Red Sox Fun Facts – Pitchers

Last week, position players. This week, pitchers.

Sonny Gray

Was the lead in a high school play

Fittingly, the play was High School Musical, with Gray playing the part of Troy Bolton (an athlete who decided to go out for the school play). Gray also acted in Grease and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. He and his wife still enjoy going to the theatre to this day.

Ranger Suarez

Brothers are Raymer and Rosmer, with sister Rangerlin

Payton Tolle

Eats 8 bananas before every start

To reduce cramping. “Monkeys never cramp,” he claims.

I think Payton would fit right in here as well

Jake Bennett

Is 6’6”

I have no idea if he played basketball in high school (but I would certainly hope so)

Somehow, I don’t think this is the same guy

(thanks anyway, Google Images)

Brayan Bello

Weighed only 130 lbs when he signed at age 18

At 6 feet tall, his BMI was 17.6, which made him officially underweight

Still skinny, he is now in the overweight range
(probably due to muscle mass)

Patrick Sandoval

Meditates before his starts

He also likes to put a towel over his head. He uses the Calm app.

Garret Crochet

Idolized Big Papi growing up

In Mississippi! Crochet wore Ortiz’s #34 while playing at Tennessee. He wore Papi’s #45 while playing with the White Sox.

Tanner Houck

Wore a size 14 shoe when he was 14 years old

 

With wife Abby

Aroldis Chapman

Defected from Cuba

He did so in the Netherlands. He then established residency in Andorra. Coming from a third country allowed him to avoid the draft and declare free agency.

Garrett Whitlock

Knows American Sign Language

His mom is a professional ASL interpreter

Greg Weissert

Is part Italian, and played for Team Italy in the WBC

His paternal grandmother is from Calabria

Erik Miller

Weighs 270 lbs

On a 6’5” frame, that gives him a BMI of 32, which officially makes him obese

Red Sox Fun Facts – Position Players

My wife and I are huge Red Sox fans. We pretty much don’t miss a game.

During the game the other night, the announcers mentioned that Sonny Gray is an actor. I had heard that before, as well as that Wilyer Abreu is a barber.

I was wondering if any other players had some hidden talents.  It’s a big roster, so I’m covering position players this week. Pitchers next week.

Adley Rutschman

Was a placekicker on the Oregon State football team as a freshman

Yes, he also played on the baseball team as well. In fact, he won the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy while there.

Connor Wong

His stepfather, Matt Maysey, played in MLB

Maysey played 2 years, for the Expos and Brewers. He got in 25 games, posting a 1-2 record, with 1 save and a 5.55 ERA.

Willson Contreras

Brother William is also in MLB

Like his brother, William is still active. William’s played 7 years total, with Atlanta & Milwaukee. He’s a catcher, and has been a 3-time All Star and 2-time Silver Slugger. 

The two grew up very poor in rural Venezuela. They practiced with a broomstick and wadded up pieces of paper. 

Nick Sogard

Grew up a Red Sox fan

In Southern California!

As high school soccer player 

Trevor Story

Hit 96 as a pitcher in high school

He also was the QB. He gave that up, though, to concentrate on baseball. Surprisingly, he has not pitched since then.

Caleb Durbin

Can juggle

“He sees juggling as a helpful exercise for hand-eye coordination … While it helps with general coordination, he notes that it is not directly part of playing baseball and has little practical use in everyday life.” [Google AI]

Anthony Seigler

Is Navajo (Dine)

He was born on the rez in Arizona, but then grew up in Georgia. He is the second Navajo in MLB history, the first being former fellow Red Sox player Jacoby Ellsbury.

With mom and Navajo flag

Isiah Kiner-Falefa

Is related to Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner

They’re second cousins twice removed

And, yes, they both played for the Pirates

Andruw Monasterio

Signed for a mere $7,500

At age 17, he showed up at a Cubs tryout in Venezuela. They subsequently signed him for 0.3% of the what the top international signing got that year. Monasterio then spent 10 years in the minors before finally making his way to the bigs.

As Akron RubberDuck

Roman Anthony

Father, brother & grandfather are all named Anthony Anthony

He grew up in a close-knit Italian family in South Florida. Not sure where that peuliar naming tradition came from though.

Cheering him on in his debut at Fenway

Ceddanne Rafaela

Middle name is Chipper, after Chipper Jones

His mom was a fan of fellow countryman (Curacao) Andruw Jones, rooted in turn for the Braves, and subsequently developed a love of Chipper Jones as well. Ceddanne’s full name is Ceddanne Chipper Nicasio Marte Rafaela. I have no idea where Ceddanne comes from.

Wilyer Abreu

Can cut hair

He picked up the skill in the minors, then practiced on his teammates for free. He owns a barber shop back in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where he’s from. He’s also visited barber shops in Boston to support a program that gives free haircuts to poor kids.

Jarren Duran

Grew up idolizing Dustin Pedroia

In California! He also credits Pedroia with making an adjustment to his batting stance in spring training that helped him raise his BA over 70 points.

Masataka Yoshida

Nickname in Japan is “Macho Man”

It all started when Yoshisa chose the Village People song as his walkup music. The stadium video board played along by showing a cartoon of him lifting dumbbells. Finally, the stadium started selling plastic dumbbells at games. 

Not sure why he chose that song. Seeing as he’s only 5’8”, maybe there’s a little irony going on.

Mickey Gasper

Was drafted #817

By the Yankees! Though from NH, Mickey actually grew up a Yankee fan (his family’s from New Jersey).

Mickey’s signing bonus was a mere $5,000. He came out of Bryant Univ., in Rhode Island, one of only four alum who made it to the bigs.

Nate Eaton

Played for Team GB in the World Baseball Classic

His mom is a native 

Oddly Named Newspapers – 4/4

Last week, we covered Nebraska through Pennsylvania. Now, let’s take a look at our last 12 states.

Rhode Island – East Greenwich Pendulum

Today, they’re for the bond bill. Tomorrow, they’re against it.  Geez, people, make up your minds.

This weekly (it comes out every Thursday) has a circulation of 3,500. It started in 1854.

Whence the “pendulum”? Well, the Interwebs are telling me that the paper used to be called the Rhode Island Pendulum and the Weekly Pendulum, though that’s not really helping any.

I did, though, find that, at one time, the paper was published in one city (E. Greenwich) one week and another (Wickford) the next. So maybe that’s it.

East Greenwich is smack-dab in the middle of Rhode Island. It’s got 13,300 people and  dates all the way back to 1677. It started out as just Greenwich, but split into East and West in 1741. 

South Carolina – The Island Packet (Hilton Head)

Again with the packets (see Maine and New Jersey). Interstingly, the SC paper is even newer than Maine’s, being founded in 1970. Not sure if they were using the same chronologically-challenged logic here or not. 

The paper’s actually a daily, with a circulation of 16,000 (weekdays) / 17,000 (Sunday). It features an interesting combo of larger news along with local stuff and what I can only call clikbait and lightly veiled advertising.

Hilton Head is an island in the southern part of the state. It’s famous for golf, and is a lot more upscale than, say, Myrtle Beach. I spent a couple of vacation there with my family.

Honorable mention:  The Item (Sumter)

South Dakota – Clark County Courier (Clark)

Alliteration always! 

Clark County is in the northeast part of the state. It’s got less than 4,000 people. 

And, yes, the county seat has the same name as the county. Other communities include Crocker, Carpenter, Cottonwood, and Collins Colony. 

Wouldn’t you know – the Courier covers Coddington County as well. The paper was founded in 1880, not too long after the fouding of either county.

It comes out every week, on Wednesdays. Like most Wakipedia articles on small-town newspapers, the one on the Courier mostly goes through the changes in ownership. Seriously, I’m talking about 315 words in a 345-word article. You’ll be pleased to know that the paper was founded by one E.F. Conklin.

Honorable mention:  True Dakotan (Wessington Springs)

Tennessee – The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville)

“The flat, green part of a plant that grows from a stem and makes food through photosynthesis”? I’m guessing not. “An extra flat piece added to expand a table”? Nah. “A single sheet of paper in a book”? Well, I guess that’s as close as we’re gonna come. 

The “leaf” actually comes from a merger between the Clarksville Chronicle and the Tobacco Leaf, in 1880. The name of the latter comes simply from the area’s predominant crop.

The Chroincle dates all the way back to 1808. And tnat makes the Leaf-Chronicle the oldest paper in the state.

Today, the Leaf-Chronicle’s a daily, with over 20,000 subscribers. Its main claim to fame seems to be its being wiped out by a tornado in 1999, but without missing an edition.

Clarksville’s in the northeast part of the state, along the border with Kentucky. It dates back to 1785, and was named after George Rogers Clark, of Lewis & Clark fame.

Hard to believe, but it’s Tennessee’s 5th most populous city, with 167,000 people. It’s home to Austin Peay (a large state university) and is just a couple of miles away from Fort Campbell (home of the 101st Airborne), in KY.

Famous denizens include Roy Acuff, Wilma Rudolph, Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, and William Westmoreland. Less famous ones include the wonderfully named Philander Claxton, Jeff Gooch, Ernest William Goodpasture, Ricky Lumpkin, Horace Harmon Lurton, Asahel Huntington Patch, Alex Poythress, and (of course) Austin Peay.

Texas – Jefferson Jimplecute

“A mythical creature, composed of elements of a dragon, an Indian, an armadillo, and a lion."? Probably not. “A slang term meaning ‘sweetheart’”? I doubt it.

How about “An acronym for the motto ‘Join Industry, Manufacturing, Planting, Labor, Energy, Capital (in) Unity Together Everlastingly’”? Well, seeing as it’s the paper’s motto, and appears in the masthead, I guess that’s going to have to do. That’s an obvious backronym, though, so I’m guessing that first definition might be the actual source.

The paper dates back to 1848 (making it Texas’s 5th oldest), comes out weekly, and has a circulation of just over 700. It seems to be mostly minutes from city council & commission meetings.

Jefferson is the county seat of Marion County, in the northeast part of the state. It was founded around 1840. There are less than 2,000 Jeffersonians. 

Honorable mention

• Beeville Bee-Picayune
• Alpine Avalanche
• Comfort News
• Jasper Newsboy

Utah – Richfield Reaper

I like the alliteration here, but “reaper” makes me think only of “grim.”

I’m assuming, of course, that the name alludes to the area’s agricultural background. Previous names include the Sevier Advocate and Richfield Advocate. That first one dates back to 1887.

• The Reaper seems to have has something of a checkered past, including:
• The original owner being jailed for polygamy
• Another owner being the victim of an accidental shooting
• The paper’s office being torched by an arsonist

It comes out weekly, and features typical small-town paper stuff like high school sports, obits, local arrests, library notes …

Richfield’s in the center of the state, dates back to 1864, and hadsa population of 8,200. It is very Mormon.

Honorable mention:  Wasatch Wave

Vermont – Barre Monpelier Times Argus

This name’s got double barrels on their double barrels.

As you probably guessed, that name is the result of a merger, between the Barre Daily Times and the Montepelier Evening Argus, in 1959. Thank god they at least dropped the “Daily” and “Evening.”  

It’s a daily, has a circulation of 4,500, and got its start back in 1863. With Montpelier being Vermont’s capital, the paper features a lot of politics.

Montpelier is the smallest state capital in the US, at about 8,000. people Interestingly, the population swells on weekdays to about 22,000. It dates back to 1781. 

Barre is about 7 miles southeast. It’s a little bigger (8,500) and just a year older (1780). It’s famous for its granite.

Both cities are in the north central part of the state.

Honorable mention:  Bennington Banner

Virginia – Culpepper Star-Exponent

Is this a math thing?

Well, “exponent” can also mean proponent / champion / booster. So, no math required!

The paper comes out 3 times a a week. It originated from a 1953 merger between the Culpeppe Exponent (1881) and the Virginia Star (1919). Boy, does the online version have a lot of pop-up ads.

The wonderfully named Culpepper, the seat of Culpepper County, is in northern Virginia. It dates back to 1759, and currently has 21,000 people. There are a ton of associations with the Civil War.

Of the 22 famous Culpepperites listed on Wikipedia, I know 3 of them – Eppa Rixey (MLB HoF), A.P. Hill (CSA general), and Nell Arthur (FLOTUS). Not that they’re exactly household names …

Washington – Camas-Washougal Post-Record

Easy for you to say …

Another merger. This one took place back in 1930, combining the Camas Post (1908) & the Washougal Record (???). It’s a weekly, and goes out to about 10,000 people.

Camas and Washougal are right next to each other, on the Columbia River, and just upstream from Portland OR. 

Camas is bigger, at 26,000 to 17,000. Washougal, though, is older (1880 vs. 1906). Camas is famous for a huge paper mill (the high school teams are knowns as the Papermakers). The wonderfully whacky name of Washougal is “of disputed meaning,” and has been variously spelled as “Wasough-ally," "Washougally", " Washookal", and "Wa-Shu-Go.”

Honorable mention: 

• Concrete Herald
• Forks Forum

West Virginia – Spirit of Jefferson and Farmer's Advocate (Charlestown)

Speaking of mouthfuls …

Yet one more merger. This one happened in 1948, and combined the Spirit (1844) and Advocate (1890). The Spirit is actually the oldest newspaper in the state. The SJFA is a weekly, with a circulation of 4,200. 

Charles Town is in the very easternmost part of the state, in that funny little hooky thing surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. Don’t confuse it with Charleston, the state capital.

Charles Town was founded in 1787 by (and subsequently named for) Charles Washington, George’s younger brother. Today, it has 8,900 people. Like Culpepper VA, Charles Town saw a lot of action in the Civil War. 

Wisconsin – Boscobel Dial / Chetek Alert

Our first tie. It’s not that either of these names really stand out terribly. It’s just that there both mildly weird in a very similar way. I mean, take your odd town name, then combine it with an odd, possibly unique name for a newspaper. Put the two together, and you’ve got a winner.

Not sure where “dial” comes from. One definition makes it sound like it’s measure of something – like speed, or pressure, or temperature. So, I guess you could say the paper gives you a pulse on what’s happening in the town. The paper is a weekly and was founded in 1872.

Boscobel’s in the very southwesternmost part of the state. It’s got abut 3,300 people. Wikipedia claims 20 “notable people,” but I haven’t heard of a one.

“Alert” makes a little more sense, though I can’t recall any other papers with that name. It’s another weekly, and dates back to 1882.

Chetek’s ni the northwest part of the state. It has a population of 2,200. That odd name is Ojibwe for “pelicans” (though I’m not sure what pelicans were doing way up there).

Wyoming – Laramie Boomerang

There’s gotta be a story behind this one. I just know it!

Sure enough, the paper was named after the founder’s mule. He called it that “because he could trust the mule to return him home no matter how inebriated and disoriented [he] might've become.” That founder, by the way, was humorist Bill Nye, and basically made him famous.

Nyee started the paper in 1881. Today, it’s a daily, and has a circulation of 4,000. 

You may have actually heard of Laramie. It’s got 31,400 people, dates back to the 1860s, and is the home of the Univ. of Wyoming. It also has plenty of frontier and Wild West associations. 

Honorable mention: Rock Springs Daily Rocket-Miner

Oddly Named Newspapers 3/4

Last week, we looked at Illinois through Montana. This week, it’s Nebraska through Pennsylvania

Nebraska – The Commoner (Lincoln)

I’m kinda confused. I was assuming this was a play on Honest Abe. He was known as “The Great Commoner,” right?

Well, it turns out William Jennings Bryan was too. If you’re knowledge of American history is a little rusty, he ran for president on the Democratic ticket no less than 3 times (unsuccessfully, of course), was secretary of state, was famous for his oratorical skills, and went up against Clarence Darrow in the Scopes trial. 

He also started this paper. It was largely a mouthpiece for his ideas, though it was primarily run by his brother Charles, who would himself go on to serve as Nebraska’s governor.

The paper had national reach, and at one time had 100,000 readers. It started out as a weekly, but eventually moved to being a monthly. The paper actually only ran from 1901 to 1923, shutting down due to William’s death and Charles’ election.

Lincoln’s the capital of Nebraska, and has a population of 290,000. It’s also home to the University of Nebraska.

WJ

Nevada – Nevada Appeal (Carson City)

Gambling? Brothels? I dunno, what exactly is the appeal of Nevada?

The Appeal is actually the oldest paper in the state, dating back to 1865. It’s also been known as the Daily State Register, the New Daily Appeal, and the Daily Appeal. It comes out twice a week.

Carson City is the capital of Nevada. It’s got not quite 60,000 people, making it only the 6th most populous city in the state. It dates back to 1858, and is named for Kit Carson.

New Hampshire – The Cabinet (Milford) 

The only definitions I know for “cabinet” are a piece of furniture and a group of political advisors. Not sure what this has to do with a newspaper.

This one is a weekly, and dates all the way back to 1802. I wish there was a little bit more on it out there, as any paper that’s more than 200 years old has probably got some stories to tell.

Milford is just down the road from me. The paper covers a lot of the local area, including where I live, Nashua. I do wonder, though, how fresh the news might be. One of the articles, “Hollis Strawberry Festival an 80th annual jubilee of band music and berries,” describes an event that I attended way back on July 2 (it’s September 10, as of this blog post).

Apart from being in the southeast corner of the state, Milford has a population of about 16,000 and dates back to 1794. It’s known as “Granite Town,” from a number of old quarries in the area. 

Their Wikipedia entry includes 8 “notable people,” 2 of whom I’ve actually heard of. Those are a local TV journalist (Fritz Wetherbee) and a member of the Manson Family (Linda Kassabian).

Honorable mention:  

• Gilford Steamer
• Foster’s Daily Democrat (Dover)

New Jersey – The Coaster (Asbury Park)

I’m guessing this is not something you’d rest your drink on necessarily, but rather has something to do with the fact that Asbury Coast is right on the ocean.

The paper’s a weekly, and dates back only to 1983. It actually covers a number of communities along this part of the Jersey Shore. You know, Bradley Beach, Deal, Neptune City, Wanamassa …

Asbury Park has a population of a little over 15,000, and dates back to only 1874. It was founded as a seaside retreat for Methodists.

These days, it’s probably most famous for being where Bruce Springsteen got his start. It’s also the site of a pretty well-known music venue, the Stone Pony, as well as the NJ Music Hall of Fame.

Honorable mention: Princeton Packet

New Mexico – Las Vegas Optic

Hey, isn’t Las Vegas in Nevada? 

Well, it turns out there a couple of these guys out there. All “las vegas” really means is “the meadows,” though, so that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. 

The Vegas we’re talking about here is in the northeast part of the state, dates back to 1835, and currently has about 13,200 people. It was once famous for outlaws – Billy the Kid, Jesse James … Big Nose Kate, Mysterious Dave Mather, Hoodoo Brown, and Handsome Harry the Dancehall Rustler.

The paper dates back to 1879. It’s a bi-weekly, punlished on Wednesdays and Fridays. 

New York – Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel

That’s a lot to unpack. I’m guessing, though, that Mendon, Honeoye Falls & Lima are all towns in NY somewhere.

And I would be right! They’re all in Monroe County, just a little south of Rochester. 

Mendon is basically a rich suburb of Rochester, has a current population of 9,000, and dates back to 1801. Honeoye Falls has 2,700 people, and was founded in 1791. “Honeoye” means “where the finger lies [long story].” Finally, Lima’s got about 2,100, dates back to 1788, and is pronounced like the bean.

The Sentinel is a weekly, and only dates back to 1989. Predecessors include the Honeoye Falls Times, Lima Recorder, Honeoye Lake Courier and Livonia Gazette (which, of course, makes me wonder why they didn’t go ahead and add Livonia to the masthead as well). Some of those papers date back to the 1800s.

In addition to the 4 towns already mentioned, the paper also covers happenings in Henrietta, Victor, Rush, and others. It costs $1 an issue, or $40 annually ($50 out of state).

Honorable mention

• The Saratogian
• Alden Advertiser

North Carolina – Transylvania Times (Brevard)

Probably the only paper in the country that does not include an obituary section.

“Transylvania” simply means “beyond the woods,” so could apply to a lot of places. There is, in fact, a Transylvania State Univ. in Kentucky. And then there’s that place in Romania.

Transylvania is actually a county, in the far western part of the state. Brevard is its seat, has 7,750 people, is home to a small liberal arts college and a music institute, and is popular with retirees. 

The town dates back to 1861, with the Times starting in 1887. The paper was formerly known as the Transylvania Pioneer, Brevard News, Sylvan Valley Times and the wonderful French Broad Hustler. It comes out twice a week.

In addition to Brevard, it also includes news for:

• Lake Toxaway
• Cathey’s Creek
• Eastatoe
• Hogback

Honorable mention:  

• Blowing Rocket (Blowing Rock)
• Yadkin Ripple (Yadkinville)
• Daily Reflector (Greensboro)

North Dakota – Turtle Mountain Times (Belcourt)

Kinda boring, but it’ll have to do in this state of under a million.

And, yes, there is a Turtle Mountain. Unfortunately, I really couldn’t find it on a map. Instead, I found lots of references to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. And they, in turn, live in the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, smack dab in the center of the Canadian border. 

The reservation dates back to 1882, covers about 68 square miles, and has a population of approximately 6,400. The main town is Belcourt (pop. 1,700), where the paper is published.

The paper, a weekly, dates back only to 1993. It has a circulation of 1,600, and costs $5 a month, or $35 a year. Pretty much everything is hidden behind a paywall.

Cool flag!

Ohio – The Repository (Canton)

“A physical or digital place where things are kept for safekeeping, such as a warehouse, a filing cabinet, or a data center”? Probably not. “A burial vault or sepulcher, or a side altar in a church used during Holy Week”? Definitely not. “A person, book, or organization that holds a vast amount of knowledge”? Well, I guess that’ll have to do.

As a paper, this thing dates all the way back to 1815, and is the oldest paper in the state. It’s a daily, and has a circulation of 11,500. It has associations with William McKinley.

Canton itself dates back to 1805, and currently has about 70,000 people. You probably know it as the location of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It is, in fact, where the NFL got its start. It’s also McKinley’s hometown, and incudes his grave and presidential library.

Honorable mention: The Blade (Toledo)

Oklahoma – Seminole Producer

Which begs the question of what they actually produce there. 

Well, I do know that at one time they did produce a lot of oil. That was back in the 1920s, though. The paper was founded in 1927, so I’m guessing we’ve solved that little mystery.

Seminole itself was founded only in 1924. It currently has a population of 7,150, but had 30,000 back during that oil boom. 

The newspaper is a weekly, with a circulation of 5,400. Like the Milford Cabinet (see above), the online version features articles from 2 to 4 months ago.

Nice to see they cover international news though

Oregon – Headlight-Herald (Tillamook)

Awesome alliteration!

You’re probably guessing that this one is the result of a merger. And you’d be right! The Tillamook Headlight began in 1888, and is named for the local lighthouse. The Tillamook Herald started a year later, and was originally known as the Western Watchtower. (ditto, I would guess). The two combined in 1934. It’s a weekly, with a circulation of 6,600.

Tilamook’s in the very northeastermost corner of the state. It dates back to 1862 and has a current population of 5,200. It’s known for its cheese.

Pennsylvania – Daily Item (Sunbury)

Again with the items.

Interestingly, this one represents a merger as well. In particular, you’ve got the Sunbury Daily (1872) and the Evening Item (1893), which merged in 1936. 

The current paper is a daily, and has a circulation of 10,500 (weekday) / 12,500 (Sundays). It got in the national news a couple of years back when it published a letter to the editor calling for the execution of Obama.

Sunbury’s in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, kinda smack-dab in the middle. It’s on the Susquehanna River, dates back to 1772, and currently has a population of 9,700. Wikipedia lists 23 “notable people,” only one of whom I’ve ever heard of, wild foods advocate Euell Gibbons.

Next week - Rhode Island thru Wyoming