Blogging BLOHARDS

Diamond Bill

Happy 10th (Diamond) Anniversary to the Sports Guy, ESPN.com's Bill Simmons! Bill notes in his Friday blog posting that today, May 20, marks the 10 year anniversary of the launch of his Boston Sports Guy column on the old Digital City Boston.

BLOHARDS and Red Sox fans everywhere wish you many more anniversaries, Bill.  Thanks for always being the voice of reason!

Exclusive! Fenway Renovations Update

Tim Shea, friend of the BLOHARDS and author of the fabulous Fenway Pole Finder, checked in recently with an update on his book publishing and the latest on Fenway Park renovations. Tim tells BLOHARDSBlog that Pole Finder (reviewed here) continues to sell well on Amazon.com and is seeing increased distribution at retail bookstores. He's currently putting the finishing touches on his second Fenway guide which is slated to be available before Opening Day 2007. BLOHARDSBlog will have more info on that book as it becomes available.

Here are some excerpts from notes Tim took while on a recent tour of Fenway to check on the latest ballpark renovations:

-- The main benefit of the construction going on behind the third base and left field grandstand is the new area for concessions and a women's bathroom. The Boston Globe article made a big deal about a new left field standing room deck in this area. In reality, they are adding about 4 feet of standing room depth, but a tremendous amount of open space for concessions. This area was always painfully narrow for getting around. If you think about what the concesssion area is like now behind the left field box seats on the street level, it will be similar to that, just one level up.

Fenway Finale Photos

Last Sunday, October 1st, three BLOHARDS (or was it four?) braved the elements and trekked to Fenway intent on seeing the final game and experiencing some closure with the ignominious 2006 season. Here is a short photo essay of that journey...

Dark, gloomy skies, and a three hour and twenty-three minute rain delay dampened the pre-game activity!

On The Road Again, I Got You Babe

9/24 WITH BIG PAPI AND THE BABE. With little else to cheer about after yesterday's Wild Card elimination, we turn now to David Ortiz and Babe Ruth.  In the Red Sox 13-4 loss today, Ortiz hit home run number 53 on the season which was also his 32nd on the road, tying him with Ruth's 79 year old American League record. Congratulations Big Papi and we wish you well in your attempt to break the record tomorrow!

Today in history also marked several other notable Ruthian events...

Prepping For Post-season Play

To whom do the BLOHARDS throw support in the fast-approaching post-season? 

A vexing question, potentially answered by counting the number of Ex-Red Sox on the rosters of teams like the Padres, Dodgers, Mets, and (gasp) Yankees. Ok, that last one was a joke, but they do have a few. I also view this as a bit of an experiment to see whether or not the Ex-Red Sox factor would work opposite of the Ex-Cubs factor.

In any case, what team wouldn't want the sort of vociferous loyalty that our membership would bring?  I'd submit that BLOHARDS could help a team's "tenth man" by becoming an "eleventh man."  Over the next week or so we'll attempt to answer that question here, and just as soon as the Red Sox are mathematically eliminated from the Wild Card race we'll name our "favorite".

In the meantime, our friends over at FenwayNation.com make a strong case for the hometown Mets, with the Top 10 Reasons Why Sox Fans Should Root For The Mets...

Where The Sun Don't Shine

Friend or foe? You be the judge.

Just brought to our attention, Rob Hiaasen's article in last Thursday's Baltimore Sun about the traveling mobs known as Red Sox (and Yankees) fans overtaking other teams' ballparks. And to whom might Mr. Hiaasen turn for a quote? That's right, everyone's favorite Curly-Haired Columnist, Mr. Dan Shaughnessy...

Remembrance

There are plenty of ways to honor the memories of those who were lost. Here's one organization I'm familiar with that I wanted to let people know about...

What is myGoodDeed.org?
myGoodDeed.org is the official Web site of One Day's Pay, a nonprofit 501c3 organization leading the effort to establish September 11 as a national day of voluntary service, charity and good deeds.

Shirt Shrift

I don't know the people at The Red Seat, the people at The Red Seat are not friends of mine, but mister (and missus) the people at the The Red Seat make some cool stuff for Red Sox fans.  I didn't think they would mind if I shared their t-shirt interpretation of what's on our mind; especially as we teter on the brink here and could all use the chuckle! Poke around their site for some humor and fun, out-of-the-ordinary, merchandise.

-- FM

Review: Fenway Pole Finder

If you thought finding a Pole at Fenway was limited to the possibility of seeing Carl Yastrzemski on Opening Day, you're wrong! (Being a Polish-American who's favorite player was Yaz, I can say that.) Tim Shea, author of Fenway Pole Finder ($14.95, Itasca Books), has done BLOHARDS and Red Sox Nation a big favor with the recent publication of his useful guide to finding the best seats at America's Most Beloved Ballpark.

So What Can A BLOHARD Do?

In all of the news this week concerning Jon Lester and Big Papi, one couldn't help but notice the prominent role played by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in both of their situations. Especially in Lester's case, maybe you've wondered if there's anything you can do to help. Of course, the prayers and good thoughts of fans everywhere are welcomed but maybe you're moved to do more. You could do worse than open up your wallet for an institution that conducts the largest hospital-based medical research program in the United States...