International Sports: Canada Rescues Boston
Posted August 3, 2008 on 11:23 am | In the category Canada, Sports, Baseball | by JeffThe Boston Red Sox were faced with a dilemma: how do you get rid of an ego-twisted hitting machine with a $20M contract? Manny Ramirez had soured on Boston and Boston had pretty much soured on him. While the arguments on whether they should have caved into whatever weird needs Manny had developed but not articulated continue, his behavior had gone around the proverbial corner and the management of the Red Sox could not stand having him around.
The trade that was finally worked out – minutes before the trade deadline – sent Ramirez to the Dodgers (with his remaining salary paid by the Sox!), the Dodgers sent a couple of minor league players to the Pirates and the Red Sox got Jason Bay from the Pirates to take the place of Ramirez, one of the baseball’s best hitters over the last ten years. Turns out that Bay is from Trail, British Columbia and brings a typically Canadian modesty along with a 282 batting average and 22 home runs, similar stats to those of Ramirez this year.
While no one believes Bay will hit like Ramirez, he will bring a couple of new dimensions to the left field position – speed, a decent arm, a willingness to run from home to first and a dedication to the game that goes beyond looking at himself in the mirror. Bay scored both runs in a 2-1 win over Oakland in his first game with the Sox and hit a three run homer in the next game. The Sox’ previous experience with a Canadian player was with Ferguson Jenkins who had a nasty curve ball and a police record of carrying illegal drugs across borders. Jason Bay will likely last a lot longer in Boston.
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My brother and I are delighted to see Jeff check in on the sports front. He would have been happy to spend a couple of hours with the CBCe yesterday watching Boston’s favourite son in Canada have his name and jersey raised to the rafters in the city where he was actually showed how a quarterback should really play. Doug Flutie, never given a chance in his home town, looked very pleased to be honoured in Calgary, and fit enough to run right on the field. They could have used him, too as Calgary lost 22-21 to undefeated Grey Cup champ Saskatchewan, in yet another splendid CFL match up. If you missed that, you can catch Doug going into the CFL Hall of Fame in Hamilton in the fall.
Comment by Mackenzie Brothers — August 3, 2008 #
There are those of us around Boston who believe Flutie was never given much of a chance by the Patriots who were not exactly setting the league on fire during the period Flutie was playing. And there are those who believe the Canadian game was better suited to his free-wheeling style of play. But whatever the case, Flutie was Canada’s gain and the Patriots’loss for much of his career.
But his final game was in a Patriots uniform and coach Bill Belichek put him in at the end to dropkick an extra point. Of course Flutie made it - the first (and only so far) dropkicked point in the NFL since 1941. Belichek recognized Flutie’s many accomplishments and simply wanted to give him and his fans one more special memory.
Comment by Jeff — August 3, 2008 #
Let us not forget about Fluties’ advancements in the world of cereals. He did after all give us Flutie Flakes.
Comment by preacherbbb — August 4, 2008 #