Briefly.
My apologies for last week’s faux pa. Mike Yaz is Yaz’ grandson, not son. BTW, he is still hitting homeruns and hit another one on his grandfather’s 80th birthday.
Trivia #1: Who was Ray Chapman?
Trivia #2: What NFL team was once the Portsmouth Spartans?
Trivia #3: How did the L.A. Dodgers, formerly the Brooklyn Dodgers, get their name?
Bonus Trivia: Just yesterday, Bob Cousy became just the fourth former NBA player to be presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Name the other three.
Belated congratulations to local Channel 5 sportscaster, Mike Lynch, who recently retired. Lynchie came on board in 1982 and soon took over the lead role in the “Sports War”, at the time, with Ch. 4 (Bob Lobel) and Ch. 7 (John Dennis). He played football at Harvard and in 1975 kicked the game-winning field goal in the closing seconds to beat Yale 10-7 in the Yale Bowl before an estimated 66,000 fans.
Despite having nine batters with 10-plus homeruns for just the second time in franchise history, the Red Sox have just the eighth-highest homerun total among all MLB teams in 2019.
Tom Brady did not look all that sharp last night. I am zero-worried about Tom Brady and the offense.
Get ‘em while they’re hot! Early bird season tickets to the Worchester Red Sox (The WooSox) are now on sale.
The fires in the Amazon rain forest are an international crisis. The forest produces 20% of the world’s oxygen. 20%!
U.S. soccer star Carli Lloyd appeared at a joint practice session between the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday. Lloyd was seen nailing 40-yard and 55-yard field goals.
Chris Berman is celebrating 40 years with ESPN. I remember where I was when I saw SportsCenter for the first time. Do you?
So the Red Sox won their suspended game yesterday, 5-4, after just under 12 minutes of play thanks to Brock Holt’s RBI single in the 10th. The game had been delayed for 12,018 minutes. Attendance yesterday was just shy of 12,000 (under 18-year old were free, all others $5, concession items were $1 – not sure whether they sold beer but I doubt it was for $1) and just 603 words were spoken on the WEEI broadcast. With Thursday previously scheduled as an off-day for the Sox, some players had planned events in the San Diego area with their families. Instead, flights to begin their west coast road trip were delayed a day.
Antonio Brown, you spoiled baby. You punk. Put on your helmet and play.
Useless headline of the week: Chris Sale Optimistic For 2020, Despite Disappointing End To 2019 Season
Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson said he and his podcast co-host smoke around $40,000 worth of pot each month on his 40-acre, California ranch. He added that his ranch sells around $500,000 in cannabis to dispensaries in California and Nevada each month. (Can you imagine what Mike Tyson’s voice sounds like when he’s stoned?!)
23-year old Nathan Patterson threw a 96-mile an hour pitch at a speed-pitch radar booth at Coors Field. The video of the pitch went viral and 700,000 views later, Nathan signed a contract with the Oakland A’s. In his debut at the team’s rookie-level Arizona league he struck out all three batters he faced. Cool.
Geoffrey and Kaycee Lace, of Friedens Pennsylvania, were hit with misdemeanor theft charges last week after police searched their home and found a doll that resembled the infant seen in photos the couple says was their son. They faked both the baby’s birth and death, set up a GoFundMe page and collected donations from friends, family and the community. Scumbags.
“I” before “E”, except after “C”. Now that’s just weird.
Detroit Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford says that her best memory of the Lions has yet to come. “I want the Lombardi Trophy.” At 93 years old, she’s a few prayers away from seeing her dream come true, think?
Trivia #1 answer: Who was Ray Chapman? Cleveland Indians shortstop who was struck with a fastball in 1920 by the yankees’ Carl Mays. The first and only death to occur as a result of a pitched ball in major league history.
Trivia #2: What NFL team was once the Portsmouth Spartans? – The Detroit Lions
Trivia #3: How did the L.A. Dodgers, formerly the Brooklyn Dodgers, get their name? – In 1892, Brooklyn replaced their horse-drawn trolley lines with new, faster electronic trolley lines. Sportswriters at first referred to the residents of the city as the “Trolley Dodgers” because of their amazing skill set in dodging the trolley streetcar system. The “Trolley Dodgers” eventually became simply the “Dodgers.”
Bonus Trivia answer: Just yesterday, Bob Cousy became just the fourth former NBA player to be presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Name the other three – Bill Russel, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
“You know I’ve seen a lot of what the world can do
And it’s breakin’ my heart in two
Because I never want to see you sad girl
Don’t be a bad girl
But if you wanna leave, take good care
Hope you have a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there’s a lot of bad and beware, beware”
Ed's Head On Friday 