Ask Not for Whom the Bell Tolls - It Tolls for Thee MLB

Fenway Park used to be a place I'd go to watch Red Sox baseball games but going forward it will be a place I occasionally go to concerts. Like many baseball fans I've had enough.

It is still uncertain if MLB will even play any games in 2020. And if they do play - how many games? But for many fans, like myself, I could care less at this point if they come back or not.

The NBA and NHL are trying to resume their seasons and are much further along than baseball. If these leagues are successful then the epitaph for MLB is all but written.

By my count there are only 12 MLB markets that won't have competition (often on the same nights) from NBA or NHL playoff teams. Many markets, like Boston, will have competition from both the NBA and NHL. I know if it comes to a choice between a regular season game for the Red Sox or a playoff game for the Celtics or Bruins - I'm watching the playoffs. There's a good chance I'd only have the chance to watch less than a handful of Red Sox regular season games.

Then you also have to factor in college football and the NFL. Once late August and September rolls around how many sports fans in Atlanta, for example, are going to tune into a Braves game on a Saturday when Georgia is playing an SEC game or the Falcons are playing an NFL game on Sunday?

Fantasy Baseball is ruined for the season and many folks, again like me, are done with wasting my time with that pursuit. Not just for this season but done period! What's left to make the game attractive to viewers of any age at this point? Sure if the Red Sox make the playoffs I'll probably tune in (as long as it doesn't clash with the Patriots schedule or a top college football match-up).

I can even foresee a time in the not too distant future where the top professional baseball teams will actually be in Asia

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Tiger wins the Masters! (And just like that millions of middle-aged white guys forget all about Colin Kaepernick.)... Heh Heh... I was at Fenway Park yesterday and the PA systems started playing Survivor's Eye of the Tiger then it was announced that Tiger had won the Masters with the centerfield scoreboard showing highlights. Tiger got a big round of applause from the crowd... Prosecutors in the Orchids of Asia case admit that there will be no charges related to human trafficking because they have no evidence that human trafficking was involved. Yet the sheriff's department went out of their way to mention potential human trafficking when allegations against Robert Kraft were made public. I hope there's a huge lawsuit coming out of this... Does this cut too close to the truth to be funny?... Today is Patriots Day in Massachusetts which is supposed to commemorate the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Yet that battle happened on April 19th. Today for most people is "Marathon Monday" with the running of the Boston Marathon and a special 11:00 am start for the Red Sox at Fenway. The true Patriots Day should be April 16th each year because that date celebrates both Bill Belichick's birthday and also the anniversary of drafting Tom Brady with the 199th pick of the 2000 NFL Draft....

Red Sox

With last night's 4-2 victory the Sox are now up 2-0 in the Series and the potential exists that the last game of the season at Fenway Park has been played.

If that's so then this image might be the lasting impression of many of Fenway 2018.

For others it might be this image.

Bobby Doerr

Red Sox great and Baseball Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr has passed away at the age of 99. The Red Sox put out this response about the loss of Doerr.

To get an idea of the man this article written 10-years ago about the last time Doerr visited Fenway Park might be helpful. I take comfort in knowing Doerr wished to someday be reunited with his wife of 65-years. Today Bobby and Monica are back together.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Wait - what? The guy operating the scoreboard in the Green Monster for the past 25-years is a Yankees fan?

- Interesting perspective: Bledsoe wonders if Romo's time is up in Dallas

- Greg Popovitch is the man

- Tim Ferriss - the Oprah of audio

- Speaking of Tim Ferriss - workout and fitness tips from Ferriss

Epic Brawl Between Galway And Dublin At Fenway Park

This is awesome! Makes hockey fights look like tea parties.

ND vs BC

I was going to post something about the latest chapter of the Holy War yesterday but I was kind of busy. You knew last night's game was going to be special starting with yesterday's beautiful sunrise over Fenway.

There were a lot of storylines attached to this game starting with the death of Doug Flutie's parents just an hour apart after 56 years of marriage and Flutie's decision to still call the game for NBC. A moment of silence were held for the elder Flutie's prior to the game. There was the return of native son Brian Kelly who got his football coaching start in nearby Assumption College in Worcester. How about Torii Hunter's son getting to use David Ortiz' locker? There was the story of the Irish trying to remain in the hunt for a berth in the college football playoffs. Then there was the very idea of a college football game at Fenway Park where Boston College had a record of 75-21-5 in 101 previous games at Fenway but were the "visiting team".

All the storylines seemed related and seemed to weave in and out of each other. The last time Boston College payed at Fenway was a 7-0 loss to Holy Cross in 1956. Decades later it was the dominance of Doug Flutie's Eagles team that led Holy Cross to end the Crusaders rivalry against the Eagles. And now another team with a Worcester connection was about to make Boston College 0-2 in their last two Fenway tilts.

You had to know that this was going to be a close game though. Sure the Eagles offense is anemic but their defense is one of the top 5 in the country. Besides this game has historically been close. The last two times these teams met the Irish were 20 and 24 point favorites but the final scores were 21-6 in 2012 and 16-14 in 2011. Boston College was getting 15.5 points last night.

Hope you enjoyed the game as much as I did.

 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

For those of you wondering after watching the first half of last night's game - Brock Osweiler is Peyton Manning's backup in Denver... Can't believe this is the guy who has been leading the polls for the GOP... According to sources Chris Mortensen's Tweet that 11 of 12 of Jason Pierre-Paul's fingers being badly damaged has been deleted... Am I a bad person that I laughed at this?... College football announcers who say "true freshman" should be forced to say "true sophomore", "true junior" and "true senior" as well...  Never knew there was such a deep connection between Irish heritage and Fenway Park... With the Pope's upcoming visit to the US - I began wondering who is America's most prominent Catholic? Joe Biden? Stephen Colbert? Jim Gaffigan? Tom Brady?... I can't stand PK Subban on the ice but off the ice it's hard not to like him when he does things like this...

Foo Fighters

Went to see the Foo Fighters last night at Fenway Park. It was agreat concert. They opened up with guitars wailing and the crowd screaming. I took that opportunity to fart. Really just let it loose. Nobody was able to hear it above the noise. So for the first few songs of the night the girls behnd me were fighting my foo.

Dave Grohl from his throne said last night that Queen's performance at Live Aid was the apex of rock. Re-watching it is hard to argue against him.

One of the few cover songs they played last night was AC/DC's Let There Be Rock. You don't hear that song much any more.

Looking at the two live performances videos above - you can really see where the Foo Fighters are coming from.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Guy tricks people into thinking he was an NBA draft pick - good for him!

- Cool - Winston Churchill with the equivalent of a medical marijuana prescription of his day.

- Classy move by rival TV station

- I keep saying - DeflateGate is going to get Roger Goodell fired

- The sky over Fenway (and most of Mass) on Tuesday was incredible

- Heh Heh

- 15 things about Monty Python and the Holy Grail you might not have known.

Top 5 - Reasons to go to Fenway Park This Season

Here are the Top 5 reasons to go to Fenway Park for the remainder of the season.

1. To see Derek Jeter's final regular season game (and maybe final game if Yankees miss playoffs) on September 28th.

2. To see the Tom Petty concert on August 30th.

3. If Jon Lester gets traded and his new team visits Fenway.

4. If someone gives you free tickets and you had no other plans for the night.

5. Ummm.... sorry. Can't seem to think of a 5th reason to see this dumpster fire of a team this season.

A Beautiful Moment at Fenway

A few years ago a young man with autism was chosen to sing the anthem but he gets nervous. The crowd steps up to help him out. Beautiful.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

For what its worth - Jarrod Saltalamacchia is batting .206 with a .632 OPS. I'm pretty sure Jason Varitek could have topped those numbers... Cool - a penny that is worth $1.5 million... I think I am going to randomly point at objects and say in my most officious voice, "What is the meaning of this!?!" just to see the reactions I get... The entire list of the 213 players who returned to take part in the Fenway 100th birthday celebration... Ph studies show that vaginas should smell like vaginas - not like flowers or Red Sox starting pitchers... Joe Biden Bad Lip Reading = Awesomesause... Still say that ESPN should make Bobby Knight announce women's NCAA games paired with Jeremy Schaap. Admit it - you'd watch that... It will be interesting to watch how many Democrats up for re-election choose to campaign with President Obama. My guess is not many but I wonder if the snubs get to be a major story...

Fenway at 100

Yesterday the Red Sox had the celebration to end all celebrations. Fenway Park turned 100 and the Boston owners pulled out all the stops. I may be in the minority but a building turning 100 isn't that big a deal in my book.

It was really cool having those 213 players return to Fenway. We don't see enough of Pedro, it was good to see Bill Buckner get a big hand, Nomar - Nooomaaahhhh, Jim Lonborg and others. It was especially pleasing to see Terry Francona get the loudest applause of all. But a building turning 100? Meh!

I travel a lot and I get it that a 100-year beloved facility in other parts of the country would be a big deal. In New England it's not that big a deal. Half of the college campuses and town centers have dozens of buildings as old as Fenway. I lived for years in a house that was as old as Fenway. Don't get me wrong - we understand and value the history. What we don't understand or value is what is becoming of our team.

Fenway Park is now a tourist attraction more than a park for fans to root on their team. I'm glad the toast by Kevin Millar blew up in their faces as farce. Millar is a joke. Screw him. Sweet Caroline? The song is about a pedophile in love with an 11-year old girl. Time to get rid of that stupid song. Very telling that the two biggest boos of the day were reserved for Bobby Valentine - a self-promoter who replaced a winner and Barack Obama - a pure self-promoter.

The backlash on the self-promotion is growing and as the team falters on the field the wave of discontent will only grow. When people look back at 2012 - it won't be remembered as the year Fenway turned 100. It will be remembered as the season of the fans discontent. Fans want pennants - not promotions.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If the Vikings lose to the Lions on Sunday - what are the odds of Brett Favre retiring on Monday? 100-1 maybe?... Death by caffeine: how much will kill you? About 100 cups of coffee or 131 cans of Red Bull apparently... Just saying but if the Red Sox sweep the Yankees for the rest of the season then that only puts them 1.5 games back for the Wild Card. Yeah I'm grasping at straws.... On this day in 1911 - ground is broken in the building of Fenway Park. They don't make 'em like they used to... In honor of Goodfellas celebrating the 20th anniversary of its release - here a quiz on the movie. I got 100%... Michael Douglas turns 66 today while Catherine Zeta-Jones turns 41. I find it strange / interesting that they share the same birthday... Led Zepplin drummer John Bohnam died 30-years ago today. In his memory here's Zep playing Kashmir back in 1979.

The Metrodome

I had a chance to visit the Metrodome on Sunday to see the Twins play the White Sox. I had a great time. I was really struck by the difference between going to a big market stadium (like Fenway Park) versus the small market experience of going to the Metrodome (no offense).

It started with the parking. I paid just $5 for parking just a couple of blocks away from the Metrodome. Then just out front of the stadium a scalper (probably the wrong term but I'll get to that in a minute) approached me asking if I needed a ticket. I said yes but I misheard him. I though he said "I have a good seat for $131." "I'm not paying that much for a ticket." "Whoa - don't speed away. How about the ticket for $20." It was then that I realized that he wasn't saying "$131" but actually "one for $31." I bought the ticket for $20 (less than face value so it wasn't scalping - more like discount retailing). The seat was 10 rows off the field down the third base line. I had almost the same seat at Fenway earlier this year and that ticket cost me $180.

Nice is the best word to describe the crowd and the people in general at the game. Very respectful. There was one thing I found amusing and wanted to comment on. During the singing of the National Anthem you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was standing still, all hats removed and many with hand over heart. However, at the Metrodome the American flag is in centerfield while the Canadian flag is behind home plate. Pretty much everyone in the stadium was facing towards home to watch Miss Minnesota sing the anthem. They were supposed to be facing the American flag. Instead they were, in a manner of speaking, paying homage to the Canadian flag instead. I found that amusing.

At Fenway Park - the game is the thing. Nothing extra. At the Metrodome there was all sorts of extras. Shooting T-shirts into the stands, a between innings pop fly challenge, a Blue Bunny (ice cream) promotion, etc. It was like being at a AAA game (no offense).

The Brats and beer were great but one thing that has to be noted was the trough-style urinals in the men's room. Stainless steel troughs. Augusta National is the only other major sporting venue that I can think of that still uses trough urinals. I wonder if trough-style will be used at the new stadium downtown?

One final note. About 80% of the shirts people were wearing at the game had Mauer or Morneau written on the back. There is no way that the Twins will allow either player to walk as a free-agent. No way.

Fenway Park Factors

Last night the Red Sox had their 500th consecutive sellout at Fenway Park. The thing that is amazing to me about the streak is the fact that as a team the Red Sox have hit .295 with a .374 OBP during those 500 games. That's impressive. I have to think that having a full house full of knowledgeable fans has to pump the Red Sox hitters up and be worth more than a few points in batting average and OBP.

Of course it could be that the sellouts started because the Red Sox were hitting and winning at Fenway. Chicken and egg type deal? The Red Sox are 327 and 173 over those 500 games at Fenway.