It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.
Famous words written by Charles Dickens, or Sam Kennedy’s attempt at explaining the Boston Red Sox’s approach to the upcoming trade deadline?
I’ll let you be the judge…
Here we are, with the Red Sox sitting a season-high 10 games over .500 and now just 4 1/2 games back — not simply of a playoff spot, but of first place in the American League East.
That sure sounds like the best of times to me, relative to how the season started anyway.
So does that mean the Red Sox will do what we all want them to do at the deadline: buy?
Asked point blank by Tom Caron if the team would be willing to take on significant amount of salary, Kennedy defiantly said “without question.”
After all, Kennedy added, “this ownership group … have proved time and time again in our two and a half decade that resources will not be a problem when it comes to doing everything we can to be a winning championship team — for the now, and for the longterm.”
Great! So it’s settled, and we finally have our answer.
But that was Wednesday. Once Thursday rolled around, Kennedy couldn’t help but let the truth come out.
And the truth is, it’s the age of foolishness after all…
“You just don’t know where it’s going to go, so it’s kind of foolish to predict or comment on what’s going to happen,” Kennedy told WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show when asked what it would take for the Sox to be buyers at the deadline.
“You never want to make any sort of public promises or bold, declarative statements around specifics because what I’ve seen in my time in baseball going back to the early 1990s is the trade deadline is a wacky, sort of crazy time with a lot of activity, and the market is now just starting to develop,” he said.
Kennedy concluded, “I know it’s a non-answer in terms of the trade deadline, but the truth is you don’t know how it’s going to play out until you get into that market and conversations really start to heat up, which they have not yet.”
Well, here’s an idea Sam… why don’t YOU (more so Craig Breslow and the baseball ops decisions makers) start the conversation?
This sit-back-and-wait approach is such a lame excuse. You want someone? You’re allowed to go get them. You don’t have to sit back and wait for somebody else to ask you out onto the dance floor. And if you fall short, have a Plan B, and a Plan C.
As if there was any doubt, Kennedy’s words affirm the position of this ownership group: they’re just happy anymore to be in the mix, not leaders of the pack. They’re opportunists, yes men. Their narrative changes like the wind.
Will they? Won’t they? You never truly known in this tale of a two-faced ownership…
Future looks bright
For all the uncertainty at the major league level, one thing is certain: the future continues to look bright.
In a warm-up for the Jarren Duran and Tanner Houck show on Tuesday, it was Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel and Roman Anthony who took center stage in Arlington on Saturday in the MLB’s Futures Game and inaugural Futures Skill Showcase.
In the game itself, Teel had the best showing, going 2 for 2 with both of his hits being doubles. In fact, Teel nearly had half of his team’s hits as the AL Futures squad managed only five hits in a 6-1 defeat. Mayer, meanwhile, went 0 for 2. Neither Teel nor Mayer started.
Anthony showed a flare for the dramatic, needing a competition-best six home runs to emerge from last place to claim victory in the first-ever skills challenge. Not only did the Sox outfielder of the future slug six homers, but he did so on only eight pitches.
We have official video of Roman Anthony hitting six home runs on eight swings earlier today. pic.twitter.com/8kEQW18mV3
— Brendan Campbell (@brendan_camp) July 14, 2024
"Going into the last round, I had nothing to lose. I said, 'Screw it,' went down and took some swings and said, 'I'm going to go up there and get my swing off,’” Anthony told MLB.com. “It went pretty well.”
You love to see that kind of confidence from a player the Sox are seemingly planning to push a lot of their chips in on. In these kinds of showcases, it’s less about the results and more about the stage and introducing the talent to the world.
Safe to say, Boston’s trio of young stars had a memorable weekend. And who knows? It might not be long before they’re playing in the Midsummer Classic themselves…
25 years since Ted & Pedro
I’ve been extremely blessed to cover a lot of cool games in this town. World Series games, NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals clinchers, NFL playoff games, etc.
But man, I really wish I could have been at the All-Star Game at Fenway Park in 1999…
Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of arguably (inarguably?) the greatest All-Star Game (and let’s not forget that Home Run Derby) in baseball history.
There was Pedro Martinez asserting himself as the best pitcher in the game in a game full of the peak starts of the late 1990s. And you’ll never see another All-Star start with the juice of Pedro being on the mound at Fenway…
Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa. Strikeout swinging, strikeout looking, strikeout swinging. And, of course, toss in another strikeout against Mark McGuire to open the second for good measure. A record four consecutive strikeouts to start an All-Star Game, and five total in two innings.
Badass. Just badass…
Pedro, of course, was joined by Nomar Garciaparra, who got the start for the AL at shortstop (over some guy named Derek Jeter). And old friend Jose Offerman came off the bench as a pinch hitter.
The game also featured several not-so-far-in-the-distant-future Red Sox to-be. Everyone talks about Pedro starting for the AL, but do you remember who started for the NL? Some guy from the Phillies named Curt Schilling…
And then there was Manny Ramirez, still with the Indians, who got the start in right.
All told, an astounding 18 Hall of Famers played in that All-Star Game, which saw the AL beat the NL 4-1.
The ’99 Red Sox weren’t a bad bunch, finishing second in the AL East at 94-68 and beating Manny’s Indians in the ALDS before eventually falling to the Yankees in the ALCS.
And while they didn’t ultimately win, it was that season — and, specifically, that special July 13th at Fenway — that served as the unofficial introduction to the baseball world of the franchise that would go on to dominate the sport over the next two decades.
Of course, I haven’t even gotten to the best part of that All-Star Game yet…
In another scene never to be duplicated in All-Star history, the sport gave a fitting send off to one of the icons of the game.
I’ll let public address announcer Ed Brickley take it from here…
“Ladies and gentlemen, he wore the Red Sox uniform for 22 years. He wore the uniform of the United States Marines for four and a half more. He owned left field at this very ballpark. He was the last man to hit .400 in a season, and he did it 58 years ago. He hit five hundred and twenty one home runs, including one on his last at-bat. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the greatest hitter that ever lived, number 9, Hall of Famer, baseball legend, Ted Williams!”
It was a much-deserved coronation for Teddy Ballgame, and the scene of Williams being carted around the field — all while the game’s stars of arguably the greatest era in baseball history gave him a standing ovation and eventually surrounded him in celebration before he threw out a ceremonial first pitch to Carlton Fisk — will live on forever.
As we remember and celebrate the greatness of that All-Star Game and that grand moment for Ted, we also remember and celebrate the life of his daughter, Claudia Franc Williams, who the Red Sox announced this week passed away at the age of 52 last December.
A Red Sox statement from Kennedy read: “We were deeply saddened to learn of Claudia Williams’ passing this past winter. Out of respect for the family’s wishes, we have honored their desire to mourn privately until they felt ready to share the news with the public. Claudia was a cherished member of the Red Sox family, known for her deep dedication to preserving her father’s legacy and all of us feel a responsibility to carry on her mission in her absence. Claudia’s commitment and passion were inspiring and she will be profoundly missed by all of us at the Red Sox and all who knew her.”
Her husband, Eric Abel, in an elegy provided by the team called her “a beacon of love” and concluded, “I am confident that the Red Sox family and Red Sox Nation hold you in the highest regard for carrying the Williams family banner so well. Your legacy remains untarnished, and forever cherished.”
May you rest in peace, Claudia.
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.