Red Sox, Padres Agree On Gonzalez Trade

The San Diego Padres have agreed to trade Adrian Gonzalez to Boston Red Sox in return for four minor league prospects, including pitcher Casey Kelly, first baseman Anthony Rizzo, and outfielder Reymond Fuentes.

Sox Prospects lists Kelly and Rizzo as the team's #1 and #3 prospects, respectively; Fuentes was #16, though Baseball America had him at #6.

There has to be some amount of regret in seeing these young guys leave, but you can't get a player of Gonzalez's talent by offering table scraps. None of the three named prospects would have made any significant impact on the Red Sox until 2013, at the earliest. As long as Gonzalez keeps doing what he has been doing, everything will be fine.

Theo Epstein has had his eye on Gonzalez for years, and this deal gives the Sox, who Gonzalez has expressed a desire to play for, an exclusive window (without the noise and distractions of free agency) to work out a contract. The deadline for those talks is being reported as 2 PM EST tomorrow. (Gonzalez will be paid $6.3 million in 2011.)

Here are Gonzo's spray charts from 2009 and 2010 overlayed on Fenway Park.

2009

2010

Dave Magadan, Padres hitting coach in 2006, talking about AG in March 2010:

I noticed from the first day I threw batting practice to him, it didn't matter where you threw the ball, he found a way to get the barrel on it. ...

You see him swing the bat, it's poetry in motion, man. It's so fluid and easy, and he's got such good rhythm up there, the ball just jumps off his bat, especially the other way. ... His ball, when he hits it the other way, doesn't slice. It stays straight. He can hit those balls right down the line that, with a lot of lefties, kind of fade. His just stay straight.

SoSHer DeJesus Built My Hotrod:

[Petco] has led the MLB in lowest park factor for four of the seven years it has been open. It is the only stadium to show up more than once during that time. Petco Park is damn habitual recidivist when it comes to stealing runs.

Which means that Gonzalez will be a big bopper in Febway and Kelly should benefit greatly from a move to the NL.

Anthony Rizzo was actually at Casey Kelly's house this morning -- they both live in Florida -- when he heard the news.

The Red Sox are such a great organization. Theo's smart and the whole staff's smart. I would have loved to have played for them. ... It's better to go over with one of your best friends to someplace where you don't know anyone.

The early reactions of some Red Sox players:

Daniel Bard:

Was I involved? [No.] That's a great trade for us. That's really good to hear.

Tim Wakefield:

Obviously this has been in the works for a long time and it's finally some to fruition. It's a great addition to our club. Not only are we getting a quality player but we're also getting a quality guy.

Kevin Youkilis:

The way he hits at PETCO, he can hit at Fenway Park because he can use the wall to his advantage. It's going to be great to have him on the team. That'll be a huge acquisition for us if everything works out.

Dustin Pedroia:

I'm excited to play alongside him. It's going to be fun. ... We picked up a player who's one of the best hitters in the game, so everyone's excited. We've got an All-Star. He's outstanding. We're excited and I think everyone's pumped to get to spring training and start everything.

Trade For Adrian Gonzalez "Very Close"

ESPN:

The Boston Red Sox have agreed to a deal in principle to acquire slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez ... [and] have received permission from Major League Baseball to negotiate with Gonzalez on a new contract. ...

Gonzalez's physical examination, one of the last hurdles to the deal, was completed early Saturday afternoon [in Boston] ... While all indications are that Gonzalez passed [he had surgery on his right, non-throwing shoulder to clean up the labrum on October 20, 2010], there's been no official word.

Sources say that Boston will send a fourth player, to be named later, to San Diego.

Gordon Edes, 10:14 AM:

Source: Kelly, Rizzo, Fuentes to San Diego.

Updates from Buster Olney

5:15 AM:

Sources: The San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox are on the verge of finishing an Adrian Gonzalez deal. Players all agreed to.

5:19 AM:

The Red Sox are far enough along in the conversation that they are trying to work out a new contract with Adrian Gonzalez.

7:30 AM-ish:

Sources: Padres and Red Sox have agreed to a Gonzalez trade, pending physical -- and perhaps negotiations with the first baseman. We'll see.

7:45 AM-ish:

Sources: Major League Baseball has approved a negotiating window for the Red Sox to negotiate with Adrian gonzalez.

7:50 AM-ish:

Sources: Gonzalez is expected to be in Boston today.

And still, very little hard information has leaked out about which Red Sox players will be dealt.

Padres beat writer Dan Hayes (North County Times) wrote 21 minutes ago:

Just heard from a second source that Padres-Red Sox deal for Adrian Gonzalez is very close.

This comes on the heels of Gordon Edes reporting about an hour ago that Theo Epstein is "making some headway" in discussions to bring Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez to Boston -- and a source says the clubs could "possibly" make a trade by the end of the weekend. Earlier, Hayes had tweeted that discussions were "serious".

Gonzalez, 28, had surgery on his right shoulder in October.

Edes:

According to the source familiar with the negotiations, the proposed deal centers only on minor leaguers ... They almost certainly would seek pitcher Casey Kelly and first baseman Anthony Rizzo in any deal, with outfielder Ryan Kalish, shortstop Jose Iglesias, outfielder Josh Riddick, 19-year-old outfielder Reymond Fuentes, pitcher Stolmy Pimentel, and catcher Ryan Lavarnway also potential targets.

It is reasonable to assume it may take at least three top prospects to make a deal, with perhaps another minor leaguer or two of lesser skills included.

Four hours ago, SI's Jon Heyman tweeted: "if adrian gonzalez is traded, he hopes its boston, i hear. could have something to do with their ability to win & to give him teixiera deal"

SoSH had a rumour that Gonzalez was in Boston for a physical. No idea if that is true.

Red Sox Offered Rivera Three Years?

Mariano Rivera is expected to re-sign with the Yankees today, agreeing to a 2/30 deal.

The Daily News reports that one team offered Rivera three years at roughly $17 million per year.

That team might have been the Red Sox.

Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman was tweeting last night that the Red Sox had offered Rivera a three-year deal:

yankees indeed moving closer on rivera. will be a 2-year deal, for close to 30. daily news reporting exactly 30 by friday.
about 10 hours ago via web

redsox tried to steal rivera with 3-year offer, im hearing. 2 more teams also offered 3. but rivera is close to $30-mil deal with yankees
about 10 hours ago via web

angels also bid for rivera with 3-year deal, i've heard. and one more team. still working on it.
about 10 hours ago via web

rivera deserves high praise for leaving 15 million-plus bucks on table to return to yankees. yes, i know hes very rich. but still ....
about 10 hours ago via web

redsox do not trust papelbon. first they shopped him, then, word is they went for rivera
about 8 hours ago via web

Despite the levels of schadenfreude that having Fruitbat in a Boston uniform would create, I have a very hard time believing the Red Sox would commit more than $50 million to a robot relief pitcher who would be 41-43 years old during the length of the contract (even if said pitcher did post his second-lowest WHIP of his career last season).

Okajima Non-Tendered; Varitek Signed For 2011

The Red Sox have not tendered a contract to Hideki Okajima, making the lefty a free agent. Best of luck, Jeemer, and thanks for your work in 2007.

The team also:

signed Jason Varitek -- who turns 39 in April -- to a one-year deal worth approximately $2 million; and

met with Carl Crawford yesterday.

Top 50 Rolling Stones Songs

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Truck Day: February 8

Mark your calendars! Truck Day will be on February 8, 2011 -- nine weeks from next Tuesday.

The Red Sox have also released their spring training schedule. Boston will play the Yankees twice, on March 4 and 14.

The Red Sox will open the 2011 season in Texas on Friday, April 1, against the American League champion Rangers. The home opener will be the following Friday, against the Yankees.

Happy Birthday, Vin Scully!

Vincent Edward Scully celebrates his 83rd birthday today. He has been the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers for 61 seasons -- the longest of any broadcaster with a single club in professional sports history.On September 9, 1965, Sandy Koufax took a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs into the top of the ninth inning. Los Angeles led 1-0, but the Dodgers had only one hit.

This is Scully's call of the ninth inning:

Three times in his sensational career has Sandy Koufax walked out to the mound to pitch a fateful ninth where he turned in a no-hitter. But tonight, September 9th, 1965, he made the toughest walk of his career, I'm sure, because through eight innings he has pitched a perfect game. He has struck out eleven, has retired 24 consecutive batters.

And the first man he will look at is catcher Chris Krug -- big right-hand hitter -- flied to second, grounded to short. Dick Tracewski is now at second base; and Koufax ready -- and delivers: curveball for a strike -- 0-and-1 the count to Chris Krug.

Out on deck to pinch-hit is one of the men we mentioned earlier as a "possible": Joey Amalfitano. Here's the strike one pitch to Krug: fastball, swung on and missed, strike 2.

And you can almost taste the pressure now. Koufax lifted his cap, ran his fingers through his black hair, then pulled the cap back down, fussing at the bill. Krug must feel it too as he backs out, heaves a sigh, took off his helmet, put it back on and steps back up to the plate.

Tracewski is over to his right to fill up the middle. Kennedy is deep to guard the line. The strike two pitch on the way: fastball, outside, ball 1. Krug started to go after it and held up, and Torborg held the ball high in the air trying to convince Vargo but Eddie said "No, sir."

One-and-2 the count to Chris Krug. It is 9:41 p.m. on September the 9th. The 1-2 pitch on the way: curveball, tapped foul off to the left of the plate. The Dodgers defensively in this spine-tingling moment: Sandy Koufax and Jeff Torborg -- the boys who will try and stop anything hit their way: Wes Parker, Dick Tracewski, Maury Wills and John Kennedy -- the outfield of Lou Johnson, Willie Davis and Ron Fairly.

And there's 29,000 people in the ballpark and a million butterflies: 29,139 paid. Koufax into his windup and the 1-2 pitch: fastball, fouled back out of play.

In the Dodger dugout Al Ferrara gets up and walks down near the runway, and it begins to get tough to be a teammate and sit in the dugout and have to watch.

Sandy back of the rubber now, toes it. All the boys in the bullpen straining to get a better look as they look through the wire fence in left field. One-and-2 the count to Chris Krug. Koufax, feet together, now to his windup and the 1-2 pitch: fastball outside, ball 2. [crowd boos]

A lot of people in the ballpark now are starting to see the pitches with their hearts. The pitch was outside. Torborg tried to pull it over the plate but Vargo, an experienced umpire, wouldn't go for it. Two-and-2 the count to Chris Krug. Sandy reading signs, into his windup, 2-2 pitch: fastball, got him swingin'! Sandy Koufax has struck out 12. He is two outs away from a perfect game.

Here is Joe Amalfitano to pinch-hit for Don Kessinger. Amalfitano is from Southern California, from San Pedro. He was an original bonus boy with the Giants. Joey's been around, and as we mentioned earlier, he has helped to beat the Dodgers twice, and on deck is Harvey Kuenn.

Kennedy is tight to the bag at third. The fastball, a strike. 0-and-1 with one out in the ninth inning, 1-0, Dodgers.

Sandy reading, into his windup and the strike 1 pitch: curveball, tapped foul, 0-and-2. And Amalfitano walks away and shakes himself a little bit, and swings the bat. And Koufax with a new ball, takes a hitch at his belt and walks behind the mound. I would think that the mound at Dodger Stadium right now is the loneliest place in the world. Sandy, fussing, looks in to get his sign, 0-and-2 to Amalfitano -- the strike 2 pitch to Joe: fastball, swung on and missed, strike 3!

He is one out away from the promised land, and Harvey Kuenn is comin' up. So Harvey Kuenn is batting for Bob Hendley. The time on the scoreboard is 9:44. The date, September the 9th, 1965, and Koufax working on veteran Harvey Kuenn.

Sandy into his windup and the pitch, a fastball for a strike! He has struck out, by the way, five consecutive batters, and that's gone unnoticed.

Sandy ready and the strike 1 pitch: very high, and he lost his hat. He really forced that one. That's only the second time tonight where I have had the feeling that Sandy threw instead of pitched, trying to get that little extra, and that time he tried so hard his hat fell off -- he took an extremely long stride to the plate -- and Torborg had to go up to get it. One-and-1 to Harvey Kuenn. Now he's ready: fastball, high, ball 2.

You can't blame a man for pushing just a little bit now. Sandy backs off, mops his forehead, runs his left index finger along his forehead, dries it off on his left pants leg. All the while Kuenn just waiting.

Now Sandy looks in. Into his windup and the 2-1 pitch to Kuenn: swung on and missed, strike 2! It is 9:46 p.m. Two-and-2 to Harvey Kuenn, one strike away.

Sandy into his windup, here's the pitch: Swung on and missed, a perfect game! [38 seconds of cheering]

On the scoreboard in right field it is 9:46 p.m. in the city of the angels, Los Angeles, California, and a crowd of 29,139 just sitting in to see the only pitcher in baseball history to hurl four no-hit, no-run games. He has done it four straight years, and now he caps it: on his fourth no-hitter he made it a perfect game.

And Sandy Koufax, whose name will always remind you of strikeouts, did it with a flurry. He struck out the last six consecutive batters. So when he wrote his name in capital letters in the record books, that "K" stands out even more than the O-U-F-A-X.

(audio)

I remember reading this more than 20 years ago (in The Baseball Reader, edited by Charles Einstein) and being dumbfounded that this was Scully simply speaking as the inning progressed and not something he wrote down.

Cubs    - 000 000 000 - 0  0  1
Dodgers - 000 010 00x - 1  1  0

Poor Bob Hendley: 8-3-1-1-3 -- he allowed only two baserunners and the run was unearned.

In 1999, Scully wrote on the Dodgers Website:

There are a lot of times you sit in a hotel room and you can hear the meter ticking. And you begin to think about your own mortality. But I do love the game so much.

That was more than 11 years ago. In 2011, Vin Scully will return for his 62nd year with the Dodgers next spring, calling home games and road games within the NL West.

The game of baseball, I love with all my heart and soul. I found in the deep recesses of my mind that I did not want to sever the relationship. I just love it so much. It's like a very good marriage. I found when push came to shove, I just did not want to leave. My wife understood it, God bless her. She said, "If you love it, do it." So I love it and I'm going to do it.

Statheads Will Steal Your Lunch Money

Repeat after me, you little runt! 'Wins are an outdated and ineffectual standard by which to accurately measure a starting pitcher's true contribution to his team and I henceforth promise to be more rigorous in my qualitative assessments and consider DIPS and FIP and WAR and BABIP!' Say it! Say it!!!

Chicago Tribune writer Phil Rogers wonders if Felix Hernandez won the American League Cy Young because of "bullying on the Internet".

That's right! Rogers thinks some of his BBWAA cohorts may be a-scared of those guys who spend their days "eating Hot Pockets in their mothers' basements"!

Dept. of YCMTSU*: Rogers said this while chatting with Murray Chass!

* You Can't Make This Shit Up

(Thanks to yfsf.)

Maybe We Can Avoid "Will Sox Score Runs?" Silliness This Winter

When the Red Sox did not retain Jason Bay (.921 OPS, 134 OPS+) last winter, the Boston media freaked out, insisting that the 2010 club would make the 1962 Mets look like the 1939 Yankees. On January 29, 2010, the Herald's Ron Borges stood up and announced that the Boston front office had apparently discovered that "scoring runs is no longer essential to winning games".

Victor Martinez (.844, 122 OPS+) in is Detroit and Adrian Beltre (.919 OPS, 141 OPS+) will likely also not be wearing a Red Sox uniform next spring. But this time, perhaps, the media will not completely embarrass itself. One particular clown can always be counted on to display his ignorance -- unfortunately, he blatantly contradicts himself a few times within several paragraphs (not that he or his editors are overly concerned about consistency or logic) -- but John Tomase of the Herald offers a "realty check":

Somehow, some way, the Red Sox will score runs in 2011. Lots of them. It's what they do.

The Red Sox claimed outfielder Jordan Parraz, 26, off waivers from the Royals. Parraz hit .266/.350/.410/.760 for Omaha (AAA), while playing nearly all of his games in right field. He has not played in the majors.

The Red Sox were outbid by the Twins in a posting for Japanese shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka, a 26-year-old switch-hitter who hit .346 with a .423 OBP for Chiba Lotte last year.

Jeter Lowers Demand -- To $22-24 Million Per Year

Although Derek Jeter had the worst season of his career in 2010, and with his best days behind him (because CI turns 37 next summer and that is how the aging process works), he and his agent began contract negotiations at six years and $150 million -- $25 million per year, the second-highest annual salary in the sport's history!

Daily News columnist Bob Raissman rightly labelled that suggestion as "delusional". Now comes word from Jeter's agent, Casey Close, that the 6/150 report was "inaccurate". What Jeter has actually proposed to the Yankees, according to a source, is more like $22-24 million per year for five seasons. Which is far more reasonable.

Thanksgiving, 1976

An all-too-brief slice of rock and roll perfection.

NYY To Jeter: This Is The Meal

While paying for dinner at a diner in Jersey tonight, I saw the Daily News at the cash register!


Mike Lupica, Daily News:

This is the way the Yankees want the conversation about Derek Jeter to go: They have arrived at what they think is a fair contract for Jeter and if he doesn't accept it, he's being greedy and unreasonable and unrealistic and should go test the market. That is what Brian Cashman said Tuesday. What he is really saying to Jeter about the Yankees' offer to him - $45 million for three years - is take it or leave it. ...

Jeter's agent, Casey Close, told me Saturday night that he finds the Yankees' negotiating strategy "baffling." ... [I]n the thin-skinned world of the Yankees, they acted as if Close were Larry Lucchino of the Red Sox calling them the "Evil Empire" all over again.

Hahahahaahaa!

Victor Signs With Tigers

Victor Martinez is a Tiger, having agreed to a 4/50 deal with Detroit.

Several writers are reporting that the Red Sox offered two possible deals: 3/36 or 4/42. Three years would have alright, I suppose, but four years could easily have turned into Mike Lowell Redux.

Martinez is a possible liability behind the plate right now and the Red Sox have Anthony Rizzo and Lars Anderson in the minors -- and Albert Pujols and Adrian Gonzalez may be free agents at the end of next season.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who is recovering from left thumb surgery, is currently a much bigger part of the Red Sox's catching plans for 2011: "It's exciting. But I'm a little stunned."

AL MVP: Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton of the Rangers was named American League MVP. He was the top choice on 22 of 28 BBWAA ballots.

Detroit's Miguel Cabrera received five first-place votes and finished second overall. Robinson Cano of the Yankees was third and Toronto's Jose Bautista, who received one first-place vote (Shi Davidi of the Canadian Press, maybe the same guy that voted Cito MoY), finished fourth.

          1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  Pts
Hamilton 22  4     2                     358
Cabrera   5 11 10  1  1                  262
Cano        12 12  1  3                  229
Bautista  1     4  8  5  1  6     1   2  165
Konerko            4  7  6  5  2  1   2  130
Longoria           2  3  6  5  5  1   1  100
Crawford     1     6  3  2     3  4   2   98
Mauer           2  1  3  6  2  3  4   1   97
Beltre             1  1  3  4  9  6       83
Young              1     2  4  2  1   3   44
Guerrero                    2  1  4   3   22
Soriano            1  1        1  1   3   21
Sabathia                       2  3   1   13
Choo                     1        1   2    9
Rodriguez                1        1   1    8
Hernandez             1                    6
Suzuki                                3    3
Thome                                 2    2
Soria                                 1    1
Teixeira                              1    1

Cliff Corcoran, SI:

I'm probably the only non-Tigers fan alive who still thinks Cabrera should win this award ... I favor Cabrera's full-season of consistent mashing over Hamilton's white-hot half-season of multi-faceted brilliance, but again, I'm probably alone on this one.

Nope. Here is my AL MVP BBA ballot:

 1. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
 2. Josh Hamilton, Rangers
 3. Robinson Cano, Yankees
 4. Paul Konerko, White Sox
 5. Shin-Soo Choo, Cleveland
 6. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
 7. Evan Longoria, Rays
 8. Adrian Beltre, Red Sox
 9. Felix Hernandez, Mariners
10. David Ortiz, Red Sox

And the overall BBA votes:

Josh Hamilton, Rangers  (16)  261
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers   (4)  188
Robinson Cano, Yankees        158
Jose Bautista, Blue Jays (1)  146
Adrian Beltre, Red Sox        107
Evan Longoria, Rays      (1)  102
Paul Konerko, White Sox        65
Carl Crawford, Rays            56
Joe Mauer, Twins               50
Shin-Soo Choo, Cleveland       44

Other Red Sox: Buchholz (18th), Lester (20th), Youkilis (24th), and Ortiz (26th). ... Since Ortiz finished with 1 point, I know that I was the only voter to list him on a ballot.

NL MVP: Joey Votto

Cincinnati's Joey Votto* received 31 of a possible 32 first-place votes and was named the National League Most Valuable Player.

* - Canadian.

           1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  Pts
Votto     31  1                           443
Pujols     1 21  8  1     1               279
CGonzalez     7 13  5  4  2  1            240
AGonzalez     1  3 15  8     2  1         197
Tulowitski       2  1  7  8  4  2      2  132
Halladay      1  3  4  3  5  2  5      3  130
Huff                3  2  2  3  1  4   4   70
Werth                  3  3  1  3  2   2   52
Prado                  1  1  4  4  5   2   51
Howard        1  1  1  2  2  1             50
Posey            1  1  1     1  2  4   1   40
Holliday                  1  4  1  4       32
Wilson           1        2     2  1   2   28
Rolen                     1  1  3  3   2   26
Braun                     1  2  1  1   1   19
Zimmerman                       2  1   2   18
Ruiz                   1  1            1   16
Uggla                     1     1  1       12
Wainwright                   1  2  1       12
Heyward                      2     1   1   11
McCann                    1     1      1    9
Dunn                         1     1        9
Jiminez             1                       7
Wright                          1           3
Hart                               1        2
Johnson                            1        2
Bell                                   1    1

Here are the results of the BBA (first place votes in parenthesis):

Joey Votto, Reds         (16)  252
Albert Pujols, Cardinals ( 3)  197
Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies ( 1)  118
Roy Halladay, Phillies   ( 1)  101
Adrian Gonzalez, Padres         98
Troy Tulowitski, Rockies        98
Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals       93
Matt Holliday, Cardinals        84
Aubrey Huff, Giants             32
Adam Wainwright, Cardinals      17

Border Radio

We are driving to New Jersey today and will spend the Thanksgiving Week with Laura's family. Tala is coming with us. She will be mildly sedated in the car, but she may still bark for 10 straight hours.

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of our first detention by the Department of Homeland Security. I fully expect us to be detained this morning -- which will be the fifth time in the last 12 months (for those of you scoring at home: November 23, 2009, April 12, 2010, June 4, 2010, and July 26, 2010). If there was truly any issue, it would have been resolved during our two-hour detention last November. This is simple harassment.

In late September, I applied to DHS's Travel Redress Inquiry Program (TRIP!), which helps people "seek redress for adverse screening experiences ... [or] situations where travellers believe they have been unfairly or incorrectly delayed."

The current status of my inquiry? DHS "has not yet received the required identification documents" and is "not able to process your application without this information". Mail from Canada to the US can be slow, but I don't think it should take two months for a letter or an email to reach its intended destination.

By the way, the post title makes little sense, but it gives me the opportunity to post some Blasters (with Billy Zoom!!!):

&


And for Thursday: The Last Waltz (I wrote this last year)

Yankees Set To Offer Jeter 3/45

The Yankees will reportedly offer free agent Derek Jeter a three-year contract worth $45 million, less than the 3/60 possibility the Post's Joel Sherman mentioned last week. The Daily News stated that "it is believed Jeter wants a five- to six-year deal somewhere in the range of $20 million a year."

Jeter, who will turn 37 next June, made $21 million in 2010, and had the worst season of his career. Yet CI apparently wants to play another seven years (he would be 43 years old at the end of the 2017 season) and trainer Jason Riley believes that is "very realistic ... The desire to be the greatest can never be turned down by Father Time."

Really? Could The Mighty Jeter be the one man in human history who can stave off the aging process? His calm eyes may have once stopped a tsunami from destroying a tropical island, but I remain skeptical. Keith Olbermann blogs about coaches trying to get a stubborn Jeter to change his approach as he gets older. His 2010 stats

were not a statistical anomaly. They were the expected outcome of a lifetime of swings and stats and the ravages of time.

That was the point one of the umpteen coaches and advisors who worked with Jeter during the season tried to get through to him. ... Age, not laziness on the weight machine, adds that half-second to your swing. Age, not sloth, turns those little flares over the heads of the second baseman and shortstop into smothered balls skittering into their gloves. Age, Mr. Jeter, comes for us all.

One person in the Yankees front office says the team should play hardball: "Tell him the deal is three years at $15 million a year, take it or leave it. Wait him out and he'll wind up taking it. Where's he gonna go, Cincinnati?"

New York Dolls - 1974

Two clips of the New York Dolls playing at Club 82 in the East Village on April 17, 1974.

From Trash: The Complete New York Dolls, by Kris Needs and Dick Porter:

This had been one of Manhattan's most glamorous drag venues between the 1940s and late sixties, playing host to a bevy of transvestites and female impersonators. Latterly, 82 had lost some of its sparkle once such establishments could operate openly, but still employed a team of lesbians to man the door and bar. In keeping with the spirit of their surroundings, the Dolls dragged up more thoroughly than usual ... [Guitarist Sylvain Sylvain:] "It was run by this lesbian woman who was gorgeous, called Tommy, and ran it like a brick shithouse. It looked all tropical. The Copacabana goes gay, if you will. The center of it was the actual stage, like a square. Completely around the stage was the bar. We would hang down there. The prostitutes were on Tenth Street and after their work hours they would go down to Club 82 and drink down there. They would have like drag shows and performances ... Tommy never used to want [rock & roll bands] ... But business was bad for them. They needed new fun and excitement again. That's where the New York Dolls came in. ... It came at a time when the Dolls had been on their way up and then on their way down and this was sort of the valley of their career."

Pills



Chatterbox



Looking for a Kiss, Old Grey Whistle Test (UK), November 1973
(this is how you chew gum with style)



Personalty Crisis



The Dolls split up in 1975, but reformed in 2004; they are still getting it done.

What Didn't Make It Into Infinite Jest

OMG. Xmas came early this year.

Notes and outtakes from David Foster Wallace's epic novel.

1. B.S. 1960 - A First-Person Narrative
2. Footnote 33: Hal Here
3. Footnote 33 Continues
4. Footnote 33 Continues Further
5. Two Additional Characters of 'The Shed'
6. Footnote 76a Continues
7. A Self-Contained Story Cut from 'Infinite Jest'
8. Footnote 81 Continues
9. Footnote 81 Continues Further
10. Footnote 81 Concludes
11. Several Vignettes Cut From 'Jest'
12. Hal's Essay On Pennies Concludes
13. Introduction of Madame Psychosis
14. A Short Essay by Hal on Ducks
15. Hal's Essay On Ducks Concludes
16. The Magazine Critique by Hal
17. Footnote 240 Continues
18. Footnote 240 Concludes
19. A Crossed Out Section of 'Jest'
20. Marlon Bain's Story About Avril Concludes

Also from Newsweek: "From the Mixed-Up Files of David Foster Wallace":

More substantially, the early drafts of Jest reveal Wallace's thinking about the lethal, DVD-like “Entertainment” at the heart of his novel’s plot — a video "cartridge" so diverting that a viewer can stop watching it only when she dies. (In one draft, Wallace considered delivering a copy of "the Entertainment" to the character of Don Gately.) There's also considerably more dialogue among the Canadian terrorists and competing intelligence agencies than Wallace's editor could personally stomach, though a full accounting of this bonus material will be manna to the leagues of Jest admirers.

Hernandez Wins AL Cy Young

Hurrah for common sense! Felix Hernandez was named the winner of the 2010 American League Cy Young Award by the BBWAA (1st place votes in parenthesis).

                             1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th   Pts
1. Felix Hernandez, Mariners  21    2    3    1    1   167
2. David Price, Rays           4   15    7    1        111
3. CC Sabathia, Yankees        3   10   12    2    1   102
4. Jon Lester, Red Sox                   1    9   12    33
5. Jered Weaver, Angels             1    2    6    2    24
6. Clay Buchholz, Red Sox                2    5    4    20
7. Cliff Lee, Mariners/ Rangers          1    1    1     6
8. Rafael Soriano, Rays                       1    3     5
9. Trevor Cahill, Athletics                   1    2     4
10. Joakim Soria, Royals                      1          2
11. Francisco Liriano, Twins                       1     1
12. Justin Verlander, Tigers                       1     1

The BBWAA link above also has who each voter listed as first on their ballot. But what I wanna know is: Who the fuck had Felix 5th?

The corresponding award from the Baseball Bloggers Alliance is the Walter Johnson Award:

                            1st votes   Pts
1. Felix Hernandez, Mariners    18      137
2. CC Sabathia, Yankees          3       62
3. David Price, Rays             1       57
4. Cliff Lee, Mariners/Rangers           41
5. Jered Weaver, Angels                  22
6. Jon Lester, Red Sox                   18
7. Clay Buchholz, Red Sox                14
8. Francisco Liriano, Twins              13
9. Trevor Cahill, Athletics               5
10. Justin Verlander, Tigers              5

My AL BBA ballot:

1. Felix Hernandez, Mariners
2. Clay Buchholz, Red Sox
3. David Price, Rays
4. CC Sabathia, Yankees
5. Jered Weaver, Angels

The BBA also presented the Goose Gossage Award for the best relief pitcher. The 2010 winners:

American League

                             1st votes   Pts
1. Rafael Soriano, Rays          14       94
2. Joakim Soria, Royals           4       48
3. Mariano Rivera, Yankees        1       23
4. Joaquin Benoit, Rays           3       19
5. Neftali Feliz, Rangers                 12
6. Matt Thornton, White Sox       1        9
7. Daniel Bard, Red Sox                    1
8. Jonathan Papelbon, Red Sox              1

National League

                             1st votes   Pts
1. Brian Wilson, Giants          17      104
2. Heath Bell, Padres             2       52
3. Carlos Marmol, Cubs            5       41
4. Billy Wagner, Atlanta                  19
5. Arthur Rhodes, Reds            1        5
6. Hong-Chih Kuo, Dodgers                  2
7. Matt Belisle, Rockies                   1
8. Jonny Venters, Atlanta                  1

My AL BBA ballot:

1. Joaquin Benoit, Rays
2. Mariano Rivera, Yankees
3. Rafael Soriano, Rays