On immaculate innings, the offensive explosion in Week 1 of the NFL, college pollsters, taunting, bad coaches, the give-it-away Blue Jays

Tuesday 9/15/26

Payton Tolle threw a so-called immaculate inning--three strikeouts on nine pitches--during the top of the first the other night at Fenway. I was happy for Tolle who was noticeably excited to have done this (he even smiled before firing his last pitch). He was a bright spot for the Red Sox this season when they were scarce. I like how he carries himself, his attitude, and he seems bright. Immaculate Innings are things that people who don't know much about baseball care more about than people who do.

As there are fewer and fewer of the latter, one becomes a grinch to the group of the former for, in effect, their knowledge. Hitting for the cycle is similar, and, to a lesser extent, no hitters. The cycle takes skill, but it's also fluky. And it's misleading. A homer, triple, and two doubles, for instance, is better than a game with a homer, triple, double, and single. But a game with two homers can also be better than either, depending on context.

I consider a better inning for a pitcher to be three pitches, three instances of weak contact, three outs. Pop-up to the catcher, comebacker to the pitcher, rolled-over chopper to second. The parasocial also elevates things like the Immaculate Inning. Tolle brings out the parasocial in people quite often. Lots of first name usage in social media postings. That comes from a person who cares less about baseball and speaks more to their attempt to compensate for deficiencies in other areas. Whereas, I see a guy with a chance to finish his rookie year with a sub-3.00 ERA if he pitches well in the last half of this final month and that's where my interest goes.

The new college poll has Texas as the number one team in the country. I wasn't impressed with Texas the other night. There was a lot of sloppy football in that game by both teams and someone has to win and Texas did. What the polls have made clear is that voters don't think much of Georgia. Looking at their schedule, Indiana has a pretty cupcake-y set-up this year. Season is a failure if they can't find their way back to the playoff.

Someone mentioned to me yesterday that the Rams lost in a "huge upset" in the NFL. Did they? I countered that there really aren't huge upsets this early in the season because you don't really know how good anyone is. This seemed to produce confusion. But no, I don't think you can have a huge upset in week 1 of the NFL. In college, you can have a huge upset that early, but usually it would take some tiny school against a typical powerhouse. I wouldn't say they were a tiny school from a football standpoint--they were in the Big Ten after all--but

Northwestern over Michigan early in 1995 felt like a huge upset because of the histories of the two programs. You couldn't have a team like that Northwestern squad in today's college football. A team of guys who'd been together for a while, playing for each other and for their school. NIL and the transfer portal would preclude it. You know, that thing that made the sport special. What do we always say? Everything in this world now gets worse and nothing is immune.

I watched the Chiefs roll over the Broncos last night, which had more to do with the Broncos being bad than the Chiefs being excellent. Bo Nix: I'm told and told again how good he is. but I've never seen it.

The Dolphins were beaten soundly in Jeff Hafley's debut. I'll say this again: having watched him closely at Boston College, and not that long ago at that, I can't believe this guy is a head coach. I can believe it in the sense that I know how things work, but I can't believe it based on how they should, where it's about your ability and not your network.

Brian Daboll owes a lot of his career to being credited for helping make Josh Allen great, which is funny. He's back to being an offensive coordinator, but besides Allen, what's to suggest he can coach? What else do we also always say? It's about "other things." That is why people have what they have at these levels.

Josh Allen is the best quarterback in the league, but I wonder if there's just something about him that will cause him never to win a title. Game on the line, he's who I'd most want in there, and yet, he could also do something to preclude the win. Or maybe that's a matter of so much being on this shoulders. Mahomes' game has fallen considerably off. He wasn't good last night. Don't be fooled by that final score of 31-10. Denver was hapless. Sometimes I think Joe Burrow has the most talent, but he never seems to put it together, and Allen feels more complete to me. I'd pick him for the best player in the league, and that extends over a few years now. I think Drake Maye would be fortunate to be 75% of Josh Allen.

I don't have any stats in front of me, but I'd surmise that this was the highest scoring week one's in NFL history. The Bears-Carolina game finished 59-37. Cincinnati beat Tampa 33 -27. Detroit beat New Orleans 31-30. Buffalo beat Houston 36-31. Baltimore put up 41 on Indianapolis. Jacksonville scored 34 against Cleveland. Minnesota scored 39 against Green Bay. You aren't seeing gaudy passing numbers either, for the most part. I spot the trends as they start to develop. This is a potential one to watch out for in 2026.

The Cowboys were trailing the Giants by multiple scores, say, about halfway through the fourth quarter, when a Dallas offensive player, who was about to score a touchdown, slowed down to taunt a Giants player, taking time off the clock, before crossing into the end zone. How dense are some of these guys? As a coach, you're supposed to drill things into the tiny minds of many of these players so as to make their stupidity less of a factor. That's why it's often hard to be a truly intelligent person on a sports team. I've given the example of Ken Dryden. It was as though he only could have worked on that Montreal Canadiens club. That guy, with that intellect, couldn't be in today's NHL with that culture. He wouldn't be able to handle it and he wouldn't be accepted. But talk about a player with no understanding of the game, the moment, how time works, in this Giants guy.

The Patriots' situation has worsened, with A.J. Brown now being out at least six weeks instead of at least four. See how quickly you can get a lost season in the making for a player? Doesn't happen as fast with a team, but the potential lost season of a player you were banking on can go a long way in fashioning a lost season for the squad.

Robert Kraft was back in the news cycle yesterday regarding a country music concert at Gillette and the Middle East. I know that Robert Kraft is an awful person. But I also have this abiding feeling that he's so much worse than I already know him to be and that he could be the worst person in all of sports, which means Dante would have you slotted among the lower circles of hell. I think there's true evil in this man.

I saw a quote from Charles Barkley about why he never won an NBA championship. He said it was because he didn't play with a great player in his prime. I don't know...there's some truth to the remark. I think Barkley was an outstanding player. He was unique with that body and that skill set. Truly marvelous. Exciting, too.

At the same time, there have been lots of guys who didn't play with a great player in their prime who won titles. Your era has something to do with it. For instance, the late 1970s were perhaps more favorable to pulling this feat off than the 1980s were. The early 1990s had the Bulls' first three-peat, and by the time that was over, Barkley's window had closed in large part.

Vlad Guerrero hit his first home run at home in 2026 the other day. Truly one of the most remarkable stats I've ever heard of in a lifetime of studying stats. I can't believe more isn't made of this/him. The Jays had a chance to move into a tie for that third Wild Card spot last night and blew the game against the Tigers. It's like they can't get out of their own way. The spot is there for the taking, and they say, "Nah, we're good," and then repeatedly decline additional offers.

The Red Sox are going to be considerably better than the AL West champ and are going to have a much more difficult first round match-up. Them's the breaks, so go out and make your own.