It's not the size of the dog in the fight

USA Today:

The story by News Journal sports writer Rob McCurdy garnered national attention. It featured Lexington, Ohio cross country runner Sami Stoner, a legally blind junior believed to be the first high school athlete in the state to compete with a guide dog.

“I came across her story and thought, ‘Oh this is amazing.’ We thought it was such a fantastic story,” ESPN producer Lisa Binns said.

“It’s been different,” Stoner said. “I really just try and do my regular routine, but it’s kind of weird having to be wired up. It actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was worried it would fall off (when I was running) but it ended up being fine.”

It’s been a whirlwind of a year for Stoner since her story captivated people across the nation last fall. She inspired others suffering from Stargardt disease, which is a juvenile form of macular degeneration. After running cross country in junior high, her vision began to fade in the eighth grade, but she didn’t want to give up the sport she loved.

Stoner has been interviewed by a number of national media outlets and gives motivational speeches for various luncheons and groups ranging from the Boy Scouts to the Lions Club.

“I was shocked at all the attention I got,” Stoner said. “It was an extremely well written article and I can’t thank him enough for it. That article really sparked everything that has happened in the past year. … It’s been an amazing experience. I got to meet so many people I wouldn’t have gotten to meet if I hadn’t had that opportunity. I never dreamed anything like that would come of it. It really has been a great experience.”

Both Stoner and Chloe were in good spirits when they crossed the finish line with a time of 32:55.10. At the beginning of the season Chloe was struggling to finish races and was diagnosed with a thyroid issue. She’s since been placed on medications and is happy to be running by Stoner’s side. The pair must wait 30 seconds after the start of a race before they can run for the safety of both the runners and Chloe.

“She’s been on medication about a week now and she laid down once for about 10 seconds then got right back up and finished the race no problem,” Stoner said. “I was very proud of her.”

The Boston Red Sox were willing to eat $48.3 million just to make third baseman Pablo Sandoval go away. Sandoval showed up to spring training badly out of shape in 2015, three months after he signed a five-year, $95 million contract. His look in spring training 2016 was even worse, prompting Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy to write "Get a load of that gut."

Bleacher Report:

A missed interference call in the 11th inning led to the Boston Red Sox officially playing their game on Saturday against the New York Yankees under protest. The situation occurred in the top of the 11th inning when Jacoby Ellsbury hit a ground ball to Mitch Moreland, who threw to second base. Baserunner Matt Holliday turned around to go back to first base, causing the return throw from shortstop Xander Bogaerts to be off line.

Ellsbury was called safe at first on the play after the umpires went to the review booth to get clarification on the rule.

The Red Sox won't mention in their protest to Major League Baseball that they squandered a golden opportunity to win the game in the 10th inning. Andrew Benintendi led off with a single to left-center and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a single to right. Manager John Farrell chose not to have pinch hitter Chris Young bunt the baserunners to second and third. Young struck out and the runners never advanced.

Speaking with ESPN reporter Tom Rinaldi, Sami Stoner told Tom that "if she were able to see, she would like to look in the mirror and see how she looked."

Boston team radio announcer Tim Neverett begs Red Sox' fans to root hard for the California Angels against the second place Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. The Boston Red Sox need to look long and hard in the mirror before their season goes dark.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

The Duke was a real joke

StraightDope:

At the time of Pearl Harbor, John Wayne was 34 years old. His marriage was on the rocks, but he still had four kids to support. His career was taking off, in large part on the strength of his work in the classic western Stagecoach (1939). But he wasn't rich. Should he chuck it all and enlist? Many of Hollywood's big names, such as Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, and Clark Gable, did just that. (Fonda was 37 at the time and had a wife and three kids.) But these were established stars. Wayne knew that if he took a few years off for military service, there was a good chance that by the time he got back he'd be over the hill.

Besides, he specialized in the kind of movies a nation at war wanted to see, in which a rugged American hero overcame great odds. Recognizing that Hollywood was an important part of the war effort, Washington had told California draft boards to go easy on actors. Perhaps rationalizing that he could do more good at home, Wayne obtained 3-A status, "deferred for family dependency reasons." He told friends he'd enlist after he made just one or two more movies.

Wayne was a hard-nosed Marine sergeant, a naval lieutenant and a commander of an airborne battalion during the invasion of Normandy. But those were his movies.

Wikipedia:

Charles Herbert "Red" Ruffing (May 3, 1905 – February 17, 1986) was an American professional baseball player. A pitcher, he played in Major League Baseball from 1924 through 1947. He played for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Chicago White Sox. Ruffing is most remembered for his time with the highly successful Yankees teams of the 1930s and 1940s.

Ruffing dropped out of school as a child to work in a coal mine in his native Illinois. He played for the mine's company baseball team as an outfielder and first baseman. After he lost four toes from his left foot in a mining accident, he became unable to run in the field, and switched to pitching. He played in minor league baseball in 1923 and 1924 before making his MLB debut with the Red Sox. After struggling with Boston, pitching to a 36–93 win–loss record, the Red Sox traded Ruffing to the Yankees in 1930, where he became the ace of the Yankees' pitching staff.

Ruffing won 236 games for the Bronx Bombers while losing 132. He was dominant in the postseason, winning seven while dropping just two decisions. He completed eight of his nine starts. He also belted 36 home runs in the regular season, finishing third all-time behind Wes Ferrell with 37 and Bob Lemon with 39. He hit over .300 in eight different seasons, and was frequently used as a pinch hitter. He also played in the outfield in emergency situations.

Ruffing was a member of six World Series championship teams with the Yankees. He also appeared in six MLB All-Star Games. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967. The Yankees dedicated a plaque to Ruffing in Monument Park in 2004.

After the 1942 season, Ruffing took a job with Vultee Aircraft, a defense contractor. Despite missing four toes, a United States Army doctor certified Ruffing as Class 1-B in the Selective Service System, overruled Ruffing's personal physician, who had ruled Ruffing unfit for service. The Army decided that Ruffing could serve in a non-combat role. At age 38, Ruffing missed the 1943 and 1944 seasons due to his service during World War II. He served in the Sixth Ferrying Group of the Air Transport Command of the United States Army Air Forces at the rank of private. He did pitch for the Air Transport Command's baseball team, throwing a perfect game against Joe DiMaggio's team, and leading his team to the championship.

One guy never complains about having to serve his country. The other whines to Boston Globe columnist Tom Long that "the directors got it wrong when they killed me off in Sands of Iwo Jima." As Ray Davies of the Kinks penned in the song “Celluloid Heroes,” “I wish my life was a nonstop Hollywood movie show.” We clearly see denial definitely beats the real thing.

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Haven't we been down this road before?

MassLive:

Boston Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia, who Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles spiked Friday, then expressed his frustration following the game. He seemed to take Machado's side, instead of his team's side.

"I just told him I didn't have anything to do with that," Pedroia said Sunday. "That's not how you do that, man. I'm sorry to him and his team. If you're going to protect guys, you do it right away. "

Pedroia's comments received heavy criticism over the past 48 hours. He responded today here at Fenway Park.

"We all talked about that and we're going to keep that in-house," Pedroia said. "We feel good about each other. We all have each other's backs. Everybody knows how everybody feels about each other. We're pretty excited about the group we have."

He was asked to clarify what he meant by "That's not me, that's them."

"I just did. I think the guys that should know, know how we feel about each other and things like that," Pedroia said. "It's unfortunate that the outside has an opinion. They're going to have an opinion about everything. We all know how we feel. We're moving on. We're getting ready for this series, then the Cubs, then the Orioles."

When 17 Red Sox players wanted manager Bobby Valentine fired in 2012, they were happy to spend part of an off-day at a hotel in New York complaining about their brutal lot in life to owners' John Henry and Larry Lucchino.

When the funeral for Johnny Pesky--Pesky spent over six decades with the Red Sox in various capacities-- was held on another off-day, Monday afternoon in Swampscott, four players decided to show up. David Ortiz, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Clay Buchholz and Vicente Padilla represented the 2012 Red Sox at Johnny Pesky's funeral. While transportation services were provided from Fenway Park, the near empty yellow bus for the players made the trip to the North Shore and back.

"My No. 1 priority that day was being there, being with family and just sharing that last moment with him. I said on the airplane to everybody, 'Expect his funeral tomorrow. If you can go ahead and show up, go ahead, that would be great.' If they could make it, great. ... The funeral is the last goodbye you give to a friend. There's no way you're a friend with somebody, that person passes away and you're not going to show up to his funeral." -- David Ortiz.

Johnny Pesky took the time daily to hit fungoes(a long lightweight bat for hitting practice balls to fielders) to Dustin Pedroia. Claiming he couldn't find a babysitter for his three year son Dylan, Dustin Pedroia skipped the funeral and stayed home.

Vice Sports:

Reggie Jackson did indeed play for the Baltimore Orioles for one year—1976, the lone season of his career that he wasn't a member of the Oakland A's, the New York Yankees or the California Angels.

After mouthing off to New York Yankees pitcher Dock Ellis when the latter nearly grazed the slight Orioles shortstop Mark Belanger with a homeward toss—"Why don't you hit a big guy like me?" Reggie taunted—he found himself on the receiving end of a high-and-tight fastball from Ellis, who may have also been delivering some delayed payback for the gargantuan home run that Jackson had hit off of him in Detroit during the 1971 All-Star Game. "Did I kill him?" Ellis chuckled to the home plate umpire, while Jackson writhed in the dirt, his signature aviator shades smashed to pieces.

X-rays showed no damage beyond a badly-bruised cheekbone. Jackson expressed disappointment to the press that Ellis hadn't called to see how he was doing; perhaps the pitcher was too busy counting the twenty-dollar bills that had been surreptitiously stuffed into his locker by his teammates as a tip for beaning Reggie. "Someone didn't like him," Ellis would later reflect in his autobiography. "He was supposed to get hit!"

Baltimore Orioles ace righthander pitcher Jim Palmer put aside his feelings for teammate Reggie Jackson following the near beaning by Ellis. Palmer had been critical of Jackson since his early season holdout. "The fact that Reggie is not here from the start has hurt the attitude of the club and it has hurt our performance on the field," raged the 1975 AL Cy Young winner. "Do you think it ever occurred to Jackson that there are 24 other guys over here counting on him?"

Like him or not, Palmer said to Jackson, "Should I hit the first two Yankees I face or shall I keep going"? Jackson replied, "One is plenty."

Most people only remember the New York Yankees contract—while Jackson's image on the August 30, 1976 cover of Sports Illustrated primarily elicits a puzzled reaction from those who view it: "Huh? Reggie played for the Orioles?" There isn't even a baseball card for it. Reggie's holdout prevented a 1976 baseball card for the slugger so the 1977 card, as a member of the Yankees, was airbrushed with the Orioles' logo.

Following the completion of his 21 year career, which included five World Series titles and two-time World Series MVP, Reggie Jackson stated that the 1976 Baltimore Orioles were "the best team he ever played on." Dustin Pedroia may want to read up on that.

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

When the clock strikes three, just do nothing

Daniel R. Levitt, SABR:

When the Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 1918, it was their fifth triumph in the fifteen years of the modern classic. The club had the best player in baseball, outfielder-pitcher Babe Ruth, another top hitter in Harry Hooper, star catcher Wally Schang, and four other pitching stars — Carl Mays, Dutch Leonard, Joe Bush, and Sam Jones — each younger than 27. With the ending of the Great War, Ernie Shore, Duffy Lewis, and other stars were returning from military service. Local fans were optimistic — not only because the ballclub was loaded with talent but because Bostonians had become accustomed to great teams since the early days of professional baseball.

Within a few years all of the above players were gone, mostly traded or sold to the New York Yankees, and the Red Sox had become a laughable franchise, finishing dead last in nine of eleven years from 1922 through 1932. Boston Red Sox' owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000 and a $300,000 mortgage on Fenway Park.

Edmonton Oilers - In 1978, acquired Center Wayne Gretzky, Goaltender Eddie Mio and Left Wing Peter Driscoll from the Indianapolis Racers (when both teams were in the World Hockey Association) for $700,000 and future considerations. The Racers were losing $40,000 per game. The money was not enough to keep the Racers alive; they folded that December.

Los Angeles Kings - the Kings received from the Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky, Defenseman Marty McSorley and Left Wing Mike Krushelnyski for Center Jimmy Carson, Left Wing Martin Gelinas, $15 million in cash, and the Kings' first-round draft picks in 1989 (later traded to the New Jersey Devils – New Jersey selected Jason Miller), 1991 (Martin Rucinsky), and 1993 (Nick Stajduhar). The Oilers' owner Peter Pocklington was burned in effigy outside Northlands Coliseum. Gretzky himself was considered a "traitor" by some Canadians for turning his back on his adopted hometown, and his home country.

Boston Bruins - In 1964, trade Goaltender Ken Dryden to the Montreal Canadiens for Right Wing Paul Reid and Defenseman Guy Allen, whom the Bruins coveted. Allen nor Reid ever appeared in an NHL contest. Dryden's regular season totals include a .790 winning percentage, a 2.24 goals against average, and, most incredibly, winning 258 games and losing only 57 games while recording 46 shutouts in just 397 NHL games. He won the Vezina Trophy five times as the top goaltender in the NHL. Dryden played on six Stanley Cup winners in his eight year Hall of Fame career.

If a rival team owner calls and mentions cash, listen carefully. If not, hang up the phone. No matter what happens at the 3 o'clock NHL trading deadline on Wednesday, it will never match the Ken Dryden deal. The best trades are the ones that aren't made.



Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Bough doesn't break, Barry and Roger fall short of Hall

The basic idea is that a process is changed when we are able to see it. This comes into play next year when the secret balloting by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America for the Hall of Fame becomes public. On the next ballot, every voter's choices will be revealed and open to scrutiny. Out of 442 votes and with 332 (75 percent) needed, Clemens got 239 (54.1 percent) and Bonds got 238 (53.8 percent). Each, in his fifth year, is up almost 10 percent. Of 14 new voters we know about, 13 picked both.

Limping to the finish line in 1996, Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens compiled a 10 win 13 loss record. This was the fourth consecutive year that Clemens did not win more than 11 games. This followed seven years where he had averaged 19 wins per season. It was time to go see the doctor about that Vitamin B12 deficiency.

After seven years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, outfielder Barry Bonds joined the San Francisco Giants at age 29. With the Pirates, he had slugged 25 home runs per season. In the next 11 years with the Giants, Bonds hit 527 homers for an average of 48. In 2004, he received 232 bases on balls. "If they'd've pitched to him, he'd've hit a 100." - New York Yankees slugger, Reggie Jackson. A visit to Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative(BALCO) for: human growth hormone and testosterone cream was all it took.

Bernie Madoff managed to fly under the radar for so long because Madoff was a well-versed and active member of the financial industry. He started his own market maker firm in 1960 and helped launch the Nasdaq stock market. He sat on the board of National Association of Securities Dealers and advised the Securities and Exchange Commission on trading securities. It was easy to believe this 70-year-old industry veteran knew exactly what he was doing.

Madoff used a so-called Ponzi scheme, which lures investors in by guaranteeing unusually high returns. The name originated with Charles Ponzi, who promised 50% returns on investments in only 90 days.

Calia Kane did it for love and money, a former bank teller told a federal judge Monday before he sentenced her to seven years in prison for her role as the inside woman in a pair of Philadelphia-area bank robberies. She advised the robbers on the best ways to enter and exit the bank, and texted from her work station to let them know when the coast was clear. In their second robbery, she cased Wells Fargo branches and helped them pick their target. "I knew it was wrong," she told U.S. District Judge Legrome Davis at her sentencing hearing. "There's no amount of times I can apologize."

The two employees were model citizens before venturing to the dark side. The two ballplayers were Hall of Fame candidates before going to where "the grass is always greener."

The twelve-acre rocky island, one and a half miles from San Francisco, featured the most advanced security of the time. Some of the first metal detectors were used at Alcatraz. Strict rules were enforced against the unfortunate inmates who had to do their stretch. Nearly complete silence was mandated at all times. Bonds and Clemens have five more years on the ballot. Let us allow them the scenic view of the Bay Area.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Trot Nixon used all 24 hours on 9/11

Trot Nixon, then an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox, was in Florida where the team was to play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. But Nixon had made the team aware that he might at a moment's notice to attend the birth of his child. He received the call he was waiting for from his wife in Boston at 6 a.m. on Sept. 11. He got on a 7:05 a.m. flight to Boston. But he wasn't going to get back to Boston by air on this day.

The flight was forced to land in Norfolk, Va. He called his wife, Kathryn, to tell her that he would not be able to be on hand for the birth of their child, but be with her in labor. He did not think he could be completely specific about the tragedy that had disrupted travel.

The airline pilot came on the intercom and said we are going to have ground our flight in Norfolk, Virginia. There has been an unfortunate tragedy in New York. And he said the terrorist attacked. He didn't relinquish that it was two airplanes crashing into the towers.

"So the plane did a U-turn -- you know a quick turn -- and started heading back. Meanwhile, as I read stories this past year, a lot of the flight attendant and airline pilots were kind of not so much scared, but didn't know what to expect, didn't know if there was someone on our flight or not. None of the passengers paid any attention to it.

"Then Kathryn called me. I remember it was 1:32 p.m. and she told me we had a little baby boy, Chase," Nixon said. "I started crying. I am not afraid to cry. She put him up to the phone. He was screaming and yelling. It was awesome. Just to hear him was a relief. To know that Kathryn was fine and everything went well during the delivery, and the baby was healthy. He's got 10 fingers, 10 toes -- everything that you sit there and pray day in and day out that you have a healthy baby."

The one fortunate part of the story was that Nixon had family in the area. He recruited his mother, father and sister to drive with him to Boston. There were highway closings and related complications along the way, and Nixon had only two hours of sleep the previous night after traveling to Tampa. But Nixon got to Boston about 3 a.m. the next day, and he got to hold his newborn son. In the midst of a day of death and devastation, his family had been given the gift of life.

"We will not forget what happened that day," said Trot Nixon. "We will not forget the people -- the men and women who sacrificed their lives to save others, who where there working 24 hours a day, seven days a week since it happened. We will honor those people. But we are also going to treat it as a celebration of Chase's birthday."

Chase Nixon is now 15 years old. Let's hope he has the same fine career as his father, and famous relative, James "Catfish" Hunter. Catfish had a Hall of Fame career as a pitcher for the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees. He died at 53 of ALS(Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

We can handle the truth if we hear it

The Toronto Blue Jays named Tim Johnson as their manager for the 1998 season following the firing of Cito Gaston and the interim management of pitching coach Mel Queen. Queen remained on as pitching coach under Johnson and the two reportedly feuded extensively, despite Johnson's reputation as a good communicator. Johnson also had rumored differences with several of his players, including Pat Hentgen, Ed Sprague, and Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens.

It was revealed that Johnson lied about horrific experiences in Vietnam, when in fact there was no truth to them at all. And not only did Tim Johnson fabricate lies about his experiences in Vietnam, but he also lied about being an All-American basketball player who turned down a chance to play for UCLA.

One of the incidents in question was when Tim Johnson opted to use Rogers Clemens instead of Pat Hentgen to pitch a series finale in Boston. After Hentgen responded unfavorably, Johnson quipped back saying something to the effect of “you don’t know anything about tough spots … pressure is in Vietnam.”

Of all people, it was actually Roger Clemens who discovered Tim Johnson’s secret. At the time, Clemens was a good friend of Johnson; and knowing of his wartime stories and that he was a big motorcycle fan, wanted to get him a present any veteran would be honored to receive – a motorcycle helmet featuring the logo of his combat unit.

Roger Clemens asked around trying to gather some background info on Tim Johnson, to no avail. Clemens even went as far as to ask Johnson’s wife, but she apparently knew nothing about it. And that was the beginning of the end of Tim Johnson’s time with the Blue Jays

Ryan Lochte admitted in an embarrassing interview with NBC's Matt Lauer that he fabricated parts of his story that he was robbed at gunpoint while in Rio de Janeiro. "I over-exaggerated that story and if I had never done that, we wouldn't be in this mess. " The claim created a minor international incident and caused Lochte to lose a number of sponsorships.

"None of this would have happened," Lochte added about the aftermath in which three of his fellow swimmers were questioned by Brazilian police and one was ordered to donate nearly $11,000 to a Brazilian charity.

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady returned to practice after sitting out three days due to a clubhouse mishap. Brady cut his right thumb with a pair of scissors while cleaning his spikes. The accident occurred one hour prior to the exhibition game at Gillette Stadium against the Chicago Bears

The NFC Title game between the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco was played on January 10, 1982. The game featured "The Catch" by wide receiver Dwight Clark at the back of the endzone on the pass thrown by QB Joe Montana. The touchdown reception gave the 49ers the lead with 58 seconds to play. San Francisco held on for an exciting 28-27 victory, and a trip to the Super Bowl.

Four year old Tom Brady claimed he was at the 1982 NFC Title game, and he was in the stands in the endzone where Clark made the miraculous catch.

I guess Roger Clemens isn't the only one who "misremembers" important moments in history.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Father's Day never gets old

SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS

A quick refresher for those who haven’t kept score in a while: R – run, H – hit, E – error, BB – base on balls, LOB – left on base, HBP – hit by pitch, GIDP –grounded into double play

For the visiting Los Angeles Angels, 10 runs, 18 hits, four errors, 11 walks, 17 runners left on base, two hit batsmen, and four grounded into double plays.

The home team Boston Red Sox scored 6 runs, 14 hits, six errors, 9 walks, 14 runners on base, two hit batsmen, and grounded into five double plays.

This is the box score for the Father’s Day Game I took my dad to. It was a regular day in the neighborhood with 7 AM Sunday Mass, followed by breakfast and baseball at Emerson Playground. On this day, it would be just Dad and me heading east on Storrow Drive going to Fenway Park.

During our drive, he let me listen to Arnie “ Woo Woo “ Ginsberg on WMEX, 1510 AM on your radio dial. As we passed Browne & Nichols, Sunshine Superman by Donovan came on. This song has Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin fame on lead guitar and Bobby Orr on the drums. No, it is not the same one who scored on Mother’s Day. I knew every word and I sang away. As we passed the Coca Cola sign, I must have reached the high note for I saw my Father smile.

The weather was in the 90’s and the sacks were full just about every inning. The tying run would come to the plate with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th. The bases were loaded for 3rd baseman, Frank Malzone. He lived near my Dad’s sister in Needham so he was my favorite. All I needed was a grand slam and I could have extra innings. I jumped from my seat as his fly ball was caught behind shortstop.

The most famous trial of the 20th Century was held in Flemington, New Jersey in 1935(pop.-2,769). This was the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. Richard Bruno Hauptmann was charged with the crime. He would be given the electric chair on April 3rd by the State of New Jersey after having his favorite meal and a smoke. My father would be tortured worse with a 5 hour baseball game, listening to my singing, a soggy ballpark frank and a flat coke. He would also have memories of April 3rd for he was married on this date.

The last movie that my Father watched was Field of Dreams. I do hope to have a game of catch with him someday. I am quite confident it won’t be on any Father’s Day.

That is always my recollection of Father's Day. Thanks for the memories.

A you-you-you can just sit there a-thinking on your velvet throne,
‘bout all the rainbows a-you can a-have for your own

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

The David Ortiz victory tour is going to be painful

David Ortiz hates it when you bring up that he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 (a fact confirmed by the union). The latest target of his ire: MLB Network hosts who declared he has received a "free pass" for his transgression.

"What pisses me off is the whole thing about, why does my name got to be mentioned in that? What did I have to do with that? I saw on MLB the guys talking about it, and then they brought my name up, and one of the guys said that I got a free pass on that. And to be honest with you, in this country, nobody gets a "free pass."

Who can forget the night Ortiz threw Red Sox manager Terry Francona's post-game press conference off key when he barged in to cry over an RBI he felt he should have gotten. Francona looked like he'd just been punched in the stomach. Just shut up, will ya, Big Papi, Joe Torre said. "Official scorers should never give any benefit of the doubt to the home team." Torre, MLB executive vice-president for baseball operations, changed a scoring in Ortiz's favor earlier in the year in a game against the Texas Rangers.

David Ortiz announced his retirement from the Boston Red Sox prior to the 2016 season. He has been part of three World Championship teams and has reached his personal goal of 500 home runs. This will be his 20th season in major league baseball.

Ortiz in particular was one of the Boston sports stars who lifted the city's spirits the most in the wake of the 2013 Marathon Day bombings by declaring in an unforgettably emotional speech following the Boston manhunt, "This is our [expletive] city."

The Gold Watch

Apparently, the tradition of giving gold watches originated back to the 1940s and The Pepsi Co. The concept of “you gave us your time, now we are giving you ours,” made sense when people stayed with a company for three or four decades and the price of gold was about $34 an ounce. Today, the average length of job tenure is roughly five years and the price of gold hovers near $1,600 an ounce, a pricey change that would either put more companies out of business or see more watches end up in a pawn shop.

We will miss his clutch performances. His production will remain strong until the end. If the team plans on another last place finish, let's give David the gold watch on opening day.

The Boston Red Sox blamed last year's poor television ratings on popular announcer Don Orsillo, and fired him. A sacrificial lamb is a metaphorical reference to a person or animal sacrificed (killed or discounted in some way) for the common good. Even the great David Ortiz won't be able to mask that 162 game snoozefest.

The Kobe Bryant sexual assault case began in July 2003 when the news media reported that the sheriff's office in Eagle, Colorado had arrested professional basketball player Kobe Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by a 19-year-old hotel employee. Bryant had checked into The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, a hotel in Edwards, Colorado, on June 30 in advance of having surgery near there on July 2 under Dr. Richard Steadman. The woman accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room on July 1, the night before the surgery. Bryant admitted to an adulterous sexual encounter with his accuser, but denied the assault allegation. The case was dropped after Bryant's accuser refused to testify in the case. A separate civil suit was later filed against Bryant by the woman. This was settled out of court and included Bryant's publicly apologizing to his accuser, though admitting no guilt on his part.

Kobe Bryant says Colorado sexual assault case was “turning point” in career. "Was I afraid of going to jail"? Yes. It was twenty-five to life, man. I was terrified. The one thing that really helped me during that process — I’m Catholic, I grew up Catholic, my kids are Catholic — was talking to a priest. It was actually kind of funny: He looks at me and says, ‘Did you do it?’ And I say, ‘Of course not.’ Then he asks, ‘Do you have a good lawyer?’ And I’m like, ‘Uh, yeah, he’s phenomenal.’ So then he just said, ‘Let it go. Move on. God’s not going to give you anything you can’t handle, and it’s in his hands now.

How polarizing is Kobe? On basketball-reference, there is a fan index that measures a player's popularity. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Lebron James, Hakeem Olajuwon, John Stockton, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Patrick Ewing, Chris Paul and Charles Barkley are all in the top 20. Kobe Bryant is Number 348, trailing Cuttino Mobley of the Houston Rockerts who averaged 13.4 points per game for his 11 year career. Bryant is third alltime in regular season scoring with over 33, 000 points as well as third place in playoff scoring with 5,640.

Kobe Bryant's final game against the Boston Celtics was on Sunday night. Bryant shot 11 for 28 from the field and four for 11 from three point range. He contributed one assist. His Los Angeles Lakers fell to 16 wins, 60 losses for the season.

The roller coaster ride is nearly at an end. The basketball world has been forced to watch Kobe Bryant accumulate records that will be nearly impossible to break. Kobe has taken the most shot attempts in NBA history, and has missed over 14, 000 shots. He will finish with an average of 25 points per game, 4.77 assists per game and one MVP after 20 years.

I think God shut the TV off, too.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Peyton Place is in the Back Bay

Leo Durocher witnessed a great deal of social, political, and international change, some of which he helped bring about. Durocher played an important supporting role in the integration of major-league baseball. His frank assessment of African American baseball talent remains a simple, if coarse, endorsement of the American belief in meritocracy. He stood in the third-base coach’s box for one of baseball’s most memorable home runs, Bobby Thomson’s 1951 “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” off Ralph Branca. He led the New York Giants to a surprising World Series victory in 1954.

Durocher found success in both playing and managing, winning World Series titles while playing shortstop for the 1928 Yankees and 1934 Cardinals. Durocher’s time with the Yankees was volcanic. He quickly made enemies with his incessant yapping, extravagant living, and antagonizing Yankees stars like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Ruth nicknamed Durocher the “All-American Out” for his diminutive batting average.

Along the way Durocher kept company with movie stars, entertainers, and an entire retinue of shady underworld characters. He had legal difficulties, four divorces, and fights with fans, jilted women, and angered husbands, fathers, and boyfriends. He married Ruby Hartley in 1930 and fathered a child. The marriage quickly fell apart, and the couple divorced in 1934. Durocher quickly remarried, this time to Grace Dozier, a prominent St. Louis businesswoman and fashion designer who paid off Leo’s substantial debts.

The next fiasco was Leo's third marriage to actress, Laraine Day. The Utah-born Day was already married to Ray Hendricks. Day divorced Hendricks in Mexico in 1946, then married Durocher the next day. Durocher and Day, who still had a year to wait before her California divorce from Hendricks was final, had to plead before a judge so she could avoid conviction for bigamy.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Albert B. “Happy” Chandler suspended Durocher from baseball for the 1947 season. Chandler claimed that Durocher had once again associated with known gamblers. His real reason may have been because a local Catholic priest declared that attending Dodgers games was a venial sin.

According to Roman Catholicism, a venial sin (meaning "forgivable" sin) is a lesser sin that does not result in a complete separation from God and eternal damnation in Hell as an unrepented mortal sin would.

Supported by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy, the Brooklyn Diocese had presented Brooklyn Dodgers' General Manager Branch Rickey with the ultimatum: fire Durocher for his moral turpitude or face a boycott.

Durocher’s suspension solved the boycott issue.

Comcast SportsNet New England reporter Jessica Moran resigned from the network after seven years on the job, she confirmed to the Boston Globe’s Mark Shanahan Friday. Shanahan cited rumors that alleged a relationship between Moran and Red Sox manager John Farrell was at the center of her sudden departure.

Farrell declined comment on the rumors, and all Moran revealed was that it was in her “personal and professional interest” to leave CSN. Farrell missed the second half of 2015 battling cancer. With the disease in remission, he was hoping to return to the dugout as manager. The Red Sox 2016 media guide also listed Farrell as single, which “raised questions.”

The extracurricular activity by Boston Red Sox personnel is nothing new. There were rumors that manager Terry Francona was involved with NESN’s Hazel Mae. Franconia was replaced in 2011 by Bobby Valentine who lasted one season before giving way to John Farrell. Heidi Watney, a NESN sideline reporter, was rumored to have had relationships with just-divorced catcher Jason Varitek and infielder Nick Green. Watney denied it vehemently, and Varitek remarried somebody else in 2011.

Leo Durocher was forced to sit out the 1947 season because he was caught in the cross-hairs of a squabble between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees. The Yankees were secretly trying to lure Durocher away from the Dodgers. The Commissioner sided with the Yankees. The charge against Durocher for associating with gamblers quieted the masses.

Following two last place finishes, Red Sox manager John Farrell's job was in jeopardy. It appears to be only a matter of time before he will be replaced by last year's interim manager, Torey Lovullo. The headline will read that "John Farrell is stepping down due to health reasons."

Leo Durocher’s posthumous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame occurred in 1994. The selection was attributed to his 2,008 victories in 24 seasons of managing. He was best remembered for his famous quote, "nice guys finish last."

The quote by Leo Durocher was used in 1946 to needle the last place New York Giants. It fits John Farrell "to a tee."

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

BIGGEST LOSER

Having struggled to a career low in 2015 with a batting average of .245, Pablo Sandoval showed up for Boston Red Sox training camp, weighing in at an alltime high. The figures may vary from 280-300 lbs. The body fat percentage (BFP) of a human or other living being is the total mass of fat divided by total body mass; body fat includes essential body fat and storage body fat.

Pablo is in the second year of a five year, $95 million guaranteed contract, with no weight restrictions written in. According to San Francisco Giants' broadcaster Mike Krukow, Pablo Sandoval has a body fat percentage of 30. For Athletes, the rate is 14-20% for Women, Men is 6-13%. For the Average American, the rate is 25-31% for Women, Men is 18-24%. Obese for Women is 32%, Men is 25%. Pablo knocked that one right out of the park.

After serving the Boston Red Sox in various capacities for 62 years, only four Boston Red Sox players showed up for the August 22, 2011 funeral of Johnny Pesky: David Ortiz, Clay Buchholz, Vicente Padilla and Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The team had even provided bus service, but 21 active players were too tired from the team's long road trip so they slept in. Two busloads of other Red Sox employees and front-office officials -- numbering more than 100 in all -- also attended the funeral held in Swampscott, the same North Shore town in which Pesky, 92, lived for decades.

Johnny Pesky joined the United States Army in 1942. He was paid $21.00 per month. He sacrificed three years of his major league baseball career to serve his country. Pablo Sandoval has zero chance of passing the physical to join the Armed Forces, and he gets paid $ 1,583,333.33 per month.

It was seventy one years ago that Albert "Red" Schoendienst began his remarkable career in Major League Baseball. The St. Louis Cardinals marked the 70 year milestone by honoring Red with a special pre-game ceremony prior to the season opener against the Cincinnati Reds. In addition, the team launched a season-long campaign encouraging fans to demonstrate their affection for Red by sharing a video message via social media using the hashtag #LoveRed2. The team wore a commemorative number 2 "70 Years in Uniform and Counting" patch on their sleeve.

"We wanted to mark this amazing milestone by letting Red know how much he means to the entire Cardinals family," said Bill DeWitt III, President of the St. Louis Cardinals. "We encouraged fans to join us in showing their affinity, affection and appreciation for number two as he celebrated seventy years and counting in Major League Baseball."

The 2013 World Series won by the Boston Red Sox over the St. Louis Cardinals in six games is an aberration. There is no logical explanation as to why a team can finish in last place three of the past four years, yet win the whole thing in the other.

The biggest loser is the diehard Boston Red Sox fan. "Let's go, Cardinals."

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

Pardon Me

As granted by the Constitution (Article II, Section 2, Clause 1), Presidents have the power to grant clemency in one or more of the following ways: the ability to grant a full pardon, to commute a sentence, or to rescind a fine. Pardon is the postponement of punishment, often with a view to a pardon or other review of the sentence. Our first president, George Washington used his presidential forgiveness to issue the first pardon to the Whiskey Rebels in 1795. A President has also pardoned a President.

In 1858, President James Buchanan pardoned Brigham Young as part of a peace compromise with the federal government. In the Utah War, Young’s followers participated in a year-long standoff with the U.S. Army. The affair was highlighted by a September 1857 incident in which a group of Mormons killed over 100 civilian members of a California-bound wagon train.

On November 25, 1862, Union General Fitz John Porter was arrested and court-martialed for his actions at Second Bull Run. By this time, George McClellan had been relieved by President Abraham Lincoln and could not provide political cover for his protégé. Porter's association with the disgraced McClellan and his open criticism of General Pope were significant reasons for his conviction at court-martial. Porter was found guilty on January 10, 1863, of disobedience and misconduct, and he was dismissed from the Army on January 21, 1863. In 1878, a special commission under General John M. Schofield exonerated Porter by finding that his reluctance to attack General Longstreet probably saved Pope's Army of Virginia from an even greater defeat. In 1882, President Chester A. Arthur commuted his sentence and restored him to the military, and President Grover Cleveland later followed up with a full pardon. Fitz' brother, David Dixon Porter spent 62 years in the United States Navy.

On May 26, 1874, John Wesley Hardin was celebrating his 21st birthday when he got into an altercation with a man who fired the first shot. Hardin fired back and killed the man. A few years later, Hardin was tracked down in Florida and brought to trial. Because it was one of the more defensible shootings on Hardin’s record, he was spared the gallows and given a life sentence. Hardin had killed in excess of 40 people during a six-year stretch beginning in 1868.

Infamous gunslinger John Wesley Hardin was pardoned after spending 15 years in a Texas prison for murder. Hardin, who was reputed to have shot and killed a man just for snoring, was 41 years old at the time of his release.

Ernest Cary Brace was the longest-held civilian prisoner of war (POW) during the Vietnam War. A decorated Marine Corps fighter pilot and mustang, Brace was court-martialed in 1961 for attempting to fake his own death. He flew as a civilian contract pilot before being captured in Laos in 1965 while flying supplies for USAID. He spent almost eight years as a POW and upon his release received a Presidential Pardon in light of his good conduct. Brace, captured as a civilian, was nominated for the Prisoner of War Medal and the Purple Heart by Admiral James Stockdale. Because Department of Defense regulations prohibit civilians from receiving military awards, the nominations were denied four times. With the help of fellow former POW John McCain, the medals were finally awarded in 2011.

President Richard Nixon pardoned Teamsters' boss, Jimmy Hoffa and boxing promoter, Don King. In his last official act in office, President Jimmy Carter pardoned Peter Yarrow(Peter, Paul and Mary). In 1970 Yarrow was convicted of, and served three months in prison for, taking "improper liberties" with a 14-year-old girl who went with her 17-year-old sister to Yarrow's hotel room seeking an autograph.

New York Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner was pardoned in 1989 by President Ronald Reagan. The pardon was granted after Steinbrenner admitted to criminal counts for obstruction of justice and conspiring to make illegal contributions to President Nixon’s 1972 re-election campaign.

Patti Hearst had her seven year prison sentence commuted to 22 months in 1977 by President Carter. A full pardon was granted by President Bill Clinton in 2001. The list of pardons is very long and almost all United States Presidents have participated in the process. January 20, 2017 will most likely be the next date for presidential pardons. I hope the 44th President will include United States Navy Captain Charles B. McVay on his short list.

The July 30, 1945 sinking of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) by the Imperial Japanese submarine 1-58 has been called the last, great naval tragedy of World War II. It is the stuff of legend: after delivering the atomic bombs to Tinian, the Indy was torpedoed, sinking in 12 minutes. At least 800 crew members survived the sinking and went into the water. On their rescue after five days, only 320 still were alive.

The Indy’s survivors fought sharks, deprivation, and the elements, and now they fight to get their captain exonerated. Their commanding officer, Captain Charles B. McVay III, is the only captain ever to be court-martialed for having his ship sunk out from under him during time of war.

The recommendation was that Captain McVay be court-martialed for hazarding his vessel by failure to zigzag, but Admiral Chester Nimitz disagreed and instead issued the captain a letter of reprimand. Admiral Ernest King later overturned Nimitz’s decision and recommended a court-martial, which Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal later convened.

The real issue was that Admiral King wanted to make a name for himself and be in line for a promotion to five star Admiral. His squabbles with Captain Mcvay stemmed from an incident at the Naval Academy. The lesson here is that a decision on the court-martial can be legally correct and still be unjust. McVay's conviction rendered him legally culpable for the deaths of his shipmates. Captain Charles McVay committed suicide in 1966.

General Dwight Eisenhower called Admiral King "a lightweight." He believied that King's actions placed the blame on one sailor, exonerated the Navy for any possible discrepancies in not knowing the whereabouts of all their vessels, and weasled a fat promotion to Fleet Admiral.

One of Captain McVay's defenders was Mochitsura Hashimoto, commander of the Japanese submarine that attacked the Indianapolis. He testified at the court-martial that the torpedoes would have found their mark even if the Indianapolis had been zigzagging. 'Our peoples have forgiven each other for that terrible war,'' he said. ''Perhaps it is time your peoples forgave Captain McVay for the humiliation of his unjust conviction.''

Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy