Thank you, Ben

(Photo credit: Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Some initial quick reactions:

I'd be lying if I said I didn't hate the Bobby V era.

And last place sucks.

But thank you Ben for all of the following:

A great iconic moment:

 (Stan Grosfeld/The Boston Globe)

Which of course, lead to this:

(Matt Slocum/AP)

Which was only possible because he got rid of these:

(Nick Punto, screen cap from MLB.com)

(Truly one of mankind's greatest mysteries; What WERE the Dodgers thinking???)

And also thank you for not getting rid of any of these:

 Bogey, Betts and Bradley

(Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Swihart and Vazquez

(Steven Senne / AP)

Not trading away the farm for a quick fix has set us up for many great future years. Someone else may get credit, but just as Dan Duquette brought Pedro, Manny, Varitek, Lowe, Wake, Lester and others to Boston who were the foundation of the 2004 and 2007 Championships that his successor got credit for, future Championships will come due to the groundwork Ben Cherington layed out for this franchise.

Thank you, Ben. And best of luck.

Pe-dro Pe-dro Pe-dro!

God!

Pe-dro, Pe-dro, Pe-dro the fans cheered while proudly waiving the Dominican flags. What an amazing event to witness in person as Pedro Martinez was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown this past Sunday.

As great a pitcher as he was, he is every bit as good as a speaker, having the crowd of an estimated 50,000 eating out of his hand.  It started early in the day  as every half hour or so the day's activities were announced on the PA, and each time Pedro's name was mentioned the crowd would spontaneously erupt.  Cheering, shouting his name and/or waving the flags. It was obvious that with all due respect to Craig Biggio, Randy Johnson and John Smoltz, the majority of the attendees were here for Pedro.


And then he started his speech with a simple "¡Hola!" which again made the crowd go wild.