Hurricane makes it to The Show and brings home a special guest

UMSportsHall of Fame:

Warren Bogle was one of Coach Ron Fraser's most durable and consistent pitchers in the early years of the Miami Baseball Program. Back before Hurricane Baseball was THE place to be in South Florida, he helped lay the groundwork for the building of Mark Light Stadium and the glory years to come. The Lyndhurst, New Jersey native set standards for future players to reach, and was described by Coach Fraser as one of the most selfless and competitive team players of all time for UM Baseball.

In his two seasons at Miami, "Bog", as he was known to his teammates, would lead the team in victories and innings pitched each year. His 9 complete games in 1966 was a then-school record. His earned run average that year was 2.52. His 15 career complete games still ranks 6th on the list. He struck out 242 opponents in 191 career innings for an average of 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings...a record that stands today. Bogle struck out a then-school record 128 batters in 1966, back when UM played fewer than 40 games. He recorded 17 strikeouts against Rollins College on May 6, 1966. Ever the tough competitor, and back before designated hitters, Bogle hit for himself and had a career .329 average and .523 slugging percentage. In 1967, he led the team, slugging .620.

Drafted in the fourth round (73rd overall) of the 1967 Major League Baseball Secondary draft by the then Kansas City (now Oakland) Athletics, Bogle made his major league debut in Yankee Stadium on July 31, 1968, becoming the FIRST Miami Hurricane baseball player to do so. He lasted 4 2/3 innings, striking out seven and allowing a single to outfielder Mickey Mantle. "At least, I kept him in the ballpark," said Bogle.

The 21 year old youngster appeared in 16 major league games. He fanned 26 batters in 23 innings, walked eight, allowed 11 earned runs, 4.30 era, one balk, and no decisions. Bogle batted five times, striking out against tough lefthanders(Steve Barber, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar, Tommy John and Sam McDowell). He gave up the first major league home run to outfielder Merv Rettenmund of the Baltimore Orioles in an extra innings loss. Rettenmund sent the Orioles' ball boy to the Athletics locker room to have the ball signed by Bogle. After telling the kid to get lost, A's catcher Jim Pagliaroni told Warren that "this ain't high school. Sign the damn ball."

The 1968 Athletics featured four future hall of famers: Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, Catfish Hunter and Tony La Russa. The team also included young stars, Bert Campaneris, Joe Rudi, Sal Bando, Rick Monday and Blue Moon Odom. The hitting instructor was former New York Yankees centerfielder, Joe DiMaggio.

Warren had only one brief conversation with Joe DiMaggio. After informing the former Yankee legend that his mother was Italian, they made plans for a postgame meal in Lyndhurst. Sal Bando, Joe Rudi and Tony La Russa tagged along.

There was never any mention of hitting streaks, Marilyn Monroe or who's the greatest outfielder. The topic was Italian Food Forever – Those who eat well, eat Italian. Mrs. Bogle won MVP.

A torn tendon in the pitching arm ended the brief career of lefthander, Warren Bogle. Following a stint in the minors in Iowa City in 1969, Oakland A's pitching coach Sherm Lollar told Bogle "that he should return to the University of Miami and finish his degree."

The best day was pitching in Yankee Stadium in front of two busloads of folks from Lyndhurst. The best night was when the Yankee Clipper came for dinner.


Paul Murphy

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

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

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

Goose Gossage may need some help from upstairs

"Hitters always have the fear that one pitch might get away from him (Goose Gossage) and they'll wind up DOA with a tag on their toe. "

When asked how he’d like to be remembered, Gossage said, “I gave them their money’s worth.” Now, he is giving anybody will listen to him his two cents' worth. What has gotten away from Goose Gossage is reality.

Goose Gossage took exception to comments made by Washington Nationals' star outfielder, and 2015 National League MVP, Bryce Harper. Gossage want things the way they used to be. This would include the takeout slide on the basepaths, the collisions with the catcher at home plate, and the non fraternization with opposing players. “Hate is an ugly word, but I hate hitters,” said Gossage. He's not fond of bat-flips and brazenness, either.

The Hall of Fame reliever blasted Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista and the “nerds” working in high positions across Major League Baseball last week in an expletive-laden rant for the ages.

Gossage since has continued his assault on the state of MLB, even taking a shot at Carolina Panthers quarterback/reigning NFL MVP Cam Newton amid his most recent takedown. “It’s a shame, it breaks my heart to see the direction this game is going,” said Gossage . “What, do we want a bunch of Cam Newtons running around?" Gossage took issue with Newton's fashion choices, or maybe even questioned his effort on that Super Bowl fumble. "Newton celebrates too much!" has been tiresome for a while now.

Over a nine year stretch from 1977- 1985, Richard "Goose" Gossage was baseball's best relief pitcher. His era for this period was a paltry 2.01. He struck out 793 batters in 833 innings. The heavy workload took its toll on the righthander. His era ballooned to 4.45 in 1986 while pitching for the San Diego Padres.

The 1986 clubhouse beer ban, which is not in effect anywhere else in the National League, was met with resistance by the Padres. "I don't know what this will accomplish," said Terry Kennedy, Padre player representative. "The only thing not in the news around here is the baseball team. Everything else takes precedent. First, they talked about drug testing. Now, it's no beer.

Goose Gossage took issue with the clubhouse ban on beer. He belittled the owner of the San Diego Padres, Joan Kroc. "She's poisoning the world with her (McDonald's) hamburgers."
Joan had taken over control of the baseball team in 1984, following the death of her husband, Ray. He was the founder of McDonald's.

Goose Gossage apologized to General Manager Ballard Smith, Joan Kroc, McDonald's restaurants, the people of San Diego and anyone else who would listen. He had been suspended by the team for conduct unbecoming a major league ballplayer. Gossage, who stood to lose $140,000 because of the suspension (his 1986 base salary is $800,000 and his guaranteed deferred money was not affected by the suspension), will be reimbursed--except for $25,000 that he will donate to the San Diego Ronald McDonald House charity. But after taxes, he stands to lose just $11,000 total.

Lent is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar of many Christian denominations that begins on Ash Wednesday and covers a period of approximately six weeks before Easter Sunday. Goose may want to stop in to see if any help is available for a 64 year old cranky old man.

"It worked once. It should work, again. "

Paul Murphy

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