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Blue Skies

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RSNStats has been on Bluesky for about a year now. The live stream of stats during Red Sox games appeared there, as on X/Twitter and Mastodon, all throughout the 2024 season.

Recently, Bluesky has heated up, with tons of new folks joining. I’ve been thrilled to be a part of that and to participate in some great conversations happening there among Red Sox fans and fans of other teams and with other interests.

We’re all learning about Bluesky on the fly and it has been fun. To help newcomers, I’ll be posting some tips on this page for getting the most from Bluesky as well as a categorized list of accounts I enjoy.

Check back with this page regularly for updates as we all learn together how best to use Blue Sky.

Accessing Bluesky

Bluesky is free and easy to use. In many ways it’s a lot like X/Twitter.

You can access Bluesky through their official app, through third-party apps, or through the web. For the official app, just search your device’s app store for Bluesky (look specifically for the one by the company Bluesky PBLLC to make sure you’re getting the official company app).

Personally, I like the web interface, which you can access anywhere at bsky.app. A better web experience, in my opinion, is with deck.blue, the work of an independent software developer. I make a small monthly donation to support deck.blue (and encourage you to do the same if you like it), but you can also use it for free.

Who To Follow

You’ll likely see some Starter Packs on Bluesky. They’re groups compiled by other Bluesky members of people you can follow for a certain topic. You’ll see Starter Packs for Red Sox accounts, but also for posts on just about any topic. There’s a nice index of Starter Packs online.

There are many Starter Packs already out there for Red Sox fans, so I’m not going to add to that. Instead, I’ll keep a list going here of the accounts I most value for Red Sox news and notes.

More baseball coverage

The next few accounts cover baseball more generally, from either a national perspective or from a more unique vantage point, such as exploring the great history of our game.

Tip: Simplifying Your Timeline

By default, the Bluesky app displays not only posts but also replies and reposts from the people you follow. Not everyone wants to see all that. Personally, I don’t care to see someone else’s replies to other people. Fortunately, it’s easy to weed those from your timeline. Here’s how using the official Bluesky app:

  1. Press the “hamburger” menu button at the top left of the app (it’s the button with three vertical lines).
  2. Choose Settings
  3. Scroll down and select Following Feed Preferences
  4. Turn off Show Replies. You can also turn off Show Reposts and Show Quote Posts, if you like.

Tip: Protect Your Account From Hackers

Naturally, you should use a long password for your account. But you can further reduce the chance someone will hack into your Bluesky account by turning on Two-Factor Authentication. It sounds complicated, but it’s really not. In the Bluesky app:

  1. Press the “hamburger” menu button at the top left of the app
  2. Choose Settings
  3. Scroll down and select turn on Require email code to log into your account.

From then on, any time you try to log into Bluesky, you’ll get a short code sent to your email account. You’ll need that code to complete the log in process. Don’t worry, you won’t have to do this every time you use Bluesky, only when you’re logging in, which should be too frequently. You’ll also know if someone else is trying to break in, because you’ll get the code in your email, but the hacker won’t and therefore won’t be able to access your account.

Convert Starter Packs To Lists

Like X, Bluesky gives you the ability to create lists. Lists are an underappreciated tool, in my opinion, for getting the most out of social media. Rather than follow hundreds of accounts and get a timeline that mixes your interests, you can create lists with a specific theme. For example, sometimes I’m not interested in seeing everything, I just want to know what the weather folks are saying about tomorrow’s forecast. When that’s the case, I can just turn to my list of local meteorologists. 

The problem is, as good as all those Bluesky Starter Packs are, they can’t be easily converted into lists. Your only option is to follow the accounts in the pack. And that’s where Spackrat comes in, a very useful, free tool with a funny name. Spackrat is the work of Bob Rudis, a gifted software developer with a long history of useful contributions to the tech field. With Spackrat, you can convert Starter Packs to lists and, even better, you can run it again to quickly update your lists should the author add more accounts to their Starter Pack.

Spackrat is available for Mac, Linux, and Windows. It is a little fiddly to get installed if you’re not familiar with command-line tools. If you run into problems, see below.

Questions? I’m happy to help

I’m excited about Bluesky’s future. We can make it great, together. If you need help, feel free to reach out to me with a direct message on the Bluesky app. Click the chat icon on the app tool bar, press the blue plus button to start a new message and search for RSNStats.


Sox season ends where it began

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Every spring, at 0-0 before Opening Day, hope is the common denominator for all baseball teams. Hope that this will be the year.

Spilled cup
Photo by Chiara Guercio on Unsplash

But the Red Sox didn’t start with reasonable expectations of going all the way in 2024. No doubt, there was hope in corners of Sox Nation, but Vegas oddsmakers back in February anticipated 80.1 wins, and the house was right again.

On Sunday, after 162 games, the Red Sox finished dead even at 81-81, ranked third in the American League East. It marked the 25th time Boston had returned to a .500 record this season.

The Red Sox have now missed the postseason five times in the last six years (also 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023).

As it was last year, the second half was a brutal one for Boston. After going 53-43 (.552) before the All-Star break (5th-best in the American League), the Sox stumbled to a 28-38 (.424) record in the back half, the third-worst mark in the AL. Boston was 30-41 (.423) last season’s second half.

On the road, the Red Sox were 43-38 (.531), their first winning record in away games since 2021 (also 43-38). But at Fenway, the losing streak extended to a second consecutive year, finishing at 38-43 (.469), the worst full-season home record since 2019 (38-43).

Interleague play, so often a hallmark of Red Sox excellence, faltered again in 2024. Boston went 21-25 (.457) against National League clubs this season, extending the club record with a third consecutive losing seasons in Interleague. Prior to 2022, the Sox hadn’t ever compiled losing records in back-to-back seasons of Interleague play.

Good Starts, Rough Ends

Red Sox starters allowed a .236 opponent average this season, which was the 4th-lowest BAA in the Major Leagues. They also compiled a 3.81 ERA (6th-best in AL) and 1.191 WHIP in 2024 (3rd-best in AL). Both were significant improvements over 2023, when Boston starters had a 4.68 ERA and 1.290 WHIP. It was the team’s best starters’ ERA since 2018 (3.77).

The Boston bullpen, was a different story. Their .259 BAA was the worst in AL and 2nd-worst in the Major Leagues after the Rockies (.282). The pen’s 80 home runs allowed was the most of any Boston relief crew since 2019 (83).

Only the hapless White Sox, the team that set the Modern Era record for most losses in any single season, blew more saves than Boston’s bullpen (31). Sox relievers converted on just 56% of their save opportunities. Only the Marlins (55%) and White Sox (36%) were worse.

Extra Outs

The Red Sox defense compiled American League-high 115 errors in 2024. Only the Marlins had more (117). The tally of Boston bumbles included an MLB-worst 27 errors by outfielders (27). Boston’s error tally was their most in any single season since 2004 (118).

Since 2019, no Major League team has committed more errors than the Red Sox (543).

Errors lead to unearned runs and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Red Sox led baseball in that total, too, with 95 UER, or more than half an extra run allowed per game in 2024. Boston’s UER total was 20 more than the next-highest tally in the American League (75 for the White Sox).

The 95 unearned runs were the most in any single season for Boston since 1996 (114).


Duran Sees 20/20

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Among his many feats this year, Jarren Duran notched his first career 20/20 season, with 21 home runs and 34 stolen bases as of this writing. It is the first 20/20 Boston campaign since Mookie Betts in 2018 (32 home runs, 30 stolen bases).

Duran is one of 19 Major Leaguers to reach a 20/20 milestone this year. That ties 2023 for the most such players in any single season. There are still a couple games left to play in the regular season and a few players, like Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, who is close to reaching 20/20, also.

Duran is the 10th player with a 20/20 season in club history. His year marks the 13th time a Red Sox batter has gone 20/20, including three such seasons for Betts (2016-18) and two for Jackie Jensen. Jensen, an All-Star with both the Yankees and the Red Sox, became Boston’s first-ever 20/20 player in 1954. He did it again in 1959.

The Sox didn’t have another 20/20 campaign again until 1970, when Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski clubbed 40 home runs and stole a career-best 23 bags, all while mashing the baseball for a career-best 1.044 OPS.

Seventeen years later, a 22-year-old rookie, Ellis Burks, would thrill Sox Nation again with a 20/20 effort. Twenty-five of Burks’ 27 stolen bases in 1987 were already in the books when he belted his 20th home run, just twelve days before the season ran out.

Unlike Burks, John Valentin booked his 20th home run of the 1995 season with two long balls on August 10th at Fenway, but he needed just one more stolen base to join the 20/20 club. That finally came with just seven days left on the calendar, and Valentin became just the fifth 20/20 player in franchise history. Two years later, Nomar Garciaparra belted 32 home runs and stole 22 bags in his Rookie of the Year 1997 season.

Since 2011, there have been seven 20/20 performances, including Duran’s this year. See the full table below.

Two (or more) in one season

Just twice in franchise history have multiple Red Sox had 20/20 seasons. Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury dig it in 2011, while Betts and Andrew Benintendi delivered in 2017. The only Major League teams with more seasons in which multiple players went 20/20 are the Mets (3 seasons), Tigers (3), Guardians (3), Blue Jays (4), Diamondbacks (5), and Reds (6).

In Major League history only the Mets have had seasons where three players went 20/20: Howard Johnson, Kevin McReynolds, and Darryl Strawberry in 1988, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Jayson Werth in 2009.

20/20 Red Sox Seasons

Here’s every Red Sox player’s season with 20+ home run and 20+ stolen bases.

SeasonHRSB
JACKIE JENSEN19542522
JACKIE JENSEN19592820
CARL YASTRZEMSKI19704023
ELLIS BURKS19872027
JOHN VALENTIN19952720
NOMAR GARCIAPARRA19973022
JACOBY ELLSBURY20113239
DUSTIN PEDROIA20112126
MOOKIE BETTS20163126
ANDREW BENINTENDI20172020
MOOKIE BETTS20172426
MOOKIE BETTS20183230
JARREN DURAN20242134
Source: Baseball Reference

Sox Eliminated, Again

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Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

For a third straight year the Red Sox have been eliminated from postseason play. It happened Wednesday with a loss in the team’s final road game of the season.

Boston was essentially out of the race much earlier, of course, in large measure due to a bizarrely long late-season offensive slump that kept them from securing the third Wild Card spot in the American League. The Sox were slugging .500 from mid June to August, but have managed just a .377 SLG since August 9.

Three consecutive seasons matches the club’s longest stretch without a postseason appearance in the last 30 years (also 2010-12 and 2000-02). The next longest such drought was four years from 1991-94. Boston went 10 straight seasons without making the playoffs from 1976 to 1985.

Of course, missing the playoffs was a annual rite in Boston for many decades before that. From 1919 to 1966—a span of 48 years—the Sox reached the postseason just once, in 1946. That year they made to the World Series but lost to the Cardinals, 4 games-to-3.

Red Sox Postseason History

The Red Sox have advanced to the postseason 25 times in 124 American League seasons (1901-2024), including 11 times in the last 22 years.

The Sox have nine World Championships, which is third-most in Major League history after the Yankees 927) and Cardinals (11). Boston’s most recent championships in 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018, are the most of any team this century.


Close Shaves

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This time of year, as the runway of games left dwindles down, you especially rue the near-misses, the games that looked like wins but turned into losses. That was the case earlier this week when the Red Sox let a three-game sweep of the Rangers slip away in a back-and-forth affair that ended in a 9-7 Texas win.

Despite a good outing for Tanner Houck (6.2 IP, 2 ER), Red Sox sloppy defense and baserunning combined with a bullpen meltdown for what should have been a win.

It’s tempting to flush away memories of those games given that Boston had already won that series with wins in the first two games of the set. It is difficult, after all, to sweep any Major League team. But winnable losses like last Wednesday’s take on added focus as the race for a postseason spot tightens up.

Of the 57 Red Sox losses this season, 16 (like that last game against Texas) have been by a two- or one-run margin. Twelve of them happened over the first two months of the season. Those games loom large now as missed opportunities. Winning half of them would put the Red Sox at 69-51 (.575) and in a better position to reach the playoffs.

The Red Sox have improved in close games. Boston is on pace for 22 losses this year by no more than a two-run margin, and on pace for 11 losses by just one run. Last season they had 36 and 25 such games, respectively. Eleven one-run losses in 2024 would, in fact, be their fewest such losses in any full season since 1986, when they had 10.