Category: Red Sox

The 300s Podcast: The Dog Days of Summer Mean It’s Officially Red Sox Season

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Start your weekend early with The 300s Podcast + it only takes 2 minutes before the first “Homer at the Bat” reference. Listen, subscribe, rate and review on iTunes, Google Play, and The 300s Podcast is also NOW ON SPOTIFYYYYY

Seeing as its the dog days of summer and there’s no other Boston teams playing, unless you count the Revs and the Cannons, pretty much everyone’s attention has shifted towards the Red Sox finally. So that’s what we’re gonna focus on today.

BONUS: If you catch the obscure reference 37 minutes in and tweet us a GIF from that movie, you win a prize.

-The Death of Baseball has been Greatly Exaggerated
-Outlaw the Shift?!
-Why Does the Media Insist Nobody Cares About the Red Sox When Ratings Are in Fact UP?
-JD Martinez may legitimately challenge for the Triple Crown this year.
-The 300’s Top 3

LiAngelo Ball Signs with Los Angeles…in the League LaVar Ball Started

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Yahoo – After working out with a number of NBA teams ahead of the 2018 NBA draft, LiAngelo Ball has found a home — in the Junior Ball Association. Per a release sent Monday, LiAngelo Ball will indeed play in the league started by his dad, LaVar Ball. He will also play on the Los Angeles Ballers team with his brother, LaMelo.

I would be doing a disservice to our fans if I didn’t chime in on the latest Ball family news. To be honest, I’ve fallen off on my viewership of Ball in the Family, which ain’t terrible. The show does a good job of painting LaVar as a guy that just wants the best for his family at all costs more so than the overbearing asshole we see popping off in the media piggybacking off his son’s fame. Thats probablyyy the exact intent of the show though so I won’t be putting LaVar into the parenting hall of fame or anything, but its worth checking out. Plus it is produced by Bunim and Murray so if you’ve watched just about any reality TV show in the past 20 years then you’ll feel oddly at home watching this on Facebook of all places.

Now with all the niceties out of the way, lets get to the latest Ball family news. Remember when LaVar Ball screamed from the rooftop that there should be a league where young guys can play and develop their game while also getting paid, without having to go to places like, oh ya know, motherfucking Lithuania?? Well he actually went and made that league; the Junior Ball Association. We actually blogged about this a while back and as we said, its not the worst idea.

“The modern day Vince McMahon just continues to roll along with his idea du jour; an alternative basketball league to compete with the NCAA. It’s geared at top players who don’t want to go to college, or ya know shit holes like Lithuania. Ya think LaMelo and LiAngelo might prefer playing in this league rather than taking trains and ferrys to Baltic League games in Kiev?

I gotta admit, this guy is COCKY, and it is contagious. Because on its face, its not a bad idea. If the NBA is so stuck on its “One and Done” rule (which it may actually get rid of sooner than later) then whats the point of a guy going to Duke for 8 months and showing up to a handful of classes posing as a college student like he’s in Never Been Kissed?”

With that being said LiAngelo Ball signing with and getting paid to play in the JBA, after failing to get drafted in the NBA or latch on with a summer league team, is downright laughable.

“At age 19, Ball was not selected in the 2018 NBA draft, nor did he sign on with an NBA Summer League team. Weeks ago, in an interview with NiceKicks.com, Ball said he was not going to play in the JBA. “I feel like that’s taking a step back for me,” he said June 27 to Nice Kicks. “If I have to play in the G-League then that’s what it’s going to be. I’m not running away from the work.”

Whoops.

This was to be expected as Woj said he had “no shot” of getting drafted and literally quoted GMs as laughing about the thought. Ouch.

So now we turn to the league that dad started. For anyone buried in student loans who has friends or coworkers that are buying houses and leasing out condos they’ve bought because they came from a well off family — this shit has to drive you insane.

LiAngelo seems like a nice enough dude besides the whole nearly starting World War III between the US and China because he needed to shoplift some fresh shades. Still to this day, avoiding an international incident after all that is DT45’s greatest accomplishment.

But I just cannot see this news without laughing at how soft it comes off. Just think about every rich kid you know, its hard to truly respect someone that has had it that easy.
Imagine you couldn’t get a job at the company you wanted to work for so your dad just up and makes a company for you to work at and get paid? That sounds like something out of a sitcom.

Like Ray Romano’s kid doesn’t make the baseball team so Ray and Robert start their own team and put all their own money into it. Sure, Debra would probably bitch and moan about it for the whole 22 minutes, but Ray doesn’t give a shit about Debra, hasn’t for years. Hilarity ensues.

But hey, play the hand your dealt I guess. Lonzo was a legit NCAA stud and top NBA draft pick. LiAngelo probably only got recruited to play at UCLA because of his brother. Meanwhile, the youngest of the three, LaMelo, has some potential to make the NBA. So if you’re the middle brother who’s stuck in no mans land, might as well take dad’s money, play ball in Los Angeles, all while still getting to put “Professional Athlete” on your LinkedIn page.

Reports of Baseball’s Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

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Dan Shaughnessy’s column from Sunday afternoon on the demise of baseball generated a lot of buzz, and the topic has dominated Boston sports talk radio this week. When Shaughnessy, a J. G. Taylor Spink Award recipient, says that Major League Baseball is in trouble people listen. His points are fair, even if not fresh: too many bad teams, slow pace of play, too many strikeouts, the rise of analytics, and the lack of star power are all hurting the appeal of the game. But as Nick Cafardo pointed out on Tuesday night, they don’t appear to be hurting the game’s appeal in Boston.

The Red Sox are victims of their own success (and drama). They broke the curse in 2004, went wire-to-wire and won another championship in 2007, experienced one of the biggest September collapses in the history of the game in 2011, and won another championship in 2013 after a city tragedy. There have been lots of highs, lows, and drama over the last 15 years. What could they do in July, 2018 that could match any of that sports talk radio buzz? What trade deadline deal could possibly top the Nomar trade? No wonder the Sox aren’t talked about as much on WEEI or the Sports Hub as they were 5, 10 or 15 years ago. That doesn’t mean that people don’t care about this team, and it obviously doesn’t mean that people aren’t watching.

The Red Sox sold out every game at Fenway Park from May 15, 2003, to April 8, 2013. [Sure, the sellout streak was a bit of a joke at the end, but it was very real for poor college students trying to get tickets at face value in the mid-2000s.] The Red Sox dominated the Boston sports scene for most of that time. The fact that they are no longer the most discussed team is largely out of their control.

The greatest quarterback and coach in the history of the National Football League are both in New England right now. It’d be shocking if the Patriots didn’t own the region. With the Celtics championship in 2008 and the Bruins Stanley Cup win in 2011, the city’s sports talk landscape became a lot more crowded over the last 15 years. All four Boston teams have never all been this good at the same time.

That’s not to say that baseball is fine and that it’s never been better. Baseball does need to make some changes to adapt to the times. The NFL has shown far more willingness than MLB to tweak its rules over the past 20 years, but baseball has shown an ability to adapt in the past. Lowering the mound and adding the designated hitter seemed like radical ideas at the time, but those ideas worked out okay. Rob Manfred has shown a willingness to make changes and improvements, and I’m confident more will be done.

The changes don’t need to be radical, either. Eliminate shifts [and increase offense other than home runs] by requiring two infielders to stay to the left of second base or by requiring all infielders to remain on the infield dirt. Implement a salary floor to disincentivize tanking and hopefully more decent non-playoff teams emerge. Take a few games off the regular season, and increase the division series to seven games, to make the regular season more interesting.

Baseball ain’t perfect, but don’t tell me people don’t care about the Red Sox the way they used to.

 

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.”

Red Sox to Close First Half with 10 Games in 10 Days

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What a difference [not even] a week makes. After last weekend’s let down in the Bronx, the Red Sox appear to be back on track. Here are some thoughts as the Red Sox close out the first half of the season with 10 games in 10 days.

  • The Red Sox are in Kansas City this weekend for a three-game series with the last-place Royals. It’s the first of six-straight series for the Red Sox against sub-.500 teams. Their next 20 games will all be against sub-.500 teams, and nine of those 20 games will be against the three last-place teams in the American League. As Saul Goodman would say, it’s time to make hay while the sun is still shining.
  • David Price’s performance last Sunday night against the Yankees was the biggest disappointment of the weekend. The Red Sox did well to put it behind them as they went to Washington and swept the Nationals. Now Price will have a chance to put it behind him as he takes the mound Saturday night against the Royals. The Royals would seem to be a good team for Price to rebound against, as they’ve scored the fewest runs in the American League this season.
  • After the All-Star break the Red Sox will open the second half of the season on a six-game road trip. After that road trip, though, 34 of their final 58 games will be at home. The Red Sox have a .700 winning percentage at home so far this season.
  • If Price can get back on track against the Royals and then Blue Jays before the All-Star break, Cora could start him the second game after the All-Star break. That would set him up perfectly to miss the four-game series against the Yankees August 2-5. It’s crazy to think about managing opponents for a pitcher making $30 million this season, but that might be where we are with Price at this point. [Incidentally, that would also set him up to miss the series in New York in mid-September if the rotation stays on track.]
  • If the Red Sox finish the regular season with the best record in the American League, they could be on a collision course with the Yankees… in the division series. The team with the best regular-season record faces the winner of the Wild Card game in the division series. If the Red Sox have a chance to get “creative” down the stretch, they may want to remember that the division winner with the second-best record will likely get to face the winner of the American League Central in the division series.

Crushed Price

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It strains the imagination to conceive of Price pitching any worse than he did. He allowed eight runs courtesy of five – yes, five – home runs in 3 1/3 innings of an 11-1 laugher that left the Red Sox and Yankees tied once again atop the AL East.

After nine career starts against the Yankees with the Red Sox, Price’s ERA is 8.43. At Yankee Stadium, he is 0-5 with a 10.44 ERA.

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I don’t how much else there is to say about David Price and last night’s game. Another disastrous outing against the Yankees for him. If I were Alex Cora, though, I’d start thinking about finding ways to limit Price’s appearances against the Yankees. Seriously.

The Red Sox have ten games left against the Yankees in the regular season. Those ten games include a four-game series in Boston the first weekend of August, a three-game set in the Bronx in mid-September, and another three-game set in Boston to close out the regular season. At the very least, Cora should find a way to make Price miss the series in New York.

That’s more difficult with both Drew Pomeranz and Steven Wright on the disabled list, but it’s still a proposition worth exploring. If the Sox have an extra off day the week of a Yankees series, maybe move up Price to miss the Yankees series. If the Sox are playing 12 straight days going into a Yankees series, maybe bring up a minor leaguer to “give everyone an extra day of rest,” and push Price back.

Cora shouldn’t embarrass Price, but he should get creative. It shouldn’t matter to Cora how much Price is getting paid. Do what’s best for the team by putting Price in the best positions to succeed.

Price is 9-6 through 17 starts this season, and the Red Sox are 11-6 in the games he’s started. If he could repeat that in the second half of the season, the Red Sox would take it. Wins against the Yankees in the regular season don’t count extra. If Price can give more for the team against the Rays, Blue Jays and Orioles, take it.

Why Can’t We Get Players Like Adrian Beltre?

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It would take some creative thinking to bring Adrian Beltre back to the Red Sox, nearly eight years after a different front office regime let him get away.

Dombrowski’s mostly winning habit of wheeling and dealing has left the Boston farm system thin in the caliber of prospects required to entice Beltre’s employer, the Texas Rangers, to send him this way…

The margin might be even thinner between the Red Sox’ current payroll (in the range of $233 million) and the massive financial punishment that comes from surpassing the highest luxury-tax tier ($237 million).

It’s a bummer, but it’s the truth.

I’m always in favor of trading prospects for established veterans. Buy low, sell high. Who is the last prospect the Red Sox dealt that turned into a Hall of Famer, MVP, or All-Star? Jeff Bagwell? The Red Sox didn’t get much out of the Jon Lester or John Lackey trades in 2014, but they were sellers that year which kind of proves my point. Even with the Lester trade, though, they later flipped their return in that deal (Yoenis Cespedes) for a future Cy Young Award winner (Rick Porcello).

And remind me, what’s Anderson Espinoza (from the Drew Pomeranz trade) up to these days Tony?

I also do not care about the Red Sox luxury tax situation. Obviously it’s not my money, but the Red Sox have the money. Can you really put a price on another ring?

So when I say the Red Sox shouldn’t pick up Adrian Beltre, it’s strictly for baseball reasons.

Beltre is by all accounts a great teammate and still hitting .309 at age 39 this season. He could give the Red Sox some better at bats lower in their lineup, but it would take plate appearances away from Rafael Devers and Jackie Bradley Jr. Devers is hitting just .234 through 77 games, but he does have 12 home runs and 40 RBI. Bradley is hitting .199 this season, but he’s at .303 over his last 10 games and still provides excellent defense in center field.

Even if you think taking plate appearances away from Devers and Bradley is a good thing, and that Beltre would improve their offense, the offense is not the Red Sox problem. The Red Sox have the highest team batting average in baseball and more hits than any other team. They’re second in runs scored and home runs.

If Dave Dombrowski is going to break the bank next month, he should do it for a bullpen arm.

And one last thing about the Red Sox letting Beltre “get away” after 2010. Before coming to Boston, Beltre was a .270 career hitter who averaged 24 home runs and 87 RBI per 162 games. He had a great season in Boston in 2010, hitting .321 with 49 doubles, 28 home runs, 102 RBI and an OPS of .919 at age 31. How were the Red Sox supposed to predict that Beltre would hit .308 from age 32 on? Nearly 40 points higher than his batting average from age 19 to 31. How would they have predicted he’d average 30 home runs and 104 RBI per 162 games from age 32 on? They also had a chance to acquire the younger Adrian Gonzalez.

I’ll rip the Sox when I think they’re wrong, but I would’ve made the same move and would still make it again tomorrow. Not all moves pan out, but to say the Red Sox let Beltre “get away” is a little bit of revisionist history.

The 300s Podcast: Red Sox Chasing 100 Wins & the Gang Fights a PED Suspension

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A new episode of The 300s Podcast is hot off the presses! This ep is a grab bag of news as we’ve got headlines everywhere from drug rings to a historical run by the Red Sox to PED suspensions and back to NBA free agency. Click here to listen or download on iTunes or Google Play. Subscribe, rate, and review today!

It came out the other day that Hanley Ramirez was allegedly Pablo Escobar andddd now he’s apparently not. Whoops.

The Red Sox are on pace to win 100+ games for the first time since 1946 and I’m still not sold on this team.

Julian Edelman is pulling a Ryan Braun and appealing his 4-game suspension on the way his test was physically handled more so than the actual results.

LeBron “The Decision” James reportedly doesn’t want a recruiting circus this time around in free agency. Is this the height of hypocrisy or has LeBron learned from getting roasted after The Decision?

The 300s has a very exciting announcement to make and that my friends is what they call a big market tease.

So When Are We Getting This Aquaman Trailer?

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All signs point to the Aquaman trailer finally dropping at San Diego Comic Con on July 21st, which feels late because we haven’t seen *anything* from this movie and it comes out on December 21st. So to have not even seen a teaser yet feels odd, but its done a pretty good job of building up the hype train. James Wan did technically tease an Aquaman fight scene while promoting his own Funko Pop figure, but that hardly counts.

The DCEU has been super hit or miss with Man of Steel (55 Metascore), Batman v Superman (44 Metascore), Suicide Squad (40 Metascore) Wonder Woman (76 Metascore), and Justice League (45 Metascore). Wonder Woman is the only one of that group to even crack 56 on Metacritic so its been a mixed bag. They’ve all been entertaining if nothing else, but the majority of these movies have been plagued by their tone. Do we want to be dark? Was that too dark? Should we do mass reshoots to be less dark and more cheeky (i.e. Suicide Squad) or just try and be everything to everyone?

With all that being said Momoa brought a welcome comic relief to the film.

But he also can still throw the hands.

So I for one am very excited about this movie, and with that I think DC has already achieved the No. 1 goal, which was to make Aquaman not look soft. After years of getting roasted on everything from internet message boards to Robot Chicken, it could have been a tall task to make the King of Atlantis cool again.

Having Khal Drogo, son of Khal Bharbo, leader of his khalisar and the Great Khal was a good start. Maybe I’m biased because I’m a huge Game of Thrones guy, but Jason Mamoa has been a perfect choice to give this IP a jump start. They could have easily picked some clean cut skinny dude to slip into a green and gold costume and that would have been an easy choice, a disaster, but an easy choice.

Instead they doubled down on the head of the Dothraki. Really it was already an uphill battle trying to best the OG Aquaman as portrayed by one Vincent Chase.

Good luck topping that.

So I am looking forward to this trailer and I’m hoping DC has learned something useful from the massive hit Wonder Woman was coupled with the mostly disappointing other entries. Just let Momoa do his thing and get out of the way.

 

 

I Would Like to Apologize to Cole Beasley for Sleeping On His Rap Album Because It BANGS

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I personally would like to apologize to Cole Beasley for sleeping on his debut rap album until just now because I heard it for the first time today and it BANGS.

Released last month, “The Autobiography”, popped up on my Spotify this morning while I was at the gym (no big deal) and I found myself jamming along before saying who the hell is this? Color me shocked to look down at my phone and see its none other than Dallas wide receiver Cole Beasley.

Any time an athlete releases an album I immediately think of Willie Beamen’s failed rap career. We’ve seen so many garbage musical endeavors from athletes over the years from guys like Deion Sanders, Shaq, more recently Lonzo Ball and lets not even mention Bernie Williams’ acoustic album.

But theres a few nuggets in there, hell even John Cena had a couple hits that get played to this day. Seriously, his song “My Time is Now” is featured in the new Toyota Camry commercial.

I can’t say I expected the white slot receiver from the Cowboys to put out such heat, but I should have known better with Cole Beasley. This is the guy who lives for roasting fools on Twitter.

The dude can spit, theres no denying it. He raps a lot about his money, but not in the way you’d expect. He talks about how he doesn’t have a flashy chain because he’s got his money put away for his kids’ college funds. He’s got a song about white stereotypes when it comes to rap, but more importantly how it relates to football. How he’s described as “deceptively athletic” where he says he’d probably just be “athletic” if he was black.

Most importantly, this album has got legit beats and you can tell theres solid production value there. The guys a millionaire so I’m glad he didn’t make it in GarageBand. You can tell its not just a side project for the guy, he wants to be respected as more than just a football player. I gotta say, this is a pretty good rap album. Its not J. Cole’s KOD by any means, but there’s plenty of white space (no pun intended) to be filled in the rap scene today and believe it or not Cole Beasley’s album deserves a listen.

Check it out on Spotify.