Tossing out some thoughts on the first homestand of the season for the Boston Red Sox, which ended with back-to-back victories over the Milwaukee Brewers …
• Much has been said about the “Sell the team!” chant that took place at Fenway Park during Boston’s 8-6 loss to the Brewers Monday night, but none of the saying has been done by Red Sox principal owner John Henry.
Yes, Henry was in attendance. And, yes, a video clip shows him reacting to the chant and apparently repeating the words “sell the team.” But while the Sox rebounded from that night with the two straight victories over the Brewers, which may have calmed the nerves of many of their fans, it’s still incumbent on Henry to talk about this.
True, most fans don’t care when sportswriters get stiffed in their pursuit of information. Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick was a master at sidestepping questions, often rolling out one of his patented we’re-on-to-Cincinnati non-answers, and fans thought it was a riot. So did I sometimes, not so much for the words but for the comedic timing. As deadpan delivery goes, Belichick always had a little Steven Wright in him.
But this is different. This is actual customers weighing in, not stuffy knights of the keyboard, and it’s something Henry should address.
And he heard it! pic.twitter.com/SwmnVjrlJ4
— Sicko Mode🦅 (@SickoModeBC) April 7, 2026
Here’s another way of looking at it: On the same night the sell-the-team chant was making the rounds at Fenway, 21-year-old outfielder Roman Anthony made a throwing error that contributed to the loss. It’s been well-documented that Anthony has had throwing problems this season, and there’s not much more than he can offer by way of explanation other than what he’s already said. And yet he spoke with the media anyway, offering, among other admissions, “It’s terrible. It’s bad baseball. It’s on me.”
Anthony doesn’t even have a full season in the big leagues, and already he’s figured out that talking after a tough loss is usually part of the deal.
As for Henry, on Opening Day in 2002, his first as principal owner of the Red Sox, he joined chairman Tom Werner and the late president/CEO Larry Lucchino in standing at the gates of Fenway to greet fans as they stepped inside the old ballpark. It was a solid gesture by all three of them. Now the fans have real questions about the state of the Red Sox. Nobody’s suggesting Henry stand out on Jersey Street with a suggestion box strapped around his neck, but the silence is bad form.
In Henry’s defense, he’s the best owner in Red Sox history. The Sox have won four World Series championships during his stewardship. And bringing in Lucchino was a masterstroke of front-office building, given Lucchino’s role in renovating Fenway Park and improving the fan experience. But from top to bottom, professional sports is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business. Just ask Wade Boggs, who won five batting titles with the Red Sox but then was allowed to walk after hitting .259 in 1992.
A few other thoughts on the first homestand:
• There’s been a lot of buzz over the appearance of an ad for Monster Energy, the well-known energy drink, on the left field wall at Fenway Park. The play on words is obvious — you know, Monster Energy on the Green Monster — but not everyone is amused. Left unsaid, though, is that the so-called Green Monster is a late-20th century contrivance. For most of its history, in fact, The Wall was covered with ads, from Arrow collars and Stetson shoes in 1917 to Gem Blades and Lifebuoy soap in the 1940s. (Thus inspiring many a snarky fan to gripe, “The Red Sox use Lifebuoy and they still stink.”) The signage went away in the 1950s; the current ownership returned to the practice within a couple of years of buying the team. Lucchino always adhered to a “do no harm” mantra while renovating Fenway. Signage on The Wall does no harm.
• It’s impossible not to empathize with Sox lefty Tyler Samaniego, who made his major-league debut on Wednesday and dedicated it to his father, Rick, who died in 2022. Take a close look at his glove the next time he pitches and you’ll see the words “RIP POPS.” Samaniego was honoring someone who was there when his journey to the big leagues began. Pops would have loved seeing his kid register three strikeouts in one inning.
• Willson Contreras can bellyache all he wants about how many times he’s been hit by Milwaukee Brewers pitchers and how he’s going to “take somebody out” if it happens again. But his spikes-up slide into Brewers second baseman David Hamilton was a cheap stunt that shouldn’t be applauded as an example of how he plays “with a chip on his shoulder,” as Red Sox manager Alex Cora put it. Yes, hard slides into second base were part of the game back in the day — the late, great Jerry Remy often talked about being sent to the moon and back on a slide from the Kansas City Royals’ Hal McRae — but it’s 2026, not 1976. Let’s not forget the needlessly aggressive slide by Manny Machado that effectively ended Dustin Pedroia’s career.
•The Opening Day pregame ceremony included an introduction of members of the 1986 pennant-winning Red Sox, who lost to the New York Mets in the World Series. The cast included Boggs and Jim Rice, who are in the Hall of Fame, and Dwight Evans, who should be. The occasion brought to mind the late La Schelle Tarver, whose entire major-league career consisted of 13 games with the ’86 Red Sox. Tarver had spent his entire professional career in the Mets’ farm system before being included in the big trade that brought right-hander Calvin Schiraldi to Boston and sent lefty Bobby Ojeda to New York, but he relished his brief time in the big leagues with the Red Sox and enjoyed returning to Boston for alumni events.
Tarver’s daughter, Shontel Sumler, who accompanied her father to the 100th anniversary celebration of Fenway Park in 2012, told me, “He would tell me he was honored to play with Roger Clemens, and fortunate to get a hit off Joaquín Andújar in Oakland. He also told the story of when he first got to Boston and couldn’t find the stadium, asking where it was and not realizing he was standing in front of it!” Tarver, who later became a corrections official in California, died in 2024. He was 65.
