The Sashman Speaks

With the recent decline in the Red Sox/ Yankees rivalry a new rivalry has started to really heat up.  It started in 2011 when the Baltimore ended the Sox last gasp hope of making the playoffs by winning in the bottom of the 9th and leading to the dismissals of Tito Francona, Theo Epstein, and many other sox players and lead to the hiring of Bobby Valentine and the disaster that was the 2012 Red Sox season. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. Manny Machado slid late and hard into Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia spiking him on his knee and ankle. The Sox chose not to retaliate until recently with having reliever Matt Barnes throwing at and getting suspended for 4 games. ( here is the conversation between Pedroia and Machado)  https://twitter.com/BoSoxInjection/status/856245674890985472  After Machado was thrown at by Barnes, a conversation between Pedroia and Machado was caught on camera.   Pedroia said that he had not told Barnes to throw at Machado and t...

86 years then 2004 happens. 108 years and then finally the Cubs win in 2016. Dan Shulman came up with an interesting thought during this Sunday Night's telecast saying that there, " is a mutual appreciation" between Red Sox and Cubs fans.   I tend to agree with this sentiment.  Being a Red Sox fan and growing up just waiting and hoping for the opportunity to see them win a World Championship was roller-coaster ride with higher highs and lower lows than can ever be understood unless you were a Cubs fan.  To go through such heartbreak like both teams had gone through over decades and centuries to finally break through with their championships is a wonderful thing.  Theo Epstein who was only in his second full season as a general manager of the Red Sox, taking the job in November of 2002, and coming oh soo close to getting to the World Series and then architecting the 3-0 comeback to beat the Yankees and to reach and win the World Series, openly admitt...

Who's better, Williams or Dimmagio? Thurman Munson or Carlton Fisk? Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium?  Do fans of both teams finally let Bucky "bleepin Dent's home run became a faded memory? what about the fight in 2003 between Arod and Varitek as well as watching the late Don Zimmer charge at Pedro and take a header over, and finally the completion of the greatest comeback in sports in 2004 do all of these debates and memories fade away?     It's weird to think that growing up being a Red Sox fan watching all those Yankee World Series being won, while the Red Sox waited and waited all those years until 2004 to finally win their first World Series.      Since 2004, the Red Sox have gone onto to win 2 more World Series titles in 2007, and 2013, while the Yankees captured their 27th title in 2009. But, with both teams having won, is the rivalry now dead?  Are the days of the " curse of the bambino" and "who's your daddy" behind us? With the re...

As a young kid growing up I grew up on the heroes of the game, Ruth, Dimaggio, Mantle, Williams etc.  As I continued to grow up and watch the game of baseball grow and mature like I did, I was always excited to see what new legends were going to get to be immortalized into the Baseball Hall of Fame.   I've been lucky enough to visit the Hall of Fame on multiple occasions including as a kid with my dad, as a member of my high school baseball team on two occasions.   To now watch as more players that I grew up watching in the late 80's 90's and early 2000's it just reminds me of how wonderful this game truly and really is. I'll end this quick post with one of my favorite quotes from my favorite movie, Field of Dreams, "