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Baltimore Means Business vs Red Sox

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BOSTON – Baltimore Orioles ace pitcher John Means threw 7.0 innings of one-hit, scoreless baseball and the Orioles scored two runs in the 6th inning and one in the 8th to earn a 3-0 Opening Day victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. The opener was delayed one day because of inclement weather on Thursday, April 1. It was the first time the Boston Red Sox were shut-out on their MLB Opening Day since 1976.

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Means retired 18 consecutive batters with the only blemish being a lead-off single by Boston’s Kiki Hernandez and the Orioles’ 3B Maikel Franco allowing Xander Bogaerts to get on board with a fielding error. Otherwise, it was all command, control and an effective change-ups by Means that baffled Boston batters all afternoon long.

Baltimore earned its victory when Ryan Montcastle doubled in two runs in the 6th inning and an Anthony Santander RBI single to score Cedric Mullins in the 8th inning.

Orioles closer Cesar Valdez relieved Tanner Scott and retired the Red Sox with only a DH J.D. Martinez double in the 9th.

Boston SP Nathan Eovaldi (5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO) made his 2nd straight Opening Day start. He took the loss.

The teams will return to Fenway Park for 1:10pm EDT starts on both Saturday and Sunday.

 

 

Red Sox: It’s a Wash-Out

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BOSTON – The Red Sox-Orioles game scheduled for today, April 1, at Fenway Park was postponed. The forecast called for periods of rain throughout the day in the Fenway area.

“The decision to postpone our first game of the season was not made lightly,” said Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy. “The built-in off day was created for just this purpose and tomorrow’s forecast for sunshine also factored into our decision. We have been eager to have fans back at Fenway Park for the first time in 18 months and look forward to welcoming everyone back tomorrow under brighter and drier conditions.”

Today’s Opening Day game and pregame ceremonies are rescheduled for tomorrow, Friday, April 2, at 2:10 p.m. Tickets for today’s game will be good for admission to the rescheduled contest. Fenway Park gates will open two hours before the game for all fans tomorrow (12:10 p.m.). Pregame ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 1:40 p.m.

Red Sox: Ready for Opening Day

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BOSTON – (Source: Official club news release) – The Boston Red Sox will present their Opening Day Ceremonies before the commencement of their 121st home season, and their 110th at Fenway Park, on Thursday, April 1, starting at approximately 1:40 p.m. Fans attending the game are asked to be in their seats by 1:30 p.m.

The Sox play the Baltimore Orioles at 2:10 p.m. Morning and afternoon showers are in the forecast.

Before the game, the two teams will be introduced along the base lines. With the giant American flag draped over the left field wall, Springfield native Michelle Brooks-Thompson will perform the national anthem.

The long-time tradition of a flyover on Opening Day will be maintained, but with three different aircrafts flying out of three New England states, a first for a Red Sox Opening Day ceremony. This year’s flyover will include an F-15 from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, an F-35 from Vermont’s Air National Guard (the Green Mountain Boys), and a Tanker plane from Pease Air National Guard Base in New Hampshire.

The singing of God Bless America in the middle of the 7th inning will be performed by the Boston Fire Department A Capella Quartet.

The Red Sox will welcome over 100 healthcare heroes to the ballpark for Opening Day. Through a partnership with Dell Technologies, 10,000 tickets will be distributed to healthcare workers throughout the 2021 season.

Red Sox Opening Day, including the ceremony, will be broadcast live on NESN beginning with their pregame show at 12:20 p.m. WEEI’s Opening Day broadcast begins at 1:10 p.m.

Fenway Park gates open two hours before the game for all fans on Opening Day (12:10 p.m.) and 1½ hours for all other regular season games.

Fans will be required to complete a health screening survey prior to entry on the day of the game, which can be found on the MLB Ballpark App. Fenway Park will be divided into five ‘neighborhood zones’, where ticket holders can access the designated gates for entry and exit nearest their seat location as labeled on their game ticket. To help reduce contact throughout the gameday experience, fans will be issued a digital ticket through MLB’s Ballpark App, and all ticket scanning will be contactless.

Fans attending games at Fenway Park can visit redsox.com/healthandsafety to review the full list of safety protocols in place at the ballpark for the start of the regular season, which currently include mandatory face coverings (except ages two and under), heightened sanitation procedures, reduced contact measures, and physical distancing. The site will be updated regularly with any changes to these protocols.

Demonstrating the organization’s commitment and adherence to high quality health and safety guidelines, Fenway Park is now a Well-Health Safety certified venue, a premier standard that validates and measures features that support and advance human health and wellness determined by the International WELL Building Institute. In addition to this new certification, the Red Sox have partnerships with three companies to help maintain Fenway Park’s high health and safety standards, including Lysol for disinfectant and cleaning supplies; Surfacide for UV-C technology UV technology that kills 99.99% of dangerous pathogens on hard surfaces; and Airocide for air purification that uses bioconversion technology developed by NASA to eliminate harmful, airborne particulates such as bacteria, mold and viruses.

Red Sox Lose to ATL on Last Day of Spring Training

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FORT MYERS – The Boston Red Sox (16-11) dropped a 5-3 decision to the Atlanta Braves (15-13) in the final Spring Training Grapefruit League game for both  teams today at jetBlue Park. The Red Sox will now pack-up the gear and head north to Fenway Park for Thursday’s home opener against the Baltimore Orioles. Although today’s forecast in Boston was for a perfect spring day, Thursday’s weather calls for afternoon showers and an 80% chance of rain. First pitch is schedule for 2:10pm Thursday.

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Braves reliever Drew Smyly earned the win and Boston RP Martin Perez took the loss while Braves ace Mike Soroka earned a save in the seven inning game. OF Jarren Duran homered off Soroka in the 7th. Perez allowed four runs on four hits in 5.0 innings pitched. He walked two and struck-out five Braves but allowed a two-run homer to Ozzie Albies in the 5th inning.

On Monday, Boston defeated Atlanta, 4-0, behind three long-balls in the 3rd inning and solid pitching. With one out and no base runners, infielder Enrique Rodriguez homered to left field, J.D. Martinez solo homered to left-center and after a Xander Bogaerts single, utility man Marwin Gonzalez homered to right to complete the scoring.

Tanner Houck went 4.1 innings to start for the Sox and he was relived by Kaleb Ort (0.2 inn), Austin Brice (1.0 inn) and Darwinzon Hernandez (1.o inn) to complete the four-hit shutout in a 7 inning game. The Braves used six pitchers and a total of 21 players in the home loss.

 

Red Sox: Coming Down the Stretch from Spring Training to Opening Day

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FORT MYERS – The Boston Red Sox won each of their last two games following a two-game losing streak. Boston has not lost more than two consecutive games at any point this spring.

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Today marks the eighth of nine scheduled Grapefruit League meetings between the Red Sox and Braves (Red Sox lead, 4-3). The teams will close out their spring training schedule against each other today in North Port and tomorrow at jetBlue Park.
The Sox and Braves will play each other 4 times in the regular season, with 2 games at Fenway Park (May 25-26) and 2 at Truist Park (June 15-16). The Sox went 2-4 vs. ATL in 2020, finishing the season by taking 2 of 3 games in Atlanta from September 25-27.

Sox Manager Alex Cora announced that SP Nathan Eovaldi will start the Red Sox’ Opening Day game against the Orioles on April 1. Eovaldi’s 1st career Opening Day start came last year against BAL, when he allowed 1 run in 6.0 IP. In his final 4 starts of 2020, Eovaldi posted a 0.86 ERA (2 ER/21.0 IP) with 25 SO and 2 BB, allowing 0 runs in his final 13.0 IP. On the season, he averaged a career- best 9.68 SO/9.0 IP and ranked 7th in the majors in SO/ BB ratio (7.43), walking only 7 of his 199 batters faced.

 

Spring Training: Red Sox Snap Two-Game Skid with Win Over Pirates

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BRADENTON – The Boston Red Sox snapped a two-game skid with a 7-4 win at Pittsburgh, to continue their trend to not lose more than two consecutive games at any point this spring. Boston went 3-5 in their first eight Grapefruit League games but have since gone 11-5-1.

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Since March 10, Boston’s 11 wins rank second in MLB behind only the Oakland A’s (12-4-1). The only teams with more than 14 wins this spring are Toronto(15) and Oakland (15).

Sox 1B Bobby Dalbec leads the majors in runs scored (15) and RBI (16) and is tied for the lead with seven HRs (also Joc Pederson). Dalbec ranks No. 2 in SLG (.822) and No. 3 in OPS (1.214). He also leads the Red Sox in Batting Average (.311) while Kiké Hernández ranks eighth in the majors in OBP (.442) and has recorded more walks (9) than strikeouts (8).

Utility man Michael Chavis ranks in a tie for third in the majors with six HRs (tied with Corey Seager and Josh Bell).

Chavis’ 36 total bases rank 5th in MLB spring training.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notebook

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While We’re Young (Ideas) of March 28

By TERRY LYONS 

BOSTON – The price tags of each NBA expansion franchise over the last 40-plus years are etched in the mind of this NBA-lifer gone fishing’ in New England back in 2008. Yes, this column construction worker began as an intern at the NBA league office in 1980 and a lot was going on. Namely:

  1. It was the same year Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird began their (paid) NBA internships as league rookies.
  2. It was the same year the NBA adopted the “gimmicky” Three-Point Field Goal made popular in the ABA.
  3. It was the same season the New Orleans Jazz became the Utah Jazz.
  4. It was the same year that Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the Los Angeles Lakers and The Fabulous Forum from Jack Kent Cooke.
  5. It was the same year that the late, great Darryl Dawkins broke two glass backboards.
  6. It was the same year David Stern was promoted to Executive Veep – Business and Legal Affairs, under Commissioner Lawrence F. “Larry” O’Brien.
  7. And, it was the same year the NBA laid the foundation for the Dallas Mavericks to become the NBA’s 23rd franchise, beginning the following season – 1980-81.

The purchase price for the Mavericks was a cool $12 million.

When it came time to expand again, in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons, the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic gained entrance to the NBA at the cost of $32.5 million.

The Toronto Raptors and Vancouver Grizzlies bought in as expansion teams in 1995-96 at the cost of a then-whopping $125 million.

The Charlotte Bobcats joined the NBA party for a cool $400 million in 2009-10.

It seemed ridiculous until the Los Angeles Clippers were sold by disgraced team owner Donald Sterling to an anxious to join the club Steve Ballmer for $2 billion in the summer of 2014. That franchise purchase (not via expansion) changed everything across every professional sports franchise.

Nowadays for the NBA, Commissioner Adam Silver is floating a $2.5 billionexpansion fee as a starting point for discussion. Undoubtedly, someone will pay it, most likely to replace the Seattle SuperSonics in the Emerald City.

Now! Sit down for this!

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Our good friends at Sportico issued franchise valuations for the Major League Baseball this week. Read it and weep if your family name isn’t Steinbrenner, Angelos or Illitch.

Here’s the Top 10:

1 New York Yankees – $6.75 billion

2 Boston Red Sox – $4.80 billion

3 Los Angeles Dodgers – $4.62 billion

4 Chicago Cubs – $4.14 billion

5 San Francisco Giants – $3.49 billion

6 New York Mets – $2.48 billion

7 Los Angeles Angels – $2.46 billion

8 Atlanta Braves – $2.38 billion

9 St. Louis Cardinals – $2.36 billion

10 Philadelphia Phillies – $2.28 billion

(Note: The New York Mets were just purchased by Steve Cohen for a record $2.475 billion.)

Sportico last did the NFL franchise valuations for the 2020 season.

Here was the Top 10 of American Footy:

1. Dallas Cowboys – $6.43 billion

2. New England Patriots – $4.97 billion

3. Los Angeles Rams – $4.10 billion

4. New York Giants – $4.00 billion

5. New York Jets – $3.70 billion

6. San Francisco 49ers – $3.63 billion

7. Washington Football Team – $3.58 billion

8. Chicago Bears – $3.41 billion

9. Philadelphia Eagles – $3.35 billion

10. Houston Texans – $3.34 billion

For the full column and e-News notebook, delivered to your inbox each Sat PM or Sunday AM, please subscribe HERE

As Spring Training Winds Down, Boston Red Sox Lose to Minnesota Twins

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FORT MYERS – Minnesota Twins SP Randy Dobnak gave up one hit in five innings, a solo homer by Boston’s Bobby Dalbec, as Minnesota prevailed as spring training winds down. The Twins’ Josh Donaldson and the Red Sox’s Jonathan Arauz and Cesar Puello also homered as the Twins snapped a three-game Boston win streak with last night’s 7-4 decision. Boston is (6-3) in their last 9 games and 10-4-1 in their last 15.

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Boston remains one of six teams with 13 wins (or more). The only teams with more wins are the Royals (14-7- 3) and Blue Jays (14-8-2). Boston has five games remaining in spring training before opening the regular season at home on Thursday, April 1, against the Orioles.

 

 

Red Sox Spring Training Update (Mar 25)

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FORT MYERS – The Red Sox defeated the Orioles last night at jetBlue Park, 2-0, as newly acquired Hunter Renfroe drove in the game’s only runs with a 2-run Home Run in the 3rd inning. Red Sox pitchers retired their final 13 batters faced after SP Nathan Eovaldi allowed four hits in 5.2 IP.

Hirokazu Sawamura (1.1 IP), Adam Ottavino (1.0 IP), and Josh Taylor (1.0 IP) each recorded perfect outings in relief.

The Red Sox have won their last three games and are 6-2 in their last eight, and 10-3-1 in their last 14. The Red Sox entered today leading the Grapefruit League in runs scored (130), HR (34), doubles (41), AVG (.270), OBP (.351), and SLG (.485).

Entering today, only the Toronto Blue Jays (14-8-1) had more wins than the Sox. and the only other teams with 13 wins are the KC Royals, NY Yankees, and Chicago Cubs.

The 2021 Chairman’s Cup between the Red Sox and Twins continues today, with the Red Sox leading 3-1-1…The Twins lead, 14-12-2, in the yearly series, with an 81-76-2 edge in games. The Red Sox and Twins will face each other 7 times during the 2021 regular season, with 4 games scheduled for 4/12-15 at Target Field, and 3 games set for 8/24-26 at Fenway Park. The Red Sox hold a 316-314 edge since the Twins moved to Minnesota prior to the 1961 season.

Boston has six games remaining in spring training before opening the regular season at home on Thursday, April 1, against the Orioles.

 

Sports Biz: Good for the Goose!

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CHICAGO – Where is Goose Gossage when you need him?

Wrigley Field, Chicago (Getty Images)

TeamWorks Media announced that Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Company will become the presenting sponsor of Being Guillén, La Vida Baseball’s regular visit with the Guillén family for the opening month of the MLB season. The show will stream from the Goose Island Brewhouse opening week to coincide with the Cubs home opener and then April 8 (White Sox home opener) before moving back to the La Vida Baseball® studio in Chicago for the rest of the month. It will feature Ozzie Sr, Ozzie Jr, and Oney Guillén offering their always entertaining take on baseball and family.

TeamWorks Media is the parent company of La Vida Baseball® and this is an expansion of the partnership with Goose Island that began last October.

“We are all looking forward with a return to normalcy this spring, and nothing could be more fun than to spend it with the Guillén family as fans and baseball return to Chicago,” said Jay Sharman, CEO of TeamWorks Media in the official news release. “Our partnership with Goose Island got off to a great start in October as the season ended, and we are ready to expand it with some fun engagement during MLB’s opening month.”

The show will touch on all the recent developments in and around the Chicago teams and look ahead to what is one of the most anticipated seasons in baseball in The Windy City for some time. There will be special guests from around the country as well as engaging fan segments and a host of other promotions as Being Guillén™ and Goose Island help celebrate the exciting return of baseball.

Additional La Vida Baseball programming includes the live social media streaming series, La Vida Baseball ¡Live!, the brand’s weekday interactive, fan-centric live show, hosted by Jennifer Mercedes (@Chica_Deportes) and Julie Alexandria (@JulieAlexandria); Gaming with The Guilléns™, a live, engaging Twitch experience where Ozzie Guillén Jr. challenges Major Leaguers to play him in the video game “MLB The Show,” and the rowdy and hilarious Spanish language show, Pólvora, Voz y Diamante, hosted by Polo Ascencio, Pliego Villa and Jesse Castillo, offering baseball conversation like you’ve never seen before and mixing hilarious pop-culture sensibilities with an undeniable love for the game.