Today’s game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox has been postponed. It will be made up as part of a separate admission day/night double header tomorrow. Tickets from Saturday’s game may be used for the Sunday night game only.
The day game will start at 1:35 p.m. and the retirement ceremony for Johnny Pesky’s uniform number is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. The night game is scheduled for 7:35 p.m.
NESN will televise both games.
With the Tampa Bay Rays losing tonight, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will finish with the best record in the American League which gives them the right to choose which series they wanted to play.
After his team got shellacked by the Texas Rangers, Angels skipper Mike Scioscia announced during his postgame press conference that the Angels had chosen the 8-day ALDS that starts on Wednesday.
This is how the schedule will look:
Game 1: Wednesday, October 1st in Anaheim
Game 2: Friday, October 3rd in Anaheim
Game 3: Sunday, October 5th in Boston
*Game 4: Monday, October 6th in Boston
*Game 5: Wednesday, October 8th in Anaheim
* if necessary
All ALDS & NLDS games will be broadcast by TBS. Game times will be announced in the near future by MLB and TBS.
Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees. With the Boston Red Sox winning tonight, the Yankees have been officially eliminated from the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.
Johnny Pesky and Dustin Pedroia
According to a report in the Boston Herald, the Boston Red Sox plan to retire the uniform number of Johnny Pesky.
According to a team source, meetings were held last night and again this morning to address how and when a player’s number should be retired. The team plans to hold a press conference today or tomorrow to announce the change in policy, with all signs pointing to the dramatic news that Pesky’s uniform No. 6 will be retired before the end of the regular season.
The timing is perfect: Given that Pesky’s 89th birthday is Saturday, it’s likely the ceremony will take place before the Sox’ nationally televised game against the New York Yankees.
And according to Chad Finn over at the Boston Globe, the Red Sox could have an announcement as early as this afternoon.
Currently, the Red Sox have retired 5 numbers. They are #1 Bobby Doerr, #4 Joe Cronin, #8 Carl Yastrzemski, #9 Ted Williams, and #27 Carlton Fisk. Jackie Robinson’s #42 is also up there as it was retired by MLB in 1997.
The policy for retired numbers by the Red Sox has been in place for a long time. Normally you have to had played 10 years for the Red Sox, been enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame and finished your career as a member of the Red Sox. Obviously Fisk didn’t finish his career with the Red Sox but an exception was made.
So as Finn asks, will we see other numbers retired by the Red Sox. Out of Finn’s list, the only one I don’t want to see up there is Roger Clemens.
If this does happen, what a great honor for Mr. Red Sox.
UPDATE: Adam Kilgore of the Boston Globe has confirmed from team sources that the Red Sox will indeed retire Pesky’s No. 6 on Friday night before the game against the Yankees.
for clinching your first ever playoff spot. Now roll over and die and let the Boston Red Sox have first place in the AL East.
Manny "I am Cal Ripken" Ramirez
Those were the words of former Boston Red Sox and current Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez after skipper Joe Torre asked him if he wanted a day off on Thursday.
“I mentioned a day off to Manny [Ramirez] and he said he doesn’t need a day off and that was the end of that conversation,” said Torre, who earlier said he hoped to give Thursday’s game off for Ramirez, who hasn’t missed a game since his July 31 acquisition. “We’ll keep playing him, and if we continue to win, we’ll deal with it later.”
Manny seems to have forgotten that Cal Ripken played 2,632 consecutive games before taking a day off and even played through some nagging injuries.
And for what it’s worth, Rick Reilly thinks that Manny should stay in Los Angeles in his “Life with Reilly” segment this morning on SportsCenter.
[flash http://ianbethune.com/manram.FLV w=425 h=300]
The tentative 2008 MLB postseason schedule is out and here is your look at it after the jump.
I know Steve probably won’t approve of this post since the video link is from TMZ but this is some funny stuff.
A friend of a TMZ TV staffer hooked up with Brady Anderson through the internet. In the beginning he sent her texts and the friend eventually ended up spending the night with Anderson. He sent her some cheesy text messages and also a picture of his abs (it might even be the picture to the right).
God bless internet dating for former major leaguers.
Here is a link to the video.
According to Sid Hartman of the Star-Tribune, the Twins original offer to Johan Santana is still on the table, which was this years $13.25 million plus 4 years at $20 million. Twins assistant GM Rob Antony said the team hasn’t given up hope on bringing back Johan.
“That’s been our number one goal all along. If we could do that, yeah, we’d still like to do that,” Antony said of signing Santana.
Antony also had this to say about the talks with the Red Sox, Mets and Yankees.
“We’ve discussed names at length with all three clubs,” Antony said. “I don’t think it’s any secret, and basically the first one that steps up or is ready to go, yeah, we could deal at any time. But that’s been the possibility for the last couple of months. They have a good idea what it would take to get Johan Santana.”
La Velle E. Neal III from the Star-Tribune talked with Twins officials at TwinsFest this past weekend and had this to say.
For now, they insist that that they remain in contact with the Red Sox, Mets and Yankees and no team has pulled out.
I asked if there was a chance that a three-way deal involving a mystery team was possible. I was told that was unlikely.
I asked if the Twins have discussed adding a player to any deal to help move things along. I was told no.
I asked about reports that Jon Lester has been pulled from the Red Sox offer. I was told it’s not true.
For what it’s worth, I was watching OTL (Outside the Lines) on ESPN earlier and they had a graphic on the screen saying that the Mets were close to acquiring Santana.
I fully expect there to be news on this front daily for a little while. As always, I will do my best to keep you informed.
Now you will truly understand why I have given this saga a soap opera theme.
In our last episode of As The Santana Turns 22½ hours ago, the second half of our post contained information from Buster Olney that the Red Sox have pulled Jon Lester off the table in a trade for Johan Santana. La Velle E. Neal III of the Star-Tribune has information from the Twins that says otherwise.
Twins officials over the weekend maintained that all three teams remain interested in Santana. They also disputed reports that lefthander Jon Lester has been taken out of any Red Sox package. Boston still is believed to have different packages under consideration, one led by Lester and the other led by outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury.
So for all of us that got excited about the fact that Lester was off the table, we get to once again ponder it.
As for what the Twins are looking for from the Yankees and Mets, read what LAV has to say below.
The Twins would like for the Mets to add outfield prospect Fernando Martinez to a package that includes outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Delios Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Philip Humber. The Mets, who need Santana the most, have been reluctant to add Martinez to the deal, and other possible add-ons — such as pitcher Aaron Heilman and outfielder Ryan Church — have been mentioned.
The Twins would like a package from the Yankees that includes righthander Phil Hughes and outfielder Melky Cabrera — an option that some Twins players quietly prefer. Cabrera, with 16 assists last season, would join Michael Cuddyer (19) and Delmon Young (16) to give the Twins one of the best defensive outfields in baseball.
A lot of national scribes have been saying that if the Mets include Martinez, the Twins will most likely take the deal. Like I said in a comment recently, I see the Mets as the team needing Santana the most, with the Yankees second and the Red Sox third.
So as the week goes along, I fully expect more rumors to come about from this soap opera. And as always I will post them when I see them.
On another note, isn’t it amazing how all the writers get different information about things. Olney is a pretty reputable source for information so you had to believe him when he said Lester was not a part of any deal. LAV III is probably a little closer to the Twins than Olney is but then again I could be wrong. Just ask Anthony from the Oriole Post about internet rumors involving trades.