Remy returns to NESN broadcast booth

Color commentator excited to be back covering Red Sox
By Ian Browne / MLB.com

BOSTON -- As familiar a sight at Fenway Park the last two decades as the Green Monster, popular color commentator Jerry Remy resumed his perch in the NESN broadcast booth for Friday night's Red Sox-Yankees game.

Remy took a leave of absence on May 6 to fully recover from the effects of lung cancer surgery. Last week, he confirmed that a bout with depression had prolonged his return.

After easing his way back in by sitting in the booth for a half-inning for the Aug. 12 game -- during which he received a boisterous ovation from the Fenway faithful -- Remy was convinced that he was ready to come back.

"That helped tremendously, because for the longest period of time, I didn't want any part of the ballpark," Remy said. "I just didn't want to come in here, because it brought me down, more than anything else. The last week, I felt better. I felt like I wanted to get in here. It was kind of a trial run, just to see some people and get back here. It did help a lot, it really did. I made up my mind after that day that this would be the day I was going to try to do it."

It's just that Remy never envisioned the type of butterflies he would have running through him as he drove back to work on Friday. It was probably something he hadn't felt since his days as a player.

"I was nervous this morning," Remy said. "I had the kind of feeling this morning, as [if] I was coming in like a player to play on Opening Day. It was very strange. It wasn't a comfortable day for me. But I feel more comfortable since I've been here."

The Red Sox were happy to see Remy back to work. He has always been a presence in the clubhouse and has traveled with the team throughout his 21 years in the booth.

"We're obviously very excited," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "Hopefully nobody more than me. I missed him."

"It will definitely be good to hear his voice sitting in the clubhouse before I go out there [to the bullpen]," said Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon. "He's been great. He's been one of the great guys for our Red Sox team. Hopefully he'll bring a little more luck when he comes back to us."
Remy, at least for now, will work on a part-time basis.

"We're going to kind of roll with it," said Remy. "I intend on doing all the home games and I think the road is a question. There's only two road trips left and I don't know if that would be the right thing for me to do at this stage. But you know, we'll see what happens. I could come in and do this week and feel entirely different and be ready to go on the road. I don't know. But the plan right now is to do the home games."

Vick And Remorse

Cross-posted on www.devshirme.com

Howard Bryant's recent article on Michael Vick's return to the NFL (and perhaps respectability) is about as good as I have seen on this topic. A few of my thoughts:
-Most articles on Vick's return mention how exciting he will be playing in the Wildcat formation or somesuch thing. They also mention how Philly is a winning team that has superstars, so Vick will not be the big man in the locker room. But the genius of the Eagles (or the Pats or a handful of other teams) signing Vick is that if it doesn't work out and they cut him it is really no big deal. None of these teams would be dependent on him to win.
-Is Vick truly remorseful? Who knows? Byrant makes the very good point that Vick didn't regret stuff until he got caught. It will take years to know, if ever. I will not speculate further on this point, because then you get into philosophical points about if he wasn't remorseful but if the ads helped people understand cruelty to animals, does that make it ok, etc.
-I hope things work out for all parties involved. One of things that has come out of all this is how repulsive animal cruelty is.
-I say all of this, but I cannot but keep from flashing back to such repulsive words as hanging, drowning, and electrocuting - all things which happened to the fighting dogs under Vick's aegis. There is just something utterly reprehensible to all of this that makes it hard for me to see Vick and his situation objectively.
Check out Bryant's article here.

Ryan, Ventura,...Winfield?

Cross-posted on www.devshirme.com

Phil Mushnick has an article today on the 16th anniversary of Robin Ventura charging the mound against Nolan Ryan (and getting pummeled). I remember watching this while on summer vacation from college. I think Mushnick leaves out the real context of the brawl - Ventura was the first guy since Dave Winfield in 1980 (!) to dare charge the mound against Ryan, who was an institution by the time Ventura did his thing. Interestingly, Mushnick, who truly is the voice of the average fan in showing how leagues and teams take advantage of fans, schedule games at times making it impossible for kids to watch, etc., mentions Winfield in another context later in the article. The long time between people charging Ryan was the main theme of Sportscenter that night, as I remember. I wrote the author an email on the subject - I am interested to see if he remembers this angle and/or thinks it was as significant as I remember.

First Place Tornadoes Drown Defenders

WORCESTER, MA--- Worcester’s fifth consecutive win 10-6, coupled with a Thursday night come from behind Brockton win over New Jersey, puts the Tornadoes in first place by one half game in front of the Jackals.

Ryan Lobban (8-3) notched his league leading eighth win, fourth in a row, on this night with six quality innings of three run baseball. Lobban coughed up three two out runs in the first before settling into a four-strikeout outing.

The Tornadoes scored in four of the first five innings en route to a ten run, thirteen hit ballgame. Chris Colabello knocked out his sixth long ball of the season with two outs in the fourth was one of four extra base hits, the others a triple from Vinny Pennell and a pair of doubles from Omar Pena.

New Hampshire staged a mini-come back in the seventh with two outs against Nick Conway with three straight hits from Angel Molina, Chris Kelly, and Jabe Bergeron, but it was too little too late for the camo clad Defenders. Eddie Pena got the last out of the seventh and tossed in three outs a piece for the eighth and ninth as well to close out the visitors.

Worcester will get a chance to lengthen their lead on New Jersey tomorrow night when the Jackals breeze into the HIP for a three game set. Guiseppe Granitto (0-3) will throw for NJ in his fourth start against the Tornadoes. Worcester counters with rookie Ryan Quinn (0-0) making his second professional start.

Patriots Camp Notes ~ Thursday

By Paul Perillo, Patriots Football Weekly

The Patriots opened training camp with a rain and lightning-shortened practice at Gillette Stadium with Vince Wilfork present but Randy Moss, Shawn Springs, Joey Galloway and Jarvis Green were not.

He didn’t exactly guarantee it, but back in the spring during OTAs Vince Wilfork strongly suggested that he would be with his teammates on the field for the start of training camp. Consider him a man of his word.

Wilfork was indeed one of the 70 Patriots in uniform for the official start of training camp. He’s still without the contract extension he desires, and it doesn’t appear the sides are any closer to a resolution, but he said he wouldn’t let those distractions affect him in any way.

The news on the attendance front wasn’t all good, however. Randy Moss, Joey Galloway and Jarvis Green all were missing from practice. They joined Shawn Crable, Ty Warren, Darryl Richard, Rich Ohrnberger, Mark LeVoir, Shawn Springs and Brandon Tate on the sidelines. Tate and Springs opened camp on the active/non-football injury list while the other five all reside on the active/physically unable to perform list.

Bill Belichick wouldn’t specify the reason for any individual player’s absence, instead speaking about the group as a whole.

“We have a number of players not out there and they’re in different stages,” he said. “I’d expect them all to be back out there at some point but each case is taken on an individual basis.”

On Thursday, Wilfork took his spot up front in various alignments. He manned his normal nose tackle spot between Richard Seymour and Mike Wright, and he also lined up in four-man looks with rookie Ron Brace next to him. Some of the four-man fronts appeared to be part of scout team looks.

Unfortunately the heavy rains and lightning interrupted the morning practice and prevented normal media access and Wilfork wasn’t one of the handful of players the team made available for comment. Regardless, it doesn’t appear as if there’s a holdout in the big man’s immediate future.

Who likes Mike?

Former Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick's road back to the NFL is obviously a lot shorter now that Commissioner Roger Goodell has granted him a conditional return. Several national reports have listed the Patriots as a potential landing spot for Vick, and Belichick was asked about the possibility of the former Falcon being back in the NFL.

“Michael’s an outstanding player who hasn’t played in a couple of years,” Belichick said. “Right now my focus is on our team, our players, and trying to get the New England Patriots ready. He’s a tremendous athlete, where exactly he is right now, I don’t know.”

Who’s hot: Adalius Thomas – The Patriots may not have opened camp with loads of proven commodities at outside linebacker, but Thomas certainly is one. He was virtually unblockable Thursday morning, coming clean off the edge several times and delivering a big shoulder to Sammy Morris during a 9-on-7 running drill.

Who’s not: Shawn Crable – Crable is one of many of the unproven candidates to fill Mike Vrabel’s void on the outside and starting camp on the physically unable to perform list can’t be a good sign. While it’s unclear why Crable is on PUP, the reps he’s missing on the field will be tough to replace.

Play of the morning – As the deluge of rain swept through the practice fields, ball security became an issue. But one interception stood out and that was Jonathan Wilhite’s diving grab of a Kevin O’Connell pass intended for Ray Ventrone. The ball was slightly underthrown, but Wilhite’s diving catch was special.

Quote of the day: “I’m a lot friendlier.” – a smiling Belichick, when asked how he’d changed during his 10 years coaching the Patriots.

Paying respects

Belichick commented on the recent passing of Eagles defensive coordinator Jimmy Johnson, who died earlier this week after a battle with cancer.

“Jim’s probably as good a defensive coordinator as I’ve seen in the league,” Belichick said. “I respect his philosophy, his schemes and his ability to attack offenses. He’s got a real good football mind.

I’ve always had great respect for him. He’s a good friend and a real good football coach. Certainly on behalf of our team and football organization, our condolences go out to his family and the Eagles.”

Snapped up

Long snapper Jake Ingram signed a four-year deal and hit the practice field with the rest of his teammates for the first official day of training camp. The sixth-round pick did miss four days of work with his fellow rookies, who have been practicing since July 26, but his signing means the Patriots successfully inked deals with 11 of their 12 draft picks. The lone exception is linebacker Tyrone McKenzie, the third-round pick who tore his ACL during rookie mini-camp and is likely lost for the season. Obviously there’s no urgency to get his deal done. To make room for Ingram on the roster the team released defensive back Jamar Love.

Notes

Terrence Wheatley made a nice pass breakup on a Tom Brady pass intended for Terrence Nunn. Brady’s pass was underthrown and Nunn was forced to slow down, but Wheatley closed well and got enough of the ball to prevent the completion. … Ray Ventrone, who is usually busy enough filling his duties as a wide receiver, defensive back and special teams maven, worked out with the running backs during the morning session. … Five players worked returning kicks with Wes Welker, Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney, Greg Lewis and Terrence Nunn rotating through. ... Robert and Jonathan Kraft braved the weather and took in part of the morning session from field level. … The team will return to the field for the afternoon practice at 3:45 p.m.