DHL Dan CCLXIX - Nail Biter

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank's happy that the Red Sox are in the playoff hunt:

Thanks to the Red Sox’ nailbiter of a playoff chase, this is our best September in a while, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while checking last night’s baseball scores every morning . . .

⋅ It’s our best September in a while. The weather’s been spectacular and those of us who consider daily box scores one of the major food groups search for results as soon as we get out of bed.

Are the Sox actually going to blow this thing? How’d the Yankees do last night? Will Houston or Seattle win the AL West? Are the billion-dollar Mets going off a cliff? Could Rafael Devers and the Giants actually make it to the postseason?

This isn’t a real pennant race like the Red Sox gave us in the pre-wild-card days, but Rob Manfred’s contrived, inclusive playoff system is working for me in 2025. Today, I’m officially thanking Sox owners for finally making good on their annual offseason pledge to play “meaningful games” in late September and October. It’s been too long and we’ve tolerated too many phony NESN moments hyping the illusion of contention when we knew the Sox had no chance to qualify for MLB’s annual October bakeoff.

This fall is different. The ’25 Red Sox are the proverbial little girl with the curl. When they are good they are very good, and when they are bad they are horrid.

So, no 'illusion of contention' this year, Shank?

Kick Start

After yesterday's thrilling 33-27 win at Miami, Shank wonders if that game's the start of something good for the New England Patriots:

Mike Vrabel’s Patriots may have started a return to good fortunes at, of all places, the Hard Luck at Hard Rock Stadium

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Years from now, maybe this will be where it all began.

Maybe the Patriots will be good again and folks will point to a hot and humid Sunday when they finally threw off the Hard Luck at Hard Rock Stadium, refused to fold, and got a few breaks in a 33-27 road win vs. the Dolphins.

The lasting video clip will be the one of Mike Vrabel attempting to run stride for stride with 27-year-old burner Antonio Gibson while the kick returner was winning the game with a 90-yard dash to daylight, seconds after the Pats had allowed a 74-yard punt return which had all of Patriot Nation moaning, “Here we go, again.”

“We had just given up the punt return, but then Gibby answered,” said Vrabel, who no doubt submitted his best 40-time since he was a rookie linebacker for the Steelers in 1997. “I felt like we were willing to get into a street fight. We had a little lull, but we didn’t pack it up and quit.”

Street fight indeed. At times this looked like two teetering drunks trying to slug it out in the Seaport after last call. Vrabel’s first win as Patriots head coach was a sloppy 60 minutes between two NFL wannabes, but it was wildly entertaining.

DHL Dan CCLXVIII - Fair Or Unfair

Seeing this is a column from Shank, I'll go with unfair:

Fair or unfair, the pressure is quickly mounting on Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces en route to a “big game” for the Patriots in Miami . . .

⋅ Fair or unfair, it feels like every Patriots game now is a referendum on second-year quarterback Drake Maye.

Love the Drake? Hate the Drake?

Drake is the next Drew Bledsoe. Swell.

Drake is the next Mac Jones. Boo.

Maye just turned 23. He has played only 14 NFL games, starting 13. Only once has he won a game in which he started and finished (19-3, at Chicago in November).

He is earnest, athletic, has three older brothers who are all athletes, and was anointed our franchise quarterback when the Patriots made him the third pick of the 2024 NFL Draft.

We know we have to be patient with any young NFL quarterback not named Tom Brady. We remember Bledsoe losing eight of his first nine games in 1993, then finishing his rookie season with four straight wins and taking the Patriots to the playoffs (a 20-13 loss to Bill Belichick’s Browns) in his second. Two years later, Bledsoe had the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

So Predictable!

Yesterday, I mentioned it would take Shank a few losses by the New England Patriots for him to start ripping the team. Boy, was I wrong!

Patriots’ opener was supposed to supply some answers but instead left questions about Drake Maye

FOXBOROUGH — Can we blame this on Bill Belichick, too?

Pete Carroll and the Las Vegas Raiders beat the Patriots, 20-13, Sunday, in New England’s much-anticipated season opener at Gillette.

It rained all afternoon. Top draft pick Will Campbell got beat on a couple of bull rushes and committed a crushing pre-snap penalty late in the fourth. Mike Vrabel’s decision to punt from near midfield, down by 10 with 4:53 left, was right out of the Joe Judge-Matt Patricia playbook. New England generated virtually zero offense in the second half.

Oh, and after the Pats took a 10-7 halftime lead, second-year quarterback Drake Maye threw an interception that tipped everything in the Raiders’ favor early in the second half.

Let’s blame the Hoodie. Relations between the Krafts and the Belichicks are at an all-time low, and blaming Bill for everything always will be easier than swallowing the notion that this might be another long, sad football autumn in New England.

Next week's game against the Miami Dolphins (where they've tended to lose in recent history) will be a barometer for more Patriots bashing by Shank, who doesn't mind doubling his weekly column output if he can continue to take a proxy dump on Robert Kraft.

DHL Dan CCLXVII - Anticipation

In Friday's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank talks up the New England Patriots after a few years in the wilderness:

There probably hasn’t been this much anticipation for a Patriots game since Tom Brady left, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while noting that Tommy Cutlets wears the No. 16 for the Patriots once worn by Scott Zolak . . .

⋅ The NFL season is finally here and New England waits breathlessly for the beginning of the Mike Vrabel era, when the Patriots and Raiders kick off at 1 p.m. Sunday at Gillette.

Patriots Nation is agog. There probably hasn’t been this much anticipation since Tom Brady prepped for what would end up being his final Patriots game: a 20-13 playoff loss to Vrabel’s Titans in January 2020.

A lot of stuff has happened to the Patriots since that day. Most of it bad.

Brady bolted for Tampa in the middle of the pandemic and Patriots Nation subsequently endured a chorus line of QB castaways, wannabes, and never weres: Cam Newton, Mac Jones, Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer, Bailey Zappe, Jacoby Brissett, and Joe Milton.

...

Those were the good old days . . . when the Patriots ruled the football world . . . when Wiggy would say, “They hate us cuz they ain’t us!"

It was great then. It could be great again. And Patriots Nation believes it’ll start this weekend against the Raiders at Gillette.

It's subtle, but still there - set up the team with high expectations so he can rip them down the road when they lose a few games.

The Class of 2029

Shank welcomes the college students who are new to Boston:

New to town, college students? Here’s a few suggestions to assure you’re getting the full Boston sports experience.

Welcome to Boston, college class of 2029. Most of you are scheduled to be here for the next four years and some of you might stick around considerably longer. Maybe forever.

The last week, we’ve seen your out-of-state license plates on the Mass. Pike and Storrow Drive: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Michigan. Hope you’re comfy in your new digs and enjoying the stimulus and fast-paced living of our cities and suburbs. Keep your heads up and ears open.

Warning: There’s a chance you’re going to become a Boston sports fan. Don’t be surprised if you adopt the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins while you’re studying and playing in your college homestead.

It happens all the time. Out-of-towners live the Fenway, Gillette, and Garden experience and carry it into adulthood. We see (and hear) them when the Sox, Pats, C’s, and B’s play in Baltimore, Charlotte, Tampa, and Texas. Boston teams are supported at venues across America and much of it comes from folks who fell in love when they lived and studied here from the ages of 18-22.

DHL Dan CCLXVI - Shots Fired

In this weeks picked Up Pieces column, Shank looks at the bad blood between Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick:

The Robert Kraft-Bill Belichick divorce is as messy as any in our local sports scene, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while waiting for Bill Belichick’s NCAA debut on Labor Day evening . . .

⋅ The NFL doesn’t start until the Cowboys play the Eagles on Thursday in Philly. Meanwhile, there’s a holiday weekend college football smorgasbord, capped with ESPN’s Monday night showcase: TCU at North Carolina — Belichick’s first game on the sideline since a 17-3 loss to the Jets at Gillette Stadium on Jan. 7, 2024.

It often ends badly with star coaches and athletes around here. Remember Roger Clemens vs. Dan Duquette? Rick Pitino vs. The Fellowship of the Miserable? Terry Francona vs. Chicken and Beer? Rafael Devers vs. Red Sox leadership?

Belichick vs. Bob Kraft ranks high on our list of local sports’ harsh divorces.

A few days after Belichick’s final Foxborough moment, we got the phony photo-op with the owner putting his arm around Bill and claiming their breakup was “mutual.” Belichick played along, calling his firing “a day of gratitude and celebration.”

That was the end of the Kraft-Belichick decorum. Since then it’s been a series of heat-seeking salvos launched across multiple platforms — a full-fury-fusillade worthy of Gavin Newsom vs. Donald Trump, Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar, and/or Schilling vs. Shaughnessy.

DHL Dan CCLXV - Milking It

In last week's Picked Up Pieces column (sorry!), Shank looks at the ways sports teams try and Hoover even more money from the fan base:

Who knows, the real Boston sports media experience may soon be for sale, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wondering why the head of the Tom Brady statue is so small . . .

⋅ How much would you pay to hang out with real sports reporters after a Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins or Celtics game?

Maybe we’ll soon find out. Boston’s teams seem to be missing out on a great opportunity for a new revenue stream.

This came to my attention this past week when the Associated Press reported that the Oklahoma Sooners football program is selling a “fan experience package” that includes access to postgame media interviews. For a mere $692.11, two Sooner fans can hang with handsome media types and observe Nixonian-level stonewalling as reporters try to uncover secrets of Cover-2 defenses and lower-body injuries.

Yikes. Hard to believe it’s come to this, but in the new world order of transfer portals and NIL money, big-time college programs are looking for new ways to generate cash.

Selling “Sooner Magic Memories,” Oklahoma’s ad reads, “Get exclusive postgame media access for you and one guest and see where real-time reactions unfold. Hear OU coaches and players address reporters moments after the final whistle.”

An idea so asinine, I hope it fails miserably.

DHL Dan CCLXIV - Happy Birthday, Cooz!

In this week's Picked Up Pieces, column, Shank celebrates Bob Cousy's 97th birthday:

Celtics legend Bob Cousy talks turning 97, the Green without Jayson Tatum, Caitlin Clark and the WNBA, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wondering if I can see downtown Providence if I stand on the head of Tom Brady’s statue at Gillette . . .

⋅ Bob Cousy turned 97 Saturday.

That doesn’t stop him from hanging out with his longtime friends for dinner, cocktails, and conversation every Thursday night in Worcester.

“We’ve been doing it for over 30 years,” says Cousy. “We solve all the problems of the world. And I’m not even the oldest member. Two weeks ago, we had a cake for my accountant, who’s two weeks older than I am.”

Cooz’s Thursday ritual includes a shrimp cocktail, a cup of chowder, and a couple of Beefeaters on the rocks with a twist.

“Occasionally, I’ll stray and have a third, but my daughter, Ticia, she keeps an eye on me from the next table.”

Musings From Cooperstown

Earlier this week Shank took a trip to upstate New York:

Baseball’s split from its past feels more severe than previous shifts, and more observations from Cooperstown

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Old people think things were better in the old days. Young people like the way things are. It’s the natural order of life.

The Baseball Hall of Fame’s Induction Weekend brought this point home as I prowled the inner sanctum of the Hall’s plaque gallery, plus the ancient Otesaga Hotel where Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson were enshrined as the first Hall class in 1936.

Bet those hardball legends had quarrels with the way the game was being played at the time. Crusty old-timers always insist things were better in their day. Nap Lajoie probably told Ruth and Co. that the game was better in the 19th century, when men were men.

All that said, the current version of this universal push-pull is truly different. In the summer of 2025, baseball is largely unrecognizable to old-time greats and, even worse, today’s Hall of Famers increasingly feel estranged from the people who run the game. Analytics and new methods of teaching have removed the endearing layer of tutelage that’s always connected the sport.

DHL Dan CCLXIII - Standing Pat

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank's all over the Red Sox for doing jack shit at the trading deadline:

The Red Sox’ trade deadline inaction speaks louder than words, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while watching the Red Sox tread water at the trade deadline again . . .

⋅ The Sox treat loyal fans like chumps. They take them for granted. They continue to gaslight Red Sox Nation, making pledges about playing meaningful games in September and October, but deep down they value payroll flexibility and controllable contracts over winning the World Series.

This is the way it’s been since 2018, and nothing changed Thursday when the Sox had a chance to go all-in to support an interesting and exciting team that has put itself in position to make a serious playoff run.

Fans make an emotional investment in this team, but management doesn’t reciprocate. It’s been this way for 6½ seasons and it could not be more obvious. Actions speak louder than words. The Sox talk full throttle, then remain stalled in neutral.

Apologists and folks who’ve stopped paying attention cite “four World Series in this century,” enabling Boston ownership to perpetuate this farce.

DHL Dan CCLXII - High Hopes

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank's feel good team this week is... the New England Patriots?

Despite back-to-back 4-13 seasons, the Patriots are somehow the feel-good team of New England, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces on the road to Cooperstown …

⋅ The Patriots are coming off back-to-back 4-13 seasons. They’re working with their third head coach in three seasons and have a second-year quarterback with only 13 NFL games under his belt. They haven’t won a playoff game since Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and Ernie Adams copped Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta 6½ years ago.

And yet, they are the feel-good team of our traditionally cynical sports region.

True fact.

The Bruins are a mess and Spoked-B fans are calling for the heads of Cam Neely and Don Sweeney.

The Celtics won a championship a little more than a year ago, but Jayson Tatum is out for the year, two starters have been traded, another pair of regulars left via free agency, and the team is expected to sink to the middle of the Eastern Conference. The NBA’s dreaded “second apron” collective bargaining penalties have done more damage to the Green franchise than anything since John Y. Brown. Now Marcus Smart is a Laker. Mercy!

The interesting-but-annoying Red Sox gave us a nice summer lift with a Tomato-Can-infused 10-game winning streak, but they started their post-All-Star break by losing 4 of 6 to real teams, and now face the trade deadline. The Sox have not played winning baseball after the deadline since 2018. What other team can lose in extra innings without letting the opponent put a ball in play?

Shank sure loved the Red Sox... for an entire week!

DHL Dan CCLXI - Hope Springs Eternal

In this week's Picked up Pieces column, Shank reflects on the recent ten game winning streak by the Red Sox:

The Red Sox’ long winning streak could be a clear indication that this season will indeed be memorable, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while remembering the words of Crash Davis, who said, “A player on a streak has to respect the streak. You know why? Because they don’t happen very often.”

⋅ The Red Sox’ 10-game winning streak leading into the All-Star break is a thing of beauty that should be embraced, celebrated, and respected. Streaks like this don’t happen very often.

The streak ended Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field when the Sox were stuffed by the Chicago Cubs, 4-1. But the good news is that, Sox winning streaks of 10 or more games have unfolded during some of the team’s most successful and memorable seasons.

The 2018 Sox, managed by Alex Cora, won 10 straight en route to 119 wins and the franchise’s most recent world championship. That’s when general manager Dave Dombrowski had an unlimited budget, building a team that won 108 regular-season games, then went 11-3 in the postseason, wiping out the Dodgers in a five-game World Series. It might be the greatest Red Sox team of all time.

DHL Dan CCLX - The Trump Bump?

In this week's picked up Pieces column, Shank can't help but notice a possible cause and effect:

After a visit to the White House, the Red Sox have been in command, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while taking the temperature of your white-hot Boston Red Sox . . .

Is this it? Are the Red Sox finally ready to take flight? After winning six straight against tomato cans Washington and Colorado, the Sox just won three consecutive one-run games against the estimable Tampa Rays, winning Saturday in a 2-hour-8-minute, 100-pitch, 1-0 classic delivered by All-Star ace Garret Crochet.

I know this much. The Red Sox haven’t lost since a bunch of players visited with President Trump in the Oval Office a week ago Thursday. The Sox go into Sunday’s series finale with nine straight wins — their longest streak in four years — winners of 11 of 12 and are a season-high seven games over .500. They are 23-11 since June 3.

So. Much. Winning.

DHL Dan CCLIX - Talent Needed

Shank's weekly column longs for the return of Red Auerbach and his renowed trading prowess:

Longing for good old days of Celtics trades for championship-caliber talent, not payroll flexibility, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while cursing the first person who uttered “payroll flexibility” …

Remember way back in June 1983 when Red Auerbach traded lumbering center Rick Robey to the Phoenix Suns for controversial guard Dennis Johnson? That was in the good old days when Red’s cigar was just a cigar and an NBA trade was just a trade — a debatable swap of talents.

I miss those days. Sure, there were often forgettable draft picks tossed into the deals, and occasionally some petty cash changed hands, but for the most part it was talent for talent and fans enjoyed making a case that the Celtics had maybe given up too much or (more likely with Red) won the deal and acquired a better player who’d help win another banner. Hello, DJ.

We loved it. Through the years, the Celtics traded Paul Westphal for Charlie Scott, Cedric Maxwell for Bill Walton, and let’s not forget Red’s Mormon grandson, Danny Ainge, swapping Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and two future first-rounders for some guy named Kevin Garnett in 2007. A horse for five ponies and two picks. It was beautiful. It was sports. It was fun.

DHL Dan CCLVIII - No Sale

In the weekly picked Up Pieces column, Shank's not buying the reason the Red Sox got rid of Rafael Devers last week:

Red Sox are trying to sell that Devers trade was in ‘best interest’ of team. Sorry, not buying, and other thoughts.

Picked-up pieces while thinking that Florida’s Paul Maurice can coach my team any day . . .

⋅ Feel better, Red Sox fans? Happy that your team gave away the team’s best hitter in exchange for nothing that will help this year, other than $254 million in payroll relief for ownership?

Of course you are. Because you’re convinced Devers was selfish and a bad teammate. Not willing to pick up a glove to help the team. He was fat. He wouldn’t do interviews in English. Even management shill Big Papi said Devers is an ungrateful lout. Oh, and did you hear that Devers was poisoning the clubhouse, telling a good kid such as Kristian Campbell not to work out at first base to help the team?

Devers had to go. That’s what the Red Sox want you to believe.

Why can't it be both?

Go West, Young Man

Shank weighs in on yesterday's Rafael Devers trade to the San Francisco Giants:

In dealing Rafael Devers, the Red Sox cash in their good vibes and once again trade their present for the future

This is not going to play well in Red Sox Nation.

It’s shocking.

And demoralizing.

The suddenly surging Red Sox swept the Yankees at Fenway on Sunday afternoon for their fifth straight win, got on a plane to Seattle for a nine-game West Coast trip, then traded franchise face Rafael Devers to the Giants for mediocre pitchers Kyle Harrison (1-1, 4.56 ERA) and Jordan Hicks (1-5, 6.47), plus two far-away prospects.

It’s a big bowl of bad for Boston baseball. The Red Sox are once again saving money and asking their paying population to tolerate a mediocre present in hopes of a better future.

Back then, No thanks.

My only rejoinder - didn't the Red Sox win in 2004 after they traded Nomar Garciaparra in a similar midseason trade? The only difference here - Shank led the bandwagon to run Nomar out of town.

DHL Dan CCLVII - Happy Father's Day

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank highlights the Red Sox's most recent call-up to the big leagues:

After Roman Anthony’s debut, it’s an especially happy Father’s Day for dad Tony, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while applauding NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran for asking Stefon Diggs, “What was in the bag?” . . .

Happy Father’s Day, Tony Anthony, father of Red Sox rookie Roman Anthony.

Along with Roman’s older siblings, Anthony and Lia, Tony and Lori Anthony have been enjoying our town since they arrived from Florida just in time for their son’s first big league hit, a two-run double against the Rays Tuesday night at Fenway Park. They’ve enjoyed Roman’s first week at Fenway with family and friends.

It must be interesting when Tony makes North End dinner reservations for Anthony Anthony.

Roman Anthony’s great-grandfather, father, and brother are all Anthony Anthony.

“Everybody jokes about it,” said Tony Anthony, a 61-year-old money manager from West Palm Beach. “That was my dad’s dad’s name and he died before I was born. I went to Catholic schools and was always teased about it, but I was a big kid and could handle myself. When my wife got pregnant with our first, we had no plans on naming him Anthony, but we couldn’t agree on another name, and ultimately my wife wanted to name him Anthony so we did. That’s the story.”

DHL Dan CCLVI - It Was A Bad Call, Ripley

In this week's Picked Up Pieces column, Shank gives us a little mea culpa:

Eight years later it’s clear he made the wrong call on Benintendi vs. Judge, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while wondering why Boston’s DOGE Driveline nerds don’t teach Red Sox players any fundamentals . . .

⋅ Eight years ago, Yankee Aaron Judge and Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi were the two best rookies in the American League. Judge was on his way to Rookie of the Year, but the Red Sox had the better team — remember those days? — and I couldn’t help but notice that Benintendi played better than Judge in the first 15 games between the Sox and Bombers that season.

And so in the Aug. 21, 2017, Globe, I wrote a column on the two rookies, citing other Red Sox-Yankees individual rivalries such as Ted Williams vs. Joe DiMaggio, Carlton Fisk vs. Thurman Munson, Wade Boggs vs. Don Mattingly, and Nomar Garciaparra vs. Derek Jeter.

Which guy would you rather have on your team for the next 15 seasons?“

DHL Dan CCLV - No Urgency

With the Boston Red Sox hitting the skids in recent games, Shank wonders if manager Alex Cora's lost his sense of urgency:

Has manager Alex Cora lost a sense of urgency despite the struggles of his Red Sox, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while watching the Red Sox circle the drain . . .

⋅ Did the reeling Red Sox “ruin our summer” before we even got to June?

With the Celtics, Bruins, and Patriots out of season, the Red Sox are all we have left, and they’ve been a tough watch since the Celtics were bounced from the playoffs. Boston’s starting pitching has been abysmal and the sub-.500 Sox were in fourth place after breaking a five-game losing streak on Friday, just 6-15 in one-run games.

“I know, I know, I know,” manager Alex Cora said with a sigh when we spoke over the telephone during Thursday’s off day. “I’ve been here since 2018. I know how it works. We’ve been inconsistent for years . . . We haven’t been good the last four years. I understand it’s still early, but it’s not early. I get that.

“Honestly, you look at our season, close games and one-run games. In my career I’ve never been in a season like this. So close, but so far. I keep saying, ‘When are we going to get our ass kicked or kick somebody’s ass?’ Every game is a one-run game and then it gets to the bullpen and [expletive] happens.”

Sounds like he's identified one problem area...