Posts tagged AaronBoone at FanHouse

Later today, the Red Sox will stroll out of the visitor's dugout and face the Yankees for the final time at venerable Yankee Stadium. There will be other goodbyes to the House That Ruth Built in the coming weeks, but with the Bronx Bombers a major longshot to play into October, this series seems to have taken on special significance.

Here are a dozen of the finest moments in the best rivalry in American sports, all of which took place at Yankee Stadium. Even Red Sox fans have to be feeling a little nostalgic about their team's final visit. After all, the franchise's finest hour took place there.

1. Oct. 16, 2003: The ghosts strike one last time. After Red Sox manager Grady Little leaves Pedro Martinez in well past the 100-pitch mark with a 5-2 lead in the eighth inning, the Yankees rally to force extra innings. In the 11th, Aaron Boone sends a deep fly into the Bronx night, sending New York to the World Series and crushing Boston's dreams of ending the Curse of the Bambino again.

Earlier today, Fanhouse blogger Josh Alper (Dugout username: AmburgerAlper) brought the web log of Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman to our attention. Long story short he writes like a happy third grader and as someone who works almost exclusively in hearsay and slander I think it's great. Imagine if David Wright's blog was about how fantastic his lunch was.

And hey, we never talk about the Nats without talking about SteakGrowsOnDmitri, so I thought it was about time to give big ups to the motherland of Caucasia and represent the white folk of our nation's capital. No, not all of those white folk.

www.zimmerman.gov.ww/zimmerman, after the jump.

Are the Nationals conducting training camp or a Boone family reunion? Right about now it's not very clear. Bret Boone, who turns 39 in April, signed a minor league deal this morning, a move undoubtedly endorsed by proud papa Bob Boone, the team's assistant GM, and younger brother Aaron Boone, the team's utility infielder.

Bret hasn't played in a big league game since 2005, but that hasn't stopped him from thinking he can compete for the starting job at second base. For now, he'll work in the accelerated minor league camp, which is where Dmitri Young started out last year. After being introduced to the media, Boone alluded to some of the reasons he left the game two years ago. From MLB.com:

Boone acknowledged that there were off-field problems, and while he didn't mention what they were, he said, "I've been a guy that goes out and has a good time and maybe, at times, I had too good of a time and that catches up to you. [At some point,] you have to look in the mirror and find out where you are going with your life. I took care of some personal business."

Of course, what he doesn't mention are all of the steroid rumors that have circled him ever since his completely out of-the-blue breakout year in 2001. Maybe off-field issues really can explain his sharp decline, or maybe, you know, he simply got off the juice.

The Nationals made a signing that can be aptly described as "under the radar" when they signed Aaron Boone to a one year deal on Thursday. But could there have been a little more to it than that? On ESPN's Winter Meetings Blog, they first had this to say on the Boone signing:

The Nationals have picked up two third basemen, signing Aaron Boone to a one-year deal and selecting Matt Whitney from Cleveland in the Rule 5 draft. Although Boone could fill a role as a backup at first and third, there are whispers that the Nationals are concerned about third baseman Ryan Zimmerman's health in his recovery from wrist surgery.

When Ryan Zimmerman originally injured his wrist while swinging a bat last month, it was concluded that Zimmerman would absolutely be ready for the start of spring training, making it a non-issue. So there were some eyebrows raised when Boone was signed. But the Nats alleviated those concerns, as reported later in ESPN's blog:

The Nationals shot down speculation that Ryan Zimmerman's left wrist might be a source of concern. The team said Zimmerman will have a soft cast removed shortly and is expected to begin swinging a bat sometime around Christmas. The Nationals expect him to be ready in plenty of time for spring training. Zimmerman had surgery to remove the hook of the hamate bone Nov. 7, then a follow-up procedure Nov. 13 to clear a hematoma.

So there you have it ... Nationals fans can breathe easy. And they don't have to ponder the irony of an insurance policy for their star third baseman who injured himself in the off-season being a guy who once blew out his knee in a pick-up basketball game during the off-season, which enabled Alex Rodriguez to become a New York Yankee and thus changed the time-space continuum of baseball forever.

Now that Alex Rodriguez has opted out and Joe Girardi has been named the 32nd manager in franchise history, the Yankees can turn their attention to figuring out who will man the hot corner for them next season. There are no shortage of options. Several free agents and potential trades are out there, as well as a couple of in-house options, so let's look at at some of the potential solutions.

Miguel Cabrera

Pros - A younger version of Manny Ramirez at the plate, Cabrera can flat out rake. His 162-game averages are .313, 31 home runs and 118 RBI and he's the only player with the potential to produce a reasonable facsimile of Rodriguez's production in the middle of the lineup. He turns 25 next April so he'd be a long-term solution who could be the first great player at the new Yankee Stadium.

Cons - He's also a younger version of Ramirez in the head. Doesn't care much for fielding, which would be a disaster playing next to the aging Derek Jeter. Cares even less for conditioning. Would cost quite a bit in a trade and the Yankees should be resistant to deal any of their young pitching.

Babe Ruth, Bucky Dent, Bill Buckner, Calvin Schiraldi: names synonymous with the painful history of the Boston Red Sox and their championship drought. In 2003, another name was added to the list: Grady Little. For many fans, Grady became the face of failure in Boston. Maybe because it was against the Yankees. Maybe because it was the most recent in fans' memories. Maybe because the 2003 Red Sox had a team capable of winning the World Series. But more likely it is because Grady had so many chances to make the right move. It wasn't just one under-the-gun, could-go-either-way decision. It was several chances to make the right decision with all of the statistical facts backing him. Yet in the end, his inability to pull the trigger on Pedro Martinez catapulted him to the Red Sox Hall of Shame. Heck, he even got a website and a book named after him!

Pick it up Grady's follies in the bottom of the seventh with the Red Sox leading 4-1 and two outs.

Giambi homered to right center, Enrique Wilson reached on infield single, Karim Garcia singled to right sending Wilson to second.

Pedro was able to strike out the free-swinging Soriano to avoid further damage. After seven, Boston was leading 4-2.

Clearly, Pedro was done. It took everything he had to get Soriano, and his pitch count was over 100. Timlin and Williamson had been outstanding in the post-season in the set-up and closer roles respectively. In each of the 3 wins the Sox had in this series, Timlin pitched the eighth, Williamson the ninth. Why should the clincher be any different?

On Tuesday, we saw the beginnings of hate between the Phillies and the Marlins. There was Scott Olsen yelling at Chase Utley, and there was Utley and Cole Hamels telling us how many people hated Olsen.

Wednesday night, act II, saw three Marlins get hit by pitches. And after Thursday night, the hate has been kicked up another notch, thanks to Dontrelle Willis and Jon Lieber.

In the first inning of Thursday's 85-minute rain-delayed game, Marlins catcher Miguel Olivo caught Abraham Nunez with a right to the jaw on the follow through of a throw to second base. Nunez swung and missed, and his momentum took him in front of the plate and in the path of Olivo's concussion-inducing haymaker.

In the second inning, Aaron Boone got hit by a pitch for the second straight game. Three batters later, Lieber inexplicably threw a pitch behind Willis that just missed his backside. "The guy hasn't hit anybody the whole year and he didn't hit anybody the rest of the game," Willis said. "I have to defend myself...I'm not going to sit down and back down from anything."

Willis returned the favor in the fourth, throwing a pitch well behind Lieber. After the inning ended, Willis began jawing at the Phillies dugout. Said Phillies catcher Rod Barajas: "There's no need for you to walk off the field and taunt the other dugout. It's something you don't do in this game and tempers are going to flare when that happens."

Both teams spilled onto the infield between home and third base, but it appeared the situation would defuse quickly. The more talking that went on, the closer the two groups got and some shoving ensued. Willis, Olsen and Mitre were among those who had to be restrained. Nobody was ejected and game resumed without further incident.

Usually, when an incident happens such as Olsen yelling at Utley, everyone expects something to happen the next game. Almost always, that next level of aggression never happens and everyone goes home disappointed. Well this time, not only did we get two straight games with tensions, we got three. And that makes this rivalry official. Will something else happen the next time these two rivals meet? Don't bet on it ... they'll have until August 7th to cool down for their next meeting.

Previously on the Fanhouse:
Who hates Scott Olsen? Everyone hates Scott Olsen.

Aaron Boone, he of game seven of the 2003 ALCS and currently Florida Marlin fame, is an Arizona native. Thus naturally, he gravitates towards the Suns as his NBA team of choice.

So when big bad David Stern dropped his decision on us all Tuesday regrading Amare Stoudemire's and Boris Diaw's one-game suspension, Boone was more than a little peeved. In fact, he went so far as to challenge Stern to a fight.

"I'm livid. I went to bed in a bad mood and I woke up in a bad mood. I'd like to challenge either [NBA commissioner David Stern or league vice president Stu Jackson] to a fight for a blatant lack of human judgment."

Now, according to the Miami Herald Marlins notebook this quote was taken from, these comments were made in jest. But somewhere deep inside Boone, you get the feeling these are the true feelings he's harboring, no? If nothing else, this further underscores the fact that Stern's decision is widely unpopular and that um, Aaron Boone is still alive.

(Via SporTech Matter, BallHype.)

It all seemed so unlikely. And really, so unnecessary. The Nationals were cruising with a 5-0 lead over the Marlins after five innings.

Then the comeback began. First, it was a two run home run by Aaron Boone, which was undoubtedly the most important home run he's ever hit (all right, maybe not). Then it was another two run jack by Joe Borchard. And finally, a dramatic pinch hit game tying home run by Cody Ross off of closer Chad Cordero to send the game to five extra innings.

"I'm concerned because he's my closer and he knows and we know what the problem is. He's still pitching behind in the count," Washington manager Manny Acta said.

So add Chad Cordero to the "he's my closer" club, the club for closers who have gotten that vote of confidence (which means he's in trouble).

But Cordero was bailed out by Jesus Colome (pictured) who pitched three scoreless innings while escaping a bases loaded two outs jam in the 13th by striking out Matt Treanor. That set up the winning run in the top of the 14th when Chris Snelling drove in Ryan Church with the eventual winning run.

The Marlins bullpen gets credit for keeping the team in the game to set up the comeback, pitching eight shutout innings from the sixth through the thirteenth and bailing out Scott Olsen, who had a second straight shaky outing giving up ten hits and five runs in five innings.