Best Western Red Sox Bars: Connecticut Yankee, San Francisco

Opening Day will soon be here my baseball friends, and for Red Sox fans on the West Coast, that means finding a watering hole nearby with a big screen. Or any screen, for that matter. We get scraps from ESPN and Fox, but who can stand Tim McCarver?! Joe Morgan is a nice guy, is truly knowledgeable about the game, and has a smooth ‘sounding’ voice, but I frequently find myself tuning him out.

So where to go on the West Coast to catch Sox games with other Sox fans? Let’s start in Fenway West’s back yard.

While I’ve never watched a Sox game at the Connecticut Yankee in San Francisco, I have had the pleasure of enjoying some prime live music and their tasty comestibles as well. Local and upcoming bands such as Five Eyed Hand and Izabella are regulars here. National acts such as New Monsoon, Drive-By Truckers, and Yonder Mountain String Band have graced the stage here, too. I discovered The Connecticut Yankee through a large and active, local music discussion group on yahoo. I’ve met a lot of great folks through this board, but let’s get back to the Red Sox.

I’ll let Fritz, the owner of this fine establishment tell you about it in his own words:

My name is Fritz Frisbie and I own 'Connecticut Yankee' bar and restaurant in S.F. Our web site is http://www.theyankee.com/ We've been at it here since 4/1/89 and are ardent Sox fans. We were featured in the 2007 'Red Sox Nation Annual', one of 3 Northern California establishments mentioned. We've got tons of Sox/New England sports memorabilia hanging and feature 4 t.v.'s in our main dining/bar area with 2 big screens in our back dining area. We were the 'go to' bar for the TV news crews when the Sox did the deed in 2004. The first game that I went to in Fenway was game 6 of the 1967 Series, making a lasting impression on a then 9 yr. old. I moved from Portsmouth N.H. to S.F. in 1980, and although I've been a Giants season ticket holder for 15 years, the Sox are still my first love. We're also a MAJOR Pat's bar.

Check us out,

Fritz

Owner Fritz with Grace Potter

OK, so how does a Red Sox fan end up owning a bar with the word 'Yankee' in it? Fritz again:

Hey Dave. We are on Connecticut Street. I'm from NH, thus a 'Yankee' [as in Yankees and Rebels.] Mark Twain wrote 'A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court.' Mark Twain has a history in S.F. and [allegedly] once wrote "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco".

There is also an associated social networking group at tribe.net: http://tribes.tribe.net/theyankee (You have to join tribe to post, but not to read, and it’s free.)

I’ll be spending more time in San Francisco this summer, so I will be checking out an occasional game here this season and am looking forward to watching the Red Sox play at one of my favorite watering holes.

I like the font on the awning!

As we get closer to the start of the season, we’ll be highlighting other western bars that feature Red Sox games. If you have a favorite of your own that you would like to see in the spotlight, send as much info and photos as possible about the place in an e-mail to: redsoxsonoma (at) yahoo (dot) com, and we’ll write it up!

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Should We Be Worried About Big Papi?

Whenever the Red Sox say an injury is caused by sleeping on something the wrong way, it is time to start worrying. Last spring Josh Beckett had a sleep related injury and ended up missing the trip to Japan. David Ortiz has now missed two days of spring training with a sore shoulder because he "slept on the shoulder awkwardly."

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Drew Takes Every Pitch in BP

I know the Red Sox preach patience at the plate but watching every pitch go by in batting practice seems a bit extreme. At yesterday's first live BP J.D. Drew had a unique approach to improving his hitting:

J.D. Drew, who faced newcomer Ramon Ramírez, didn't take a swing. There will be plenty of time for that, he said.

"I just track," Drew said. "I really try to pick up the seam, pick up the rotation. I can go in there and take swings; it's going to look ugly. Those guys are throwing hard. Sliders are breaking nasty. Especially when they tell you a fastball is coming inside, the last thing you want to do is step into one. It's a matter of them getting work on location, but it's good to see some balls come at us off the mound, at 60 feet 6 inches."

Just hope he can start to hit some of those pitches come April.

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50 More Years at Fenway

You can put away the "Save Fenway" bumper stickers for the next half century because the America's Most Beloved Ballpark should be hosting the Red Sox for another generation.

"I think a result of the investment that our ownership group has made is a Fenway Park that will be stable and solid and with a normal maintenance will be around for another 50 years," president and CEO Larry Lucchino said.

I can't think of any better news than that as we head into the '09 season.

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Lugo is This Year's Coco

Last year it was Elsbury and Crisp for the CF spot, this season we have Lowrie and Lugo. Coco showed how to deal with the situation as a professional and still contribute when you are called on. Julio Lugo looks like he is going to take the same approach:

“You want to be where people want you … Nobody’s going to be happy on the bench. I’m not going to be happy,” said Lugo. “I don’t worry about that. I just come here, do what I do, play baseball the best I can. I can’t make those decisions. They know what they’re going to get from me. It’s not my first rodeo.”

Lugo declined to answer whether he would request a trade if he were not the starter, though his non-answer was revealing enough.

“We’re going to have to see, we’re going to have to wait to see what happens,” said Lugo. “We’re going to see at the end of (spring training).”

The competition should make Lugo raise his game and I think he still has a good chance to be the opening day starting shortstop.

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Amalie Benjamin on David Ortiz

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Josh Beckett Tells Us What We All Thought Last Fall

Remember Beckett getting shelled in the ALCS followed by the press conference where everybody said he was fine? Nobody believed them then and now we find we were right all along. From the ProJo:

Beckett explained yesterday afternoon that his problem in the postseason was the
lack of explosiveness with all of his pitches due to the strained oblique.
"I
wasn't in excruciating pain or anything like that," he said. "It wasn't the most
comfortable thing I had ever done."

So why was he on the mound at all?

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