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Terry Lyons

Ole ‘Mo is Back at Fenway

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Momentum is the heartbeat of a Major League Baseball team when the calendar reads August 15th, so soon to be September 1st.

Yes, the definition is pressure-packed baseball, as in Momentum: “The driving force or advancing strength of a development or course of events.”

Winning two of their last three games after losing four of their previous five is a combination of lively heartbeats and killer heart-ache. It’s been the driving characteristic of the 2025 Boston Red Sox.

Now, Boston is an American League-best 25-12 (.676) since the start of July, and the Sox hold MLB’s second-best record in that span, only behind the NL’s Milwaukee Brewers (30-7).

Yet, games like Friday night’s 2-1 cliff-hanger have defined what the Summer of ’25 has been for Alex Cora and the Red Sox.

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara threw six innings of one-hit ball but let up a single run in the sixth. Boston Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito scattered seven hits but allowed only one run which came in the third inning. From the 1-1 tie in the 6th, with bullpens taking over the mound, it was anyone’s game.

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Giolito gave up consecutive doubles to Miami’s second baseman Xavier Edwards and left fielder Kyle Stowers which produced the only run for the Marlins as they faced a sturdy Giolito and three other Red Sox pitchers.

Boston tied the game in the sixth when DH Roman Anthony drew a walk and third baseman Alex Bregman doubled him in to score from first base. The game remained 1-1 until the ninth inning.

Alcantara, who went 6.0 IP, two hits, one run, one walk and seven strikeouts (86 pitches/65 strikes) gave way to RHP Anthony Bender in the 7th inning who gave way to RHP Lake Bacher in the 8th.

Giolito went 6.1 IP, seven hits, one run, one walk and five strikeouts but gave way to LHP Justin Wilson in the 7th who gave the ball to Garrett Whitlock in the 8th.

Arnoldis Chapman, Boston’s all-star closer pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning, striking out first baseman Eric Wagaman.

It was a game of chess for managers Clayton McCullough of the Marlins and Alex Cora of the Red Sox. McCullough chose not to play newfound closer designee Ronny Henriquez in the 9th and, instead, went with LHP Josh Simpson.

Simpson walked lead-off hitter Anthony and No. 2 hitter Bregman, then with none out and two on base, proceeded to hit Jarren Duran with a pitch to load the bases with none out.

All eyes turned to Boston veteran shortstop Trevor Story who delivered a game-winning base hit to right field to score Anthony for a 2-1 Boston walk-off victory.

Anthony scored both of Boston’s runs and Story went 2-for-4 with several stellar defensive plays, including turning a nidty inning ending double play in the 7th.

Chapman (4-2) was credited with the win, while Simpson (2-2) was charged with the loss.

The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 36, 854 fans at Fenway Park.

The two clubs play the second game of a three-game series Saturday at 4:10pm. Brayan Bello (8-6) is scheduled to start for Boston while Cal Quantrill (4-9) will start for the Marlins.

 

 

 

Lakers for Sale: Pricetag = $10B

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LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – For the first time since 1979, the Los Angeles Lakers will not have the Buss family as a majority owner. According to ESPN, the Buss family has entered into an agreement to sell majority ownership of the franchise to Mark Walter, CEO of diversified holding company TWG Global. The Lakers’ sale will be for a reported $10 billion.

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While Walter, who has been a stakeholder in the Lakers in 2021, will own the majority stake, Jeanie Buss will reportedly continue to serve in her role as the team’s governor.

One of the franchise’s all-time greats, Magic Johnson, said the team’s fans should be thrilled by the sale.

“Laker fans should be estatic. A few things I can tell you about Mark — he is driven by winning, excellence, and doing everything the right way. AND he will put in the resources needed to win! I can understand why Jeanie sold the team to Mark Walter because they are just alike – they are competitive people, have big hearts, love to give back, and both prefer to be behind the scenes. This makes all the sense in the world. I am so so SO happy and excited for @Lakers fans all over the world!”

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Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979, a deal that also included the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the Los Angeles Forum. At the time, the Lakers were valued at $67.5 million. The Lakers won 11 of their 17 NBA championships under Buss family ownership.

The team’s ownership was passed on to Buss’ children when he died in 2013, with Jeanie taking over the responsibilities as team governor.

Walter will now step in as majority owner, although exact details of the agreement were not yet reported. That said, ESPN and The Athletic reported that the valuation of the deal is in the neighborhood of $10 billion — which would be the largest sale of a professional sports franchise in the world.

The Boston Celtics were sold for $6.1 billion earlier this year, the previous high for an NBA franchise.

Walter has investments in several other professional sports organizations, including the Los Angeles Dodgers of MLB, the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and professional soccer.

–Field Level Media

A Father’s Day “Save” for Whitlock

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – (Wire Services Contributed to this Story) – For the first time in his career of facing the New York Yankees, Garrett Whitlock found out what pressure is all about. Although he sported a 2.12 ERA vs. the vaunted Yankees over his five years in the majors, the Boston reliever faced more pressure today than he ever knew he would see.

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Whitlock was on the mound at Fenway Park with a 2-0 lead on Father’s Day. He now has a 15-month old son to provide for and closing out a game against the Yankees and gaining a sweep for his Boston team might establish his role with the Sox and even help pay some bills down the road.

After successfully putting out a brush fire in the 8th inning by coercing New York slugger Aaron Judge to ground into an inning ending double play, Whitlock took the mound for the 9th.

A ground out to Yankees OF Cody Bellinger provided the first out, and then the 36,475 fans (sans, maybe 3,000 NY fans) stood to support the new Dad. A strike-out of Jazz Chisholm added to the drama.

Then, the “baby got new shoes” when Whitlock struck-out NY shortstop Anthony Volpe to secure the Boston win and send the Fenway faithful home with the Sox’ fifth straight victory, their seventh of the last eight, eighth of the last nine and their 10th of the last 15 games played.

Boston is now (37-36) on the season and trail the first first place Yankees by 6.5 games after the three-game sweep.

When Boston walked into Yankee Stadium on June 6, they trailed the New Yorkers by 9.5 games. The 9-6 loss in the Bronx made it 10.5 back. But, since then, Boston has won five in a row against NY and they’ve climbed back into an American League East race that is likely to go down to the last days of September.

The Red Sox scored early on this grand Father’s Day in Boston. In a game played under bright, semi-overcast skies and in a lovely 64 degrees, three mph breeze, Boston 1B Romy Gonzalez tripled in the home half of the 1st inning, and SS Trevor Story knocked him in with a base hit.

That one run would prove to be enough, but Boston tacked up another in the 5th inning when DH Rafael Devers clocked an opposite field home run into the front row of the Green Monster seats in left field. A video review proved the two umpires who made the call correct and the scoring for the day was complete.

Red Sox starting pitcher Brayan Bello threw a career-high 114 pitches over seven innings to secure the victory, his third of the season. Bello allowed only three hits, three walked batters while striking out eight Yankees.

A rather shakey 0.1 inning of relief by Red Sox reliever Brennan Bernardino provided the Yanks with two baserunners after singles by pinch hitter Paul Goldschmidt and centerfielder Trent Grisham were cause of Sox manager Alex Cora to pull the plug and insert the young father.

Whitlock did his job and the Red Sox won, 2-0.

Boston will not rest easy this evening, as the club departs today for a nine game road trip, starting tomorrow (Monday) night in Seattle. The three games in the Queen City are to be followed by three in San Francisco and three more in Los Angeles, against the American League Angels.

It’s Marchand’s Cup to Win

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EDMONTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Florida’s Brad Marchand scored twice for the Panthers, who moved a win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions with a 5-2 win in Game 5 against the host Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.

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Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and an assist, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves for the Panthers, who can clinch the trophy at home in Florida on Tuesday night.

Connor McDavid and Corey Perry scored for the Oilers. Calvin Pickard made 14 saves.

Marchand gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 9:12 of the first period. He got to a loose puck off a center-ice face-off, went around Mattias Ekholm inside the Edmonton zone and skated to the left hash mark before roofing a snapshot.

Bennett made it 2-0 at 18:06 when he collected the rebound of a Matthew Tkachuk shot that was blocked and fired it quickly past Pickard.

The Oilers had their chances to cut the deficit in the second period with a pair of power plays early in the frame but couldn’t convert.

Marchand extended it to 3-0 at 5:12 of the third period. The veteran retrieved a pass from Luostarinen in the neutral zone, carried it inside the Oilers’ zone, and jumped around defenseman Jake Walman above the left circle before sliding it five-hole on Pickard.

McDavid’s first of the series cut it to 3-1 at 7:24. He took a feed from Evan Bouchard in the left circle and brought it down to the crease, slipping it by Bobrovsky’s right skate to bring life to the crowd.

But Reinhart quieted the crowd when he responded for Florida 46 seconds later. Aleksander Barkov collected the puck behind the net and sent a backhand feed to Reinhart, who snapped it from the left circle through two Edmonton defensemen and past Pickard to make it 4-1 at 8:10.

With Pickard pulled for the extra attacker, Perry narrowed it to 4-2 when he fired a blast from the blue line through traffic at 16:47.

Luostarinen scored an empty-net goal at 18:41 for the 5-2 final.

–Field Level Media

Filed Under: NHL

NBA Finals: Thunder Benched

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INDIANAPOLIS – Backup guards Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell helped Indiana’s bench break out with 49 points as the Pacers topped the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 on Wednesday to claim a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

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Thanks to 27 points from Mathurin and the kind of pyrotechnics the Pacers have grown to adore from reserve point guard McConnell, Indiana has the advantage in the best-of-seven series.

Tyrese Haliburton provided heroics with 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds while Pascal Siakam added 21 points for the Pacers, who haven’t lost back-to-back games since December.

Jalen Williams led the Thunder with 26 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 points. Chet Holmgren compiled 20 points and 10 rebounds but shot 0-for-6 from 3-point range.

Game 4 is scheduled for Friday in Indianapolis.

The Thunder trailed 110-102 with three minutes to go, but Alex Caruso tried to keep the Pacers from a premature celebration with a steal and breakaway into the open court. Two steps into the paint, Aaron Nesmith closed and forcefully brought both arms down on Caruso to prevent the shot attempt and take him to the floor. Following a review, no flagrant foul was called.

Caruso made both free throws and Indiana’s Myles Turner subsequently lost the ball out of bounds. However, Turner, who missed eight of his first 10 shots, came up with two blocks of Holmgren on the same possession to keep the lead at six.

Indiana got another stop, and Siakam lit up the stadium for good with an easy basket that gave the Pacers a 112-104 lead with 69 seconds left.

McConnell was seemingly everywhere, and he came up with massive defensive plays all game.

He ripped off Caruso’s bullet inbounds pass with two hands at point-blank range under the basket and pumped in a layup to tie the game at 95 early in the fourth quarter.

Mathurin cashed a trey off a McConnell assist, putting the Pacers up 98-96.

Haliburton re-entered the game in the fourth quarter, took a handoff at the top of the key, stopped, squared and splashed his fourth 3-pointer of the game for a 101-98 lead with 6:42 remaining.

Indiana’s Aaron Nembhard made a 12-foot jumper from the left elbow and the Pacers got it back after a missed 3-point attempt, taking a touchdown lead (107-100) on Obi Toppin’s two-hand dunk off of a miss with 4:23 to go.

Nesmith caught a skip pass on the right wing and drained a trey on Indiana’s next possession for an eight-point lead.

McConnell hit a running right-handed layup between two clutch buckets by Mathurin as the Pacers stayed close, down 93-91, with 10 minutes to play.

Oklahoma City had surged ahead for its biggest lead of the second half — 89-84 — to end of the third. Williams hit a long 3-pointer came after an and-1 baseline dunk by Holmgren, who moved through the swiping hands of McConnell to finish.

Williams played a large portion of the game with the ball in his hands as the Pacers worked to keep Gilgeous-Alexander in check.

McConnell leads NBA reserves in assists per game in playoffs (4.1).

– Field Level Media

Filed Under: NBA

Twins Narrowly Defeat Sox

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Minnesota’s Byron Buxton homered and Twin Cities’ DH Ryan Jeffers added two hits and two RBIs to help the visiting Twins defeat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Sunday. Buxton hit his seventh home run of the season on the game’s first pitch, and Jeffers had a two-run single with two outs in the seventh that erased a 3-1 deficit.

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It remained 3-3 until Harrison Bader doubled against Justin Slaten (0-3) in the eighth inning. Carlos Correa scored on the play to give the Twins a 4-3 lead. Trevor Larnach followed with a single that drove in Bader to make it 5-3.

Boston’s Wilyer Abreu collected three hits, including a solo home run in the eighth inning that cut Minnesota’s lead to 5-4, but Jhoan Duran pitched a scoreless ninth to preserve the one-run lead and earn his fourth save.

Louis Varland got the win (2-3) for pitching one inning of scoreless relief. The victory gave Minnesota two wins in the three-game series.

Boston starter Garrett Crochet exited the mound after five innings (89 pitches). He gave up a run on four hits, walked two and struck out six.

Minnesota’s Chris Paddack also pitched the first five innings. He allowed three runs on five hits, walked two and recorded two strikeouts.

Carlos Narvaez gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second when his single drove in Abreu and Romy Gonzalez, both of whom singled earlier in the inning.

The Red Sox extended their lead to 3-1 in the third. Alex Bregman led off the inning with a walk, moved to third on Abreu’s single and scored on Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly.

The Twins tied the game in the seventh against reliever Garrett Whitlock. Jeffers’ two-run single drove in Bader and Christian Vazquez.

Correa had two hits in the victory. Boston received two hits from Ceddanne Rafaela.

–Field Level Media

Rose Clinging to Lead at Masters

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AUGUSTA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – There’s no shortage of stars jockeying for position midway through the Masters. England’s Justin Rose is eager to see how this plays out. Rose maintained the lead through the second round by shooting 1-under-par 71 on Friday.

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He’s aiming for his first victory at Augusta National Golf Club, though this is the third time he has been at the top of the leaderboard through 36 holes in the tournament.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to knock on the door,” Rose said. “… You’re going to have to play great golf, and you’re going to have to go out there and want it and go for it and get after it.”

Rose stands at 8-under 136 but his lead has been reduced from three strokes to one, and there are several big-name golfers in close pursuit. LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau is in second place after shooting a 68.

“This is what golf is about. Got a lot of great names up there, and looking forward to an unbelievable test of golf,” DeChambeau said.

N. Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (66 on Friday) is tied at 6 under with Canada’s Corey Conners (70).

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler (71), Matt McCarty (68), England’s Tyrrell Hatton (70) and Ireland’s Shane Lowry (68) are at 5 under. It looked like Hatton might be in position to catch Rose until bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17.

“We’ve got some great guys on top of the leaderboard, so it should be a fun weekend,” Scheffler said.

Rose has captured one major, the 2013 U.S. Open, and he likes being in the conversation in the big tournaments.

“That’s the company that I expect to keep, and that’s where I have tried to be my whole career,” Rose said. “That’s where I’ve been for a lot of my career.”

Rose had four birdies and three bogeys. After sinking a 7-foot birdie at the par-3 17th hole to get to 9 under, he found the sand on No. 18 and couldn’t save par.

DeChambeau, who holed out from a bunker for birdie on No. 4, played the front nine in 4 under before making a bunch of pars interrupted only by a bogey on No. 16 and a birdie on the next hole.

Patience will be crucial for DeChambeau this weekend.

“It’s not easy to try and be more conservative when you know the leaders are starting to run away from it,” he said.

McIlroy got rolling on the back nine with three birdies and an eagle at the par-5 13th, where he drove it into the pine straw but hit a perfect second shot to 9 feet of the pin.

He said he tried not to be consumed with the notable names on the leaderboard.

“I was just looking for my name,” he said, drawing laughter. “I was not really worried about the others.”

Scheffler, who has won two of the past three Masters, had a couple of costly three-putts Friday. He finished with six birdies and five bogeys.

“Extremely challenging when you get greens this fast and you get that much wind, especially when it’s gusty,” Scheffler said. “It can be quite challenging.”

McCarty, in the Masters for the first time, had a horrid start at 3 over through two holes but bounced back with eight birdies, including four in a row at Nos. 6-9. Even with a bogey on the last hole, he’s at 5 under for the tournament.

Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard (67), Norway’s Viktor Hovland (69) and Australia’s Jason Day (70) are at 4 under.

South Korea’s Sungjae Im reached 6 under for the tournament through 14 holes but slumped late in the round. His 70 left him at 3 under.

Along with Im, the group at 3 under includes Patrick Reed (70), Collin Morikawa (69), Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (68) and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (73).

Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer of Germany missed the cut by one stroke at 3 over after missing a par putt on the final hole. He shot rounds of 74 and 73 in his 41st and final Masters.

“Coming up 18 was mixed emotions because I was still inside the cut line, and even when I made bogey, I wasn’t sure I’m totally out of there or not,” Langer said. “I actually thought 3-over would make the cut, as windy as it was.”

Langer, 67, received countless ovations through the tournament’s first two rounds.

“I always appreciated the beauty of this golf course and the challenges you have to face, pretty much on every shot,” he said. “The support of the patrons and so much more.”

Others falling outside the cut line include Dustin Johnson and Keegan Bradley at 3 over, Fred Couples and Spain’s Sergio Garcia at 4 over, and Brooks Koepka, Australian Adam Scott and Phil Mickelson at 5 over.

“It felt like this was a good week, a good opportunity for me, and unfortunately I didn’t score,” said Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion. “It’s disappointing because I felt I was playing well enough to at least be in the hunt.”

–Field Level Media

Frozen Four: Boston U. in the Finals

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ST. LOUIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Jack Hughes and Cole Eiserman scored second-period goals Thursday night as Boston University edged Penn State 3-1 in the second semifinal of the Frozen Four, the finals of NCAA ice hockey.

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The Terriers (24-13-2) advance to the Saturday night championship match to oppose Western Michigan, which got past defending champion Denver 3-2 in double overtime in the first semifinal.

The Nittany Lions, who made their first Frozen Four, finished the season at 22-14-4.

Goalie Mikhail Yegorov made 33 saves for Boston University, including 17 in a third period that saw Penn State generate a steady push with two goals to make up. The Nittany Lions got one just 2:12 into the period via a rebound that Nicholas DeGraves swiped into the net for his fourth marker of the season, but they couldn’t come up with the equalizer despite creating a spate of good chances.

The Terriers wrapped it up when Jack Harvey deposited his 11th goal of the season into an empty net at 19:01, putting BU in their first title game since 2015. The long-time Eastern hockey power, playing in its 25th Frozen Four, hasn’t won a national title since 2009.

Arsenii Sergeev delivered 32 saves for the Nittany Lions but wasn’t able to keep the puck out of his net in the second period. A turnover at the blue line sent Matt Copponi down the left side for a wrister that Sergeev stopped. However, the goalie couldn’t locate the puck, then turned his body in a futile attempt to find it and Hughes poked it in at the goal mouth at 1:35.

Eiserman’s goal came at the end of a classic two-on-one rush. Devin Kaplan won a battle in the corner in Boston University’s end of the ice and hit Cole Hutson with a breakout pass. Hutson fed Eiserman at the right post, and Eiserman slammed the puck past Sergeev.

Neither team scored in a first period that started 80 minutes later than scheduled due to the length of the first game. The Terriers enjoyed an 11-7 advantage in shots.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | April 6

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Great memories of Opening Day on April 15 (Photo by T Peter Lyons)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – This weekend’s column is one of my favorites of the entire sports year. Sometimes it’s presented as an hour-by-hour timeline of coverage of NCAA Final Four Saturday, possibly the greatest day of sports anytime and anywhere. This year, with Boston Red Sox Opening Day at Fenway Park just a couple days ago, you’ll be reading a condensed timeline of “A Day in the Life of the Sox Opener,” a 13-9 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Here we go:

11:00am: My usual  T ride to Fenway from Newton only takes about 20 minutes. The 11:00am departure time for a 2:10pm game catches a relatively empty T train except for a few early bird fans, all dressed in their Sox gear.

A cloudy morning is showing promise as the forecast calls for a 67-degree day and blue skies, low wind.

11:30am: A brisk (in speed, not temperature) walk to Gate D where the PR/Gate Attendant has my pass all ready to go. On the short walk over, I sometimes count the Red Sox or visiting team team replica tops and keep a list. The opening day walk saw: Ortiz (4 times), Pedroia (2), Papelbon, Bogaerts, Devers, and a Yaz. For St. Louis, there was one Willie McGee.

Bag scanned and check-in a breeze. It’s off to the press elevators.

11:45am: There were tons of greetings, hand shakes and a few bro-hugs to my “Summer Family,” as I like to call them, ripping a page from Jimmy Fallon’s acting in “Fever Pitch.” It’s great to see everyone after a long winter.

11:50am: I partake of the usual routine of having my pass scanned at the pressbox entrance, a long walk down the hallway adorned with tons of Red Sox history, framed newspaper front pages and a few dedications to scribes departed. That’s always following with a detour to the press lounge, where I grab an ice cold Diet Coke along with the MLB league-wide stats package, Game Notes for the two teams and the daily scoresheet with official line-ups listed.

A few steps up to Row Three and my usual seat is assigned. Opening Day is always a little more crowded but it’s still fine working conditions in a warm pressbox. Soon after, Red Sox PR Man/Press Room Attendant Kevin Doylegrabs the keys to the automated windows and Fenway Park comes alive with sound and perfect temperature for a beautiful day of baseball.

Noon: Upon arrival, my first move to cover a game is to unpack the old MacBook Pro, find all of its cords and plugs, open my Boston College branded pencil case and grab my brand new pack of Opening Day pencils, along with a marker and a pen. All set. It’s time for the official Bob CarpenterBaseball Scorebook – a brand new book has been purchased and one game – the Red Sox MLB opener at Texas is already in the books. It was a practice run, scored off NESN.

I meticulously hand write the batting orders, the defensive assignments, the assigned umpiring crew, date and other small details while looking up the Game Note bios of any player I’m not familiar with – usually rookies.

Scoring the game is a tradition in the family, but my technique was perfected scoring the games of the Holy Trinity Titans back in the ‘70s when I was covering the team for the Trinity Triangle but also acting as a psuedo General Manager, assistant coach/manager, analytics/scout to Mr. Joe Cupolo, the head varsity baseball coach and great guy.

12:30pm: Some time to head down from the fifth floor press level to the field to take in a little batting practice and mingle with the rich and famous, and some of the legion of mindless hacks covering the game. There’s nothing like standing behind the batting cage, watching batting practice on Opening Day of a Major League season, nevermind doing it at the cathedral that is Fenway Park.

Only Fenway and Wrigley Field in Chicago remain as the ballparks situated right smack in a neighborhood. There’s nothing in sports as great as the sounds of the game, the crack of the bat, taking in the visuals of coaches smacking baseballs with a fungo bat for infielder’s still wanting more practice of properly fielding ground balls and getting accustomed to the Fenway Park infield. Players mingle with reporters and some notepads and microphones are pointed in the direction of players making themselves available for a pre-game chat. Nothing said is ever useful.

1:00pm: With everything going according to my own personal schedule, there’s time for a bite to eat and the Red Sox treat the media to the press room dining back up on the fifth floor. The entree is a beef stew with mashed potatoes and broccoli but I opt for some nice mixed salad, a Fenway Frank, and then add a scoop of potatoes and the roasted broccoli florets. Very nice.

There’s more meeting up with friends and acquaintances, a lot of talk and incoming questions about the NBA and college basketball, coming from some who covered the first and second round games in Providence – the game in which St. John’s (my alma mater) lost to Arkansas re-opens a relatively new wound.

1:30pm: The Red Sox media advisory asked all to be in their seats by 1:30pm, but there seems to be about a ten minute delay in the day’s itinerary. No big deal.

1:40pm: The public address announcer welcomes everyone to Fenway Park – the world’s most beloved ballpark – and the pregame ceremonies get underway. The Red Sox do ceremonies as great as any organization – within and out of sports. This year, they are paying tribute to the 1975 Red Sox American League championship team, along with their recently departed pitcher and fan favorite, Luis Tiant, one of the all-time greats of baseball.

The crowd is asked to observe a moment of silence in memory of Tiant, and the big video board shows still photographs of El Tiant with his Red Sox teammates who are all escorted over by the Green Monster where a huge American flag is hanging from the top row to the warning track. The players are incognito under the flag. “Danny Boy” was played softly as quiet background music during the photo tribute. Classy.

There’s on field ceremonies and staging and a wonderful rendition of the USA National Anthem, followed by a fly-over of three jet airplanes, two of them F-35s which can rock the joint at low altitude. I can live without two things in the many pregame rituals of sports. The first? Any type of pyro. I hate it. It’s not fancy or impressive, a real waste of money and only the possibility of something going terribly wrong. The second? Fly-overs. Again, what could possibly go wrong with three airplanes flying in tight formation less than a mile above a ballpark with 36,000 people?
Yaz and Carlton Fisk at the 2025 Opening Day ceremonies at Fenway Park (Photo by Boston Globe)

2:00pm: The 1975 team is introduced and the players, all in their Red Sox home uniform tops, walk into the infield and pitcher’s mound area. Dewey Evans, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Jim Rice, Freddie Lynn, Carlton Fisk and Carl Yastrzemski (aka Yaz) are the headliners.

Lee bee-lines it to the pitching mound where he digs a small hole alongside the rubber for old times sake.

Yaz throws out the ceremonial first pitch, a short toss to Red Sox Manager Alex Cora, as much an honor for AC as it was for Yaz.

The Tiant Family, together, exclaimed “Play Ball,” and the 2025 home season is officially underway.

For a game recap, visit HERE.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: From various polls and media sources, it seems as though OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, aka SGA, has the 2024-25 NBA Most Valuable Player Award sewn-up. No argument here.

TL – NBA MVP VOTE

1). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder

2). Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

3). Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors

4). Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics

5). Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

Yep, no LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and no Luka Doncic of the Lakers. And, the really tough player to leave out of the Top 5 was Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. I leaned to Mitchell because of the Cleveland Cavaliers Won-Loss record and top spot in the East. If I were picking players to start an Expansion Franchise, I’d go with Giannis, right after Jokic.

TIDBITS & TORPEDO BATS: I’ve heard of Torpedos and the PT-109 Torpedo boat. I’ve heard of the 2021 Cigar of the Year – the 1964 Padron Anniversary Torpedo, and I’ve heard of Rhode Island Torpedo Sloppy Joes, but never – until this baseball season – had I heard of a Torpedo Bat, although they were frequently in play years before.

This baseball season, largely because of the second day of the season up in the Bronx when Yanks’ slugger Aaron Judge hit three of the club’s nine home runs in a 20-9 blow-out, all hit with the Torpedo bats. Since then, the topic has been all the rage.

With that in mind, how about a list of “Torpedos,” the kinds much in need:

  • Torpedo Golf Drivers and Fairway Woods
  • Torpedo Tennis and Badminton Racquets
  • Torpedo Ping Pong Paddles
  • Torpedo Arrows for Archery
  • Torpedo Golf Carts
  • Torpedo Bobsleds (already halfway there)
  • Torpedo Curling Stones
  • Torpedo Lawn Mower and Leaf Mulching Machines
  • Torpedo Snow Blowers
  • Torpedo Beer Cans
  • Torpedo Guitars

BASKETBALL HALL: In case you missed it from a busy Final Four Saturday schedule, the Basketball Hall of Fame named the Class of 2025, elected for enshrinement this September.

NAISMITH BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2025

North American Committee (in alphabetical order): 2008 US Olympic Men’s Basketball Team, Carmelo Anthony [Player], Danny Crawford [Referee], Billy Donovan [Coach], Dwight Howard [Player].

Women’s Committee: Sue Bird [Player], Sylvia Fowles [Player], Maya Moore [Player]

Contributors Committee: Micky Arison

The Class of 2025 will be celebrated during the Enshrinement festivities on September 5-6.

WORLD SERIES PREDICTIONS by STRAT-O-MATIC: Regular readers of this column will recognize the tradition of having our friends at Strat-O-Matic predict the winners of seasons to come. This week, it’s a surprise/upset winner that takes the Commissioner’s Trophy.

With 107 wins, the Los Angeles Dodgers breezed to the top berth in the National League, but LA suffered a fictional five-game defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers, an NL wild card entry in the Division Series to end its season. The Chicago Cuba, 91-game winners took honors in the Central, and they swept NL East winner Atlanta, then dispatched Milwaukee in six games to reach the World Series. Surprisingly, the Chicagolanders swept American League winner Toronto (AL East champion, 92-70) for the World Series title.

The other division winners in Strat-O-Matic’s simulation were Minnesota (92-70) and Seattle (94-68). The wild cards were the New York Yankees (84-78), Houston (84-78) and Kansas City (84-78) in the American and New York (95-67) and San Francisco (88-74) in the NL.

THIS JEST IN: The PGA Tour rejected the most recent $1.5 billion proposed investment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund that underwrites LIV Golf, according to published reports by The Guardian in the UK. There is no clear path for the two entities to agree to joint operation, as LIV Golf has a deal-breaker demand to continue to play weekly tournaments around the world. It seems they’re two ships passing in the night, in perpetuity.

CAN’T MAKE IT UP: Former St. John’s guard A.J. Storr might earn the “Golden Sombrero” of college basketball and he’s likely to do so with the “Golden Sombrero” of high school basketball in his back pocket. Storr has entered the CBB transfer portal once again. Here’s a look back at his soon-to-be eight-pack of amateur basketball:

High School

  • 2018-19: Kankakee High
  • 2019-20: Bishop Gorman High
  • 2020-21: AZ Compass Prep
  • 2021-22: IMG Academy

College

  • 2022-23: St. John’s
  • 2023-24: Wisconsin
  • 2024-25: Kansas
  • 2025-26: TBA

Red Sox: Takin’ Care of Business

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2025 Opening Day at Fenway Park – Sox Win, 13-9

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief at Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The pregame ceremonies were poignant and impressive. The 1975 Boston Red Sox honored their teammate, the late, great Luis Tiant, and the Sox backed it up with a wonderful photo gallery during a moment of silence, except for “Danny Boy” playing in the background.

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Cue the National Anthem, the Air Force flyover and the Tiant family exclaiming, “Play Ball” into an on field microphone to start a beautiful New England spring (67-degrees) day in front of a sold out Fenway Park crowd of 36,462. It was time to play baseball and get down to business.

Newly acquired SP Walker Buehler took the mound and retired the first three batters for the St. Louis Cardinals in order, and looked good doing it. Buehler’s contributions to the Sox regular rotation could be a major factor for the club this season. The former LA Dodgers’ ace  with a career 47-23 record and 3.30 ERA.

Today, it was welcome to Fenway Park.

The Red Sox spotted Buehler a 5-0 lead when lead-off man Jarren Duran singled, stole second base and Rafael Devers walked to begin the bottom of the first. Alex Bregman, Boston’s new third baseman, took advantage of his first at bat for the Red Sox at Fenway and doubled down the left field line, driving in Duran and giving Boston a quick 1-0 lead.

The middle of the Red Sox lineup then went to work. Shortstop Trevor Story hit a 364-foot home run blast to the top of the Green Monster, scoring Devers and Bregman to mark a 4-0 lead.

Boston’s right fielder, Wilyer Abreu, followed with a 392-foot homer, taking Cards’ starter Erick Fedde for back-to-back longballs. It was 5-0, Red Sox.

Once again, it was welcome to Fenway Park, but this time to Buehler’s disadvantage.

St. Louis struck back with a run in third and three runs in the fourth when v eteran third baseman Nolan Arenado doubled, DH Alex Burleson singled and catcher Ivan Herrera homered to right center field (387 feet). An inning later, Cards’ second baseman and No. 3 hitter, Brendan Donovan, hit a 404-foot homer to right center field, making the score Boston 6, St. Louis 5.

It was back to business in the Red Sox half of the fifth inning when the combination of a Bregman lead-off walk, a Tristan Casas double and an Abreu single scored Bregman. Next up was Boston’s rookie second baseman, Kristian Campbell who popped up down the right field line, close to the stands, allowing Casas to tag-up and score on the caught, sacrifice fly ball. A lengthy umpire and MLB review allowed the play to stand and the run to score, and it was 8-5 Boston in the fifth.

St. Louis picked up a run in the top half of the seventh inning when Donovan knocked in left fielder Lars Nootbaar. By that time, Buehler had been lifted for reliever Zack Kelly.

Buehler left the game after five innings pitched, allowing seven hits, five earned runs, while walking only one and striking out four St. Louis batters.

Fedde went only three innings, allowed five hits and six earned runs. He walked four Boston batters and stuck out one.

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In the last half of the seventh, Boston scored three more insurance runs, taking advantage of four singles and a walk to make it 11-6 going into the top of the eighth when Brennan Bernardino relieved Kelly. (RHP Greg Weissert also threw one scoreless inning of relief in the sixth).

Bernardino struck out the side in the top of the eighth, as St. Louis began to wave the white flag of surrender before the traditional “Sweet Caroline” echoed through the Fenway crowd, not a single fan having departed.

The Red Sox listened to their own scouting reports in the bottom of the eighth, as it reported, “you can never have enough runs at Fenway Park,” so Boston loaded up for another pair of runs with doubles by Casas and catcher Carlos Narvaez and a fielder’s choice groundout by Abreu plated two more runs to make it 13-6, Boston, heading into the ninth.

Some sloppy play in the top of the ninth combined with a Wilson Contreras single followed by a Donovan base hit and an errant throw by the Gold Glover Bregman plated three useless runs against Sox reliever Cooper Criswall. 

With the score 13-9, an annoyed Sox manager, Alex Cora, called for ace closer Aroldis Chapman who walked a batter but a bases-loaded game ending double play to end the game.