I was just thinking?
Here?s a suggestion: If you don?t want to get taken out of a game after four innings, pitch better.
Usually I don?t have a problem taking a side on an issue. But, not so with the MIAA?s “Sullivan Rule,” which states that some teams need only a .500 record against teams in their division to clinch a playoff berth. I can easily see both sides of the argument. On one hand, kids, who wouldn?t otherwise, get a chance can play in the state tournament. On the other hand, school departments, which are always strapped for cash and must account for every dime they spend, are sometimes hesitant to send them because of the costs involved. Some have used as an argument the 2004 Red Sox team, which won the World Series as a wild card. But that was a team owned by a billionaire. Completely different argument.
I was at Fenway Park on June 5 when Tonya Carpenter was hit in the head by a broken bat. Unfortunately, it?s not the first time I?ve witnessed such an injury. And it won?t be the last. Unless teams extend the protective netting, which now covers just a few sections behind home plate. These kinds of injuries are completely preventable.
But it was certainly good to learn that Carpenter was released Friday fromBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Centerto go to a rehab facility. Thoughts and prayers for a continued recovery.
The “Baseball Rule” that applies seems like it?s in the same category as Mike Tyson?s defense: You should have expected it.
Well, Brandon Spikes, that didn?t last long. I don?t think you and the Hoodie will be kissing and making up again.
OK, maybe I lead a sheltered life, but until this week I had never even heard of a Maybach. Now I know its MSRP is $189,350. That might explain why.
?Gronk?s Party Ship”? Umm ? Yikes!
Dellavedova. Dellavedova. Dellavedova. I just like saying it.
Kudos to Bill Mullen (no relation) and Joe Abelon as the Lynn Woods weekly summer racing series enters its 47th season. There aren?t many community-based activities that have survived that long. Even more impressive, it?s open to all and it?s free.
In Eduardo Rodriguez, the Red Sox have the closest thing to an ace this season. He?s still got work to do. A couple of major league scouts would like to see more separation between his changeup and fastball and more consistency with his slider. But the Orioles have to be kicking themselves for trading him to the Sox at the deadline last year for a rental of Andrew Miller. Unless the O?s had signed Miller long term, that trade is a bust for them.
I said from the beginning I thought Tom Brady?s suspension would be two games. I still think that?s what it will be after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hears Brady?s appeal on June 23.
According to Las Vegas bookmaker Bovada, Lynn?s Ben Bowden and his defending champion Vanderbilt Commodores are picked third behind the favorite Florida and LSU in the field of eight for the College World Series, which starts this weekend.
The Commodores, by the way, had three first-round draft picks this week in shortstop Dansby Swanson, the No. 1 overall, and pitchers Carson Fulmer and Walker Buehler. Bowden, a sophomore left-hander who graduated from Lynn English in 2013, will be eligible for the draft next year. Entering the CWS, Bowden has posted a 6-1 record with a 3.06 ERA and two saves in 23 appearances out of the bullpen. In 35 ? innings, he has 47 strikeouts and 14 walks. Not bad.
In 24 combined starts, Wade Miley and Rick Porcello are 9-12 with a 5.17 ERA. With each start, the extensions Red Sox GM Ben Cherington gave them (four years, $82.5 million for Porcello, three years, $19.25 million for Miley) look worse and worse.
The Hanley Ramirez in left field experiment is going about just how I thought it would. Not good.
Pet peeve of the week: Wind chimes. Just awful. And because this is a family paper, I have to leave it at that.
Unsolicited advice of the week: No need to apply perfume or cologne before going to the gym. Unless y