Thinking out loud: Who is leader in Red Sox clubhouse?

Thinking out loud…while mentally preparing for a constructive, yet slow 'slowest sports day' of the year…

• Can we just go ahead and ask Chris Sale to be the "leader" in the Red Sox clubhouse?  Or does that role still belong to Dustin Pedroia?

• He's accountable.  Perhaps more so than anyone else on the roster.  When he screws up, it's on him.  When he does well, it's his job to do well.  More of that kind of attitude is what it will take to separate – if that's even possible – from the Yankees.

• Yes, I know the Sox lead the A.L. East.  Can they hold it?  Don't know if it's good, ol' fashioned Boston fear-and-loathing, or if the Yankees are really that good.  Probably a little of both.

• Someone is going to win 100+ games and finish as a wild card, then be subjected to a potential one-and-done ending.  We'll probably talk about this for decades, right up there with selling Babe to the Yankees and Bucky Bleeping Dent.

• And yet – another double-digit win streak?  37 games over .500 for the first time since 1949?  That's 34-33 the rest of the way to get to 100 for the first time since 1946 – which they probably need to do (at least) to finish in first place.

• Here's your sobering Tweet of the Week, from @JamesSmyth621: "At 66-29, the Red Sox are 37 games above .500 for the first time since 1949. They were 96-56 with two games left and a 1-game lead over the Yankees. They went to the Bronx needing 1 win, and the Yankees beat them twice to take the pennant."

• Speaking of the Yankees, "it is high, it is far, it is a belated happy birthday" to long time radio voice and one-time WPRO record-spinning disc jockey John Sterling.  Sterling turned 80 years old on July 4th.

• Anyone else noticed that outside of Boston, New York, Houston and maybe one or two others this year – MLB pretty much stinks-on-grass?

• 'Have' or 'have not' on David Price?  I'll still take the latter, thank you.  The Yankees are his daddy.  Is it wrong for me to be rooting for him to lose every time out? 

• Overall, this Red Sox team continues to confound and amaze.  While I maintain Alex Cora's handling of the pitching staff is as up and down as a roller coaster ride, he's growing on the job.  And, Cora is an indirect beneficiary of MVP, career-type seasons from both Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez.

• It's too bad people aren't watching baseball anymore.  Line of the Week, from NESN analyst Dennis Eckersley, following Betts' 13-pitch, best-at-bat-of-the-season 'granny' Thursday night against Toronto: "He's having the time of his life, and we're having the time of our lives watching him."

• If Betts ever plays for another team whose jerseys don't say either "Boston" or "Red Sox" across the front, every last person in the front office – top to bottom – should be flogged.  And then fired.

• ICYMI, Mookie's right.  It's time to do 'something else' for the all-star home run derby or ditch it.  Because if you can't get the home run hitters to participate, what is the point exactly?  Stupid is as stupid does.

• I know that Manny Machado doesn't make sense, or cents, for the club.  But in light of Rafael Devers' manic performance and subsequent movement to the disabled list, and Pedey's likely absence (forever?) from the lineup, shouldn't this team have more of an interest?

• Andrew Benintendi's time as an all-star will come.  But Jean Segura?  Dude is hitting .329.  All this tells me is Mariners ballot-box stuffers > Red Sox ballot-box stuffers.

• Hey, he beat out Giancarlo Stanton in the vote totals, FWIW.  It could be the last Sox win over pinstripes for a while.

• Governor Gina Raimondo signed the Pawsox stadium bill into law on June 29th.  Since that time, nothing but crickets.  Usually, no news is good news.  But this 'no news' feels different.

• The new practice facility has laid down the hardwood.  The players are prepping for Italy.  New guys are getting to know the old guys.  Hoping that all guys will get to play when it comes time for the Friars to lace 'em up next month overseas.  Just sayin'.

• Yahoo Sports reported this week that the Kansas program has been subpoenaed in the ongoing FBI investigation into college basketball.  Maryland has also received multiple subpoenas.  But as for the vaunted Jayhawks, it's interesting to note that new AD Jeff Long has a clause in his contract that extends his deal equal to the length of any NCAA penalties that may come about.  Hmmm.

• Five ex-Louisville players sued the NCAA this week, seeking the restoration of the 2013 national championship expunged from the record books earlier this year.  They are also seeking the restoration of their own reputations, as the players involved (Luke Hancock, Gorgui Dieng, Stephan Van Treese, Tim Henderson and Michael Marra) all say they had nothing to do with the strippers-for-sex dormitory scandal.

• Football players at Louisville have their own scandal to deal with, too.  Several are calling for the school to rename Papa John's Cardinal Stadium, since John Schnatter resigned as CEO of the pizza company for racist remarks he made during business training sessions. 

• If you haven't been keeping score at home, Papa John is out, Peyton Manning took HGH (probably) and the NFL dumped the chain as a sponsor.  At least we don't have those TV commercials to suffer through any longer.

• Robert Williams is still out, hurt (Cough! Cough!).  He apparently can't keep track of his wallet, either, which is one reason he missed his flight for his first workout.  But the Celtics' summer league team is moving on in the playoffs.  In case you were wondering.

• The old Big East football-now-American Athletic Conference Media Day in Newport is in two weeks, as the college football season is just over a month away.  With the AAC HQ destined for Dallas when the Providence HQ lease is up after next year, it makes the famous clam bake for players, coaches, administrators and media a must-attend event again.

• As it has always been for those who cover the league.  Ocean.  Golf.  Lobster.  Yeah, they'll be trading that in for BBQ and bull riding in a couple of years.  

• And don't be surprised if one of the top players in the country – maybe the #1 defensive player – resides in the AAC for this season.  University of Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver is ultra-athletic and could be the top player drafted next April.

• Ex-Hendricken, Boston College and NFL alum Will Blackmon's annual free summer camp for kids is scheduled for Saturday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at Bishop Hendricken in Warwick.  Former Patriot Dan Koppen will be there, as will ex-Brown QB Kyle Rowley. 

• There will also be a player combine scheduled for Sunday (9a-1p) for Rhode Island high schoolers hoping to be noticed on the recruiting trail.

• With football season approaching and with the public debate and emphasis on the inherent dangers in the sport these days (and rightfully so), thought you might be interested in knowing there will be a record 778 colleges and universities playing football at various levels across the country this fall. 

• Five new schools step onto the gridiron for the first time, including the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine in the Commonwealth Coast Conference – facing locals Salve Regina and Curry.

• Ready, set, buy!  A limited number of individual game tickets for the Patriots go on sale July 23rd.  They won't last long, as the team has sold out 273 straight games at Gillette since 1994 and the Kraft's purchase of the franchise.  Ticketmaster.com is the way to try and get them.

• Don't know about you, but I'm not getting worked up over Julian Edelman's upcoming suspension.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  I'm encouraged he gets four weeks of unpaid vacation to continue getting himself ready for games that will count later in the season.

• After all, this season is about the postseason already.  And JE11 needs to be in it.

• Not for nuthin', but Fox analyst Tony Romo says Green Bay and Jacksonville for Super Bowl LIII.  I like bold predictions and all, but…Jacksonville?  Is there anyone else outside of North Florida who believes last year wasn't fluke-ish?

• Ex-Patriot Brandon Browner was charged with attempted murder of his former girlfriend last weekend.  He's had four arrests over the past 14 months, and last played for the Saints in 2015.  If this is a cry for help, apparently no one is taking the time to listen.

• Former NY Giants QB Jeff Hostetler told the "Three Guys Before the Game" podcast last week that Bill Belichick has mellowed – considerably – since his time as the Giants' defensive guru.  He also told a story about drilling Belichick in the head with the ball as a rookie, and the entire defense went up to him afterward to thank him for his daring-do.

• And he's still alive to this day?  Might be Hostetler's most memorable achievement.

• The State of Delaware recently released figures from their first 20 days of legal sports wagering, and the state brought in roughly 5% of all gross casino gambling revenue for the year.  In 20 days.   

• My buddy "Big E" sez he and his wife have been arguing a lot lately, if only because they're having hearing troubles.  After a recent fight due to the inability to hear each other clearly, "E" conducted an experiment.  Sneaking up behind his wife where she couldn't see him, about 10 feet away, he asked, "Can you hear me?"  No response.  He moved in five feet and said it again.  "Can you hear me?"  No response.  Finally, he got right behind her left ear and again asked, for a 3rd time, "Can you hear me?"  She wheeled around and yelled, "For the 3rd time, dammit, yes, I can hear you!"

• Admit it.  You're spoiled.  I'm spoiled.  All fans in the northeast, in particular, are spoiled by the excesses of wealth the pro and college sports teams bring us year-round.  But when it comes to this time of the year – the dog days of summer – even in New England, it's a challenge.

• The slowest sports day of the year is typically the Wednesday following the Major League Baseball all-star game.  This year, that date is July 18th. 

• Basketball is over…well, there's the NBA Summer League and the plight of Robert Williams to keep us amused.  Hockey is complete.  Football camps don't start for another 10 days.  Soccer?  Please.  With a small tip o' the cap to the World Cup, if only because some of those USA-less matches were riveting.

• Even baseball, while we've been blessed with Mookie, J.D. and Sale around here, has been downright bad at times.  Don't tell me about ESPN's overly-contrived ESPY's, which serves only to collectively dumb us all down.

• So until our True National Pastime of Football can rescue us, here are three things I vow to do on our national "Slow Sports Day," if only to make me realize how good we have it for the other 364 days on the calendar: 

• 1) I will partake in competitive shopping; 2) I will watch a movie; 3) I will fire up the grill and char something meaty.  Don't knock the shopping idea until you've tried it, btw – you can make a game out of anything.

• Happy summer shopping!

• @CashFlow_Fool tweeted at me this week, on Julian Edelman's current plight: "I really think people are sleeping on either @HNYNUT_BERRIOS or @Riles_Mac83 to step up and fill @DannyAmendola role and fill in til @Edelman11 gets back. It'll be important because their offense has revolved around these routes since 2007."

• Tom:  One thing is certain – Braxton Berrios and/or Riley McCarron have won roster spots to start the year.  Asking either one, or both, to fill in for Edelman is fools' gold, however.  Rookies in the slot, as a primary target for Tom Brady?  Um, no.  But it will be interesting to see, especially at the start, who becomes a TB12 favorite and who earns his trust.  A good early-camp competition to watch.

• Interested in having your questions on local Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Send 'em to me! It's your chance to "think out loud," so send your questions, comments and local stories to john.rooke@weei.com. We'll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Follow me on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke ...

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