Charles Bisbee's Boston Red Sox fan blog

David Ortiz is the latest in a fearsome lineup of would-be hall of famers to be dragged under the worn tarmac of performance-enhancing drug speculation. In keeping with the overall theme from my previous, related posts, I would advocate for the lifetime ban of this once-proud slugger (if proven guilty), as I would for any player caught cheating the national pastime. One day, when the smoke finally clears (whenever that day may be), Major League Baseball could be faced with a cold reality: maybe 90% of ballplayers juiced. Maybe Cal Ripken, Ken Griffey Jr., Albert Pujols, Greg Maddux, Rickey Henderson-maybe they all were cheaters.

If Bud Selig had the testicular fortitude to draw a line in the sand, he would have done so by now. Pete Rose is banished from the game for betting on his team to win games. And yet we slap blatant, omnipresent cheaters with 50 game suspensions? Manny Ramirez returns to Mannywood and is marketed just as feverishly as before his suspension? There is no consistency in Major League Baseball.

Continue reading "Initial Reaction to Ortiz Story"

There's been a less-than-pleasant bed bug infestation at the humble chateau de Bisbee/Duah. It began, as these things so often do, as a minor disturbance, a hole in the screen we thought, undoubtedly allowing in some pesky mosquitos. My negligence to nip the problem at the bud resulted in the realization of great bed bug civilizations, though, and a few nights ago I was roundly bludgeoned into a schizophrenic mess. I've remained this way since, basically-- sleeping on the living room floor while visions of human-sized arthropods and Hanley Ramirez batting lines dance through my head...

Anyway, forgive my somewhat more-scatterbrained-than-usual writing today. I've gotten enough sleep over the past three nights to be legally admitted into an asylum. This being said, here are some thoughts on Wimbledon:

Continue reading "Grumblings of a Senseless Insomniac/ Breaking Down Wimbledon"

Almost exactly a year ago I wrote and published my first blog in this here forum of journalistic excellence and opinionated sports debate. I recounted the pitfalls of a thoroughly disappointing Lakers-Celtics Finals, one that should have been steeped in drama, history and haymakers but was instead hampered by flops, bricks, and poor decision-making. I find it fitting to sit here on this most unceremonious of anniversaries (does anyone still read this? if you’re out there, send money) and begrudgingly opine on yet another, equally disappointing Finals. 

The Lakers thoroughly shellacked the Magic the other night to seal their 15th championship and catapult Phil Jackson, that opportunist of opportunists, past Red Auerbach on the all-time, championship list. I’d be remiss not to briefly point out what an insufferable pickle-eater Jackson is. The guy carved a hall of fame career by loitering around the likes of Michael, Shaq and Kobe (a trio you’d have to think a blind donkey could coach to some degree of success) and then he rewards himself by donning a yellow cap, highlighted with a self-righteous Roman numeral “X”. God..

Continue reading "Another Disappointing Finals"

Call me soft but I am really getting tired of the all-forgiving, Mannywood-worshiping, sissymary “baseball realists” infecting the airwaves and newspapers of late. Earlier today, Jon Heyman of si.com published an article measuring the merits, Hall of Fame credentials and perspective eligibility of such noted sleazebags as ARoid, Manny, Barry and (God-help-us-all) Roger Clemens. He created his own convenient and self-righteous gauge, judging players on the extent and longevity of actualized or alleged sleaziness. Luckily, I wasn’t the only reader with a “what the deuce!?” reaction. As mole57 from New Jersey points out, it shouldn't matter when or for how long a player used steroids:

Steroid use should be looked at on the same level as cheating. It doesn't matter if they didn't need to cheat to be great -- they still chose to cheat and ultimately they have disgraced the game and made a mockery of many hallowed records for purely selfish reasons. If Joe Jackson and Pete Rose aren't allowed in, these guys shouldn't be allowed in either.

Continue reading "Rumblings on Steroids, Sissymary's and Moles..."

The Sox are going to have a difficult time making the playoffs this year. I’m no sucker for the Jays quick start (they’ll start to slip once they deal Roy Hallady and realize Marco Scutaro is starting at shortstop) but I think the rest of the American League is better than most pundits allow.

The Royals are a dangerous team based not only upon the promise of their pitching (will Zack Greinke lose a game this year?) but also upon an underappreciated lineup that is dynamic at the top. Coco Crisp has reverted to his pesky former-self (he leads baseball with 4 triples). Alberto Callaspo, currently hitting a robust .378, follows in the two-hole and, if Jose Guillen, Alex Gordon and Billy Butler can at least hit their weight, Kansas City should challenge Detroit atop the under-appreciated AL Central.

Continue reading "Breaking down your 2009 Red Sox (in context)"

I went to Fenway for the first time in a dog's age the other night and watched the Sox lose to Cleveland on a series of Jed Lowrie missed-opportunities. While the outcome was unfavorable, Fenway has not lost any of its charms or ambiance. Allow me to paint a quick sketch, if you will..

A comrade from northern Maine and I were stashed up in the right field grandstands- section 5, hidden under the foreboding pall of the upper deck (which did nothing to warm an already frigid evening, I might add). There were no cup holders, no heated seats, no fan-friendly, turn-of-the-century amenities like those that soothe the spoiled bosoms of the "fans" in Arizona or St. Petersburg. Denizens of Section 5 are satisfied with a cocktail of baseball, bellowed obscenities and the rank perfume of spilled beer.

Continue reading "Thoughts on Fenway..."

Well, it appears Tom Brady will be out for the season. I think I speak for all of Patriot Nation when I say, 'dang'.

To call the loss of Brady a blow would be a seismic understatement. This is something more along the lines of a cataclysmic bazooka blast from outer space. Kamikaze Pollard, as the Chief's safety shall from now on be known, took out the central nervous system of the finely tuned Patriot machine and reduced the team to a motley assortment of loose parts.

Enter Matt Cassel, the stately quarterback from USC, who at best can be called unproven but who more realistically should be labeled a greenhorn (Cassel hasn't started at quarterback since his senior year at Chatsworth High School in 1999). A bit wet behind the ears? Perhaps. But certainly up to the challenge? Lets hope so.

Continue reading "Reaction to the Brady Injury"

When you think Olympics, you think Michael Phelps. Phelps has been plastered all over the past ten issues of Sports Illustrated. He has TV commercials on seemingly every channel. The guy is everywhere.

I simply don’t care for swimming, and not only because I’ve always sunk like a lead balloon. Its just a terribly dull sport to watch. Ultimately, swimming (albeit quickly) back and forth in a pool and breaking some record previously held buy a guy named Spitz doesn’t do it for me. You want tizzy-inducing, Olympic material? Lets talk about women’s gymnastics.

I had never watched gymnastics for more than two minutes before watching the women’s all-around competition. This is insane stuff! Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liuken and a couple of pre-pubescent Chinese girls flipped and bounced over a 4-inch balance beam as though it were a 4-lane freeway. Have you ever tried to stand on a balance beam, let alone attempt a back flip on one? I tried once during a 4th grade P.E. class and it didn't end well..

Continue reading "Olympic Gymnastics"

I'll be on vacation until I find a way to get internet access in my apt. Until then, toil away, try to make due with run-of-the-mill sports information sites such as ESPN and SI.com.

A few subjects to consider in my absence:

Brett Favre's devolution from iconic sports hero to prima-donna idiot.

Paul Byrd's impact on the Sox rotation.

Olympic Gymnasts. How the deuce do they go flipping around like that?

This and more next time....

cb 

Continue reading "Editor's Note"

I write for a website called the “Boston Red Sox Fan Site” and so it is with a considerable degree of shame and embarrassment that I sit here and confess that, for the past few years, I haven’t been much of a Sox fan. I’ve retained my Sox memorabilia and paraphernalia, I’ve watched the games here and there, I’ve carried the company card (not literally, of course--anyone who purchases a “Red Sox Nation” card to validate his or her fandom should be bashed over the head with a wiffle bat). But my heart and my soul, the heart and soul I used to pour into every pitch of every inning, were off taking an extended, seventh-inning stretch.

What a difference a trade makes.

I was more into last night’s 2-1 victory over the Oakland A’s than I was into any of the Sox’ World Series games this past October. All of a sudden the Sox spunk was back. The hustle, the grit, the

Continue reading "Manny Trade Restores Team Concept"