Connect with us

Boston, MA

Insider Warns Red Sox Failure To Keep Playoff Legend In Boston Was ‘Obvious’ Mistake

Published

on

Insider Warns Red Sox Failure To Keep Playoff Legend In Boston Was ‘Obvious’ Mistake


At this point, the 2021 Major League Baseball playoffs feel like ancient history.

The Boston Red Sox haven’t been in the postseason for the last three years, and that isn’t supposed to be the norm for such a storied franchise. They advanced all the way to the American League Championship Series that October, leaving few thinking it would be their last trip to the dance for a while.

So much has changed in Boston since 2021 that the playoffs are now something of an exhibition of former Red Sox players. Gone are stars of that team like Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Kyle Schwarber, and that’s not even to mention former Boston superstar Mookie Betts, who was gone even sooner.

Schwarber had the shortest tenure with the Red Sox of all the names above, yet his loss may be the most painful during postseason baseball. He’s become an October legend through the years, and he’s already flexed his playoff prowess through two games in 2024.

Advertisement

On Sunday, MassLive insider Sean McAdam lambasted the Red Sox for letting Schwarber walk after that 2021 campaign, when he had one of the best stretches of his career in Boston.

“By now, it’s obvious that the Red Sox made a mistake in not retaining Kyle Schwarber after the 2021 season,” McAdam said.

“At the time, Schwarber was somewhat redundant because of fellow DH J.D. Martinez. But the Sox should have eaten the necessary money needed to trade Martinez and kept Schwarber, who has averaged 44 homers over the last three seasons with the Phillies… He’s also established himself as a dynamic postseason performer, with a .987 OPS.”

Schwarber only played 41 regular-season games for the Red Sox, but his .957 OPS in Boston nevertheless ranks the highest of any single-team mark of the superstar’s career. He also hit three massive home runs for the Red Sox in the playoffs, though he did go 3-for25 in the ALCS against the Houston Astros.

With a leadoff missile against the New York Mets on Saturday, Schwarber moved to fourth all-time on the postseason home run leaderboard. He has hit 21 longballs in his playoff career, eight behind Red Sox icon Manny Ramirez for the all-time lead.

Advertisement

Seeing any former player succeed for another organization will always carry mixed emotions, but there’s a little extra sting when it’s a player with a storied track record such as Schwarber. And it never sounded as though Boston even attempted to pursue the slugger, which makes the loss hurt all the more.

More MLB: Red Sox On-Base Machine Predicted To Make Surprise MLB Debut On Opening Day



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Boston, MA

Thousands participate in 36th annual Jimmy Fund Walk in Boston

Published

on

Thousands participate in 36th annual Jimmy Fund Walk in Boston


Thousands of people came together on a beautiful Sunday for the 36th annual Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, hoping to raise $9.5 million for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The fundraising walk has raised more than $176 million in its 35-year history and supports all forms of adult and pediatric care and cancer research at Dana-Farber, one of the world’s leading centers of cancer research and treatment. Last year’s walk broke fundraising records by raising more than $9.4 million.

An estimated 8,500 walkers, including patients, survivors, family members, caregivers and Dana-Farber faculty and staff, were expected to walk up to 26.2 miles along the historic Boston Marathon course.

The Jimmy Fund Walk is the only organized walk permitted to use the famed course and gives participants a choice between four distance options: 5K (~3.2 miles from Dana-Farber’s Longwood Medical Campus); 10K (~7 miles from Newton); Half Marathon (~13.4 miles from Wellesley) or Marathon (~27 miles from Hopkinton).

Advertisement

Meet Opry, a 1.5-year-old golden retriever who’s the newest staff member at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund Clinic in Boston.

Hundreds of volunteers lined the route to provide refreshments throughout the day. There were also posters of inspiring DFCI patients — called Jimmy Fund Walk Heroes — that appeared along the course to provide motivation to walkers.

Additionally, buildings around Boston were set to be lit up to show their support for the walk, including City Hall, TD Garden, the Prudential Tower, 888 Boylston, W Boston, the Hub on Causeway Office Tower, and Boston Harbor Hotel & Rowe’s Wharf.

Due to ongoing construction, all four routes concluded at the Jimmy Fund Walk Finish Line by the corner of Charles and Beacon Street, where there were was a celebration with food, entertainment, and more.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Boston, MA

Pro-Palestinian demonstration temporarily shuts down part of Boston’s Storrow Drive

Published

on

Pro-Palestinian demonstration temporarily shuts down part of Boston’s Storrow Drive


Pro-Palestinian rally halts traffic on Storrow Drive in Boston

Advertisement


Pro-Palestinian rally halts traffic on Storrow Drive in Boston

01:46

Advertisement

By SAMANTHA CHANEY

BOSTON – Boston’s Storrow Drive was temporarily shut down Sunday afternoon as pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied in the road, stopping traffic.

The protest comes just one day before Oct. 7, one year since the Hamas attack in Israel.

Protesters began their rally on Boston Common before moving to Charles Street and then on to Storrow Drive for half an hour. They ended their demonstration outside the Israeli Consulate in Boston, where hundreds called for an end to violence in the Middle East.

“We wanted to do something that people can really feel it and see it because this is about giving a vision of what happened to people in Gaza and now in Lebanon,” said one demonstrator. “When you are going aimlessly, changing places, trying to be safe.”

Advertisement

Police said the demonstration was peaceful and no arrests were made in connection with the rally.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Boston, MA

By the Numbers: Breaking Down Virginia’s Win Over Boston College

Published

on

By the Numbers: Breaking Down Virginia’s Win Over Boston College


For the first time since the epic 2019 campaign, Virginia football is 4-1 overall and 2-0 in ACC play. The Cavaliers posted their second-straight ACC victory, something they haven’t done since 2021, by coming back from down 14 points with a big fourth quarter rally to defeat Boston College 24-14 on Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville.

That marked the second time Virginia has come back to win after trailing by more than 14 points, as the Cavaliers also overcame a 14-point deficit in their big win at Wake Forest in week 2. Saturday was the first time UVA has erased a two-touchdown deficit at home since coming back from down 17-0 to beat Old Dominion in 2019.

The Hoos have fashioned themselves as comeback kids so far this season, boasting a 2-0 record when trailing after the first quarter and 2-0 when trailing at the half. While the UVA offense put together some big scoring drives to fuel the rally at Wake Forest, the Virginia defense was the key this time around, holding Thomas Castellanos and the Eagles scoreless for the final 43 minutes (and change) of the game, allowing the Cavaliers to score the final 24 points of the contest.

18 of those points came in the fourth quarter, the most Virginia has scored in the fourth quarter since the win at Louisville in 2021. The UVA defense forced three turnovers in the fourth quarter, including a fumble recovery and 40-yard return for a touchdown by Jonas Sanker. And while their overall offensive numbers seem pedestrian, the Cavaliers kept themselves in the game offensively by not turning the ball over for the second-straight game, the first time UVA has accomplished that feat since 2019.

Advertisement

See the chart below for a breakdown of the stats from Virginia’s win over Boston College:

Virginia

Stat

Boston College

339

Advertisement

Total Offense

319

121

Rushing Offense

65

Advertisement

3.3

Yards Per Rush

2.2

218

Passing Offense

Advertisement

254

61

Completion %

73

12.8

Advertisement

Yards Per Completion

11.5

3/5

Red Zone Attempts

1/1

Advertisement

9

Red Zone Points

7

7/16

3rd Downs

Advertisement

6/13

1/2

4th Downs

1/2

29:32

Advertisement

Possession Time

30:28

5-28

Penalties-Yards

8-85

Advertisement

0

Turnovers

3

3

Sacks By

Advertisement

2

5

Tackles For Loss

6

4

Advertisement

Big Plays (20+ Yards)

5

Here are some key individual stats from the game along with some more notes:

We usually start with the offense in this section, but this time it seems fitting to begin with the defense.

Jonas Sanker found the end zone for his first-career touchdown, returning a fumble 40 yards to the house to give UVA the 24-14 lead late in the fourth. That marked the first time the Cavaliers have had a fumble recovery go for a touchdown since Eli Hanback jumped on a fumble in the end zone to all but secure Virginia’s win over Virginia Tech in the 2019 regular season finale.

Advertisement

Chico Bennett Jr. posted his first career interception and became the first Cavalier defensive linemen with a pick since David Dean did so against Virginia Tech in 2014. Bennett caught a pass that was initially tipped by Anthony Britton, who was making his first career start.

Kendren Smith made his third-career interception and first in a Virginia uniform. Kam Robinson led the Cavaliers with eight total tackles, marking the first time this season that someone other than Antonio Clary (seven tackles) led Virginia in tackles. Robinson was one of three Virginia players to record sacks in the game, joining James Jackson and Kam Butler.

Three different Virginia players completed a pass in the game. Anthony Colandrea went 15/26 (58%) for 179 yards and a touchdown. When Colandrea left the field for one play after taking a big hit, Tony Muskett came in and completed his only pass, a 10-yard strike to JR Wilson. Malachi Fields also completed a 29-yard pass to Kobe Pace on a trick play, the longest completed pass by a non-quarterback since Perry Jones threw a 36-yard completion to Tim Smith vs. Louisiana Tech in 2012.

Fields was Virginia’s leading receiver, tallying four catches for 63 yards and the go-ahead 30-yard touchdown from Colandrea in the fourth quarter. Fields has recorded at least one reception in his last 20 games. Andre Greene Jr. had four catches for 25 yards and JR Wilson, who made his season debut after missing the first four games with an injury, had four receptions for 44 yards.

VIDEO: Sanker, Colandrea, Pace & More React to UVA’s Win Over Boston College

Advertisement

UVA Football: Five Takeaways From Virginia’s 24-14 Win Over Boston College

Defensive Takeaways Spark Virginia to Comeback 24-14 Win Over Boston College

Virginia vs. Boston College Live Score Updates | NCAA Football



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending