When the history books are written about this era in Boston sports — and they will be — the date April 21st, 2018 will likely be just a footnote.
We hope.
Because, darn, if it didn't feel like a mild punch to the gut by the time the day was over
It didn't start out that way. As a beautiful morning (finally) dawned, Boston felt like the Hub of the Universe as always:
- The Celtics, despite the emergence of somebody named Thon Maker, were still leading their series against the Bucks 2-1.
- The Bruins were on the verge of closing out a first-round series with the Toronto Maple Leafs, which would mean the B's would be well-rested for the main event against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the next round.
- The Red Sox were humming at 17-2 with the best record in baseball, and set for their second game against the Oakland Athletics. Since blowing the season opener in Tampa, Boston was one win away from putting together its second nine-game winning streak around their only other loss.
- And the Patriots, despite any perceived or real drama involving Tom Brady, are still the Super Bowl favorites in Las Vegas (6-1 odds).
By the time the clock struck midnight and the calendar changed over, however, things felt a whole lot different.
What a long, strange trip it was.
Gronk laughs it up on Patriots soil
And it started in the weirdest way possible: Rob Gronkowski, at the Patriots' press conference podium inside Gillette Stadium, made an appearance on behalf of an energy drink while he refused to report to offseason voluntary workouts in a room mere yards away.
Yes, you read that right.
As strange as the visual was, Gronkowski's podium performance was even stranger.
What do you have to say to your fans that are concerned about your future?
That they're going to see a freak-a-leak when I come back. That's what.
So you are coming back...
Oh ... maybe? (high-pitched laugh)
So you've been in communication with (Bill) Belichick about your plans?
Oh ... just Monster Motorcross is what I'm worried about today.
Will you be putting on your other helmet anytime soon?
The other one? When it comes down to the time. Yeah...
People will see you here and wonder why you're not at the optional workouts...
Because I'm training for this dirt biking.
Do you plan on attending the optional workouts that are upcoming?
Uh ... no. I've got dirt biking skills to work on.
Sure, a lot of this was all in good Gronk-fun. He plays the goofball jock as well as anyone, and has the bank account to show for it.
But I'm willing to guess that at least a few viewers, who happen to have their offices just a few floors up from the scene of The Gronk Comedy Show, weren't exactly laughing along: Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick.
It would be one thing if Gronk did this at some other locale. But this was the house that Kraft and Belichick (and Brady) built. This is where the very serious work of preparing for the 2018 NFL season for the Patriots goes on — right now (and there's not a whole lot of optional in these workouts if you're under contract with the Patriots) — and with that in mind, Gronkowski couldn't have come off worse if he tried to eat fresh strawberries in Brady's game-used jersey from the 2001 Super Bowl Costanza-style.
Here's Gronkowski, in the middle of some sort of contract/fun/freedom revolt against Belichick, yukking it up about his workout attendance. He basically mooned Belichick, Kraft and his hard-working teammates where they live and work.
If this wasn't the worst-timed and placed Patriots press conference since Randy Moss' appreciation screed in 2010, I haven't seen it. And we know how that turned out: Moss was traded less than a month later.
If this was any other player on any other team, the reaction would be universal: that player wants to be traded.
Now we wait to see if Gronkowski's routine went over like the lead balloon it appeared to be — and if he could be changing addresses and when — or if the new Belichick we've seen this offseason also includes a new-found sense of humor. Because he's probably going to need it to get past what happened on Saturday afternoon.
Bruins, Rask fall flat
By the time the Bruins hit the ice at 8 p.m. for Game 5 against the Leafs, the sight of Gronk in a motocross outfit was fading from fans' minds. There were bigger fish to fry: finishing off the docile Leafs and missing-in-action star Auston Matthews so the Bruins could get on with preparing for the Lightning, which had done their part earlier in the day by dispatching the New Jersey Devils in five games.
A funny thing happened on the way to the showdown between the two best teams in the Eastern Conference: the Bruins forgot to show up, gave up the first two goals in about 10 minutes and found themselves trailing 4-1 late in the second period. Tuukka Rask was yanked from the game by Bruce Cassidy, so that meant that everyone's favorite topic — does Tuukka choke in big spots — is sure to dominate sports talk radio all day Monday until the puck is dropped at 7 p.m. for Game 6 at Air Canada Centre.
"Probably could’ve stopped more pucks with my eyes closed," Rask admitted after the game. "That’s about it. It’s on me, but moving on to the next one and we’ll finish it out in Toronto."
The Bruins mounted a stirring comeback (the Garden was buzzing for most of the third period) and probably should have pushed the game into overtime, but in the end, they had no one to blame but themselves when the penalty box was standing-room-only with four Leafs in it during the second period and the Bruins couldn't cash in on the 5-on-3 opportunity.
"Shame on us for not coming out better – having a better first 10 minutes there," said Charlie McAvoy. "We knew they were going to come like that, their backs are against the wall, and they’re going to continue to come like that so we got to go back and make sure we’re prepared to start the next game."
The Bruins are still in control of this series — they've out-chanced the Leafs seemingly in every game — but it's never fun having to go into a rival barn to finish them off. And the Bruins, with some older players like Zdeno Chara, David Krejci, Rick Nash and David Backes looking like they could use some time off, now have to keep playing while the Lightning rest up. If the Bruins end up losing to Tampa Bay in the next round, they'll look back on two missed opportunities — the season finale against Florida that would have given them home ice, and not finishing off the Leafs in 5 — as being crucial.
Red-hot Sox are ... no-hit?
Shortly after the Bruins' comeback fell short, the can't-miss, grand-slamming 17-2 Sox were no-hit for the first time in 25 years by someone named Sean Manaea, a 26-year-old lefthander who had been thumped by the Red Sox in three previous starts (1-2 with a 13.50 ERA) against them.
This wasn't supposed to happen. The Red Sox had won eight-straight games and 17 of 18. They were batting nearly .300 as a team (.293) According to Elias, the Sox’ plus-70 run differential entering the game was the second-best for any team through 19 games in the Live Ball Era (since 1920), trailing only the 2003 Yankees (plus-74). And the Red Sox had hit 13 home runs in their previous four games.
And they couldn't get one stinkin' hit ... against the A's?
Of course, there was controversy. Andrew Benintendi thought he had the Sox' first hit of the game ... until he didn't. Benintendi hit a chopper to first base, eluded the tag, and was safe at first. But A’s manager Bob Melvin came out and the umpires determined Benintendi was out for being out of the baseline.
Matt Olson fields the ball and lunges for the tag, forcing Andrew Benintendi to leave the base path and keep Sean Manea's no-hit bid intact (00:58)
MLB Gameday: https://t.co/W91qs6MEvu pic.twitter.com/EcoUkD14B0
— Ballpark Videos (@BallparkVids) April 22, 2018
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen that call before,” said Benintendi. “It’s kind of suspect in that situation. It sucks. It’s a big league hit and they don’t grow on trees. I think if we have 10 hits at that point, that’s a single. But the situation the game was in, they may have been searching for something and they found it.”
Look, that's baseball for you. On any given night, the best-hitting and hottest team in baseball can be completely shut down by a pitcher you never previously heard of. You worry that something like this could cool the Sox for a little bit. But they've been so good for so long thus far, the chances of that seem remote.
But you never know ...
Sort of like when we all woke up on Saturday morning, and all seemed right in the Boston sports universe. Then Gronk did his thing in the grills of Belchick and Kraft, the Bruins turned in a Claude Julien Memorial Special for a while, and the do-no-wrong Sons of Alex Cora couldn't muster one duck fart into right field.
Hopefully, in a month, we'll all look back on April 21, 2018, and have a Gronk-sized laugh at what transpired while the tight end is happy with his contract and catching spirals on a practice field from Brady on his way to another All-Pro season, the Bruins are in the midst of the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Sox are 12 games up in the AL East.
But, man, what a weird and wild day in Boston sports history.