I'm Back.....And A Busy Day We Have

Was down for the weekend as I waited for my new computer to be delivered...my old one was crashing constantly so I didn't want to try doing any in depth projects on it such as writing a post to only lose it if the system crashed. In the news today Papi is selling his car, the Pena deal was completed and it seems we made out pretty well and Theo talked with fans over at Boston.com.....oh and there's the whole Timmy shutting down Tampa....again. Will be back in the next couple hours with a nice in depth post covering it all.

Eric Gagne Stars In.....

A Fenway Park Film...A Theo Epstein Production...Directed by Terry Francona...Starring Eric Gagne This is getting to be ridiculous. Three blown saves since last Friday. Boston should be 76-46. God how I hate Eric Gagne.

What A Day

The Boston Red Sox have had a day more eventful then a team will usually work through, and Boston's day is only half over. We start with Clay Buchholz making his MLB debut today. He went 6 innings striking out five while allowing four runs (three earned). David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia homered for the Sox as they beat the Angels 8-4 in the first game of a double header. Doug Mirabelli started the game but left after the first with a leg injury. Jason Varitek who was to start the night game came in to catch thus throwing the front office into a frenzy. Needing a catcher to catch the nightcap, Boston got on the phone with the Pawtucket Red Sox to get Kevin Cash on his way to Boston, problem though, the Paw Sox aren't at home today so Cash is beating the clock trying to get to Fenway from Ottawa in time for the game. Mirabelli was placed on the disabled list and the Sox have an open spot on the 25-man roster so there's no problem working Cash in. The problem earlier today involved making room for Clay Buchholz and the Jacoby Ellsbury after Buchholz was sent down after the first game. To make that move Boston dealt Wily Mo Pena to Washington for a player to be named and cash considerations. The deal will likely involve someone on Washington's 40-man roster so the deal can't be finalized until after the season because of trade waivers. Notes: The Red Sox first five batters combined for a cycle in the first inning today... Julian Tavarez will start Sunday and Tim Wakefield is pushed back to Monday at Tampa Bay, he's 18-2 career versus the Rays... Varitek will catch Wakefield Monday... Bobby Kielty will take Ellsbury's roster spot Saturday... Ellsbury and Buchholz are both expected to rejoin the Sox on September 1... Ellsbury is leading off in the night game tonight.

Daisuke Matsuzaka Strikes Gold In Signature Deal

Upper Deck has signed Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka to an exclusive memorabilia and autograph deal. Matsuzaka will make about $150 per autograph that Upper Deck will sell for $450 for english autographs and $550 for Kanji inscriptions. Of course Boston Dirt Dogs is all over this and to how I take it are all over Matsuzaka for the high priced deal. I say good for Matsuzaka, if at the price set they sell a lot of autographs and he makes money good, afterall he signed a contract with Boston for much less then he could have gotten if he had stayed in Japan another year and then moved to the majors.

Jimmy Fund Telethon

It's once again time for the annual Jimmy Fund Telethon. Click the banner above to take you directly to the donation page. Click here to go to the Jimmy Fund Telethon page.

Kids Get The Call

The Boston Red Sox will activate Clay Buchholz tomorrow before the first game of the Sox double header with the Angels. Following the game Boston will option Buchholz back to Pawtucket and activate Jacoby Ellsbury who will be with the team for the weekend and then likely optioned back to Pawtucket until September 1. The only question remaining in this process is who will be the odd man out? The Sox have had some serious discussions with an unnamed National League team about trading Wily Mo Pena though no deal has been finalized. If a deal can't be reached by game time tomorrow Boston would either need to clear a spot elsewhere or designate Pena and lose him for nothing. Another possibility should a deal not get done and Boston is hesitant to just let Pena go is the Sox could designate Julian Tavarez who has less value then Pena. Either way after the weekend Bobby Kielty should be in Boston taking Ellsbury's spot and Ellsbury and Buchholz will be back in Pawtucket counting the days until the September 1 recalls.

Who Is The American League Rookie Of The Year?

Many months ago I made a very foolish comment with my Rookie of the Year prediction. I stated that the award was Delmon Young's to lose. It's not that I didn't have faith in rookie second baseman Dustin Pedroia or Japanese import Daisuke Matsuzaka, it was because unlike Pedroia Delmon Young had a solid late season call up with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. As I write this and look back I realize that I put to much emphasis on the late season call ups, Pedroia is far and away the best rookie in the American League this year. Pedroia's .328 average and solid defense is more then enough to lead him to the award this fall, but the question remains, how good is he? We all know the early season struggles Pedroia suffered through, it was as painful for the Red Sox fans who stood by him as much as it was for Pedroia himself. Yet manager Terry Francona stood by his young second baseman and it has paid off big time. Since the Red Sox traveled to Minnesota May 5, Pedroia has been on a tear through American League pitching, but can you call three and a half months a tear or perhaps what it really is, the real Pedroia playing to his everyday potential after the horrible baptism to Major League baseball. If we were to wipe April and the first two games of May from his stat sheet Pedroia suddenly is a .358 hitter with a .415 OBP. Delmon Young is batting .293 with only four more home runs then Pedroia, and Young is advertised as a power hitting outfielder who many expected to have displayed much more power this season then he has, he also has two less runs scored then Pedroia. THe only thing in the way of Pedroia winning the Rookie of the Year award is going to be a possible vote split with Daisuke Matsuzaka, aside from that they can engrave his name on the award now.

Jose Offerman Goes Off On Opponents

Former Sox infielder Jose Offerman made a visit to the mound last night after being hit by a pitch in his second at-bat, that followed a home run in his first. Offerman who plays for the independent Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League struck the pitcher in the hands with his bat before striking the catcher on the head. Bridgeport Blue Fish starter Matt Beech was ejected along with Offerman and Long Island manager Tommy John. Offerman was arrested by Bridgeport police after the incident and faces unspecified charges.

Don't Worry, Jon Lester Will Be All Right

Jon Lester returned to Boston in grand fashion tonight with a performance that should draw millions of Sox fans off the ledges of bridges from Maine to San Diego. Lester pitched seven strong innings allowing just two hits and a single run that was scored on a sacrafice fly. For most of the night it looked as though Boston would squander another solid performance by a starter trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth. Manny Ramirez led off the ninth with a strike out, Mike Lowell followed him with a solo home run to tie the game and atleast guarantee extra innings. That however was not needed because after Kevin Youkilis struck out Jason Varitek doubled and was singled home by Coco Crisp for the game winner. Eric Gagne worked a solid ninth inning for the win, he struck out the side around a two-out double by Brendan Harris. With New Yorks loss Boston extended their American League East lead to five games. And here is the rest of it.

HOLD THE PRESSES: The Yankees Still Suck!

Just when everyone thought the "real" Yankees had finally arrived, the real Yankees have reemerged. Baltimore improved their record against the Yankees to 7-4 on the season with a complete beat down of the Bronx Bombers....errr perhaps that nickname won't work today. Behind a strong performance from Daniel Cabrera, New York was held to just two hits on the night and one of those was an infield single by Alex Rodriguez. The final score was 12-0

Gary Matthews Jr

Im sure by now everyone has heard about Gary Matthews Jr's comments about Red Sox fans. I wont go into it here because I found a fellow Sox blogger who has touched on the issue and I think she makes the point very well so I will redirect you to Cyn at Red Sox Chick.

CNNSI Goes Dream Teaming

CNNSI writer Tom Verducci today picked his All-Time, Current and Futures Dream Teams and a number of Red Sox players are present. There however are some notable Sox stars missing. The All Time team is loaded with some of the greatest players to ever step on a field. Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Lefty Grove, Ted Williams and Roger Clemens all make the list. You really can't argue when it comes to the all time list as most of the best to ever play are represented. For the complete All-Time roster click here. All-Current Team Manny Ramirez is the lone Red Sox player on this list. The list doesn't include a designated hitter which it probably should, thus David Ortiz isn't considered. For the complete All-Current roster click here. All-Futures Team This is the one where we run into trouble. The name isn't what it seems as all but a handful of players on here are MLB stars already. The basis of the list is to build a team consisting of players who will lead a team for the next five years while being in their prime. Only Clay Buchholz appears on this list for Boston. That's right, the man who is considered the best reliever in baseball today is absent from the list. Jonathan Papelbon couldn't even be tabbed for a bullpen slot away from closer because it's loaded with starters who couldn't crack to rotation. Los Angeles closer Francisco Rodriguez got the closer nod. For the complete All-Futures team click here.

Globe: Deal For Pena Close With NL Team

From The Buzz on Boston.com... The Globe's Gordon Edes reported there were indications Monday night the Sox were closing in on a deal with a National League team for Wily Mo Pena, but they still had some work to do before anything was consummated, and they had not informed Bobby Kielty of an impending move. Stay tuned we could see Pena moved soon. Kielty can also option out very soon too so a deal needs to be made if they hope to hang onto Kielty.

A Sweep That Wasn't

The Boston Red Sox should be sitting in their clubhouse this morning with a six game cushion in the American League East race, and they would be had it not been for Eric Gagne. Instead this morning Boston sits with just a four game lead with a bit over 40 games remaining on the season. Four games while appearing to be small is still rather big considering the remaining schedules for both Boston and New York. Boston has 45 games remaining against 8 opponents. The combined winning percent of those opponents is .494. New York has 45 games remaining against 8 opponents. The combined winning percent of those opponents is .514. Comparing Remaining Schedules Lets take a look at what remains. For Boston its Tampa Bay, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Toronto, Oakland and Minnesota. For New York its Baltimore, Detroit, Los Angeles, Boston, Toronto, Kansas City, Seattle and Tampa Bay. Lets play pick the winners shall we? This is a whats likely results in my opinion... Boston vs Tampa Bay (12 games remain) Boston wins 8-4 vs Los Angeles (4) Boston splits 2-2 vs Chicago (4) Boston wins 3-1 vs New York (6) Boston splits 3-3 vs Baltimore (7) Boston wins 5-2 vs Toronto (6) Boston wins 4-2 vs Oakland (2) Boston splits 1-1 vs Minnesota (4) Boston splits 2-2 This puts Boston at 98-64 on the season. New York vs Baltimore (9) Baltimore wins 4-5 vs Detroit (8) New York splits 4-4 vs Los Angeles (3) New York wins 2-1 vs Boston (6) New York splits 3-3 vs Toronto (7) New York wins 4-3 vs Kansas City (3) New York wins 2-1 vs Seattle (3) New York wins 2-1 vs Tampa Bay (6) New York wins 4-2 This puts New York at 91-71, 7 games behind Boston. When picking winners I took into account previous matchups this season between the teams except New York vs Detroit as they haven't played yet this year. For New York the Seattle, Detroit and Los Angeles picks were generous, New York could easily go 5-9 in that stretch as opposed to the 8-6 I picked them for. I'm not saying this will follow through exactly, the main point here is that Red Sox fans need to stop panicking, things aren't as bad as many set them up to be.

Papi Magic On The Farm?

In his time in Boston, David Ortiz has become known as the best clutch hitter in baseball with several walk-off hits to his credit. While 2007 has been a down year for Mr. Ortiz while he struggles along with some injuries that will require off-season surgery and plenty of rest, the kids of the future were channeling some Papi Power Saturday. In the first game between the Red Sox short-season affiliate Lowell of the New York-Penn Leauge and the Hudson Valley Renegades, the score was tied at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Luis Segovia led off by being hit by a pitch, he was followed by Carlos Fernandez-Oliva, who laid down a sacrifice bunt moving Segovia to second. After a pop out Jorge Jimenez hit a line drive over the head of Hudson Valley right fielder Angel Fermin to drive in the game-winning run as Lowell clipped Hudson Valley in a 2-1. Not to be outdone by their younger comrades the Portland Sea Dogs would have there own magic in the second game of the double-header. Jay Johnson would have the big hit in this game as Portland rallied back twice against the Harrisburg Senators. Trailing 12-9 going to the bottom of the ninth, Portland got a lead off single from Andrew Pinckney and was followed by a walk to Iggy Suarez. Zach Borowiak sacrificed them over as Portland was playing for a tie and possibly extra innings at the very least. Jeff Natale followed the sacrifice by getting walked. Following a pitching change Portland's Jay Johnson hit a bases clearing, game winning double. In other games today Boston beat Baltimore 6-2 behind a stellar performance by Josh Beckett who became the majors first 15-game winner. Greenville lost 10-1 while Pawtucket won. Lancaster is still playing, but plated five in the first inning.

Meet Bobby Kielty

This post of course in a few days could be meaningless as Bobby Kielty has the option of getting out of his deal with Boston if not added to the major league roster within a week of his signing. But let's get to know him anyway. Kielty was born in Fontana, California on August 5, 1976 and signed with the Boston Red Sox the day after his birthday on August 6, 2007... Happy Birthday! Kielty attended the University of Southern California and the University of Mississippi with a stop in between at Riverside Junior College. He began his professional career in 1999 after signing with the Minnesota Twins. Quad City River Bandits In 1999, Kielty began his minor league career with the Quad City River Bandits of the Midwest League. An eye problem forced him to miss more than a month of action (May 21-June 24), and he was disabled with a strained right hamstring (August 25-September 3). In only 69 games, Kielty batted .294 with 13 HR and 43 RBI and 12 SB. He homered in 3 consecutive games from August 14-16. New Britain Rock Cats Kielty was promoted to the New Britain Rock Cats of the Eastern League in 2000. He hit a grand slam against Portland on April 8, and another against Erie on May 26. He played in the Eastern League all-star game held in Bowie, Maryland. Bobby led the team in home runs (14), was 2nd in RBI (65) and 3rd in hits (118). His 98 walks led the league. He also had a .262 batting average for the season. Salt Lake Stingers/Edmonton Trappers On August 26th, Kielty was promoted to the Salt Lake Stingers of the Pacific Coast League, where he played in only 9 games, and hit .242 with 2 RBI. He was rated the Twins 8th best prospect, and the 9th best prospect in the Eastern League. Kielty then began the 2001 season with the Twins newly relocated Pacific Coast League team in Edmonton with the Edmonton Trappers. Then in early April, the Minnesota Twins selected his contract and Kielty made his major league debut on April 10th against the Detroit Tigers. On April 13th, he got his first major league hit off Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox. The Twins optioned Kielty back down to Edmonton on April 21st, but was recalled by the team on July 31st. He hit his first career home run off Chris Carpenter of the Toronto Blue Jays on August 2nd. Bobby then found himself in Edmonton again on August 17th, but then returned to the Twins on September 3rd when he was recalled by the team again and played in 28 of the Twins last 37 games. Overall with Edmonton, he finished with a .287 average, 12 HR and 50 RBI, while with Minnesota he hit .250 with 2 HR and 14 RBI. Minnesota Twins Kielty once again started the 2002 season in Edmonton, but only appeared in 2 games (.429, 0 HR, 0 RBI) before the Twins called him up. On April 14th, he hit a 2 run pinch homer against Detroit. On May 17th against the New York Yankees, Kielty recorded his first career 4 hit game, and on June 26th against the White Sox, he had his first ever 4 RBI game. Kielty made his post-season debut against the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS, going 0 for 4 in the series. He then went 0 for 3 with a walk and RBI in the ALCS against the Anaheim Angels. After the season, he won the Bill Boni Award as the Twins most outstanding rookie, and he finished 4th in the American League for AL Rookie of the Year. Kielty finished the year with a .291 average, 12 HR and 46 RBI in 112 games. After the Twins traded right fielder Matt Lawton to the New York Mets midway through the 2001 season, the Twins frequently used a platoon of Kielty and Dustan Mohr in right field. Twins fans were so accustomed to seeing one or the other player in right field that they dubbed the duo "Dusty Kielmohr". This situation persisted until midway through the 2003 season. Kielty began the 2003 season with a 12 game hitting streak with the Twins, and had his first career 2 homer game on April 17th against Detroit. On May 16th against the White Sox, Kielty had a career high 5 RBI game, and on May 27th against Oakland, he hit a game winning pinch hit 3 run homer in the 8th inning off Barry Zito. On July 16th, Minnesota traded Kielty to the Toronto Blue Jays for LF Shannon Stewart. Toronto Blue Jays Bobby made his Blue Jays debut the next day against the Boston Red Sox, going 3 for 4 with a home run and 3 RBI. On September 21st against the Baltimore Orioles, he had his first career 2 stolen base game. Kielty's final Twins stats were a .252 average, 9 HR and 32 RBI, then in Toronto he hit .233 with 4 HR and 25 RBI. His combined stats were .244, 13 HR and 57 RBI. In the off-season, the Blue Jays traded Kielty to Oakland for starting pitcher Ted Lilly. Oakland Athletics Bobby was the Athletics opening day left fielder in 2004, and through May 19th, he was hitting .250 with 4 HR and 14 RBI. After then, he hit .190 with 3 HR and 17 RBI for the rest of the season, ending up with a .214 average, 7 HR and 31 RBI. All 7 of his home runs gave the A's the lead. Kielty hit his first career walk off home run on June 1st against the White Sox. Kielty rebounded in 2005 by hitting .263 with 10 HR and tied his career high with 57 RBI. On May 20th against the San Francisco Giants, Kielty went 4 for 4 with 3 runs scored. However, he missed 3 weeks in September due to an oblique injury. In the 2005 season Kielty, along with other members of the team, grew out his hair and refused to cut it. He earned the nickname "Ronny Mac" due to his similarity to McDonalds mascot, Ronald McDonald. Before a game at McAfee Coliseum, Kielty dressed up in full Ronald McDonald attire and amused the crowd. Many fans wore ginger wigs to the game in dedication to Kielty. Kielty cut his hair in the 2005 off-season, and began the 2006 season with the Athletics Triple A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats. He spent 10 games there, batting .222 with 1 HR and 4 RBI before being recalled by the A's. As of August 15th, Kielty has a .266 average with 5 HR and 23 RBI, along with 2 SB's. In the 2006 season as a backup player for the A's, Kielty hit his first career grand slam. On September 19, he hit a grand slam against the Indians off pitcher Cliff Lee. Coincidentally, Lee and Kielty are very good friends as their wives were good childhood friends. On July 23, Kielty was designated for assignment by the Oakland Athletics to make room for closer Huston Street. *Team career recaps are from Wikipedia entry for Bobby Kielty.

We Paid Top Dollar For This?

David Murphy, Kasson Gabbard and Engel Beltre for this? In four appearances covering 3⅓ innings Eric Gagne has given up six runs while he ERA has balooned by nearly a run per game. Two weeks ago this game would have been won by Boston with Hideki Okajima starting the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon pitching the ninth, instead we saw another appearance by Gagne that was just plain pathetic.

Future On Display

Beggining tomorrow and lasting throughout most of the remainder of the season, the future of the Boston Red Sox will be on display at Fenway Park. Portland and Lowell will both play games at Fenway on Saturday while the Sox are playing in Baltimore. Portland will play the Harrisburg Senators (Washington) while Lowell plays the Hudson Valley Renegades (Tampa Bay). The Lowell game is at 12:05 followed by Portland. In just a couple weeks a handful of top prospects could find themeselves with a September callup. Jacoby Ellsbury is one who is very likely to get the call to provide speed off the bench down the stretch. Should he continue his solid play from earlier this year when he was up he could also find himself on the bench in the playoffs. Boston won't discount the importance of a speedster on the bench, its the very reason they won the World Series in 2004. George Kottaras could also find himself in Fenway park in September. He is the only minor league catcher on the Sox 40 man roster and they would love to have a third catcher around to give Varitek added rest, assuming the division race isnt close. There are no infielders on the 40 man roster who aren't already in Boston. The Red Sox do have 2 spots on the 40 man roster open and also can move Brendan Donnelly to the 60-day disabled list if they needed another spot. We know Bobby Kielty likely will be called up sooner then later and that would require a spot, though his arrival would depend on Wily Mo Pena's departure which would clear another spot. Another spot to be taken on the 40 man will be for Clay Buchholz and that could be as soon as next week when the Sox play a double header. Buchholz has been dominant in the minors this year and could join a powerful young rotation next year that will include Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester. Other pitchers who could see time in Fenway in September are Javy Lopez who was recently sent down to make room for Curt Schilling, Craig Hansen who has been very good the past several weeks and Craig Breslow could provide another solid left handed arm from the bullpen. Brandon Moss could join Ellsbury in the outfield mix in September after a recent three day stay with the Sox in California.

Red Sox AM Wrap

Wily Mo Pena Clears Waivers As with several players in August, Wily Mo Pena was placed on trade waivers and cleared them. This means Boston can trade Pena before the end of the month to any team. They can't however option him to the minors, he would have to clear regular waivers for that. Expect Boston to move Pena soon for a player to be named much like the Sox and Orioles did last year with Javy Lopez before finalizing the deal at seasons end when Adam Stern was sent to Baltimore. Moose Season The Seattle Mariners wont discipline the Moose for the incident in Seattle Sunday when he ran into Coco Crisp. No surprise there, the team did apologize to the Red Sox. As I stated before, Major League Baseball needs to step in and ban these kind of events from the field, it creates a dangerous environment for players who teams have millions of dollars invested in. Tough Series In Los Angeles I was expecting another two of three series from the Sox, now I'm hoping for a single win after Boston has lost the first two games of the series. Both games went along well in the early parts only to see Boston lose two games they could have won. Tavarez Days Numbered? Julian Tavarez is the lone weak link in the Sox bullpen. Don't be surprised if Boston designates him before the week is out and replace him on the roster with either Javy Lopez or Clay Buchholz. Drew Front And Center J.D. Drew will make his Sox debut in Center field tonight and his first start their since 2005. Coco Crisp will get the night off. Since Boston elected to put Drew in center that would probably mean Pena will get the start in right field. Had Brandon Moss been getting the start, he likely would have been in center. Barry B*nds Barry Bonds, who has long been wrapped up in a steroids scandal hit home run number 756 of his career last night against the Washington Nationals. Bud Selig was not in attendance for the record breaking home run. Interested in some nice * related merchandise? Check out this site. Let's hope Alex Rodriguez makes this a brief appearance in the record book for Bonds.

756*

Maniac Mascots

Yesterday afternoon in Seattle, Red Sox outfielder Coco Crisp was run into by the Seattle Mariners mascot. Major League Baseball needs to step in and protect it's players and ban onfield use of carts and such that could cause injury to players.

Brandon Moss Gets Call

Boston.com is reporting that the Boston Red Sox will callup Brandon Moss for the series in Anaheim. No details of the callup are known yet. Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe points out that Moss has been playing some first base lately. UPDATE: Boston will callup Brandon Moss for the game Monday in Anaheim to take the roster slot of Eric Hinske who will be leaving the team for three days for personal reasons.

Red Sox To Open '08 In Tokyo?

The Boston Red Sox may soon be preparing to open the 2008 season in Tokyo likely against an American League West opponent. According to the report the Sox and whom ever they play in Japan will face each other in a second series on the west coast upon arriving back. "It's going to be exciting," Boston third baseman Mike Lowell said. "We've got some marquee names that are going to bring a lot of attention over there. So in that sense it's great, but I don't think guys are too happy to go 22 hours on a plane to play games that count. It's not the game itself. It's the aftereffects." According to the story from Boston.com the likely opponent would be either the Oakland Athletics or Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Seattle Mariners are also a likely opponent. Should this match up occur I think the best plans for the game would be for Boston and the opponent to break camp and have a series at the west coast teams stadium to wrap up the preseason, this gives the Red Sox a break from travel after flying west from Florida to California or Seattle. Following the couple days there they can then fly to Japan on March 29th or 30th and open the season on March 31st or April 1st. After the series they would then fly back to the west coast taking a day off after arriving before beggining a series at the west coast teams stadium. This would be the best way for the whole week or so to occur to cut down on the large amount of travel the Red Sox would endure. Following the return series Boston should play a series in the midwest such as Kansas City or Minnesota before heading home for a long homestand, or atleast several games in the northeast corridor. The games in Tokyo would likely sell out in a matter of hours with it being a homecoming for Sox heroes Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima. Should Seattle be the opponent, the games could sell out in less then an hour with the added names of Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima as everyday players for them.

Dent, Boone..... Who Cares!

A common theme has emerged this season with the Yankees downfall. Many fans of the Yankees seem to think its fun to post video and comments about Aaron Boone and his walk-off homer to win the 2003 ALCS. Some even go as far as to post video of Bucky "Fucking" Dent and his big hit in 1978. Of course doing that would be fine and all if it weren't for the fact that the last time the Yankees and Red Sox met on the field when it mattered, Boston burried New York in historic fashion. We have seen many walk-off homers in the playoffs before Boone and we will see many more long after his career ends. We have seen other light hitting players hit big homeruns and we will see many more long after Dent is gone. What we never had seen before that series in October 2004 was a team fight back from a 3-0 game hole and win the series. Never before had that been done in baseball, and perhaps never again in the lifetimes of anyone who currently serves as a fan of either team. Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone have long been burried in the sea of irrelelvance. What they both did is long been burried in the minds of Sox fans, but what Boston did to New York in 2004 will long outlive even the youngest of fans.