A Large Regular

Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.

Have a new Quotes for Today up on my Substack. As I've mentioned doing this as a way to thank those who have Subscribed. If you are a Subscriber - you should have received an email. Thanks!

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I really don't care about Taylor Swift's politics or who she's voting for but if I ever met her I would tell her how much I loved her in Friends just to maybe confuse and upset her (I have a different sense of humor)... The 100 best leadership quotes of all time (according to Inc. Magazine)... Two things Americans really don't like thinking about - our history and how our food gets made... Oral Sex in the Bible... Kevin Youkilis, the Greek God of Walks, saw 292 3-0 counts in his career and never swung at the next pitch... Buck O'Neil's life lessons... What a crazy NFL season its been so far and I think the lesson we can all learn is to not bet on NFL games. Hopefully that lesson hasn't been too expensive for you...

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Like many Patriots fans I hoped the team would use either the 23rd or 31st pick on QB Lamar Jackson. However, as I am not qualified to be an NFL GM and New England has enjoyed a small amount of success over the years - I will trust that Bill Belichick knows what he's doing... Staring at boobs is one of six easy ways for men to live longer. Yay! Boobs! (Although I think number three on the list can just as easily lead to an early death for men)... Heh heh... Congrats to Red Sox great Kevin Youkilis on going back to college to get his degree... Seven reasons Donald Trump should pardon Martha Stewart. Would love to see this happen... I would really like to see a KFC commercial with Jeff Goldblum as the Colonel... Black women were more likely to be married than white women until 1970. That's when they started voting for the Democrats. Just saying... 

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

In betting as in investments - past performance is not indicative of future results. Looking at you Notre Dame... Heh heh... The Red Sox are down 2 games to zero to the Indians. I am saddened by the thought that there are children as old as three in New England who have never seen a Red Sox World Series win in their lifetimes... Holy crap!... If I ever met Gwyneth Paltrow - I would tell her how much I enjoyed her in Friends just to try and tick her off... Well that would explain things... Kevin Youkilis, the Greek God of Walks, saw 292 3-0 counts in his career and never swung at the next pitch... On my bucket list is to be the second Vice President to be accused of murder. A man can dream right!... Shameful confession - the first text I ever send was to place a football bet... Heh heh... I am proposing a new physics theorem - Schrodinger's Keno where your Keno numbers never appear when observed as they come up on the screen... Still amazed that John Kruk was able to turn exactly 100 MLB HR and being a slob into an ESPN announcing gig for so long...

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

With Halloween soon upon us remember, "With Great Pumpkin comes great responsibility" - Linus... Roger Water's blatant antisemitism is making it hard for me to enjoy Pink Floyd songs anymore... Good for Kevin Youkilis - parent of the week. Not even a mention of uncle Tom Brady... There should be a word for when you write an email at work and are so proud of it you read it over and over again after it is sent... This is why Patriots players always seem more prepared when it comes to knowing the rule-book... Every time I find a fruit fly dead in the head of my beer at a bar I think, "That's the way he wanted to die"... This was the best thing to come out of Sean Rodriguez punching out the Gatorade bucket last night... Oh and if you're not familiar with Sean Rodriguez - you're not alone but then again what's to know about a 30-year old journeyman with a career .228 batting average?... Tom Petty was a heroin addict? Looking forward to this biography and I agree that Petty doesn't get his due in the rock and roll pantheon... Always remember that the word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent". To truly listen you should be silent... These Budweiser Red Lights look really cool. I might get one for the Bruins...

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

A lot of new movies and shows coming to Netflix in November. And a lot of movies and shows are being taken out of the library including favorites Serenity and Broadcast News. Plan your day accordingly... Fan favorite Kevin Youkilis has decided to retire. The Greek God of Walks saw 292 3-0 counts in his career (according to MLB Stats) and never swung at a single one of those pitches... 36-years ago yesterday the single greatest holiday episode of any show ever aired. As God as my witness I thought turkeys could fly... I have to wonder if Youkilis will spend part of his retirement taking the wife to follow brother-in-law Tom Brady's games on the road. My mind can easily picture Youkilis in a Winnebago... Heh heh - "Draw me like one of your French girls"... Can't stop thinking that in the next Avengers movie they are in effect fighting the Fox Sports robot... Very interesting story - the gentleman thief of Venice... The Steelers are retiring Mean Joe Greene's number this Sunday. How is it possible his number hasn't been retired already?... Speaking of Kevin Youkilis' brother-in-law, last Sunday Brady accomplished something only one QB in NFL history had previously accomplished. Brady had 85 percent completions (30-35), over 350 yards passing and 5 TD's with no INT's. The only other QB to accomplish this? Tom Brady... Interesting - India holds more gold than the governments of the US, Germany and Switzerland combined...

This player comparison has been in my thoughts the past few days:

Player A - 1061 G/ 150 HR/ 681 RBI/ .281 BA/ .382 OBP/ .861 OPS
Player B - 1092 G/ 137 HR/ 555 RBI/ .274 BA/ .364 OBP/ .828 OPS

Very similar players. Player A is Kevin Youkilis who Yankee fans should remember was supposed to be the third baseman for the Yankees this season - not Alex Rodriguez. Many people are wondering if Alex Rodriguez' career is basically over but the same could be said for Kevin Youkilis. He was signed for 1-year at $12 million. No way he gets that sort of money next year. Maybe he doesn't get any offers. Maybe at age 34 he calls it quits.

It was all over for Player B after his age 34 season and Baseball-reference.com lists him as the most similar to Kevin Youkilis. Player B is former Youkilis teammate Trot Nixon who was a Red Sox mainstay but then ended his career in the uniform of two other teams - playing a combined total of 110 games for first the Indians and then the Mets.

Youkilis was also a Red Sox mainstay but has now worn the uniforms of the White Sox and Yankees for a combined 108 games. Scarily similar.

It is interesting to note the decline of Mark Teixeira at the plate over the years. Tex may be lucky that A-Rod takes the spotlight off him. Take a look at the numbers:

2008 Age 28 Angels - 1.081 OPS
2009 Age 29 Yankees - .948 OPS (12.3% YR/YR decline)
2010 Age 30 Yankees - .846 OPS (10.8% YR/YR decline)
2011 Age 31 Yankees - .835 OPS (1.3% YR/YR decline)
2012 Age 32 Yankees - .807 OPS (3.4% YR/YR decline)

Teixeira has been declining every year. He's approaching replacement level with his bat. At his rate of decline he'll probably reach replacement level in 2014 but here's the thing (actually three things) - Teixeira is a notoriously slow starter. If he gets off to a slow start in 2014 will his fans or even Yankee management still show him the encouragement he might need to get going? Kevin Youkilis got off to an awful start in 2012 and he really couldn't turn it around till he was shipped out of town. Teixeira is under contract by the Yankees until 2016. He will make $22.5 million per year for every year until his contract expires.

As a Red Sox fan - the cherry on top is the fact that the Angels used the compensation pick from the Yankees for signing Teixeira to draft Mike Trout.

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

With the Yankees and their fans becoming completely disenchanted with Alex Rodriguez it seems the unthinkable may become thinkable. Could the Yankees start the 2013 season without A-Rod? If so - who would they get to replace him? How about this scenario - Kevin Youkilis in pinstripes? Stranger things have happened... Never thoughts I'd be saying this (especially not this year) but the fact is UMass may actually have a better football program than Boston College at this point. Seriously.... Agent Coulson resurrected for Josh Whedon's ABC SHIELD TV show... I can't explain it but the name "Carl" Ripken  really amuses me. Thanks for the laugh inept TBS personnel... I hate when I hear a cell phone ring on TV because it almost always has the same ring as my phone. Makes me feel like a dope when I realize it was just the TV... Block Me Amedaeus would be a good name for a fantasy football team... Did Bobby Valentine just validate the idea he's a complete phony?... All you need to know about men is the fact they all understand what a DD bra size means but they can't tell you anything about dress sizes... Just a reminder to everyone who watched the VP debate this week. Joe Biden was added to the ticket by Obama to add "gravitas"...

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Last week Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said that Kevin Youkilis was hitting the same for the White Sox as he was hitting for the Red Sox. He said this out of the blue as if to explain that Valentine wasn't the problem with Youkilis' early season batting woes. The problem is Youkilis is not hitting the same for the White Sox as he was hitting for the Red Sox. His OBP is almost 50 points higher and his OPS is 140 points better. Valentine's failure to grasp this simple fact is a huge red flag regarding his ability to manage in the major leagues today... Interesting read on the role of Wes Welker with the Patriots... Just a reminder but Art Modell was so popular in Cleveland in the late 70's that the Republican Party wanted to run his for Governor... Am I bad person because I thought this was really funny? The Cheers opening turned into Jihad.... I am still coming to grips with the Patriots losing to Arizona on Sunday. Did that really happen?... More awesome photos from the Hubble space telescope...

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The following sentence does a good job summarizing the Boston Red Sox' 2012 season: In the first week of September the Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals have almost the exact same record... Heh heh - this took me a minute... Josh Beckett has been decent for the Dodgers since the big trade from Boston. He's averaged better than 6 inning per start with a 3.86 ERA in his first 3 games for LA... Is High Fructose Tampons a good name for fantasy football team?... Winston Churchill once said, "To do justice to a great man, discriminating criticism is always necessary." If he was alive today and he criticized Barack Obama - he'd just be called discriminating... Adrian Gonzalez hit a HR for the Dodgers in his first game but none in the 12 games since. His OPS in LA is a miserable .663... This picture always makes my day... "Kevin Youkilis THE MUSICAL" would make a great off-Broadway show. Tell me you wouldn't buy a ticket to that!

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

With Carmelo Anthony the defacto reason the Knicks are not going to match the Rockets offer to Jeremy Lin - I once again wonder if anyone will ask George Karl what was harder - beating cancer or trying to deal with Carmelo's ego... 5 things you might not know about US Army Special Forces... When you see a picture of Jay Marriotti - in your mind do you hear a sad trombone or do you hear Liza Minelli singing some Broadway tune?... Kevin Youkilis' letter to Boston fans (for the record I despise the phrase "Red Sox nation")... Little known fact - I ran Bain Capital from 1999 to 2002... Lawn chair balloon flight? OK now that's another thing I have to add to my bucket list...

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

I hope this idea works. Dad tries to get son a job by offering free beer incentive.

Glenn Beck made $80 million last year while Keith Olbermann can't find a job. That's certainly one way to look at it.

Heh heh - If Aaron Sorkin wrote for The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Ken Levine is one funny guy.

Ken Tremendous has a good appreciation of Kevin Youkilis' time in Boston.

Joe Posnanski also has a good take on Youk.

One final take on Kevin Youkilis. I agree 100% that the Red Sox got much more out of Youkilis than he got out of them.

Wow - as Chris Lindsay points out Coke makes so many products that if you drank one every day it would take over 9 years to try them all.

One of my favorite Kevin Youkilis moments.

Currently the Red Sox magic number is 98 but that will probably change today. You would think I'd mention the average body temperature being 98 degrees but I want to mention a different 98 that will also probably change today.

Elias points out that the last player to reach Will Middlebrooks numbers of .331 BA / 9 HR / and 33 RBI though their first 40 games was Albert Pujols. And as good as Middlebrooks has been - lets not get carried away comparing him to certain Hall of Famers such as Pujols. In all honesty - Middlebrooks is not even close to being the AL ROY at this point. That honor belongs to Mike Trout of the Angels.

Getting back to the number 98 - that's also the number of career runs scored for 25-year old Josh Reddick (a number that could easily change today). What does Reddick have to do with Middlebrooks? Besides being highly touted Red Sox prospects both Middlebrooks and Reddick have been hitting HR at the exact same rate of 1 HR every 15.8 AB this season.  Let's remember Reddick as a reminder of how bad the last few deals by the Red Sox have been (Reddick for Bailey, Lowrie for Melancon, Scutaro for nothing) as we wait for the Red Sox to move the guy Middlebrooks is replacing - Kevin Youkilis.

Although to be completely honest - just getting Youkilis out of town in and of it self would be a good trade for the Red Sox at this point.

The debate in New England right now is who will be traded first - the Bruins goalie Tim Thomas or the Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis? The Red Sox have denied that Youkilis is on the trading block but come one - who are you kidding?

The Red Sox have every reason in the world to be looking to trade Youkilis; he's highly paid and moving his salary will give them more flexibility for the rest of this year, they already have a better replacement in rookie Will Middlebrooks who also happens to be a fan favorite, and they are going to have to cut him after the season anyway because the Red Sox will not be picking up Youkilis' 2013 $13 million option. Of course they are looking to trade him.

Please note that I am not definitively saying he will be traded but I am saying Youkilis is on the trading block. The Red Sox may keep Youkilis for the rest of the year if they cannot come to agreement with another team on pieces that will help the team either this season or down the road. To tell us he is not on the trading block is to ask fans to suspend belief.

Steve Buckley has a column in today's Boston Herald discussing why the Red Sox should bring back Kevin Youkilis and give him the starting role at 3rd base. His logic is - to say the least - lacking. Here are the three bullet points Buckley points to on why Youkilis should get his job back.

1. If Youkilis can return and show his old hitting prowess then the Red Sox will have added a proven veteran to the line-up. To this I say - old hitting prowess may be a bad choice of words because Youkilis has looked old at bat and in the field. Since last year's All-Star break Youkilis has hit .205 with a sub .660 OPS. Let's also be honest - the days of Youkilis hitting 20+ HR are gone. The years of Will Middlebrooks hitting 20+ HR per year are just beginning. Give the kid a shot.

2. Buckley wants Youkilis to get his job back to increase his trade value because to use Buckley's own words, "Youk is worthless [on the trade market right now]." There's a reason Youk is worthless Buck. Nick Punto is worthless on the trade market too - should we give him a starting job to try and improve that?

3. The third reason Buckley gives is the old - a veteran shouldn't lose his job to injury. To which I'd say in my best Don Draper voice, "THAT's WHAT THE MONEY IS FOR!" Youkilis is making $13 million this year. He isn't coming close to returning value on that investment.

It seems like many of the reporters covering the Red Sox have been beating fans over the head after Josh Beckett's last game and regarding Will Middlebrooks and the fact if you listened to some of them you would think Middlebrooks was 1 for his last 131 at bats (hey had to work 131 in there somewhere).

Their message comes down to, "Hey dumb-asses do you still want to trade Josh Beckett and Kevin Youkilis?" And my answer is not only "YES!" but to point out that these reporters just don't get it. Even after that great last outing - Beckett still has a replacement level ERA of 4.97 and he still is a petulant self-entitled multi-millionaire. Beckett pays more in taxes than most Red Sox fans make in a year. I don't want to hear him complain about wanting to do what he wants to do on his "18 days off". Screw him.

Trade him. I don't care about him any more. And I know many fans feel the same way. Free up his roster spot for someone who at least will act like he cares about the fans and about wearing the uniform. Get him out of the clubhouse. Get him off the team. He should bring back a good prospect or two from an NL team.

When it comes to Kevin Youkilis - I feel bad for him but my sympathy only goes so far for a guy who will make $13 million this year. The fact is Will Middlebrooks has struggled the last half dozen games. But the fact also remains that Middlebrooks has been much more effective than Youkilis this season (73 OPS+ to 124 OPS+). Besides people want to see what the kid can do. People don't really want to see Youkilis complain after a bad at bat or grimace in the field after making a diving attempt at a ball that is just outside his reach any more.

The Red Sox are still in the hunt for both the AL East and Wild Card spots but that doesn't mean they are likable. Only Dustin Pedrioa and Will Middlebrooks make me want to check the boxscores the next day. Boston ownership will be reaping some pretty poor numbers from NESN ratings because this team is so unlikable. Which will in turn mean less revenue for advertising. The Celtics will probably go deep into the NBA playoffs and suddenly it will be pre-season for the Patriots. That's when you will start seeing some moves.

But by that time it may be too late.

Things are bad with the Boston Red Sox - that's no secret. Here's 5 moves that I'd make to try and fix things.

1. Fire Bobby Valentine. I think it is clear to pretty much everyone that Valentine is a bad fit. I would replace him with DeMarlo Hale who is currently the 3rd base coach for the Orioles. Hale knows the organization and the players. I don't think the Orioles would stand in his way to get a managing position. I'd give Hale a 2-year deal with an option which would keep the door ajar for John Farrell.

2. I'd move Daniel Bard to closer. I've been a constant advocate for Bard in the starting rotation but the situation warrants drastic action. Make Bard the closer until Andrew Bailey returns and then re-evaluate. The evaluation may say to keep Bard as closer and make Bailey the set-up guy. Or maybe Bailey comes back as closer and then Bard moves back to rotation? Right now Bard needs to take over closer role.

3. Taking Bard out of the rotation opens up the 5th starter role which I'd give to Aaron Cook who has done everything the team has asked of him. Cook is 2-0 in 3 starts for Pawtucket with a 1.35 ERA.

4. Trade or dump Vincent Padilla. I was against this signing from the start. The guy has a 9.82 ERA and is a clubhouse bomb waiting to go off. I'm not making him a scapegoat but I do want him out of the clubhouse.

5. This would he the hardest one to accomplish - trade Kevin Youkilis and bring up Will Middlebrooks who is killing the ball in AAA (7 HR in just 66 AB). Youkilis makes $12 million this year and has a $13 million option for 2013. If the Red Sox picked up half the tab they could probably swing a deal with some team in need of a 1st or 3rd baseman.

Those are the 5 moves I'd make if I was in charge of the Red Sox. So let it be written - so let it be done.

P.S. I'd also ditch once and for all Sweet Caroline. That gimmick has run its course. A love song to an 11-year old girl? Seriously - its an embarrassment.

Let me weigh in on Bobby Valentine and his recent comments about Kevin Youkilis. I have three points I'd like to make.

1. Let me first say that I don't think Valentine knew at the time that he was saying something wrong or controversial. He was not trying some motivational ploy. It was just a poor choice of words by a guy in love with the sound of his own voice.

I have never thought Valentine to be that articulate. Sure he was a big improvement over Joe Morgan on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball but that's not really that much of an accomplishment. Valentine is much closer to Chance the Gardner than Einstein no matter what his supporters would have you believe (remember Chance the Gardner's supporters thought he was smart enough to be President).

Bobby can't help being Bobby (like Manny couldn't help being Manny). He may be chastened by this accidental brouhaha for a while but with all of his media commitments (the Michael Kay show in NYC and his own weekly show on NESN just the tip of the iceberg of his need for attention) - Bobby V will strike again and again. He will make another offhand remark or try to make a joke about a player that will fall flat. He won't be able to help himself. That will be his downfall.

2. The Red Sox management are not stupid people. They knew what they were getting in Valentine. This makes me wonder if there is a bit of Machiavellian genius at work here. Is this like the book Dune where Baron Harkonnen first sends in the Beast Rabban with the idea of replacing him with the lovely Feyd Rautha (played by Sting in the 1984 movie).

The Red Sox probably looked at their candidates to replace Terry Francona and decided that none of them would make people forget the discarded Francona. There were no John Farrell's in the bunch and the closest thing - Dale Sveum - probably made it clear that he had no intention of working for the bunch that did his friend Francona so dirty.

With that in mind the Red Sox management made a 180 degree pivot to Bobby V. Knowing full well what they were getting. Let Bobby V implode and let the fans and players see what the other options look like then bring in a guy like DeMarlo Hale.

3. In the meantime Bobby V is in a position to do a lot of damage. I'm not talking about the season because almost no Red Sox fan has any hopes this year. I'm talking about him blowing out the arms of his starters on the way out the door. Daniel Bard had 111 pitches yesterday in 2nd start ever. Last year he had dead arm in September. If Bobby V keeps using him like that he might as well schedule his appointment with Dr. James Andrew right now.