Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- A takeover of the IPCC. "When an assessment is taken over to serve politics it ceases to be an assessment and turns into something else."

- From the archives: Paul Graham on how to think for yourself.

- Former Red Sox TV voice Don Orsillo is ranked first among MLB's broadcast teams. Letting Orsillo go was a Mookie Betts type mistake.

- The walls are closing in on Adam Schiff and he knows it. Love that they used that phrase in the headline.

National Pizza Day

Today is National Pizza Day and in Boston the above is what many first think of when hearing the word "pizza".

I miss the pairing of Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy.

State of the Red Sox

The Patriots were nice enough to have their bye-week the same week the 2015 season came to an end for the Red Sox so some fans were drawn back to the last place Sox for one last time. Which was nice since Sunday was also the last game to be called by fan and player favorite Don Orsillo.

Most Red Sox beat writers wasted no time in opining on what the Boston front office needs to do this winter. To save you the time of reading this fluff I'll summarize 90% of the articles: Dave Dombrowski needs to A. get an Ace and B. get rid of Hanley Ramirez. I largely don't disagree but there more work to be done than that.

At catcher the Red Sox seem set with Blake Swihart (who had a slash line of .303/.353/.452/.805 after the All-Star game) and Christian Vazquez (who was on his way to being the best defensive catcher in the AL before he hurt his arm). Does Dombrowski use one of his young stud catchers as a trade chip?

First base is the biggest question. Travis Shaw hit 13 homers in just 65 games but his splits are extreme. At home he has an OPS of  .953 while on the road is just .677. Versus lefties he mashed - batting .329 vs just .243 against righties. Move Hanley Ramirez to first? I'd rather not. A Brock Holt / Travis Shaw platoon might be the best solution if no other pieces are added.

Second (Pedroia), short (Bogaerts), DH (Ortiz) and third (Sandoval) are all-set. I say Boston is set at third mostly because of Pablo Sandoval's contract (he's got 4-years and $78 million left on his deal) but I'm not a fan.

The outfield also seems set with Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts and Rusney Castillo. I'm not sold yet on Castillo but my guess is the Boston brass gives him a full year to see what they've got in him.

Everyone says the Red Sox need an ace with most people pointing to David Price via free agency or Sonny Gray via trade and I'd be happy to get either (unless the asking price for Gray was Betts or Bogaerts). However, as much crap the starting staff took this year - they weren't that bad in the second half of the season.

The bull-pen on the other hand was a mess. I hope this off season sees lots of changes. One person suggested (sorry I forget who) that Dombrowski float a bad contract in Allen Craig (2-years and $21 million remaining) for bad clubhouse person Jonathan Papelbon. Still not sure how I'd feel about that swap.

As always should be an interesting Hot Stove season.

Don Orsillo

The Red Sox and NESN have decided not to renew the contract of team TV play-by-play man Don Orsillo. "Not renewing the contract" is a euphemistic way of saying "fired' or in this case "ripped the guts out of". This move was completely unexpected by Red Sox fans and just as unwelcome.

For the past 15-years Orsillo has handled the job in an understated, professional, upbeat manner. As a person who travels and has seen and heard the play-by-play announcers of many other teams - I hope NESN viewers understand just how good we have had it this past decade and a half. Outside of American icon Vin Scully -  Don Orsillo may just be the best in baseball. He was so good that he made everyone forget that Sean McDonough ever preceded him (and McDonough is one of the best all-around play-by-play announcers in my lifetime).

Orsillo will land on his feet somewhere and he will make some team's fanbase very happy. But it won't be the same. Either for us Red Sox fans or for the New England born Orsillo. Because of this move I might have already watched my last Red Sox game of the season and because of the way they just treated Don Orillo - NESN can suck my balls! I hope their ratings tank the next six weeks for what they just did to the good-hearted Orsillo. I hope advertisers pull their commercials to send a message to the NESN brass that they just screwed up in a major way. I hope all of their genitals shrivel up and whither away (maybe that last part is over the top).

The ever classy Gordon Edes describes the situation in a much more professional manner (even though there's no declaration that NESN can suck his balls too - there is no disguising Edes' contempt for this move). I hope Red Sox fans also appreciate Edes because like Orsillo he's one of the best in the business.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting and thought I'd share.

- One of the many reasons to like Terry Francona (and good sport Don Orsillo)

- The Evan Gattis story keeps getting cooler and cooler

- Speaking of cool stories - it doesn't get much better than Chris Colabella's finally making it to the Big Show

- Heh Heh

- Searching for Dwight Howard. I've long held that Dwight Howard is the most over-rated player in the NBA. Whoever signs him will come to regret the decision.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Great win by Iowa State last night! Too bad great the win was marred by the Cyclones playing Sweet Caroline to celebrate. I am so sick of that song... Don Orsillo recently re-signed with NESN with a contract that keeps him at the network until 2015. If Terry Francona takes a TV job that Orsillo turned down - you know Orsillo will never let Francona live it down (good natured ribbing between friends)... Congratulations to the Holy Cross Crusaders who destroyed Boston College last night 86-64... It can be argued that Barry Zito parlayed his only 20-win season into $146 million in career earnings. Could that make his 23-win 2002 season the most valuable 20-win season ever?... I agree with the irony that Shawn Ryan points out:

Joe Paterno's doctor notified JoePa immediately of his cancer diagnosis, so that any future damage might be avoided.

According to the Sports Tax Man - assuming Matt Kemp is a California resident - his new 8-year $160M deal will net him $86.4 million with the rest going to taxes. I am assuming that after realizing this Kemp will join the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party... Tim Tebow Just Wins is anagram for Must Join Web Twits... In early 1900's there was famous Asian prostitute in Chicago named Suzy Poon Tang whose name became slang for - well you know...