Hit and Run with Dan Roche

Heard the best line this morning as I drove my daughter to school. On "Matty in the Morning" on KISS 108, it was short, but sweet:

"Now that the Super Bowl has ended, baseball season has begun."

Well said. Time to get it started.

Veteran reliever Joe Nelson told MLB.com that he has agreed to a deal with the Red Sox. It will be a minor league invite. No surprise as the Sox try to create reliever depth.

And, if you missed it this past weekend...here's the sitdown with Sox GM Theo Epstein:

http://wbztv.com/video/?cid=9

Former Sox first baseman Kevin Millar is one of many veteran free agents still looking for a job. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reported Monday that Millar had a agreed to a deal with the Chicago Cubs, but a source tells me "not so fast".

Apparently, the two sides are still in the talking stages and that nothing has been formalized just yet.

I know in talking with Millar earlier this off-season that he was hoping to catch on with a National League team, perhaps the Cubs or the Mets.

Hi Gang,

Had a chance to sit down with Theo Epstein Friday afternoon at Fenway Park.

We touched upon numerous subjects from the 2010 Red Sox, his passion for his job, team doctor Tom Gill, David Ortiz, Tim Wakefield, and more.

The interview will run Sunday night on Sports Final at 11:30pm on WBZTV 4.

The best part of the winter is watching the calendar go from January to February...which means Spring Training is on the way. Here's some random thoughts for you:

--Congrats to Tim Wakefield, who has won the Bart Giamatti Award for service to the community. Wake gives back so much and is constantly doing community work for the Sox. One thing I've observed in covering his for the past 15 years is that he's "tireless" when it comes to this type of work. Always a smile, handshake, pictures, etc for the kids. As good as anyone I've ever seen. So a well-deserved honor to say the least.

--Interesting story from Rob Bradford on the Jason Bay negotiations. I think it's a fine line when you're talking about doctors. Team doctors, players docs, third party doctors, insurance doctors. Lots of opinions. And, think about it, with the milions of dollars at stake there's got to be an awful lot of pressure on these people. I would think it would be worse in the NFL, but still....

--My biggest concern about the 2010 Red Sox is the bullpen. As Theo would tell you, it's awfully hard to get consistency from relievers on a year to year basis. They lost Takashi Saito and Billy Wagner to free agency. Now, there's no reason to think that Papelbon, Bard, Okajima, Delcarmen, etc can't get the job done. But you wonder if someone can emerge from the group of Ramon A. Ramirez, Scott Atchison, Boff Bonser, Michael Bowden, Fabio Castro, Felix Doubront, Dustin Richardson, or Junichi Tazawa? Perhaps they can sign a veteran free agent like Kevin Gregg or Mike MacDougal.

--Yes, David Ortiz is a question mark coming into the season, but the bottom of the Sox order should be better than last season. Beltre-Cameron-Scutaro should fare better than Lowell(hurt)-Varitek-Lugo/Lowrie/Green.

--I believe Josh Beckett and the Red Sox have had some conversations about a contract extension...just a gut feeling. I think Beckett is highly motivated to keep pitching here and the Sox know how important he is both on and off(clubhouse) the field.

--I mentioned this here before...no surprise the Sox and Jeremy Hermida reached an agreement on a one year deal(3.345-million). Theo's record of never having a case go to a hearing remains perfect.

By the way, in researching for my blog below...I came across this article from Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman. It only strengthened my argument...

http://tinyurl.com/yeqt3ps

I do think we have forgotten just how great Ortiz has been for the Sox.

See blog below....

What do you think?

On the 7th anniversary of the Red Sox signing of free agent David Ortiz, it got me thinking....which player was the greatest free agent signing in Red Sox history?

There have been some great players that have come via trade to the Red Sox such as Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez.

However, there have really only been a handful of free agents that have made a big impact.

Guys like Johnny Damon, Bill Mueller, and Tim Wakefield have all been big signings for Boston as they were instrumental in bringing World Championships to town.

However, it comes down to two players...and two players who will be forever linked together:  Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz.

From 2003 through 2007 when the Sox won two World Series titles and went to Game 7 of another ALCS, Ortiz and Ramirez combined to hit 388 home runs while driving in 1, 210 runs.  That's an average of 78 home runs and 242 RBI each season...or an average per person of 39 home runs and 121 RBI each season.

Pretty sick numbers.

And, while Manny was worth the 20-million that he averaged while here, Ortiz stood out because of his late-game heroics.

It's amazing when you look back now and realize just what David did in 2003 and 2004. It leaves you shaking your head:

2003

ALDS vs Oak

--Sox trail the series 2 games to 1 and are behind 4-3 in the bottom of the 8th in Game 4 when Ortiz delivers a two-run, two-out double off of Keith Foulke to force a 5th and deciding game that the Sox win to take the series.

ALCS vs NYY

--Game 1....Ortiz breaks a scoreless tie with a two-run homer off Mike Mussina in the 4th inning. The Sox win 5-2.

--Game 6...Sox down 3 games to 2...Ortiz breaks a 1-1 tie in the 3rd inning with a two-run single. The Sox then trail 6-5 in the top of the 7th inning. Ortiz delievers an RBI single to tie it at 6-6. He later scores the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded walk to Johnny Damon. The Sox inw it 9-6 to force the 7th and deciding game.

--Game 7...Ortiz rips a solo home run in the 8th inning to give the Sox a 5-2 lead heading into that dreaded bottom of the 8th. You know what happens from here.

2004

ALDS vs Angels

--Game 1....Ortiz opens the scoring with an RBI single....Sox roll to an easy 9-3 victory.

--Game 3....Ortiz has 4 hits...including the game-winning walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Sox complete the three-game sweep of the Angels.

ALCS vs NYY

--Game 4...The Red Sox are down 3 games to none. Down 2-1 in the bottom of the 5th inning, Ortiz bangs a two-run single to give Boston a 3-2 lead. Then in the bottom of the 12th...he rips a two-run homer off Paul Quantrill to lift the Sox to the win. Boston stays alive.

--Game 5...Ortiz has an RBI single in the 1st to give the Sox a 1-01 lead. Boston was down 4-2 entering the bottom of the 8th inning...when he hits a solo homer off Tom Gordon. The Sox tie it at 4-4 on the Varitek Sac fly. Now to the 14th inning...and David deliever again...a two-out RBI single off Esteban Loaiza as the Sox walk off with a 5-4 win to force a Game Six in NY...

--Game 7...Ortiz gets the Sox going right away with a two-run 1st inning home run off Kevin Brown. The Sox never look back en rout to their 10-3 victory.

World Series vs St. Louis

--Game 1...Ortiz blasts a three-run homer in the 1st inning as the Sox pick up right where they left off in NY. He would later add an RBI single in the 7th inning to make it a 9-7 Sox lead. They would go on to win it 11-9 and go on to sweep the Cardinals for their first WS crown in 86 years.

Shortly after, Ortiz was deemed the "greatest clutch hitter in the history of the Boston Red Sox".

What you just read pretty much explains why Ortiz is not only the best Sox free agent signing ever, but arguably the best free agent signing in the history of the game.

Happy Anniversary David...the Red Sox...and all Sox fans.

With 30-plus days and counting until pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers...here's a few random thoughts about the ongoings in Major League baseball:

--nice to see the umpires and MLB come to terms on a new agreement. I thought it was interesting that the umps can now be reviewed by video. Good to see. Also, umps can take part in back-to-back World Series. Let's hope it's not the same crews we saw in the postseason last year.

--Adam LaRoche was a great sign for Arizona. Underrated player, who has some pop.

--listening to Terry Francona talk baseball just gets you pumped for Spring Training, doesn't it. My media folk look at me like there's something wrong with me, but if I could spend from start to finish working Sox spring training would do it in a heartbeat. I just love the day-to-day life of spring training. Different than regular season. Love the routine. And, it's mostly day games.

--I think Sox fans are forgetting how good Victor Martinez was last year with Boston. Hit .336 with 8 HR 41 RBI .405 OBP .507 SLG in 56 games coming over from Cleveland is a legit #3 hitter.

--I asked John Farrell about a six-man rotation last month and he said it hadn't really been discussed internally at that time. Wouldn't be a bad idea with Beckett and Wake, plus Matsuzaka doing it in Japan. Although, these things always seem to work out. We sit and say there's too much pitching...and then..oops 1-2 starters go down.

--can't believe what gone on wth Carlos Beltran. Mets may have pushed for Mike Cameron, Coco, etc if they had know Beltran would miss beginning of regular season.

--have to believe that Jason Varitek may enjoy the season a bit more knowing his body won't be crushed all season long. I don't think fans realize just what he went through on a daily basis to play every day the past few years.

--we'll have more later....but nice to be closer and closer to warmth, sunshine, and baseball.....

I have lots of thoughts on the Mark McGwire admission that he did indeed use steroids while setting home run records during his playing career.

First and foremost, I'm glad he did finally admitted it.

I can't imagine the shame that he had to carry around since he hit 70 in 1998. He's basically been living a lie and seemingly has been living in seclusion.

And, now we all know that every guy from that era had their hand in performance enhancing drugs. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, etc.. Every player at the top of Baseball's single-season home run chart is linked. Bonds(73), McGwire(70), Sosa(66), McGwire(65), Sosa(64), Sosa(63).

I feel cheated. I know I was as excited as anyone in 1998 when Sosa and McGwire put on their home run battle. I couldn't get enough of it. Wanted to watch every at-bat(and did). I read Mike Lupica's book on the battle and couldn't put it down. It was great entertainment.

So, yes, you could say I wasted my time. But, I don't look at it that way. I don't regret it. I had a good time watching it. However, it's how I feel about sports in general. I watch....enjoy/not enjoy...and then move on to my wife and kids. I watch my kids play their sports with the same passion that I watch the pros. I love it. I guess the one good thing is that I can warn my kids about PED's and show them prime examples.

I covered the 2005 Congressional hearing on steroids. I sat through the farce of testimony. Yes, I wasted my time there.

However, I keep going back and thinking about how McGwire must feel...and felt all these years. He's a cheater. End of story. Sad.

Now, I do feel bad for all the guys that were clean. Guys like Curt Schilling. Schilling may not get into the Hall of Fame because of those players. His numbers may have been better if those guys weren't on PED's...or for that matter...maybe not even playing because of injuries.(On a side note...I would vote for Schilling to go into Cooperstown).

As for McGwire, Sosa, and Bonds going into the Hall? Wow, tough question. However, they won't get my vote. Same goes for Roger Clemens if he ever admits to it. And, I would put asteriks on all the single-season home run records they had and make sure that Roger Maris and his 61 home runs were treated as the record.

I will also say that part of me feels that if other players were doing it...then the pressure must have been intense for the players to cave in. And, many of them did.

I guess the only positives to come out of this story are 1) a lesson for kids, and 2) drug testing has been put in place for Baseball.