Sale of the Century

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well my beloved Boston Red Sox got sold yesterday for 650 million dollars, now that is a lot of money and the most ever for a baseball team, here is a link to the deal for those that are interested http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2001/1220/1299374.html

There are some Sox fans that are already mad about the deal (they wanted local owners and this group beat them out) personally I doubt it matters, it is better than the situation we were in when we really without an owner for 9 years (Since Yawkee's widow died). Still the Red Sox were in a mess coming into this offseason with the whole Everett situation (I am sure most baseball fans know about that mess) well we got rid of him and have added Pokey Reese, John Burkett, Dustin Herminson, and very shortly Johnny Damon (probably our best accustition) I doubt we can win the division but hopefully we will be able to take back the wild card and at least take a shot at our archrivalst he Yankees.

[JonathanLB]

Never cared for that team one way or another really.

$650 mil is pocket cash to a lot of these guys, hehe. It's what Bill Gates finds under the couch at his Super Bowl party.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Well at least you aren't like some yankee fans that I know;) Yeah it is a lot of money to me but I agree with you some of these guys it like nothing to them.

[darth_mcbain]

I wasn't too wild that it was sold to the guy who owned the Florida Marlins, John Henry. Wasn't he the guy who beefed up the team to win the World Series a few years back, and then basically disbanded the team once he had his trophy in hand? I would hate to see the Red Sox used like that. They have a long history and I want to see it continue, for better or worse, and not have them simply be a tool for someone to win a trophy.

[Jedi Master Carr]

No that was Wayne Hienzteig(sp) the man that owns the Dolphins, he sold the team to Henry who was very unhappy with what he got (I think Hientzieg told him he had a better team than what he got) so he sold the team to Loria who owns the Expos who has sold the team to MLB baseball who will probably run the team into who knows when (nobody knows what is going to happen to the whole contradiction mess). Henry doesn't really bother me, he seems like a decent owner he really built the Marlins up to a .500 team considering they had nothing when he got them. The man people are worried about is Wiener, he is a Hollywood producer who has made The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Third Rock from the Son and That 70 Show, but he was one of the owners of the San Diego Padres and he guted the team in the early 90's trading away, Shettfield, Mcgriff and severall others for prospects, he did get Trevor Hoffman out of one of those deals thought. There are also people in the Boston Area who are upset, they all wanted this local group, I have no clue why though, local owners don't always make good owners, IMO

The best thing I like about this new ownership they have annouced they are not going to build a new stadium and instead are going to rennovate Fenway Park to get it to 43,000 seats and add 50 luxury boxes and at the same time build new larger player facilities, and a larger concessions area. I like that plan, I was worried they would build a stadium in South Boston and turn old Fenway into a parking lot destroying the best stadium in Baseball and a historical monument. That is why I didn't want the local group, one of there members was Staples, and I was betting if they bought the team they would build a new stadium and call it Staples Park, thank god they didn't get the team.

[darth_mcbain]

That is good news - Fenway Park is an American sports icon, and it would be a real shame to see it torn down to make way for the latest corporate ballpark. Kudos to them for opting to renovate it rather than just destroy it...

[Jedi Master Carr]

I know I love Fenway and I would just hate to see it destroyed, really all it needs is a new clubhouse, a larger consession area and about 10,000 more seats and its pefect and that is exactly what they are doing.

[darth_mcbain]

I was bummed earlier this year when it appeared they were going to tear it down. I've been there twice and I actually had tickets to see one last game there before it went away. The game was about 2 weeks after the Sept. 11 tragedy, and Logan airport (among others) was all screwed up with security and I didn't even know if it would be open (or for that matter, if I even wanted to go to a game - after that, baseball wasn't really my first priority), so I ended up not going. I knew it was the right choice for me not to go, but I was still disappointed that I'd probably never see Fenway again. Looks like that has changed now... :)