yankees and are losing after the 8th inning. At least if you are the Red Sox.

Is it just the Sox that give Rivera fits? We shall see…but even though I’ve been saying this for the past 2 or 3 years, Rivera’s time of dominance HAS to come to an end. He has been lights out unhittable for 8 or 9 years now. That is an unbelievalbe run. But if he DOES lose it quickly, as closers are wont to do, the Yanks could be in BIG trouble. Their weak links right now, as I see them, are the pitchers in between the starters and Rivara, and Bernie Williams.

Anyway, you can’t ask much more from a series that you lose 2 of 3, in that they got to Rivera twice. And listnening to the Yankee radio postgame yesterday, ARod was absolutely KILLING himself about his error that essentially cost the Yanks the game yesterday. Good to hear.

Now on to the Great White North.

{mos_sb_discuss:496}

Opening Day.  The day that your Boston Red Sox start the defense
of their World Series title.  Against the Yankees.  In New
York.  Versus the Yankee's latest hired gun, while we throw out
2005's Embedded Yankee.

I have to say, though, that I'm not a fan of the ESPNization of
'Opening Day'; and by that I mean moving an early April game to NIGHT,
at 8:00, no less.

Let's get it on!

{mos_sb_discuss:485}