Category: Red Sox

An Idiots Guide To Picking Your Freshman Year Fall Semester Schedule

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My freshman year of college was 11 years ago, which is a horrifying realization to make. Add that to the fact that i’m writing this before starting a busy day of work conducting compliance audits when it’s 95 degrees out and there’s no AC. Things are great, I swear. But we all grow up, we all move on, and college becomes a distant memory. During those magical four years though, you tend to pick up a bit of wisdom on how the process works. Dos and Don’ts if you will. One of the most important aspects of shaping the time you have at college is your class schedule. Going in as a freshman I had no guidance. Sure, they give you guidance counselors, but mine wound up forgetting I was 3 credits short on my minor and I had to take a summer class post grad. So who can you trust, really? Well i’m here to give you freshman out there some expert advice on how to design your fall semester schedule.

1) For the love of god, do not take 8 am classes. I know you’re coming from high school where the day starts earlier, but trust me, the only thing you’re doing is setting yourself up for disaster. One of the most basic concepts that somehow gets lost when you’re making your schedule is that this is college, and you WILL be drinking excessively. Sometimes on nights you don’t even expect.

“Tipsy Tuesday? What’s that?” – a dumb college freshman somewhere

The point is, you never know when alcohol and your friends may strike, so plan ahead and don’t let those fun nights ruin your morning.

2) Avoid classes that are more than twice a week. Most colleges have the Monday/Wednesday/Friday cycle, three times a week for 50 minutes. This is my advice to stay away from that nonsense. Twice a week, either the evening Monday/Wednesday or the Tuesday/Thursday schedule. Hell, go for the once a week if you can. Save your time and energy and show up to something less.

3) If possible, give yourself a three day weekend. Now, you’re probably thinking this means Friday, Saturday, Sunday. That’s not a terrible thing, and if if it works for you, use it to your advantage. My advice however is take the Monday off instead and this is why. You’re in college. Productivity on a Friday is going to be shot regardless of whether you’re in or out of class. Even most professors run their Friday classes a bit half-ass. It’s almost the equivalent of showing up to study hall sometimes. Fridays and Saturdays rule, go have some fun. Now Sunday is where things normally get tricky. If you have shit to do on Monday, you’re most likely cramming on Sunday. Congrats, you just played yourself. Why waste a perfectly good weekend day, especially when there’s football to be watched and wings to be consumed. Kick your shoes off and relax, you’re not an adult yet so don’t set yourselves up for the Sunday Scaries way earlier than you need to in life, because let me tell you they are the worst thing on planet earth. Now you have Monday free to get all your work done while everyone else is busy with class. 10 points for Gryfinndor.

4) Do not sleep on night classes, especially mid week. I know this isn’t for everyone, but hear me out on this. You are eventually going to have to take a night class if we’re playing the odds. Better to get used to them early so it stings less later. Usually these classes have some of the older crowd in them too. You’ll run into people taking part time classes, trying to earn their degree after a hard day of work. A noble pursuit. You’ll also run into lots of seniors who need those last three credits on some nonsensical course to satisfy an elective requirement. My point is that some of these older folks are probably taking better notes in class than you’ll ever take, so not a terrible idea to make a buddy in case you feel like blowing off a class, which will start happening more and more once you figure out which professor’s don’t take attendance.

5) Try and be social. Class is where you’re going to meet most of the people you spend time with the next four years. You don’t have to be best friends with your roommates. This doesn’t really apply in the beginning of college, but as the years roll on, try and schedule classes with your friends. It makes the time fly by and you’ll eventually get some laugh out loud stories like my friends and I did (especially if the class is an acting class.)

So I say to you today college freshman, enjoy it while it lasts. Make memories and make smart decisions. And to all you college alum, please let us know if you think we’ve missed anything via Facebook, Twitter, etc. We’d love to know what tips and tricks got you through that first semester of college.

Ts and Ps To Topanga’s Ex Lance Bass On Losing Out On The “Brady Bunch” House

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Sooo good people….I copied and pasted something else so I no longer have the link to this story. Luckily you can hit CTRL+T and just google this story as every news outlet is covering it as if some great injustice is being done to an American treasure.

First and foremost Lance Bass is the 4th most important member of Nsync. There’s Timberlake, the guy with the initials, Joey Fatone, and then Lance Bass. Yes Fatone is above him because he was in “Rent” and although Broadway is dumb because there is NO FUCKING REASON to break into song all randomly and shit, massive amounts of people consider “Rent” culturally significant. So sorry Lance, you are only above the guy who got directly threatened by Eminem.

As for the story at hand, my only real angle on this is it is interesting how badly the “Brady Bunch” house got cucked in terms of famous pop culture residences by the “Full House” house. I’m sure until Danny Tanner and the gang came along people gave many more shits about the Brady’s dwelling, but now, the Tanner’s is definitely the more well known of thw two. Yours truly even visited it when I was in SF in 13′.

This all makes the fact that Lance Bass is “heartbroken” absolutely ridiculous. Bro you were not even BORN when this show went off the air (I think, again I’ve promised too many times to not do research to only now start doing research). Stop acting like someone has violated your auction rights by backdooring you out of a semi-famous (these days) T.V house. Put on your big boy pants, take this L, be a man, and just wait to buy Demi Lovato’s house once she dies. Problem solved.

-Joey B.

Better Call Saul Has Always Been Great, But Last Night It Turned A Corner

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Being a spinoff of arguably the most critically acclaimed show in history cannot be an easy task. Breaking Bad was a juggernaut, one that slowly built over 5 seasons to one of the most satisfying conclusions I have ever seen. After the show took it’s final bow, rumors swirled of a spinoff, focused on the criminal lawyer sidekick better known as Saul Goodman. Rarely do these off shoots work, a victim of trying to recreate a magic that some would say is best left alone. This is not the case with AMC’s Better Call Saul. Entering it’s fourth season last night, Saul once again proved there’s still something special occurring in the deserts of Albuquerque.

*****If you’re not caught up, please stop reading here. Spoilers for last night’s introduction. I’ll let you know when it’s safe.

Season 4 picks up with the everyone’s favorite Cinnabon employee Gene being transported to the hospital after passing out in the season 3 premiere. Tests are run with the verdict being a false alarm. Gene is discharged, but not before an over-talkative receptionist grills him for his driver’s license and social security number, both of which seem to keep being rejected by the hospital’s computer system. The panic sets in for Gene, aka Saul, aka Jimmy, who is hiding out in Nebraska after the events of Breaking Bad. Tension builds and just when you think the jig is up, the system accepts the information and Gene leaves for the cab waiting to bring him home. This is where things get even better. Overcome by the anxiety of the scene that just unfolded, he notices that hanging from the mirror of the cab is an air freshener label Albuquerque. The cab driver’s eyes peer into the rearview, which might as well be straight into Gene’s soul. He asks for the cabbie to pull over, which he does so reluctantly. Who is this cab driver? Does he just recognize Saul from his billboards all over Albuquerque, or is this something more nefarious? Gene exists quickly and the cab doesn’t pull away. It lingers, as we the audience wait for whatever is about to happen next. Cut to opening credits.

*****END SPOILERS

Better Call Saul manages to tell it’s own story outside of the Breaking Bad world. Yes, there are a ton of characters from both series now present, including Mike, Lydia, Gus, the Salamancas, Tuco, Victor, and so on, but never has a spinoff been so well executed that it is easily on the same playing field as the original. Patrick Fabian and Rhea Seehorn as Howard and Kim are absolute geniuses in their craft, giving some of their best performances to date in last night’s premiere. AMC is so confident in Saul that it was already picked up for a fifth season.

You’ve all officially been put on notice, get to watching Better Call Saul if you haven’t already. I truly consider it to be the best drama on television, and it deserves to be seen.

MLB Trade Deadline Day: Red Sox Trade for Second Baseman Ian Kinsler

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In the midst of walking off with their 75th win of the season, the Red Sox and Dave Dombrowksi were working the phones and acquired second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Angels while most of us were sleeping.

The Sox PR team wasted no time in announcing the trade as I got this email at 1:02 AM.

Now I know what you’re thinking, no, Ian Kinsler is not a relief pitcher. The Indians, Astros, and Yankees continue to load up on bullpen arms while the Sox are doubling down on whats gotten them this far; hitting the shit out of the ball. So while I would like to see the Sox acquire some arms for the pen, barring any deadline day deals it doesn’t seem to be a top priority for them.

I guess the thinking is you can just take whoever doesn’t make the playoff rotation and throw them in the pen with the rest of that motley crew. So take Nathan Eovaldi, Drew Pomeranz, and Hector Velazquez and have them handle some innings in the playoffs. It worked with David Price last year, but I’m also not crazy about throwing starting pitchers into high leverage relief situations in October and hoping for the best.

Anyways, Kinsler is a big name and a 4-time All-Star with more pop than your typical second baseman. Similar to my old favorite Dan Uggla, except Kinsler is actually a pretty slick fielder having won a Gold Glove in 2016. He’s not the same guy he used to be as he’s now 36-years-old, but I like the addition.

He’s batting a weak .239 on the year, but if you factor out a slow start to the season he’s been pretty good the past 2 months.

“In 51 games since May 29, the right-handed batter has hit .286 (57-for-199) with an .866 OPS, including .417 (20-for-48) with a 1.137 OPS in his last 13 games.”

Incredible irony in the move though as Kinsler is taking over for the injured Dustin Pedroia at second base, years after Pedroia took Kinsler’s job.

“Pedroia and Kinsler were teammates in college at Arizona State, where Pedroia took over Kinsler’s starting shortstop spot in 2002. Kinsler then transferred to Missouri the following year.”

For all the hype “Dealer Dave” gets he sure does love trading for the same players over and over again, having traded for Kinsler when he was with the Tigers in 2013.

Unfortunately this probably takes the Sox out of the running for old friend Adrian Beltre as the Kinsler move frees up Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez to platoon at third in Rafael Devers’ absence.

We’ve got just a few hours before the Trade Deadline so we’ll keep our eyes peeled for any additional moves the Red Sox make today.

Matt Barnes Spills the Beans on Craig Kimbrel’s Secret Workout

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NESN – Some Major League Baseball players like to wind down after games. Not Craig Kimbrel. The Red Sox closer has been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball for the last decade, and it’s perhaps due in large to his impressive work ethic, which fellow Boston reliever Matt Barnes recently shed light on in a conversation with Chad Jennings of The Athletic. “Every game after he pitches, it doesn’t matter if it’s 1 o’clock in the morning or it’s 3:30 in the afternoon, (Kimbrel)’s going to go upstairs and he’s going to run a mile on the treadmill,” Barnes told Jennings. “Every game. One mile.” MLB players can be creatures of habit, with each having a specific gameday routine. Kimbrel just so happens to do more after games than before games, and it’s a strategy that’s worked well for the seven-time All-Star.

Thats it? Really?

So let me get this straight, Matt. The reason Craig Kimbrel has been one of the most dominant closers in the game for years is because he runs after the game? One mile? I am far from a peak athletic specimen, but what does that take him like seven minutes tops? That lede had me all jacked up thinking there was going to be some psychotic Tiger Woods running in combat boots military workout. Nope, he just heads upstairs to the treadmill to run one mile after pitching for like 10 minutes. Well shit, theres the secret guys. Not HIIT cardio, not running iron mans, just a solid 1,600 meters ought to do it.

Yankees Add Stud Closer Zach Britton, Red Sox Continue to Do Nothing

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This is a headline that seems to be repeating itself over and over again like we’re in the damn Matrix. American League team x adds a weapon for the stretch run, Red Sox do nothing. The Indians added Brad Hand, the Yankees added Zach Britton, and the Astros continue to be on the hunt for bullpen arms with a deep farm system to deal from. Of course this all stems back to Dave Dombrowski absolutely gutting the Sox farm system.

Now those trades were made to acquire Craig Kimbrel and Chris Sale, which have worked out pretty well, but this is why I am pro-prospect. Big Z and I argue about this constantly on The 300s Podcast. He wants to dish prospects all day every day because most of them don’t pan out, which I understand. But in my opinion, prospects are more about their perceived value than their actual intrinsic value. They are poker chips. Some of them turn into Mookie Betts, others fizzle into Casey Kelly. So, no you can’t hold onto all of them, but to trade away so many of your top prospects in 2 years is just risky.

—Begin Pomeranz Rant—

This is why the Drew Pomeranz trade still bugs me. The Sox traded Anderson Espinoza, who was their top pitching prospect, straight up for the NL All-Star, who was in his first year as a starter and known to have injury issues. In 2+ seasons with Boston, Pomeranz has posted ERAs of 4.78, 3.84, and 5.70 this year.

Not to mention he’s hit the DL four different times since joining the Red Sox. Excellent trade, Dave!

Now Espinoza actually pitched pretty poorly in the Padres system before blowing out his elbow in 2017, but thats besides the point. I wasn’t against trading Espinoza because I thought he was the second coming of Pedro, I was against trading our top pitching prospect (and No. 73 prospect in all of baseball in 2016 after his first pro season) for a guy with an injury history (which the Padres’ GM was suspended for lying about) and a minuscule track record of success. Espinoza was a blue chip prospect and should have gotten a better return.

This is also why I’m always hesitant to trade from pitchers from the NL, unless they are studs with a pedigree because jumping from the NL to the AL East almost always adds a run onto a pitchers ERA. In the first half of 2016 with the Padres, Pomeranz had an ERA of 3.15, which ballooned to 4.78 for the Sox in the second half. Not impressed, Dave.

—End of Pomeranz Rant—

The Sox are an offensive juggernaut this year with a Cy Young candidate ace, pretty good starting pitching behind him, and a dominant closer. Outside of Kimbrel though their bullpen is a high wire act every night. So now the Sox, one of the best and most expensive teams in baseball, can’t make a deal for a Snickers bar because their farm system is full of JV players.

If they bow out early in the playoffs yet again because their bullpen implodes then Dombrowski should absolutely be on the hot seat. The guy who comes into town with his beautiful lettuce and does nothing but trade away top prospects and sign the highest price free agents hasn’t proved anything to me since he got here in 2015. Tony Mazz laid it out pretty well in this article from the other day. Not to mention, the biggest knock against Dombrowski over the years has been his inability to build a great bullpen. Great…

This team as currently constituted will not win a World Series, especially not with their direct competition adding weapons like Zach Britton right in their face. But, I don’t know what the Sox can really do aside from picking someone off the scrap heap and hoping to catch lightning in a bottle like they did with Doug Fister last year. If this team doesn’t make a significant move, wins 100+ games, and gets bounced in the first round again then someone needs to get fired.

Is This the End for Dustin Pedroia?

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ESPN – Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia has doubts about whether he’ll be able to return this season as he continues to recover from major reconstructive knee surgery in the offseason. Pedroia, 34, returned to the lineup on May 26 but was back on the disabled list on June 2 with soreness in his knee. He is headed to Arizona to continue his rehabilitation treatment.

The Red Sox have not ruled Dustin Pedroia out for the year. In fact Alex Cora even said he expects to see Pedroia back on the field this year, but Pedey himself was much more cynical when asked about his return date.

“I’ve healed quick with every other injury I’ve had. But this is obviously different,” Pedroia told reporters Wednesday. “You can’t risk it. If I come back too early and the graft fails, then that’s it.”

That is scary. That sounds like a guy who is seriously concerned about his ability to recover from an injury. Forget returning to previous form, that is a guy who sounds like he might be done entirely.

It all goes back to the ominous quote from Dave Dombrowski last year when Pedroia injured his knee.

“The problem for Dustin is and will be, he has a bad knee. He’s had it for years. He’s going to have to deal with that and he does…but he has a bad knee that he’s going to have to watch and we’re going to have to watch for the rest of his career.”

At the time it was kind of out of left field. Sure we all knew Pedroia was constantly battling injuries, but I thought they were just an undersized dirt dog getting banged up from various ailments. Turns out it was a chronic knee issue and Dombrowski let it slip before any of the fans in town even realized.

So Pedroia seems to now be in wait and see mode as there’s not really much you can do to speed up recovery from a knee injury other than flying to Germany to get the A-Rod/Peyton Manning special sauce. For now he’ll chill out in Arizona and rehab at his own speed, but I doubt we see him back on the field at Fenway in 2018.

So if he does miss the rest of the year then what are the prospects for a 35 year old coming off a knee injury regaining his form next season? Can’t be great, right?

It’s something we discussed on The 300s Podcast on a recent episode; the days of Dustin Pedroia as your starting second baseman may be gone. Because when healthy, Pedroia can still absolutely mash and is one of the toughest outs in baseball, but therein lies the problem; Pedroia is rarely healthy anymore. Not even including the lost season that is 2018, in the past 3 years he’s played 105, 154, and 93 games. So in the past 3+ seasons he’s played more than 105 games once. Not a great trend.

The best option for Pedroia may be to accept a utility role and even then the Red Sox may be less than thrilled paying a guy $12-$15 million per year to play 75 games. But, hey that contract of 8 years for $110M was a fucking steal at the time he signed it and anyone who says otherwise is just lying to your face. Pedroia can still hit so slip him into the DH role a couple nights a week and maybe you squeak 100 games out of the former MVP. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than the 3 games he played in 2018 (so far).

PS – Let us never forget that Pedroia’s knee injury flared up and has refused to heal since one very specific incident and that was when that dirtbag Manny Machado spiked him sliding into second last year. If you want Machado on this team then you can’t drink from my canteen.