Larry the K's Lineup

The Boston Red Sox have left their spring training camp in Fort Myers, Fla. without adding any players of note such as pitcher Jordan Montgomery, and the outlook for the season is as low as it's been in years. With the only notable off-season addition, pitcher Lucas Giolito, out for the season thanks to elbow surgery (not Tommy John), the pitching rotation is underwhelming. Young pitcher Brayan Bello will pitch Opening Day (Opening Night, 10:10 p.m. in Boston) on Thursday, March 28 in Seattle, followed by more mediocre pitchers: Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck. Except for Bello, the rest of the rotation consists of former relief pitchers, whom many beat writers and Sox gurus consider to be better relievers than starters. The lineup remains underwhelming, barring any shocking performances from the likes of rookie centerfielder Ceddanne Rafaela. Second-year player, first baseman Triston Casas. and the team's only name player, third baseman Rafael ...

Arianna Kessler relaxes shortly after finishing the Los Angeles Marathon on St. Patrick's Day 2024. I'm donning my Proud Papa hat to share the news that my older daughter Arianna completed her second marathon on Sunday in Los Angeles in a little more than 5 1/2 hours. Ari, who is a teacher in New York, trained hard through the winter to be prepared for the challenge presented by the marathon. She paced herself well during the race to make sure that she'd have enough in the tank to finish the race in relatively good shape, and she accomplished that goal. After the race, she went to a place to eat on a crowded St. Patrick's Day afternoon wearing her marathon medal, and she and her friends were admitted without what would have been a long wait because the owner was impressed by her medal. Ari ran her first marathon in May of 2022 in Providence, R.I. The post on that race can be found on this blog.

Photo by Mark Stockwell / The Sun Chronicle Rick Thurmond, center, is flanked by then-Sun Chronicle Editor Mike Kirby, left, and Larry Kessler on March 17, 2017, when all three retired from the newspaper. A little more than a year ago, on March 6, 2023, I lost my very good friend Rick Thurmond, who died at 68 due to COPD and congestive heart failure. A tribute column was posted to this blog last March, but I wanted to repost this photograph of Rick (in the middle), myself, on the right, and former longtime Sun Chronicle Editor Mike Kirby to remember Rick on the one-year anniversary of his passing. The photo was taken seven years ago, on Friday, March 17, 2017, on the day that the three of us left the paper by accepting an early-retirement package. At the time, Rick and I had worked together for 25 years, but after leaving the newspaper, our friendship deepened and we became quite close, getting together for frequent lunches, which evolved into picnic table lunches in Attleboro parks du...

  Jamie Droste, left, and Charlotte Sheer, in front of The Cube. This second column that I wrote on the latest development with the Holocaust Stamps Project at the Foxboro Regional Charter School in Foxboro, MA, was published in the March 1, 2024, edition of Jewish Rhode Island of Providence. It includes a short interview with the project’s founder, retired teacher Charlotte Sheer, who started the project in 2009, when she was a fifth-grade teacher at the school. The project’s message --- and the thoughts of Charlotte Sheer --- are even more relevant today than they were 15 years ago when the project started in light of the strong resurgence of antisemitism today. Here's the link to the column as it appears on the newspaper’s website: https://www.jewishrhody.com/stories/at-15-the-holocaust-stamps-project-continues-to-teach-tolerance-and-respect,59283? *********** Fifteen years ago, a fifth-grade teacher at a charter school had a vision for bringing the unimaginable scope o...