J.D. Drew, the Grand Canyon, and a Dominican orphanage
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”
Red Sox Insider Blog 
JD DREW!! Way to quiet down the crowd at Yankee Stadium who booed the sox as they were introduced. Looks like it took our very own to help push our AL All-star record to 11-0-1 and pave the way to another advantage in the World Series when we make it! Looking forward to the return of Big Papi. The 2nd half starts now, LETS GO SOX !!!
Yes, Drew has been quite the Cinderella Man this year. I commented on that in my own blog yesterday. Sometimes we the fans are too quick to cast stones at players…
Speaking of which, any insight on the latest Manny media frenzy? I’m so disheartened by the fact that the media has to obsess over Manny and his options now at this juncture which is truly counterproductive. I personally feel that they’re baiting him into comments (hello, manny being manny) that can only blow up – hence Mr. Henry’s response in the Herald — and its all so counterproductive. Truly, the media needs to realize that any and all sports clubs handle (or should handle) their internal affairs internally — and not on live broadcast for everyone to view. The Red Sox don’t conduct business within the court of public opinion!! WEEI was going on and on about why no one publicly reprimanded Manny for the incident with the traveling adminstrative individual. Why is it the media feels entitled to control the situations regarding professional athletes just blows me away.
Whew. Sorry, got off on a tangent there!
Off to go cool off with some serious Swedish Fish eating… 😉
http://supergoddessgirl.blogspot.com
Congrats to JD and putting last year behind him, and pulling off a clutch at bat when it was needed. He has gone from the goat of last year to a hero this year.
As far as Manny being Manny…it would seem to me that “no comment” is slightly underused. When there was the blow up with Manny asking for tickets, we were told that it was being handled internally. That was pretty much the end of story. But when a player makes comments to show that they aren’t happy with the front office and how they are handling things, it gets blown out of proportion.
If players involved would learn not to feed into the frenzy, things might be in a better place. Why must they always comment. How about they tell the media to mind their own business, and to let the affected parties work it out. Why must we hang on every word, whether it be good or bad.
Hard work pays off in making you an All-Star, The American league winning the All-Star Game gives the Sox home field in the World Series, For a Red Sox player winning the ALL-STAR MVP in Yankee Stadium…PRICELESS !
CHECK OUT MY BLOG ON MLBLOGS.COM=CALLED “soxRus” A place to vent on our beloved Red Sox… God knows the nation is concerned with the Sox road woes and inconcistancies thus far. Come on Sox we know you can do better… Let’s Go, time is getting short.