By David Scott
Boston Sports Media Watch

FT. MYERS, Fla. - On the afternoon of the Academy Awards, Executive Producer of all things Sox, Dr. Charles Steinberg, pre-screened tonight’s edition of “Red Sox Stories” (10:30 p.m., TV38) for a handful of media members. The 30 minute documentary profiles Mr. Red Sox, Johnny Pesky, who was also present for the 1:30 p.m. showing in the Sox Clubhouse’s multi-purpose room, just off the Shots Lanai Deck.

“You live your whole life for something like that,” said the man born John Paveskovich after viewing the segment showing Pesky (name officially changed in 1947) in the clubhouse celebrating the 2004 title. “That was a hell of a thrill.”

Pesky - as he does in the documentary which is produced by Tom Catlin (who recently left the Sox for the Dodgers) - shed a tear during Sunday’s sneak-peek, especially when the 2005 death of Ruth, Pesky’s wife of 61 years was discussed. “I got a queen in her,” said Pesky, 87, echoing a sentiment he shares in the neatly shaped, well-paced, DVR-worthy, biography from Dr. Charles’s group. (It’s only airing once in the primary run, and could eventually be packaged with other material on DVD or even set up for a big screen compilation.)

“It’s very well done,” said the subject himself, Pesky.

The 30 minute “JP” biopic is the first of at least three currently being worked on by Steinberg’s production arm and Catlin will still deliver “Red Sox Stories” features on both Bobby Doerr and Dom Dimaggio in addition to some other living legend Sox players.

The idea is multifold (as are all things Dr. Charles), but perhaps most importantly is the historical record being created for future generations. Posthumous honors are always nice, but to have the actual words and images provided by the topic - well, that’s the best of all worlds.

Especially poignant in the Pesky reel is Steinberg’s recollection of the World Series clincher when Pesky, sitting next to Steinberg in St. Louis, fretted about making the bus after the game. “Is (Sox PR Staffer) Pam (Ganley) going to come and get me and take me to the bus?” Steinberg said Pesky kept asking.

“I told him, Johnny, if things continue the way they’re going, you’re going to the clubhouse, not the bus,” Steinberg told the camera from in front of the shelves in his museumesque office at Fenway. “But he kept wanting to make sure Pam was going to get him.”

The documentary is capped off with a credit roll voice-over from Dick Flavin, the Poet Laureate of Red Sox Nation, who reads his own Pesky Poem.

. . . A simmering feud is starting to bubble over from the far end of Picther’s Row in the Red Sox clubhouse. But instead of pitcher-on-pitcher crime, we’ve got writer-on-pitcher/pitcher-on-writer crime between Curt Schilling and the Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy.

Schilling went on the Sons of Sam Horn message board on Friday to respond to Shaughnessy’s column from last week, among other things.

Below are some of the highlights which were also posted at the Sports Media Review site:

Portions of the Feb. 23, 3:50 p.m. Schilling post (which are believed to be authentic Schill, as he is known to post under “Gehrig38″):

“Can you guys imagine if we were actually pissed at each other? This could get ugly fast? Now we’ll just have to let hacks and idiots like CHB stir up something that does not exist.

“John Henry and I had a very comfortable discussion walking across the field yesterday. I have nothing but the utmost respect for him, and think he feels the same way about me.

“Theo and I had a very comfortable discussion the last two days as well.

“The Red Sox knew I was doing the morning radio show on WEEI and contrary to what Hemingway wrote in the Globe it’s not a ‘paid appearance’ and never has been. The money raised on EEI is for ALS and always has been. . .

“I know CHB finds it hard to believe, which is understandable, but the ‘gun to the head’ approach was never a factor here, both sides knew this.

“I’d love to tell you I look like Gabe Kapler with my shirt off, I don’t. However I weigh 243 pounds right now, which is exactly 2 pounds under what I weighed in at at seasons end last year. The clothes make me look fat…….

“Am I disappointed? Yep. Am I surprised? Nope. Is everyone but the parties involved making way too much out of this? Yep.

“. . . One of the lines CHB failed to put into the article he wrote a few weeks back was me, on the phone, calling him an asshole. He knows as sure as he’s reading this right now that I think he’s a giant sphincter.

“At some point soon he’ll realize that the dislike for him here is not because he’s the guy always taking the ‘other side’ while trying to illicit opinions and responses from readers, but rather he’s disliked because he treats people like shit.

“Writers like him, and there are others I can assure you, are the reason athletes come to despise members of the media. They aren’t all like that but it’s just hard to figure out who’s who sometimes.

“. . . They can hate the fact that I talk on EEI, or write in these forums, hell he’s done it for 4 years, but it’s still going to happen and at the end of the day he’s still going to be the most misinformed guy in this group when it comes to the Sox and their fans.”

. . . Say this for Schilling - he’s got some writing chops. And some classic lines, including the “Hemingway” one.

. . . This is strictly “He Said, She Said” BS of the highest order between two gentlemen with egos quite common to their respective professions. It’s nothing more than a laughable distraction in a clubhouse filled with laughable distractions (Manny, Manny and Manny to name three).

If you like petty sniping and juvenile taunts, this is your battle.

Schilling, for his part, probably needs to lay off and take the high road (the “asshole” thing isn’t real family friendly for the kiddies in Red Sox Nation). And Shaughnessy is going to have to deal with whatever repercussions that may result from taking on the Clubhouse Leader (or one of them). Athletes can always band together in these situations and freeze out the writer. (Witness the Pats petty ways against Michael Felger earlier this season).

. . . Speaking of battles with sporting figures, how about the damning words coming out of L’Affaire Belichick? Wowza. The Track Gals are gonna have a field day on Monday with the city’s newest “Sugar Daddy.”

. . . As we discussed on Day Three of this extravaganza, Tom Catlin was swept away from Boston by Frank McCourt’s Los Angeles Dodgers. Catlin’s absence is a tough one for Steinberg’s Entertainment Division to absorb, but he exoressed great confidence in both John Carter (Manager, Television Production) and Sarah Logan (Manager, Video and Scoreboard Operations) who have worked under Catlin for the past few years.

“John and Sarah run it with combined iron fists,” boasted Steinberg who also said that instead of replacing Catlin that some “freelance opportunities” might arise to help fill Catlin’s void (a former TV talent, Catlin does the voice over for the Pesky bio).

Both Carter and Logan - in addition to a staff of several others - pretty much videotape every aspect of spring training from player/manager/personnel interviews to batting practice, long tossing and everything in between. It is surely run like a pivotal part of the Sox empire - as it should be - and the amount of potential Internet material that is being generated can be virtually boundless. (The MLB.com website operations probably make this a little tricky at the current time, but once teams are allowed or facilitated in posting their own material, the Sox will have endless hours of streaming video at the ready.)

. . . We told you a Topps rep was in camp today, but we neglected to discuss one of the cards that popped up in the pile - a 2007 Derek Jeter card which has some oddities in the background.

jetercard.jpg

Personally, I was just looking for the cardboard bubble gum which used to be the whole point of collecting. Ah, to inhale that smell again. They should make a man’s cologne the scent of that Topps gum. I’d dab that stuff on for any old night at the Ale House.

. . . We’re on Jackie Mack alert as MacMullan is scheduled to land in Ft. Myers later today. It is supposedly MacMullan’s first-ever Red Sox spring training trip for the Globe. The Herald’s Michael Silverman is also on deck for Fort duties (travel weather permitting) and should be in town by Monday. Bob Ryan starts his Fort stand next week.

Overall, the Boston-area media crowd has thinned out considerably, as it usually does after the first couple of weeks. The next big event will be the BC/Sox game when Dice-K pitches on Friday evening. You can expect some of the departed (Oscar humor) to either return or send in teammates for that one. The game will, of course, be live on NESN at 6:05 p.m.

. . . The possibility exists for a huge day at camp on Monday when Dice-K is again given the chance to throw BP. It’s possible, according to Terry Francona Interview replacement, Brad Mills, that Field 5 could be the spot where Matsuzaka pitches to a hitting group that includes David Ortiz, Wily Mo Pena and Julio Lugo. Pena, for one, is ready for the challenge.

“Let’s see what he’s got,” said the gregarious Pena.

Pena also reported that the arch of his left foot was okay, despite fouling a ball off it in BP. Pena said he’d never done that before in his whole career and that the pain was quite sharp. He was actually helped out of the batting cage by Big Papi and then had the field trainer look at the foot with his shoe and sock off.

Filed 5, but the way, is the field where, just past the right field fence, sits the Funai Media Tent.
W ehadn’t mention the fun of Funai in a few hours, so this gave us proper opportunity. The Funai tent has taken some heavy artillery all week as many of the Pena and Ortiz BP balls have found Funai.

. . . The Francona Flu entered its third day of affecting the Skipper (but only the second missed day of work). Both Mills and John Farrell offered team updates in place of Tito and it appears Mills has been in more direct contact with the manager than anyone else. “We talked this morning and he called me last night when the doctor went to see him twice. And we’re texting a little bit,” said “Millsy. “He probably shouldn’t have come back yesterday, but he wants to be out here.”

The Francona storyline is way down on just about everyone’s priority list, but it is worth noting that Francona has been hampered by stomach sickness and other maladies in recent seasons. I’m no doctor, but I’ve had my share of stomach issues (beyond the rotundness of my midsection) - and it sounds like Francona may be battling a recurring problem of some sort. Nothing to take lightly, I assure you.

This has been your Medical report From the Fort with Shots, sponsored by Deaconess Beth Israel.

. . . Mike Timlin is tiring of being called too old. We’d like to suggest that he turn down his hearing aid and ignore it.

We kid, we jest, we hope for the best.

Of the ageism discussion, Timlin said, “It’s like air, it’s there.”

. . . Long-time observers discussed the possibility that Sunday’s crowd of fans was the smallest in recent memory. The tail end of school vacation week probably contributed to that, as did the JetBlue incident from last week that cancelled thousands of trips. We’ll guess things are going to pick up again on Monday and Tuesday before the big-league club moves up the road to Cuty of Palms park for the start of games and the duration of spring training.

. . . Umie and Everett native Dana Oppedisano from the Naples News has been working camp for his paper and earlier this week turned in this nice effort on Joel Pineiro.

Oppedisano was a former Collegian columnist, which by default makes him good people.

. . . While you’re over at the News website, take a little trip around and check out the podcasts section and the feature they offer where you can get iPod friendly text versions of stories. Every major (and minor) news provider in the country should have this feature available for users.

The news is a Scripps paper, so they’re probably a bit ahead of the curve on technology and future news delivery.

. . . Monday is our last day in camp, and as such, we may be scrambling a bit all day long. We’ll try and hit you with a brief morning update and then maybe give you a wrap up of “Fort Shots 2007” come mid-week.