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You know what, I can really easily overlook the "Papi Sucks" chant from early in game four. I get it, they want to shake him. Not very sportsmanlike, but I curse the other team, too.

But here's something I really can't abide by. Top of the sixth inning, Kevin Youkilis hits a gorgeous home run, and some fan decides that the best thing they can do with that ball is throw it back into the field. And that fan deeply disgusts me. Come on, buddy, give it to someone else! Don't ruin it for the people sitting near you!

I was in Fenway when Barry Bonds hit one of his home runs on his way to his record. The ball was coming at me. Right at me. That thing landed maybe ten feet from me. But here's the thing - I thought I had a chance to get it. Did I want it? Nope. I personally am not a fan of Barry Bonds. But reader, you should have seen the kids in front of me cheering their little hearts out. Before it became clear to me that that ball wasn't coming to me, I'd already decided that if I got it I would place it straight in the hand of one of those kids, and I would hope they remembered a great game at Fenway Park, whoever hit the ball.

Throwing a ball back onto the field like that is just plain poor behavior, and I think it's really sad.

As to the fan who sold Big Papi's home run ball? I'd have given you more than $20 for that.

The Red Sox are officially the AL East division champs. Yay!

Manny has arrived at spring training. Can we please stop talking about the auction now?

[via Extra Bases]

Originally posted on Extra Bases
“That’s a bad thing,” said 44-year-old Kevin Cloutier of Westford, who was enjoying spring training with his family. “I would have hoped if it took $13 million to get a guy like Curt Schilling, we would have done that. People are paying $17 million for a Barry Zito. You’ve got to get a Curt Schilling for 13. That’s going to be a problem for us. You can’t get too cocky because you have a lot of pitchers. You never know what happens.”

There's a lot of truth to these statements, and I think one of the most honest ones is the last - You never know what happens. Will Schilling be able to effectively continue after this season? Would he want to? I'm as big a fan of veteran pitching as the next guy, but I really don't think the Sox will let Schilling go next season just because he's gone free agent. I've gotta go with my gut on this one and trust Theo.

Yeah, I know. I'm sorry for the title. I just couldn't resist.

I've been keeping a light eye on things and I have to admit being a little bit nervous when I saw Wily Mo Pena and the Sox enter arbitration. Of course friends were completely confident that we'd get him, but I wanted to see it before I believed it. Now we know for sure. Wily Mo is on board for the season.

[Via MLB

Trot Nixon has been signed to the Cleveland Indians. Something about the Sox just won't be the same.

[via Extra Bases]