Category: Red Sox

FIRE FLAMES JERSEY ALERT: PawSox to Become Osos Polares de Pawtucket

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MILB – In partnership with Minor League Baseball, the Pawtucket Red Sox today announced a new initiative with the Latino community. The PawSox will change their name for virtually all of their Tuesday home games to Osos Polares de Pawtucket. The name Osos Polares de Pawtucket, “Polar Bears of Pawtucket” in English, was revealed this morning at a press conference at Ella Risk Elementary School in Central Falls, RI (a school that has about a 78% Hispanic student population)…The PawSox are honored to be selected as one of 33 teams among the 160 in Minor League Baseball to participate in this new form of outreach to the Hispanic Community. This initiative is specifically designed to embrace the culture and values that resonate most with participating teams’ local U.S. Hispanic/Latino communities…To distinctively launch this exciting new program, MiLB and each participating team created culturally-relevant on-field personas that honor their respective U.S. Hispanic/Latino communities. All “Copa” teams will adopt these new personas via on-field jerseys and caps to be worn during designated “Copa de la Diversion” games during the 2018 season.

I’m not quite sure what a Polar Bear in Pawtucket has to do with Hispanic heritage, but I am fully on board if it gets me this fire flames hat and jersey combo.

Minor League sports crushing it per usual with the jersey selection. Being a farm team’s marketing department must be the best job in sports. The players are there to get experience and improve plus oftentimes they’re getting sent up to the next level halfway through the season so winning isn’t really a top priority for the team. Just sell some tickets, bring some families out to the ballpark, and come up with 25 different jersey promotions. I’m in.

The Fight Gods Care Little For Jesus of Nazareth, 86 Ferguson- Khabib For The Fourth Time On Easter

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Please sit back for a moment and close your eyes. Remember back to simpler time. It was last Thursday or Friday. And as you found any and all possible ways to not do any work or go to the gym thereafter, you possibly read yours truly’s blog proposing Strapping Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov to their own beds for the good of this fight. Well, they were not tied to their beds, and now that fight is again off.

Please review the following material as a brief interlude:

Thank you. Now, I’m sure what to say at this point. Apparently, Tony Ferguson slipped on a production set while doing media and tore his LCL. We know this because he released a statement detailing just that, with of course the first letter of every word capitalized because again, he’s awkward and tries too hard. But man, what a fight that would be if EVER ACTUALLY FUCKING HAPPENED.

Instead the Sort Of Interim 155 Pound Belt will be on the line this Saturday, and will be fought for by Khabib and 145lb Champ Max Holloway. “Blessed” is long and rangy and has even discussed a future move to 155 as the featherweight weight cut gets harder and harder. However, I can’t see him stopping the onslaught of “The Eagle”. Not on short notice. Not when Khabib is as dominant as he is. Khabib via UD or late finish is my guess here.

But back to the point of this, to close things out. Who knows why this fight is so jinxed or why they never make it to the cage. Both fighters have each pulled out twice so say they have to book it once more now at least to see if someone can even that score. It just sucks one of the best fights we could see this generation just seems 100% cursed.

Life is meaningless.

Dustin Pedroia Says John Farrell Wore Down Red Sox Last Season

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NESN – “There certainly seemed to be something of a leadership void, and Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia admitted Monday that former Boston manager John Farrell was part of the reason the club didn’t seem to enjoy itself in 2017. “The overall approach, every day, would wear on guys. It wasn’t people not liking each other. We all love each other. Trust me,” Pedroia said Monday morning on WEEI’s “OMF.” “There’s the mindset of, ‘You show up to the yard, you put your work in, you have your approach that day, and you try to execute it. If you don’t, guess what? You’re going to show up tomorrow and still be in the lineup. We’re all going to have confidence in you. We’re all going to show up and try to win and accomplish the same thing.’ That’s what wore on guys and made the season that much more grueling — when everything that day was more magnified. It put a lot of pressure on our young guys, it put a lot of pressure on our veteran guys. That’s the part, when you hear Mookie (Betts) or (Xander Bogaerts) say they weren’t having much fun, you don’t ever have a chance to enjoy yourself if you don’t go 4-for-4, throw a complete game shutout, or we don’t win by 10. You don’t look ahead to the end of what we were trying to build for.”

Color me shocked. Dustin Pedroia came out and admitted on WEEI that last year sucked because John Farrell just beat guys down. It seems like his approach was just a grind on guys mentally. As much as we like to rail on players for whining and complaining, Boston may be the toughest city to play in the entire league so its important to manage that level of stress. This is where I’ve always been kind of disapointed though considering John Farrell came up in the Terry Francona school of management. Pedroia said guys were stressing because they were hyper focused on day to day success rather than building towards something bigger. If a guy didn’t hit the cover off the ball one day he’d be worried about getting moved down in the batting order or getting bumped from the lineup entirely. Farrell never really seemed as comfortable managing the Sox as we all thought he would be when Boston traded for him with Toronto.

Compare that to a manager like Francona who was infamous for sticking with his guys, almost to a fault. Anyone remember Mark Bellhorn? That guy was a goddamn enigma. In theory, a pretty solid player, but holy hell was he frustrating. Half the time he straight up SUCKED.  He was a disaster in 2004 with his double ear flapped softball batting helmet.

He hit .264 with 177 strikeouts, which was 1st in the American League and 2nd in all of baseball. He did have a .373 OBP though! But Francona knew the guy could hit so he kept going with him day in and day out. Guess what? In the long run it paid off as Bellhorn had a HUGE 3-run HR in Game 6 of the ALCS to force Game 7 against the Yankees. Don’t remember? It was the one that smoked a guy sitting front row in the chest, but he was wearing all black so Matsui and those dirty Yankees tried to play it off like it hit the wall.

So theres definitely something to be said for consistency.

Everybody remembers Game 6 of the 04 ALCS for the legend that was Schilling’s bloody sock, but people forget that was also this game:

But, I digress.

As a manager you could also go the other way and tell these professional athletes to sack up. I mean if I have a few non-productive shitty days at my job, my employer is most likely going to chew me out. If you’re not performing the manager is well within his rights to sit you down. But, and I think this is what John Farrell’s biggest weakness was, if you’re going to do that you have to communicate why to the player. Build them up. Co-mmu-ni-cate. And that is where Farrell dropped the ball. The guy just did not have the social skills or the management skills or whatever you want to call it to relate to his players on a day to day basis. Not to beat a dead horse, but again Francona could call Pedroia in to play a game of cribbage and while the two are having a friendly competition Tito could tell him that he has sucked lately and is giving him a day off. Whether that was good news or whether that was bad news, Tito could communicate.

One of my favorite stories about Francona was how he would go out during batting practice every day and if he had to have a talk with someone he would bring them behind the backstop to chat. It was in the middle of everyone and completely public, but nobody could hear what they were saying except Tito and the player. So he was a master class in dealing with the players and their fragile egos and getting the best out of guys. Hell Francona could call a guy into his office while he was taking a dump and have a chat. I don’t really see that kind of comfort level existing between John Farrell and any of these Red Sox players. So the hope here is that Alex Cora is able to bring back that warm and fuzzy feeling back to the players. Maybe Cora won’t be sitting on the porcelain throne when he’s calling in Rafael Devers, but hey its only his first year on the job.

Nurmagomedov Vs. Ferguson Is 2 Weekends Away And I For One Am Steadily Knocking On Wood

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Blogger’s Note: It’s considered poor writing protocol to call someone by their first name but I’m exhausted so I’m just calling him “Khabib” from now on.

It wouldn’t be a hot take to say that apart from a fight featuring one of the token UFC Pay Per View Headliners (Jones, Lesnar, McGregor, etc.) Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson might be the most anticipated fight of this generation, at least.

Not only has this fight been anxiously awaited to see who strictly speaking is the better of these two specific combatants, but it also has the unique quality of having a constantly evolving set of macro-level stakes attached to it over the last couple of years. First it was the question of who is the heir to the 155lb throne, the next great fighter of the House That Penn Built. Then it was who is the best 155er other than Conor McGregor. Then it was who is the best in that division period, as for awhile it was unknown if McGregor would ever return. Now, it is a sort of amalgamation of all three.

So for the UFC 223 Main Event, in one corner you have Ferguson. He is ridiculously talented, although I find him to be 1000% obnoxious. Some folks have expertly taken pages from the Sonnen-McGregor self promotion playbook and used it their advantage. Tony Ferguson has used it to create a string of cringe worthy moments, only to double back and say that is what he was trying to do. Basically if peeing your pants is cool Tony Ferguson is Miles Davis. With all that said, he has refused to allow his talent to be ignored. Since losing to Michael Johnson in 2012 he has won 10 in a row, most recently capturing the Lightweight (interim?) title that he will defend against his Dagestani adversary. He leverages a long frame to enable his solid boxing, wrestling, and a particularly tricky, opportunistic submission grappling game.

Across from Ferguson will be the all at once enigmatic-yet-feared-for-a-reason Khabib. The path of utter destruction he has left behind him in the UFC cage has been cloaked in and footnoted by injury, failed weight-cuts, an annual absence due to Ramadan, and some simply unexplained inactivity. There have been times when he has been considered the unofficial king of the 155 division, a guy you couldn’t see losing to anybody if he could just get back in there; and there have been times where he has been gone long enough to allow guys like Ferguson to rise up and allow you to wonder if Khabib has continued to improve and grind enough to stay as elite as he has always looked. As a fighter, he’s just a brute. he employs sharp hands to set up a nearly unstoppable double-leg. From there, his suffocating top game allows him to unleash hellacious ground and pound as well as the occasional submission. He’s 25-0 for a reason.

With. All. Of. That. Said this is the 4th Goddam motherfucking time this fight has been booked. The pull out record (nice) stands at 3-1 in favor of Ferguson, who once had to back out due to a knee injury, allowing Khabib to show up to Tampa 5 pounds overweight and beat the bag out of poor Darrell Horcher. On Khabib’s side, as I mentioned, injury and an always interesting battle with the scale has been his main Achilles heel(s). I honestly believe he has the weight under control thanks to Fighters Who Love Food whisperer Tyler “Melee” Minton, whose nutritional guruness has proven to be most effective for a number of weigh-in degenerates these days.

With all that said, fuck just “hoping” this thing happens. Here’s what I want to see: I want Khabib and Ferguson allowed nowhere but their beds. Not even a couch. I’ve slept on couches, bad things can happen. Have someone carry them to and from the sauna, people slip in there. For exercise to aid them in cutting weight, use that lat pulldown-ish rubber band workout that people on “My 600lb Life” do supine in order to lose a quick 80lb so that they can get live saving lap band surgery or some shit. Get these guys to the scale and then into the octagon, but due NOT get my hopes up again. 2018 has sucked, They have TWO lightweight contests on the main card for UFC 223. Do you think that’s a coincidence? Nope. Because if either Tony Spazzmaticweirdo or Khabib Tiramisu can’t make it to the cage we are going to see something like Ferguson-Iaquinta or Khabib-Felder in the MAIN EVENT OF A UFC PPV. I love Paul Felder. I love Ragin Al Iaquinta (if you’re reading this Mr. Ragin I mean no disrespect) but to see either of them headlining a PPV in a title fight at this point in their careers would be beyond disappointing. What’s that? Cashmeousside vs. Jedrzejczyk would probably be moved up to the Main Event slot? Fucking fantastic. No. Put Ferguson and Khabib in the same pads as the over-protected kid in the beginning of “The Little Giants” and let’s find out two Saturdays from now who gets their red panty night.

Sam Darnold Wows Scouts by Throwing at His Pro Day in the Rain. Where Have I Seen This Before?

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ESPN – Given an out, USC quarterback Sam Darnold declined to move up his throwing session at his school’s pro day on Wednesday, choosing instead to throw under a steady rain in front of a throng of NFL decision-makers. “I don’t think it would have been fair to change the schedule with all of the other guys training for the pro day,” Darnold said. “So I just wanted my guys to be comfortable — my teammates — that was first and foremost. “But I also think it was a perfect opportunity to be able to throw in the rain and show these guys I could throw in the rain.”

Look I get it, Darnold has played in sunny and perfect Southern California for the past couple of years so he wants to show the scouts he’s not soft. But this is EXACTLY how the Buffalo Bills became infatuated with that bum EJ Manuel.

I remember it like it was yesterday. Scouts were going nuts because Manuel could grip it and rip it while water was falling from the sky, which is as we know a huge indicator of NFL success.

“Manuel set himself apart from other prospects after impressing coaches when he threw well during a thunderstorm at a private workout with the Bills’ brass in Tallahassee, Fla.”

The Bills play in Orchard Park, NY which is basically a hellhole with winters that would rival Winterfell. So the Bills saw a guy that could play in conditions less than 70 and sunny and thought, HAVE TO HAVE IT. Discounting the fact that he was highly mediocre at Florida State, but hey if he can throw in the rain at a Pro Day then he must be the next Montana.

Welp, in Buffalo he ended up throwing for 3500 yards and 19 TDs in the air with another 320 yards and 4 TDs on the ground…in 4 years.

Let this be a cautionary tale to the NFL scouts with a Top 5 pick in this year’s draft. Select Sam Darnold because you like his body of work, because you think he’s intelligent, hell do it because you think he’s less likely to get arrested than Baker Mayfield. But don’t be the Buffalo Bills and draft a guy because he can throw a tight spiral in a shower.

Johnny Manziel to Throw at University of San Diego Pro Day

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PFT– According to Bruce Feldman of Sports Illustrated, Manziel will be the quarterback throwing to receivers at the pro day workouts at the University of San Diego on Thursday morning.

One quick thing to address off the bat: please note the use of Mr. Manziel’s government name in this headline rather than his “Football” moniker. We here at The 300s are known to practice Journalism and I feel that is often forgotten.

Now that that is out of the way we can kind of sort through what is going on here.

It’s fairly important to first understand how a lot of these pre-draft showcases/work outs are structured and run before really looking at the opportunity Johnny Football (FUCK) has in front of him. In case you aren’t read up on your pageantry, have no fear friend, your pal Joey B has you covered. I used to be a draft nerd and I suppose I still am one to an extent as much like being a fan of anything pop culture or sports related, once you’re in, and it continues to exist, you’re always going to be sort of drawn to it. So let’s get down to brass tacks.

A Pro Day is sort of like an athletic program’s NFL Combine, the event where every player declared for the draft and deemed noteworthy by the league (they fuck that part up a lot) is, in front of a slew of pro scouts from every team and at a central location, run through both a standard set of drills and then another subset based on their position(s). At a pro day, in front of a group of scouts that choose to attend for specific players, players from the same football program can run through a very similar if not exact set of drills that they performed at the Combine but at their college athletic program’s facilities. This gives players a second chance to show what they can do but in a familiar environment (e.g they can run the 40 on the same track they always run on) while being directed by coaches they are comfortable with and working through the drills with fellow participants they know. There are exceptions of course. For instance, a lot of smaller schools’ players will work out at the Pro Day held by a larger school. I wish I could tell you how, for instance, Tuskegee players have the option to attend Troy’s pro day but I actually have no idea. Also, not all players involved in these drills are familiar with each other, both because of the aforementioned school inclusions and because of eligibility rules, which is where our Mr. Manziel (“J”) comes in.

For wide receivers, they obviously have to run routes and show off their speed, separation ability, change of direction, etc. They also need to show they can catch the ball, and so someone has to throw it to them. The problem is that their most recent starting QB might still have eligibility left, in which case he is not allowed to participate, the rest of his QBs might not yet be ready for the tasks and thus may make him look bad, or, in some cases, there simply may just not be anyone around. In the case of the University of San Diego in the year of our Lord 2018, they needed someone to toss the rock to the WRs participating in their pro day and have called in Johnny Manziel (::brushes shoulder off::) from the bullpen.

I personally think this is a great idea for the former first round pick. Why? Two big reasons in particular.

First, it’s a controlled environment. He is there for the receivers looking to enter the league so there will be nothing inhibiting what he is doing. There will be no pass rush, no motion or rolling out of any sort, and he will probably know the routes he will be throwing ahead of time. To elaborate on that last point, even if the routes aren’t disclosed to him it’s more than likely just the basic full WR route tree. He’s been through this before.

The second reason, and the reason I like this move the most and think it is sly and savvy as fuck, is that it shows humility. It’s humbling. Those two words would have not been within a paragraph of Johnny Manziel’s (I’m too respected by this point so I’m done with the jokes) name a few years or even months ago. At pro days, you never know who the QBs are. Their names are never mentioned. Once in awhile it will be a grad assistant or something from that school who was a starting QB a few years past so they bring it up for nostalgia sake (Hey! Look who’s tossin passes, it’s Tyler Palko!) but that’s about it. They’re the men behind the curtain. But in order to get out there and get seen and let it be known that he’ll do those two things by any means necessary, Manziel is willing to put on that cloak of anonymity and take on this fairly thankless role on Thursday. It’s brilliant.

Everyone loves a good comeback story. We’re seeing it with Tiger Woods this year. I think this is a legit step for Johnny Manziel to truly, surely prove he is serious about getting back in the league in any capacity. I’ll be waiting to hear how he looks Thursday, if we even do.

Chris Sale Named Opening Day Starter for the Red Sox. Thank God.

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As he should be. The guy was the Red Sox best pitcher last year, is likely to be their best pitcher this year, is a great spokesman for the team, not to mention he is legitimately mentoring the team’s top prospect in Jason Groome. The Opening Day start is his, he’s earned it.

Some say it should go to David Price because its his team and he has the seniority. Except Price has been a malcontent for the better part of two seasons in Boston, got in an embarrassing pissing contest with team broadcaster Dennis Eckersley, and has not pitched well consistently. I want to like David Price and believe me I realize that we need him to be good if the Sox are going to make a World Series run. But to give him the Opening Day start is the definition of coddling. Just because he makes the most money on the team does not give him the start by default. To paraphrase my friend Alec Baldwin, to give you the Opening Day start is to throw it away. The Opening Day start is for closers.

In all seriousness though, this gives Sale the unofficial title of staff ace, but it also lines up Price to get the home opener start at Fenway, which could be a fresh start for him and the fans. Lets get off to a good start and stop bashing the media and beloved team broadcasters and then we can talk. In the meantime though, we will continue to sell our YUCK merch.