Happy Halloween from Newport Beach, California! Some people think “The Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt Kickers is the #1 pop Halloween song. Me, I gotta go with Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London”:

I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook’s
Going to get himself a big dish of beef chow mein
Werewolves of London

If you hear him howling around your kitchen door
Better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again
Werewolves of London

He’s the hairy-handed gent who ran amuck in Kent
Lately he’s been overheard in Mayfair
Better stay away from him
He’ll rip your lungs out, Jim
I’d like to meet his tailor
Werewolves of London

Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
Doing the
I saw Lon Chaney, Jr. walking with the Queen
Doing the
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s
His hair was perfect
Werewolves of London
Draw blood

No shortage of werewolves hanging around the sushi bar here at the hotel: sipping chardonnays, talking about their Ferraris and the stock market, and checking their e-mails on their iPods. All self-consumed. All with hair that is perfect.

Southern California is more than just three thousand miles from the Northeast; it might as well be the distance from the earth to the moon.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Greetings from Newport Beach, California! Deep in the heart of this blue state, I’m here on business and, because of my schedule over the next two days, blogging will be light.

Looks like I’ll miss the Red Sox victory parade on NESN, but that’s OK. I think these kinds of things are kinda overdone - I mean, it’s great the Sox are world champions, but I have to think the amount of $ the parade and such will cost could be far better spent elsewhere. Why not just open up Fenway Park for a victory rally and have people donate to the Jimmy Fund?

The Sox going this deep into the fall means a shorter off-season. I’ll miss Tina Cervasio, but I sure won’t miss those probing questions asked during “Terry’s Take”.

If I’m the Sox, I keep Curt Schilling for one last go-round. Just having him around is like having another pitching coach, and with current pitching coach John Farrell up for consideration for the Pirates managerial gig, it might not be bad to have the old fella around to teach kids like Bucholz and Lester a thing or two.

…And I definitely keep Mike Lowell. Offer him two years with a club option for two more based on incentives, and I think it gets the job done.

…And I keep Mike Timlin if the price is right. Can’t have too many good arms in a bullpen.

Who goes? I’m not a Manny Delcarmen fan - the guy just doesn’t throw strikes consistent enough for me. But he still has potential, so we’ll see. Coco is trade bait, and I won’t miss Javier Lopez. Please, God they send that pantload Mirabelli packing.

…and don’t even THINK of A-Rod - the “Ebola virus” of major league baseball players.

Hard to believe the baseball season is over, but I’m already looking forward to next spring and having my DirectTV and their “MLB Extra Innings” baseball package. It was missed this year - while the mlb.tv subscription was good enough, watching baseball on a computer monitor left a lot to be desired. The video quality was pretty good, but the technology still has a ways to go.

No, I’m not talking about Hillary Clinton - there’s plenty of time and opportunity for that down the line. I’m talking about Alex “A-Fraud” Rodriguez’s agent Scott Boras releasing an announcement during the 7th inning of a World Series game that his client had decided to exercise his option and opt out of his contract with the New York Yankees. And lest you think this was all Scott Boras’ timing, just check this out (my boldings):

“I got a call from Alex tonight and he is going to opt out,” Boras told The Post last night during Game 4 of the World Series. “He was just too unsure with new ownership talking about a transition where the organization is going right now. He is not sure what is going to happen with (free agents) Mariano (Rivera) and (Jorge) Posada, and if Andy Pettitte is coming back. He needs more time to assess where the Yankees are going in the future.”

This is absolutely pathetic, and I pray the baseball world is watching. I hate A-Rod (sports-wise, I’ve never met him as a person and have no desire to) with a passion as much as the next guy, but even I didn’t think his stupid boorish agent would have the onions to announce this during the World Series. Tradition states that when the World Series is taking place, baseball tradition trumps any any one player’s future, and for someone as supposedly sage and keen as Scott Boras to announce such a thing right in the middle of a World Series broadcast shows not only his arrogance and his snake-in-the-grass lowness, but that of his petty, pathetic, whiny, overpaid, and post-season choker client as well.

Note to Scott Boras: if Red Sox ownership and management were ever to be stupid enough to cave in to your immense greed and bring A-Rod aboard as a Red Sox, mark these words carefully: I will NEVER watch them on TV again, and would, in fact, root against them every chance I got. A-Rod is the epitome of everything that is wrong with professional sports nowadays, and I for one refuse to have anything to do with him. And I know I’m not alone in Red Sox Nation who feels that way.

When it comes to money and sports, people like A-Rod and Scott Boras are not just bad, they are evil.

No one ever said The Great White Shank was Nostradamus, did they? A little over a month ago, I said the Boston Red Sox would never win the World Series. But you have to cut me some slack here, because who would have EVER thought that manager Terry Francona would have the onions to take a struggling Coco Crisp out of the lineup after game 5 in Cleveland and insert “Mr. Sparkplug”, “Mr. Taco America” Jacoby Ellsbury into center field? From the moment he became a starter, the Sox offense lit up like a Jack o’ Lantern on Halloween, and the Sox never looked back. While it’s hard to argue third baseman Mike Lowell as World Series MVP, one could equally (and easily) make an argument for Ellsbury, reliever Hideki Okajima (without whom the Sox would be out hunting or fishing right now), or ace stopper Jonathan Papelbon. But I guess that, in the end, is why the Sox are World Series champs - there wasn’t any one guy that stood out. With the exception of backup catcher and all-around pantload Doug Mirabelli, this was a team effort, and Sox ownership, GM Theo Epstein, and Francona deserve all the credit in the world.

So forgive me, Tito and J.D. - no, screw you, Mirabelli - I was wrong, and I’m more than happy to admit it. And it’s not just me who feels this way. Mea culpa! Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa!

Congratulations to the 2007 World Champion Boston Red Sox!

Tessie!

Question of the day: How do you know summer is really over here in the Valley of the Sun? When the water temperature of your swimming pool drops from a tolerable 70 degrees to a much more intimidating 63 degrees in just the span of a week’s time. Of course summer never really ends here until perhaps December - you can still feel the strength of the sun on your skin when you take a walk down the street to the mailbox, and shorts and t-shirts still feel mighty fine. While the nighttime temps have started flirting with the high ’50s, the daytime highs are still well in the ’80s. So while it might be the end of summer pool-wise, the days are still betraying what the calendar says.

Tonight Tracey and I watched Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS series against the New York Yankees. You know, the game that started the end of the Yankees Empire. The game where Dave Roberts stole second in the ninth inning off uber-closer Mariano Rivera and Bill Mueller singled him home, sending the game into extra innings until David Ortiz would assume the mantle of “Big Papi” by driving in the winning runs and starting the Red Sox’ historic and miraculous comeback.

While watching the game, we were amazed at the changes that have taken place on the Red Sox roster (and the Yankees, for that matter) since then, and now that the Sox are in the World Series again, it is hard not to want to compare the two Sox teams to see how they’d stack up gainst one another. Here’s my view:

Starting rotation: in 2004 it was Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Time Wakefield, Bronson Arroyo, and Derek Lowe; in 2007, Josh Beckett, Schilling, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Wakefield, and a bunch of guys. Here you have to give the nod, I think, to the 2004 rotation simply because Pedro and Beckett cancel themselves out, Schilling was a better pitcher 3 years ago, Wakefield is still Wakefield (for better or for worse), and the last two spots are toss ‘ems in both cases. Pick: 2004

Catcher: Jason Varitek remains his same steady self. Draw

1st Base: In 2004, the combo of Kevin Millar and Doug Mientkewicz. 2007: Kevin Youkilis. No comparison here. Pick: 2007

2nd Base: Who would you rather have - Mark Bellhorn or Dustin Pedroia? Again, no contest. Pick: 2007

Shortstop: Orlando Cabrera vs. Julio Lugo. Pretty much a draw, I think - perhaps the slightest, slightest nod to Cabrera. Draw

3rd Base: Bill Mueller vs. Mike Lowell. While Mueller was a steady and solid player, you have to give the nod here to Lowell. Pick: 2007

Outfield: Manny is still being Manny, Johnny Damon was better offensively, but worse defensively, than the combo of Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury, and I would call J.D. Drew and Trot Nixon pretty much a draw both offensively and defensively. So here, I think overall it’s a draw. Draw

Bullpen: No comparison here. The 2004 team had Keith Foulke as their closer, Mike Timlin and Alan Embree in the setup roles, and bunch of no names to fill out the bullpen. The 2007 staff not only has the game’s dominant closer in Jonathan Papelbon, but Hideki Okajima, Timlin, and Manny Delcarmen are solid behind him. Pick: 2007

Overall, then, if I were to have to choose between which one is the better team, it looks as if the 2007 edition would have be rated better - primarily because of Beckett and Papelbon in the front and back, but an improvement both offensively and defensively around the infield.

Just my opinion, of course. What do you think?

Heh. This story seems pretty funny. Appears the Democrats in Washington are starting to get concerned about their own low public opinion poll numbers (actually, even lower than the President’s), so what are they going to do - start governing better? Of course not, they’re going to try and remind voters of who they replaced in power - the Republicans!

House Democratic leaders, concerned about the public’s downbeat view of Congress, launched a public relations offensive Monday to polish the image of the new majority after a series of legislative setbacks this month.

The campaign, ranging from traditional events to conference calls with groups outside of Washington, is designed to circumvent the national news media. Democratic operatives believe that Washington reporters are so fixated on the party’s standoff with President Bush over Iraq that no other message is reaching the public.

In a private meeting for scores of staffers, top advisers to the party’s lea