Tag: Boston

The Latest News on Dustin Pedroia is the Darkest Yet

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ESPN – His name was written in pen on a sign over his locker. His Boston jerseys neatly dangled inside on hangers. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia was back with the Red Sox — if only for a quick visit. He hobbled through the clubhouse Tuesday on crutches, his surgically repaired left knee on the mend.

Pedroia really doesn’t think about hitting so much these days as simply not hurting. He’s hoping the latest surgery on his troublesome knee allows him to throw batting practice with his kids pain-free one day. That’s really the extent of the plans for the 36-year-old Pedroia, who has been limited to nine games over the past two seasons.

Still, he wanted to drop by just to chat with his teammates as they opened a two-game interleague series at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies. Earlier this month, doctors removed bone spurs and performed a knee joint preservation procedure in Vail, Colorado.

Taking the field again? For now, that’s down the priority list.

“It would be nice to not hurt first,” said Pedroia, who has fond memories of Coors Field given that’s where the Red Sox clinched the 2007 World Series. “One step at a time. Hopefully, it works out.”

Before we get into the blog its my responsibility to remind everyone that Manny Machado is a dirtbag whenever discussing Dustin Pedroia. Moving on.

I don’t think many of us necessarily *expected* Dustin Pedroia to play baseball again, but this is probably the nail in the coffin. It sounds like he’s accepted the fact that he’s done and its probably time, but it doesn’t make it any less sad. I’ve held out hope that Pedroia would be able to return to at least a part-time role with the team. That is until I heard Jerry Remy (11 knee surgeries) talking earlier this year about a conversation he had with Pedroia and their shared knee issues.

He asked me, ‘Are there certain surfaces you have problems walking on?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, some hard surfaces.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got a floor in my house that I have to have changed because it bothers me.’

Remy added, “At the end of my career, I couldn’t move any more. I knew going to spring training I was done.

‘’I haven’t seen that much of Pedroia in the field this year. I saw him dive for a ball the other day and he wasn’t even close to it. But he turned some double plays. So you can’t make that judgement yet.

“But this is discouraging. Mentally, it’s very difficult to go through. It’s all you think about.’’

Dave Dombrowski basically told us Pedroia was done way back in 2017 when he said this knee injury was something Pedroia would have to monitor “for the rest of his career.” Pedroia then got a knee surgery he was pretty hesitant to get and the Red Sox publicly said the second baseman would be back in 7 months. Pedey returned in May 2018 before going back on the DL in June after just 3 games. Then in July 2018 Pedroia started dropping some pretty startling quotes about how he simply cannot risk coming back too early. Here’s what I wrote at the time.

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…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.

Pedroia was back for Spring Training and we were all pretty excited here at The 300s as No. 15 was ready to go for Opening Day…but only played 6 games before going back on the IL. He publicly stated that his knee “will never heal” back in May and shut down his rehab in an emotional press conference. I was convinced he was going to announce his retirement, but it seems like he wanted to take some time off and give it one more go.

Things sound a lot more myopic now though as this pretty dark update on Pedey dropped the other day. Despite playing in just 9 games in his last 2 seasons, he’s due to make $13M in 2020 and $12M in 2021 before becoming a free agent at 37-years-old. Here’s to hoping Pedroia can at the very least get healthy enough to enjoy his life and then maybe think about playing some ball again, but it seems like that goal is a distant second at this point.

Jayson Tatum Just Got Injured at the FIBA World Cup

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So Team USA narrowly avoided disaster and escaped with a first round W over Turkey, but it took some pretty fortuitous bounces, going to overtime, oh and the Celtics best young player getting hurt for that to happen.

Its too early to tell whether its a serious injury or not, but Tatum needing help to get off the court is not a good sign. Hopefully its just a tweaked ankle and he’ll be fine in a couple of days, but until then we panic.

Red Sox Ticket Prices Are Now Comically Low

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Catch the fever! Tickets to September Red Sox games are going for $6 bucks online right now. That is mental. You can get in tonight for $6, tomorrow for $7 and you can even get into Red Sox Yankees Sunday Night Baseball for $18.

I remember being a kid in the early 2000s and you couldn’t get into a Sox Yanks game for less than a bill. The first thing I did every April was sign up for the Red Sox/Yankees ticket lottery just to get a shot at those tickets for a decent price. Granted the Red Sox are 15 games out of first place in the AL East and 5.5 back of the second Wild Card spot. So as I said to a couple New Yorkers busting my balls over the weekend, we’re getting to the point in the Red Sox season where its almost Patriots season.

What a difference a year makes. Last September the Sox were just crushing teams en route to the World Series and I had no problem staying up til 3 am watching a 7 hour 18-inning game. Hell, I was in freaking Buffalo for work during the ALDS so I had to watch the Sox-Yankees in some Buffalo dive bar and I was more than happy to do it. Now? I’m not exactly racing home to watch David Price give up 5 runs in 5 innings and then opine about how his stuff felt good.

But, if I’m being a glass half full guy, which I know so many of you look to me for my optimism, I could at least expand my bobblehead collection two-fold for less than $20 in the next week.

Just shut everyone down, punt on 2019, make some moves in the winter, and come back with your heads screwed on in 2020. We’re done here.

Rob Gronkowski Launches a CBD Company

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WBZ – Rob Gronkowski’s “next chapter” involves a campaign to get professional sports leagues to loosen their restrictions on CBD products.

The retired former Patriots tight end announced at a press conference in New York City on Tuesday that he has partnered with Abacus Health to launch a line of CBD products, after Gronkowski said the products changed his life.

“I immediately made CBDMedic part of my recovery,” Gronkowski said of his post-retirement treatment. “And now for the first time in more than a decade, I am pain-free. And that is a big deal.”

Citing his countless injuries and his nine surgeries during his playing career, Gronkowski said he had no choice but to retire.

CBD is a tricky thing because it only became federally legalized in 2018 after the passing of the Farm Bill. Theres not a whole lot of government funded research to analyze and back up (or dispute) all of the claims of CBD benefits, which at this point in time are mostly anecdotal. Gronk is all in on CBD though and wants to make you a believer.

Right now there are two types of people in this country; CBD fanatics and people who think CBD is snake oil.

I wouldn’t blame people for thinking CBD is a bunch of bullshit because there are claims that it can help for everything from reducing pain and inflammation to improving sleep, reducing stress and anxiety etc. etc. Without a ton of studies available on CBD its easy to disbelieve if you aren’t a fan of it. However anyone that I’ve talked to who takes CBD swears by it. I’m personally a huge proponent of it. Could we all look back in 5 years and see it was basically a giant placebo effect? Sure, but if people at least believe its helping them then why not embrace it?

So we have a product that helps athletes with pain and recovery, is non-habit forming, and doesn’t get you high, yet its still banned by the NFL. Gronk is looking to change that.

CBD comes from cannabis which is derived from hemp, just without the THC, so its easy for people to circulate the “reefer madness” party line as to why you shouldn’t mess with it. But with more and more recreational marijuana shops opening up every day (seriously theres one right around the corner from my house that I didn’t even know about), its quickly becoming the norm.

Research and studies are coming and its not out of the goodness of their heart that the government will start funding it. No, its once they realize how much money there is to be made regulating it. CBD is in just about everything right now: oil, vapes, gummie bears, cookies, soda, coffee etc. So with regulation will come restrictions, but it will also weed out the people selling actual snake oil.

If you think this is just an athlete cashing an endorsement check then you need to watch the video below. Gronk nearly breaks down into tears discussing the pain he was in and how this product helped him get right.

Gronk did leave open the possibility for a return to football, but it sounds like he was so beat up that he couldn’t even enjoy winning the goddamn Super Bowl so I think a comeback is unlikely.

“I was in tears in my bed after a Super Bowl victory. … It didn’t make much sense to me,” Gronkowski said. “I couldn’t sleep for more than 20 minutes a night, after a Super Bowl win. And I was like damn, this sucks. It didn’t feel right.”

So heres to Gronk and the next chapter in his life. You gave us 9 seasons, 115 games, 79 touchdowns, 2 Super Bowls, and became arguably the greatest Tight End the NFL has ever seen all while beating the hell out of your body. Build a CBD empire, push for the NFL to legalize it, partner with Brady down the line on a TB12 CBD brand that will put GNC out of business. Sky’s the limit.

Rick Porcello Hulk Smashed a Couple TVs Last Night

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So I was minding my business, half heartedly watching the Red Sox game last night. I stepped away for a few minutes and I come back to see the Sox down 5-0 as Eck and Dave O’Brien are discussing how Rick Porcello just Hulk Smashed two TVs in the dugout.

If thats not a microcosm for this entire letdown of a season then I don’t know what is.

I also had a similar reaction to Porcello when I heard that Dave Dombrowski didn’t do a goddamn thing at the trade deadline AND had the balls to say teams were calling HIM about Red Sox relievers.

I said the same exact thing after last year’s incredible run to the World Series, while this is all great, I worry it will embolden Dombrowksi to make zero improvements to the bullpen again in 2019. And thats exactly what he did. Let Kimbrel walk, let Joe Kelly walk, basically hoped Matt Barnes (6 blown saves and 4+ ERA), Steven Wright (injured again), Tyler Thornburg (released), or Ryan Braser (demoted to Pawtucket) would somehow morph into a major league closer. With the backup plan currently being to take the guy you just gave an $67.5M contract to be a starter and throwing him in to join the Closer by Committee gang. Hey, it may work like it did last year or it may flame out spectacularly with the defending World Series champs outright missing the playoffs.

Smash away, Rick. Smash away.

Reds Pitcher Amir Garrett Started a BRAWL and Yasiel Puig (Who Had Just Been Traded) Was Ready to Throw Hands

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Yasiel Puig can drink from my canteen anytime. The dude just got traded so he technically wasn’t even on the Reds anymore yet he was still ready to throw hands.

Since we’re in the trust tree I’ll admit that the older I’ve gotten the more I’ve soured on baseball fights. It’s usually a bunch of dudes who’ve never thrown a punch in their lives just throwing their gloves at each other and flailing away. Last season’s Joe Kelly brawl was the exception.

But, THIS was different. So when an actual fight breaks out with haymakers being thrown, all started by a pitcher literally turning into Leroy Jenkins, I am all the way in.

Hell even the managers got into the mix and ended up getting tackled to the ground.

Reds manager David Bell (who was previously ejected) had been wrestled to the ground by Pirates hitting coach Rick Eckstein after charging Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle, and nobody seemed convinced that this drama was actually over at all.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it sparks up again. We don’t take lightly to what happened tonight and the way that they acted,” Bucs starter Joe Musgrove said. “The guy that’s running their team over there is the ringleader. You saw him come out and go right after our manager after being ejected. Who knows what’s going to happen down the line, but we definitely expect something to happen at some point. We’ll be ready for it.”

Also, shoutout to this cop who said fuck this I do not get paid enough to break up fights between millionaires, let them sort it out.

If baseball is going to thrive despite its pacing problem, length of games, umpire debates etc. etc. then some legitimate brewhahas couldn’t hurt to drum up excitement. Hell it was the 15 year anniversary the other day of my favorite baseball fight: A-Rod vs Tek

 

Celtics Officially Sign Tacko Fall. Tacko Tuesdays Are a Go!

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NBA.com – The Boston Celtics have signed guards Tremont Waters and Max Strus to two-way contracts, and have signed center Tacko Fall and guard Javonte Green, the team announced today. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Update: Tacko Fall was actually an undrafted free agent, not a second round pick. I literally linked to my own blog about this and still got it wrong. Carry on. 

I’m doing my best here to not get run over by the hype train that is a second round pick, but simply put Tacko Fall will be must watch TV any time he enters a game. After a solid showing in the Summer League, Danny Ainge saw enough to take a flyer on the kid. For the people that wanted the C’s to just dump Fall I honestly don’t get the rationale. The Celtics are completely devoid of big men with Al Horford taking his talents to Philadelphia so why not see what you have in the biggest man in the NBA? Isn’t this the exact point of 2nd round picks? To throw darts? Sure most of them will be bums, but some of them will turn into diamonds in the rough. Not saying Tacko Fall is going to be the next Nikola Jokic or Draymond Green, but might as well commit the minimal dollars and roster flexibility required to find out.

PLUS the Celtics Marketing Department must be borderline aroused at the possibilities here, as am I.

You know, I would say its the first time The 300s will inevitably make a t-shirt for the last man on the Celtics bench, but come to think of it…..we did the same exact thing last year.

Tigers man, just can’t change their stripes.

Marc Savard Joins the Enemies

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Really, Savvy? Really. One of the more underrated members of Bruins Twitter has now jumped ship and is a member of the Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues. Savard would openly root for the Bruins during playoff games, and seemed to be invested in how the team did despite the ugly ending to his career.

Seriously, though good for him. It was a long, dark road to recovery for Marc Savard and I’m happy to see him back in the NHL.

Would love to be a fly on the wall though when he speaks to fellow Blues assistant coach “Brave” Steve Ott for the first time though.

Wade Boggs Sounds Off on David Price for Being Soft in the Ongoing Eckersley Feud

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WEEI – On Friday, Price surrendered six runs in a losing effort to the Orioles, the worst team in baseball.

Though Eckersley refrained from taking any shots at Price, his ex-Red Sox teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Wade Boggs went right in. “Everybody in the game loves Eck. He was a great teammate,” Boggs said to Shaughnessy. “And David Price? Please. He should ask me what it used to be like to play in Boston. These guys today don’t hear any noise compared to the stuff that was aimed at us. I mean, seriously.

“‘Yuck?’ Give me a break.’’

Lost in all the media noise around David Price pouring gasoline on the Dennis Eckersley feud last week was this quote from Hall of Famer Wade Boggs. After Price made this a gigantic story, he proceeded to get lit up by the Orioles on Friday, a team best described by Michael Felger as one that should be relegated. It was a PTSD flashback of sorts for Price who was faced with his first highly scrutinized start since getting lit up in Game 2 of the ALCS last year. Despite vehemently denying it,

“That doesn’t affect me at all,” Price told reporters after he allowed six runs, including two homers, in four innings in the Red Sox’ 11-2 loss in Baltimore on Friday night “I’m sure it’ll be used in Boston, but it doesn’t affect me. “If you think I’m thinking about that out there on the mound tonight, you’re 100 percent wrong,” Price said. “Or even last night or the night before or whatever the case may be. That’s not the case. No, it didn’t affect me.”

Price predictably let it get to him as he crumbled on the mount. Now granted this whole renewed feud is all the Boston media has talked about the last week and certain sports blogs have been hawking YUCK t-shirts for the better part of two years, Wade Boggs came off the top rope to basically call David Price soft.

“And David Price? Please. He should ask me what it used to be like to play in Boston. These guys today don’t hear any noise compared to the stuff that was aimed at us. I mean, seriously.

“‘Yuck?’ Give me a break.’’

Get your YUCK shirt today!

Depending on where you stand on the Eck vs Price feud you could take this as a laugh out loud funny quote like I did or you could compare Wade Boggs to the old man yelling at a cloud. Either way, it sounds like Price touched a nerve going after not just Eck’s work as a broadcaster, but his character. Eck may not want to get into the mud and talk about this anymore, but his former teammates like Boss Hogg are more than willing to do so. May he Rest in Peace.

David Price and Dennis Eckersley Just Renewed Their Feud. (Buy a YUCK Shirt!)

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Uhh what the fuck guys? I thought we had moved past this amicably? I’m sure Chad Finn asked Dennis Eckersley a very direct question and Eck being Eck he gave a very direct response.

“I didn’t know how to deal with that,” Eckersley said to Finn about the airplane verbal assault. “I don’t plan on saying a word to him, I don’t plan on seeing him, never. I don’t really give a (expletive) one way or another. I don’t think he really cares one way or the other.”

But for David Price to retweet this with the laughing emojis and basically give the story new life is just childish. Listen, I know Price “holds all the cards” now, but jesus christ be the bigger man and just ignore the story. You were a colossal asshole to a Hall of Famer for doing his job giving his opinion on TV and you got called out for it. Just accept the L and move on. Or don’t. As long as you buy a YUCK shirt I don’t care.