Even if it’s not always apparent in the standings, you can tell there’s something different about this Red Sox team.
Tossed into the deep end by ownership and written off by a jaded fanbase that’s learned to expect mediocrity, the Red Sox have survived one injury after another to keep their heads above water when almost any other team in their position would have drowned.
Now, after being tethered to .500 for more than a month, the Red Sox entered Tuesday having won five of their last six games. They’ve picked up huge series wins against the Phillies and Yankees, owners of MLB’s two best records, and finally appear to be building momentum after months of being stuck in the mud.
Can the Red Sox keep it up? We’ll see, but at this point it’s clear this group has a level of youth, athleticism and camaraderie that’s been sorely lacking the past few years.
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Even if it’s not quite championship-ready, this club has proven itself worthy of investment from both fans and ownership.
The fact that the Red Sox are in this position is pretty remarkable. This past offseason the Red Sox did almost nothing to bolster the big league roster, instead focusing on acquiring young depth and getting more out of the players they already had. It was a huge gamble, one that looked doomed to fail after two of their most notable offseason acquisitions — starting pitcher Lucas Giolito and second baseman Vaughn Grissom — had their seasons derailed due to injury before Opening Day.
Incredibly, the club’s faith in its young talent appears to be paying off.
After years of starts and stops, Tanner Houck has made the leap and emerged as a genuine ace. The former first-round pick is on track to become an All-Star for the first time, and Kutter Crawford has also taken a big step towards establishing himself as a dependable workhorse. Those two, plus Brayan Bello, who is undeniably talented but whose season has been a disappointment so far, all look like they can be rotation anchors for years to come. Plus, the bullpen is probably as deep and formidable as it’s been since the 2018 playoffs.
The kids are coming to play everywhere else on the diamond too. Ceddanne Rafaela has immediately established himself as a Gold Glove-caliber defender and David Hamilton’s recent emergence has helped further stabilize the shortstop position in the wake of Trevor Story’s season-ending injury. Those two, plus fellow rookie outfielder Wilyer Abreu, have been a revelation.
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Boston’s young veterans have also taken a step forward. Jarren Duran has been one of the most impactful outfielders in the league, and the fact that he isn’t even among the top 20 All-Star vote-getters is outrageous. Connor Wong is batting .332 and has been one of the best all-around catchers in the league. Triston Casas had gotten off to a great start and should return from injury within the next two weeks. Rafael Devers, still only 27 himself, is on pace to easily clear 30 home runs for the fourth time in his career and has been much improved defensively.
These guys can play. They just need more help.
The question of whether the Red Sox should buy or sell at the trade deadline has loomed over the season since the beginning, and while selling would better fit the club’s recent pattern of behavior, you can make a case the Red Sox should buy, one that gets stronger with each passing win.
For one, the competitive landscape of the American League has changed. The AL East is no longer a five-team gauntlet and the Red Sox aren’t just an average team that’s badly outgunned by four serious contenders. The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays aren’t what they were, and even if the Red Sox probably won’t catch the Yankees or Orioles, they should at least be good enough to finish third.
Considering what a mess the AL West has been, that just might be good enough to make the playoffs as the third Wild Card.
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Maybe that doesn’t sound very ambitious, but after back-to-back last-place finishes there’s value in showing meaningful progress. Plus, this isn’t like the NBA or NFL where the best teams in the playoffs usually advance. Crazy things can happen in baseball, and if the Red Sox get in who knows what could happen?
Look no further than the Phillies, who made the playoffs as the third Wild Card two years ago and reached the World Series, or last year’s Diamondbacks, who snuck into the postseason with 84 wins and made the Fall Classic as well.
The other factor worth considering is the Red Sox have reached a different point in their rebuild. A young big league core has already been established, and top prospects like Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel could soon be knocking at the door. Boston will have the No. 12 overall pick in this summer’s draft, and while the club could benefit long-term from continuing to sell off pending free agents for controllable young talent, there’s also a long-term benefit in re-establishing a winning culture.
That way when those young players do reach the big leagues, they won’t be stepping into a clubhouse that just talks about winning, but one that expects it and already understands what it takes.
With Banner 18 secured and the Boston Celtics’ historic season officially in the books, all eyes now turn to the Red Sox. Could this be a summer to remember or another season of discontent? Time will tell, but this group has proven it deserves people’s support, and if the front office signals its belief, fans will undoubtedly line up behind them as well.
One autumn evening in 2020, the late poet Louise Glück walked into the snug dining room of the Somerville Peruvian restaurant Celeste. Glück found her usual table — the one between the two air conditioning vents — and greeted her usual server, Gonzalo, who waited on her every time she stopped in for ceviche de pescado and an IPA. But this evening was different from the others.
Glück had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature the day before and, amid a wave of public attention, craved the normalcy of enjoying a meal at one of her favorite restaurants. Ahead of Glück’s standing reservation, Celeste’s founders Maria Rondeau and chef JuanMa Calderon had filled the dining room with friends to ensure the new Nobel Laureate could dine in peace. A tabletop bouquet was the only memento marking her achievement.
“All she wanted was to be at Celeste and not think about anything else,” said Rondeau. “At the same time, we were nervous. We’d waited on the same lady every day, but now she was something else. It was a moment of joyous togetherness.”
Glück’s connection to Celeste is uniquely intense — so intense, in fact, that Rondeau and Calderon’s new restaurant opening in Back Bay, Rosa y Marigold, shares a name with Glück’s last published work. It’s also a particularly profound example of how Boston writers have long found comfort, camaraderie and sometimes safety in the city’s bars, cafes and restaurants.
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From the bygone Harvard Square Spanish spot Irunåa where Robert Lowell hosted post-workshop office hours to the old Ground Round off Soldiers Field Road where reporters for The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine and the Boston Phoenix grabbed drinks after media-league softball games, local eateries have literally and figuratively fueled generations of Boston academics, journalists, novelists and poets. So, we asked some of these writers to tell us where they typically go for a coffee, a meal, a conversation, or a moment of peace.
Zarlasht Niaz, novelist
Zarlasht Niaz, author of novel-in-verse “Unfurling,” at the Newsfeed Cafe at the Boston Public Library. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Zarlasht Niaz recently came to Boston from Minneapolis to begin her tenure as the Boston Public Library’s 2025-26 writer-in-residence. The Afghan American writer is managing an online literary journal that centers writing from and about Afghanistan while working on her debut novel-in-verse. Despite her newcomer status, she has already found some gastronomic staples.
Niaz regularly stops into BPL’s Newsfeed Café for arepas from the Somerville-based Venezuelan catering company Carolicious; lattes from a talented, unnamed barista — “When that person’s working, I get really excited,” said Niaz — and live public radio programming from the other NPR affiliate in town.
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She also frequents Anoush’ella’s South Boston location, whose Eastern Mediterranean flavors call to mind home food. “They have these salads with a lot of different herbs and they remind me of the salads I grew up eating,” said Niaz. Turmeric House in Braintree hits similarly. “A perfect cup of chai. A perfect kebab. Yeah, I can’t wait to go back.”
Stephen Greenblatt, literary historian
Author Stephen Greenblatt at Cambridge restaurant Giulia, on Massachusetts Ave. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Having devoted decades to unpacking the work of Renaissance writers, particularly William Shakespeare, it’s no wonder that the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning literary historian Stephen Greenblatt gravitates toward cuisine that could’ve conceivably appeared in “Julius Caesar.”
The Cambridge Italian staple Giulia is his undisputed go-to. “I know Italian food quite well, because we spend quite a lot of time in Rome,” said Greenblatt. “Guilia is unusually creative.” He often orders the pappardelle with wild boar topped with black trumpet mushrooms and parmigiano.
“The chef, Michael Pagliarini, is extremely talented and alert to what really good Italian food is like,” he said.
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Greenblatt also ventures to the eastern edges of the Mediterranean basin when visiting Oleana (which recently received a Michelin Guide recommendation), but his dessert of choice there is decidedly American. “I like Oleana quite a lot, particularly for the wonderful baked Alaska, which is, I think, one of the great desserts that one can get,” said Greenblatt.
Golden, poet and photographer
Golden moved to Boston in 2018 following a celebrated poetry slam guest performance at Haley House in Roxbury and quickly became a fixture within the local literary scene. In the time since, the Black, gender-nonconforming trans writer and photographer has turned out two collections of poetry and images, served as Boston’s 2020-21 artist in residence, and earned a handful of high-profile fellowships. Golden is now relocating to their home state of Virginia to pursue an MFA, but they depart with close community ties, including connections to a couple of keystone Jamaica Plain restaurants.
Galway House, on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
“When I first moved to Boston, I lived on Centre Street by Jackson Square and we would always go to Galway House,” said Golden. “They have affordable, consistent food and a lot of community members I know love going there.”
The Haven, one of the Boston area’s only Scottish spots, is another JP essential for Golden. “I love the Haven Burger — it’s one of my favorites. And I love a good French fry and you can’t go wrong with that there,” Golden said. “I love filling food and food that you can enjoy with friends. That’s where my brain goes when I’m deciding where to eat.”
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Laura Zigman, novelist
The fiction of Laura Zigman often hinges on the heightened emotionalism that comes with navigating life’s highs and lows, beginning with her debut 1997 novel “Animal Husbandry,” which was optioned and became the basis for a romantic comedy starring Ashley Judd and a young Hugh Jackman. But when it comes to going out for a drink or something to eat, Zigman looks to avoid drama at all costs.
Bar Enza, located in the Charles Hotel near Harvard Square, is her ideal venue for meeting friends. “They have really nice wine and cocktails, even though I really don’t drink anymore,” Zigman said. “When you come in for a drink, they’ll give you a velvet banquette that’s beautiful where you can talk and actually hear each other and I just love it.”
The entrance to George Howell Coffee and Lovestruck Books, in Cambridge, Mass. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
For coffee, Zigman prefers George Howell Coffee nestled inside the nearby Lovestruck Books. The location itself is freighted with Cambridge cafe history, standing not far from where Howell’s original Coffee Connection once operated between 1975 and 1996 before Starbucks acquired and rebranded it and its 18 local sister stores.
“Coffee Connection was one of those places that I just lived in when I was a teenager,” said Zigman. “They had French roast, French presses, and big barrels of coffee beans with burlap covers. The new George Howell inside Lovestruck is great — it’s cozy, smells like coffee, and it’s pink and red inside.”
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Paul Tremblay, novelist
Author Paul Tremblay, by the Hamilton Restaurant and Bar, near Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Mass. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Brookline Booksmith near Coolidge Corner is a key location for the multi-time Bram Stoker Award-winning horror novelist Paul Tremblay. He visited the shop for the first time early in his writing career to attend a Stewart O’Nan reading and, in the years since, has gone back numerous times to do readings of his own and participate in author events.
Virtually every trip Tremblay makes to Brookline Booksmith goes hand-in-hand with a stop at Hamilton Restaurant and Bar, whose distinctive red awning with a silhouette of its namesake Founding Father casts a shadow on Beacon Street less than a block away.
“Invariably, before the event starts, usually at 7 p.m., all the writers involved and sometimes their family too will meet at Hamilton,” said Tremblay. “It’s such a relaxed vibe — a pub-style place with friendly staff, good food and drink, and, when the weather is warm, a nice outdoor space.”
When Tremblay is nearer to home in the Greater Boston suburbs, he regularly visits Northern Spy, a Canton-based restaurant from the owners of Loyal Nine that serves New England cuisine and operates out of Paul Revere’s historic Rolling Copper Mill.
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“It’s a newer restaurant and it’s got a beautiful interior,” he said. “For people who dare trek outside of Boston and want to meet, it’s a go-to place.”
Megan Marshall, biographer
Biographer Megan Marshall looks across Belmont Street from the window of Praliné French Patisserie’s location in Belmont, Mass. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Megan Marshall arrived in the Boston area in 1973 and has since seen slews of writer-saturated restaurants come and go. She remembers meeting the eminent editor Justin Kaplan at the long-defunct Harvard Square fondue place, Swiss Alps, to get guidance on her biography of Elizabeth, Mary and Sophia Peabody, which eventually earned her the Pulitzer Prize. And she recalls grabbing coffee and cinnamon toast from a drugstore with an old-fashioned soda fountain that once stood on Boylston Street in between research sessions at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
These days, Marshall often finds herself at the Cambridge French patisserie Praliné. “They’re such lovely people there and they speak French, which makes me feel cosmopolitan and their croissants are, I think, the best in the Boston area,” said Marshall.
She also enjoys Praliné’s imported French loose-leaf tea, Mariage Frères. “I get little boxes of it to give as presents. People I know who have spent time in Paris say, ‘Oh, you must be just back from Paris,’ because there’s this impression that you can only get Mariage Frères there,” she said. “But you can get it at Praliné and impress anybody you know who’s Parisian.”
BOSTON (WHDH) – Police are investigating a stabbing in Boston on Sunday afternoon that left a victim with life-threatening injuries.
Officers responding to a reported stabbing in the area of 71 Summer St. around 3:30 p.m. found a victim who was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries that are considered life-threatening, according to Boston police.
No arrests have been made.
No additional information was immediately available.
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This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.
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The Trump administration’s accusation that Boston’s housing policies discriminate against white residents is part of a disturbing pattern (“US to investigate Boston for bias,” Page A1, Dec. 13). This is no mere policy debate. It is a calculated attempt by conservatives to whitewash history. They hope that if the past can be obliterated, then present-day racial inequality can be repackaged as something that never even existed.
For centuries, Black Americans have been subjected to legally enforced discrimination in housing, education, employment, lending, and voting, atop generations of enslavement. These evils shaped who accumulated wealth and opportunity and who did not. The Civil Rights Act made discriminatory practices illegal, but it did not erase the advantages and disadvantages those systems had already created. That’s why policies such as Boston’s were conceived — not as rewards or punishments but rather as pragmatic efforts to narrow gaps that were deliberately built.
Opposition to these programs is an attack on history and truth itself. Limiting what can be talked about in schools, removing displays honoring the struggles of Black Americans, taking Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth off of the calendar of fee-free days at national parks — these are all part of a coordinated and cynical strategy to foster ignorance in America. This scheme allows the Trump team to attack programs such as Boston’s or any DEI policy and call it a defense of fairness and neutrality. It’s another Big Lie.
For this president and the movement he leads, ignorance is no longer a mere failure of politics. It is the whole point.
