Random Thoughts (July 20, 2009)

If you were smart enough to tune in to 890 ESPN radio at 2pm on Saturday for the Mark Linehan-Bernie Corbett show "Rounding Third" from the Baseball Tavern, you heard the radio debut of TheBostonInsider on the airwaves. The experience was a thrill for me, someone who has listened to sports talk radio almost exclusively since I was just a kid. Mark and Bernie carried me through the entire show and I will be eternally grateful for the opportunity and the assistance. The show's guests included Sports Illustrated's Ian Thomsen, Kevin Paul DuPont of the Boston Globe, and Larry Tye, author of the new Satchel Paige biography. Remember to tune in every Saturday at 2pm to hear Mark and Bernie... During the memorable 2004 Red Sox run to the World Series, the most overlooked subplot of the season was the potential that four of the teams biggest stars - Pedro Martinez, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Varitek, and Derek Lowe - would leave Boston as free agents. There was a legitimate fear amongst fans who had waited a lifetime for a World Series championship that if the Sox didn't win in 2004, it could be a long time before they were in contention. Pedro, the best pitcher of his generation, was almost a lock to leave the Red Sox following the 2004 season, with or without the World Series. Red Sox management did not believe in giving out big-money salaries as a thank you for past success and at age 32 with a shoulder just begging for major surgery, Pedro did not project to have a great close to his Hall of Fame career. With the understanding that Pedro's time in a Red Sox uniform was coming to a close, I was lucky enough to get tickets behind the Sox dugout for a Thursday afternoon game against the Devil Rays. Pedro was absolutely brilliant. After his Cooperstown-bound right shoulder began to give out at the turn of the 21st Century, the dominating Pedro outings that were once routine had become something to celebrate. On this beautiful day at Fenway, Pedro tossed a complete game, six-hit shutout. He struck out 10 Tampa hitters and for one afternoon, looked like the three-time Cy Young winner that had made Fenway the place to be in the late 1990s. It was the last time I saw him be that dominant while holding a ticket. It is one of my most memorable days spent at Fenway. Watching Roy Halladay shut down the Red Sox yesterday brought back that memory for me. Halladay has been the best Blue Jay since their back-to-back World Series winners in 1992 and 1993. He has made a team with no chance to make the playoffs relevant. He has one Cy Young from 2003 (Pedro finished third) and is a six-time All-Star. Sadly for Toronto fans, their general manager J.P. Ricciardi has finally come to the conclusion that he needs to completely rebuild his franchise because playing along with the Red Sox, Yankees, and Rays in the powerful A.L. East gives the Blue Jays no chance to win in the immediate future. As a part of that plan to rebuild, Halladay is now on the trading block. His time in Canada is on the verge of expiring and the long suffering Blue Jays fans are now destined to watching their best player help another team and another city's fans in the fight to win a World Series. Pitching for possibly the last time in a Blue Jays uniform, Halladay shut down the first place Red Sox yesterday in Toronto, giving his fans a proper good-bye. Halladay went the distance, striking out seven while allowing just six hits and one run. If that was his last appearance as a Blue Jay, the fans in Toronto will have one last great memory of their ace pitching at the top of his game. They won't get to watch him celebrate a World Series in Toronto like Red Sox fans were lucky enough to do with Pedro in 2004 but it will still be a great memory... Tom Watson's historic run at the British Open ended in gut-wrenching fashion when the 59-year-old fell short on an eight-foot put on the 18th hole that would have given him his sixth Claret Jug. Watson went on to lose to Stewart Cink in a four-hole playoff, costing him the chance to become the oldest winner of a major tournament and also win his ninth major in the process. Watson's great weekend is the reason why so many people love the game of golf. Even at his advancing age, Watson was able to compete at the highest level of his game. There is no other sport in which an athlete who is closing in on social security can come so close to winning a championship. Even in his loss, Watson was able to make Turnberry, Scotland the heart of the sporting world for four days, in spite of Tiger Woods' failure to make the cut and Phil Mickelson's absence. Cink, who won his first major, is the real loser because the biggest win of his career will always be overshadowed by Watson's great effort... Enjoy John Smoltz tonight...