Boston Sports

George Kottaras has won the backup catching job for Boston.

Bard's second stint with the Red Sox is over before it began.

In Spring Training, Bard has shown more of what got him traded the first time around: inability to catch Tim Wakefield's knuckleball.

On a side note, George Kottaras has proven to be able to catch the knuckler from Ol' Reliable.

Extra Bases is reporting that the Red Sox have cut catcher Josh Bard.

Bard signed a one-year deal with the Red Sox worth $1.7 million in late December, with a team option for a second year. But his contract was not guaranteed, and by releasing him now the Red Sox are obligated to pay only one-sixth ($283,333) of his 2009 salary.

The Red Sox traded away arguably one of the best shortstops in the game today in Florida’s Hanley Ramirez. After three years with the Marlins, Ramirez has totaled 79 home runs and 207 RBI’s while the Redsox have struggled to find a consistent shortstop.

It seems like everyone is making their picks for who wins the AL East. I'm going to take it one step further and look at both the AL and NL East, arguably baseball's best divisions.

Lets start in the National League. The East is a powerful division. Will the defending World Champion Phillies again take the top spot? Will the Mets suffer another late-season collapse? Can the Marlins overtake them both? Will the Nats actually look good this year?

Barring major injuries and some fluky miracle season, here are my picks for the NL East.

“Mr. Epstein,” said the ace reliever, Jonathan Papelbon. “There is a cancer on your baseball team.”

It sounds like something out of the Nixon Administration so many decades ago.  Back then it took a brave man named John Dean to go into the lion’s den and tell the President of the United States that his Administration was suffering from a fatal disease.

A failure to act condemned Nixon and his tenure in office.

Manny: "Ah mi Dios. Otro día en escuela", (Oh my God. It is another day at school) said nine year old Manuel-ito Ramirez from his squalid little tenement in the Washington Heights section of the Bronx.

Manny thinks: Oye tiene cuidado mi ventana. Estoy en las sombras del Estadio Yanqui... (Hey look out my window. I'm in the shadows of Yankee Stadium...)

Manny: "No quiero ir a la escuela hoy." (I don't want to go to school today)

Narrator: Excuse me Manuel-ito. This is Bleacher Report. Please habla in English.

Everyone is proud of his or her city, but none are prouder than New Yorkers. Because New York is and always will be the center of the universe. New York has welcomed millions upon millions of immigrants who were looking for hope and freedom in the new world.

The New York Yankees did not have any luck on offense, pitching or defense as they lost to the Boston Red Sox 8-4 at City of Palms Park.

I was highly disappointed that the game wasn't on the YesNetwork. I was getting ready too. I had popcorn (microwave) and a big bottle of soda ready for my consumption. Either way, the game must be graded. I got a lot of info from Peter Abraham's website.

The New York Yankees lost an exhibition game to the Boston Red Sox by a score of 8-4.

A+—Brett Tomko

Bob Gibson was one of the nastiest, most dominant pitchers of his generation. Pedro Martinez was also one of the nastiest, most dominant pitchers of his generation.

The similarities don't stop there.

They're both right handed pitchers. They both were considered head hunters. They also both wore the number 45.

They also, arguably, both can lay claim to the greatest season by a pitcher ever (post-1900, of course). Bob Gibson in 1968. Pedro Martinez in 2000.

The case for Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson's 1968 season by the numbers: