Tag: A-Rod

Joe Kelly Picked His Top 5 Teammates for a Fight Club. Who Ya Got?

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NBC Sports – To celebrate the second anniversary of the brawl, WEEI’s Rob Bradford chatted with Kelly on the Bradfo Sho podcast and asked the Los Angeles Dodgers hurler to name five current and former teammates he’d want in his Fight Club.

Yadier Molina, Mitch Moreland, Austin Barnes, David Freese, and Chris Sale were his picks.

Joe Kelly will always be remembered fondly for his dominant 2013 postseason, but the man will never be forgotten for instigating a brawl and laying the smackdown on Yankees slugger scrub Tyler Austin. Kelly recently drafted his Top 5 for a Fight Club and it got the wheels spinning in my head. To keep this from spiraling into a 10,000 word think piece I kept my Top 5 to former Red Sox players. So anyone thats played so much as an inning for the Sox was available to draft for my Fight Club.

Adrian Beltre

No. 1 out of the gate for me is hands down Adrian Beltre because that man is a psycho. And not in the way that your skinny friend who wears polo hats says he’s a psycho. No, Beltre is unhinged. Just let someone touch his head and watch the carnage ensue.

Gabe Kapler

My No. 2 is 2004 Gabe Kapler because that man was a walking muscle who happened to play baseball. Remember how he maimed the Yankees Tanyon Sturtze? Sturtze’s pride may have never recovered from that.

Jason Varitek

Tek is a former Georgia Tech linebacker and he straight up bullied one of the greatest athletes of my generation in A-Rod so yea I’m taking the goatee as my No. 3.

Jonathan Papelbon

Every Fight Club needs a wild card and Jonathan Papelbon is that crazy sonofabitch.

Besides being a nutcase from the deep south, this was a guy who relished a fight, even if it was with his own teammate. Hell remember that time he almost ended Bryce Harper just because Harper wasn’t hustling?

Alfredo Aceves

This man may be in jail for all I know, but Aces always kind of frightened me and I only watched him on TV. Larry Walker once compared the guy to Satan for christ’s sake. Imagine this loose cannon hurling fastballs under your chin? This man got into a legitimate brawl during a Canada-Mexico matchup in the WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC so you know he’s just itching for a reason.

Reds Pitcher Amir Garrett Started a BRAWL and Yasiel Puig (Who Had Just Been Traded) Was Ready to Throw Hands

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Yasiel Puig can drink from my canteen anytime. The dude just got traded so he technically wasn’t even on the Reds anymore yet he was still ready to throw hands.

Since we’re in the trust tree I’ll admit that the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve soured on baseball fights. It’s usually a bunch of dudes who’ve never thrown a punch in their lives just throwing their gloves at each other and flailing away. Last season’s Joe Kelly brawl was the exception.

But, THIS was different. So when an actual fight breaks out with haymakers being thrown, all started by a pitcher literally turning into Leroy Jenkins, I am all the way in.

Hell even the managers got into the mix and ended up getting tackled to the ground.

Reds manager David Bell (who was previously ejected) had been wrestled to the ground by Pirates hitting coach Rick Eckstein after charging Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle, and nobody seemed convinced that this drama was actually over at all.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it sparks up again. We don’t take lightly to what happened tonight and the way that they acted,” Bucs starter Joe Musgrove said. “The guy that’s running their team over there is the ringleader. You saw him come out and go right after our manager after being ejected. Who knows what’s going to happen down the line, but we definitely expect something to happen at some point. We’ll be ready for it.”

Also, shoutout to this cop who said fuck this I do not get paid enough to break up fights between millionaires, let them sort it out.

If baseball is going to thrive despite its pacing problem, length of games, umpire debates etc. etc. then some legitimate brewhahas couldn’t hurt to drum up excitement. Hell it was the 15 year anniversary the other day of my favorite baseball fight: A-Rod vs Tek

 

The PawSox Just Changed the Game Forever With This A-Rod J Lo Promo

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The Pawtucket Red Sox, ever in favor of love, will celebrate the engagement of Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez with a Red Sox-themed party Friday, April 12 at McCoy Stadium, to inaugurate the club’s Legendary Fridays series this year.

For those who recall the events of Saturday afternoon, July 24, 2004, which may have been the most important and most pivotal regular season game in the long and storied history of the Boston Red Sox

The PawSox just changed the game with this promo! As much as I used to hate A-Rod with the passion of a thousand suns, I kinda like him now. I think it’s a direct correlation to when Yankees fans turned on him at the end. He became a flawed human who just wanted to be liked that I think we can all relate to. It just didn’t feel right hating a guy that Yankees fans hated. Plus he is a true A+ talent in the broadcast booth and he charmed my socks off when he appeared at the HubSpot convention last year.

With that being said, times were different in 2004. The Red Sox were still the most popular team in town despite the Pats having won 2 of the past 3 Super Bowls. They were still the team everyone lived and died by whether it was April or October. So everything was magnified by 1,000%.

The Sox had just lost an absolute heartbreaker of an ALCS Game 7 that I will take to my grave. And to top it all off the Yankees had gotten even better. A-Rod was the new despised enemy after a failed arranged marriage was nixed by the MLBPA the winter before. So naturally the Yanks swooped in like the snakes they are and worked out a trade for the slugger. (If you’ve never watched the 30 for 30 short on what if the A-Rod Red Sox trade had gone through that is appointment viewing) A-Rod was a perennial MVP candidate, but he was also a loudmouth, whiny pretty boy who’d never won a damn thing. So when he started talking shit to 135 lbs Bronson Arroyo after getting beaned I think we had all had enough. I still vividly remember standing in my parents living room and shouting FIGHT once Varitek got in A-Rod’s face and served him a piece of catcher’s mitt pie.

And this wasn’t just some heat of the moment thing. There was genuine animosity between the two sides…or at least from Varitek. Seriously Varitek still hates the fucking guy and made A-Rod legitimately uncomfortable on the World Series broadcast last season.

So for the PawSox to honor this legendary moment in Red Sox history is an incredible promotion. Just look at some of what they have going on!

  • Fans wearing Bronson Arroyo or Jason Varitek jerseys will be admitted free to Pawtucket’s April 12th game against the New York Mets’ Syracuse affiliate.
  • Fans by the name of Jennifer will also be admitted for free (Yes… All “Jenny’s from the block” showing valid RI identification will be granted free admission at the PawSox ticket office).
  • Former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow, who is expected to be playing with the Syracuse Mets, will walk up to Mariah Carey’s greatest hits for the duration of his series at McCoy Stadium as a salute to one of J.Lo’s greatest rivals.
  • Long-time Red Sox fan and Cambridge, MA native Ben Affleck has been cordially invited to throw out the game’s Ceremonial First Pitch-for obvious reasons.

I will have my Bronson Arroyo t-shirt jersey ready. to. go. for this game. T-shirt jerseys count, right?

Doc Rivers Grabbed the Mic to Honor Dirk Nowitzki Mid-Game, Shows the Difference Between LA and Boston in 10 Seconds

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As any NBA fan knows, first ballot HOFer in waiting Dirk Nowitzki is playing what is almost definitely his final season. The guy has been one of the greatest scorers in NBA history with an absolutely unstoppable patented fadeaway:

Dirk’s legacy is something my good friend Mark Cuban and I talked about at length when we ran into each other my first time in Vegas.

While Dirk hasn’t officially announced his retirement, most fans expect this to be his last go round. So last night with time winding down in a game between the Mavs and the Clippers, Doc Rivers literally called a timeout, grabbed the PA mic, and told Clippers fans to get up and give Dirk a standing ovation.

Awesome gesture, and I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like it….BUT, it just goes to show the difference between LA and Boston.

In LA, the coach literally had to stop the game and tell his fans to honor a legend because it would be embarrassing if they didn’t.

Boston?

Reminds of the old days when even Kobe Bryant was wildly cheered in his final games in Boston. Kobe was the first athlete I went from hating to begrudgingly respecting to flat out liking. The same became true of A-Rod years later. So even if we hate your ass, Boston is still the greatest sports city in the world.

These Are the Best Red Sox World Series Videos (So Far)

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These videos will be rolling in for awhile, and thats before we even get to Wednesday’s Duckboats parade, but as of right now these are the best Red Sox World Series videos (so far).

Yankees Prospect Asks Team to Un-Retire Mickey Mantle’s Number for Him

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Yahoo Sports – The number on the back of a baseball player’s jersey is more than just a number. In a game filled with superstition, having your lucky number could make a huge difference in your performance…But when that number is retired by the franchise, that player is out of luck. It’s time to find a new number. Well … unless you’re New York Yankees prospect Clint Frazier. The 22-year-old outfielder reportedly asked the team if it “un-retire” numbers, according to Yankees broadcaster Suzyn Waldman. Predictably, Frazier was denied. Teams don’t un-retire numbers. It doesn’t happen. It was an absurd request by Frazier. And yet, the whole thing gets even more ludicrous. Frazier wanted the Yankees to un-retire No. 7. Yes, he wanted to wear Mickey Mantle’s number!

Goddamnit you’re gonna make me like you Clint Frazier aren’t you? I’ve already written about my fascination with the up and coming Yankees prospect before because of his absolute mane of red hair that the NYY will ultimately make him chop off because they still think its 1920. But now this comes out that Frazier is legit asking to wear numbers the Yanks have already RETIRED and I’m starting to develop a man crush on a guy who will one day play for the team I despise. A juiced redhead who absolutely mashes the ball. He’s like the Neo of gingers. The one to reset the Matrix of abuse that redheads have taken for decades.

Now this same guy is just pissing on Yankees tradition and asking to wear Mickey Mantle’s number? Love it. Kid probably doesn’t even know who the Mick is. Guy banged Marilyn Monroe, have some respect.

Hilarious lack of self awareness and it probably just makes Yankees fans like the kid less, which I always enjoy. It’s like when A-Rod was hitting 40 dingers with 140 RBIs and all of New York just absolutely loathed the guy. “Still not better than our light hitting shortstop who’s defense should’ve forced him to left field years ago.” Oh Yankees fans, what a bunch of wacky loudmouths.