Ellsbury's Straight Steal of Home

It was the first steal of home for Boston with no other runners attempting to steal since Jeff Frye did it on June 4, 1999, on an attempted squeeze bunt. Before that you have to go all the way back to Billy Hatcher on April 22, 1994 for a straight steal of home by a Red Sox player. A straight steal of home -- an attempt to steal with no other players in motion, such as a double steal or a missed bunt attempt -- is a feat that is about as rare as a no-hitter.

Then to cap off an almost perfect week, it was the Red Sox' tenth straight win. The Bruins just took four straight from their hated rivals -- l'empire mauvais -- the Montreal Canadiens. Only a double overtime Celtics loss marred this remarkable week in this Golden Age of Boston Sports.

Patriots Day Report

I grew up in Framingham where the famed Boston Marathon zig-zagged north from Hopkington along Waverly Street until it passed through Natick. I used to ride my bicycle to a spot about five miles into the Marathon on Patriots Day when I was in high school. Although only Marathon runners were supposed to be in the race, many people would jump in along the route. Spectators used to ride their bicycles along side the runners too. Until they got more stringent about this a few years ago (remember Rosie Ruiz?) the tail end of the race always looked like a sideshow with many colorful characters.

One day it was drizzling and I stood near a place in the road where train tracks crossed diagonally at an acute angle with the street. The roads in New England of course have frost heaves and this railroad track was a bit hazardous. I remember watching bike after bike hit those tracks that cruelly grabbed the front wheel forcing the cyclists to slide sideways along the rail until they fell over.

We'd yell, "Watch out for the tracks!"

Then "CRASH!"

After a while it became comically tragic -- a real life slapstick reel.

On a typical Patriots Day, the Red Sox play a morning game at 11 AM, then the crowd spills out along Commonwealth Avenue to watch the end of the Marathon. The Celtics will play a postseason game in the Garden at night this year and the Bruins will try for their third win in the first round of their playoff series in Montreal.

Four monumental sports events in one day. What other city can boast that?

On a related note, I have to point out that no one city has ever had three major league sports teams win championships within a year's time. Boston has a chance to have all four of its major league teams -- basketball, hockey, baseball and football -- win a world championship. It's unlikely, but plausible. We'd be happy with one, ecstatic with two. If Boston wins three you'll never hear the end of it. Four and the city spontaneously combusts with revelry never to recover.

Here I will rate the chances of the four teams.

Celtics -- Chances are now looking slim here. Although I am certain they can come back to beat the Bulls, without Kevin Garnett, they will be lucky to make it past the second round. But have the Celts ever gotten lucky before? If they get to the Eastern Conference Finals, then all bets are off and anything can happen. If they can steal a game on the road, then they play three games in the Garden where that leprechaun lives.

Red Sox -- Fair to good. They have a deep well-balanced team -- the best bullpen and starting pitching in their division. They are 28 million under budget for player salaries this year after jettisoning Manny. They can afford to go out and get some offense and a starting shortstop. If the Yankees and the Devil Rays (I still can't believe I am saying that in the same breath) were not in the same division, they'd be a shoe in for the postseason. But even with a great team, it's going to be a three way dog fight.

Patriots -- Very good. After a difficult first half of the season, the Patriots have a cakewalk of a schedule. They reloaded with some quality players and should be much better than the 11-5 team that narrowly lost to the Dolphins last season. How much better? If they can go 6-0 in the first part of the season, you'll be hearing "undefeated" predictions from me again.

Bruins -- Good to excellent. They are arguably the best team in the NHL, second only San Diego in points. They have the best defense and are playing like a team that really wants it after a 36-year drought. Even without the four team miracle, a Bruins championship would be the icing on the cake of a remarkable decade.

The Bird Dies - New England Mourns

If you grew up in eastern Massachusetts in the 1970s, you idolized "the Bird." No, not that Bird ... Mark Fidrych, the Detroit Tigers' Rookie of the Year sensation in 1976, who sort of resembled Sesame Street's Big Bird and talked to himself on the mound, leading to rumors that he was "telling the baseball what to do."

He went 19-9 as a rookie, leading the American League in earned run average (2.34) and complete games (24). He was the starting pitcher for the AL in the All-Star Game, won the AL Rookie of the Year Award, and finished second to the Orioles' Jim Palmer in the AL Cy Young voting. He did everything all out. No major league pitcher has anything close to 20 complete games anymore. In those days, pitchers were not coddled and paced by management. So his career was unfortunately cut short when he suffered arm injuries.

Although he played for the Tigers, he was a hero in my home town because Northboro is the town just to the northwest of Framingham (just as Doug Flutie's Natick is the town to the southeast). I can remember my step-brother claiming he pitched against him, never minding the fact that Fidrych was five years older than him. Older step-brothers!

Likewise, very few people in Framingham had any idea who Flutie was until he threw that pass in 1984 -- although some of my classmates actually did play against Flutie.

Mark Fidrych played a season or two for the Pawtucket Red Sox, but could never break back into the big leagues. He died yesterday in a truck accident on his farm. He was 54. By all accounts he lived out the rest of his life as a "regular guy" in rural Northboro.

The Boston Globe has an excellent article today on The Bird.