2007 ends and the Red Sox had fun

Today is the last day of a year that brought the Boston Red Sox another World Series Title. The fact that they the World Series is enough on its own to make this a great year for Red Sox Nation but there was more to it than that.  The Red Sox provided great entertainment throughout the year, so here is a look at some of the highlights the hometown team provided during 2007.
 1. Papelbon's dog ate the World Series Ball.
This is one of the most entertaining stories in probably all of sports from 2007.  The star closer’s dog actually jumped, grabbed the ball that was used to record the final out of the World Series from the mantle and chewed it until it was no longer a baseball.  This time around it will be impossible for there to be controversy over the ownership of the ball. 
2. Papelbon's dancing throughout the playoffs.
The already famous Jonathan Papelbon added some infamy to his resume with his river dance celebration after Red Sox clinching victories this year.  The most entertaining of these times though was probably when he made a helmet out of a beer box.
3. The emergence of Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury.
For years the Red Sox were a team that struggled to develop their own players and have them make a true impact for the major league team.   This year they had many, but the efforts of Pedroia and Ellsbury can not be overlooked.  Who knows how the season would have gone if they had not been around.
4. The Clay Buchholz No-Hitter.
In just his second major league start the rookie righty threw a no-hitter.  This is yet another example of the improvement of player development and if this game was any indication of future accomplishments the future looks very bright indeed. 
5.  Red  Sox retain Schilling, Lowell and Timlin for 2008
This is a story for those who have been following the Red Sox.  Fan favorites all decided that they wanted to come back to the Red Sox, and these guys took less money than they could have gotten else where.  Their doing so is a great indication of the state of the organization, and it shows that Boston is becoming a player destination once again, after years of free agents being scared of the town. Look for all three to continue their production.

But with the high points in the year there were a couple lows.
1. Former Sox closer sentenced to 14 years in prison.
This was a complex case but Ugeth Urbina, who once closed out games for the Red Sox was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the attempted murder of two people.  He had left the MLB abruptly because his mother was kidnapped and she was held hostage for a while. Eventually it came to this, and it is quite unfortunate.
2. Clemens named in the Mitchell Report.
The lowest of the lows has to be that Roger Clemens, the former Red Sox great and future Hall of Famer is now a Hall of Shamer as he has been named in Senator George Mitchell’s report for his use of steroids. After days of silence Clemens finally spoke up to deny the allegations, but to this point his name is still tainted.  A positive note for Sox fans is that he did not use while with the Red Sox, but this yet another thing to bring a taint to the former hero who already hurt his Boston image by playing with the Yankees.