One of the most prestigious honors an athlete can receive is gaining the recognition to be inducted into their team’s Hall of Fame. Let’s take a look at some of the inductees who will proudly join the University of Maine’s Hall of Fame. The following nine inductees that will represent the class of 2023 include Jim Boylen, Cal Ingraham, Annabelle Hamilton, Stacey Porrini, Alexis Souhlaris, Anthony Wright, the 1959-1960 men’s basketball team, and the undefeated football teams of 1951 and 1961. 

Jim Boylen (1984-1987)  played for the Black Bear basketball team and was a first-team selection as a fourth-year. He also tallied 100 or more assists in his final three seasons at UMaine. Boylen’s success did not stop there, as he began a coaching career after he was done playing. He had assistant roles with multiple NBA franchises, including Houston, Utah, Milwaukee, Indiana, Golden State and Chicago. In 2018, he was promoted to head coach of the Chicago Bulls, where he coached for three years. 

Cal Ingraham (1991-1994), a first-line player on the 1992-1993 Men’s Ice Hockey national championship team, finished his career with 73 goals and 86 assists. After an All-American second-team selection in 1992-1993, Ingraham continued his professional career playing in the ECHL for seven years with the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks and the Idaho Steelheads. The Steelheads honored Ingraham after his retirement by making him the only player in franchise history to have their number retired. 

Annabelle Hamilton (2011-2014) was a three-time America East first selection for field hockey. Hamilton leaves a legacy as one of only two Black Bears to earn multiple National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) selections to the third team in 2013 and second team in 2014. Hamilton was also named America East Offensive Player of the Year in 2012. 

Stacey Porrini (1993-1997), a three-time America East basketball player with a career record of 91-26 at UMaine, holds multiple records throughout the program. Porrini’ is second in career blocks at UMaine and currently holds the records for most blocks in a game (7),  most blocks in a season (79) and most rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game (13). She’s also a member of the prestigious 1,000 Point Club and was inducted into the Bristol, Connecticut Hall of Fame in 2016. After a valiant battle against breast cancer, Porrini passed away in 2018, leaving her incredible legacy behind. 

Alexis Souhlaris (2006-2010) was an NCAA Northeast All-American softball player in 2009 who also took home America East Player of the Year in the same year. During that 2009 season, Souhlaris stuffed the stat sheet, hitting .397, 12 home runs, 48 runs, 32 RBI and 25 stolen bases. At her time of graduation, Souhlaris held records for most stolen bases in a season (30), most stolen bases in a career (94), most hits in a season (83), and most hits in a career (249). 

Anthony Wright (1994-1998) registered 79 receptions in the 1996 campaign for 1,143 yards on his way to being named an Associated Press (AP) All-American. Wright led the Black Bears in receiving in 1996 and 1997, totaling 167 receptions and 2,312 yards over the two seasons. Wright set and still holds the record for most catches in a season (88) in 1997. 

The 1959-1960 men’s basketball team holds the record for the highest win percentage in program history (.826). They finished with a perfect State Series record of 9-0, led by current UMaine Sports Hall of Famers Wayne Champeon, Skip Chappelle, Larry Schiner and Don Sturgeon. 

The 1951 football team were victors of the Yankee Conference Championship and the State Series Championship with an overall record of 6-0-1. They are currently only one of two teams in the program’s history to go undefeated for an entire year and will always be known for starting the year with three consecutive shutouts on their way to four for the season. 

The 1961 football team currently holds the record for the highest winning percentage for a season (.944) on their way to a 8-0-1 overall record. Much like the 1951 football team, they were champions of the State Series Championship and Yankee Conference Championship. The team featured individual Hall of Famers Dave Cloutier and quarterback Manch Wheeler. Wheeler became the first quarterback in the program’s history to play professionally. 

The Class of 2023 was officially inducted on Friday, Sept. 29 at the ceremony in Brewer, Maine.

Just over one week ago, the Boston Red Sox decided to make a major change to their front office. Chaim Bloom, who is now the former President of Baseball Operations, was relieved of his duties on the heels of losing three out of four games to the New York Yankees.

 For what was once the most historic rivalry in not just baseball but all of sports, tickets this past week were selling for as little as $1. Unfortunately, for most, that was still too expensive. Throughout the entire week, the Sox set record lows for attendance within the past decade. So why are the fans not showing up to games? For years, regardless of the team’s talent, Fenway Park was a destination for tourists and outside baseball fans. The general consensus on why no one is showing up may be very simple. For the last four years, the Red Sox have had zero sense of urgency. 

After the World Series win in 2018 and an abysmal 2019 season, it was no secret that Red Sox owner John Henry wanted to spend less money. Cutting back on signing free agents and staying under the luxury tax for three consecutive years is a prime example of this. While Bloom didn’t do the job many hoped, let’s not ignore the fact that he was given a pretty bad hand. 

The first task he was asked to do was trade star player and fan favorite Mookie Betts. Betts had made it clear he was not going to resign with the Red Sox after the lowball offers from Bloom and Henry. The contract Betts signed in Los Angeles was 30 million dollars more than the record-breaking team deal that Rafael Devers would sign three years later for $330 million dollars. In other words, the price points in negotiations were probably never close. Bloom did what he had to do. Rather than letting Betts walk and getting nothing in return, he pulled the trigger to send Betts to LA and collect Alex Verdugo along with young talent.

The farm system throughout the minors has grown magnificently. Players like Marcelo Mayer, Nick Yorke, Ceddanne Rafaela, and minor league player of the year Roman Anthony are just a few of the young stars Bloom brought to Boston over the years. He followed the owner’s orders, he rebuilt the farm system, which was a total mess when he took over in October of 2019. So what did he do wrong? 

What went wrong was finishing last in the division two out of the last three years, and barring a sudden last-week turnaround, it’ll be finishing last in three out of the last four years. The Red Sox had the best record in baseball in June and had a decent July leading up to the trade deadline. For the second consecutive year, they essentially stood still at the deadline. They didn’t help their future by selling, and they didn’t help the present by not trading for good pieces that were available at the deadline, like Michael Lorenzen, Jack Flaherty and even old friend Eduardo Rodriguez. At the time, three out of the five starting pitchers in the rotation were on the injured list and the Red Sox were using bullpen games to get through each week. But Bloom, it felt like, at times, was afraid to make a move and touch the farm system. This essentially gave a message to the team that the front office didn’t believe in them enough to go out and acquire some extra depth to make a run at the postseason. The Sox have been falling slowly ever since, resulting in the firing of Bloom. To give the fans interest again, changes had to be made, and Bloom drew the short end of the stick. 

The Red Sox will begin their search for a new President of Baseball Operations immediately. Brian O’Halloran, who’d been removed as the General Manager at the same time as Bloom, will enter an executive vice president role. This could cause problems for the new president, who may want to pick his own staff, as it’s been announced that Raquel Ferriera and Eddie Romero will stay as assistant general managers. The Bloom has indeed fallen off the rose.

The clock is ticking and the sun is beginning to set on the 2023 Boston Red Sox. Within the next month, the Red Sox will have to jump both the Texas Rangers and the Toronto Blue Jays if they want to be a part of this year’s postseason. 

With 22 games to go, the Sox are currently five games behind Toronto and 4.5 games behind Texas. The chances of them winning aren’t very high. FanGraphs, a baseball season simulator used by many analytical experts, gives the Red Sox just above a 4% chance of getting into the playoffs. With three games against Toronto and Texas each, they can make up some ground in the standings. Fast forward to the following week, and the Red Sox will reap the benefits of Toronto heading to Texas for a three-game set, where one of these teams will be eliminated. 

The Red Sox are looking to find some magic to spark their final push to the postseason as they’ve sat in the middle of the pack for the better half of four months now. The Red Sox face an uphill climb as they have one of the toughest remaining schedules across the entire league. While it may have something to do with their stacked division, they are also in this position due to their lack of urgency earlier in the year. Let’s take a look back. 

The biggest problem for the Red Sox all season has been their incredible lack of consistency. Game to game, inning to inning, there’s no real identity to the team. Specifically for the past two months, the Red Sox have been essentially running in place, playing exactly .500 baseball since July 22 going 21-21. They’ve been held down by their league-worst defensive fielding percentage of 981 and inconsistent starting pitching. Throughout the year, defense has plagued the team, forcing pitchers to get more outs than they should need to get. 

The starting rotation has been the backbreaker for this team. While things never stay the same the whole year, there’s been too much shuffling of the rotation. Manager Alex Cora announced his starting rotation at the beginning of the year: Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta. 

The Red Sox signed the veteran Kluber to a one-year, $10 million deal in the offseason and were hopeful that he could be a reliable middle-of-the-rotation piece that chewed up innings throughout the season. It would be an understatement to say that he did the complete opposite. Kluber was abysmal in 15 appearances for the Red Sox this year posting a 7.04 ERA along with allowing 18 home runs across 55 innings. 

Sale cannot stay healthy. Sale would go on the COVID list in September of 2021 and wouldn’t pitch again that year. 2022 started out with a rib injury away from baseball that took him out half the year only to return briefly before going back to the injured list (IL) after a bike fall which broke his wrist. Midway through this season, Sale suffered shoulder problems and went on the IL for two months before returning recently. While he has returned, he’s been limited to just four innings a start to conserve him for the remainder of the year 

Houck, who had always been known as a reliever for the Red Sox due to his third time through the order struggles, was having an okay year until a scary incident where Houck was hit with a line drive in the face, suffering a facial fracture. After a six week IL stint, Houck returned, and has understandably been very shaky. His ERA has climbed north of five and his outings are getting shorter. Crawford is in the same boat as Houck. A guy who is seen as someone that can give you innings but gets into a lot of trouble the third time through the order. 

James Paxton replaced Kluber in the rotation halfway through the year. For two months Paxton was excellent in his return from Tommy John surgery after being away from baseball for over two years. The problem with Paxton is that now he has done a complete turnaround and is struggling to get out of the third inning in multiple games. The innings are catching up to him and he’s wearing down. 

The biggest thing the Red Sox need to focus on in 2024 is starting pitching stability. Whether that is through free agency or by a trade, something needs to be done or else big changes may be coming to the Red Sox front office sooner rather than later.