Hating MFY President Randy Levine Has Never Been Easier

Craig Calcaterra, Hardball Talk:

[In an interview with the New York Times,] Levine actually tries to argue that Yankee Stadium is like some mom and pop shop, built with the elbow grease of businessmen like himself as opposed to the dollars of taxpayers ...

Levine goes on to argue that other public assistance to the Yankees — the building of a train station, the granting them public parkland to build Yankee Stadium and the subsequent construction of another park to replace it — are all things that are good for the public. ...

Which is pretty typical of the class of people who hang with Levine. Welfare? The use of tax dollars to assist others? Public works? Bah! That’s socialism! Unless of course they need it, then tax dollars freely given are just part of the genius of capitalism.

These delusional assholes like Levine, with their hands so deep into taxpayers' pockets, trying to convince us they are grabbing money they inherently deserve, make it so easy to hate them.

G12: Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3

Blue Jays - 000 000 040 - 4  8  0
Red Sox   - 010 000 002 - 3  7  1

Clay Buchholz (6.2-6-0-2-2, 97) was stellar, a superb outing that should not be forgotten amid the game's wild narrative after he left. Although Buchholz allowed at least one baserunner in each of his seven innings, he was helped out by four of five double plays turned by the Red Sox. Koji Uehara and Craig Kimbrel were both ineffective in a nightmarish eighth inning that saw only two Toronto singles; the Jays took advantage of a throwing error, three walks, a passed ball, and a HBP. The two relievers, usually so reliable, needed 48 pitches as the Jays sent nine men to the plate.

Still, the Red Sox nearly pulled the game out of the fire. In the bottom of the ninth, they battled back enough to bring David Ortiz out of the dugout as a pinch-hitter with a chance to tie or win the game. Boston was down by one and had a man on first with two outs. Big Papi fouled off a couple of pitches, and worked a 2-2 count, before being called out on a nasty letter-high pitch that was clearly in the strike zone. And so Boston fell to 6-6.

The Red Sox took an early lead when Hanley Ramirez sliced a ground-rule double into the right field corner. One out later, he scored on Josh Rutledge's double to right-center.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays kept putting men on against Buchholz, but he worked out of trouble. Boston turned double plays in the first, second, fourth, and sixth innings while Buchholz was on the hill. (A fifth DP came in the ninth.) Joese Bautista grounded into three of the five double plays.

Uehara began the eighth with a slim 1-0 lead. He was in trouble right away. Kevin Pillar (3-for-3) grounded a ball down the third base line. Rutledge fielded the ball and tossed a high, arching throw towards first. Ramirez leapt for it in foul territory, but it glanced off his glove and went into the camera pit. Uehara then walked pinch-hitter Justin Smoak and the runners moved up on a passed ball charged to Christian Vazquez. Michael Saunders grounded out to shortstop and Pillar scored the tying run. Koji had trouble keeping his split-fingered fastball low in the zone; in fact, he threw one that plunked Josh Donaldson in the left shoulder. Uehara ended up relying more on his fastball, and was ineffective.

After Uehara hit Donaldson, manager John Farrell probably should have gone to Craig Kimbrel. But he allowed Uehara to face Jose Bautista, who battled for eight pitches and walked, loading the bases. Now it was Kimbrel's chance. He had recorded 12 strikeouts in six innings this season - and he needed a punchout now. He looked fantastic, fanning Edwin Encarnacion on three pitches, the final one at 99. Two outs. Then Kimbrel's control deserted him. He was missing both high and inside and he walked Troy Tulowitzki on a full-count pitch to force in the go-ahead run. Russell Martin saw nine pitches and went to the opposite field with the last one, dropping it into short right-center for a two-run single, giving the Jays a 4-1 lead. Kimbrel rebounded to strike out Ryan Goins.

Chris Young (1-for-14 this season) opened the home half of the eighth with a double off the Wall. Brett Cecil relieved J.A. Happ and showed impeccable control, pinpointing his pitches and giving the bottom of the Red Sox order no chance to bring Young around. Rutledge looked at four pitches, the last three being called strikes. Vazquez grounded to shortstop and Jackie Bradley flied out to center, with Pillar making a diving catch in right-center.

Facing Drew Storen in the bottom of the ninth, Mookie Betts lined to center. Dustin Pedroia grounded a single to right, but Xander Bogaerts popped to center for the second out. Travis Shaw drilled a double off the Wall in left-center, scoring Pedroia. Hanley Ramirez followed with a single up the middle that brought in Shaw. Now it was 4-3, and the potential winning run was walking to the plate. Ortiz.

He took a ball, then tried and failed to check his swing on a pitch down and away. He fouled the 1-1 pitch at the plate. He took a ball in the dirt and sliced another foul. Storen's 2-2 pitch was at the letters, but was also at the top of the zone. Ortiz took the pitch and was run up, ending the game.

Pedroia's ninth-inning single extended his hitting streak to 10 games. It was also the 27th straight game in which he has reached base against Toronto and the 47th consecutive game in which he has reached against an AL East team. ... Today was the first time the Red Sox had faced a left-handed starter this season. ... It was only the Red Sox fifth loss in their last 16 Patriots Day games.

J.A. Happ / Clay Buchholz

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Shaw, 1B
Ramirez, DH
Young, LF
Rutledge, 3B
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

It's Patriots Day in David Ortiz's fuckin' city!

Clay Buchholz has been disappointing in his two starts this season, giving up five runs in both outings.

G11: Blue Jays 5, Red Sox 3

Blue Jays - 200 000 201 - 5 14  1
Red Sox   - 000 010 002 - 3  4  0

Marco Hernandez collected his first major league hit, a single in the fifth inning. He stole second base, went to third on a throwing error, and scored on Mookie Betts's single. (Those were the team's only hits until the ninth inning.) Hernandez's run cut Toronto's lead to 2-1, but the Red Sox could do no more.

Steven Wright (6-6-2-0-6, 107) recorded the first two outs in the top of the first, but allowed a solo home run to Jose Bautista. Three straight singles followed, giving the Blue Jays a second run. Wright allowed only two hits (and no walks) over the next five innings.

Facing Blue Jays closer Robert Osuna in the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox finally made some noise. Hanley Ramirez singled and Travis Shaw homered. (Free money!) But it was too little, too late. Chris Young struck out looking. Jackie Bradley struck out swinging. Ryan Hanigan lined out to third.

Note: Tomorrow's game is at 11 AM.

Aaron Sanchez / Steven Wright

Betts, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Young, LF
Bradley, CF
Hanigan, C
Hernandez, 2B

Marco Hernandez, 23 years old, is making his major league debut. He was acquired as the player to be named later in the 2014 trade of Felix Doubront.

G10: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 2

Blue Jays - 100 100 000 - 2  7  0
Red Sox   - 004 000 00x - 4  9  0

Xander Bogaerts hit his first home run of the season, a three-run shot in the third inning that wiped out an early Toronto lead. Travis Shaw added two singles and an RBI.

David Price: 7-6-2-0-9, 107.

Marco Estrada / David Price

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Holt, LF
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

David Ortiz is 10-for-30 (.333/.444/.800) with five doubles and three home runs this season. According to Elias, Ortiz's eight extra-base hits are a career-high for his first 30 at-bats of a season. His .800 slugging percentage is tied for first in the American League. His 1.244 OPS is 2nd in the AL and 4th in MLB.

Panda Problems

Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said there is "a great deal going on" in Pablo Sandoval's left shoulder. Sandoval agreed: "I don't want to tell you what's going on, but it's pretty bad so I want to get a second opinion." Sandoval will be examined by Dr. James Andrews on Monday.

Meanwhile, in the Panda Rumour Dept., Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports reported that Sandoval has told the Red Sox that if he isn't playing regularly, he wants out. Sandoval, who denied the report, is in the second year of a five-year contract.

Ethan Banning, owner of Triple Threat Performance in Phoenix and a former personal trainer for Sandoval, said the third baseman needs "a babysitter" to keep him from overeating. "He needs to be smart enough to say there's a problem. It's like the alcoholic that won't admit he's an alcoholic: well, you can't address that you're an alcoholic if you don't ever admit there's a problem."

In three games this season, Sandoval is 0-for-6, with four strikeouts. His replacement at third, Travis Shaw, has a .438 on-base average and is third on the team with a .899 OPS.

G9: Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3

Blue Jays - 010 000 200 - 3  3  1
Red Sox   - 310 001 00x - 5  9  0

Eight of the nine batters in the Blue Jays' starting lineup found Rick Porcello (6.1-2-3-1-8, 100) absolutely unhittable on Friday night. Edwin Encarnacion was the outlier, cranking two home runs and driving in three runs off the Red Sox starter. EE also singled in the ninth inning, giving him all three of Toronto's hits.

Boston got all the runs it would need in the first two innings off an inconsistent R.A. Dickey (4.2-6-4-4-3, 106). With two outs in the first, Xander Bogaerts grounded a single into left field. David Ortiz crushed a full-count pitch off the wall in deep center for an RBI-double. After Hanley Ramirez reached first base on a strikeout-passed ball, Travis Shaw ripped a first-pitch double off the center field wall. The two baserunners scored before Shaw was trapped in a rundown and was tagged out 8-4-3-5-6-2.

Christian Vazquez, in his season debut, made his presence felt in the second inning. Encarnacion had gone deep to open the frame and Porcello hit Troy Tulowitzki with a pitch. Justin Smoak had been called out on strikes. When Michael Saunders struck out swinging, Vazquez whipped a throw behind the batter to first. Ramirez was quick with the tag for the inning-ending pickoff. Vazquez then cracked a one-out double high off the Wall and scored on Mookie Betts's two-out single.

Vazquez also singled in the sixth and scored on Dustin Pedroia's infield single. Pedroia also walked in the second, which extended his on-base streak against AL East teams to 46 games. According to a NESN factoid, it is the second best mark in Red Sox history, behind Wade Boggs's mark of 61 games. (Of course, the AL East did not exist before 1969.)

After Porcello plunked Tulowitzki in the second, he set down the next 13 batters before drilling Kevin Pillar with a pitch in the sixth. Toronto closed the gap in the seventh when Jose Bautista walked and Encarnacion went deep again. Junichi Tazawa finished the seventh and Koji Uehara pitched a perfect eighth.

Craig Kimbrel made fans a little nervous in the ninth when Encarnacion blooped a two-out single to right and Kimbrel issued a five-pitch walk to Tulowitzki. The dirty water flowed, however, when Kimbrel struck out Smoak to end the game.

Boston pitchers struck out 12 and walked only two. The Red Sox drew six walks.

The Mariners beat the Yankees 7-1, scoring runs in each of the final six innings, allowing Boston (5-4) to sit alone in second place.

R.A. Dickey / Rick Porcello

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Holt, LF
Vazquez, C
Bradley, CF

This week: Pablo Sandoval was placed on the disabled list (the team says it's a strained left shoulder but they didn't even do an MRI before putting him on the DL). ... Rusney Castillo was sent to Pawtucket. ... Catcher Christian Vazquez will be activated before tonight's game.

G8: Red Sox 4, Orioles 2

Orioles - 002 000 000 - 2  9  0
Red Sox - 002 200 00x - 4  8  0

Ubaldo Jimenez / Joe Kelly

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Holt, LF
Hanigan, C
Bradley, CF

G7: Orioles 9, Red Sox 5

Orioles - 000 203 400 - 9 11  0
Red Sox - 200 020 010 - 5 10  0

Mike Wright / Clay Buchholz

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Holt, LF
Swihart, C
Bradley, CF

Road Trip

Off for the next three days. Back on Thursday evening.

G6: Orioles 9, Red Sox 7

Orioles - 005 001 003 - 9  9  2
Red Sox - 300 201 001 - 7 11  0

Chris Davis crushed a three-run, ninth-inning homer off closer Craig Kimbrel, who had put two other Orioles on base via walks. The win was Baltimore's sixth in a row, a new team record to start a season.

Boston jumped out in front in the opening inning, helped out by singles from the first four batters in the lineup. The Orioles came back with a five-spot off David Price (5-5-5-2-8, 103), highlighted by a three-run dong from Mark Trumbo. Jackie Bradley's double and a force from Mookie Betts (3-for-5) tied the game at 5-5 in the fourth.

Down by three and facing Zach Britton in the bottom of the ninth, Betts homered to left. Dustin Pedroia singled to left and a wild pitch moved him to second. Xander Bogaerts walked, bringing David Ortiz to the plate as the potential winning run. Big Papi took a couple of hacks, but grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Manager John Farrell challenged the relay throw to first, but the out call was upheld. Pedroia was at third base as Hanley Ramirez stepped in as the potential tying run. Hopes were still high, but Britton struck out Ramirez swinging to end the game.

Yovani Gallardo / David Price

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Holt, LF
Swihart, C
Bradley, CF

The Orioles are 5-0, which ties Baltimore's franchise record for best start to a season. The 1970 club also won their first five games.

G5: Blue Jays 3, Red Sox 0

Red Sox   - 000 000 000 - 0  7  1
Blue Jays - 200 000 01x - 3  7  0

The Red Sox could not solve Marcus Stroman (7-5-0-2-8, 91) and two Toronto relievers. Hanley Ramirez went 3-for-4, with two singles and a double.

The Blue Jays put Steven Wright (6.2-6-2-3-5, 118) into a quick 2-0 hole in the first inning. Kevin Pillar and Josh Donaldson both singled and a passed ball moved them to second and third. Jose Bautista walked, loading the bases with no outs. Edwin Encarnacion grounded into a force out, which scored one run; Dustin Pedroia's throwing error brought the second run in. Wright wriggled out of any further trouble, and although he dealt with numerous baserunners all day, he kept Toronto from adding to its lead.

In the Boston third, Dustin Pedroia was on first with two outs when Xander Bogaerts doubled to right. Pedroia tried to score, but was thrown out 9-4-2. That was the Red Sox's best chance to get a run against Stroman.

The Red Sox (3-2) play their home opener at 2 PM tomorrow against Baltimore.

Steven Wright / Marco Estrada

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Young, LF
Swihart, C
Bradley, CF

Most Games Scoring 6+ Runs To Start A Red Sox Season

1985: 5 games -   9  14   6   7   6
1950: 4 games -  10   6   7   8
1995: 4 games -   9  10   8  11
2016: 4 games -   6   6   8   8
1919: 3 games -  10   8   6
1936: 3 games -   9  10   8

One year ago:

Red Sox - 100 002 000 000 000 101 1 - 6 18  1
Yankees - 000 002 001 000 000 101 0 - 5 14  1

Winning pitcher: Steven Wright.

G4: Red Sox 8, Blue Jays 4

Red Sox   - 003 131 000 - 8 11  1
Blue Jays - 202 000 000 - 4  7  1

Another rough beginning for a Boston starter - and another come-from-behind victory. On Saturday afternoon, the Red Sox wiped out two Toronto leads, improving their record to 3-1 and making roughly 45,000 Blue Jays fans sad.

More than half of Boston's 11 hits were for extra bases: five doubles and one triple. Dustin Pedroia led the way with three hits and two RBI. Rusney Castillo saw his first action of the season and responded with a single, double, and a run scored. Xander Bogaerts scored twice and Hanley Ramirez drove in two runs.

Rick Porcello (6-7-4-1-7, 105) allowed a pair of two-run home runs to Jose Bautista, but otherwise kept the home team off the board. Koji Uehara (7th) and Robbie Ross (8th/9th) pitched three perfect innings of relief.

Down 2-0, the bottom of the Red Sox order got things going in the third. Castillo singled to left and Blake Swihart walked. An errant pickoff attempt by R.A. Dickey moved the runners to second and third. Mookie Betts struck out, but Pedroia's groundout scored a run. Bogaerts sliced an opposite field ground rule double to right to bring Swihart in and then X scored (giving Boston a 3-2 lead) when Shaw sliced an opposite field ground rule double to left.

After Bautista's second shot gave the Jays a 4-3 edge, the bottom of the order again got to work. With one out, Brock Holt reached on a strikeout-passed ball. Castillo doubled him to third and Swihart's sacrifice fly to left brought Holt home, tying the game.

In the fifth, Pedroia singled and Bogaerts walked. Ramirez's line drive to right bounced over Bautista's head and rolled to the wall for a two-run triple. Hanley then scored on a passed ball. Boston scored its final run when Betts singled and came home on Pedroia's sixth-inning double.

Rick Porcello / R.A. Dickey

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Shaw, 1B
Ramirez, DH
Sandoval, 3B
Holt, LF
Castillo, CF
Swihart, C

Who does David Ortiz think should replace him as Boston's 2017 DH? Edwin Encarnacion.

Joe Kelly, on the comeback:

That was pretty fun to watch. [Holt] thought it was going to be a double, he told me, and it ended up going out of the ballpark. To see a team win like that, and obviously I didn't pitch like I'm capable of, to come together and pick me up when I wasn't at my best was pretty fun to watch. And easily a game like that last year we would have lost.

David Price will get an extra day of rest and start the home opener against Baltimore next Monday.

Also (thanks to Elias):

Colorado rookie Trevor Story has hit six home runs in his first four games. Story is the first player in history to hit home runs in each of his first four major-league games, the first to hit as many as six homers over his first four big-league games, and the first major-leaguer to hit six home runs over the first four games of a particular season.

Ross Stripling, in his major-league debut for the Dodgers, pitched 7.1 no-hit innings last night before being removed after 100 pitches. Los Angeles ended up losing the game. It was the first time in major-league history that a starting pitcher was taken out with a lead and a no-hitter intact in the eighth inning or later. (Cincinnati's Bumpus Jones remains the only pitcher in history to throw a no-hitter in his major-league debut, against Pittsburgh on October 15, 1892, when pitchers threw from a box, with the front of the box 50 feet from home plate and the back 55 feet, 6 inches.)

We Need Robots, Part 683

Date: April 8, 2016
G3: Red Sox at Blue Jays
Inning: 6th
Batter: Jackie Bradley
Pitcher: Jesse Chavez
Umpire: Clint Fagan

Five pitches, all out of the strike zone, three of them called strikes.

Cut4 Ranks Top 100 Minor League Player Names

MLB's Cut4:

Thursday marked the start of the 2016 season for all 10 full-season Minor Leagues, with hundreds of talented prospects embarking on another year of progress toward their big league dreams. ... When it comes to identifying the next generation of aesthetically amusing alliterations, creative alternative spellings and commonplace words artfully arranged, we have you covered right here. ... Without further ado, the Top 100 Minor League Names of 2016 ...

1. Sicnarf Loopstok - Lynchburg Hillcats (Cleveland, Class A Advanced)
4. Mister Luciano - GCL Pirates (Pirates, Rookie League)
6. Jose Jose - New Orleans Zephyrs (Marlins, Triple-A)
9. Earl Burl III - Vancouver Canadiens (Blue Jays, Class A Short Season)
38. Icezack Flemming - Tampa Yankees (Yankees, Class A Advanced)
43. Darling Cuesto - DSL Twins (Twins, Rookie League)
54. Leisxonyer Rivero - DSL Orioles (Orioles, Rookie League)
55. Damien Magnifico - Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Brewers, Triple-A)
70. Brooks Pounders - Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals, Triple-A)
78. Joan Baez - Hagerstown Suns (Nationals, Class A)
84. Yeyson Yrizarri - Round Rock Express (Rangers, Triple-A)
94. Taylor Ostrich - AZL Royals (Royals, Rookie League)
98. Scooter Hightower - Bristol Pirates (Pirates, Rookie League)

There are five Red Sox on the list:

31. Jagger Rusconi - GCL Red Sox (Rookie League)
37. Ritzi Mendoza - DSL Red Sox (Rookie League)
57. Danny Mars - Salem Red Sox (Class A Advanced)
65. Forrestt Allday - Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A)
96. Tyler Spoon - Lowell Spinners (Class A Short Season)

One of my all-time favourite names: Sequoyah Trueblood Stonecipher, who played in the minors in 2009-10.

G3: Red Sox 8, Blue Jays 7

Red Sox   - 011 004 200 - 8 11  0
Blue Jays - 100 600 000 - 7  9  1

When Joe Kelly (3-7-7-3-4, 80) allowed four straight singles to start the bottom of the fourth, then conked Kevin Pillar in the helmet with an errant fastball, and surrendered a first-pitch grand slam to Josh Donaldson, the night looked dark for the Red Sox.

But the visitors battled back, with Brock Holt hitting a grand slam in the sixth to bring Boston to within one. In the next inning, RBI-singles from David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez gave the Red Sox the lead. From there, the bullpen trio of Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara, and Craig Kimbrel shut down the Jays bats. In fact, Toronto did not get a base hit over the final five innings.

Kelly's evening was pretty much a disaster. He allowed a leadoff triple to Pillar in the first and issued two walks. He allowed a baserunner in both the second and third before imploding in the fourth.

Toronto starter Marcus Stroman's (5.1-6-5-3-4, 92) innings ran hot and cold. He threw three perfect innings, but allowed runs in his other three frames. With one out in the second, Ramirez singled and was thrown out trying for a double (despite his lost weight, he is not as fast as he thinks he is). Travis Shaw and Holt followed with doubles and the game was tied at 1-1. Boston took a 2-1 lead with two down in the third when Xander Bogaerts (3-for-5) singled and Ortiz doubled him home.

After Kelly put his teammates in a 7-2 hole, Noe Ramirez came in and allowed two hits, but struck out three to end the 11-batter fourth inning. As noted, those singles were the last Jays hits of the night. Meanwhile, Bogaerts began the top of the fifth with a double to left. Ortiz walked on four pitches and after a groundout moved the runners up, Shaw worked an eight-pitch walk. Stroman left the game and Jesse Chavez took over. His first pitch to Holt was lined over the right-field fence for a grand slam.

Boston grabbed the lead back in the seventh. With one out, facing Drew Storen, Dustin Pedroia and Boagerts both singled. Lefty Brett Cecil came in to face Ortiz - who singled home FY to knot the score. Ramirez grounded a hit into left field and Boagerts scored the go-ahead run. Holt reached on an infield error with two outs, but the Sox left the bases loaded. It didn't matter, though, because the top arms in the bullpen were as solid as they were on Opening Day.

Holt finished with a career-high five RBI. (His previous high was three, done three times last season.)

Toronto has lost its last five home openers, the longest opener losing streak in franchise history.

Joe Kelly / Marcus Stroman

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Holt, LF
Hanigan, C
Bradley, CF

The Blue Jays lost to the Rays on Tuesday because Jose Bautista was called out on an illegal slide. Toronto manager John Gibbons expressed his frustration by making a sexist comment: "Maybe we'll come out and wear dresses tomorrow. Maybe that's what everybody's looking for." Blue Jays TV analyst Gregg Zaun added that baseball was turning into a "sissy game".

The following day, the Orioles announcers repeated and then chuckled at Gibbons's offensive statement. Stacey May Fowles, writing in The Globe and Mail, looks beyond recent instances of sexism, racism, and homophobia in MLB and says there is evidence of enlightenment.

NESN 2016: Two Games With Dave O'Brien And Jerry Remy

When Boston opened its 2016 season in Cleveland on Tuesday afternoon, Red Sox fans heard a different TV broadcast team for the first time in fifteen years.

Last summer, the bosses at NESN decided not to renew Don Orsillo's contract as the team's play-by-play man. NESN bungled that decision, as well as its very public aftermath, about as badly as it was possible to bungle anything. Orsillo's ousting was tremendously unpopular with most Red Sox fans. He had been the TV play-by-play man since 2001 and for many fans, he was the only Red Sox TV announcer they had ever known. Even now, it's still a bit of a mystery why Orsillo, who is now broadcasting for the San Diego Padres, was dumped. NESN filled his empty chair with Dave O'Brien, who moved over from the WEEI radio booth. Jerry Remy, working in his 29th season, remained in the booth as O'Brien's partner.

My complaints about NESN's baseball coverage are myriad and well-known. Two disappointing Red Sox campaigns in 2014 and 2015 meant that I stopped watching the team midway through the season. But even early in both seasons, when I was tuning in every night, I did not listen to Orsillo/Remy. I always chose the "ballpark sound" option, available with the home team's feed. Sometimes, I listened to the radio broadcast with the TV on mute.

Opening Day 2016 was the first time I had listened to a NESN baseball broadcast since 2013. I did not watch any spring training games, so the games in Cleveland were my first opportunity to hear O'Brien/Remy. I am familiar with O'Brien, because of his work in the Red Sox radio booth and his national work with ESPN. I had also read at SoSH that Remy was much more engaged last season than in previous years, offering actual analysis as opposed to simply echoing Orsillo's play-by-play. I was very curious how the two men would work together.

Game 1 - Tuesday

O'Brien is a welcome improvement over Orsillo (which, having heard O'Brien on the radio, I knew would be the case). After Monday's game was postponed, he opened Tuesday's broadcast by introducing himself and addressing Red Sox fans directly and personally (a move made necessary by the poorly-received decision to replace Orsillo):

Hi everybody, welcome here to Cleveland for Opening Day. I'm Dave O'Brien, brand new to the NESN TV booth this year, not brand new to Red Sox baseball. I have been next door on radio for the last nine years, certainly not new to Red Sox Nation. As a Quincy boy, I was born into that. I've had a long career in major league announcing. This is my 26th year at the microphone and I've had a chance to do some incredible things. I've called the World Series nine times, called eight no-hitters and called the last three Red Sox World Championships.

But the greatest honor of my career is to be able to sit in this booth as the voice of the Red Sox for the days, weeks, months and hopefully years to come. I hope you will invite me in as a friend and I hope I can earn your trust as well, just as you gave to Don Orsillo. And before Don, Sean McDonough. And before Sean, Ned Martin and all the way back to the days of Curt Gowdy, an amazing list of all the talented Red Sox broadcasters. I'm going to come to the booth every day and work hard. I'm certainly not going to be perfect, but I'm going to be candid and honest and I'm going to call them like I see them.

And I love to laugh. I think baseball can be a very, very funny game. I'm very passionate about it. I love to have a good time in the booth. So, by way of introduction, that's me.

I found it interesting that O'Brien noted that he likes to have fun in the booth and that baseball can be a funny game. It was the off-topic banter and gigglefests between Orsillo and Remy that many fans loved.

O'Brien is a solid play-by-play man, and he has not changed his descriptive approach even though he is on TV. Where Orsillo recited (often irrelevant) statistical factoids about each player, reciting them more or less verbatim from the daily press notes, O'Brien offers more informative background on the players. Where Orsillo was regimented - with his catchphrases and set-in-stone ways of describing events - O'Brien's style is far more casual, more conversational.

In the fourth inning, O'Brien recounted a story about Travis Shaw, who started at third base over Pablo Sandoval. Shaw's father, Jeff, played major league baseball and Joe Bick was his agent. In April 1990, the day after Travis was born, Bick told Jeff that his newborn son would be his client in 2008. And guess what - that's exactly what happened! (In verifying this improbable story, I found that Alex Speier recounted the tale for Baseball America in 2012.)

Remy was more animated and engaged than I recall him being in years past. He expressed surprise that the Cleveland infield did not employ an extreme shift on Shaw in the second inning. Most teams do, and Shaw exploited that non-shift for a hit.

Remy was impressed with how hard Hanley Ramirez worked at learning how to play first base during the spring. Remy also broke down Ramirez's swing in the third inning, calling attention to how pull-happy Hanley had become in 2015, trying to hit the ball 900 feet in batting practice. This year, Ramirez has eliminated the "violent" legkick from last season, in which he lifted his front leg high as he strode into the pitch. Remy said a more subtle stride had calmed his swing down and would likely result in more solid contact.

The afternoon was cold, the temperature never rising above 35 degrees, and Remy told viewers that many players, such as Dustin Pedroia, often will wear two pairs of batting gloves to keep their hands warm. Remy said that Mookie Betts will sometimes wear three pairs: "small, medium, and large".

O'Brien and Remy did make some errors, however. Because of the cold weather, which they said would favour the pitchers, and because both starters (David Price and Corey Kluber) were former Cy Young Award winners, they believed both teams might try bunting and playing small ball, hoping to eke out a run here or there, which might be the difference in the game. They noted that even someone like Betts might be called upon to lay down a bunt. When Jackie Bradley singled to start the Red Sox third, and Betts came up, they again pointed out that Betts might sacrifice. Betts did not show bunt on either of the first two pitches. On Kluber's 1-1 offering, Betts crushed a home run to left field, giving Boston its first runs of the season. So much for bunting.

The two broadcasters' comments on home plate umpire John Hirschbeck's expanded strike zone were inadequate. In the fifth inning, O'Brien described the veteran Hirschbeck as "a pitcher's umpire" and someone who "wants to move the game along". He meant that Hirschbeck is prone to call strikes on pitches that are out of the strike zone. O'Brien should have pointed out that in doing so, Hirschbeck was altering the rules to make the game move at his preferred pace. Hirschbeck's blown calls annoyed players on both teams and late in the game, Remy made it clear that some of the strikes being called were in no way strikes. That was good to hear, but it would have been nice to hear either man explain how important it is that balls and strikes are called correctly, that it is far more important than allowing managers to challenge calls and tags on the bases. As a former player, Remy should know how a batter's options and team strategy change as the count changes - and for an umpire to base his ball and strike calls on his personal whims is a travesty.

Game 2 - Wednesday

O'Brien and Remy turned in another solid broadcast and there were no noticeable screw-ups the production. As far as I could tell, NESN did not miss broadcasting any pitches.

However, Remy botched his analysis on two replays, insisting both times that something had happened that was not supported by the video replay.

With one out in the top of the fifth, Mookie Betts grounded a 2-2 pitch to second baseman Jason Kipnis, who ranged to his right, fielded the ball behind the bag, and threw Betts out. It was a very good play by - and Remy (a former second baseman) pointed out that Kipnis had been able to see the catcher's sign to the pitcher, saw that it was a breaking ball, and thus was able to cheat a couple of steps to his right, towards the bag, before the ball was hit. Remy said this twice before NESN showed the replay from the high home camera. It was clear that Kipnis actually did not move at all until after Betts hit the ball. Despite this clear visual evidence to the contrary, Remy again repeated how Kipnis had been able to move while the pitch was being thrown, before Betts put the ball into play.

A second instance occurred in the following inning, when Hanley Ramirez batted in the top of the sixth. In this at-bat, Ramirez followed David Ortiz's solo home run with one of his own, going to the opposite field, hitting the ball over the right-center field fence. Remy repeated his point from the previous game, that Ramirez had altered his batting stance from last season and was no longer using "a violent leg kick", raising his left leg high as he strode into the pitch. NESN showed a split screen with the extreme leg kick of 2015 and the much more subtle step into the pitch of 2016. Again, Remy repeated himself, saying that sometimes Ramirez's leg kick in spring training and the first two games - and especially this at-bat - was so small as to be barely noticeable.

Then NESN showed the HR swing again - and fans saw that Ramirez had actually used the big leg kick he supposedly had abandoned. (He also used it on the pitch before the HR.)

You might think that after Remy saw this, he would change his analysis, explaining that, at least in this case, Ramirez was still using the big leg kick. Nope. Once again, despite video evidence showing he was wrong, Remy insisted that what we had seen was Ramirez's employing a small stride.

Remy is certainly not the only broadcaster who has refused to change his explanation in the face of contrary video evidence. Both Joe Morgan and Tim McCraver was infamous for insisting that viewers were seeing X when it was clear to everyone (including their broadcasting partners) that Y had happened. That stubbornness is odd in Remy's case, because viewers do not get the sense that he believes he's infallible. Remy freely admits when he is wrong on certain matters, and can certainly be self-deprecating. Why he refused to acknowledge what every NESN viewer could see on the two replays is a mystery.

G3: Red Sox at Cleveland, PPD.

Red Sox   - 
Cleveland - 

Joe Kelly / Danny Salazar

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Holt, LF
Hanigan, C
Bradley, CF

G2: Cleveland 7, Red Sox 6

Red Sox   - 020 004 000 - 6 10  1
Cleveland - 410 001 10x - 7  9  0

Although Clay Buchholz (4-6-5-3-4, 94) put the Red Sox in an early, deep hole, they clawed back and took the lead in the sixth inning, thanks in part to back-to-back home runs from David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez. However, Cleveland tied the game against Noe Ramirez in the bottom half of the inning and Mike Napoli homered off Junichi Tazawa in the seventh for the home team's margin of victory.

Buchholz struck out the first batter he faced, but then allowed seven of the next 11 batters to reach base. Carlos Santana's three-run dong was the big blow in the first. Boston halved its deficit when Brock Holt lined a two-run shot to right, but Cleveland tacked on another run to lead 5-2.

That's the way things stayed until Ortiz led off the sixth with his second long ball in two days. It was regular season HR #505, moving Big Papi into 26th place all-time. Four pitches later, Ramirez went deep to roughly the same spot in right-center, ending starter Carlos Carrasco's night. Chris Young pinch-hit against Ross Detwiler and lifted a fly to left center. Tyler Naquin, who made his MLB debut yesterday, came over from center, but did not take charge of the play. The ball fell unmolested to the grass between Naquin and Jose Ramirez for a double. Detwiler then walked Holt and Blake Swihart, loading the bases. Jackie Bradley's sacrifice fly to center tied the game and, after another pitching change, Mookie Betts's groundout to third scored Holt.

But Boston's 6-5 lead was short-lived. Noe Ramirez walked leadoff batter Yan Gomes, who raced to third when Marlon Byrd's looping, opposite-field single landed near the right field foul line. Juan Uribe's sac fly re-tied the game.

In the top of the seventh, Hanley Ramirez singled with two outs, stole second, and took third on a wild pitch. Pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval could not bring him in, however, as he lined out to center. Cleveland retook the lead when Napoli crushed a hanging breaking ball from Tazawa in the bottom of the inning.

Bradley singled with two out in the eighth, but Betts struck out. In the ninth, facing Cody Allen, Dustin Pedroia flied out to right, Xander Bogaerts struck out, and Ortiz flied to deep left, with Jose Ramirez making a snow-cone catch at the wall.

Clay Buchholz / Carlos Carrasco

Betts, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, 1B
Shaw, 3B
Holt, LF
Swihart, C
Bradley, CF

Buchholz posted a 2.02 ERA in his final 11 starts last year.

David Ortiz, on his Opening Day home run: "When the light goes on, Papi goes on."

G1: Red Sox 6, Cleveland 2

Red Sox   - 002 002 002 - 6 11  0
Cleveland - 000 200 000 - 2  5  1

David Price pitched six innings and struck out 10 batters in his Red Sox debut. Mookie Betts and David Ortiz each hit a two-run homer. And Boston's late-inning trio of Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara, and Craig Kimbrel played their roles to perfection, allowing only a meaningless two-out walk in the ninth.

Price (6-5-2-2-10, 103) struck out two batters in each of the first three innings, as he expertly worked the corners. His only stumble came in the fourth, when he threw 33 pitches (11 to Mike Napoli before getting a generous strike three call) and allowed four of the five hits he ultimately surrendered. Price's two walks came back-to-back to open the second inning, but he worked out of trouble, getting a fly to center and two swinging strikeouts.

Price was the first Red Sox pitcher with 10+ strikeouts in his Boston debut since Daisuke Matsuzaka (2007).

Travis Shaw collected the Red Sox's first hit of the season, a grounder to right with two outs in the second. Brock Holt followed with a single of his own, but Blake Swihart struck out. After Jackie Bradley singled to begin the third, Betts put Boston on the board by crushing an inside fastball to left.

Cleveland tied the game in the fourth, but the Red Sox snapped the 2-2 tie in the sixth. Hanley Ramirez grounded a single up the middle. When Travis Shaw followed by golfing a single to right, Ramirez gambled and raced to third, barely beating an off-line throw. It was a daring move - and it paid off immediately as Brock Holt looped a single to left. Because he was on third, Ramirez was able to score the go-ahead run. Shaw took third on a force play and scored on a wild pitch.

The Red Sox loaded the bases with one out in the seventh against the Cleveland pen - a two-base error, an intentional walk to Ortiz, and an unintentional walk to Ramirez - but lefty reliever Ross Detwiler got Shaw looking at strike three, and Holt lined to third.

Ortiz's bomb was a line drive to right on a 2-2 pitch, his fifth career Opening Day home run.

Everyone in the Red Sox lineup (except for Xander Bogaerts) had either a hit or a walk with five batters - Betts, Ortiz, Ramirez, Shaw, and Holt - each getting two hits. Dustin Pedroia, however, who had hit safely in his nine previous Opening Days, went 0-for-4.

The other big story in this game was the horrific strike calls made by home plate umpire John Hirschbeck. All afternoon long, he called strikes on pitches that were either too low or outside the strike zone. Both teams were incredulous at Hirschbeck's outrageous calls, none more so than Cleveland's Mike Napoli, who was run up three times. It is quite possible that none of the pitches that ended Napoli's at-bats were strikes. Also, Shaw's strikeout with the bases loaded in the seventh was not in the zone. Hirschbeck was making it up as he went along right to the very end, calling a game-ending strike three on Juan Uribe on an outside pitch from Kimbrel.

Early in the game, NESN's Dave O'Brien said that Hirschbeck is "a pitcher's umpire" and that he "likes to move the game along". Jerry Remy later said that Hirschbeck had been "consistent" all day long. O'Brien's comment seems to condone the idea that an umpire can take it upon himself to arbitrarily change the rules, though O'Brien may not realize that is what he was saying. As far as Remy's comment, yes, Hirschbeck was indeed consistent, for the most part, although there were plenty of low and outside pitches he rightly called balls. But time and time again, Hirschbeck chose to alter the game's most fundamental rule - the dimensions of the strike zone - according to some personal whim, to the point that the outcome of the contest was almost certainly affected.

David Price / Corey Kluber

Mookie Betts, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
David Ortiz, DH
Hanley Ramirez, 1B
Travis Shaw, 3B
Brock Holt, LF
Blake Swihart, C
Jackie Bradley, CF

Locked in. Lets do this one last time Boston.

— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) April 4, 2016

John Oliver: Yankees Are "The Biggest Elitist Assholes In All Of Sports"

John Oliver, host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight", called the Yankees "the biggest elitist assholes in all of sports" after MFY COO Lonn Trost said the team would no longer accept printed tickets from StubHub, in part because he doesn't want low-class riff-raff sitting in "premium locations" alongside wealthy bigshots.

"The problem below market at a certain point is that if you buy a ticket in a very premium location and pay a substantial amount of money. It's not that we don't want that fan to sell it, but that fan is sitting there having paid a substantial amount of money for a ticket and (another) fan picks it up for a buck-and-a-half and sits there, and it's frustrating to the purchaser of the full amount. And quite frankly, the fan may be someone who has never sat in a premium location. So that's a frustration to our existing fan base."

Oliver announced that his show had bought two Legends seats behind home plate for the first three games of the season and that it plans to sell those tickets for 25 cents each.

G1: Red Sox at Cleveland, PPD.

Today's game has been postponed due to cold. (The wind chill in Cleveland was reportedly only 18 degrees.)

G1 has been rescheduled for tomorrow at 1 PM.

Red Sox   - 
Cleveland - 

David Price / Corey Kluber

Mookie Betts, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
David Ortiz, DH
Hanley Ramirez, 1B
Travis Shaw, 3B
Brock Holt, LF
Blake Swihart, C
Jackie Bradley, RF

The rest of the 25-man roster:

Catcher: Ryan Hanigan

Infielder: Pablo Sandoval

Outfielders: Rusney Castillo, Chris Young

Starting Pitchers: Clay Buchholz, Joe Kelly, Rick Porcello, Steven Wright

Relief Pitchers: Craig Kimbrel, Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, Robbie Ross, Tommy Layne, Noe Ramirez, Matt Barnes

Price:

I'm very excited. We've got a good fountain of youth here. It's going to be great just to feed off all these young guys, to go out there and have the good veteran leaders we have as well. We have a really good mix of youth and veteran guys.

As usual, a few of us will be in the game thread.

To hell with 2014 and 2015, because ....

Locked in. Lets do this one last time Boston.

— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) April 4, 2016

2016 Red Sox W-L Contest Entries

Here are the 40 entries for the 2016 W-L contest.

               W-L    PRICE ERA

Laura K      100-62     3.10

Jere S        99-63     2.99

Chris S       95-67     2.63
David P       95-67     2.99

Bernard S     93-69     2.66
Dan C         93-69     2.81
Jeff M        93-69     3.09
Benjamin B    93-69     3.18
Lewis S       93-69     3.37

Bern L        92-70     2.79
Ian R         92-70     3.35
Tim T         92-70     3.41

Timothy M     91-71     2.72
John Q        91-71     3.16
Ray P         91-71     3.34
Michael B     91-71     3.47

Matt B        90-72     2.68
Allan W       90-72     2.90
Matt H        90-72     3.27

Paul H        89-73     2.37 
Tim L         89-73     3.13
Jeff A        89-73     3.20
Kathryn L     89-73     3.98

David F       88-74     2.79
Jeff J        88-74     2.99 
John G        88-74     3.00
Jeffrey A     88-74     3.08
Ben A         88-74     3.25
Matt Ka       88-74     3.45

Jeff L        87-75     2.84
Bill F        87-75     3.38

Nick R        86-76     3.27

Andy M        85-77     3.12

Rich G        83-79     2.42
Brad G        83-79     3.68

Ben T         81-81     3.04

Timothy C     80-82     3.12
David B       80-82     3.78

Rick N        78-84     2.86

Matt Ko       75-87     3.42

An Oral History Of David Ortiz's "MLB Adventure"

Scott Miller, Bleacher Report: "Big Man, Big Personality: The Oral History of David Ortiz's MLB Adventure":

David Ortiz: I got lucky that I bumped into Pedro Martinez in a restaurant in the Dominican Republic. We talked, he asked me how things were going and I said, "I just got released by Minnesota a couple of days ago." And he was like, "What? They must be out of their mind. You're the best hitter they've got. I'm going to call the Red Sox right now." He called the Red Sox, and two days later the Red Sox hired me. The rest is history.

...

Doug Mientkiewicz: Craziness. He made Manny look mortal. Everything we needed to get done, he did. Seemed like every time we needed a big hit, he was up. Not taking anything away from Manny because he's one of the best right-handed hitters ever to play. But he's hitting singles and David's hitting homers and doubles. I was on deck during the Loaiza at-bat, watching him foul balls off and foul balls off and finally fight one off to center. You kept thinking, "We can't keep leaving it up to him. He can't keep doing it every night." And he did.

...

Theo Epstein: What he did in the Yankees series was as transformative a performance as I think you can have in baseball over a couple of days. No one in baseball wins a game single-handedly—maybe a dominant starting pitcher on a single day—but we were so down and out and he was so feared in that lineup, yet they still couldn't avoid him enough. We were so desperate for another breath. We just wanted to keep surviving, and it was David who kept delivering to give us that extra breath. ... I remember he was drained by the time we got to New York, but he kept delivering time and time again, seemingly beyond belief.

...

Jake Peavy, Red Sox teammate 2013-2014: David Price had our number that year, really gave it to us. In Game 2 of the ALDS, David [Ortiz] comes in dressed like he was getting ready to have dinner with the Pope. Some of the guys gave him a hard time about it: "It wasn't travel day; we're going to travel tomorrow." David simply responds, "You guys think I'm dressed like this for travel? Come on. I've been in the league however many years." "So what are you dressed like that for?" "My press conference," he says. And he hit two home runs off of David Price, came in and put that suit on and [went to] the press conference looking very suave.

...

Theo Epstein: He's probably the single person most identifiable with this decade-plus run of success the Red Sox have had. He got there in '03 when we got five outs from the World Series, and then he was right in the middle of it when we won it the next year, and he's still there trucking along after all these years. If the face of your franchise is a happy, smiling stud in the middle of your order for 10-plus years, that's a really good thing to have. He's really helped transform that franchise. He definitely did more for us than we did for him.

BP: Red Sox Should Win Between 55 and 115 Games

Baseball Prospectus ran 1,000,000 simulations of the 2016 season. The worst Red Sox team went 55-107 and the best team had a 115-47 record. So anything between 55 and 115 wins is within the realm of probability.

The average number of wins in the simulations for four of the five AL East team are remarkably similar - only three wins separate the first and fourth place finishers! - as shown on BP's Playoff Odds chart:

ESPN Posts 2016 Predictions

31 staffers at ESPN offered their predictions for 2016:

AL East
Blue Jays  19
Red Sox     8
Rays        2
Yankees     2
Orioles     0

AL Pennant
Astros      9
Blue Jays   8
Royals      8
Red Sox     4
Cleveland   1
Rangers     1

NL Pennant
Cubs       19
Giants      6
Nationals   3
Mets        3

World Series
Cubs       14
Blue Jays   4
Royals      4
Astros      3
Mets        2
Giants      2
Rangers     1
Nationals   1

Also: Keith Law:

I see four flawed contenders [in the AL East], and a team with its engine stuck in reverse. The Red Sox strike me as the least flawed contender, a team with a potential 850-run offense and enough improvement in run prevention to sneak away with the division. I feel as if their defense is particularly underrated, but getting Hanley Ramirez out of left field and Pablo Sandoval entirely off the field helps, while on some nights they'll run out plus defenders at four or five spots.

AL East Projected Standings
Red Sox    90-72
Blue Jays  87-75
Rays       83-79
Yankees    83-79
Orioles    74-88

Pedro Throws Out First Pitch In Montreal

The Red Sox are playing two exhibition games in Montreal this weekend against the Toronto Blue Jays. Boston won 4-2 in 10 innings last night before a crowd of 52,682. Today's game is at 1 PM.

Pedro Martinez, who pitched four seasons for the Expos before being traded to Boston after winning the 1997 NL Cy Young Award, threw out the first pitch last night. Martinez hopes that Montreal gets another major league team soon:

It was great. It was a moment that I was waiting for since '97. I remember I was handed my trophy as a Cy Young winner and the only one in the Expos history and not being able to share it with the fans and with the team and the people here was kind of sad for me. This time around, when everything is over and I'm already in the Hall of Fame, I can say that this is paying back for the fans for what they did. And Montreal was the team that built me to become who I was. ...

I wanted to at any point that I could make a statement and say that Montreal is a baseball place. When I was introduced to Montreal, this was the kind of atmosphere that I was introduced to. I remember the '94 team having 47,000 to 50,000 every day. Then, they were robbed of their team. If you continue to just take the good players out, what interest is going to be there for the fans? I know what it's all about and I know Montreal, and I know Montreal is a baseball city.

In addition to Martinez, Tim Raines, Vladimir Guerrero, Marquis Grissom, Ellis Valentine, and Jose Vidro were honoured on the field before the game.

Prediction Grab Bag: SoSH, Herald, Globe, WEEI, USAToday, CBS, The Guardian

Updated to include the Globe's picks

Boston Herald

Jason Mastrodonato: 89-73, AL Wild Card.
The Red Sox can’t get any worse production out of left field, first base and third base than they did last year. The additions of David Price and Craig Kimbrel add a half-dozen wins to the projection.

Michael Silverman: 83-79, 3rd place, miss playoffs
There’s no way (right?) they finish in last place once more but it’s real difficult to look at their lack of slam-dunk rotation depth and believe it’s good enough to lead them into October baseball.

Ron Borges: 88-74, AL Wild Card
The pitching comes through better than expected but the batting order has more holes than we expected.

Steve Buckley: 82-80, miss playoffs
Price is right. The rest of the rotation isn’t.

Evan Drellich: 90-72, Win AL East
The division will be close, but with the team in contention from the get-go and a go-for it mindset, a starting pitcher pick-up at the deadline gives Sox a needed boost.

Boston Globe

Peter Abraham
AL East: Blue Jays — Marcus Stroman will offset the departures of David Price and Mark Buehrle.
AL Wild Card: Royals and Astros — The defending champions are still potent and Houston has the transcendent Carlos Correa.
ALCS: Astros over the Blue Jays — Houston wins its first pennant since 2005, takes out Toronto in six games.
World Series: Cubs over Astros in five games: An outraged President Trump refuses to invite the Ricketts family to the White House.
AL Cy Young: David Price, Red Sox — The Sox fall short of the postseason, but at least they have a legitimate ace again.

Nick Cafardo
AL East: Blue Jays — Marcus Stroman becomes an ace, Aaron Sanchez has breakout season and offense continues to crush.
AL Wild Card: Yankees and Astros — The Yankees have enough in their starting rotation to get them to their fantasy bullpen, and the Astros' younger players get better.
ALCS: Rangers over Tigers — Rangers' lineup comes up big vs. Tigers' pitching.
World Series: Cubs over Rangers in six — Cubs break 108-year curse with Theo Epstein at the helm.
AL Cy Young: David Price, Red Sox: Every bit as advertised and completely dominant over 33 starts with 20 wins.

Dan Shaughnessy
AL East: Blue Jays — Bat-flipping their way to the World Series.
AL Wild Card: Indians and Red Sox — Tito's Tribe beats Sox in one-game playoff at Fenway.
ALCS: Blue Jays over Astros — A hockey town over a football town.
World Series: Cubs over Blue Jays in seven — Lester MVP. Bob Lobel says, "Why can't we get a pitcher and GM like that?"
AL Cy Young: Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays — The next baseball megastar.

Alex Speier
AL East: Blue Jays — I'm proudly shooting for nine straight years of getting this division wrong.
AL Wild Card: Indians and Red Sox — Cory Snyder and Joe Carter are finally ready to help Cleveland make the leap.
ALCS: Indians and Astros — I was wrong about the Indians last year, and I'll probably be wrong about them this year.
World Series: Nationals over Indians in 6: Bryce Harper will wake up the game.
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale, White Sox — He hasn't given up a homer to a lefty since Sept. 2, 2012.

Chad Finn
AL East: Blue Jays — Donaldson/Bautista/Encarnacion combine to mash 100-plus homers for East beasts.
AL Wild Card: Red Sox and Angels — David Ortiz's storied career gets one more October chapter; Mike Trout locks down another MVP
ALCS: Astros over Blue Jays in 7: Winning AL crown will finally stop us from still thinking of the Astros as an NL team.
World Series: Cubs over Astros in 5 — Hey, Theo Epstein does know a thing or two on how to properly end a curse.
AL Cy Young: Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays — 24-year-old righthander and former David Price understudy is 15-6 with 3.31 ERA in young career.

Christopher L. Gasper
AL East: Yankees — The Empire strikes back with a power bullpen. Chapman, Miller and Betances are a relievers Murderers' Row.
AL Wild Card: Blue Jays and Indians — The Blue Jays bash and bat-flip their way to back-to-back postseasons; the Indians soothe LeBron's departure.
ALCS: Royals over Yankees in 6 — KC wins the battle of the bullpens and radar guns.
World Series: Cubs over Royals in 7 — In Theo I trust.
AL Cy Young: Chris Archer, Rays — One of David Price's prized apprentices masters AL batters.

Sons of Sam Horn

WEEI

Rob Bradford and John Tomase both predict the Red Sox to finish third, behind the Blue Jays and Yankees.

USAToday

CBS Sports

The Guardian (UK)

AL East champion

DL: David Price is in Boston, but now the Jays have a healthy Marcus Stroman. They also have power, pen, and, now, real dirt base paths! So it seems like Toronto, but this division is a basket case. Can I switch in July?

DG: The Blue Jays went for it all last year and came up short, but they still have a potent lineup in place that could be the difference in a competitive division.

LC: Picking up David Price was huge. Craig Kimbrell is an overpowering closer who will thrive in Boston. The lineup remains strong, Mookie Betts will finally break out and the Red Sox will benefit from seeing the Good Hanley Ramirez.

JB: The Boston Red Sox. Turns out hiring a GM who understands you're a big market team and acts like it turns a roster around quick.

Two of the writers pick Boston to lose in the ALCS.

Travis Shaw Wins 3B Job Over Pablo Sandoval

Travis Shaw will be the Red Sox's starting third baseman on Monday afternoon when the team begins its 2016 season in Cleveland. Pablo Sandoval - in the second year of a 5/95 deal - will be on the bench. Going into today's exhibition game, Shaw has an .886 spring OPS (.333/.377/.509) compared to .767 for Sandoval (.244/.279/.488).

Shaw:

If you had told me that coming in here, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I believed in myself at third for pretty much my whole career. It's just kind of taken a while for other people to kind of jump on board. I'm ready.

Sandoval:

It's the right decision to help the team win. I'm going to be happy. I'm going to be ready on the bench, get ready for anything. ... I just look at it as what is best for the team. I don't look at it in a selfish place. I look at it what is best for the team. If it is going to help win for the team, I'm happy. ... I'm just going to focus and keep working hard.

Shaw - who turns 26 on April 16 - made his major league debut last May. In 65 games, he hit .270/.327/.487 for an .813 OPS (115 OPS+).

Also: SoSH's Rick Rowand looks at Boston's "Damn the salaries, full speed ahead" attitude:

Two days ago, Farrell named Brock Holt! the strong side of a platoon with Chris Young in left field in place of Rusney Castillo. Not every manager or GM has the chutzpah to do that, even though they all pay lip service to it.

More Cafardo Nonsense

Nick Cafardo, Boston Globe, March 26, 2016:

As the story goes: When Jeffrey Loria owned the Expos, he was obsessed with Derek Jeter. So he ordered his general manager, Jim Beattie, to try to make a deal with the Yankees and to give up whatever he had to. Beattie offered Yankees GM Brian Cashman Vladimir Guerrero and Pedro Martinez. Stunned, Cashman told Beattie, "I can't trade Derek Jeter."

Well, that is certainly an interesting tidbit. What a monumental trade that would have been.

Too bad it's 100%, easily-disproved horseshit.

As Mike Bates (MLB Daily Dish) explains:

Pedro was traded by the Expos to the Red Sox in November of 1997, three months before Cashman was elevated to GM by the Yankees. So there's no way that Cashman, as the GM of the Yankees, could have acquired Pedro Martinez from the Expos. For another, Jeffrey Loria didn't buy into the Expos until December of 1999, so he wouldn't have been around to order Jim Beattie to do anything. ...

Not only doesn't it pass the smell test, but it's fundamentally impossible. ... But otherwise, yeah, cute story, Nick. Next time, spend five minutes on Baseball Reference.com.

As SoSH's PedroKsBambino notes, the Globe's once-iconic Sunday sports section has devolved, with Cafardo as the paper's top baseball writer, into a collection of "lies, buffet-warmed hottakes, and blatantly spoon-fed puff items for agents".

Contest Reminder

The deadline for the 2016 W-L contest is Sunday night.

So if you have not entered, click here.

The hardcover book at left is the prize.

Get Off Mike Schmidt's Lawn. And Johnny Bench's. And Goose Gossage's.

Mike Schmidt: "Why do so many players today feel the need to embellish their success with some sort of hand signal to the dugout? What got more attention in last year's postseason than a bat toss by Jose Bautista? Pointing to the sky is child's play compared to that moment in the postseason on national TV. A flagrant disrespect of the opponent like that would have gotten somebody hurt back in the day. ... They are free to display their passion and emotion with certain boundaries ..."

Johnny Bench: "You can flip your bat. We had guys do that ... and the next time up there was chin music. And if you want to play that way, that's fine. Bring back the excitement? OK, we'll bring back the brushback pitch, the knockdown pitch. That's all part of the excitement. ... I know a lot of the old-timers and a lot of people who watched baseball forever would love to see somebody have a little chin music (as retaliation)."

Goose Gossage: "Bautista is a fucking disgrace to the game. He's embarrassing to all the Latin players, whoever played before him. Throwing his bat and acting like a fool, like all those guys in Toronto. [Yoenis] Cespedes, same thing. ... The game is becoming a freaking joke because of the nerds who are running it. I'll tell you what has happened, these guys played Rotisserie baseball at Harvard or wherever the fuck they went and they thought they figured the fucking game out. They don't know shit."

MIC: "ESPN Tried To Shame Cuba On Poverty And It Backfired Spectacularly"

ESPN Tried To Shame Cuba On Poverty And It Backfired Spectacularly
Zak Cheney-Rice, MIC, March 23, 2016:

During President Barack Obama's historic trip to Cuba this week, the Twitter account for SportsCenter — ESPN's banner TV show — tweeted the following photo of the scene outside Havana's Estadio Latinoamericano, where POTUS was watching a baseball game with Cuban president Raúl Castro on Tuesday:

Meanwhile, next to the stadium in Havana... pic.twitter.com/4nHUzVNO5e

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 22, 2016

The caption read, "Meanwhile, next to the stadium in Havana..." — an apparent attempt to highlight the irony of the most powerful man in the world enjoying a game at a fancy ballpark while the ills of poverty sat right next door.

There was just one problem:

@SportsCenter Meanwhile, outside Citi Field pic.twitter.com/QRCcuReiwD

— Justin Klugh (@justin_klugh) March 22, 2016

Justin Klugh, a sports blogger with SB Nation, responded by tweeting the above image of the scene outside Citi Field in Willet's Point, Queens, where the New York Mets play baseball.

If anything, the shot from the U.S. looks even starker than the one from Cuba.



Willet's Point is one of New York City's most structurally devastated neighborhoods. In 2013, it was described by the New York Times as a "blighted area" marked by a "tangle of auto shops" and potholed, oil-slicked streets that looked "as if they had been blasted by land mines." ...

A handful of other Twitter users followed Klugh's post by tweeting images of different areas where multi-million dollar coliseums seem to have been dropped in the middle of America's poorest neighborhoods: ...

Willets Point literally does not have have sidewalks or sewers. pic.twitter.com/g4K4AV3ZhC

— Barry Petchesky (@barryap1) March 22, 2016

See also: here.

Big Contract Is No Guarantee Of Playing Time For Sandoval

Who will be the Red Sox's starting third baseman on Opening Day, April 4?

Travis Shaw has been red-hot (.450 average and 1.188 OPS in 14 games) and incumbent Pablo Sandoval - in the second year of his 5/95 contract and coming off a dismal 2015 season - will miss the next few days due to lower back tightness. Manager John Farrell says the final weeks of spring training will be key in seeing who gets the job. And GM Dave Dombrowski said that the size of a player's contract will not be a determining factor in whether he's in the starting lineup.

I think I've traditionally taken that approach. It's funny, Jim Leyland would always say, "A player's big contract would guarantee them one thing, that they had a bigger check to bring home every two weeks. It doesn't guarantee them anything else other than that." Normally, you hope there is a correlation between the two.

Dombrowski noted that both John Henry and Tom Werner agree with this philosophy.

Eduardo Rodriguez will begin the season on the disabled list after suffering a knee injury in late February. Because Henry Owens was optioned to Pawtucket, the fifth spot in the rotation is now between Steven Wright and Roenis Elias.

Reliever Carson Smith also will not be on the Opening Day roster. Smith had an MRI on Tuesday and it was determined that he has a strain of the flexor muscle in his right elbow.

Hanley Ramirez has been impressing people with his play at first base. HR:

Honestly, every time somebody is up there, I want it to be a ground ball. It's unbelievable. Every day is getting better and better and better and better. I feel like everybody is looking at me like, he's going to make a great play right here. That's what I expect from myself. Get ready to dive right here, catch everything.

Two SoSH posts from this week:

flymrfreakjar:

I've been able to watch a lot of games this spring, somehow, and from my eyes Hanley has been absolutely fine. He's made some picks, had a few diving plays, a successful pick-off. Everything you could ask. On this ESPN feed right now, Olney gave a little report on how pleased everyone in the organization has been with him. Someone in the booth right now is saying how people he's talked to around the league think he looks shockingly good. ...

luckysox:

The few times I've seen him, including yesterday, he's looked like a regular first baseman, not like a linebacker playing left field. He looked physically out of place all of last year, and now he just looks like any other first baseman. And what I think has been most noticeable to me is that he is engaged - because he has to be. He's excitable when his fielders make a good play ... I think being back in the infield and being needed on every play is going to suit him well. Viva El Hanley!

Ortiz To Bat Flip Haters: Drop Dead

Don't worry. In his last season, Big Papi will still "pimp the [expletive] out of" his home runs:

Of course as a pitcher you're not going to like it if I take you deep, but after I do it, suck it up, man. Take it like a man. I don't mind anybody doing anything when you strike me out or get myself out. You're never going to see me criticizing anybody, because you know what? Whatever you do out there, you just motivate me. ...

This game is competition. This ain't no baby-sitting. There ain't no crying. ... If you're going to take it like a baby, I'm going to take [you] deep again. How about that? Take it like a man and make better, quality pitches the next time I face you, and then you get [me] out, and then you do whatever the hell you want. ...

When you see a pitcher do a fist pump when they strike out any one of us, or jumping on the mound, I don't see anybody talking about that. Nobody's talking about that. Act the same way when we do a bat flip. It's emotion. It is, "I got you." Just like a pitcher does, "I got you," when they strike [you] out. As a hitter, I don't mind. You got myself out? Good for you. They work hard to do that [expletive]. But when I get you, good for me. Period.

Here he is annoying Chris "Guardian of the Game" Archer of the Rays: