Category: News

Sox vs. Yanks dead ahead

The Big Story – Baseball Playoffs Begin: There was a lot to choose from, between the Europeans holding off a furious USA final day rally to win the Ryder Cup 15-13 at Long Island’s famed Bethpage Black; the Red Sox clinching their playoff spot in 1967 Yaz-like fashion via Ceddanne Rafaela’s clutch walk-off triple on Friday; and the first Patriots trouncing of an opponent since the Brady administration left town in a 42-13 thumping of hapless Carolina.

But the Big Story goes to baseball’s playoffs starting Tuesday when the Sox face the Yanks at the Stadium. The other series are Cleveland-Detroit, L.A. (Dodgers)-Cincy and Cubs-Padres.

Sports 101: Name the five winningest pitchers in postseason history.

News Item – Patriots Observations: (1) Player of the game is Marcus Jones for sparking the team with an 87-yard punt return for their first TD and a 61-yarder that put them inside their 20 to set up their third score. (2) Drake Maye’s 14 for 17 for 203 yards, two TD passes, no turnovers and a 155.6 QB rating day shows he is maturing in front of our eyes. (3) FA newcomer Milton Williams is earning his big paycheck. (4) Still too many penalties — 7 for 54 yards during the first half. (5) I like that Mike Vrabel didn’t bury Rhamondre Stevenson as Coach B would have after Week 3’s fumble-itis game, ’cause they need him.

News Item – Clayton Kershaw to Retire: He takes three impressive feats into retirement. He passed Yankees great Whitey Ford (.690) to finish with the highest winning percentage (.699) of anyone with at least 200 wins (222-96) His 2.54 career ERA is the lowest since the dead ball era ended in 1920. And his 18 years with the Dodgers ties him with Zack Wheat and Bill Russell for the most seasons in franchise history.

News Item – Cal Raleigh’s Sensational Year: His 60 homers and 125 RBI (.247 BA) as Seattle came out of nowhere to win the AL West is arguably the best season of any catcher in history.

The contenders: (1)1970, Johnny Bench, .283-45-148. (2) 1953, Roy Campanella, .312-42-141. (3) 1950, Yogi Berra,.322-28-124.

The Numbers:

4 – times Aaron Judge has hit 50+ homers ìn a season to match Babe Ruth as the only other to do it outside of the steroid era.

6 – catches for 101 yards in Stefon Diggs’ first “that’s more like it” game for the Pats in Sunday’s win.

30 – number of doubles, homers and stolen bases by the Cubs’ Pete Crow–Armstrong to become just the sixth person ever to do that.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Garrett Crochet: The Sox paid a big price for him to be THE MAN. And in going 18-6 with an ERA of 2.59 along with 255 strikeouts and just 46 walks he was. Most notably by pitching eight shutout innings in the year’s biggest game to get Tuesday’s 7-1 win in Toronto.

Thumbs Down – NY Fans: Their behavior toward the Europeans at the Ryder Cup was appalling. Booooo!!!

Fiscal Sanity Award: To Milwaukee, who had baseball’sbest record at 97-55 despite spending a meager $120 million on payroll compared to the 93-59 Dodgers, who’ve racked up a billion dollars in deferred player payments, or the $323 million Mets, who didn’t even make the playoff, showing it’s not how much you spend, but how you spend it.

Random Thoughts: Hey Robert Saleh, what does “legally” stealing signs mean as you claimed before Sunday’s SF-Jacksonville game? Doesn’t legal mean it’s OK to do? That led to a near brawl between the 49ers DC and Jax head coach Liam Coen, who, oh by the way, beat out Saleh for Jax’s HC job last spring.

Sports 101 Answer: With 19, Andy Pettitte has the most postseason wins, followed by Justin Verlander (17), John Smoltz (15), Tom Glavine (14) and Kershaw (13).

Final Thought – The Raffy Devers Trade: With the year ending, here’s the early evaluation of the highly controversial trade.

Records: On day of trade SF was 41-31 and Boston was 37-36. After that, SF went 40-50 and Boston 51-37.

Stats: Devers with SF: G 89, BA .239, HR 19, RBI 50, K 119. Overall: G 163, BA .252, HR 34, RBI 108, K 191.

Red Sox Got Back: Just one win from the four guys they got. But it was a big one for the WC race by Kyle Harrison.

Future: From the money saved by trading Devers they’ll have $250 million to invest this winter for a No. 2 starter.

Who Won the Deal: 2025: Based on their record, getting rid of Dever’s distractions to make room for Roman Anthony worked out fine for Boston. Given what he hit, it’s hard to pin (or ignore) SF’s slide on just Raffy, but it happened.

Future: Can’t be fully judged until we see what they do with that saved $250 million.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

Quality of Life 25/10/02

From UNH to space!

As reported by the University of New Hampshire in a Sept. 24 press release, New Hampshire-built technology was aboard a rocket launched that morning. “Instrumentation designed and built by researchers, engineers and students from the University of New Hampshire (UNH) blasted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida,” the press release read. “The rocket is headed toward the sun as a part of NASA’s latest scientific mission to better understand the impact of space weather, cosmic radiation and their impacts on Earth.”

QOL score: +1

Comment: As reported by WMUR in a Sept. 25 online article, “Multiple spacecraft from the rocket are expected to reach their destination, a location between Earth and the Sun about one million miles away, by January.” Visit “UNH and IMAP-Lo“ on YouTube.

You might need to borrow a little more money

As reported by the Concord Monitor in a Sept. 24 online article, the cost of buying a home in New Hampshire has gone up. Again. “August marked the 67th consecutive month in which New Hampshire home prices were higher than in the same month a year earlier, according to the New Hampshire Association of Realtors,” according to the article

QOL score: -2

Comment: “Rockingham County topped the list as the most expensive area to buy a house last month,” the Monitor reported, “with a median price of $689,000. In Merrimack County, the median price was $527,500.”

Hoping you don’t work at the top of a hill

In a Sept. 28 post, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation announced on its Facebook page (facebook.com/NHDOT) that it was encouraging the drivers of New Hampshire not to drive. In a post titled, “Could You Go a Week Without Driving?” the DOT wrote that “from Sept 29 – Oct 5, NHDOT is stepping out of the driver’s seat and into the reality of millions who rely on walking, rolling, biking, transit, or carpooling every day.” They prompted temporary non-drivers to “sign up at weekwithoutdriving.org.”

QOL score: +1 for good intentions

Comment: The online responses included: “Well, that’ll be a really long walk to get groceries 35+miles away,” and, simply, “No.”

QOL score last week: 68

Net change: 0

QOL this week: 68

News & Notes 25/10/02

PFAS funds

NH Attorney General John M. Formella announced that the state has received an initial payment of nearly $8 million from the 3M Company’s nationwide PFAS settlement of public drinking water systems claims, according to a Sept. 24 press release. “The funds will be deposited in the N.H. Drinking Water and Groundwater Trust Fund … for distribution to eligible public drinking water systems across the state,” the release said. “I am proud to announce this initial influx of substantial settlement funds to support the Granite State’s public water systems as they work with our Department of Environmental Services to address PFAS contamination and continue to provide safe, clean drinking water to Granite Staters,” said Attorney General Formella in a statement in the release. “This payment is the first installment of New Hampshire’s approximately $56 million allocation (before payment of attorneys’ fees and litigation costs) of settlement funds from Phase One of the 3M settlement, with an additional allocation of funds scheduled in Phase Two sometime after 2026. A second, larger, Phase One payment is expected near year-end with subsequent smaller annual payments continuing through 2033,” the release said.

CMC ER in Nashua

Catholic Medical Center, which is part of HCA Healthcare, is planning a nearly 10,000-square-foot freestanding emergency facility at 338 Amherst St. in Nashua, according to a Sept. 22 press release. A ground-breaking on the site, the former Leda Lanes location, is slated for Oct. 28 with the facility project to open in mid-2026, the release said. “The Nashua Emergency Room will provide patients with convenient, 24/7 access to high-quality emergency care … Equipped with advanced diagnostic technologies, including computerized tomography (CT), ultrasound and radiology, the facility will also feature an on-site laboratory, covered ambulance entrance, and a dedicated pediatric waiting and treatment area,” the release said. See catholicmc.com.

Fire prevention

Fire Prevention Week in New Hampshire and nationwide runs Sunday, Oct. 5, through Saturday, Oct. 11, according to a post at the NH State Fire Marshal’s Office Facebook page. This year’s theme is “Charge Into Fire Safety” with the mission to teach people “how to safely buy, charge, and recycle lithium-ion batteries” according to the National Fire Prevention Association. Lithium-ion batteries cannot be thrown away in the regular garbage, according to nfpa.org. As of July 1, it’s been illegal to “throw lithium-ion batteries into the waste stream to end up in a landfill or waste-to-energy incinerator” in New Hampshire because “these batteries can explode, give off caustic gasses, and catch fire spontaneously” according to a newsletter from NH Recycles in July. See call2recycle.org for a local lithium-ion battery dropoff spot.

See “Passion for Progress: Serigraph Prints by Corita Kent,” selections from the permanent collection at Alva de Mars Megan Chapel Art Center at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. The works will be on display through Dec. 5. “Kent’s contemporary ‘Pop’ style and motivation emerged from within her very own life as a sister of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in California, and folded into the revolutionary period of the 1960s, the peace movement, alongside tremendous social change and contradiction in both the secular world and her religious life in the Catholic Church,” according to the show description at anselm.edu. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursdays from 4 to 7 p.m., the website said.

Dartmouth CARES (Community Awareness Research and Education) will hold a heart health screening on Thursday, Oct. 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Derry Public Library, 64 E. Broadway in Derry. The event offers free community screenings for cardiac health, including blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose screening, according to a library release. No registration required.

The United Way of Greater Nashua seeks volunteers to support the city of Nashua’s Winter Warming Station at the former Elm Street Middle School, according to a press release. The warming station will be open nightly, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., Dec. 1 through April 15, and volunteers help with tasks such as facilitating activities for guests, overseeing supplies and monitoring guest belongings, in two-hour shifts, the release said. See tinyurl.com/StayWarmNashua2025.

This Week 25/09/25

Thursday, Sept. 25

The Deerfield Fair runs today through Sunday, Sept. 28, at the fairgrounds, 34 Stage Road in Deerfield. The event features rides, live music, the Flying Wallendas high wire act, horse shows and agriculture events (including pig scrambles), magic shows, dog demonstrations and more. Visit deerfieldfair.com. Hungry? John Fladd spoke to several purveyors of fair food in the Aug. 28 issue of the Hippo, which you can find in the digital library on page 10. Pictured are super-sized doughnuts from Betsy’s Country Fair Donuts.

Friday, Sept. 26

Iconic band Cowboy Junkies will perform a career-spanning show at the Tupelo Music Hall (10 A St., Derry, 437-5100, tupelomusichall.com) tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets start at $55.

Friday, Sept. 26

Nashua Center for the Arts (201 Main St., Nashua, 800-657-8774, nashuacenterforthearts.com) presents Gimme Gimme Disco tonight beginning at 8 p.m. This is a DJ-based dance party playing all your favorite ABBA hits plus plenty of other disco hits from the ’70s & ’80. Tickets start at $25.50.

Friday, Sept. 26

A restored version 1927’s silent science fiction movie from director Fritz Lang, Metropolis, will screen at the Derry Opera House (29 W. Broadway, Derry, 404-2928, derryoperahouse.org) at 7 p.m. with live musical accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free; advance registration is requested. Register via the Derry Public Library’s website at derrypl.org and click on the online ‘Events’ calendar.

Saturday, Sept. 27

The Beaver Brook Fall Festival runs today 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Beaver Brook Association, 117 Ridge Road in Hollis, and feature live music, an Artisan Market, kids’ activities, live animal presentations, nature exhibits, hayrides, food trucks and more, according to an email from Beaver Brook. See beaverbrook.org.

Saturday, Sept. 27

Pay tribute to Robert Redford by watching 1976’sAll the President’s Men at Red River Theatres in Concord today at 10 a.m. The screening is part of the Civic in Cinema series, featuring post-film discussion. See redrivertheatres.org.

Saturday, Sept. 27

The Jason R. Flood Memorial, the organization behind Pizzastock, will present a show today from noon to 3 p.m. in the parking lot at Kendall Pond Pizza, 7 Mammoth Road in Windham, featuring performances by Clare Mitchell, Parietal Eye, Phoenix Revival and Vermilion, according the organization’s Facebook page. Admission is free.

Saturday, Sept. 27

Symphony New Hampshire presents “Unexpected Stories,” led by Music Director finalist Tiffany Chang, tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Keefe Auditorium (117 Elm St., Nashua). Single tickets start at $20; see symphonynh.org.

Save the Date! Saturday, Oct. 4

The second annual New Hampshire Book Festival will take place Saturday, Oct. 4, in downtown Concord. It will be a celebration of books, featuring more than 50 nationally recognized authors and poets. It is a free, all-day festival supported by ticketed keynote events. Visit nhbookfestival.org.

Quality of Life 25/09/25

Things are getting thirsty

According to a Sept.16 online article from WMUR, this summer’s drought has hit a new milestone: some wells are starting to run dry. Quoting Ted Diers from the Department of Environmental Services, the article read, “Basically, this is a statewide drought. What we’re encouraging is for people to be very, very careful with their well water, be conservation minded, [and] use it gently.” The NHDES website posts a warning, “Drought conditions continue to worsen. Currently, 73% of the state is in severe or extreme drought. Please follow local water use restrictions and fire requirements, and conserve water where you can.

QOL score: -3 (because see also page 4)

Comment: More than half of New Hampshire residents depend on private wells for their water. Visit des.nh.gov/climate-and-sustainability/storms-and-emergencies/drought.

But relief might be on its way

As of Sept. 22, WMUR’s extended forecast shows a likelihood of at least one day of rain in the next week, with a 90 percent chance of rain. The National Weather Service is more cautious in its estimates, predicting a maximum of a 70 percent chance of rain.

QOL score: +1

Comment: According to the National Weather Service, Concord experienced 18 days in August (the latest data available) with temperatures above average, and 1.18 inches of rain, compared to the 3.36 inches of a normal year. Visit.weather.gov.

Is ‘stagnant’ as bad as it sounds?

In a Sept.11 report, the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute (nhfpi.org) analyzed U.S. Census data and concluded, “While Granite Staters’ economic well-being did not worsen, it also did not improve. From 2023 to 2024, median household incomes were essentially flat when adjusting for inflation, poverty rates remained unchanged. These stagnant indicators suggest that while New Hampshire has avoided backsliding, many families continue to face persistent challenges meeting basic needs.”

QOL score: -1

Comment: According to the Institute’s report, “A limited supply of housing units in New Hampshire is contributing to both higher rental costs and increased sale prices for single-family houses across the state, making purchasing a home, and associated wealth-building opportunities, more difficult to access for those who currently rent.” Visit nhfpi.org/blog/acs2025.

‘I owe how much!?’

According to a recent study by the online finance website WalletHub.com, New Hampshire ranks second among states with the highest rate of student loan debt. “[New Hampshire] Borrowers owe an average of close to $40,000, the highest amount in the country,” the report read. New Hampshire came first in the average amount of student debt, second in the proportion of students with debt, first in the percentage of student loans past due or in default, and — perhaps a good sign — third in grant growth. Only Mississippi scored higher.

QOL score: -1

Comment: According to the WalletHub report, “At the end of the first quarter of 2025, total outstanding college-loan balances stood at over $1.66 trillion, according to the Department of Education. That comes out to an average of over $39,000 for each of the 42.5 million borrowers.” Search for “States with the Most and Least Student Debt (2025).”

QOL score last week: 72

Net change: -4

QOL this week: 68

What’s affecting your Quality of Life here in New Hampshire?

Let us know at news@hippopress.com.

Huge baseball weekend ahead

The Big Story – The Final Weekend: Since we’re filing this on Monday it’s hard to predict where the Red Sox will be as the final weekend begins. But they’re facing a tough week, starting with three at first-place Toronto and then their final three games at Fenway vs. Detroit. Who, thanks to Cleveland getting red hot, could now be fighting for the same WC slot. The good news is Garrett Crochet goes tonight (Thursday) in Toronto. Which means, if looking ahead like you’re not supposed to do, he’ll be the starter of the Wild Card game if they make it into the tournament.

On the precarious side, they’ll then be depending on rookie starters Kyle Harrison (who gave up just one run in six innings vs. TB in his Red Sox debut Friday) and Connelly Early on Friday and Saturday. Lucas Giolito will pitch Game 162.

Nothing like the final week of a baseball season when you’re still in the race. So enjoy the final weekend while thinking 1967.

Sports 101 – Which NFL team has gone the longest without winning a playoff game?

News Item – Pats Fumble Away Win vs. Pitt: (1) Not that it takes a degree from MIT, but it’s nearly impossible to win when you have five turnovers as they did Sunday. (2) After two more fumbles, including one as he was going in for the tying score, on top of seven last year, when do you think Rhamondre Stevenson will next see any action? (3) With Antonio Gibson also benched for fumbling, who’s going to be the RB if TreVeyon Henderson fumbles next week? (4) Except for two exceptionally thrown TD passes, 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers looked like he was on the 17th hole throwing for 139 yards. (5) Where is Efton Chism III?

News Item – The Career Legacy – Going Down:So far the college career ain’t going as Bill Belichick had hoped. After another pasting, this time 34-9 to the University of Central Florida, Coach B has dropped to 2-2 while being outscored 91-84. And seeing the 20-something girlfriend wearing knee-high go-go boots on the sideline didn’t do much for the image either.

News Item – NFL First: Vikings DB Isaiah Rogers did something no one else had ever done in their 44-13 thumping of the Saints on Sunday. He became the first to ever return an interception and a fumble recovery for TD’s in a first half. And then for good measure he recovered two more fumbles later in the game.

The Numbers:

400 – career home runs for Angels outfielder Mike Trout after blasting one Sunday.

509 – career TD passes for Aaron Rodgers after hitting DK Metcalf Sunday to move into fourth place on the all-time TD passes list.

4,012,430 – 2025 attendance for the Dodgers, making them the 10th MLB team to draw 4 million. The per game average was 49,537.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Down – NFL and Tom Brady: Sorry, but being a part owner of the Oakland, er, Las Vegas Raiders while doing all that’s needed to be Fox’s lead broadcaster is an obvious conflict of interest.

Stupid Coaching Move That Worked – Mike Vrabel: Going for (and making it) on fourth and 1 from his 15. The last guy to do that deep in their own territory early in a game was Barry Switzer when coaching Dallas vs. the G-Men in the ’90s. The headline in the NY Post the next day was “Bozo The Coach.”

Random Thoughts:

Besides Aroldis Chapman and to some degree Garrett Whitlock, the Red Sox bullpen has been an unreliable joke. Alex Cora never knows what he’ll get game to game from anyone ranging from pitching well to total arson. How can someone manage like that?

How in the name of Hoyt Wilhelm does Sox reliever Justin Wilson get a positive stat when he pitches just two thirds of an inning and gives up two runs to BLOW a one-run lead? But somehow he got a “HOLD” — even though he didn’t do it.

Earth to baseball: HE BLEW the lead in, oh by the way, a very important game and he still gets a positive stat. Just NUTS.

Sports 101 Answer: The Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since Dec. 30, 2000, when Dave Wannstedt was the HC.

Final Thought – Red Sox Pennant Race Thoughts: Raise your hand if at the beginning of the year you had Nick Sogard knocking in Nate Eaton with the winning run in extra innings in a crucial pennant chase win as they did in the Sox’ 5-4 win in 10 vs. Oakland on Wednesday.

Ditto that they’d have to rely on two rookie starters, Harrison and Early, in the year’s crucial final weekend series.

Or that, with all due respect to Crochet and Chapman, a guy brought up from AAA in early June would be their MVP?

Don’t agree? They were 32-35 when Roman Anthony arrived, then went 46-27 until he got hurt. Since then they’re 7-10.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

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