Entrusted with a 3-0 lead to start the ninth inning, Jonathan Papelbon gave up a two-run homer to Jose Bautista and then with Edwin Encarnacion on second, gave up a single to Sox-killer John McDonald. Encarnacion rounded third and a arrived at the plate seemingly just before the throw from Darnell McDonald arrived to Jason Varitek, who was blocking the plate. Encarnacion was called out, giving the Red Sox a 3-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The larger concern following the game was the health of Jon Lester, who was forced to leave the game after four no-hit innings with a strained left latissimus.
What Jon Lester’s injury means for the Red Sox – Alex Speier examines what the injury to Lester means for the Red Sox in the short term. More on Lester and the game from Gordon Edes | Dan Duggan | Ron Chimelis | Peter Abraham | Danny Picard
Participants replay final out – John Tomase has McDonald, Varitek and Blue Jays manager John Farrell talking about the game-ending play at the plate. Monique Walker has McDonald talking about his throw to the plate. Tony Lee has more on the play.
Smart money’s on Jacoby Ellsbury – Tomase suggests the Red Sox should consider locking up Ellsbury to a Carl Crawford-like contract.
Boston Braves of 1914 pulled a ‘Rabbit’ out of their cap for a miracle season – Garry Brown looks back at the “Miracle Braves” and how two players with Western Massachusetts ties played a huge role in their rally.
Ineffective Cameron finds home with Marlins – Tim Britton’s notebook has the Red Sox getting the Marlins to take Mike Cameron off their hands. The Globe Red Sox notebook from Abraham has more on the trade. The Herald notebook from Duggan has the bullpen again getting it done for the Sox after an early exit from the starter. The CSNNE.com notes have McDonald and Varitek connecting up on the final play. The Telegram notes from Bill Ballou have more on Lester.
Bruins had free-agent foresight – Joe Haggerty notes that signing Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara to extensions last summer has made Peter Chiarelli look very smart this summer. (This was another point that Mike Felger (incorrectly)railed on all season long – that the Bruins should’ve waited to re-sign those two.)
While spenders make flashy moves, Bruins continue to play it safe – DJ Bean looks at the Bruins continuing their conservative offseason, allowing Tomas Kaberle to sign with the Hurricanes and then trading with Carolina for a replacement defenseman, Joe Corvo.
Joe Corvo’s Differences From Tomas Kaberle May Make Him a Better Fit on Bruins’ Blue Line – Douglas Flynn looks at why Corvo might be a better fit for the Bruins.
Corvo, who pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman in a Boston bar back in 2002, was a topic of conversation on the Felger and Mazz (minus Mazz) show yesterday afternoon. Felger walked gingerly around the suggestion that the incident involving Corvo was not exactly as reported.
The NH Union Leader reports
While at the Trio Restaurant that day, prosecutors said Corvo grabbed a 34-year-old woman’s buttocks. Staff members at the restaurant told Corvo to leave and he did. But Corvo returned, allegedly punched the woman and then kicked her when she fell to the ground.
The woman was later treated at Massachusetts General Hospital for bruises and swelling on her face.
Nearly a year later in 2003 as a rookie defenseman with the Los Angeles Kings, Corvo pleaded guilty to a felony count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — his foot — and one misdemeanor count of simple assault and battery.
Felger had people hinting to him that the woman in the incident was…well, not a woman. He suggested that this could be why Corvo seemingly got off so easy on what looks to be a very serious incident, and noted that the NHL only suspended him for three games.
It was a rather weird, uncomfortable discussion all around – and even Felger seemed a little uncomfortable with the idea.
Rowdy fans from ‘the Fort’ deserve ‘the boot’ – As he heads out on vacation, Mark Farinella has some harsh words for the Revolution fans featured in the Globe Sunday sports section.
Looking past the lockout – Ian R. Rapoport and Karen Guregian examine the Patriots roster as we presumably prepare for free agency later this month.
Boston Sports Media Watch 
I love Peter Gammons, but I have to admit that his image took a hit for me yesterday when, on the post-game show, he insisted that "we'll never know" if Encarnacion was safe at the plate or not, all while the NESN replays clearly — CLEARLY — showed that Encarnacion was safe. As in, so clearly that I'd gladly allow you to put a gun to my head with a special trigger that was guaranteed to go off if Encarnacion was out. Beyond even an unreasonable doubt clearly.
It's okay to admit that an umpire was blocked and didn't make the right call, Pete, even if it's the Red Sox. Really.
As an aside, I caught the end of the Rays-Twins game last night as well, and that game ended on an even more egregious blown call. (A bang-bang play at first where the runner clearly, on replay, beat the throw by at least half a second, yet was called out.) Not a good night for umpiring.
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He probably was safe, but remember also that Patterson clearly took a called third strike earlier in the inning that wasn't called a third strike. He ended up singling and scoring on Bautista's homer, so the umps owed the Sox one there anyway.
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You definitely have a point there. Still, two wrongs that add up to the right outcome are still two lousy calls. And I'd have had no problem if Gammons had made the point you just made. But he didn't.
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Several Boston Sports Media thoughts not covered by Bruce this am that are running through my head:
1) Yesterday WEEI had Rob Bradford and Tom E Curran filling in for the Big Show. Ding, Ding Ding we have our winner…put them in 10-2. It was a pretty entertaining show. Even with Curran complaining that it was the longest 4 hours of his life it went by pretty quick, they told me things I did not know, and they talked Baseball, Football and a little hockey. It was much better than Mutt and Merloni. Rob Bradford is growing on me. I like his writing and work on WEEI.com. i think his radio work has come a long way. He still can sound like a fanboy sometimes but he makes relevant points and keeps a showing moving.
2) Kathrine Tappan was exposed this morning when she was filling in with Bob Ryan on the D&C show. A texter asked why Tyler Seguin could not play in Providence last year. Ryan immediately said "I am not up on all the NHL rules and I do not know why he would have had to go back to Juniors" then he threw it to Tappan. She hemmed and hawed before saying she did not know…maybe it was contract related…and then said I will look it up. I don't mean to be harsh but she is supposed to be a hockey expert. The rule saying Canadian players under 20 can't go to the AHL but rather have to go back to Juniors is an old established rule to keep the younger better players in Juniors rather than having them all go to the AHL. She should have known this. To me it is akin to a baseball writer not understanding how options work or a football writer not understanding how signing bonuses are prorated against the cap (I have heard media "experts" incorrectly explain both of these concepts in the last 6 months only having to correct themselves after the next break.) As a lay fan it is fine if I do not understand or know those rules (I do but that is not relevant) but we should expect our "media experts" to know more than we do. I do not mean to be singling out Tappan…it could have just as easily been someone else. I am however pointing out what I see is a problem with the Sports Media personalities in this market; when they do not know more than the fans, it makes them less credible.
3) If any topic has generated more nonsensical hysteria than the term "pink hat" and what it means in sports radio than I can't think of it. In the past month I have heard callers or hosts complain that calling a fan a pink hat is offensive to Breast Cancer survivors, women, bandwagoners, people who like the color pink, gays, fashionable people and tourists. At the same time i have heard hosts and callers defend the use of the term ad nauseum claiming that it is a way of identifying "band wagon jumpers" from "real fans". When they are bored it seems hosts trot out the pink hat discussion to kill time. I can't think of anything other than an Andelman (doesn't matter which one…you hear that Wtks) appearance that gets me to change the channel faster.
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tl;dr
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A few items:
1) As latetodinner mentioned Rob Bradford and Tom E. Curran hosted the the Big Show yesterday and it was very good. They covered all things baseball and football. They were not boring they showed a great amount of knowledge and the show was very entertaining. A third voice was heard. Unfortunately, WEEI did not send Mike Adams on vacation as well as Ordway. As soon as I heard his voice, "click".
2) I am so glad Bruce mentioned Felger going on and on last season about how the Bruins signed Bergeron, Chara and Thomas to contracts that were way too large. As we all know, Felger could not have been more wrong. Especially when we see the contracts of Ville Leino and Brad Richards. You would think Felger would admit on air how wrong he was. Well, guess again, he said the Bruins could have waited until the end of this season and still could have signed Chara and Bergeron to possibly cheaper contracts. Felger then tried to say that Richards was overpaid but is a much better talent than Bergeron. He said that Richards carried the Lightening to the Stanley Cup. Mike forgets that, that was SEVEN years ago. Richards is thirty-one. Bergeron is twenty-five. Who do you teams would like more? Felger then said the same about Chara, even though he said many teams want a Chara-like type player. That's right Mike, why would a team want the real thing when they can get a Chara-like player. Felger then spent the final hour mocking Chiarelli saying he was lucky to get everything right. Felger sums up my belief that the 2-6pm time slot on sports radio is truly an abyss.
3) Kirk Minihane was co-hosting the Mut and Lou show today. Merloni was on vacation. I noticed his tone had changed. He was more respectful to callers. He did not show anger when disagreeing. He was very good. The Mut and Lou show was on location at the Mark Herzlich charity golf tournament. Bobby Orr was a guest. Orr represents Tomas Kaberle and is not pleased with either Kevin Paul DuPont or Michael Felger. He said that, "a writer in this town was going to assassinate Kaberle and he did." I know Felger is not a writer anymore but I think sometimes some of the older generation of athletes will lump all media as writers. DuPont of course is a Hall of Fame writer who has also hammered Kaberle. Orr believes that Kaberle did not play as well as he could have, but he did have a good Stanley Cup Final. He feels that a full training camp would have been very helpful. Here is the interview from WEEI.com
http://audio.weei.com/a/42323140/bobby-orr-hockey…
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You made some very good points. Interesting point about Orr representing Kaberle – I did not know that. I am surprised however that Orr could give a sweet damn what Felger or DuPont think, write or say because I know that Neeley, Chiarelli and Sweeney think Felger is a dunce when it comes to hockey. They have alluded to that on a few occasions. Felger was dead wrong on so many points last year it's a joke. Besides the Bergeron and Chara examples you mentioned, Felger also thought it was a travesty to sign Tim Thomas to that fat contract because Tuuka should be the goalie according to Felger. Early in the year he was calling for the Bruins to trade Tim Thomas. Don't forget that he also called for Chiarelli to be fired as well as Claude to be fired and I could go on and on about how many times Felger was wrong in his assessments. Bruce has previously written that Felger actually admitted to being wrong on several of his Bruin comments (Why is Marchand getting so much ice time? Goalies CANNOT ever steal you a game!). Bottom line though, Orr has to be happy with the contract that Kaberle got from Carolina. He'd never have gotten that kind of money from the Bruins regardless of what Felger and DuPont negatively wrote.
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Nut there is no question the Bruins would not have signed Kaberle at that kind of money. With regards to Orr, as gentlemanly and shy as he is during an interview, he is still a ferocious competitor. I think he sees his clients as teammates and will stick up for them at all cost. You could sense in Orr's voice the complete displeasure he had when hearing the criticism on Kaberle,
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That's more than a few.
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I heard 98.5 the other day (Tues. maybe?) from 10-2 and Mcadam was on with Zolak. The two of them were great together….it's funny how much better Zolak is when Gresh isn't there.
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Bradford still does nothing for me, he tries too hard to joke around and be "witty". Like a lot of local writers-turned-media-types he seems like he has an inflated ego and I couldn't stand listening to him every day for multiple hours. When he stays on topic he's ok, but he seldom does that — every comment is preceded or followed by some type of would-be comical line and it's grating.
Meanwhile, Minihane has changed his tune but frankly I'd never give the guy another shot after his conduct on the air earlier this year — and even the other day on EEI he started grilling another network's on-air personality (some girl on ESPN), as if he's the ultimate judge and jury of anyone in broadcasting!
I do agree though that these alternate pairings — especially McAdam with Zolak — do show the major glaring hole that exists between 10-2 in this market (one can say 2-6 also these days, regrettably).
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Doc:
I used to share your thoughts on Bradford but all I can tell you is I thought his pairing with Tom E Curran was quite good. Did he have a little of that inflated ego you talk about sure…but Curran's self deprecating humor and along with his razor sharp wit kept it in check…Curran also kept him focused on target…they made good foils for one another. I do think Bradford is one of the better baseball guys. Most importantly…a Bradford/Curran show would be miles better than Mutt and Merloni.
I completely agree with you on Minihane. The best thing he could do for his career is get a job in a different market and start from scratch. I can't stand listening to him.
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Uhh how about the fact that Bradford can barely speak clearly and sounds like he has a mouthful of spit half the time?
Minihane is a young douche who couldn't handle the big chair. Back to the website, son.
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I grant that Bradford's delivery is not as clear as I would like but Eddie Andleman made a lot of money saying eh, um and a host of other unintelligible sounds for years. I think Bradford is fine on the radio. My bigger point is he and Curran would make a much better pairing than Mutt and Merloni. If you don't like Bradford I can live with someone else…John Ryder maybe teamed with Curran…I am assuming Sean McAdam and WEEI have burned all bridges. How about Bob Ryan with Curran. If Ryan can carry Tappan as he did again this morning through Whitey Bulger talk he would be a great partner.
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Doc I have to disagree with you on Bradford as well. He usually comes across pleasantly on the air. He has very good baseball knowledge. Overall he has done a good job. I would rather listen to him than a lot of other locals.
As far as Minihane goes, I lambasted him for the way he had behaved on the Sports Saturday show. Not only was he incredibly rude to Jack Edwards but he also said some weird stuff about Danny Ainge. A caller disagreed with Minihane and Minihane did the old, "I'll call him names and shout over him to prove my point" strategy. Minihane actually responded to my criticism here on BSMW. Others have also been very critical as well. Minihane did something that is completely surprising for a media member. He listened. He was much better with Mutnansky yesterday. He disagreed without being disagreeable. He talked to callers with respect and was given the same in return.
I honestly believe that Mut and Lou will eventually beat Gresh and Zo because Gresh is just so bad.
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