With Manny Ramirez making his return to Fenway Park for the first time since his trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers, it's time to take a look at some of the Manny being Manny moments.
Here's a video from what I'm assuming is a Japanese SportsCenter of some of Manny's lowlights and highlights as a member of the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians.
With Darius Smith deciding to transfer, Jim Calhoun and the UConn Huskies men's basketball program had another scholarship to offer for next season. They had a kid from Germany named Niels Giffey in for an official visit the past two days and now it looks like he'll be coming to Storrs for next season.
It seems as though the whole NCAA violations didn't hurt UConn as according to David Borges of the New Haven Register and Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant, Giffey, a 6'6" forward, has given Calhoun an oral commitment for next season.
Here's what Giffey had to say about his choice in UConn courtesy of Borges:
“I’m really excited to come to UConn,” said Giffey, who speaks fluent English. “I knew that UConn has a great basketball history. Coach Calhoun is a Hall of Fame coach, they’ve had Ray Allen and plenty of great wings. I like that fact. It’s a good team, a great coaching staff. I really felt comfortable.”
Giffey joins Roscoe Smith, Shabazz Napier, Tyler Oleander, Jeremy Lamb and Michael Bradley in the UConn's 2010 recruiting class.
On the eve of the return of Manny Ramirez to Boston, the Boston Red Sox took care of business on the field last night garnering a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Excluding a two-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins in mid-May, it was the first three or four-game sweep of a team since the Red Sox swept the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the beginning of May.
It was a big win for the Red Sox as both the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays lost last night. This means the Red Sox are now two games out of first place and out of the wild card spot. What's funny about all of this is that the Red Sox have the third best record in all of MLB and yet sit in third place in the AL East.
While John Lackey won his third straight decision, it wasn't really pretty. He labored through his start getting into some deep counts but like he's done all season long, he gave the Red Sox a chance to win. He didn't help himself at all after Stephen Drew lined a ball off of his foot and then he threw it away for an error. Drew eventually came around to score on a Chris Young double.
Even with the rough start by Lackey, he joins Clay Buchholz (9) and Jon Lester (8) as the only trio of starters in baseball to win at least eight games.
Offensively, the Red Sox are rolling right now.
David Ortiz continues to show the power as he added a two-run homer last night and has six-game hitting streak. Dustin Pedroia increased his hitting streak to seven games while Marco Scutaro continues to do an admirable job at the top of the lineup. Scutaro had two hits and three RBIs last night.
And Daniel Nava continues to reward Terry Francona and the Red Sox after his callup to the big club. Nava added three hits to the cause last night with an RBI as his average is at .444 in his brief time with the Red Sox.
It will be interesting to see the type of reaction that Manny gets in his return to Fenway Park. Will the Fenway faithful boo him or will he get cheers? I think it'll be a mixed bag myself. I also expect it'll be a media circus there today and you have to wonder if Manny will speak to the Boston media before the game.
We'll be back later with tonight's lineups, batter/pitcher matchups, any news and links from the day but for now, enjoy the overnight links.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
UConn Football links
Dan Davis On Kendall Reyes [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]
DC was busy answering questions yet again in his mailbag [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]
Other UConn related links
Field Hockey: Field Hockey Finalizes 2010 Schedule [UConnHuskies.com]
Women's Lacrosse: Connecticut Lacrosse Alum to Play Oversees [UConnHuskies.com]
Men's Ice Hockey: Husky Hockey Releases 2010-11 Schedule [UConnHuskies.com]
Destination Red Sox Nation is our look at how the minor league teams of the Boston Red Sox fare each night. Game story and box score links as well as links to team rosters, team stats and league standings are after the jump.
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Friday, June 18th @ 7:10 PM
Carlos Monasterios, RHP (3-1, 2.98) vs Felix Doubront, LHP (MLB Debut)
TV: NESN, MLB Network in select areas, MLB.tv
Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio
Saturday, June 19th @ 4:10 PM
Vicente Padilla, RHP (1-1, 6.65) vs Tim Wakefield, RHP (2-5, 5.42)
TV: FOX
Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio
Sunday, June 20th @ 8:05 PM
Hiroki Kuroda, RHP (6-4, 3.10) vs Clay Buchholz, RHP (9-4, 2.67)
TV: ESPN
Radio: Red Sox Radio Network, MLB Game Day Audio
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Arizona Diamondbacks @ Boston Red Sox |
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Afternoon Red Sox Delight - 6/17 [SOX & Dawgs]
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The Boston Red Sox haven't swept a team since the beginning of May and that's exactly what they'll be looking for against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at Fenway Park.
Tonight's game will start at 6:10 p.m. and will be shown on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Diamondbacks television market, you can catch the game on FOX Sports Arizona. If you can't catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to the game on the 2010 Red Sox radio network.
John Lackey is hoping to build off his last start in his 14th start of the season for the Red Sox. In his previous 13 starts, he is 7-3 with a 4.54 ERA. Lackey has faced the Diamondbacks just once in his career. That start for Lackey was a member of the Angels in 2009 where he picked up a no decision after throwing seven shutout innings.
Dan Haren will be making his 15th start of the season for the Diamondbacks. In his previous 14 starts, Haren is 7-4 with a 4.61 ERA. He's made six career starts against the Red Sox and is 2-3 with a 2.65 ERA. Haren has made four career starts at Fenway Park and is 1-3 with a 3.18 ERA.
Keep reading for lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and pregame links.
Jon Lester wasn't at his best last night for the Boston Red Sox against the Arizona Diamondbacks but sometimes Lester doesn't have to perfect to get a win. That was definitely the case last night.
Lester had command issues but switched to his off-speed stuff to help him get seven strikeouts on the evening. He only gave up four hits and the two runs he allowed came on a Justin Upton 2-run homer. He walked three hitters and went to a few 3-2 counts. But even when Lester isn't on his game, he's still pretty darn good.
It was the above mentioned off-speed pitches that bewildered the Diamondbacks hitters. In counts where a fastball is usually called, Victor Martinez would call for a curve or changeup and most of the time, the D'Backs hitters would just watch it for a called strike three.
Lester along with Clay Buchholz have been the aces of the staff this year in a rotation that also includes Josh Beckett and John Lackey. But with Beckett hurt and Lackey struggling at times, both of them have stepped up to push the Red Sox to the top of the AL East.
In fact, Lester has been on a nice run as of late as he is 8-0 with a 2.01 ERA over his past 11 starts. If Beckett can get back to health and form and Lackey can get through his struggles and get on a Lester-like run, the Red Sox starting pitching could help propel them to another playoff berth.
Offensively, Dustin Pedroia is back on track after a mini-slump that came about after a minor injury to his right knee in Detroit. He had an MRI at the beginning of the homestand that came back negative and he's done nothing but hit, including a big two-run homer that got the Red Sox started last night. Pedroia has now hit in his last six games. He's also made some big defensive plays including one last night that helped Lester escape a bases loaded jam.
Hopefully the Red Sox can close the series with a sweep, something they haven't been able to do in their last four series after taking the first two games.
Don't forget tonight's game has been moved up to 6:10 p.m. to accommodate Celtics fans who want to watch the game at 9 p.m. on ABC. And please take a few moments and vote 25 times for the Red Sox in the AL All-Star voting. Lord knows they need it.
We'll be back later with tonight's lineups, batter/pitcher matchups, news and any links from the day but for now enjoy the overnight links.
To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click
UConn Football links
McClain, Easley Sign Deals [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]
DC answered a few questions in his mailbag [Desmond Conner - Hartford Courant]
Easley signs with Bills [Neill Ostrout - CT Post]
Former UConn WR Easley faring well at Bills' camp [CT Post]
Bills sign UConn's Easley [CT Post]
UConn Women's Basketball links
Maya in select company [Jim Fuller - New Haven Register]
Summitt Conference [John Altavilla - Hartford Courant]
Moore A Finalist For Honda-Broderick Cup [Rich Elliott - CT Post]
UConn Men's Basketball links
Niels Giffey Visit [Mike Anthony - Hartford Courant]
Bucks work out draft hopeful Robinson [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Other UConn related links
Women's Soccer: UConn Women's Soccer Releases 2010 Schedule [UConnHuskies.com]
Three Named Winners Of 2009-10 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Awards [UConnHuskies.com]
Volleyball Standout Colby Billhardt: UConn 'A Perfect Fit' [Darien Patch]
.jpg&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "Video: Davis Powers Orioles to 6-3 Win Over Red Sox")
