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About Rob Bradford

Rob Bradford joined WEEI.com after serving as a Red Sox beat writer for the Boston Herald and the Eagle-Tribune (Lawrence, Mass.). Prior to manning the Red Sox beat, he spent several years at the Lowell Sun. He has written two books: “Chasing Steinbrenner,” following the front offices of the Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays through the 2003 season, and “Deep Drive: A Long Journey to Discovering the Champion Within,” which he co-authored with Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell.

 
COLUMNS
Rob Bradford
08/09/2010 - 3:41am
Can anybody start carrying these Red Sox?
NEW YORK -- Somebody needs to step up.
Rob Bradford
07/26/2010 - 3:09am
Red Sox heading for trade deadline nightmare
The Red Sox would seem to be in a bind.
Rob Bradford
07/26/2010 - 12:48am
Why Hideki Okajima not talking means something
Hideki Okajima does talk to the media, just not a lot.
Rob Bradford
07/22/2010 - 8:26am
The Red Sox have the pieces, but not the time
What has to be frustrating for Theo Epstein is that the plan was on its way to working.
Rob Bradford
07/19/2010 - 7:31am
Why these are the Red Sox' 10 most important games of the season
Rob Bradford
07/15/2010 - 9:53pm
How Adrian Beltre got so tough
So, how and when did Adrian Beltre learn to deal with pain? He doesn't have to take more than a few seconds to find his answer even though the moment came 20 years earlier.
Rob Bradford
07/13/2010 - 11:34pm
What becomes of the Red Sox without Adrian Gonzalez
ANAHEIM -- These are the words of Adrian Gonzalez just prior to the 2009 All-Star Game: "I would be interested in the future to see what that would be like (to play in another park).” This is what he said Monday: "It's just a relief not to be in trade rumors and be in first-place, more than anything."
Rob Bradford
07/13/2010 - 3:52am
All-Star notes: Ortiz offers ultimate punctuation
ANAHEIM -- Torii Hunter said he predicted it … sort of.
Rob Bradford
07/08/2010 - 2:20am
It's not as bad as you think for these Red Sox
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- "The past is history. Tomorrow's a mystery." Leave it to Vanilla Ice to bring everything back into perspective.
Rob Bradford
07/06/2010 - 2:33am
Bard's message for Sox fans: 'I feel good'
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Fans are worried. They are worried about the Red Sox. They are worried about the team's bullpen. And, perhaps most of all, they are worried about Daniel Bard.
Rob Bradford
07/05/2010 - 9:33pm
Night in New York still haunts Beckett
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Josh Beckett will take another step toward pitching again on Tuesday, when he throws to Gulf Coast League hitters in his first rehab assignment since going on the 15-day disabled list on May 19 with a bad back.
Rob Bradford
07/04/2010 - 7:06am
Who's in, who's out in the Red Sox All-Star discussion
It's not what the players in the Red Sox clubhouse were going out of their way to talk about following a 9-3 win over the Orioles on Saturday night at Fenway Park. But to say it wasn't on more than a few minds simply wouldn't be accurate.
Rob Bradford
06/30/2010 - 7:45am
Ortiz helped diminish the doubts, including his own
Rob Bradford
06/28/2010 - 8:43am
How the Red Sox can survive
It was 2006 and everything appeared OK. On June 28 the Red Sox were cruising along, 3 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees with a 47-28 record. They had won 11 straight (on their way to 12), a run that would see the Sox beat up National League opponents in 14 of 15 meetings.
Rob Bradford
06/23/2010 - 7:57am
A reminder as to why Lowell should be moving on
The last time Mike Lowell was in the visitors clubhouse at Coors Field, it was impossible to imagine an image of a happier human being.
Rob Bradford
06/22/2010 - 7:53am
How Victor Martinez made the 'right' decision
It wouldn't be hyperbole to say that Victor Martinez' career was altered forever thanks to one bit advice on one single day back in 2001.
Rob Bradford
06/20/2010 - 8:39am
Broxton wasn't the only battle for Pedroia
The image wasn't out of the ordinary following the Red Sox' 5-4 win over the Dodgers Saturday.
Rob Bradford
06/19/2010 - 2:50am
How Manny Ramirez could have returned a conquering hero
Rob Bradford
06/15/2010 - 7:03am
Manny and Papi: The myths and magic of a once dynamic duo
Manny Ramirez is coming back to Boston and the process will start all over again for David Ortiz.
Rob Bradford
06/13/2010 - 2:23am
The most interesting day of the Red Sox' season
It would have been an interesting enough game. 
Rob Bradford
06/11/2010 - 2:19am
Pedroia intent on not letting injury drag him down
It was June 10, 2008, and Dustin Pedroia's thumb was killing him.
Rob Bradford
06/10/2010 - 5:01am
Masterson gave the Red Sox something to remember him by
CLEVELAND -- It was just after 4 p.m.
Rob Bradford
06/10/2010 - 3:30am
Contract makes sure Beckett can focus on healing
CLEVELAND -- It could have been so much worse, in so many ways.
Rob Bradford
06/08/2010 - 11:47pm
The night Wakefield found his way ... and his smile
CLEVELAND -- Tim Wakefield has a book. It is a collection of points for the pitcher to remember, a kind of checklist.
Rob Bradford
06/08/2010 - 12:45am
Has Daisuke actually figured it out this time?
Daisuke Matsuzaka might have actually done it this time.


Audio On Demand

It Is What It Is Cast: Ex…

It Is What It Is Cast: Examining the New England Patriots offseason

In the latest edition of the "It Is What It Is" podcast, Chris Price and CSNNE's Mike Giardi take a look at the Patriots offseason on both sides of the ball, try and get a handle on which new guys will make an impact first, and whether or not the Patriots have altered their style when it comes to drafting and developing wide receivers.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk on Tebow's release

Mike Florio joined the program to discuss the Jets decision to release Tim Tebow, he said the situation is as disaster all around for the Jets and that the problems begins with owner Woody Johnson. Mike also said that he was disappointed with the Pats moving back in the first round.

Mike Petraglia, WEEI.com, Sits Down with Butch Stearns to Help Break Down the Pats Draft

One of the hardest working men in the biz, Mike Petraglia aka "Trags", sits down with Butch Stearns live in Foxborough to help break down all the latest Pats moves. He discusses his reaction to the trade in Round 1 and the guys those picks produced. Also, the boys talk about the decent trade the Pats made in acquiring LeGarrette Blount from Tampa Bay for Jeff Demps and a 7th rounder.

Celtics President Danny A…

Celtics President Danny Ainge with Salk and Holley

We check in with Danny Ainge for our first talk to him since the Celtics season ended last weekend. We talk about the future of the team, KG, Pierce, Doc Rivers and more, as Danny directly answers the rumors being floated by ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.

Jackie MacMullan, ESPNBoston.com: "Gut" tells me Doc will stay

Jackie Mac joins the show to discuss the trade rumors swirling around Paul Pierce, KG, Doc Rivers and the Celtics. She also discusses the future of the Celtics head coach.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on his rumored Celtics Clippers trade

Stephen A. joined the program to discuss the trade rumors he has reported regarding a possible trade including Doc Rivers and the Clippers. Stephen A. also told the guys that he has heard that Danny and Doc may be tiring of working together.

Buster Olney, ESPN, on El…

Buster Olney, ESPN, on Ellsbury's future with Sox

Buster Olney joins Mut and Merloni to talk about the struggling Ellsbury and what that is doing to his contract value when he becomes a free agent.

Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona catches up with D&C

Terry Francona joins the Dennis and Callahan Show to discuss his first-place Indians team as well as his time in Boston. The former Boston manager also touches on his recent book co-authored by Dan Shaughnessy and Shaughnessy's recent dust-up with David Ortiz.

John Lackey postgame guest after the last game of the Minnesota series

Joe Castiglione talked with John Lackey after he picked up the W against the Twins. Lackey threw seven innings, and retired the 1st twelve batters of the game.

Pierre McGuire, NBC Sport…

Pierre McGuire, NBC Sports: B's have instilled "fear" "concern" and "doubt" into Rangers

McGuire joins Mut and Merloni to discuss the Bruins game 3 win, the Rangers awful power play, and the Shawn Thornton Derek Dorsett altercation.

Shawn Thornton on his big game three

Shawn joined the program to discuss his big night at MSG. He told the guys that it is not Marchand's job to fight and that he needs to be on the ice and out of the penalty box.

NESN's Barry Pederson on the Bruins dominance

Cleveland Indians hottest team in baseball, yet remain last in attendance May 19, 2013 By AJ Kaufman 6 Comments There’s a scene in Major League where Bob Uecker, portraying the radio voice of the Indians, bemoans, “In case you haven’t noticed, and judging by the attendance you haven’t, the Indians have managed to win a few here and there, and are threatening to climb out of the cellar.” Well, that was nearly 25 years ago and fictional, but today’s reality is that Cleveland has won 17 of its last 21, and currently tops the AL Central with a mark of 25-17. No one in the majors is better than the Indians in the past month (20-7). That’s great news. The bad news, however, is the Tribe somehow remain in the MLB cellar when it comes to attendance. How can this be? The fact that I wrote on this same topic almost to the day last year – when only Tampa Bay drew fewer fans than Cleveland - may be even more troubling. Though roughly 34,000 watched a walk-off win Friday night against Seattle, perfect weather and free caps weren’t enough to draw more than 36,000 Saturday and Sunday combined. What did the Indians do in those tilts? They nabbed another walk-off win on Saturday, then the Indians crushed the great Felix Hernandez Sunday behind Justin Masterson, arguably the AL’s best pitcher right now. Fun fact: The Indians have already faced eight Cy Young Award winners in 2013: Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Jake Peavy, David Price, Justin Verlander and Hernandez. They have won seven out those eight matchups. Simply astounding. This offseason, the much-maligned Indians front office finally made a legitimate attempt to improve the team through free agency. I’m not talking an Ubaldo Jimenez-like trade, but rather smart acquisitions that brought veterans Mike Aviles, Michael Bourn, Jason Giambi, Scott Kazmir, Brett Myers, Mark Reynolds, Drew Stubbs and Nick Swisher to Cleveland. In addition to being a fantastic place to watch a game due to great egress and ingress, with extremely affordable tickets, the best promo lineup anywhere, Jacobs Field boasts overall, cooler, less muggy summer weather than most Midwestern locales. The team also lowered beer and hot dog prices to $4 and $3 respectively. What other professional stadium in any sport offers that? I have visited 28 of the 30 current Major League Baseball stadia, and few top The Jake when all angles are considered. I say that as a baseball fan, not an Indians fan. As for the putative “economic” angle, these are the same people who spend insane amounts of money to watch terrible football every fall and show up in decent numbers for putrid basketball in the winter. Irrespective of season length, those sports charge up to 10 times the price for a ticket, and the atmosphere isn’t half as fan-friendly as baseball. I understand fans’ lack of willingness to get on board to some degree. A decent recap of Cleveland’s decade of “rebuilding” can be read here and the team suffered a horrific collapse last August. However, in addition to all the benefits of attending games at Jacobs (now Progressive) Field, fans should also realize the team has potential and often exceeds preseason aspirations at any point without warning. Cleveland hosts the rival Detroit Tigers — heavy favorites to repeat as AL Central champs — Tuesday and Wednesday nights before hitting the road. The temperature should be pleasant at first pitch each evening so you’d expect The Jake to be full to watch the best hitter on the planet right now — but don’t count on it.

Former Red Sox manager Te…

Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona catches up with D&C

Terry Francona joins the Dennis and Callahan Show to discuss his first-place Indians team as well as his time in Boston. The former Boston manager also touches on his recent book co-authored by Dan Shaughnessy and Shaughnessy's recent dust-up with David Ortiz.

Shawn Thornton on his big game three

Shawn joined the program to discuss his big night at MSG. He told the guys that it is not Marchand's job to fight and that he needs to be on the ice and out of the penalty box.

The boys respond to Salk's attack

Our afternoon host Mike Salk was offended at Gerry and Kirk's conversation on his favorite band Rush, the guys responded.

Pierre McGuire, NBC Sport…

Pierre McGuire, NBC Sports: B's have instilled "fear" "concern" and "doubt" into Rangers

McGuire joins Mut and Merloni to discuss the Bruins game 3 win, the Rangers awful power play, and the Shawn Thornton Derek Dorsett altercation.

Buster Olney, ESPN, on Ellsbury's future with Sox

Buster Olney joins Mut and Merloni to talk about the struggling Ellsbury and what that is doing to his contract value when he becomes a free agent.

Shawn Thornton sticks up for Marchand as Derek Dorsett backs down

Mut and Merloni discuss the Derek Dorsett, Brad Marchand, and Shawn Thornton altercation and how great it was.

Full tilt, full time. New…

Full tilt, full time. Newest inductee to the Patriots Hall of Fame Tedy Bruschi with Salk and Holley

We talk to #54 about his career and well deserved induction to the Patriots Hall of Fame.

Salk and Holley's Four (or Five) at Four - 05/21/13

We tackle four off-topic topics! Today including RGIII's wedding registry, Tiger Woods, new putters in golf and more.

Barry Melrose: Sit the injured veteran defensemen until you need them, until you lose

We check in with ESPN's great hockey analyst and former NHL coach Barry Melrose to get his take on this Bruins-Rangers series. We also ask the coach in him how he'd deal with the great play of the rookie defensemen when the vets get healthy... and his answer might surprise you.

Daily Planet Tuesday May …

Daily Planet Tuesday May 21st

The Bruins look to take a 3-0 series lead, Jon Lester gets his first loss, Dwight Howard has options in free agency.

Daily Planet Monday May 20th

Today on the Daily Planet the Bruins have a 2-0 lead over the New york Rangers, the Red Sox are back on the winning sde of things, and the noteable birthdays of the day.

Daily Planet Thursday May 9th

The Bruins have almost finished raking the Leafs, the Red Sox struggle from the mound, Miami Heat fans show their level of class.

Salk and Holley's Miked U…

Salk and Holley's Miked Up and Answer the Question - 05/21/13

They're like a ray of morning sunshine on an otherwise gloomy day.

Salk and Holley's Miked Up and Answer the Question 05/21/13

....uhhhh.....a bunch of bombs over there....

Salk and Holley's Miked Up and Answer the Question - 05/17/13

Sounds like a prostate exam to me!

Linda calls in to describ…

Linda calls in to describe the scene on Dexter St in Watertown

Linda explains how the shootout transpired in Watertown during the early morning hours. She saw the first suspect mortally wounded and police beginning the manhunt for the second suspect.

More from this show

Boston bombing hero Jeff …

Boston bombing hero Jeff Bauman: "He's dead and I'm still here"

Jeff Bauman, a victim of the Boston Marathon bombing, joined the show to give the guys an update of his condition and a first-hand account of that terrible day. Jeff told the guys how he wrote the description of the bomber as soon as he could. Mr. Bauman added that he is aided every day with the knowledge that he is alive and the terrorist that detonated the bomb is dead.

More from this show

Shawn Thornton on the Bru…

Shawn Thornton on the Bruins game 2 win

Shawn joined the show to discuss the teams great performance in game two against the Rangers. Shawn said that he wouldn't mind playing for John Tortorella because he seems like a funny guy.

More from this show

Elliotte Friedman of CBC …

Elliotte Friedman of CBC on the Bruins dominance of the Rangers

Elliotte Friedman joined the show to discuss the Bruins domination of the series thus far. He said that while nothing is certain he cannot see a way in which the Rangers come back and win the series.

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Minor Details Ep. 49: Man…

Minor Details Ep. 49: Managerial development with Torey Lovullo and Arnie Beyeler

By and large, the focus of development in the minor leagues is on players. Still, there is a developmental path for coaches and managers in the farm system, as is evident from the fact that the previous two managers of the Red Sox' Triple-A affiliate in Pawtucket -- Torey Lovullo (2010) and Arnie Beyeler (2011-12) are now both on the Red Sox' big league coaching staff. They share their insights about the differences between player and coaching expectations in Triple-A vs. the majors, while discussing professional development from the perspective of former minor league managers who aspire to similar positions in the big leagues.

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