Red Sox re-sign Sweeney after Kalish has setback

redsox.com:  BOSTON -- Hoping for a comeback season, Red Sox outfielder Ryan Kalish suffered a setback and will undergo surgery on his right shoulder next week, a baseball source told MLB.com on Friday night.

Orthopedic surgeon Lewis Yocum, who operated on a torn labrum in Kalish's left shoulder in 2011, will perform the operation and Kalish is expected to miss Spring Training. The Sox moved quickly to shore up their outfield by re-signing free agent Ryan Sweeney to a Minor League deal.

Since he debuted in 2010, Kalish's health has repeatedly held him back, a frustration he expressed on Twitter on Saturday.

"The past few years, baseball-wise, have been really tough mentally as all I want to do is play fully healthy," Kalish wrote. "I am feeling pretty down about this all right now, but I will not quit and will work hard to get back to where I want to be."

Kalish said two days before the surgery news broke that he was feeling strong, but also said there was "no doubt" he would be playing with pain in 2013 -- a fact he had mentioned previously. Kalish, who turns 25 shortly before Opening Day, underwent shoulder and neck surgeries in 2011 that impacted him last season.

"I feel real strong, as far as all my body goes," Kalish said on Wednesday, adding that swinging a bat is "a little bit more of a challenge, and it has its ups and downs.

"There's a point where you play with your pain and you know you're good and be able to give what you have, but if it gets to a point where it's too much, it's too much. And that's performance-based."

Jasper's thoughts:  "If Sweeney decides to keep his boxing-gloves on while neer metal doors, this move will pay off for the Red Sox."

C's crumble in 2OT as skid hits 6

ESPN Boston:  ATLANTA -- Kyle Korver said the Hawks owed the Celtics a big comeback.

This one was really big.

Korver scored 27 points, most on 3-pointers, and Atlanta overcame a 27-point deficit in the first half to beat Boston 123-111 in double-overtime on Friday night, handing the Celtics their sixth straight loss.

Boston's biggest lead came in the second quarter. Korver remembered the Hawks led by 19 points, also in the second period, before the Celtics rallied for an 89-81 win in Atlanta on Jan. 5."We had a good example of how to come back from what they did to us the last time," Korver said.

Jeff Teague had 23 points for Atlanta before fouling out in the first overtime. Al Horford had 24 points -- including seven in the second overtime -- and 13 rebounds. Josh Smith, who opened the second overtime with a three-point play, had 17 points and 14 rebounds.

The Celtics (20-23) fell three games under .500.

"It's definitely a tough pill to swallow," Paul Pierce said. "We've got to have some sort of discipline. That's the key word for us. It is cause for concern. We've got to come in with the mindset to play for 48 minutes."

Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 10 rebounds but fouled out in the second overtime as the Celtics were left with their longest losing streak in six years.

Rajon Rondo had 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for his fifth triple-double of the season.

"We had a chance to put this game away, man. We didn't do that," Garnett said. "We gave a team life. You can't do that.

"Korver came out, obviously got hot, and we couldn't turn it off."

Korver had all of his career-high eight 3-pointers in the second half, setting a franchise record, and five in the fourth quarter.

"When you make some shots, all of a sudden you get better screens and you get better passes," Korver said.

Mike Napoli deal finally official

ESPN Boston:  The Boston Red Sox on Tuesday made the signing of first baseman/catcher Mike Napoli official, confirming the one-year deal while designating right-hander Chris Carpenter for assignment to make room on the roster.

Carpenter was the player the Red Sox acquired last offseason from the Chicago Cubs as compensation for Theo Epstein leaving Boston to become the Cubs' president of baseball operations.

Napoli's contract is for one year with a base salary of $5 million, sources told ESPN last week. With incentives, he can play himself to a $13 million payday, which boosts the compensation to the annual level of the three-year deal he first agreed to with Boston early this offseason.

Napoli, 31, originally agreed to a three-year, $39 million deal with Boston on Dec. 3. That deal was taken off the table when Napoli, in the judgment of the team's medical staff, failed his physical because of a hip condition that never had surfaced publicly in his seven previous years in the big leagues, the first five with the Los Angeles Angels and the past two with the Texas Rangers.

Napoli and Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington will talk to reporters on a conference call later Tuesday afternoon to discuss the deal.

Cherington said last week that there had been no animosity between the sides as the negotiations dragged on for more than seven weeks.

"I think it's good. I think there will be a time to talk about that more, but we tried and did have a consistent dialogue throughout the winter and a lot of conversations," Cherington said.

The Red Sox view Napoli's swing as an ideal fit in Fenway Park, where he has slugged .710 with a 1.107 OPS, seven home runs and 17 RBIs in 19 games as a visiting player.

Boston is betting that Napoli will come closer to his career-best season of 2011, when he batted .320 with 30 home runs and a 1.046 OPS in his first year in Texas, than to 2012, when he dropped off to .227 with 24 home runs.

Jasper's thoughts:  "The signing is a mistake.  It took the Red Sox 12 hip exams to figure out whether or not Mike Napoli is healthy or not.  Usually it takes one.  Chances are, that if it took 12 exams, Napoli isn't healthy.  Ben Cherington and the Red Sox are going to regret this move in June when Napoli is on the DL, and the Sox have a record that is below .500."

Voters pitch Hall of Fame shutout

ESPN:  NEW YORK -- Steroid-tainted stars Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa were denied entry to baseball's Hall of Fame, with voters failing to elect any candidates for only the second time in four decades.

In a vote that keeps the game's career home run leader and one of its greatest pitchers out of Cooperstown -- at least for now -- Bonds received just 36.2 percent of the vote and Clemens 37.6 in totals announced Wednesday by the Hall and the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Both fell well short of the 75 percent necessary, while Sosa, eighth on the career home run list, got 12.5 percent.

2013 Hall of Fame voting

For the first time since 1996, no players were elected to the Hall of Fame by baseball writers. A player needs at least 75 percent of the vote to gain election.

Player	Votes	Pct
Craig Biggio	388	68.2
Jack Morris	385	67.7
Jeff Bagwell	339	59.6
Mike Piazza	329	57.8
Tim Raines	297	52.2
Lee Smith	272	47.8
Curt Schilling	221	38.8
Roger Clemens	214	37.6
Barry Bonds	206	36.2
Edgar Martinez	204	35.9
Alan Trammell	191	33.6
Larry Walker	123	21.6
Fred McGriff	118	20.7
Dale Murphy	106	18.6
Mark McGwire	96	16.9
Don Mattingly	75	13.2
Sammy Sosa	71	12.5
Rafael Palmeiro	50	8.8
Others receiving votes: Bernie Williams, 19; Kenny Lofton, 18; Sandy Alomar Jr., 16; Julio Franco, 6; David Wells, 5; Steve Finley, 4; Shawn Green, 2; Aaron Sele, 1.

"Curt Schilling made a good point; everyone was guilty. Either you used PEDs, or you did nothing to stop their use," Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt said in an email to The Associated Press. "This generation got rich. Seems there was a price to pay."

Bonds, Clemens and Sosa were eligible for the first time and have up to 14 more years on the writers' ballot to gain baseball's highest honor.

"After what has been written and said over the last few years, I'm not overly surprised," Clemens said in a statement he posted on Twitter.

Craig Biggio, 20th on the career list with 3,060 hits, topped the 37 candidates with 68.2 percent of the 569 ballots, 39 shy of election. Among other first-year eligibles, Mike Piazza received 57.8 percent and Schilling 38.8.

"I think as a player, a group, this is one of the first times that we've been publicly called out," Schilling said. "I think it's fitting. ... If there was ever a ballot and a year to make a statement about what we didn't do as players -- which is we didn't actively push to get the game clean -- this is it."

Jack Morris led holdovers with 67.7 percent. He will make his final ballot appearance next year, when fellow pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine along with slugger Frank Thomas are eligible for the first time.

Two-time NL MVP Dale Murphy received 18.6 percent in his 15th and final appearance.

"With 53 percent you can get to the White House, but you can't get to Cooperstown," BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O'Connell said. "It's the 75 percent that makes it difficult."

Jasper's Thoughts: "I think that it sends a powerful message to not induct any players this year.  I would also make the case for BBWA writers that former performance enhancing drug users should not be induced into the hall."