Category: News

The Big Story – Another Top Prospect Makes it to Fenway: Another of the Red Sox jewel prospects made it to the show when shortstop Marcelo Mayer was called up last week. But he went 6 for 30 with two doubles and 10 strikeouts in his first eight games. And if you’re wondering, he’s the first Marcelo to play in the majors.

Sports 101: Ten current teams have never won an NBA championship. Name them.

News Item – Red Sox Pitch Count: Alex Cora actually let someone reach 100-plus on the pitch count Sunday. The 112 Garrett Crochet threw let him go seven full innings with 12 K’s to, for once, keep the game away from the many arsonists in the Boston bullpen in a 3-1 win over Atlanta.

News Item – Duel of the Week. The World Series rematch began on Friday as Aaron Judge led off the game with a homer, which Shohei Ohtani matched in the bottom half of the first. Ohtani hit a second in the sixth as L.A. followed the script from their 2024 WS-clinching Game 5 comeback to go from down 5-1 to win 8-5 to open the series. It was worse on Saturday, because while Judge hit two more homers L.A. won 18-2, before the Yanks won 7-3 Sunday with the two stars not much of a factor.

News Item – Chris Sale: When he punched out Philly’s Edmundo Sosa last week the ex-Red Sox hurler became the fastest in history to reach 2,500 career strikeouts. He did it in inning 2,026 to eclipse Randy Johnson’s record 2,107.2. Pedro Martinez is the third at 2,152.2 and, if you’re wondering, all-time strikeout king Nolan Ryan is fifth at 2,286.1.

The Numbers:

.153 – after a 9-50 startthewinning percentage of the Colorado Rockies, which puts them on a pace to have a worst ever (by far) 25-137 season record.

15 – losses the Red Sox have in their 21 one-run games.

449 – pounds Tampa Bay rookie D-tackle Desmond Watson weighs, which will make him the heaviest player in NFL history if he’s on a Game 1 roster.

… Of the Week Awards

Quote of the Week – Terry Bradshaw: What the Pittsburgh Steeler Famer thinks of his former team’s beg-a-thon to get Aaron Rodgers to be their 2025 QB: “That’s a joke,” and “That guy needs to stay in California, go somewhere and chew on bark and whisper to the gods out there.”

In Case You Missed It – Tyrese Haliburton: The Indiana point guard did something no one else, not even Magic, MJ or LBJ, had ever done in Game 4 vs. New York: record the first triple double (32 points, 12 rebounds and 15 assists) in playoff history without committing a single turnover.

Random Thoughts:

While the talent and skills are obvious, I can’t warm up to the Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns because he’s soft and gets more unnecessary fouls than any player I’ve seen in my 159 years of watching the NBA.

With Stefon Diggs missing voluntary camp for the Miami boating excursion the Patriots got their first red flag from the self-centered receiver.

Anyone else know that since Chaim Bloom foolishly cheaped out on Michael Wacha after he was 11-2 for the Red Sox in 2022, he’s gone 31-12 since?

Sports 101 Answer: The 10 teams to never win an NBA title are Brooklyn, Orlando, Charlotte, Utah, Memphis, Minnesota, L.A. Clippers and Phoenix along with Indiana and Oak City, one of whom will leave the club next week.

Prediction – Oak City over Indiana in six.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – The Red Sox Stumble Into June: To say they have not lived up to expectations is an understatement. Especially given that their major off-season acquisitions Alex Bregman and Garrett Crochet are living up to what’s been expected of them.

The good news is that with the Orioles having already fired their manager the division overall is a mess outside of the Yankees. So despite being under .500 they enter Memorial Day weekend within striking distance of the Yanks at 4.5 games and just a couple out of the wild card race. If they can shake off the malaise there’s ample time to get in the race over the next four months.

Sports 101: Seven NBA coaches have 100+ career playoff wins. How many can you name?

News Item – Top 4 Reasons For Red Sox’ Dismal Start: (1) Abysmal work of their awful bullpen (outside of closer Aroldis Chapman) who in a two-week span in May blew six ninth-inning or extra-inning leads and lost all six times. (2) Starter Tanner Houck and his 8.04 ERA as of last week thanks to delivering the two worst starts in Red Sox history. (3) The ongoing travails of shortstop Trevor Story that have people thinking he may be headed for being DFA’d despite being owed a boatload of money over the next two years. (4) And of course the major distraction caused by the brass’s cowardly response to Raphael Devers’ refusal to move over to play first base after Triston Casas went down for the season. He’s hitting now but they’re still looking for a first baseman and the perfect solution for them and him is already on the team.

News Item – Alex Cora and Pitching: When is the spotlight going to fall on the Red Sox manager for being a typical stat geek handler of the pitching staff who, despite having a bullpen full of flame throwers, regularly yanks starters after five innings or less to let the bullpen lose the game? Most egregious was last week vs. the Mets when he yanked ace Garrett Crochet in a 1-1 game after 5.1 innings and 85 pitches. Then, big surprise, they immediately put up three runs vs. Liam Hendriks, leading to a 5-1 loss. Given the state of affairs, wouldn’t it be better to let the starters go deeper in games to give the pen only two innings to blow it until pen reinforcements come?

News Item – Tush Push Lives: The vote to ban the Eagles’ signature play failed last week. I’m not for it or against it, but I do know this: The Eagles were for it because they’re great at it. Knowing how hypocritical and self-serving most are (outside of the Rooney family), if Philly’s rival in NY were great at it and they weren’t, they’d be against it. Push or no push, the real reason they’re so good in short range is because they have a great offensive line. So they’d have still been the best after any ban.

The Numbers:

3 – managers fired before the second month of the baseball season concluded (Pittsburgh, Colorado and Baltimore).

58 – after their elimination by Florida, years since the Toronto Maple Leafs last won the Stanley Cup in 1967.

430,000 – dollars Anthony Edwards has paid the NBA in fines so far this season after he got hit for $50k for dropping an f-bomb in his post-game press conference after the T-Wolves Game 1 loss to Oak City.

.… Of the Week Awards

And Another Thing – Aaron Judge: Aaron Judge’s monster start over the season’s first two months has him on a 64-homer pace. If it continues it will tie him with Babe Ruth and the PED twosome of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire for most 50-homer seasons with four. That is Hall of Fame material.

Sports 101 Answer: The NBA coaches with at least 100 playoff wins are Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra, Doc Rivers, Steve Kerr and Larry Brown.

Final Thought – Cedric Maxwell: Max is right that he doesn’t get enough credit for his contributions to the Celtics. And it’s a joke how the Bill Simmons self-indulgent, fanboy HBO Celtics series treated him. First by not giving him props for saving the team when he was MVP in the 1981 Finals, a series where Houston’s Robert Reid handcuffed Larry Bird into shooting a combined 11-37 while scoring just 8, 8 and 12 points in Games 3, 4 and 5 when Max went for 19, 24 and 28. And while Kevin McHale had the higher ceiling at their Celtics peaks, Max was far more important to the two championship teams they played on together. The Celtics-loving Simmons knows that because he saw it all happen and should have given him his due. Instead Max joins Dave Cowens, Bob Cousy and John Havlicek as guys whose Celtic greatness is sadly being lost to time and memory.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.