Before I get started this week, and as become customary of the other fantastic bloggers at YouGabSports, I want to extend my prayers to those who have suffered through the tragedy in Boston earlier this week. I also want to extend my appreciation that my friends and extended "Gab Family" members are all safe and accounted for.

As some of you folks know through Facebook, my family and I were in Boston on Saturday afternoon for the Red Sox/Rays match-up. It was a great game, one that turned out to be a 2-1 Red Sox win and featured a stellar pitching match-up between David Price and Jon Lester. Our seats were great, Loge Box 155, right off the third base bag, the first time I haven't sat in the bleachers at Fenway.

But that wasn't the memory I took away from the game.

No, my memories are of a hopping Boylston Street, a community that was out and about enjoying a moderately warm spring day. It was a true sign of the glory of spring in New England, where people are itching so badly to get outdoors that they flock together the first chance they get.

And it was that memory that made Monday's events so surreal. Seeing the photos after the fact, where Boylston Street was a virtual ghost town really sank in the impact of the bombing. The serenity of the spring blown away by a single act of unexplained violence.

That said, my thoughts and prayers go not just to those that were lost or hurt in the attack, but also for the hope that the serenity of spring can return quickly to the area, not only for the sake of peace, but also for the comfort of being able to move forward.

Speaking of moving forward, now on to baseball:

- One interesting note from the game I attended on Saturday. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Jacoby Ellsbury rapped a single with one out in the innng. Then, while stealing second, the throw went into center field and Ellsbury proceeded on to third. 

This is where it got interesting.

Joe Maddon, who is known for his odd infield alignments opted to bring left fielder Matt Joyce into the infield as a fifth infielder. I have never seen this done before. My only assumption was that Maddon wanted to cut off the runner if he was going on contact. But what struck me more was that the situation called for Maddon to walk Victorino and open up the double play option to end the inning.

In the end, Victorino hit it up the middle, just deep enough to bring Ellsbury in with the winning run, but I was left thinking that the great baseball thinker overthrought the situation.

- What more can be said about the Atlanta Braves, who are sitting pretty with a 12-2 record at this stage in the season. We all knew that they were going to be much better offensively this season, but the pitching has been just as lethal. Coming into Thursday's action, the Braves lead all of baseball with a 1.77 team ERA through 14 games and have surrendered the fewest home runs in the game. That's good for a team that has the Major League's leading home run hitter in Justin Upton.

- Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter suffered a setback in his rehab from a broken ankle when a CT scan revealed a small fracture in the ankle. Jeter is now expected to be out until after the All-Star break, another piece of bad luck with injuries for the Yankees, who are barely recognizable this season. Jeter is under contract through the end of this season, but has a $8 million player option for 2014.

- The Colorado Rockies were thought to be dead in the water this season, but somehow they've managed to post a solid 11-4 record. However, that could be an anomaly as the team currently has a 4.30 ERA from its starting five, and that's with both Jon Garland and Jhoulys Chacin over performing. The Coors Effect just won't let this team succeed despite a mediocre pitching staff for long.

- The Detroit Tigers have to be plenty pleased with their decision to bring aboard Torii Hunter this winter. The 17-year veteran is off to an amazing start, posting a .413 batting average and a 1.027 OPS in 63 at bats. With the Angels reeling and Josh Hamilton struggling in Los Angeles, Hunter is sitting in his locker in Detroit and laughing it up for a contender, suddenly feeling a lot better about the Angels letting him go.

- New York starter Matt Harvey is one of the few bright spots for the lowly Mets this season. The 24-year-old burst onto the scene in 2012, with a solid 2.73 ERA and 70 strike-outs in 59.1 innings last season, but he's been even better in 2013. The right-hander has a 0.82 ERA and 25 strike-outs in 22 innings this season. That performance helped reward Harvey with the National League Player of the Week last week.

Shorty is on hiatus this week in Costa Rica I think, Harry had a honey do list to talk about…

And then the Boston Marathon bombings happened!

I had a post ready to go and then this tragedy changed my mindset.

So here are just a few of my thoughts

I like to live by the motto that you can laugh at anything at anytime so you might as well lighten up and laugh.

I’m not laughing…not today. Not about the terrorist attack on Boston.

Wednesday featured a series of miss information about an arrest and several bomb scares in public buildings around the city. The idiot terrorist making these calls if caught should be brought up on conspiracy charges and tried as if they were the bombing terrorists.

The person, persons or group of terrorists responsible for Monday’s horrific bombing In Boston will pay for this act. It may not be until they face the Creator at the end of this age but they will pay.

I for one hope that the resources working on this with the evidence collected will identify and apprehend the scum. I further hope they don’t stand trial in Massachusetts.

Why, you ask?

In Massachusetts we don’t have the death penalty... period 

The politicians learned long ago if you leave deciding something to the voters you may not get the agenda you want, hence, the referendum vote on re instituting the death penalty in MA will never get to ballot.

It was last voted on in the State House in I think 1992 and with a 60-60 deadlock it was tabled...or swept under the rug, I guess forever.

My hope is that if the terrorist is a foreign national he would be tried as an enemy combatant by a military tribunal and given the death penalty.

If the terrorists are domestic then they should be tried for treason by a military tribunal and given the death penalty.

 We send along a big thank you to the first responders at the scene and at the hospitals for your selfless actions. By first responders I mean anyone who helped. Many spectators risked the unknown by jumping right in to work with the trained professionals in saving lives.

The count as of this writing is 3 dead and 175+ injured. Without the fast acting people on scene the death toll would have been much higher.

There are 8 hospitals within 2 miles of the attack.

Our Boston is a small neighborhood kind of city, About 650,000 people live in the city itself and the metro area is about 4,000,000 and most of those consider themselves Bostonians.

We are falsely regarded as a cold and unfriendly lot.

It’s true we mind our own business most of the time, we don’t get involved where we don’t belong but mess with us or be in need and we are right there…every time.

The metro area covers basically from Providence RI to the coast of NH, covered by crazy roads and highways and just as crazy drivers,

like this guy

Boston proper is small in area, just 48 square miles

By comparison, here are a few random US Cities and their official city limit size to give you the picture:

Plano TX               70 sq mi

Cleveland OH        78 sq mi

Tulsa OK              198 sq mi

Dallas TX              340 sq mi

Jacksonville FL     747 Sq mi

 I’m sure they are great places too, I was just putting the size and close nit feeling of being in our home town into perspective.

Marathon Monday which falls on the uniquely Massachusetts holiday of *Patriots Day will live on. Changed by this event for sure, it will never be the same but it will survive this and we will survive this.

The race will be run next year with security changes, The Red Sox will play at 11:05 AM that day with security changes but with the memory of the lost and maimed fresh on our minds we will go on.

Just in case you thought you missed something,* Patriots Day is not for the New England Patriots football team. True that most of us are unapologetic homers but we wouldn’t name a day for a sports team. Patriots Day is for the brave and selfless founding Patriots that fought for freedom from the tyranny of the oppressive and controlling government of England.

A thank you to New York for be a class city and lending your support and condolences,

You know what it’s like to be shaken by terrorists.

take a moment now and pray for the families and victims of this attack

Now a little sports

MLB update, The Atlanta Braves are off to an unbelievable start overshadowing the surprising starts of  upstarts Oakland, Boston, and Colorado

As Mo would say, now for a little shameless huckstering…

For my NFL update I’m sending you to a guy with a solid New England bias,

 please check out my son Jon’s sports blog

http://patriotsfire.com/

Now I guess it's time to get onto that 

 honey do list .

Fix the picnic table that got crushed by the tree...I have my work cut out for me

Thanks and have a great day

Shorty’s first owner, Dinsdale Piranha, was an abusive man...cruel but fair

put a lot of pressure on ole shorty as you can see

Old Dinsey is demanding custody. 

I called Atty Jackie Chiles. I’m not worried,

I’m not just some innocent bystander!

After the first week or so of MLB, the surprise teams are The Boston Red Sox , Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics in the AL and the Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks

And Colorado Rockies in the senior circuit.

It’s amazing how a few wins by Thee Olde Towne Team can change your perspective of the new season. Weather it lasts or it doesn’t, doesn’t matter. You ride the wave and hope for the best. I went into the season with a ho hum outlook on this season, often joking on who would finish last, the Yankees or the Red Sox. After one week I’m saying, this team has some good young players and the potential for the veterans, Ellsbury and Pedroia to carry the load of a long season is there.

Can the starting pitchers, especially Lester and Buchholz ( Sully wouldn’t mind) keep going like they started the season? Both of these guys have shown flashes in their careers as top of the rotation hurlers, both pitched no hitters a couple years back.

Can Dempster win 10-12 games, can Felix Dubront repeat his 12 win season of last year as the number four and can John Lackey be an adequate fifth starter. Lackey hurt his right bicep in the fifth inning against Toronto the other day and will spend time on the DL.

Sox Manager, John Farrell believes that Psycho Alfredo Aseves will fill Lackeys spot in the rotation 

Will David Ortiz ever finish his rehab…on April 1^st he was said to have run wind sprints in the outfield…wind sprints…on April 1^st…

Yikes, hope springs eternal…    but wait...

Joel Hanrahan pulled his best Mitchell Boggs impersonation last night giving up 5 runs to the Baltimore O's in the 9th to tighten up the AL East.

My fantasy team oldmansgame took it on the chin in the first week to Miggy’s

Shorty told me not to draft aging pitchers that relied on velocity to win,

I should have listened.

I do have one or two bright spots, Justin Upton, Lance Berkman

so I lift a glass of Fred Light (now on tap at Moz) to these guys.

gold fish and a Fred Lite

These would make a good bar snack at the Tavern

NEW FEATURE

FUTURE SHOCK 1.1 This section is where shorty takes a look into the crystal ball he took from Bill Parcells. As you remember Tuna used to say,” I don’t have a crystal ball”

That’s because shorty has it.

-NFL news May 2015

    Rumor has it that Sir Roger has appointed an NFL “expansion czar” whose assignment was to identified 3 places out side of the contiguous forty eight to target for expansion…the list of three hasn’t been released yet but there is a rumor floating about places like the Tavern that names the following sites: Hamilton Bermuda, Alajuela Costa Rica and Toronto Canada and one inside the lower forty eight and that would be Los Angeles….shorty says his sources are reliable.

The 2 year is to plan is to add eight teams in total, one to each division. Four in 2015 and four more in 2017. The AFC and NFC East and the AFC and NFC West will get the first four.

The NFL expansion czar hasn’t been identified yet but again, shorty has his sources…reliable sources.

The most frequently named possibility is….

A guy by the name of Billy Shakespeare. Billy hails from jolly Olde London Towne and has been seen having tea recently with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones..

Shakespeare is not a stranger to the game and actually has NFL experience. Billy was a Cleveland Browns 4^th  rounder in the 1993 draft out of…you guessed it, William and Mary, a Classics and Literature major, he was a four year starter at W&M, he played defensive back at 5’11” -195.

He was ceremonially cut by the head coach William S. Belichick during training camp allegedly for attempting to re write the play book into proper English.

The coach was heard ranting around the locker room, Just do your job Billy just do your

#%&*#@*& job. 

After that unfortunate turn of events, he worked out with both the Philadelphia Eagles and the St Louis Cardinals before traveling to Barcelona where he was a special teams standout for two seasons. A wrist injury, diagnosed as carpel tunnel syndrome or chronic writers cramp ended an otherwise promising career.

He’s been involved in the attempt to get a team to London but it’s said he would settle for Bermuda for an expansion

The nick name of the Bermuda team would be the

And would be added to the AFC East

Stay tuned for the next segment of Future Shock and learn the latest from ole shorty himself

And now its time for:

Grilling corner:

Venison Burgers Sweet red bell peppers

Summer squash and Roasted potatoes

Serve with a fine Chianti.

What? you want actual sports?  

NCAA. Basketball, congratulations to new Basketball Hall of Fame selectee Ricky Petino and the hard working Louisville kids.

NCAA Hockey,The Frozen four square off tonite 4/11

U Mass-Lowell vs Yale and

Quinnipiac vs St. Cloud State

The championship game is 4/13

 I bought a “Mo Hate Me” game jersey for shorty,

he handed me $20 for a $2.50 shirt and said…Harry keep the change.

Thanks for the visit, now back to the present and some real sports talk >>

In this series, we are going to spotlight one player on each of the 30 Major League Baseball teams. However, we won't be highlighting just any player. Rather, we are going to call attention to the one guy from each squad that is the heart and soul of the team.

If you missed the previous installments, be sure to check them out:

Arizona Diamondbacks - Miguel Montero

We're going to start things off alphabetically, which gets us started with the Arizona Diamondbacks

Atlanta Braves - Craig Kimbrel - Closer

Acquired: Draft - 3rd Round (96th overall) 2008 Amateur Draft

Signed Through: 2016 (Pre-Arbitration Eligible)

MLB Debut: June 6, 2008

In 1992, at the age of 37, Dennis Eckersley won the American League Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards with a season that saw "Eck" post a 7-1 record, a 1.91 ERA, a 10.5 K/9 ratio, and a measily 2.8 bWAR. Those stats aren't too shabby when you consider they came out of a closer and nabbed Eckersley the rare sweep of the award by a pitcher, let alone a closer. Eckersley would claim the award over three 20-game winners and four (!) pitchers who would throw more than 10 complete games on the season.

Yet, they had absolutely nothing on the season that Craig Kimbrel put forth for the Braves in 2012.

Kimbrel is the rare closer that when he comes into the game, most offenses feel like they are done. Last season, Kimbrel authored a closer's season for the ages, posting a 3-1 record with a 1.01 ERA, a 3.2 bWAR, and an astronimical 16.7 K/9 ratio. He converted 42 of 45 save opportunities. Kimbrel surrendered just 7 total runs in 63 appearances.

Yet, when the dust cleared from the National League Cy Young voting, Kimbrel finished a distant fifth, garnering only a single vote for the award that eventually went to R.A. Dickey. Clayton Kershaw, Gio Gonzalez, and Johnny Cueto all helped to make sure that Kimbrel received only a single first-place vote in what can only be seen as closer discrimination.

That aside, one would think this was a blip on the radar, that a statistical season like that for a closer would be a once in a lifetime occurrence. However, it was actually a slight improvement on his 2011 campaign. Here are the comparisons:

You have to give New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman some credit; the man can certainly get creative. Even George Steinbrenner would be proud.

While the rest of the baseball world is spinning its wheels, wondering how Cashman is going to replace the offense lost by losing both Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson for the first two months of the season, the hobbled GM (he broke his leg skydiving) is not leaving any stone unturned.

That apparently means making a quick streak down Major League Baseball's retirement list.

Cashman has contacted the agents of three retired ballplayers to date; first baseman Derrek Lee, third baseman Scott Rolen, and, wait for it, third baseman Chipper Jones. That's right, Cashman apparently thought the lure of playing for the Yankees and the untold riches that went with it would be enough to lure the lifelong Brave out of his nearly five-month retirement to play on a one-year deal with the Yankees.

Jones, for his credit, wasn't buying in.

"Enough with the rumors! While I am flattered about the speculation of being enticed out of retirement, I'm happy with life as a bad golfer!"

Still, that didn't stop Cashman from at least kicking the tires. After all, we are talking about a future Hall of Famer who is coming off a season in which he appeared in 112 games and a .287 average, 14 home runs, 62 RBI, and a  .832 OPS in his farewell tour. Still, it was far-fetched to say the least, with Jones more likely to return to the Braves than anywhere else in baseball.

James Huneker once said, "All men of action are dreamers." And when the action requires thinking outside the box, then dreams are maybe all that is left.

It beats settling for Juan Rivera.