Good morning!
If Ted Williams was to rise from the dead and see that Tuesday’s All Star game was decided by a “swing off,” his response wouldn’t have been suitable for print in a family newspaper. In Ted’s day, swing-offs happened at Benny Goodman concerts.
The New York Times called the new rule “historic” and Sports Business Journal described it as a “thrilling conclusion” proving that gaslighting goes beyond politics.
It used to be that in the event of a tie you kept playing, but MLB didn’t want Rob Manfred to look as dumbfounded as Bud Selig did in 2002 when they ran out of pitchers and the game ended in a 7-7 tie after 11 innings.
Selig was booed out of the ballpark but promised it would never happen again on his watch. Players were added to the rosters and whichever league won would have the home field advantage in the World Series. He kept his word, but the league reversed itself the year after Selig retired in 2015.
Tuesday’s game drew 7.19 million viewers, down three percent from last year and barely above the record low of 7 million in 2023.
There’s places microphones and cameras don’t belong during a game. Real fans don’t want to see Clayton Kershaw saying what pitch he’s throwing or hear Pete Alonso the moment after his home run. It makes a mockery of the sport.
The collective bargaining agreement ends after next season, and “swing offs” may be introduced as a way to avoid extra innings entirely.
Pray for us, Ted, they’re destroying the game.
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The 22nd annual Sgt. Gregory A. Belanger benefit will be Aug. 23 at 2 p.m. at Camp Apex on Peckville Rd. in Shelburne. A Deerfield native and Frontier Regional wrestling captain, Belanger was killed in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom on Aug. 27, 2003. Stay tuned for more details.
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Mike Cadran reports that Green Wave baseball coach Tom Suchanek is closing in on the high school wins record.
“The MIAA wants to list all state wins leaders in all sports,” said Cadran. “This is the only state that has no such official records, per se.”
Unofficially, Suchanek’s 706 wins are 19 behind Leominster’s Emile Johnson and 30 behind North Reading’s Frank Carey and both have retired.
Fortunately Suchanek has several players returning from the 2025 team that was 15-8 and reached the Division 5 quarterfinals. “From what I understand,” said Post 81’s Bill Phelps, “Conner Bergeron will be at GHS, along with Chase Zraunig, Luca and Nico Siano, Arthur Fitzpatrick, Urijah Jenness, Bodie Burke and his younger brother Casey.”
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Listeners who tuned into WFAN several Saturdays ago were surprised to hear Joe Benigno on the air and not Richard Neer. Talk radio’s a vicious business, and Neer was done after 27 years.
The New York Post broke the news on May 23, and Neer confirmed it the following morning. “I don’t know what to say. For whatever reason it’s over. It was not my choice.”
Neer was courteous and knowledgeable and had a devoted following but he let callers talk about their favorite rock bands, and a week wouldn’t go by when he didn’t muse about his latest Riley King novel.
Meanwhile Benigno only talks sports, primarily about the futility of rooting for his favorite teams the Jets, Mets, Rangers and Knicks, a theme he carries over into his podcast called, ‘Oh the Pain.’
If the station was looking to replace Neer without incurring kickback, Benigno was the best choice.
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There’s shades of 1975 and 2004 in this year’s Red Sox team. In 1975 they had rookies Fred Lynn and Jim Rice; this year’s gold dust twins are Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony.
In 2004 they traded for No. 1 starter Curt Schilling; this year they traded for No. 1 starter Garrett Crochet. In midseason 2004 they traded malcontent Nomar Garciaparra; this year they traded malcontent Rafael Devers.
The Red Sox went into Friday’s matinee against the Cubs riding a 10-game winning streak, but nine of the 64 games left are against either the Cubs, Phillies or Dodgers, and 19 are against either the Yankees, Astros, Rays and Jays.
Boston’s fortunes have a way of turning on a dime, so it’ll be a while before anyone can say the stars are aligning for a full harvest moon come October.
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“You never know who you’ll meet at Saratoga,” writes Chris Jacobs. “Back in the 90s there was a crowd around a guy who was signing $50 and $100 dollar bills. I walked up and handed him my program which he signed, ‘Good luck!’ I said, ‘Mr. Trump you played a good role in Home Alone 2 and he said, ‘I wasn’t that good.’”
Jim Lunt tells of the time his father Denham spotted Jimmy the Greek at the Spa and followed him to the mutuels window and said, “I’ll bet two dollars on whatever he bet.”
The clerk pointed to a sign over the window that said, “Minimum Wager $100.”
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Last week in Kansas City, Bobby Witt Jr. dove headfirst into second base and clearly beat the throw. The Mets challenged the call and after endless replays in super slow motion the call was overturned.
“In the control center we know that they have angles we are not seeing and they can piece different views together so there must’ve been a moment there when they spotted the fact he was off the bag for a split second,” said Mets post-game analyst Gary Apple.
Here’s an idea. Show the replay but if you can’t tell that the ump blew the call in real time, let it stand and move on.
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SQUIBBERS: Condolences to the family of Tim Grogan who passed away this month. There were no false airs to him. His smile was genuine and he gave what he got on the ice and in the field. … A pair Boston Globe All-Scholastic athletes will be at UMass this fall. Southpaw Brayden Mercier was 6-1 with a 0.85 ERA for St. John’s of Shrewsbury, and pitcher Kelsey Blanchette had a 1.36 ERA with 149 strikeouts in 106.2 IP for Lincoln Sudbury. … Season ticket holders with state-issued handicap placards will not be exempted from the $100 fee UMass is charging to park near the Mullins Center this winter. Why is that not surprising? … Take a look at Cayden Smith when the UMass baseball team hosts Central Michigan next spring. The American Legion Player of the Year in 2024, Smith pitched, played shortstop and batted .258 for the Chippewas in 2025. … The All-Star Game lasted 3 hours, 20 minutes. No matter how hard they try to mess it up, it will always move at its own pace. … Only five of 295 pitches were challenged, and four were overturned by the robo-ump … Turns out if the Rays make the playoffs their home games will be at 10,000-seat Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, not in Miami as reported here last week. At this writing the Rays were a game-and-a-half out of a wild card spot after they were swept four straight by the Red Sox last week. … It’s time to relax and reload for the dog days of August. I’ll be back in a few weeks provided the horses don’t send me to the poor house.
Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@gmail.com