So Mike Lowell’s staying and I couldn’t be happier because now I can relax and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner without sticking a fork in someone’s neck during a heated argument about Miguel Cabrera. As always, Rob Bradford puts it best:
Curt Schilling wanted to be here, so he stayed. Plain and simple.
“If we all had to play for free and you could play anywhere you wanted to, this would be the place I would pick,” Schilling said shortly after re-signing.
It is the kind of notion that has lived in Lowell’s shadow ever since he hopped off a Duck Boat some 21 days ago. And because of it, the third baseman appears to be following the pitcher’s lead.
Lowell reportedly turned away from a four-year, $50 million deal offered by the Philadelphia Phillies to set himself up for yesterday’s three-year, $37.5 million revelation from the Red Sox. And there most likely would have been more offerings on the horizon, if the 33-year-old chose to ignore the Sox-imposed deadline to accept or reject their bid.
While offers came and went, and came again, there was one motivation that superseded all others: He wanted to stay.
Between this and the Schilling signing in 2003, Thanksgiving should be some sort of official Red Sox holiday. Imma start up the paperwork on that.
And speaking of “official” Red Sox stuff, here’s a question: Who’s the official house band of the Red Sox? Sure, a better question is “who gives a f@#k?”, but these are the things that keep my mind occupied through the offseason, so let me run with it.
Some folks would probably say it’s the Standells, since “Dirty Water” is the universal code among Sox fans for “we just kicked somebody’s arse.” Other might say The Dropkick Murphys, since they spent so much time with the team during the post-championship celebrations, they almost deserved their own clubhouse lockers.
But in my mind, it’s Boston’s own Buffalo Tom. Think about it: WEEI’s been using the band’s “See To Me” and “Sodajerk” and other songs as bumpers during their Sox broadcasts for years now. Theo’s an unofficial member, playing with BT during the annual Hot Stove Cool Music concerts. Lead singer Bill Janovitz is an official Friend of The GAMMONS (a club I’ve been trying to crack for years to no avail). And the band’s fortunes — so, so good yet never able to catch mainstream success even as crap parades like The Goo Goo Dolls sell out stadiums — seemed to mirror those of the pre-2004 Sox, at least in my twisted mind.
Anyway, here’s a video for a song off Buffalo Tom’s latest disc. I think you’ll like it.
Happy Day Before Thanksgiving.
