Boston Red Sox

The final tally of the Baseball Writers Association of America's National Baseball Hall of Fame ballot will come out next Tuesday. On that list is a 'who's who' of Major League Baseball records and accomplishments. The MVP, CY Young and other awards owned by the list of ballot members could sink a ship. However, many of the names that own much of that prestigious hardware are in danger of their time on the Hall of Fame ballot expiring with induction.

It has been a bad decade in New York sports. The New York Giants Super Bowl victory in 2011 is the last major championship in the Big Apple. I say that all changes in 2022! Let's look into our 104.5 The Team crystal ball and see what happens in the New Year!

New York sports in 2021 was fully of drama, progress, disappointment and another year of zero 'Big 4' championships. However, it's always a good year in Big Apple sports. That's because there is always something fun to talk about. There are enough major sports soap operas to interest a few cities, nonetheless one. This year was no different. I'm not going to spoil the ending but you know that somehow COVID 19 will find its way on to our list.

I laugh when people say that 'the Capital Region is a bad sports town.' Really? When people say that I sometimes feel that they are trying to find something wrong with everything. If you feel like I do, it's time to look at the facts. This is actually a pretty good sports 'town.'

The purest of Major League Baseball fans enjoy the rumors and gossip created by the MLB General Managers meetings that follow the regular season each year. Trade rumors and free agent destinations are usually plastering the headlines of our favorite sports websites, warming the winter months. The hopes of championships to come, ring in with the holidays and ride right into Spring Training. It appears that is going to happen this year.

Jerry Remy lost his fight with cancer over the weekend. While he is gone, his impact on multiple generations of Boston Red Sox fans will not be forgotten.

At one time Bobby Valentine was one of the brightest up and coming stars in the game of baseball. Injuries hampered those expectations and a new career in coaching and managing began. Valentine had great success as manager with the Texas Rangers for seven years, then with the New York Mets leading an unlikely group to the 2000 World Series against the cross-town rival New York Yankees. Now he is involved in a new kind of race and the final game is played on election day.

Fans of the ValleyCats and Red Sox have known that Kike Hernandez was a good baseball player. What we didn't realize, was that he was about to make history.

Boston Red Sox fans know the value of their once banished manager, Alex Cora, to the success of their franchise. Cora admitted his guilt in the Houston Astros cheating scandal, served his suspension and moved on. Friday, the once villain of Major League Baseball, led his team against his former team that was accused of cheating in the American League Championship Series. You almost couldn't have made it up.

It's blanket statement time: the 2021 ALCS, about to be played between the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros, would not be happening without the Capital Region.

A straight steal of home plate in the Major League Baseball playoffs or World Series is something you see Jackie Robinson do in a Ken Burns documentary or you may have seen Javier Baez do it a five years ago when he was with the Chicago Cubs against the San Francisco Giants. Nonetheless, it's rare. Last night in the first game of the American League Division Series featuring the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays, we got to see it again in the Rays 5-0 victory over the Red Sox.

The Wild Card game wasn't exactly the goal that Hal Steinbrenner had for his franchise this year. But baseball can be a cruel game. If Giancarlo Stanton hits that baseball a fraction of a millimeter differently in the 6th inning on Tuesday, that game is tied and there may have been a different result. But he didn't and there wasn't. That is what baseball does. It is extremely humbling.