Author: Dave Long

As we start today the Patriots are fighting through a rugged start where if they have somehow lost to the winless Jets by the time you see this, it’s going to get ugly around here. Free agency is about to start in baseball with the Red Sox in need of a major talent infusion. The Celtics are holding three first-round picks for now with the NBA draft 10 days away amid an accelerated time frame to reshape the team with training camp less than six weeks after the season ended. Thus there are a lot of local and national sports stories colliding in ways we’ve never seen because the world order has been so upended. So here are some thoughts on a wide range of them.

After you-know-who left and the team had little room under the salary cap to improve, I said the Patriots should look at the post-Brady era as an 18-month remodeling period focused on seeing which of the young guys, including Jarrett Stidham, can and can’t play over contending. Because that would establish where they need to spend their pre-pandemic $100 million free agent money next spring to put a contender back on the field in 2021. And with the Cam Newton audition sputtering, they should do that for the rest of the year.

I was OK with Tom Brady leaving because I thought he’d continue the tick down that started last year. Didn’t expect Willie Mays on the warning track, more like Joe Montana in Kansas City. But his 20 TD passes after eight games is a lot better than that. But oddly in the four games I’ve seen him play, against New Orleans twice, Chicago and the G-Men, he’s looked mortal at best to downright awful on Sunday against the Saints. So I don’t know if I was right or wrong. But maybe the tell is his inconsistency, which was never an issue until last year.

The rumor mill has Gordon Hayward opting out of his contract. If that’s true, where he goes will tell you where his head is at, as the only teams with big-bucks cap space — Atlanta, New York, Detroit and Charlotte — are terrible. Only Atlanta has a chance to improve quickly, so if he goes to any of those places it’s about a payday, not winning. Or paying back the team that stuck with him during his dark time, the uneven next season that ended with being awful in the playoff vs. Milwaukee.

If I could wave a magic wand here’s what I’d do: get rebuilding Indiana to give the hometown hero a contract extension as part of a deal sending Hayward and the C’s three first-round picks for Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon. They’d lose a little of his play-making/ball movement game and three-point shooting. But they’d get bigger and tougher to help Daniel Theis on the boards, the kind of real point guard they need and two guys tied up contractually longer than Hayward. And if Danny could somehow work Oak City free agent scorer Danilo Gallinari into that deal it would be a home run.

Am I the only one who thinks the oversized, bejeweled rings given to Super Bowl winners these days look ridiculously gaudy and ostentatious?

I get why people toward the end of their life auction off memorabilia from their careers. Which is what legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully just did to the tune of $2 million. But if he was going to sell any of the six World Series rings from being with the Dodgers in Brooklyn and L.A., how did he choose the one from 1955? After years of futility and failure, especially to the Yankees, to whom they’d lost five World Series before then, that was Brooklyn’s 2004 and would seem to be the most cherished.

Loved Pete Rose’s reasoning for why he should be reinstated to baseball, because none of the players in the Houston sign-stealing scandal were punished. By the way, ahh, Pete, while they just got re-hired, AJ Hinch and Alex Cora both got fired as managers in Houston and Boston for doing it. You were betting on games when you were the Reds manager, not as a player. So the comparison is not valid. Though it works better as an argument for your Hall ineligibility, because that was done after the playing career ended and thus a separate act. Of course he denied he did it until he needed to juice sales for a new book. So no sympathy here for a dishonest guy getting what he earned.

I’m starting to think the The Washington Football Team should permanently keep their current name. It has a one-of-a-kind distinctive ring to it that other pedestrian name changes like the Wizards or River Rats will never have. And while it’s too bad the shorthand initials didn’t line up instead to be WTF to add a comic and prophetic touch to their plight during the Dan The Fan era, I can see them using “the WFT’s” as the nickname and logo. Sounds nuts, I know, but I’m all in.

Just saw the movie The Express about the great and tragic Syracuse running back Ernie Davis. I know, I’m a little late since it came out in 2008. But I don’t usually rush to see sports biopics because they make up so much stuff, as they did here as well. But it was pretty good. Though I must admit I didn’t really know about the racially charged brawl instigated by the Texas football team during the 1959 Cotton Bowl. In part because UT coach Darrell Royal pretty much sailed through the racially charged 1960s with his reputation intact. But seeing it made me think he may not have been so squeaky clean and that his being the coach of the last team to win a national championship (1969) without having any black players was more than a coincidence.

It’s a week after the Dodgers had the World Series handed to them so everyone has had their say about Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash lifting starter Blake Snell in the sixth inning after just 70 pitches despite having allowed just two hits and striking out nine. So there’s no reason to belabor the level of boneheadedness of that decision beyond saying the following.

If you read this space regularly you won’t be surprised to hear me say that if Tampa Bay had to lose the World Series I’m glad it happened exactly the way it did. Second, I guarantee you when Cash was on his way to the mound to lift his untouchable starter for the uncertainty of a relief pitcher, every single person in the L.A. dugout knew he was giving them a far better chance at winning the game.

I’m not even sure we can blame Cash because he probably got a text from the stat geeks upstairs telling him what to do, or did it because he’s so programmed by their lunacy/propaganda that he relied solely on the so-called “data” rather than what his eyes were telling him in that moment. That would be to remove any pitcher, be it Koufax, Gibson, Mathewson or Jack Morris, before he faces a batting order the third time around no matter what the circumstances. But the icing on the cake is it was done by people so impressed with themselves that they affixed the term “advanced” to “analytics” in naming this New Age way of baseball thinking like they had just invented plutonium, and it led to the single dumbest decision in World Series history. Good job, fellas.

Now a few other thoughts from around baseball.

The best two post-Game 6 Twitter comments came from Famer Frank Thomas — “another analytics meltdown” — and Mets hurler Noah Syndergaard — “Who gets to pull the manager?” If I were on Twitter, mine would’ve been, “Guess Calvin Schiraldi wasn’t ready yet.”

Yes, a disappointing Red Sox season. But I’ll put it to you this way: If they had to have a season like this, wasn’t this the perfect time to do it?

With the Sox still looking for a manager as I write this, the bad news is that 76-year-old Tony La Russa is off the market. I’m guessing the White Sox hired such a young buck because Connie Mack and John McGraw weren’t available.

Baseball 101: Name the only two managers in history to win more games than La Russa.

OK, it paid immediate dividends with Mookie, but how has the $340 million spent for Bryce Harper paid off in Philly? While the numbers (35 and 114) in Year 1 were decent, they missed the playoffs his first two years there. Meanwhile manager Gabe Kapler got blamed/fired for their under-achieving (81-81) 2019 season before they went backward under replacement Joe Girardi to finish 28-32.

With Mookie gone and JBJR on his way out the door the Red Sox need a leader to go along with Xander Bogaerts. They also need a second baseman, lead-off hitter and center fielder, plus three relievers and two starters. Free agent George Springer checks three of those boxes. Not willing to go 10 years, but if it’s five years with a big number I’d consider it because he’s the anti-Harper, smart, tough, versatile and his 19 postseason homers in just 64 games show he’s clutch.

By going 4-1 Clayton Kershaw had a David Price-like redemption in the postseason. But it still only got him to 13-12 lifetime and that has me wondering why some guys are great regular season pitchers and so ordinary in the postseason. Ditto for 300-game-winners Greg Maddux (11-14) and Tom Glavine (14-16), mostly with Atlanta when it went to just two World Series during 14 straight postseason appearances. My theory is living on the black ate up bad to mediocre teams, but better line-ups in the postseason handled that much better.

One last thing about this not letting pitchers face a line-up the third time around. If the numbers back it up, it probably has more to do with the pitch count than ineptitude of good starters like Snell. By limiting pitchers to a certain number of pitches they’re not conditioned to go beyond their count (see Pedro, Game 7, 2003 ALCS) and thus are giving up hits because they’re tired, not because pitchers are actually ineffective the third time around. If that’s the case, how did Nolan Ryan pitch seven no-hitters, Sandy Koufax throw 134 pitches on two days rest to shut out the Twins in Game 7 of the 1965 Series after throwing 130 in his Game 5 shutout, or Jack Morris go 10 innings for his 1-0 Game 7 win over Atlanta in the 1991 Series?

Baseball 101 Answer: The only two with more managerial wins than La Russa’s 2,728 are the aforementioned Connie Mack and John McGraw, whom he’ll pass early in 2021 unless he gets hit by a bus during spring training. While Mack’s 3,731 wins are the most in history, he also had 3,948 losses to actually be under .500. How’d he pull that off? Because people who own a team rarely fire themselves. As for McGraw, he lasted for 30 years with the Giants mainly because everyone was afraid of him, though having a .586 winning percentage with his 2,731 wins probably helped.

Those who think baseball is dying a slow death just got more ammo. The Fox TV audience in 2020 averaged a lowest-ever 9.7 million viewers per telecast. Last year it was 14.1 million and 2020 was off a whopping 32 percent from 2012’s previous low 12.6 million viewers as the Giants swept Detroit. So the question is why — indifference to the Covid season, more entertainment options, it included a team whose own city doesn’t care about them, or the slide to “go for broke homer or strike out” stat geek baseball?

My vote goes to robot managers and that the lack of constant action/pace is catching up with it.

Given what’s happening in Patriots-land right now, if we want to talk about them it might be better to focus elsewhere. So after getting run over 33-6 by San Francisco on Sunday for the worst home loss in the Belichick era it’s convenient that the Pats’ Hall of Fame named its All-Dynasty team last week.

I am the world’s biggest sucker for arguing over all-time teams and I’ll take the bait to compare their selections to mine. If you missed the entire team, Google it, as for space reasons I’ll just focus on my quibbles and new additions, starting off with their grown-up version of everybody gets a trophy to avoid hurt feelings by naming an entire 40-man team. I hate that, so mine is like the All-Pro Team that names first team starters only. So where you see one guy vs. another, that refers to who wins the competition at that position. And if you have a beef, let me know.

Biggest no-brainers: Starting from the easiest to make.

1 – Tom Brady: Even though Matt Cassel, Jimmy G and Jacoby Brissett went 13-6 in the 19 starts TB missed, a better debate would be whether he’ll eventually be the All-Time QB in Tampa Bay before retiring.

2 – Adam V: TB isn’t the only local GOAT. Vinatieri earned the distinction by winning two SB’s with kicks as time expired and sending their first playoff game into OT with the greatest under-duress kick in NFL history through a blinding snowstorm off a frozen, uneven field spot from 47 yards out before winning it in OT.

3 – Richard Seymour: Do I need to remind anyone the first three SB wins were built around the D, not TB-12’s arm? Seymour was the best of several great defenders and there hasn’t been anyone as good on the D-line since, including Vince Wilfork. That’s why he’s a spot ahead of the more popular next guy.

4 – Gronk: He’s in the discussion for the GOAT tight end as well. But he had some long stretches of injuries when they still kept winning, including the playoff run to the 2016 SB win despite losing him for good in Week 11.

5 – Ty Law: A big-play Hall of Famer who was the real MVP of the first SB win, with three picks off Peyton Manning in the 2003 AFC title game win and being huge when they shut down Indy in the 20-3 playoff win the next year. Plus, they went 10 years without winning after he left in 2004 thanks to mostly terrible DB play.

6 – Randy Moss: Even though he didn’t win a SB is his three-year, four-game stay that predictably ended badly, his astonishing 98-catches, 1,423-yards, 23-TD debut 2007 season in Foxboro was among the best in league history for any receiver ever.

Slot receiver fight: With Troy Brown, Julian Edelman and Wes Welker there, this had been the position of the highest excellence of the dynasty and a near impossible choice. But while his regular season numbers don’t stand up to Welker’s 100 and 1,000 plus catches and receiving yards in five of his six seasons, Edelman gets it for clutch playoff work on three SB-winning teams.

Kevin Faulk vs. James White: Another heavyweight battle. Faulk was clutch and incredibly reliable. Ditto for White. But it’s White based on his astonishing 10-catch, 110-receiving yard, three-TD game in the SB comeback over Atlanta, which included scoring the TD to start the comeback from down 28-3, the two-point conversion to get it to one score and the TD’s that sent it to OT and won it. Faulk never had a game like that.

Dan Koppen vs. David Andrews: Granted I’m not the world’s leading expert on center play, but the interior guys need a little pub. So, while it could be related to their backups, things seem to go bad when Andrews misses games, like all last year. But Koppan only missed games in one of eight seasons in Foxboro, which included SB wins in ’03 and ’04. So it’s a tie.

Asante Samuel: I know, big-play guy, especially at slot corner. But the guy who dropped the right-in-his-hands pick in the final drive in 2007 that would’ve sealed the undefeated season can’t be first team All-Dynasty. Besides, Law and Stephon Gilmore were/are both better against the pass and run and multiple-time All-Pros.

Patrick Chung vs. Devin McCourty at safety: Chung has been great in his second stint but was shaky the first time around, while McCourty has been the team’s surest tackler and great since shifting to safety after starting as a corner. McCourty.

Honorable mention: All the guys on the Pats’ list and people who lost the head-to-head competitions, as well these special-circumstances additions.

NG – Ted Washington: Yes, he was a one and done, but he won as many SB’s as Wilfork and no one had a better season clogging the middle than him in 2003.

CB – Darrelle Revis:Ditto on the one year, but Coach B never won a SB without a great corner. So while he wasn’t quite at Revis Island peak, he transformed a defensive backfield that had been a hazardous waste dump site since 2009. No Revis, no 2014 SB title. That puts him in over the under-appreciated Otis (my man) Smith.

Corey Dillon: I go with Antowain Smith as the running back for his battering ram work that always seemed to get it on third and short for two SB-winning teams. But Dillion’s 1,623 rushing yards and 12 TD’s in 2004 was one of the best individual seasons during the dynasty.

Roman Phifer: The biggest surprise was seeing him on the 40-man team, as he’s the most forgotten good player from the first three SB wins. But 86 belongs here because this linebacker was solid, reliable and tough.

Snow angel maker – Lonie Paxton: No contest.

Baseball 2020 entered the final act of its pandemic-affected season when the World Series began earlier this week. It did not include the Red Sox, nor did the playoffs. But the irony of the Sox’ least relevant season since 1964 is that the Series opens with a major subplot for Red Sox Nation. Actually it’s three mini-subplots that merge into a major one that gives the brass a guide to follow as they work to get things back on track.

First, if you haven’t noticed, the symbol of Boston’s speedy descent from admirable world champs just two Octobers ago to the embarrassing joke they became in 2020 is playing in the Series with his new team. Seeing Mookie Betts trot out to right field this week will raise the ire of those who hated seeing the Sox trade their best player rather than signing him for life as the Dodgers did. It does even for me, who believes they had to do it, though mine is aimed at the baseball gods who created a system that let Mookie force that move because he just didn’t want to be here.

Second is seeing the team Red Sox Nation fears their Sox may be modeled after since its newbie GM Chaim Bloom learned his team building skills in Tampa Bay. Because the thought of seeing a parade of faceless relievers and stat-geek no-personality baseball nightly at Fenway sends shivers down the back of all traditional baseball fans. Hey, I like winning as much as the next guy, but I want it done the way I want it done. And I don’t want to see the infield pulled in with runners on second and third, in the fifth inning while leading 2-1 by a panicked manager, like TB’s Kevin Cash did in Game 6 against all common sense because the data said so. Especially since it also said put the shift on with righty George Springer coming to bat. The problem was the oh-so clutch Springer saw the gigantic hole it created on the right side that the data apparently didn’t. So he shortened up and sent a dribbler through said gigantic hole to knock in two, instead of the one that might have scored if the fielders had been in their proper spots. Which ignited the Houston blow-out that forced Game 7. The geeks never mention stuff like that when they tell you how “advanced” their analytics are.

And finally, while the third offers the optimism of a lesson to learn from, it’s still bothersome because that present comes wrapped in the uniform of the hated L.A. Dodgers. It’s how their GM Andrew Friedman has effectively merged the stat geeks crazed approach developed out of necessity when he had no money as GM in Tampa Bay with (prudent) big market spending techniques that’s built the best top to bottom organization in baseball. That began incidentally with chopping L.A.’s monstrous payroll below the luxury tax line upon his arrival after they foolishly had taken on the titanic contracts of Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez from Boston in 2012. All of which has led to eight straight NL West pennants and being in the World Series three times in four years. Which brings us back to Mookie, as after re-investing that money into player development, it made sending lesser prospects from a deep farm system to get him a no-brainer.

Beyond that, I don’t have much interest in the Series, so here are a few more thoughts before I doze off somewhere around the fourth inning most nights.

Proving baseball has a stat for everything were breathless reports that when 22 years and 293 days Ronald Acuna led off Game 1 between Atlanta and Miami he was the youngest ever to lead-off a playoff game.

Almost fell out of my chair when Dave Roberts went against the “go to the closer” code to let Julio Urias pitch the ninth after blowing Atlanta away in the seventh and eight innings of Game 7. Common sense in baseball – amazing!

Did Zach Greinke really tell a reporter he “really enjoyed baseball with no fans because there’s no one to stalk you or ask for an autograph and want pictures and all that stuff”? Honest and clueless at the same time.

After hitting two more this year, Springer now has 19 homers in 63 postseason games – a 50-homer regular season pace. All-Time World Series leader Mickey Mantle hit his 18 homers in 65 games, though Springer had more at-bats, 260 to 230.

With Mookie gone and JBJR likely out the door next, if the Sox are going to spend big money on a hitter in free agency, Springer is the guy I’d like to see them get. Clutch, tough, versatile and smart. Guessing the per year will be affordable, but I wouldn’t go over six years on the contract.

The playoff’s all-name team moment was Dodgers catcher Will Smith hitting a monster three-run homer off Braves reliever Will Smith in Game 5 of the NLDS. Could be a plot point to revolve in the Battle of Will Smiths, my proposed major Hollywood motion picture. The only question left for the attached A-List star: Which Will Smith will Will Smith play?

Yes, that Manuel Margot playing for Tampa Bay was one of the prospects given San Diego for Craig Kimbrel. But before you go postal on Dave Dombrowski, he first flunked out in SD after hitting .248 and averaging 11 homers and 44 RBI over four seasons. However, he did have five homers and 11 RBI in his first 13 postseason games, so the jury may still be out.

Finally, wouldn’t it be ironic if the fans expecting a world title coming to Tampa Bay since the day Tom Brady signed with the Bucs got one but it came from the team no one goes to see or cares about in the regular baseball season?

The endless NBA season has finally ended with the Lakers winning their (ugh) record-tying 17th title in six games over the Celtics-conquering Miami Heat. While seeing the Lakers tie the Celtics for most titles is daunting, especially since LeBron James and Anthony Davis can do it again next year, part of me was OK with that because if Miami had won there would’ve been no end to the local yakking over the Celtics’ “blowing” their opportunity.

But with the Lakers in control throughout, the same would have happened to Boston. Doesn’t mean they didn’t fumble away games vs. Miami; it just means that they’re not quite there, because their stars are young and they didn’t have enough pieces to get over the final hurdle. We’ll get to that in a bit, but for now here are some final thoughts as the post-season ended.

Said before the playoffs Duncan Robinson had to prove it to me that he was actually as good as he looked at times during the regular season. Well, I’m buying it now on the New Castle native. So is ABC’s Jeff Van Gundy, who called him “the most improved player in the bubble.” Hopefully there’s much more to come.

NBA 101: Who played the most NBA regular games without ever playing even once in the playoffs?

Markieff Morris has the same chippy attitude and play-alike game as brother Marcus had in Boston. Makes sense since they’re identical twins. But while they’re solid players, I slot them just behind Dick and Tom Van Arsdale as the NBA’s best set of identicals. The Lopez brothers are third, followed by Jason and Jarron Collins. And if you want to see something Twilight Zone eerie, go to basketball-reference.com and compare the Van Arsdale brothers’ career stats.

I wouldn’t call Russell Westbrook one of my favorites, but thumbs up for leaving the folks who took care of his hotel room in the bubble an $8,000 tip as thanks for their help. It’s also not the first time he’s done something like that. Nice Russell.

Scrawny Lakers bench guy Alex Caruso is a living version of the major Hollywood motion picture from days gone White Men Can’t Jump. That title describes the exact way every basketball person thinks until a white guy proves otherwise. So with his scrawny frame, goofy headband and non-tan (how does that happen while living in L.A. and Florida?) he’d be the last guy picked in any park in America. He’d then stun all with his spunky game, because he’s a lot better than anyone would think, including me.

Back to Markieff Morris. His 88 is the worst number in NBA history. George Mikan wore 99, but he’s an all-time great and was given it at DePaul to signify his gargantuan size for those days. I get 88 is a play on Marcus wearing 8, but ditch it, bro.

Interesting comments from Charles Barkley on the Dan Patrick radio show the other day where he said Kevin Durant was a “bus rider” in Golden State and not the “bus driver,” which was Steph Curry. Throw in Kyrie Irving kicking off Steve Nash’s tenure as Brooklyn coach by idiotically saying it’ll be a “collaboration” because he and Durant don’t need a coach and it’s more ammo for why the Durant-Irving thing will never live up to expectations. Can’t wait to see how it goes when the NY papers lay it on the thin-skinned Durant and team-killing Kyrie.

Jimmy Butler turned out to be a lot better than I ever gave him credit for. My bad. I really like his mental and physical toughness. Philly should have paid him and traded Ben Simmons.

This just in: that Anthony Davis guy is really good.

NBA 101 Answer: While brother Dick played 34 playoff games for the Knicks and Suns, including the famed triple-overtime Game 5 thriller vs. the Celtics in the 1976 Finals, Tom Van Arsdale played in 929 games with five teams in Cincinnati, Detroit, Atlanta, Philly and Phoenix over 12 seasons and never made the playoffs even once.

I’ll save you the trip to basketball-reference. After starting together at the University of Indiana the Van Arsdales both played 12 years in the NBA and here are the stats, Dick first, then Tom. Games: 921 – 929. FG percent: 47.9 – 43.1. Reb: 3,807 – 3,932. Assists: 3,057 – 2,992. Points: 15,079 – 14,232. Do-doo-do-doo, do-doo-do-doo….

I guess any time you get close it’s an opportunity. But for those who think the Celtics blew one, compare them to the 2008 team. Are they remotely as good? The Big 3 comparison would be Paul Pierce and Jayson Tatum as the get your own shot scorer, Ray Allen and Kemba Walker catch and shoot three in the corner guy (at least Kemba should do that) and the third scoring option, Kevin Garnett vs. Gordon Hayward or Jaylen Brown. While Tatum someday might match Pierce, for now he’s 22. Kemba will never be the Top 5 all-time shooter Ray was, and Garnett scored over 25,000 career points, though his real value was his unmatchable leadership and killer defense skills. In other words the 2008 bunch was a deeply experienced team with a Big 3 all 30+, as each won their first title. Said another way, they’re not ready.

The biggest problem was consistency and grit at the end of games. So, even though Bam was a load, they need two things far more than an upgrade over Daniel Theis: a mentally tough, experienced leader in the vein of Butler, and a real point guard who controls the O in big moments to give scorers the ball when they can do something Rajon with it.

And finally since we all know I like saying I told you so, as I said when he signed with L.A., in recording the most playoff assists off the bench in NBA history Rajon Rondo was big in the playoffs.

Bring him back, Danny, ’cause what he does is just what they need.

Not that it hasn’t been the biggest worldwide story for seven months, but the coronavirus reared its head in a big way again last week with the announcement that the president and first lady had tested positive, followed a day later by news that Patriots QB Cam Newton had become the biggest sports name infected with the virus, throwing a major curveball at the Patriots in the year after Brady.

The latter forced the NFL to push back the Patriots’ meeting with KC to a few hours after I’m writing this on Monday, after previously postponing Sunday’s game between Tennessee and Pittsburgh due to positive tests among several folks in the Titans organization. That gave the NFL its first dose of what MLB faced playing outside a bubble, when those playing inside one had virtually no issues — both the NBA and NHL playoffs progressed to a conclusion. So with all local teams from the last three leagues now done, let’s catch up on some of strange or otherwise occurrences the global plague has wrought on sports.

The Best And Silliest Dust-Up – L.A. vs. Houston: If I were Joe Kelly’s defense attorney in his suspension hearing for buzzing one over Alex Bregman’s head, I’d point out the control-challenged hurler once by missed the target he was aiming for against his house to throw a pitch through the window of his own bedroom. So how can anyone be sure he was trying to instigate something with the Astros? Especially when he was with Boston, not L.A., when they got cheated out of a World Series win. But if I were the DA, I’d say, being the knucklehead locals know old Joe to be, he likely misremembered he was a Dodger in 2017 and the pitch just got away when he was actually trying to drill Bregman in the ribs.

Biggest Knucklehead – Lou Williams: Said he was going home on emergency leave from the NBA bubble only to show up in a social media post at a well-known Atlanta strip club. Won in a tight race with Indians hurlers Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger, who first lied about breaking protocol and then put the entire team at risk the next day in meetings before being caught in their lie. It got Clevinger bounced to San Diego, er, L.A., er no, it actually was SD and Plesac dropped off the roster as punishment.

Grinding On Award – tie, Marlins and Cards: While the expanded playoff format made it easier to get it, you’ve got to give the two teams that got hit by far with the most positive tests among players credit for grinding to make the postseason. The Cards at one point had played just five games when most others had played 20. That they survived 15 pitching-taxing doubleheaders is amazing.

Worst Loss – Orioles to Marlins: In Miami’s first game back after missing a week due to a slew of positive tests through the organization, the O’s still somehow managed to lose 4-0 despite the M’s having 17 new players after the same number went onto the DL/quarantine list.

Old Belief Reaffirmed – Home Court Helps: As good a job as the NBA did with the bubble plan, the loss of home court advantage was a series-altering factor in the playoffs. Most obvious was how the rhythm of a series changes from top seeds starting with two at home, then going on the road for two. That generally helps build drama as it goes along, which was missing with the game after game neutral site bubble-created format. Not a criticism, because it wasn’t anyone’s fault, but since it is one of the best things about the playoffs, it was definitely missed.

Biggest Unnoticed Historical Developments – Lakers Two Games Away: A major source of pride among Celtics fans has always been they’ve won more NBA titles than any other franchise. Well, the Lakers are likely to match their 17 titles, maybe by Friday. And by having 33 Finals appearances to Boston’s 20, it wrests the title of greatest NBA franchise away as well. It’s a product of winning just once since the end of the Bird era. Which for the mathematically challenged is, gulp, 34 years since his last title as L.A. won seven more times.

Newest Rule Likely to Stay – Extra Innings: Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I liked putting a guy to start each inning from the 10th on, and not just because it prevented endless games. It changed strategy by forcing managers to be aggressive rather than trying to outlast the other guy. So the real lesson for action-challenged baseball is to come up with more stuff like that.

Biggest Local Disappointment – Bruins: With the best record in the league at the shutdown they seemed poised to go to the Finals again and maybe win this time. But nope, they were out before the Celtics thanks in part to being deserted a couple of games in by their goaltender.

Least Disappointing Local Team – Red Sox: It was their worst team since 1963, but after Mookie Betts and David Price got traded, and Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez lost to Tommy John and a scary Covid-related heart issue, did anyone have any expectations for what they might do beyond how bad they were going to be? Beyond J.D. Martinez hitting .213 how can anyone say no?

Non-Corona Victim of Last Week – San Diego, er, L.A. Chargers: That would be for getting run over by the five TD passing day by you know who on Sunday in his first great game since 2018.