Thinking out loud…while wondering if anything we learned during the pandemic will be remembered?
• Time to start believing in these Red Sox?
• Outside of Houston, of course. The Astros appear to be the Sox’ Daddy, winning five of seven. With or without trashcan lids in the dugout.
• Tweet of the Week I, from @LouMerloni: “Gotta start believing. We’ve gone from “It’s just April” to “Let’s see where they are Memorial Day” to “The schedule gets tougher, now let’s see” to “I just don’t think they can win the WS.” Goal posts keep getting moved. They’re a good team.”
• Are they? Team finished 24-36 last year and was 37-23 through 60 games played this year – a 13-game bump. So let the record show…some improvement.
• A.O.S. Ahead of schedule. But if you can find a first baseman that can hit, another starting pitcher and a guy who can help plug up the back end of a leaky bullpen…that’d be great.
• The question is – and will be over the next seven weeks – are these Sox buyers? And will they buy to stay in a race even if it isn’t in their overall blueprint for success?
• Time to kick the tires on Chaim Bloom’s Tampa juju, and see if it can survive and thrive in a summahtime New England preshah cookah.
• Ex-Hendricken Hawk and BC Birdball pitcher Mike King threw an immaculate inning against the Sox (4th inning, June 4) – the only real highlight for the Yankees in an otherwise dismal sweep at the hands of the Sox last weekend.
• How rare was that? Three outs on nine pitches, as a single entity, has happened only 103 times in major league history. There have been 311 no-hitters thrown by comparison.
• The Sox own six immaculate innings, two from Chris Sale. Nolan Ryan threw seven career no-hitters – and had two 3-out, 9-pitch innings.
• And to think the Rookie (aka my son Austin) owns a sac bunt and a strikeout swinging in his career facing a big-league pitcher with an immaculate inning to his credit. A badge of honor.
• Did Brett Gardner’s alleged bulletin board material on Alex Cora – ““Having him in the dugout obviously makes me want to beat them (Red Sox). We don’t like those guys; they don’t like us. It will be interesting for them to come to town” – give the Sox extra motivation in beating the Yankees?
• Maybe. Maybe not. But anything to bring the theater back to the rivalry – heck, to bring back the rivalry, period – is a good thing.
• The Sox had been the nail. The Yankees were doing all the hammering recently, at least until last weekend.
• Speaking of hammering…Matt Vasgersian and A-Rod very much BOTH played the role of “Yankee Talk” hosts on the call for ESPN, rather than perform the anticipated and expected duties of highly regarded network announcers.
• To the point where the Sox’ ultimate success in the series was a mere afterthought, and it was more “what’s wrong with the Yankees?”
• I get that from A-Rod. But this is where a third man (or woman) in the booth balanced out this broadcast team previously. Strike One for the World Wide Leader on the talent call.
• Pitch-doctoring? It’s true, batting averages are plummeting all over. Those of us old enough to remember it recall this occurring with pitchers back in the ‘60’s. What did we do then?
• The mound was lowered in 1968. And Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry – who threw a legendary spitter – grew old.
• Baseball tried to fix this issue by making this years’ ball smaller. Instead, the ball apparently spins or rotates faster, thus making it harder to hit. Add a little juice or stick ‘um to the ball and, well, you get Mendoza Line batting averages.
• Stopping games periodically to check for foreign substances won’t help a sport that’s already become a snoozefest.
• I’m just gonna put this out there…but Statcast has pegged the Boston staff with the 8th highest spin rate on four-seam fastballs this year – up 4% over last year – and the third highest increase from last season.
• Boston’s team ERA in 2020? 5.58, 14th out of 15 teams in the AL. This year? 3.81, 5th in the AL at midweek. Coincidence?
• The balls may not be ‘doctored,’ certainly. But they are apparently spinnin’ faster. How they get them to spin faster is, uh, well, uh, subject to interpretation.
• For all his on-field prowess we’ve seen thus far this year, the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole was strangely vague when asked this week if he’s ever used Spider Tack – a very popular “stickum” used primarily for picking up stones.
• It can put a helluva spin on baseballs, too.
• Pitchers have been using stuff on their, um, balls for decades. Either baseball needs some real bite behind punishment for pitchers who decide to get tacky, or this will simply continue unabated for the next generation. Or two…unless the sport dies by then.
• Know what dominant pitching in the ‘60’s eventually led to? Amphetamines in the ‘70’s, and steroid use by hitters beginning in the ‘80’s and into the ‘90’s and 2000’s.
• Strikeouts or homeruns. That’s about it these days. Whatever happened to Small Ball? Hit and run? Or – and here’s a good one – hitting AWAY from a shift?
• What’s next? New baseball rules to increase offense. Again. Can’t we just go back to juiced baseballs and juiced players like in the ‘90’s?
• “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – American philosopher George Santayana in “The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense.”
• Pay attention, baseball.
• With the College World Series in Omaha just around the corner, kudos and congrats to
Wheaton College (Norton, MA) for its’ recent run into the D3 World Series in Cedar Rapids, IA. Wheaton was ranked as high as 12th nationally, made a 4th series appearance and the 21-7 Lyons were eliminated by SUNY-Cortland last Sunday.
• Looking ahead, now that we have 17-game regular seasons in pro football…the 18-game season may come faster than first thought. Perhaps even by 2025. How?
• The NFL has a goal of reaching $25 billion in annual revenue by then. Another regular season game will help them get there. And don’t be surprised if expansion talk begins. Again.
• The NFL International series is looking to expand, with Germany a likely destination. You’ll recall there were two German teams in the NFL Europe League, the Rhein Fire and Berlin Thunder?
• So, no Julio. No $38 million to a 32-year-old receiver in New England. But we sure fantasized about that, didn’t we?
• Why is anyone concerned over Cam’s hand? Last I checked games that count don’t start for another three months. Besides, no one thinks he can throw anyway. Chill.
• Finally, some NFL media is beginning to discover several NFL locker rooms (including the Patriots) are experiencing vax hesitancy. From the coaches, too. Which makes ZERO sense, considering what they went through last season to remain healthy.
• Tweet of the Week II, from @Sam4TR, on why Washington’s Montez Sweat is hesitant: “I haven’t caught Covid yet, so I don’t see me treating Covid until I actually get Covid.”
• Should someone ask him why he hasn’t caught measles, mumps or rubella yet?
• There is simply no reason for the NFL, or MLB, or any sport which needs public attention and public dollars – to deny a public media the opportunity to return for safe, in-person interviews.
• If you’re looking for more than just lip-service and coach-speak while following your teams, reporters need the ability to interview athletes and coaches ‘one-on-one’ to build relationships…ask private questions…and create trust.
• You should demand that of any media source you follow. Baseball appears to be slowly working back in that direction, but the NFL is still operating much under pandemic protocol, giving them the appearance of “controlling” the narrative as they presently plan to keep locker rooms closed to reporters when camps open this summer.
• Um, that’s not exactly the way to build trust, Grand Poobah Goodell, in a public you need to return in full force to trust your product. It goes the same for TV and radio broadcast crews operating remotely for most of the last 16 months…if they’ve operated at all.
• You need to be there (and in the locker rooms) to tell an accurate story. Period. Shouldn’t fans, as consumers of the product, demand this? Otherwise…you leave too much to interpret, and the truth moves further away from reality.
• MLB is promoting “MLB Vaccinate at the Plate” through the month of June, offering incentives to go get vax’d…as if you needed any, really. The Red Sox are offering two free tickets if you get your shot.
• I’d settle for them signing a decent lead-off hitter. The offense needs a shot in the arm. Just sayin’.
• Sorry, I have no sympathy for Jon Rahm’s DQ at the Memorial last week because he tested positive in Covid protocol and had to withdraw while leading by six strokes. Cost himself a cool $1.67 million.
• Dude, just get the shot. Don’t get the shot, and this can happen…to anyone and everyone…again and again.
• PGA Tour players are just barely above 50% fully vaccinated. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…someone’s an idiot.
• I only have this on the Bruins – it wasn’t all Tuukka’s fault. Defense in front of him was atrocious, the penalty kill was weak, the power play wasn’t powerful, and they had next-to-nothing on offense beyond the first line. Taylor Hall?
• They may have had more top-end talent than the Islanders, but the Isles had the depth. It kept coming in waves. And it smacked the Bruins right in the mouth.
• Looks like 78-year-old GM Lou Lamoriello knew exactly what he was doing. And it looks like this is the third NHL team the Johnston, RI native, LSA grad and ex-Friar has restored to some stage of former greatness.
• The Providence Bruins will play a 72-game schedule next season, beginning Oct. 16th at the Dunk. While some teams will play 76 games next season and some a bit less, all AHL teams are expected to return to a 72-game slate beginning in 2022-23.
• Friar coach Nate Leaman assisted on the USA staff at the Hockey World’s that just won bronze, beating Germany 6-1. The lone loss came to eventual gold medalist Canada 4-2 in the semis. Leaman will be the head coach for the US Junior National Team again in 2022.
• With success come envy, it appears. Or…poaching. The Revs are off to a 5-1-2 start, leading the MLS Eastern Conference with 17 points and having to fight off rumors that two of their top players – Adam Buksa and Tajon Buchanan – are drawing a lot of European interest.
• MLS is planning to launch a lower division league to serve as a bridge between team academies and first-team rosters. Some of these teams already compete in the second-division USL.
• Think of this as a true G League for soccer.
• Man U owner Joel Glazer is hoping to appease his miffed fan base after the Super League fiasco by offering up shares of the team to supporters, complete with voting rights. Think John Henry would do that for Liverpool fans?
• Or for Red Sox fans?
• 6-foot-5 Penn transfer Matteus Case opted for the Friars this week, after sitting out his entire freshman year because the Ivies did not play. He’ll have a full four years of eligibility, and only entered the transfer portal a couple of weeks ago…which makes you wonder where at least some of the Ivies are on their return to play?
• As NBA Draft day nears, PC’s David Duke could go anywhere from 29 to 56 on the Draft Board, depending on the opinion you prefer. He was as high as 17th on one board back in December. That’s a wide swath of territory…from potential first-rounder to OUT.
• Love David, and he certainly has NBA-level skill when it comes to his defense. This will be all about fit, and whether those players equal (or lesser) in talent to his…find a fit with a team that he can’t.
• And at some point…like winning games in March adding to program cred…Friar players will need to stick around when entering the NBA and play up to the level of their selection for longer than just a couple of weeks…rather than finding a job overseas.
• Kids wanna know ‘who you got in the league?’
• URI learned its’ A-10 opponents this week for next season…including home and home with Davidson, Dayton and UMass. Home only with Richmond and Saint Louis, road only with VCU and St. Bonaventure – likely preseason faves. That ain’t gonna be easy.
• Brown made it official on Loyola Chicago 6-5 grad transfer guard Paxson Wojcik this week. Could be a good outside-inside combo for the Bears with last week’s news from Tamenang Choh, no?
• The NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel now sez teams can use live transmission of statistics to the bench area during men’s games next season. That might reduce the number of clipboards you see…or it might increase the number of iPads you see…
• Shot clocks will also go to tenths-of-a-second. And, the NCAA sez it wants to improve equity in DI hoops. So, women’s basketball may be able to use the phrase “March Madness” for branding purposes, just like men’s basketball does.
• You mean they can’t do that now? Stupid is as stupid does.
• And Stupid, Part II: The rules panel did not support a proposal to allow officials to immediately assess a technical foul to a player who ‘fakes’ being fouled. Floppers still gonna flop.
• Ex-Friar assistant and former St. John’s head coach Fran Fraschilla will be on the mic next month for men’s basketball at the Olympics in Tokyo. Few in the game know other countries’ personnel like Fran does.
• Doesn’t sound much like NBC is planning on any Olympic postponement or cancellation, preparing to produce more than 7000 hours of games’ programming…the most ever planned.
• Included in this are the complete men’s and women’s gold medal games in hoops – which will be a first for the women’s game on broadcast TV since 1996.
• The Premier Lacrosse League launched its’ new iteration in Foxboro last weekend, and at almost the same time received a new investment from Robert Kraft. The PLL merged with the former MLL (Major League Lacrosse) and took in the former Boston Cannons – now known simply as Cannons LC.
• Not for nuthin’, Mr. Kraft also got a Bentley for his 80th birthday last week from Jay Z and Meek Mill. A Bentley. Guess it pays to bridge that generational gap, amiright?
• Fantastic story by Mark Daniels in the Providence Journal on the Warwick, RI collector who sold the TB12 football that was Brady’s first-ever TD pass in October of 2001 – for $429K at auction.
• Now I know why a buddy of mine got kicked in the **** going after a ball in the stands a couple of years ago.
• Yup, BC and Alabama – THAT Alabama – agreed to a home and home football series this week. But you’ll need to wait 10 more years before the Crimson Tide actually rolls into Chestnut Hill.
• Looks like Brown will open on Sept. 18 at Brown Stadium against URI – nationally-ranked in the FCS during the recent spring season – with new, synthetic turf at Brown Stadium.
• Former NY Giants head coach Jim Fassel passed away suddenly this past week at age 71. He once played QB for The Hawaiians in the WFL and began his coaching career there, eventually leading the Giants to Super Bowl 35. He was NFL Coach of the Year in 1997 and coached most recently for Las Vegas in the United Football League in 2012.
• Had the chance to meet and visit with Coach Fassel after he had left NY and was working for the Ravens as a consultant, while I was on the mic for BC football. I brought up his tenure in Hawaii for the old World League, mentioning my connection to San Antonio – and he told us his experience there was invaluable as a learning and teaching tool.
• But the grass skirts were hard to get used to.
• Great to see the Northeast Amateur is returning to Rumford, RI’s Wannamoisett Country Club later this month – June 23-26. Tournament Director Ben Tuthill told the media the field is as deep an event as he’s put together and will include four-time RI Junior Am champ Patrick Welsh and Massachusetts’ 17-year-old John Broderick, who won both the NE Am and NE Junior Am titles a year ago.
• And – fans will be allowed back onto the course, at no charge, to watch tournament play.
• Bob emailed this week to say “By the way, thanks for including local sports reporting in your column. Especially college basketball.”
• Bob – happy to oblige. And always happy to take suggestions if you, or anyone else, has them!
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? It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions, comments and local stories to jrooke@weei.com.
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