In his latest blog post over at 38 Pitches, Curt Schilling talks about free agency, his work with 38 Studios and the appearances he will be making that are up coming.

So the first day of Free Agency begins. I cannot divulge names because the teams involved asked that I not do so at this point, but the first day resulted in initial contact with 3 teams. Kind of weird to be doing this with no agent but at the same time pretty cool. All three discussions were very informal, with the clubs expressing interest in potentially working together next year. Two of the teams were on the list of teams mentioned earlier, one was not.

I made it clear to all three teams that my intent was to do whatever I could to resolve this and remain in Boston for the final year of my career. The only question asked beyond the initial conversations were to my desires about the contract, and whether or not I truly wanted a one year deal or was looking for more.

That has not changed, we are still only looking to sign a one year contract and I can’t envision a scenario where that would change.

I really would like the Red Sox to re-sign him. While he may not be the pitcher he was when they first signed him, he proved that he can still pitch and be effective. I’d have to think if he can’t be effective any more he’d reconsider. It’s interesting to me that the teams don’t want to be named but that is their right. Plus with Curt being his own agent, any leaks would have to come from the clubs themselves.

Are you interested in purchasing the Boston Red Sox 2007 World Series Collector’s Edition DVD set? If so head over to AETV’s store to pre-order the DVD. It will ship on November 13th.

You can get there by clinking the banner on the individual post page or here.

Good news for Red Sox Nation and the pitchers in the Red Sox organization. Pitching guru John Farrell has decided to stay with the Red Sox after flirting with the idea of becoming the Pittsburgh Pirates manager.

Farrell, the Boston pitching coach who probably is — or was — high on Pirates general manager Neal Huntington’s interview list, is said to be strongly leaning toward remaining with the Red Sox.

Farrell, who succeeded Huntington as Cleveland’s minor-league director six years ago, joined the Red Sox just last winter, and it’s believed he would prefer to stay in Boston rather than leave after one season. The Red Sox, who paid Farrell an estimated $350,000 in 2007, want him to stay and might sweeten his salary as an incentive.

We all know how highly Curt Schilling and other pitchers spoke of him throughout the season. This will only help the Red Sox pitchers become even better than they were this season.

Yes folks this is our closer and he shows us and David Letterman why we love him so.

Big Papi the Bedazzler.

If you want to see Papelbon on QVC last night, head over to Center Field where Texy has the video.

A double to Texy for the video.

[Editor’s note: I’d have gotten this up for you last night but my DVR decided it wanted to switch to Leno in the middle of the interview.]

Day 4 off the offseason is upon us and the biggest news coming out of Red Sox Nation is that the ball from the end of the game is missing. Jason Varitek said he’d give it to the team, then says he gave it to Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon’s agent says Paps doesn’t have the ball. The other news is that Eric Gagné applied for free agency. No big surprise there at all as he would not have been asked back. Moving forward, let’s take a look at the headlines from the Boston area media on the this first day of November.

Delcarmen a hometown hero [Boston Globe]

Varitek In Lowell’s Corner [Hartford Courant]

Beckett at home as champion ace [Boston Herald]

Red Sox are now the gold standard [Pro Jo]

The old hidden ball trick [Boston Globe]

Ball 2: This Time, It’s Missing [Hartford Courant]

Red Sox postseason report card [Boston Herald]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Providence Journal, and Hartford Courant websites.

Exhibition game vs Bryant at the Hartford Civic Center. Tipoff is at 1:00 PM.

November 4th vs the Indianapolis Colts at RCA Dome at 4:15 PM. The game is on CBS.

November 2nd vs the USA National Team at Gampel Pavilion. Tipoff is at 7:30 PM and the game will be shown on CPTV.

November 1st: Exhibition Game vs Assumption College at 7:30 PM at Gampel Pavilion

Back in 2005, I wrote an article about what happened with the ball from the end of the 2004 World Series.

As you Red Sox fans now, Doug Mientkiewicz ended up in possession of the ball and never reliquinshed it after the game to the Red Sox. The Sox ownership has made a big stink as to who is the rightful owner of the ball. The Red Sox contend they are the rightful owners of the ball because Mientkiewicz at the time was an employee.

I think this whole thing is a crock. First off, whether or not he is the rightful owner of the ball doesnt even matter; Red Sox Nation deserves to have the ball. Mientkiewicz has said previously that he does not want to profit from the sale of the ball. When he agreed to “lend” the ball to the Red Sox for a year, he wanted to make sure the fans could see the ball. Also to be noted, all proceeds from anything the ball does goes to the Red Sox Foundation. So if your going to make that agreement with the Red Sox, why not just give them the ball. Dude, you played with the Sox for 4 months. Do you even know the significance of the ball? Every member of Red Sox Nation, except those over age 86 in 2004, have waited an entire lifetime to see the Red Sox win a World Series.

Fast forward to 2007. After Jonathan Papelbon struck out Seth Smith to win the 2007 World Series, Jason Varitek placed the ball in his back pocket before heading out to the mound to the waiting arms of the Red Sox closer. If you look at the above picture, you can clearly see the ball in his right pocket.

After the game, Varitek had this to say about the ball:

“I’ll give it back to the team,” Varitek said at Coors Field. “Maybe we won’t have a controversy this time.”

Well now no one knows where the ball is. Varitek said he gave it to Papelbon. Papelbon’s agent says Paps doesn’t have the ball. Normally after Papelbon closes out a game, if possible, Varitek always gives him the ball. So you would assume the same thing was true this time.

But who knows. All we know right now that the ball is missing. The Red Sox will look to get to the bottom of this in their upcoming organizational meetings.