Today is my favorite Red Sox player’s birthday. Mike it 41 today. Happy birthday, Mike!
If you’ve read any story about Mike since spring training began, you probably already knew it was his birthday today. Apparently, the story of the season surrounding Mike is that he’s (gasp!) ‘old’.
There is a lot to like about Timlin. He’s always willing to do whatever the team needs him to do. He (and his wife, Dawn) is very generous with his time when it comes to donating it to help charities. He’s a work horse who sometimes induces cringing when he pitches, but, for the most part, he’s the guy you want on the mount to get you outs when the game is winding down. He has a presence on the mound that intimidates many. And for the most part, he just goes out and does his job without complaining. One of my favorite things about him is the way he handles the media. He can bark at a reporter with the best of them. He’s pretty much no-nonsense. I like that.
I also think he’s a freaking hottie…but that’s for another day. 🙂
He was scheduled to pitch today and has been pulled from the game by Terry Francona. Tito wants another week of no pitching for him to rest his tweaked oblique. The same way I don’t put much into wins and losses in spring training, as long as the guy doesn’t have an appendage falling off, I don’t worry too much about these kind of "injuries" this time of year. If rest is all he needs, then rest I want him to get.
There’s a lot of talk (within the media, not really from anyone else) that Timlin is the guy the Sox secretly expect to be closer. First, I find the talk of this amusing since they’ve nothing to base it on except Mike saying he’d like the opportunity to do it and the fact that they haven’t actually named a closer yet. But, secondly, I don’t really hate the idea. I know about his ‘men on base’ issues, TRUST me, I know. But I also remember how effective he was for the team in 2005. I’m, apparently, one of the few people who doesn’t think his age has to necessarily be a concern. Plenty of guys pitch into their forties. You can still be effective if you are good and if you are healthy.
Mike has proven that he’s good. Now we just need him to be healthy.
My preference would be to see him as a set-up guy. But if the Red Sox think he can, eventually, do some good as closer, well, I’d be thrilled for Mike.
Since it is Mike’s birthday, I’ll do a little pimping for him. The charity that Mike supports the most is "The Angel Fund". Mike’s mom died from ALS and he’s done a lot over the years for this organization. You can also get more information (or make a donation or sign up for the race) at the website for the Sharon Timlin Road Race. ALSO, you might have heard that Mike’s sister Tracy, beginning March 1st, is walking "From Austin to Boston" to raise awareness and funds for ALS. The walk will take her about 100 days and she’ll end up in Massachusetts pretty much just in time for the race in her mother’s name in June. I’m so impressed with her strength and dedication and wish her a lot of luck. (You can follow her progress at the Angel Fund’s website!)
So happy birthday, Mike. Rest a while, come back strong and don’t let idiots like the idiot who wrote this piece get you down. ("…looking every one of his forty years." Are you sh1tting me with this stuff? Does forty look older in baseball? I’m pretty close to forty and have never been told I look "every one of my years" and I think Mike and I look close to the same age. Shut UP, stupid AP writer, SHUT UP!")
That was quite the digression. Let me try that again.
Happy 41st Birthday, Mike!
(First photo lifted off of Yahoo! Second photo taken by me last July at Fenway.)