Roman Anthony Agrees To 8/130 Extension; Two Actual Nicknames!

 

The Red Sox signed outfielder Roman Anthony to an eight-year extension worth $130 million.

Anthony, who turned 21 in May, made his debut on June 9. In 47 games, he's slashing .276/.392/.417 for an .809 OPS (126+ OPS, 5th best on the team). His .392 on-base is tops on the team.

Molly Burkhardt (mlb.com) reports:

The extension will begin with the 2026 season and includes escalators that could bring the overall value up to $230 million. The deal includes a 2034 club option for $30 million, as well as escalators for a 1st or 2nd place Rookie of the Year finish, MVP finish (1st-10th) and All-Star selections . . .

Anthony hit .329/.452/.494/.946 in July. He debuted with #48, but now wears #19.

Note: Anthony was born on May 13, 2004. The Red Sox lost to the Blue Jays and I posted some proto-MUMS.

Nicknames were all the rage during this blog's gamethread heyday, roughly 2007-2011. Most nicknames "these days" (and back then, also) lack even a dash of creativity; slap a "y" to the player's last name or a section thereof and that's it. Those probably shouldn't even be called "nicknames". The Red Sox have a pair of brothers in the minor leagues with excellent (and connected) nicknames.

Worcester (AAA)'s Jhostynxon Alirio Garcia, known as "The Password". B-Ref offers this pronounciation tip: \JOES-tin-son\. Johanfran Garcia, his younger brother (by two years), is currently with Greenville (High A) and has been dubbed "The Username".

In the PCL yesterday, the Salt Lake Bees scored in all eight innings, beating the Las Vegas Aviators 15-12.

Aviators - 021 351 000 - 12 13  1
Bees     - 211 142 22x - 15 16  1

"The Comeback: The 2004 Boston Red Sox" (On Netflix! Now!)

The Comeback: 2004 Boston Red Sox is a three-part documentary exploring how the Boston front office built the 2004 team, the highs and lows of the regular season, and the unprecedented 0-3 to 4-3 comeback against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, followed by the team's first World Series championship in 86 years.

The series is on Netflix right now! (You can watch a two-minute trailer here.)

Colin Barnicle directed the series:

As fans we know what happened. I want them to know how it happened – how an organization changed with new ownership, how the team was built from the front office and how the clubhouse came together. . . . There were considerable bumps along the way. But, how those trials and tribulations defined the decision-making and the chemistry of the team is how they were able to come back from three games down in the ALCS. . . .

My brother [Nick Barnicle, one of the executive producers] and I always felt the historic comeback against the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS was just the tip of the iceberg to a much deeper story about a team changing their identity from sore-luck losers to champions. This series is really about what it takes for a group of people – from ownership to baseball operations to players – to change that narrative. . . .

The interviewees were extremely candid. A major theme we came across was how this organization worked through doubt. Whether at the plate or on the mound or making a decision in the front office. We look back 20 years later and all these decisions make sense because the Red Sox won. But, in that moment, it wasn't so clear. Should you hire the youngest general manager ever? Should you trade Nomar Garciaparra? Can you hit Mariano Rivera when the game is on the line? Can you get the ball down in the strike zone when your knee is hurting? What were you thinking when the team lost the last game in 2003 or was underperforming in the middle of the season in 2004?

That fear of losing and the doubt that follows and how you overcome it is a major part of the series and it's because the players and the front office and ownership were extremely honest with us. . . .

What were the conversations in the owner's box? What were the decisions in baseball operations? What were the dynamics of the clubhouse that culminated in the Red Sox being able to do something no other team in MLB history could? . . . That was what we were interested in and that's what we got.

Also: Q&A with Ian Browne (mlb.com) and Colin Barnicle.

In addition to new interviews with the prime suspects, it looks like there is a fair amount of player-shot video from clubhouses, buses, etc. Pro Tip For Watching 2004 Footage: Keep a tissue handy for your tears of intense joy and unbridled wonder. (You probably already know that, though.) And if you have (for some inexplicable reason) failed to purchase your very own copy of Don't Let Us Win Tonight, this is a friendly reminder to do so.

Schadenfreude 353 (A Continuing Series)

Guardians Rally For Improbable Comeback To Sink Yankees In Game 3 Crusher
Greg Joyce, Post

The first two games of the ALCS lacked for drama.

So the Yankees and Guardians filled the final three innings of Game 3 with more than enough to make up for it, which ultimately left the Yankees needing to get back up off the mat from the gut punch they took when they were one strike away from a 3-0 series lead.

After the teams traded haymakers in the form of stunning home runs in the eighth and ninth innings, David Fry delivered the knockout punch with a two-run homer off Clay Holmes in the 10th inning to lift the Guardians to a 7-5 win on Thursday night at Progressive Field. . . .

After being one strike away from being one win away [Seriously?!?] from advancing to their first World Series since 2009, the Yankees head into Friday's Game 4 with a 2-1 series lead. . . .

Weaver . . . has given up home runs in back-to-back games. . . . Weaver and Holmes . . . faltered while pitching for the seventh time in the Yankees' seventh playoff game, though both insisted they were OK physically. . . .

Weaver came on to record the final out of the eighth and got ahead 0-2 to Lane Thomas with two outs in the ninth. Thomas battled back to a full count and doubled before Weaver left a changeup down the middle — he said it slipped out of his hand — and Noel clobbered it for a game-tying shot.

Then with two outs and a runner on third in the bottom of the 10th, Holmes then left a sinker up to Fry that he clobbered, sending the crowd into a frenzy. . . .

Luke Weaver, Clay Holmes Implode As Yankees' Bullpen Falters In Playoff Rarity
Ryan Dunleavy, Post

The Yankees trotted out their Bizarro Bullpen in a heartbreaking loss. 

Seldom-used Tim Hill and Tim Mayza got big outs with runners on base. 

Workhorses Luke Weaver and Clay Holmes gave up big home runs with runners on base. 

And the Yankees went from one strike away from celebrating a comeback win to the shock of a 7-5 walk-off loss Thursday to the Guardians in the 10th inning of Game 3 . . .

The Yankees seemed to be in a great spot after back-to-back home runs by Judge and Giancarlo Stanton claimed a 4-3 lead — and they were until Weaver's first blown save since assuming the closer's role in early September. 

Lane Thomas doubled off the top of the wall after working out of an 0-2 count with two outs in the ninth. Johnsky Noel followed with a pinch-hit, game-tying, two-run home run. . . .

Holmes — the demoted closer . . . — allowed a leadoff single in the 10th and two-out walk-off home run to David Fry. . . .

"I probably got a little quick there with the sinker and threw it the one spot I couldn't throw it," Holmes said. "If it's a good sinker down and way below the zone, it's probably a more favorable outcome."

Guardians Have A New Energy After All-Time Thriller
Mike Vaccaro, Post

. . . It was 4-3, Yankees. By the bottom of the ninth, it was 5-3. . . . [T]he Yankees have been doing this kind of thing since Calvin Coolidge was president. 

Now they'd done it again. 

The Guardians were deflated. They were dead. Their dugout was a morgue, their ballpark a library. [Maybe they read some books about how the Yankees often choke when thinking of being up 3-0] Luke Weaver — the Yankees' version of Clase — had two outs, none on, bottom of the ninth. Lane Thomas hit one off the wall in left, and it felt like the worst kind of tease for the locals. 

Then Jhonkensy Noel stepped to the plate. His nickname is Big Christmas. And there won't be a more welcome present under any tree in northeast Ohio than the one he delivered in the bleak darkness of this Cleveland night. 

And if you listened close enough, you could hear the ruckus on the Jersey Turnpike. It was 5-5. It seemed impossible. It felt unreal. But soon it was the 10th inning. Soon an ex-Met named Andres Gimenez was making one of the most breathtaking plays you'll ever see, robbing Jazz Chisholm of a hit, robbing the Yankees of first-and-third, one out. 

And soon, David Fry was stepping to the plate. 

Fry, whose late-inning home run last week helped ensure that the Yankees were in Cleveland on this night, and not Detroit. Fry, kept out of the lineup by Vogt in favor of Kyle Manzardo at the start, but who now stared at Clay Holmes, man on third, two outs, bottom of the 10th, looking for a ball he could drive. 

"And I got a ball I could drive," he said. 

When it landed, Progressive Field rattled to its girders and struts. When it landed, the Guardians had a 7-5 victory, had sliced the Yankees' lead to 2-1 in this best-of-seven American League Championship Series, and had performed CPR on an entire city and its baseball season. 

"That," Fry said, "was fun." . . .

It's less so if you're a team in a stunned loser's clubhouse, listening to a jamboree bleed through the walls, a celebration you'd have bet your life was going to take place inside these walls. . . .

Yankees Must Prove They Can Get Off The Mat After Gut-Wrenching Game 3 Loss
Joel Sherman, Post

It wasn't three-games-to-none. But it was just about as close as you can get. . . .

Luke Weaver was ahead of Lane Thomas 0-2 with two outs in the ninth and the Yankees up two runs.  . . .

[I]t was going to be as stirring a victory as existed in the Aaron Era — Judge and Boone. One strike to three-and-oh in this fashion. The doorstep of the World Series.

Then Luke Weaver gave up a two-run homer to Jhonkensy Noel after allowing a full-count Thomas double. Tie score. Then Clay Holmes surrendered a two-out, two-run walkoff shot to David Fry in the 10th. And if you want, close your eyes Yankees fans, this all occurred on the 20th anniversary of the Yanks on the precipice of sweeping the Red Sox in the ALCS and then Dave Roberts stole a base and triggered what was the greatest comeback in MLB history as Boston won four straight, ended The Curse and won its first championship since 1918.

Yeah, these Guardians are not those Red Sox. But these Yankees are not those tough-minded champion Yankees. And now it is not three-nothing. It is two games to one, Yankees still ahead, but both teams having bullpens on fumes, which potentially opens the door to funky stuff. . . .

[W]hat Weaver failed to close opened what the Yankees did not want to see open . . . — an underdog suddenly with more of a fighting chance. An underdog who might not have The Curse, but has gone the longest of any franchise (since 1948) of last winning a title. . . .

The Yankees did not play well . . . They botched four balls at first base, two by Jon Berti contributed to runs and two were by Anthony Rizzo, who was put in for defensive reasons. Jose Trevino started at catcher for the first time this postseason and Cleveland went 3-for-3 in steals off him. And Trevino . . . continued the Yankees' unpardonable baserunning blunders by getting picked off. . . .

Weaver and Holmes have pitched in every playoff game. And Weaver was facing Thomas for the third time in three games. He bemoaned not putting Thomas away as the key at-bat, not the tying homer from Noel that followed. An inning later, Holmes left a sinker up to Fry and it was the Guardians who won with the power of three two-run homers. . . .

[T]he Yankees were so tantalizingly close to being up three-oh.

One strike away from one win [Jesus, this is so pathetic.] to their first World Series appearance in 15 years.

And now?

Yankees' First-Base Weakness Cost Them As Anthony Rizzo, Jon Berti Struggle
Dan Martin, Post

The Yankees entered the postseason with a problem at first base, thanks to Anthony Rizzo's fractured fingers on his right hand and the inexperience of his replacements at the position. . . .

With lefty Matt Boyd on the mound for Cleveland, Aaron Boone went with righty-hitting Jon Berti at first after the veteran infielder performed well there in the ALDS despite never having played the position before. 

And though Berti didn't make any errors before being replaced by Rizzo . . . in the bottom of the eighth, he botched several plays, including one in the third inning that led to a run. 

Rizzo, too, had a rough couple of innings after he came into the game, including on a Will Brennan double that got by him and into right field with one out in the eighth and an error on a Jose Ramirez grounder to open the ninth. . . .

Boone also started Jose Trevino behind the plate for the first time since the regular season, again going with Trevino's right-handed bat — and keeping the slumping Austin Wells' lefty bat out of the starting lineup. 

Trevino . . . got picked off first and allowed Cleveland to steal a pair of bases. . . .

[Wells] is hitless in his past 20 at-bats in the playoffs, but he and Rizzo figure to be back in the lineup for Friday's Game 4 . . .

Yankees' Catching Shakeup Provided Spark Before Burning Out Just As Quickly
Dan Martin, Post

The Yankees haven't gotten much out of their catchers this postseason — because Austin Wells has seen his late-season slump extend into the playoffs. . . .

Wells pinch-hit for Trevino [1-for-22 in prior postseasons] to lead off the [eighth] inning and whiffed twice in what turned into a devastating 7-5, 10-inning loss. . . .

Despite Wells' lengthy offensive downturn — which includes a current 0-for-19 stretch with nine strikeouts — Boone remains high on the catcher . . .

[T]he slump goes back to Wells' last 14 games of the regular season, when he went 3-for-45 . . .

NHL: Oilers Hope To Win Stanley Cup After Being Down 0-3

The 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Finals

June  8: Florida Panthers 3, Edmonton Oilers 0
June 10: Florida Panthers 4, Edmonton Oilers 1
June 13: Florida Panthers 4, Edmonton Oilers 3
June 15: Edmonton Oilers 8, Florida Panthers 1
June 18: Edmonton Oilers 5, Florida Panthers 3
June 21: Edmonton Oilers 5, Florida Panthers 1
June 24: EDM @ FLA

With a win tonight in Florida, the Oilers would become the fifth NHL team to win a best-of-7 playoff series after losing the first three games.

1942 Stanley Cup Finals:             Toronto Maple Leafs defeated Detroit Red Wings
1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals:      New York Islanders defeated Pittsburgh Penguins
2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals:  Philadelphia Flyers defeated Boston Bruins
2014 Western Conference First Round: Los Angeles Kings defeated San Jose Sharks

Any time a professional sports team loses the first three games of a seven-game series, sportswriters must tell the story of the 2004 Red Sox and their still-hard-to-believe-even-after-twenty-years-that-it-really-happened comeback against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. (Several books were written about that glorious 2004 postseason, including this one.) It's both the only time in major league history a team turned 0-3 to 4-3 and a team choked 3-0 to 3-4.

The Oilers are the 211th NHL team to lose the first three games of a seven-game series. Only four of the previous 210 teams then won four consecutive games (1.9%). Five other NHL teams won three games and tied the series, but then lost Game 7.

None of the 157 NBA teams facing an 0-3 deficit has rallied and won the series, and only four teams (2.5%) got to a seventh game, the last being the 2023 Celtics.

0-3 to 4-3

MLB:    1 of  39 teams (2.6%)
NHL:    4 of 210 teams (1.9%)
NBA:    0 of 157 teams (0.0%)
Total:  5 of 406 teams (1.2%)

RIP Larry Lucchino (1945-2024)

Larry Lucchino, John Henry, and Tom Werner, with three Red Sox World Series trophies

Larry Lucchino, Red Sox president and CEO from 2002-2015, has died at the age of 78. Lucchino celebrated three World Series championships as a Red Sox executive, including the astonishing 2004 title that ended the franchise's 86-year title drought. Lucchino was also instrumental in saving Fenway Park, roughly a decade after he helped create a new standard for ballpark construction.

There was a lot of talk about replacing the venerable park in the late 1990s (in truth, threats or promises to get rid of Fenway went back decades before that). It was assumed that when the new ownership group took control of the team from the Yawkey Trust, a modern park would be built. But as Lucchino later said, "You can't destroy the Mona Lisa. You preserve the Mona Lisa."

He hired architect Janet Marie Smith – who helped design Camden Yards during Lucchino's time as Orioles president (1988-93) – and the team made more than $300 million in renovations over a ten-year period, including the construction of the Monster Seats atop the left field wall.

Lucchino was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2016. He is also a member of the Padres Hall of Fame; before coming to Boston, Lucchino served as the Padres' president/CEO from 1995-2001.

John Henry, Red Sox principal owner:

Larry's career unfolded like a playbook of triumphs, marked by transformative moments that reshaped ballpark design, enhanced the fan experience, and engineered the ideal conditions for championships wherever his path led him, and especially in Boston. Yet, perhaps his most enduring legacy lies in the remarkable people he helped assemble at the Red Sox, all of whom are a testament to his training, wisdom, and mentorship.

Many of them continue to shape the organization today, carrying forward the same vigor, vitality, and cherished sayings that were hallmarks of Larry's personality. Larry was a formidable opponent in any arena, and while he battled hard, he always maintained the utmost respect for a worthy adversary and found genuine joy in sparring with people. I was lucky enough to have had him in my corner for 14 years and to have called him a close friend for even longer. He was truly irreplaceable and will be missed by all of us at the Red Sox.

Tom Werner, Red Sox chairman:

When John and I joined forces with Larry in 2001, we dreamed not only of breaking an 86-year curse and winning multiple championships, but also about how a baseball team could transform and uplift a region. Larry was more decorated in sports than any of us, coming to the group with a Super Bowl ring, a World Series ring, and even a Final Four watch from his days playing basketball at Princeton. He added to that impressive collection with us in Boston because he was the kind of man who would find a path to success no matter the obstacles. He was bold and had the audacity to dare, challenge, and even taunt our rivals in ways that made the game of baseball better.

In a sport defined by statistics and standings, he was accomplished in every way, and while his career is a masterclass in leadership and innovation, he will be equally remembered for his unwavering commitment to community engagement and his hands-on role with the Red Sox Foundation and The Jimmy Fund. We are devastated by the loss of a great man, a great leader, and a great friend.

In late 2002, as the Red Sox were close to signing Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras, the Yankees unexpectedly grabbed him at the last minute. Lucchino's reaction became famous: "The evil empire extends its tentacles, even into Latin America." Contreras ended up being a below-average pitcher for the EE before he was traded to the White Sox in July 2004. The Red Sox recovered.

Theo Epstein worked with Lucchino in Baltimore and San Diego before becoming, at age 28, the youngest general manager in baseball history (at the time):

Larry leaves behind a giant baseball legacy full of historic accomplishments with three different organizations. For me and for so many of my best friends in baseball, Larry gave us our start, believing in us and setting an enduring example with his work ethic, vision, competitiveness and fearlessness. He made a profound impact on many in baseball – and on the game itself – and will be missed.

Sam Kennedy, another Lucchino protege and the Red Sox's current president and CEO:

There are so many of us who were given our start in baseball by Larry. He loved a good slogan and his campaign to 'free the Brookline two' liberated Theo and I from the San Diego Padres, allowing us to work for our hometown team and changing the trajectory of our lives forever. He instilled in us, and so many others, a work ethic, passion, competitive fire that we will carry forever. His legacy is one that all of us who were taught by him feel a deep responsibility to uphold. When those he mentored moved on from the Red Sox, he would always say, 'We'll leave a light on for you.' The lights will always be on for you at Fenway Park, Larry. May you rest in peace.

David Ortiz:

Larry Lucchino was someone who really cared about the Red Sox doing well. When I first joined the organization, he was just the business guy who dealt with the agent. As a player, it was sometimes hard to understand where he was coming from, but he made everything about winning and the organization doing well. Once we got to know each other better, we became really good friends. I loved Larry. He supported me and always gave me really good advice. Our relationship kept getting better and better. It is so sad to see him go, and I send my condolences to his family and all who loved him. He knew how to put the pieces together. When you talked to Larry and understood what the Red Sox meant to him, you got the memo: Win.

The Red Sox were able to bring the Large Father to Boston because of a phone call Pedro Martinez  made to Lucchino after the Twins had released Ortiz.

My heart goes out to the Lucchino family. They lost not only a great man, but a visionary with the biggest heart, even though he tried to cover it playing shy and trying to hide away from people's eyes. … But not me; he didn't fool me. We just lost a dear friend and we're all sad about it. I will miss you my dear friend. R.I.P. Larry.

Dustin Pedroia:

Larry was a winner. Didn't matter if it was a contract negotiation, saving Fenway, asking players what we need to compete. Larry was going to work until the job was finished. He had a presence and an attitude that wouldn't be denied. He was a tone setter for our organization.

Alex Cora, Red Sox manager:

Larry was a visionary. He saw things before they happened, taking the fan experience to the next level in every city he worked. And he won. He was a relentless winner. Larry led a great life and impacted so many of us. I'm thankful to have had him as a part of my life.

Mike Lupica, long-time New York sportswriter:

He was one of the great baseball men of this time or any time, and when you add up everything that has happened to the Red Sox since he became a part of their management team over two decades ago, he is without question the best and most important baseball man the club has ever had. Sadly, he dies without being in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, where he belongs.

John Henry and Tom Werner became the owners of the team back in 2002. But it was Lucchino, as president of the Red Sox the way he had been president of the Orioles and the Padres before that, who set the tone for everything that happened after he got to Boston. It was Lucchino who did the most to create a culture that changed everything for a team that hadn't won a World Series since 1918.

Mike Barnicle, MSNBC commentator and former Boston Globe columnist:

His legacy is the management teams that he assembled in [Baltimore] and San Diego and in Boston. His legacy is being a driving force behind the building of Camden Yards and Petco Park and bringing Fenway into the 21st century. His legacy is hiring young men like Theo Epstein and Sam Kennedy. But more than anything else, it was Larry's vision that finally put the Red Sox into the 'yes' business. 'Yes, we can win the World Series again. Yes, we can put together a winning team not just on the field but in the front office, as well.' Greatest yes man we ever had in Boston, in all the best ways.

From the Red Sox:

We are heartbroken to share that our beloved brother and uncle, Lawrence Lucchino, passed away on April 2 surrounded by his family. The Lucchino family wishes to thank his friends and caregivers who, over the past few months, have surrounded him with love, laughter, and happy memories.

To us, Larry was an exceptional person who combined a Hall of Fame life as a Major League Baseball executive with his passion for helping those people most in need. . . . Equally important to Larry was the establishment of a first-of-its-kind in professional sports "San Diego Padres Scholars" college scholarship program, co-founding the Boston Red Sox Foundation, and being Chairman of the Jimmy Fund, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's grassroots effort to help save lives and give hope to cancer patients everywhere. He brought the same passion, tenacity, and probing intelligence to all his endeavors, and his achievements speak for themselves.

"Don't Let Us Win Tonight": A Paperback Edition Arrives May 21

A paperback edition of Don't Let Us Win Tonight arrives from Triumph Books in less than three months, on May 21.

I had hoped to expand the narrative, restoring some of the cuts we were forced to make back in 2013 to get the word count down, but that was always a long shot. In almost every instance, the cuts were made to shorten existing quotes as opposed to deleting them entirely. Back in November 2014, I shared an example of this pruning, posting the longer version of Curt Schilling's recollection of the Thanksgiving 2003 meeting with Theo Epstein, et al.

In addition to revised covers, this "20th anniversary" edition includes personal memories of 2004 and the seasons that followed from both myself and co-author Bill Nowlin (2,500 words each). Mine begins: "The 2004 Red Sox rewired my brain." We fixed a few typos, added a blurb from the legendary Peter Gammons, and made minor edits to smooth out some rough spots.

This fucking awesome book (now even better!) can be pre-ordered at Triumph, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indigo, or (presumably) from your local book store.

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

Seven thousand three hundred sixty days ago, I sat in an apartment in upper Manhattan and typed these words into Blogger:

This will be a continuation of a bloggish thing I did at this site. My other website is dedicated to the 1918 Red Sox and the book I wrote about that team and season.

Back in 2001, around the time that "1918" came out, I started a website dedicated to Pedro Martinez. While working on the book, I was unable to root for the Red Sox (because if they actually managed to win it all, no one in the world would give a shit about the 1918 team). It was my good luck to not have my team break my heart by winning and as soon as I could, I embraced my fandom like never before.

It was, more or less, perfect timing. Major League Baseball was just starting to provide access to every team's radio broadcasts. I started listening to Red Sox radio broadcasts via my desktop computer in 2001. MLBTV would soon follow.

I started the Pedro site (pedro45.net) solely for my own amusement -- and anyone that stumbled upon it. One part of the site gathered links to Red Sox articles and a snip from each one. That pre-blog blog started on February 9, 2001, with . The first post of what would evolve into "Schadenfreude: A Continuing Series" appeared on November 5, 2001. With few exceptions, I did not add my two cents to the links/snip format for two seasons. On March 1, 2003, I started writing short posts, loaded with links.  (Who could have imagined that the next two seasons would be the absolute pinnacle of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry?) Also, it's no surprise my complaints about the Boston media and the Red Sox manager were there from the very start. (I was, for a while, forbidden from uttering the words "Jimy" and "Williams" while my partner was home.)

"The Joy of Sox" was the second possibility when I wondered what to call this new forum. My first thought was "Tagging on Evans", a phrase I remember well from listening to radio broadcasts as a teenager in the late 1970s. "The Joy of Sox" is a far superior name, not tied to any era or player.

Posts from the 2004 season were a mix of baseball and 9/11 research. Initially, I offered no option to comment, but I changed that in 2005. Gamethreads emerged rather quickly -- and they were never better than in 2007.

The first (and only) Josapalooza was held at Fenway Park on July 28, 2009. I purchased a block of 20 seats in the left field upper deck. I wanted to have t-shirts made, but I ended up designed a game program with everyone's name/avatar on the back and a scorecard inside.

When the Red Sox fell out of contention early in the 2012 season, I had the brilliant idea to stop wasting three hours every evening watching the Red Sox lose. This would happen again in various seasons.

I have always said that if writing this blog ever became like a job, actual work rather than something I enjoy, I would stop. There have been several winters when I thought it was over, but I always rebounded in the spring. On February 12, 2021, I announced that I would no longer be doing regular season game recaps.

I no longer worry about watching the Red Sox every day, of immersing myself completely in their current season so if they do win it all, I'll have gone through the full experience. I don't need to do that any more and, if I'm being honest, I really don't want to. Fifteen years ago, following the team was a part-time job even on the slowest days. 

My main reason for watching the Red Sox now is because I enjoy watching the Red Sox. There's only one problem. I don't enjoy watching the Red Sox in the manner in which the games are presented to me.

If you have been reading my posts for a while, you are undoubtedly familiar with my ever-growing list of grievances, my numerous complaints, about MLB and NESN. In brief: I have zero patience for gaffe-prone announcers who remain blissfully ignorant of their nightly missteps or who mail it in so often their face should be on a stamp; the incessant advertising makes me sick; and while the slower pace-of-play bothers me, MLB's refusal to intelligently deal with it annoys me much more, because MLB cannot do anything without somehow fucking things up and Rob Manfred's crusade to trash the fundamental competitive structure of the game by adding gimmicky rules better suited to beer-league softball, none of which will solve the problems he claims he wants to solve, and all of which causes me headache-level infuriation, as well as a profound sadness over the clear realization that I've already begun losing one of the few things I've loved for nearly my entire life.

Also: I switched time zones two seasons ago (Eastern to Pacific) and added a fourth day to my work schedule. Now, night games usually begin at 4 PM and weekend day games start before noon. Watching every game is not a priority and these earlier start times don't make it any easier. . . . 

Almost three seasons later, my attitude is unchanged. But in an unexpected twist, it is watching (and accepting) baseball as it exists in 2023 that has become a burden. I truly hate how the rules of the game have been perverted in the last five years.

I have not abandoned baseball. Baseball has abandoned me. I want to watch a baseball game in which managers can position their fielders wherever they want, use their available players in the manner they believe is best, and I want the same rules to apply for the entire game. I watched that type of game for more than four decades. I loved that game. But that game is gone . . . and it's never coming back.

This is my 9,307th post at The Joy of Sox and it should be my last.

Except . . .

I am not about to never read anything about baseball again. There will be times when I need to rant about MLB, or post crazy linescores and factoids, or share my happiness at the Yankees' misfortune. When the writing project I mentioned in 2021 results in an actual physical book, I'd like to have a little spot at which to promote it, where it might be seen by more than a few people. And what if the 2025 Red Sox are blazing their way to a 117-45 record? Could I stay away?

The Joy of Sox has likely run its course OR it might be merely going into a deeper hiatus. I'll still post occasionally, perhaps bring game recaps back for the World Series. I will definitely have something to say as we approach the exact date we greet out Robot Umpire overlords.

My main outlet for writing will be Writer. Reader. Grouch.

Can Celtics Be First NBA Team To Go From 0-3 To 4-3?Fun Fact We All Know & Love: The Red Sox Are The Only MLB Team To Do It!

UPDATE: Heat 103, Celtics 84

Heat    - 22  30  24  27 - 103
Celtics - 15  26  25  18 -  84

Boston's last lead in the game was 11-10 with 3:30 left in the first quarter. They trailed 52-41 at the half. The Celtics came as close as seven points several times in the third quarter (66-59, 69-62, 71-64), but could not cut into the Heat's lead any more than that. Miami (12-6 in this postseason) will face the Denver Nuggets (12-3) in the Finals.

On Sunday, May 21, the Miami Heat trounced the Boston Celtics by 26 points and took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Finals.

The Celtics will host Game 7 of that series tonight in Boston. No NBA team has ever come back from 0-3 to win a best-of-seven series. Teams are currently 0-for-150.

2023 Eastern Conference Finals

G1: Heat 123, Celtics 116
G2: Heat 111, Celtics 105
G3: Heat 128, Celtics 102
G4: Celtics 116, Heat 99
G5: Celtics 110, Heat 99
G6: Celtics 104, Heat 103
G7:

Three teams have fought back to play Game 7, but all three -- the visiting team, in each case -- lost the seventh game. The Celtics are the first 0-3 team to force a Game 7 at home.

L L L W W W L

1951 Finals: New York Knicks lost to Rochester Royals
1994 Western Conference Semifinals: Denver Nuggets lost to Utah Jazz
2003 Western Conference First Round: Portland Trail Blazers lost to Dallas Mavericks

Only one major league baseball team has accomplished an 0-3 to 4-3 comeback. In October 2004, the Boston Red Sox lost Games 1, 2, and 3 of the ALCS to the New York Yankees, before winning Games 4, 5, 6 and 7. The Red Sox went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, winning their first championship in 86 years. It's a hell of a story. Since then, the Red Sox have won three additional World Series titles.

Tonight's Game 7 was made possible by Derrick White's miraculous tip-in on Saturday night in Miami. As seen below, the basketball left his fingers with fewer than one-tenth of one second remaining on the clock, and the Celtics down by one point.

ESPN:

It was just the second time in league history a buzzer-beater happened with a team facing elimination at the moment. The other was Michael Jordan's legendary "The Shot" in 1989 to lift the Chicago Bulls over the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first-round series.

With Boston's victory Saturday night, the Celtics won their fifth road elimination game in the past two postseasons, not quite the iconic Bill Russell's 10-0 record in Game 7s, but this is Page 1 Celtics history material here. . . .

White . . . inbounded the ball to Smart and then sprinted down the sideline. When Smart launched it, White was 20 feet away, standing near the corner around the 3-point line.

By the time the ball spun out, White had somehow gotten himself to the rim. . . .

"I mean, it don't do no good to stand in the corner there," White said later . . . "Whether he makes it or not, so I just was crashing the glass, and it came right to me."

Poetry in Motion ☘️ pic.twitter.com/VaLcG9QjQg

— 𝙍𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙮 ☘️ (@CelticsRiley) May 28, 2023

Can't stop thinking about itpic.twitter.com/eBgmbMcebJ

— CelticsNation (57-25) (11/16) (@CookedByCeltics) May 29, 2023

$7.90 — Cheap

As seen at Amazon.com, May 29, 3:00 AM (ET).

Red Sox Trade For A Pitcher Who Is One Year Younger Than This Blog!

On Thursday, August 12, 2004, the Red Sox shutout the Devil Rays 6-0.

The Right Arm of God pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts, allowing six hits and zero walks. The Pro had two doubles, a single, a walk, and scored two runs. Approximately two months away from going through (and creating) some crazy shit, Flo went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs.

Also on that day, Diego Hernández as born in Pueblo, Mexico.

Hernández, now 18 but still one year younger than this blog*, was traded today by the Yankees to the Red Sox, only the seventh time in the last 55 years that the two long-time rivals have swapped players. Hernández pitched in the Dominican Summer League last year. In exchange, New York got outfielder Greg Allen, who played in 15 games for them in 2021.

*: Post #1 was on August 26, 2003. This is Post #9,290.

The Joy of Sox post for that 2004 game is here. The week before, the Red Sox had finally stopped dicking around – they'd been playing .500 ball for three months – and started a hot streak that showed everyone what they could do. From August 7 to September 8, Boston went 26-5.

And from October 17-27, they went eight and motherfucking oh. You probably didn't need the reminder, but . . .

Thomas Harrigan (mlb.com) goes through the seven previous trades. In 1997, four months after getting Tony Armas Jr. from the MFY, Boston sent him on to Montreal as the final player in the Pedro Martinez deal. (Thanks, Yanks!)

But then Harrigan fucks it all up at the end by including Babe Ruth under "Other Notable Trades". That was not a fucking trade. Yes, Boston exchanged Ruth's contract for cash, which is just as good as money, but that's usually – and correctly – referred to as a goddamn sale. Harrigan writes that it might be "the most famous sports transaction ever" (I'd say it is, no might be about it) and he does use the word "purchased", but it's the last item in an article about trades. It's been 103 years since that infamous event and sportswriters still can't correctly relate the most simple fact about it.

Schadenfreude 337 (A Continuing Series)

Ryan Glasspiegel, Post:

Michael Kay laid the wood to the New York Yankees.

Speaking on "The Michael Kay Show" on ESPN New York, Kay lambasted the team after mental conditioning coach Chad Bohling distributed a clip to players using the Yankees' 3-0 collapse against the Red Sox from the 2004 ALCS as motivation when they were facing a sweep against the Astros.

"How in baseball God's name can you be so tone deaf as an organization, as if to do that?" Kay asked. "How can you be that tone deaf? I mean talk about bad optics. Are you out of your mind? I talked to three players from the '04 team. They were outraged by the fact that their failure was being used as motivation for the 2022 team." . . .

"How could you do that?" he yelled. "It would be like somebody from Lincoln's family, and you're trying to teach them about shootings in theaters and how to avoid it. I mean, are you out of your mind? And then to make it worse, Eduardo Perez, who's doing the game with Dan Shulman on ESPN Radio, has Aaron Boone FaceTime with David Ortiz and Ortiz supposedly gave some advice.

"Aaron Boone has to say to them, 'Thank you, but we're not going there.' And here's the amazing thing, Don [La Greca] and Peter [Rosenberg]: They told the media! Aaron Boone told the media, 'Oh yeah, we put together a tape of the 2004 Red Sox.'"

As Kay alluded to, Boone matter-of-factly acknowledged showing a video of the series to the team.

"We watched that video,'' Boone told reporters on Sunday. "We sent it out to the coaches and players." . . .

"I hate to do it. I hate to do it. I hate to do it," Kay said. "If George Steinbrenner were alive today, someone would be fired for something like that. That's tone deaf!"

Jenna Lemoncelli, Post:

Former Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez sent a savage message to the Yankees after they were swept out of the ALCS by the Astros on Sunday.

"I have one question for all of New York: New York, who's your daddy now?" a smiling Martinez said during an appearance on the TBS postgame show. "I just want to know. I want an answer and I want it quick. New York, who's your daddy? Should I say the Astros?" . . .

Pedro Martinez had one question for Yankees fans everywhere last night:

“New York, who’s your daddy now?”

It’s not David Ortiz. It’s not Pedro himself. It’s the Houston Astros.pic.twitter.com/tDs4BXtdiA

— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) October 24, 2022

. . . Martinez has a long history with Yankees fans, most notably during his Red Sox days, which included Boston's historic comeback in that same 2004 ALCS. To this day, no other MLB team has come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series.

After the Astros' 6-5 win to complete a four-game sweep of the Yankees on Sunday, Martinez was elated to one-up New York fans. It marked the Yankees' fifth straight ALCS series loss.

The Astros have now ended the Yankees' playoff runs in the ALCS in 2022, 2017 and 2019. Houston also defeated New York in the 2015 Wild Card Game.

Ryan Glasspiegel, Post:

The Sports Pope has seen enough.

In the aftermath of the Astros' ALCS sweep of the Yankees, Mike Francesa delivered a postmortem on his BetRivers podcast. He concluded that the Yankees need "wholesale changes" on the field and in the front office — starting with general manager Brian Cashman. . . .

"I don't think the Yankees are headed in the right direction," Francesa said. "I think that sometimes, even when guys have done a good job, there comes a time where you need to change things. I'm talking about Cashman. I've known Cashman forever. He's had a wonderful career . . . But there comes a time that you need a new voice and you need a new direction. [Moving on] would be the smartest thing they could do now, because this team needs wholesale changes." . . .

Francesa juxtaposed these Yankees with the ghosts, dead and alive, they are chasing. He said that they don't measure up as Yankees to the dynasty that began in 1996, and that the gap has widened with the Astros, who have developed young studs like Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña after losing stars like Carlos Correa and Michael Brantley.

He lambasted the current Yankees for excuses they've been making.

"I was just amazed that the Yankees were whining about balls of theirs not going out of the ballpark," he said. "These are the Yankees! When you hit 250 home runs, you don't whine when one doesn't go out of the ballpark. Opening and closing roofs, talking about [Alex] Bregman's ball going out, Judge's ball not going out — you've got to be kidding me! When you hear stuff like that, and this wasn't one guy or two guys, this was like half the team talking about losing the game — shut up! You're the Yankees!" . . .

"I think they need a different tact," Francesa said. "The way they are putting this team together is not working. But oh, they make the playoffs! With their resources, in this age, they're almost always going to make the playoffs. There are teams that have one-third of their resources that make the playoffs a lot. It's not about making the playoffs. They haven't been to the World Series since 2009, and now there's a team that they can't get past, no matter what they do, and if anything the gap has widened. And they can't blame it on garbage cans or devices or anything else they want to come up with as an excuse. The Yankees have gotten very good at excuses."

"The Yankees have become masters at the excuse," he said, pointing out that while they were missing key players such as Andrew Benintendi, everyone has injuries. "Nobody cares. Get the result. That's it. They need wholesale changes. There are very few guys — very, very few guys — who have to be on this team next year. That's a good place to start." . . .

"The Yankees need to take a new tact. That is not overreacting to a brutal and just numbing four-game sweep. When you think about how this postseason went, if I had told you this in June you wouldn't believe it," Francesa said. "They didn't win 100 games and they're not going back to the World Series. Again. And they're not beating the Astros. Again. In fact, they can't even beat them a game. That's where it starts.

"We want this to be a point where something happens from here, because if you just try to fine-tune this group, you'll be back here again and again and again just like you have year after year after year. This team isn't missing something. It's missing a whole lot. This team went into this series and was playing roulette with the shortstop, leadoff position and key spots in the bullpen every single night. That's how you go into a postseason? Let's see. Think about it. Late '90s. Early 2000s. Who was the leadoff hitter? Who was the shortstop? Who closed the games? They weren't tough questions, were they."

 

This is glorious.

Fuck you, you racist piece of shit. Fuck you, fuck you man. You fucking suck, dude. You go to fucking Hell, dude. Remember when Trump called your wife ugly? Remember that? Remember when Trump called your wife ugly and then you nominated him? Fuck you, you fucking piece of shit. Remember when those insurrectionists wanted to murder you? You ugly piece of shit, go to hell. Get the fuck out of New York. Trump called your wife ugly and you loved it. You ugly fuck, get the fuck outta here. Eat my dick, you asshole.

Other quotes:

You suck. You suck. You're a disgrace. You're a disgrace to this country. You're a disgrace.
You fat fuck.
Yo, go blow Trump. You suck. Get outta New York. We don't want you here. We don't want you here. You suck.

It was reported the other day that MAGA Manly Man Ted Cruz hid in a closet during the Capitol Insurrection.

Schadenfreude 336 (A Continuing Series)

YED is here!

Astros  - 004 000 200 - 6  9  0
Yankees - 210 101 000 - 5  9  1

The fun started well before the first pitch.

Aaron Boone (who has been getting fucking torched by Yankee fans on Twitter for days) passed on the remarkable news that Chad Bohling, the team's director of mental conditioning, sent out video clips of the Red Sox's comeback in the 2004 ALCS to the Yankees players and coaches. And Boone Facetimed with David Ortiz! "I said hey to him. He had some advice." Boone did not reveal what the Large Father said, but Dan Martin of the Post assumed "it didn't include not bringing up a brutal moment in franchise history to spark your own comeback".

Jordan Moore (The Athletic) tweeted: "this is likely the most embarrassing thing in Yankees history. Quite possibly the best flex in Red Sox history."

New York sportswriters still ask "What would George think of this?" when something bad happens in Yankeeland. It's pretty stupid at this point; Steinbrenner has been dead for 12 years.

But you gotta wonder: What would George think of this? You think he'd be sending out video clips of the fucking 2004 Red Sox? Sharing the franchise's most humiliating moment with his current players as inspiration -- would he consider that a good idea? Are you fucking insane?

Maybe he'd pass out some newspapers, too.

2004 is the gift that will never stop giving!

Hey, look who it is! . . . Hello, Pedro! . . . What's up?

pic.twitter.com/m8qpgw0nhW

— Slimboi phat (@PhatSlimboi) October 24, 2022

enjoy the show!

The Yankees have played in ONE World Series in the last 19 seasons (2004-22).

That ties the worst stretch in franchise history, matching their first 19 years as a team (1903-21).

Dan Martin, Post:

In the end, the Yankees didn't slay the dragon.

Instead, the Astros chewed them up and spit them out, completing a four-game sweep in the ALCS with a 6-5 win on Sunday night in The Bronx, as the Yankees saw another season end without a World Series appearance.

And for the third time in six years, the Astros ended the Yankees' season in the ALCS.

On a chilly night at the Stadium, which wasn't sold out, the Yankees wasted an early three-run lead, saw Nestor Cortes leave in the third inning with a groin injury and Gleyber Torres make a key error in the seventh that led to a pair of runs, as the Astros took the lead for good on Alex Bregman's one-out, run-scoring single off Clay Holmes in the seventh.

It ended with Aaron Judge, in perhaps his final at-bat as a Yankee, ending his miserable postseason with a grounder back to Ryan Pressly for the final out.

The Yankees didn't get a hit after Harrison Bader's sixth-inning homer gave them a short-lived lead. . . .

Now, the Yankees must face an offseason in which the future of Judge is unclear, with the right fielder potentially headed to free agency for the first time, as well as general manager Brian Cashman having his contract expire. . . .

After Cortes pitched a scoreless first, the Yankees took a rare lead in the bottom of the inning. . . . [T]he Yankees snapped a 14-inning scoreless streak [dating back to the fourth inning of Game 2]. . . .

With Cortes' velocity down in the third and Jose Altuve at the plate following a leadoff walk to Martin Maldonado, Boone went to the mound with trainer Tim Lentych.

Cortes remained in the game and walked Altuve.

Jeremy Peña then hammered a three-run shot to left to tie the game at 3-3.

Boone went back to the mound with Lentych and Cortes was replaced by Wandy Peralta.

Peralta immediately gave up a double to Yordan Alvarez. Yuli Gurriel's chopper through the right side of the infield left vacant by the shift went for an RBI single to give the Astros a 4-3 lead. . . .

Bader gave the Yankees another lead in the sixth with a two-out solo homer off Hector Neris. . . .

Altuve reached on an infield hit with one out in the seventh. Altuve moved to second after Peña grounded to second and Torres rushed his toss to Kiner-Falefa at second. With runners on first and second, Alvarez singled to right to knock in Altuve and tie the game . . .

Holmes entered and gave up a flare single to Bregman to put Houston ahead, 6-5.

Andy McCullough, The Athletic:

In capturing a 6-5 victory over the Yankees in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, Houston earned a fourth World Series berth in the past six seasons, completed a sweep of their foremost rivals in recent years and demonstrated the relentless opportunism of their approach. This version of the Astros does not let mistakes go unpunished. Their pitchers hammer the holes of opposing hitters. Their hitters spoil good pitches and feast on errant ones.

And on Sunday evening, facing a desperate foil and a dyspeptic Yankee Stadium crowd, the group pounced on a seventh-inning opening when trailing by a run. A mistake in the field by Yankees middle infielder Gleyber Torres and Isiahi Kiner-Falefa handed the Astros an extra out. The team turned it into two runs, enough to secure a lead they would not relinquish.

On seven occasions this postseason, the Astros have taken the field with another club. On all seven occasions, the Astros were the best team on the field. On all seven occasions, the Astros won. . . . Game 1 [of the World Series] will be Friday at Minute Maid Park. . . .

When McCullers hung a slider [with two on in the first inning], Giancarlo Stanton made a small bit of history. His RBI single gave the Yankees a lead at the end of an inning for the first time in this series. . . .

[New York's 3-0] lead did not survive the top of the third. The radar gun registered a problem with Cortes's fastball. The pitch typically hummed just shy of 92 mph. His offerings to start the inning arrived in the upper 80s. Cortes walked No. 9 hitter Martin Maldonado. As Cortes flung lukewarm heat at second baseman Jose Altuve, Boone visited the mound with a trainer. Cortes waved the duo off. Altuve still walked.

The tying run came to the plate, in the form of rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña. Cortes fell behind in the count. He flipped a 3-1 changeup over the plate. Peña hit a towering drive beyond the left-field fence. . . . Just like that, Houston had evened the score. . . .

Bader made his loudest noise [with a solo homer in the sixth, giving the Yankees a 5-4 lead]. . . .

The atmosphere curdled minutes later. Altuve legged out an infield single off reliever Jonathan Loaisiga with one out in the seventh. Loaisiga rebounded to induce a grounder from Peña — only to witness a crushing disconnection between Torres and Kiner-Falefa. Torres scooped the baseball and fed Kiner-Falefa, who was crashing toward second base for a double play. But Torres made an errant throw. Kiner-Falefa was not in position to nab it. He tripped near the bag and Altuve reached second.

Altuve did not stay there for long. Alvarez tied the game with a single. Boone pulled Loasiga and inserted closer Clay Holmes. Searching for a groundball, hoping for the double play that had just been botched, Holmes surrendered a go-ahead single to third baseman Alex Bregman. Once more the see-saw swung back toward Houston.

There it remained. The Yankees could not mount another rally. . . . These Astros are not inevitable. But they come as close as it gets. The Yankees gave them an inch. The Astros took a pennant.

Mike Vaccaro, Post:

This was exactly as it should be. The Yankees were down to their last out of the game, their last gasp of the AL Championship Series, their last breath of baseball season. In what had been a relentlessly depressing weekend, a ceaselessly discouraging week, there was this one last hope.

One last time, here came Aaron Judge.

All across the summer this had been the fuel that propelled the Yankees, the most fearsome presence in the sport. . . . He would rescue the Yankees. He would electrify Yankee Stadium . . .

But that was summer . . .

This was October. And as he stepped to the plate Judge was 1-for-15 in the ALCS, 5-for-35 in the playoffs. This was an imposter wearing a No. 99 jersey. There would be no rescuing the Yankees this time. There would be no redemption for Judge. He swung at a 1-and-2 pitch, grounded it feebly back to the box.

And the sweep was complete. It was 6-5, Astros, for the game. It was 4-0, Astros, for the series. And it is 4-0, Astros, in four postseason encounters going back to 2015. . . .

Backdropped against that at-bat was a difficult reality: This could well have been Judge's final swing in pinstripes. It is still hard to believe that Judge will leave the Yankees, that the Yankees won't unearth every necessary nickel to make Judge a Yankee For Life . . .

Hard to believe. But not impossible. . . .

"I've never been a free agent," Judge said. "We'll see what happens." . . .

[T]his just doesn't seem right as an epilogue. . . . Judge's final picture in pinstripes should be something more than a 1-3 in your scorecard. Maybe it won't be. But it sure might be.

Kristie Ackert, Daily News:

After carrying the Yankees all season, it came down to Aaron Judge. The slugger . . . had one last chance to keep what could be his last season with the Yankees alive. The outfielder grounded out to the pitcher and walked off slowly. He watched as the Astros celebrated their 6-5 win and sweep of the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

Houston left the field to head into the World Series where they will face the Phillies. Judge and the Bombers walked off the field Sunday night with a very uncertain future.

Judge, the soon-to-be free agent, has been the face of the franchise . . . after the 2017, 2019 and 2022 ALCS losses to the Astros. GM Brian Cashman's contract is also up after the World Series. There are questions about the Bombers' approach to analytics, roster construction and managing. . . .

A 99-win team in the regular season, Sunday night's game had a little of everything from the past six months: a home run, a rally, an injury and a reliever giving up the lead. . . .

Jared Schwartz, Post:

The Astros celebrated their ALCS sweep over the Yankees accordingly. . . .

Amid champagne festivities inside the visiting clubhouse, Astros players broke out brooms and pretended to sweep the floor before hoisting them up in the air and dancing with them.

Houston will likely take greater caution celebrating this time around, after pitcher Lance McCullers had his start pushed back after injuring his arm on a champagne bottle follwing the team's sweep the Mariners in the ALDS. Another player inadvertently hit the bottle on McCullers' elbow, causing a laceration and swelling.

The spectacle has now become commonplace between the Astros and Yankees. Despite a new manager, general manager and largely different roster, the Astros have eliminated the Yankees from the ALCS in 2017, 2019, and again this year.

Abbey Mastracco, Daily News:

Aaron Boone was "thrilled" to have right-hander Nestor Cortes on the mound . . . But Cortes' night didn't last long as he was removed in the third inning with a left groin injury right after giving up a game-tying three-run homer to Jeremy Peña.

Cortes' fastball velocity dropped to 88-89 in the second inning but he had only faced two above the minimum, giving up a single to Peña in the first and walking Kyle Tucker in the second. He started the third inning with a 3-0 lead. . . .

He walked Martin Maldonado to lead off the third. The trainers came out to visit him before the second batter, Jose Altuve, who also drew a walk. It was the first time Cortes had walked back-to-back hitters all season. He then hung a slider up to Peña, who launched it into the left field seats to tie the game.

Wandy Peralta then came out of the bullpen to replace him and the Astros took a run off of him to go up 4-3. Cortes was charged with three earned runs on two hits, walked three and struck out two in a little more than two innings.

Joel Sherman, Post:

Hal Steinbrenner can't just offer familiar blather about not meeting the ultimate goal and being disappointed to fail the fans and promise to redouble efforts in the quest for a 28th championship. Then after a cooling-off period, have essentially all the same people back to do all the same things. 

You can kid yourself when you take the Astros to seven games in an ALCS or six games, but after being swept by the Astros, is this really going to be the plan again? Is Steinbrenner really going to be fine with a pattern in which the Yankees are good enough to beat up an AL Central patsy in the playoffs and then go all fetal position when the October degree of difficulty rises? 

Or does Steinbrenner have to reassess how he allows his money to be spent and whether his demands to curtail spending in certain times led to worse spending in a Plan B — hello, Josh Donaldson as an example? 

Does he have to ask if Brian Cashman, with his contract expiring at the end of this month, has to either be replaced or shake up his baseball operations group. The Astros beat the Yankees in 2017 to win the AL pennant with a different GM, manager and largely different roster. They moved from league champion to league champion over the Yankees in 2017, 2019 and now 2022. They evolved. The Yankees devolved. 

Does Steinbrenner have to reassess whether Aaron Boone, an offseason after receiving a three-year extension, is a dexterous enough strategist who can win real-time battle after real-time battle in the postseason? Getting ejected over borderline ball-strike calls is not enough. 

And Steinbrenner will have to decide just how deep he wants to reach into the family coffers to retain Aaron Judge . . . 

The Yankees are good enough to get here. . . . That said, this is not good enough. It is not a sample size of a year or two now. Postseason after postseason they melt when another real heavyweight shows up in the playoffs. 

Houston eliminated the Yankees for the third time in six seasons in the ALCS. . . .

These teams played 11 times this year and 10 of them were decided by three or fewer runs. Close. 

Except that the Astros won nine of the 11 games. The teams played 99 innings against each other in 2022. The Yankees led after just five, including three in Game 4. But the Astros just kept erasing the leads Sunday. They did everything little and small better. They are just better. 

They are better at drafting and developing players such as Jeremy Pena, the kind of shortstop who could seamlessly replace Carlos Correa. The Yankees . . . ignored Correa and other free-agent shortstops and made a trade that worsened as the season progressed . . . And Donaldson is still owed $29 million between 2023 salary and a 2024 buyout. 

The Astros are better at international signings . . .

They are better at game planning and audibling within the game plans and rebounding from postseason punches. . . .

[S]omething feels stale about [this team] now — as if it can go so far, but not far enough. 

Ian O'Connor, Post:

It has long been a crying shame in sports that team owners get to do all the firing, and never face termination themselves. Owners love to say accountability starts at the top of an organization, at least until things go south and it is time to assign the blame. 

Last year, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner publicly ripped his players for lack of performance. . . . [He] said he was aggravated, frustrated, and angry at the athletes assembled by GM Brian Cashman, and guided by manager Aaron Boone, for doing a lousy imitation of a cohesive and motivated team. 

"The majority of the responsibility, whether it's inconsistent offense or bad baserunning, that responsibility lies with the players," Steinbrenner said then. "They're the ones on the field. They need to fix this problem … because everyone, including our fan base, rightfully so, has had enough quite frankly. It's enough." 

More than 15 months later, the fan base has still had enough. The same paying customers . . . are sick and tired of the Yankees saying they willingly signed up to be judged in October, only to repeatedly fail in October. Those fans are sick and tired of an organization that has spent as much time embracing excuses as it does seeking solutions. 

They are sick and tired of Hal Steinbrenner's leadership. 

Truth is, after the Astros finished off their ALCS sweep . . . making it 13 straight years that the Yankees have failed to reach the World Series, Steinbrenner deserves to be fired. He is lucky that there isn't anyone in position to call him into the office and deliver the grim news.

So the talk this week will be about Boone's status, and Cashman's status, and whether it's time to bid farewell to both. . . .

Can anyone at this point picture Boone holding high a World Series trophy and riding a float under a ticker-tape rain in the Canyon of Heroes? Does the manager inspire any kind of faith after his Game 3 bullpen decisions against the Guardians and Astros, and after he blamed the Game 2 loss at Minute Maid Park on an open roof? . . .

Does Hal Steinbrenner want to win? Sure, everyone wants to win. 

But he doesn't live to win like his old man did. He wants to play the game within the boundaries of financial restraint. . . . "That's my job every year, to make sure we're financially responsible." . . . 

Born on third base, and taking a conservative lead off the bag, Hal Steinbrenner doesn't have the same hunger, the same stomach for the fight. . . .

Hal Steinbrenner's program is broken, and it's too bad someone isn't available to fire him for that.

Allie Griffin, Post:

Yankees fans gave a Bronx welcome to Sen. Ted Cruz during the team's loss against the Houston Astros Sunday night.

Several spectators flipped the bird at the Texas senator as he waved to a sea of fans in the bleachers of the Bronx stadium, according to a photo of the interaction posted to Twitter.

Three fans raised their middle fingers in the direction of a waving Cruz and a fourth gave him a big thumbs down, the photo shows.

Cruz . . . posted a grinning selfie of himself in seats behind home plate earlier in the night. . . .

Cruz's photo post garnered less than 3,000 likes, while the crude salute pic raked in more than 30,000 likes . . .

"Us Astros fans and Yankees fans don't see eye to eye much, but I appreciate the hell out of this and agree wholeheartedly. Respect," a Twitter user named MJ replied.

Note: I went to dozens of games in the Bronx over nearly 20 years and I can safely say that they may give Cruz the finger, but many Yankee fans support all the same garbage that Cruz supports.

The Daily News has been shitting on Cruz since the start of 2016: