Thursday, July 31, 2025

No big baseball news

The Red Sox traded minor league infielder Blaze Jordan (excellent baseball name, by the way) to the Cardinals for a reliever named Steven Matz.

The Red Sox traded minor league outfielder James Tibbs and minor league outfielder Zach Ehrhard to the Dodgers for starting pitcher Dustin May.

I'm not sure how this gets them to the playoffs but then again, I have no idea what Steven Matz is capable of. I've seen Dustin May when the Red Sox faced the Dodgers and if I recall, he was okay.

I'm going to assume that Breslow knows way more about what the Red Sox need than I do and leave it at that...


Here are some links

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

A couple of wins

The Red Sox won last night, beating the Twins 8-5 and moving back into the second wild card slot.

Today the first pitch was at 1:10 and Bello had the start.

The Red Sox did not screw around and when the game ended, the score was 13-1 in favor of the Red Sox.

This put them half a game behind the Judges and one game ahead of the Mariners.

I'm hoping the Rays beat the Judges tonight because that will put the Red Sox in a tie with them for the first wild card slot.


I didn't find this funny. I found it amusing and somewhat accurate.


Here are some links:

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

They lost, dammit

The Red Sox lost to the Twins 5-4 last night with Fitts only making it four innings before Cora had to pull him. The bullpen did not fair well but the Red Sox had 4-3 lead in the ninth. The game was delayed after the first half of the ninth inning when a downpour hit.

When the Twins came up to bat after an hour of rest, they loaded the bases and then walked it off with a two run single.

The Red Sox had a chance to move into the first wild card slot because the Aaron Judges lost but instead, they remain in the third slot.

Fitts has been sent back down to Worcester to work on his pitching. No word yet on who, if anyone, is being brought up in his place.

Tonight Giolito has the start. First pitch is at 7:40.


My wife has created tomatoes.

She has also created zuchinni, cucumbers and squash but I'm kinda impressed by those tomatoes.


Day two of our possible heat wave is upon us.

They are calling for temps in the mid-90s tomorrow so that will make it official.


I want to talk about the trash strike going on out in the eastern part of the state.

The media should not be talking about the strike itself but they should be talking about all the city governments that decided to outsource a vital service to the lowest bidder.

And if you don't think trash pickup is a vital service, just take a ride out to one of the towns that hasn't had trash pickup for the last month and you'll quickly change your mind...


Here are some links:

Monday, July 28, 2025

Looking forward to Thursday

The MLB trade dealine is this Thursday and as far as I'm concerned, it can't come any sooner.

The alleged "insiders" in the media continue to plaster the internet with stories about the Red Sox looking to make huge moves.

One has them trading prospects to the Rays for Yandy Diaz. Another has them trading David Hamilton to the Yankees which, based on the history of trades with the yankees, could be the best thing for the Red Sox. Still another has Duran being traded to make room in the outfield.

You know what I wish? I wish they would shut up about things they have no real knowledge of which is what is going to happen on Thursday when the trade deadling arrives.

Of course, on Friday they will start talking about how bad the Red Sox did on either the trades or lack of trades they made at the deadline...

All I know for sure is that right now, the Red Sox are doing pretty good. They are 5-5 over their last ten games against the best teams in the league and that is not bad at all.

I am also not someone who thinks they know more than the Cora or Breslow and to be honest with you, I think most what they do is good for the team. The Devers trade for Hicks has turned out to be good for the Red Sox and not so good for the Giants who are 2-8 in their last ten games.


I have a dilemma of sorts. The Onion has gone in whole hog on the Trump / Epstein pedophile documents and I don't know which headline to post.

I guess I'll just post them all...

I love The Onion.


Day one of our potential heat wave:

According to this online calculator, a temp of 95° and a relative humidity of 58% gives a dew point of 77.9°

I have no idea what any of that means but the weather dweebs sure like to talk about it. As for me, I don't like heat and humidity. It can either be hot or it can be humid but not both.


Here are some links:

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Two wins!

The Red Sox beat the Dodgers 4-2 last night. I know they won because not only did I watch the entire game, my son sent me this picture:

Actually, he sent me a video of the last pitch of the game. That is a screenshot from the end of the video.

The second win was today when the Red Sox beat the Dodgers 4-3 this afternoon.

This means they won the series and remain in the third slot of the wild card.

Oh, and apparently Crochet is not a fan of FOX...

Trust me Garret, other than Yankees and Dodgers fans, no one is ever happy when they are forced to watch their team on either FOX or ESPN.

The Red Sox are now on their way to Minnesota where tomorrow they start a 3-game series against the Twins. First pitch is at 7:40 and it appears that Fitts will have the start.


Speaking of baseball, Ichiro, Carsten, Billy, Dave and Dick got inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this afternoon.

I remember Dave Parker because he played for the Pirates and I'm a fan of the Pirates.

I don't remember Dick Allen because he played for the Phillies and I don't like the Phillies.

Ichiro was a player that no matter who he played for, including the Yankees, I loved watching him play.

CC pitched for the Yankees but I still loved watching him pitch.

Billy Wagner was a nice guy who could pitch like he had been given a gift from God.

Baseball is such a great sport.


Today ends our reasonable temperatures.

Tomorrow we are once again dealing with the hot and muggies.

Wait until January when I'm bitching about how cold it is...


Here are some links:

Saturday, July 26, 2025

A loss last night

The Dodgers beat the Red Sox 5-2 last night but fortunately, everyone else in the wild card race lost as well.

Crochet has the start tonight and he is up against one of the best starting pitchers in the LMB - Clayton Kershaw.

My youngest is at the game so I'll be sure to find out how the experience was with the Aramark vendors on a picket line.


Here are today's links:

Friday, July 25, 2025

It's gonna be a tough game

The Red Sox take on the Dodgers and I suspect it's going to be an interesting evening.

Either that or I will be turning the game off and going to bed early...

Let's face it, the Dodgers are a tough team. Ohtani is their DH tonight so they don't have to face him as a pitcher. The guy they are facing, Sheehan, has only pitched a total of 16 innings over 4 games this season so I'm hoping he isn't that good but I have no way to judge.

First pitch is at 7:10 and I'm really hoping Bello has it together tonight. It would be good to to see them win the first game of this series.


Here are some links:

Thursday, July 24, 2025

They didn't get swept, the sequel.

The Red Sox won last night, beating the Phillies 9-8 in the eleventh inning.

It was an odd game, with the Red Sox down 5-0 through the first four innings, taking a 6-5 lead in the fifth only to have the Phillies tie it in the eighth.

I watched it through 9 innings and then had to go to bed before I fell asleep on the couch. I found out thi smorning that they won the game on a Narvaez 2-run homer in the 11th.

This means they maintained their slot in the wild card.

They are currently on their way home to Boston where tomorrow they will start a 3-game series against the Dodgers. Bello will have the start.


This is late and short because we went out to dinner with our neighbors.

By the way, I recommend Bella Casa in Hampden. Good food and a lot of it. I'm pretty sure I'll get two more meals out of the box I brought home.

Here are some links:

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Another loss

The Phillies beat the Red Sox 4-1 last night and I'm not sure who is to blame.

Fitts did not have a good outing, facing only 17 batters over 3⅓ innings. And while he gave up no walks and struck out 4 he also gave up 4 earned runs.

Then again, the batters didn't fare much better. The only run they got was on Refsnyder homerun in the 4th inning. Overall, they only managaed 4 hits against the Phillies pitcher.

That loss leaves them only half a game ahead of the Rays in the wild card.

Tonight's game has Giolito on the mound. First pitch is at 7:05


I have to admit to liking Ozzy Osbourne's music. It's not my normal taste but he did have a way of creating songs that made me smile.

I know, he was known as "The Prince Of Darkness" and he tried like hell to put forward a "evil" persona but the guy was funny as hell.

For instance, this was an interview from 2010:

That's some pretty quick wit right there...


Here are some links:

Tuesday, July 22, 2025

They lost

Buehler actually had a good outing last night but the Phillies managedx to load the bases in the tenth and get a run across the plate to win the game.

Fortunately, everyone else in the wild card race lost yesterday so the Red Sox remain in the third slot.

Fitts will be on the mound tonight. First pitch is at 6:45.


Whenever The Very Stable Genius finds himeself the subject of a scandal of some sort, he immediately falls back on his well-worn and effective tactic of getting people to pay attention to something else. For instance, he posted this yesterday on his truthee thing:

In the most current iteration of felonious activity, Trump has been asked to fullfill his campaign promise and release the "Epstein client list". Since his Department of Justice is now claiming there is no list, all the cartoonists and memers are having a field day.

Here are some that made me smile:



Oh, and I bet a dollar that in the very near future, this woman will receive a presidential pardon and the minute she walks out of prison, she will loudly announce that there was no list of any kind.

In other Stable Genius news, he actually said this a few days ago:

Yes, Trump is attempting to claim that Powell was appointed by someone other than Trump. This means that Trump is either a liar or he is losing his mind.

Personally, I think he's both a liar and an old man who is losing his mind...


Here are some links:

Monday, July 21, 2025

Screw them.

The Very Stable Genius has been telling Harvard to start doing what he says and if they don't, he will cut off their government funding. Harvard, on the other hand, has been telling Trump he is an idiot and they are going to do whatever they want. As a result, Trump has cut off their funding and they are suing to get it back.

Here's the thing...

Harvard has an endowment (aka an investment fund/bank account) that is worth more than $53 billion dollars.

Can someone explain to me why the government has been giving my tax dollars to a business (Yes, Harvard is a business. It is in the business of selling an education to people.) to the tune of $2 billion dollars a year when that business has an investment account that is in excess of $50 billion dollars?

Let's assume Harvard is managing its endowment poorly and has only been earning 4% a year. That would give them an annual return of about $2 billion dollars. Why do they need my money if they are earning $2 billion dollars a year?

Screw Harvard, they are being a dick. They don't need my money.

On the other hand, Trump is also being a dick, just not about Harvard.


One of my lunch buddies dodged a bullet last night:



Here are some links:

Sunday, July 20, 2025

They didn't get swept

The Red Sox beat the Cubs 6-1 this afternoon which means they did not get swept and they maintain their place in the third wild card slot.

Crochet was steller on the mound. He faced 26 batters over 6 innings, giving up 1 run, striking out 5 and walking 2.

The batters pretty much slept through the first six innings, down 1-0 over most of those innings. In the seventh, they came to life and took a commanding lead.

The Red Sox are on their way to Philadelphia where tomorrow they start a three-game series against the Phillies.

First pitch is at 6:45 and Buehler is scheduled to start.


Here are some links:

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Back to third

Yesterday the Mariners beat the Astros and the Red Sox lost to the Cubs. This put the Red Sox back into the third wild card slot.

They need to get their bats back into the game tonight if they want to continue climbing up the standings.


Here are some links:

Friday, July 18, 2025

The winning streak ends.

The Red Sox ended their winning streak today when they lost 4-1 to the Cubs.

Giolito did not have a great start when he walked the first two batters and then gave up a 3 run homer to the third batter.

The batters did not fair any better, leaving runners in scoring position at the end of several innings.

Tomorrow has Bello on the mound but the Cubs have Imanaga on the mound. I always kinda wished the Red Sox had picked Imanaga up when he came over from Japan. He's a great pitcher and a very funny guy. His nickname is "The Throwing Philosopher".

First pitch is at 7:15 and the game is on FOX.


CBS has cancelled The Late Show.

Personally, I don't care. I don't watch the show and I've never really thought Colbert was all that funny but what I think doesn't matter.

What matters is what The Very Stable Genius thinks:

And to make things even worse for Colbert, Lizzy "I'm gonna get me, uuummm, a beer!" Warren has decided she needs to get some investigating done because "America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons."

One thing I can assure of is that the minute Lizzy gets involved, it's over for whatever cause she thinks is "important for America". Her involvement assures a slow painful death.


After talying up the cost of all the parts I need to fix my self-propelled lawn mower I've decided that I no longer need a self-propelled lawn mower. Instead I now have a push lawn mower.

It was going to cost in excess of $100 to replace all the damaged parts needed to make the drive system function again. Since the lawn mower is around 30 years old and the engine is beginning to smoke a bit, I don't expect the mower to last very much longer. And since I really only use the mower to do the trim under the shrubs, around the trees and around the gardens, I don't really care if it's self-propelled.

I mean, I've more than gotten my moneys worth out of it.

So this morning, I dismantled & removed the drive system from the mower. Then I proceeded to use the mower to do the trim. After that, I broke out the tractor and mowed the lawn.

In a few years I will probably be in the market for a new lawn mower but until then, I'll keep using my trusty old Snapper push mower.


Here are some links:

Thursday, July 17, 2025

No heat wave for me

At my house, the temperature never got above 87° so I did not experience a heat wave.

Don't get me wrong, it was still hot as hell and muggier than the Everglades in August.


Concetta Franconero died this morning.

I always liked listening to her sing.


I'm still burning through Gold Rush's on my DVR.

I am just about done with all the original Gold Rush's and after that I'll start ripping through all the Gold Rush: White Water's.

I don't seem to have any Bering Sea Gold's so maybe that series has been cancelled.


My youngest is a director at the Watertown DPW and this has been his life since July 2nd.

Yesterday I said to him that all he could was do his job to the best of his abilities and go home at the end of the day. His reply was:

I feel bad for the kid. He working 12 to 14 hour days and dealing with irate people on all sides.


Here are some links:

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

Damned hot

Once again, it was hot and muggy. As a matter of fact, the weather dweeb just said he expects tomorrow will be in the 90s as well. That means another heat wave.

Yay!

We need less heat waves and more 73° days.


I located and downloaded a parts diagram/schematic for my walk-behind mower and I am fully prepared to begin working on it...

...just as soon as it stops being as hot as hell out there.


Here are some links:

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Thank you Mr. Carrier

I can tolerate heat and I can tolerate humidity but I cannot tolerate heat and humidity at the same time.

And that, my friends, is why each and every summer I thank the air conditioner gods for Mr. Willis Carrier's invention.


The man believes he was saved by his god and given a divine mandate to rule.

It's a good thing for The Very Stable Genius that he caught God during a rare downtime.

Seems that God had plenty of time to save Trump from the shooter but was way too busy to save those 28 little girls in Keerville Texas from the flood or the 26 children and teachers at Sandy Hook school in Newtown Connecticut from the deranged shooter or the 5,000+ babies born in the United States who die from brain cancer every year...

I don't like muslim religious fanatics and I don't like christian religious fanatics. Trump is doing what scam artists have been doing since man first walked out of the primordial stew - he's using religion as one way to control his cult. He's not that much different than Jim Jones or David Koresh.

And that, my friends, is one of the many reasons I don't like organized religion in any form.


Yes, I watched a few minutes of the Home Run Derby last night. It was boring.

Yes, I'll probably watch a few minutes of the All Star game tonight.


Here are some links:

Monday, July 14, 2025

No good sportings

There is no sportages for me until at least Thursday when The Open kicks off its four day run. Friday is when the Red Sox start back up.

Thank goodness I have several hours of DVRs to watch.


I realize this may shock some you but The Very Stable Genius has once again won the golf championship at his country club.
That's right folks, for the fifth time this year Donald Trump has won a Donald Trump initiated golf tournament at one of the many Donald Trump golf courses.

I haven't even played golf five times this year but this highly-tuned specimen of athletic prowess as played enough golf to win five championships.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that every other member of his golf club is a paraplegic...


My town has released a new "emergency notification system". Hopefully they actually use it for emergencies because the old "emergency notification system" was used to let us all know about upcoming elections, school events, etc..

The first text message I get telling there is a bake sale at the high school, there is a town meeting that has been scheduled for at least a year or a road I never drive on is being paved will be the last text message I get from the town because I'll deactivate my account and live on in blissful ignorance of things going on around me.

If you are going to set up an emergency notification system, use it for emergencies. Tell me if there is a gunman running around town shooting at people or the a tornado is bearing down on us. Those are emergencies.


Here are some links:

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Big family shindig today

We spent the day with my brothers & sisters today so this is short and late.


The Red Sox won yesterday afternoon and again this afternoon, giving them a 10 game winning streak, putting them only one game behind the second place Aaron Judges and only three games behind the first place Blue Jays.

Now baseball is on break while they play the All Star game. The Red Sox next game will be at 2:00pm on Friday, July 18th. I'm really hoping the Red Sox do not go through their usual "post all star game slump" this year.


Here are a couple of links:

Saturday, July 12, 2025

Nice walk-off win

The Red Sox were down 3-4 going into the ninth inning and things looked bleak.

Then, with one out and no one on base, Anthony takes a walk. Now it's one out and Anthony on first.

Up comes Rafaela and with two strikes against him, he smashes a ball over the center field wall and wins the game 5-4.

This gave the Red Sox an eight game winning streak and put them into third place in the ALEast as well as into the second wild card slot.

And now for the bad news: Dobbins limped off the field in the second inning after running over to first to put a runner out. This afternoon, ESPN is reporting he has a torn ACL and is done for the season. The Red Sox have called Fitts back up from Worcester

As for today's game, it started at 4:10 and Giolito had the start. As I post this, it is 1-0 Red Sox at the top of the 5th inning.


I don't like Rosie O'Donnell. She is a lot like Trump. You know, a loud-mouthed, arrogant jerk.

Having said that, this is a really stupid thing for The Very Stable Genius to say:

If the president can arbitrarily take away someone's citizenship without due process and evidence of treason, we got a problem...


This made me smile.

It's possible that we've all been behind that guy at some point in our driving lives.


Here are some links:

Friday, July 11, 2025

Good start

The Red Sox beat the Rays last night, coming from behind in the seventh and taking a 4-3 lead that they held on to till the last pitch..

Buehler did "meh" once again but he did make it through sis innings.

Tonight sees the return of Bregman to the lineup. It also sees the return of Dobbins, who has the start.

First pitch is at 7:10.


Today was lawn mowing and getting the car inspected.

Normally I don't mind lawn mowing but today I found a new project - my walk behind mower is no longer self-propelled. That means I need to take it apart and see if I can figure out what broke. Then I need to figure out if I can fix it. Either that or I need to buy a new mower.

This mower has to be more than 30 years old. It's a Snapper and I have gotten more than my money's worth out of it so if I can't fix it, I'll do my research and buy a new one.

Normally I do mind getting my car inspected and today was no different. I hate sitting for a half hour in a room with a tv showing soap operas, waiting for some guy to tell me my car is okay.

I get it. I've driven through states that don't require an annual vehicle inspection and it's like driving through a demolition derby but Massachusetts takes it too far.

For instance, if any light bulb anywhere on the vehicle is burned out, you fail. That means if your taillight has three light bulbs in it and one bulb is burned out, you fail. It doesn't matter that the taillight still lights up with the other two bulbs, no sir, not one bit.

Don't misunderstand me, I maintain my cars as close to perfection as I can. If a bulb burns out, I replace it but fer cripes sake, lighten up a bit.


Here's today's truthee:
I'm not going to disagree. It was around 85° at my house today and don't get me started on the humidity...


I'm going to watch this ball game.

Here are some links:

Thursday, July 10, 2025

All the problems are solved

It was lunch with the boys this afternoon and once again, we have solved all of the worlds problems.

More importantly, we are all still able to get up and move with some level of enthusiasm every day.


Giolito threw a good game last night, facing twenty batters over six inning, giving up four hits, zero runs, zero walks and striking out six.

The batters were also hot as hell and the final score was 10-2 in favor of the Red Sox.

Tonight they start a 4-game series against the Rays. Buehler has the start and first pitch is at 7:10. It looks like the weather may cooperate but it's New England in July so that could change in a minute.


As I said yesterday, I no longer have access to the direct source but I did find a sight that claims to be copying and pasting the truthee's directly from The Very Stable Genius. Here's a post from yesterday evening:

Ron Desanctimonious has once again fellated Donny Boy.

I will never understand why these people would tolerate his nasty remarks, insults, name-calling and school-yard bullying and then suddenly worship the ground he walks on.

I guess they have no self-respect. Either that or they enjoy being abused by a fat, smelly, old guy with a spray-on tan and a goofy hairdo.


Here are some links:

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

So far, so good

The Red Sox won again last night, beating the Rockies 10-2. This gives them a 5 game winning streak and puts them 3 games over .500.

To add to the good news, Bello pitched a complete game so no one in the bullpen had to lift a finger.

That win put them one game behind the Mariners in the wild card:

If the Yankees beat the Mariners tonight and the Red Sox beat the Rockies, the Mariners and the Red Sox will be tied for the wild card.

Giolito has the start tonight. First pitch is at 7:10.


I tried to see what Donny Boy was posting on his truth thingee but apparently they now require an account.

I wonder if it's because of this...

Since there is no way on earth I would create an account on his "social media" soapbox I guess my days of seeing what craziness he's posted are over with.

And so let me just leave you with that age-old classic, "covfefe"!


Here are some links:

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Good solid win

Fitts pitched good last night and the Red Sox beat the Rockies 9-3, putting themselves only two games out of a wild card slot.

Tonight's game has Bello on the mound and my expectations are a mediocre first inning followed by five good innings. That is prety much how Bello has pitched this season.

I'm also hoping the bats stay hot and the batters turn themselves into runners numerous times each inning. The Red Sox have a habit of leaving runners in scoring pitching at the end of innings but lately they have stopped doing that. If they can keep it up, they will continue to win.

First pitch is at 7:10.


Numerous errands got run today and thankfully all of them were in air conditioned buildings.

I don't know about you but I've about had enough of the humidity.


Here are some links:

Monday, July 7, 2025

They better win this series

The Red Sox are back in Boston and tonight they start a 3-game series against the last place Rockies. And when I say last place, I mean in all of MLB.

Fitts has the start so as long as he can give them six good innings, they should be able to win tonight. If they win tonight, they should be able to win the next two games and sweep the series.

At least that is what my plan is.

I have no idea what Cora's plan is...

Anyways, first pitch is at 7:10 and the weather looks like it just might cooperate:


As I said in my previous post, I failed to click the "post" button last night.

Imagine my surprise when I logged into this platform and found the post hanging out like a teenager at a 7-11.

All it really means is you get extra links.


Speaking of which, here they are:

Oops

I discovered that I did not post this yesterday. It is my entry from July 6. That means you get two postings today.


Sunday, July 6, 2025

Another Snappy Title



The Red Sox beat the Nationals 10-3 yesterday afternoon and then beat the Nationals 6-4 this afternoon. That means they swept the series. It also means they are once again back above .500 for the umpteenth time this season.

I'm also thinking that yesterdays appearance by Buehler might have saved his career as a starter. He pitched okay and got the win so I suspect Cora will be keeping him in the starting rotation.

As for today's game, there was a brief 20 minute rain delay in the second inning that seemed to have screwed up both starting pitchers. The Nationals pulled their starter in the third inning.

Crochet looked uncomfortable when he came back out and that was when he gave up 2 runs to the Nationals. He eventually settled down and made it through 5 innings. He faced 26 batters, gave up 9 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks and struck out 7.


Enjoy these links: