Contest Update (Bay in June!)

Only 5 more days to try to win the Charlie Zink Autographed Card. Big news for the June Contest. Since my birthday is in June I've decided to give away a special prize. An Autographed Jason Bay 4x6 Card (unfortunately he's on the Pirates but still it's J-Bay).

Graphin' in Portland

Was up in Portland on Memorial Day to catch a Seadogs game. Happened to be a day where you get to play catch on the field before the game. My father and I of course, were the only 2 adults playing catch, every other group had at least on kid under 12. Whatever, we're both just big kids anyways. Autographs are hard to come by at Hadlock Field before the game. We happened to be in the picnic tent with a bunch of people my father works with, so we were down the right field line. You can get a few of the pitchers during their pre-game warm up down in deep right field, but when the position players come out to warm up, the do it just past the infield so no fans are really near them. On the plus side, after the game all the players walk down the right field line to get to their clubhouse which is under the right field bleachers. Of course, the players stay at least 20 feet away from the foul line so they don't get too close to the fans and have to sign autographs. One or two players will stop and sign a few, but for the most part they jog or wave and disappear into the right field wall. One big plus though, is that after the game, you can stand up at the top of a small hill where all the players have to walk by to get to their cars. Not only that, but for the most part the players were coming out one by one, so there wasn't a mad scramble to try to get 4-5 guys at one time. You have to stand around for a few hours, but it's worth it. I got Ryan Kalish, Lars Anderson, Adam Mills, Bubba Bell (who told me he is getting around to the interview questions I sent him), Dustin Richardson and a few others. Final count, 16 signed cards and 1 signed baseball (Anderson). I wish I lived closer to Portland Maine because I would be out there after every game trying to get some autographs. Don't know when I'll be able to hit up another stadium, but I hope it's not too long. Thanks for stopping by!

Manny being...Barry?

I'm sure this isn't the first place your reading about Manny Ramirez being banned for 50 games due to testing positive for a performance enhancing substance, but I just have to comment on this. First off, there goes my damn fantasy team. Second, here's how I see the saga unfolding: Manny plays ignorant and says he "didn't know what he was taking", blames doctors, agents, coaches, trainers, and his alive/dead grandmother for the mistake. Spends the 50 games away from baseball living it up rather than training/practicing and being ready for coming back around July 3rd. Comes back July 3rd and has a similar second half as 2008 when he took the struggling Dodgers to the playoffs. Say what you will about Manny Being Manny and all that, but there is one thing Manny does, and it's play baseball. He has the perfect mentality for the game (ironically I was thinking about this topic before the Manny Suspension news hit and was going to write a Manny blog on how his terrible personality is perfect for sports). His immature ability to treat an at bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth the same as no one in in the top of the first, is what allows him to stay consistently good. He could never teach his methods (thank god, imagine it, "Introducing, your new hitting instructor Manny Ra.....hey where is he?"), but his natural ability to make contact along with his natural ability to forget about his last at bat (and forget about practices, games, non-existing injuries, where the ball is) makes him the perfect hitter. His carefree attitude strikes a lot of people negatively and rightfully so, we like to see professional athletes acting professional, not like an over-stimulated 4 year old, but that attitude makes him different from every other hitter. Manny rarely slumps, one specific instance was when he was closing in on 500 home runs and was pressing to finally hit the home-run and stop all the press coverage for it, and when he does slump it almost seems on purpose. He'll slump when demanding a trade or complaining about playing time etc, but then return as the savior of the lineup when he finally gets his way. All in all, he's that common-superstar combination of the perfect player, and an imperfect person. You'd love to have him in your lineup, but hate to have him on your team. And you dread having him in left field (except for when he disappears into the large wall there for a bathroom break). Thanks for stopping by!

In Today's Mail...

Received my Red Sox Fan Pack in the mail saturday. It was a pretty good return for a free request. The Sox sent me a pocket schedule, a large magnetic schedule, a 4x6 pic of Wally, a 4x6 pic of Varitek, a letter from a Fenway Ambasador, and a small bag of dirt from the field at Fenway (a novelty item they have been giving away for years). You may be wondering how do you get a major league team to send you free stuff through the mail? Well it's actually really easy. Simply follow this link: https://secure.mlb.com/help/email.jsp?c_id=bos&primarySubject=Other&secondarySubject=None&dest=fanfeedback@redsox.mlb.com and fill in the required fields, and in the "Message" box, put your name, mailing address, and ask them to "please send a fan pack to my address, I am a huge Sox fan etc...etc". Again, there is no gaurantee they will send you anything (this is my second year sending a request and the first time I received a fan pack), but with any luck you should receive a similar fan pack in the mail in a few days. I also sent a similar request to the Pawsox and Seadogs, not sure if I'll hear from them but I'll let you all know, thanks for stopping by!

A little Q&A

This questions comes from Jay who wants to know: I'm heading to Fenway Park and I was wondering are there any tricks to getting autographs on game day. I also read something about Autograph Alley on the Red Sox homepage. What is that?
Brian: One trick I learned, is that a lot of the time, Eckersley will do the pre-game show right outside of Fenway, and will USUALLY sign a few autographs after he's done. I got him on a baseball and a card last year. However, waiting for him means missing the beginning of the game (not something most ppl would do for a Yankees game). It also ruins your chances of getting any sigs inside the stadium but from personal experience, Fenway is a crapshoot, rarely players sign on either team. Also Autograph alley is on the outskirts of the stadium on Yawkey Way (near Gate A). where the Sox will have some former player come sign. Last year the few times I went it was Billy Harper and Pesky on another day. You never know who might be there, Longborg, Tiant, and Malzone have been spotted, but usually there's a long line no matter who it is and if you just ask around someone will know. Also Remy will sometimes be at his sausage stand Rem-Dawgs, and the same can be said for Luis Tiant at El-Tiante's. Other than that, good luck, sometimes players sign in the stadium, sometimes they don’t it all depends on their moods. Outside the stadium is usually more of a sure thing, but not as big names, so the choice is yours.

Contest Winner

Well the Correct Answer to the April Contest was Earl Webb, who hit 67 doubles in 1931. Congratulations to DREW, who won the drawing and thanks to all those who sent in answers. May's contest is for an autographed Charlie Zink card.
The question: In what year did the Red Sox actually wear red socks for the first time?
Send all responses, along with your first name to briansredsoxautos@hotmail.com. Correct answers will be placed in a drawing for the above prize. Contest ends Sunday May 31st at 11:59 p.m. Winners will be notified via e-mail shortly after.