Big Papi lets it fly at Fenway Park after a tough week

Some difficult pics from Boston this week especially seeing what went down.  It ended as it should with our Police and Citizens working together to rid our city of terrorists. It is always great to see pics from Fenway Park when I am away from home as Fenway is the heart of Boston

 

 

 

And Big Papi puts out a few words which summarized how many in Boston felt –

All right, Boston,” Ortiz said. “This jersey that we wear today, it doesn’t say Red Sox. It says Boston.

 

We want to thank you, Mayor Menino, Governor Patrick, the whole police department for the great job they did this past week.

 

This is our (expletive) city, and nobody is going to dictate our freedom. Stay strong.”

 

Roger that, Big Papi

 

 

Tweet of the day to the RED SOX

Taking on the " Evil Empire " today  - GO RED SOX

@mlb We'll be cheering on #Boston @redsox all the way from #Kandahar #Afghanistan - #KeepCalmAndCarryOn @jerry_remy twitter.com/Leadership_One…

— Middleboro Jones (@Leadership_One) April 1, 2013

Fenway at 100 - Boston prepares to celebrate 100 years of Baseball played in Fenway Park

The Chapel is 100 years old and no one in Boston would want it any other way. There were some heretics who tried to get Boston to replace her but gladly they were unsuccessful. Larry Luccino stated at the beginning of this year that our grandchildren's kids will be coming to see baseball at Fenway in the future....That would be " wicked pissa " as far as Red Sox fans are concerned.


Red Sox ready to celebrate Fenway's 100th birthday
By Jimmy Golen
AP Sports Writer / April 9, 2012

BOSTON—Fenway Park is ready for its 100th birthday and the Boston Red Sox are planning a big party.

After a decade of renovations to the majors' oldest ballpark, the team has put on some finishing touches to get it ready for this season. The home opener is Friday, and a week later the Red Sox will celebrate the anniversary of Fenway's opening on April 20, 1912, when they play the New York Yankees.

The festivities started on Monday, when the Harvard baseball team took batting and fielding practice to mark the 100th anniversary of their 1912 exhibition game against the Red Sox -- the first game played at Fenway. Harvard and Red Sox alum Mike Stenhouse pitched batting practice.

"Harvard baseball is thrilled to be included in the birthday celebration at Fenway Park," Crimson baseball coach Joe Walsh said. "Our guys look forward to any chance to set foot on a major league baseball diamond -- in this case a batting practice session where many will take aim at the Green Monster. These are special moments that all young baseball players dream about and Harvard has been fortunate to have these opportunities every few years."

Although past years' offseason renovations included visible and popular additions such as the Monster Seats and new concourses, this year's work was designed to put the finishing touches on a decade of work.

Among the additions:

--A patio of inscribed bricks purchased by fans. More than 18,500 were sold. Also featured are 35 handprints from "influential figures in Red Sox and Fenway Park history," including Bobby Doerr, Dennis Eckersley, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice and Carl Yastrzemski.

--Plaques around the park explaining points of interest, such as "Canvas Alley" and the Red Sox clubhouse.

--Season ticket-holders' club, featuring historic panels and artifacts tracing the history of the team and the ballpark. The highlight: a collection of baseballs autographed by the World Series teams from every season since 1920 (one is missing). It was loaned to the team by a donor who has chosen to remain anonymous.

Also Monday, the team gave Mayor Tom Menino a tour. Because Menino was in a walking boot, he was driven around by Red Sox president Larry Lucchino in the bullpen cart that was used from 1968-78 to bring relievers into the game.

The cart was restored and will be displayed as part of the ballpark's "Living Museum" theme.

The Faithful Fans of RED SOX Nation line up for tickets & a piece of RED SOX history

Even after the 2011 slump in the " September from Hell ", where our Red Sox tanked in a spectacular display of buffoonery, the fans return in droves. It must be something in the DNA of Red Sox fans that makes them like the swallows coming back to Capistrano....We don't really have the ability to resist the siren call of Baseball, the Red Sox and all that goes with Fenway Park, which will celebrate 100 years of Baseball this season.

I just hope for our sake that John Henry & his crew have gotten their game plan in place because if they tank the 2012 season, it will be the worst way to commemorate a century of America's pastime in " The Chapel ".


Red Sox fans
gobble up tickets, memorabilia

news-press.com

Boston Red Sox backer Eric Atkinson is a prime example of why "fan" is short for
fanatic.

Atkinson was so intent on buying the team’s 2004 and 2007 World Series championship banners at the Red Sox Yard Sale that he flew in Friday from Beverly, Mass., rented a storage truck and stood in line overnight so he could be first in line.

He had $8,000 in his pocket because the Red Sox only accepted cash.

It hardly helped his level of comfort that fans – standing in a separate line for single-game tickets – told him there was a nearby shooting and drug deal.

But he stayed – with one eye open.

Atkinson’s 16-hour wait for the pennants – which hung on the team’s batting cages – was rewarded when he joined about 350 fans who walked through the turnstiles at City of Palms Park at 8 a.m. Saturday. He bought each for $800.

“It’s the prize of the lot,” friend Rob Hurst said.

“Can’t go wrong with ’04 and ’07,” said Atkinson, who also bought locker room chairs, bats and $50 grab bags, which included a jersey of an unknown player as well as a program. The week before, he bought 93 jerseys, a turnstile, bats and Carlton Fisk and Wade Boggs banners at a Fenway Park yard sale. “They’ll go in my man-cave bar.”

With the Red Sox moving to a new park this spring, the team sold furniture, framed artwork and televisions from City of Palms Park as well as media guides, bats, balls, shirts, banners and signs.

What fascinated Katie Haas, the Red Sox Florida operations director, was what interested the second person in line was totally different from what Atkinson wanted.

“I gave a sound bite, which I wish I hadn’t said because a fan said, ‘You’re calling this junk,’ “ Haas said. “But one man’s junk is another person’s treasure.”

Haas said the story behind the treasure helped people in their purchases. When told the TVs were in the clubhouse or a chair was in the owner’s suite, that helped husbands convince wives they needed to buy them, she said.

Fans did get a little physical and jostled for the bats. “When it’s covered in pine tar and tape and has a player’s name on it, that also tells a story,” she said.


Helen Sotiropoulos, a 19-year employee of Aramark, the Red Sox’s food vendor, bought a chair before “they went out flying.”

Jennifer Canedy of Cape Coral got a photo of her favorite player, Jason Varitek, “even though he probably won’t be here anymore.” Shannon Devegnee of Cape Coral, bought a $20 framed photo of Ted Williams playing tennis. She’ll give it to her father Tony Patti for Christmas because that’s his favorite player. Her daughter Brianna bought Red Sox lights for $3.

April Bailey bought a rusted metal, on-deck bat. “I just happened to see it on a table,” she said. “I put it down, walked around the inside; and when it was still there, I said, ‘I just have to ask somebody about this bat.’ “

Bailey was told the bat really wasn’t for sale; but to tell the cashier it was $10.

Pine Island’s Jack Kershilis, 73, was resourceful when the Red Sox Baseball Store sign ($100) was too big to fit in his van. “They had a saw so I cut it,” he said. “I’m going to take these feet (Red Sox logo) and cut off the words store and put the feet on that side. I’ll put it in my garage.”

Kershilis’ wife was in line waiting for tickets. “I think she’d go ballistic if she knew,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll tell her until she gets in the car. She might not be able to ride in the car.”

When Brianna Devegnee helped Kershilis carry his sign to his car, he gave her a $2 tip.

As Kershilis returned to his unsuspecting wife, fans patiently waited in line for tickets.

A group of North Fort Myers High friends – Connor Roggero, Teddy Moore, Matt Mills, Neill Dickinson and Bridget Harper – had camped out since Thursday.

Two, long-time Naples’ friends and oldtimers, Phil Stang and Mike Boudreau, arrived at the ballpark at 4:15 a.m. to get tickets. Stang talked Boudreau into coming, even though he’s recovering from foot surgery

What the heck? Why not,” Boudreau said.

And what they did do while waiting? “Annoy each other,” Stang said.

Haas said five games are near sellouts – Tampa Bay (March 10), St. Louis (March 15), Baltimore (March 17), the New York Yankees (March 22) and Philadelphia (March 24).

On the eve of the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park, The Red Sox are in a sad state.....

NY Yankee fans and others who wish the Red Sox ill must be in full "schadenfreude" mode today....Their wishes have come true as the Red Sox have run one of the most storied and successful baseball operations right up on the rocks.

Theo - Gone. Tito - Gone. The Clubhouse - in full mutiny mode. Ownership - looking as ineffective as the lunkheads in Washington, DC.

This is NOT where we were supposed to be as we had the "best & the brightest" in place, fully funded and capable of ensuring success. Obviously, the big priced help on and off the field were all about themselves and not devoted to the team, the fans or the game.

Sad to say, but these choppy seas that the Red Sox are on show no sign of easing. The winter of our discontent is in place and it will take more than PR to get things back to even close to where they need to be. Red Sox Nation are a tough bunch but no one likes being treated this way by a club that has been given undying devotion by the fans. The RED SOX need to earn back our respect as what they have shown us is not the signs of the team we deserve.

2012 was supposed to be a celebration but right now, it looks like it will be a year of lowered expectations and a tarnished team. I can only hope that something will change under a new GM & Coach. Time to clean house and get back on track.


Wind of change
By Dan Shaughnessy
Boston Globe Columnist / October 13, 2011

It’s back to the bad old days over on Yawkey Way. The Red Sox of 2011 are the Red Sox of Buddy LeRoux and Haywood Sullivan - doofus co-owners wrestling on the carpet of their Fenway Park offices back in 1983. They are the Red Sox of Tom Yawkey and his chorus line of drunken employees finishing out of the money from the 1930s through the ’60s.

There are so many things wrong with the Sox at this hour, it’s difficult to know where to start. The manager is gone, the general manager is gone, the owners are in hiding, and the players are a loathsome lot totally unworthy of the money and adulation they receive.

Theo Epstein’s gone. It was a seismic event when he quit in 2005. This time, his departure is lost in the mix as the Sox go from freefall to nuclear fallout. The Fenway lawn is scorched earth.

Did we ever think the vaunted “new’’ owners would make Frank McCourt look good?

Apologies are in order, all around. John Henry, Tom Werner, and Larry Lucchino need to come out of hiding and say they are sorry for this embarrassment.

Ditto for the cowardly ballplayers. Instead of blasting a reporter (“where’d you get this number?’’), phony captain Jason Varitek needs to explain how the ballplayers in the clubhouse abandoned their professionalism on his watch. Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, and John Lackey need to drop the bad-ass act (none of them returned calls from Bob Hohler before his explosive story in Wednesday’s Globe) and apologize to fans for their disrespect of the manager and the franchise. Put down the long-necks and the Double Down sandwiches and tell the fans you are sorry.

But why would they? They are joyless and enabled. We learn from Hohler’s story that when players complained about having to play a day-night doubleheader, out-of-touch Sox owners gave them $300 headphones and a night on Henry’s yacht.

Pathetic.

The worst collapse in the history of baseball wasn’t enough shame for this crew. They had to take on the persona of entitled rock stars who flip off the fans and demand only red M&Ms in their dressing room.

John Henry and friends have lived a charmed existence since buying the ball club in December of 2001. They have won a couple of World Series and made Fenway Park a tourist destination on a par with the Bunker Hill Monument and Old Ironsides. They sold their baseball souls to sell a few Fenway bricks and boost the ratings of their hideous network.

Now we’ve all had enough with Roush Racing and Liverpool soccer. Yankee fans never had to worry about George Steinbrenner taking his eyes off the prize in the interest of building ships.

Try this on with your pink hat: On the final night of the regular season, while the Sox were playing in Baltimore, fighting for their playoff lives, virtual ads during the baseball broadcast reminded you to watch Liverpool-Wolverhampton the next day at 4 p.m. That’s the same time that the Sox would have been playing their one-game playoff against Tampa Bay on TBS.

Got that? On Thursday, Sept. 29, at 4 p.m., the geniuses at NESN wanted you to watch soccer - instead of a one-game playoff involving the Red Sox.

Consistent with this insult, NESN the next day cut away from analysis of a postmortem press conference featuring Terry Francona and Theo Epstein (remember them?) at Fenway. While NESN rival Comcast went knee-deep into analysis, the Sox flagship TV station went to soccer.

Wow.

And now we have nothing from the owners since the night Francona was fired - unless you count the Baghdad Bob hour they granted to their flagship radio station that was simulcast on their own television network. There was plenty of talk about “shelf life’’ that day. Lucchino finished a lot of Henry’s sentences.

Can anyone blame Epstein for wanting to get away from this? Any chance he was encouraged to look elsewhere? I know one thing: Sox fans won’t be happy to see the ball club lose the still-under-contract-Theo in exchange for more cash for Henry. What happened to getting Matt Garza? Or couldn’t the Sox have at least made the Cubs take Lackey in a package deal with the beleaguered GM?

When Epstein quit in 2005, there was much anguish in Red Sox Nation. This time the departure gets lost in the avalanche of negativity that washes over the franchise. It’s, “Thanks for playing, Theo. We’ll think of you every time Carl Crawford strikes out for the next six years.’’

The rebuilding of the brand can begin only when Epstein is officially gone. The Sox need to name Ben Cherington GM, then go about the business of regaining the fans’ trust. It would be nice if they’d hire a strong-willed field manager, but we fear they’re going to go with a no-name who’ll carry out the orders of Carmine the Computer, Tom Tippett, and Bill James.

The Sox expected to spend this winter preparing for the glorious 100th celebration of Fenway Park. Instead they are picking up pieces of their broken brand as they prepare to raise the third-place banner and celebrate Fenway’s centennial on April 20, 2012.

Maybe it’s time to show real fans that you are back in the business of baseball and junk “Sweet Caroline’’ in the middle of the eighth.

Bad times never seemed so bad.

Tito & The Red Sox - Don't believe the spin.....Terry Francona was fired.

" Humpty Dumpty was pushed..."

Well Tito isn't Humpty Dumpty but you get the picture. As a proud member of RED SOX NATION, I have restrained myself from the "blame game" and the finger pointing after the Red Sox fell from their lofty perch. I don't believe in a lot of back biting and such.

Yesterday, the issue got ratched up when the Red Sox and Terry Francona announced a mutual parting of the ways...Take it from a savvy HR professional, there was nothing "mutual" about it.

The RED SOX have made some mistakes and this ranks right up there with one of their biggest. I am unsure what the future holds for RED SOX NATION but at this point, the fans are akin to a guy standing by the side of the road watching a car wreck....you can only hope that no one else gets hurt and that things will be OK later....In this case, there is much concern that we will not again see the class, dedication, professionalism and all around likeability like we saw from Tito.

Tito will be missed. The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy sums it up for the fans. To John Henry, Theo and Larry, I say that while you guys have made some good choices, this one ranks up as number one on the list of wrong decisions made by the Red Sox.

Ignore that spin from the brass - he was fired
By Dan Shaughnessy
Globe Columnist / October 1, 2011

Terry Francona was fired yesterday. The longtime manager and the Red Sox brass used a lot of polite words and tried to make it sound mutual, but Francona turns out to be the first victim of the greatest collapse in baseball history.

On a bizarre and historic Friday at Fenway, the Sox and Francona generated more spin than the Harlem Globetrotters.

Francona blamed himself, worked hard to stay on message, but late in his goodbye press session, he veered off the rails and threw John Henry under the team charter.

“To be honest with you, I’m not sure how much support there was from ownership,’’ Francona offered. “You’ve got to be all-in on this job. It’s got to be everybody together, and I was questioning that a little bit.’’

Bingo. Henry has had Francona in his crosshairs for a couple of years. Ultimately, Francona was not enough of a numbers guy to satisfy Boston’s Moneyball boss.

All summer long, even when the Sox were rolling, the ball club steadfastly refused to trigger Francona’s contract extension. The 7-20 finish made Francona a perfect scapegoat.

There were plenty of real issues that led to Francona’s demise. With a $161 million payroll (third highest in baseball) and 15 former All-Stars, the Sox finished third for a second straight season. Francona lost the clubhouse. He loved his players, covered for them, and they turned Fenway Park into Delta House. It was Pete Carroll Redux. Treat them like men, they run all over you, then say, “You messed up. You trusted us.’’

Based on Francona’s non-denial, it’s apparently true that some of the Sox’ starting pitchers were drinking in the clubhouse during games they were not scheduled to start. A report in yesterday’s Herald broke the story and Francona rejected an opportunity to say that it was untrue.

Still, the Sox will want you to believe that Francona was not fired. They’re going with a fairy tale that the front office and the manager of eight years simply decided to part ways. It was the theme of the 5:30 p.m. press release announcing the change, and team chairman Tom Werner and general manager Theo Epstein kept the charade going last night - less than an hour after Francona effectively acknowledged he was not invited back.

It was ridiculous. Like the cataclysmic end of the season, this whole day was ridiculous.

“It’s my decision,’’ Francona said. “I think it was time for a new voice here . . . I wanted our guys to care about each other on the field and I didn’t think we were doing that.’’

Epstein said Francona “decided that there were certain things that needed to be done that he couldn’t do . . . and this team would benefit from hearing a new voice.’’

But ultimately it was a disconnect between Henry and Francona that prompted this change.

Henry did not appear at last night’s press conference. Lucchino and Werner said Henry “wanted to be here,’’ but reported that Henry had sustained a minor injury during the day.

Like everything else in Henrytown, Francona’s dismissal was rooted in the numbers. Eight years is a long time for anyone to manage the same baseball team. A 162-game season provides thousands of potential second-guesses for a stat-crazed owner. The longer Francona managed here, the more decisions Henry questioned.

Certainly there were some head-scratchers at the end. Maybe letting Tim Wakefield make nine tries for win No. 200 was a mistake. Pinch running Lars Anderson for Adrian Gonzalez last Sunday was interesting. Francona’s decision to bat Ryan Lavarnway (second big-league start at catcher) in the No. 5 spot behind Gonzalez Wednesday played right into the hands of Orioles manager Buck Showalter. Showalter intentionally walked Gonzalez three times and Lavarnway made the final out three times, stranding six runners. This was not God’s will. This was a blunder by the Boston manager.

Francona represented a nice blend of old school and Moneyball. He always had a computer on his desk, but had reverence and respect for the baseball lifers who played when his dad played in the 1950s and ’60s. But it was hard to deal with daily lineup suggestions delivered by everyone from Bill James to new stat guru Tom Tippett. Epstein and the minions were relentless.

Francona knew this day was coming. So he forced the issue, then spoke from his heart . . . just once.

“I was actually puzzled by that comment,’’ said Lucchino. “I must confess to being a little puzzled by what was different than in previous years.’’

Too bad Henry was not there to answer the charge.

Francona might go down as the best manager in the 111-year history of the franchise. Only Joe Cronin managed longer. Only Don Zimmer had a higher winning percentage (among those who managed here for at least five years). And when you break an 86-year-old championship drought, win two World Series titles in four seasons, you don’t have to worry about your legacy.

It’ll be interesting to see who the Sox can hire. Henry and Co. like big-name talent, but they also like someone who’ll go by their book. Bobby Valentine is not going to let sunshine-starved stat geeks dictate the lineup.

Maybe Philip Seymour Hoffman is available.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist.

It's about as UGLY as it can get for the Red Sox

It is about as UGLY as it can get for the RED SOX right now....a dismal start of the season was followed by a robust summer, which in turn was followed up by the worst September slump in club history.....

There are two games left and the RED SOX will live or die by their own abilities or lack thereof....no matter what the outcome, this is NOT how we in Boston expected to finish a year that held so much promise.....

Red Sox Fall to the Back of the Pack With 6-3 Loss to Orioles
Published September 27, 2011
Associated Press

BALTIMORE – The Boston Red Sox have finally fallen all the way back to pack, and now they've got only two games left to make it right.

The Red Sox found another way to lose, this time on a broken-bat single and an inside-the-park homer, and their 6-3 defeat against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night dropped them into a tie in the AL wild-card race.

Boston's 17th loss in 22 games enabled Tampa Bay to pull even in the duel for the league's final playoff spot. The Rays, who beat the New York Yankees 5-2, trailed by nine games after play on Sept. 3.

The Red Sox had either stood atop the AL East or led the wild-card race every day since before play on May 24.

In spite of the epic collapse, Boston can squeeze into the playoffs by winning its last two games. Then, at worst, the Red Sox will face the Rays in a one-game playoff.

"We win every game, we're in the playoffs," right fielder Adrian Gonzalez said. "It's definitely in our hands."

Problem is, the Red Sox haven't won two in a row since August.

"We've backed ourselves about as far as we can go," manager Terry Francona said.

With the score 2-all in the sixth inning, Boston starter Josh Beckett (13-7) allowed four runs in an uprising that began with Vladimir Guerrero becoming the career hits leader among Dominican-born players.

Guerrero broke a tie with Julio Franco by bouncing a single up the middle, his 2,587th career hit. The 36-year-old Guerrero then stole second base, and after a two-out walk to Mark Reynolds, Chris Davis broke his bat hitting a soft liner to right that brought home the go-ahead run.

"I didn't make pitches when I needed to," Beckett said. "I tried to bounce a changeup to Davis there and I leave it up and he serves it to right field."

Robert Andino followed with a deep fly to center that Jacoby Ellsbury had in his glove before crashing into the wall. Andino sprinted around the bases and made it home as the relay throw bounced past catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Boston loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but Pedro Strop struck out Saltalamacchia and retired Marco Scutaro on a grounder.

Although Dustin Pedroia hit an RBI single in the ninth, the Red Sox stranded two runners and fell to 6-19 in September, the second-worst record in the majors behind the Minnesota Twins. It's also Boston's second worst September, behind a 4-18 mark in 1926, according to STATS LLC.

Jed Lowrie homered for the Red Sox, whose September swoon includes four losses in five games against Baltimore.

Beckett allowed six runs and seven hits in six innings. The right-hander won four straight decisions before losing to the Orioles twice in six days.

"We've got to win games, and we're not going to do it when your starting pitcher gives up six runs," Beckett said.

Troy Patton (2-1) retired all five batters he faced after entering for starter Tommy Hunter, who gave up one earned run in five innings.

"It's a relentless lineup, and that's why I'm so proud of our pitchers," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Tommy gave us what he had today. He was barking pretty good there the last inning or so with the groin (injury)."

Boston placed runners on second and third with two outs in the first before Hunter issued an intentional walk to Gonzalez and retired Lowrie on a fly ball. The Red Sox bounced back with an unearned run in the second on a two-out throwing error by rookie left fielder Matt Angle.

Matt Wieters tied it in the bottom half with an opposite-field drive into the left-field seats. Wieters has 21 homers this year after totaling 20 in his first two big league seasons.

Lowrie led off the fourth with his sixth home run, the third against Baltimore. Boston then got runners on the corners with two outs before Nick Markakis made a sliding catch of Carl Crawford's sinking liner to right.

The Orioles drew even at 2 in the fifth on an RBI single by Davis. But with the bases loaded and one out, Beckett retired J.J. Hardy on a popup and struck out Markakis.

NOTES: Boston C Jason Varitek was a late scratch. He took a ball off his left knee in Sunday's second game against New York. He was replaced by Saltalamacchia, who left in the eighth when struck near the throat by a foul ball. ... Showalter received in-house treatment for an ankle injury early in the game but was back by the second inning. ... Ellsbury's second-inning double extended his hitting streak against Baltimore to 34 games, longest by a Red Sox player against another team in the history of the franchise. ... Francona said he hasn't decided who will start Wednesday's game. It could be 15-game winner Jon Lester on three days rest. ... Former Oriole Erik Bedard (5-9) will pitch for the Red Sox on Tuesday against rookie Zach Britton (11-10).

How to beat the BOSTON RED SOX

Brilliant....

Fenway Run raises $2.6 Million to aid Veterans - GO RED SOX and thanks for your support

Fenway Park and the Boston Red Sox are a class act and it shows...in everything they do to support the community and those in need. Here is one more example of them showing that they are serious about taking care of those in need including our Veterans.

I salute their support for our Veterans.

Fenway run raises $2.6m to aid veterans

By Stewart Bishop
Boston Globe Correspondent
May 23, 2011

On a cool, overcast morning at Fenway Park yesterday, 33-year-old Meredith Griffin paid tribute to seven members of her family who have fought in the Iraq war — especially to the one who never made it home.

She joined more than 2,000 runners, including almost 300 active duty military service members, to raise money to support veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with combat stress or brain injuries.

Griffin’s cousin, Army Captain Anthony Palermo Jr. of Brockton, was killed in the line of duty in Baghdad in April 2007. Yesterday she ran the race wearing a shirt bearing Palermo’s photo, along with the dates of his birth and death.

“It’s really kind of a labor of love to run today and to really be involved in this cause,’’ said Griffin, of Raynham, as she stood in front of the Red Sox dugout after the race. “This is in honor of Tony and in honor of my other relatives that are still with us and that are still struggling.’’

Griffin said many of her family members who have served have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder, a debilitating anxiety condition that often affects soldiers exposed to severe trauma.

“A lot of them, the ones that came home, have been diagnosed with PTSD. There’s a lot of emotion they don’t share with you, a lot of mood swings, fear, and mixed emotions. It’s hard to deal with all of that,’’ Griffin said. “We have a pretty amazing family and a great support group, but not everybody’s that lucky. “

Organizers said the 5.6-mile run — which began on Yawkey Way, stretched over the river to Memorial Drive and ended with runners crossing home plate inside the park — raised an estimated $2.6 million for the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program. It was the second annual Run to Home Base, and participants were required to raise $1,000.

Chris Reynolds, 55, a deputy chief with the Holyoke Fire Department, said he saw the run as a good way to help veterans and maybe touch a little Fenway glory at the same time.

“It’s a good cause and a chance to cross home plate,’’ Reynolds said. “It’s a win-win.’’

Reynolds said he and his family raised $2,000 in support of the cause. Many of his fellow firefighters, he said, have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Many of the guys getting on [the department] now are all veterans; several of them keep getting deployed every year,’’ Reynolds said. “They’re risking their lives to support the way we live. It’s very important — that’s why we’re here.’’

The winner of the race for the second year in a row was Peter Gleason, 33, of Millbury.

Gleason said he’s happy to be able to raise money in support of the troops.

“Most road races aren’t this fun, they don’t have this kind of backdrop,’’ Gleason said, gesturing toward the Green Monster. “It was a great experience last year and even better this year. I’ll keep coming as long as they keep having it.’’

In a ceremony before the race, runners and their supporters were greeted by US Senator Scott Brown; General Peter W. Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff; Lieutenant General John Kelly, senior military assistant to the secretary of defense; Dr. Peter Slavin, Massachusetts General Hospital president; Tom Werner, Red Sox chairman; and Rob DeMartini, New Balance president and chief executive.

Michelle Obama sent a taped greeting from the White House that was played on the main video screen above center field.

“The Home Base Program is helping our veterans and their families to get the clinical and support services they need and they’ve earned,’’ Obama said. “Thanks again to Red Sox Nation for stepping up to the plate when it counts.’’

Brown, who also ran the race, said in an interview after the run that a strong support system for returning veterans is essential.

“Obviously it’s badly needed; you’ve seen the statistics,’’ the senator said. “I know we all care very deeply about the men and women that are serving and there’s a lot of positive things being done in Washington about it, and in the state, too. Governor Patrick, and his team on veterans’ issues, is second to none in the country.’’

As for the thrill of crossing home plate in the iconic ballpark?

“It was pretty cool,’’ Brown said. “I won’t lie.’’

Stewart Bishop can be reached at sbishop@globe.com

" It looks a lot better now..." BOSTON RED SOX are out of the cellar

I Concur, it does look a lot better now......GO RED SOX !!!

From the Boston Globe's "Extra Bases" Blog by Peter Abraham :

" The Sox were 2-9 at the time he was skipped and feelings could not be an issue. Their starters have been lights-out since (7-1, 0.88) with Lackey pitching two of those games.

The Sox have won eight of nine and at 10-11 are heading in the right direction.

“We dug ourselves a hole. Now we’re trying to dig out of it, Francona said. “It’s kind of like a hitter with a low batting average but feels good about himself. We’re starting to do some things better.”

As Lackey rebounds, Carl Crawford is 7 for 27 (.259) with three extra-base hits and five RBIs in his last seven games. He belted his first Red Sox homer today. Adrian Gonzalez is starting to heat up, too.

"We were fine when we were 2-10," Dustin Pedroia said. "But it looked bad. It looks a lot better now."

I agree with Dustin.

And the hits just keep on coming....Our beloved Red Sox start off 0-6....hopes for a win at the home opener

Words fail me. Worst.news.ever.

It's bad enough that we have to deal with stupid Pols who don't do what we elect them to do, inflation, high oil prices with no sign of relief, higher food prices, Libya, Japan's crisis, stupidity of display on TV on a daily basis, etc., etc. - Now we have to deal with THIS:

Our beloved Red Sox are 0-6 at the start of the season. This was NOT part of the program.

These guys were supposed to be the new "best & brightest" and the team that would provide a 100 win season.

There is time to pull this out BUT they better start out with a win at the home opener....please, we're begging you. We need some good news and something we can look forward to.....Our Red Sox taking the field and winning a game.....If we were able to see the Red Sox winning again, it would gives us something to take our minds off all the other stuff that isn't working in our world.

I have faith in our team but this terrible start is NOT what we had hoped for......the hits just keep on coming...ugh.

Dan Shaughnessy: One low point after another
04/08/11 Boston Globe

And the hits just keep on coming.

In their latest move to make friends and endear themselves to local fans, Fenway Sports Management yesterday announced it has inked Ulf Samuelsson and Matt Cooke to work on business deals worldwide.

Red Sox chairman Tom Werner termed the FSM-Samuelsson-Cooke alliance “a powerful collaboration,’’ adding, “There are few athletes who can match their global reach, appeal, and iconic status.’’

OK, I made all that up. But we’ve reached a point where Red Sox fans can’t be surprised by anything. The impossible has become the norm, and would it really surprise you if the tone-deaf folks at FSM solicit Alex Rodriguez when he reports for duty at Fenway this weekend?

The 0-6 Red Sox stagger home today for the 100th Fenway opener. This means no more safe havens in Texas and Cleveland. After a week on the road, the Sox must wallow in regional hysteria triggered by their worst start since 1945 (when all the real players were at war).

Can it get any worse?

Of course it can. The 1988 Baltimore Orioles started 0-21. President Ronald Reagan called manager Frank Robinson after 0-18 and said, “I know what you’re going through.’’

“Mr. President, you have no idea what I’m going through,’’ snapped Robinson.

Terry Francona would second that emotion. The affable skipper of this Best Team Ever has tried just about everything to coax a win out of the overstuffed local nine. Nothing has worked. Maybe it’s time for Tito to execute a five-star Jack Nicholson/Mike Milbury nutty.

Not to be negative, but the Elias Sports Bureau reports that only two teams have made the playoffs after starting 0-6 — the 1974 Pirates and the 1995 Reds. This is only the fourth Red Sox team to start 0-6, and if the Sox lose today, it’s officially the second-worst start in franchise history.

Remember those days of talking about 100 wins? How about one win? Just one.

They have lost in every way imaginable. They have been routed. They have been beaten, 1-0. They have seen bullpen blowups (Dennys Reyes in Game 5 goes down as perhaps the worst relief appearance of all time). They have failed to produce quality starts (other than Jon Lester yesterday) and they haven’t hit with runners in scoring position. Yesterday they lost because a pinch runner (good guy Darnell McDonald) was overaggressive and got tagged out diving back to second base.

It’s chaos. Daisuke Matsuzaka stills needs a translator while Jason Varitek yells at him in the dugout. Varitek neglects to tag a base runner Wednesday night, thinking the force is on, and a run scores. Carl Crawford is hanging his head, talking to himself. They’re not getting the calls. Daniel Bard has given up the winning run twice. Kevin Youkilis can’t get a hit with a man in scoring position. New pitching coach Curt Young and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (hitting a robust .071) are under the microscope. The Sox have been outscored, 38-16.

McDonald’s stumble was symbolic. The whole team has fallen down. And now we turn our eyes to John “Let ’em in’’ Lackey, who gave up nine runs in 3 2/3 innings in Texas. Today will be Adrian Gonzalez’s first game ever at Fenway and somebody needs to explain to Yo Adrian that Sox home openers are not generally filled with so much fear and loathing.

Over the winter, Sox fans had a lot of fun at the expense of the Yankees. Citizens of Sox Nation mocked Brian Cashman and repeatedly painted the Pinstripes as old and pitching-poor. Now the Yankees are in town with a chance to take a seven-game lead over the Sox just nine games into the season.

Any way you look at it, the Sox haven’t been the same since John Henry bought Liverpool FC. Maybe this is the Curse of Roy Hodgson. It’s certainly a good time for the Sox to be petitioning the city to serve mixed drinks at Fenway. We all might need a little Jack to get through this season of great expectations.

One week ago, before the first game, I asked Francona about the burden of being everybody’s World Series favorite.

“I don’t see the harm in that,’’ he said calmly. “To be honest, expectations in our clubhouse are high.’’

Today the Sox are sinking under the weight of their own press clippings and there’s a trace of glee in some of the have-not hardball hamlets.

The first week of this baseball season has us longing for the good old days of 2010. A “bridge year’’ would look pretty good right about now.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

Fenway Park will stand for decades to come....The "Chapel" endures.

As it should be.....Fenway Park is a jewel and the best homefield advantage any team in the league could ask for. Great to see that the ownership has made the best move possible and invested in our historic ballpark. Awesome....or as we say up here in Boston, " wicked pissa "


Lucchino: Fenway will stand for decades
by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff February 19, 2011

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox have finished 10 years of improvements to Fenway Park, spending $285 million to renovate, improve and in some areas rebuild the old ballpark.

Team president Larry Lucchino said the major projects are done. Engineers have told the ownership group that the structure has 40-50 years of life remaining.

In other words, if you're waiting for a new ballpark you're going to be waiting for a long time. "There is nothing in the plans," Lucchino said.

A Day at Fenway Park with the Missus & coworkers

Humphrey Bogart was famous for saying, " A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz.." - Not only was he a great actor, he was "spot on" about a day at the old Ballpark.

The Missus & I got to spend a day at Fenway courtesy of the employer....in the Corporate box....nice.....very very nice. Coworkers one & all had a good time and I got to meet Theo Epstein, GM of the Red Sox. He was handing out " thank yous" & Red Sox Fridge magnets to a bunch of us on Yawkey Way....very cool.

A day at Fenway Park where we watched the RED SOX beat up the NY Yanks 8-4, ensuring that the dreaded "Evil Empire" got only the wildcard instead of the division title....yeah, I know the Sox were outta it but based on the injuries we faced, it is amazing that we were in contention until the end of the season - Most teams in our situation would have been 20 games back.... and we got to ruin the Yankees day....sweet.

Here's to a great day at FENWAY PARK, the jewel of American Ballparks and one of my favorite places.....just awesome.

TED WILLIAMS - Remembering the " Splendid Splinter" on the 50th Anniversary of his last " At-Bat" in Fenway Park

It has been 50 Years since Teddy Ballgame had his last "at bat" in Fenway Park.....Teddy, we miss you.

Great words enclosed about this anniversary, greater than I could hope to write in tribute to a legendary ballplayer, US Naval Aviator and true Patriot.

----------------------------------------------

Tribute to a Hero in Twilight
By CHARLES McGRATH
Published: September 25, 2010 - NY TIMES

Tuesday is the 50th anniversary of Ted Williams’s last game, in which, with an impeccable sense of occasion, he hit a home run, a miraculous line drive to deep right center, in his final at-bat.

There was no Red Sox Nation back then. The club was a bottom-dweller in the old eight-team American League, and its following amounted to a village of lonely die-hards. The weather was dank that afternoon and so overcast that in the sixth inning, the lights at Fenway Park were turned on.

Only 10,455 fans turned up to say goodbye to Williams, who was 42, hobbled by aches and pains. Among them, sitting behind third base, was 28-year-old John Updike, who had actually scheduled an adulterous assignation that day. But when he reached the woman’s apartment, on Beacon Hill, he found that he had been stood up: no one was home. “So I went, as promised, to the game,” he wrote years later, “and my virtue was rewarded.”

So were generations of readers, for a few days later, Updike sat down and wrote “Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu,” probably the most celebrated baseball essay ever. Originally published in the Oct. 22, 1960, issue of The New Yorker, and reprinted in countless anthologies, “Hub Fans” has recently been reissued in an elegant little 64-page edition by the Library of America, with an introduction by Updike that was among the last things he worked on before his death in January 2009.

The essay is in its way the reverse of Williams’s valedictory feat. Updike, who was beginning to realize the extent of his powers, had never written about baseball before, and never did again except for a couple of footnotes about Williams. He knocked it out of the park on his very first swing, then retired on the spot.

It’s not too much to say that “Hub Fans” changed sportswriting. Affectionately mocking the tradition of sports clichés (as in the title, which didn’t actually appear in any of Boston’s seven dailies at the time, but easily could have), the essay demonstrated that you could write about baseball, of all things, in a way that was personal, intelligent, even lyrical. Updike compares Williams to Achilles, to a Calder mobile, to Donatello’s David, standing on third base as if the bag were the head of Goliath.

A groundskeeper reminds Updike of Wordsworth’s mushroom gatherers. In a couple of memorable phrases, calling Fenway Park a “lyric little bandbox” that looks “like the inside of an old-fashioned, peeping-type Easter egg,” Updike gave the place a freshly painted sheen, so that if you grew up in Boston, as I did, you could never look at the old ball yard the same way again.

Yet the essay is never precious or self-consciously literary, the way a lot of subsequent Fenway prose became, penned by earnest, heavy-breathing scribes clustered in Updike’s shadow. Roger Angell, who began writing about baseball for The New Yorker two years after Updike, and whose career has had an astonishing longevity — he’s the Ripken or Gehrig to Updike’s blazing youthful phenom — has said that “Hub Fans” most of all supplied him with a tone: colloquial, attentive, unashamed of feeling or of striving for an elegant turn of phrase. It seems obvious now, but Updike was one of the first to show that you don’t have to write down about sports or empurple them, either.

“Hub Fans” is a paean not so much to baseball itself, as Angell’s pieces tend to be, as to a single player. Updike’s connection to Williams went back to his childhood in small-town Pennsylvania, where he was unable, he later wrote, to bond with the Phillies and the A’s, which seemed unworthy of his ambitions both for them and for his fannish self.

What beckoned was the heroic example of Williams. He wrote: “For me, Williams is the classic ballplayer of the game on a hot August weekday, before a small crowd, when the only thing at stake is the tissue-thin difference between a thing done well and a thing done ill.” And reading “Hub Fans,” you even sense at times a hint of self-identification. Williams and Updike were physically alike. They were tall and slender, with exceptional eyesight. (This was literally so for Williams, and metaphorically true for Updike, who, as the essay demonstrates, was an uncanny observer.)

In Updike’s description of Williams’s relationship with the Boston fans — “a marriage, composed of spats, mutual disappointments, and, toward the end, a mellowing hoard of shared memories” — there is maybe even a hint of whatever romantic disappointments had sent him to Beacon Hill that day.

Most of all, Updike identified with the artist in Williams: his focus and perfectionism, his single-mindedness in mastering the difficult craft of hitting, the way that, proud and a little aloof, he would not kowtow to the Boston press or court the fans’ affection, refusing to the very end to tip his cap in acknowledgment of their applause. He embraced and understood Williams’s isolation, writing: “It is an essentially lonely game. No other player visible to my generation has concentrated within himself so much of the sport’s poignance, has so assiduously refined his natural skills, has so constantly brought to the plate that intensity of competence that crowds the throat with joy.”

When Updike revised the essay for inclusion in a book-length collection in 1965, he ended it with a Yeatsian intimation of mortality: “On the car radio as I drove home, I heard that Williams, his own man to the end, had decided not to accompany the team to New York. He had met the little death that awaits all athletes. He had quit.”

What he originally wrote was: “On the car radio as I drove home, I heard that Williams was not going to accompany the team to New York. So he knew how to do even that, the hardest thing. Quit.”

In the tiny differences between the two versions, the refinements of phrasing, the crucial addition of that “little death,” there is something very like the “tissue-thin difference” Updike so admired in Williams’s career: the difference in this case not between a thing done well and a thing done ill, but between a thing done well and a thing done even better. Like Williams, Updike never coasted. He knew that over the long season, as he writes earlier in the essay, what holds our interest is not occasional heroics but “players who always care; who care, that is to say, about themselves and their art.”