As a life-long Red Sox fan, there are 4 points during the year that I really look forward to: The Playoffs (when we’re fortunate enough to make it), the Winter Meetings, Opening Day, and the Trading Deadline.

With the Trading Deadline just hours away, I find myself constantly hitting refresh on mlb.com to find out of there are any new rumors or trades.  I also find myself listening to other people’s conversations in the office, just to see if I can pick up any hot gossip. Based on the emails I’ve recieved over the past couple of weeks, and the comments you all have posted here on the blog, it looks like you’re aching for some relief pitching help, and some more offensive production.

Has our last few games changed your mind at all?  What do you think we should do?  Try to make a trade?  Get some help from our minor league prospects?  And I won’t even ask, but I’m sure you all have some thoughts on you-know-who being you-know who…

Anyhow, aside from the deadline, here’s what’s putting dents in the Monster this week…

A big “welcome back” to the 12 Massachusetts teens and Red Sox staffers who spent the last two weeks building a baseball field for a Dominican orphanage as part of the Lindos Suenos program!  For two weeks, these 12 kids along with 12 Dominican teens, and Sox staffers spent each morning creating this field from scratch, so that the children growing up in this orphanage would have a baseball field to call their own.  My fellow Sox staffers told me that the teens all took great pride in creating the field because they hoped it would help teach the children of the orphanage the life lessons that the game has taught them over the years: responsibility, teamwork, and the value of hard work.

For your benefit, I asked one of the staffers down there to get an aerial shot of the completed field.  While, a helicopter apparently was too difficult to find, he did manage to get on top of the team bus and take the shot.

The staffers and kids also came back raving about how great Jesus (Jay) Alou was.  For those of you who don’t know, Jay is our Director of the Dominican Academy.  In addtion to being in the game of baseball for over 50 years, Jay has 5 World Series rings to his name, and currently helps develop our young Dominican talent.  While the kids were down there for the Lindos Suenos program, Jay generously gave his time teaching the teens about the game of baseball and even took time to instruct them on a one-on-one level.  Here’s a neat little Jay Alou tidbit for you.  Jay and his brothers Matty and Felipe once all played in the outfield for the Giants at the same time!

Oh, and how could I forget…the winner of the “First Annual Lindos Suenos Mustache Competition?”  Well, he won’t let me divulge his name, but I can tell you that he “handily” beat the competition with his Sal Fasano’esque handlebar mustache.  Well done.

On another note, my email inbox has been flooded with great pictures from all over the country and the world, and I love it!  You have all been to some pretty amazing places with your sox hats and t-shirts.  This week’s photo is of Mike and his son Connor from Illinois.  As you can see, they’re doing their part to spread the Red Sox Nation love!  Great photo, guys!

Lastly I know I mentioned this in the newsletter, but seriously, if you can make it to Futures at Fenway next weekend, you definitely should!  It’s the best
kept secret in Boston, but you can get tickets for as little as $5 (can you say “family friendly!!”).  Or, on the flip side, have you ever wanted to see what everybody’s raving about when it comes to the exclusive EMC Club?  Those tickets are just $30!!  And no, I didn’t accidentally leave off an extra zero on either of those prices.  I would definitely recommend that you get them sooner rather than later, because right now this little secret is between us, but the tickets might go quickly once other people find out.

And I’ll leave you with one of the best pictures I’ve ever seen of Fenway Park.  This one was taken by Megan LaBella of our photography department.  When I asked her if she photoshopped it to get that ridiculous sky, she simply replied, “no, it’s real, and it’s spectacular.”  Indeed.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock, Tick Tock…

All the best from inside the Front Office!

“The Voice”

Whew…  I’m glad we’re back on the winning track!  Not only that, but hopefully we’ll have Papi back this weekend in time for the Yankees and Angels!  Those next couple of series could be as important as any we will face heading down the stretch.

Anyhow, here’s what’s putting dents in the Green Monster this week…

The whole office is buzzing as to whether or not we will/should do something before the trade deadline.  Now, I’m not sure I’m at liberty to say what the rumblings/thoughts are of my co-workers, but I would like to hear what you think. Make a major trade?  For a bat?  To shore up the bullpen?  What say you?  Write a comment and let me know!

Other than that, the only thing I have to report is that in at least one front office bathroom, we now have automatic toilets!  Too much information? 

On that note…

All the best from inside the front office!

“The Voice”

P.S. The Voice is on the run this week.  I promise to come back with more next week.

P.P.S. If you have not already done so, don’t forget to sign-up for the Red Sox Insider.  You’ll see more from me and get some great inside scoop on what’s happening at Fenway.

Wow…I have to say…as the 11th inning ran into the 12th and then the 12th inning rolled into the 13th, and the 13th into the 14th, I began to wonder if the commissioner had an escape route planned… I’m certain I was not alone.  Thankfully for all parties involved, J.D. Drew and Michael Young helped pull the American League on to victory.  I’m not sure how many people (not named Scott Boras) would have predicted J.D. winning the All-Star MVP in his first year as an all-star, however, I guess it’s not all that out of the blue considering his ALCS heroics last year, and the stellar numbers he’s put up this year.  So a big congrats to J.D. on a great first-half, and a well deserved All-Star MVP award!!

Now here’s what’s putting dents in the Green Monster this week…

Well…I can’t say I didn’t ask for it!  I asked all of you to send in your best pictures from all around the country and the world where you were decked out in Red Sox gear.  And I received a ton!  I have to say they were thoroughly entertaining to look at.  It’s so impressive how expansive and well traveled our fan base is!  I’ll try to profile a fan picture every now and then here on the blog, so keep sending the photos.  Here we see Gary, obviously a big Red Sox fan.  Jay, from Maine, sent me this picture of himself with his Red Sox hat at the Grand Canyon.  I’m looking forward to seeing some more great photos from all of you!

Lastly, I want to give another (very well deserved shout-out) to my co-workers who are spending two weeks down in the Dominican Republic right now.  In case
you missed it, they are down there as part of the Red Sox Lindos Suenos program. 
In this, the program’s 5th year, the 12 Massachusetts teen participants, and 12 Dominican teen participants are building a baseball field for an orphanage in San Pedro.  All reports I’ve heard say that the kids and the Red Sox staff members who are leading their trip are having a great time working on the baseball field, playing with the kids at the orphanage, and playing baseball each afternoon.  They even won their first game yesterday against a team from Savana Perdida!  Congrats!  There are also reports that there is a mustache-growing contest amongst members of the Red Sox Front Office who are leading the trip.  Several attempts to obtain photo documentation/confirmation have been unsuccessful thus far… 

Now here’s hoping that the AL winning the home field advantage for the World Series will mean something to all of us come October!

All the best from inside the Front Office!
“The Voice”

Welcome to the second edition of the Red Sox Insider Blog! 

By the way, I’m thinking the blog needs a more creative name than that…it sounds a little too formal and stuffy for what it really is.  What do you think?  Please drop your suggestions in the comments section of the blog.

Anywho…here’s what’s putting dents in the Green Monster this week…

First of all, I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here, but everybody here in the Front Office has been asked to take a “mandatory break” from work today to submit their maximum 25 All-Star ballots online, so I think it’s the least I could do to make a plea for all of you to join us in trying to get our favorite Sox into the All-Star Game.  Who’s with me??

If any of you were around Fenway Park recently, you may have recognized a familiar face.  That’s because our good friend Brian Daubach (left) was back in Boston, catching a few Sox games as a fan, and signing autographs for fans at “Autograph Alley” inside Fenway Park.  He also apparently managed to make some time to find a new job.  Congrats to Brian on his new postion as hitting coach with the Nashua Pride.  Brian joins former Red Sox Rick Miller (manager), and none other than, “El Guapo,” Rich Garces (who is also a coach for the Pride).

I hope those of you who caught last week’s episode of the Red Sox Report enjoyed all the behind the scenes footage from the “Blame it on the Rain” video shoot.  Like I said, I was there for the shoot, and watching it take place has to rank as one of my top 10 experiences working here.  Pure hilarity.

If you did watch it, please comment below and let me know what you thought of it. 

This week’s episode of the Red Sox Report should be an instant classic as well.  The whole episode is dedicated to taking an inside look at the infamous “Cape Cod League.” 
For those of you who don’t know what the Cape Cod League is, I would DEFINITELY recommend checking it out.  Before they were stars, Sox players like Jason Varitek and Justin Masterson (right) honed their skills in this league.  Even if you already know a bit about the Cape Cod League, it’s still definitely worth watching.  Filming for this episode began a year ago at this time, so suffice to say, a lot of effort and thought has gone into this show.  I actually got a brief preview earlier this week, and I can’t wait to watch it in its entirety. 

And as I mentioned last week, if you live out of market, or just don’t have NESN, and you’d like to watch the Red Sox Report, you can catch all of the episodes, at your convenience when you sign up to become a citizen of Red Sox Nation.  Honestly, it only costs like 15 bucks for the year.  In my opinion being able to view episodes of the Red Sox Report online every week is worth that alone, nevermind all the other benefits.  And no, I don’t get a cut from every new citizen of Red Sox Nation, I just have a soft spot for the work our incredibly talented video production department does. But in case you are interested in signing up and getting to watch all these episodes, you can do so here.

Anyhow, a Red Sox exec (who will go unnamed) just came by to ask if I had finished submitting my All Star ballots yet (which I haven’t), so I should get going.  But before I go, I want to put this question out there for you all to debate below: Who is the Red Sox first-half MVP?  Here are the stats for your convenience.  As one of my favorite SNL characters would say, “Discuss amongst yourselves…”

I look forward to seeing the discussion!

“The Voice”

PS – For any of you who might have been curious, it’s my sad duty to report that the gummi bears in the Front Office break room have been replaced with Animal Crackers…