Personally, I love designing t-shirts and talking with our fans about sports. But we’re still a growing company, so the rest of the time, I’m researching ways to make new fans, paying bills and managing the daily logistics. These things are not always fun…

Then there are days like today. Fun days.

Today we packed up some new customer t-shirts for the Maquan School “Fun Run.” Maquan School is located in Hanson, MA – my home town. I attended Maquan and one of my earliest and fondest memories is of a similar event called “The Turkey Trot.”

The Turkey Trot was an annual running race for kids of all ages. I ran the race almost every year and I can still see the path through the woods in my head. The race started on the gravel track at Indian Head Middle School across the street and then wove it’s way across School Street and through the woods behind Maquan School. There were hills and valley and roots everywhere… and you couldn’t help but feel like you were on some kind of adventure while you raced through the trees.

It was a great experience and lead to my interest in track in high school. I ran long distance as a freshman, and they had a similar trail behind the high school, but by then I was older and the wild imagination I had as a child was gone… but my memories of the Turkey Trot are still there.

So when Cheryl from the Maquan School called looking for help with t-shirt for the kids, I was happy to help. We worked with Cheryl to create a fun design and printed them up on three vibrant colors – purple, orange and green.

We plan to attend the Fun Run and cheer the kids on as they weave their way through the woods. Maybe I’ll even take a jog myself…

If need custom shirts for your group or event, please contact us at blshirts [at] gmail [dot] com. We offer FREE design help and great prices. Thanks!
 

… re-stocked in all sizes for a run at Banner 18!

Just click a shirt to buy!

Yeesh!

Clay Buchholz needed a solid start after watching his golfing buddy get hammered by both the Tribe and the media on Thursday. He lasted into he 7th and finished with 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits, 3 walks and zero strikeouts. Not very inspiring, but he did drop his ERA from 9.09 to 8.31… and we have to start somewhere, right?

Buchhy also showcased a new haircut last night, that had him looking like the scrawny youngster that snuck up on us and pitched a no-hitter in his 3rd career start back in 2007.

Athletes are a superstitious bunch… if shaving off those flowing locks is what get’s his mind right, I’m all for it. Maybe he can convince Beckett to shave that douchebag goatee of his in the hopes of re-connecting with the kid that was more interested in making the big league roster than how many off days he gets each year…

Just sayin’
 

I spent the morning packing up orders for our new Fenway Faithful t-shirt.

Shout outs to everyone that grabbed one when we first released this new 100th Anniversary design… you know… while the Red Sox were in the middle of April meltdown.

Since then, the Sox have gone 7-3 in there last 10 games and with a win last night over Oakland… finally got back to .500 at 11-11. They remain just 3.5 games out of 1st place in the AL East… which is HUGE… considering Albert Puljos and the new look Angels are 8-15 and 9 games behind the Rangers in the AL West.

Bottom Line: Things could be a lot worse.

We printed the Boston Red Sox Fenway Faithful shirts in mens, womens and kids sizes… so click, grab a few tees for the fam. and show the world that you’re no pink hat… you’re a proud member of the Fenway Faithful!

Aviles SS
Pedroia 2B
Gonzalez 1B
Youkilis 3B
Ortiz DH
Ross RF
Shoppach C
McDonald LF
Byrd CF

Red Sox Starter: RHP Clay Buchholz (2-1, 8.87 ERA)
 

 
Source: Extra Bases / Boston.com
 

Awesome, right!? I mean who doesn’t love a quick Kelly Kapowski flash back…

I wanted to do something similar for our fans, so I dug out my baseball card collection and started packing a few cards to each order.

If you got some cards with your t-shirt recently, drop us a line on Facebook and tell us who you got. Maybe someone will trade you a Spike Owen for a Dwight Evans!

Aviles SS
Sweeney RF
Pedroia 2B
Gonzalez 1B
Ortiz DH
Youkilis 3B
Saltalamacchia C
Ross RF
Byrd CF

Red Sox Starter: RHP Clay Buchholz (1-1, 9.00)
 

 
Source: Extra Bases / Boston.com
 

With an 11-2 win last night over the Twins, the Red Sox sit in last place in the AL East at 6-10… while the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays and Orioles are all locked in at 10-7.

It’s not 2-10… but Red Sox fans have seen enough and are jumping off the bandwagon in droves. I sat in the car for much of yesterday and the common theme among radio talk show callers was that this group of players are simply “unlikeable.”

Listening to the callers and talk show hosts bash the Sox for their poor play and even poorer attitudes, reminded me of the opening scenes of the movie Major League. The Cleveland Indians of Major League were more like our loveable band of Idiots from 2004, and not the collection of high-priced, underachieving robots we are watching today… but the point is, the fans and the media had no faith in the Indians and the newspaper columns, bars and coffee shops were full of trash talking.

So what did Jake Taylor and Indians do? They used their frustration as motivation. The bonded against a common enemy.

And this got me thinking… do our boys have that kind of fight in them? Right now, they seem to be tuning us out rather than using our comments as motivation… and it’s a tricky game using negative headlines as bulletin board material… but if these guys are as proud and as tough as they want us to believe, I say: prove it.

Bottom Line: Clearly, Bobby V isn’t motivating anyone in that clubhouse. The positional players seem to be at war with the pitching staff. And the relievers are afraid to go out in public. It’s time for someone to step up and say…

“I guess there’s only one thing left to do… win the whole f*cking thing.”

And if that means they hate us for a while… I’m fine with that.

Aviles SS
Sweeney RF
Pedroia 2B
Gonzalez 1B
Ortiz DH
Youkilis 3B
Ross LF
Byrd CF
Shoppach C

Red Sox Sarter: RHP Josh Beckett (1-2, 5.03)
 

 

With Jacoby Ellsbury out for 6-8 weeks and Carl Crawford trapped in the Bermuda Triangle… Bobby Valentine and the Red Sox have been trying to climb out of an early season funk with Cody Ross, Ryan Sweeney, Darnell MacDonald and Jason Repko (now, also hurt) in the outfield.

Sweeney has been solid, hitting .390 in 41 at-bats and Ross has provided some power with 3 homers and 10 RBI… but he also leads the team with 18 strikeouts. MacDonald and Repko have been invisible.

So… GM Ben Cherrington called his buddy Theo Epstein and asked for some help and the Red Sox eventually traded for Marlon Bryd.

Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd confirmed that he has been traded to the Red Sox, tweets Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com. The Cubs will receive Michael Bowden and a player to be named later in exchange for Byrd while paying all but roughly $400K of his $6.5MM salary (the prorated minimum), according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com (via Twitter).

Byrd can play all three outfield spots, but has patrolled center field exclusively during has time in Chicago. He’s a .278 career hitter and is no stranger to the middle of the lineup. But here in Boston he’ll likely hit 6th, 7th or 8th.

Bottom Line: The Sox simply need an able body in the outfield that won’t hit .100. Byrd is capable of that… I think… but right now he’s hitting .070, which is actually worse than Repko (.090) and MacDonald (.111).

But maybe Byrd can pitch…?

With the bullpen in shambles (see here if you missed yesterday’s implosion), Ben may have been better off simply calling up Bowden… He posted a 2.73 ER with 61 Ks in 52.2 innings last year in Pawtucket.

Just sayin’

Get the new Fenway Faithful t-shirt now in the Bottom Line Apparel e-store!