A mediocre manager’s milestone, high praise from a baseball legend and proof that Andrew Benintendi is human. A look back at the Sox’ week:
“There was a Catch-22 here. Burkitt lymphoma is extremely aggressive but highly curable. I was going to have to go through hell and fire to get out on the other side clean.”
Red Sox Manager John Farrell told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on Tuesday about his one-year anniversary of the day he found out he had Stage 1 lymphoma.
Farrell recognized the anniversary of the day he was diagnosed with cancer Wednesday, the same day the Sox lost, 9-4, to the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. The team announced in October 2015 – two months after the 53-year-old was diagnosed – that he was in remission.
“In some ways you become much more emotional,” Farrell said of his battle with cancer. “So there were some of those 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning, sitting on my couch and a certain thought would hit you, such as thinking about one of my sons or something in life that strikes you in the moment and you find yourself reduced to a young kid who is trying to deal with something for the first time.”
Wondering what kept him together during his fight?
“Coming to the ballpark. Seeing what was going on,” Farrell said. “I would forget about my nausea, headaches, lack of energy. All of that was taken away by being occupied by watching the game.”
His job security may constantly be in question but Wednesday’s anniversary should’ve reminded us of something. This man is a true fighter, a man who literally fought for his life – and won. Not the worst guy to lead a struggling team into a tight playoff race.
Note: Farrell told reporters Thursday that he got the results of his one-year scan and it was clean.
Legendary Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully got his first good look at Boston’s young stars recently during a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.
It was the first time the Red Sox and Dodgers had played since a meeting in Los Angeles in August 2013, back when Jacoby Ellsbury was hitting leadoff and Mike Napoli played two of the three games in the cleanup spot. Xander Bogaerts’s only appearance was a pinch-hit at-bat. Mookie Betts was playing High-A with the Salem Red Sox and Andrew Benintendi was getting ready for his freshman year at Arkansas.
Needless to say, the 88-year-old Scully enjoyed a longer look at Boston’s youngest and brightest. When Bogaerts made a tough play in the hole in Sunday’s finale to nab a runner at first base, Scully described the 23-year-old shortstop as “a dandy.” And after the rookie Benintendi, making just his second start, connected on his second hit of the night, Scully referred to him as “the wunderkind.”
For someone who has certainly watched his fair share of young talent climb the ranks in the big leagues, Scully’s high praise for Boston’s young talent didn’t go unnoticed.
“This was something I’ve dreamt of since I’ve been drafted, since I’ve been a little kid. … To walk in the stadium and take BP in Fenway was a dream come true.”
Benintendi told the media after going 3-for-3 in his Fenway Park debut, which helped the Red Sox hold off the rival Yankees on Tuesday and ended up being Boston’s only win of the series.
The 22-year-old Cincinnati native became the second player since 1957 to have three hits in his Fenway Park debut, the other being Brady Anderson in 1988, his only season with Boston.
Benintendi is now hitting .346 through his first 10 games with three multi-hit efforts and four RBI.
But the No. 7 draft pick in 2015 finally came back down to earth Thursday night, committing a costly miscue in the outfield that allowed the Yankees to a take a lead in the eighth inning of a 4-2 loss. Benintendi, playing just his 11th game in left field between Boston and Portland, said the ball Jacoby Ellsbury hit on a line to left “went into the lights,” right over his glove, scoring two runs. Originally an error, it was changed to a double in the official score book after the game.
“I think it was just one of those things. Not much you can do about it,” he told reporters. “I tried to put my glove where I thought it was going to be. It just went right over my glove.”
Benintendi was the first to say, “but that’s no excuse,” after the game. And it’s not something anyone should get used to seeing. He’s committed just two errors in 159 games going back to last season in the minors.
The Red Sox have gotten really, really good at blowing leads this season. According to baseball-reference.com, Boston was fourth in the American League going into Friday at losing games it once led. The Red Sox have blown 31 leads, trailing only the Athletics (51-64), who have blown 35, the Angels (49-65) at 34 and the Twins (46-69) with 33 blown leads. The Diamondbacks lead Major League Baseball with 40.
In comparison, Boston only relinquished the lead 36 times all of last season, a campaign it finished with a 78-84 record. In 2013, Boston’s last championship season, the Sox gave up 30 leads in 178 games, including the postseason.
It’s actually pretty remarkable that the Red Sox are only a few games out of first with a bad case of the can’t-close-it-outs. Across both leagues, Boston is one of two teams in the top 10 in this statistical category that have still managed a winning record. Boston is joined in the top 10 by all six last-place teams. Bad but not bad enough, I guess.
(Michelle Berthiaume can be reached at 369-3338, mberthiaume@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @MonitorMichelle.)