Picked-up pieces while dreaming about a one-game wild-card playoff between the Red Sox and Yankees in the first week of October …
▪ The Red Sox were putting the finishing touches on their 8-1 loss to the Rays at Fenway Park just after the dinner hour Thursday while the Patriots were welcoming fans to humid Gillette Stadium for the first time in 586 days.
The Sox were losing for the 11th time in 14 games, turning a five-game lead into a five-game deficit after giving us nothing more than a little eyewash at the trade deadline. Alex Cora’s men managed only two hits the day after scoring 20 runs, and Cora was discovering the ineptitude of the meatball-artist relievers Chaim Bloom gave him at the deadline.
Meanwhile, in Foxborough, fans waited for the professional debut of first-round quarterback pick Mac Jones, the man who will ultimately replace Tom Brady.
In that moment, longtime local sports producer Alan Miller tweeted, “It’s nice of the Red Sox to end their season the same day the Patriots begin theirs.”
Which is exactly how it felt. Losing the supernatural powers that enabled them to play over their heads for three months, the Sox seemed to be passing the torch to the Patriots as our hot summer speeds toward Labor Day.
The Sox should recover against the tanking Orioles at Fenway this weekend, but does anyone believe in them after what we have just seen? Is it too late for a team that is still very much in the playoff hunt?
For sure the Sox have given the spotlight to the Patriots. While the baseballers try to regain their mojo, we will focus on football. We will overreact to what was nothing more than a solid outing from Jones (13 for 19, 87 yards in five series) in his pro debut. We will pressure the great, ancient Hoodie to play the kid over Cam Newton at the start of the season.
Everybody loves the new guy. The new guy carries no baggage. He is all about hope and future. Which means Bill Belichick is going to be hearing it from Patriot Nation until he finally relents, takes the keys from Newton, and puts Jones behind the wheel. This may not be rational, but it is the core of being a fan.
▪ Great to see Chris Sale back on the mound this weekend, but couldn’t the Red Sox have arranged to have him pitch against the Rays or Yankees in a game that mattered more? Sale will miss both Sox rivals in his first week back.
▪ When you remember that the Red Sox opted for Kiké Hernández instead of Marcus Semien last winter, you are reminded that Boston ownership’s new tight-budget plan is far from fan-friendly. Semien went into the weekend with 26 homers.
“We talked a little, but I think they really like Kiké,” Semien told WEEI’s Rob Bradford.
Hmmm. That decision, along with Franchy Cordero for Andrew Benintendi, and the two deadline pitching acquisitions — Hansel Robles (10.38 ERA) and Austin Davis (7.71) — make you wonder about Bloom’s baseball acumen.
Meanwhile, Sox Nation hopes Kyle Schwarber can be the first Sox first baseman to hit his weight in 2021. Bobby Dalbec, Marwin Gonzalez, Danny Santana, and Cordero couldn’t. Might be tough. Schwarber tips ‘em at 229 pounds and hit .253 for the Nationals.
▪ Matt Barnes picked up one win and three losses in four days. Wonder who was the last pitcher to pick up four decisions in four days. If ever?
▪ Quiz: Name the 10 Heisman Trophy winners who have been inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (answer below).
▪ Polar Park in Worcester is spectacular. It’s a perfect blend of old-timey baseball and modern amenities. And it’s affordable. Get there before the WooSox season is over.
There also will be football at Polar Park in the fall when Holy Cross plays host to Colgate Oct. 23.
The ballpark is the jewel of old Kelley Square, and you even get the smell of Table Talk pies being baked next door.
Folks in Worcester are forever indebted to Curt Schilling. After Schill failed to make good on a $75 million business loan from the state of Rhode Island for his half-baked 38 Studios enterprise, folks in Rhody were in no mood to spend money to keep the Triple A Red Sox in Pawtucket.
▪ Jay-Z remains the Pumpsie Green of the Fenway Concert Series. Edwin Sumpter’s excellent essay on Boston.com last week reminded us that Jay-Z is the only Black headliner among 81 acts featured in 19 summers of Fenway concerts.
Jay-Z headlined with Justin Timberlake in 2013, and Sumpter noted, “They happened to be performing together around the world for a tour. So you had to get one to get the other. If it weren’t for those two nights, it would be zero for 81.”
▪ We have no time for self-important college or NFL coaches who insist on being addressed as “Coach” in interviews. Belichick is fine just being addressed as “Bill.” Perfect. He is not my coach.
As for “Mr. Kraft,” a.k.a. “Robert,” why do I remember that he was simply good old “Bob” Kraft as owner of the Boston Lobsters?
▪ Even with Barnes struggling, still glad the Red Sox didn’t reacquire Craig Kimbrel at the trade deadline.
Kimbrel had great numbers for the Cubs (0.49 ERA and 23 saves in 25 opportunities), but he demonstrated that Boston is not for him when he got sweaty palms and couldn’t perform in the 2018 postseason run. Kimbrel lost his job as the Sox stormed through the playoffs. That’s why it was Sale blowing away the Dodgers in the ninth inning of the Game 5 clincher.
No thanks to a guy who is the master of the clean-inning, three-out save with a three-run lead in the ninth.
▪ When border bans were lifted Monday, US citizens needed proof of vaccination to get into Canada. So how did the Red Sox get in and out of Toronto last weekend with some unvaccinated personnel?
Pat Courtney, assistant to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, said, “The Blue Jays received an exemption from the Canadian government that applies to professional athletes and support staff for purposes of playing regular-season games in Toronto. This exemption was granted on the basis of our health and safety protocols and other measures being in place. These conditions did not require mandatory vaccination, but the conditions for unvaccinated individuals is more stringent.”
▪ Homage to Charles Schulz and Charlie Brown: New York Daily News Wednesday sports headline: “Poor choices mean Schroder’s got to play for peanuts.”
▪ Ever think perhaps the Red Sox overvalue their prospects … hold on to them too long … see them exposed in the big leagues as not that good … then sell low and trade them? Case in point: Michael Chavis.
▪ Andre Iguodala and Carmelo Anthony met on the AAU tour almost two decades ago and are the last of the high school class of 2002 still playing in the NBA.
▪ Former Rays manager Joe Maddon is selling his home in the Tampa-St. Pete area. The home was previously owned by the late John McKay, first coach of the Buccaneers.
▪ A week from Monday (Aug. 23), the 28th Old-Time Baseball Game will be played at St. Peter’s Field in Cambridge. The brainchild of Steve Buckley, the game features top local amateurs and a few celebrities. Admission is free. It’s annually one of the best nights of our baseball summer.
▪ Coming to a big league park near you soon: infielder Max Burt, son of Lawrence Eagle-Tribune sports editor Bill Burt. Max last week hit his first homer for the Yankees’ Triple A team. He played his college ball at Northeastern.
▪ Congrats to Packy Naughton, who pitched for the Angels last week, becoming the first alum of the vaunted West Roxbury Parkway Little League to make it to the majors.
▪ RIP goalie Tony Esposito, who died Tuesday at the age of 78. He faced big brother Phil and the Big Bad Bruins in his first NHL start in 1968, and Boston’s Espo scored both goals in a 2-2 tie.
▪ There are no words for the bravery and inspiration of Calgary Flames assistant general manager and former Globe baseball reporter Chris Snow, who threw out a first pitch at Fenway with his son and daughter Thursday. Loved him then, love him now. Chris is battling ALS.
▪ Quiz answer: Doak Walker, Paul Hornung, Roger Staubach, O.J. Simpson, Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Marcus Allen, Tim Brown, Barry Sanders, Charles Woodson.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.