I was browsing around the Boston.com website and saw that they had a very cool demonstration of how Jacoby Ellsbury1 steals a base and how fast it takes for him to do it. Click through and watch the animations, they did a really nice job.
Jacoby Ellsbury Stealing Speed2
The Boston Red Sox welcomed Jim Rice1 into their elite club of retired numbers. As reported by John Barone of MLB.com, Rice always wondered about why no one else dawned his number.
“I asked [equipment manager] Joe Cochran, ‘Why didn’t you give my number away?’” Rice recalled. “I had pretty good numbers, but I didn’t think I was going to be good enough as far as the Red Sox retiring my number. Normally when someone leaves, they give their number away, and I expected someone to have my number at some point. But he never gave it away.2“
Yes Jim Rice was just that good for the Red Sox organization during his 16 year career3. The sight of someone else wearing the No. 14, was something they did not want to see. As a player who also spent his entire career with the Red Sox organization 4, he was more than just a player to them. This could not have been better demonstrated than at the time when Rice thanked Johnny Pesky after he raised the No. 14. A quote from Rich Thompson’s article in the Boston Herald says it all:
It was the tale of two players this Sunday for the Hall Of Fame Inductions(1) at Cooperstown(2). One player, Rickey Henderson(3), was in a league of his own and was inducted his first year on the ballot. He has been credited with changing the lead off position because of his speed and home run power. He is also the owner of a record that may never even come close to being broken, 130 steals in 1982(4). I am not sure how that is possible but the man would just get on base and steal any bag he wanted, whenever he wanted.
Rickey Henderson H.O.F Slide Show(5)
The other player, Jim Rice(6), was a slugging machine, recording 100 RBI’s 8 of his 16 seasons(7). His numbers would lead you to believe he was capable of driving in runners at will. His best year came in 1978 when he scored 121 times, drove in 139 runners, hit 46 home runs and slugged .600(8). Even with these outstanding numbers, Rice did not cater to the media and it may have hurt his chances to have been inducted earlier. His last year on the ballot, Jim Rice was awarded a spot in Cooperstown.
Needless to say, even though these two players were separated by time, they are together in Cooperstown. It seems fitting that they would be inducted together. They were each the best players for years during different spans of their careers, seemingly playing in a league of their own. Now they are joined as immortal players in Cooperstown.
This past Saturday June 13, 2009 was a day for champions. The Division 1, 2 & 3 State Titles were up for grabs in a winner take all game at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, home of the Boston Red Sox affiliate Lowell Spinners.
Abington High School and West Boylston started off the festivities with the a perfect season1 on the line for the West Boylston squad. Abington was able to get their offense rolling and behind Steve Perakslis, keep West Boylston at bay for an impressive 10-5 win2.
Next up was the Division 1 State Championship game between BC High and St. John’s. BC High was looking to repeat as Champions maybe this is what helped them most. They got off to a tremendous start scoring 8 runs in the first
>3 and never looked back. BC High was able to take the crown with the final score of 11-24.
This time of the year is just simply spectacular. You can check out local High School Tournament1, Watch or attend a College World Series Game2, take in a College All-Star Game, or watch your children play little league. The list can go on and on. As the summer goes on and on more and more baseball events will be underway.
This is what I enjoy doing. Traveling around Massachusetts to stop at local sporting events, especially baseball. The best place I went to last summer was no doubt the Cape Cod League’s All-Star game. The game had everything; a home run derby during the day and the game later that night. What more can you ask for?
