Picture of the Day: Fenway back in the 1910s
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Tag Archives: Boston
Picture of the day: Boston Strong
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The MVP of Yesterday: The Real Heroes
Today, I’m not going to write about yesterday’s baseball MVP (although I did pick one- you can see who it was by going down). Instead, I’m going to talk about real heroes. People like these guys. Or these guys. Or former Patriots’ lineman Joe Andruzzi. Heroes. People who, whether professional emergency personnel or merely concerned citizens, whether rich or poor, run not away from horror, but straight towards it, whether it be to save family, friend, or, so often, complete strangers. They are the best of us, and yet they could be any of us. And they need not be the ones actually there helping the injured. They could just as easily be people who gave blood, or who offered shelter to runners and victims who found themselves stranded as Boston was hit by such horror and chaos.
There will no doubt be talk in the coming days of the fiends who murdered innocent people yesterday. People will play armchair psychologist and armchair terrorism expert. But, far too much, the talking heads will forget the people who fell victim to this act, and far too much, they will forget the people who did not run away… but run towards the danger.
Stay strong, Boston.
(Note: For standings purposes, I have chosen yesterday’s MVP- Joe Mauer. He went 4-5 with three RBI and was a triple away from the cycle in the Twins victory. Go below the jump for the MVP standings.)
ATTENTION: Spring Training games have started
Spring Training games started today as the Red Sox defeated Northeastern University today, 3-0 in a abbreviated game. Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a double, Pedro Ciriaco had an RBI, and Daniel Bard gave up a hit and struck out three in his one inning of work.
You may now continue on your day.
Kevin Youkilis returns to Boston (AKA: The People vs. Bobby Valentine)
I was in Boston, it was perhaps two or three days after Kevin Youkilis was traded to Chicago, exchanging his red for white. Figuring that Youkilis gear would now be on sale, I went to a Red Sox store on Lansdowne Street with my father. To our surprise, there still was plenty of Youkilis gear, up all around as if he still was set to to start that night at third. When my father asked an employee about that, there came (roughly) this response:
“Guy gave over eight years to this franchise and won two rings, we’re not just going to forget him overnight. He’s the Greek God of Walks, after all.”
He added that they’d probably end up taking them down and/or discounting them after the end of the homestand.
Right about now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the stores in Boston are still selling Youkilis jerseys. Because, as the Red Sox become the most volatile playoff-contending team since the Bronx is Burning Yankees, Youkilis very well may have been elevated to a martyr-esque cult figure. While he’s been producing in Chicago and writing nice notes to Red Sox Nation, manager Bobby Valentine has been quoted as blaming Youkilis for all of the problems the two of them had, saying that Youkilis never wanted to get over a comment Valentine had made in April about how he thought Youkilis wasn’t “into it”.
This is not something that is going to help Bobby Valentine’s reputation in Boston, much less the Red Sox locker room. Not like he will care, as he is seemingly turning the Red Sox around by making all of them have a common enemy: him. They are far behind in the AL East race, but are very much in the Wild Card race.
Here’s another anecdote: when at a Red Sox-Blue Jays game at Fenway, there was a mid-inning montage on the jumbotron of final games by Red Sox greats in Boston uniforms. It finished with Youkilis, and that part drew a big cheer.
I’m going to guess he’ll get a similarly big cheer tonight. The reaction to Bobby Valentine when he goes to the pitcher’s mound will probably be more… mixed.
The Baseball Continuum 
