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.

Jim Rice elected to the Hall of Fame

I always thought Jim Rice was a much better hitter and outfielder than Reggie Jackson. The main reason Reggie was a lock in his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame is due of course to his status as "Mr. October." Rice also didn't have the longevity to make him truly legendary as those two other monosyllabic Hall of Famers from Fenway's left field, Ted and Yaz. But over all, Rice compares favorably year-by-year to Reggie.

Rice never won a World Series. It wasn't entirely his fault. He did not play in the legendary 1975 World Series due to a broken wrist. (Who knows what could have been? But then Bernie Carbo would not have played, and we wouldn't have had Fisk's home run in the 12th inning, right?) Then Rice batted .333 in the 1986 World Series with a .455 on-base percentage.

In 1978 (the year the Red Sox would have won the World Series if only ...) Rice became the first American League player to compile 400 total bases since Joe DiMaggio. Rice had 382 career home runs, just shy of the magic shoe-in number of 400. He hit more than 25 home runs in seven of his 16 seasons. His career-high was 46 HRs in 1978, the most in the majors that season. He was the MVP that year and led a group of colorful personalities that was arguably the best Red Sox team ever.

Jim Ed Rice was finally recognized in his last year of eligibility. Everyone knows it is a travesty that it took this long. He finally squeaked in with 76 percent of the votes last week. However, Rice's numbers compare favorably to many other Hall of Famers year-by-year. Just take Reggie Jackson for example. Forget about all-time stats for one moment and tell me who you'd rather have on your team for one year. Remember too the defensive liability of Jackson in the outfield. I once sat in Fenway with my cousin and my father and saw Butch Hobson hit an inside-the-park home run (something almost unheard of in tiny Fenway) in part due to Jackson's lackadaisical attitude in right field. This was when Jackson was with the Orioles in 1976. I also witnessed first hand Jim Rice leg out a double on Jackson in 1977, which resulted in the famous Billy Martin brawl in the Yankees dugout when Reggie was recalled from the outfield in an egregious clash of egos.

It's true that Rice is not even close to the legend he replaced in left field, Carl Yastrzemski, as a total ballplayer, but his defense improved after a rocky start in his first two years and he had a powerful arm.

Statistical Averages Per Year:

Jackson (21 seasons)
Batting average = .262
On base percentage = .356
Slugging percentage = .490
HRs per year = 32
RBI per year = 98
Fielding percentage = .967

Rice (16 seasons)
Batting average = .298
On base percentage = .352
Slugging percentage = .502
HRs per year = 30
RBI per year = 113
Fielding percentage = .980

Now someone has to rectify the injustice done to Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson, then all will be right with the world.

Patriots Reports Week 16

The Patriots lost so to speak even though they finished with an 11-5 record -- something that's only happened to one other team since 1970. Most in New England predicted a collapse after Brady went down. They may have finished 16-0 once again with Tom Brady, but we will never know. All we know is that a second string quarterback did the unthinkable and they won 11 games with Matt Cassel and an injury depleted defense.

Unless the Dolphins go on to win some games in the post-season, there is no reason to rue the outcome. I leave you with Barack Abdul-Ali's brilliant analysis, which is mostly right except for the myth that I don't own a Patriots t-shirt. The Pats did better than anyone predicted -- except for a few sage experts -- as Barack points out here. In the meantime, he deserves to be excited about the Dolphins no matter what the outcome of the Raven's game in week 17.

Who knew Jay would be so right?

"11-5 that was my prediction at the beginning of the year when Brady went down." - Jay Rogers

It was uncanny. The Pats actually ended the season at 11-5. Good job, Jay!

Too bad you were wrong on your prediction for the Dolphins.

"They can't do better than 6-10 (and I'm being really generous)". - Jay Rogers

Sadly, you were wrong by 5 games. No doubt the number of sacks endured by Matt Cassel had you feeling a bit woozy this year, so I'll be nice about it.

Okay, no I won't.

The Dolphins single-handedly removed the stinkin' Jets and the Patriots from the playoffs yesterday in their masterful triumph over the stinkin NY Jets. A 2-for-1 Christmas gift for everyone in Miami. Even the Bills were thankful for the Fins this year as they didn't want to see the Pats take the AFC East title again.

Now, the Jets are in complete disarray as we own their prior quarterback who ended the season as the most accurate passer in the league and even surpassed Dan Marino's single-season accuracy rating to win a franchise record. They fired Mangini today (rightfully so). As did the Browns fire Crennel. Both were Belichick assistant coaches and got their jobs on Belichick's coat tails.

How much longer will the Pats hold onto video-gate Belichick who has done nothing since his cheatin' ways have been exposed? Hard to say. But when you look at the abysmal success his assistant coaches had as NFL head coaches, you wonder how much of the Pats prior success was Belichick's "inside information" and how much was just good coaching.

But we can all agree that there is a good chance that normalcy has returned to the AFC East this year. The Pats will slowly fade into a QB controversy and, eventually, oblivion. The Jets are falling back to their healthy 3rd place as they usually have.

And the Bills stand every chance of being a major contender next year - with the Fins too of course.

As Matt would say, "I await your pathetic sophomoric reply", but in actuality, I don't. I'm patiently awaiting next week's playoff game against the Ravens in Miami instead. I hold no illusions, but I'm hopeful.

As for Jay and his beloved Pats, for which he owns no clothing for, the good news is he can stock up this year as there could very well be bargain-bin prices on Patriots jerseys right now. Stock up, Jay. That's what I did last year when the Fins were 1-15 last year before they accomplished the greatest single-season turnaround in NFL history this year and possibly all of sports. Not counting, of course, the lame Red Sox who did a pretty good job of finally winning a championship after losing 87 years in a row.

The other good news for the Pats is that they "can rest," as Belichick said yesterday. Yes, resting ... that's what football is all about, right? Relaxing, kicking back, watching the tide roll in. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that the very attitude that created the situation in which Brady didn't have to practice or play in pre-season this year and which quite likely contributed to his injury??? Oh well ... no use in crying over spilt quarterbacks. The Pats have a star quartersack, er, I mean back, in Matt Cassel now so they don't need that old washed up Brady anymore anyway. Or do they? Last I heard this morning there is a chance Brady might not be well into middle of next season!

So, go ahead Jay ... vote for the Ravens next week. I won't mind. But just remember how far you've fallen when you find yourself, a purebred Bostonian, supporting the filthy Baltimore thugs. Even I would be supporting the Pats (and my beloved AFC East) if the Fins weren't in - unless of course the Jets were the division leader. I haven't lost all my marbles!

And be happy the Pats won an NFL record at least.... First team in NFL history to win 11 games and NOT make the playoffs! You can thank your lovely inner-conference record for that choke.

Have a nice off-season!

- Barack

Patriots Report Week 15

I have to admit I was depressed by the Cowboys loss to the Ravens on Saturday night. I watched most of the game on NFL Network and had to suffer through the inept commentating. Despite the genius remarks of these pundits, Tony Romo played a great game. Had his defense not let us down, the Pats would be one win away from at least a wild card spot.

I thought this was the best chance the Pats had for the wild card. The Cowboys "would've, could've, should've" put the Ravens' post season hopes to rest about three or four times. But at this moment it is too painful to look back at that travesty. I wondered several times if this was really the NFL. That these two teams are playoff contenders is beyond me.

I predicted too that the Dolphins would commit the unlikely feat of falling to the 2-12 Kansas City Chiefs. You see, this pretender won its now 10-5 record by eking out these narrow wins over awful teams. I thought the emperor's new clothes would be exposed by the worst Chiefs team since the mythical Charlestown hockey team of the same moniker. The Fish were due for a fall to a bad team, but to no avail.

The hopes of the good guys now rested squarely on the shoulders of the 2-12 Seattle Seahawks defeating Brett Favre and "that other team from New Jersey." I wasn't too optimistic. These are the Seahawks. You know a bottom tier team when you look at its website and you can find its 2009 Cheerleader Calendar more easily than their stats or standings.

This was first time, and hopefully the last, that I "watched" a whole Jets game on NFL Game Center on the Internet. Amazingly the Jets were held to a field goal in Seattle. It almost seemed like a non-game that was over way too fast. I'll have to see the highlights to believe it. Brett Favre is supposedly good for at least 1 TD againstt a 2-12 team isn't he? Maybe it was something in the coffee?

So on to next week. I won't be presumptuous in assuming the Pats will defeat the Bills in Buffalo as a foregone conclusion. Let's just say I like the Pats' chances given the way Cassel played today -- passing for 345 yards and for three touchdowns.

But this is what it comes down to ...

There is little or no chance the Ravens are losing their last game. The Pats have to win and the Jets have to beat the Dolphins. The Pats can finish with the best record in the AFC East and take on Indy or Baltimore in the first round.

But how to predict what will happen? Obviously the Jets have to be favored. Both teams are stinking pretty bad right now. The game is in New York. The Jets are still playing to keep their hopes alive. Little justice would prevail by having one of these wannabes present the AFC East in the playoffs. And since 1990, when the league started sending six teams per conference to the playoffs, no 11-5 team has missed the post season. Simple mathematical probabilities will prevail.

So come week 17, I see Matt Cassel's Patriots peaking in time for the post season as dangerous division leaders favored to advance to the AFC Championship.

This season has been the most exciting and unlikely since 2001. Odd too, in that New England fans will be rooting for the Jets to win a game next week.

Ugghhh!

Now I know what Longfellow Deeds felt like:

Mr. Deeds:
You guys football fans? The Pats could take the conference this year. The Dolphins are overrated and the Jets are choke artists.

Helicopter pilot:
I wouldn't say that, Mr. Deeds.

Mr. Deeds:
Just Deeds. Why is that, though?

Helicopter pilot:
You own the Jets, Deeds.

Mr. Deeds:
I do? That sucks. I hope they don't play the Pats in the playoffs or I'll have to kill myself.

Are the Bruins next?

Six parades in nine years