The Yahoo! report detailed a supposed meeting between ownership and players in July in New York in which players “blasted” Valentine to ownership.

Here is the email response Henry sent to the media in its entirety.

First of all for more than a decade we have had a code among players, staff and ownership that our meetings are private and do not leave the room. There is one reason for that. It enables all of us to openly discuss important issues. For more than a decade not one person in any of those meetings has gone to the media with private information. Over the decade we have made great strides as a result of these meetings in a number of ways including improvement in training facilities, protocols, safety, resources, travel issues, clubhouse issues and trust within a cooperative framework. But more than anything else these meetings have been about the same thing the meeting in New York was about — what it takes to win — what can we all do to improve our ability to win?

About this time eight years ago we had one such meeting. It closely resembled the meeting in New York. Both were meetings I asked for. And both quickly went to the point — what do we need to do to turn things around. We held three meetings in New York — separating groups so as to have frank discussions about what was wrong.

What Tom, Larry and I heard in the player meeting was one overriding sentiment. Players felt responsible for the record. They weren’t blaming injuries or anyone but themselves. At the same time they openly spoke about what could improve in addition to their play. They made substantive points. We addressed those points. No one in that meeting at any time took the position that Bobby should be or needed to be replaced.

I understand that when the team isn’t playing up to our standards that issues are going to be sensationalized. But what is important for Red Sox fans to know is that ownership, players and all staff especially Bobby Valentine are determined to turn around what has thus far been an unacceptable, failed season. We are all on the same page in that regard and will not waver.

John Henry is a man of many interests, and one of them is music. That very topic came up, among many others, when Henry fielded questions from children on Red Sox Small Talk.

The Red Sox principal owner discussed a wide-ranging variety of topics in the interview. He admitted to having terrible handwriting, talked about the time he drove a race car over 180 mph and even explained what Wally the Green Monster had to do with getting Tom Werner his job as Red Sox Chairman.

Check it out in the video above.

John Henry

However, on Monday the Red Sox owner put an end to rumors about a rift in their relationship, according to ESPN.

“We talked extensively and agreed that we had waited far too long in speaking and both of us had probably come to some wrong conclusions as to why we hadn’t,” Henry said in an Email on Monday, according to ESPN. “We are looking forward to sitting down in Fort Myers this spring for lunch or a game.

“He will always be part of the Red Sox family.”

The email was in response to a Boston Herald report from last Saturday, where Francona said he hadn’t heard from Henry since last September despite calling him “seven or eight times.” He also said he hasn’t spoken much to former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein.

Henry said in the email: “We spoke about a number of things, but regarding what you inquired about he said he had called on my cellphone but didn’t leave any messages. We simply missed each other apparently a few times. Had he left me a message I would have certainly called him back.

“Tito was the best manager the Boston Red Sox ever had,” he added.

Francona will join ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball crew for the 2012 season.

John Henry surprised Red Sox fans and the Boston sports media on Friday afternoon when he dropped by the 98.5 The Sports Hub studios and spoke with Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti.

The Red Sox owner spent more than an hour speaking on 98.5 about a multitude of things including the state of the Red Sox, the team’s September collapse and the transitional period the front office and coaching staff is going through.

Following the radio spot, Henry was met by a hoard of media outside the studios where he answered questions for almost 10 minutes in what was the principal owner’s most revealing comments since season’s end.

As he spoke to the media on Friday afternoon, Henry once again addressed the rumors that have been flying around about a clubhouse in disarray, particularly the stories that involve eating chicken and drinking beer from a Boston Globe article this week.

Henry stood by the fact that these revelations have been news to him, and he even said that he got a positive report on the clubhouse from general manager Theo Epstein in the middle of what would be a fateful September.

“I saw the games, and I didn’t see anyone who wasn’t busting their ass to win a baseball game,” he said. “We’re looking into these things.”

Henry also tried to downplay hoopla surrounding the harshest allegations in the Globe article — the ones involving now ex-manager Terry Francona. The owner said that the situation has turned into a “frenzy,” and also words like “misinformation” when talking about the entire situation.

He also expressed disappointment in the team’s finish.

“Any time you have a team that’s about to win 100 games and then collapses in September, you’re going to have people who are upset about it,” he said. “We were upset about it. I share their frustrations, disappointment, anger.”

See much more in the video above.

A historic collapse and an unimaginable end to the season were certainly sour notes for Terry Francona to go out on, but Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino believes that even if the Sox had made the playoffs, the manager would have moved on.

"I'm not sure — I think the same process would unfold," Lucchino told John Dennis and Gerry Callahan on The Dennis and Callahan Show on Friday when asked if ownership would have picked up Francona's option had the team made the playoffs.

Principal owner John Henry also commented on Francona's departure, saying ownership never really had a chance to make it a mutual decision.

"Would we have ended up in the same place that [Francona] ended up? Based on the things that we heard and the things that we saw, there's a strong likelihood that we would have," Henry said. "So you could say it was mutual."

Watch Lucchino and Henry discuss Francona in the video above.

"Reaching 700 consecutive sellouts is a lesson for us all to never underestimate what the passion of Red Sox Nation can achieve," Red Sox principal owner John Henry said in a news release. "Our fans have demonstrated unwavering loyalty and support from the stands at Fenway Park every day of the regular season for more than eight years, and everyone in the organization is grateful for the their steadfast dedication."

The Cleveland Indians held the previous record of 455 straight sellouts from 1995 to 2001. The Colorado Rockies posted 203 consecutive sellouts from 1995 to 1997. The Red Sox' record began May 15, 2003, in the second year of the current group's ownership.

"Red Sox Nation gives our players and coaches a distinct competitive advantage in home games by creating a sell-out atmosphere unmatched in any other ballpark," Red Sox President/CEO Larry Lucchino said. "We are grateful for their knowledge, their passion, and their love of the Red Sox for the game of baseball."

The longest sellout streak in the four major professional North American sports is held by the Portland Trail Blazers, who sold out 744 games from 1975 to 1995. The Colorado Avalanche are third on the list with 407 sellouts from 1995 to 2006.

Players and coaches came out of the dugout during the fifth inning to acknowledge the crowd for its continue support, and a video tribute to fans from the team was played on the videoboard after the fifth inning.

Fans also received commemorative baseballs when the team reached the 500th and 600th consecutive sellout marks in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

"It is a number that at one time might have been considered unattainable, but our fans proved that 700 sellouts was a possible milestone to reach," Red Sox Chairman Tom Werner said. "It is a testament to the dedication they have for the game, for the team, and for the ballpark. As stewards of this franchise, we will continue to work hard to earn the support of our fan base, which is something we will never take for granted."

The Liverpool manager revealed that the team's principal owner, John Henry, has encouraged additional spending before the transfer deadline, according to the Liverpool Daily Post.

"I'm not under pressure to sell," Dalglish said. "We are under more pressure to get somebody in. The owners have been fantastic and there is no pressure in any way, shape or form."

The team appeared to have a couple needs following its 1-1 tie to Sunderland on Saturday, but Dalglish attributed the results to playing his entire roster during the pre-season, tiring them all out.

"We had to be fair to everybody we have on the books and we gave them all a reasonable opportunity to get themselves fit and to prove they were worthy of a game," Dalglish said.

"I don't see any reason why that is not the correct way to go about things."

Even if the manager thinks his team's underwhelming opener wasn't a sign that Liverpool needs more additions, he'll have an ample amount of money to spend regardless of need.

By the time the Red Sox' rainy 13-inning matchup with the Angels wrapped up at 2:45 a.m. on Thursday morning, there were plenty of empty seats left open at Fenway Park.

When the final out was recorded, the Red Sox-Angels game had lasted five hours, and that's not including the two-hour rain delay that occurred midway through the matchup. The fans that braved the rain and the chilly weather were rewarded, however. Not only with the free coffee and hot chocolate from the Red Sox' ownership group, or the free range of seats once Fenway started clearing out, but through the special bond that only comes with spending long nights at the ballpark.

Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino stopped in before Thursday's afternoon matchup between Boston and Anaheim and said he was impressed by the endurance of the fans that stuck it out until nearly 3 a.m.

"It was a bonding night for those who had the strength and endurance to stay through it all, and there were plenty of them," Lucchino said. "We saw them very late at night when John [Henry], Tom [Werner] decided that we should go out and provide some coffee and hot chocolate to the fans. It was a real connection, like we were going through this battle together."

Check out Lucchino's entire interview above from Red Sox Gameday Live Presented by UNO, where he also discussed Fenway Park's tribute to the U.S. military on Monday after learning of Osama bin Laden's death. 

Liverpool unveiled plans of a new supporter consultation group on Friday, linking Reds' fans with the club's senior executives to discuss current issues and to help form the team's future. The Liverpool FC Supporters' Committee will meet on four different occasions throughout the season with senior staff members of the club, lfc.tv reports.

Team owners John Henry and Tom Werner will also join in during the meetings, sitting in for at least two of the four sessions throughout the year.

The supporters' committee will consist of 17 fans that represent all of the major stakeholder groups within the LFC fan base. Liverpool welcomes applications from fans throughout the UK, and will also admit two international fans to the group. Fans of all ages and genders are welcome to apply, even those under 18.

Fans interested in joining the supporters' committee are asked to apply online, with the application deadline falling on Feb. 27, at 10 a.m. The 17 committee members will be selected by a seven-person panel that will review the applications and collectively nominate the best representatives of Liverpool supporters.

The goal of the LFC Supporters' Committee is to not only set up a forum for Reds' supporters to communicate with senior members of the club, but it's also designed to enhance the relationship between the fans and the new club structure at Anfield.

The first inaugural meeting will kick off on May 15, and the details of each meeting will be published online and in-print for other fans to read within 48 hours of the meeting. Each committee member is expected to remain with the group until May 30, 2013.

A recent article by Eric Wilbur posted on Boston.com took several jabs at Henry’s management style, accusing the owner of taking on too many projects that take away from the Red Sox as a primary focus. The article went on to say that the recent departure of Victor Martinez is a clue that the finances allotted for the Red Sox are taking a hit due to the recent purchase of Liverpool FC.

Several comments below the article disagreed with the content’s premise, and a few came to the defense of Henry in his latest venture. Henry — clearly appreciative of the fan’s response — took to his Twitter to broadcast the reaction to the “nonsense.”

Henry followed that up with another tweet. This time, he put out a response to the criticism, ensuring that he is continually strategizing with the ever-changing MLB system.

“One thing to keep in mind this offseason is that MLB has changed over the last 5 years,” Henry’s tweet read. “Strategies must evolve as well. Happy Thanksgiving!”

The game is evolving, and so too are the Red Sox owners. We won’t know until the end of the offseason how the Red Sox will change their strategy this season, but it’s clear John Henry is looking to quash any rumor that he is not invested in the well-being of the team.

That would equal an astounding 39,605 books. That number, is how many books the students at Summer Street School in Lynfield, Mass., have read in the past year.

For their efforts, the elementrary school students were visited by Red Sox owner John Henry, his wife Linda Pizzuti and Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis on Tuesday.

"It's unbelievable, it's really a phenomenal thing," Youkiils said on Tuesday's episode of NESN Daily.

To see more, check out the video below.

John Henry

"We're not going anywhere," Henry told the paper. "We adore, we love this franchise."

Henry and partners Larry Lucchino and Tom Werner purchased the Red Sox for $660 million eight years ago, and the team has flourished under their leadership. The Red Sox have won two World Series titles, posted a 550-game home sell-out streak and made the "Red Sox" an international brand.

Henry and his associates have enjoyed the experience of owning the Red Sox.

"We are so committed to this franchise. We're having so much fun," Henry said. "We love this franchise."

Boston faces the annual challenge of competing with the Yankees in the AL East, a team that rarely shies away from spending money. Henry understands the Red Sox need to spend money to remain competitive.

"We spent significantly more than we did last year," Henry said. "We didn't know for sure we were going to spend as much as we did because we didn't know if opportunities would present themselves."

The Red Sox principal owner's investments have paid off as the team has reached the postseason in six of his eight seasons with the team.

And if you ask Henry, the good times are likely to continue long into the future.

The first full team workout for the Red Sox in 2010 is exciting for the fans, and John Henry, Tom Werner and Larry Lucchino are no exception.

The ownership group sat down with Tom Caron on Wednesday morning to discuss their outlook for the 2010 season. Check out the entire conversation below.

The event was to let New Hampshire high school students know about the program and encourage them to apply. To be eligible for the scholarships, students from 10 select public high schools must:

• Have strong academic standing
• Be eligible for financial aid
• Demonstrate a dedication to community service

“It’s important that we continue work to make higher education more affordable and accessible for more of our young people,” Gov. Lynch said.  “I want to thank John Henry and the Red Sox organization for its commitment to New Hampshire and its people.”

The awards will be for $1,000 each and will be presented to students from Pinkerton Academy in Derry, Manchester Central High School, Salem High School, Nashua High School South, Concord High School, Londonderry High School, Keene High School, Dover High School, Spaulding High School and Portsmouth High School.

“The Red Sox know loyalty is a two-way street and New Hampshire fans have given us their unwavering support over decades,” said Henry. “We are pleased to honor talented Granite State students who not only work hard in the classroom but also in their community to open doors of opportunity for themselves and for others.”

Players would like to see the first
round of playoffs expand to best-of-seven when their next labor
contract starts in 2012, Michael Weiner said Wednesday in his first
news conference since replacing Donald Fehr as the union head.

"There is a lot of sentiment for a
seven-game division series," Weiner said. "I think a properly
constructed postseason schedule could accommodate three seven-game
series but still have it extend over a shorter period of time than what
happened this year."

The first round has been best-of-five since it began in 1995.

Weiner hopes the length of the
postseason can be shortened next year and was happy to hear
commissioner Bud Selig say he will try to cut off days. Four extra days
off were added in 2007 at the request of baseball's television
broadcasters. As a result, the Angels and Yankees played just eight
games in the first 20 days of the playoffs.

"Everybody's in agreement that the
postseason schedule needs some adjustment," Weiner said. "I'm a hockey
fan as well as a baseball fan, and the pace of play this postseason was
more of the way you expect a hockey season to go than a baseball season
to go."

Because the postseason extended into
November, the offseason marketplace began later than usual. Just nine
of 171 free agents have reached agreements, causing some agents to
accuse owners of possible collusion.

"I'm concerned a little bit. It's
been a little bit slow," Weiner said. "I think it's too early to draw
any conclusions, though, with respect to how this market will play
out."

Weiner was unanimously approved as
executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association
during the annual meeting of its executive board in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The 47-year-old Harvard Law School graduate was hired by the union as a
staff lawyer in 1988 and was promoted to general counsel in 2004. He
succeeds the 61-year-old Fehr, who had been in charge since December
1983 and in June announced his intention.

During bargaining in 2002 and 2006,
Weiner was among the union's chief negotiators. He praised management
for "a recognition that the union is a fixture in the game" but
admitted some baseball owners may push for a tougher proposals in
bargaining to replace the contract that expires in December 2011.

"If there are owners who misjudge or
underestimate the resolve of the players this time, I think they'll be
met with the same surprise that owners of the past have met with when
they misjudged the resolve of the players," Weiner said.

Baseball owners have said they intend to
propose the amateur draft be expanded to include players from outside
the United States who currently are free agents before they sign. The
union is willing to agree.

"There was plenty of sentiment for
saying that players from Texas should be subject to the same rules as
players from the Dominican Republic," he said.

But the union will resist attempts by management to institute a slotting system of fixed salaries for draft picks.

"This union has always stood for the
proposition that, you know, players should have the right to bargain
individually for their compensation," he said.

Similarly, players historically have
been against having payroll floors for teams. Boston Red Sox owner John
Henry, concerned that some clubs aren't spending revenue sharing money,
has suggested that payroll floors may be necessary.

"If a club legitimately trying to
compete has a plan that calls for them to be at a particularly low
payroll for a given year as part of a longer-range plan to compete the
following year or years after that, management should have that
flexibility," Weiner said.

There also is another reason.

"Players historically have suspected
that the request for a salary floor is a precursor to a request for a
salary cap," he said, "and you know what the position of this union has
been on salary caps."

Weiner anticipates some change in
the drug program for next year but didn't specify what they will be.
Baseball does not test for human growth hormone because there is not a
validated urine test.

"I think the testing policy is working great," he said. "Does that it mean that it can't be improved? Of course not."

He also was unconcerned that the annual
report from the drug program's independent administrator showed 108
players had therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) this year to use
otherwise banned substances because of attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder.

"The number of new exemptions is a
far lower number," Weiner said. "A healthy percentage of applications
for new TUEs were rejected."

For starters, is Boston's farm system sufficiently deep? Detroit is sure to demand a hefty package of prospects. Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, Daniel Bard, Ryan Westmoreland, Casey Kelly, Lars Anderson – no one is off limits when you're dealing for one of the elite sluggers in the game. How much talent can the Red Sox afford to give up?

How big are their wallets? Cabrera is about to enter the third year of an eight-year, $152.3 million contract. He's got around $126 million left on the deal, which will keep him fat and happy through 2015. Cabrera's 35-homer power won't come cheap.

How much does character matter? Cabrera is just two months removed from an ugly domestic incident with his wife that led to his arrest for drunken driving with a blood alcohol level of three times the legal limit. The night before a crucial one-game playoff, no less. Is this the kind of guy the Red Sox want in their clubhouse?

All of the above are valid questions. And they're questions that any GM in baseball, including the Red Sox' Theo Epstein, will be asking themselves this winter before they do anything too crazy. But at the end of the day, the Red Sox are the one team most likely to pass the Cabrera test.

If you're looking for a major league owner willing to fork over nine figures to pay Cabrera, then look no further than John Henry. In fact, it was Henry who first discovered Cabrera over a decade ago. Now he has a chance to bring the slugger back.

Upon first purchasing the Florida Marlins in 1999, Henry's front office found Cabrera, a 16-year-old kid in Venezuela blessed with raw power, and jumped at the opportunity to bring him to the States. Henry threw down $1.8 million, an unheard-of sum of money for the teenage phenom, and Cabrera was in the major leagues four years later. He became a superstar almost overnight.

Henry and Cabrera have long since parted ways. The owner left South Florida in 2002 when he sold the Marlins and entered into a deal to purchase the Red Sox alongside Tom Werner. The slugger skipped town five years later, when a blockbuster trade sent him from Miami to Detroit.

But back in the day, Henry saw something in Cabrera. He knew what he was looking at — a kid blessed with incredible talent. And in a lot of ways, that's what Cabrera still is.

It's hard to believe after a decade in professional baseball, but Cabrera is still only 26. He's still coming of age, both as a baseball player and as a man.

Does he have character issues? At the moment, it's easy to say yes. Cabrera's messy legal troubles over the past two months have cast him in a negative light, and front offices around baseball have taken notice. But back in 1999, John Henry saw a kid with potential, a young man waiting to mature. Perhaps he still sees it.

Is he worth the money? The Red Sox can't say no. This is the same team that offered Mark Teixeira $170 million. They dangled $160 million in front of Manny Ramirez to lure him away from Cleveland a decade ago. The Sox are no strangers to paying big money for big sluggers. And Cabrera is that kind of slugger.

He could be worth the prospects, too. After all, he's 26 — not much older than Buchholz, Bowden or Bard. And with Cabrera, you're looking at a sure thing. You're looking at one of the best in the game.

There are a lot of questions surrounding Miguel Cabrera. But there are also a lot of very encouraging answers. Cabrera could be the next big thing in Boston.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution presented the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship to Red Sox principal owner John W. Henry at a dinner on Nov. 19, 2009 at the Fairmont Copley Hotel in Boston. At the event, Nicholas Negroponte also received the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service.

Larry Lucchino, president and CEO of the Boston Red Sox, served as chairman for the event with the Honorable John and Mrs. Diana Negroponte serving as co-chairs.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the living national memorial to President Wilson established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Center establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open and informed dialogue. It is a nonpartisan institution, supported by public and private funds and engaged in the study of national and world affairs.

I had shoulder surgery a week ago Tuesday, so I left the keyboard alone for a few days. I’m glad to be back and feel very fortunate to once again see the Red Sox in the postseason.

As we all know in baseball and particularly in a short postseason series, anything can happen. Billy Evans, an American League umpire, submitted a story for The New York Times, writing that “breaks often decide baseball championship games.”

Evans was a significant man in the history of baseball. He wrote the article in 1919 and had become the youngest MLB umpire at 22 years of age. He was the youngest to umpire in a World Series. Later in life, he became general manager of the Cleveland Indians when a GM was a new-fangled thing. He was then farm director for the Red Sox after that. In 1973, he became the third MLB umpire to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

As an umpire he wrote, “Ball teams do not always run true to form in a short series. … [S]ome freak situation, some unusual play, may prove to be the turning point. In a number of world’s series, the final result has been greatly influenced by some one situation that was not reckoned with … .”

I always think of the baseball postseason the way he did — that breaks determine so much in a short series — that anything can happen.

So I looked at the 14 years of postseason play in which three postseason series were required to win a World Series (1995 through 2008). In each league, I divided the postseason into five types of teams:

Take a look at the number of postseason series wins below. Because it takes three series wins to win a World Series, if one of the below seeds won each year, they would have accumulated 42 postseason series wins. The best team in the National League (as measured by regular-season win-loss record) won 14 series. The NL wild card won 16. Odd?

The American League won more World Series over this period and the best AL team won 19 total postseason series.

The best record in MLB accounted for 17 postseason series wins.

Win percentage for each postseason series:

Looking at both leagues overall:

So, on average, no one wins the World Series.  But seriously, the best team record in each league does seem to provide an advantage in the playoffs despite the shortness of the series. Interestingly, the best team overall each year only had a very slight advantage over the wild card over 14 years, despite having home-field advantage 100 percent of the time. Wild cards never have home-field advantage in the first two series that lead to a berth in the World Series.

Which teams have actually won the last 14 World Series?

Combining both leagues:

So even in a short series, the best team has to have an advantage. But how large is that advantage over the default win percentage of 12.5 percent for one out of eight teams entering the playoffs? Again, what is most interesting is how the regular-season records of the wild card and the third-best division winners are fairly close, yet wild cards have won world titles twice as often. 

This is a small sample size — only 14 postseasons. And using only these 14 seasons, I might rate the chance of winning the World Series this way in either league, with a slight advantage to the AL:

So probably no team goes into the MLB postseason with more than a 17 or 18 percent chance of ultimate success. The champion who emerges overcomes very long odds as one of the 30 that entered spring training last February. Therefore, the only way to give yourself a very good chance of win a World Series is to qualify frequently for the postseason.

Evans wrote 90 years ago what holds true for the postseason this year: “In all probability when the 1919 series is over, a diagnosis of it will show that the final result was brought about by some unusual situation or freak happening that was given no consideration when the relative strength of the two clubs was considered.”

Last year, Baseball Prospectus published postseason odds that looked like this:

They gave the Cubs a 32 percent chance of winning the World Series. The Cubs didn’t win a game in the postseason. That’s how tough it is to predict anything in the postseason.

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From time to time, I’ll present a series of insider views designed to give you a look apart from my limited perspective – a look behind the scenes from the people who make our organizations what they are. This week, Sam Kennedy, executive vice president of the Boston Red Sox and president of Fenway Sports Group, gives you his unique perspective on last week. Sam and I are heading up to New Hampshire this morning as Roush Fenway Racing begins it chase for the NASCAR cup via Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle. Sam is a key figure in so many areas as you’ll see in his report.

A Week in the Nation, by Sam Kennedy

Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, brought back feelings of fear and anxiety from eight years ago, as our world changed forever. My father-in-law was safe in his office in World Trade Center Tower 2. He called his daughter in San Diego. Who would be next? The San Diego Padres were an outlet for our community.  While we had no shot at October baseball that year, our fans came together with passion and pride in the weeks to follow.

This year’s Sept. 11 kicked off a week that reminded me how lucky I have been to work in the baseball business now for over 15 seasons. I felt this largely because baseball teams can play a role in healing various aspects of their communities. Front office lives blend together personally and professionally during homestands in ways that can make you very proud.

While the eighth anniversary of 9/11 put some things perspective, as a Red Sox employee and fan, I had the feeling Boston was barely alive even though it was two games up in the wild-card race.

Jonathan Gilula popped his head into my office and said, “It’s going to be a long weekend. We’ve got weather.”

It was the Rays’ last trip to Boston for the year, so the game was in the umpire’s hands. Our “Rain Trust,” led by Larry Lucchino, Theo Epstein, Jonathan, and yours truly, could only provide information to Randy Marsh and his crew. The game started. And then it stopped. But the rain wouldn’t.

This Sept. 11 front was particularly stubborn. With Saturday’s forecast even worse, a doubleheader on Sunday was our only option. ESPN’s exclusive broadcast window prohibited a night game. The Trust made the difficult decision to move the 1:35 game to 5 p.m., and the 9/11 ticketholders would see their game at noon. 

Weather usually creates lose-lose situations. This time, it was win-win-win. Despite understandable fan frustration due to the inconvenience, after a three-game sweep in less than 24 hours, the Red Sox found themselves four games up in the wild-card race.

We toasted the victories, as well as John Henry, who turned 60 late Sunday night. And Boston’s incredible fans met the challenge of an unscheduled doubleheader on Sunday by filling all of the seats of Fenway for both games.

Monday morning came too fast as Troup Parkinson and I drove to Maine to attend the funeral of Eric Gaffney, the 24-year-old son of a Red Sox sponsor who tragically died in a car accident days earlier. None of the rain issues or the expanded lead in the AL wild-card race seemed to matter. The Red Sox front office is a family. Our sponsors, season-ticket holders, broadcast partners and neighbors are our extended family. 

Back at Fenway, Theo popped his head into my office and told me Boston would be without Victor Martinez’s hot bat for a few days. The day ended with a Sun Life Financial call, finalizing our negotiations for their sponsorship of the outdoor college hockey doubleheader set for Jan. 8, 2010.  

Tuesday brought the Los Angeles Angels to Boston. Larry led our daily operations meeting. Today/tomorrow baseball, ballpark, foundation, community, PR, finance and marketing issues were discussed.

When Larry asked our new general counsel for his observations on the meeting, he said, “I can’t believe how close this group is. It is absolutely incredible how you finish each others sentences.”

He was right. Larry has assembled a team whose members know each other inside and out.

That afternoon, we put the finishing touches on our postseason ticketing plans. We hosted our JetBlue client for dinner in an effort to get her to expand her marketing spend to include Boston College, a client we represent at Fenway Sports Group. Red Sox 4, Angels 1. Daisuke was back!

Wednesday morning, we met with NHL executives to prepare for our New Year’s Day Winter Classic. We learned it can’t be too warm (the ice melts) or too cold (the ice cracks). We debated what we can and cannot do for Pepsi (they compete with Coke, the official soft drink of the Red Sox).

That afternoon, FSG’s senior leadership team prepared for an upcoming FSG board meeting. They are excited to tell ownership about a deal they have struck to sell the jersey sponsorship for Fulham FC of the English Premiere League.

Later, Mike Scioscia couldn’t believe what he was watching as Nick Green limped to first base and Alex Gonzalez’s bloop sealed another magical night at Fenway. I asked myself, “Which clients should we take to Anaheim for the ALDS?” 

Thursday, we met with architects to review the design of our new spring training ballpark.

Later, we were on high alert. Red Sox chairman Tom Werner had poured his heart and soul into the creation of the Red Sox Foundation Home Base Program for local veterans. Alliances were formed by rival hospital hospitals Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital to ensure this program could become a reality.

Everyone in Fenway Park had chills as John, Tom, Larry, David Ginsberg and Meg Vaillancourt saluted U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Brian Zimmerman, who threw the ceremonial first pitch. The Angels salvaged the game, but no one seemed to care. Ownership used the stage of Fenway Park to shine bright lights on the critical issues of post-traumatic stress syndrome and traumatic brain injury affecting so many of our returning soldiers. A lasting community-wide partnership had been created.

Friday, Ben Affleck arrived with his crew to begin filming scenes at Fenway for his new movie. The business of baseball causes the days and nights to flow together for the front office. A sense of relief arrived as the team would be on the road for what will undoubtedly seem like a short week for the business side on Yawkey Way. The week was capped off with a 3-1 victory over the Orioles as the Red Sox took a commanding seven-game lead over Texas for the wild card.

What a difference a week makes. 

Thanks, Sam!

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What are a few of the baseball Web sites that would receive my vote for MVP?

Baseball-Reference.com keeps improving on a monthly basis. It just keeps getting better and better. Of course, I’ve had a long-term bias toward statistics. 

Baseball-Reference.com is a site where a baseball stat geek like myself can immerse himself in the broad richness of data available in our sport. Where else can you find a page like this one? Imagine up-to-date splits — not just on players but on teams. That’s new and terrific.

Baseball Prospectus is probably the MVP for most professionals in baseball. The articles are consistently valuable. And every day you can check your team’s chances of making the playoffs in three different formats — Elo-based, Pecota-based and the original methodology.

Buster Olney’s blog for ESPN.com provides a daily must-read for what is happening around the country in the game. There are links to every worthwhile article in the game of baseball every day in addition to commentary that is insightful and comprehensive.

Then there’s Retrosheet, where you can find box scores for virtually every baseball game ever played, including daily standings of each season.

I first heard of Who Wins in 2004 during the playoffs against the Yankees. When we were down 3-0, the odds were pretty clear. I believe those same odds are currently are up to 1.1 percent now — three out of 271 series in all sports.

According to the site:

“As for the 2004 Boston Red Sox: After surmounting a one-run deficit after eight full innings in series 936 Game 4, and after surmounting a two-run deficit after seven full innings in Game 5, the Red Sox never tasted another deficit during the rest of the 2004 MLB postseason. Not during series 936 Games 6 and 7 in New York; not during series 938 vs. the St. Louis Cardinals (which won the 1946 and 1967 MLB Finals in seven games vs. the Red Sox) in the 2004 MLB Finals.

“So dominant were the Boston Red Sox after series 936 Game 5 that they led New York after 30 of 36 half-innings in Games 6 and 7, and led St. Louis after 64 of the 70 half-innings in the 2004 MLB Finals. The Red Sox both swept and annihilated the Cardinals in the 2004 MLB Finals — it was the first MLB best-of-7 playoff series WhoWins™ annihilation since the 1989 MLB Finals.

“Exiting the 2004 MLB playoffs, the Boston Red Sox hold an active MLB-record streak of 59 consecutive innings without having trailed in a best-of-7 MLB playoff series game; this streak broke the record of the 56 1/2 consecutive deficit-free innings set by the Oakland Athletics in best-of-7 MLB playoff series during 1989 and 1990. [The 59 and 56 1/2 numbers disregard ninth innings in which the Red Sox in Boston and the Athletics in Oakland did not bat; if such innings were considered, those numbers would be 60 and 57 1/2, respectively.] … In terms of following up a comeback series victory in the wake of a 3-games-nil best-of-7 MLB/NBA/NHL playoff series deficit, the 1975 New York Islanders and the 2004 Boston Red Sox are profiles in dissimilar excellence.”

OK, this has to be my favorite baseball site!

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