The outcome is different – it is, in fact, the exact opposite – but the site and the teams are the same and the circumstances are similar enough for the weekend’s series between the Red Sox and the Yankees to warrant the label of Boston Massacre II. Boston Massacre I occurred so long ago I don’t know how many of its witnesses are still around or remember it. It is so unforgettable to me – not necessarily all of the details but enough of them and certainly the results – that it has brought me back to the website sooner than I would have expected.

When the Red Sox slaughtered the Yankees, 19-3, last Thursday night, I immediately thought of Boston Massacre I. When the Red Sox took an early 7-0 lead the next night, then won 10-5, I began thinking of writing Boston Massacre II. Now that the Red Sox have won the third game of the series, 9-5, I am writing it.

Boston Massacre I occurred Sept. 7-10 in 1978. The Yankees had a four-games series at Fenway Park and began it four games behind the Red Sox. Not long before, in mid-July, they had trailed the Red Sox by …

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It may be premature to call it one of the worst trades in major league history, but it was one of the worst trades in major league history.

On June 4, 2016, the Chicago White Sox were apparently so desperate to get an established starting pitcher that they traded two minor league prospects for James Shields.

In the next two and two-thirds seasons Shields started 76 games for the White Sox, emerging with a 16-35 won-lost record and a 5.31 earned run average. That performance was not what the White Sox had in mind. Nor did they expect what one of the two minor leaguers they gave up for Shields to do what he has done for the Padres.

Fernando Tatis Jr. has been a sensation as San Diego’s rookie …

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This is a two-part quiz.

Part I:

What do these men have in common? Bucky Harris, Eddie Dyer, Ralph Houk, Bob Brenly, Alex Cora?

Part II:

Who from this group might join the first group? David Bell, Mike Shildt, Brandon Hyde, Rocco Baldelli, Chris Woodward, Charlie Montoyo?

If you know the answer to Part I, you have reason to be impressed with your knowledge of baseball history. Those five gentlemen are the only rookie managers to win the World Series: Harris with the Senators in 1924; Dyer with the Cardinals in 1946; Houk with the Yankees in 1961; Brenly with the Diamondbacks in 2001; and Cora with the Red Sox in 2018.

If, on the other hand, you have the answer to Part II, you are …

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