Just watched the ring ceremony. Great stuff. Nice to see everyone back in Sox gear - Dave Roberts, Derek Lowe, even Curtis Leskanic (retiring as a world champ - that’s sweet).
Interesting snippet from Seth Stevenson’s Hub Fans Bid Bling Hello article in Slate on the ceremonies:
I fall into a conversation with a couple of reporters. These guys do lots of clubhouse interviews, and they’re discussing which Sox player is smartest and which is dumbest. Consensus: Johnny Damon is easily the dumbest, while Kevin Youkilis (you may remember him from Moneyball as the “Greek God of Walks”) is quite clever and funny. But it’s Pedro Martinez who was by far the smartest of the Sox. The beat reporters are immensely saddened by Pedro’s departure for the Mets. Because Pedro chooses his words carefully, speaks in well-crafted metaphors, and actually looks you in the eye. Your average player will look down at the ground or flip through a magazineas though you were a faraway voice being beamed into his head, not a live human being standing right there in the room with him.
Will be interesting to see Youks get quoted more this year, if he’s really that funny. As others on SoSH also noted, I wonder how much of the impression of Damon is attributable to his demeanour when speaking? And would that change if his severe childhood speech impediment was more widely known?
Back on the ceremony - I have never, ever been happier to see Ramiro Mendoza, Phil Seibel, and Lenny DiNardo.