It’s Thursday, so once again it’s time for another edition of Thursday Thoughts. You know what else it’s time for? Worcester Bravehearts baseball. The four-time Futures Collegiate Baseball League champions kick off their 2021 season this week, returning to Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field after spending last season at Doyle Field in Leominster because Holy Cross shut down their campus due to COVID.
The Bravehearts have always gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to media coverage by the Worcester Telegram, who seem to only cover the team when they had nothing else better to do. Heck, they never once printed a proper box score in the sports section, printing the smaller format they used for high school and college games. It will be interesting to see how the Telegram handles their Bravehearts’ coverage with the WooSox in town.
One thing is for certain, starting next Monday afternoon “WooBall Weekly” hits 210Sports, as it will every Monday until the season is over. This will be our seventh season doing weekly updates, where we recap the previous week’s games and pick a pitcher and position player as the 210Sports’ Bravehearts of the week. I’ll have updates most night on Twitter (@210Darryl) about notable or record-breaking performances. You should already be following the Bravehearts in-game Twitter account @WooBallGameCall for inning by inning updates.
Boston Teams This Week
(Some playoff schedules not set by post time)
Thursday
None
Friday
Miami @ REDSOX, 7pm
Brooklyn @ CELTICS, 8:30pm
Saturday
Cincinnatti @ REVOLUTION, 3pm
NY Islanders @ BRUINS, 8pm
Miami @ REDSOX, 4pm
Sunday
Miami @ REDSOX, 1pm
Brooklyn @ CELTICS, 7pm
Monday
RED SOX @ Houston, 4pm
NY Islanders @ BRUINS, 7:30pm
Tuesday
RED SOX @ Houston, 8pm
Wednesday
RED SOX @ Houston, 8pm
Worcester Hockey Alumni Highlights
Friday Patrick McNally steal/assist
Friday Evan Buitenhuis save
Friday Matt Lane goal
Saturday Matt Lane Goal
Saturday Yanni Gourde goal
Sunday Matt Tennyson goal (World Championships)
Monday Justin Hamonic goal (announced as Pleskach)
I was wrong about Taylor Hall
One thing you don’t see enough from columnists or bloggers is them saying they were wrong. So I want to buck the trend and come right out and say that I got something wrong. I’m not burring the lede here. And since I wanted to make it totally clear, I made sure it was right there in bold for everyone to see. So, yes, I was wrong about Taylor Hall.
My concern wasn’t if he was worth the cost. A second-round pick for a still-young former MVP is absolutely worth the attempt. My issue was the attitude problems Hall allegedly had, and how that would impact a very tight Bruins dressing room. Hall said all the right things at his press conference, although there was little doubt he was going to blow up about a deal he had to agree to. The key was how would be as a teammate both on and off the ice.
Seeing as Bruins GM Don Sweeney was talking about a contract extension only a couple weeks after Hall’s arrival pretty much says all that needs to be said.
Hall went 8-6-14 in his 16 regular-season games with Boston after registering just two goals and 19 points in 37 games with a terrible Buffalo Sabres team and managed to turn his minus-21 rating into a fairly respectable minus-6. After one round of the playoffs, he has two goals and an assist and is starting to show the kind of play that won him the Hart Memorial Trophy a few seasons ago.
I hope people get to taunt my error by sending me pics of Hall carrying the Stanley Cup around.
Stuff you may have missed from 210Sports this week
WooSox Rewind: 4-2 week keeps the Worcester Red Sox near the top of the Northeast Division standings (210)
Not so big finish
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