Captain Tek
This is great. The last piece of the puzzle is now in place. As I have maintained all along, this man is too important to this team to let him walk. Theo and everyone else knew it, and they were going to do everything in their power to make sure it didn’t happen. Of course, Tek had to want to come back, and there wasn’t any question in my mind that that was the case.
He is the backbone of this team and, as has been said time and time again, the intangibles he brings are irreplaceable. The leadership on the field and in the clubhouse, the amount of work he puts into learning his pitching staff, learning the opposing hitters, and preparing for that days pitcher against the opposing teams hitters. At this point there is no question that this is his team. And of course they made it official by naming him "Captain".
About that “C”, first I need to give credit where credit is due. Thursday night, Censy asked me if I thought they would name him captain. I told him no, I didn’t think it was necessary. He disagreed with me and said he thought they would. He was right, good call Censy.
Censy also called me out on Thursday night, telling me that my posts recently have become more of “stating facts” and less of “giving opinions”, and he thought I needed to get back to the opinion giving since that’s why he read this site.
So, I’ll start with my opinion on the captaincy and why I didn’t think it would happen. There was a time in baseball where many teams had an assigned captain. Over the years teams seemed to get away from that. Just about every team has at least one guy who becomes a leader for that team and most have more than one. But in this day of free agency and little loyalty you just don’t see that “C” given out very often.
In the case with this team there was no question that Tek is the leader. Every one of his teammates to a man agreed on that this season. They expected it of him, and they respected him for it. He did it because it’s the way he is, he didn’t need a “C” on his uniform to do it or to continue to do it. His old teammates will continue to expect it of him, and his new teammates will quickly realize it and follow suit. As he stated in his press conference, it’s who he is and what he does. The “C” doesn’t change anything at all. He will continue to play the game the way he always does regardless. Theo backed this up by saying that they did not expect him to change either; they just decided it was an honor that he deserved.
IMO, if there’s any guy in baseball that deserves it, it’s Tek. But since it’s obvious it doesn’t change anything about the way he plays, the way he leads, the way he’s respected by his teammates, and the way he is, it wasn’t necessary. But, as I said to Censy, I’m not running the team, so necessary or not, it’s done, he deserves it, and it looks damn good on his uniform.
As far as Tek himself goes, I’m extremely glad to have him back. This is the best signing we’ve made so far this off-season. Every pitcher on this staff wanted him back. Pedro wanted him to go to the Mets. Clement stated that one of his reasons for choosing Boston was that he knew there was a good chance Tek would be back and he wanted to pitch to him. Miller has stated that he was looking forward to getting the chance to work with him. Francona has stated that he is extremely happy to get him back. And so is everyone else, and all with good reason. He makes the pitching staff better, and he makes everyone else around him better.
This guy is going to be well worth the money that was invested in him. The intangibles will always be there, and even though it is being said that most catchers begin to slide physically at his age, it is also being said that there have been a few exceptions. Carlton Fisk being the most notable. Many people compare Tek to Pudge and say that his body is similar; he works as hard as Pudge did to stay in shape and all indications are that he will hold up the same way Pudge did into his late 30’s and even early 40’s.
Although I don’t expect he will play the game as long as Pudge (24 seasons, over 2,200 games at catcher, Jesus Christ that’s almost godlike), I do expect he will continue to be the same catcher (and leader) he has been, and put up the same types of offensive numbers he has been, for at least the length of this contract.
This is about the most complete package you’re going to get in a player in this game, and I am looking forward to many more years of rooting for “Tek’s Team”.
Next up, my opinion on the entire team so far, what we have, what we still need, and what I expect next season. Give me a day or 3 to get it all in order.
Also, Thom has suggested that I run some sort of predictions contest. I put a bunch of questions together and we all make our predictions on what we think will happen with each one. He suggested questions such as what will their "05" record be?, what will the starting rotation be to start the season?, and things like that. I like it. Especially now that I know there are more of you reading this site. I'll think of some more questions and of course, I would love to get suggestions.
I'm also going to look into seeing if there is a way to give other people the ability to post log entries here. I think this site would be much more interesting if I wasn't the only one putting stuff up here and all you guys can do is reply to it. It seems as though there are more of you reading it, so I'd love to give you all the oppurtunity to post your thoughts. We could turn it into less of a blog and more of a community for all of us to discuss our favorite team. Let me know what you think.
He is the backbone of this team and, as has been said time and time again, the intangibles he brings are irreplaceable. The leadership on the field and in the clubhouse, the amount of work he puts into learning his pitching staff, learning the opposing hitters, and preparing for that days pitcher against the opposing teams hitters. At this point there is no question that this is his team. And of course they made it official by naming him "Captain".
About that “C”, first I need to give credit where credit is due. Thursday night, Censy asked me if I thought they would name him captain. I told him no, I didn’t think it was necessary. He disagreed with me and said he thought they would. He was right, good call Censy.
Censy also called me out on Thursday night, telling me that my posts recently have become more of “stating facts” and less of “giving opinions”, and he thought I needed to get back to the opinion giving since that’s why he read this site.
So, I’ll start with my opinion on the captaincy and why I didn’t think it would happen. There was a time in baseball where many teams had an assigned captain. Over the years teams seemed to get away from that. Just about every team has at least one guy who becomes a leader for that team and most have more than one. But in this day of free agency and little loyalty you just don’t see that “C” given out very often.
In the case with this team there was no question that Tek is the leader. Every one of his teammates to a man agreed on that this season. They expected it of him, and they respected him for it. He did it because it’s the way he is, he didn’t need a “C” on his uniform to do it or to continue to do it. His old teammates will continue to expect it of him, and his new teammates will quickly realize it and follow suit. As he stated in his press conference, it’s who he is and what he does. The “C” doesn’t change anything at all. He will continue to play the game the way he always does regardless. Theo backed this up by saying that they did not expect him to change either; they just decided it was an honor that he deserved.
IMO, if there’s any guy in baseball that deserves it, it’s Tek. But since it’s obvious it doesn’t change anything about the way he plays, the way he leads, the way he’s respected by his teammates, and the way he is, it wasn’t necessary. But, as I said to Censy, I’m not running the team, so necessary or not, it’s done, he deserves it, and it looks damn good on his uniform.
As far as Tek himself goes, I’m extremely glad to have him back. This is the best signing we’ve made so far this off-season. Every pitcher on this staff wanted him back. Pedro wanted him to go to the Mets. Clement stated that one of his reasons for choosing Boston was that he knew there was a good chance Tek would be back and he wanted to pitch to him. Miller has stated that he was looking forward to getting the chance to work with him. Francona has stated that he is extremely happy to get him back. And so is everyone else, and all with good reason. He makes the pitching staff better, and he makes everyone else around him better.
This guy is going to be well worth the money that was invested in him. The intangibles will always be there, and even though it is being said that most catchers begin to slide physically at his age, it is also being said that there have been a few exceptions. Carlton Fisk being the most notable. Many people compare Tek to Pudge and say that his body is similar; he works as hard as Pudge did to stay in shape and all indications are that he will hold up the same way Pudge did into his late 30’s and even early 40’s.
Although I don’t expect he will play the game as long as Pudge (24 seasons, over 2,200 games at catcher, Jesus Christ that’s almost godlike), I do expect he will continue to be the same catcher (and leader) he has been, and put up the same types of offensive numbers he has been, for at least the length of this contract.
This is about the most complete package you’re going to get in a player in this game, and I am looking forward to many more years of rooting for “Tek’s Team”.
Next up, my opinion on the entire team so far, what we have, what we still need, and what I expect next season. Give me a day or 3 to get it all in order.
Also, Thom has suggested that I run some sort of predictions contest. I put a bunch of questions together and we all make our predictions on what we think will happen with each one. He suggested questions such as what will their "05" record be?, what will the starting rotation be to start the season?, and things like that. I like it. Especially now that I know there are more of you reading this site. I'll think of some more questions and of course, I would love to get suggestions.
I'm also going to look into seeing if there is a way to give other people the ability to post log entries here. I think this site would be much more interesting if I wasn't the only one putting stuff up here and all you guys can do is reply to it. It seems as though there are more of you reading it, so I'd love to give you all the oppurtunity to post your thoughts. We could turn it into less of a blog and more of a community for all of us to discuss our favorite team. Let me know what you think.
posted by Bob at 12/26/2004 01:04:00 AM
1 Comments:
Eek! I certainly didn't mean to call anyone out. I just appreciate your opinion and want more of your personality to come through.
Keep bloggin'.
Censy
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