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It's been a mostly quiet day off for the Red Sox, but there has been some movement as the team finishes up the flurry of transactions that began yesterday. While we knew for certain that Aaron Cook was on his way up to the big leagues when Bobby Valentine confirmed he would be starting on Saturday for Josh Beckett, we were not sure of the counter move. Now we know that Jose Iglesias will be the odd man out, as the Sox have optioned the defensive whiz to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Aaron Cook has still yet to join the team, but unless the Sox are going to sneak another roster transaction in tomorrow he seems like the only one left who hasn't made the jump yet. Jose Iglesias being sent back down makes sense, since now with Will Middlebrooks taking over for Kevin Youkilis at third there are precious few spare at bats to go around. If Iglesias is to develop, he'll need plenty of them.
One thing to note is that Junichi Tazawa remains down in Pawtucket, a curious casualty of this whole affair given his 6.1 scoreless innings out of a bullpen that needs all the help it can get. For the Sox to call Tazawa back up, they will need to either wait another week, or send one of their pitchers to the disabled list given the rules for bouncing players back-and-forth between the majors and minors.
Some unfortunate medical news both in Boston and Tampa Bay. First, everyone's favorite color commentator, Jerry Remy, will not be rejoining Don Orsillo in NESN's broadcast booth for at least another week. NESN has announced that the RemDawg will return for the May 10 game against the Indians as he continues to deal with a sinus infection.
Don Orsillo will work with Dennis Eckersley for four of the intervening games and Peter Gamons for the weekend matches against the Baltimore Orioles. So everyone get ready for all sorts of cheese--stinky, hairy, you name it.
Get well soon, Remy!
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Meanwhile, down in Tampa Bay, Don Zimmer was been hospitalized with apparent kidney issues. According to a statement from his son, Zimmer underwent dialysis, but Marc Topkin reports that he has been released and is now back home.
Zimmer has plenty of history with the Red Sox, having managed the Red Sox for four years in the seventies. That includes 1978, the year of their infamous collapse first infamous collapse which ended with Bucky "Effing" Dent. Interestingly, Zimmer survived the season before heading to the Rangers after 1980.
More recently, of course, was Zimmer's run-in with Pedro Martinez during a brawl in the 2003 ALCS. No need to go too deep into that, I think.
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Well, now that we've hit on 1978 and 2003, let's make it a trifecta with 1986. The baseball that rolled through Bill Buckner's legs and haunted Red Sox fans' dreams for 18 years (and likely still does to some extent) is up for auction in Dallas, Texas. According to the Associated Press, the ball is estimated to go for six figures.
What do you say, Red Sox fans? Anyone have an extra hundred grand lying around and a desire for the catharsis that can only come from blowing up something hated? I'm sure Fenway would love to have you.