Alan Greenwood

Boston Celtics star LeBron James …

Why some folks can absorb those words without fear of acute nausea is a mystery here.

It is possible for one man’s trembling fingers to hunt-and-peck through those words only because there is zero chance of it happening. It has been fodder for radio discourse only because there aren’t many debatable options these days.

The Red Sox are sailing along, despite their share of injuries. Ridding themselves of Hanley Ramirez has inspired discussion, mostly due to his association with alleged drug dealers.

The silliness over Tom Brady’s relationship with Bill Belichick has grown stale.

So when someone asks “How would you feel about LeBron if he became a Celtic?” it doesn’t require any deep thought.

He won’t be. And he never would be, even if the one-in-one trillion odds were defied.

Russell .. Havlicek … Bird … Paul Pierce … His Highness?

Please turn that page.

TRUE BOTTOM OF THE ORDER: Speaking of nausea, let us consider the 6-9 spots in the Red Sox lineup Friday night against the Yankees.

Eduardo Nnuez, batting .254; Rafael Devers, .239; Christian Vazquez, .221; Jackie Bradley, .200.

Preceded by (mostly) legitimate All-Star candidates, that batting order simply falls off a cliff.

Bradley’s Gold Glove-caliber patrolling of center field is a luxury that can’t be justified by his failings with the bat. At least not by a team that has as good a chance of winning the World Series as any other American League team.

SHOUT OUT: CHaD football players Michael Boucher, a Souhegan alum, and Nashua South’s Derek Chiavelli were among the top fundraisers to benefit the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Boucher led all fundraisers with promised donations of $8, 701. Chiavelli raised $5,192.50.

Their final achievements as New Hampshire football players truly dwarf their others.

TIME TRAVEL: July 1, 1978 – From a report by Telegraph correspondent (later full-time Telegraph scribe) Cindy Cloutier, the Nashua Dodgers defeated Woburn (Mass.), 8-5. “Nashua starter Tex Hegge was tagged for five runs on three hits, including a home run, and a couple of walks, giving Woburn a 3-0 lead after one-half inning.

“When Dave Pinney, who had opened the game with a home run, led off the second inning with a triple, coach Dave Hogan relieved Pinney with Paul Rousseau. Rousseau first gave up a double that scored Pinney but pitched well from that point on, allowing just three hits and one run, getting the victory.”

Hogan served as a player-coach that day as “he was reluctant to use pitcher Chuck Thompson in the outfield.”

Now that’s baseball like it ought to be.

Newsletter