The New England Patriots have won the right to get all the names of fans who bought or sold, or who tried to buy or sell, tickets to home games through the online ticket reseller, StubHub.

The Patriots filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts against the San Francisco based StubHub, an eBay subsidiary, claiming that the website encouraged ticket holders to violate team ticket policies and break state laws.

After losing their appeal in the lawsuit last week StubHub gave the Patriots 13,000 names.

Patriots tickets on the 50-yard line have been offered on StubHub for the December 16^th game against the Jets for $1,300.05 on Stub Hub as of Thursday. The face value of those tickets are $125.

Massachusetts state law prohibits a resale of more than $2 over face value plus some service charges.

The team has a set of ticket resale rules for season ticket holders and in the past has revoked season tickets for trying to profit off of ticket resales. They also have their own resale site, TeamExchange, which resells tickets for season ticket holders at face value through Ticketmaster.

StubHub claimed the Patriots are trying to start a monopoly on their own tickets, while the Patriots are saying they are trying to get their fans the tickets at a reasonable price and are entitled to know who is breaking the rules.

“One of our claims against StubHub is that knowing we have rules against resale on the Internet, they are out there soliciting people to violate our rules,” said Daniel Goldberg, a lawyer for the team. “In order to pursue that claim, we need to understand who has been persuaded by that inducement to list their tickets [on StubHub].”

The Patriots say the rules are clearly printed on the back of every ticket they sell.

The team has not said how it would use the information in won court but I’d imagine knowing how vigorously they have pursued ticket violations in the past that they will be checking the names against their season ticket holders list and then revoking those tickets. It wouldn’t also be outside the realm of possibility of checking the waiting list and banning those who tried to circumvent the teams ticket policy.

Here are your lineups for tonight’s ALCS Game 5 between the your Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians.

Red Sox

1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
2. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. Bobby Kielty, RF
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Coco Crisp, CF
9. Julio Lugo, SS

SP – Josh Beckett

Indians

1. Grady Sizemore, CF
2. Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
3. Travis Hafner, DH
4. Victor Martinez, C
5. Ryan Garko, 1B
6. Jhonny Peralta, 2B
7. Kenny Lofton, LF
8. Franklin Guitierrez, RF
9. Casey Blake, 3B

SP – C.C. Sabathia

Here is a look how the two teams have fared against tonight’s starters.

Lineups courtesy of Amalie Benjamin from the Boston Globe.

Pitcher/batter numbers from Red Sox game day notes.

In what I think is quite shocking news, Joe Torre has decided to reject an offer from the New York Yankees to manage the club for 2008. The deal was a 1-year deal worth $5 million a year and a club option for 2009. It also included bonuses of $1 million dollars for each round of the postseason they won. The contract would have vested for 2009 if the Yankees made the World Series in 2008.

On Sunday October 7th, George Steinbrenner came out and said that Torre would be fired if the Yankees didn’t make the ALCS. The next day the Yankees were eliminated by the Cleveland Indians. It was thought that within a day or two that Torre would be fired.

Steinbrenner then decided to shift the power in the organization to his sons thus further delaying a decision. Before the weekend, the Yankees issued a statement that they would deciding Torre’s future next [this] week.

After meetings yesterday in Tampa, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman flew back to New York and said there was no news about Torre. Today, Cashman and Torre flew to Tampa, where Torre would eventually turn down the offer.

I am surprised but not so surprised at this. I am not at all surprised he turned it down given the way he’s been treated lately. I am surprised in that I really thought that he would stay at least one more year maybe two as the Yankees move into their new stadium in 2009.

The leading candidates to replace him are current bench coach Don Mattingly and former Yankees catcher and Marlins manager Joe Girardi. Could it go from one Joe to another or will it go to Donnie Baseball?

Only time will answer that question.

to Jason from My Baseball Bias for making me turn on my television to see what was going on.

If you live in the Greater Hartford area and are a graduate of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, and have kids, I’ve got something you might enjoy. Do you want your kids to play with only kids of Notre Dame graduates?

The place where my mother works is the site of a privately sponsored playgroup that will meet twice a month and is only open to children whose parents graduated from Notre Dame.

So if you went to Notre Dame High School in West Haven, CT or in Fairfield, CT, you’re SOL. I guess children whose parents graduated from Harvard or Yale aren’t even good enough for them.

tip to my mom.

[Editor’s note: This might be the only time I post something about Notre Dame here unless it’s a news item. Steve is the resident Notre Dame fan and I’m sure he’s not too happy with the way the team is playing.]

Hopefully the boys can do this again tonight:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh-Y6sGYv78[/youtube]

Tonight’s do-or-die game for the Red Sox will feature the Game 1 starters Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia. We can only hope that tonight we see a repeat performance of Game 1 with Beckett pitching well and Sabathia getting lit up like Clark Griswold’s Christmas Tree in Christmas Vacation. Seriously, it’s put up or shut up time for the Sox. One loss and they are joining their other baseball brethren on the golf course or in places like South Beach or any other warm venue. That’s not going to happen though Sox fans is it. It’s going to be a great game pitched by our ace, Beckett, and then back on to Beantown for Game 6 with Big Game Schilling on the mound.

If you are concerned about tonight’s weather forecast in Cleveland, look no further than clicking this link. So while we are awaiting the first pitch of tonight’s game at 8:21 PM ET on FOX, let’s take a look at the headlines from the Boston and Cleveland area media on this Soxtober morning.

Red Sox’ Ramirez ‘not trying to show anybody up’ [Boston Globe]

Cleveland Indians’ C.C. Sabathia aims to control his emotions in ALCS Game 5 [The Plain Dealer]

Francona’s out of order [Boston Herald]

Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia could fulfill his destiny tonight [Akron Beacon Journal]

Red Sox Have Come Back Before [Hartford Courant]

Tribe member shares formula for success against Sox’ lineup [Pro Jo]

Survival test [Boston Globe]

Back of Tribe’s rotation throwing ‘quality’ strikes [The Plain Dealer]

Sox positively need win [Boston Herald]

Success all that matters to closer [Akron Beacon Journal]

Red Sox Downplay Report That Beckett Is Hurt [Hartford Courant]

Boston needs grit, resolve to mount rally past Indians [Pro Jo]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant, Providence Journal, The Plain Dealer and Akron Beacon Journal websites.

I came across this story on Yahoo earlier about a cockatoo that dances to the Backstreet Boys song “Everybody”. It turns out that Snowball the cockatoo lives at the Birds Only Rescue in Indiana.

Look at the black bird in the left corner of the screen too. You will see the black one bouncing in it’s cage.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=N7IZmRnAo6s[/youtube]

Bird Lovers Only Rescue Blog

Hopefully this can make us Red Sox fans smile for a minute or two.

By now most of us have seen the promos for the new movie, the sports spoof, “The Comebacks” starring David Koechner who is best known as “Champ Kind” from “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”. One of the previews they show may possibly be painful to long time Red Sox fans. They have a skit in the movie where Koechner and another actor are dressed as Red Sox coaches doing a crossword puzzle in the dugout during Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets.

Koechner (as a Sox coach) yells out “Hey Buckner, what’s a six letter word for a tropical fruit”?

Then the Bill Buckner character says, “Hey it’s the World Series”

Coach: “What about banana? It could be papaya”.

And just then Mookie Wilson hits the ball through Buckner’s legs.

What I did not know until tonight is that is actually Bill Buckner playing himself. He took the part in order to help his daughter with her acting career. He negotiated a role for her after he was asked to be in the movie and she even ended up with a second role in another movie.

It’s good to know that Buckner, who lives in Montana, has moved on from the one play he will be remembered for despite a better than average career with the Red Sox, Dodgers and other teams.

Tune in tonight as Bloggers Anthony of the Oriole Post and Jason of My Baseball Bias join me for our hour long baseball show called, “The Hits Keep Coming” on Blog Talk Radio and on MVN Radio. Every week at 7PM Eastern Time (6PM Central/ 5PM Mountain/ 4PM Western/Pacific) we chat, analyze and comment about the world of Major League Baseball.

If you’d like to call in, the phone number is 718-664-6564 or you can send us an instant message if you use AOL IM at hitskeepcoming20.

Please join us at either: http://blogtalkradio.com/oriolepost or http://mvn.com/radio/ – 7PM Eastern Time tonight!

Topics to be discussed this evening:

• Red Sox Trailing 3-1, Are they done? What’s given the Indians this lead?
• What’s going on in Tampa with the Yankees involving Joe Torre?
• The Rockies and their improbable run to the World Series
• Dusty Baker hired as manager of the Cincinnati Reds
• Leo Mazzone getting canned as pitching coach of the Orioles

You can listen to last week’s show by going over to the sidebar on the left and looking for the Blog Talk Radio/MVN Radio section.

See you all tonight!!!

A better late than never look at the headlines today from the Boston and Cleveland area media plus Kevin Youkilis on this  tough morning in Red Sox Nation.

Play for the day [Yooooouuuuukkkkk]

It’s the pitching, not the decisions [Boston Globe]

A contagious fever [The Plain Dealer]

For starters, 1 and done [Boston Herald]

Martinez not worried about Sabathia [Akron Beacon Journal]

Wakefield Call Leaves Them Hung Up [Hartford Courant]

It seems the Sox are saving their worst for last [Pro Jo]

Red Sox offense is hit or (mostly) miss [Boston Globe]

Peralta’s sizzling autumn continues [The Plain Dealer]

Sox’ three straight homers loses its clout [Boston Herald]

BYRD IS THE WORD [Akron Beacon Journal]

It’s Time For Another Comeback [Hartford Courant]

Lester a bright spot [Pro Jo]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant, Providence Journal, The Plain Dealer and Akron Beacon Journal websites.

Is it time to panic in Boston now? After tonight’s 7-3 beatdown by the Indians, I am going to have to say yes. I know this loss is hard on the fans and probably harder on the team. It’s very hard to sit here and write about it when you just all the sudden have gone flat. Given the way things were going in this game, I thought OK it’s going to be a close tight game. I never imagined it would turn into the rout that it did.

With the starting pitching we had going into the series, I never thought that Curt Schilling, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield would all last 4â…” innings in consecutive starts. I know that Terry Francona and Josh Beckett answered the questions of why Beckett didn’t pitch on three days rest but is it something that could haunt the Sox. Right now it’s looking that way. We can only hope and pray that Beckett can duplicate his Game 1 ALDS and ALCS starts to get us back to Boston on Saturday night. I have complete confidence that he can.

Paul Byrd pitched masterfully for 5 innings before the Sox struck for 2 runs off him and Jhonny Peralta hit a knife-in-the-chest 3-run homer in the Indians 7-run 5^th inning to lead the Indians to a 7-3 win and a 3-1 lead in the ALCS. Casey Blake hit a solo home run to start the onslaught for the Indians against Tim Wakefield who had pitched well for the first four innings.

Byrd could have been affected by the long wait after his teammates gave him a 7-run lead to work with. He was pretty nasty with his stuff allowing just four singles before the back-to-back jacks by Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz to start the 6^th inning. He also struck out four Red Sox hitters.

The Red Sox went quietly in their half of the 1^st inning. The Indians did manage a walk to Sizemore, who also stole second, but that was all.

In the 2^nd, the Red Sox got a leadoff single from Manny off of Byrd and he would get to second on a Mike Lowell ground out. Byrd finished off the inning with strikeouts of J.D. Drew and Coco Crisp. The Sox got two singles in the 3^rd off Byrd, both coming with two outs. Byrd had gotten Julio Lugo and Doug Mirabelli, then Pedroia and Youk followed with singles. Big Papi ended the inning by grounding into a fielder’s choice.

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