I was so happy when you decided to join the Red Sox and it has been great fun for us old farts to have our own old old fart (relatively speaking, of course) to root for. 2004 was an amazing year and your contributions, right up to the ‘bloody sock’ game were so integral to the team and deserving of their place in Red Sox Lore. We Sox fans will be eternally grateful to you for what you did and the sacrifices you made.

And that is what made it SO difficult and disappointing to watch you use the pedestal of our first World Championship in 86 years while it was still warm (the next morning, as I recall) to tell people to go out and vote for George Bush. That was the wrong forum, completely inappropriate and something I will never quite be able to forgive you for. I would never deny you the right to speak your opinion about anything, including that; however, that was not the time or the place for it, and for those of us trying to enjoy a long-awaited once-in-a-lifetime pure sports moment, I don’t think you get how offensive that was and that it sullied a magical moment forever. I think you owe the members of Red Sox Nation a BIG apology for that, and that’s not even taking into account that your boy W will eventually be rightly regarded as one of (if not THE) worst presidents in the history of our great nation. Are you proud of your endorsement now?

At least I do appreciate your waiting a couple of weeks until after the recent championship before telling us who you think we should vote for.

As a player and a competitor we will always love you, but this is one scar that will never totally go away. I guess my question would be, “Was it really worth it to piss in the soup like that?”

i read ur comment on Clemens steroids debocle and i dont like u putting ur 2 cents in.

If clemens did use steroids then i’ll take back what i said, and i will agree that he should give up his cy young awards but if has hasnt used steroids U SHOULD RETIRE AND NOT OPEN UR MOUTH ABOUT THE SPORT AGAIN.

I should say that politically you and I are totally apart. I am totally opposed to the war to the point that i am involved with a local antiwar group in my area. This is YOUR blog, though and you can say whatever you want on it and those who think otherwise have a problem.

Baseball (actually sports in general) and politics DO mix. How often have former politicians been mentioned for the Commissioner’s office. Who used to have part-ownership in the Rangers? And if Hollywood types can become politically active, why not athletes? From you on the Right, for example to those on the Left like Dave Meggyesey and Bill Walton, each one of us stands for what we believe in, and last time I checked that’s still allowable in the USA. Back when I was in high school (this was during Watergate), long (or combable) hair was seen as a Communist plot to undermine the foundation of the USA (oh, we were told that pictures of Jesus with long hair and a ponytailed Washngton on the dollar bill were just lies) and that jocks who had short hair were worthy citizens (I played soccer where our German-born coach didn’t care what we looked like) and that Nixon was a godly man (they must have never heard the tapes), blah blah blah.

Bottom line is that whatever your particular genre of life is (sports, the arts, business) it is inevitable that it will mesh on one way or another with politics. It’s a fact of life.

Thanks for letting me put my .02 in on this topic

(For the record, I will most lilely vote either Green or Socialist, as the only Democrat I would support, Kucinich, most likely will not get the nomination)

My main problem isn’t that I don’t think you have a right to express your opinions even though I completely disagree with them and think that the worsening state of our country is because there are too many people who do agree with you (I’m sorry, but I don’t necessarily think that a president who will “Follow the terrorists to the gates of hell” is the type of levelheaded leader we need). Rather, it’s the fact that you don’t seem to think that other people can be justified in their opinion or express them. You say, “I am sure will generate irrational and short sighted responses.” It seems to me that you assume that anybody who disagrees agree with you is “irrational and short sighted.”

This issue doesn’t just come up politics, but with comments about players’ salaries and contract negotiation. Comparing average fans’ frustrations with players who are already making tens of millions dollars a year complaining about not being “respected” because they’re not getting a few more million to an average Joe having his boss walk into his office and offer him $10 million is absurd. In economics, money has what’s called diminishing marginal utility. That is, for every additional dollar you get, it improves your happiness by less than the dollar before. By the time you earn more money than you can possibly spend in a lifetime, it seems to most people that that utility should reach zero. The fact that you seem unable to comprehend that sentiment is one of the few things on this board that appears “irrational and short sighted” to me.

1st – Thanks for a wonderful year, one of my greatest thrills was the Sunday night matchup v. Clemens (loss excluded). Though what an honor it was to see two future HOF’s duel at Fenway.

You get a lot of crap for voicing your opinions, but I like to think you are at least advancing a discussion. You have every right to discuss your beliefs if you wish. I disagree with who you believe is the best Republican candidate, I like Romney, but at least you have an opinion.

We are all tired of the canned athlete (Arod), until an athlete has an opinion(you), then we’re tired of them as well. More power to you and your family for putting yourself out there, and being a real human being.

And for those who want to make your $ an issue, shame on them. I’ll take it. I can’t imagine that level of income, but I’d take every penny if they would offer it to me.

First off, I’d like to thank you for coming back to the Red Sox. Your willingness (and Mike’s as well) to come back on a “discount” proves to us the fans, us the card carrying members of Red Sox Nation, that our team is the greatest out there. We’re starting to get hated on like the Yankmee’s in the media (the New Evil Empire I recall reading once) and yet there are veteran players taking pay cuts to stay around. The Red Sox are not the New Yankee’s, but as Pedroia and Ellsbury proved the Sox have a great farm system as well as great veterans.
The Sox aren’t the New Yankee’s, we’re the Twins with $$$$$

Secondly, I’d like to thank you for speaking your mind. And as you said (most strongly to gosox5555 recently): If you don’t like what I have to say, don’t read my blog! I do agree with you on some things (guns and gun control, taxes, more money for teachers) and disagree with you on others (mainly politics) but you do have a forum and you use it very well.

Third, do me a favor and tell the guys in the clubhouse that we’re insanely jealous of y’all. To roam the outfield with the ghosts Williams, Yaz, Rice, or Trot, to hit a walk off home run Papi style, to crouch behind home plate with Fisk or Tek (my favorite) are dreams we all had, or still have. We may be the same size as Manny, or have Pedroia’s range (during beer league softball), or even have to ability to grow a goatee as good as or better than Youks, but at some point we realized we weren’t good enough to play ball beyond Little League, or high school, or maybe even college . We’re all jealous. Y’all are living our dreams, for the team we love. And in turn, we love you for it. We appreciate the love y’all show towards the Team, and the City. Please share this with the guys.

Thanks for all you do!

Matt

Thank you for staying with Boston.

It’s a sad day when the biggest news in baseball is the announcement of another player suspected of doping. It kind of reminds me of the ’80′s when so many players were using cocaine. MLB and the Players Association need to quit squabbling about substance abuse policy and put a very strong policy in place. Like it or not ML ballplayers are role models. My 11 year old daughter loves Albert Pujols and Jim Edmonds, she really looks up to them. For her sake and for the sake of all the kids like her, Pujols, Edmonds, and all other ballplayers have a responsibility to set a good example. Barry Bonds once told a kid’s dad that he (Bonds) wasn’t a role model and it didn’t matter what he did and that the dad was supposed to be the kid’s role model. I guess when you grow up with Bobby Bonds as your father and Willie Mays as your godfather, it’s easy to look to your own family for your sports heroes. That isn’t the case for 99.99% of the kids out there, though. I grew up idolizing Keith Hernandez. When it came it out that he was using cocaine, I was devastated. I couldn’t believe my hero would do something like that. More than 20 years later, I’m still bitter about it, as a matter of fact. So, yeah, ballplayers are role models, like it or not. I like seeing guys like you, Curt, one of the best players in the game, posting blogs and being open and honest about what goes on. Thank you for that.

As for politics, I am supporting Sen. Obama in the upcoming election. However, I would have to say that Sen. McCain is my second choice. Of all the candidates, they seem to be the most sincere. I have supported Sen. McCain in the past. Frankly, I think it would be awesome if McCain and Obama could ignore party politics and run on the same ticket, but I don’t see that happening in the real world.

Its about our mutual pal Dan Shaugnessy

Perhaps predictably, three of four Boston Globe baseball writers picked the Red Sox to win the World Series. Dan Shaughnessy not only didn’t pick the Sox, he picked Toronto to win the AL East; Toronto missed the playoffs by 11 games. He did, however, pick the Dodgers to reach the World Series, losing to the Tigers; neither team made the playoffs.

He is a real genius our pal Dan