peace

And all the best for 2010!

Lester Rodney: 1911 -2009

American journalist Lester Rodney passed away last Sunday at the age of 98.

Dave Zirin, Edge of Sports:

He crusaded against baseball's color line when almost every other journalist pretended it didn't exist. He edited a political sports page that engaged his audience in how to fight for a more just sports world. His writing, which could describe the beauty of a well-turned double play in one sentence and blast injustice in the next, is still bracing and ahead of its time. He should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Instead he was largely erased from the books.

If you have never heard of Lester Rodney, there is a very simple reason why: the newspaper he worked at from 1936-1958 was the Daily Worker, the party press of the U.S. Communist Party. Lester used his paper to launch the first campaign to end the color line in Major League Baseball. ...

[Lester recalled Jackie Robinson as] "a continuing militant, and that's why the Dodgers never considered this brilliant baseball man as a manager or coach. It's because he was outspoken and unafraid. That's the kind of person he was. In fact, the first time he was asked to play at an old-timers' game at Yankee Stadium, he said 'I must sorrowfully refuse until I see more progress being made off the playing field on the coaching lines and in the managerial departments.' He made people uncomfortable. ...

Sadly, but not surprisingly, that crucial aspect of Robinson's character has been erased from all modern mainstream recollections.

You can read the forward and some of the first chapter of Irwin Silber's book about Rodney -- Press Box Red -- here.

Also: a 2003 Village Voice interview and his New York Times obit.

Gammons: Sox Made Offer To Holliday

Odd to bury it in a tweet, though:

Boston ecstatic with Lackey. Before he stepped foward, Sox offered 4x$15M to Bay and 5x$16.5 to Holliday.
December 18, 10:16 AM

The Curious Case of Jacoby Ellsbury

According to various fielding metrics, Jacoby Ellsbury was the worst center fielder in all of baseball last year.

And, last week, almost on cue, fans at mlb.com chose Ellsbury as the Defensive Player of the Year. However, LBJ had a very solid season in the field in 2008. So what gives? SoSH discusses the matter.

Jason Varitek talks about his role on the 2010 Red Sox.

I don't know exactly how that's all going to play out. Knowing going into it, [Victor Martinez] is going to play the majority of time. For me, I kind of got in that role last year, so I had two months to get used to it.

A scout says the Red Sox offered Manny Delcarmen to Texas for rookie reliever Guillermo Moscoso. If true, I guess Texas said no.

Two posts from SoSH:

bombdiggz:

Assuming that every Red Sox lineup holdover — Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz and J.D. Drew — performs at his 2009 level next year, and that Cameron, Kotchman and Scutaro performed at their career averages, the Red Sox starting nine would project (according to the amazing baseballmusings.com Lineup Analysis tool) to score 5.646 runs per game. Over a full year, that would project to a whopping 915 runs.

phragle:

[Buchholz] throws five plus pitches (fastball, sinker, change, slider, curve) any of which can be un-hittable on a given night. What other young studs throw five plus pitches in the AL? Greinke, Verlander and Hernandez, they all throw fastball, sinker, slider, curve, change. [What] if I told you Buch's stuff is as dangerous as theirs, would you believe me? I hope so, because it is. Out of all the qualified AL starters, Jon Lester (2010 CYA winner, callin' it right now) generates less contact than any one, followed by Verlander, Sabathia, Hernandez and Greinke. Point? Clay's contact percentage is in between Hernandez and Greinke. Thats filthy, filthy stuff. Add that to his ground ball percentage and you have bona fide stud on your hands.

Lowell Trade Called Off

ESPN:

The proposed trade between the Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox involving Mike Lowell is off, according to a source.

The reason: Lowell has a torn radial collateral ligament in his right thumb and will have surgery after Christmas.

The article states that Lowell injured the thumb taking batting practice during the final weekend of the 2009 season.

Recovery time from the surgery is 6-8 weeks, which might make him a bit late for spring training.