This just in: Money brings smiles and laughter.
Looking back on the Red Sox’ 2011 season, there are really just a handful of good memories. One was the time Teets and Papelbon successfully defended Lansdowne Street from an army of android Lyman Bostocks. Another, of course, was the time every past and present member of Black Sabbath parachuted into Fenway for an impromptu concert. Third was probably the remarkable season had by Jacoby Ellsbury.
Just a year earlier he was a punchline. The Portrait of Fragility as a Young Man. The guy who stumbled through just 18 games and had us all wondering aloud when and if he’d live up to potential. Then, in 2011, he came alive like Frampton, only with a far more respectable hairdo. When the dust cleared, his year looked like 212 hits, 32 home runs, a .928 OPS, a Gold Glove, an All-Star Game, a league-leading 364 total bases and 83 extra-base hits, and second-place in the AL MVP voting.
Now he gets a sweet raise, too, as the Sox avoided arbitration by signing him to a one-year deal worth $8.05 million (or, roughly $8.02 million more than I will likely earn in my lifetime). That’s a pretty nice jump from his $2.4 million take last year.
In 2012, he’ll be playing for a big-ass contract. And I can’t wait to see what he pulls out of his sleeve this time.
