Larry the K's Lineup

Today (Jan. 28, 2023) marks 37 years since the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Since that disaster, which was caused by a failure of the O-rings that held the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters bolted to the shuttle, we learned that many engineers with Morton-Thiokol, which made the boosters, warned their superiors and those at NASA against launching on a very cold morning in Florida, but those warnings were sadly --- and tragically --- ignored, leading directly to the explosion, according to investigations and books that came out in the months and years following the Challenger disaster. To mark that tragedy --- which occurred 19 years after the Apollo 1 launch pad fire killed three astronauts during a test of the Apollo moon capsule on Friday, Jan. 27, 1967 ---   I’m posting this column that I wrote for The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA, on Feb. 1, 2006. That column follows: ***** ( Note to readers: This column is...

The late Lou Gorman used to take a lot of grief from Boston Red Sox fans for some of his moves when he was the general manager of the Sox, and for his classic quotes. For instance, when he was asked by the press why he didn’t pursue outfielder Willie McGee during the trade deadline, he replied, “But where would we play Willie McGee?” (The longtime St. Louis Cardinals outfielder, a speedster, did play one season, 1995, with the Red Sox, but that was when Dan Duquette was the GM.) Gorman’s most famous quote came from spring training in 1987, when, in response to Roger Clemens leaving spring training because he was unhappy about his contract, Gorman cracked: “The sun will rise, the sun will set and I'll have lunch." Gorman also took a lot of grief for trading away then-third base prospect Jeff Bagwell to the Houston Astros in exchange for relief pitcher Larry Andersen. The latter helped the Sox clinch the 1990 AL East title, but he became a free agent after the season and never ...

Truck Day --- when the Boston Red Sox equipment van leaves Fenway Park for the annual mid-winter trip to Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers, Fla., for spring training --- is Friday, Feb. 3 and pitchers and catchers will report shortly after, with their first workout on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Normally, that’s exciting news for fans who have been freezing all winter long, but this year, that will be no cause for celebration due to all of the question marks on the Red Sox roster. The truth is that even the 10-year extension of third baseman Rafael Devers for $331-plus million didn’t improve the 2023 club. The signing only kept someone the Sox couldn’t afford to lose. (Devers was already signed for this year.) The high number of Red Sox question marks is on Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom, whose failure to first extend shortstop and homegrown hero Xander Bogaerts and then to sign him once he became a free agent could spell doom for the Sox in 2023 unless a miracle happens. Bloom --- except fo...

Larry, their older daughter Arianna and Lynne at a wedding Oct. 29, 2022 on the  34th anniversary of Larry and Lynne's wedding. In this column, published in the January edition of Jewish Rhode Island of Providence, R.I., I look ahead to 2023 by listing five things that I’d like to see less of and five other things that I’d like to do more of, after feeling restricted the last three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's the link to the column on the publication’s website: https://www.jewishrhody.com/stories/my-2023-wish-list,25834? ***** With another year in the rear-view mirror, I thought I’d take an unconventional look at 2022 by discussing five things I want to see much less of in 2023 and five activities I’d like to resume or increase after nearly three years of still limiting what I do because of the forever virus. It’s painfully clear that COVID-19 is never going away, which is a severe disappointment to people like myself who are not only fully vaccinated, but wh...

Having fallen asleep over the years during a couple of all-time Broadway smash hits --- "Cats" in 1987 on Broadway the day before that year's New York City Marathon and "Les Miserables" in 1988 in Boston --- I nonetheless still count another smash Broadway musical, "Fiddler on the Roof," as my all-time favorite. The lead in that play, Tevye (performed by such greats as Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi and Topel, among others) has always been one of my favorite Broadway characters. The songs in "Fiddler" are legendary, and being the father of two lovely, intelligent and independent-minded daughters, I've been partial to "Sunrise, Sunset." But with this post, it's another song with the lyrics, "a blessing on your head, Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov," that I choose to reference, because with the year coming to an end, it's time to say, like Tevye, that I'm a very rich man --- and not in terms of taxable income! I'm w...

  As I wrote in a blog post at this time last year, one of the best things that The Sun Chronicle, in its role as a community newspaper in Attleboro, MA --- where I was the local news editor, a columnist and editorial writer for nearly 30 years before retiring from my full-time position in March of 2017 --- does is to present its annual salute to volunteers at Christmastime. Its True Santas --- which this year feature 16 people in 12 categories of volunteering in accordance with the 12 Days of Christmas --- stand as a truly timely reminder that our existence doesn’t depend on the negativism of cable news, social media and far too many self-serving and cutthroat politicians on both extremes of the political spectrum. No, instead, our continued survival as a society depends on decent people who aren’t afraid to reach out and help others not just around Christmas, but also throughout the entire year ---- and that was never truer than during the height of the pandemic and now, when COV...

Hanukkah began at sundown today (Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022), with the first of eight candles being lit, but the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights will be a much more somber observance this year, given the frightening rise in antisemitism. That has led to so much hatred being spread that the nation is now in danger of moving perilously closer than ever before to doing to the Jewish people what the German people and the Nazis did to them in the 1930s. With frank expressions of hatred toward Jews by the likes of rapper and entertainer Ye (formerly known as Kanye West), NBA star Kyrie Irving and far too many politicians --- combined with the abject failure of average Americans to condemn the hatred --- Jews may one day soon have to think about where they can flee to before the American Holocaust --- God forbid --- starts. That is why the need to educate people about Jewish traditions and customs is more important than ever. People need to stop fearing American Jews, who are once again bein...

For the first time since 2019 due to the coronavirus pandemic, I returned this November and December to volunteering for the local holiday gift drive, Christmas Is For Kids, which serves the greater Attleboro, MA, area. It felt really good to be helping out again. Not only does the gift drive personify the spirit of Christmas, but it makes a huge difference to area families who are struggling. The drive handles requests from individuals and from several social service agencies with whom it partners. This column, which was published in the Wednesday, Dec. 7 edition of The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA, summarizes the drive and shows the good that can come out of having people of different backgrounds working together for a common goal. THE LINK TO THE COLUMN: Here’s the link to the column on the newspaper’s website: https://www.thesunchronicle.com/opinion/columns/kessler-helping-kids-during-holiday-season-is-timeless/article_671a3e3a-fb30-5f9b-be3a-2a5137b3379c.html “The peopl...

Here's one lifetime Red Sox fan's thoughts and reactions to the news that another foundation player, shortstop Xander Bogaerts, one of the few survivors from the 2018 World Championship team, is gone, having agreed to an 11-year, $280 million contract with the San Diego Padres: * Bloom and Henry have to go: The loss of Bogaerts should be the final straw for chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who has shown that he's never understood or grasped what baseball is all about in Boston since he replaced Dave "World Series or bust" Dombrowski in the fall of 2019. Don't cite the admittedly lengthy 11-year contract as the reason why Bogey is now a Padre. Sure, the Sox weren't going to match those years, but that's not the main reason why Bogey is gone. He's gone because the Sox, since the end of the 2021 season, showed themselves to be either too arrogant or too frugal to open up the team's immense wealth to give Bogey a respectful offer. It wasn't...

  NORTH ATTLEBORO --- The inaugural Leftover Turkey Trot 5K, held Sunday morning in conjunction with the Santa Parade and Kringle Mart to raise money for the Christmas Is For Kids gift drive, exceeded expectations, organizers said. Town Manager Michael Borg, speaking at the post-race awards ceremony, said more than $10,000 was raised for the gift drive as double the number of anticipated runners and walkers, more than 400, entered. In addition, the participants had the gift drive organizers smiling broadly as they donated more than 200 unwrapped toys and other presents, said longtime organizer Alan Goldberg, the husband of Christmas Is For Kids Chairperson Kelly Fox. The first three men and women to finish the race earned awards. Winning the race was Brady King, 16, of North Attleboro in 18 minutes and 34 seconds. He was followed by William Atwood of North Attleboro, 19, in 19:12 and Tanner Silva, 14, of Attleboro, in 20:14. Kimberley Chula-Maguire, 47, of Cumberland, led all ...