Bob Lobel: Renaming the Charles River for Big Papi

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

It's almost unfathomable. The major oversights in the House of David (formerly Fenway Park) this weekend were staggering, considering all that took place.  They didn’t want to, but they did play a part in sacrificing what should be an inconsequential home field advantage against the Cleveland Indians, and their certain to be “manager of the year,” Terry Francona (who, by the way, never won that award with Boston). 

Clearly, the focus wasn’t on sealing the deal on the field during baseball time.

Bob Lobel: Brady's Loss Could Be a Win for New England

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

Sometimes losing is the best thing that can happen. 

I'm not talking about tanking games so you can get a better draft pick. I'm talking about the courts of law in our land that seem to be able to rule on anything, however unimportant it may seem.  Well, Tom Brady and the NFL are hardly unimportant in our little corner of the universe, but still. 

Brady and the Supreme Court- It seems like they were meant for each other. They may get to meet eventually, but not at the moment. The current moment has Brady serving a four-game suspension to start the season, since the appeals court ruled against his case to have the suspension stayed, or vacated, or whatever legal definition may apply. 

The worst of this may be the best thing. 

Weekly Red Sox Hitter Notes: July 8th

Utility man Brock Holt is Boston's only All-Star (so far), and Boston's chances of winning jump dramatically from to 36% with him on the bench, to 51% when he's in the lineup.

 By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Just before Red Sox fans witnessed the lackluster fireworks display at Fenway Park on Friday night, the Houston Astros moved to 48-34, tying their season-best number of games above .500 on the year.

Friday’s 12-8 extra-inning loss was only the 12th time this season that Boston was defeated when scoring first. However, the Red Sox bounced back to score first in their wins on Saturday and Sunday.

Entering Tuesday’s series against the visiting Miami Marlins, John Farrell’s squad was 29-12 in games it scored the first run in.

Weekly Red Sox Hitter Notes: June 29th

David Ortiz has been inconsistent lately, but belted a pair of home runs last week.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

After registering just one extra-base hit in their loss on Saturday, the Red Sox bounced back to slug three home runs as a part of a 5-3 win in the rubber game against the Tampa Bay Rays. With Boston's victory on Sunday, they have alternated wins and losses every game since June 19th. From Thursday to Sunday, the Red Sox batted their best three wins above replacement players as the top three in their lineup: Mookie Betts, Brock Holt and Xander Bogaerts.

Lobel's Question of the Week: Do You Believe Big Papi?

Every week, legendary sportscaster Bob Lobel wants to hear your opinion about a sports question he's been thinking about.

This week Bob has a simple question for you: Do you have believe David Ortiz when he says he never knowingly used performance enhancing drugs (PEDs)?

In a lengthy post on The Players' Tribune, the Red Sox slugger admitted that he did fail that drug test in 2003, but claims he didn't know about it until it became public knowledge in 2009.

Bob Lobel: Big Papi Doth Protest Too Much?

By Bob Lobel (@boblobel)

This Ortiz thing is putting me between a rock and hard place. Lying or not lying? Taken PEDs or not taken PEDs? Working on the next best thing for himself at the moment? 

Polishing up the Hall of Fame voters to vote for the first time, to overlook that he plays a position that's not really a position.  

Overlooking that he was on a sample 2003 list of the top juicers. No word if it was in alphabetical order or the extent of use. We know of no one who was on the list who was proven guilty but, perhaps the  worst thing of all, is the reputation that sticks after the career years melt away. Ortiz is trying at a very unusual time to create a persona that allows the sanctimonious sports writers, with a vote five years after Ortiz retires, to admit that David is a champion for the elimination of PEDs.  

Why now?

Bob Lobel: Baseball Hoping David Ortiz is Clean This Time Around

By Bob Lobel  @boblobel

Editor's Note: Bob wanted it to be known that the point of his blog this week was not to assert that David Ortiz is using any type of performance enhancing drug, but rather to explain that Major League Baseball is hoping Ortiz is clean, given the backlash from the steroid era. The original blog title has been changed.

Remember when a Red Sox player interrupted manager Tito Francona’s press conference to complain about an official scorer’s ruling that took an RBI away from him, by calling a hit an error? 

It was rude, childish and selfish behavior, all done with no regard for public opinion.

David Ortiz wanted that RBI.  

Catching Up With Bob Lobel: Will This Aaron Hernandez Stuff Ever End?

On this week's podcast, legendary sportscaster Bob Lobel and host Joe Parello discuss the seemingly never-ending saga of Aaron Hernandez. What did the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick know? How many more murders will Hernandez be tied to in New England and/or Florida this week? And, how many times will Belichick tell the the prosecutor "it is what it is" if he's forced to testify?

That, plus more on the Sox' hunt for October, in this week's edition of Catching Up With Bob Lobel.

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Bob Lobel: Can You Hear Me Now, Big Papi?

By Bob Lobel  @boblobel

Dear David Ortiz, 

I have a couple of observations you may not like to hear. Number one, you can now actually talk to phones, at least the smart ones. Or, if you prefer traditional dialing, simple finger pressure usually gets the job done. Excessive pressure, like that generated by a baseball bat, is counter productive.

Usually, that results in a wrong number. That number is preceded by a $ sign. The other issue resulting from texting while swinging is the party to whom you're trying to get attention from, aka the umpire! He will interpret your call as abusive and will report you to the other members of his craft. 

This, no doubt, will result in across the board retribution, meaning more balls will be strikes and so on and so forth. Part of the code of conduct at  Fenway includes telephone misuse. Fortunately for you this was in Baltimore, where there is no code of conduct. The whole sordid affair was exacerbated by the painful Amica pitch zone, which  apparently has its own area code (it happens to be a secret).