Author: Dave Long

The Big Story: It was the return of Mookie Betts at Fenway. He picked up right where he left off by going 7-15 with two doubles, a homer, four RBI and five runs scored.

Sports101: Name the two players who share the single-season record for hitting the most home runs in September.

Thumbs Up – Fenway Faithful: For the well-earned warm welcome back those on hand gave to Betts on Friday.

News Item – Pundits Drool Over Douglas and Boutte:It’s weird to have pundits drooling over a rookie wide receiver this late into Patriots camp. Let alone over two of them. But many still are over Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte. And some of the comments are over the top. Like Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal saying he sees flashes of Tyreek Hill in Douglas, while ESPN’s Ryan Clark says Boutee could be the “steal” of the entire draft if he re-finds the Top 10 level talent he took to LSU when they recruited him. But I’m a “believe it when I see it” type over hype from a pretty dismal camp overall. The most telling thing will be seeing what role each has in the game plan in Week 1 vs. Philly. That will tell you what the coaches think of them.

The Numbers:

2–wins needed by Cardinals hurler Adam Wainwright to reach 200 for his career as he enters September, which doesn’t seem too tough, except at 41 he’s 3-9 with an ERA of 8.67 so it’s likely now or never for him.

24–season-high number of hits for the Red Sox in Thursday’s 17-1 skunking of Houston when they had six doubles and three homers as the Astros used catcher Martín Maldonado to pitch the final two innings.

50–doublesDodgers slugger Freddie Freeman already has in 2023 after getting three more at Fenway last weekend to keep him on pace to be the first player to get 60 in a season since Famers Charlie Gehringer (60) and Ducky Medwick (64) last did it in 1936.

‘Of the Week’ Awards

Defensive Play of the Week – GarrettWhitlock: It goes to the heads-up play made by the Sox reliever, the kind of play pitchers never make — a running, sliding on his back catch of a foul ball 30 feet behind home plate after catcher Connor Wong became entangled with the batter at home plate. It kept Houston at bay in an eventual 7-5 win in 10 innings on Wednesday.

Lead-off Hitter of the Week – Alex Verdugo:For doing what no Red Sox player and only two others in history have done: leading off three straight games with homers, vs. Houston and L.A. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Random Thoughts:

Granted the offensive line play was just awful, but after a 30-of-51 for 253 yards pre-season, who still thinks Bailey Zappe should be the Pats’ starting QB?

I’m glad the lovable, Casey Stengel-led 1962 Mets will remain the most hapless team in baseball history. Oakland would have to finish 1-31 and even they’re not that bad.

Sports 101 Answer:The all-time one-season September home run champs are Babe Ruth and Albert Belle with 17. Ruth did it 1927 on his way to hitting a then record 60, while Belle did it as he closed out his spectacular 1995 season when he became the first player in history to have 50 doubles and 50 homers in the same season.

Final Thought: Two days ago was the 61st anniversary of the first pro game I ever went to. It was a thrilling day that started with the rarity of me spending half a day at my dad’s office in Manhattan, then it was a subway ride up to the Bronx and Yankee Stadium.

The first vivid memory was the vibrant color bursting out at us as we left the darkness of the tunnel to see the field. It was like when The Wizard of Oz goes from black and white to color as Dorothy opens the cabin door after landing in Oz and the color just jumps out at you.

My favorite guy, Mickey Mantle, had two hits and made a nice shoestring catch in center. The only downside was Cleveland won 3-2 after Terry Francona’s father, the original Tito, knocked in the winning runs with a two-run single during a game the box score reminds me only took 2:33 to play.

I also saw something that day I haven’t seen since. It was when Cleveland right-hander Gary Bell threw an overhand curveball to pinch hitter Yogi Berra that bounced a good 6 feet in front of the plate. I can still see how calm Yogi was patiently staying on the ball before ripping a line drive over the second baseman’s head into right for a single with a picture-perfect level swing after it bounced up belt-high right off the ground.

A glorious day.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story: This weekend brings the return of Mookie Betts to Fenway Park for what should be a warm welcome back. There will also be a barrage of “how could they have let him go?” stories, all of which will hit home because he was that good.

Sports 101: With Aaron Rodgers taking a jet to New York, the Packers won’t have a Hall of Famer over center for the first time since Brett Favre took over in 1992. So who shared the QBs before “Fav-RA”?

Thumbs Up – David Krejci: To the retiring Krejci for the great moments he helped provide in his 16 years as a Boston Bruin.

News Item – Missed Opportunity: If the Red Sox are eliminated from wild card contention they can lay the blame on their record against the have-nots. Most notably when they came away from last week’s 10-game stretch with bottom-dwellers KC, Detroit and Washington with just four wins, which followed getting blown out by Toronto at home in three straight losses. That adds to 4-9 in the most crucial and schedule-ly favorable stretch of the season.

Then came a sweep of the last-place Yankees for the oh so consistent Sox.

All of which left them exactly where they were before the salivating 16-game stretch started — 3.5 back of Toronto.

News Item – J.D. Martinez vs. Justin Turner: The Sox and Dodgers essentially traded DH’s last winter when Martinez and Turner signed with each other’s former team as free agents. With L.A. here this weekend let’s compare to see who got the better end of the deal. JD’s numbers are first, JT’s second. At-Bats: 390 – 430 Runs: 49 – 72. Home Runs: 25 – 20. RBI: 78 – 79. Total Bases: 192 – 210. BA: .256 – .288. Contract in Millions: $10.0 for Martinez; $8.3 for Turner. Verdict: With his defensive versatility added to his slight statistical edge and smaller contract, Turner was the better signing. It’s also a big win for the Sox 2023 DH over 2022, when Martinez earned $19.5 m for lesser stats than Turner already had on Aug. 20.

News Item – All-Time Winning Percentage Battle: Dodgers hurler Clayton Kershaw comes into this series having the highest winning percentage in baseball history for guys with 200+ wins. He’s now at .696 (208-91) to clubhouse leader Whitey Ford’s .690 (236-106).

… Of the Week Awards:

Player of the Week: That would be Seattle CFJulio Rodriguez, who raised his batting average from .256 to .278 in just four games thanks to getting 17 hits (in 21 AB’s). That’s a new record for hits over four games, while getting at least four hits in four straight games also ties a record set in 1927 by some guy named Milt Stock.

Question of the Week: In case you missed it, the Dodgers finally retired Fernando Valenzuela’s number two weeks ago. But given the insane furor he caused as a Dodgers rookie and that he last pitched for them in 1990, it’s fair to ask, what in the name of Gil Hodges took them so long?

Random Thoughts:

Let the record show that on his very first play of his 2023 season, penalty-plagued Trent Brown in 2022 was flagged for, yup, a false start.

Who’s this Luis Urías guy? If a guy had hit grand slams in back-to-back Red Sox wins over the Yanks 10 years ago, as he did on Friday and Saturday, they’d be building a statue of him outside Fenway right now.

I’d rather have gotten Dalvin Cook (for the same money, no less). But Ezekiel Elliott is a good pick-up for the Pats. In part because he’s a better receiver than most think he is.

A Little History: The all-time winning percentage leader with 100+ wins is Yankees hurler Spud Chandler. He went 109-43 (.717) after amazingly only making it to the majors for the first time at 29 in 1937. He lasted 10 years until 1947 when an injured arm ended his career.

Sports 101 Answer: Two QB’s to precede Favre in 1991 were ex-Ohio State star and one time Bears first-round pick Mike Tomczak,who had seven starts, and one-time Packers pied piperDon Majkowski, whohad eight.

Final Thought: One last thing about Mookie. He returns while having one of his finest seasons; with his 32 homers already he’ll blow by last year’s career best 35, while also having a chance to do a lead-off hitter rarity: knock in 100 runs from the top of the order. All while flirting with hitting .300 (.296) and being on pace to score 130 runs. And if you want to feel even worse, he’s showing off the kind of versatility the Red Sox sorely could have used during this injury-racked season by playing 57 of his 85 games at shortstop (17) and second base (41). My advice: Don’t think of the what-ifs. Just enjoy and appreciate a reunion with an old friend who did a lot of good while here.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – Reinforcements Arrive: Those poo-pooing the idea that Chaim Bloom didn’t do much at the trade deadline because of what he had returning from injuries didn’t look so smart during two wins over Detroit last weekend. Trevor Story was 7 for 10 with six doubles, Garrett Whitlock got Sunday’s win with two shutout innings, and Chris Sale pitched 4.2 strong innings on Friday. And Tanner Houck should be back this week. All of which will give them their most complete roster of the year, just in time for the stretch run, where they start the week three behind Toronto for the final wild card slot.

Sports 101:Name the six teams to never win a World Series.

News Item – Pats Awful in Pre-season Opener:So much for those glowing reports out of camp. Yes, it was the pre-season opener, so it didn’t mean anything. But the Patriots were awful in Thursday’s 20-9 loss to 3-13-1-a-year-ago Texas. And the two worst things were very familiar: (1) offensive line, which opened few holes for the backs and gave Bailey Zappe no time to throw down field, and (2) the play-calling — with a steady diet of bubble screens, regular screens and few throws downfield, it looked like Matty P never left.

News Item – Eye-Opening Stat: Since I hate the yellow City Connect uniforms the Sox occasionally wear to juice merchandise sales I’m reluctant to repeat what Julian McWilliams just reported in the Boston Globe. But after two weekend wins over Detroit they’re 11-2 wearing yellow and blue in 2023. Overall it’s 26-6 in them, when they somehow have outscored the bad guys 155-91.

The Numbers:

37 – years in jail for the brother of former Patriot Aqib Talib after Yagub Talib pleaded guilty to the murder of a man he shot to death during an argument at a youth football game last August.

… Of the Week Awards:

Why Can’t We Get Guys Like That – Ryan Brasier:After being released by Boston with a 7.29 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and a .286 batting against, Brasier has turned into Mariano Rivera out west. With the Dodgers the ERA is 1.20, WHIP 0.86 and BA against is .149 in 22 games.

Play – Pablo Reyes Grand Slam Walk-Off: If you didn’t imagine doing what Reyes did last week as a kid, you weren’t a baseball fan as a kid. Everyone has pretended to hit a walk-off slam to win a game as Reyes did vs. KC in a 6-2 win. Though for me, it was a little more grandiose — it was to win the World Series.

Random Thoughts:

Is anyone ever on base when Triston Casas hits a home run? Well, OK, there was for Friday’s three-run bomb. But he has 19 homers and just 45 RBI. Haven’t seen an RBI-to-homer ratio that low since Aurelio Rodriguez had 15 homers and 39 RBI for the Tigers in 1971.

Pat Riley said upon his Hall of Fame induction last weekend that Dwayne Wade is the greatest ever Miami Heat player. Hard to argue with that for long-time sustained greatness. But I’d say LeBron James was better than Wade during the four years they played together after LBJ took his talents to South Beach.

Sports 101 Answer: The six teams that have never won a World Series are the Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers/Seattle Pilots, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay D-Rays, Texas/Washington Senators.

Final Thought:There’s trouble in River City and it starts at the offensive line, a problem the Patriots brass basically ignored in the off-season. It starts at left tackle, where Trent Brown is coming off his injury-plagued, penalty-strewn awful 2022 performance, one that begged for him being replaced. And right tackle was an even bigger disaster. I bring it up again because in light of the wretched performance of the back-ups used vs. Texas on Thursday it shows depth is a real issue on the O-line. It gives them a slim margin of error when it comes to injuries. And guess what? Along with starting guards Michael Onwenu and Cole Strange, Brown is already hurt and ominously saying he is “hoping” to be back for the opener vs. Philly. Meanwhile the QB’s are running for their lives in practice as their defenders dominate the lineman that are left.

Not a promising beginning to what many have said is a rejuvenated team. Unless the line can protect Mac Jones and open holes for their very thin running back corps there will be many days ahead for the offense like Thursday night. And I’ll add after Damien Harris was foolishly allowed to leave before signing for the veterans minimum with Buffalo, it’s a running game that totally will be upended by a big injury to Rhamondre Stevenson. Both potential disasters are totally on Bill the GM if a solution isn’t found in a hurry. And dithering with USFL cast-offs as he did last week ain’t gonna do that.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story: There were dueling big stories. There was the vocal grumbling over the Red Sox doing virtually nothing at the trade deadline, and there the abrupt elimination of USA soccer in the Women’s World Cup amid national hostility over their tedious mixing of politics into everything they did.

Sports 101: Ten Red Sox players have won the MVP award. How many can you name?

News Item – Better Start for Patriots Offense: The reporting from 2023 pre-season camp is in stark contrast to the hysteria that (correctly) started from Day 1 last year over troubles with the installation of a new offense under new Offensive Coordinator Matt Patricia. Luckily both are now history. And while not everything has been perfectly sharp so far, the vibe, especially at QB, is miles beyond the offensive discombobulation of 2022. We’ll get our first glimpse tonight (Thursday) in pre-season Game 1 to see how real that is. But the result so far is the changes seem to have settled things down.

News Item – U.S. Out in Women’s World Cup: Let’s just say it’s a long way from the ecstasy of 2019 for the U.S. women’s national soccer team. They followed up that glorious ride with a dismal 2023 tournament ending in their earliest exit ever. The end came in Game 1 of the Round of 16, losing 5-4 on penalty kicks to Sweden.

The Numbers:

74 – major-league-leading errors by the Red Sox, leading to 40 unearned runs.

… Of the Week Awards:

Athlete –FramberValdez – For the dazzling 93-pitch, no-hit gem the Astros hurler threw in a 2-0 win over Cleveland.

Dumbest Move – Justin Verlander Trade – Last winter Houston passed on re-signing Verlander in lieu of a giant contract offer from the Mets. But in trading for him last week they not only took on the contract they originally thought was too rich for them, but they also had to give up two of their top five prospects to do it.

Thumbs Up – Dusty Baker: To the Astros’ septuagenarian manager for not bowing to the almighty pitch count and the stat geeks to let Valdez complete the no-hitter he started and earned.

Random Thoughts:

Enough with whining from people like Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy about what the Red Sox owe their fans because they have the highest ticket prices in baseball. There’s a simple solution: Don’t go if you don’t like the product.

It happens every year in pre-season camp. The media drools over an unheralded rookie three days into camp like he’s headed to Canton before he disappears to the Taxi Squad and is rarely heard from again. This year the nominee is diminutive wideout Demario Douglas, taken by the Pats in the sixth round pick out of Liberty.

Sports 101 Answer: The 10 Red Sox MVPs are Jimmy Foxx, Ted Williams, Jackie Jensen, Yaz, Fred Lynn, Jim Rice, Roger Clemens, Mo Vaughn, Dustin Pedroia and Mookie Betts.

Final Thought: Despite the ill-timed weekend sweep by Toronto, Chaim Bloom was right not selling off top farm prospects just to silence yacking from the cheap seats at the trade deadline. Especially since the team is a long shot to go anywhere if they do make the playoffs.

First, health admittedly is a major X factor here, especially with Chris Sale, but with Sale, Trevor Story, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck about to come off the IL that seems like a lot more than they could have gotten in any trade without emptying the farm system.

That’s two starters, another for the bullpen and it fills the offensive abyss that’s plagued them at shortstop all season. That’s a lot to add to a team that until last weekend had the best record in baseball since June 30.

Second, the plan all along was to build a farm system they could rely on year in and year out. That takes time. But with Triston Casas, Brayan Bello and Jarren Duran looking like the real deals they have an emerging young, inexpensive and under their contractual control core to build around. One that can be better served long-term by keeping their top farm hands to fortify them next year than by giving up two of their top five prospects as Houston did to get the 39-year-old Verlander. And while I never believe the hype around young players until they show they can do it, it’s encouraging that the brass appears to be right in their assessment of the three kids just mentioned.

Given all that, I’m willing to give the plan a little more time, no matter how the rest of 2023 plays out.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story: Four months into the 2022 season the Red Sox are f-i-n-a-l-l-y the big story in town. They’ve won 15 of 22 in July to climb to within 2.5 games back of Toronto for the final wild card spot to start the week, something that seemed quite unlikely even a month ago.

Better yet, the schedule is in their favor as they have three with those Blue Jays this weekend followed by 10 straight with bottom-dwelling KC, Detroit and Washington.

So if they held their own vs. the three, with wild card competitor Seattle earlier in the week, they’ll have a chance to pass both current WC place-holders Toronto and Houston this week.

All of which makes for an exciting time for baseball in these parts over the next month at least.

Sports 101: The Red Sox have had 15 different guys pitch for them who have won the Cy Young Award. Four did it for them while the other 11 did it elsewhere. How many can you name?

News Item – AL Pennant Race Update: With Baltimore and Tampa Bay on top, the Yanks in last place and the Sox a game ahead of them, the AL East seems like Bizarro World. But with a 1.5-game lead on the faltering D-Rays, the Orioles are the surprise of baseball, while even with their struggles TB still looks like a lock for the first wild card. That leaves a free-for-all for the last two wild card slots between current leaders Houston and Toronto followed by the Sox, Yanks, Mariners and, after smartly committing to not trading Shohei Ohtani, the Angels bunched a few games back.

News Item – Patriots With Most On The Line: With pre-season camp underway, one interesting story line is guys who have a lot on the line. Here are the top three: Mac Jones – No surprise. He needs to show the brass he’s the guy to build the team’s future around. Bill O’Brien – After last year’s offensive disaster, he’s back in the mix to be a head coach this winter if Mac gets back to where he appeared headed as a rookie and the offense becomes reliable. Bill Belichick – He’s 19 wins behind Don Shula to become the all-time winningest coach in history. So he needs at least 10 wins to be in position to do it in 2024.

Random Thoughts

What does it say about Bruce Bochy that after the three-time world champion came out of retirement to manage Texas, they’re on pace to win 94 games after losing 94 in 2022 with mostly the same players?

Got to think dumping a considerable chunk of Max Scherzer’s (probable) $57 million contract for 2024 via his weekend trade to Texas signals the Mets will be all in on the Ohtani free agent sweepstakes this winter.

… Of the Week Awards

Player: Speaking of Ohtani, he’s not going into free agency quietly. He did something last week only five others in history have: pitched a shutout on the same day he hit two home runs. The shutout was a one-hit, 6-0 Game 1 win over Detroit, and the bombs came when the Angels routed them 11-4 in the nightcap. It was also his first career complete game, and the homers boosted his league-leading total to 38.

Weirdest No-Hitter: First, Portland using three pitchers is a reminder of how the powers that be don’t get that a single pitcher throwing a no-no is the most suspenseful one-game moment in the game and relentless micro-management of pitchers is eliminating that.

Second, the trio of Sox prospects, all-name teamer Wikelman Gonzalez and relievers Brendan Cellucci and Luis Guerrero, managed to give up one run without a hit, not once, but twice, in separate innings during the 6-2 Portland win.

Triple Play: The Red Sox ran themselves into a rare triple play after Adam Duvall inexplicably ran to second on a routine pop-up to center, to become the second out when CF Michael Harris II threw to first baseman Matt Olson, who then threw out Masataka Yoshida trying to go to third. It was the first 8-3-5 triple play since the Boston Beaneaters last pulled one off in 1884!

Sports 101 Answer: The Sox’ four Cy Young winners were Jim Lonborg, Roger Clemens. Pedro Martinez and Rick Porcello.The other 11 are Sparky Lyle, Fergie Jenkins, Tom Seaver, Bret Saberhagen, The Eck, Frank Viola, Jake Peavy, Bartolo Colón, Eric Gagne, David Price and Corey Kluber.

Final Thought – Thumbs Up, Patrice Bergeron:Tip of the cap to a great Boston sports all-timer upon his retirement after 19 years of excellence. Reliable, tough, clutch and, most of all, classy.

Bravo and thanks for the memories.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story: Amid unending talk about Bill Belichick’s job security, the Patriots got back to work on Wednesday in what is a big year for many, including the coach and his hand-picked QB. They begin camp without much fanfare nationally, where almost everyone is picking them for last in the AFC East. And after trading for Aaron Rodgers, New Yawkas are sensing blood in the water after having it shoved down their throats since Belichick resigned as HC of the NYJ’s over 20 years ago. So buckle up, because it should be interesting, if not as enjoyable as it was in these parts for so long.

Football 101: Name the two men who hold the NFL record for most losses by a head coach at 165.

News Item – 3 Biggest Patriots Question Marks: You would think they’d have addressed the first two in free agency and the draft, but incredibly, by going defense with their three draft picks they didn’t. This leaves the focus on the offense.

The Receivers: They were below average last year and besides a slight upgrade in JuJu Smith-Schuster over the departed Jakobi Meyers the GM didn’t give Mac Jones much new help, though putting all out of their misery by sending mistake-prone Jonnu Smith elsewhere was addition by subtraction.

The O-Line: The big question is, was Trent Brown hurt, out of shape or deep into the back nine? Because he was a procedure penalty or sack give-up waiting to happen. Determining his status is a major key, because the protection for Jones last year was uneven at best and terrible at worst.

Mac Jones: The Pats need to find out if 2022 was just a bad year brought on by a combination of factors, not the least of which was having an inexperienced and completely over his head offensive coordinator in charge of his development, or if he’s just not good enough to build around. I think it was the former, but only time will tell, making this the make-or-break year for Mac.

Numbers:

2 – times the Patriots will wear their Pat the Patriot throwback uniforms in 2023. They’ll do it against old-time AFL day foes Miami in Week 2 and in Week 13 vs. the Chargers.

12 – teams scoring in double digits Tuesday night, which was the first time that has happened since 1994, with the highlight being the Cubs’ 16-13 over Atlanta.

Injured List: Trevor Story – There appeared to be no setbacks in his rehab weekend in AA Portland. He played shortstop three times while going 2-8 with a homer and 3 RBI.

Of the Week Awards:

Who’s Hot: Triston Casas –The batting average of the Sox rookie continued to climb. After an 8 for 17 week he’s hitting .348 in July. That’s taken the average to .247 after being .131 on May 1.

Hippo Jinx – Right after I lauded the recent performance of Sox rookie hurler Brayan Bello, he got lit up by the lowly A’s for six runs in four innings before the column even came out.

In Case You Missed It – The Stolen Base: Thanks to the pitch clock and other new rules, the stolen base is back. After eight years without anyone stealing 50+, at least two players are going to 50, including Braves star Ronald Acuna, who with 45 is on pace to swipe 80 and he could be joined by four more.

Football 101 Answer: The late Dan Reeves (190 wins) and longtime Oilers/Titans coach Jeff Fisher (176 wins) hold the record for most losses by an NFL coach at 165.

Final Thought – Prediction: While an avalanche of media types can’t talk about anything else, count me as one who doesn’t buy that Coach B is on a category 4 hot seat. The detractors are broken into two camps: (1) national media, many of whom are speculating without any real evidence and looking for payback on the cantankerous Coach B, and (2) the local gaggle all hitting on the same follow-the-leader conspiracy theories. Now the latter are closer to things than me, but I’m better at logic and reading people. And the reason I don’t think he’s in real trouble (outside of a two-win season) is the needy owner’s unending desire to sit at the cool kids’ table. Like his forays to hang with 20-something rappers at star-studded parties in the Hamptons each summer. Or showing up at the Academy Awards despite not being in the movie business. So while everyone wants another Super Bowl, with six his dynasty already has two more than anyone else in one run. Thus a bigger prize (besides him getting in the Hall of Fame) is him being able to bask in the glow of the coach he picked becoming the winningest coach in NFL history.

So no matter what, Belichick the coach stays because Bob Kraft doesn’t want to see Coach B pass Don Shula while on the sideline for someone else. Simple as that.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].