There are few things I love more than America, Baseball, and Ice Cream. My family sure, but to be honest it’s kind of close. There’s nothing better than sitting at a game in the midst of summer, watching your favorite team take down a rival while you soak up the sun and snack on a delicious frozen treat. Years back, there existed something that encompassed all three of the key components I named above. I’m talking about Good Humor’s Bubble Play.
I’ll pause to let you reflect as your taste buds take you back to a time of euphoric delights, a staple of the youth of every millennial child from sea to shining sea.
Bubble Play was the perfect summer treat, straight from the ice cream truck circling your neighborhood after you just got done running through the sprinkler. Unfortunately, it’s been years since it’s been available and the world was never the same. Some say the current political climate is due to the lack of Bubble Play, but that’s neither here nor there.
But what if I told you, we had a chance to restore our summers to former greatness?
Good Humor has proposed to me that I come up with a plan to revive Bubble Play.
The only thing that millennials are better at than making great social media campaigns is reviving products of yesteryear. So I ask you, please use the hashtag #BringBackBubblePlay and show Good Humor just how much you love and miss Bubble Play, and maybe, just maybe, we can save the summers yet to come.
Papa Giorgio rightfully brought to my attention that The 300s didn’t have any swag for our miserable fans in New York. I’ve always kind of rooted for the Mets solely because Yankees fans hate them too so the enemy of my enemy is my friend I guess. Where my Mets fans at??
Get the custom Circus design on t-shirts, tank tops, stickers, iPhone cases and whatever else your heart desires. Hell, we put it on shower curtains just in case you really want to bathe in it. Buy The 300s Circus gear now!
Listen I’m not one for hyperbole, but I’m pretty sure after watching Red Sox rookie Michael Chavis for 9 games, he’s headed to the Hall of Fame. The dude has come in and immediately started to rake. While its common for rookies to sometimes get off to a fast start before the league puts together the book on you and starts pitching to your weaknesses; its less common for a rookie to immediately look like he *belongs*
#RedSox win!
Michael Chavis: (2-for-4, 3 RBI) drove in a career-high 3 runs on a pair of singles…Has 8 RBI in 9 career games.
· Gave the Red Sox a lead with a 2-run single with 2 outs in the 3rd inning…Was his 2nd go-ahead RBI and first game-winner. pic.twitter.com/ccOudQOrOd
Since getting called up Chavis has pretty much been an every day starter, especially after CROAKING a double in his first career at bat, in a clutch situation to boot. As a pinch hitter off the bench no less.
That’s one way to announce your arrival. #RedSox No. 1 prospect Michael Chavis launched a ball out of Fenway Park for his first #MLB home run. The 🚀 traveled 441 feet with an exit velocity of 110.2 mph.
In the interest of full disclosure I was not super optimistic about what Chavis was going to look like after returning from a PED suspension, but as I blogged about when the Sox called him up he’s actually been *better* at least in terms of OPS..
I don’t wanna jump the gun or anything, but do we have enough room in right field for his retired number?
All last week I was thinking about writing an article about how bad this Red Sox team has been playing so far. I kept putting it off because most of my attention is on the Celtics and Bruins, and honestly, it’s still April. No need to panic just yet, right? A 6-13 start, a run differential of -42 (barf), and the second worst pitching staff in all of baseball. In the words of Dennis Eckersley, YUCK! Going into the weekend, they were taking on a Tampa team that was an AL East leading 14-5 and had allowed the second least amount of runs in baseball. Well, just when you think the season can’t get any worse, they go and do something like this……AND TOTALLY REDEEM THEMSELVES.
Now I know the Sox still have a long way to go, but a road sweep of the best team in the division goes a long way this early in this season. It’s great for clubhouse morale, especially considering how awful this pitching staff has been so far. Statistically, only the Orioles pitching staff is worse, allowing 149 runs to our 131. Aside from David Price, all of our starters have ERA’s over 6. Sale and Porcello have both allowed more runs than strikeouts and have ERA’s at 8.5! That’s atrocious coming from a former Cy Young winner and a guy who just signed a $145 million extension. Our bullpen hasn’t been much better, but at least a few guys in the pen have been reliable enough.
Email Red@The300s.com to buy your YUCK sticker!
Then this weekend happened. Not that they were dominant by any means, but they did what they needed to do to eke out three wins against a tough team. All three wins came together late in the game, when good teams find ways to win. First on Friday, Mookie and Big Mitch went back to back in the eighth to put the team ahead for good. Then on Saturday, Benintendi hits a grand slam and a 9th inning sac fly to put the team up one, and Vazquez finishes off the Rays with this walk off pick off, resulting in our first series win of the season. Then the icing on the cake came on Sunday after the Celtics completed their sweep of the Pacers and the Bruins held off the Leafs to force game 7. To make for an amazing Boston Easter, the Sox won with a Vazquez sac fly in the top of the 11th, while Brasier shut the door for the third time in three nights. Man, what a day.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good news this weekend. Nathan Eovaldi was placed on the 10-day IL, with all signs pointing to a much longer stint on the injured list. You can read more about it here, but the short of it is Nathan has loose bodies in his throwing elbow that are more than likely going to need to be removed with arthroscopic surgery. The recovery period on this would be about 6 weeks, with range of motion coming back in about 2 weeks. This is the same surgery he had last spring, when he was out the first two months of the season. Bobby Poyner has been called up in his place.
Dallas Keuchel to the Red Sox rumors are heating up.
What do I think the Sox should do to address their pitching staff? Easy. Sign Dallas Keuchel. He’s said he’ll sign a one-year deal where he can compete for about $18 mil a year, or a longer deal for less money. We already have a ridiculous payroll of $236 mil, including 18 million/year we’re still paying that fat panda Pablo Sandoval, so what’s another $18 for another dominant starter? Now it may take Keuchel a month or so before he’s ready to pitch to live hitters, but reports are that he’s been on a throwing schedule where he’s throwing 95-pitch simulated games every 5 days. This way, when Eovaldi comes back, he can be our closer and we can cut it out with this closer-by-committee trash. Not to knock on Brasier, who’s been great so far, but I just can’t see him being an effective closer for the whole season. The guys been in the majors for less than a year, only strikes out 5.5 batters per 9 innings, and looks more like the dudes I used to sell beer to 4 times a week than a professional athlete. Plus, imagine having to face a 101mph Eovaldi fastball in the 9th inning? Fuck that. This could be exactly the signing the Sox need to put them back in the drivers seat.
Chris Davis is 0-23 this season with 13 strikeouts.
This is one of the more profound questions in Major League Baseball right now. We’ll get into just how bad his contract is later, but the fact that he even has a job in the first place is downright astounding. I could do what he’s done this season and you wouldn’t even have to pay me for it. Just let me drink all the beer in the clubhouse I want and we’re good. When I saw the ESPN headline “Davis now 0-for-44, closing in on futility mark,” I knew exactly who they were talking about. Didn’t even have to check. There are currently 10 players named Davis on MLB rosters, 7 of which are hitters, but only one of them could be this bad. When Adam Jones is talking about keeping the banter to telling players they suck, this is who he’s talking about.
Now I don’t blame him for playing as long as the O’s put him on the field. The guy makes $23 mil a year, which boils down to just under $142k per game. I wish someone paid me that much money to swing and miss. But it’s not like this is a new thing. Let’s take a closer look at his numbers since signing his 7 year, $161 million contract after the 2015 season:
-The reason he was offered the contract in the first place was because he hit 159 homers in a 4 year span. In the 3+ years since, he’s hit 80, 38 of which came in 2016 in the first year of the deal. -In 2016, he led the league with 219 K’s in 566 ABs -In 2017, Davis hit 26 homers. However, he also struck out 195 times, which is twice as often as he was able to record a hit (98). He finished 3rd is Ks that year, but also had significantly less ABs than Aaron Judge, who finished with 13 more Ks and 86 more ABs -In 2018, he finished 4th, with 192 strikeouts, 25 behind the league leader Yoan Moncada. Again, he had significantly less at bats: 108 to be exact. -Also in 2018, he batted .168, good for the worst batting average for qualified hitters EVER. -Since signing the contract, Davis has totaled 1,515 ABs, 619 Ks, 302 hits, 194 walks, 80 HR, 196 RBI and 592 TB. His BA is .199, OBP is .296. -HE HAS MORE STRIKEOUTS THAN TOTAL BASES!! THAT IS FUCKING ASTOUNDING! -To put this into perspective, Jackie Bradley, who we all know sucks at the plate, has the following numbers in that same span: -1,552 ABs, 416 Ks, 385 hits, 158 walks, 56 HR, 210 RBI, 664 TB, a .248 BA and a .322 OBP. -The big difference here? JBJ is one of, if not the best defensive CF in the game. Chris Davis plays first, the most replaceable position in sports.
Davis is now three at bats away from a new record, one nobody wants to set. Which begs the question: if he’s this bad, why the hell is still seeing the field? As I pointed out, Jackie Bradley is not a good hitter, but he more than makes up for it with his defense. Chris Davis does not. I suppose if you are rebuilding the way the Orioles are, you want someone to suck all the time. But why not bench him or cut him? That contract is a sunk cost, so you might as well let one of the youngsters play and hopefully develop. Or continue to put the worst hitter in baseball 7th in your lineup, including against lefties. Go O’s!
If the #RedSox were ever going to get into the giant headed mascots racing thing, who should their 3 former players be? @45PedroMartinez for sure. Or should they be some other non-baseball figures? Like the cast of Cheers, etc?#WBZpic.twitter.com/xgNmI0r0Yl
GREAT question here, Joe. Now lets not just leave this to former Red Sox players though; thats too narrow. While I get what Joe is saying about Cheers, I am throwing that idea in the trash, respectfully of course. So any former Sox player or famous Bostonian is up for grabs in this poll. Here are some of the top Boston guys that I think would be A+ giant headed mascots
Trot Nixon
I cannot picture anything funnier than one of those abominations running around Fenway with the dirtiest gigantic hat ever made.
Kevin Youkilis
Youk would probably be the most easily recognizable giant headed mascot in the game with a 3 foot tall goatee.
Nomar Garciaparra
Once the sports book opens at the Wynn in Everett (lets go Mayor Walsh) I would HAMMER the moneyline on Nomah winning this race 5 nights a week.
Pedro Martinez
He would have a slight disadvantage though because a giant headed Pedro mascot would need to be taped to a poll as part of the costume.
Luis Tiant
El Tiante with a cigar the size of a pool noodle would be a dark horse candidate in every race.
Bill Burr
The angriest giant headed mascot you’ll ever see. Would never win shit because he is a comedian, not a track star, but Old Billy Red Balls would be a fan favorite for sure.
Ben Affleck/Matt Damon
They can’t have one without the other. Would be required they run the race as a three legged man.
Doug Flutie
The man is a damn legend. Forget the hail mary TD, the guy completed a drop kick in a live NFL game. My family literally has a framed picture of that shit in the basement. True story.
Who ya got? Tweet your best answers to me @The300sBoston so I can debate you on mascots instead of being productive in the cube.
Announcement coming later today: #Rays Tropicana Field will be cashless. Credit cards, #Rays cards (which can be purchased), etc. But no cash accepted.
Cash is out. Despite the fact that I carry around a money clip, debit cards and credit cards are king these days. Hell I even have a Venmo card in my wallet as I type this. I have five forms of financing in my pocket right now, six if you count the punch card with a free burrito on it, but zero dollars in cash. You know why? Because I will take cash out, then I will spend it immediately and it will be gone. Then I’m back to square one.
I will say carrying cash is a great way to shame yourself out of spending more money. Oh I already spent $40 on booze? Hmm should probably call it a night. Whereas with the magic plastic card covering everything, thats a problem for future Red.
So to go the complete opposite route of the bars that accept cash only, the Tampa Bay Rays will be accepting cards only. Love it. Take your dollar bills to the strip club. We’re here to spend some fake money. Swipe swipe.
PS – It was too easy to lead with a joke about the irony of the Tampa Bay Rays straight up refusing cash while they finish dead last in attendance every year.
ESPN – Whichever team signs free-agent reliever Adam Ottavino will have a confident pitcher. Assessing the state of today’s game on MLB’s Statcast podcast, the 33-year-old right-hander said that Babe Ruth couldn’t keep up.
“I had an argument with a coach in Triple-A about Babe Ruth’s effectiveness in today’s game,” Ottavino said. “I said, ‘Babe Ruth, with that swing, swinging that bat, I got him hitting .140 with eight homers.’
“He was like, ‘Are you nuts? Babe Ruth would hit .370 with 60 homers,’ and I’m like, ‘I would strike Babe Ruth out every time.’
“I’m not trying to disrespect him, you know, rest in peace, you know, shoutout to Babe Ruth. But it was a different game. I mean, the guy ate hot dogs and drank beer and did whatever he did. It was just a different game.”
As everyone knows, Babe Ruth is regarded as the greatest player in the history of baseball. He had a career batting average of .342 with 714 home runs and is the all-time leader in slugging % at .690 and OPS at 1.164. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
But that was playing against guys that worked in factories and delivered milk in the morning. Not to mention he played against white guys and white guys only. Ruth retired 12 years before Jackie Robinson made his major league debut. So there are a lot of arguments to be made if you want to poke some holes in the legend that is Babe Ruth.
Babe Ruth played the cards he was dealt though and absolutely dominated the competition that was put in front of him for 22 years. Can’t knock the hustle. But if he played today?
6’2″ and north of 250 pounds? Yea that guy might struggle against hyper-specialized relievers throwing 100 mph on the black.
It’s impossible to really know how he would fare in today’s game. You know what is a much more fun argument? How would players from today fare in Babe Ruth’s era? In any sport really. Imagine LeBron James playing in the 1950s against a bunch of 5’11” dudes in short shorts? He would score 80 points a night without even breaking a sweat.
Leave it to a guy from New York who went to school in Boston to make national headlines for spitting the truth.
Yahoo – ESPN will begin broadcasting baseball games on Sunday nights an hour earlier beginning in 2019, with first pitch scheduled shortly after 7 PM EDT, Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reports. Games had typically started shortly after 8 PM EDT. ESPN has not made an official announcement but is expected to do so at the Winter Meetings.
It’s about time. Baseball games take 3-4 hours these days and god forbid its a Red Sox Yankees game. I know I sound like an old man, but I’m simply just not going to stay up until 11 or 12 at night to watch a baseball game.
Who the hell is actually up watching these games besides college kids and the unemployed?
This Yahoo story cites “player rest” as the main reason for the change, which may be true but I can’t imagine one hour making that much of a difference for players. This is a move that all fans should love, unless of course you live on the West Coast, but nobody cares what you think. Support a big market franchise when it’s not the best team in the league and maybe we’ll give you a spot at the table. Until then let the East Coast worry about these things.
The 300s 