Thank you, Papi

If the picture above is worth 1,000 words, the video below is worth about 10 billion:

.@davidortiz tips his cap to @fenwaypark after his final game #RedSox #WBZ pic.twitter.com/W6Kj8ur5FA

— Joe Giza (@JoeGiza) October 11, 2016

Thank you, Big Papi.


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Awesome Old Video Clip of the Week: David Ortiz's first home run with the Red Sox

I don't even know where to begin to attempt to write some sort of David Ortiz career retrospective, so on the day of his last regular-season game, I'll just go with this:

In his sixth season with the Twins, a 26-year-old Ortiz hit 20 homers and drove in 75 runs in only 412 at-bats, but Minnesota released him anyway in the fall of 2002.

Ortiz's Boston career began as a platoon player, splitting time with Jeremy Giambi.  Big Papi's first Red Sox home run, the 59th of his career, didn't come until April 27, 2003, in Boston's 25th game of the season:



Ha, remember J-Lo and Ben Affleck?  They were the story that day in Anaheim--nobody on the planet could've guessed Ortiz would slug another 482 homers in a Sox uniform (and 17 more in the playoffs).  Ortiz didn't go yard again until May 24th of that year, game No. 48.  In fact, following a 6-4 win over the Tigers on June 26, Ortiz had a total of just three home runs for the 45-32 Red Sox.

However, after finally winning the full-time DH job, Papi blasted 28 dingers over Boston's last 85 games in 2003 (for a total of 31 in 448 at-bats), and the rest is history.


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Red Sox reliever Robbie Ross Jr. starred in Entourage movie as kid who used to see dead people?

Everybody remembers Haley Joel Osment from his role in the 1999 film The Sixth Sense:



Not as well known, however, is the fact that he played a major role in 2015's Entourage movie:



Osment's character in Entourage is basically the identical twin of Red Sox pitcher Robbie Ross Jr.:

Follow @LucidSportsFan

Koji Uehara tries to 'save' as much champagne as possible, NESN flouts the FCC

Putting aside the fact that the Red Sox likely blew their chance at home-field advantage throughout the postseason last night (their surprising loss, combined with the Rangers' comeback win puts Boston 1.5 games back in the race for the AL's best record with four to play--and Texas owns the tiebreaker, so the Sox would have to go 4-0 or 3-1 and hope the Rangers finish 1-2 or 0-3), the division-clinching celebration in the locker room was quality entertainment.

My two highlights:

1. NESN's complete disregard for standard FCC regulations regarding profanity.  Here's a very small sample:

Don't put the volume on if your kids are watching. https://t.co/huJAcQMoX2

— Mark Van Deusen (@LucidSportsFan) September 29, 2016

2. Koji Uehara's unwillingness to let any partially filled champagne bottles end up in the trash (or recycle bin), despite also dumping exorbitant amounts of bubbly all over his teammates:

Koji does not believe in wasting champagne. https://t.co/dpRukzln3s

— Mark Van Deusen (@LucidSportsFan) September 29, 2016

Follow @LucidSportsFan

Awesome Strikeout Records of the Week: 1986 Roger Clemens, and the Red Sox on Sunday

On April 29, 1986, Roger Clemens struck out 20 Seattle Mariners, the most ever in a nine-inning game (a record tied by Clemens again in 1996, by Kerry Wood in 1998, and by Max Scherzer this year):



Sunday, Eduardo Rodriguez (13), Heath Hembree (5), Matt Barnes (1) and Joe Kelly (2) struck out a combined 21 batters through nine innings, something no MLB team had ever done before.  Kelly punched out two more Rays in the 10th, giving the Red Sox a major league record 23 Ks for a 10-inning contest.  Boston also struck out 11 consecutive hitters spanning the fourth through seventh innings, another all-time record.

Richie Shaffer's sac fly in the 2nd inning was the last ball Tampa put in play. In case you're not watching, we're now in the 8th inning.

— Mark Van Deusen (@LucidSportsFan) September 25, 2016

The Sox's 11th straight victory (which tied them with Texas for the best record in the American League) came in large part due to the most bizarre play at the plate that anyone has ever seen:

Pedroia is just on another level pic.twitter.com/h94yfYe88Y

— Roark Thomas (@RoarkMThomas) September 25, 2016

I think Dustin Pedroia was out (he was tagged by the glove before the ball came loose on the second contact with his leg), but I'm not complaining.  Neither was Mookie Betts, who did the Macarena postgame:

Mookie does the macarena
during #WinDanceRepeat
Let's go Red Sox!pic.twitter.com/Xi6paPV2FS

— Boston Sports News (@BostonSprtsNews) September 25, 2016

Mookie just did the Macarena like I told him too! (I guess it's possible some other people might've mentioned it as well...) https://t.co/t5ZOhaVblO

— Mark Van Deusen (@LucidSportsFan) September 25, 2016

@mookiebetts The Macarena! Little known fact, it was played at Fenway in the 8th inning back in 1996 before Sweet Caroline later took over.

— Mark Van Deusen (@LucidSportsFan) September 24, 2016

RELATED:
Can this video from the 1996 DNC actually be real? (Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Macarena")


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Porcellometer rises, Cy Young Award is his to lose

Rick Porcello went the distance last night for his 21st victory of the season, and he only needed 89 pitches (65 for strikes) to do it--the fewest thrown by any MLB pitcher this year in a nine-inning complete game.  Porcello didn't walk a batter and he had just one three-ball count.  It was his 11th consecutive start in which he lasted at least seven innings and surrendered three or fewer earned runs.  Only two Red Sox players have ever done that before:

Longest streak of 7+ IP, 3 or fewer runs - Red Sox
Rick Porcello 2016
Pedro Martínez 2000
Cy Young 1904

11 starts each
(via @eliassports)

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 20, 2016

Not bad company for Porcello, who leads the American League in wins (21), WHIP (0.98) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.0).  He's tied for second behind teammate David Price in innings pitched (210.2) and has surrendered a total of just 29 walks through his 31 starts (73 AL pitchers have walked more batters than he has).  Porcello is also third in ERA (3.08) and ninth in strikeouts (174).

With only two starts remaining, the Cy Young is his to lose, even if Zach Britton never blows a save this year (currently 45-for-45).  Up from 71 percent last week, the Porcellometer now stands at 84 percent.

Plus, you can't help but love the reaction yesterday when Manny Machado accused Porcello of throwing at him with a 2-0 lead, a perfect game going and Mark Trumbo, who's 43 homers lead the majors, on deck (parental advisory, explicit language):

"Why would I wanna hit you with that motherfucker coming up? Use your fucking head." https://t.co/710ugdAy61

— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) September 20, 2016

Follow @LucidSportsFan

Bill Buckner catches everything in his MLB Network ad with Mookie Wilson

We're just over a month away from the 30-year anniversary of the most horrific sports moment of my childhood:



Amazingly, I only needed to type the words "it gets" into YouTube in order to find Vin Scully's famous call of "Behind the bag, it get's through Buckner!":

It's also been nearly 12 years since the baseball world changed forever, allowing Bill Buckner and the rest of the 1986 Red Sox to live in peace.  Considering that, amusement is the only emotion I feel towards this MLB Network commercial with Buckner and Mookie Wilson:




Follow @LucidSportsFan

Porcellometer update: Cy Young odds increase despite loss (his first this year at Fenway)

Rick Porcello suffered his first home defeat of the season last night.  However, his Cy Young chances actually increased in the process and the totally subjective Porcellometer rose from 64 percent to 71 percent.  Here's why: Porcello's win-loss record is not an issue, it's far and away the best in the league.  However, with his eight-inning, four-hit, one-run, zero-walk performance yesterday, he now owns the AL's best WHIP (1.00) and his ERA dropped from 3.21 to 3.12.

Multiple people have mentioned that I'm ignoring Orioles closer Zach Britton (0.83 WHIP, 0.61 ERA) who shut down the Red Sox yesterday for his 43rd save of the season--in 43 opportunities.  While zero blown saves is extremely impressive, it's incredibly hard to justify giving the Cy Young Award to someone who's thrown only 59.1 innings (just 29 percent of Porcello's total).  Also, consider this: Britton has yielded 18 walks in those 59.1 innings, while Porcello has walked just 29 batters over his 201.2 innings.


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Introducing the [Rick] Porcellometer

For any loyal readers who remember the Celtics Tankometer in 2014, or the [Tim] Tebometer from 2011, I now give you the Porcellometer.

Pronounce it pour-sell-ah-met-er, like thermometer (not Porcello-meter).  I've created it to portray my best guess at Rick Porcello's odds of winning the American League Cy Young.  It's not a prediction of how likely I think he is to get the award, but rather what I believe his chances would be if it was handed out today--which in the first-ever addition of the Porcellometer is 64 percent.

It's a four-horse race at the moment (see above ESPN screenshot), with the main thing Porcello has working against him being his low strikeout total.  However, he's also walked so few batters (an average of exactly one per start) that he still owns the best strikeout/walk ratio in the league.  Combined with having four more wins than any of the other contenders, that makes him the clear favorite.

Porcello goes for an MLB-best 21st victory tonight against the Orioles.


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Dustin Pedroia hitting like it's 2008

In 2008, a 25-year-old Dustin Pedroia won the American League MVP with a career-best .326 batting average.  After his 2-for-4 showing in San Diego Wednesday, the 33-year-old Pedroia is once again hitting .326.  A month ago his 2016 average stood at .295, but he hit .406 in August and is batting .385 (with 10 hits in six games) so far in September.

Pedroia's numbers through the Red Sox's first 139 games this year:

176 hits, 91 runs, 32 doubles, 12 HR, 60 RBI, 56 walks, 7 steals, .326 AVG, .388 OBP, .844 OPS

This is what those project to for the full season:

205 hits, 106 runs, 37 doubles, 14 HR, 70 RBI, 65 walks, 8 steals, .326 AVG, .388 OBP, .844 OPS

Here are his 2008 MVP totals:

213 hits, 118 runs, 54 doubles, 17 HR, 83 RBI, 50 walks, 20 steals, .326 AVG, .376 OBP, .869 OPS


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Update: It's now a 4-man race for AL Cy Young Award (with Rick Porcello in the thick of it)

Yesterday, I wrote about Rick Porcello's chances to win the American League Cy Young Award.  At the time there were five worthy candidates.  But after getting rocked for seven earned runs in 1.2 innings last night, Cole Hamels (who's ERA jumped from 2.91 to 3.25) is currently out of the running.  Justin Verlander and Chris Sale both received no-decisions in their head-to-head matchup Monday, leaving the top four candidates with the following numbers:

Screenshot from ESPN.com

Porcello, Verlander, Sale and Corey Kluber now own the four best WHIPs in the AL.  They also have very similar ERAs, all among the top 10.  The major difference in Porcello's case is that he has significantly fewer strikeouts than the rest.  However, the Red Sox hurler also owns four more wins and four fewer losses than any of the other contenders.  I'm fully aware that win-loss record can be a terrible stat to measure by, but that is an enormous difference (and Porcello's other numbers are good too).

With just 4-5 starts remaining for each guy, the odds are very good that Porcello will be the league's only 20-game winner (J.A. Happ also has 17 victories, but is winless in his last three outings).


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Can Rick Porcello win the Cy Young Award?

After Saturday's victory in Oakland, Rick Porcello is now 19-3.  No one else in baseball has more than 17 wins.  Porcello's 3.23 ERA is 10th in the American League, but his 1.02 WHIP is tied for second.  And while his 154 strikeouts are on the low end (tied for 11th) for a Cy Young candidate, Porcello's 186.2 innings pitched rank third in the AL behind teammate David Price (190.2) and former teammate Justin Verlander (188).

Verlander (14-7) might be the leading contender at the moment with an AL-best 0.99 WHIP and 198 strikeouts (second), but his 3.30 ERA is worse than Porcello's.  Chris Sale (15-7) also has a strong case with a 3.10 ERA (seventh), a 1.02 WHIP (second, tied) and 185 strikeouts (fifth).

Here's how the top five candidates stack up:

Rick Porcello: 19-3, 3.23 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 154 K, 186.2 IP
Justin Verlander: 14-7, 3.30 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, 198 K, 188 IP
Chris Sale: 15-7, 3.10 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 185 K, 185.2 IP
Corey Kluber: 15-8, 3.09 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 189 K, 183.2 IP
Cole Hamels: 14-4, 2.91 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 171 K, 173 IP

Porcello likely has five starts remaining.  If he wins three of them and gets to 22 victories without anyone else in the league reaching 20, it'll be hard to argue against him.



Follow @LucidSportsFan

The best team in the American League has been outscored on the season?

As I write this, the Texas Rangers own the No. 1 record in the American League at 74-53, second in all of baseball behind the Chicago Cubs (81-45).  The Rangers have scored 588 runs this year.  They've given up 589.  Texas' run differential is -1, meaning they likely should be a .500 team.

Run differential isn't a perfect stat, but it's usually a good indicator of success (which is why I'm confident the Red Sox are better than the Orioles).  For example, in the National League the standings for all three divisions wouldn't even change if the teams were ranked by scoring differential instead of wins and losses.

Look at the placement of the red and green numbers in the combined AL standings pictured above--there's one clear anomaly.  Don't be surprised if the Rangers fade down the stretch, it's weird for them to be where they are in the first place.


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Andrew Benintendi's home-run-robbing catch could not have had a more perfect backdrop

During the Red Sox's 6-2 win in Tampa last night, Boston rookie Andrew Benintendi made this spectacular grab to rob the Rays' Steven Souza Jr. of an eighth-inning home run (that would've made a 3-0 game 3-2):



The catch earned the No. 1 ranking on the "Top Plays" segment of Monday's late-night SportsCenter.

Nearly as impressive as the play itself was the perfectly placed sign in the background of this photo:

Not only did Benintendi "raise up" to catch the ball, but he also appears to have intercepted the would-be homer from its crash course towards the center of that star/mini explosion logo.


H/T to @KWAPT on Twitter

Follow @LucidSportsFan

If you believe in run differential, the Red Sox are much better than the Orioles

The Red Sox (65-52) head to Baltimore tonight to face the Orioles (66-51) with first place in the American League East on the line (Toronto is also tied for first at 67-52).

Statistically speaking, it shouldn't be this way.  Boston is a better team than Baltimore--a lot better, in fact.  For the season, the Sox have outscored their opponents by 104 runs (tied with Cleveland for first in the American League), an average of 0.89 per game.  By comparison, the O's have only plated 38 more runs than their opposition (sixth in the AL) an average of 0.32 per game.  The Red Sox's average margin of victory is nearly triple what Baltimore's is, and more than half a run per game higher.  Considering AL teams are averaging 4.5 total runs per game this season, a half-run difference in margin of victory is an enormous amount.

Here's a quick NBA comparison: The Celtics went 48-34 last year while outscoring their opponents by 3.2 points per game.  The NBA-champion Cavaliers (57-25) won by 6.0 PPG.  In theory, the gap between the Red Sox and Orioles is greater than the one between the Cavs and Celtics.

Baltimore should fade in the AL East race, with Boston battling the Blue Jays (who are +87 in total runs, 0.73 per game) for the division title.


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Did you know Red Sox infielder Aaron Hill is responsible for one of the most unlikely feats in MLB history?

When the Red Sox traded for veteran infielder Aaron Hill last month, I completely forgot that he was the Aaron Hill--that is until a few days ago when I stumbled across a blog I wrote four years ago.

On June 18, 2012, Hill hit for the cycle--something most ball players are never able to accomplish.  Then, on June 29, only 11 days later, he did it again.  That's basically the equivalent of a pitcher throwing no-hitters in two out of three starts.  There's much more in my post from 2012 about how unlikely Hill's pair of cycles were.

Just last week, Sox pitcher Steven Wright did something that may be even more improbable:

How about the fact that Steven Wright, a pitcher, tagged 2 guys out at the plate in 1 inning today. That absolutely has to be an MLB record.

— Mark Van Deusen (@LucidSportsFan) July 31, 2016

Both of these remind me of another piece from the very early days of LucidSportsFan.com:

J.D. Drew had the chance to set the most unbreakable record in the history of any sport ever

(Apologies the for lack of capital letters and poor formatting.)


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Would you wake up and go to school if David Ortiz told you to? (Papi could've helped Seinfeld's runner friend)

The Red Sox and Boston Public Schools have partnered on an initiative that will allow middle and high school students to receive wake-up calls from David Ortiz in an attempt to fight chronic absenteeism.  Here's the recording of Big Papi's voice that will play when kids answer their cell phones in the morning:



I think this is a great idea that's really easy to implement with hardly any overhead cost, so there's nothing to lose.  But, I'm also not sure how effective it'll be long-term.  I think the first day Papi called me I'd be pumped and jump right out of bed. (Which is why Seinfeld could've really used this to help out Jean-Paul):



However, by Week 2 I'm not even answering the phone anymore.  Here's an idea for BPS: Try to get as many celebs (or even quasi-celebs like local news people, etc.) as possible to volunteer, then switch up the person who calls on a regular basis.  I bet students would be a lot more eager to listen to the recording if it was a surprise who they might hear.



Follow @LucidSportsFan

Cross-sports trades between different cities can actually happen in real life?

This is something I've dreamed of for decades (at least two).  I started drafting a blog about it three years ago, but I never got around to writing it because the possibilities are limitless and I couldn't figure out how to tackle the topic in anything remotely close to my regular 37-second quota.

The basic premise is, what if pro sports franchises were owned by the cities they represent and trades could be made from one sport to another?  For example, following the Celtics' fifth straight losing season in 1998-99, Boston would have gladly dealt away All-Star Antoine Walker for a quality starting pitcher to follow Pedro Martinez in the Red Sox rotation (maybe that could have made the difference in the '99 ALCS loss to the Yankees?).  That's just one of billions of fantasies to explore down this rabbit hole...

Now it appears as though one of these imaginary trades is actually happening in real life:

And now for a cross-sport trade: Barcelona trading football players to get a basketball player. https://t.co/XgFr0N04BS

— Mark Deeks (@MarkDeeksNBA) August 2, 2016

I don't know anything about the details of European sports leagues, but from what I understand FC Barcelona has both a football (soccer) and basketball club, and they're attempting to acquire a basketball player from Baskonia in exchange for sending a couple soccer players to another team with the same owner.


Follow @LucidSportsFan

Can this video from the 1996 DNC actually be real? (Awesome Old Song of the Week: "Macarena")

This clip from the 1996 Democratic National Convention can't possibly be real.  Yet somehow, it is.  I had to watch it twice just to make sure that really is Hillary Clinton and not Jan Hooks playing Hillary in Saturday Night Live skit:

Ok but the 1996 DNC was lit pic.twitter.com/nuHp1lBND8

— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) July 29, 2016

And just in case you still don't believe people were actually dancing the Macarena at the 1996 DNC, here's four minutes of footage from C-SPAN.  Below, the original video from Los del Rio:



Sidebar--Before the Red Sox started playing Sweet Caroline halfway through the eighth inning of every game at Fenway, they tried out some other things.  I remember doing the Macarena in the bleachers mid-eighth one afternoon that summer.


Follow @LucidSportsFan

12 years ago today: The brawl that changed MLB history

Saturday, July 24, 2004:

A night earlier, Curt Schilling blew a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning at Fenway and the Red Sox fell 9.5 games behind the Yankees in the AL East.

Boston trailed New York 3-0 in the third inning when Jason Varitek decided enough was enough:



In the fourth the Sox pulled ahead 4-3, but the Yanks put up six runs in the sixth to take a 9-4 lead.  Boston immediately cut it to 9-8 in the bottom half of the inning, then a two-run shot by Bill Mueller in the ninth off Mariano Rivera gave the Sox an 11-10 walk-off win:



Three months later, the Red Sox were World Series champions for the first time in 86 years.  If Boston hadn't won that game, I'm guessing the greatest sports story of my lifetime (read that, I promise it's worth it) would never have happened.


Follow @LucidSportsFan