2009 Baseball Season

[drunkpirate66]

Loyalty:

It's very common for a player to "test the free agent market" when their time comes.
Why would a team remain loyal to a player?

It's nice when someone spends their career with you, but if they don't...don't cry about it. Move on.

Look at how badly it ended in Green Bay for Brett Favre.
Trevor Hoffman is a Brewer.
Emmitt Smith retired with the Cardinals.
John Smoltz is an injured Red Sox.
It has, is, and will continue. There is no reason to be loyal these days...it's just nice when it actually happens.

Players in professional sports have never been loyal. Individual players have been over the years. But the majority of players from the 1920's to the present day have gone where the money is. And that is true for any sport. Too many examples to name. The last time an owner/senior officer was loyal to players in Boston (Bird, McHale, Parrish . . .) the Celtics lost for the entire decade of the 90's because Red wanted them to retire as Celtics. Retarded. Parrish went on to win another title with Jordan and the players reported to be offered for McHale combined for over 20 All Star appearances. Imagine how good the Orioles could be if the most overrated player in the history of baseball was benched or traded before his streak ended? Loyalty has rarely existed. And when it did the results are not necessarily positive. It is business. As much as we, as fans, choose to think differently it is just business. Emotion and pride come second.

[CaptainP]

Loyalty:

It's very common for a player to "test the free agent market" when their time comes.
Why would a team remain loyal to a player?

It's nice when someone spends their career with you, but if they don't...don't cry about it. Move on.

Look at how badly it ended in Green Bay for Brett Favre.
Trevor Hoffman is a Brewer.
Emmitt Smith retired with the Cardinals.
John Smoltz is an injured Red Sox.
It has, is, and will continue. There is no reason to be loyal these days...it's just nice when it actually happens.

Players in professional sports have never been loyal. Individual players have been over the years. But the majority of players from the 1920's to the present day have gone where the money is. And that is true for any sport. Too many examples to name. The last time an owner/senior officer was loyal to players in Boston (Bird, McHale, Parrish . . .) the Celtics lost for the entire decade of the 90's because Red wanted them to retire as Celtics. Retarded. Parrish went on to win another title with Jordan and the players reported to be offered for McHale combined for over 20 All Star appearances. Imagine how good the Orioles could be if the most overrated player in the history of baseball was benched or traded before his streak ended? Loyalty has rarely existed. And when it did the results are not necessarily positive. It is business. As much as we, as fans, choose to think differently it is just business. Emotion and pride come second.

Not exactly, at least not in baseball. Not since the 20s.

Baseball had the "reserve clause" which gave teams exclusive rights to players. The players couldn't go where the money was, and only the absolute superstars made a decent living. Your utility infielder also sold you tires during the offseason.

That all changed with the advent of free agency in the 1970s.

[drunkpirate66]

Loyalty:

It's very common for a player to "test the free agent market" when their time comes.
Why would a team remain loyal to a player?

It's nice when someone spends their career with you, but if they don't...don't cry about it. Move on.

Look at how badly it ended in Green Bay for Brett Favre.
Trevor Hoffman is a Brewer.
Emmitt Smith retired with the Cardinals.
John Smoltz is an injured Red Sox.
It has, is, and will continue. There is no reason to be loyal these days...it's just nice when it actually happens.

Players in professional sports have never been loyal. Individual players have been over the years. But the majority of players from the 1920's to the present day have gone where the money is. And that is true for any sport. Too many examples to name. The last time an owner/senior officer was loyal to players in Boston (Bird, McHale, Parrish . . .) the Celtics lost for the entire decade of the 90's because Red wanted them to retire as Celtics. Retarded. Parrish went on to win another title with Jordan and the players reported to be offered for McHale combined for over 20 All Star appearances. Imagine how good the Orioles could be if the most overrated player in the history of baseball was benched or traded before his streak ended? Loyalty has rarely existed. And when it did the results are not necessarily positive. It is business. As much as we, as fans, choose to think differently it is just business. Emotion and pride come second.

Not exactly, at least not in baseball. Not since the 20s.

Baseball had the "reserve clause" which gave teams exclusive rights to players. The players couldn't go where the money was, and only the absolute superstars made a decent living. Your utility infielder also sold you tires during the offseason.

That all changed with the advent of free agency in the 1970s.

Oh I agree that the business of sports has changed over the years. But a "business" it has always been. The majority of athletes have always been viewed as commodities by the owners and these "commodities" would mostly all go to where the money and/or conditions are best. Despite a random player here and there this has always been the case and it always will. We, as fans, cheer for the uniforms. Loyalty has never been as large a part of the 4 major American Sports as people would like to believe.

[luvinlife]

Come on TEK!!!!

[drunkpirate66]

Come on TEK!!!!

Best thing is for Tek to play the best he can in 2009 and hopefully get one last pay day before he retires in 2 - 3 years. I will miss him. One more year for this Drunk Pirate!

[aeroparrot]

Tek signs with the Sox.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/r ... tra_bases/

[TommyBahama]

Tek signs with the Sox.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/r ... tra_bases/

Now all the Sox need to do is get NESN to fire Hedi Whatley so Varitek can consentrate on baseball between the white lines and not on another playing field!!

[popcornjack]

Here's a thought for the Sox: Teach their pitchers to hit, and use the DH for Varitek.

[TommyBahama]

Here's a thought for the Sox: Teach their pitchers to hit, and use the DH for Varitek.

If they had Dontrell Willis or Micah Owings the probably could!!

[CaptainP]

Here's a thought for the Sox: Teach their pitchers to hit, and use the DH for Varitek.

If they had Dontrell Willis or Micah Owings the probably could!!

Yeah, but then they'd have to teach them how to pitch...

[aeroparrot]

Tek signs with the Sox.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/r ... tra_bases/

Now all the Sox need to do is get NESN to fire Hedi Whatley so Varitek can consentrate on baseball between the white lines and not on another playing field!!

They shouldn't have hired that bimbo anyway........ although she's easy on the eyes.

[TommyBahama]

Tek signs with the Sox.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/r ... tra_bases/

Now all the Sox need to do is get NESN to fire Hedi Whatley so Varitek can consentrate on baseball between the white lines and not on another playing field!!

They shouldn't have hired that bimbo anyway........ although she's easy on the eyes.

I thought Tina Cervacio(sp) was hotter....and i always had a thing for Hazel Mae!!!

[aeroparrot]

Tek signs with the Sox.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/r ... tra_bases/

Now all the Sox need to do is get NESN to fire Hedi Whatley so Varitek can consentrate on baseball between the white lines and not on another playing field!!

They shouldn't have hired that bimbo anyway........ although she's easy on the eyes.

I thought Tina Cervacio(sp) was hotter....and i always had a thing for Hazel Mae!!!

I agree with you on those two. Luckily for me, I can watch Tina when I go home since she is on the MSG channel.

[Bfan53again]

NFL Football is done (you really aren't going to watch the Pro Bowl, are you???? ), I'm not a basketball fan, so now I can concentrate on my favorite sport:

BASEBALL.......

When Spring Training rolls around every team's fans are full of hope for the upcoming season (except Baltimore Orioles fans..... ) and looking forward to summertime!!

Despite being a die-hard O's fan I do enjoy sitting at Camden Yards on a warm summer day/evening, in my shorts and flowered shirt (yeah, I do wear them at lot..... ), sipping a cold beer, and munching on a crab cake sandwich. Now that's a great day.......

[drunkpirate66]

NFL Football is done (you really aren't going to watch the Pro Bowl, are you???? ), I'm not a basketball fan, so now I can concentrate on my favorite sport:

BASEBALL.......

When Spring Training rolls around every team's fans are full of hope for the upcoming season (except Baltimore Orioles fans..... ) and looking forward to summertime!!

Despite being a die-hard O's fan I do enjoy sitting at Camden Yards on a warm summer day/evening, in my shorts and flowered shirt (yeah, I do wear them at lot..... ), sipping a cold beer, and munching on a crab cake sandwich. Now that's a great day.......

Camden is awesome! Go down every year for one of the Red Sox series! Pickles Pub is so much fun! 2010 the O's will matter . . . Matt Wieters and all that youth! They could pull a TB if they get some pitching . . .

[luvinlife]

Very bigIF.

[TheSecretsInTheCrust]

MLB Network will be broadcasting the Caribbean World Series from Mexacali, Mexico starting today. Thats only a 2 hour drive from here....but Mexico not the safest county to be in (more killed in Mexico last year than in Iraq) and tickets are scarce. You cannot buy individual games only the full series strip and the stadium only holds 17,000. So I will watch from the comfort of home.

[Frank4]

MLB Network will be broadcasting the Caribbean World Series from Mexacali, Mexico starting today. Thats only a 2 hour drive from here....but Mexico not the safest county to be in (more killed in Mexico last year than in Iraq) and tickets are scarce. You cannot buy individual games only the full series strip and the stadium only holds 17,000. So I will watch from the comfort of home.

I think that is one event I could take a pass on, watching it from the safety and comfort of my own home seems like a better idea...

[TheSecretsInTheCrust]

MLB Network will be broadcasting the Caribbean World Series from Mexacali, Mexico starting today. Thats only a 2 hour drive from here....but Mexico not the safest county to be in (more killed in Mexico last year than in Iraq) and tickets are scarce. You cannot buy individual games only the full series strip and the stadium only holds 17,000. So I will watch from the comfort of home.

I think that is one event I could take a pass on, watching it from the safety and comfort of my own home seems like a better idea...

I will wait for the WBC in Petco Park in March.

[Bfan53again]

Very bigIF.

Agreed, the O's pitching situation is a shambles. Unproven youth and a scattering of veterans that haven't proven they can consistently throw strikes in the majors. While some offensive pieces, like future catcher Matt Wieters, look promising, we all know that it's pitching and defense that wins.......it will be well beyond 2010 that the O's even have a chance to be a contender.