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All responses Most smiled responses
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The best article to read was written b Stan Grossfeld who was just amazing during The Taylor's visit to Boston. You can find it here:
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/09/04/a_promise_kept/#
Below are the links to all the entries I (and my friend Tome, who initiated this with James Taylor's sister) wrote about the Taylors and our pleas with folks to help them out. The fans really came through. I still am in contact with both Laurie Brady (Jimmy's sister) and Traci Taylor (his widow) and they're both still very active in trying to promote awareness for the dangers of Air Medical Transports.
http://redsoxchick.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/a-good-deed/
http://redsoxchick.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/a-request-for-assistance/
http://redsoxchick.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/a-reminderand-an-update/
http://redsoxchick.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/some-background-on-james-taylor-jr/
http://redsoxchick.wordpress.com/2008/08/page/4/
http://redsoxchick.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/a-taylor-fund-update/
http://www.toeingtherubber.com/2008/09/for-the-boys/
http://www.toeingtherubber.com/2008/09/its-a-goofy-thing-but-i-just-gotta-say-hey-im-doing-alright/
http://www.toeingtherubber.com/2008/09/sunday-august-31-2008/
http://redsoxchick.wordpress.com/2008/09/08/full-circle/ -
Most players rehab at Pawtucket. They got to Portland usually only if the PawSox are playing on the road
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Although I try to avoid being too "girly" on the blog, I didn't purposely not blog about this it's just that it took a lot of time to truly research and I was trying to find the right time to publish it. Tonight I used it as a diversion to reading about any Red Sox baseball.
I went through the rosters of all 30 teams but I found that many teams had guys on it that I wasn't attracted to 'that way'. I really don't look at the teams, normally, to see who I think are hot but the question on the "Throwing Like a Girl" podcast did put it into my head for a time. So I decided to attack it the way MLB does the All Star game. Pick one from every team even if I didn't really think they deserved to be in there.
The names followed by an asterisk are those of guys I suppose you could say I find genuinely "hot". The rest are just the best of their 25-man roster. :)
Baltimore: Adam Jones
Boston: Tim Wakefield * (I said "Jacoby Ellsbury" on the Podcast. I didn't mean it. :) No doubt that Jacoby is the stereotype of a good looking man but Wake is definitely more my style. I only answered "Jacoby" that night because the question took me by surprise and I didn't have a lot of time to think about it.)
New York Y: AJ Burnett
Tampa Bay: Pat Burrell
Toronto: Alex Gonzalez
Chicago WS: Jayson Nix
Cleveland: Justin Masterson
Detroit: Ryan Raburn
Kansas City: Scott Podsednik
Minnesota: Michael Cuddyer
Anaheim: Joel Pineiro *
Oakland: Eric Chavez
Seattle: Cliff Lee * (David Aardsma * came in a close second but I still think of him as the guy who stole Kyle Snyder's roster spot so I couldn't bring myself to give him the glory.)
Texas: Josh Hamilton * (I'm a little embarrassed by this one. I didn't realize how attractive I found him until I saw him in person this year. I'm not proud.)
Atlanta: Derek Lowe (There was a time when his name would have been bolded. That time has come and gone.)
Florida: Nate Robertson
New York M: Mike Pelfrey *
Philadelphia: Jayson Werth *
Washington: Josh Willingham
Chicago C: Xavier Nady
Cincinnati: Bronson Arroyo *
Houston: Kaz Matsui
Milwaukee: Jim Edmonds *
Pittsburgh: Javier Lopez *
St Louis: Albert Pujols *
Arizona: Dan Haren
Colorado: Melvin Mora
Los Angeles: Garret Anderson
San Diego: Jon Garland
San Francisco: Jeremy Affeldt
If I have to whittle it down to the one active player I found the hottest it would have to be Bronson. For many reasons that don't seem to be obvious to many, I will admit to just finding him flat-out sexy.
Oddly enough, there really aren't that may other players in MLB I would say that about. Even the men I single out here - I find them attractive but certainly not enough to compel me to root for them over my own team. It's just nice to occasionally get to gaze upon them once in a while.
Girly mode off. :) -
Well, usually I think I write "Mad Bobcat Murderer" but killer works too. :)
Back just before the 2010 season began, there was a story on Lester in an outdoorsman magazine where he was quoted as saying he was excited that he had just killed a bobcat with a bow and that he did it because his friend had one mounted in his house and he thought it looked cool.
I wrote about it here http://www.toeingtherubber.com/2010/03/they-bury-me-in-a-tree/
Short version: Anyone who can kill an animal and have it not be for food or because they're protecting themselves can go pound sand as far as I'm concerned. Someone who faced death so closely and now thinks nothing of taking another human life..well, I think there's something just wrong with that person. -
Thank you for the kind words.
Just peeked over at your blog and it's really enjoyable. Any time someone decides to be a fan is a good time!
I'm just personally not a fan of using "pink hat" as a derogatory term for a fan it implies only women can be a bad fan...(I don't like the color pink normally but I've been known to wear a pink hat to Fenway Park in the hope that some WEEI-listening misogynist would accuse me of not knowing anything about baseball - hasn't happened yet, though!)
Good luck with the blog (and newfound fandom!) -
Heh. Thank you. A podcast might be in the works for sometime this season but I'm way too obsessive to just throw something together so I really need to think it out more. In the meantime, I hope you keep listening to Caryn and Julie because I think they're great! :)
I paused because the question took me a little by surprise and because I really had to think about it. In the end, I decided to be a homer and go with Jacoby because, well, there really is no denying the boy's "hotness". But if I were to judge the players I find hot by my own standards, I'm really not sure who I would go with. I do think it's worthy of its own entry on the blog though!! So thanks for the question! -
First off, thanks for reading the blog. I appreciate the support and I' glad you like it enough to keep coming back.
It's funny to get this tonight because when I was finished with the podcast I was thinking that it might have come across that men and my blog don't mix well. The timing of the podcast didn't lend itself to going into great detail but the truth is I've had plenty of positive experiences with men through my blog.
There were one or two men who would comment or email me when I was at MLBlogs who had the "women shouldn't write baseball blogs" attitude. Once I went on my own, there was much less conflict in that way (mostly because I lost a lot of Yankees fans as readers!) and I feel like I built up a nice community of readers, both men and women.
The comments section and the emails I receive seem to indicate a larger female presence in my audience than male (and I'm proud that women have decided I'm worthy of reading and hope that they think I represent them well)...but I know that I have male readers too and I hope I didn't offend any of them with anything I said on the Throwing LIke a Girl podcast. The sad truth is, regardless of the extremely cool fellas who find their way to my blog, there are many more who really don't take women writing about baseball seriously (I found this out tenfold while at WEEI - the majority of the audience I picked up over there seemed to be men who had nothing to contribute but to call me a fat cow or another, more colorful, word beginning with a "c" whenever they took the opportunity.)
I've been fortunate that any time I've struck out on my own, most of the negativity stayed at the places I left (MLBlogs & WEEI).
My hope is to stay true to the way I've been blogging and continue to develop a readership of both men and women who appreciate what I bring to the baseball blogging world.
Short of that, I hope to continue to amuse the people who already choose to visit my blog, regardless of their gender! -
As much as I would hate to miss afternoon games (hey, someday I'll get a job again and it will make me miss the games!) - I prefer them in the afternoon. Baseball should be played in the sun and good weather when kids can watch the games. I'd love for the games to begin at 3 or 4 o'clock (to me the happy medium between true afternoon games and night games).
I have no real preference for DH over pitchers batting. I enjoy both aspects. I like teams employing a player to do nothing but focus on hitting bombs. Having written that, I like the strategy that has to go into the game when you are factoring in the pitcher coming up in the lineup. So I enjoy both NL and AL baseball.
I'm not a big fan of inter-league play mostly because I don't see the point. The AL and NL meet in the All Star Game and then for the big one in October (now November). I like keeping the leagues separate save for those two events. But since I'm stuck with inter-league play, I wish they would switch the rules just for fun. AL rules in NL parks and NL rules in AL parks. Come on, wouldn't you love to see Josh Beckett hitting in Fenway Park?
I don't want MLB to change the amount of games played in the season but I'd love it if they worked out a better September/October schedule so the teams weren't playing into late October/early November. Snow and cold is never your friend, especially when playing an outdoor sport that requires a lot of standing around. -
Interesting timing on this question. I was invited to be part of an all-female baseball podcast beginning this Sunday and because of other commitments and the timing of it all I won't be doing that. But I've been bouncing around the idea of a "Toeing the Rubber" podcast for a year or so now.
I think once I fully form the idea of what I'd want the podcast to consist of, I'd certainly give it a go. Who knows? Maybe the spirit will move me at some point this season.
There definitely won't be one to begin the season, though. -
I'm not. I don't know that I'd be on anyone's list of folks they'd like to stalk. I just started with it because it seems like just a fun kind of game and, as I keep mentioning, I have some free time on my hands (and it's more entertaining than "Pet Society"!)
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Generally speaking, I hate the ESPN Sunday night games. Especially if (like this Sunday) I'm attending one. The games on Sunday start late, seem to go long (especially if it is a Sox/Yanks game) and given I rely on public transportation, it's almost impossible to get home at any decent hour.
Add to that the taking away of one of our unofficial holidays and I think having the game on Sunday night stinks. The Easter Sunday aspect of it doesn't bother me too much. I celebrate Easter and still will be able to do so AND get into town in time to enjoy the game. But I really hate that we miss out on skipping out of work (or school) and enjoying the day the way we get to on Patriots' Day.
Having written all that...I'm thrilled that I have the opportunity to be there on Sunday and will, somehow, soldier on. :) -
I don't think I've broken the 30-game mark at Fenway yet. In 2005 I went to over 50 games in total but that included a lot of minor league games and road trips. I go to more than the average fan but not as many as a lot of the diehards.
Prior to the trade at the deadline in 2008, my favorite place to sit in Fenway was in the left field grandstand (or loge but grandstand seats are always easier to get) because I loved watching Manny while watching the game too. Manny brought a whole other aspect to game watching and he made me want to sit out there.
Back in the Mike Timlin era, I also enjoyed sitting near/behind the bullpen. Watching the pitchers watch the game (especially Timlin) always brought a lot of joy as well.
But if money is no object and I can sit wherever the heck I want, for the best viewing experience, I'd like to be sitting in field box seats behind the Red Sox dugout (or at least somewhere on the first base line).
The Coca Cola seats in left field is the only section in the park I haven't sat in (and, honestly, I don't feel like I'm missing anything). I like to be as close to the action as I can get and if I can't be sitting behind their dugout, I like to be facing the Red Sox dugout because they're an animated bunch who are a lot of fun to watch in there.
I've only been to six Major League parks. I really didn't like watching the game at either of the Yankee Stadiums (truthfully...just didn't dig it at all), Citfield is gorgeous but I watched exhibition games there so I don't feel like I got the real experience there. I've been to Orioles Park more than any other park of an opposing team and I love it. Love the park, love the fans there (Sox and Orioles) and the atmosphere is, genuinely, as if you're in Fenway. But the park I've visited that I really want to go back to is Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The place is gorgeous and we were there for 3 games and sat all around the park and NEVER had a bad seat. It seems like every seat is a good seat in that park. The people working there really appreciated the visiting Sox fans and even the Phillies fans were gracious (this was 2005, mind you, so they were very happy to congratulate us).
I'm the most comfortable in Baltimore. I could walk you through that park and tell you the best places to sit and the sections to stay away from - but my heart really wants to go see the Red Sox play in Philly again. -
Does Fraser Field in Lynn count? :) Aside from Fraser, I've been to McCoy Stadium (Pawsox/Pawtucket, Rhode Island), LeLacheur Park (Spinners/Lowell, Massachusetts) and Hadlock Field (SeaDogs/Portland, Maine).
Along with Fenway Park, I've been to both Yankee Stadiums, CitiField (NY Mets), Orioles Park at Camden Yard and Citizens Bank Park (Phillies).
I've also been to Hammond Stadium (Spring Training park in Ft Myers for the Minnesota Twins) and both City of Palms Park in Ft Myers and the OLD Sox Spring Training facility in Winter Haven - Chain of Lakes Park.
So that makes 13 altogether but only 6 (including Fenway) Major League parks. -
I received an email the other day from someone identifying as a "female Sox fan" who spelled Clay's last name the same as in this question (which is wrong. Single c, double h...this isn't rocket science folks - GOOGLE is your friend) and was ripping me apart for picking on Lester and being too easy on Clay, so I wonder if this is from that same person.
I'll answer it anyway (regardless of the fact that the email said things like "You're hatred of Lester is obvious and stupid because he's a way better pitcher than Clay Buccholz!"): I just do.
Clay is, as they say, a binky of mine. Maybe he's a total horse's ass in person, I have no idea (although I know people who have interacted with him and claim he's NOT) , but I will always have a soft spot for him regardless. I was lucky enough to be at his first two Major League appearances...in which he was the starting pitcher against the Angels and the Orioles and won both games (you might remember the one against the Orioles when he pitched a NO freaking HITTER in his second Major League game). So, regardless of the situation of the team, I'm rooting for Clay to do well. And I want him in the bigs and I want him given a bit of a long rope. Jon Lester is everyone's favorite...it's easy to back the horse everyone else is backing but I don't play that way.
To friends, I jokingly referred to the author of that email as "Mrs Lester". Someday I'll probably find out it really was her. ;) -
The short answer is: because he is. :)
The longer response is that I have a long standing love/hate relationship with him (when I say "relationship" you realize it's totally one-sided, right?) and back in 2007 (or 2008...I think it was 2007, though) I started calling him "Crabcakes" (which is a word I often use for anyone being cranky when they really shouldn't be) because for a kid who has it all he never looked like he GOT that he has it all and always looks a bit "crabby".
To me, he always looks pissed. I don't find him Josh Beckett-like intimidating (which I know he wants to be) so the pissy look just doesn't work for me. Hence, he's crabby.
Although this year I'm probably ditching "Crabby/Crabcakes" and going with "The Bobcat Murderer". -
Nope. I always wanted to be and I think at some point I got myself on the waiting list (which might get me the opportunity some timed before I turn 90) but lately I'm of the mind (thanks to a friend who does the same) that it's more fun to get the tickets just for games I really want to see in seats I'd really like to sit in and get to enjoy the entire park. The fact that I'm good with buying single seats for games and going alone if I have to helps me here.
My attendance changes every year. Last year I ended up at 30 games (this includes minor league games, two exhibition games at CitiField and one playoff game and had me traveling to Pawtucket, New York and Baltimore).
This year (including Opening Night and minor league games) I have tickets for 14 games so far. -
I consider myself a sports fan, with baseball being my favorite sport. I don't follow any other sport as closely or passionately as I do baseball (although I was once as crazy for basketball as I was/am for baseball), but I certainly consider myself a Celtics and Patriots fan. I'm a fan of the "old time" Bruins but haven't been all that interested in hockey since Cam Neely left the game. And for friends, I've really tried to get into soccer (especially the Revolution) but it really hasn't happened for me.
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There is NO denying that Heidi Watney is a beautiful woman. If you've never seen her in person she's even more attractive than she is on television. You will never get an argument from me on that.
I neither hate nor am I jealous of Heidi. She frustrates me on many levels. Mostly because I think she does a poor job. She improves slightly with every season she's with the team but even now she seems to stumble on basic baseball terminology, pronouncing some of the words like it's the first time she's ever had to say them. She also tends to ask questions that make the players roll their eyes and shake their head (sometimes right to her face). That's a big deterrent for me.
I just mentioned on my blog that I'm realizing that her job itself is annoying - which is out of her control. I don't know anyone who watched a baseball game waiting for the sideline reporter to come on regardless of how hot said sideline reporter is.
I also could live without the rumors that surround her regarding her personal interactions with the players. While I get that a lot of people meet their partners at "work", I feel like there is a huge conflict of interest if you're involved with the people you're covering. And, sadly, I believe most of those rumors are untrue, yet there is something about the way she presents herself that lends itself to those rumors getting started (lest you think I'm stereotyping women in sports media, I offer you Tina Cervasio. There was never one rumor about her with any of the players for the entire time she was with NESN). I realize that a lot of that is out of her control, but when I witness in person someone whose job it is to run across a baseball field trying to get interviews wearing spike-heeled boots that she can barely stand up in while her contemporaries are dressed more appropriately for the environment, well, I begin to wonder what kind of reputation she's trying to cultivate.
I don't hate Heidi. I just wish if NESN insists on giving us a woman for a sideline reporter they would find one who doesn't seem to focus more on how she looks and when the camera is on her more than she focuses on doing her job well. The emphasis should be on talent not on how pretty someone looks when the red light goes on.
Oh, and as far as wanting her job - not in a million years. She might not know all that much about baseball but she sure knows what to do in front of a camera. Me? Not so much. I give her all the credit she deserves for being able to show up every day and do what she does even if I don't think she does it as well as others. -
How about neither?
I think booing Johnny Damon has been played out and I don't see the point any more (although I won't be cheering him - and for those who think he deserves cheers, I did enough of that while he was here. He got plenty of love from me and the rest of the fans so I don't see why we HAVE to cheer him just because he's coming back in a different uniform. But if folks want to cheer him when he comes back as a Tiger, have at it).
Manny is a bit of a different story, I passed on two chances to get tickets to the first game that he's back with the Dodgers in Fenway because I don't know how I'll react when he's announced. I definitely won't boo because, well, I just can't boo Manny Ramirez. He meant too much to the team, to me, to everyone associated with the Red Sox, to dismiss him so easily. I can't cheer him yet, either, because I still believe that he helped orchestrate himself out of Boston and for that, and for saying things like Dodgers fans are the best fans anywhere, I still harbor bad feelings toward him. It's an odd sensation, knowing if I'm in the park and hear boos it will piss me off but thinking that I'll be just as pissed off if I hear people cheer. So I'll be at home watching on TV and, most likely, shedding a few melancholy tears of frustration. (My preference for both players is that they are met with silence...but I don't see that happening at Fenway.) -
They are. They weren't always but when I went to WEEI in 2009 I wanted to make sure I put the best effort into what I was writing so I figured I'd make it a little harder on myself so I wasn't just tossing out any old thing for an entry and I decided to use the lyrics from songs as my entry titles.
When I left WEEI I liked how using the lyrics helped keep me focused so I decided to keep at it. Every lyric has some connection to something in the corresponding post whether it's the song title or something more obscure.
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Loading...Cyn Donnelly’s Bio
Baseball blogger, film buff, music lover, avid reader and theater fan. I’m unemployed right now so I spend too much time watching television while I job hunt online.
