Winter signing

I took delivery of a brand-new, Santa-Claus-red, #34 Red Sox jersey this week, and before letting a silly grin break out all over my face, I wanted to check whether it was the right size.

Having erred very much on the side of caution, the jersey was not just big, but big enough to slip over the shirt and tie I was still wearing after work. As I put the jersey on, I was suddenly reminded of those bizarre moments baseball fans see every winter, where new free agents put the new jersey on over the top of their press conference suit and tie.

It was too surreal a moment for it not to be captured for posterity. So, thanks to Mrs. Iain, The Baseball Desert is proud to present an exclusive shot of the new addition to the Red Sox rotation. (Note: I was trying for a Papelbon stare, but came up somewhat short...):

"Johan who?"

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In other news, The Baseball Desert is heading off to the UK for the holidays, so it will be even quieter than usual around here over the next ten days or so. Before I go, I'd like to wish all those reading this blog - whether for the 1st or the 500th time - all the very best for the holiday season. Wherever you are and whatever you celebrate, have a good one.

I leave you with the traditional end-of-year Baseball Desert wish:

Peace on earth, goodwill toward men, and another championship for the Boston Red Sox.

The only sane response

This whole steroids / PEDs / Mitchell Report thing is one of those situations so depressing that it calls for a radical solution. With that in mind I give you Yanksfan vs. Soxfan's proposal: asterisks...

Virtual baseball

It hadn't struck me until I checked various blog feeds a few minutes ago that today was the day selected single-game Sox tickets go on sale. Over the past couple of years, this has been a day of much rejoicing here in the Desert, but this time around, real life has placed itself firmly in the way of any plans to make a third consecutive pilgrimage to Fenway.

With the recent change in my job situation I knew that a trip in 2008 was very unlikely, but now that the best opportunity to get tickets for games has passed me by, I'm starting to realise that there'll be no Mother's Day Miracle for me next season, no beers with fellow Sox fans, no hanging around the players' entrance trying to will the evening to go on forever. Damn.

I know there's a lot of far more important shit going on in the world right now, but I need a little pick-me-up, so I'm going to stick Faith Rewarded in the DVD player, pour myself a beer and raise a toast to friends and fellow Red Sox fans 4,000 miles away:

The body will unfortunately be staying in Paris next season, but I'll be with y'all in spirit. GO SOX!

Moral dilemma

Question: does going all don't-do-it-Theo crazy when Jacoby Ellsbury is mentioned in any potential trade for Johan Santana whilst at the same time being totally okay with the Sox maybe trading away Jon Lester - cancer survivor, World Series Game 4 winner and all-round baseball hero - make me a bad person?

I worry...

Update: Schilling has an excellent take on the situation, looking at the two sides ofthe question: baseball as a business vs. these guys are my teammates. None of us know what's going to happen in the next few days, but in light of that, Schilling's conclusion is not a bad one:

If it doesn’t happen then we go about trying to win another World Championship with a roster that’s already proven it can do it. That isn’t a bad ‘fall back’ position.

Either way 4-6 players lives will most likely change forever in the next 24-48 hours, and it’ll be good for baseball and good for the teams involved. So I hope it’s us, but I’m more than ok if it’s not.