Hey, Red Sox — the Rangers just showed you how to be winners

Thinking out loud … while wondering: If four out of five dentists recommend brushing, what does the other one recommend?

∎Watching Rangers pitchers Nathan Eovaldi get out of multiple jams and Aroldis Chapman fire 100 mph BBs at Arizona’s Diamondbacks this week, I’m left with one shocking conclusion — the Sox and Yankees don’t actually know everything.

And in this season now past, they knew next to nothing — especially when it came to re-signing those two.

∎Note to Craig Breslow and the Red Sox — spend. The Rangers did, they were fourth in payroll this season. And it paid off in the first-ever title for a franchise that began in 1961 as the Washington Senators, moving to Arlington, Texas, in 1972.

∎Not many watched this World Series, apparently. In the final TV ratings, this was the least-watched Series of all time. Those who didn’t watch missed good pitching and even better defense — two phases of the game Red Sox fans also missed this season.

∎X post of the Week No. I, from @BostonSportsInf: “Texas Rangers postseason on the road — 2023 (10-0, 1.000) 10 wins is a MLB record.” They ended up with 11.

∎PC head men's basketball coach Kim English told his radio show listeners Thursday night that the Friars were tested in their “secret scrimmages,” a win against St. Joseph’s and an OT loss at East Carolina. PC also wasn’t playing completely healthy, which will be an issue throughout the upcoming season.

∎Around the Big East: Say what you want about playing meaningless exhibition games, as PC opted to scrimmage rather than go that route this year. But even those games can be troublesome.

St. John’s lost to Division II Pace last week, as the Johnnies were missing three key players from their lineup. But the guys who played only shot 26% from the floor.

Seton Hall had a little trouble with an in-state rival, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, but defeated the Highlanders, 68-60. It seemed, however, that coaches preferred the secret scrimmage route this year over previous seasons.

∎Not for nothin’, but heads-up, Edward in East Providence — PC’s first-year women’s coach, Erin Batth, has her own radio show. It debuted this week on WSKO-AM 790, but you probably already knew that.

Coach Batth’s Friars warmed up with a Wednesday exhibition against New Haven … and a 75-55 win. They’ll officially open the season Tuesday, Nov. 7, against Hampton.

∎URI tuned up for its Monday opener against Central Connecticut by facing Division II Assumption Wednesday night at the Ryan Center and leashed the ‘Hounds, 96-54. For what it's worth, the Rams had six players reach double figures.

∎Rhody football found the winners’ circle again with a 34-28 overtime win over UNH, as Ja’Den McKenzie became the fifth player in program history to rush for four TDs in a single game.

∎Bryant quarterback Zevi Eckhaus won the Big South Offensive Player of the Week honor for a second time this season after a road win at Charleston Southern. Eckhaus is only 36 passing yards away from becoming the all-time school leader, which he can become against Gardner-Webb this weekend in Smithfield.

∎College basketball lost an iconic figure this week. Bobby Knight’s passing at age 83 brought back the memory of the first time I had the chance to interview the often volatile, but never boring Hall of Fame coach. It was just after he had thrown a chair across the floor in a 1985 game, protesting an officials’ call that has long been forgotten over time, even if the thrown chair has not.

Knight had flown into San Antonio for a previously arranged speaking engagement, and our TV station caught wind of the appearance, so I was dispatched with a cameraman to get his "exclusive" reaction. I was never more nervous about an interview in my life, telling my cameraman, Phil, to “keep the camera rolling, no matter what he does or says to me.”

Coach Knight couldn’t have been more gracious, and honest, as I asked him about the chair incident. He acknowledged, to an extent, that he had a temper he needed to keep under control. But he would always remain steadfast in defense of his team, and his players.

∎PC’s men’s hockey team faces UNH in a Hockey East home-and-home this weekend. The Friars, ranked seventh and eighth in the college national polls, are off to a 5-1-1 start.

∎Monday night was our nearly annual “Sports Equinox” moment, when all five major sports were played on the same night — the 30th in history and the only one in 2023. You could watch 24 games across five major U.S. sports, including a World Series contest, “Monday Night Football” and two MLS playoff games.

Personally, I started with baseball, tuned into the Bruins, and saw them go down quickly; jumped onto the Celtics as they grabbed a lead; back to the B’s as they tied up the Panthers (and won in OT) and totally forgot about Monday Night Football.

Shows you where my head is these days. You?

∎My buddy, “Big E,” says there are three situations that require witnesses — crimes, accidents and marriages. Enough said.

∎X post of the Week No. 2, from @BostonSportsInf: “Did you know the Bruins have fewer losses in regulation [12] over the last two seasons than the Patriots [13]?”

∎Charlie McAvoy’s four-game suspension was deserved, every bit of it, for his high hit on Florida’s Oliver Ekman-Larsson. It was a costly mistake for the B’s and for McAvoy, who was fined nearly $200,000 for the illegal check.

But if I’m the Bruins, I can appreciate the attitude, even if it was misguided. The message delivered, not the blow, might be best served over the long haul.

∎The Celtics have sent three pretty strong messages to start the NBA season. It could be a fun year. But it’s a long year — made even longer with the inclusion of this silly, means-nothing in-season tournament coming up.

∎Where do we stand with the Patriots? It seems to me if they had figured out a way to beat the Eagles and Dolphins earlier, which ostensibly would have them now standing 4-4, there would still be complaints over not "being good enough." Just sayin’.

Rarely charted waters we’re sailing on these days, for the first time since BB’s first year, or even dialing back to the days of Rod Rust and Dick MacPherson. All things in life are cyclical, but this is one spin through the calendar I never thought we’d turn again.

Trading deadline? What trading deadline? I mean, what did you really think the Patriots would do before Tuesday at 4pm? Trade Mac Jones? For whom, exactly?

“Sell off” other potential tradeable assets? On a 2-6 team? How many “good” players does New England have? I would argue that if anyone else really wanted someone, they’d already have them.

Kendrick Bourne’s ACL tear is, indeed, just one of the seasons’ tragedies for the Patriots. Another tragedy, of course, is that they have little to no depth to take his place.

We’re on to Washington. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said as much this week, that the team’s new owner is likely to inquire what it would take to move BB from New England to Washington, as head coach, when the season ends.

∎Seems to me that owner Mark Davis should be the one to leave Las Vegas. Firing Josh McDaniels, while owing him for four more years (and still paying Jon Gruden) … when McDaniels’ record is comparable to Gruden’s in two years and even Mike Shanahan’s at San Francisco in two years ...

… is just dumb. Even if his results were middling. GM Dave Ziegler, another ex-Patriot, is out as well. Stupid is as stupid does, but there’s a history of that with the Raiders, am I right?

Bob Kraft? Coach Belichick, if you’re still around? Hello.

∎X post of the Week No. 3, from @ZachCoxNESN: “With the Raiders, Josh McDaniels went 2-0 against the Patriots and 7-16 against everybody else.”

∎Seeing the former Houston Oilers’ uniforms being worn again (on the Tennessee Titans as throwbacks last weekend) was straight fire. May not be a better uniform worn, ever, in the history of the NFL. Love ya, Blue.

∎My brother was once in the sports collectible business with Bobby Valentine — yes, the Bobby Valentine — and came across a game-worn Earl Campbell Oilers’ jersey with a couple of blood stains on it. Got it signed, shipped it north and it somehow ended up in my possession.

∎Sad to say he wasn’t around to see the Rangers actually win a World Series … but the man to hit the first home run in team history passed away this week. Anyone remember Frank Howard?

I vividly recall listening to that historic first homer on the radio: “Goodbye, baseball!” Howard was a big-time slugger for the Washington Senators (and Texas Rangers after their move) in the 1960s and ‘70s, winning two home run crowns, four All-Star berths and had two top-five MVP finishes. He was 6 feet 7 inches and weighed more than 250 pounds — think Aaron Judge well before Judge was a twinkle in his parents’ eyes.

He once had a stretch of 10 home runs in 20 at bats. Loved his nickname, “The Washington Monument.” Howard was also drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA after starring in basketball and baseball at Ohio State. He was 87 years old.

∎Tim in Sarasota, Florida, writes: “Hey, JR, I don’t know what you think about the Jason Kelce/Taylor Swift media circus, but it all seems a bit too cheesy to me.”

Tim: I’d say it’s all business, rather than true love. Not only are NFL ratings improving for younger females thanks to the new presence of so many ‘Swifties,’ but this week Kelce applied for FIVE different trademarks with the U.S. Patent Office. One of those was “Alright? Nah.” And those are my feelings exactly.

Interested in having your questions on Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Think out loud and send your questions, comments and local stories to jrbroadcaster@gmail.com. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/threads right here! Join me on Twitter/X, @JRbroadcaster, on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke, and on Instagram and Threads @JRbroadcaster.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: The Texas Rangers just showed everybody how to win it all