SZ621

BY JIM DAWSON
MARCH 21, 2016
SPRING IS HERE, CAN BASEBALL BE FAR BEHIND?
As I await opening day for the Red Sox (4/4 at Cleveland) and the PawSox (4/7 at home
vs. Buffalo), there are only a few exhibition games to whet the appetite. And I've missed
some of those when they clashed with the Bruins/Celtics games and the NCAAs.
However I keep track of box scores and accounts of who is doing well and who is
struggling. It appears that Henry Owens has pitched himself out of the 5th starter spot
and will open in Pawtucket. That 5th spot will go to either LHP Roenis Elías or
knuckleballer Steven Wright who is out of options and is pegged for long relief on the
major league team.
Did see Chris Young hit a bomb of a homer yesterday against the Mets' lefty Jerry
Blevins. It was an effortless swing that sent a ball over the center field wall. Young has
good stats against lefties and will also help in the outfield.
The starting rotation should be much better than last year once Eduardo Rodriquez
returns from a dislocated knee. With ace David Price and Joe Kelly pitching well, there
will be less pressure on Clay Buchholz and Rick Porcello to be the ace. Buchholz has
great stuff when healthy. Problem is that he seems to get hurt every year.
The PawSox should have a couple arms that can help out if any of those Red Sox
starters get injured. Besides Henry Owens, who needs more seasoning anyway, there is
also another lefty, Brian Johnson, who provides insurance.
Pawtucket should have a good club, especially from a pitching standpoint. Besides
Owens and Johnson, starters will come from William Cuevas, Keith Couch and Edwin
Escobar (on 40 man roster). Phenom Anderson Espinoza will be in A ball at Greenville
and at age 18 won't be rushed, but may make it to high A Salem by this summer.
The PawSox relief staff will include Williams Jerez, Pat Light (on the 40 man roster),
and Noe Ramirez along with a few veterans like Sean O'Sullivan.
The hitting is what killed the PawSox last year. That is, lack of hitting. They were last
among 14 International League teams in batting a gruesome .238. They did hit 95
homers (5th in the IL). However that didn't prevent them from finishing last in the IL
North with a 59-85 record.
This year the hitting has to be better (fingers crossed) with 1B Sam Travis, SS Marco
Hernandez, 2B Sean Coyle, jack of all trades Deven Marrero and OF Bryce Brentz
(please stay healthy and stop trying to hit a home run every time up). All but the young
Travis (22, 23 in August) are on the 40 man roster. Christian Vazquez will help too.
Can't wait to hear 'Play Ball' both at Fenway and McCoy.

CHANDLER JONES
The trade of Chandler Jones was not unexpected. That episode with the alleged synthetic
marijuana may have been the final straw as you know Bill Belichick would frown on
such behavior. Regardless, the Pats were not going to be able to sign Jones after the
2016 season and need the money to re-sign Dont'a Hightower and Jaime Collins. Jones
led the team with 12 1⁄2 sacks but most of those (10 1⁄2 ) came in the first 9 games. Jones
had 1 sack in the post season. The Pats got an OL (a former 1st round pick), and a 2nd
round pick. With two 2nd rounders, my hunch is they draft another OL, likely a tackle.

E-MAIL
Jim,
Best guess for the guitar solo is my man, Stevie Ray Vaughan. What he would have
been is beyond the blue mist now. Sure miss his playing.
I'm also pretty sure that Carmine Rojas, bassist for a current virtuoso of blues guitar
(in my humble opinion), Joe Bonamassa, was also part of the players on Bowie's
album. I believe that he played with Joe for about 10 years and left that touring
band. Bonamassa has a new lineup for his touring.
If you haven't seen Joe in person, I see that he's gonna play Providence sometime
this summer. Worth the price of admission; he's getting better all the time and plays
just about any genre that you can think of. Constantly on tour and pretty prolific in
producing albums. Many videos on PBS, my favorite was his one at Radio City
Music Hall a couple of years back.
Also his work with Black Country Communion puts him pretty near some metal tunes.
Bill LaPlante
Right you are, Bill. It's Stevie Ray Vaughan. Local library had a DVD/CD sale and I
picked up his Greatest Hits for $1. Didn't know much about Bonamassa until a year ago
when I heard him with Beth Hart on Can't Let Go which I loved.
Will definitely look for him playing here. I saw Leo Kottke Sat. nite. He's one of my
favorite
6
and
12
string
guitarists.
-
Z

Sportzine is also available at jimdawsonsports.com thanks to Buffalo Steve Lenz.

THE HOT CLUB
Renovations have begun in earnest at the Hot Club. Sarah Bates said she was just happy
that the revisions have started. She said that the project is supposed to be done by the
beginning of summer. Men: we can soon say 'Goodbye' to the smallest men's room on
the East Coast.
Motif magazine (available at quality liquor stores like High Spirits at University
Heights) in its latest issue (Roller Derby cover) has nominees for best local bands in a
number of different musical categories. Hot Club favorites Tanya McIntyre & the
Professors are one of 5 nominees for Best Cover Band. You can cast your vote on line at
motifri.com/2016music. Do the right thing – vote for Tanya & the Professors. And you
can see them live at the Hot Club on Thursday, March 30th from 6-9. Go vote!
I saw a T-shirt that said Mas Amor Por Favor.
Dr. John said that a good friend bails you out of jail. A best friend is sitting next to you
in jail saying, “Damn that was fun.”
Professor Peter recalled another great line from Eric Shinseki, the Army Chief of Staff
under George W. Bush, who was marginalized by Bush's minions after Shinseki testified
that the US would need to keep several hundred thousand troops in the postwar
occupation of Iraq. Peter's memory of the quote was: Fighting a war on terrorism with a
large army is akin to trying to shoot a cloud of mosquitoes with a machine gun.

LAST ISSUE'S QUIZ ANSWER
The question was who does the guitar solo at the end of David Bowie's Let's Dance?
The answer – the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan who died in a helicopter crash 8/27/90.
Research shows that his brother Jimmie and Jimmie's wife Connie were supposed to be
on the same helicopter, but their seats were taken by some of Eric Clapton's crew.
Besides Bill LaPlante, others with the correct answer were Roger Boudreau, Dennis
Doyon and Garry Gillett. Bobby Sisto knew that Nile Rodgers of Chic produced the LP.

THIS ISSUE'S QUIZ
Pal Al who gave me the above trivia had this one: Who does the guitar solo on Michael
Jackson's Beat It? And if any of you readers have music trivia that you would like to
submit, please do so and I'll give you credit.