Pitches Great! Less Schilling!

Boing Boing has picked upon my MLB download troubles. Spread the word.

Schilling $8 contract for 2008 includes as much as $6 in incentives (not the $2 I mentioned yesterday), including a weight-related clause -- suggested by G38 himself.

I inserted the weigh-in clause in the second round of offers. Given the mistakes I made last winter and into spring training I needed to show them I recognized that, and understood the importance of it. Being overweight and out of shape are two different things. I also was completely broadsided by the fact that your body doesn't act/react the same way as you get older, even after being told that for the first 39 years of my life.

(That's a pretty horrible post title, isn't it?)

Kevin Youkilis is only the second first baseman in Red Sox history to win a Gold Glove (George Scott, the real "Boomer", is the other). Much is made of Yook's 1,080 chances without an error, but really, if Yook had made an error or three along the way, would his work at first been any less valuable?

Theo Epstein, on the Mike Lowell negotiations: "We're working at it and hopefully moving the ball forward each day." ... Damn it, Theo, NO football metaphors!!!

Daisuke Matsuzaka became the first Red Sox pitcher since Babe Ruth (Game 4, 1918) to have two RBIs in a World Series game.

Interesting take on the Slappy Opt-out from the Times:

From a bargaining perspective, however, the story up to now shows strong evidence [that] Rodriguez wants to stay a Yankee — albeit after proving his open-market value — and has gone out of his way to make it possible for the Yankees to climb down from their posturing and match any offer.

In NYC: The Mets are meeting with Alex Rodriguez. Right now, Wilson Betemit is pencilled in as the Chokers' 3B next year. That will likely change by March, but whoever they get will be a huge downgrade from Mr. McBluelips. ... Jorge Posada says he'll listen to other offers before making any decision re the MFY. Sources say the Chokers are considering offering 3/40, while Dumbo is looking for four years. ... Andy Pettitte turned down his $16 million option for 2008 and he may decide to retire. ... And finally, from CI: "If someone came out twenty years from now and said they released those bugs on purpose, I'd believe it."

Ortiz Has Knee Surgery

Globe:

Red Sox DH David Ortiz underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee today, according to a statement released by the team. The surgery, performed by team physician Dr. Thomas Gill, was done to address a cartilage problem in the knee. The surgery went well, according to the statement, and Ortiz is expected to begin rehabilitation immediately.

Flo should have plenty of time to rehab before spring training. It likely wouldn't hurt if he dropped a pound or 15 over the winter.

If You Purchased MLB Game Downloads Before 2006, Your Discs/Files Are Now Useless; MLB Has Stolen Your $$$ And Claims "No Refunds"

Great to see non-baseball sites like Boing Boing, Wired, Slashdot, Techdirt and others posting about this. Links in comments.

***

2nd Update: Baseball Think Factory has publicized the discussion.

Update: Just got off the phone with a MLB customer service supervisor.

"MLB no longer supports the DDS system" that it once used and so any CDs with downloaded games on them "are no good. They will not work with the current system."

Great. Just effing great. ... As I told the supervisor, this is right in line with how wrong-headed and stupid and ass backwards MLB does everything.

I was told there is absolutely nothing MLB can do about these lost games. Plus, they said my purchases were all "one-time sales" and thus "there are no refunds".

No refunds? As Lee Elia would say: "My fucking ass!"

My info has been submitted to some other MLB department which will review things and see what they can do about either getting me the games I paid for or refunding my $280.45.

So if you have downloaded any games prior to 2006, get those discs out and try to watch them ... then call MLB at 866-800-1275 and demand they refund your money.

***

MLB continues to steal money from baseball fans who have downloaded full games through its digital download service.

I have blogged about this problem twice this year -- April 5 and April 16.

Background: Beginning in 2003, MLB offered fans the chance to download full games to their computer at $3.95 each. When you attempted to open the media file -- either on your hard drive or after it was burned to a CD -- it connected with a MLB.com webpage to obtain a license. Once the license had been verified, the game would play.

From MLB's FAQ:

2. Why is a license used for my downloaded video?

All MLB.com Downloads are encrypted with Microsoft Digital Rights Management technology. DRM security requires a valid license before viewing the material. You must have Windows Media Player (version 10.0 or higher) downloaded on your machine to view downloaded video.

3. What is DRM?

Digital Rights Management is a technology that allows for the secure management of digital media. This security protects the content provider from unauthorized distribution, viewing and use of the material.

At some point during 2006, MLB deleted that essential webpage. Since then, none of the videos that fans purchased will play.

FAQ:

7. Do I have to obtain a license every time I want to watch the downloaded video?

No. When you first try to play the video, a license will be distributed to you and stored by the player. Unless manually deleted, the license will exist forever and will be used when you try to watch the downloaded video on that machine. If you watch the video on a different machine, another license will be required.

This is a lie. Once MLB deleted the essential webpage, none of my CDs would play, even ones I had opened and watched previously.

Here is a screenshot (from last night) of what happens when I try to play a CD with a downloaded game on it:


By deleting the webpage and making it impossible for fans to watch the games they have paid for and downloaded, MLB has stolen $3.95 for every game from every fan. That must runs into the tens of thousands of dollars.

Since MLB started this download service, I have bought and downloaded 71 games -- many of them from the Red Sox's August-September 2004 hot streak -- which works out to a total cost of $280.45 (plus the price of the blank discs). Thanks to MLB, I now have nearly six dozen coasters.

When I contacted MLB in April, the people I spoke with expressed surprise at my predicament and claimed to have never heard of this problem before (naturally!). They said that MLB was overhauling its downloading system -- this was true -- and they told me to be patient because even though they had never heard of anyone with this problem, MLB was working on it.

More than six months have passed and nothing has changed. The essential webpage is still gone and my games will not play. I tried about 35 of them last night -- all with the same result.

And now MLB IS SELLING GAME DOWNLOADS AGAIN! Various 2007 playoff games -- and other games -- are available for $1.99. MLB is still using the DRM technology. Will the page fans use to watch these 2007 games be suddenly deleted in 2009?

Despite MLB's claim that I'm the only baseball fan on the face of the Earth with this problem, I know there are other fans out there who have been similarly ripped off -- because they read the April posts and either commented or emailed me.

I'm asking that if you also have discs that are now useless, call MLB at 866-800-1275 and complain.

It would also be helpful if some Boston or national sports media picked up on this.

Diehard baseball fans have paid tens of thousands of dollars to MLB to download games -- and MLB has pocketed the money and is now making it impossible for those fans to watch the games.

Schilling Returning For 2008

Update: Schilling blogs about the done deal.

Update: ESPN/Olney sez $8 base with up to $2 in incentives.

***

The Red Sox and Curt Schilling are putting the finishing touches on a contract for 2008.

This made too much sense to not happen. Give him $8-10 with a couple of incentives that can boost it up near this past season's $13 and -- done!

Funny stuff going on at SoSH. But first:

Dan Shaughnessy, Globe, Sunday, November 4, 2007:

Meanwhile, there will be battles. Lucchino will want to go to Japan, Epstein won't. There could be a split at the top on Lowell and ... (gulp) A-Rod. One thing we know they agree on is Schilling: thanks for the clutch work, big fella, now don't let the door hit you on the way out. We'll invite you back for Old-Timers' Day.

From SoSH, LahoudOrBillyC:

This will piss off CHB, who has written and said repeatedly that Theo and Lucchino hate Schilling and can't wait until he leaves. If Curt signs, CHB will have to invent some story about Terry or Henry jumping in and making it happen.

Gehrig38:

But wait, I can't be coming back. CHB, Shaugnostradamus is the IN guy, he knows for a fact that the Sox are saying "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out". He's 100% guaranteed in the know right? He KNOWS they hate me...

Wait, no he doesn't.

Things are winding down, details being taken care of. When something is final I'll blog it to let anyone that cares know.

But, but, but ... he wrote letters to his teammates! Letters!

Shaugnostradamus!

38 pitches: "It's looking good."

Joe DiMaggio On His 1938 Holdout

In 1937, in his second major league season, Joe DiMaggio batted .346/.412/.673, with 167 RBI and 418 total bases. He finished 2nd in the AL MVP voting. He was paid $15,000.

He believed he should earn $40,000 for 1938, but the club offered only $25,000. DiMaggio held out and did not report to spring training.

Under the rules of the time -- you know, the "good old days" -- whichever team first signed a player had full control over him for his entire career. Free agency did not exist. The player could either sign whatever contract was offered or he could retire.

Once the season began, DiMaggio accepted the $25,000 and returned to the team. Ripped as greedy in the sports pages (naturally), Yankee fans booed him for most of the season. ... Some things never change.

Click here to read DiMaggio's explanation of his holdout -- and his thoughts on baseball and money, in general.

Bonus link! Here's a letter to the editor of the New York Times I wrote about the same subject in February 1995!

Scott Boras: The Extortionist

The October 29, 2007 issue of The New Yorker has a near 10,000-word feature on Scott Boras, written by Ben McGrath and entitled "The Extortionist".

You can read it here.

Incredible Journey

Both the Globe and Herald have big sections devoted to the 2007 World Champion Boston Red Sox.

Enjoy!

Manny/Leno; Ortiz/Conan

Ortiz is cool, but he's no Manny:

"Are you related to Kevin Youkilis?"

Hilarious.

We are given a description of Manny by the media --and then the man comes out and he is pretty much the opposite -- smart, charismatic, media-savvy, more than articulate in English, relaxed, very sure of himself, just chatting away. And that giddy laugh -- when have we ever heard that laugh?

SoSHer ragecage says it all:

I really, really don't know if I could love Manny any more. Fuck, he rules. Flat out rules.

Tek Or Treat

Wow!

This Halloween, Jason Varitek gave trick-or-treaters something infinitely more valuable than a king-sized Snickers bar. The Red Sox captain sat in a lawn chair at the top on his driveway and handed out autographs, signing baseballs, hats, shirts, pillow cases stuffed with candy, and a green alien glove from a youngster's costume. ...

The Variteks had a small Halloween gathering at their home that included the families of two other Red Sox players - third baseman Mike Lowell and Doug Mirabelli, another catcher. After the guests left, Varitek's oldest daughter, Aly, 7, had an idea: Dad should go out and sign autographs while she handed out Butterfinger candy bars.

Red Sox Pick Up Options on Wakefield, Tavarez

Smart, low-risk moves: $4 for Tim Wakefield and $3.85 for Sexy Lips.

Wakefield posted a 4.76 ERA (100 ERA+, perfectly league-average) last season. Back and shoulder problems limited him to one start in the post-season. Tavarez's ERA was 5.15 (92 ERA+) in 23 starts and 11 relief appearances.

Boston also acquired outfielder Sean Danielson from the Cardinals (completing the Joel Pineiro trade) and put him on Portland's AA roster.

Catcher Kevin Cash is now a free agent, after turning down an assignment to Pawtucket. Doug Mirabelli filed for free agency on Thursday.

Farrell Staying With Sox

Gordon Edes has a statement from pitching coach John Farrell:

While I do have aspirations to manage in the major leagues in the future, my commitment to John, Tom, Larry, Theo, Tito, and the Red Sox, needs to be greater than one year for their faith in hiring me as their pitching coach. Therefore I have declined the opportunity to interview for the position of Pittsburgh Pirates manager. I look forward to contributing to and competing for another World Series title here in Boston.

I have been continually impressed with Farrell this season. This is excellent news.

Schadenfreude 37 (A Continuing Series)

With Joe Torre in Los Angeles, why couldn't the Dodgers and Yankees have simply swapped managers? :>)


Joel Sherman, Post:

Joe Girardi called being named Yankee manager his "dream job" and insisted "this is where we [he and his family] wanted to be. This is where we wanted to end up."

Which is interesting since even after the Yankees offered him the "dream job," Girardi was strong-arming the Yankees for more money by using the Dodgers for leverage. ...

Girardi lasted just a year on a three-year managerial contract in Florida, encountering difficulties with the front office and the media because essentially he was a football coach in a baseball uniform. He wanted not only the regimented structure, but the unquestioned authority given to an NFL head man. But the Eric Mangini thing isn't going to work, not in baseball, not in New York. ...

The manager meets with the media daily before and after games, and is asked to explain every critical move. And he cannot say he has to watch the game film first. ...

So when Girardi is asked if he thinks the playoffs are a crapshoot and responds, "I am a big believer that the best team wins," then he should expect a follow-up like this: So that means you think the Indians are better than the Yankees?

He was asked that. He responded by getting annoyed at the questioner. He then said the Indians were better for four games. When told that means it is a crapshoot, he got more annoyed, and the uneasy give-and-take went like that for about one minute.

This is going to be fun.

Also, Bob Raissman of the Daily News, on Michael Kay and the other morons at YES:

"There are things about Joe Torre, if I wanted to come out and say, would show how cold and calculated he really is," Kay fumed. "... Joe Torre is for Joe Torre. ... The graveyard of Yankees coaches is loaded with bones of coaches Joe Torre did nothing about." ...

If Kay felt so strongly about this, why didn't he offer the information as either opinion - or fact - during a Yankees telecast?

Stop laughing. While Torre was managing the Yankees to 12 straight playoff trips - and four World Series titles - there would be no criticizing, and very limited second-guessing, the manager on YES.

Any stabbing was done behind Torre's back. The "truth" - or any particular broadcaster's version of it - is not a priority to the stooges running Al Yankzeera. ...

Girardi worked at the network last season. He now owns an Al Yank diploma. Does anyone really think his former booth buddies (some of whom he played with) are going to offer an honest analysis of his managerial skills, especially if the Bombers don't get off to a fast start? ...

This is why, during YES' coverage of Girardi's coronation, neither Kay or Bob Lorenz asked the new manager about his fractured relationship with Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and the Florida front office.

Nor did they inquire (most everyone else has) about Josh Johnson's arm injury. And they didn't even ask Girardi about his rather strange encounter with respected Marlins broadcaster (and former Yankees radio voice) Tommy Hutton in the Marlins players' lounge.

Instead, Kay and Lorenz went Charmin with questions such as: "What was it like putting the pinstripes on?"

Matsuzaka's High School No-Hitter

1998, Yokohama High School:

Thanks to Dan at Red Sox Monster.

BP's Internet Baseball Awards

Baseball Prosepctus has published the results of its 2007 awards. Much more info at the link.

2007 IBA AL MVP:
Rnk Name               1   2   3  Ballots Points
1. Alex Rodriguez   1354  39  11   1430   19527
2. Magglio Ordonez    23 823 232   1283   10831
3. David Ortiz        26 211 345   1159    8245
4. Jorge Posada        6  78 180    866    5519
5. Vladimir Guerrero   6  51 153    899    5246
  
2007 IBA NL MVP:
Rnk Name               1   2   3  Ballots Points
1. Matt Holliday     407 331 192   1210   11859
2. David Wright      299 194 153   1005    9180
3. Jimmy Rollins     226 227 145    996    8349
4. Hanley Ramirez    128 128 146    937    6734
5. Prince Fielder     76  92 199    996    6476
  
2007 IBA AL Cy Young:
Rnk Name             1    2    3  Ballots Points
1. C.C. Sabathia   819  287   95   1265   10830
2. Josh Beckett    292  435  192   1139    7439
3. Fausto Carmona   83  219  301    899    4574
4. John Lackey      27  123  262    739    3182
5. Johan Santana    43  115  179    757    2956
  
2007 IBA NL Cy Young:
Rnk Name             1    2    3  Ballots Points
1. Jake Peavy     1097   82    5   1190   11585
2. Brandon Webb     87  902   89   1106    7705
3. Brad Penny        1   50  347    627    2626
4. Roy Oswalt        0   12  114    415    1339
5. John Smoltz       1   21  119    331    1164
  
2007 IBA AL Rookie of the Year:
Rnk Name                1    2    3  Ballots Points
1. Dustin Pedroia     838  178   89   1137   10145
2. Daisuke Matsuzaka  138  328  275    917    5457
3. Brian Bannister     57  150  151    600    2927
4. Jeremy Guthrie      66  155  124    480    2672
5. Hideki Okajima      16  115  130    501    2093

Sox on TV

Bot -- video and transcript!

***

Tonight: Jonathan Papelbon on Letterman.

Also tonight on QVC: Papelbon (11-midnight) and Mirabelli (2-3 AM).

Friday: Manny Ramirez on Leno and David Ortiz on Conan.

SI Covers

Time to break out the credit cards for the magazines, books, shirts, caps, DVDs, etc., etc., etc.!

Pumpkin

Dan Tolman, a JoS reader, sent in this picture of the Halloween pumpkin at Connecticut's unfortunately-named Yankee New England Real Estate.

Dan says it was carved by "our amazing pumpkin artist" Laura Frenzel of Winchester Center, CT.

There are also several more Red Sox pumpkins here, including Manny Being Mummy! There is also an early shot of the 2008 World Series Champs banner flying high at Fenway. Yes, 2008!

Schilling Files For Free Agency

Curt Schilling is a free agent for the first time in his career.

If things do not work out with the Red Sox for 2008, Curt Schilling says he would consider playing with a dozen teams next year -- clubs "that have some of the off the field things that are big to us, plus the potential to go into October next year".

Nine of the 12 teams are in the National League:

AL: Cleveland, Tigers, Angels

NL: Mets, Phillies, Atlanta, Dodgers, Padres, Diamondbacks, Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers

So ... no other AL East team -- Curt has said absolutely not to the Yankees, so he obviously believes the Blue Jays are not contenders -- strong teams in the other two divisions, and three teams per NL division.

According to the Globe, when asked if Schilling would be back, "a club source" said that unless Schilling accepts a low base salary with plenty of incentive bonuses

I don't think so. We have such a strong nucleus of pitching with Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, and Clay Buchholz. We'll talk about it. We'll be reasonable. We'll see what happens.

The nucleus is there, for sure, but Lester and Buchholz remain question marks to some degree, as does Tim Wakefield, whose contract the source said the team would pick up for another year. There has been no indication how low the base would be.

(Also, I faintly recall reading something during the second-half of the season about the possibility that, with Dice and old-timers like Wake and Curt, the Sox would toy with a six-man rotation in 2008. Does that ring a bell with anyone?)

What will happen, according to G38:

For the next 15 days I can speak with other teams, and they can contact me, but no details can be discussed. They can only express interest. For the next 15 days the team that remains my first choice, the Sox, have exclusive rights. I guess I'll find out how closely teams follow rules ...

The Dome-Bellied Big Lug is also posting in SoSH's "The Future of Curt Schilling" thread -- e.g., see here.

Watch The Parade!

It's official: Jonathan Papelbon is insane.

***

SoSH: Rally pictures and links to YouTube videos.

***

Check the Providence Journal's main page for the streaming video link.

The ProJo also has a picture of the newest banner on Yawkley Way.

Francona: Greatest Post-season Manager?

It might be too early to annoit Terry Francona as the greatest post-season manager in baseball history -- although his tactical skills have been completely beyond reproach and have led me to rethink almost all of my previous complaints about him.

However, among managers who have managed at least 20 post-season games, he has the highest winning percentage:

                            W   L   PCT
Terry Francona, Bos        22   9  .710
Joe McCarthy, NYY          30  13  .698
Tom Kelly, Min             16   8  .667
Bob Lemon, NYY             15   9  .625
Sparky Anderson, Cin-Det   34  21  .618

Joe Torre's post-season record with the Yankees was 76-48 (.613). He was 4-14 (.222) in his last 18 post-season games with the Chokers. Which means that after Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS, Torre's record stood at an impressive 72-34 (.679) -- still not as good as Tito's mark, though Torre obviously managed many more games.

Francona is the 19th manager to win multiple championships and he is the first manager in history to win his first eight World Series games.