So let me set the scene from over the weekend.
The Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays are playing a tight one. In comes former Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon for another ninth inning save. And then, oops, Paps gives up 2 runs and blows his first save as a Phillie.
He comes back to the clubhouse and the game is tied 6-6. Papelbon then says, “anyone who hits a walkoff hit get $5,000 bucks.” Veteran Jim Thome did just that with a homer. Paps writes out a check for five grand.
Isn’t a $50 million dollar contract with a new club a great thing!
It got me thinking. What would I shell out a $5,000 bonus for these days…Hmmm…
– I’d pay that amount to see Kevin Garnett play in Celtics green one more year…and the same to NOT see Ray Allen in a Miami Heat uniform next season.
– I’d pay ESPN the same thing to NOT say the name LeBron James, for one full day. Just one day!
– How about a five-grand bonus for the person in Maine who comes up with the proper rule for baseball pitchers. Maybe it combines pitch count, days off, innings, number of minutes between innings. A good, medically sound rule, that makes good baseball sense. It would be worth the money.
– Arnie Beyeler deserves $5,000. He’s the Pawtucket Red Sox manager. All he’s done is direct his Pawsox to first place in their AAA division with the second most wins in the International League. Here’s the list of players in, and out of his lineup so far the season. Ryan Kalish, Jason Repko, Kevin Youkilis, Will Middlebrooks, Daniel Nava, Mauro Gomez, Lars Anderson, Alex Hassan, Che-Hsuan Lin, Scott Podsednik, Nate Spears, Darnell McDonald, Cody Ross, Aaron Cook, Junichi Tasawa, Dice-K, Clayton Mortensen, Mark Melancon, Andrew Miller, Daniel Bard, Rich Hill. I count 21 players who wanted to be at Fenway and not McCoy Stadium.
Try to manage that amount of egos!
– I’d give the money to Bruins goalie Tim Thomas for an all-expense paid trip to the Dr.Phil Show. Just one time, I want Dr.Phil to ask Thomas in his southern twang, “what are you thinkin.”
– How about giving 5 thousand bucks to every Sox player who plays with the same smile as Cody Ross.
Do you have any ideas for handing out $5,000 Papel-bucks?
ITEMS FROM THE DUFFEL BAG:
– It’s a two-question quiz. Read the numbers carefully and decide which pitcher and which infielder you would take.
Pitcher No. 1: 29 years old, 18 saves, 4.42 ERA, 36 2/3 innings, 39 K, 13 BB, $1.2 million salary.
OR
Pitcher No. 2: 31 years old, 17 saves, 2.83 ERA, 28 2/3 innings, 35K, 7BB, $11 million salary.
Answer: No. 1 Alfredo Aceves, No. 2 Jonathan Papelbon.
Infielder No. 1: 63 Games, .266 average, 13 home runs, 31 RBI, 7 errors.
OR
Infielder No. 2: 70 Games, .266 average, 9 home runs, 41 RBI, 6 errors.
Answer: No. 1 Jed Lowrie, No. 2 Mike Aviles.
