WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 The Boston Globe Sports C5
On Dombrowski’s fate, and other thoughts
was going to happen?
RMany fansoveruse the
“howmany ringsdid he win?”
argument. It does not applyin
every situation. Sam Jones was
great. He won10 champion-
shipringsas a player, second
most in NBA history. But that
does not make him the second-
best player in NBA history.
The “ring argument’’ would
hold that Jonny Gomesdid
morefor Boston thanTed Wil-
liams. Sorry, but “how many
ringsdid he win?’’ rarely tells
the whole story.
Tony Renda has a ring. He
madeone appearancewith the
2018 Red Sox, pinch-running
for Sandy Leon. He scored a
winningrun in Boston’s four-
game sweep of the Yankees last
August.He is Boston’s Moon-
light Graham.And he has more
rings than Carl Yastrzemski.
ROne of the more underrat-
ed stats that explains the Patri-
ot dynasty is turnover differen-
tial. The Patriots are plus-189
sinceBrady became Belichick’s
quarterbackin 2001. The Patri-
ots take care of the football.
RCircle Sept. 17 on your cal-
endar. That’s when Mike Yas-
trzemski and the San Francisco
Giantscome to Fenway for a
three-game series.
Yaz’s grandsonhas been
playingrightfield for the Gi-
ants,but here’s hopingmanag-
er Bruce Bochy puts him in left
for the first inning of the first
game.
Sept. 17 also marksthe re-
turn of Pablo Sandoval, who is
making all his money from the
RedSox while doing good
thingsagain for the Giants. Sox
officials inform me there will
not be a Panda videotribute
(beltbuckleexploding in mid-
swing?) to celebrate his return.
RWhen Jim Bouton died,
Jim Palmertweeted, “Boyhood
idol cause he was a Yankee. Hit
a homeroff him in 1965in 1st
ML win.Reading his classic
‘Ball Four’ on the spring train-
ing teambus to Pompano
uSHAUGHNESSY
ContinuedfromPageC1
Beach, Frank Robinson saw me,
wouldn’t talkto me for a
month.”
RFans of the KansasCity
Chiefs embarrassed themselves
whenthe nefariousTyreek Hill
reported for duty on the prac-
tice field at MissouriWestern
State University. Nitwit Chiefs
fans chanted “Ty-reek, Ty-reek!’’
when Hill appeared.
Hill, whohas beenem-
broiled in a child abuse contro-
versy, bragged, “Cheetah’s
back!’’
This is the sameguy who
pledguilty to punchingand
chokinghis girlfriendwhilein
college in 2014and most re-
centlyadmitted that he punch-
es his 3-year-old son to toughen
him up.
RI feel badly for DanaLe-
Vangie,the hardest-working
man in baseball,who is almost
certain to lose his job as Red
Sox pitchingcoach.LeVangie,
the prideof Whitman-Hanson,
deserves to be reassigned by the
Sox. He has beenwiththe Sox
organization since 1991.
RBobby Valentineand Mar-
ty Barrett spoke at Bill Buck-
ner’s memorialservice in Boise
June 22.
RQuiz: Who was the lastbaseball MVPwinner who was
over 30 on OpeningDay? (An-
swer below.)
RThis will be the 12th con-
secutivemajor league season in
which we will have a record for
strikeouts. More than a thirdof
all plate appearancesnow re-
sult in a home run, a walk, or a
strikeout. Zzzzzzzzzz.
RNew pet peeve: seeingRed
Sox pitchers step off the rubber,
take off theirhat, and look in-
sidefor information.That’swhere the nuclear codes are
hidden. It’s part of the Sox para-
noia about having signs stolen.
RA couple of days before the
death of Nick Buoniconti, Keith
Lincolndied at the age of 80 in
Pullman, Wash. Lincoln,a run-
ning back/receiver with the San
Diego Chargers, accounted for a
whopping 329 yards of offense
when the Chargers slaughtered
the Boston Patriots, 51-10, in
the 1963 AFL Championship
game. Lincoln rushedfor 206yardsand caughtseven passes
for 123 yardsagainst Mike Ho-
lovak’s Patriots at Balboa Stadi-
um in San Diego.
RAlex Rodriguez told the
New York Post that the five best
hitters from his day wereBarry
Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Manny
Ramirez,EdgarMartinez,and
Albert Pujols. Five best pitch-
ers: Randy Johnson, Roger Cle-
mens,Curt Schilling, Pedro
Martinez, and Mariano Rivera.
RLookalikes: Patriots Hall of
Famer John Hannahand Attor-
ney General William Barr.
RWonder whenNESNwill
feature Eck and David Price in
the “Heat Zone”?
RRaise yourhandif you
knew that former RedSox
pitcher John Burkett is compet-
ing on the Pro Bowlers Senior
Tour.
RFanboyfederal judge Rich-
ard Berman, who was overruled
in the Deflategate saga,is pre-
sidingover the Jeffrey Epstein
sex trafficking case.
RClemenswill pitch at the
annual Oldtime Baseball Game
at St. Peter’s Field in Cambridge
Aug. 22.
RJay-Z is the Pumpsie Green
of the Fenway Park concert se-
ries. Sincethe Sox started usingthe ballpark as a concert venue
in 2003,they have booked more
than55 acts, only one of which
includedan African-American
headliner: Jay-Z with Justin
Timberlake in 2013.
RFolks in Dalton have creat-
ed a Sports Hall of Fame, with
the first induction ceremony
scheduledfor Sept. 15. Among
the inductees:Former big
league pitchersJeff Reardon
and Turk Wendell, and MLBex-
ecutives DanandJim Du-
quette.
RShe’s never beenranked
higher than 32, but I always
checkthe tennis scoresto see
how Ukraine’s Dayana Yastrem-
skaisdoing.
RDoesn’t it feel like the Mets
and Knicks have become the
same team?
RNothing’s official, but it
looks like the Nets are coming
to TD GardenNov. 27. That
shouldbe your first chance to
boo Kyrie Irving.
RHaven’t heard much about
women’s soccer sinceglory hog
Megan Rapinoe came off the
float after the ticker-tapepa-
rade in New York City, grabbed
the live microphone,and ex-
claimed, “New York City, you’re
the [expletive] best!”
RThe Red Sox werethe one
and only franchise to host a lit-
erary series. The “Great Fenway
Park Writers Series”was run by
San Diego native and former
Robert Kennedy political opera-
tive George Mitrovich, who
died last month at age 83.
Mitrovich brought a legendary
cast of authors to Fenway in
this century.
RSpeaking of authors, be
sure to order or pick up “Home-
grown:How The Red Sox Built
A Champion From the Ground
Up” by the Globe’s Alex Speier,
which is in stores next Tuesday.
RQuiz answer: Alex Rodri-
guez, 2007.DanShaughnessy is a Globe
columnist.Hecanbe reachedat
[email protected].
Follow him on Twitter
@dan_shaughnessy.JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF; MARK THIESSEN/ASSOCIATEDPRESS
Patriotsgreat JohnHannah(left) andcurrentUSAttorney General WilliamBarr. Doyouseeany resemblance?FILE/BARRYCHIN/GLOBESTAFF
If theSox misstheplayoffs,somethinghasto give;willit be
Dave Dombrowski(right,withassistantTonyLaRussa)?Forstraightand curved stairs
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