Plan to curse Yankees fails

It seems that a construction worker (who is a Boston Red Sox fan) at the new New York Yankees stadium put a David Ortiz jersey in the walls of the newly built stadium.

After locating the shirt in a service corridor behind what will be a restaurant in the new Yankee Stadium, construction workers jackhammered through the concrete Sunday and pulled it out.

The team said it learned that a Sox-rooting construction worker had buried a shirt in the new Bronx stadium, which will open next year across the street from the current ballpark, from a report in the New York Post on Friday.

Source

This is just funny.

Yankees and Rays brawl

The Yankees didn't wait until the season started to get into a brawl. Yankees' Shelley Duncan slid, spikes up, into Rays' Akinori Iwamuri's groin during a spring training game and then all hell broke loose as Rays' outfielder Jonny Gomes rushed in and rammed Duncan. Then the benches emptied. Watch the video down below of the incident.

Meeting only days after New York manager Joe Girardi complained about Tampa Bay's aggressive play in spring training after one of his players was injured in a home-plate collision, the Yankees brought some attitude of their own into a testy rematch Wednesday.

Shelley Duncan's hard slide into second base with his spikes raised sparked a bench-clearing scrum that resulted in two players and two coaches being ejected during the second inning of Tampa Bay's 7-6 victory.

"In Tampa, that play you saw at home plate was a good, hard baseball play. What you saw today was the definition of a dirty play," Maddon said. "There's no room for that in our game. It's contemptable. It's wrong. It's borderline criminal, and I could not believe they did that."

Source

Red Sox extend Terry Francona's contract

The Boston Red Sox and manager Terry Francona agreed to a three-year contract extension through 2011 today. The Red Sox also have two club options for the 2012 and 2013 seasons. This is good news for Red Sox fans as Francona has done a great job as manager of the Red Sox, which includes 2 World Series championships.

Red Sox and Sean Casey finalize deal

The Boston Red Sox and first baseman Sean Casey have finalized a one-year deal worth $800,000. Casey will most likely be a backup player to start the season as Kevin Youkilis will be playing first base and Mike Lowell will be playing third base. But Casey will definitely have a good influence for the Red Sox and keep the clubhouse loose and fun.

Casey is excited to be a member of the Red Sox (source):

"Wow, I'm excited, I really am excited," Casey declared. "To be a part of this and even to just put on stuff that has 'Red Sox' on it is pretty cool. If you're a baseball player and if you have any spirit toward the game, everyone wants to play, at some point, their career in Boston. For me to be here and a part of this, I'm excited."

Papelbon says his dog ate World Series baseball

Funny story about Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon and the World Series baseball. The World Series baseball is gone according to Papelbon and it is due to his dog "Boss" - read about it on Yahoo!

Papelbon said:

"He plays with baseballs like they are his toys," Papelbon told the Hattiesburg (Miss.) American. "He jumped up one day on the counter and snatched it. He likes rawhide. He tore that thing to pieces. Nobody knows that. I'll keep what's left of it."

Update at 11:03PM
Apparently this is all just a joke.

Yankees and Alex Rodriguez finalize deal

The New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez have agreed to a 10-year contract worth $275 million.

From Yahoo! News article:

"The whole thing was a mistake. It was a huge debacle," A-Rod said Thursday after finalizing his $275 million, 10-year contract. "For me it was very stressful. It was a very humbling experience. I knew what I wanted from Day 1. The mistake I made is that I should have called Hank and Hal from the get-go and I didn't do that. And I blame me."

A-Rod's deal, which allows him to earn as much as $305 million, broke the previous baseball record — set by his $252 million, 10-year contract with Texas in December 2000. Traded to the Yankees in 2004, he opted out of that deal Oct. 28, during the final game of the World Series.

Report says Lowell signs 3-year deal with Red Sox

There are reports that Boston Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell has signed a three-year contract to stay with the Red Sox, worth between $36-$38 million. Nothing will be announced until Tuesday at the earliest.

From BostonRedSox.com:

Lowell was the Most Valuable Player during the Red Sox's World Series sweep of the Rockies, hitting .400 (6-for-15) with a homer and four RBIs. He also had one of the strongest regular seasons of his career, hitting .324 with 21 homers and a club-leading 120 RBIs.

All along, Lowell, who turns 34 in February, wanted to stay with the Red Sox and the club wanted him back. The only sticking point seemed to be the length of the deal.

The Red Sox would only offer three years, while Lowell and his representatives were hopeful of finding a four-year deal.