Sayonardo - We DiNardly Knew Ya.

"From Dallas, Texas, the flash -- apparently official. The Lenny DiNardo blog died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time -- a half hour ago." (Graham)

From my good friend Jim at the Lenny DiNardo Blog (who's post title was worthy of reproduction/outright theft), I learned than Lenny DiNardo of the Boston Red Sox has been claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics.

Semi-Serious Heart Felt Moment Including Flashback

2004 - In a bar in Washington DC, I sat among friends drinking pitchers of beer and watched the Red Sox open the bullpen to reveal a new face. A young guy who actually ran from the bullpen instead of doing that awkward trot/run/walk (or that slow Jabba-like slither that Wells did). And upon seeing this fresh face, a friend of mine became convinced upon hearing the name Lenny, that this kid was going to save the Red Sox. What other conclusion was possible at that moment? There is a specific feeling one gets when they decide- at random - to invest their hope and and faith in someone as random as the actual decision. It made every game infinitely more watchable (Is this the game DiNardo unleashes his fury? No? Damn. Next time), and was nice to give props to someone who didn't ask for it. And while he wasn't up to the level of Virgin-Mary-On-Toast worship, he was worthy of praise none the less. Godspeed & God Bless, Lenny.

And when there was only one set of footprints, that was me pitching for you. And you were on my back. It was hard.

And as for Jim - he did not just start the DiNardo bandwagon, he built the fucker. And he has the homemade DiNardo T shirt (and the resulting awkward high fives from others who've seen it) to prove it.

< /semi-serious moment >

In a related note, Oakland just got a really inconsistent middle-releiver.

Here's hoping Lenny shows up as a color commentator for NESN in 15 years. They could really use a lefty.