Category: Sports

The Big Story — Christmas: Today is the day for giving gifts. The Patriots got theirs a little early, by clinching a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021 with Sunday’s 28-24 win over Baltimore. And as they try to get ahead of Denver and Buffalo for AFC Top Seed and win the AFC East, they get another Sunday with the Jets on their holiday menu, followed by 6-9 Miami. Meanwhile for Buffalo it’s Philadelphia and the Jets, while Denver got Pat Mahomes-less KC on Christmas Day and closes it out with a tough one vs. the 11-4 Chargers.

Sports 101: Whose NFL fans in the 1970s booed Santa Claus on Christmas Day when he was shown on the Jumbotron making his rounds during the game?

News Item – Patriots Down Baltimore 28-24:

KeyStat – Drake Maye had his first career 300+ yard game when he was 31-44 for 380 yards and two TDs.

Improvement –Kyle Williams had another tremendous contested long TD catch (36 yards) and gained 29.7 on three key returns.

Brain Dead Call – MikeVrabel – The failed fake punt giving Baltimore FG position with them just down three with 20 minutes still left.

Backslide – Maye had three turnovers.

Game Ball – A Tie –Maye overcame the TO’s to lead his first fourth-quarter comeback when Stefon Diggs was vital to that with nine catches for 138 yards.

News Item – Holiday Presents: Time to see who’s been naughty and nice as we hand out our presents for 2025.

2025 Patriots – No home playoff games. If you haven’t noticed, they’re 5-3 at home and 7-0 on the road.

Jayson Tatum – a healthy return from the Achilles injury.

Celtics – a better collective bargaining agreement that doesn’t hurt fans by forcing teams to shred very good players to avoid onerous financial and player acquisition penalties.

Red Sox Nation – A New Owner: One willing to spend what it takes to acquire top-level talent like John Henry once did and the Dodgers now always do.

Patriots Owner Bob Kraft – Mystery Votes: Some fall his way in the Hall of Fame voting. Because getting the needed 80 percent of the 50 voters (who only have three votes each) to say yes, it’ll be a tough slog in his contributors/long retired players category to get in with him up against the “what took them so long” trio of SF running back Roger Craig, Steelers defensive end L.C. Greenwood, Cincy QB Kenny Anderson along with Bill Belichick in that group. He’s a distant fifth to them.

Coach B – Not Enough Votes: It won’t happen, but given how he went out of his way to make the media’s job harder, especially after losses, waiting a year seems appropriate penance for that nonsense.

Ryan Day – a second straight college football national title for the local lad to get him a step closer to legendary Woody Hayes’ Ohio State record of five national titles.

Coach B – Another: Since he already got a snarky one, we’ll give him another. Being the surprise hire for an open NFL job to let him keep trying to pass Don Shula’s record for most wins all-time.

2026 Patriots – Player Additions: Two studs added to the O-line and a major pass rusher in the draft and free agency.

Outside World

Lane Kiffin, Brian Kelly and Nick Saban (twice) – Coal in their Stockings: For walking out on their bowl-bound players to take the next job.

Notre Dame Football – More Idle Post Seasons: To college football’s most entitled whiners, a CD of Miami advancing to R-II by knocking out Texas A & M 10-3.

Al Horford – Success: With trade chatter already in the air, a better career ending than it’s looking like for the 39-year-old in Golden State, where he’s only played 13 times in 28 games as he’s shooting just 29.5 percent of his three-ball tries while averaging 5.6 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

Major League Baseball – A Salary Cap: Because, to their credit, the Dodgers are making a mockery of their spending advantage over all but the five or six teams capable of playing big-money baseball.

Mike Vrabel – Coach of the Year: He already got his present Sunday in Baltimore. But, while he’s got real competition from Liam Coen and others, it would be a nice reward for the spectacular job he’s done in returning the great franchise to its accustomed place.

Drake Maye – MVP Award: Coming up big in the year’s biggest game definitely got him back in that race.

Sports 101 Answer: Who else but the never happy unless they have someone to boo fans in Philly would boo Santa on Christmas?

Final Thought:

Holiday wishes to all for a happy, healthy and prosperous year ahead.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Bill Comes Due for Pats: Well, they both had chances and neither could close the deal. For the Pats the AFC East title was there for the taking but they could not hold a 21-0 lead over Josh Allen and Buffalo, losing 35-31. It was a frustrating game with a number of penalties happening at the worst time and horrible officiating (for both teams). But they also had to lose sooner or later after 10 straight wins. Plus Denver won to take a two-game lead in the race for top seed in the AFC. However, if they beat Baltimore next week the Buffalo loss is just a blip. At least for now.

Sports 101: Name the top five lefthander scorers in pro basketball history.

News Item – Celtics Update: At 15-10 on Monday they are way ahead of expectations. Particularly, unlike the Patriots, eight of those wins are against teams that are above .500. Jaylen Brown (29.1, 6.1 and 4.8) is showing a team can be built around him.

News Item – Injured List – Major NFL Stars: Sad news that both Micah Parsons and Patrick Mahomes tore ACLs Sunday and are done for the year.

News Item – Hell Freezes Over: It was a done deal before Mahomes got hurt, but after their latest loss KC is 6-8 and out of the playoffs for the first time in the eight-year Mahomes era.

The Numbers:

0 – shots made in nine 3-ball attempts for Celtic, ahh, three-point bomber Sam Hauser in the Celtics’ 116-101 loss to the Bucks, which ended their modest five-game winning streak.

4 – after Sunday’s 52- and 64-yarders, the number of TD runs of 50+ yards for Pats rookie TreVeyon Henderson already this year.

5 – turnovers on four interceptions and a lost fumble by Jalen Hurts in the aforementioned Eagles loss to the L.A. Chargers.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Fernando Mendoza: His stellar season for 11-0 Indiana led their QB to be the first Hoosier to win the Heisman Trophy.

Thumbs Down – Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia: The week’s biggest sore loser gets it for using the f-word in a social media post to let all who voted against the Heisman runner-up know what he thinks of them.

Stat Sheet – Matthew Stafford: The ageless Rams QB took the lead in the MVP chase thanks to Sunday’s impressive win over Detroit. But it’s also tied to his crazy TD-interception rate of 37 to 5 after 14 games. For context: The best Tom Brady did was in 2016 when he had 28 TD and two picks in his abbreviated 12-game deflate-gate suspension season.

Play of the Week: It came from the Chargers’ 22-19 win over Philly in last week’s MNF game. It started with a Hurts interception followed by an Eagles strip of interceptor Da’Shawn (give him a) Hand, which Hurts then recovered before fumbling it himself, which was recovered by DB Troy Dye to end the three-TO play. It gave L.A. a first and 10 starting behind the original line of scrimmage. And it also made Hurts the first player to ever record two turnovers on the same play.

Question of the Week: When’s the last time a Patriots runner did what Henderson has done with those four long-distance runs in 2025? Not sure. But the last rookie to do it was the great Baltimore Colts runner/flanker Lenny Moore in 1956.

Random Thoughts:

When’s the last time the Kentucky men’s basketball team was not in the Top 25 rankings as they are now?

Would someone please teach Drake Maye how to slide? He’s going to get dinged if he keeps going down head first.

Watching Detroit-GB on Thanksgiving was a painful reminder of how much NE blew it by not getting into the Parsons trade derby. Their D would be deadly with a pass rusher like him. Which they badly missed on Sunday.

Sports 101 Answer: Top five lefty scorers are James Harden, David Robinson, Artis Gilmore (NBA-ABA combined), Gail Goodrich and Chris Mullin.

Final Thought – Sox Spit Spending Bit Again: It was the same old crap from ownership putting in a non-competitive three-year contract offer to let them say “we tried” for the power hitter they desperately need. Instead ex-Met Pete Alonso signed a real offer of five years for $30 million per to play against them in the AL East. Which (oh by the way) is exactly what Rafael Devers would’ve made per in the seven years remaining on his deal in Boston if he hadn’t been traded. So they had the money to sign him. Now the Sox will trot out pathetic yes man/team president Sam Kennedy for the umpteenth time to tell a SRO press conference of reporters who don’t believe him that the Sox will spend what it takes to win. Sure, Sam.

To be fair, baseball’s hot stove period isn’t over yet. So hold the boos for John Henry until then.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Bills and Pats Face-off: Sunday’s game in Foxboro vs. Buffalo has that old familiar feeling. That’s because it’s the biggest game for your New England Patriots since you-know-who took his talents to Tampa Bay. Thanks to their dramatic comeback win vs. Cincy last week it may not be the potential season-ender it appeared it might be for the Bills around 3:30 p.m. last Sunday. But if Josh Allen and company lose this one, New England takes the AFC East title back from Buffalo for the first time since 2020. It also would keep NE in the race with 11-2 Denver for the top seed in the AFC side of the playoffs.

Yes, it’s been a while since the Pats were in such a position, and a total surprise from where most thought they’d be in Week 14. But at the same time it also feels very familiar. So enjoy.

Sports 101: What one-time Celtic was an All Big 10 defensive back (as a freshman) for Indiana Football in the 1970s?

News Item – Sox Get Another Starter: Let’s just say getting the 6’6” 275-pound Johan Oviedo was not met with a universal feeling of approval. The dissent fell mainly into two camps: (1) John Henry is cheaping out again by taking a guy with big physical tools who has never lived up to that, or (2) by taking a guy like that, they once again think they are smarter than everyone else and they’re not. It reminds me of two other Red Sox instances – the big arm, no command issues sounds like what they said about Jordan Hicks after getting him in the Devers trade before he walked 12 in 18 innings and, ahhh, delivered an 8.20 ERA for his new team. The tools talk was also reminiscent of Theo Epstein trading a solid fifth starter in Bronson Arroyo for the vast power potential of Wily Mo Peña, who, despite a few heat-seeking missiles coming off his bat, came up a bust.

News Item – Fake News Story of the Week: The whining from New Yawkers (and some of their radio yackers) after the Giants-Patriots game, saying that Christian Elliss’s propelling Jaxson Dart off both feet on that big sideline hit was a giant cheap shot. Au contraire, the legal GIANT hit on Dart was clean and Dart’s doing alone by leaving himself exposed on the sideline rather than getting out of bounds. The most impressive part of the play was Ellis’s discipline to not get in one of the brawls the G-Men started that often takes the attacking team off the hook with a nullifying penalty. Instead he just tried to hold his ground and took the 15-yard penalty the NYG’s got instead. That’s the sign of a smart player, good coaching or both.

The Numbers:

-11 – receiving yards for Patrick Mahomes thanks to being tackled after he caught his own pass Houston deflected back to him in KC’s damaging loss Sunday to the Texans.

58 – years between when Indiana last won the Big 10 title and when they finally did it again with Saturday’s 13-10 win over Ohio State in the Big 10 Championship game.

364 – passing yards thrown by the much maligned Shedeur Sanders, which is 70 more than Drake Maye has ever thrown for in any game.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – CFP: For denying Notre Dame a spot in the college playoffs.

Thumbs Down – Notre Dame: For those crybabies from South Bend, stamping their feet and taking their toys home by saying they’ll not accept any other lesser Bowl invitation.

Random Thoughts:

Watching Detroit-GB on Thanksgiving was a painful reminder of how much the Patriots blew it by not getting into the Micah Parsons sweepstakes. They’d be deadly with him.

Sports 101 Answer: The one-time Celtic who was a more highly touted footballer coming out of high school before attending IU was Quinn Buckner.

Final Thought – Maye vs. Brady: I’ll be charged with blasphemy for even uttering this: Statistically at least (with five more games to go), young Mr. Maye’s Year 2 has definitely been better than Tom Brady’s Year 2. But it’s true by every measurement except good QB sneaks, which Brady was great at right from the start. Take a look, Maye’s stats listed first and Brady’s second in this head-to-head comparison”

Completion Percentage – 71.5 to 62.1

TD passes to picks – 23-6 to 28-14

Passing Yards – 3,431 to 3,784

QB rating – 111.5 to 86.7

And most importantly, wins and losses – 11-2 to 9-7.

Plus Maye is going to the playoffs, which TB did not do in Year 2.

Bottom Line – I’m usually a pump the brakes kind of a guy on good young players after a fast career start. But I’ve seen enough. Don’t know if he’ll reach the heights TB-12 did. But this young fella has the same It factor Brady had.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Local Football Coaches: It was a great Day for Ohio State Football on Saturday as Ryan Day checked another box on his sparkling career resume when after four straight losses he finally got his first win vs. archrival Michigan with a 27-9 win.

On the other hand, his former OC Chip Kelly got fired by the Raiders.

Given that LV was 2-9 with chatter coming from both sides, it makes you wonder: was it the offense just not getting it done despite enough talent? Or did 74-year-old Pete Carroll need a scapegoat because he knew his coaching career could be over with a one-and-done in Vegas?

The good news is he’s still owed $12 million so he’ll be OK financially.

Sports 101: Name the first to kick a NFL field goal of 60+ yards.

News Item – Rafael Devers Trade Now Complete: The big concern about it just being a salary dump wasn’t true. Instead the Red Sox re-invested some of that big money in a trade with the Cardinals for starting pitcher Sonny Gray. Never been a big fan of his mainly because of how he shrunk from the pressure playing for the Yanks. But he did win 14 and 13 games for sub-.500 St. Louis and has averaged 175 innings the last three years. And they didn’t give up much in a 22-year-old with a mid-90s fastball and command issues (Brandon Clarke) and 2-4-with-Boston-last-year Richard Fitts.

News Item – Five Observations as NFL Enters December:

Last year Minnesota entered December 9-2 compared to 4-7 now. So did any team screw itself more than Minnesota did by letting QB Sam Darnold walk and going with J.J. McCarthy, who’d never taken an NFL snap?

It’s rare that a trade of high-profile players works as evenly it has in the 2021 trade of Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff. L.A. won a Super Bowl and Stafford is still playing great by leading the NFL with 30 TD passes, while Detroit’s team, mostly dormant since the late 1950s/early ’60s, came alive thanks to Jared Goff suddenly becoming what we expect from a first overall pick (2016) under new HC Dan Campbell, and after draft board maneuvering the boatload of picks they got were turned into Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta and speedster Jameson Williams.

Stefon Diggs is the Patriots’ first true slot receiver since Julian Edelman retired. It was a money-in-the-bank vital spot during the dynasty thanks to Edelman, Troy Brown and Wes Welker.

FG kicking is ridiculous today. A 50-yarder is the new 35 and seven guys have made them from 60 yards in 2025. At the top is Jacksonville’s Cam Little, who hit a record 68-yarder in October after drilling one from 70 in August.

The Numbers:

76 – All-time NFL record for most rushing TD’s by a QB reached by Josh Allen after he got tush-pushed from about the five in Buffalo’s win over Pittsburgh.

259 – rushing yards piled up on the Eagles by Kyle Monangai (130) and De’Andre Swift (125) in leading Chicago to its shocking 24-15 win over the defending champs on Friday.

800– career wins for Miami Heat head coach Eric Spoelstra.

… Of the Week Award

Bad Ending of the Week – Bill Belichick: They won’t write that it was a good first year for BB at UNC. The Tar Heels closed out their season with three losses to North Carolina schools including Saturday’s 42-17 pasting by NC State to end Year 1 at 4-7. Not what they were expecting.

Quote of the Week – Kenyon Martin: Not sure what started the war of words between the 2000 first overall pick and 21st-century cheap shot king Draymond Green. But Martin had the most accurate comment when he said, “you played 128 games without Steph … the record is 52-76, under .500.” Bam!

Best Weekend In L.A. – Cooper Flagg: The 18-year-old Dallas rookie became the youngest player to record 11 assists in a game, on Friday versus the Lakers, and score 35 in one, versus the Clippers on Saturday.

Sports 101 Answer: New Orleans kicker Tom Dempsey’s 63-yard FG in 1970 was the first 60+ kick in NFL history. The record lasted over 40 years. He did it with a kicking foot that had no toes on it due to a birth defect.

Final Thoughts – Red Sox Rumor Mill: Word on the street has Jarren Duran as most likely to go to fill their need at first or third. But despite being a gold glove fielder with the power of 25 homers a year I’d be more inclined to trade Wilyer Abreu. Because with his speed, Duran can do things offensively few can do and I value that more than the defensive difference between Roman Anthony and Abreu in right. Plus 22-year-old Jhostynxon Garcia, who hit 45 homers in his last two minor-league seasons, is at worst a year away from being ready to replace Abreu.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Thanksgiving: It’s Turkey Day, which means we’ll be thankful for things that happened during the sports year, which we’ll get to in Final Thoughts. It also means this was written before the Patriots were in Cincinnati Sunday afternoon. My biggest prediction for that was that the Pats win and, despite the denials, I’m betting Joe Burrows started his first game since Week 2. On to face the dastardly G-Men Sunday.

Sports 101: Name the only two quarterbacks to lead two different professional football leagues in passing.

News Item – 2025 Patriots After 10 Games:

Key Stat – Drake Maye: He is completing 72% of his passes and led all quarterbacks who’ve played 10 games in QB rating.

Improvement – Defense: It allowed the fewest rushing yards per game after 10 weeks. And no one has gotten even 60 yards.

Backslide – O-Line: Going into the Bengals game the 38 sacks allowed were the second most in the NFL.

Game Ball – The T-E-A-M: They don’t have close to the talent the 2007 team had, but incredibly they were not far off from being undefeated.

News Item – Most Young QB’s Need Time to Develop: One of the more interesting stories is how some who were once thought to be “highly drafted bust QB’s,” from Baker Mayfield to Sam Darnold to Mac Jones, have un-busted in their new homes, reminding all it usually takes time for young QB’s to develop. In particular is the vaunted 2021 draft class where five QB’s were taken in the first 15 picks, with mixed results.

A Little Recent History – 2020 Draft Update – The QB Class: It was supposed to be one of the best in history. But now it’s in the running for one of the worst ever. Five years in, here’s where it stands.

Trevor Lawrence – First Overall: Still in Jacksonville, but with a 28-42 record and one playoff appearance he’s been completely underwhelming in all but one year. Though he did make it to his second contract and the really big money.

Brett Wilson – Second Overall: A complete disaster in Jetland on the heels of the Darnold and Mark Sanchez disasters. Now on his third team, this time with Miami.

Trey Lance – Third Overall: Missed most of Year 1 with an injury and didn’t even make it to the end of his second training camp before being traded. Now in Dallas competing for the backup spot with Joe Milton after the Patriots stupidly traded him.

Justin Fields – 11th: A very good athlete and runner. But he’s on the outs with his third team, where he just got benched as the Jets continue searching for Joe Namath’s replacement.

Mac Jones – 15th: Dumped by NE after one good year and two bad ones. Now on his third team, and in going 5-3 while completing 69.6% of his passes filling in for Brock Purdy in 2025, is he just better, or finally playing with the right coach/system? I think the latter.

The Numbers:

4 – NFL punters averaging over the unheard-of 50 yards per kick, led by Cincy’s Ryan Rehkow’s astonishing 53.7. And three more are over 49.0.

15 – thanks to the five he got on Maye and the Pats, the league-leading sack total by Cleveland behemoth Myles Garrett.

15.7 – third best in the league punt return average by Pats DB Marcus Jones.

Sports 101 Answer: The only two QB’s to lead two different pro leagues in passing were John Hadl, who did it for San Diego in the AFL and the Rams in the NFL, and Otto Graham, who did it with the Browns in both the All-American Football Conference (AAFC) and after they joined the NFL in 1950.

Final Thought – 5 Biggest Sports Things To Be Most Thankful for in 2025

Mike Vrabel: Not sure exactly how he’s doing it. But the difference is night and day from the Jerod Mayo era.

Drake Maye: It’s a good thing Coach B and the guys he made OC his last two years completely screwed up Jones. Otherwise they probably wouldn’t have drafted a guy whose stats in his first two years are better than you-know-who’s were in his.

Roman Anthony – A Star is Born: The Sox were 32-36 when he first entered the line-up. When he went out on Sept. 2 they were 76-62. He was the difference in that 44-26 mark.

Sox Front Office Came to Life: Complain all you want about John Henry since 2019. But he traded four prospects for a Top 5 starter in Garrett Crochet and has spent half a billion dollars on players since March.For him to be totally forgiven he has to re-invest the $250 million saved in the Devers trade and more to get a real No. 2 starter and Pete Alonso to bat fourth.

Wyc Grousbeck: I know he’s out as owner, but he was an excellent one who was willing to spend when needed and cared about the Celtics’ place in the city.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.

The Big Story – Pats Tied for Best Record in NFL: They remind me of the 2013 Red Sox, who had me saying all through the year, “how are they doing this?” And I kept doing it right up until they won the World Series. And even then, I still found it hard to believe they did it. And with The Pats 9-2, we’ll see if history can repeat itself.

Sports 101: You’ll see in The Numbers the whopping number of shots missed by Detroit’s Cade Cunningham in a game last week. Who was the last NBA’er to miss more than that?

News Item – Patriots Down Jets 27-14

Key Stat – 9-2: They’re now about two wins from making the playoffs.

Improvement – Winning While Not at Their Best: Maybe I’m back in 2001-2019 mode, but having done it three weeks in a row, the Pats are back to winning when they don’t have their A game.

Backslide: Since it’s happened seven times in 11 games it’s not a backsliding exactly, but what’s the deal with the bad guys scoring so often on the first possession of the game?

Game Ball: TreVeyon Henderson or Drake Maye. Hmmm. A three-TD performance and a so-so 69 rushing yards. Or a mistake-free game for 281 yards, one-TD game and another 70%-plus completion percentage game. It’s Maye because Henderson only got his after Maye took them up and down the field to put him in position to score.

Next Up: On to Cincinnati with all wondering if Bengals QB Joe Burrow will play.

News Item – Big NFL Stories as the Stretch Run Starts

Patriots Revival: Nobody, not even the all seeing Nostradamus saw a 9-2 start coming.

Jonathan Taylor: The Indy tailback leads the MVP chatter thanks to his league-leading 1,132 rushing yards, 6.0 yards per carry average and 15 TD’s after 10 games, which projects to 1,924 and 26 TD’s.

Chaos in New York Football: The Giants HC and Jets GM got fired in the same week. The stopgap QB the G-Men brought in got benched after two games, and the Jets traded/dumped their two best players at the deadline. In the words of the late great Vince Lombardi, who the Giants once let get away to GB, “What the hell is going on out there?”

Denver Broncos: Did not give much thought to now 9-2 Denver when the year started. But after watching them in Sunday’s win over KC, they’re really dangerous because (1) QB Bo Nix is the real deal, (2) their defense is really fast all over, and (3) with their most in the league by far 49 sacks (second best is 34) they can really rush the passer.

The Young QB’s From 2024 Draft: The play of Maye (3), Nix (12) Jayden Daniels (2, now hurt) and Caleb Williams (1) is saying no draft misses here.

News Item – Player of the Week – Josh Allen: Last year’s MVP put the struggling Bills on his back by running for three TD’s and throwing for three more in Buffalo’s 44-32 win over Tampa Bay.

The Numbers:

16 – jaw-dropping steals to go along with 44 points (on just 25 shots) by Notre Dame star Hannah Hidalgo in ND’s 85-58 trashing of Akron.

45 – Mark Ferdinando-like number of shots taken by Detroit’s Cunningham when he put a 46-12-11 triple double on Washington in a 135-132 OT win. Oh, in making just 14 shots he missed 31 for a 31% FG percentage.

500,000 – bail in U.S. dollars for Cleveland pitcher Luis Ortiz, on charges accusing him of game fixing, according to ESPN.com.

… Of the Week Awards

Alumni News: Yes, folks, that was ex-Patriot Kyle Dugger getting a 73-yard pick-six for Pittsburgh in its 34-13 win over Cleveland.

Rarity: Victor Wembanyama (31-15-10) and Stephon Castle (20-10-10) became the fifth NBA teammates to record triple doubles in the same game. But sorry, since Wemby’s final assist was a garbage time alley-oop with .02 seconds left in the Spurs’ 125-120 loss, it’s a bogus stat.

Random Thoughts

While baseball’s merchandising greed over tradition is vomit inducing, at least the Red Sox’ two city edition uniforms would be appealing for an expansion franchise. But what does the Pats wearing boring grey ones vs. the Jets have to do with Patriots football, Roger Goodell?

Sports 101 Answer: Cunningham’s missed 31 shots were the most since RickBarry went 17-50 in the 1966-67 game.

Final Word – Red Sox 2026 Decisions: If I were charged with untangling the Red Sox 2026 infield puzzle, I’d move Trevor Story to second and put Marcelo Mayer at shortstop. It doesn’t make sense to have the SS of the future playing out of position when the 33-year-old Story has demonstrated he’s a solid second baseman already. Then I’d go hard after Pete Alonso in free agency because they need a potential 50-homer bopper for the middle of the line-up a lot more than they do a return of the valuable but very overpriced Alex Bregman ($40 million per) at third.

Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.