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Red Sox power-hitting prospect (15 homers): ‘I want to catch in Boston’

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Red Sox power-hitting prospect (15 homers): ‘I want to catch in Boston’


Catching prospect Nathan Hickey ranks third in OPS (.894) among Red Sox minor leaguers who have played at least 60 games. OPS, which combines a batter’s on-base percentage and slugging percentage, is the statistic most important to Hickey.

“Because that’s basically getting into everything: working counts, getting walks, being able to hit the ball for extra-base hits or slugging,” Hickey told MassLive recently.

The 23-year-old Hickey has a .370 on-base percentage and .524 slugging percentage, totaling a .894 OPS in 69 games (292 plate appearances) combined between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland. Fifty-one of those 69 games have been played for Portland.

“So I think OPS for me personally is something I value more than a batting average or just OBP or just slugging,” Hickey said.

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Hickey, who Baseball America describes as having “plus raw power,” has bashed 15 homers, including 11 with Portland. He’s tied with Niko Kavadas for the second most home runs among Red Sox minor leaguers. Hickey and Kavadas trail only Bobby Dalbec who has 25 blasts for Triple-A Worcester.

Assistant GM Eddie Romero recently said the Red Sox have been emphasizing swing decisions with all their minor leaguers. Like Portland teammate Blaze Jordan, Hickey mentioned his swing decisions depend on who is pitching.

“I feel like I can hit strikes anywhere in the zone pretty well,” Hickey said. “I feel like I can drive the ball in the inner half almost the same as I can away. So for me, it kind of just depends on the pitcher and how he’s trying to attack me and trying to attack us as a team. Just kind of pick and choose what side of the plate I’m looking for. It varies within each at-bat, each day.”

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Hickey has 15 doubles, one triple, 42 runs, 42 RBIs, 36 walks and 75 strikeouts combined between Greenville and Portland. He’s slashing .272/.357/.500/.857 in 210 plate appearances for Portland.

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“Each time I go up there, I honestly think just try to hit a ball to center field,” Hickey said. “It makes sure I stay through the ball and to be able to stay on my path each time.”

Baseball America ranks Hickey the Red Sox’s No. 10 prospect. BA wrote, “Hickey features little wasted motion in the box, staying balanced through a short stride before unloading on pitches with a powerful hip turn to produce plus raw power.”

He is one of several catching prospects with exciting potential in Boston’s system. Boston drafted catcher Kyle Teel 14th overall out of the University of Virginia this June. MLB Pipeline grades Teel’s arm 65 (plus) on the 20-80 grading scale. It grades his hitting 55 (above average) and his fielding 50 (major league average).

Johanfran Garcia and Brooks Brannon are two other catchers to keep an eye on. Baseball America ranks the 18-year-old Garcia the Red Sox’s No. 20 prospect and the 19-year-old Brannon the No. 22 prospect in the system.

Boston signed Garcia for $850,000 out of Venezuela in January 2022. He’s 44-for-133 (.331) with a .431 on-base percentage, .549 slugging percentage, .980 OPS, five homers, 10 doubles, two triples, 20 runs, 31 RBIs, 17 walks and 29 strikeouts in 36 games in the Florida Complex League. He has thrown out 11-of-31 base stealers (35%) after catching 45% of base stealers (26-for-58) in the DSL last year.

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Boston drafted Brannon in the ninth round (No. 279 overall) out of Randleman High in North Carolina in 2022. The Red Sox signed him to a well above slot value bonus of $712,500. He has slashed .264/.303/.583/.886 with six homers, three doubles and one triple in 17 games combined between the Florida Complex League and Low-A Salem.

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Hickey was an infielder growing up. He played catcher and third base while also occasionally serving as a DH at Florida before Boston selected him in the fifth round in 2021. He never became a full-time catcher until certain points in college and now in professional ball.

“At first, it was really rocky but I feel like now it’s getting more and more consistent,” Hickey said.

Hickey needs to improve defensively if he wants to remain at catcher. He has made improvements throughout this season and he’s working hard to stay behind the plate. He wants to catch long-term.

“If they were like, ‘Hey, we’re going to put you at second,’ I would 100% try to be the best second baseman that I could be,” Hickey said. “It’s more I want to catch in Boston because Boston is top tier of baseball — of any org in MLB. I want to be able to just help the team win but I want to be able to catch in Boston.”

Baseball America wrote in Hickey’s February 2023 scouting report: “Hickey does embrace the challenge of his position and plays with an edge to prove doubters wrong.” It added, “If Hickey emerges as a below-average defensive catcher, he’d have standout offensive potential at the position. If not, he might still bring enough as a hitter to play at DH or first base.”

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MLB Pipeline wrote before this season, “His average arm plays down because of a slow transfer and a lack of throwing accuracy.”

Hickey has had trouble throwing out base stealers. He has thrown out 11% this season, a number that has increased recently. He has arm strength. Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline grade his arm 50 (average) on the 20-80 grading scale.

“For me, I have the arm strength,” Hickey said. “In high school, I topped out on the mound at like 93 or 94. So I have the arm strength. It’s more just being quicker, more fluidity within how I transfer the ball, get it to my hand and let it go. What I was having trouble with is I would get the ball and I’d be like, ‘Oh, I want to throw the heck out of this.’”

He said the “throwing the heck out of this” approach was causing him to throw with a longer arm path. He said he’s tightened his arm path.

“Make sure it’s shorter and more fluid,” Hickey said.

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Hickey has done important work with Portland manager Chad Epperson who spent 12 years as Red Sox catching coordinator. Epperson has asked Hickey if he wants to work pregame even on days Hickey is starting at DH. Hickey always replies, “Yes.”

“I want to improve on being able to keep strikes strikes and just be able to gain some strikes,” Hickey said. “And I want to be able to control the pitching staff, which I feel like this year compared to last year, I’ve done a lot better job this year of being able to control the starters and the relievers and the new guys coming in. Just being able to be more all-around as a catcher rather than just be good at one thing.”



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Boston, MA

Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors: Where to watch free NBA live stream

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Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors: Where to watch free NBA live stream


A pair of division foes in the Eastern Conference meet up on Wednesday, Jan. 15 when the Boston Celtics travel to take on the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on NBC Sports Boston. Fans looking to watch this NBA game can do so for free by using DirecTV Stream, which offers a free trial. You can also watch on FuboTV, which also offers a free trial and $30 off your first month, or SlingTV, which doesn’t offer a free trial but has promotional offers available.

The Celtics are looking for their first winning streak since they beat the Raptors, Timberwolves and Rockets consecutively to end December and start January. Boston enters this matchup at 28-11 while Toronto is 9-31 and winless in two previous matchups with the defending champions.

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Who: Boston Celtics vs. Toronto Raptors

When: Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. EST

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Where: Scotiabank Arena in Toronto

Stream: FuboTV; Sling; DirecTV Stream (free trial)

Betting: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.

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FuboTV is an internet television service that offers more than 200 channels across sports and entertainment including Paramount+ with SHOWTIME. From the UEFA Champions League to the WNBA to international tournaments ranging across sports, there’s plenty of options available on FuboTV, which offers a free trial and $30 off the first month for new customers.

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What is DirecTV Stream?

DirecTV Stream offers practically everything DirecTV provides, except for a remote and a streaming device to connect to your television. Sign up now and get three free months of premium channels including MAX, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME and Starz.

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SlingTV offers a variety of live programing ranging from news and sports and starting as low as $20 a month for your first month. Subscribers also get a month of DVR Plus free if they sign up now. Choose from a variety of sports packages without long-term contracts and with easy cancelation.

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Court papers say ex-NBA player Jontay Porter laid out betting scheme in a text; 6th person arrested

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A sixth person was charged Monday in the federal sports betting case involving ex-NBA player Jontay Porter, and authorities disclosed a text message Porter allegedly sent explaining how to cash in on his plans to bench himself in a January 2024 game.

The former Toronto Raptors center already has pleaded guilty in the criminal case and was banned from the NBA for life. He admitted that he agreed to withdraw early from games, claiming illness or injury, so that those in the know could win big by betting on him to underperform expectations.

Although the new developments don’t affect the legal case against Porter, they put the scheme in what a court document says were his own words.

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“Hit unders for the big numbers,” Porter wrote to an alleged conspirator on Jan. 26, 2024, according to a court complaint against yet another alleged schemer, Shane Hennen. He was arrested Sunday at the Las Vegas airport while boarding a flight to Panama.

“No blocks no steals. I’m going to play first 2-3 minute stint off the bench then when I get subbed out tell them my eye killing me again,” Porter wrote, according to the complaint. It identifies him only as “NBA Player 1” but makes clear through references — such as the details of his guilty plea last year — that it’s Porter.

He had scratched an eye during a game on Jan. 22, 2024, keeping conspirators in the loop by text even from the arena, according to the complaint. But he wasn’t on the injured list when the Raptors faced the LA Clippers four days later.

Porter ultimately played about 4 1/2 minutes in that game before saying he had aggravated the eye problem. Then he pulled out of a March 20 game against the Sacramento Kings after less than three minutes, saying he felt ill. His performance in both games fell well below what sportsbooks had anticipated.

Porter told a court in July that he got involved in the plot to try to clear his own gambling debts. He’s set to be sentenced in May. He could face anything from no jail time to 20 years behind bars; prosecutors have estimated his sentence at about 3 1/2 to four years in prison.

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A message was sent to his lawyer Monday to seek comment on the developments.

Hennen was released without bail after his arraignment Monday in Las Vegas on charges including wire fraud conspiracy. The court complaint alleges that he placed bets through proxies after co-conspirators alerted him to Porter’s plans for the Jan. 26 game, and that he also got a heads-up about the March 20 game and likely told other gamblers about it.

A message seeking comment was sent to his attorney.

Besides Hennen and Porter, four other people also have been charged to date. Two have pleaded guilty, a third has pleaded not guilty, and the fourth hasn’t entered a plea.

The complaint against Hennen alleges there were still more conspirators involved. It’s unclear whether more people may yet be arrested.

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The Associated Press contributed to this article



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Boston, MA

Constantine Manos, photographer for landmark ‘Where’s Boston?’ exhibit, dies at 90 – The Boston Globe

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Constantine Manos, photographer for landmark ‘Where’s Boston?’ exhibit, dies at 90 – The Boston Globe


Constantine Manos, “Los Angeles, California,” 2001. (Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos)Courtesy Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos

Among Mr. Manos’s books were “A Greek Portfolio” (1972; updated 1999), “Bostonians” (1975), “American Color” 1995) and ”American Color 2″ (2010). Mr. Manos’s work with color was notably expressive and influential.

“Color was a four-letter word in art photography,” the photographer Lou Jones, who worked with Mr. Manos on “Where’s Boston?,” said in a telephone interview. “But he was making wonderful, complex photographs with color, and that meant so much.”

Yet for all his formal skill, Mr. Manos always emphasized the human element in his work. “I am a people photographer and have always been interested in people,” he once said.

That interest extended beyond the photographs he took. He was a celebrated teacher. Among the students he taught in his photo workshops was Stella Johnson.

“He’d go through a hundred of my photographs,” she said in a telephone interview, “and maybe he’d like two. ‘No, no, no, no, yes, no.’ Costa really taught me how to see. I remember him looking at one picture and saying, “You were standing in the wrong spot.’ Something like that was invaluable to me as a young photographer.

“He was a very, very kind man, very generous. But he was very strict. ‘How could you do that?’ He was adored by his students and by his friends, absolutely. We were all lucky to have been in his orbit.”

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Cellist Samuel Mayes and conductor Charles Munch during a Boston Symphony Orchestra rehearsal at Tanglewood, July 25, 1959. (Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos)Courtesy Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos

Mr. Manos, who moved to Provincetown in 2008, lived in the South End for four decades. The South Carolina native’s association with the Boston area began when the Boston Symphony Orchestra hired him as a photographer at Tanglewood. He was 19. This led to Mr. Manos’s first book, “Portrait of a Symphony” (1961; updated 2000).

Constantine Manos was born in Columbia, S.C., on Oct. 12, 1934. His parents, Dimitri and Aphrodite (Vaporiotou) Manos, were Greek immigrants. They ran a café in the city’s Black section. That experience gave Mr. Manos a sympathy for marginalized people that would stay with him throughout his life. As a student at the University of South Carolina, he wrote editorials in the school paper opposing segregation. Later, he would do extensive work chronicling the LGBTQ+ community with his camera.

Mr. Manos became interested in photography at 13, joining the school camera club and building a darkroom in his parents’ basement. After graduating from college, Mr. Manos did two years of Army service in Germany, working as a photographer for Stars and Stripes. He joined Magnum in 1963. This had special meaning for him. Mr. Manos’s chief inspiration as a young photographer had been Henri Cartier-Bresson, one of Magnum’s founders. He was such an admirer he made a point of using the same equipment that Cartier-Bresson did.

That same year, Mr. Manos entered a seafood restaurant in Rome that was around the corner from the Pantheon. Prodanou, his future husband, was dining with friends. Noticing Mr. Manos, he gestured to him. “Would you join us for coffee?” The couple spent the next 61 years together, marrying in 2011.

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“Lining Up for the Shriner’s Parade, South End, Boston,” 1974. (Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos)Courtesy Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives, Constantine Manos/Magnum Photos

Mr. Manos lived in Greece for three years, which led to “A Greek Portfolio.” He undertook a very different project in the Athens of America. Part of the city’s Bicentennial tribute, “Where’s Boston?” was a slice-of-many-lives view of contemporary Boston.

Located in a red-white-and-blue striped pavilion at the Prudential Center, it became a local sensation. The installation involved 42 computerized projectors and 3,097 color slides (most of them taken by Mr. Manos), shown on eight 10 feet by 10 feet screens. Outside the pavilion was a set of murals, consisting of 152 black-and-white photographs of Boston scenes, all shot by Mr. Manos.

“The most important thing I had to do was to keep my picture ideas simple,” he said in a 1975 Globe interview. “Viewers are treated to a veritable avalanche of color slides in exactly one hour’s time.”

In that same interview, he made an observation about his work generally. “I prefer to stay in close to my subjects. I let them see me and my camera and when they become bored they forget about me and then I get my best pictures.”

Among institutions that own Mr. Manos’s photographs are the Museum of Fine Arts; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the High Museum of Art, Atlanta; the Library of Congress; and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

In addition to his husband, Mr. Manos leaves a sister, Irene Constantinides, of Atlanta, and a brother, Theofanis Manos, of Greenville, S.C.

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A memorial service will be held later this year.


Mark Feeney can be reached at mark.feeney@globe.com.





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Boston, MA

Below freezing temperatures again today

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Below freezing temperatures again today


The winds are still going Wednesday, but the air temperatures remain at respectable levels. Highs will manage to weasel up to 30 in most spots. It’s too bad we’re not going to feel them at face value. Instead, we’re dressing for temps in the teens all day today.

Thursday and Friday are the picks of the week.

There will be a lot less wind, reasonable winter temperatures in the 30s and a decent amount of sun. We’ll be quiet into the weekend, as our next weather system approaches.

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With mild air expected to come north on southerly winds, highs will bounce back to the low and mid-40s both days of the weekend.

Showers will be delayed until late day/evening on Saturday and into the night. There may be a few early on Sunday too, but the focus on that day will be to bring in the cold.

Highs will briefly sneak into the 40s, then fall late day.

We’ll also watch a batch of snow late Sunday night as it moves up the Eastern Seaboard.

Right now, there is a potential for some accumulation as it moves overhead Sunday night and early Monday morning.

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It appears to be a weak, speedy system, so we’re not expecting it to pull any punches.

Enjoy the quieter spell of weather!



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