Mazz: This solar eclipse is Minor League
With the solar eclipse happening during the Felger and Mazz program on Monday, resident eclipse expert, Tony Massarotti, was sent outside to do a live report of it. Mazz was very underwhelmed with the latest solar eclipse.
This eclipse…..minor league
Felger: Mazz is joining us now via zoom. Mazz, are you there?
Mazz: I am, yeah. Can you hear me?
Mazz: Yes. What can you report now at this hour?
Felger: So I can tell you from the second I got out here that I think relative to Wyoming, which is the only frame of reference I have, this thing is minor league. This thing is a second rate eclipse. I’m looking up there right now, it’s a crescent. A crescent sun, obviously not a crescent moon. It looks like one of the toenail clippings that Zo usually leaves in the studio, Mike. They’ve called this, like, 93% eclipse….that’s complete and total bullcrap. There’s plenty of light out here as you can see. The temperature has only dropped like, I don’t know, ten degrees, maybe. It was a lot colder in Wyoming. This thing is Mickey Mouse if you want my opinion.
Felger: So it sucks and blows?
Mazz: I would say so, yes. I think as far as eclipses go, this one kind of sucks.
Felger: Okay. I was just out there, I saw it, I was kind of impressed. Now it is throwing off quite a bit of light, even though only 8% of the sun is showing. Don’t you find amazing that it is still as light as it is with 8% of the sun showing?
Mazz: Yeah. Which is why I think really, you know, you have to be on the path of totality to appreciate these eclipses full bore. But look, it’s a powerful thing, what do you want me tovtell you? It’s a burning ball of fire in the middle of the universe. It emits a lot of light. This thing to me, again, I think it kind of blows.
Listen to Felger and Mazz from 2-6 every Monday-Friday on 98.5 The Sports Hub, with hosts Mike Felger, Tony “Mazz” Massarotti, and Jim Murray “Big Jim”. You can listen live in the Sports Hub App and subscribe to their podcasts here. Follow @FelgerAndMazz on Twitter to keep up with the show!
Mazz: Be happy, but the Red Sox still have their share of flaws
The defense is still shaky
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – MARCH 28: Enmanuel Valdez #47 of the Boston Red Sox throws to first base for a double play against Jorge Polanco #7 of the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of Opening Day game at T-Mobile Park on March 28, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
Lament all you want about the simplistic nature of traditional metrics, but errors are still errors. The Red Sox have eight of them, which is tied for the fourth-most in baseball. More importantly, they have come at costly times. Wilyer Abreu had a sloppy outfield misplay in Seattle that was a key element in one of the Sox’ three losses. Ditto for Rafael Devers’ misplay with two outs in the sixth innings of the Sox’ eventual 2-1 loss on Saturday night. (The Sox led 1-0 at the time.) While the Sox have allowed a major league low 24 runs thus far, a whopping nine of them (37.5 percent) have been unearned. (Ceddanne Rafaela, of all people, dropped a routine fly on Friday that helped lead to four of them.) Yes, the Sox are better afield. But if the A’s and Angels were good teams, the Sox might have two more losses at least.
The Sox are whiffing like crazy
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 03: Masataka Yoshida #7 of the Boston Red Sox walks back to the dugout after striking out against the Oakland Athletics in the ninth inning at Oakland Coliseum on April 3, 2024 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
If you’ve watched any Sox game this season, you’re likely to have seen a lot of strikeouts. From the pitching perspective, this has been a pleasant surprising. From the hitting perspective, it’s starting to get worrisome. Red Sox batters right now have the third-most strikeouts in baseball, which obviously flies in the face of Alex Cora’s mantra to put the ball in play. Triston Casas leads the Sox with 12 strikeouts, but there are low-contact hitters splattered throughout the Sox lineup. (Jarren Duran is batting .349 but has 11 strikeouts.) With a man on third and less than two outs – when contact is critical – the Sox are 2-for-20 with eight strikeouts. That won’t hurt too much against teams like the A’s and Angels. It will when the opponents are better.
