Mike Timlin celebrating with Sean Casey in 2008 (Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission)
It’s tough to keep my interest up when nothing of any real substance is going on in baseball. I could write an entry about how some Yankees fans have indicated that they now “know” how the Red Sox fans felt when Johnny left Boston for New York . (They don’t. Not even a little bit. But at least they seem to understand that just saying “he’s a hired gun, what did you expect?” doesn’t mean anything when feelings are involved.) But my heart wouldn’t be in it. I’m at the point now, with Damon, where I don’t “hate” him or want him anywhere near Boston, he just annoys the hell out of me. Let him re-sign with the Yanks (doesn’t seem to be happening) or with the Rays for all I care. Just stop making it out like the best centerfielder in the history of baseball doesn’t have a team right now.
That isn’t to say I’m not still paying attention to former Sox players. Johnny will always have a place in my heart for being on the 2003 and 2004 teams but what happens to him in or out of baseball no longer holds my interest. Not so for most of the other guys from those teams. Last week, my man Mike Timlin made an appearance on the Boston airwaves to promote a new venture. Some might know that Mike does the narration for the documentary film “Touching the Game: Alaska” (I haven’t seen the film yet. I do have it on order, though, and plan on reviewing it and its sister film “Touching the Game: The Story of the Cape Cod Baseball League” once I have them both). Mike spoke by telephone with Michael Holley and Lou Merloni last week about his work on the film and how it piqued his interest in doing “radio and/or play by play”. It’s too bad that he went out one last time last year with the Rockies to try and eke out a season because, had he been available, it would have been interesting to see how he would have done along side Don Orsillo. Thankfully this year, with Jerry Remy being back to full health both mentally and physically, we won’t have rotating partners for Donnie O. Still, it would have been fun to have Mike in the booth for a game or two.
Of interest from the interview: Mike made it “official” that he is, indeed, retired. He said he hoped last year he would have been able to do something with the Rockies but it never quite worked out.  What he told Lou Merloni was that he had three things to look at in deciding whether he’d play last year. His family “suffering” through his playing another year, his body “hurting” (which he said it did much of his last year in Boston) and whether it was the right time. He told Lou that he prayed to God to tell him if it was the right time. He hit two out of three…God told him it wasn’t the right time and he was done.  He added that he can “look at the door and close it”, in regard to ever playing baseball and that now he doesn’t have the desire to say “Maybe I can try one more time”.  He went on to say that “it’s kind of nice being Dad and relaxing at home”.
It’s ridiculous, I know, but I feel like I have closure with Mike. Not closure in that I’m not still a fan – hey he’s on my top ten list of my all-time favorite Red Sox players (a list soon to be shared on the blog) – but it’s nice to know that HE’S good with his not playing any more. I hated the idea of his being forced out of baseball before he thought he was ready. I give Lou Merloni credit for being so upfront with his question, “Are you done playing the game?”. Can’t get more straightforward than that…except with Mike’s answer, “Yeah, I am.”
He’ll be in town soon trying to raise money for his next project, (in conjunction with the filmmakers who created the two “Touching the Game” documentaries) which is a show that highlights members of the military or other people who work for the greater good (police officers, teachers, firefighters) and how they make a difference through community service by doing “extraordinary” things. I wish him luck with that and hope he has success with it. I’d also not be against seeing him sitting in the studio with Tom Caron a few times this season. Make it happen, NESN!
A week from this Friday is Truck Day. I will most definitely be there with bells on. (You just won’t be able to see them because they will be covered by long johns, thermal socks, scarves and my Red Sox knit cap!)
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