Red Sox Nation is still reeling from the loss of its greatest ambassador, Johnny Pesky, one week ago.

So, after a week of tears and pleasant rememberances, Pesky's passing was honored for the final time in a private funeral in Swampscott — following a public wake just days ago — featuring many members of the Red Sox family past and present. All in all, Pesky will be remembered not just as an ambassador for the Red Sox, but for all of baseball, and most of all as someone who truly loved the game and expressed that every day of his life.

Watch the video above to say goodbye to Pesky one last time and hear what friends like Nomar Garciaparra and Larry Lucchino had to say about the occasion.

The rebranded Miami Marlins added Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and others while retaining stars like Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson. They had a shiny new, publicly-funded stadium and some of the gaudiest uniforms this side of the 1970s Houston Astros.

An underwhelming season thus far has proven that the new Marlins are a lot like the old Marlins. By shipping Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Marlins completed their second significant trade of the week and signaled that once again, they will be letting down what few fans they have.

Believe it or not, the Marlins are not the most agonizing team a fan can root for. Whether it is the constant losing by the Chicago Cubs or the endless legal difficulties of the Cincinnati Bengals, several other teams are even more cruel to their fans.

Check out the top 10 worst teams to root for>>

Back in early April, Guillen made headlines well beyond the world of sports when he professed his fondness for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Taking into account that figures in major league sports have a platform to be heard that the normal citizen does not, it is still a complete mystery as to why anyone thinks Guillen's opinions on politics matter (or why anyone thinks that they're informed by much of anything).

Guillen's comments on Castro to Time Magazine were what made headlines, but what should have been paid more attention to were his comments published in The New Yorker just a week earlier. Not only did Guillen act very flippantly towards a reporter — showing even less verbal restraint than usual — but the article, "Old Fish, New Fish," really calls into question Guillen's baseball acumen, and dedication to the minutia of running a Major League Baseball squad.

In one scene in the article, Guillen uses a fungo bat to play golf behind the backstop during batting practice, openly joking about the fact that he's supposed to look busy while Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is in town.

"This is the best job," says Guillen. "Do Nothing."

Guillen also does little to dispel the notion that he isn't the most prepared manager in Major League Baseball ("I drink a lot, bro."), even going so far as to marginalize the role of the manager in the big leagues entirely. In another scene, he refers journalists asking questions about the day's starting pitcher to pitching coach Randy St. Claire, whose office was next door.

"That's why you got f—ing guys there as the coaches," shrugs Guillen.

The best bits of the article, however, come secondhand from Guillen's 26-year-old son, Oney Guillen. He recounts one story in which he asked his father how he planned to celebrate his 48th birthday.

"I'm going to f— your mom very well tonight," replied the elder Guillen.

In another scene in the article, Guillen cannot be found while the team runs an infield drill. As it turns out, Guillen is likely inside playing games on his iPad while his assistant coach runs the drill. His son kind of sells him out.

"See, my dad went inside and Joey's [Cora, the Marlins' bench coach] running all this," says Oney Guillen. "Right now, he doesn't have a TV in his office, so he's probably just sitting there. He likes to eat popcorn. He got an iPad — he just likes playing dominoes on it."

One can only imagine how little Guillen would get done if he did have a TV in his office.

But as disheveled and unprepared as Guillen comes off in the article, there is a kind of genius to his approach. While the modern view of the major league manager is of someone who spends hours pouring over scouting reports and advanced metrics, the reality is that a manager's strategy has very little to do with the outcome of baseball games.

In the days of SABR and advanced mathemetical analysis of baseball, the prevailing view has become that the moves a manager makes during the course of nine innings matter very little when compared to individual player performances. The math has confirmed the general opinion that, in baseball, the manager's job is much more about managing 25 personalities than it is filling out lineup cards, figuring bullpen matchups or deciding when to pinch hit.

This is why Guillen is a genius — even if it's only incidental.

"This is not instructional league," says Guillen in The New Yorker article. "We not teaching here."

And he's exactly right. As much is made of managers like Mike Scioscia and Joe Maddon, who do employ very specific game strategies, the way these styles are implemented are during minor league player development, not at the big league level. When a player gets called up to the Los Angeles Angels, for instance, they're already expected to know how to be aggressive on the bases and hit situationally.

Who knows if it's actually intention or laziness, but Guillen's approach certainly plays to the idea that protecting players is far more important than where they hit in the lineup. Likewise, the fact that it's Guillen, not his players, who is usually the center of attention allows those players to work in an environment with less stress and attention from the media than they otherwise might.

Of course, there are those times when Guillen, himself, causes the distraction, such as his Castro comments or when he referred to reporter Jay Mariotti using an anti-gay slur, but that comes with the territory of being the resident lightning rod.

It remains to be determined whether Guillen's managerial genius is on purpose or a complete accident. Just don't doubt that it's effective.

The requirements: strike Morrison's newly created "LoMo" pose in a creative fashion.

Originally, the third-year outfielder was only offering prizes and retweets through Jan. 31 for his favorite renditions of the "LoMo." Today, Morrison found himself having so much fun that he extended the contest through Feb. 18, when pitchers and catchers are supposed to report.

In honor of the extension, we tracked down some of the best "LoMo's" out there.

Click here to see some of the best examples of LoMoing found so far >>

Photo via Twitter/@danialharris89

Jose Reyes

According to multiple reports, the four-time All-Star shortstop is taking his talents to South Beach, agreeing to a deal with the Miami Marlins.

Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that it's a six-year, $106 million deal, which is pending a physical. He also reports that the deal does not include a no-trade clause.

Reyes has spent his entire nine-year career with the New York Mets. He's a career .292 hitter and is coming off a season in which he won the NL batting crown. The 28-year-old has also swiped over 60 bags on three separate occasions, including 78 in 2007. He led the NL in steals each season from 2005-2007.

Now, it appears the Marlins are targeting some of the biggest free agents on the market.

The Marlins have "reached out" to shortstop Jose Reyes, and are also targeting first basemen Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick.

If the Marlins are able to acquire Reyes, it would mean established shortstop Hanley Ramirez would likely change positions or be traded.

The Marlins reportedly contacted Reyes one minute into the free-agent signing period, and a group of Marlins executives went to New York this week seemingly to visit Reyes' agent, Peter Greenberg, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

Guillen wants the team to pursue either Pujols or Fielder, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman.

Below is a picture of white home and grey road uniforms, complete with black and blue caps, courtesy of the blog Marlin Maniac.

Those might not seem too radical, but check out the alternate suggestions below. Orange jerseys and orange caps? At least the black uniform looks OK.

No official announcement has been made from the Marlins organization. Until then, Marlins fans can only hope those orange uniforms get thrown out.

The annual free-agency period will begin 24 hours later, Selig said Friday prior to Game 7 of the World Series, according to MLB.com.

Representatives for MLB and the players union reportedly met this week and hope to have a draft of a new agreement in place by next Friday.

"[The talks] have been quiet, they've been thoughtful, and they've been constructive on both sides," Selig said. "We've come a long way."

Under new rules unveiled last year, free-agent eligible players no longer have to file, according to MLB.com. They automatically become free agents at midnight ET after the final game of the World Series.

That date was pushed back to 12:01 a.m. Sunday ET, followed by a five-day period in which teams have exclusive rights to make offers to their players. Other teams can make contact, but cannot tender formal offers until 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

It appears the Florida — soon to be Miami — Marlins are considering a serious run at the right-hander, ESPN's Buster Olney reports.

According to Olney, the Marlins also have "some natural mathcup" on a trade, because they could dangle controversial outfielder Logan Morrison as part of any package for Shields.

Shields is coming off his best season as a major leaguer. He went 16-12 with a 2.82 ERA in 33 starts. The 29-year-old also tossed a major-league leading 11 complete games, which was more than double the next-highest American League total.

Shields is 72-63 with a 3.96 ERA in 185 career games (184 starts).

Guillen tends to speak his mind, while Loria leads the league in managerial changes, but both dismissed predictions about a rocky relationship as way off base.

"When we used to go to the winter meetings together, people went, 'That's a crazy combo,'" Guillen said. "But we know each other."

So there's no reason to anticipate Guillen ruffling feathers?

"I couldn't care less about feathers," Loria said. "I don't have any feathers. And I don't care about him ruffling anybody. Ozzie has his opinions, and he's entitled to them. You know that going in. But Ozzie comes with a great pedigree."

And so the Ozzie era began in Miami. Hours before the Marlins' final game in the stadium they're leaving, they formally introduced Guillen as their manager Wednesday.

"It's a big, big step in my career, a new chapter," Guillen said. "Hopefully I can bring energy, flavor and enthusiasm, but the most important thing is a winning team."

The announcement carried little suspense. Shortly after Guillen resigned Monday as the manager of the White Sox, his website leaked the news that he had agreed to become the Marlins' manager. He agreed Tuesday night to a four-year contract and succeeds 80-year-old Jack McKeon, who is beginning his latest retirement.

The Marlins are staggering to a last-place finish in the NL East. With the team moving to a new ballpark and making a push for more fans and more wins, Loria wanted an experienced manager.

He turned to one of the game's most captivating but unpredictable personalities.

"I think we can turn it around next year," Loria said. "When you have a — for lack of a better word — category-five manager, it's going to happen."

The two first met more than 20 years ago at a game in which Guillen played.

"I was sitting in the first row," Loria said, "and he came over to me and started talking, and talking, and talking. And the umpire had to come over and say to him, 'Mr. Guillen, you're up.'"

After Guillen retired and returned home to Venezuela, Loria coaxed him back into baseball as a coach. Guillen was McKeon's third base coach with the Marlins' 2003 World Series championship team, then became the White Sox manager that November.

Guillen led the White Sox to the 2005 World Series title, but his eight-year tenure in Chicago was often stormy and his departure was messy.

Loria, meanwhile, has gone through a succession of managers trying in vain to return to the playoffs. Strong-willed Joe Girardi lasted only one season in 2006, clashed with Loria and others in the organization and was fired shortly before being chosen NL Manager of the Year.

Guillen will be Loria's fourth skipper since early 2010. Guillen said he hates being second-guessed and knows how to discourage Loria from doing so, since the owner's box is next to the Marlins' dugout.

"I will ask, 'What would you do right now?' before the fact," Guillen said. "I'll say, 'Hey, I'm going to make a move. What do you think?' See what he says. He won't know what to say."

But Loria said he'll continue to be a hands-on owner.

"I'm involved," he said. "I do care. I want to see the fans in this community have a ballclub commensurate with the new stadium. I don't think you can say being involved is a bad thing. In 2003, I put my foot down and said, 'We need a catcher here, and we're going to sign Pudge Rodriguez.' Well, I guess that worked out."

Aside from satisfying the boss, the biggest challenge for Guillen may be to tap the full potential of 2009 NL batting champion Hanley Ramirez, whose effort and attitude have frequently been questioned. Ramirez endured a disappointing, injury-plagued season.

"One thing I guarantee you — he will be back where he was," Guillen said. "Hanley is the biggest piece of the puzzle in this organization, and I've got to make it work. You are going to see a different guy on the field. I guarantee you when you see Hanley in spring training, he is going to have a smile."

Ramirez said that sounded good to him.

"Whatever Ozzie brings to make me better is good for me," Ramirez said. "I still have a lot to prove in this game. He's going to help me tremendously."

The whirlwind sequence of events that took Guillen from Chicago to Miami left his former team a little stunned, White Sox shortstop Omar Vizquel said.

"I don't think he really had time to say bye to everybody the right way," Vizquel said. "I wish he could have had more time to sit down with the players and explaining why. We wish he could have left a little differently, especially the career he had here in Chicago. It was important for this city to give him a nice goodbye. It was kind of sad the way he left."

Speculation has already started about which of Guillen's former players might follow him to Miami. His coaching staff will include Joey Cora, who was the White Sox bench coach. Eduardo Perez will remain as hitting coach, and Randy St. Claire will continue as pitching coach.

The Marlins are leaving the stadium where they've played since their first game in 1993, and will move into the new ballpark near downtown next spring as the Miami Marlins. Guillen's news conference preceded a big ceremony in conjunction with the final game against the Washington Nationals.

"I'm very excited about the new park," Guillen said. "It's pretty nice — wow. I hope the fans will be excited about the new era for the Marlins. They should be excited. I want the fans to go there and say, -This is a beautiful ballpark, but let's watch the guys play.'"

Oops.

Citing a "human error," a post on Guillen's blog announcing his move from the Chicago White Sox to the Marlins was taken down Monday night. The blog, part of the MLBlogs network, was replaced with a post thanking the fans of Chicago for their support.

Guillen "put something together and submitted it, but it wasn't supposed to go up," MLB Advanced Media executive vice president and editor in chief Dinn Mann told ESPN. "It made for an awkward situation, and we feel badly about it."

Businessweek published some of Guillen's comments from the deleted post.

"There comes a point when you need to move on, and that point has come," Guillen wrote, according to Businessweek. "The Florida Marlins believe I am the right man for the job to bring another World Series to South Florida. … I can't tell you how thrilled I am to be a part of the Marlins organization. I have an unbelievable amount of respect for the Marlins, owner Jeffrey Loria, president Larry Beinfest, and general manager Michael Hill. I can't thank them enough for this opportunity and look forward to the future. I can't wait to get started!"

Apparently, he quite literally couldn't wait.

The same can't be said for Florida Marlins closer Leo Nunez.

It was discovered on Thursday that Nunez has been playing in the majors since 2005 under an assumed name due to missing immigration paperwork, The Miami Herald reports. A source has reported Nunez's real name to be Juan Carlos Oviedo.

Nunez returned to the Dominican Republic after being placed on Major League Baseball's restricted list and will be reinstated once the immigration paperwork has been cleared.

It was also discovered that Nunez is 29 years old, not 28, as his bio in the Marlins' media guide suggests.

Nunez last pitched in Wednesday's matchup against the Braves but will not be joining the team on their trip to Milwaukee.

The leaked logo rumored to be a new insignia for the soon-to-be-named Miami Marlins would be in rare company, if it indeed turns out to be real. Major League Baseball has had more than a few atrocious logos in its history, but the light blue, orangey-pink and black scheme is unprecedented.

Until the logo is confirmed, what are the Top 10 ugliest logos ever? We pored through all the current and former logos and narrowed it down to an even 10, although there were plenty more that could have cracked the list.

Click here to view the top 10 ugliest MLB logos >>

The Marlins are moving to a new ballpark next season and are changing their official name from the Florida Marlins to the Miami Marlins. Usually, such moves come with a uniform change.

Sometimes those changes are drastic. If this indeed is the new logo and color scheme, this change (seen below) is more than drastic.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this logo was this Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon image.

Cameron told the Palm Beach Post that his body feels much older than his age.

"I may be too young to quit, but my body's telling me different. My body's 45," he told the paper.

Cameron had issues with his abdomen early in his first year with the Red Sox after signing a two-year deal two winters ago. He played in just 48 games before season-ending surgery in 2010. Although he looked his normal self during spring training this year, the 38-year-old struggled out of the gate and was designated for assignment on June 30.

Cameron was batting just .149 at the time. Five days later he was traded to the Florida Marlins, for whom he has hit .239 with six home runs and 18 RBIs in 44 games.

Although he has played better with the Marlins, the 17-year veteran, who currently has some hamstring problems, is keeping all his options open.

"It's a small window that's wide open," he said of the possibility of retiring. "I'm not going to make a decision now because there are too many variables much more than how I feel."

In a career that has seen him play for eight teams, Cameron is a .249 hitter with 278 home runs. He has won three Gold Glove awards.

Others steeled themselves against the grief and went on with their lives. The show must go on, they reasoned, and there was no better way to honor the victims than to maintain business as usual.

Every person deals with tragedy in a different way, so when sporting events were cancelled the week following 9/11, some cheered it as the right move while others called it a mistake. By the time most of the leagues resumed play Sept. 23, not everyone was ready to go back to playing what they saw as silly games.

The 10th anniversary of the attacks is Sunday, with a full schedule of MLB and NFL games. Former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, who led the St. Louis Rams to Super Bowl XXXVI later that season, appeared on FoxNews on Tuesday and was asked if it's appropriate for teams to play on 9/11.

"I do," Warner said. "I remember that Tuesday and I remember having the meeting at our facility about whether we should play that next Sunday or how long we should take off. I definitely felt at the time we needed to avoid football and we needed to focus on what was at hand and the lives that were affected by the tragedy.

"But I also believe that football and getting back into those stadiums was a big part of the healing process."

Watch the full video here.

When teams take the field on Sunday, there will be flags waving, jets flying overhead and the Star-Spangled Banner will seem to mean a little bit more. After a week of solemn remembrance, some will welcome the chance to let off some steam with a cheer or a boo. Some would rather not bother with anything besides their thoughts.

Should sports teams play games on 9/11?

The official box score for Game 1 of a doubleheader with the Reds didn't list an attendance number, so one fan took it upon himself to count the heads in the stands.

"Unofficial count of 347 at sunlife for first pitch…myself included!" tweeted Justin Cohen. Counted by hand. Still not the smallest crowd I've seen here … There are literally 5 sections with 5 or fewer people and 3 with 0 people at the marlins game."

Granted, the game was rescheduled due to the anticipated weather that would hit Miami on Thursday due to Hurricane Irene. Still, if tens of thousands of people can stick around Williamsport during an earthquake to watch Little Leaguers, you'd think you'd at least get a fraction of that to watch professionals play.

For the record, the Marlins scored three times in the eighth inning to pull off a comeback victory, sending all 347 fans home happy.

Photo of the day

Is the rescheduling of this game any excuse for just 347 people to show up?

Quote of the day

"I wasn't able to breathe out of my right nostril, so that kind of sucked. It's like a refreshing feeling right now to be able to get more oxygen intake through my nose."
–Bruins winger Milan Lucic, on his new and improved nose

Tweet of the day

Is Tim Thomas really in this elite company? To Bruins fans, he just might be.

Video of the day

If the Patriots' defense is facing a third-and-short this season, I'd find it wildly appropriate for this song to blare over the Gillette Stadium speakers. Don't make Vince Wilfork snap his fingers.

Yet throughout baseball, there are some divisions where even the –*shudder*– Toronto Blue Jays could contend.

The AL Central features teams with plenty of talent, but for some reason, the teams annually underperform. For another year, Detroit, Chicago and Minnesota are all hovering around .500, as none of the teams have managed to pull away from the opposition. This year, another mediocre team, the Cleveland Indians, has stuck around the top of the division long enough to seriously contend for the title. Still, the Toronto Blue Jays would find themselves in second place — two games out of first.

The AL West champion Texas Rangers made it to the World Series last season and already look primed to make another postseason run — which is partly because the rest of the division is pretty awful. The L.A. Angels usually contend but have been decimated by injuries the past few years. Considering the teams' young pitching, Oakland is alwasy refered to as a "potential surprise" during the preseason — and "bust" by midseason. And Seattle — well, why talk negatively about a team that just lost 17 in a row and is paying a buttload of money to a .180 hitter, Chone Figgins?

The NL Central currently has three teams contending for a playoff spot, but each team has their fair share of flaws. and the division winner has yet to go 10 games over .500. St. Louis has seen injuries to Albert Pujols and Adam Wainwright, the Pirates have hung around despite having the second-lowest payroll in baseball, Cincinnati is not progressing after its promising 2010 season, the Cubs smile and act like they enjoy Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano on their rosters, and the Houston Astros just traded their lone All-Star. The team in first, the Milwaukee Brewers, has yet to go 10-above .500.

Finally, the NL West does feature the reigning World Series champ, the San Francisco Giants — a team that just acquired Carlos Beltran. Wander away from McCovey Cove, though, and you'll find a pretty miserable division. San Diego, despite a surprising 2010, has performed as well as expected for a team that traded its franchise player. The Dodgers have a lot more concerns than their sub-.500 record and Colorado, despite All-Stars Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, finds itself below .500. Take away Justin Upton from Arizona, and the team would resemble San Diego.

What is the Weakest Division in MLB?

Mix those conditions with a team who hasn't made the postseason since 2003, and you have a perfect storm of terribly low attendance numbers.

The Florida Marlins, who play home games in Miami at Sun Life Stadium, are currently dead last in Major League Baseball in attendance at 17,616 fans per game. The team hopes a new stadium, set to open in 2012, changes that.

The new stadium will seat 37,000 and will have some new elements to beat mother nature. A retractable roof and air conditioning should make conditions much more enjoyable for fans.

There's only one more missing element: A winning team.

The Marlins are just four games below .500, though, and have seen success on the road; they are 26-23 in actual ballparks. It's at home, in football friendly Sun Life, where they have struggled at 23-30.

Check out the stadium construction webcam here.

Chris Hatcher became the first player since Doll to appear in a major league game as a pitcher after breaking into the big leagues as a catcher when the 26-year-old right-hander pitched a perfect inning in relief Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.

Hatcher, who debuted behind the plate on Sept. 26, 2010, was converted to a reliever by the Florida Marlins this offseason. A few months later, he made history on the mound at the National League's oldest ballpark.

"Where else to do it than Wrigley Field?" Hatcher told mlb.com after the Marlins' 13-3 win. "The prestige and heritage of this park is unbelievable. To be able to come in and throw the ball well and get three outs, it's what everybody dreams of."

Doll, the last player to accomplish the feat, appeared as a pitcher with the Boston Braves in 1936 after playing three games as a catcher with the Braves in 1935.