Adrian Gonzalez and Ps. 27:1

Photo: (AP/Ross D. Franklin) Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox, hitting a homer in the 4th inning of the All-Star Game

Interesting thing I discovered today.  I'm looking to buy an Adrian Gonzalez (first baseman, Boston Red Sox) autographed picture and I saw two that I liked on two different sites.  (I won't mention their names.)  One site has an 8X10 and another a 16X20.  I'd prefer the larger one, as 8X10s don't often show up well when framed, etc.  But this 8X10 is much more clear than the larger picture, as the larger one shows him swinging, but you can't see the face well--and the computer simulations on  the site showed that his face and foot would be covered by the frame and mattes.  (A salesperson assured me this wasn't actually going to happen.)  The 8X10 was very clear, and the autograph was very striking, and the face was clear.  A headshot, really.

But then I noticed the really interesting thing.  I've looked at a ton of Adrian Gonzalez autographed items--bases, uniforms, bats, cards, baseballs, photos, lineup cards, everything.  Underneath every single autograph on every single item, he writes Ps 27:1, a reference to Psalms 27:1, which reads:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Every single item, under every single autograph, without fail.  There are articles about him doing this; he's quite the fanatic about it, and I mean that in a good way.  He engraves Ps 27:1 into all of his bats, and I'm not just talking about the ones he autographs; I'm talking about the ones he uses.  Ps 27:1, always.

But not on the 16X20 I was looking at, the one I called the salesperson about.  This woman told me that athletes change their signatures all the time, which I'm not sure I believe, either.  Players I've spoken to are anxious about fans getting their autographs just to sell them online, and they're worried about forged products with their "autographs" on them.  Not only do these flood the markets and lower the value of the real thing; they also gyp the player out of his cut, since he never really signed it to begin with.  So no Ps 27:1, and I also then noticed that the A and D in his first name--the only legible letters--and the G and L in his last name--also the only legible letters in his last name--look a little bit (but noticeably) different in the 18X20.  And the 18X20 is actually priced a bit lower than the 8X10, which I've also never seen before.

Now, I want to make it clear that I'm not accusing anybody of anything.  I suppose it's possible that for the first time in his athletic life, Gonzalez forgot to put the Ps 27:1 on this particular item--each time he signed it.  But I don't want to take that chance.  I'll bet that signing the Ps 27:1 is just as much a part of his signature as is each letter of his name.  If he signed all of the photos without it--and this photo was only available to the public a few days ago, on All-Star night (during which he hit the first, but, alas, not the last, homer)--I'll bet it was because someone told him to leave it out.  Or they air-brushed it.  Would Gonzalez allow that?  I don't know.  He's a VERY religious guy.  VERY.  And he's always signed it, millions of times, with the Ps 27:1.

Weird.  If anyone has an explanation for this, please pass it along.  Thanks.  Look 'em up.  It won't take long to find the two photos I mean.  Put in keywords Adrian Gonzalez/autographed photos and you'll see.

At Fenway, July 7, 2011

An interesting blowout game, to say the least.  It's hard to keep a game interesting after the home team scores 8 in the bottom of the first, but this one managed.  First, it was a race against the weather, as the skies looked like they'd open up at any time.  With a lead like that, you hope the batters swing at the first pitch and get the fifth over with quickly, so that it's an official game.  But then the rains never really came.

But the thunder and lightning did, in the 8th inning, when Gregg threw three straight pitches up and in on Ortiz.  At first, being there in person, it looked like he was just pitching up and in--and I missed the first pitch or two.  Don't know why.  Couldn't tell you.  Anyway, after watching the 2-hour edited game today, it is clear that he was being thrown at--three times!!!--and that Gregg told him to run down to first after he popped up and strolled to the bag.  Halfway there, he did what Gregg told him to do--he ran.

At Gregg.  They exchanged punches, they both missed, they both got ejected.  With Salty and a Baltimore reliever and God knows who else.  Why Showalter wasn't also tossed is beyond me, and he further slowed the game down by appearing about ten different times on the field to talk to an umpire.  (This annoyed the NESN commentators as well.)

And then Josh Reddick, who had hit a triple to drive in the last run before Ortiz came to the plate, gets called out at third for abandoning the base, which he did when Ortiz charged the mound.  Never seen that before, and I've seen my share of brawls.  Possibly it's a rule that's never been enforced before?  So a new pitcher came in to replace Gregg, who'd been ejected, and I guess he either threw over to first, or the umpires figured out before he finished warming up that Reddick was automatically out for "abandoning the base."  And I guess the new reliever gets credit for his 1/3 of an inning?  Weird game.

July 5th, 2011

--Lucky to win today, as your closer normally won't give up 4 hits in an inning, including a 2-run homer that still hasn't landed yet, and still get the save.  Something needs to be done about Papelbon.  Why not make him a starter and Bard the closer--though I have some serious misgivings about Bard as well.

--Great block by Varitek, but he was probably safe.  Nice to see a catcher block the plate like that with possession of the ball for once.  That's a rule that needs looking into.  If you're not going to call it, take it off the books.  If it's in the book, call it.  Mike Scioscia, current manager of the Angels, used to block the plate without the ball all the time.

--Good luck to Mike Cameron, who was traded to the Marlins today, with cash, for either a player to be named later, and/or cash.  Sounds like a dump-off to the Marlins to me, and you can bet the cash sent to them will be thank-you money.  The cash to be named later will be salary money.  Bless the Marlins for having room on their roster for what the GM said would be a player "to mentor our younger guys."  That's Bull Durham for the major leagues.  Cameron probably deserved better, but don't we all.

--I don't remember the All-Star break happening this late.  It'll be after game 90 or so this year.  That's later, isn't it?

--Jeter making the All-Star team is a joke, but it shows you MLB has the eye on the cash register.  Despite one of the worst years of his career last year, Jeter's jersey was the top seller in all of MLB--more than Pujols, A-Rod, and many other much better players.  Sure, the fans voted him in, but see what I'm saying?  If they hadn't, you can bet he'd be put on by somebody.  He makes money for lots of other people, and it really is as simple as that.

My All-Star Picks

My All-Star Picks

(Very important, as we don't want the Sox to have to play NL rules in this year's World Series!)


 Position                               AL                                       NL

1st Base                               Adrian Gonzalez                   Fielder

2nd Base                              Cano                                   Weeks

3rd Base                              Youkilis                                Ramirez

Shortstop                             A. Cabrera                           Tulowitzki

Catcher                               Avila                                    McCann

DH                                       Ortiz

Outfield                      Ellsbury, Quentin, Markakis              Kemp, Victorino, Beltran

Please feel free to agree or disagree in an email or comment.  Tell me who I missed.

Long Time, No See

Sorry for the layoff!  Work demands, buying my father's house (closing in 7 weeks), selling or renting mine, packing my house up, packing my father's house up, dealing with lawyers and real estate agents...I'd rather be blogging, believe me.  So I apologize to the readers of this blog; I realize now that I left for over a month without explanation.  So...my bad.

Having said that, a few quick things:

--The Cameron signing confused me to begin with, as Cameron has made a long career of a talented could-have-been.  Four homers in a game; Gold Gloves; All-Star appearances...and yet his career has to be called a disappointment.  Long regarded as one of the classiest guys in the game, you have to guess that it's this reputation and personable ability (plus the obvious potential) that has kept him in the game.  He was not a Sox type of player: never walked much; didn't work the count; didn't hit for average or have a high on-base percentage.  Homers and defense, and some speed when healthy.  That's it, and that's all he's ever been.  His defense must have been spectacular to make up for what he couldn't do offensively.  But the Sox signed him to be the starting center fielder and gave up on others, which never made sense to me.  Maybe I'd be taking it easier on him if he hadn't been so consistently injury-prone for his whole career, but that's a combination--always injured; low batting average and on-base percentage; doesn't work the count--that I wouldn't want in a player.  I wouldn't have signed him, and I don't have any clue as to why Theo did.  Theo admitted his mistake in recent interviews, basically saying that he hoped the injuries would be over.  But they weren't, and then Cameron lost his abilities as well, which was due to happen to a 38 year-old player who's always injured.  I wish him well, as he's apparently a helluva guy, and it's true that he never complained when his role was reduced in Boston.

--Michael Ryder is gone, which means the honeymoon's over and the business has reared its head.

--Ortiz needs to play in NL games.  The offense isn't the same without him.  He's hitting over .340 against lefties, too, which has to be at least 100 points higher than the last few years.  I'm happy about his resurrection, but I worry about the cause.

--Their performance against the Phils doesn't bode well for a possible World Series, though chances are the Sox wouldn't throw the pitchers at them that they did.

--Losing 2 of 3 against the Phils is understandable.  Doing the same against Pittsburgh?  Not so much.

--Pujols is batting .275 and looking respectably average.  Is he playing injured?

--The Brewers are crazy if they don't resign Fielder.  They sell out almost every game; they're the only team, good or bad, in their area, and fans come from three or four states to see them.  And their park looks great.  Losing Fielder is the first step in losing all that.  If I'm the Brew Crew, I let him fill in the amount.

--Losing football would be unfortunate.  But I can do without basketball, a sport where only the last minute in both halves actually matter.

--Laz Diaz, homeplate umpire tonight, not only hasn't seen many strikes that broke the plane (mostly for the Astros), but he also didn't see Pedroia blatantly screaming at him as he ran down the first base line after a hit in the 7th.  How do you miss that?

--The cameras didn't miss it, and it got shown many times.  If he gets fined by the league, he can thank NESN's cameras and directors.

--The American League needs to win the All-Star Game.  (See above Sox/Phils comments.)

--The above comment shows the travesty of the All-Star Game, by the way.  Thanks, Fox.

--Speaking of Fox, where else could you find an analyst who calls the President a d--- on camera?  I hope that starts a wave of disapproval of all "analysts" and "reporters" who opine and don't report.  Everything goes in waves; this is a good place to start the ejection of all "news" that isn't.

--I'll say it again.  I'd rather see Lowrie and the AAA phenom at short, too, but enough of the hate towards Scutaro.  He's a .280 singles and doubles hitter who plays average (with slight dips and spikes) defense, who right now is hitting .279 and playing average defense.  He is what he always was.  I don't love it, either, but expecting him to be anything else besides what he has always been is foolish.

--Adrian Gonzalez has shown that the Sox are better off with him at first and Youk at third then they were with Youk at first and Beltre at third, or with Victor Martinez at DH (instead of Ortiz, who they had the vision to resign) and Youk and Beltre in the infield.  Martinez is a bad defensive catcher and a below-average game caller, and only adequate at first, while Gonzalez and Youk are lights out.  Beltre, after a stellar start, has fizzled lately, though his RBI totals are still good--but you'd expect that, with him batting where he is in the Rangers order.  In other words, Theo was right again, and I admit that I was slow to appreciate his decisions with these guys.  You can't play--or pay--ALL of these guys.

--Salty and Tek are hitting decently enough, after all.  Their platoon is a better hitting situation than are most teams' catchers.  A quick look at the All-Star eligible catchers show that only McCann can hit well at all on his own.  No more Pudges or Piazzas out there otherwise right now.   A good hitting catcher with average defensive abilities has a chance to stick around a long time with an MLB team.

--Between the Sox, Yanks and Rays, one will win the division and one the wild card.  One will go home, but still be the third-best team in the American League.  It's a tough division.

--The Yanks and Rays are overachieving right now.  Look for the Rays, who can pitch but not hit, or the Yanks, who can hit but not pitch, to fall away.