Fenway Park sellout streak ends at 794 games

By Drew SilvaApr 10, 2013, 7:08 PM EST
39 Comments

From beat writer Sean McAdam of CSN New England:

“We know that part of the reason it’s over is because we failed last year,” Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington told reporters before Wednesday night’s game against the visiting Orioles. “So we take that on us and take responsibility for that. Hopefully the focus of this is a remarkable run for our team and our fans. I remember a lot of pretty miserable, cold April rainy nights everyone sat through. For it to last as long as it did is amazing. So it’s on us to make sure the place is filled and start a new one at some point.”

We’ve noted many times before on this blog that the sellout streak was helped along by ticket giveaways and clever attendance-reporting tactics. So it’s probably for the best that it’s finally being put to bed.

The Red Sox enter play Wednesday with a 5-2 record — good for first place in the AL East.

Donald Trump wants Curt Schilling in the Hall of Fame

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By Craig CalcaterraJan 21, 2019, 8:43 AM EST
6 Comments

We’ve talked a lot about Curt Schilling’s Hall of Fame candidacy over the years.

Bill has argued that, if voters are going to use the character clause to keep certain players out, they should keep Curt Schilling out. I’ve differed on that, not because I think Schilling is a good person — he’s loathsome, actually — but because I find the character clause to be illegitimate and would never, if I had a vote, use it to impact my vote. So, yes, I’d put Schilling on my ballot if I had one.

I’m not alone in this, of course. At the moment Schilling has support on about 72% of ballots which have been made public. My guess is that he’ll fall a tad short when results are announced tomorrow — non-public ballots tend to include fewer players on them — but we’ll see.

I am not the only non-BBWAA member who would vote for Schilling. He’s got some top level support too. From the President of the United States:

Ballots had to be submitted by December 31, so it’s not like this is gonna have any impact on the vote totals. If it came earlier, though, one wonders if it would. And one wonders if that’d help Schilling or hurt him.