It’s a new season at Fenway and the Red Sox are off to a slow start

By BUNKY McCOY

• Turning over a new leaf after a disastrous 2020 season? Not so fast say the 2021 Red Sox, who are off to an 0-3 start after getting swept by the lowly Orioles over the weekend.

• Just remember, no team has ever gone 0-162. Or, in the old days, 0-154.

• Still, if there’s ever a team that desperately needed to get off to a good start, it’s the Red Sox. Last time I checked, fan interest isn’t exactly bursting at the seams when it comes to the Old Town Team.

• But hey, it’s not like we can send the entire parent club down to Pawtucket. That option doesn’t exist anymore.

• Maybe it’s a good thing that only 4,458 fans can get into Fenway Park at the moment.

• The next time someone brings up spin rate, remind them that Garrett Richards – one of the supposed big moves the Red Sox made during the offseason – lasted just two innings in his Boston debut. What does $10 million get you? Try six runs on seven hits.

• Gonzaga/UCLA was phenomenal for many reasons, but here’s a huge one: No late-game stoppages. What we got was a fast-paced, high-level entertaining game that wasn’t derailed by reviews at the monitor or either side having to intentionally foul.

• What do we do for an encore? Gonzaga has a date with immortality on Monday night. Standing in their way is a tough Baylor team who’s looking to play the role of the 2007 New York Giants when the Patriots carried an undefeated record into that year’s Super Bowl.

• Memo to the General Assembly: Aren’t there more pressing issues than voting on a bill that designates the state’s official coral?

• David Duke has departed the Friars, opting to pursue his NBA dreams. We should wish him well, for as a Providence native, he’s one of us.

• Speaking of the Friars, how does it happen that the addition of Indiana transfer Al Durham – one of Ed Cooley’s most prized additions ever – isn’t somehow buried in the local press?  

• The other night, Kevin McNamara opted to refrain from making a “Pick of the Night” on WPRO’s The KevinMc Sports Hour. The reason? Two straight nights of bad picks – and during Holy Week, no less.

• I keep thinking the NFL Draft is coming up, given how much it dominates ESPN’s morning programs. The draft isn’t until April 29.

• If you saw Miley Cyrus perform between Saturday’s NCAA men’s basketball semifinals, you know she hasn’t been Hannah Montana for a very long time.  

• Foreshadowing of good things to come? Jordan Spieth’s win over the week in Texas ended a four-year drought. Next up: The Masters.

• Speaking of Augusta, my peeps tell me there is no other location in sports that makes grown drop to their knees and kiss the ground. Sad but true.

• I’ll take the old Metacomet and be happy. I’d also take a tee time at Triggs but that’s becoming harder to secure than a vaccine.

• If Providence had its own song, it would likely begin with a police siren in the middle of the night.

• Coral? What’s next? Tabbing The Foxy Lady as the state’s official strip club?

• This column would have been longer, but it’s time to make a beeline to the nearest CVS or Walgreens. I hear Easter candy is now 50 percent off. If you get a jab of Pfizer or Moderna it goes up to 75 percent.