My experience on the set of "Ghostbusters"

There's a new female version of Ghostbusters being filmed in Boston right now.  On Friday, I happened to walk by the set in Chinatown:

I had no idea it was going on, I was on my way home from work.  My normal path would've had me a lot closer, but a guy a block earlier asked me to cross the street because they were "filming a movie and there were cameras pointed there"--which was clearly just a lie they tell trying to keep people further away.  When I stopped to take this photo, another guy yelled at me to keep walking.  Here's the same pic zoomed in on the film's stars in their Ghostbusters uniforms, including Melissa McCarthy and Kristin Wiig.

Even after continuing two blocks down the street, yet another guy asked me not to take pictures as a turned to snap this one.

These weren't cops telling me to go away, just people working for the movie.  I'm not sure why they were being so super secretive, what were they afraid of?  Are my pics worth millions?


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HBO's "7 Days in Hell" is guaranteed to be spectacular, right?

Basically it's a fake comedy version of an ESPN 30 for 30.  I'm kind of shocked they chose tennis, but you won't hear me complaining.  This thing has "franchise" written all over it...

7 Days in Hell airs (for the first of many, many times) tomorrow night at 10 pm.

P.S.  How crazy is it that that's John Snow on the right?




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Cavs GM LeBron James intends to keep his position for at least another year

LeBron James' agent said that his client intends to sign a new contract with Cleveland:

Agent Rich Paul tells Cavs today LeBron will sign 2 yr deal with player option for 2nd year. $22.97 million 1st season, $24 mill 2nd year

— Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) July 9, 2015

In reality, that just means it's a one-year contract.  And just like LeBron did this summer, he'll opt out next year and repeat the whole process.  In the meantime, James can keep running the Cavs any way he'd like, because once again he's giving himself the option to bolt if they don't do what he tells them to.

If you're not familiar with the situation, read this:

LeBron James opting out probably doesn't mean he's leaving, but it does let him hold the Cavs hostage


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Interesting marketing strategy...

Here's my exact though process from the other day as I drove past Old Silver Beach Watersports Surf Shop:

"Hmm, maybe I should rent a surfboard, that sounds fun.  But you no what, I've heard a lot of stories about sharks nearby lately, so it's probably a bad idea.  Oh wait, the van parked outside of the shop says 'no sharks'.  Cool, I'm totally doing it."


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Bigger deal in Boston: Jon Lester's first hit, or Gronk and Big Papi's second single?

Two major events occurred yesterday:

1.  Jon Lester got his first major league hit, in his 67th at-bat:

Congratulations to @JLester34 on his first career base hit! #1for67

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 7, 2015

Oddly enough, it came against former Boston teammate John Lackey (here's the video).  In late May, Lester set an MLB record by going 58 at-bats without a base hit to start his career.

2.  Dunkin' Donuts released the second single from Gronk and Big Papi, entitled Turn It Up.  I have to say I'm a little disappointing in the duo's follow-up offering, which in my mind is vastly inferior to their smash debut, Sippin'.

I saw both stories covered on the local news here in Boston, but Gronkowksi and Ortiz was given a lot more air time.  It's honestly a tough choice for me, but being the stat guy that I am, I'll go with Lester.  Vote in the poll below:

Market Research Software

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Brock Holt: Least likely All-Star in Red Sox history?

There's an MLB rule that every team must be represented in the All-Star Game.  Lacking any obvious choices, A.L. manager Ned Yost went outside the box and selected Brock Holt as the Red Sox's lone representative in 2015 (unless Xander Bogaerts wins the last man vote):

Yost on ESPN about Holt: "Super-utility guys should be celebrated. You can put Brock Holt at any position and feel comfortable" #RedSox

— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) July 6, 2015

Having an All-Star picked out necessity rather than merit has rarely been an issue for Boston.  In fact, going back to the first Midsummer Classic in 1933, the Red Sox have had multiple All-Stars in all but seven seasons.  Most of the players making solo appearances in those years are not at all surprising:

2012: David Ortiz
2001: Manny Ramirez
1997: Nomar Garciaparra
1996: Mo Vaughn
1981: Dwight Evans

The one name I left out?  Scott Cooper, who represented the Sox by himself at third base in 1993.  However, Cooper then pulled off the feat again in 1994.  So unless Holt gets in at least one more time, it's had to argue he's not the most unlikely All-Star the Red Sox have ever had.


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Red Sox set crazy team record in honor of Big Papi playing first base (or not?) at Fenway

When it's all said and done, David Ortiz may go down as the greatest designated hitter of all time.  Ortiz is not, however, known for his defensive skills (although I feel as if he's generally better than people expect at first base).  This afternoon's game marked an extremely rare occasion in which Ortiz played first with the DH position available--the last time Big Papi started a non-interleague game in the field was August 5, 2006 (and the last time he did it at Fenway Park was July 15, 2005).

Clearly the Red Sox pitchers were aware of this, because they did an incredible job of allowing Ortiz to avoid actually having to play defense.  Of the 27 outs recorded, 14 were strikeouts, 10 were fly balls, one was a caught stealing and one was a bunt that hit the batter in fair territory.  The only other out was a grounder to Ortiz, who flipped to the pitcher covering first base.

Boston went the entire game without its first baseman making a single putout.  If that sounds a bit unusual, well, yeah, that's because it is:

From @EliasSports: Today marked the first time in the franchise's 17,867-game history that the Red Sox did not have a 1B record a putout.

— Jon Shestakofsky (@Shesta_Sox) July 6, 2015

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