Is the Red Sox season over yet?

It’s really hard to believe what has happened at Fenway Park this season, perhaps even more difficult to believe what happened last season at Fenway Park.

What went wrong with Xander Bogaerts & Jackie Bradley? – Peter Abraham has an excellent look at one of the biggest issues this season – the struggles of two rookies who were expected to play big roles this season.

Their current hope at keeping interest up is the pursuit of Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo, which could be resolved today.

The Patriots play the third preseason game tonight against the Carolina Panthers. It will again be on the Patriots Preseason Network.

Replay times on NFL Network are as follows:

Saturday August 23rd – 1:00 AM and 1:00 PM

Monday August 25th – 4:00 PM

Intangibles have helped Patriots’ Malcolm Butler write his rags-to-riches story – Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal has a nice mini-feature on the undrafted rookie who is making a strong bid to make this team.

After losing Nick Underhill to the Saints beat earlier this summer, MassLive.com has hired Kevin Duffy (@KevinRDuffy)  to take over the Patriots beat.

Is Little League World Series coverage too much? – Chad Finn looks at the coverage from ESPN this week, which got big ratings, thanks in large part to Mo’ne Davis.

Boston media has great taste in main courses – John Molori talks to several Boston sports media personalities about their favorite golf courses.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

30 thoughts on “Red Sox Continue Dismal Season, Third Preseason Game For Patriots”

    2. I haven’t turned on the radio today but will in an hour when I head out. How much of the first 2 hrs of F and YARM (he might be out tho) have been spent on this. “They won’t give Lester, a proven stud, 6 yrs but they will give it to an unproven Cuban prospect?????” I don’t disagree with that last statement but I won’t be able to take more than 5 minutes of it from Felger. He’s so predicable.

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    3. I thought the Red Sox were scared away from bidding on international players? Oh I get it, Marc Bertrand says that if Castillo fails, they will be. Never mind the fact that Fatty Bertrand and every other mediot has been saying the same thing for the last 3 months. And how about Gary Tanguay literally in tears on the air for 2 straight weeks, crying about how they would have a $50 million payroll next season with Buchholz as the ace of the pitching staff?

      Kill your radios.

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  2. Sorry, Pete — but you’re distorting things a bit. Yes, Pedroia had 700+ at bats in AAA, and then was RoY in 2007. But before that — in 2006, when he made his MLB debut, he hit .191 in about 100 PAs (with an OPS+ of 42). And then hit under .200 in April of 2007 (hey, remember everyone saying “WTF are they doing playing this marginal prospect who can’t hit his weight?”) before he finally “got it” in May and went on that unholy tear of his.

    Making it seem like Pedroia’s AAA at-bats were the difference between failure and success is ignoring the fact that Pedroia — like Bradley and Bogaerts — failed miserably when he was first exposed to MLB pitching. BASEBALL IS HARD. Either you make the adjustments needed to succeed at that level, or you don’t. Pedroia did, but it took almost 200 at bats before he started to succeed. Only a tiny, tiny handful of offensive players immediately adapt to the majors and succeed at a high level of production, regardless of how much minor league seasoning they’ve had. But — some do, and given Bogaerts’ success last Sept/Oct, it was rational to see if he was one of those exceptions. (Bradley probably did need more seasoning in the minors; he’s got mechanical issues with his swing that need to be smoothed out before he’ll be a consistent hitter in the majors.)

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    1. Remember Jacoby Ellsbury’s first full season? Could not catch up to an inside fastball to save his life. Things worked out OK. Ells had ~400 PA in Pawtucket. Granted he had played in college and was a bit older, but similar story line to Xander – make a huge splash in the WS, then struggle once pitching finds your weakness. I’d give Boegarts a full off-season and spring training to make some adjustments before freaking out.

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    2. Remember Jacoby Ellsbury’s first full season? Could not catch up to an inside fastball to save his life. Things worked out OK. Ells had ~400 PA in Pawtucket. Granted he had played in college and was a bit older, but similar story line to Xander – make a huge splash in the WS, then struggle once pitching finds your weakness. I’d give Boegarts a full off-season and spring training to make some adjustments before freaking out.

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    3. I have the same bone to pick with Lou Merloni. He keeps crying on the air that the Red Sox are rushing their prospects, yet he is unable to offer a mathematical formula that would allow us to determine the exact moment during which a baseball player is “ready” to be promoted.

      I mean how long is a guy like Mookie Betts supposed to completely dominated AA and AAA for?

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  3. “Boston media has great taste in main courses”

    what?… no John Dennis?…he’s supposed to be some big Golf nut. How could they leave him out of this. I’ve got to SPECULATE that it’s because he’s a huge A-HOLE

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  4. Ben Volin drops this line in his latest column >> “Thompkins made a few nice catches early (especially against the Saints), and then fell off a table, catching one pass over the final seven games<<<

    But fails to mention he only PLAYED in 3 of those final 7 games…fair and balanced coverage at it's finest from the Globe

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    1. I’m willing to sink pretty low at times (now and then I’ll take a peek at at a Shaughnessy column) but I draw the line at Hector Longo – pass

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      1. He actually has a story today as a follow up stating the Patriots don’t have a bell-cow running back and that scares him. Of course, when you look across the landscape of the NFL, most teams do not have a single, do it all type of back because they don’t exist any more. Every piece he writes is like an audition for WEEI.

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  6. Isn’t it just about time for around the clock Gronkowski panic?

    Cue the Concern Trolls!

    I want to hear more about how Gronk, his Dad, his agent, Belichick and the team doctor’s “aren’t on the same page.”

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  7. Remember when quite a few of the mediots were bashing the Pats for not signing Wes Welker? “Just PAY THE MAN!” and how they mocked Julian Edelman at the same time?…”Edleman replace Welker?!?! ridiculous!”…. well, given Welker’s concussion problems it’s official now, Edelman is the better player it’s not even close. They can call me a “fanboy” all they want but once again Belichick and the Pats made the right call.

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  8. OK, I admit trade of Mankins shocked me. However I was shocked when they released Lawyer Milloy and shocked when they traded Richard Seymour. The team didn’t fall apart (far from it)…once again, time to sit back and see how it works out AND stay the hell away from the radio

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    1. Surprised Felger is for the trade but I KNEW Mazz would freak out about it. Felger is making sense and Mazz is just going over the top because….I dunno why, really.

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  9. I’ve still not seen a smear job at how bad of a teammate Mankins was by any of the “Bo-Bo Footie PJ Patriots media”, or the “5th Kraft son”. Why hasn’t it come out yet?

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      1. I recall the last one, there was an excerpt but never anything full. Is the ‘no way to post’ similar to the NDA with Nielsen ratings, or is it just in paper form and no scanner?

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        1. it is is pdf form. very professional. I just don’t have a website. Here are some examples.

          Who is your favorite local TV sports personality? (Please do NOT include play-by-play announcers and/or color analysts) (Unaided write-in)

          Tom Caron – 18%
          Mike Felger – 16%
          Dan Roche – 14%
          Bob Neumeier – 7%
          Lou Merloni – 5%

          Who is your favorite local radio sports personality? (Please do NOT include play-by-play announcers and/or color analysts) (Unaided write-in)

          Tony Massarotti – 21%
          Dale Arnold – 18%
          Gerry Callahan – 16%
          Scott Zolak – 9%
          Marc Bertrand – 6%
          Mike Felger – 6%
          Marc Bertrand – 6%

          Source: Channel Media & Market Research

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          1. Sorry,

            should be Lou Merloni – 6%

            instead of Marc Bertrand twice in the local radio sports personality

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          2. A couple more.

            What is your favorite local radio sports show? (Unaided write-in)

            Felger & Mazz – 29%

            Gresh & Zolak – 17%

            Toucher & Rich – 15%

            Dennis & Callahan – 13%

            Dale & Holley – 11%

            Who is your favorite local sports writer? (Unaided write-in)

            Mike Reiss – 18%

            Gerry Callahan – 15%

            Dan Shaughnessy – 12%

            Tony Massarotti – 7%

            Gordon Edes – 6

            Source: Channel Media & Market Research

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        2. another one.

          Who is your favorite local play-by-play announcer or color analyst? (Unaided write-in)

          Don Orsillo – 21%
          Dave O’Brien – 12%
          Bob Beers – 11%
          Tom Heinsohn – 7%
          Jack Edwards – 4%
          Jerry Remy – 4%

          Source: Channel Media & Market Research

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        3. Do you believe that members of the media should be able to express their opinions even if they are not “politically correct”?

          Yes – 56%
          No – 30%
          Not sure/Don’t know – 14%

          Source: Channel Media & Market Research

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        4. Do you believe that media members that express their opinions that may not be “politically correct” should be disciplined by their company/organization?

          Yes – 29%
          No – 56%
          Not sure/Don’t know – 15%

          Source: Channel Media & Market Research

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        5. Last media related topic in the poll. Just so you know the entire report is 94 pages long.

          What is your favorite local pre/post TV sports show? (Unaided write-in)

          Patriots 5th Quarter – 28%
          (WBZ-TV & TV38)

          Red Sox Extra Innings Live – 16%
          (NESN)

          Bruins Overtime Live – 15%
          (NESN)

          Red Sox Gameday – 13%
          (NESN)

          Patriots All-Access – 6%
          (WBZ-TV)

          Source: Channel Media & Market Research

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    2. Another one.

      What is your favorite local TV sports show? (Unaided write-in)

      Uno’s Sports Tonight – 24%
      (Comcast SportsNet)

      Behind the B – 16%
      (NESN)

      Felger & Mazz – 13%
      (Comcast SportsNet)

      SportsNet Central – 12%
      (Comcast SportsNet)

      Dennis & Callahan – 7%

      (NESN)

      Source: Channel Media & Market Research

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  10. I was shocked with how Felger actually understood the trade and was rational and consistent. I was ALSO FLOORED Mazz actually DISAGREED with Mike. I didn’t think Mazz was allowed to disagree with Felger even though I disagreed with Mazz it was actually what radio is suppose to be people having different opinions on sports. This trade could be perceived either way so I am okay with Mazz’s position even though everything the guy says is like the world is ending because it isn’t perfect.

    What was annoying was F&M talking about the Patriots budget and how they wished their wasn’t a budget. I mean IDIOTS EVERY TEAM IN THE NFL CAN ONLY SPEND UP TO THE SALARY CAP. They are relentless with this STUPID THEORY ABOUT HOW THE PATRIOTS HAVE A LESSER BUDGET THAN OTHER SUPER BOWL CONTENDERS. I STOP IT FELGER your better than that. Look at the salary cap hell the COWBOYS are in now with Tony Romo or the Steelers had been in the two previous years. EVERY TEAM can’t go over the salary cap i.e. the BUDGET. With this said Felger was right and didn’t bash the Patriots for this trade which was shocking. I get his schtick he generally is consistent, but hates the undying worshiping the media has for Belichick. Its a legit opinion if Belichick wasn’t the best. Mazz has infected Bertrand as well his negativity is becoming over the top. This team has won atleast 10 games every year since 2002 and as Pat Riley said about winning a month ago you win 3 times but you fail 10 times doesn’t mean you suck. Please get Felger a new co-host who will actually make Boston Radio afternoons listenable.

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