Sunday, January 16, 2005

Soxfest Rundown...

Not sure where to begin, or what to write. I'm absolutely terrible at writing narratives, so I guess I'll just do a "10 Things I Learned At Soxfest" post and then post my pictures underneath.

10. Ed Farmer was aBaltimore Oriole. Here's how I found that out when talking to him by the elevators Friday night:

Ilk: Farmio, any chance I could get a picture?
EF: Sure, come on over. (he takes my camera and hands it to some Sox lackey who was with him)
Ilk: Thanks, Ed.
EF: No problem. Is this a Kodak moment?
Ilk: Well technically Ed, it's a Sony moment I guess.
EF: Because you know, I played ball for a while in the city where Kodak is based.
Ilk: Really, Ed? I'm from Rochester.
EF: Ever spend any time at 500 Norton Street?
Ilk: Pretty much at least one or 2 nights a week every year as a kid. I didn't know you were an Oriole.
EF: You need to study your history better, son.

9. The pitcher AJ Pierzynski fears most is BJ Ryan from the Orioles. Says every time he faces him, he gets an urge to "run back to the locker room and cover my eyes."

8. Ozzie Guillen Jr. is to baseball what George P. Bush is to politics. He's got the lineage and the charm and smarts to go a lot of places in the game if that's what he wants to do.

7. Carl Everett has dropped about 20 lbs in the offseason. He told a reporter he was embarassed at how out of shape he got last year. He was in the bar both nights smoking a fat cigar and holding court with the ladies.

6. Much like how he tries to play baseball, Willie Harris tries to be a playa. I'd put his pimp batting average at somewhere around .185.

5. In one of their 50 bazillion attempts to boost attendance, the Sox are going to open their parking lots early in the morning for weeknight games. That way, ticketholders can park in the morning at the Cell and then zip up into downtown on the Red Line, and not have to battle rush hour traffic. Plus, they pay $16 to park all day instead of $16 at the park and $20 at a garage in the city.

4. Ozzie and Terry Bevington almost came to blows in the clubhouse a couple times in the mid-90s. Bevington liked to call his players out in the locker room with the media there, and Ozzie took umbrage to that, as he should have.

3. Cliff Politte, who might be one of the most little-talked about guys on the Sox, is an absolute riot. He had the crowd in stitches during his seminar on pitching Friday night.

2. Ross Gload met his wife at Cal State-Fullerton after she dated a bunch of his friends.

1. Magglio Ordonez is still in a knee brace and gimping around, and Frank Thomas won't be back until June. So there's one reason to rejoice, and one reason to worry.