Archive - Sports Article
April 7th, 2011
PAWTUCKET – It had all the pageantry of Opening Day, from the introduction to the teams to the unfurling of an American flag in center field and a cannon salute that sounded off at the conclusion of the national anthem.
PAWTUCKET – All appeared to be fine in Alfredo Aceves’ universe when he walked into the home clubhouse shortly after 4 o’clock on Thursday afternoon. The righthander chatted briefly with a reporter before going through the necessary preparations for that night’s start against Rochester.
Those plans were officially scrapped 15 minutes prior to first pitch, as Scott Atchison took Aceves’ spot. It’s believed that the Red Sox will place reliever Matt Albers on the disabled list on Friday and call up Aceves in time for Boston’s home opener against the New York Yankees.
The Red Sox have certainly provided plenty of grist for the mill. That’s what happens when you begin the season with unprecedented expectations (World Series or bust) only to stumble out of the gate with six straight losses. Agony doesn’t even begin to describe the early-season travails with your Boston baseball club.
We’re not about to declare that hope is lost, especially when you subtract six from 162 and end up with 156, which is how many games the Red Sox have left. Time is on their side.
April 6th
WOONSOCKET — Cumberland High coach Marty Crowley believes he has a strong enough team to contend for a state title come mid-June.
But in his eyes, and perhaps most in Division I, the squad that everyone in the league should be concerned about is last year’s state runner-up Mount St. Charles Academy.
“Absolutely,” he said. “They went to the finals last year. They (basically) got everybody back. They should be the favorites to win the whole thing. They’re good.”
LINCOLN – At the core of Bill Lee’s multi-faceted personality is a baseball pitcher who remains fascinated -- even at the age of 64 -- by the process of getting batters out.
Lee came here on Wednesday to serve as keynote speaker at the annual “Welcome Home, PawSox” luncheon hosted by the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce. He walked into Kirkbrae Country Club’s dining area a few minutes before noon, dressed like a cowboy, his still-athletic frame topped off by a wide-brimmed hat that identified the former Red Sox pitcher as a man of great presence.
April 4th
For the past two years, race director Kerri Stenovitch has had no problem deciding on a rightful beneficiary for the Phantom Farms Planting Footprints 5K road race. Considering that the 3.1-mile event takes place at the popular Cumberland apple orchard, most of the proceeds went to the R.I. Fruit Growers Association.
Stenovitch, a former star runner for St. Raphael Academy in the early 1990s, has decided on a new cause for this Sunday’s race.
And like the previous one, this one truly made sense.
Ed Hunt knows that all three subdivisions in this year’s Division I circuit are going to be tough, but not as difficult as the battles awaiting his Lincoln team in the Division I-North ranks.
“There are no weak sisters in our division,” the veteran coach said before his Lions’ workout on Monday afternoon. “I think we have the toughest division from top to bottom, whereas most of the other divisions, they’re balanced this year, but they still probably have four good teams.”
April 3rd
Baseball Prospectus is in the business of projecting big-picture truths. Through a series of trained eyes and statistical inputs, the publication dishes out bold predictions designed to shed serious light on the performance players and teams can expect.
Let’s start with a simple premise: Realistic baseball fans don’t get upset over what their team looks like in the first week, or month, of the season. They know that playoff berths are achieved over a 162-game season, and that 11 postseason victories are required to rule the world.
Baseball season is a long haul, lasting from March 31 (this year’s Opening Day) through late October. Smart baseball fans just sit back and relax, knowing that players and teams will eventually achieve their normal production goals as the games pile up.
April 2nd
MASHANTUCKET, Conn. — Woonsocket’s Joe Gardner got exactly what he wanted on Friday night -- a very competitive fight against a former world title challenger in front of a near sellout at Foxwoods Resort Casino’s Fox Theater and a nationally-televised ESPN “Friday Night Fights” audience.
Unfortunately for Gardner, he got something he didn’t want -- a left rib injury in the middle of the third round that hindered him in the fourth round and saw him unable to answer the bell for the fifth of his six-round super middleweight bout against Elvin Ayala of New Haven, Conn.
