Ready For The Blame Game

Shank does a phone interview with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and, in true Shank fashion, makes it as uncomfortable as possible right off the bat:

Belichick voices support for Patricia and Judge as Patriots get set to open their season

Red Auerbach was 48 when he coached his final game with the Celtics.

Bill Belichick is 70, readying for his 48th season in the NFL, his 28th as a head coach.

Seventy puts Belichick closer to Red from “Shawshank” than Red on Roundball.

In 2009, a 57-year-old Belichick stated, “I won’t be like Marv Levy and coaching in my 70s, I know that.”

“I wish I hadn’t said that,” Belichick said Thursday in a telephone interview from Florida. “I was probably thinking of what I would feel like. Now, there’s what I actually feel like, and those are two different things. That was not one of my better statements.”

Which is precisely why Shank brought it up.

The Patriots open Sunday at Miami, Belichick’s 23rd season as New England’s head coach. The Patriots went 10-7 last year, then got blown out by the Bills in the playoffs.

New England’s 2022 preseason was unimpressive. No longer able to lean on Tom Brady or trusty assistants Nick Caserio (general manager of the Texans), Josh McDaniels (head coach of the Raiders), Dante Scarnecchia, and Ernie Adams (both retired), Belichick has put a bull’s-eye on his back, declining to name coordinators and hiring cronies/failed head coaches Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to take charge of second-year quarterback Mac Jones.

“I think they’re both good coaches,” said Belichick. “Ultimately, it’s my responsibility, like it always is. So if it doesn’t go well, blame me.”

Don’t worry. We will.

Of course he will!

Enjoying Other Peoples Misery

If it weren't for the fact that there's always a losing team, Shank would have nothing to write about.

The DSW alternate masthead lives on - Shank loves it when people and teams lose games:

Keeping an eye on the stumbling Yankees and Mets is entertaining right now

I’m in a New York state of mind.

Maybe it’s because watching the Yankees lose to the Rays last weekend was more enjoyable than watching the Red Sox roll the hapless Rangers (nine straight losses!).

Maybe it’s because the Yanks saw their AL East lead go from 15½ games to just three in the loss column earlier this week. The Yankees have a million players on the injured list, and Aaron Judge is the only guy who’s still hitting. A full el foldo is not out of the question.

It’s the same with the crosstown Mets. The Amazins have been in first place in the NL East for the entire season. They had a 10½-game lead over everybody in June, but just lost three straight to the lowly Nationals and Pirates, and were caught by the Braves Tuesday night. New York and Atlanta had identical records going into Wednesday’s play.

DHL Dan CXXXVII - The Kiss Of Death

Do the Shank sharks smell blood in the water?

How did the Red Sox’ Chaim Bloom take his recent vote of confidence? And other thoughts ...

Picked-up pieces while wondering if the feds found a “Malcolm Butler/Top Secret” file at Mar-a-Lago …

▪ Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy was compelled this past week to issue a vote of confidence for Chaim Bloom and Alex Cora.

“I am very comfortable saying Chaim and Alex will be back,” Kennedy told The Athletic.

The proverbial vote of confidence. Since we never hear from ownership anymore (feels like John Henry is ghosting his baseball team), Kennedy’s backing will have to do.

How did the statement land with the Red Sox chief baseball officer — who has had a year like Eddie Mush in “A Bronx Tale” and is taking way more heat than his manager?

“I believe in what we’re doing here,” said Bloom, whose team is likely to finish last for a second time in his three Red Sox seasons. “This year has not so far gone the way any of us would have wanted. We’ll work hard to get better.

... Thanks for the time, Chaim. But watch your back. Ownership always needs a scapegoat.

Written without a hint of irony.

You Must Be New Around Here

Did you move to Boston recently? Are you a freshman at one of the local colleges this fall? Here's Shank to give all of you newbies a taste of Boston sports:

For college students coming to town, here is a guide to the local sports scene

U-Hauls, packed vans, and SUVs with New York plates are double-parked all over Commonwealth Avenue, Harvard Square, and Bay State Road. Every day there’s another report of a too-tall Ryder rental truck stuck under a bridge on Storrow Drive with its roof shredded like a Spam can.

Out-of-town Gen Z-ers are invading Boston for their college experience.

Let me be one of the first to welcome freshmen who have come to Boston in advance of Labor Day weekend. Most of you are probably sports fans, some maybe not. Doesn’t matter. You’ll quickly learn that you can’t escape the ethos of Greater Boston sports teams. In this spirit, I’ve assembled a handy-dandy, clip-and-save, Hub sports orientation memo.

Though we are nothing like Pittsburgh or Dallas, know that you have moved into a pro football town. The success of Tom Brady and the Patriots in the first two decades of this century spawned a legion of folks who talk pro football 12 months of the year. It’s not just bettors and fantasy footballers. It’s almost the entire male population and a good portion of women under 50. Our local sports talk shows are full of it, and I mean that in every possible way.

I'm sure he does!

DHL Dan CXXXVI - Amazing Grace

Shank, as he's wont to do, jumps all over David Ortiz for his, um, inconsistency:

Examining an ‘amazing’ statement by David Ortiz, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while watching the Little League World Series …

▪ After becoming the first MLB player elected to the Hall of Fame despite a positive steroid test — a test that baseball commissioner Rob Manfred suggested might have been a false positive — David Ortiz went on the offensive in the wake of Fernando Tatis Jr. testing positive for clostebol in mid-August.

“MLB needs to have some sort of regulations before they make public news like the one that happened to Tatis Jr.,” Ortiz told Dominican reporter Hector Gomez. “I think they haven’t handled this situation the right way. We can’t kill our product, we’re talking about an amazing player.”

It sounds like Ortiz is saying, “Sure, Tatis is using, but fans love him and he’s got great numbers, so let’s pretend nothing happened.”

I'm of the school of though that maybe Ortiz should just avoid giving opinions about this topic, in no small part because he gives folks like Shank free gas to pour on the fire. Then again, Shank would probably find a way to drag him for saying nothing.

Fixing The Red Sox

In the latter part of the 2022 baseball season, the Boston Red Sox are in last place in the American League East. Shank actually has a column devoted to constructive criticism of the team:

Some suggestions on how to fix the broken Red Sox for 2023

How do we fix the Red Sox for 2023?

Here’s a thought for starters … how about ownership opens up its wallet and spends some money?

Only let’s do it wisely this time.

The last-place Red Sox, who proudly remind you they won four World Series in this century, have become a bottom-line-based operation. True, they still have a ridiculously high payroll, but that’s from mistakes going back to 2019 when Dave Dombrowski was giving out multimillion-dollar contracts (hello, Chris Sale) like M&Ms. The Sox are still paying David Price, for gosh sakes.

Since Dombro was fired and gave way to Chaim Bloom, the Sox have been dumpster divers — ever in search of a deal, always trying to turn another team’s trash into treasure. They’ve had a few hits with Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock, Christian Arroyo (when he’s healthy), and John Schreiber, but mostly it’s been misses.

DHL Dan CXXXV - The Popular Patriots

Finally - a Patriots themed column without the normal cheap shots and insults aimed towards Bill Belichick and the Krafts:

A look at Patriots popularity, then and now, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wondering why Red Sox fans still root against the Yankees when the Yankees are playing the Rays and Blue Jays — teams the Sox need to leapfrog to get a wild-card spot …

▪ Two unrelated correspondences this past week made me appreciate just how big the Patriots are in today’s New England sports market.

A friend forwarded an e-mail that had been sent from “Patriots Members Services” regarding how long it might take to move up on the team’s season-ticket wait list:

“Our records indicate that you joined the List in April of 2016. To give you a point of reference, waitlist Members who joined the Patriots Season Ticket Waitlist as late as December of 2003 were offered season tickets prior to the start of the 2022 season.”

Bonus - a Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis reference!

Lost Season

If ever there was bulletin board material for the 2022 Boston Red Sox, here it is:

With atmosphere at Fenway electric, it’s hard for Red Sox to admit this is a lost season

Red Sox-Yankees. Good close games, full houses, and the Red Sox competed.

Sweet. Just like the old days . . .

Except for those nasty American League East standings that show the first-place Yankees 15½ games ahead of the last-place Red Sox.

There are 46 games left in the Red Sox’ Lost Season. Thirty-two of them will be against the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, and Orioles and we all know the Red Sox fare poorly when playing teams in their own division. The last-place Sox are 15-30 against the AL East.

DHL Dan CXXXIV - Cutting No Slack

Shank seems to be a tad upset with Tom Brady today:

This time, Tom Brady shouldn’t get any slack, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while suggesting that our leaders find a more prominent spot for the Bill Russell statue . . .

▪ Tom Brady is a great football player and put the Patriots on the map.

He is also proof that winning a lot of championships cuts you slack forever in this town.

Brady turned 45 this past week while working out in Tampa, trying to win his eighth Super Bowl. On the day before his birthday, we learned that Tom was talking to the Miami Dolphins — angling his way out of Boston — before he even started his 20th and final season with the Patriots in 2019. Throughout the ‘19 season, Brady was actively working on his next gig while he was playing for the Patriots.

Beyond weak. Phony. A betrayal. Hard to forgive.

One thing potentially missing from this diatribe - given it was Brady's final season with the Patriots, was Brady at the point where he knew he was on the outs with the team? That might be a mitigating factor in all of this, no?

When all this came out, the Dolphins were docked a first-round draft pick (and a third) and slapped with a $1.5 million fine for tampering violations. Owner Stephen Ross was suspended for six games.

Brady got nothing … just like in an NFL game in 2022. You can’t touch the golden boy quarterback, which — avocado ice cream aside — is the biggest reason Brady can keep playing at this level at 45.

So it has nothing to do with Brady's training regimen? You decide if Shank's ignorant of this fact or deliberately ignoring it to make this point.

Brady’s integrity takes a well-deserved hit. You have to be a true sycophant/fanboy to dismiss this one. We know for a fact that while he was performing and pouting with the 2019 Patriots, he was scheming to join one of their hated division rivals.

He later did the same two-faced thing in Tampa; his “retirement” was merely a ruse to get him to a player/ownership role in Miami. The scam was foiled when Brian Flores filed his discrimination lawsuit against the Dolphins and Brady had no choice but to slink back to the Bucs, but not without first getting his coach (Bruce Arians) fired. For all these years, we’ve heard about how team-guy Tom took pay cuts to help the Patriots. In the end, it was just the opposite.

How is all of this OK with you, Boston? Your guy was mentally checked out of Foxborough in his last Patriot season. A lot of Patriot fans are still angry at Bill Parcells for talking to the Jets while he was taking the Patriots to a Super Bowl. The Tuna had a much better reason for leaving (stabbed in the back on draft day by Bob Kraft) than Brady. How is Parcells a traitor but Brady is OK?

This is another non sequitur - you can believe Parcells isn't a traitor, or that Brady is regardless of your opinion on Parcells. I think Shank's forcing things here so he can keep taking shots at Brady.

Bill Russell, R.I.P.

This was, of course, from a few days ago:

Bob Cousy remembers teammate Bill Russell: ‘He fought the good fight’

They had Hall of Fame players and a Hall of Fame coach, and the Celtics were champions every year, it seemed. They won eight consecutive NBA titles in Red Auerbach’s last eight years as coach. They won 11 championships in 13 seasons between 1957–69.

And the one and only constant was Bill Russell. The man in the middle. The greatest winner in team sports history.

Russell died Sunday at the age of 88.

We’ve been losing these fabled champs with somber regularity the last four years. Frank Ramsey died in 2018. John Havlicek in 2019, Tommy Heinsohn and K.C. Jones in 2020, then seven months ago (just before New Year’s), Sam Jones. Hall of Famers, one and all.

DHL Dan CXXXIII - The Bridge That Wasn't

Shank's very pleased with himself, coming up with a new catchphrase that we'll hear about for the rest of the season:

Red Sox fans should be aware that this might not be a bridge year, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wondering whether the Red Sox should be relegated . . .

▪ In a small moment after Wednesday’s 7-6 loss to the Guardians, lowlighted by Franchy Cordero’s three errors at first base, Alex Cora said, “He’s still learning the position. He hasn’t played too much at first base.”

There it is right there. Red Sox ownership/management has given Cora a roster peppered with interchangeable guys who should be learning their craft in Triple A while at the same time claiming the organization is still committed to winning this year.

Summary: You are paying the highest ticket prices in baseball to watch minor league players learning on the job.

And a lot of you are OK with this because, well, these Red Sox bosses won four championships in this century and we don’t want to be like those stupid first-place Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets who waste all their money signing stars to long-term contracts.

It’s been bad at every level.

Three years in, can we all acknowledge that the Mookie Betts salary dump was one of the worst moves in modern Sox history? It was the warning shot that the Sox won’t keep their stars anymore and are more about the illusion of contention (boosted by the phony, inflated playoff format) than about winning.

That's the new 'tomato cans' in the Shank lexicon.

A Small Case Of The Vapors

Shank doesn't appreciate part of David Ortiz's attire:

Mayor of Boston with David Ortiz wearing "Hoesmad" cap. https://t.co/HswyHSLUBr

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) July 27, 2022

Neither does his fellow Globe scold and über-feminist columnist:

David Ortiz gets away with a lot in this city. My column via @GlobeOpinion. https://t.co/Yaj1bSVEqH via @BostonGlobe

— Joan Vennochi (@Joan_Vennochi) July 28, 2022

Question for Joan - are all women 'hoes'? That's how I'm reading that little column blurb.

The Immortal David Ortiz

Alternate Friends title - The One Where Shank Pretends To Like David Ortiz:

David Ortiz already achieved baseball immortality in Boston, and now the Hall of Fame has made it official

COOPERSTOWN, N. Y. — David Ortiz, a man who forever changed the fortunes of the Boston Red Sox, is a Baseball Hall of Famer.

Already immortal in Boston sports lore, the beloved Big Papi was welcomed to the Hall Sunday, serving as the walkoff speaker on a sun-splashed afternoon after six other 2022 inductees were feted by the baseball world.

“I will always be Boston,” Ortiz said toward the end of a 19-minute speech during which he alternated between English and Spanish. “I will always be there for you, Boston. I love you, Boston.”

In front of an estimated crowd of 35,000 gathered on the lawn and hills in the cradle of baseball, the 46-year-old Ortiz was enshrined along with 83-year-old Jim Kaat, 84-year-old Tony Oliva, and four baseball legends who have already passed: Gil Hodges, Buck O’Neil, Minnie Miñoso, and Bud Fowler (who actually grew up in Cooperstown). Big Papi’s 21-year-old daughter, Alex Veda, performed the national anthem before the induction program.

Contrast Shank's current near reverence of Big Papi with his attitude towards the latter nine years ago:

In 2013, I came off the DL and started hot. My first 20 games I was hitting like .400. And the reporter with the red jheri curl from The Boston Globe comes into the locker room says, “You’re from the Dominican. You’re older. You fit the profile of a steroid user. Don’t you think you’re a prime suspect?”

He’s saying this with a straight face. I had taken like 70 at-bats. Anybody can get hot and hit .400 with 70 at-bats. I was stunned. I’m like, I’m Dominican? I fit the profile? Are you kidding me?

I wanted to kill this guy. But you can’t react. That’s what they want. They want you to get angry so they can bury you. So I just smiled at him and asked for his address.

“Why do you want my address?” he said.

“Because I just got tested two days ago.” I said. “I’ll mail you the f****ing results.”

This is a reporter from my own city coming to my locker and telling me I’m too good, that I must be on some shit. I’m sitting there thinking, Man, I get tested 10 times a year and I’ve helped win this town two World Series titles in 2004 and 2007 and this guy who has never played a game of professional baseball in his life is telling me I’m a suspect.

My test was clean just like the other 8 or 9 tests that season. My batting average settled down to .300, because of course it did. I hit like 30 home runs and we won the World Series. Was that acceptable for the reporter? Were my numbers too high for a player from the Dominican? Should I have taken another blood test before popping the damn champagne?

He never apologized.

Red jheri curl - does Shank have some awesome nicknames, or what?

To restate the 2013 brouhaha with Shank and Ortiz with a bit more pith, let's turn it over to former DSW blogger Dave M (some emphasis mine):

In case you have not been following, last week Dan Shaughnessy quickly ripped into Ortiz after Ortiz’s name was leaked to be on “the list” of steroid users. Shaughnessy declared “David Ortiz lied to you. It seems safe to say that his entire Red Sox career is a lie.” Never mind that Shaughnessy never talked to Ortiz. Never mind that Shaughnessy did not know what Ortiz tested positive for. Never mind that Shaughnessy did not know there was a question of the validity of the test. Never mind that Ortiz did not know he even tested positive for anything. These things did not matter because Shaughnessy was in such a rush to punch out a column. There was no time for fact checking; there was no time for corroboration; there was nothing anyone would expect of a professional journalist. No, this was yellow journalism at its finest This was Shaughnessy…. ever ready to bury a hatchet in someone, any proof be damned.

...

Shaughnessy may eventually prove to be right about Ortiz. But that doesn’t matter. At the time he accused Ortiz of being a liar, he did not have the information to make the accusation. He did not seek the full story because he is lazy. He was ready to prematurely attack because he is vindictive. If anyone lied to us, it was Shaughnessy. If anything is tainted, it is his ethics. He is the one who should be suspended for a year. And he is not the only one – Massarotti and Ryan and many others also piled on. It was disgraceful and shameful.

I'd go with 'bearing false witness' mysef, but these are somewhat equivalent terms, or sins in the biblical lexicon. In the sense that Shank's changing his tune nowadays without any mea culpa, he's still lying / covering his ass.

Bonus - a Larry Bird reference!

DHL Dan CXXXII - Lingering Pandemic

This fucking guy simply will not let up on Covid-19:

The pandemic still lingers, but it finally feels like a normal Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown, and other thoughts

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Picked-up pieces while waiting for David Ortiz to join Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, and Jim Rice in the Hall of Fame . . .

▪ Baseball’s Hall is an institution hit particularly hard by the death and disruption of our global pandemic. Ten Hall of Famers have died since the family of baseball last gathered here for a traditional induction weekend. It’s unclear how many of the Hall of Famers (if any) succumbed because of COVID, but the pandemic canceled the 2020 event and produced a makeshift, shrunken ceremony for Derek Jeter and fellow inductees last September.

At the risk of sounding like a cold-hearted bastard, it seems like the natural course of nature and human life expectancy for older men to pass away from one cause or another. That, however, doesn't stop Shank from suggesting a possible connection between their deaths and Covid-19, AKA the Wuhan Virus.

The Jeter induction had been expected to rival the record 82,000 gathering for Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn in 2007, but only 20,000 fans made the trek and COVID still lurked as Johnny Bench — who’d been scheduled to attend — had to narrate his video tribute from home because he’d tested positive.

The pandemic still lingers, but it finally feels like a normal Hall of Fame weekend as Cooperstown welcomes Big Papi, Jim Kaat, Tony Oliva, and deceased inductees Gil Hodges, Buck O’Neal, Minnie Miñoso, and Bud Fowler. The Parade of Legends is back on Saturday, and Sunday’s ceremony figures to generate a big-time turnout at the Clark Sports Center.

Fifty-four Hall of Famers have pledged to attend and many haven’t had a chance to see one another since the exclusive club lost members Al Kaline, Lou Brock, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, Joe Morgan, Phil Niekro, Tommy Lasorda, Don Sutton, and Hank Aaron.

So we have at least one survivor of Covid-19 and Shank insinuating / speculating its involvement in an unknown number of deaths amongst living Hall of Fame members. I just think it's a tad gouhlish, and part of the reason it still 'lingers' is media types like Shank who constantly bring it up at nearly every opportunity.

Yaz on Papi - Who Was The Better Hitter?

Now that David 'Big Papi' Ortiz is heading into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Shank asks Carl Yastrzemski a rather pointed question:

With David Ortiz headed into the Hall of Fame, we asked Yaz: Who was the better hitter?

In the 1990s, when Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio made rare public appearances together, DiMaggio would insist on being introduced as “the greatest living ballplayer.”

The gracious Teddy Ballgame never objected and Willie Mays was not asked for his opinion.

I thought of that this week when Carl Yastrzemski returned a call and agreed to spend a few moments talking about David Ortiz, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday. Like Ted and Yaz, Big Papi was elected in his first year of eligibility.

So, Yaz, what is Ortiz’s place in Red Sox history?

“He was one hell of a hitter, you know?” says Yastrzemski, who turns 83 next month. “One of the best hitters the Red Sox ever had. Probably the only guy that was a better hitter was Ted.”

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

The Red Sox got their asses handed to them for a second day in a row on Sunday, and Shank is there to mop up:

Chris Sale has a broken finger and the Red Sox are a broken team

NEW YORK — Now what?

Chris Sale has a broken finger and the Red Sox are a broken team.

In only his second start since breaking a rib in February, Boston’s dark star lefty suffered a fractured pinkie on his throwing hand while trying to defend himself from a 106.7-mile-per-hour, first-inning laser off the bat of Aaron Hicks Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

Sale knew immediately his finger was broken. As the ball ricocheted into right field and Gleyber Torres scored the third Yankee run in a 13-2 beatdown of Boston — making it 27-3 over two days — Sale got up from the ground and walked toward the third base dugout, holding his crooked digit aloft for all the world to see.

“Like cold water rushing through your body when something like that happens. As soon as I hit the ground, I looked down, and the finger was gone,” a composed but frustrated Sale said while standing at his locker. “It sucks. What are you gonna do? . . . Here we go again.

Italian Or Swedish Meatballs?

Here's Shank on the 14-1 beatdown on the Red Sox by the New York Yankees on Saturday night:

Meatballs are served in the Bronx, indigestion felt in Boston

NEW YORK — While New England slept, the roller coaster Red Sox fell into fourth place Saturday in a brutal, 14-1 Bronx beatdown. The Sox come into Sunday’s final game before the All-Star break a mere 1½ games ahead of the surging last-place Orioles.

So while they may still be playoff bound — the illusion of contention is always there when six of 15 teams make it to the postseason — the 2022 Red Sox are also a candidate to finish in last place for the fifth time in 11 seasons. The Red Sox are 15½ games behind the first-place Yankees.

Saturday’s drubbing was over in the first inning when Matt Carpenter (seven RBIs) crushed a three-run homer off Sox righty Nick Pivetta. Boston’s workhorse in the first half, Pivetta is worn down, and like the rest of his teammates, fares poorly against the American League East. Pivetta is 1-5 with a 7.57 ERA against division opponents.

No Fear

Here's Shank on the Friday night Red Sox win over the New York Yankees:

The Red Sox aren’t afraid of the Yankees. We saw it again on Friday night.

NEW YORK — Take a deep breath and allow me to go Full Rochie on the Red Sox’ chances against the 62-28, first-place New York Yankees this year.

For some reason, the Sox are not afraid of the Yanks. Remember how they beat them in the one-game playoff last October? Remember how they beat them, three games to one in the 2018 ALDS, winning Game 3, 16-1?

Remember how they came from behind to beat the Yankees twice last weekend — winning the Fenway finale, 11-6?

They did it again Friday night at Yankee Stadium, beating the Yankees, 5-4, in 11 innings and scoring the winning run when team leader Xander Bogaerts (why not keep him, Chaim?) made a great read and scored from third on a wild pitch that bounced in front of Yankee catcher Jose Trevino.

DHL Dan CXXXI - Hub Of The Baseball Universe

You go to New Hampshire for a few days, and what do you know? I missed Shank's prolific output over the past few days, where he's focusing mostly on the Red Sox / Yankees series. He first goes nostalgic and writes about the 1999 baseball All-Star game, held at Fenway Park:

At the 1999 All-Star Game, Fenway Park was the center of the baseball universe, and other thoughts

NEW YORK — Picked-up pieces while remembering things I love about our national pastime . . .

▪ The baseball All-Star Game is Tuesday at venerable Dodger Stadium, and five days later the family of baseball will gather in Cooperstown for the first “normal” Hall of Fame induction ceremony in three years. Red Sox Nation can’t wait for the enshrinement of David Ortiz.

It’ll be good to take our eyes off the 2022 Sox for a few days to celebrate the sport and gods of the game.

DHL Dan CXXX - Digging That Red Sox Roster

It looks like Shank's not too happy with recent additions to the Red Sox lineup:

We’re a long way from the good old days of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wistfully remembering star-powered Red Sox-Yankees summer series of past seasons . . .

▪ When the Red Sox took the field to face the Rays Tuesday, Boston’s starting outfield featured Rob Refsnyder in left, rookie Jarren Duran in center, and Franchy Cordero in right.

This came one day after the Sox beat the Rays in a July 4 “bullpen” game, as Austin Davis, Kutter Crawford, and John Schreiber shut down Tampa Bay.

Welcome to Chaim Bloom World, featuring a conga line of faceless, interchangeable, low-salary ball players wearing Red Sox uniforms. The Sox’ goal appears to be “out-Raying” the Rays, which is why beating Tampa in a bullpen game on Independence Day was the ultimate achievement in the eyes of the Bloominati (thanks, Matt McCarthy). Tampa Bay, after all, invented the bullpen game.

DHL Dan CXXIX - July 4th Happenings

Leave it to Shank to write a column about local sporting events that happened on July 4th and lead off with the year 1983, when David Righetti of the Yankees no-hit the Red Sox:

Historically, July 4 hasn’t been a big day for fireworks in local sports, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while burning the midnight oil in the research lab with Jarren Duran …

▪ Happy Fourth of July weekend. The Fourth is an American favorite and hopefully you are reading this while sprawled on the sand at Craigville Beach in Centerville.

This holiday is not filled with tons of great local sports memories. Maybe that’s no surprise when you remember that George Steinbrenner was born on the Fourth of July.

Dave Righetti no-hit the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on a brutally hot July 4 in the summer of 1983. Hall of Famer Wade Boggs struck out, swinging, for the final out of Righetti’s masterpiece. It was the first Yankee no-hitter since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Billy Martin was at both games, playing second base behind Larsen in ‘56 and managing the Yankees for Steinbrenner in ‘83.

Bouncing Back

Since the Red Sox won their last game in Toronto a few days ago, Shank bangs out a column that manages a scant two mentions of of the word 'vaccine':

Red Sox have bounced back recently, now they just have to figure out the American League East

The Red Sox started this kooky season 11-20 before bouncing back against a conga line of baseball bums from Oakland, Seattle, and Detroit. The Sox also managed to take two of three from the estimable Cardinals, then swept the better-than-average Guardians last weekend, giving them seven straight wins and 11 of 13. They turned a horrible start into a legit wild-card candidacy.

Now if they can just figure out the American League East.

In a wild game that somehow typifies this strange season, the Red Sox outlasted the Blue Jays, 6-5, in 10 innings Wednesday night at Rogers Centre. It never felt secure and wasn’t sealed until lefthander Matt Strahm — who staggered through the bottom of the 10th — retired George Springer on a popup into short center field with the tying and winning runs on third and second.

No Shot

It's time once again for Shank to mount his high horse Shetland pony and rag on Red Sox players who don't want to be forced to get a Covid 'vaccine' or two:

These absent anti-vaxxers give Red Sox no shot in Toronto

In this region, Kyrie Irving is routinely mocked and scorned for being a selfish team-killer.

Swell. So how are you all feeling about Kyrie Houck, Kyrie Duran and Kyrie Sale at this hour?

I wonder how Red Sox players really feel? It’s always Hakuna Matata around these Sox with their laundry cart rides, postgame strobelight locker room disco dance parties, and NESN happy talk, but how would you feel if your .327-hitting leadoff batter, your white-hot closer (six saves in six tries), and (possibly) your $30 million per year erstwhile ace chose not to help you win important games in June and (maybe) September/October?

I don't think Shank helps his cause with the juvenile derisiveness of calling all these guys Kyrie.

DHL Dan CXXVIII - The Management Column

Shank did a column a few days ago that I had no desire to read all weekend, so here you go:

This Red Sox-Guardians series has a great managerial angle to it, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while kicking off summer with a bucket of whole-belly fried clams …

▪ Red Sox vs. Guardians in Cleveland this weekend means a chance to see perhaps the two best managers in baseball — probably the two best managers in Red Sox history — going head-to-head for three days.

Hyperbole? Maybe. But name a current manager who consistently does a better job than Terry Francona and Alex Cora. And does anyone think Dick Williams, Joe Cronin, or Bill Carrigan could deal with today’s analytics geeks, stubborn/entitled (anti-vax) ballplayers, and nonstop media obligations that are part of the daily, skull-imploding Boston baseball experience?

DHL Dan CXXVII - Picking Everything Up

Shank's column production's been rather sparse the past couple of weeks, so here's a column that tries to catch up:

Catching up on all the picked-up pieces that emerged over the past few weeks

Picked-up pieces after a few weeks on the shelf …

▪ First we had Brad Marchand skating off the ice too early at the end of the first period of Stanley Cup Final Game 7 at the Garden in June of 2019. It was a night we all were sure the Bruins were going to win the chalice. The Bruins had dominated the Blues, 5-1, in Game 6 in St. Louis. But their season ended with a thud on Causeway Street.

Then we had Tom Brady going to Tampa to win a Super Bowl for the Buccaneers while Cam Newton stumbled around Gillette and the Patriots became mediocre.

Then the Red Sox qualified for a one-game wild card and suddenly got hot, eliminating the Yankees and Rays, and dominating the Astros in the first 3½ games of the 2021 ALCS. The Sox were two wins from rolling into the World Series before all their hitting just disappeared … Jayson Tatum style. Losing Game 4 at home ultimately killed the Red Sox, just as it did the 2022 Celtics.

Not Ready Yet

That's one conclusion drawn by Shank after the Celtics lost Game 6 (and the series) to the Golden State Warriors:

By blowing a massive opportunity, these Celtics showed they’re just not ready yet

The Celtics’ magical 2022 playoff run crash-landed on Causeway Street Thursday as the still-worthy Golden State Warriors won the NBA championship with a 103-90 Game 6 victory at the TD Garden.

Years from now, perhaps we’ll look back and see this as a building block for Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Co., but right now, it feels like one of the worst blown opportunities in 21st century Boston sports.

“It hurts that we fell short, but the future is bright,’’ said Celtics rookie coach Ime Udoka. " . . . This is just a start. The foundation’s been set. We can hit the ground running next year.’’

Missed Opportunity?

Shank looks at the Celtics' prospects after losing Game 5 of the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors:

It’s not over for the Celtics yet, but it sure feels like it after this lost opportunity

It’s not over yet. It just kind of feels that way.

The Celtics lost Game 5 of the NBA Finals to the Warriors, 104-94, at the Chase Center Monday and trail this championship series, three games to two as they ready for Game 6 in Boston. If these Celts are to win the franchise’s 18th banner, they’ll have to beat the Dubs Thursday at home, and again Sunday in San Francisco.

Possible . . . but unlikely. This feels like one massive missed opportunity.

The Celtics need to stop complaining about officiating and regain their composure. And Jayson Tatum needs to step up and play like an All-NBA first teamer. Tatum had 27 points and 10 rebounds Monday, but this was a 1-point game going into the fourth quarter and Tatum again turtled down the stretch, making 1 of 5 shots with no rebounds and no assists in 11 soft minutes of the fourth. He was minus-13 for the night.

Missed Shots

You stop paying attention for a few days, and what do you know? Shank's been banging out the Celtics columns. A few days ago he's talking to Celtic greats Bob Cousy and Satch Sanders about the current crop of Celtics, yestrday Shank and a bunch of Globies make their series predictions (Shank says Celtics in 7 games), and last night Shank was quick out of the gate with a column on the Celtics winning Game 1 of the NBA Championship. I spotted the column about 35 minutes after the game was over, and there's almost no way to do a column that quick, so I'm going to ask him - is it voice to text he's using or is he like a 110 words a minute typer?

Finals Bound

That's Shank after the Celtics won Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals:

Finally, the Celtics earn their chance to bring another championship to Boston

Remember all the parades between 2002 and 2019 . . . back in the good old days before COVID-19?

The Celtics earned a ticket to the 2022 NBA Finals with a thrilling, smashmouth, 100-96, Game 7 victory over the top-seeded Heat Sunday night at FTX Arena in Miami. Boston led the entire game and staved off a furious late-game comeback by Jimmy Butler and the Heat.

This means that after three, predominantly pandemic-plagued years, confetti could rain on Boylston Street next month for the first time since Tom Brady beat the Rams to win a Super Bowl in February 2019.

Playing in the image of franchise forefathers Bill Russell, KC Jones and Dennis Johnson, the Celtics were the best defensive team in the NBA this year and now-ready-for-primetime stars Jayson Tatum (26 points), Jaylen Brown (24), and Marcus Smart (24) are finally going to the Finals.

...

This new generation of Celtic stars has a chance to extend our local sports High Renaissance (12 championships in the new millennium), which started with 24-year-old Brady upsetting the St. Louis Rams in New Orleans in February 2002.

This looks like Shank's usual modus operandi - set the Celtics up with high to unreasonable expectations so he can take a monster dump on them should they fail to acheive those expectations.

Now They're Sitting Pretty

Here's Shank's take on the Boston Celtics' Game 5 win in the Eastern Conference semifinals over the horribly shooting Miami Heat:

Game 5 was ugly, but the Celtics are sitting pretty against the Heat

MIAMI — It took five smashmouth games and a lot of time in the training room, but it feels like the Celtics finally wore down the top-seeded Miami Heat.

After staggering through a brutal two quarters (both teams), the Celtics came back from a 5-point halftime deficit, tightening the screws on defense and outscoring Miami, 32-16, in the third quarter for a 93-80 Game 5 victory in the Eastern Conference finals. Game 6 is Friday night on Causeway Street and the Celts are one victory from making it to the NBA Finals for the 22nd time in franchise history.

“It’s great to be up, 3-2 and to have it at home is an advantage,’’ said Boston’s rookie coach, Ime Udoka. “ . . . Our defense, we stayed steady. Tonight we kept our composure and relied on our defense. That travels well with us.’’

Are you ready for some Shankisms and an obscure and forced pop culture reference? I know you are!

But the Celtics and their fans don’t care about style points at this hour. On the strength of their Belichickian defense, the Sons of Udoka — 39-12 since Jan. 23 — are on the threshold of the Finals. They vaporized the Heat, forcing Miami to shoot 31.9 percent (30 of 94, 7 of 45 on threes). Jimmy Butler made 4 of 18 shots. Miami’s starting guards (Kyle Lowry and Max Strus) went 0 for 15 from the floor. It was like watching Philip Seymour Hoffman shooting hoops in “Along Came Polly,” screaming “Let it rain!’’ as he clangs one shot after another.

Great way to trash an otherwise decent column, isn't it?

Don't Blow It!

The Boston Celtics won Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in fairly impressive fashion. Leave it to Mr. Glass Half Empty to accentuate the negative:

If the Celtics don’t win the series, it will be one of the biggest blown opportunities in Boston sports history

We are four games into this bizarro Eastern Conference final and the only takeaway is that No One Knows Anything and it’s now a best-of-three with Miami holding home-court advantage the rest of the way.

Folks in these parts certainly think the Celtics are the better team and there was nothing on display at TD Garden Monday that would dispute that notion. In a wildly unpredictable series that’s seen sparse late-game drama and multiple beatdowns by both squads, it was the Celtics turn to freeze the Heat in a 102-82 Game 4 rout.

“We didn’t want to go down 3-1,’’ said Celtics coach Ime Udoka. “It wasn’t our best offensive night [39.7 percent shooting from the floor], but we can always rely on our defense. We can do that even if our shots are not falling.’’

If the Celtics don’t win this series and advance to the NBA Finals, this will go down as one of the biggest blown opportunities in Boston sports history.

But Never Downplaying A Loss

That's just how he rolls:

After Celtics took a stunning loss in Game 3, there’s no telling what to expect in Game 4

Hold off on those round-trip plane tickets to San Francisco for the NBA Finals.

And forget about Celtics-In-Five.

Two days after dominating Miami in Game 2, the Celtics stumbled to a 26-point, first-half deficit in Game 3 and suffered a well-deserved 109-103 loss to the still-proud, Heat Saturday night at the Garden.

On a night when both Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum suffered injuries, went to the locker room, then made Drama King returns, Boston cut a 26 point lead all the way down to one point, 93-92, with 2:40 left, only to fall short. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 40 points, but committed seven turnovers. Tatum shot 3 for 14 and had six turnovers in 40 uninspiring minutes. An energized Bam Adebayo scored 31 with 10 rebounds and 6 assists for the winners.

Downplaying A Win

I know, it's really out of character for Shank to do such a thing:

It’s only one game, but the Celtics responded emphatically in Game 2 against the Heat

MIAMI — Let’s not go overboard. It’s only one game. I remember mocking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the mighty Lakers when the Larry Bird Celtics beat LA, 148-114, in Game 1 of the 1985 Finals. Those proud Lakers wound up winning that series in six, dancing on the fabled parquet while New England wept.

But here in the Hub of Hoop, there’ll be a temptation to get carried away after what we watched at FTX Arena Thursday night. Some of you no doubt are already dreaming of that Boston-Golden State matchup in the NBA Finals.

The 2021-22 Celtics vaporized the Miami Heat, 127-102, in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Two days after a disheartening, shorthanded, 11-point loss, the Celtics (almost) got their whole team back and demolished a tough, worthy Miami team.

More realistic folks would say 'we won one in their building; so far, so good.' I suppose Shank's citing the 1985 series to tamper expectations, which is fine. I also suppose, as far as team personnel and matchups are concerned, the two sides in the aforementioned 1985 series were a lot closer than the current edition of the Celtics and Miami Heat. You could make the argument (successfully) that the 1985 Lakers team was amongst the top teams of all time - Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Michael Cooper Byron Scott, Bob McAdoo - that's a solid group. After Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, I don't know who belongs in that echelon of great players; I'll say Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brown and Marcus Smart (the Michael Cooper lockdown defender counterpart) give them the edge in this series.

I think, as always, Shank's column is some sort of setup in the case the Celtics barf up this series.

Not Enough Game

For those who watched the game, Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals was not a good one for the Boston Celtics:

Celtics were game, but without Marcus Smart and Al Horford, they didn’t have enough against Heat in opener

MIAMI — Opening night of the Eastern Conference finals got off to a rotten start for the Celtics.

No Marcus Smart (bruised foot). Then, without warning, no Al Horford (health and safety protocol).

Losing Smart and Horford against the rested, top-seeded Heat made Tuesday’s Game 1 feel like climbing Kilimanjaro for a Celtic team that just survived seven smashmouth playoff games against the defending world champs. The shorthanded Celts were forced to go back to work only two days after gutting the Bucks on Causeway Street.

Boston got it done early, taking a 13-point first half lead, but Miami wore down the exhausted Celts at the start of the third with a Jimmy Butler-led, 22-2 run en route to a 118-107 win. Game 2 is Thursday at FTX Arena.

More game recap and some quotes from there.

Doing It Wit Defense

Shank will now have to take a week or two to take that annual dump on the Celtics:

The Celtics wore out the great Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, and they did it with defense

The Bruins’ season ended Saturday. The Red Sox season feels like it ended in April. The Patriots offseason has been wildly underwhelming.

It was left to the Men in Green to keep things interesting around here and the Celtics did not disappoint Sunday, with a 109-81 Game 7 victory over the reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks. Veterans Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart will take their talents to South Beach for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday night at FTX Arena.

A raucous Causeway Street crowd chanted “Beat the Heat!” in the closing seconds of the first rout of the series.

One Tough Loss

We're now one loss away from Shank taking his annual post-season dump on any Boston team which doesn't win it all, and we get a preview here:

Game 5 loss for Celtics will go down as one of the toughest in Boston sports lore

It is almost beyond comprehension.

It appeared certain the Celtics had this one. We saw 48 minutes of blood and thunder basketball between two worthy teams and there were electric moments in our fabled gym joint. There seemed to be no doubt the Celtics would take a 3-2 series lead back to Milwaukee with a chance to close things out and advance to the conference Finals.

The Celtics led by 14 in the fourth quarter. They led by 6 with 2:12 to go when Ageless Al Horford threw down a dunk after a Jaylen Brown miss.

And then the defending world champions showed you what they are made of and took back the night, beating the Celtics, 110-107, in what is surely one of the toughest losses in Boston sports lore.

One Quarter For The Ages

Shank's talking about the fourth quarter of the Celtics' Game 4 win on Monday night over the Milwaukee Bucks, but my observation's a bit different:

A fourth quarter for the ages, a legendary dunk from Al Horford, and the Celtics-Bucks series is all even

MILWAUKEE — If the Celtics go on to win Flag 18 ('Flag' - seriously? - ed), years from now when tall tales are told, this might be the night folks talk about the most. This might be like Dave Roberts stealing second base, or Adam Vinatieri drilling the ice ball through the uprights in the last game played at Foxboro Stadium

Or ending your sentences with periods.

The Celtics beat the World Champion Milwaukee Bucks, 116-108, at Fiserv Forum Monday night to square their conference semifinal series, 2-2. Game 5 is Wednesday at the Garden, Game 6 is Friday back in Brewtown (Brewtown - must be firsthand knowledge! - ed), and Game 7 (probably necessary) Sunday on Causeway Street. Bring your popcorn.

And a copy editor - there's more poorly written hackery to follow that'd make a high school English teacher shake his head.

Remain Calm - All Is Well?

That seems to be the message Shank's trying to deliver after watching yesterday's Game 3 between the Celtics and the Bucks:

It was a tough finish, but all is not lost for Celtics

MILWAUKEE — The ball bounded back and forth, in and out, pinball-like, almost in slow motion.

Marcus Smart, rebounding his own intentionally missed free throw, had first crack with four seconds left. No good. Then Robert Williams tipped it back onto the rim. Not quite. Then Jrue Holiday got a hand on it and almost put it in the wrong basket. No. Finally, Al Horford tapped it through the hole just after the horn sounded.

It was initially ruled a bucket and the score was fixed at 103-103. For a second, it looked like we were going into overtime.

But Horford’s tap came after the red lights around the backboard lit. It was too late to save the Celtics for OT. A quick review revealed what we pretty much already knew.

Shank The Scold, A Continuing Series

A cheap and easy way to criticize athletes and pro sports teams in 2022 - keep bringing up everyone's Covid vaccination status:

Red Sox deny allowing Chris Sale more time to rehab injury because he won’t get vaccinated

MILWAUKEE — Are the Red Sox accommodating Chris Sale — allowing their $145 million pitcher extra time for his rehab from a rib cage fracture — because Sale won’t get vaccinated and they know he won’t be available to pitch in Toronto when the Sox return there June 27?

I ran this theory past Chaim Bloom Saturday afternoon, and the Red Sox chief baseball officer answered, “No. That has nothing to do with it.”

Bloom opened the box to cynicism in a rare media availability on Saturday before the Sox took on the White Sox in the second game of their weekend series.

Among items Bloom discussed in the dugout was an announcement that Sale’s rehab progress has been delayed because of a personal medical issue, not rib- or arm-related (Bloom also said Sale does not have COVID-19).

This means Sale’s return will be pushed back a few more weeks. It also means he won’t be available until late June at the earliest.

Shank has no problem criticizing Chris Sale but now gets to add his vaccination status as another stick to beat him with. I think it's stupid because Shank will never, ever consider the logic of continuing with Covid vaccine mandates now that the pandemic phase is well and small in our rear view mirror.

When Is A Bargain Not A Bargain?

When it's the flailing 2022 Boston Red Sox:

These cost-conscious Red Sox are no bargain, and other thoughts

MILWAUKEE — Picked-up pieces while waiting for someone to call traveling or charging on Giannis …

The 2022 Red Sox. Wow. Just wow.

The bumbling Bostons went into Saturday with a record of 10-17, last place in the AL East, nine games behind the first-place Yankees. The Franchy Cordero All-Stars have lost five consecutive series. Some Red Sox fans have taken to calling the 99-day lockout “The Good Old Days.”

It’s never a good thing when the local baseball season is already over in the first week of May. The Sox are not out of contention yet, and having six American League teams in the playoffs gives them hope …

But seriously?

Are Sox ownership and the front office appropriately embarrassed by this product in the first four weeks of the season? Also, why is Chaim Bloom asking us to be “patient”?

Like it or not, the surprising success of the 2021 Red Sox (they actually came within two wins of the World Series) might have been the worst thing that could have happened to this year’s edition. October’s success deluded the cost-cutting ownership and free-cycling Bloom into thinking that they had figured things out.

Making A Statement

Shank does a column on the Celtics' Game 2 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals:

Celtics got the message, then went out and made a statement in Game 2 win over Bucks

The Celtics were in need of a statement game. All the feel-good momentum from their sweep of the No No (Nan) Nets went away with Sunday’s Game 1 Garden smackdown at the hands of the defending world champion Milwaukee Bucks.

The national narrative seemed to be turning away from Boston as a dangerous team, bound for the NBA Finals. Marcus Smart was hurt, and pundits were calling out Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, both of whom underperformed in the series opener.

With this negativity in their heads and Smart (bruised thigh) on the shelf, the Celtics responded with one of their better games of the season, bolting to a 65-40 halftime lead, and playing smash-mouth defense in a 109-86, wire-to-wire Game 2 victory over the Bucks at the Garden. Brown (seven turnovers and 4-for-13 shooting in Game 1) scored 30, hit 6 of 10 from international waters.

Back On The Bandwagon, A Continuing Series

This is the very definition of a fair-weather fan:

Celtics could end our championship ‘drought,’ and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while thinking how much Xander Bogaerts reminds me of Patrice Bergeron …

▪ We are spoiled, for sure, but we are also officially in a championship drought. After 12 duck boat parades in this century, we haven’t seen confetti in three long years. The last New England major sports team to win a title was the 2018-19 Patriots. Remember them? They had a quarterback named Tom Brady and they beat the Rams, 13-3, in Atlanta in the first week of February 2019.

We thought the parades would last forever. And we almost got another one in 2019 when the Bruins played a Stanley Cup Final Game 7 on a perfect June night at the Garden after smoking the St. Louis Blues, 5-1, in Game 6. Alas, Brad Marchand skated off the ice too soon at the end of the first period, the Bruins fell behind, 2-0, and never recovered.

Sweep Revenge

That's Shank half-clever cliched headline after the Boston Celtics bounced the Brooklyn Nets out of the 2022 NBA playoffs:

The Celtics got their sweep revenge, and now it feels like this could be a long, magical spring

NEW YORK — Did anybody really think Kyrie Irving and the Nets actually wanted to come back to Boston?

The Celtics finished off Brooklyn’s latter day Bums Monday, beating the Nets, 116-112, to complete a four-game sweep of a team that was favored to win the NBA championship at the start of this season. It was sweet revenge for last spring’s series loss to Brooklyn when annoying Kyrie stomped on the Celtic logo at the Garden.

All of Boston and NBA America expected Dem Bums to roll over one last time against the surging Celts. It would be not fair to say Brooklyn quit in this one, but the dysfunctional Nets fell behind by as many as 15 and never led. They go down as the Greatest Dynasty That Never Was.

DHL Dan CXXVI - Mr. Mandate

That would be Shank, of course, insisting it's a professional obligation to get vaccinated against the Wuhan Flu virus, side effects be damned:

Say hello to Tanner “Kyrie” Houck, a 25-year-old righthanded pitcher who told us last weekend that he is not vaccinated and therefore will miss his scheduled start against the Jays Tuesday.

“I think it’s a personal choice for everyone whether they get it or not,” Houck said. “I’m definitely bummed that I won’t be able to make that start.”

Wow. Bummer, man.

Kyrie Houck went on to say, “But the starts I am able to make, I plan on giving 100 percent for this team. Anything I can do for this team to help them win, I’ll do it.”

If you really feel that way, just get the shot, big fella. You are a professional athlete. You are part of a team. Maybe this would be a time to forgo your “personal freedom” and do what’s good for the team and everyone around you.

Now, that's a Boston Globe attitude for ya!

Clunker

Shank's first Celtics playoff column focuses on how bad Kevin Durant sucked in Game 2:

Kevin Durant has another clunker against Celtics, and that’s a big problem for the Nets

He has played 14 NBA seasons, which is longer than Larry Bird played. He was in the NBA when Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen were preaching Ubuntu and winning a championship. Kevin Durant has been around so long, he actually played for the Seattle SuperSonics.

But in Wednesday’s 114-107 loss to the Celtics, Durant — for the first time in his career — looked old.

“KD is in the Boston Celtics Correctional Facility,’’ tweeted Durant’s former Thunder teammate Kendrick Perkins. “The Celtics did the same damn thing they did in Game 1 and that’s get physical with KD and Punk’d him.’’

Great Celtics defense, or is it the beginning of the end here for Durant?

Careful What You Wish For

Shank's thinking about the Celtics' possible 1st round playoff opponent:

It’s easy to root for a Celtics playoff match with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and the Nets

Celtics-Nets?

Kyrie Irving coming back to Boston for the first round of the NBA playoffs?

It’s too good to be true. And it’s not certain yet. But if the Nets win their play-in game Tuesday at home against Cleveland, get ready for sage-burning Kyrie to come back to the Garden to stomp on Lucky the Leprechaun this coming weekend.

The Celtics beat the declawed Memphis Grizzlies, 139-110, in their regular-season finale in Memphis on Sunday to secure the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed for the upcoming playoffs. Memphis, which had already secured the No. 2 seed in the West, had nothing to gain by winning the game and rested four starters to give the Celtics an easy win.

It will indeed be the Brooklyn Nets in the 1st round.

DHL Dan CXXV - Goners?

Shank takes a look at the contract situations of key members of the Red Sox:

It already seems impossible to get away from Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts contract talk, and other thoughts

NEW YORK — Picked-up pieces while back in New York for the first time in 2½ years …

▪ Two days into a new baseball season and it seems impossible to get away from contract talk. Is Xander Bogaerts going to opt out at the end of this season? Is Rafael Devers gone after 2023? Why won’t the Red Sox just pony up and sign their homegrown stars to whopping contract extensions?

Fair or unfair, this is a reality as the Red Sox start their season in Yankee Stadium. It’s been hard to focus on competitive baseball issues — such as the questionable quality of Alex Cora’s starting rotation and bullpen.

Money was on everyone’s minds at Yankee Stadium for Friday’s opener. Bogaerts and Devers had acknowledged that spring negotiations with the Sox went nowhere. Both said they didn’t want to negotiate during the season. And once the game started, everything they did felt like a referendum on their worth to the franchise.

I get the feeling neither one of them will re-sign with the Sox, the way it's going now.

Thud

Shank predictably wrote about the 2022 Red Sox' 1st game of the season - because they lost:

Our daily soap opera of Boston and baseball began with a back-end thud

NEW YORK — They play almost every day. There is always a chance for quick redemption. It’s one of the reasons we love baseball and one of the reasons we are glad it is back.

The Red Sox opened their 122nd big-league season Friday with an 11-inning, 6-5 loss to the Yankees in the House That Jeter Built. On a postcard-perfect Bronx afternoon, the Sox got good work from a raft of no-name relievers before the immortal Kutter Crawford (a man with two innings of big-league experience) surrendered a game-winning single to Josh Donaldson.

That's practically mid-season form right there for Shank!

DHL Dan CXXIV - Off The Brady Bandwagon Again

Shank's a bit put off with Tom Brady's offseason antics:

Tom Brady is making it impossible to root for him anymore, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while packing for Opening Day at Yankee Stadium …

▪ Nothing is ever enough for Tom Brady. It’s not sufficient to be the GOAT, the seven-time Super Bowl champ, the most handsome, most pliable, greatest 44-year-old starting quarterback anyone has ever seen.

He also has to be CEO, general manager, and head coach of his team.

Brady erased Bruce Arians from the Tampa landscape Wednesday, orchestrating the retirement of a coach who occasionally pushed back. Arians will be replaced by Todd Bowles, an estimable football mind who no doubt will let Tom run the Buccaneers for the foreseeable future. I expect Alex Guerrero to be named Tampa’s team doctor any minute.

DHL Dan CXXIII - Show Him The Money!

Shank's latest 'effort' takes a look at Xander Bogaerts and whether he'll get a nice new contract:

Xander Bogaerts deserves a lucrative extension from the Red Sox, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while watching the NCAA basketball tournament …

▪ “We Take Care of Our Own.”

Rock bard Bruce Springsteen wrote this in 2012, and there are varying interpretations, but in the baseball spring of 2022, it’s clear that the Boston Red Sox — finally again spending like the big-market team they are — need to take care of their own as they prepare to launch the new season.

Sign Xander Bogaerts to a contract extension. As soon as possible. Lock him down from now until the end of the decade. Keep him in the fold.

Bogaerts is the Red Sox’ Patrice Bergeron. He is their Steve Grogan. He is their John Havlicek (OK, not quite that talented or impactful, but you get the idea).

Nice backhanded compliment!

A reader noted Shank's 'efforts' since the baseball work stoppage was resolved. We now have four columns in just under two weeks, for those keeping score at home.

Change Of Pace

With one signing, Shank's suddenly singing a different tune:

By signing Trevor Story, Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox finally show they’re willing to play ball

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Hallelujah. The Red Sox are behaving like a big-market ballclub again. After two-plus years of boring “payroll flexibility” and fiscal conservatism, your baseball team is back in the free-agent game.

The Sox agreed to terms with free agent shortstop Trevor Story on a reported six-year, $140 million contract. Story will fill a big hole at second base in 2022. If Sox veteran Xander Bogaerts opts out at the end of this season (a sad outcome that feels increasingly likely), Story can go back to short where he belongs.

Story is a 29-year-old two-time All-Star who hit at least 24 homers in five of his six seasons with the Rockies (he hit 11 in 59 games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season). His 72 homers in 2018 and 2019 — adjusted for Coors Field inflation — amounts to about 30 per season. He gives the Red Sox a powerhouse infield for 2022; just keep an eye on Story’s throwing elbow.

DHL Dan CXXII - Frugality

Now hitting his spring training stride, Shank discusses the recent spendthrift nature of the 2022 Boston Red Sox:

It looks as though the frugal, bottom-line Red Sox are here to stay, and other thoughts

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Picked-up pieces while loving a return to a new normal …

▪ Are you outraged about the Red Sox’ (thus far) still-life approach to player acquisition in the post-lockout spring of 2022?

Do you not care?

Or are you perhaps one of the loyal legions who think Red Sox ownership trimming costs and saving money makes the fan experience more enjoyable — as if you are some kind of profit-sharing partner with John Henry?

Barring something unexpected, it’s pretty clear that the 2022 Red Sox are the Bottom Line Red Sox. The Sox have about $20 million to spend under the luxury-tax threshold, but don’t seem interested in big-money talent, while most of their competition has been aggressive.

Swing And A Miss

While that's a theme that can be applied to some of Shank's work, the swing and a miss is on me, as Shank's been going at a good clip since the baseball lockout / labor dispute was resolved last week. Just go here and read them; regular Shank coverage will resume shortly!

Kyrie's Homecoming

The Boston Celtics beat Kyrie Irving's newest team, the Brooklyn Nets 126-120 on Sunday, and Shank writes about the warm, loving Boston reception Kyrie got:

The Garden was not a stomping ground this time for the unfiltered Kyrie Irving

Given all the history and weirdness, it seemed appropriate that Kyrie Irving made his return to the parquet floor one day after Boston’s indoor mask mandate was lifted.

Kyrie got the Rick Pitino-Manny Machado-Ulf Samuelsson reception you’d expect, but he was not the story of this day. The story of this day was Jayson Tatum (54 points) and the Celtics prevailing down the stretch of a thrilling 126-120 victory over the hot-mess Brooklyn Nets.

We saw two engaged teams go back and forth for more than 46 minutes before Tatum and the Celtics dropped the hammer. Celtic fans got their last laugh, chanting “Kyrie sucks,” when Jaylen Brown went to the line with 31.3 seconds left and victory secure.

DHL Dan CXX - Back On The Celtics Bandwagon

It's interesting what a decent sized winning streak can do to change the attitude of certain sports columnists:

It might be time to start thinking ‘why not us?’ about the Celtics, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while cursing baseball owners and players …

Except for his boss - don't want to mess up those paychecks!

▪ The Celtics are fun again. And they are good. Sunday afternoon at home against Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and the Brooklyn Nets, the Celtics have a chance to go on national television and announce their candidacy for the 2022 NBA championship.

Wait … too much too soon, you think?

Probably. But maybe not. There are no current NBA monster teams (think 1985-86 Celtics), and given what the Celtics have been doing, you can make the “Why Not Us?” case for this group.

They have a terrific starting five, play the best defense in the league, and finally seem to be buying in on new coach Ime Udoka. In the cold and dark of March — with no football or baseball — this brings out the Full Scalabrine in some of us.

Two months ago he was calling the team annoying and frustrating. Winning cures a lot of things.

Shank On Sports Labor Disputes

As the baseball lockout drags on, Shank looks back at other pro sports labor disputes:

MLB’s lockout reminds us the history of sports and labor disputes is rife with regrettable moments

Sports and labor are contradictory terms. None of us who grow up playing sports think of it as work. We loathe sports labor stories. Sports strikes and lockouts are particularly odious when front-page headlines are dominated by a two-year pandemic and a war unfolding in Europe.

America has no appetite to debate the “issues” of contention in MLB’s lockout.

In this spirit, I’m ignoring the “negotiations” in Florida while looking back at some labor squabbles that tainted other sports seasons.

▪ Let’s start with the myth of the 1972 Red Sox getting robbed because a labor dispute denied them a chance to win the American League East. If you look at ‘72′s final standings, this appears to be true. The Tigers finished 86-70, won the AL East, and went to the playoffs while the Sox finished 85-70, a half-game out, and went home (no wild card in those days).

DHL Dan CXIX - No Shifts In Baseball?

Without any major news on the pro baseball front, Shank takes a recent Fred Lynn tweet and made a column out of it:

Picked-up pieces while waiting for baseball …

▪ There’s considerable push to ban defensive shifts in baseball because, well, hitters are too stubborn to make adjustments. An excellent analysis in The Athletic found many baseball people who want to legislate where a manager can position his defenders.

I say no. There have been nine defensive players on the diamond for more than 150 years. Put ‘em anywhere you want. It’s up to the hitters to figure it out. In the words of Wee Willie Keeler, “Hit ‘em where they ain’t.”

Add Fred Lynn to the chorus of those who think today’s hitters need to stop crying and make some adjustments.

“I believe they shifted on Ted Williams and didn’t he hit .406?” Lynn tweeted this past week.

Lynn’s remark was a response to Joey Gallo’s sob story in The Athletic.

Fight Night

I was watching this very game the other night but wound up flipping channels when the shit hit the fan. Fortunately, Shank's here with a recap of things:

Juwan Howard isn’t the first coach to lose control, but he was definitely out of line

By now you’ve probably seen the video of Michigan basketball coach and former NBAer Juwan Howard getting into a postgame dustup with members of the Wisconsin basketball staff after losing to the Badgers Sunday afternoon. The lowlight of the clip unfolds when the 6-foot-9-inch Howard reaches over a pack of police officers, players, and coaches and slaps Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft upside the head.

Wow. Big-time college basketball coaches going at one another after a hard-fought game in February? Never seen anything like it … except for what happened at the Mullins Center in Amherst 28 years ago.

Local sports fans of a certain age certainly remember that one. No actual punches were landed, but those who were there won’t forget hearing enraged Temple coach John Chaney yelling, “I’ll kill you!,” as he charged UMass coach John Calipari.

“You remember that — when I see you, I’m going to kick your ass!,” Chaney hollered as he was restrained by UMass player Mike Williams while Calipari stood at the postgame podium.

Video goodnewss of the Calipari / Chaney interaction can be found here, and read on for more coach on coach dustups!

DHL Dan CXVIII - Imagination Required

With Major League Baseball still at a lockout / labor impasse phase, Shank gets creative with his latest Picked Up Pieces column:

What might have been if the Red Sox had started spring training this week, and other thoughts

Less snow shoveling for Shank, just to name one thing...

Picked-up pieces while daydreaming about the column I should be writing today . . .

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Alex Cora is confident the 2022 Red Sox are ready to take care of unfinished business.

The Sox and their brash manager almost made it to the World Series four months ago and on the first day of pitcher/catcher workouts Cora told reporters, “No more sneaky good. We are ready to be world champs in 2022. Get ready for a lot of laundry cart rides in our dugout.”

Boston’s manager wants you to know that the 2021 playoffs were not a mirage and the Red Sox — who pantsed the Yankees and Rays, then dominated the Astros over the first three games of the 2021 ALCS — are ready to take things to the next level this season.

The Only Winning Move Is Not To Play

That's Shank's opinion (one that I share) about Boston not getting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games:

Not hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics is the best thing that never happened to Boston

Billionaire Charles Dolan almost bought the Red Sox in 2001. We have seen what he and his family have done to the Knicks. We dodged a big bullet there.

Bob Kraft almost moved the Patriots to Hartford in 1998. Kraft announced that it was a done deal. Fortunately, it was only a threat, and the Patriots never left Foxborough.

The list goes on. The Red Sox almost traded for Alex Rodriguez in the winter of 2003-04. The Celtics almost re-signed Kyrie Irving three years ago.

Oh, and back in 2015, Boston actually made a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Seven months after the US Olympic Committee designated Boston as the American city best equipped to bid for the Games, we withdrew our application. The 2024 Games will take place in Paris.

At least Shank's consistent with this opinion.

DHL Dan CXVII - Please Be Patient!

The NBA season's past the halfway point and the Celtics are 3rd place in the Atlantic Division. Shank urges Celtics fans to be patient:

Celtics fans, be patient, because they’re sticking with this team, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while going big on the Rams in the Year of the Tiger …

▪ Brad Stevens was busy on the day of his first trade deadline as Celtics president of basketball ops. He shipped seven players out of town, none of whom were destined to have their numbers retired in the Garden’s rafters. Derrick White (who played three seasons of Division 2 college ball) and Daniel Theis (hello, again) were the “name” acquisitions.

None of these deals will rock Causeway Street like Dennis Johnson for Rick Robey or Charlie Scott for Paul Westphal (remember when an NBA deal was player-for-player, talent-for-talent?). There were no fireworks. In Stevens’s first year as boss, it’s clear that the Celtics are staying the course with this group, and with rookie coach Ime Udoka.

Stevens is playing the long game with this team that has tested our patience.

All together now … meh.

Brett Favre 2.0?

It seems like Tom Terrific isn't officially off the retirement list:

We just said goodbye to Tom Brady, and he’s already talking about a comeback?

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water …

Tom Brady is already talking about a comeback.

Sheesh. Does it ever stop with this guy? Is there no end to his hunger for attention? His need to be loved and admired?

C’mon, Tom. We just said goodbye and already you want to have us at hello. Couldn’t this have waited a few more weeks or months? Maybe until after the Super Bowl and the draft? Maybe after the 2022 schedule comes out? Maybe after Jimmy G leaves the Niners?

Tom lit his comeback fuse Monday on the public platform where he delivers many of his other important messages — the “Let’s Go” podcast, Brady’s annoying weekly SiriusXM show with Jim Gray.

Jim Gray's the annoying one there but god damn, I don't like this any more than Shank does, and that makes me nervous.

It's All About Boston?

Or - The One Where Shank Decides To Troll Some Readers:

Remember when Super Bowl Week was all about us and the Patriots?

Super Bowl Week used to be our week. We’d invade a host city and bring you Patriot stories for a full six days before the big game. Media Day. Radio Row. The commissioner’s annual press conference. Nonsense. Substance. Parties. Rock stars. The whole nine yards.

Covering the Patriots put us on the scene nine times between 2002 and 2019. We went to New Orleans, Houston, Jacksonville, Glendale (Ariz.), Indianapolis, Glendale again, Houston, Minneapolis, and Atlanta. We saw the St. Louis Rams in New Orleans and the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta. The Patriots beat both Carolina and Atlanta in Houston, and lost to the Giants in both Arizona and Indy.

DHL Dan CLXIX - Explosive Issues

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has launched a lawsuit against the NFL and three specific teams, and Shank has some thoughts on it:

Brian Flores shined light on two explosive NFL issues — race and tanking — and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while missing Truck Day …

▪ The Brian Flores lawsuit is bad news for the NFL on multiple levels. It’s clear that the Shield’s Rooney Rule is a farce and that Black coaches have a legit gripe; they are not getting due respect or consideration from NFL owners.

The fat-fingered Bill Belichick text in which Hoodie congratulated the wrong Brian and revealed the Giants had already decided on Brian Daboll was appalling. Flores handled Bill’s blunder with grace, then submitted to a charade interview with the Giants.

Flores has demonstrated toughness, fearlessness, and competence. As head coach of the Dolphins, he was 4-2 against Belichick and 19-14 in his last two seasons. This gets you fired?

The Tom Brady Retirement Column

Dear Tom:

Remember all those negative columns I wrote about you during Deflategate (and others) and I wound up calling you a cheatin' bastard?

We're good now, right?

Thanks,

Your Pal Shank

Tom Brady goes down as the greatest athlete in the storied history of Boston sports

Old-timers (like myself) still carry a torch for the celebrated likes of Bill Russell, Ted Williams, and Bobby Orr. But the truth is that Tom Brady clinched the trophy three years ago when he won his sixth Super Bowl for the Patriots at the age of 41.

Brady, who announced his retirement Tuesday morning, goes down as the greatest athlete in the long, storied history of Boston sports.

Russell forever will be our most prodigious winner: 11 championships in 13 seasons. Teddy Ballgame was the greatest hitter who ever lived. Orr is the best to ever lace up skates.

But Tom Brady is Boston’s Zeus … A-No. 1 … Top of the List … King of the Hill … Capo di Tutti Capi of all who played sports for New England teams.

DHL Dan CLXVIII - Super Bowl Matchups, Etc.

Shank's latest Picked Up Pieces column looks at the AFC & NFC championship games:

Let’s take a closer look at each potential Super Bowl matchup, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while buying a gridiron field sheet cake to share with the grandkids during Sunday’s conference championship games . . .

▪ The Chiefs are favored over the Bengals in the afternoon game and wise guys like the Rams over the Niners in the nightcap. By late Sunday night, we’ll have the Super Bowl matchup.

Some potential themes:

Chiefs-Niners — A rematch of KC’s 31-20 victory in Hard Rock Stadium two years ago. The Chiefs would be the first team to make it to three straight Super Bowls since . . . the 2016-18 Patriots. It would be a national unveiling for San Francisco superstar Deebo Samuel and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes’s third Super Bowl after four consecutive AFC Championship games appearances (Brady-esque). In New England, this game would be all about Jimmy G.

Bengals-Rams — A chance to see if Joe Burrow can do his Red Auerbach cigar thing at SoFi Stadium Feb. 13. Marvin Lewis could make the ceremonial coin flip before the game. Matthew Stafford can show the world what he can do after 12 years in Lions jail.

The Roger Clemens No Hall Of Fame Column

Shank sort of laments Roger Clemens' non-passage into the Baseball Hall of Fame:

Numerically, Clemens is one of the top 10 pitchers of all time. He won seven Cy Young Awards, seven ERA titles, and 354 games. He was MVP of the American League when he went 24-4 with the ‘86 Red Sox. He led his teams to six pennants and two World Series wins. He won 192 games for the Red Sox, tied for most in club history with Cy Young.

Clemens didn’t look suspicious until after he left Boston for Toronto. After going 40-39 over the last four years of his Sox career, he went to the Blue Jays and won back-to-back Cy Young Awards. He pitched ridiculously well into his 40s. Too well, maybe. Clemens went 18-4 with Houston at the age of 41, then compiled a 1.87 ERA when he was 42.

Everything went south for Clemens when his onetime trainer Brian McNamee cooperated with Senator George Mitchell’s investigation into baseball. Clemens’s name appeared 82 times in the infamous Mitchell Report. Former teammate Andy Pettitte also flipped on Clemens.

What's Old Is New Again - II

Longtime fans of the DSW site will remember the raw nastiness that Shank helped to generate (and the equally nasty rejoinders from here and elsewhere). It's the Internet's corrolay to Newton's First Law, which Shank may or may not be familiar with. Roughly stated - for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. It's been pointed out numerous times on this site the order of precedence, which I'll dub Shank's First Law; if purposely inflammatory columns are published, there will be purposefully inflammatory reactions to the column.

This is why websites like Bob Ryan Watch, Chris Gasper Watch, Chad Finn Watch, Alex Speier Watch, etc. do not exist.

So imagine my surprise when a friend pointed out that even after all of these years of DSW being in existence, there are still pockets of vitriol for the CHB (that's Carl Everett's nickname for Shank, or Curly Haired Boyfriend) out there?

Facebook Group - Dan Shaughnessy, Insufferable Douchebag

The David Ortiz Hall Of Fame Column

Or - The One Where Shank Belatedly Recasts His Doubts About Some Players In The Steroid Era:

David Ortiz’s election seems to be another sign of a shift in Hall of Fame voting philosophy

I'll spoil part of the fun - unlike previous years, Shank does not disclose his own 'voting philosophy' this time around. This helps to not explain his own potential 'shift' in voting philosophy.

History was made Tuesday night, as Barry Bonds — one of the top five sluggers who ever lived — and Roger Clemens — one of the top five pitchers who ever lived — were rejected by Baseball Hall of Fame voters for a 10th and final time and will be removed from the baseball writers’ ballot forever. Bonds and Clemens, neither of whom ever failed a drug test, presumably were bounced because both were suspected of PED use in the second half of their careers.

Meanwhile, David Ortiz, one of the great clutch hitters of all time and a certified Boston icon — and a player whose name was on a list of those who did test positive for PEDs (commissioner Rob Manfred later cast doubt about the test, which also fingered Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, and Alex Rodriguez) — was elected in his first year of eligibility. Ortiz will be enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y., July 24.

Welcome to the wild and wacky world of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Everybody loves Big Papi (except for the author of this column! - ed), including a commissioner desperately in need of the good publicity that certainly will accompany the induction of baseball’s Santa Claus. Ortiz is the only PED suspect who ever got a presidential pardon from the commissioner of baseball. But even hard-core Red Sox fans must see that Ortiz’s career curve is curious.

These are the facts: Ortiz’s name and age changed while he was in the minors. In 1996, when Ortiz was traded by the Mariners to the Twins, a Minnesota newspaper reported his weight as 190 pounds.

He was released by the Twins at the age of 27, then blossomed into an elite slugger in Boston in 2003, when the Sox listed him at 230 pounds. The 2003 season was also the year in which Ortiz tested positive for PEDs, according to the New York Times, along with Manny, Sosa, and A-Rod.

If you look at the picture in the Globe article (and others), you'd likely chalk up a lot of the weight gain to the area around his stomach.

Second - it's been pointed out many, many years ago by my co-bloggers Mike B. and David M. that most baseball writers (including Shank) looked the other way during the whole PED / steriod era, not to mention Shank's amply demonstrated hostility towards Ortiz, and it's my contention this retroactive denial of entry to all suspected PED users by these sportswriters is just ass covering. Let the worthy ones in and slap asterisks next to their names, if that's how we move on from this stuff.

DHL Dan CLXVII - Ten Years After

One of Shank's favorite subjects is the 2011 Boston Red Sox, AKA the 'Chicken & Beer' group. He's probably done a half dozen columns about them and had dropped numerous references to the group in his other columns since that time. Now we can add some jet fuel to that fire, courtesy of forner Red Sox consultant Bill James:

Is there anything to the cryptic criticism from Bill James on the 2011 Red Sox, and other thoughts

We know Shank'll do his best to make that case.

Picked-up pieces while pondering the truly unbelievable career of David Ortiz . . .

▪ Here’s a post-holiday gift for Red Sox fans — a parlor game in which you sit around drinking with friends and try to identify the racists, potheads, criminals, drunks, and all-around crazies on the 2011 Red Sox. That team, you may remember, delivered the greatest collapse in baseball history with a 7-20 September that eliminated them from what appeared a certain playoff spot.

You have Bill James to thank for this gift.

Stat Man James retired from the Sox with four championship rings in October 2019 after serving as a team consultant for 17 seasons. He was listed on the team masthead above “instructors” Jim Rice and Luis Tiant.

James still has a pay-subscription website and he recently made some strong comments about the role of team chemistry regarding the ‘11 Sox.

James wrote (in part) " . . . The [2011] team was split 15 ways, split between pitchers and position players, split between the super-serious guys and the fun-loving guys, split between the drinkers and the pot smokers. A couple of players were suspected of being . . . um insufficiently committed to good relations between the races. One guy who had a great year for us was really kind of a criminal; another guy was just nuts. One guy was just all in for himself. Too many people ran their mouths to the press and to one another. Most everybody on the team had a list of 10 teammates that he couldn’t stand . . . If anybody ever tried to tell you that team chemistry doesn’t matter, man, they should have been there.”

Read on for more mudslinging, their team manager Terry Francoa basically saying it's bullshit, and much more!

A Tale Of Two Snow Games

Today is the 20th anniversary of the New England Patriots / Oakland Raiders playoff game, which has a few nicknames. Here's Shank (who was at that game):

Latest drive home ever. Pulled into driveway at 3 am and Sunday Globe with photo and page 1 story plopped on snowy porch 3 hours later. A miracle. https://t.co/VxwcGVdz9l

— Dan Shaughnessy (@Dan_Shaughnessy) January 19, 2022

And now for my sad story. I had two buddies going to the game with a third ticket and I turned them down. I was then watching the game alone at my house, saw Brady fumble lose the ball, and promptly went to bed when it happened, thinking it was a fumble. Imagine my surprise the next morning!

The other two 'no, thanks' I wish I had a chance to do over again - not going to the Channel for Roy Orbison's last show and the same for the Foo Fighters first tour, playing on Lansdowne Street.