And alas we are done: Whistle mercifully blows on Red Sox season

Well at least we were better than Bobby.

The Red Sox 2014 season came to an end Sunday afternoon with the Sox dropping a 9-5 decision to the equally lackluster Yankees. The Sox finished 25 games out of first place in the AL East with a record of 71 and 91. For those keeping track, that is just two more wins than were amassed by the self-deprecating 2012 Red Sox.

For those who have watched this season, the apparent similarities between the two campaigns would be seen to go far beyond the win-loss records. The Red Sox lost great pitching cornerstones this season in John Lackey and Jon Lester just a few months after letting Jacoby Ellsbury drop into a mega money contract with New York. Though good at times, the overall pitching capabilities of the Sox were unimpressive this year. Boston logged a team ERA of nearly 4.00 while chucking wildly inaccurate attempts at sly pitches.  

Their offence was no better, hacking at pitches all year long and evidently loosing that never-say-die attitude that won them the World Series last season.

Such were common themes from day one of the 2014 regular season just as they were in 2012. Such were also common themes in day 180 of the 2014 season, just as they were in 2012.

The Red Sox began their final game of 2014 with a lengthy ceremony honoring the retiring Yankee captain – Derek Jeter. The ceremony included many of Boston’s top cops of sports the most notable of which being the greats Bobby Orr, Troy Brown and Paul Peirce of the Bruins, Patriots and Celtics respectively.

Following the ceremony, Boston fell behind in swift fashion (cue first theme) when they allowed a two run triple to Ichiro Suzuki. Immediately following that, in Jeter’s final at bat an understandably non devout effort by Mookie Betts to snag a low chopper allowed the Yankees to sneak in an extra run.

Jeter left following the RBI to a standing ovation, hugs from his teammate and a lingering farewell with Red Sox first basemen Mike Napoli.

Sox pitcher, Clay Buchholz exited the game 4 innings later, closing out his season with an 8-11 record. That winning percentage of 42.1% was his worst as a starting pitcher.

Hitting behind Buchholz were new Red Sox, Mookie Betts and Dan Butler who, in the 7^th inning broke the Yankees shutout with a combined 5 RBI’s on two doubles.

Then it all ended. The Sox were handed their 27^thout of the ball game and, as Derek Jeter said goodbye to baseball, the Red Sox said goodbye to many of the fans who signed on this year expecting more than a last place finish.

After 6 months of shortcomings and 5 months of knowing that the season was going nowhere the 2014 Red Sox season ended without fanfare.

“Dan Butler flies out to left fielder Chris Young,” read the scorebook from Sunday’s game. The 2014 Sox jumped off the bat with all the potential in the world. They died, fell from the sky and found themselves tucked away in baseball lore, an afterthought of epic proportions.

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Patriots at Chiefs week 4 preview: Patriots posed with threat of mobile Alex Smith

The first three weeks of the 2014 Patriots regular season have been far too exciting for fans of the team to appreciate. In three clashes with teams defined more by their mediocrity in the past decade than anything else, the Patriots themselves have been mediocre. Though they have been trying since week one to sort out their laundry list of on the field problems, time may have run out for the Patriots who face a big test this week.

Julian Edelman is still catching more than a third of Tom Brady’s passes. The Pats secondary, though satisfyingly competent at tackling, is still one plagued by penalties and the offensive line has continued to struggle to protect Brady in the pocket.

In three games, played against the Dolphins, Vikings and Raiders respectively, the Patriots are middle of the pack in rush defense. Also in those games the offence has been largely skewed in the direction of its established targets who, however great have the Pats sitting at 27th in the NFL in passing yards.

"We can do just really pretty much everything better offensively," coach Bill Belichick said. "Everything. Blocking, throwing, catching, running, run reads, routes, distribution, you name it."

Looking over to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Patriots must recognize that they will get yet another chance to vary their passing attack against a woeful secondary. The 1-2 Cheifs have allowed 223 passing yards per game this season while falling apart in the run game. In that category they are well within the bottom 10 defenses in the NFL.

The Chiefs offensive line has been the unit largely responsible for the team’s defensive shortcomings. Coach, Andy Reid recognizes a discrepancy in play calling for them.

"Some of that, especially early, that was my responsibility," Reid said. "We're in long-yardage situations, taking seven-step drops. I have to be a little smarter with the play call. And then the other ones, we have to make sure we block the right guys and do the right things."

However, among the Chiefs successes this season has been the play of their QB, Alex Smith. He is what makes this a big test for the Patriots.

Though leading his team through fewer passing yards than 25 other teams, Smith has tossed four touchdown passes this season to go along with 642 yards. But perhaps his biggest, most dangerous tool in the attack is his mobility in the pocket. Smith has scrambled for 95 yards this season and has not fumbled once. Smith does not deny his skill with the ball tucked.

“A lot of times, it sneaks up on the stat sheet, and if you can run for some first downs and make up some ground, it can really help you,” Smith pointed out. “And that’s just a matter of being smart with it when you’re a quarterback and you get out of the pocket because certainly this is a physical group and a lot of defenses are, so when you do get out, it’s about being smart and protecting yourself.”

When the Patriots and Chiefs clash Monday night, Alex Smith will be a player worth some attention from the Patriots defense.  As they prepped in Foxborough, the offensive line, particularly its cornerstone – Vince Wilfork – spoke of their wariness of Smith.  

“He’s got that team rocking and rolling,” said Wilfork. “Everybody’s working around him, they keep things mixed up with run, shot plays, pass game, screen – they throw it at you to see if you can defend it all and we need to be ready for everything.”

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The king of millennial baseball will leave the building

In a season, marred by injury and abysmally decimated by outfield deficiencies and inconsistency in pitching, two teams have in all truth, suspended their rivalry to bid farewell to a baseball legend.

Derek Jeter has played baseball for two decades, serving as a constant figure of physical, statistical and moral stability all from his beloved position, straddling the baseline between second and third. He does so while garnering the delirious cheers of fans who simply adore him.

It is that admiration by not only Yankees fans but baseball fans of teams around the world that makes Jeter great. That admiration and the reasons for it make Jeter the king of an era in baseball that has been one of the sport’s darkest.

Jeter made his debut in the summer of 1995, roughly three years before the famed Barry Bonds/Mark McGuire/Sammy Sosa race for the 1998 home run title that was ultimately tainted by allegations of drug use against all three of them. As Bonds churned out his historic lashings of baseballs into the outfield bleachers in San Francisco, Jeter quietly bounced ground ball doubles and omnipresent singles out of the star sodden infield of the old Yankee Stadium.

In that 1998 season, the generally agreed upon start to the steroid era, a clean blooded Jeter hit 19 home runs, 84 RBI’s and clocked a batting average of .370. Over the next 5 seasons, Jeter’s home run totals never dipped below 15 while his batting average stayed within the low to mid 300’s. When Jason Giambi was busted in the BALCO Scandal back in 2003, Jeter had been in baseball for 9 years, making the All-Star game in 6 of those seasons while pinning himself in as a permanent fixture in the Yankees roster.

He never touched the PED’s that ran rampant through his sport.

More so, he managed to keep out of the substance abuse pressure that was as omnipresent in his own locker-room as were bats and pinstripes. Playing just a few feet, for the latter half of his career, from a man who took a path opposite of his, Jeter managed to balance his allegiance and affection for that man as a teammate with his moral code that forbade such an act of cheating as that that man committed.

That man, Alex Rodriguez first became Jeter’s teammate in 2004 when the Yankees traded cash to the Rangers for his playing rights. Rodriguez had been caught up in the same BALCO Scandal as Giambi was a year before and came to New York hoping to gain some popularity within the city and reassert himself as the baseball great he was right out of high school.

Gain popularity he did, but regain Cooperstown’s respect, he did not.

Rodriguez brought steroids into the Yankees locker room on a level that had not been seen before. But Jeter never used. As Rodriguez’s popularity soared in direct synchronicity with his statistics, his arrogance increased, lifting his self-guided persona of poor sportsmanship to a whole new level. But Jeter never followed.

Though the baseball world, still calming down from the fireworks show that was baseball in the early 2000’s, still treated A-Rod as a player worth some shred of respect, Jeter, mature and right minded, knew better than to cheat. He knew better than to insult reporters or slap Bronson Arroyo’s glove as Rodriguez did late in the 2004 ALDS against Boston. Therefore, Jeter retained his fans’ admiration and gave opponents reason to respect him rather than detest him.

10 years after the Rodriguez/Jeter clash of styles and 20 years after Jeter’s career began; it is evident how things played out. Rodriguez has sat out 2014, living as a disgraced wreck of his former baseball self. Rodriguez may never play again simply because nobody will let him. Jeter will never play again but his departure from baseball was decided within his own mind, not Bud Selig’s. This is because it was also within Jeter’s own mind that he chose to stay clean.

But furthermore, as he has slowly bid the MLB goodbye this season, his exit has shown to be one of fanfare and hall of fame quality fandom.

Much like Mariano Rivera last season, Jeter has been presented with gifts and moments of recognition in each “finale” or final game played against a given team. Earlier this month, the Tampa Bay Rays handed Jeter a commemorative kayak. In July, Jeter was congratulated with a boot and a handshake from former President George Bush while in his final game against the Indians, long time Red Sox coach Terry Franconia presented Jeter with a pinstriped electric guitar. Almost every team has also made quadruple digit donations to his charity – the Turn 2 Foundation.

Then there are the Red Sox who, due to their deeper connection to Jeter than any other team take his tribute to a whole new level.

Following Jeter’s walk off hit in his final at bat at Yankee Stadium Thursday night, the Red Sox sounded off in giddy praise back in Boston.

 "Wow. That's him. Perfect," David Ortiz said Thursday night. Oh. My. God. Dude, we were watching that game. Man, not if you plan it will it come out that good. That game," David Ortiz said "is going to be in the history of the game. F---ing unbelievable."

"Everybody was talking about it in the ninth inning," said Sox third-base coach Brian Butterfield, a former coach of Jeter "I'm going back now [to the coaches room] to see it on YES Network. Unbelievable. You can't script that."

Another think you cannot script: the climactic ending to Jeter’s days against the Red Sox. With the MLB season ending for both the Sox and Yankees on Sunday, the two will play their final games of respective lost years against each other with grace and national attention. This is simply because of Jeter who will, and already has transcended the boundaries of such a rivalry as the one between New York and Boston.

But this transcendence is nothing new. From day one he has been more than just a Yankee. He is a student of baseball a perfect example of a breed of balling role model that has all but died out. David Ortiz recognizes a level of care for the star on both sides of this rivalry.

“I remember the game he dove into the stands against us. He was going full speed and the ball was a step before the fans, but he couldn’t stop to keep himself from flying through it. When he got up, we saw him bleeding and stuff. You don’t want to see someone bleed. It doesn’t matter how much of a rivalry we have with them because when you saw that you just wondered if he was OK. He gives his all when he plays.” He said.

Furthermore, the current Sox DH and legend in his own right uttered a near demand for Red Sox Nation celebration of Jeter on Sunday.

“I’m 100 percent sure the game is going to miss him a lot. I’m going to miss competing against him and watching him do his thing. I said to him during our series with them in August the night he hit the home run that he should play a couple of more years. He said, 'It’s over.’ I expect the Fenway fans to give him a big ovation that last game.“ He said.

“It’s over,” Jeter said. “It’s over,” Jeter decided.

Decisive as always, Derek Jeter will leave baseball on Sunday to thunderous cheers made almost unearthly in their magnitude by the fact that said cheers will be sent forth by Red Sox fans for a man on the Yankee roster.

You simply cannot hate Jeter. Though his career has encompassed the entire MLB steroid era to date, Jeter has done what very few millennial greats have done; never crossed the line. In playing next to A-Rod and all his antics, Jeter proved that poor sportsmanship and flat out cheating are not contagious. Jeter proved that to be a great, to be a baseball legend in this modern era of social media and competitive fraudulence it no longer takes just the raw skill of say Babe Ruth or Ted Williams. No, now, with sports as much an institution of (sometimes unwarranted) amiability and a platform for the development of role models as they are, a great must show his humanity, not cheat and refuse to hate or slyly manipulate inaccuracy in rules.

How many baseball players have combined those off field aspects of greatness that Jeter’s personality has created with the on field statistics and flash that he has also brought to this new chapter of baseball’s story?

I can only count one; and that is the shortstop whose days in baseball will end this weekend.

Sunday night in Fenway, Derek Jeter will leave baseball as a humble monarch, excluded from the burnt heap of tarnished reputations and asterisk tainted record books that the past 20 years have sometimes seemed to have reduced baseball to.  

So we stand and behold the king of baseball’s millennium. As he leaves, we must appreciate his final games for once he is gone, it could be a long time before we see another worthy coronation. 

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NFL power rankings: Top 5 teams after week three

1) Seattle Seahawks

Sunday's thrilling OT victory over the Broncos involved a few of the most thrilling minutes of football this season has had to offer. Though the first of those minutes were made brilliant by a last second collapse by the Seahawks, dominance in the run game and in the secondary helped spawn a win for the Seahawks and their earning the number one spot on our power rankings.

2) Philadelphia Eagles

So far, the Eagles have been the model for consistent scoreing averaging over 24 points per game through three weeks. They beat the Redskins in a high scoreing 37-34 affair this week that featured a 102 yard return by Deshawn Jackson and an excel lance in the run game even without LeSean McCoy who was injured last week.

3) Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals deserve to be the third best team in Week Three solely because of what their QB Andy Dalton did Sunday. The 4th year QB caught a stunning 16 yard touchdown catch while leading his offence to a dominant 33-7 win over the Titans. Such has been a common theme for the Bengals so far.

4) Denver Broncos

5)San Diego Chargers

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Once again, battle for Bruins backup goalie spot close

In regards to the anxious escapades felt by young NHL players this time of year, Tuukka Rask has been there done that.

In the years after being drafted by the Maple Leafs back in 2005, Rask made the annual pilgrimage to training camp year after year trying to impress a Leafs staff that appeared to underestimate him. For two years, Rask, a massive goalie of quick handed Finnish build, was overlooked by Toronto with the team pegging Canadian southpaw Justin Pogge as a man of superior talent. Since being traded to Boston in exchange for a burnt out Andrew Raycroft in 2007, Rask dealt with much of the same for the majority of the next few seasons. The Fantastic Finn trundled around the Bruins AHL affiliate providence for the entirety of the 2008 and 2009 seasons always watching, always waiting to make his debut.

For two seasons he watched as a mediocre goalie named Manny Fernandez backed up the growing superstar that was Tim Thomas. For two seasons, two training camps, two preseasons he tried and failed to impress the newly instated Claude Julian each time retiring back to the AHL where he honed his skills and garnered somewhat unwanted attention because of his eccentric on ice behavior.

The long stated, king of post shootout meltdowns gained national fame in the 2009 season when he assaulted the boards with his stick and hurled a chair out onto the ice following a loss. Later that season, he backed up his intense on ice personality with some 955 saves, a GAA of 2.33 and a save percentage of .905.

Finally, when the next training camp rolled around, Julian bumped his protégée up to the big club. The rest is history. After battling with Tim Thomas for the starting goaltender spot for the next 3 seasons, Rask got his name carved on the Stanly Cup as a backup in 2011 and nearly as a starter once Thomas left before the 2013 season. He has since won a Vesna Trophy for his efforts for the Bruins and has truly shamed the Leafs who long ago misjudged his talent.

There is a certain romance to this all, an impressive lore that goes hand in hand with a talent that is willing to be shoved under the rug long after the point at which its maturity demands it be let out. Being overlooked as Rask was, fighting with other talents as Rask did with Justin Pogge and Manny Fernandez almost a decade ago solidifies the powerful solidarity of an athlete and a person. Furthermore, such competition that warns of no clear winner adds substance to an otherwise dry preseason.

Even after Rask got out of that situation, Bruins fans have been treated to some rather spectacular battles for positions valued far less than that currently held by Rask. Guys like Ryan Spooner, Matt Frazer and Matt Bartowski have given some Bruins regulars a run for their money this training camp. Particularly in the situation of Spooner, Chris Kelly’s spot within the Bruins is shrinking in importance.

But on a level above any of those other battles, there is the titular clash of Malcom Subban and Niklas Svedberg fighting valiantly for the chance to stand alone behind Rask as the 2014-2015 Boston Bruins backup goalie.

Drafted 28th overall in the 2012 NHL draft, Malcom Subban has been omnipresent in the Bruins development system for over a year now. Last year, he started two games for the Bruins in their preseason calendar playing well even in a brutal 8 goal loss to the Red Wings. Nevertheless, he was sent back to Providence for the 2013-2014 season where he rightfully gained considerable playing time. In 33 starts, he went 15-10, logging a GAA of 2.31 and a save percentage of .920.

Playing right alongside him however was Swedish net minder, Niklas Svedberg. Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2012, Svedberg won the AHL version of the Vesna Trophy in his debut season with Providence and split time with Subban last season playing 45 games and boasting a GAA of 2.63.

The two are both in the running for backup time with the Bruins next season as former backup Chad Johnson was released at season’s end.

In this year’s rookie training camp and preseason games, they have rightly been the main focus.

"It's an exciting time. Obviously, it kicks off a training camp environment," said Assistant General Manager Don Sweeney earlier this month. "These guys have worked hard to earn an opportunity to come. We talked a lot about opportunity [with them], with the organization itself and the competitiveness."

The Bruins are so far doing well in rookie scrimmages with Svedberg and Subban splitting time almost perfectly. The two have held opponents down with flash, strength and fundamental skills that have impressed Bruins coach Claude Julian.

“There’s Svedberg, there’s Subban — there’s a lot of guys that can certainly battle for that. But it’s never been an issue in the past,” Julien told reporters, “We feel confident. Every guy we’ve had who’s come in as a secondary goaltender or backup goaltender has always done the job, so we don’t anticipate that being an issue again this year.”

Needless to say, with two high quality talents rated well in almost every category, the prospect of isolating and then playing the best one is truly exciting.

For the majority of the now 7 year old Claude Julian era in Boston, the Bruins have been the model of goaltending in its farm system. They have produced Tim Thomas, followed him up with Tuukka Rask, shot out Anton Khudobin as Rask’s eventual backup and now created the scintillating talents of Malcom Subban and Niklas Svedberg.

The future is a good one for the Bruins goaltending core as no matter the outcome of this preseason’s indicision it will include a world class talent playing behind Rask.

Subban is great, as is Svedberg; the Bruins are great and no matter what happens offensively and defensively to their core group next season, their goaltending tandem will be good enough to simply get it done no questions asked.

But until then, until we learn a new chant to scream from the rafters as a Bruins goalie aside from Rask makes a highlight real save, we get to watch a heck of a show play out as our two AHL goalies fight to one up the other.

“I’m going to try to have a good camp here and deserve a spot,” Svedberg said. “I’m happy for the contract [he was given last season], but I’ve got to come here, work hard and deserve my spot on the team, so it’s a long way to go.”

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More of the same for Patriots: Patriots def Raiders 16-9

Sunday's sputtering Patriots win over the Raiders was just about as poorly executed a win as could be without turning into a loss.

The Patriots managed just under 300 yards of offence and logged just 78 yards in the ground game. Their offence was blatantly skewed towards the likes of Rob Gronkowski who caught the game's lone touchdown pass and Julain Edelman who continued his trend of dominance over his opponents and his teammates. Edelman hauled in 10 receptions for 82 yards, upping his season yardage tally to 260 yards on the season.

Beyond the receivers, quarterback Tom Brady kept with his theme of mediocrity this season, throwing short passes, many swatted tosses and amassing an only slightly improved completion percentage of 64.56 against the Raiders. Also at fault for the lack of power in the passing game was the Pats offensive line who allowed two sacks of Brady as well as a monster hit to his back late in the 3rd quarter.

On defense, the run stopping core of Vince Wilfork and Jarod Mayo were consistent limiting the Raiders to 67 yards on the ground and no touchdowns. The secondary which was fraught with penalty flags a week ago sported much improved discipline against the Raiders although CB Logan Ryan was tagged for a pass interference call late that nearly cost the Patriots the win.

On the play that followed that 40 yard spot foul call, Raiders RB Darren McFadden took a hand-off up the middle for what looked to be a game tying 6 yard touchdown. The score was negated however by a hold of Vince Wilfork.

"When I turned around and everybody wasn't coming to celebrate with me, I knew something wasn't right," McFadden said.

On the next play after the holding penalty, Vince Wilfork made a rare interception off of a tip play by Logan Ryan in coverage. With the Patriots in possession with under a minute left on the clock, Brady took a knee and sealed out the disappointing win.

And lo and behold, a win coolly similar to each and every game the Pats have played this season. Edelman was dominant, Gronkowski caught a TD and the offensive line was weak. Those were the themes felt by the Patriots and their fans Sunday. And so we fear that if such trends as these continue that when games against the Broncos, Packers and Chargers roll around that 16 points just won’t cut it.

"We did just enough to get the victory," Gronkowski said. "Sometimes it's frustrating, but what we did today is not always going to get the job done."

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Analysis: Tom Brady playing worse than Raiders' Derek Carr?

With 49,547 passing yards, Tom Brady ranks as one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks in history. Up until last season, he had been the ultimate model for consistency in a passer once logging a touchdown pass in 52 consecutive games. He has been to the Pro Bowl 9 times, been to the Super Bowl 5 times, won it thrice and twice won the game’s MVP. His 18 playoff wins are rivaled only by the great Joe Montana. Yet as his career nears its end, these statistics, these records that, in being broken have made Brady great have begun to fade away; and as they do so, they are replaced with incompletions, harsh losses and media attacks on his place in football.

Tom Brady's career is drawing to a close, that much is clear. At 37 years old, his body victimized by hundreds of sacks allowed by a sometimes incapable offensive line are simply causing him to slow down.

Yet still, Brady remains a great who holds the skills and work ethic to treat us to a few more great moments or at least reminders of great moments to satisfy us for the next few years. This Week Two match up against the Raiders is a stunning reminder of the officiating blunder that served as one of the biggest moments in his then young career. That game, though lacking really any skillful exploits done by Brady, is remembered in history as the tumultuous "Tuck Rule" call at the end of the equally memorable "snow bowl" AFC championship game in 2001. 

In one of the few games against the Raiders since then, Tom Brady and his wonderfully driven ego are on pace to maul the Raiders. However, in this week three game, this clash of old and new, Brady who still will likely crush the Raiders, is put in an unfamiliar position.

So far, having played two games in his 15th NFL season, Brady has amassed worse statistics than his rookie opponent.

Raiders' 2nd round draft pick Derek Carr is 23 years old and currently working to fill the void left by former Oakland star Terrell Pryor. He possesses a thick case of trophies won as the starting QB for Fresno State Bulldogs that includes being a two time All-American selection as well as a two time Mountain West Conference offensive player of the year lock in his Junior and Senior years. 

In 2014, his prof to why his being drafted 36th overall was worth it, he has for one thing been better than Tom Terrific himself.

Though they were logged mainly on a 40 yard carry in week one, Carr has shown some strong versatility in the pocket scrambling for 5 rushing attempts while gaining 57 yards on those carries. Even without those extra yards, Carr has actually tossed 16 more yards than Brady on 3 fewer passing attempts.

Carr has a statistical edge on Brady in terms of total rating (80.6) as well as QBR (43.7) while perhaps his biggest edge comes in terms of completion percentage. Tossing 77 attempts, Brady's completion percentage of 55.8 is 3rd worst in the NFL this season while Carr's 63.5 percentage ranks an impressive 20th. The sheer statement of being unable to hit receivers is perhaps the most worrying among these Brady statistics. The reason for worry is only worsened when you see that Carr, a quarterback whose top receiver is limited to the name of Vincent Brown is completing more passes than Brady whose top receivers include Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman. 

That stings.

But in the end, does anybody really think that these statistics are yet bad enough to undermine the potential to succeed that Brady still has? No; in no way are these statistics dictating of such. Tom Brady remains one of the greatest quarterbacks in history, Derek Carr remains a mere rookie on the NFL's worst team.

These statistics are merely a glimpse into a shallow drop off in Brady's performance shown by a stunning numerical cliff off of which Brady has fallen. But I assure you this much, Tom Terrific can recover.

	Tom Brady	Derek Carr
Total yards (Passing and rushing)	400	471
Completion percentage	55.8	63.5
Rating	78.8	80.6
QBR	48.4	43.7
Interceptions	0	2
Fumbles	2	0
Total pass attempts	77	74

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Patriots vs Raiders Week Two Preview: Team looks to exploit Oakland's many shortcommings

The Oakland Raiders are a football team that has been living in the cellar of the NFL for over a decade now. The Patriots, in stark contrast are a team that has lived atop the standings for pretty much the same amount of time. Those two teams clash this week with the Patriots looking to move to 3-1 on the season while the Raiders will be chasing their first win of the season.

With rookie, Derek Carr starting at quarterback, the Raiders were hardily beaten last week when the Houston Texans piled on 30 points to Oakland’s mere 14. That game was punctuated by huge miscues in the Raiders defense, the most glaring being the 138 rushing yards allowed to Arian Foster and the touchdown pass allowed to lumbering JJ Watt.

"They're excited to see their Raiders and what was that that we put out there on the field today?" safety Charles Woodson said with obvious sarcasm. "That's embarrassing. I'm embarrassed for this team, I'm embarrassed for the fans."

The Raiders have struggled for over a decade now but it seems that this year is especially hard for them. Carr, being a rookie has made several key mistakes in his first games as a NFL’er tossing 2 interceptions and throwing just 3 touchdowns for a team that has no other way of scoring.

Needless to say, Carr could be an easy target for the Patriots in Week Two who are coming off a game in Minnesota where their defensive line stood tall against both the running game and the offensive line’s blocking.

Beyond that, the Patriots will also be looking to exploit that same Raider’s defensive line that let Arian Foster split them in two last week.

"You can't allow a team to just run the football down the field on you," coach Dennis Allen said of his team that has allowed more rushing yards than any other this season. "That has to change. Like I told the players, run defense is a mentality. Run defense is about lining up across from somebody, hitting them in the mouth, knocking them back, getting off a block, and making a play."

But though the Raiders defense will likely remain sharply incapable of defending the Patriots run game, they are not exempt from soliciting penalties from their opponent.

The Patriots were historically undisciplined last week, amassing more penalty yards (163) than rushing yards (150).

Statistics like those beg the question: how much can the Patriots give to a bad team before that bad team makes a good play?

In all honesty, that could be a huge theme of this game if the Patriots fail to get their act together. But otherwise, if push comes to shove the Raiders are poised to suffer yet another blowout loss. In short, though there are ways that the Patriots could theoretically lose this game, such a failure to execute would be a catastrophic one. The Patriots are simply a better team than the Raiders. This game is simply one more chance to remedy the teams fundamental and statistical shortcomings that have plagued them so far.

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Roger Goodell speaks to reporters in New York: Apologies are a start but Goodell has not won fans over yet

Roger Goodell who, for over a month has lived a life of media silence returned to public eye Friday afternoon making a prepared statement and then hearing roughly 40 minutes of questions on the recent surge of domestic violence cases in the NFL.

Saturday’s press conference was only the 3^rdpublic appearance at all for Goodell since the Ray Rice scandal intensified last month. It was also the first conducted on such a scale as this. After weeks of absences from key NFL events such as the opening of the 49’ers new stadium and the highly advertised season premiere of Thursday Night  Football, Goodell announced that he would be speaking Saturday and kicked off yet another media frenzy centered around the NFL.

Almost 100 reporters gathered in New York City as almost every national sports channel had television crews present to send live feeds back to their stations. Goodell first appeared behind the podium roughly 15 minutes after the scheduled start time and read a long apology to the victims of these recent cases of domestic violence.

“At our best, the NFL sets an example that makes a positive difference. Unfortunately, over the past few weeks, we have been seeing far too much of the NFL doing wrong. That starts with me,” he said. “I got it wrong in the handling of the Ray Rice matter, I got it wrong in the process that I went through and the decision that I reached.”

As expected, September’s Ray Rice/NFL/domestic violence scandal was the main focus to Goodell’s statement. Rice of course was first accused of domestic violence when TMZ published a video showing the Ravens running back dragging his fiancé out of a casino elevator back in February. However when a second video surfaced that showed Rice actually hitting his now wife in that elevator, the initial 2 game ban was upped to an indefinite banishment from football. In the court of public opinion however, it was all done too late as allegations of Goodell covering up the video when it was first sent to him began to tear into the reputation of the NFL. Goodell apologized for those insufficient handlings Saturday.

"The same mistakes can never be repeated," Goodell said early on in the statement. “We will do whatever is necessary to make sure our wrongs are righted. We will get our house in shape.”

That house includes the likes of Adrian Peterson who was arrested last weekend for child abuse and Carolina Panther’s DE – Greg Hardy – and Arizona Cardinals RB Johnathan Dwyer who are both on exemption lists for suspected or confirmed cases of domestic violence.

“We have seen that domestic violence is a broad thing. Whether through race or ethnicity, it affects all of us.” Goodell said late in his opening statement thus broadening the focus of the day beyond the Ray Rice situation. "These are problems we're committed to addressing. But we cannot solve them by ourselves."

As revealed prior to the conference, the NFL has sent detailed documents to all its teams detailing commands for variations on sensitivity training. Furthermore, its newly created committee on domestic violence was promised to not only collaborate with an FBI investigation into the NFL but work with players and teams going forward on curbing these problems in football.

Though the general consensus on Goodell’s statement is that it lacked sincerity and accountability from the commissioner, he did also address many of the bigger questions raised by this scandal.

“We can use the NFL to make better not only our league but also our society, limiting domestic violence and sexual assault.” Goodell said. “There is no reason we cannot be as transparent about these issues off the field as we are with player safety on the field.”

The NFL has taken action to try to solve these problems. The contributions to domestic and sexual violence hotlines instill a bond between the NFL and those causes while committees formed within the league look to prevent these problems in a more narrow subset of people. After all that has happened, the NFL is in a bad place publicity wise but they can get out of that bad place if they can convince people that they are not trying to buy their praise back.

The Goodell press conference was a start but was not the carrier of apologies accepted by fans, mainly due to a lingering hatred of Goodell and a more grounded observation that his words did not seem sincere . 

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Rusney Castillo praised for professionalism, confidence in MLB debut

Red Sox fans were finally treated to the long awaited debut of Cuban star Rusney Castillo Tuesday night.

Ever since the team signed the 27 year old outfielder to a whopping 72 million dollar contract last month, fans had been eagerly awaiting their first chance to see the star in a big league game. Castillo was said to be the kind of player that could play a huge role in this franchise going forward and fans were excited to see if that was true. And yet ever since Castillo’s ETA to the MLB was announced last week, Red Sox fans had been further weighed down by the question that seems to always go hand in hand with these kinds of contracts. What if? Sox fans asked ahead of his debut, what if we overestimated him?

Those worries were an omnipresent emotion that seemed to crawl in between the questions, tweets and predictions fired off as the prospect of Castillo’s debut drew closer and closer to its becoming a reality.  

As a result, PNC Park in Pittsburgh was packed to capacity Wednesday playing host to journalists, Pirates fans and Red Sox fans alike, the majority of whom were there to see Castillo. Their able bodied, able talented subject of their showering in anxious admiration did not disappoint. Needless to say, he did not shock fans either.

Playing 8 innings out in left field, Castillo made just one play on the baseball, snagging an easy put out in the 5^th innings. At the plate, he went 1-4 logging his first career hit in the 4^thinning on a sharply hit grounder to second base.

1 hit is not spectacular but judging by the fact that that 1 hit was struck during the biggest game of Castillo’s career, he has no reason to hang his head; and he is not.

"I'm pretty satisfied with that being my first game; obviously you would like a better outcome in terms of winning the game, but I was pretty satisfied with my overall approach and the way I stepped in today and had some results," Castillo said to translator Adrian Lorenzo after the game.

Castillo has shown that he has the skills to step in and made a big impact on this team once he builds some chemistry with the staff and his teammates. He said Wednesday that he feels he is in a good place as a ball player.

"Yes, yes, I've been pretty happy with the way things have worked out, not just with the success on the field but the relationships I've been able to develop with the coaching staff and clubhouse staff and teammates." He said.

In a lost season that sees the Red Sox on pace to finish with virtually the same record as they did two years ago under Bobby Valentine, Rusney Castillo is quickly showing both adaptability and sheer skill in his new club. After playing with poise and a cool head Wednesday, this player deemed worth 72 million dollars by his coaches is winning immense praise from those coaches and GM’s.

Ben Cherrington, the mastermind behind the August deal for Castillo was among the most impressed with Castillo’s professionalism.

"I don't think it's the results that you learn from. It's just watching him around the team, pregame, interacting with people, questions he asks, all that stuff has been positive so far,” Cherrington said. “Even if you just start with the time he was in Miami, and the showcase and go from there, the signing, the minors, being in Fort Myers, Portland, Pawtucket, he's met a lot of people and played games in a lot of different places, and he's handled it all well."

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Patriots offence lacking variety in targets: Amendola, Vereen, Wright, LaFell not trusted by Brady?

If one were to peer behind all the positive statistics produced during Sunday’s 30-7 Patriots win over the Minnesota Vikings, they would see that the Patriots, so far are falling into a pattern of favoring that could catch them soon.  

Patriot wide receiver, Julian Edelman has been without a shadow of a doubt, QB, Tom Brady’s, favorite target this season. He has been thrown to 15 times. In comparison, Brady has only thrown 44 completions this season meaning that Edelman has been the recipient of nearly 30% of his quarterback’s focus.

“We just have to find ways to get everybody the ball and spread it around to different guys,” Brady said to WEEI Wednesday morning.

With nearly half of his 398 passing yards coming via the mitts of Edelman, Brady is obviously struggling, for one reason or another, to build trust in his receivers.

Rob Gronkowski who, during preseason was drawn up as a piece intrinsic to each and every play he played this year, has been hit with just 8 receptions, the longest of which going for just 18 yards late in the game against Miami. Another example, Aaron Dobson was thrown two passes in his season debut Sunday. He caught just one of those passes, churning out a 13 yard gain well after the result of the game was under any sort of question.

Lastly, there is Danny Ammendola who, despite his struggles last season remains a player with multiple 100 catch seasons under his belt. Brady has thrown to Ammendola just 6 times this season. As for why the strange discomfort with Ammendola in particular, offensive coordinator Josh McDanials insisted that it was not due to any lack of skill on Ammendola’s part.

“I think Danny has shown that he can be an obvious contributor in our offense,” he said. “He did it last year -- played through some different things. And came up huge for us in a number of situations in a number of games. So I have a lot of confidence in Danny.”

The Patriots are struggling in fundamental football ways. Such struggles could be said to be very detrimental to any hope of a playoff run. The Patriots are well aware of this and know they need to vary their attack.

“To make us hard to defend is to be able to throw the ball to everybody.” Brady said “Those guys [Edelman and Gronkowski] have seen the majority of the throws, and I’ve got to do a better job of finding the other guys. There’s a lot of good routes, they’re big targets, guys are working really hard to get open, so hopefully it shows up this week in our pass game. We’re going to work hard on it this week to see if we can all be on the same page more often.”

Up and down the hierarchy of Patriots magnates, there is an understanding that it would be in the team’s best interest to involve more receivers than just Edelman.

 “I have to do a better job to create a little more balance on our team offensively with our personnel, our play-calling, our plays and so forth.” Head coach Bill Belichick said, “Because we have a lot of good players. We have to be more effective,”

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Thoughts on Adrian Peterson reinstated by Vikings: Football more important than people?

After being charged with child abuse late last week, star running back Adrian Peterson was informed by the Minnesota Vikings Monday afternoon that he would be allowed to return to team activities for Sunday’s game against the Saints. 

Peterson of course has become just the most recent name added to a long list of NFL players who have entangled themselves in legal investigations in the past few years. He was charged last Friday with child abuse committed by allegedly spanking his son with a tree branch. After the charge was made, it was revealed that an investigation had been ongoing for months. 

When the news broke, initiating its own media storm, Peterson had since assembled a team of lawyers to deal with any press releases, interviews or actual judicial proceedings in relation to the allegations. That team quickly threw their own statement into the mass of social media Friday but stood pat as Peterson was deactivated from Sunday's game against the Patriots. 

At the time, the move was applauded by a subset of NFL followers who were clamoring for a kind of reaction from the league in cases like these. The Vikings had deactivated their best player, the face of their franchise. They did the right thing. 

Monday afternoon however, they did not. The Vikings were blown out by the Patriots in Week Two managing less than 100 yards on the ground for the first time in over a year and failing to reach double digits on the scoreboard in the most embarrassing of ways. The Vikings were downright awful Sunday and as with any game in which the final result is so decidedly against a team, that team needs to make changes. Their big grand change was the lazy one. 

Peterson was reactivated Monday--for obvious reasons. To keep Peterson out any longer would be to suspend him. A suspension would likely destroy the Vikings hopes of even placing in their division let alone making the playoffs; and as they proved Monday, that is not an option. 

The actions of the Minnesota Vikings have dictated that football is more important than the lives and general happiness of people. 

That is wrong and though the Vikings and well, everybody with any actual power in the NFL cannot see that, at least some people can see. This was shown early Tuesday morning when one of the most groundbreaking attacks on the NFL's handling of these cases.

In a public letter to the NFL, Anheuser-Bush -- the producer of Budweiser beer and also one of its biggest sponsors -- said, "We are disappointed and increasingly concerned by the recent incidents that have overshadowed this NFL season. We are not yet satisfied with the league's handling of behaviors that so clearly go against our own company culture and moral code. We have shared our concerns and expectations with the league."

Minnesota governor Mark Dayton also joined the chorus today saying that as a fan of the Vikings, even he believes that Peterson should be suspended.

"It is an awful situation, said Minnesota governor Mark Dayton to the Associated Press today. "Yes, Mr. Peterson is entitled to due process and should be 'innocent until proven guilty.' However, he is a public figure; and his actions, as described, are a public embarrassment to the Vikings organization and the state of Minnesota. Whipping a child to the extent of visible wounds, as has been alleged, should not be tolerated in our state. Therefore, I believe the team should suspend Mr. Peterson, until the accusations of child abuse have been resolved by the criminal justice system." 

What is happening right now is a terrible prof that the NFL is purely incapable of acting as the cultural entity that it has become. Rather, the National Football League is a business no better than the bad banks that destroyed the global economy a few years ago. It is all money for Rodger Goodell and his posse of suit bearing executives. That is disgusting given that nearly everyone in America hears the name of the NFL each and every day.

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Tom Brady bests old friend as he and coach set records: Patriots defeat Vikings 30-7

In a game of inches, the Patriots won their game against the Vikings by a mile.

With their identity as a team suddenly under question, the Patriots went to Minnesota knowing a win was necessary. Furthermore, though the game featured a warm reunion of old friends in Tom Brady and Matt Cassel, it soon turned cutthroat with emotions running high and big plays bountiful. 

Beginning with the defense, the Patriots came into this game with the number one priority of shutting down the Vikings big playmakers. Even after Adrian Peterson was deactivated following his arrest for child abuse Friday, that was still true. Though the attention had shifted it was still powerful in its direction at wide receiver Cordarrell Patterson. They stacked the line and rejoiced as big bodies like Jarod Mayo and Vince Wilfork clogged up the middle portions of the field with ease. Furthermore, tight coverage by the cornerbacks helped break up passes to Patterson before they could even get to him.

New England limited Patterson to just 4 receptions for 56 yards and 0 touchdowns thrown by Cassel. 

However as the Patriots also knew prior to kickoff, Patterson is the kind of player that can do more than just catch passes. Since joining the league a year ago, he has become one of the best kick returners in football. In knowing that, the Patriots and their kicker Stephan Gostkowski were prepared and fully capable of limiting any chance the Vikings star got to make any more big plays.

Gostkowski was kicking shots into the stands all afternoon allowing for just one return by Patterson. That return went for just 8 yards though and actually resulted in Goskowski’s best net yardage on a kick all game.  Additionally, Goskowski was greatly helpful to the Patriots in their offensive game. His three field goals and three PAT’s helped keep the game out of reach of the Vikings.

Among the other players whose play the Patriots were the beneficiaries of were Devin McCourty who intercepted a pass from Cassel and then returned it for 60 yards, Julian Edelman who was dominant in his first good game this season, and Stephan Ridley who produced a reassuring 101 yards rushing in the game. 

All and all, accurate throws by Tom Brady, 81 receiving yards by Edelman, 4 interceptions of Matt Cassell and a shutdown run defense helped even the Patriots record at 1-1. 

Beyond that, the brilliant game was even more so for stone faced Bill Belichick and his partner for all time in Brady. Though the pair’s record this season is mediocre, both of them hit monumental milestones for wins Sunday. Belichick became the 6th coach in NFL history to record 200 wins while Brady’s 149th win put him third on the all-time wins list for quarterbacks.

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Patriots at Vikings week two preview: Cordarrelle Patterson biggest threat for Vikings

In a time in which the NFL is facing more negative publicity than ever before, one of its marquee teams, the Patriots, are coming off their first week one loss in 11 years and are looking to avoid their first 0-2 start in more than a dozen.

They will kick off their week two matchup against the Vikings at 1pm on Sunday looking to remedy the many mistakes they made one week ago.

Last week’s loss was one made so by an inability to stop the run. After jumping out to a half time lead, the Patriots allowed 23 unanswered points. By game’s end they also had given up a total of 192 rushing yards.

Earlier this week, the Patriots came out in full force assuring their fans that they would try to lock down the middle of the field against the Vikings. Up until Friday evening, the big story was how Vince Wilfork would match up against power rusher Adrian Peterson.

365 pound Wilfork, a pure run stopper and ankle breaking Peterson a pure run producer were predicted to make this game a stunner. Then the news broke that Person had been indicted for child abuse. Within an hour the Vikings announced that he had been deactivated for the game against New England and would not even be present at kickoff. 

Though Peterson will be a huge loss for the Vikings, their game will not be completely devoid of a rushing facet. The Patriots will still have to prove themselves against an all-star running back.

Cordarrell Patterson, a second year back out of Tennessee State was without a doubt the best player on the field in Minnesota’s week one game. He ran for 102 yards on just 3 carries, breaking tackles like he was coated in butter. His 67 yard touchdown run midway through the 3^rd quarter saw him bust past nearly the entire St Louis Rams defense.  

“Patterson is obviously an explosive guy; you see that in the return game," Belichick said this week. "He's a deep threat. He's dangerous with the ball in his hand, whether they hand it to him or throw it on a short pass."

Stopping the run will be key in this game against the Vikings. Should the Patriots shut down Patterson they will gain much more room for error both on the scoreboard and down the field.  

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Chris Kluwe's 21 minute 5k: Punter victim of homophobia not waiting for call...homophobia killed a great career

"Never be afraid to do what's right. If no one ever says anything, nothing ever changes." Chris Kluwe

What would it be like if you saw Chris Kluwe running out on some road, somewhere in the football empire of the United States? Would you recognize who he was? Would you see his face and go "oh my gosh, that's Chris Kluwe"? Probably not; because for months now, Kluwe has been out of football, his name no longer spoken alongside the word "punter."

That is a travesty, a terrible example of how at times football can bear a terrible dark side. Chris Kluwe should still be punting for some team somewhere if he wants to. But he is not because of a string of ridiculous homophobic actions on the part of his team.

His story is long and incomplete. There is another chapter. But needless to say those that have already taken place need be retold.

***

Chris Kluwe made his NFL debut back in 2005 as an undrafted punter for the Minnisota Vikings. He played 15 games that year, making 71 punts and averaging 44.1 yards on each one. From there, he honed his iron boot, blasting 40 yard punts on a regular basis and sticking shots down the field with ease. In each of the next seven seasons before his premature dismissal from the Vikings, Kluwe punted regularly and accurately averaging no less than 42 yards per punt. By the end of 2012, his 623 career punts had made him great.

More so, in those 8 seasons with the team, statistics like "highest career punting average (44.4)", "most career punts inside the 20 (198)" and "most punts in a season (93)" actually made him more than great. Chris Kluwe was a record breaker in Minnesota.

Over 8 seasons, his statistics proved the difference between bad punters, good punters and stupendous punters. But after all, he was playing punter, a position that has spawned just one hall of famer. Yes we know that "punters are people too" but nevertheless, it is not a lie to say that through all his wonderful talent and legendary mark left on his position, Kluwe remained in the bottom tier of the league in regards to name recognition. During the off-season of 2012 though, that all changed, but not for a football reason.

Beginning his mainstream activism in September of 2012, Kluwe became an supporter of marriage equality. On September 7th of that year, he sent a letter to a Maryland state political figure regarding sanctions by the Baltimore Ravens that prohibited activism within their clubhouse. The letter was also published on the website Deadspin making it public to all.

Soon after that, he sent another letter, that one in response to former Viking Matt Birk's video acknowledging his support of a ban on same sex marriage.

As his third, most mainstream moment of activism, Kluwe provided comments to an NBC documentary about breaking down barriers against gay athletes. That piece aired in December of 2012.

Over the 10 or so months following the documentary, he filed a brief with the Supreme Court, appeared on an episode of the Ellen Degeneres Show in support of gay marriage and served as the grand marshal for the Twin Cities Pride Parade.

Then in 2012, the Vikings released him. He was at the height of his career, his numbers still impressive and his actions off the field at the very least following of his Constitutional Rights.

On July 2nd 2014, he revealed in an intense piece submitted to Deadspin the disgusting link between his gay activism and his release. There was and still is homophobia in the NFL and the Minnesota Vikings in particular.  His piece surely confirmed that.

Vikings coaches were said to have asked Kluwe to quit his activism. They were also  said to have turned down interview requests without asking him.

Then there was Mike Preifer. The special teams coach of the team was quoted in the story as detesting the idea of two men kissing and asking Kluwe if he had defended "the gays" recently. Above all there was one specific address to the team that physically hurt to read about.

"Near the end of November, several teammates and I were walking into a specialist meeting with Coach Preifer." Kluwe wrote in the most shocking portion of the article. "We were laughing over one of the recent articles I had written supporting same-sex marriage rights, and one of my teammates made a joking remark about me leading the Pride parade. As we sat down in our chairs, Mike Priefer, in one of the meanest voices I can ever recall hearing, said: 'We should round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows.'" 

By April of 2013 not to long after Preifer's worst moment, Kluwe was cut, leaving behind the Vikings, their cowardly head coaches and bigoted Preifer. 

And so we arrive at this day in September, nearing the end of Week Two of the season Chris Kluwe should have been a part of. We arrive at this day when he is not watched, when his story, though brilliantly written, has faded into the archives of one of many sports websites. We look at the landscape of this day and see that Preifer has yet to be slapped with any kind of meaningful suspension (no, a one game ban does not count as meaningful) and not a sole from the Vikings or the NFL (other than Chris) has done anything to address what happened. That is a shame because Chris Kluwe should get to play again. He could play again. 

The latter brings us again to the facts of life and the present. Chris Kluwe is an ordinary man who above all just loves football and just loves people. On Saturday evening, this was shown through a series of tweets occurring over just about an hour. 

Treating his followers to a rather comedic timeline of his early evening, Kluwe tweeted: "First mile [of three mile run] in 7 minutes. Immediately regretting this decision." just after 7PM Saturday. Then, "Mile 2 - 7:30. Rum is making its presence felt. TIME TO POWER THROUGH. #sofocused," then, "Mile 3 - 7:30 again, but the dog stopped and tried to die halfway through. I'm counting it as a 7:15." 

Mixed into that slew of live updates of his run were comedic lines like  "Dog just pooped. Need to find a trash can. Running with poopbag is gross," that simply proved his normalcy. 

But then moving back towards what makes him different Klwue said "In other news, still in NFL shape. Still not holding my breath waiting for a phone call." 

Still ready, still not waiting. That is the true causality of the terrible actions of the Minnesota Vikings as well as yet another terrible non action by the NFL. 

The Minnesota Vikings killed the career of a great. Without the actions of the Vikings staff, Kluwe would have been in Minnistoata Saturday night preparing for a marquee game against the Patriots. Instead he is at home, live tweeting a recreational run, not waiting for a phone call.  

In conclusion, I as a writer, I as a person find it shameful that our culture allows this to happen. It is shameful that we let men like Preifer, men like Goodell disseminate and condone remarks that are so very unfit for our time. They hurt people, they end people's shots at living their dreams. Yes, this is true. Though he chose to retire, he did not choose to be cut. Without the events of last off season, Kluwe would have played for at least a few more years. Instead he has retired at 32, his career over prematurely. 

Now I do not want to fault Kluwe for his retirement. After what happened with the Vikings, he simply did not want to live in the NFL anymore. He distanced himself from this league that hurt him, allowed himself to become a goofy activist, calling attention to his normalcy through live tweeted, dog assisted 5k's while noting that marriage equality must be reached in his occasional but meaningful supports of the gay community.  

If he wanted to retire than good for him. But needless to say, we all know that the decision to retire was made long after he was cut. He should have got to play until either he or his statistics actually dictated that it was time to do otherwise. 

Instead we now watch as Kluwe, a resilient, happy man, but a true casualty of homophobia indeed, tells us of his roadside running conquests.

Good for him. 

Shame on football.

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Rusney Castillo to make Red Sox debut Tuesday: Outfielder was paid 72.5 million dollars last week

Joining the growing list of Cuban stars signing huge deals with American ball clubs, Rusney Castillo signed a seven year, 72.5 million dollar contract with the Red Sox last month.

For one reason or another, the Sox saw something in Castillo that made them think of him as their biggest international target since Daisuke Matsuzaka. In realizing that, they paid him the same amount of money that they paid Dustin Pedroia a year ago.

Castillo who captured worldwide attention playing stand out ball for the Cuban national baseball team did so with a wonderful baseball IQ and some thundering sprints along the base paths. He was signed to use that speed alongside other 2015 Red Sox outfield hopefuls like Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. as the Sox look to stock their defense going into next season. Since then he has been put up in Triple-A Pawtucket to get acclimated to the American game before joining the big club. 

It just so happens that as of now, Triple-A Pawtucket is engrossed in a championship series. The presence of Castillo though mainly preparatory has actually been extremely helpful to the Paw Sox.

In the first three games of the series with Durahm, Castillo logged three hits driving in a pair of runs and playing solid ball in the field. In game four Saturday night, he bounced in yet another double that according to on-the-scene reporting could very well have been a triple.

Having won games in Cuba, signed a multi-million dollar deal that saw him debut in Single A ball and then help the Paw Sox on their way to possibly winning their second title in three years, Rusney Castillo will make his major league debut for the Boston Red Sox Tuesday in Pittsburgh. 

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