Hosting With Froggy Knows

Tim Wakefield is back in Boston, Billy Wagner is in, and Brad Penny and John Smoltz are out. Quite the shakeup for the Sox this past week. Brad Penny was recently released by the Red Sox and placed on waivers.

Penny had told John Tomase, Red Sox beat writer, about the fact that he had requested a release from the Sox after Boston beat the White Sox. He had asked to be cut from the team, and Boston granted his wish. There was no ill will, but he felt it was time to move on.

Penny (7-8, 5.61 ERA) will go on waivers Thursday and is expected to clear Monday. He hopes to be a starting pitcher for a playoff contender and that getting this done now will potentially allow him to be added to a team’s postseason roster.

Since the National League is weaker (hitting-wise) and easier for pitchers than the American League is, Penny would probably be best suited pitching for an NL contender. He could also hit the bullpen and become a team’s closer.

Signed this off-season as a low-risk, high-reward free agent that was coming off an arm injury, the 31-year-old signed a $5 million deal that could have jumped to $8 million with incentives.

After a 6-1 win over Florida on June 17, Penny stood at 6-2 and sported a 4.94 ERA – a number that had been dropping since the start of the season. There was speculation the Red Sox would deal Penny once Smoltz came off the DL, leaving a potential pitching glut. (As we know now, there was really going to be no such thing.)

In his last eleven starts since he was 6-2, Penny has only won one game. He had a great month of June, July was a bit worse, and August was even worse, with an 8.31 ERA during the month. His last time on the mound, Penny let up 8 runs in just four innings against the Yankees.

So like the Smoltz era before, the Penny era is now over in Boston. I hope we can now all agree to remember the Golden Rule: you can never have enough starting pitching. EVER.

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For a long time, Michael Vick was one of my favorite players in football. Having the ability to electrify a stadium with his incredible running abilities, I loved everything about his game. He really seemed like the next big thing in football.

Going back to 2001, I remember seeing him in action against the Pats as a rookie. He was young, and ineffective at this point. The next season I saw him in a game against the Seahawks. More mature at this point, he led his team to victory and I loved it.

Soon after, Vick shocked the football world with a post-season win in Green Bay against the Packers. I loved the way he looked on the field and bought jerseys, bobble heads, and every other piece of Vick memorabilia out there.

I followed his career; he continued his amazing runs while polishing his throwing skills. In 2005, he led the Falcons to NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles (ironically enough the team that he is now a member of). The sky was limit for him. He broke the QB rushing record in 2006. Then his world, career, and reputation became tainted forever.

Vick was charged with endorsing dog fights. He was the facilitator here, having trained them, bet on them, and was directly responsible for the injuries and deaths of many dogs. I couldn’t believe he’d do something like this. Whether he was influenced by the wrong people or not, anyone in their right mind obviously knew what kind of behavior this was. I was disgusted.

Two years later, Vick is back and the league is willing to give him a clean slate. Having signed with the Eagles, it looks like he has a genuine chance to redeem himself. He deserves this second chance, but I’m still not ready to forgive him.

He deserves a fair chance and all the haters need to give him that. It bewilders me that Donte Stallworth who was drunk, drove, and killed a man, is getting less flak than Vick. Both deeds were unthinkable, but why should Stallworth be given a free pass because the victim’s family took the money and he only did 4 weeks in jail? I don’t see any signs with Stallworth’s number with a slash through it.

Vick is being constantly attacked as a dog killer and everything else, but you don’t see Stallworth getting the same kind of attention. Both of them made horrible mistakes and both will have chances to redeem themselves, but let’s leave it at that and hope they’ve both learned their lessons.