Random updates

Haven't posted anything in a while.  There's a simple reason for that.... Not a lot has happened lately of interest specifically to Canadian Red Sox fans.  I could write generic articles about the Red Sox - what they did and didn't do at the trade deadline, how Bobby Valentine could be lynched,  how entertaining Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo are when games are out of reach, MLB power rankings.... no shortage of ideas on topics.   But there are a million (and one) Red Sox blogs that already cover these things, and I don't want to simply add to the noise.  I want to as much as possible focus on items of particular interest to Canadians, as well as participate in Baseball Blogger's Alliance wide topics.

I'm also not a fan of two line posts.  I save those for twitter.  However, since there is a shortage of news to report on, below are a couple of tidbits that might be of interest:

Calgary native and former Red Sox first round draft pick, Chris Reitsma, has agreed to a position with the Pro Baseball Force (PBF) Redbirds coaching staff as the organizational pitching coach.  PBF is one of the top baseball academies in the Province, and I'm sure they are excited about this addition.

The Hall of Nearly Great

We are all familiar with The Hall of Fame. And the endless debates about which borderline candidates should or should not be in.  Well, now a collection of some great baseball writers have created a book to celebrate those who are not in Cooperstown, but whose careers should not be lost to history.   The players we cheered for as youngsters, but didn't quite make the cut.  For Red Sox fans, there are stories on Dwight Evans, Luis Tiant, Ellis Burks as well as other players who played home games at Fenway including some  best remembered for their times with other teams such as Frank Viola.  Writers include SI's Joe Posnanski (BBA's 2011 writer of the year), the Globe's Chad Finn, Baseball Prospectus' Hall of Fame expert Jay Jaffe and many more talented and passionate baseball writers.  They have teamed up to put together an ebook of stories about some of our favorite players.  Best of all, it's only $12.  For the price of a couple of lattes, you can enjoy endless hours of reading 300 pages of stories about your favourite players.  Click here to read more details and/or download a copy instantly.

Here is the complete list of players and writers:
Luis Tiant-Josh Wilker

Dwight Evans-David Raposa

Ellis Burks-Chad Finn

Reggie Smith-Jon Weisman

Frank Viola-The Common Man

John Olerud-Ted Berg
David Cone - Jay Jaffe

Bret Saberhagen-Marc Normandin

Ray Lankford - Marc Normandin

Dale Murphy-Joe Posnanski

Bobby Bonds-Wendy Thurm

Lonnie Smith-Jon Bois

Norm Cash-Matthew Kory

Keith Hernandez-David Roth

Brian Downing-Sam Miller

Eric Davis-Craig Fehrman

Andy Messersmith-Jeff Passan

Dennis Martinez-Jonah Keri

Fernando Valenzuela-Eric Nusbaum

Urban Shocker-Owen Good

Don Mattingly-Steven Goldman

Kenny Lofton-Cee Angi

Will Clark-Grant Brisbee

Bernie Williams-Ben Lindbergh

Graig Nettles-Cliff Corcoran

Robin Ventura-Jon Sciambi

Darrell Porter-Will Leitch

Moises Alou-R.J. Anderson

Eddie Cicotte-Rob Neyer

Buddy Bell-Jason Parks

Albert Belle-Jonathan Bernhardt

Lenny Dykstra-Emma Span

Ron Cey-King Kaufman

Bobby Grich-David Brown

Tony Phillips-Jason Wojciechowski

Dick Allen-Carson Cistulli

Fred McGriff-Tommy Bennett

Larry Hisle-Bradford Doolittle

Brad Radke-Bill Parker

Alan Trammell-Craig Calcaterra

Chuck Knoblauch-Cecilia Tan

Bob Caruthers-Old Hoss Radbourn

Rusty Greer-Craig Brown

I hope you enjoying reading this.

If (hopefully, when!) a Volume 2 is created, I am going to volunteer to write about Bill Buckner.  I have met him in person (I'm the good looking guy in the picture on the left.  He's wearing the Cowboy hat)  and he has some great stories garnered from playing the game in 4 different decades.  Stay tuned....

Baseball Is Awesome: Youkilis 1st Home Run

As all my readers already know, Kevin Youkilis was recently traded to the White Sox.  I'm not going to discuss the value of the trade, or recap Youks' career and highlights.  That's already been done on plenty of other sites.  Check out my list of Red Sox blogs if you want further reading.  What I want to highlight today is one of my personal most memorable Youkilis moments, and its Canadian connection, in the latest instalment of the Baseball Is Awesome series.

I'll start with the backstory:  Dubbed "The Greek God of Walks" in the bestseller Moneyball, he was much sought after by Billy Beane's A's but the Red Sox beat them to the punch and drafted him in 2001.  He didn't look much like an athlete, but somehow always found a way to get on base.  He rose quickly through the Sox minor league ranks, but in 2004 it didn't look like he'd have much of a chance to crack the Red Sox lineup, as Boston had the league's reigning batting champ, Bill Mueller, playing third base.