Larry Lucchino, John Henry, and Tom Werner, with three World Series trophies Larry Lucchino, the Red Sox president and CEO from 2002-2015, has died at the age of 78. Lucchino celebrated three World Series championships as a Red Sox executive, including the astonishing 2004 title that ended the franchise's 86-year title drought. Lucchino was also instrumental in saving Fenway Park, roughly ten years after he helped usher in a new standard for ballpark construction. I remember all of the talk in the late 1990s about replacing the venerable park – and threats or promises to get rid of Fenwa ..read more

Happy Opening Day, North America! The Boston Red Sox begin their 124th season in Seattle. The Red Sox finished both 2022 and 2023 with a record of 78-84. They have ended up in the AL East basement for three of the last four seasons. It would not be a shock if by October, it's four out of the last five. Here are the 2024 W-L Contest entries: W-L BELLO ERA Paul H. 91- 71 3.38Matt B. 90- 72 3.41Jacob L. 90- 72 3.63Benjamin B. 82- 80 4.05 Ray P. 81- 81 3.99Kara K. 80- 82 4.23 Allan W. 78- 84 3.92David F. 77- 85 ..read more

Christian Arnold, Post: Gerrit Cole was spotted for the first time since The Post reported that the Yankees ace would be out for at least one-to-two months. The reigning AL Cy Young winner was photographed at LAX on Wednesday. In photographs exclusively obtained by The Post, Cole is seen wearing a dark long-sleeve shirt and blue jeans along with a grey backpack as he exited the bustling Los Angeles airport. When approached by a videographer, Cole politely requested "a little space." . . . Cole is slated to meet with noted sports surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache as concern over his ulnar ..read more

A paperback edition of Don't Let Us Win Tonight arrives from Triumph Books in less than three months, on May 21. I had hoped to expand the narrative, restoring some of the cuts we were forced to make back in 2013 to get the word count down, but that was always a long shot. In almost every instance, the cuts were made to shorten existing quotes as opposed to deleting them entirely. Back in November 2014, I shared an example of this pruning, posting the longer version of Curt Schilling's recollection of the Thanksgiving 2003 meeting with Theo Epstein, et al. In addition to revise ..read more

Like Pepperidge Farms, Jayson Stark remembers. Way back on April 16, I saw a crazy pitching line, hit Baseball Reference's amazing Stathead, and (as I sometimes do) emailed the oddity-obsessed Stark: You'll probably hear this elsewhere, but Luis Cessa (3-14-11-3-0, 88 vs the Reds today) is the FIRST pitcher since at least 1900 to allow 11+ runs, 14+ hits, and get 9 or fewer outs. How is it possible no one did that before? Ralph Comstock allowed 12 runs and 14 hits in 1913 but he lasted 3.1 innings! https://stathead.com/tiny/W8FOK Stark has a good filing system – although being more organize ..read more

10 years. $700 million. Those are the eye-popping numbers on the unprecedented contract Shohei Ohtani will be signing with the Dodgers. The 2023 unanimous AL MVP made the announcement himself on Saturday afternoon. The $700,000,000 is obviously the largest player contract in sports history – and will likely hold the  top spot for a while. Ohtani, who turns 30 next July, had elbow surgery in mid-September and will not pitch in 2024. In other news, the Red Sox made a rare deal of substance with the Yankees, sending Alex Verdugo, who completely wore out his welcome with manager Alex Cora, t ..read more

Of course they are. Statement from the New York Yankees: pic.twitter.com/OeIjo9irQ3 — New York Yankees (@Yankees) November 30, 2023 There are many reasons why the Yankees' home field has long been called Stade Fasciste. This is yet another one. Some reactions: @kidsmoke21: The Yankees will be honoring Mr. Kissinger with Napalm Night on May 17 vs the White Sox. Bring the whole family! @LibrarianJoe_: Couldn't Randy Levine just tweet about his war criminal friends on his own page? @jamisonfoser: This is why people hate you. @BFSkinnerstan: Too busy mourning war criminals to actually build ..read more

Texas – 000 000 104 – 5 9 0Arizona – 000 000 000 - 0 5 1 After six innings of a pitchers' duel that included Arizona's Zac Gallen throwing six no-hit innings, Texas finally broke through with three hits and the game's first run. Texas scored four more times in the ninth. The Diamondbacks, who had five hits and six walks, failed to get a big hit, leaving nine men on base in the first five innings. They had only two runners in the final four innings. Texas' 5-0 win in Game 5 was its 11th consecutive road victory in this postseason (11-0; they were 2-4 at home) and gave the franch ..read more

Texas – 055 000 010 – 11 11 0Arizona – 000 100 042 - 7 12 1 After making history by becoming the first team to score 5+ runs in consecutive innings in a World Series game, Texas went on to beat Arizona 11-7 in Game 4 and is now one win away from its first championship. Texas was without Adolis García's bat in its lineup, but that hardly mattered on Tuesday evening. The AL champs hit for the cycle in the second inning, grabbing a 5-0 lead. Josh Jung doubled and after Nathaniel Lowe struck out, the Diamondbacks went to the pen. Miguel Castro relieved starter Joe Mantiply (1.1-1-1-1 ..read more

Arizona – 000 200 232 – 9 16 0Texas – 000 010 000 – 1 4 0 Arizona pitcher Merrill Kelly quieted the top American League offense on Saturday evening (7-3-1-0-9, 89), allowing only one runner to advance past first base. His teammates got on the board in the fourth and then stepped on the gas against Texas' bullpen en route to a 9-1 win, evening the World Series at one game apiece. Ketel Marte went 1-for-5, singling home two runs in the eighth inning and thereby setting a new MLB record by hitting safely in 18 consecutive postseason games. Tommy Pham went 4-for-4, with two doubles and two ..read more