1/21/2006 - Out of the mouths of babes

Part 3 in the podcast trilogy.

I am embarrased to admit how much of my Red Sox news I get from people without so much as a High School diploma.

First, there is Alex Reimer, who has a podcast (which I follow) and blog (which I don't - hey, time is limited). I started listening to him based on the subject of his podcast alone (all Red Sox, all the time) and was surprised to learn that his voice hasn't dropped yet. But he is among the more interesting podcasters out there. He has clearly listened to enough Sports Talk Radio to have the cadences down pat (e.g. Will [Manny Ramirez] produce 120 RBIs next year? Maybe, but think about this...).

I became hooked at the following discussion: Roger Clemens was not tendered an offer by the Astros, leaving him to decide whether to retire or look for work elsewhere. There was some speculation that he may return to the Sox, with whom he broke in. Alex's take? Under his current contract, he doesn't even have to show up to work unless he is the starting pitcher. That leaves him 5-6 days a week to hang out with his family (in Texas). Would the Red Sox offer him the same deal? Probably, but it would now involve more travel, since he has to fly to and from Boston. Will that be worth it to him? Maybe not. We'll find out soon enough, but in the meantime, I enjoyed the analysis.

Before I talk about Basegirl, I must confess that there is, indeed, a base element that made me somewhat hesitant to link to her blog. Specifically, she is quite crass. It's not that her subject matter (98% Boston Sports) is particularly prurient, but she seems to enjoy swearing more than appeals to my (admittedly puritan) ears.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, if you are apt to be offended by such language, by all means, skip the rest of this post.

I came across the Basegirl while looking for information on a (now departed) catching prospect named Kelly Shoppach. I read a few of her entries and realized that she was a fun, opinionated source of Red Sox news. Exactly how old is she? Hard to say. On one hand, her vocabulary and tendency towards "snarkiness" strikes me as 15-17ish. On the other hand, she has a tendency to drop Orwell references making her surprisingly well read for a teenager.

[Maybe that's just a girl thing. I have no diffiuclty imagining that the Gnome had read 1984 by the time she was 15]

OK. I had to look at her website. She's 25. Man, I'm getting old. They say that the ability to tell teenagers from 20-somethings is the first thing to go.

11,000 senile steps today. Something,