This is great work by Boston Globe Staff Photographer: John Tlumacki at boston dirt dogs: Boston Red Sox Nation: Welcome to Fenway Hawk
The woman was not seriously hurt.
Really? Is an investigation really necessary to figure out why no one wants Bonds on their team? Does anyone really think collusion is going on?
Source: Union to examine why Bonds has no offers - Yahoo! News
The lack of offers to Barry Bonds will be examined by the baseball players' association as part of its annual review of the free-agent market. Less than two weeks before opening day, the 43-year-old home run king remains unsigned.Then again, maybe the association has a point. Not picking up Bonds requires some common sense. That sort of thinking is usually pretty scarce in baseball front offices.
In what Volvo hopes is going to become the 'ultimate' collectible, they are building 107 C30 cars, one for each victory by the Boston Red Sox in their championship series.
The last one, representing the final game, will be donated by Volvo to The Red Sox Foundation for a separate charity raffle to be held later this year.
If you had been to win #15, but the scorecard you made up while sitting in the Monster Seats wasn't enough for you and you have $30K to spend, this might now be the ideal solution for you. Now if only you could get the team to sign the dashboard.
Press Release follows:
Limited Run Of 107 Cars Lets Fans Drive Home The Magic
IRVINE, Calif., Mar. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boston Red Sox remarkable 2007 season that culminated in a championship title continues to make headlines. Volvo is offering lucky fans the opportunity to drive home in what may be the ultimate collectible: The Boston Red Sox Special Edition Volvo C30. This specially equipped 2008 C30 is commissioned by Volvo and Major League Baseball to symbolize the partnership between Volvo and the Boston Red Sox.
Only 107 of the Special Edition C30s will be produced with each car built to commemorate a Red Sox victory during the 2007 season and bearing a numbered dash plaque authenticated by Major League Baseball. The numbered dash plaque indicates which of the 107 victories each individual car represents.
A Certificate of Authenticity signed by Anne Belec, President/CEO of Volvo Cars of North America, LLC and Larry Lucchino, President/CEO of the Boston Red Sox is also included. The Certificate of Authenticity couples the numbered dash plaque of each individual car to the corresponding 2007 season individual game victory, opponent and final score.
Signifying the championship-clinching game, Red Sox Special Edition Volvo C30 number 107 will be donated by Volvo to The Red Sox Foundation for a separate charity raffle to be held later this year.
Finished in vibrant Passion Red, Red Sox Special Edition C30s proudly wear the team's logo on the front fenders while a larger transparent logo is affixed inside the rear glass hatch. The team logo is also featured on the floor mats. In addition, the C30s are authenticated by Major League Baseball through the Major League Baseball Authentication Program.
Similar to the Volvo C30 R-Design, each Red Sox Special Edition C30 is fitted with a matte-silver finish for the outside mirror housings and front grille surround. Front fog lights, power-assisted and heated front seats, a blue watch-dial instrument cluster, leather-wrapped steering wheel with aluminum inlays, sport pedals, sport shifter, vehicle security alarm, soft load cover, cruise control and the Dynaudio Sound System with Sirius Satellite Radio are also included.
As the smallest and most expressive car in Volvo's model range, the C30 offers a dynamic driving experience. The turbocharged T5 5-cylinder engine produces 227-horsepower and 236 lb.-ft. of torque. A five-speed eartronic transmission is optional on the Boston Red Sox Special Edition C30.
Available exclusively at select Volvo Retailers in New England, the Boston Red Sox Special Edition C30 equipped with five-speed automatic transmission with Geartronic is priced at $29,465*.
VCNA provides marketing, sales, service, technology and training to Volvo automobile retailers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. For more information on the entire Volvo product lineup please refer to the Volvo Cars of North America, LLC, public relations website at: http://www.volvocars-pr.com/.
*Price does not include destination charges of $745.
It's only been a few weeks since the Red Sox won the World Series and we're seeing more drama now than we did during the season.
Schilling returns after his last game in a Red Sox uniform for only $8 million for one year, unless he keeps the weight down, in which case he gets $2 million more. I mean, offer me the money to keep the weight off, please!
Will Lowell be coming back (I want him for two years, but certainly not four!), or will the Red Sox enter the ARod party line (Please, please, please don't spend that much money on one player! Remember how you tried to waive manny and no one took him? That was just for $20 mill a year!). What about Pena at first instead?
Youk gets the golden glove and the most photographed award (I've seen so many after party pictures and in-flight shots over the past few days).
And then there's Coco, the man who could have won a Gold Glove if his rep was better than his name. Will he be traded and for who? Theo always seems to want to get the best deal possible, but let's just take what we can get, ok? We don't need a fourth outfielder all that badly. We could have won with or without him this year, and the same can be said for any other fourth outfielder you can name.
All in all, a lot to digest over the past week. Can we get back to the dancing and bedazzling, please? ;-)
Really, it's kind of depressing to see the Yankees out of the playoffs again. I would rather have faced them in the ALCS than Cleveland.
Mostly, that's because I'm more familiar with them. I know who the bad guys are. I know who the talented guys are. I know the coach(es). But what that all boils down to is I know what to expect and why. And that is, I know the Yankees will come all out every game right up until the last pitch. That makes the game exciting to watch.
Cleveland, from all reports, are better than the Yankees. They proved they were, at least, when they faced them down in the first round. But as we gear up for the second round, I can't help thinking: who is Carmona and how can those yahoos on the radio say he has an edge over Schilling? I mean, Curt Schilling, the guy with the best playoff record in baseball? I know the kid went 19-8 with a 3.06 record during the season. I know he pitched very well against the Yankees. But to say a 23 (or is he 24?) year old has an edge against a veteran playoff pitcher like Schilling?
BTW, despite all the hype about the pitching match-up in game one, I expect it to be ugly. No one has played a game in a week. The hitters and pitchers are going to be rusty. The second game will probably be a lot better.
And we get ready for the playoffs, I can't help but wonder about all the stress and thought people put into the Yankees situation. At the beginning of the season, the Red Sox and Yankees were predicted to be together right until the end. And look, that's exactly what's happened.
Maybe it was just because the Red Sox got off to such a great start, but all the talk about how the Yankees wouldn't even make the playoffs went nowhere.
All the talk about how the Red Sox would continue to dominate throughout the entire season went nowhere.
When the Yankees came back and did so well during the second half of the season, all the talk started up on how the Red Sox and Yankees positions had completely turned completely around. Now it was the Red Sox who were going to fall out of contention and the Yankees who would take over first place.
And all that talk and angst and pressure went nowhere.
At the end of the season, both teams will be in the playoffs. Both teams still have what we expected them to have (better pitching for the Sox, better hitting for the Yankees).
And, I think, unlike most fans, I would love to face off with the Yankees in the second round. It always makes it more interesting. And for those who would rather face off with one team or another, I say you have to be the best team to win. If you're not, then what's the point?
So stop worrying so much and enjoy what's about to happen.
Last night's game saw:
To me, it's amazing what a difference one game makes. Yesterday, there was still panic in the air and Yankees fans were calling in left and right to the radio shows talking about how well the Bombers were playing and how the Sox weren't.
One day later and the talk is all about Vick and nothing about the Sox.
The difference? One game. The Sox went from 4 games up to 5 games up and all of a sudden, everything has calmed down.
I don't understand it. The Yankees were on a 3 wins for every one loss and everyone knows the Sox were sitting at .500 ball for two months. But even so, the Red Sox were still 4 games up.
I mean, think about that. The Red Sox were playing mediocre and the Yankees were playing phenomenal ball (record-wise) and the Sox were still four games up and had the best record in baseball.
What more do you want from your team?
Enough already. The Yankees are on a complete tear, while the Red Sox offense has gone bye-bye for the past few weeks. So all I hear about on the radio these days is how the Yankees are coming, the Yankees are coming.
Give me a break, please.
The Yankees, because of their winning ways, are just now getting up over .500. The Red Sox, despite their recent losing streak, are now 7.5 games up. I mean, really. How much better do you want things to be?
And why is everyone getting on Crisp? No one ever promised he was going to be the next great center fielder. He's a good (not great) offensive player who has speed. He's an above average center fielder with great range. That's it. If you were expecting more from him, then that's your fault, not his.
What happened to paying market value? Or has the market gone crazy? All the extra revenue seems to have gone to the GMs heads.
5 years, $70 million for JD Drew. 4 years, $36 million for Lugo (are you kidding me? all the bouncing around at shortstop to end with Lugo?). Add in the $19 million for Manny next year (who's reported to be staying after all) and you've got a serious budgetary issue when you're paying 3 players $42 million.
And they still haven't signed the player who should be their priority, Daisuke Matsuzaka. Oh, and what about a closer? Has anyone seen Theo et al looking for a closer this offseason? Pitching is what wins you games. I have a quote I want to place on Theo's wall where he can see it every day. "It's the pitchers, stupid!"
