The Big Story: This weekend brings the return of Mookie Betts to Fenway Park for what should be a warm welcome back. There will also be a barrage of “how could they have let him go?” stories, all of which will hit home because he was that good.
Sports 101: With Aaron Rodgers taking a jet to New York, the Packers won’t have a Hall of Famer over center for the first time since Brett Favre took over in 1992. So who shared the QBs before “Fav-RA”?
Thumbs Up – David Krejci: To the retiring Krejci for the great moments he helped provide in his 16 years as a Boston Bruin.
News Item – Missed Opportunity: If the Red Sox are eliminated from wild card contention they can lay the blame on their record against the have-nots. Most notably when they came away from last week’s 10-game stretch with bottom-dwellers KC, Detroit and Washington with just four wins, which followed getting blown out by Toronto at home in three straight losses. That adds to 4-9 in the most crucial and schedule-ly favorable stretch of the season.
Then came a sweep of the last-place Yankees for the oh so consistent Sox.
All of which left them exactly where they were before the salivating 16-game stretch started — 3.5 back of Toronto.
News Item – J.D. Martinez vs. Justin Turner: The Sox and Dodgers essentially traded DH’s last winter when Martinez and Turner signed with each other’s former team as free agents. With L.A. here this weekend let’s compare to see who got the better end of the deal. JD’s numbers are first, JT’s second. At-Bats: 390 – 430 Runs: 49 – 72. Home Runs: 25 – 20. RBI: 78 – 79. Total Bases: 192 – 210. BA: .256 – .288. Contract in Millions: $10.0 for Martinez; $8.3 for Turner. Verdict: With his defensive versatility added to his slight statistical edge and smaller contract, Turner was the better signing. It’s also a big win for the Sox 2023 DH over 2022, when Martinez earned $19.5 m for lesser stats than Turner already had on Aug. 20.
News Item – All-Time Winning Percentage Battle: Dodgers hurler Clayton Kershaw comes into this series having the highest winning percentage in baseball history for guys with 200+ wins. He’s now at .696 (208-91) to clubhouse leader Whitey Ford’s .690 (236-106).
… Of the Week Awards:
Player of the Week: That would be Seattle CFJulio Rodriguez, who raised his batting average from .256 to .278 in just four games thanks to getting 17 hits (in 21 AB’s). That’s a new record for hits over four games, while getting at least four hits in four straight games also ties a record set in 1927 by some guy named Milt Stock.
Question of the Week: In case you missed it, the Dodgers finally retired Fernando Valenzuela’s number two weeks ago. But given the insane furor he caused as a Dodgers rookie and that he last pitched for them in 1990, it’s fair to ask, what in the name of Gil Hodges took them so long?
Random Thoughts:
Let the record show that on his very first play of his 2023 season, penalty-plagued Trent Brown in 2022 was flagged for, yup, a false start.
Who’s this Luis Urías guy? If a guy had hit grand slams in back-to-back Red Sox wins over the Yanks 10 years ago, as he did on Friday and Saturday, they’d be building a statue of him outside Fenway right now.
I’d rather have gotten Dalvin Cook (for the same money, no less). But Ezekiel Elliott is a good pick-up for the Pats. In part because he’s a better receiver than most think he is.
A Little History: The all-time winning percentage leader with 100+ wins is Yankees hurler Spud Chandler. He went 109-43 (.717) after amazingly only making it to the majors for the first time at 29 in 1937. He lasted 10 years until 1947 when an injured arm ended his career.
Sports 101 Answer: Two QB’s to precede Favre in 1991 were ex-Ohio State star and one time Bears first-round pick Mike Tomczak,who had seven starts, and one-time Packers pied piperDon Majkowski, whohad eight.
Final Thought: One last thing about Mookie. He returns while having one of his finest seasons; with his 32 homers already he’ll blow by last year’s career best 35, while also having a chance to do a lead-off hitter rarity: knock in 100 runs from the top of the order. All while flirting with hitting .300 (.296) and being on pace to score 130 runs. And if you want to feel even worse, he’s showing off the kind of versatility the Red Sox sorely could have used during this injury-racked season by playing 57 of his 85 games at shortstop (17) and second base (41). My advice: Don’t think of the what-ifs. Just enjoy and appreciate a reunion with an old friend who did a lot of good while here.
Email Dave Long at dlong@hippopress.com.