I Didn't Want To Do This . . .

I have a beautiful daughter who is four. She's a great kid, really well behaved in general. But a fact of life all parents - and some innocent airplane passengers - learn, is that toddlers occasionally totally and completely FREAK OUT. If I read a book about it, or watched Nanny 911, I'm sure I'd learn that these are power struggles.

As a parent, when I ask my kid to do something, what I want more than anything else is comprehensive obedience. Of course, it rarely works out that way, which is fine. But sometimes the result is out and out defiance. Being as I am, my response to this was to push and push and push to try to get my way. Partially because she's 4 and partially because she has at least 1/2 my genes, she appears to be just as stubborn - or worse - than I am.

One of the hardest lessons I learned was to let her freak. Just let it happen. Refuse to communicate on that plane. If you ignore the behavior then the child isn't getting the desired result from it and they'll change, right? It is always hard listening to screaming and crying - especially when it's over turning off The Wiggles (how can something that makes me so happy make her so sad?) - but lo and behold, the ignoring the undesirable behavior worked.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I did NOT want to post about Dan Shaughnessy. See, if I write and complain about Shaughnessy's latest annoying, stupid, boneheaded column, then I'm just reinforcing his behavior. Everyone up in arms is exactly what he wants. He's made a living off it. There is a freakin' blog about NOTHING ELSE! Of course, to be fair, there is at least one blog about pretty much anything.

But I'm failing. Right now. He sucked me in. DAMN YOU, CHB! (A special thanks to Carl Everett, patron saint of Shaughnessy hatred)

When I started thinking about this post, it was going to be about this Shaughnessy - Schilling spat. But even since he wrote that on Sunday, he's already got another stinker in his assessment of Daisuke Matsuzaka's pitching performance yesterday.

Let's start with Dice-K and work backwards . . . In this morning's column, Shaughnessy had this to say:

The story is that Dice-K walked five batters and demonstrated poor command of his fastball. Then he did some stretching of his back and legs, which was caught by ESPN cameras. Then he iced down in the locker room. Then he changed his mind about his postgame routine and decided for the first time not to speak with the media -- American or Japanese.

The result of all this will be a five-day frenzy of Dice-K speculation on two continents. Is he hurt? Is he frustrated? Is he a diva? Is he physically and mentally prepared for his first big league start next Friday in Kansas City?

Only in Boston. Only here could there be a crisis after a guy throws a five-inning no-hitter.

There's a crisis? I live and work in Boston. I'm not panicking. In fact, I'm encouraged. I rode the T in from Quincy today. No one looked overly depressed. There was no crying and wailing. A crisis? In March? Who really worries about spring training numbers in the first place? Dan Shaughnessy, that's who.

That bring us back to Shaughnessy's Sunday column. He rips Schilling - way to chase the easy target, Dan - and takes a pretty good shot as his own readership because I'm pretty sure the same Red Sox fans reading Schilling's blog also get their Red Sox news from The Boston Globe and Boston.com. Along the way he demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of the new media.

Here's the thing though . . . when Schilling is out on the mound, I'm a huge fan. I love his style, love his toughness. He's a guy you want in your corner - cue the 14 billionth bloody sock reference - in tough situations. But when he opens his yap to proclaim he's still the ace, or he wants a new contract, or tell us how much he loves Everquest, eh, not so much then.

Put it this way: Having to pick a side in a Shaughnessy-Schilling feud is like being forced to pick your favorite contestant in a wet t-shirt contest between Charlie Weiss and Bill Parcells. You've gotta "support" Weiss - wins hands down, of course - and the same is true for Schilling here. But it's not something you feel good about.

Aside from his usual jack-assed-ness, what Shaughnessy is really missing here - like many other print dinosaurs (see: Smith, Sam and Vecsey, Peter) - is that in the last 3 years, it just got WAY easier to get your opinion out there. It wasn't that long ago that if you wanted someone to know what you thought, you had to tell your buddy in the bar (or whoever would listen) or be one of maybe 5 columnists in this city. But those days are gone. Long gone. Now anyone who has a computer, an opinion, and some free time can publish. God bless you, Al Gore.

One of the things that especially pissed me off besides, well, everything, was Shaughnessy's characterization of bloggers and blog readers as middle-aged guys living in their mothers basement. This misconception is laughable for a couple reasons. First, CHB and many other sportswriters of his era were likely not talented enough to play the games they now cover. They were the ones getting the figurative sand kicked in their face. But now, 20-30 years, a couple books, and generations of Red Sox players and fans as enemies later, he's the one making fun of the dorks. Second, this whole Internet thing is WAY BIGGER than you think, Dan. It's not just the dorks using computers. I hear it's like a series of tubes. Anyway, it's not just the geeks and the dorks consuming this content. And last, as a person who is now, technically, a blogger (albeit not professionally) and a person who used to work in sport communications (as a newspaper writer and sports publicity contact), let me tell you, those press boxes are not filled with athletic, confident, socially comfortable people. Dan, you need to look in the mirror before you point fingers.

Of all the stuff I've read about this today, I like TheBigLead.com take the best:

What’s the over/under on the day athletes stop speaking to print media, and instead head home and post their thoughts on a blog? Barry Bonds, Gilbert Arenas, Curt Schilling, Curtis Granderson and Paul Shirley, among others, are already there.

Beware, CHB. Be. Ware.

Johnny Damon Needs To Shut His Cake Hole

I loved having Johnny Damon as the Red Sox centerfielder and lead-off hitter. I even understood when he left. It's a business - he got a much better deal from the Yankees and he took it. I even understood it from the Red Sox perspective - the way Damon plays, he will break down due to injuries at and increasing rate. Do they really want to be paying him $10,000,000 a year when he's 36? I was one of the fans that gave him a standing O (amongst the boos) when he returned to Fenway in pinstripes (although I was in my living room, watching the game on TV - don't judge me).

Anyway, I got it, and we lived in a state peaceful co-existence.

And then this morning I see this in The Boston Globe (scroll down to the second entry):

"That's water under the bridge," Damon said. "I got a great offer and a great contract from the Yankees and I'm happy. Maybe [the Red Sox] learned a lot from what happened last year. They finished in third place. They definitely needed to go out and make a statement, and it seems like they're kind of doing that."

What? He didn't just say that . . . well, he did say it. And in doing so, he (unknowingly) violated our truce. I liked it when he appeared to be taking the high road. A former boss used to tell me everyone cuts their own deal. The Red Sox looked at him, determined his value to them for each of the next four years, and went with it. Damon wanted more and he got it elsewhere. So why the sour grapes? Does he really need to rub the collective nose of Red Sox Nation in it? There isn't a single Red Sox fan that would have rather had Coco Crisp instead of Damon in 2006 (Damon outscored Crisp, 115-58 and out-OBPed him .358-.317).

Crisp got hurt, then he slumped, then he got hurt some more. Not to mention, we all thought we got rid of the CF that threw like a girl, only to find out we'd got the other one who did (I'll be honest, the revelation that another major league outfielder could have an arm as bad as Damon's was a total shock to me). Meanwhile, Damon, as predicted (short porch in right and all that), hit a career-high in HRs (24) and did all the other good things like get on base, and score, and slp hits just barely over the thirdbasemen's head.

This is a whole different topic but this deal was never about 2006 or 2007. It was about what Johnny Damon will be in 2008 and 2009. when he's playing at ages 34 and 35 (his birthday is in November). And I'd like to point out that Crisp isn't the only mid-to-late-20s centerfielder that struggled in his first year with a new team. In 2001, at the age of 27, Damon had a horrific year in Oakland (.256 BA, .324 OBP) that ultimately led to his acquisition by the Red Sox.

[simmons]My buddy Rick (sorry, no cool nickname) urged calm. "Maybe he was talking about J.D. Drew."[/simmons] That calmed me down for a little while until I found a longer version of the story on ESPN.com where it is clear he is referring to Matsuzaka's new $52 million contract.

I guess what bothers me is this: Damon has always been a good player. Seamheads knew about him in Kansas City where he turned in three solid seasons and two breakout ones that led to his flop in Oakland. But it was Boston, the Red Sox, and the fans, along with his style, skill and quirks, that made him an icon. And now here he is, a day after relief rejoicing spread throughout New England, twisting the knife. Because he can.

So, as you can tell from the title of this post, I'd like it very, very, very much if Mr. Damon would SHUT HIS FREAKIN' CAKE HOLE.

Garciaparra Returns To Form

As a Red Sox fan, I was a big fan of Nomar Garciaparra in the glory years of 1997-2000. And after he got hurt - and before I was suspicious of his ripped Sports Illustrated cover appearance - I viewed his return to the Sox as the baseball messiah coming back to lead his charges.

Of course, it didn't really work out that way. Instead his wrist injury robbed him of some of the thunder in his historically quick bat. In 1999 and 2000, undeniably his best seasons, Nomar had an OPS (on baase + slugging percentages) of 1.021 and 1.033, respectively. After returning from injury in 2002 and 2003, his OPS was .880 and .869, respectively (despite averaging 26 HR and 112 RBI in those two seasons). Even worse for him, the Sox front office regime change placed immense value on plate patience and on base percentage - something Nomie wasn't known for - and many of the Fenway Faithful followed suit. His penchant for swinging at the first pitch (and popping up), regardless of how good it was, earned him the not-so-flattering nickname "Garciapopup." If you read Feeding The Monster, you are well aware of the ensuing sour contract talks, the paranoia, the sulking, and if resident jackass Dan Shaughnessey is to be believed, the moment the Red Sox decided to trade Nomar (as if it hadn't been a long and agonizing decision mulled for weeks and months before it happened) in 2004.

Of course, the fall just continued for Nomar after that. His numbers were decent enough but he couldn't stay on the field with the Cubs and they let him walk after 2005 was over. It got so bad that Nomar had to do a sales job to even get signed by the Dodgers this season.

Well, count me among the happy ones when Nomar came out swinging this year. I remember looking at the boxscores one day in June and seeing that he was hitting .360-something - a region he had not reached since his sick 2000 season - and delivering clutch hit after clutch hit. "Good for him," I thought. And I'm sure I wasn't alone in the Boston area. I think lots of people missed the old Nomar and had a soft spot for him and the Sox West team Dodgers GM Ned Colleti had assembled. Nomar fought some nagging injuries as the season progressed, playing in 122 games, and his April, May and June were demonstratively better than his July, August and September. But overall, the numbers were strong - .303 batting average, 20 HR, 93 RBI and a very impressive 42 walks against just 30 strikeouts. Guys who play regularly (500 plate appearances) don't strike out just 30 times in a season anymore. Joe Dimaggio did it (he struck out 13 times in 617 plate appearances in 1941 - that guy didn't stink) but that's pretty good company. In 2006, no major league player with at least 500 plate apperances struck out as few times as Nomar and only Juan Pierre struck out less frequently (Ks per PA).

Fast forward to Game 1 of the NLDS in Shea Stadium this evening. Trailing, 6-4, going into the 9th, the Dodgers manage to get a run off barely-hittable Mets closer Billy Wagner. With two out and a runner on second, Nomar has a chance to tie the game. I sat up to watch it.

Wagner fired two wicked fastballs past him to get out to an 0-2 count. At least Nomar hadn't wildly swung at the first pitch right? Maybe he is a different, more disciplined hitter now.

The third pitch is going nearly 100 mph toward the outside corner and Nomar manages to foul it off. Still has that bat speed.

The next pitch was a breaking ball (still pretty hard coming out of Wagner's hand) up near his head. Ball one. I've seen him swing - and hit those. ESPN cuts to manager Forrest Gump chewing on his tongue or whatever the hell he does (I'm not bitter, why do you ask?).

The fifth pitch is low. Didn't miss by much. The count is 2-2. Is he waiting for his pitch? Could he actually walk?

A quick aside . . . Red Sox fans are feeling pretty miserable these days. Our team went from first place to out of it in about a week. August was the worst month by a decent team that I can remember. And despite all that, there was some uncharacteristic optimism in The Nation when Varitek and Nixon came back and they started to win a little in September. Well, it didn't last and with no postseason baseball in Boston, there is a void. Nomar could fill that void for us. We could root for him - our old homey, Nomie - and his Dodgers.

This is getting exciting. Come on Nomar, lace one of those patented gap doubles and tie this thing.

Wagner's next pitch bounced in front of the plate.

Garciaparra swung.

He missed. Game over.

I think Nomar is back . . . it's just not the version I thought it was.