FanHouse RedSox

I was at a museum bar this past week, playing some pool with a buddy when golf came up in the conversation between us and our playing competitors.

One of the guys, slightly inebriated, lambasted me with this theory – Tiger Woods is killing the PGA Tour.

No, there were no bigotry in his voice, he didn't care if Woods was black, white or the color of Paula Creamer's golf ball, he just believed that the onslaught of Tiger fans has brought down the competitiveness and interest of a regular PGA Tour event.

At first I thought this guy was a complete moron. I hit my pool shots, had a sip of beer and mused over the idea that the best thing to ever hit golf could somehow be bringing it down? Hogwash, I thought.

It didn't hit me until Saturday afternoon, on the golf course for my lemming-like weekend tee time, when I realized this guy might be on to something.

Maybe Tiger is killing the tour. No, he isn't killing golf, he's turned a sport reserved for higher class businesspeople into a global phenomenon. He's changed the pot-bellied golfer into a gym rat. He's merged two types of golfers, the one that bombs it off the tee and the one that chips and putts well around the greens, into one golfing freak. He's brought mock turtlenecks, Nike Golf, the first pump and red on Sundays to our regular conversation.

Tiger has changed golf, which is obviously clear.

With that said, has he killed the PGA?

Kyle Farnsworth getting suspended for ANYTHING is Dugout-worthy news, much less getting suspended for throwing a fastball at Manny Ramirez's head. I don't know if he deserved the three-game suspension. I also don't know if he purposefully pitched at Manny's head, but honestly a part of me would be pretty disappointed if he didn't. We came up with your nickname before your announce team did, you might as well do something for our benefit every now and then. He should've thrown the ball at Manny's head, and while Manny was reacting Kyle should've ran up and tried to punch him.

Today's Dugout is the undoubtedly true story of what happened before, during, and after the at-bat. Inside this Dugout you will hopefully find a snippet of dialogue (unfortunately) lacking in misplaced curse words but still ridiculous and unnecessary enough to replace "go rerish" as the thing we're most remembered for. I don't want to be solely remembered as the "go rerish" guy. I mean, I didn't even come up with that. Some oriental guy did!

hold onto your butts; Big Country vs. Manny, after the jump.

Gabe Silva, Yankee fan morose human being, reflects on the world of sports talks to himself in his room.

As the World Series arrives, I've come to terms with the fact that Dane Cook is invited to the game, but Joba Chamberlain is not. Here, I make his head s'plode at the 1:20 mark. Enjoy.

Sorry, No Photos

If Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, a free agent at the close of this season, signs with an American League team, Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun may want to invest in some extra helmet padding. Especially if Schilling has any friends in Canada who might have heard Zaun covering the ALCS broadcast for Rogers Sportsnet, where he offered his candid opinions on the future Hall-of-Famer.

[Zaun] told viewers that Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling "never met a microphone or camera that he didn't like." When host Jamie Campbell, who does a great job of teeing up questions for Zaun, asked him if Schilling were beatable, Zaun said he was. He then chronicled how age had robbed Schilling of his skills.

Those were brave words from someone who may face a high hard one from Schilling next season.

Brave, indeed. But, honestly, I'm more intrigued by the fact that Canadian audiences get to enjoy a Tim McCarver-free broadcast. Shouldn't we all have to suffer together?

At the close of another season in the AL east cellar, the Devil Rays have already received their first kick to the onions for 2008. Next season's schedule offers only one weekend series at home against a "big draw" opponent.

The Red Sox hit the Trop April 25-27. But every other weekend at home will find the Rays tackling the likes of Kansas City, Florida, Detroit, Baltimore, Toronto, the White Sox and Houston. Notably missing are any weekend series against the Yankees and the Cubs, who'll be bringing along former Rays skipper Lou Piniella.

Rays ownership can thank Major League Baseball for any impact on their finances. But at least they're taking the high road.

"While the timing of particular home series certainly affects attendance, what is of greater importance is the experience we offer at Tropicana Field and the quality of play on the field," team president Matt Silverman said.

On the bright side, Scott Kazmir will certainly be happy if Sox and Yankees fans are less inclined to do any mid-week roadtripping to Tampa Bay.

I used to think the only things first basemen had to worry about were being alert for pick-off plays and avoiding the likes of Matt Stairs barreling down the basepath.

But in the latest issue of Boston Globe Magazine, Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis reveals his greatest fear: that someone might try to swipe away his good mojo.

"Cleveland's Casey Blake always does that. If I have a bunch of hits in a game, if he gets to first base, he'll always try to touch me. Try to get hits. They just try to rub your arm. They try to take your hits away from you. Some guys try to rub the good luck on to them."

Personally, we're against any sort of touching in the workplace (and if you saw some of the people in our offices, you'd understand). But you can't blame anyone for trying to get a little of that Youk magic; his stellar D and recently revived bat have been two critical components of the Sox' success in 2007.

In the most anticlimatic announcement since Nathan Lane came out of the closet, Red Sox TV analyst and former second baseman Jerry Remy was named president of Red Sox Nation, ending one of the more curious PR initiatives ever to be hatched on Yawkey Way since Carl Yastrzemski had his own line of breads in 1967.

The Rem Dawg received over 39,000 votes, finishing a clean 25,000 votes above the second place candidate and besting the likes of former Sox players Sam Horn and Rich Garces, as well as the de facto Commissioner of Baseball, Peter Gammons, and a handful of "common fans" who earned enough votes to land among the top five.

Few candidates had the raw appeal or star credentials of Remy, who, since becoming the Red Sox' color analyst in 1988, has become something of a cult icon among Boston fans. As for what the position of President actually entails, well, we're not really sure. But Jerry's got a cool mission statement on his website, TheRemyReport.com:

"We have all been through countless campaigns filled with promises. Some fulfilled, most not. So I make no promises. This will be a new experience for the Red Sox, for Red Sox Nation, and for the first president. But this you can count on: as president, I will always remember my responsibility to you, and I will always act as your voice within the Red Sox organization. Always."

And for just $14.95 a year, you, too, can be a member of Red Sox Nation. And pledge allegiance to Remy.

Getting left off the playoff roster can trigger different emotions in baseball players. Some rail against their managers and the coaching staff and anyone else who comes to mind. Others just quietly accept it, praying that they'll get their chance if the team advances to the next round.

But the best reaction to being left off the ALDS roster comes from -- who else? -- Boston's Julian Tavarez. As noted in today's Boston Globe, the guy's clearly got everything in its proper perspective:

"That's OK," Tavarez said. "As long as we get the ring and the big check."

Since Tavarez' most notable postseason moment, at least around Red Sox country, is giving up a game-winning home run to Mark Bellhorn in the opener of the 2004 World Series -- the turning point from which the Sox took off and never looked back -- his absence in the bullpen will probably mean a slight drop in Maalox sales. But his ability to keep his teammates loose -- this is a guy, after all, who claimed he wanted to be a porn star, had his head rubbed by Manny Ramirez in a now-classic YouTube moment, and sported cleats emblazoned with David Ortiz' face -- makes him a valuable clubhouse presence for the October grind.

After the Red Sox beat the Twins tonight at Fenway Park, reducing their magic number for taking the AL East to one game, a few thousand fans stuck around to watch the Yankees take on the Orioles on the jumbotron.

Those who stayed didn't leave disappointed; the Orioles, down by 3 in the ninth, pulled a Lazarus, tying the game before winning it in the tenth, and setting off an AL East-clinching celebration on the field and in the stands at Fenway.

It's the first time the Sox have won the division since 1995, but there's still a small bit of drama to be played out this weekend, as the Sox are neck-in-neck with the Cleveland Indians for the best record in the American League, which would give them home field advantage for the playoffs.

As I type this, they're still tossing beer, quaffing champagne and playing grab-ass with the fans at Fenway Park. But the next couple weeks will show us whether this team can conjure as much post-season magic as the 2004 model.

Unable to land tickets to see the Sox at home, where Fenway Park seats roughly 26 average-sized humans, Boston fans have made road tripping a seasonal tradition. But other teams are apparently tiring of hearing cheers for the oppostion on their home turf.

Earlier this month, some Orioles fans vowed to "take back Camden Yards" from the hordes of exuberant Sox fans. And yesterday, as the Sox hit Tampa Bay for the last time this season, Rays' pitcher Scott Kazmir voiced his own distaste for playing at home to the fans of Boston and New York.

"You know it's going to be nothing but a sea of red when the Red Sox are there and then next week nothing but Yankees fans," Kazmir said. "You go out for the first inning and next thing you know they've got one guy on and already that Red Sox chant is going on. That stuff really bothers me. It does. We're a major-league team too. It's tough. It seems like okay, we're just renting-the-place type stuff. I don't know. It's just wrong. It really is."

Teammate B.J. Upton echoed this sentiment.

"I think it's ridiculous," Upton said. "You're supposed to be the home team and the place is sold out, but it's 98 percent the other team's fans. I think you kind of get used to it, but at the same time it gets old. We're playing in the Trop and it's more like Fenway than anything. We go in and play at home and it's like a road game at home."

Hey, if the Rays can start to turn it around -- and, at least on paper, they've got the young talent to do it -- those pesky out-of-towners might just find themselves shut out at the ticket window. Until then, ownership can just keep re-investing those piles of Boston and New York dollars back into the team.