I know everybody knows this already but since I’ve been preoccupied with some personal stuff all day, I’m just getting around to this now.

We can all rejoice. Bobby V has been canned. Thrown out to the trash.

Here’s the release from the Boston Red Sox:

BOSTON, MA – The Boston Red Sox today announced, following a meeting among team leaders and Manager Bobby Valentine, that Bobby will not return in 2013.   A search for a new manager will begin immediately.

“Our 2012 season was disappointing for many reasons,” said Executive Vice-President/General Manager Ben Cherington, who made the announcement and who will lead the search.  “No single issue is the reason, and no single individual is to blame.  We’ve been making personnel changes since August, and we will continue to do so as we build a contending club.  With an historic number of injuries, Bobby was dealt a difficult hand.  He did the best he could under seriously adverse circumstances, and I am thankful to him.”

The Red Sox used 56 players in 2012, the most in club history. Their 9-player blockbuster trade August 25 with the Los Angeles Dodgers was their largest in 40 years.

“This year’s won-loss record reflects a season of agony,” said Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino.  “It begs for changes, some of which have already transpired.  More will come.  We are determined to fix that which is broken and return the Red Sox to the level of success we have experienced over the past decade.

“Difficult as it is to judge a manager amid a season that had an epidemic of injuries, we feel we need to make changes.  Bobby leaves the Red Sox’ manager’s office with our respect, gratitude, and affection.  I have no doubt that he will continue to contribute to the game he loves so much and knows so well.”

Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner said, “This season was by far the worst we have experienced in over ten years here.  Ultimately, we are all collectively responsible for the team’s performance.  We are going to be working tirelessly to reconstruct the ballclub for 2013.  We’ll be back.

“We thank Bobby for the many contributions he made and for the energy he brought each day.  He is a baseball man through and through.”

Red Sox Principal Owner John Henry said, “In our meeting with Bobby today, he handled everything with dignity and class, and it is deeply appreciated. Ultimately, we as owners are responsible for arming our organization with the resources — intellectual, physical, and financial — to return to the levels of competitiveness to which we aspire and to which our fans are accustomed.  Our commitment to winning is unwavering.  It is a commitment to this team, to this city, and to these fans who have supported us through thick and thin.

“We have confidence in Ben Cherington and the kind of baseball organization he is determined to build.”

“I understand this decision,” said Valentine.  “This year in Boston has been an incredible experience for me, but I am as disappointed in the results as are ownership and the great fans of Red Sox Nation.

“It was a privilege to be part of the 100 year anniversary of Fenway Park and an honor to be in uniform with such great players and coaches.  My best to the organization.  I’m sure next year will be a turnaround year.”

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

This week:

The UConn Huskies hit the road as they open up Big East play this Saturday in Piscataway, NJ against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at High Point Solutions Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.

Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Scarlet Knights.

The Line/Prediction:

According to Rivals.com odds, Rutgers is favored by 7.5 points and the over/under is 40.5 points.

My prediction is Rutgers 27 UConn 23.

Tickets:

According to the Rutgers ticket website, there are still tickets available to the game. As of 10/3, there are 2,000 tickets left.

Getting To The Game:

Here is the weather forecast for Piscataway, NJ. Here are directions, a seating chart, parking info for High Point Solutions Stadium as well as Rutgers stadium policies.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television:

Saturday’s game is being televised live nationally by ESPNU. Tom Hart is on play-by-play with John Congemi on color. It is also available on ESPN3 in certain parts of the country.

The game will be replayed in its entirety on SNY on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. and in a condensed “Husky Power Hour” version on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. and Monday, Oct. 8 at 9 a.m. (Connecticut only) and Wednesday, Oct. 10 at noon (Connecticut only).

Radio:

For the 21st consecutive season, WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford serves as the flagship station for the IMG/UConn Radio Network. WTIC is the state’s only 50,000 watt signal and can be heard in 23 states and parts of Canada.

Veteran UConn announcers Joe D’Ambrosio (play-by-play) and Wayne Norman (color commentary) return to call the action with Kevin Nathan on the sidelines.

UConn football on home Saturday dates gets going early with “Breakfast At The Rent” with Ray Dunaway and Scott Gray beginning at 6:00 a.m. The UConn Tailgate Show will air from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. with Kevin Nathan and Bob Joyce. The pregame show begins at 10:30 a.m. followed by the game and then postgame “Husky Talk” with Kevin Nathan

UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com. Here is a  full list of stations on the UConn IMG Sports Radio Network.

Rutgers Radio:

Coverage on the Rutgers Radio Network begins at 11 a.m. on WOR-710 AM in New York City, WCTC-1450 AM in Central Jersey and WIP-610 AM in Philadelphia and South Jersey. Chris Carlin (play-by-play), Ray Lucas (color analyst) and Anthony Fucilli (sideline) have the call. Marc Malusis (studio host) and Eric LeGrand (analyst) handle the pre and post-game duties.

To continue reading the UConn Huskies @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Last Week:

UConn beat Buffalo 24-17 at home. The Scarlet Knights were off last week. They last played on September 22nd when the beat the Arkansas Razorbacks 32-26 in Little Rock, AR.

History:

Saturday’s game will be the 32nd meeting between UConn and Rutgers in a series that dates back to 1940. The Scarlet Knights hold a 21-10 edge and the teams have split their past ten meetings. Seven of the last ten most recent meetings have been settled by a touchdown or less. Since UConn joined the BIG EAST in football in 2004, Rutgers holds a 5-3 edge.

Connections:

UConn has 12 players on its team from New Jersey: FB-LB Jazzmar Clax (Freehold), LB Ryan Donohue (Montvale), CB Dwayne Gratz (Piscataway), TE James Horan (Rockaway), S David Kenney (Highstown), OT Richard Levy (Trenton), WR Shakim Phillips (Paterson), OG Tyler Samra (Wycoff), LB Omaine Stephens (East Orange), LB-FB Wyatt Vinci (Ridgewood) WR/R Nick Williams (East Windsor) and DT Ryan Wirth (Medford).

Rutgers has two players from Connecticut: DB Marcus Cooper (Bloomfield) and WR Mark Harrison (Stratford).

Rutgers offensive coordinator/WR coach Dave Brock was an assistant at Western Connecticut (1991-93).

Rutgers running backs coach Norries Wilson was the offensive coordinator (2002-05) and offensive line coach (1999-2001) at UConn and he was also the head coach at Columbia (2006-11).

UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni has a 13-2 head coaching record against Rutgers from his time as head coach at Syacuse and last year’s win as UConn’s head coach. The Orange and Rutgers met every year during Pasqualoni’s time at Syracuse. He won his first eight games vs. Rutgers from 1991 to ‘98 and then lost to Rutgers in ‘99 and 2003.

UConn offensive coordinator George DeLeone was an assistant coach on defense at Rutgers from 1980-83.

Other UConn News:

Here are the quotes from UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s press conference as well quotes from some of the players.

Here is UConn’s depth chart for the game.

Four members of the University of Connecticut football team were named to seven major award watch lists over the course of the 2012 preseason.

Senior Tight End Ryan Griffin

• John Mackey Award Watch List
• Lombardi Award Watch List

Sophomore Running Back Lyle McCombs

• Doak Walker Award Watch List
• Maxwell Award Watch List

Senior Linebacker Sio Moore

• Butkus Award Watch List
• Lombardi Award Watch List

Senior Defensive End Trevardo Williams

• Bednarik Award Watch List
• Lombardi Award Watch List
• Nagursky Trophy Watch List

Sophomore Linebacker Yawin Smallwood

• Nagursky Trophy Watch List (added on September 18, 2012)

The following four Huskies were named team captains for the season in the week prior to the season opener vs. UMass – redshirt senior outside linebacker Jory Johnson (Mobile, Ala.), redshirt senior offensive tackle Adam Masters (Bethesda, Md.), senior wide receiver Nick Williams (East Windsor, N.J.) and redshirt senior cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson (Edinboro, Pa.).

Pasqualoni is the all-time winningest coach in BIG EAST Conference league wins with 65 and overall wins with 113. He is just one of two league coaches in history to win four BIG EAST Championships. His overall college coaching record stands at 149-84-1 (34-17 at WCSU, 107-59-1 at Syracuse and 8-9 at UConn).

Connecticut begins its ninth season of BIG EAST Conference play on Saturday vs. Rutgers. UConn has a 3-5 record in BIG EAST openers, including a 43-16 loss at West Virginia last season. They’ve lost their last three Big East openers.

UConn owns an all-time mark of 25-30 in BIG EAST Conference games since joining the league for football in 2004.

UConn is 5-21 on the road in Big East play.

The Huskies finished non-conference play at 3-2.

UConn last faced a ranked opponent on October 8, 2011 at West Virginia.

Linebacker Jory Johnson was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after a career-high 14 tackles against Buffalo.

UConn was one of seven charter members of the BIG EAST Conference when the league was founded in 1979 and UConn is the only founding school that is currently playing football in the league and scheduled to do so in the future. The other five original members were Boston College, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Providence, Georgetown and St. John’s.

Here is where UConn stands in the lastest NCAA statistics:

• Total Defense – 6th at 242.60 yards per game
• Rushing Defense – 6th at 74.20 yards per game
• Passing Defense – 14th at 168.40 yards per game
• Scoring Defense – 23rd at 15.60 points per game
• Sacks – 13th at 3.20 per game
• Tackles For Loss – 19th at 7.80 per game
• Total Offense – 106th at 323.80 yards per game
• Rushing Offense – 109th at 112.00 yards per game
• Passing Offense – 84th at 211.80 yards per game
• Scoring Offense – 92nd at 23.20 points per game
• Punt Returns – 13th at 17.27 yards per return

Here is where UConn individuals stand in NCAA leaders

• Trevardo Williams – t8th in sacks at 1.30 per game (leads BIG EAST)
• Yawin Smallwood t9th in tackles for loss at 2.00 per game (leads BIG EAST)
  t41st in sacks at 0.80 per game
  t14th in tackles at 10.60 per game (leads BIG EAST)
• Nick Williams 16th in punt returns at 16.90 per return
  34th in kickoff returns at 24.44 yards per return

Notes from this week’s opponent Rutgers:

Here is video of Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood’s press conference.

Kyle Flood is in his first year as the head coach at Rutgers and is in his first year as a collegiate head coach. He had served on the Rutgers staff for the previous seven seasons and also had assistant coaching stints at C.W. Post (1995-96), Hofstra (1997-2001), Delaware (2002-05). He was part of the coaching staff that led the Blue Hens to the 2003 NCAA FCS Championship. Flood is a 1993 Iona College graduate. The last time Rutgers promoted an assistant coach on staff to the head coaching position was the naming of Frank Burns to replace John Bateman in 1973 — and Burns became the winningest coach in school history.

Rutgers will debut its new black uniforms Saturday as all fans in the stadium are asked to wear black for a stadium blackout vs. the Huskies.

Rutgers hasn’t been ranked in both polls since September 30, 2007.

With a win:

• Rutgers would win a game as a ranked team for the first time since 2007.
• Start the season 5-0 for the seventh time in 143 seasons of college football.
• Kyle Flood would become the second coach in school history to start 5-0. The only first-year RU head coach to begin 5-0 was John Bateman in 1960. Bateman guided the Scarlet Knights to an 8-1 record, including wins in his first five games as head coach.

Rutgers is 81-91-2 all-time against current members of the BIG EAST.

Rutgers looks to become 2-0 in the BIG EAST for only the third time since the BIG EAST began play in 1991. The only other years RU started 2-0 in conference play was 2011 (19-16 2OT win at Syracuse; 34-10 win vs. Pitt) and 2006 (22-20 win at USF; 20-10 win at Pitt).

The Scarlet Knights are 9-12 all-time in BIG EAST home openers, including victories in each of the last two years in conference home openers.

Rutgers is the only team in the nation to win three road games in the month of September in 2012.

Former Rutgers head coach and player Frank Robert Burns passed away on July 14, 2012. In 2012, every Scarlet Knight will wear a “FRB” sticker on their helmet in honor of Burns.

Thursday UConn Football Links:

Video: Big East’s best LBs face off this week [andrea adelson – espn.com]

Big East predictions: Week 6 [andrea adelson – espn.com]

UConn Defensive Coordinator Don Brown On Last Week (Buffalo), This Week (Rutgers), A Little In Between [desmond conner – hartford courant]

DC also answered some questions in his mailbag [desmond conner – hartford courant]

What to watch in the Big East: Week 6 [matt fortuna – espn.com]

Nick Williams drawing inspiration from Devin Hester [jim fuller – new haven register]

Mr. Dependable: UConn’s Johnson a steady hand [john silver – sny.com]

Scoring Might Be Scarce On Saturday [uconnhuskies.com]

UConn Must Be Careful With Rutgers’ Offense [hartford courant]

Connecticut native, Rutgers WR Mark Harrison looking for final word in rivalry [the star-ledger]

UCONN Q&A: Battle Tested Knights To Face Huskies [the star-ledger]

Rutgers vs. Connecticut should be a defensive slugfest on Saturday [the star-ledger]

Connecticut at Rutgers [sports xchange]

Next Week:

UConn returns home to Rentschler Field next Saturday to host the Temple Owls in a Big East game. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Today’s UConn football links can be found in the Thursday links section of the UConn vs Rutgers preview.

UConn Women’s Basketball links

UConn in the WNBA playoffs [carl adamec – sny.com]

Update on First Night visitors [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn not planning to name center for Calhoun [ap]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. Men’s Soccer vs. Providence On Oct. 27 Changed To 4 p.m. [uconnhuskies.com]

M. Soccer. Blake’s Seven Saves Lead No. 2 Men’s Soccer Past No. 3 Georgetown, 2-1 [uconnhuskies.com]

W. Rowing. Anthony Brock Named Assistant Rowing Coach [uconnhuskies.com]

Field Hockey. No. 3 Field Hockey Off To Best Start Since 1999 With 2-0 Win at UMass [uconnhuskies.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Our long standing New England nightmare is over. Wait, you mean Bobby Valentine hasn’t been fired as of 9:55 a.m.? Okay then.

One of our long standing New England nightmares is over. The 2012 season has finally come to a close for the Boston Red Sox after the New York Yankees bent them over their knee last night and spanked the crap out of them to clinch the AL East.

The Red Sox as a team hadn’t lost at least 90 games since 1966 when they were 72-90. They topped that mark this season going 69-93.

We can all sit back and make excuses for what happened. The injuries, the trade, the fact that Valentine is an idiot, Ben Cherington didn’t do enough, ownership cares more about Liverpool.

Forgot the excuses, what we should be talking about is what’s going to be done to fix this team to get back into the playoffs.

The trade of Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez freed up a ton of payroll for the Red Sox. But the free agent class, sans Josh Hamilton, isn’t all that special.

The Red Sox need starting pitching, a first baseman, an outfielder or two and some bullpen help. We know they’re going to try and re-sign David Ortiz and Cody Ross.

But even if they do re-sign them, that doesn’t even crack the surface of what needs to be done.

While last year’s offseason was a crazy one for the Red Sox because of what happened, this one is shaping up to be even more crazier. It will defintely be worth following closely.

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the ESPN New York, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

After falling in extra innings last night, the Boston Red Sox will look to put a wrench in the AL East celebration plans of the New York Yankees tonight in their final game of their miserable 2012 season.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Yankees television market, you can catch the game on YES. If you don’t live in either market you are in luck as well as ESPN will coverage of the game (outside of Red Sox and Yankees televison markets). You can also watch the game online at WatchESPN. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Daisuke Matsuzaka makes what should be his final start in what also should be skipper Bobby Valentine’s last game as manager. In his 10 starts this season, Matsuzaka is 1-6 with a 7.68 ERA. He has not faced the Yankees this season and is 3-3 with a 5.52 ERA in 10 career starts. Five of those starts have come in the Bronx where he is 1-2 with a 5.34 ERA.

Hiroki Kuroda looks to help the Yankees clinch the AL East in his 33rd start of the season. In his previous 32 starts, Kuroda is 15-11 with a 3.34 ERA. He’s made four starts against the Red Sox this season and is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA. Kuroda has made five career starts against the visiting nine and is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA.

Click on the read more button below to see today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the overnight and day if you’re on the home page.

Here are today’s lineups:

69-92		94-67
1. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF	1. Derek Jeter	SS
2. Dustin Pedroia	2B	2. Ichiro Suzuki	LF
3. Daniel Nava	LF	3. Alex Rodriguez	3B
4. Cody Ross	RF	4. Robinson Cano	2B
5. James Loney	1B	5. Nick Swisher	RF
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C	6. Mark Teixeira	1B
7. Ryan Lavarnway	DH	7. Curtis Granderson	CF
8. Pedro Ciriaco	3B	8. Raul Ibanez	DH
9. Jose Iglesias	SS	9. Russell Martin	C
Daisuke Matsuzaka	SP	Hiroki Kuroda	SP

And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:

NOTES:

REFRESH OR CHECK BACK OFTEN AS MORE LINKS WILL BE ADDED BEFORE GAMETIME IF/WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND WILL BE BOLDED

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

The real reason why fans aren’t Triple Crown-obsessed [boston herald]

Cherington won’t say Valentine is lame duck [rob bradford – weei.com]

Red Sox beef up front office by hiring scouting director who signed Mike Trout [clubhouse insider]

Bobby V: “I had every opportunity to succeed — and didn’t” [clubhouse insider]

Fitting end to Matsuzaka’s time with Sox [csn new england]

Report: Red Sox to fire Valentine [csn new england]

Tonight marks a likely farewell to Dice-K [espn boston]

W2W4: Sox can play ultimate spoiler [espn boston]

Video: State of the Nation [espn boston]

Podcast: Bobby V on Michael Kay show [espn boston]

Matsuzaka a fitting choice to end this season [extra bases]

Scout that helped lead Daisuke Matsuzaka to Red Sox reflects on pitcher’s career in Boston [full count]

As season winds down, Bobby Valentine jabs at Red Sox medical secrecy [full count]

Bobby Valentine says Red Sox coaches undermined him, talks John Farrell in final Big Show appearance [full count]

Right to the end, everything is wrong for Red Sox [tony massarotti – boston globe]

Westborough Furniture-Maker Finds Way to Get David Ortiz’s Presence Into New Yankee Stadium After Jersey Removed [nesn.com]

Jon Lester Already Looking Forward to Bouncing Back in 2013 With Help From LL Cool J [nesn.com]

Robinson Cano Leads Torrid Yankees Lineup as Red Sox’ New Regulars Look to Cap Off Season With Victory [nesn.com]

Bobby Valentine Says Members of Coaching Staff Weren’t Loyal to Him, Felt Undermined at Times [nesn.com]

Red Sox’ Managerial Plans, Jacoby Ellsbury’s Future Will Be Among Top Offseason Storylines [don orsillo – nesn.com]

Valentine says he was undermined by his coaches [projo sox blog]

Dice-K to toe rubber in Sox’s final game [redsox.com]

Bobby V: I had every opportunity to succeed [alex speier – weei.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credits: getty images, getty images

The Boston Red Sox had the perfect chance to make things interesting in the AL East last night.

A 3-1 lead over the New York Yankees in the 9th inning with the Baltimore Orioles having already won their game. They had their closer Andrew Bailey on the mound.

But two batters in, the game was tied at 3-3 after Bailey gave up a leadoff single to Curtis Granderson and then a two-run pinch-hit home run by Raul Ibanez. It didn’t stop there though as Bailey loaded up the bases after retiring Ichiro Suzuki for the first out.

Hopefully former Red Sox skipper in a day or two Bobby Valentine went to the bullpen and pulled his closer for Mark Melancon. As Red Sox fans on Twitter gasped at the call, Melancon proved them all wrong by retiring Mark Teixeira on short fly ball to center and then got Robinson Cano to ground out to end the inning and prolong the game.

The Sox had a chance to take the lead in the 11th with their former 2004 World Series hero on the mound for the Yankees in Derek Lowe.

James Loney led off with a single but was retired on a fielder’s choice by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Salty went to second on a wild pitch before Ryan Lavarnway struck out. Then Pedro Ciriaco, the Yankees killer all season long, was shown some respect as he was intentionally walked so the Yanks could face the light-hitting Jose Iglesias.

Instead of pinch-hitting for Iglesias with Scott Podsednik, Mike Aviles or even Danny Valencia, Valentine stuck with Iglesias who ended up grounding into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.

What I don’t get is why didn’t Valentine pinch-hit for Iglesias. At the very least if you pinch-hit with Pods, you could force the Yanks to go to a lefty. Many Sox fans questioned the lack of a move by Valentine, including myself. And it was Rob Bradford of WEEI.com who came up with the most likely and probably funniest answer.

The Yankees would eventually go on to win the game in the 12th after Andrew Miller ran into trouble after getting the first two outs of the inning.

He walked Francisco Cervelli who hadn’t played in 25 games and then walked Granderson. Then Ibanez played hero again with a single to left that scored Cervelli.

The win for the Yankees allowed them to maintain their one-game lead over the Orioles. But a Red Sox win tonight and Orioles win tonight would set up a one-game playoff on Thursday to determine the AL East winner. The reason this would happen besides the Red Sox and Orioles winning tonight is the fact that the two teams tied the regular season series at 9-9.

I really really hope that this happens tonight for at the very least, I DO NOT WANT TO WATCH THE YANKEES CELEBRATE.

Oh and if you want to watch an even more interesting game tonight, be sure to tune into the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics game at 3:35 p.m. The A’s came into the series needing a sweep of the Rangers to win the AL West crown. They’ve won the first two games so tonight’s game between them is for the division crown.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take a look at the overnight links from the media.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Pedroia shows the way [boston herald]

Lester promises to overcome lost year [boston herald]

Lowest low nears end [boston herald]

Ells back in lineup [boston herald]

Time for Bobby to go [boston herald]

Lester on his season: ‘I’m glad it’s over’ [rob bradford – weei.com]

Ibanez does Sox in twice as Yanks win in extras, 4-3 [csn new england]

Bailey’s forgettable season continues with blown save [csn new england]

Loretta weighs in on Lowell, Ausmus [espn boston]

Would Sox target Yankees’ Blakeley? [espn boston]

Valentine defends handling of Ellsbury [espn boston]

Pedey, Papi want to work with Iglesias [espn boston]

Rapid Reaction: Yankees 4, Red Sox 3 [espn boston]

Bailey: ‘I went out there and blew it’ [espn boston]

Jon Lester relieved to put grim season behind him [espn boston]

Red Sox coverage in today’s Globe [extra bases]

Andrew Bailey: ‘This game is what’s going to push me forward to next year’ [full count]

The scout that helped lead Daisuke Matsuzaka to Red Sox reflects on the pitcher’s career in Boston [full count]

Red Sox Cautious With Wrist Injuries to Will Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava After Carl Crawford Woes [nesn.com]

Daisuke Masuzaka May Need to Overcome Physical, Mental Hurdles to Fully Come Back From Tommy John Surgery [nesn.com]

Dustin Pedroia Playing With Broken Finger, Solidifying Role as Leader in Clubhouse (Video) [nesn.com]

Cody Ross Recognized With Red Sox 10th Player of the Year Award (Video) [nesn.com]

Yankees Spoil Red Sox’ Chance at Playing Spoiler, Ensure That Boston Will Finish Last in Division [nesn.com]

Valentine Hurt After Reading Text Message on Bike [new york times]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the ESPN New York, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times and The Journal News websites. You can also check out our Bloguin brother, NYY Stadium Insider.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.