Category: Sports

The Big Story – Sox Hang to the End: While it’ll probably be over by the time you see this, you’ve got to give the Sox props for not quitting on the season when it looked most bleak. That would be sweeping a doubleheader from Minnesota, who was then the leader for the final wild card spot, on Sunday when a double loss would have ended the season. With the added bonus being Triston Casas finally doing something to give The Nation a bit of anticipation for 2025 with a three-homer, seven-RBI game in Sunday’s opener.

Sports 101: My friend Mark Ferdinando says Sports 101 should be tougher. So, of the eight original NFL teams from the year the league started having playoffs in 1932, name the six who remain.

News Item – Red Sox Bright Side: While not quite white hot, young right-handerBrayan Bello finished strong after his rough month of June ended. The Sox went 14-4 in his 18 starts since July 1, as his ERA dropped from 5.55 to 4.48 with a team-best 14 wins against eight losses.

That makes him the year’s top Red Sox story, because an organization devoid of pitching and with an embarrassing record of developing their own likely has their pitcher of the future.

News Item – Shohei Ohtani: You want to talk about setting a record in style? Few have done it like the Dodgers star in joining the unprecedented 50-50 club when he went six for six with four runs scored, three homers, two steals and 10 RBI in a 20-4 win over Florida. It left him with 51 bombs and 51 steals. Amazing.

And he may pitch in the playoffs too! He really is the Babe.

News Item – Barf Inducing Broadcast: If I were in the locker room with the guys I’d use, ah, more colorful language, to talk about Kirk Herbstreit’s endless butt-kissing of Aaron Rodgers during the Thursday Night game between the Jets and the Pats. An embarrassing display for a guy doing a national broadcast regularly turning simple five-yard completions into miracles on ice. The only thing missing was partner Al Michaels saying Do You Believe In Miracles. The miracle I wished for was for him to give it a rest.

The Numbers:

7.2 & 6.14 – astronomical runs allowed per nine innings and ERA by the Sox bullpen since the All-Star break as reported by Alex Speier in the Boston Globe.

13.94 – ERA for ex-Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel in his last 11 appearances before being DFA’d by Baltimore last week.

125 – million dollars paid by the owners of the WNBA’s new Portland expansion franchise.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Down – Lions Fans: The people forcing Lions Coach Dan Campbell to sell his house for a more private location after they harassed his family following a tough Week 2 loss. That’s the same Dan Campbell who turned the Lions from a mostly 50-year joke into an exciting playoff team. What is wrong with these people?

Best Sports Marketing Name of the Week – The Sports Bra: Name of what’s claimed to be the nation’s first sports bar for women, which calls Portland, Oregon, home.

Random Thoughts:

I’m a no on Eli Manning getting into the Hall of Fame. Sorry, two great games in the biggest moment doesn’t make a career. But don’t bet against him getting in in February.

No surprise on Kimbrel. Anyone who saw him with Boston knows he was awful in the clutch and terrible from September on. A stat boy if there ever was one.

After posting a 6.23 ERA in Arizona how many of you folks calling the Red Sox stupid for not giving Jordan Montgomery the huge multi-year deal he wanted still think they were?

Sports 101 Answer: The three easiest originals are the Bears, Giants and Packers, who remain in their original city. Then there’s the Cardinals who started in Chicago and moved to St. Louis before settling in Arizona. The Boston Braves, who became the Redskins before moving to Washington, where they eventually became the Commanders. Finally the Detroit Lions, who started as the Portsmouth Spartans.

Final Thought – News Item – Earth to Bob Nightengale: Yes, with soon to be NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale climbing to 18-3, with a 2.38 ERA this week his trade looks worse by the day. But Earth to the USA Today baseball writer, it was not the worst by the Red Sox since Babe Ruth got sent to the Yanks. Guess he missed sending an in-his-prime Mookie Betts to L.A., where he’s been great, for three stiffs in 2020. And second, while it’s a bad look, they had little choice to move on from Sale after what he gave them for the first $120 million of his $150 million five-year contract — which was nothing. We should drop the finger-pointing over him and just be happy that a guy who always cared but had simple bad luck finally got healthy.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story: So much for hopes of an undefeated season as the Patriots went down in a 23-20 OT loss to surprising Seattle on Sunday. The Pats’ limitations (the wide receivers had three catches for 19 yards) and strengths (defense) were on display for most of the day. Though when they needed stops at the end of regulation and OT Geno Smith drove the Seahawks downfield for the tying and winning FGs.

In a quick turnaround the Jets are up next for the 1-1 Pats tonight on Thursday Night Football.

Sports 101: Aaron Judge has reached the 50 home run mark for a third season. Name the four others in MLB history to do that.

News Item – Looking Bleak for the Red Sox: After losing three of four to the Yanks over the weekend the end is in sight. At 75-75, they trailed three teams for the final wild card spot as the week started, 4.5 games back with 12 to play.

The weekend’s lowlight was Alex Cora doing something even Grady Little wouldn’t do. That is loading the bases by intentionally walking Juan Soto on Friday to bring major league home run leader Aaron Judge to the plate to face a lefty in a one-run game. I know — WHAT??

Predictably Judge deposited one in the left field bleachers for a grand slam to give the Yanks a 5-4 lead and the game.

News Item – Historic Stat Watch Update: That slam by Judge was No. 52, and 53 came on Sunday. That gave him a 10+ lead in the home run race, and with an even wider lead in RBI he’s going to win 2/3 of the triple crown for sure. And the whole TC is possible too, but he needs to make up 10 points in the batting average, at .322, to reach leader Bobby Witt at .332, which is a big gap at this time of year.

Shohei Ohtani started the week needing just two steals and three homers to reach the 50-50 club.

And finally, gulp, at 17-3 with 219 K’s and a 2.35 ERA Chris Sale leads in all three categories for the NL pitching triple crown.

The Numbers:

4.78 – ERAfor Tanner Houck in his nine starts since the All-Star game as he’s lost all four of his decisions.

5 – first downs made by Pats tight end Hunter Henry on all five balls thrown to him in the first quarter Sunday.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Joe Castiglione: The Red Sox radio voice announced on Sunday he’ll hang it up at year’s end after 42 years on the job and 6,500 broadcasts. Congrats on a job well done, young fella.

Clutch Moment of the Week – Francisco Lindor: The Mets shortstop enhanced his MVP candidacy by breaking up Bowdon Francis’ no-hit bid in the ninth inning to spark a comeback rally that gave the rampaging Mets a shocking 6-2 win over Toronto to keep their wild card playoff hopes alive.

A Little History – No-Hitter Break-ups: Incidentally, Francis is the first guy to lose two no-hitters in the ninth inning in the same season since — who else? — Nolan Ryan in 1989. Everyone knows about Ryan’s amazing seven no-no’s, but he narrowly missed 12 more by throwing that many one-hitters.

Random Thoughts:

It was way too early for analyst Jonathan Vilma to say just four plays into Seattle’s second possession, “so far Christian Gonzalez is getting the better of DK Metcalf,” and two plays later Metcalf caught a 56-yard TD pass with CG 15 yards behind him as the ball arrived. And by game’s end it was 10 catches for 129 yards overall.

Nice of the Lakers to honor the late Jerry West this coming year with a uniform patch with his number 44 on it. Though given the irreparable broken relationship between the team and West in recent years when his season tickets were rescinded, it must seem a little hollow to those in the know.

Sports 101 Answer: Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa hit 50-plus homers in four seasons while Alex Rodriguez did it three times.

Final Thought – Whiny America Strikes Again:

Now that the Chiefs are football’s best team they’re getting the same whining over their wins that the Brady-Belichick Pats did in theirs during the good old days. I understand the frustration that comes from losing to a team that always pulls it out at the end. But the receiver’s foot was on the end line for the negated Ravens TD that saved KC in Week 1 and it was definitely interference on the fourth-and-forever play that set up the winning FG vs. the Bengals on Sunday.

I don’t know if all the whining in today’s lunatic political climate over imagined biases migrated to sports, or if sports whining sent politics that way. I just know I’m sick of both. As sometimes your guy/team loses because they just didn’t do enough to win.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – Mayo Era Begins: Well, I didn’t see that coming, especially from the maligned offensive line. The Jerod Mayo era began on an unexpected high note Sunday when his Patriots pretty much stunned everyone with a 16-10 win over the Bengals — on the road, no less — to put early check marks in the boxes of the O-line, GM Eliot Wolf, owner Bob Kraft and Mayo.

And with Seattle flying cross-country for the home opener, being 2-0 seems possible. Which would blow everyone’s pre-season predictions out of the water.

Sports 101: Name the four NFL teams who’ve never played in a Super Bowl.

News Item – Sox on Life Support: They’re not dead yet, but it ain’t looking good, as after stumbling through an awful three wins in 10 games they start the week with three teams ahead of them and four games out.

And while the hitting wasn’t great, the relief pitching was awful as (a) Kenley Jansen and Rich Hill issued three straight bases-loaded eighth-inning walks to turn a 3-1 lead into a 4-3 series-sweeping Mets win last Wednesday and (b)Zack Kelly gave up five runs in the ninth to the woeful White Sox in Sunday’s 7-2 loss.

News Item – 4 Pats Stars: (a) Kyle Dugger for saving TD’s on consecutive plays by first yanking the ball out of Mike Gesicki’s hands at the last second in the end zone, then stripping Tanner Hudson on the 1-foot line that was recovered and returned 17 yards by Marcus Jones; (b) Jonathan Jones for making a great tackle when it looked like Cincy was going to get a key first down on fourth and 2 from the 35 in the third quarter. (c) Keion White — as predicted by your not so humble scribe, Matthew Judon wasn’tmissed because KW filled that void with 2.5 sacks; (d) Rhamondre Stevenson (and the offensive line) for his 120 rushing yards and especially picking up three gigantic first downs on the final drive to run out the clock.

The Numbers:

46 & 46 – homers and stolen bases for Shohei Otani, asafter stealing numbers 44, 45 and 46 in one game alone last week and hitting two more homers, it’s looking likely he’ll become the first to enter the 50-50 club.

111 – losses for the White Sox to keep on pace to have the worst record in baseball history.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – NFL Replay: They probably didn’t like it in Maryland, but a second look at the apparent TD that would have tied on the final play of the NFL opener between KC and Baltimore showed the value of the replay, as receiver Isaiah Likely’s toe actually was (barely) on the back line. So no TD.

It also correctly took away the Gesicki non-TD in the Patriots-Bengals game.

Thumbs Down – Injury of the Week: For seeing Washington Spirits rookie Croix Bethune somehow tearing her meniscus throwing out the first pitch at a Washington Nats game to honor her being part of U.S. Women’s Soccer winning gold at the Paris Olympics.

Barf Inducing Moment of the Week: Gonna sound like a get off my lawn grouch, but it was the first sight of the so-called “modernized” throwback uniforms worn by the New York Giants on Sunday. Yuck.

In Case You Missed It – Ceddanne Rafaela: The rookie’s versatility achieved a first in baseball history by playing 68 games at shortstop and 61 in center field. Which should be a big entry on the resume in voting for rookie of the year.

Random Thoughts:

By the way, after pointing out last week Andy Reid has a chance to surpass Bill Belichick in career wins I didn’t say it’s because he’s as good at designing offenses as Coach B is at D.

If you’re interested, it was five tackles and a ½ sack for Judon in his Atlanta debut.

After seeing his QB Will Levis average a microscopic 4.0 yards per attempt on Sunday, I wonder if Calvin Ridley was second guessing picking Tennessee over the Patriots in free agency.

Sports 101 Answer: Jacksonville, Houston, Cleveland and Detroit are the franchises who’ve never made it to the Super Bowl.

Final Thought – Garrett Crochet: Remember when everyone (including me) wanted the Red Sox to get the White Sox lefty at the trade deadline?

Well, Crochet has not gone more than four innings in any of his 11 starts since July 1. And while he’s not hurt, he’s only thrown 19.1 total since the deadline, including lasting just two innings against the Sox on Saturday when he gave up four earned runs.

Throw in his refusal to be dealt to a team unless it gave him an immediate multi-year deal. Meaning he took staying with the worst team in baseball history over going somewhere to win.

So while Craig Breslow didn’t get any help at the deadline, Crochet’s JD (blood and guts) Drew mindset tells us they dodged a bullet by passing on him.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – NFL Season Opener Dead Ahead: It all gets started tonight in KC when the two-time defending champs take on the Baltimore Ravens in a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game. Three things about KC are relevant to fans in these parts.

First, with three already and Patrick Mahomes in just his seventh season, KC is halfway to matching the six won by the Patriots in the Brady-Belichick era. Second, depending on how long he plans to coach, with 284 wins and his QB just entering prime years, 66-year-old Andy Reid has a realistic shot to catch Bill Belichick (333) and move past Don Shula (347) for most wins ever. Finally, Mahomes is on pace to roll by every one of Tom Brady’s all-time passing records. Long way to go, but that puts him on a path to eclipse TB-12 as the GOAT. Enjoy.

Sports 101 – For Level-A History Folks: Who was the last QB to wear a number above 19 in the NFL?

News Item – Jarren Duran: It’s been quite a year for the Boston speedster. In addition to being the All-Star Game MVP, last week he became the first player in history to have 40 doubles, 10 triples, 20 homers and 30 stolen bases in the same season.

News Item – Pitching Effort of the Week: Brayan Bello continues to pitch well after finding his groove from that big dip starting in early June. Exhibit A was last week’s two-hit, eight-shutout-inning, nine-strikeout masterpiece in a 3-0 win over Toronto. It moved him to 12-6 and dropped the ERA to 4.66, its lowest point since June 8.

News Item – Patriots 2024 Kick-Off:

News and thoughts ahead of Sunday’s opener vs. the Bengals, when Jacoby Brissett will start at QB.

Notable Roster Moves – Cuts – QB Bailey Zappe and power back Kevin Harris. PUP List – G Cole Strange and WR Kendrick Bourne.

Most Improved on D – Keion White: Think he’s going to be a difference maker.

Most Improved on O – Demario Douglas: Showed flashes last year he could be their next go-to slot receiver.

Biggest Surprise – The D: Since they were better after he went down for the season I don’t think they’ll miss Matthew Judon that much. And while losing Christian Barmore is another story, I think White will pick up the slack and they’ll piece it together.

Worst Part of Team – Offensive Line: Its being so bad is the reason I thought drafting a QB with the third overall pick before fixing it was a big mistake.

The Numbers:

20 – consecutive years in the majors for 44-year-old Rich Hill after returning this week for his third stint with the Red Sox.

85 – most-in-the-majors unearned runs allowed (at press time) by the porous Red Sox defense, 21 ahead of second-worst Miami.

… Of the Week Awards:

Dumbest Rule of the Year – New NFL Onside Kicks: Amid a number of new rules for the on-side kick, including that you can only do it in the fourth quarter and you have to be losing, the dumbest is having to tell the other team you’re going to do it.

Alumni News – Mac Jones Update: If you’re interested, here’s what the exiled Patriots QB did under an offensive head coach and with real receivers to throw to during the exhibition season: 38 for 52, completion average 73.3 percent, 421 yards, 8.1 yards gained per attempt, three TD passes, no picks, long gain 31 yards and a QB rating of 115.3.

What A Stupid I Yam Award – Me: Yaz actually turned 85 on Aug. 22, not 84 as I said. Thanks to eagle-eyed SF Giants fan/reader Dick Lombardi for catching that.

Random Thoughts

My only complaint about trading Judon is the brass should have anticipated he’d whine in the final year of his contract and traded him before the draft so they’d have that third pick now instead of having to wait until 2025.

Sports 101 Answer: JohnHadlwas the last above-19-wearing QB when he wore 21 for four teams starting with San Diego in 1962 through 1978.

Final Thought – Big Patriots Questions and Predictions:

Biggest Question – Jerod Mayo: He’s a first-time HC so expect hiccups, especially as the lifetime defender tries to untangle the offensive malaise of the last two years.

Should They Tank? Sadly with their schedule they don’t have to. But, while I hate trying to lose, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t play all their young guys to gain as much experience as possible. That includes Drake Maye and if they lose as a result that’s OK.

When Will Maye Take Over? Week 7 vs. the Jets at home on Oct. 27.

2024 Season Prediction – 3-14: It ain’t like the old days when the question was will they win 13 or 14. Instead, it’s for how many losses. And they don’t get their last two until December.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – Pats Pre-Season Ends: After a 20-10 loss to Washington, the Patriots closed the preseason at 1-2.

Two things jumped out in the game: (1) While they did run for 139 yards, the O-line was awful. It had eight penalties called on it in the first half alone and got Jacoby Brissett hurt on the first series. (2) Yes, the Washington D is as bad, but Drake Maye was solid again in going 13-29 for 126 yards and two TD passes (one called back). He also had a nice 17-yard scamper out of the pocket.

Cut-down Day to 53 players was Tuesday, then comes the biggest question: After another strong outing will Maye be the starting QB in the opener in Cincinnati on Sept. 8?

Sports 101: Last week Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz became the fifth player in baseball history to hit 20 homers and steal 60 bases in the same year. Name the other four who also did it.

News Item – Big 3 Now Big 4: With the Red Sox wild card chances fading after being swept by the D-Backs at Fenway over the weekend to drop five games back, attention may be shifting to AAA Worcester. Their top four prospects have been promoted — Marcelo Mayer, Kevin Teel and Roman Anthony (three homers in his first 11 games) a few weeks ago, followed by the latest call-up, Kristian Campbell. With Campbell and Anthony hitting .421 and .341 respectively they’re creating a lot of excitement and living up to their ranking for being among baseball’s top 65 prospects. Stay tuned to what they all do in the Woo Sox’ last four weeks.

News Item – Danny Jansen and Baseball History: If it comes off, history will have been made before you see this and after my deadline. But since Alex Cora says his new catcher would be in the line-up for Monday night (Aug. 26) when they resume their suspended (due to rain) game with Toronto from June 26 that had him at the plate for the Blue Jays, I’ll confidently say Jansen will have/did become the first person in history to appear in the same game for two different teams when he got behind the plate for Boston Monday night.

The Numbers:

18 – homers hit in the first inning already this year by Yankees slugger Aaron Judge to tie the all-time record set by A-Rod in 2001.

24 – million dollars and change paid at auction for the jersey Babe Ruth wore the day he made his famous called shot at Wrigley Field in the 1932 World Series.

… Of the Week Award

Spectacular Moment of the Week – Shohei Ohtani: That was quite a way for the Dodgers star to enter the 40-40 club earlier than any player (in Game 126), with a walk-off grand slam to beat Tampa 7-3 after stealing his 40th base earlier in the game on Friday.

Alumni News – Triple Crown Ahead: My prediction was that after his never-ending injury troubles in Boston Chris Sale was going to win 15 games with Atlanta. Now that he leads the NL with 14 he’s likely going way past that. But what I didn’t see was him winning the pitching triple crown, which by also leading in ERA at 2.62 and strikeouts with 183 he’s currently on pace to do.

A Little History – Braves Pitching: Even with 369-game-winner Warren Spahn and their Hall of Fame Big 3 from the 1990s, if Sale pulls off the triple C, he’ll be the franchise’s first to do it since John Clarkson in 1889 when they were the Beaneaters in Boston. He went 49-19 with a 2.73 ERA and 284 k’s in 72 starts with 68 complete games over an astonishing 620 innings.

Of course he died at 47, so maybe that took its toll!

Random Thoughts:

Seeing Guerschon Yabusele play so well in the Olympics after being an overweight jump-shooting bust with the C’s made me sick to my stomach. But now he’s the opposite, in shape, physical, crashes the glass and plays hard. So good move by Philly to sign him even if it gets my goat.

Sports 101 Answer: The others in the 20-60 club are Joe Morgan and Ricky Henderson (twice each) and Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna did it last year (27 and 73).

Final Thought – Thumbs Up Red Sox Brass: Remember how the talk shows were all over the Red Sox for not signing free agent lefty Jordan Montgomery lastwinter?

The problem was he was a career fifth starter made out to be Sandy Koufax after two good months with Texas as they won the World Series. Well, if you were squawking, they were right and you were wrong. In 19 starts with Arizona the ERA was 6.44 amid calls to send him to the bullpen.Moral of the story: Never invest big after a rental’s hot pennant race run that goes beyond what the career wrap sheet says someone is.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – Happy Birthday, Yaz: We’ll start today with birthday greetings to Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski as he turns 84. His 1967 season is arguably the greatest season for carrying his team on his back since Joe DiMaggio in 1941.

My favorite Yaz stat has nothing to do with baseball, though. It’s that as a high school basketball player he set Long Island’s single-game scoring record by going for 60 one day. Not bad for a place that includes Julius Erving among its basketball alumni. So happy b-day, Captain Carl.

Sports 101: When Yaz went for those 60 points, whose LI scoring record did he break?

News Item – Mickey Gasper: The big day came for the catcher out of Merrimack when the Red Sox called him to the show last week. He immediately played in two games, walking twice in two AB’s to give him an impossible-to-top 1.000 on-base percentage.

News Item – Drake Maye: The Pats may have lost 14-13 to Philly, but there were encouraging signs of life from their rookie QB as he calmly led two scoring drives while going 6-11 for 47 yards and 15 more and a TD on four carries.

The Numbers:

3 –games out of the final wild card spot for the Sox as the week started.

300 – homer mark reached by Yankees slugger Aaron Judge last week.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Bayless Dumped By FS1: With his ratings tanking, repugnant talking head Skip Bayless is gone from his show on FS1.

Sports/Politics Note of the Week – Royce White: The former Iowa State hoopster won the GOP primary in Minnesota last week to let him face Dem Amy Klobuchar for her Senate seat.

Random Thoughts: How ridiculous was it to hear Kenley (Blood and Guts) Jansen telling Alex Cora he was “ready to get 4” during a win over Texas last week? Wow, like facing four guys instead of three is a herculean task.

A Little History – Closers in 1949: The Yankees went into their season-closing two-game series with the Red Sox trailing Boston by one game for the pennant. Starter Allie Reynolds got tagged with four runs in the third inning to send New York down 0-4. So with the season on the line Casey Stengel quick-triggered him for an unorthodox move that would give managers, media pundits and people like Jansen a stroke today.

He brought closer Joe Page to stem the potential season-ending rally. Which he did. And Casey not only did that, but he had Page keep going until the Sox got to him. Which they never did.

Leading old Joe to “close” out a crucial 5-4 Yankees win with an astonishing scoreless 6.2-inning, 1-hit, 5-strikeout effort to save the season. Especially since the Yanks won 5-3 the next day to steal the pennant from Boston

Again.

Sports 101 Answer: Before Yaz, the LI single game record was held by the greatest football player who ever lived, Jimmy Brown, who had 53 for Manhasset in the early 1950s.

Final Thought – The White Sox Race to be the Worst Ever: Longtime New York Met Ed Kranepool went on record last week saying he hopes the Chicago White Sox surpass the 40-120 record of his 1962 Mets for the worst single season ever in MLB history.

If you don’t who Kranepool is, he is sort of a New York legend in a weird way. He was a NYC high school phenom who made it to the Mets in their first year when he was 17. And then despite being nothing more than a journeyman first baseman his entire career, he somehow managed to last with the Mets for the next 18 years despite never driving in even 60 runs in a year. I would venture no one’s ever pulled off a feat like that without being traded at least once.

But sorry, Ed, I don’t want them to break your Mets’ record of futility. I’m a New Yorker at heart and that team, as bad as it was, was a historic, beloved team of distinction.

First, because their arrival as an expansion team brought baseball back to National League fans in NYC after they were abandoned by the Giants and Dodgers after 1957. Second, they lost in both lovable and comical how-did-they-do-that ways. And finally, they had the perfect ringleader at the center of all the chaos in legendary Yankees manager Casey Stengel to explain all the lunacy as it unfolded in the entertaining fashion only he could.

In other words, they were perfect in their futility, while Chicago is just terrible and B-O-R-I-N-G. So it’ll be a loss for baseball history if the record falls from the Amazing Mets, at whom Stengel used to shout in anguish from the dugout, “Can’t anyone here play this game?!!!”

Email Dave Long at [email protected].