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Ever wonder what might have happened if Len Bias hadn’t died two days after being drafted by the Boston Celtics, and he and Reggie Lewis played together for many seasons before retiring?
How about if the trade of Manny Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for Alex Rodriguez had been approved three years ago?
It certainly stimulates the imagination of the New England sports fan and makes you wonder. Chances are there will be a lot of both going on as New England Sports Network debuts a new series called “What If…” at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 20, immediately following the Red Sox-Texas makeup game and the NESN postgame show.
The first program in this unique series will delve into what might have happened if former Red Sox manager Grady Little had removed former Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez in the eighth inning of the 2003 American League Championship Series’ Game 7, which the New York Yankees rallied to win.
In order to answer these questions, NESN is utilizing creative editing and statistical analysis as well as actual game footage, and will have no say in the recreated conclusions.
The key player in this series is the statistical methodology employed by Diamond-Mind, Inc., a leading provider of baseball simulation technology. Diamond Mind Baseball, which has been around for 20 years, consistently has been rated the most realistic and statistically accurate product in the industry.
“Nobody’s ever done this that we know of,” said Gary Roy, promotions and public relations director for NESN. “We really think it’s a groundbreaking type of project.”
For NESN, Diamond Mind ran the simulation of that game’s last two innings 100 times before choosing the most plausible result. The result of the statistical analysis and the game’s final score will be known by only three people prior to the broadcast: NESN vice-president of programming and executive producer Joel Feld, the program’s editor Russ Kenn, and producer Kevin Newton.
“Well, there is a fourth guy and that’s Tom Tippett, the president of Diamond Mind,” said Feld, who said the idea for the program came from daily think-tank type of meetings.
“It’s based on the idea that anyone who’s a sports fan always wonders what if, whether it was something that happened last night or 20 years ago,” Feld explained. “It’s something very different for us and I think it’s compelling.
“It’s also hopefully going to be something that will inflame peoples’ passion for sports
Two people who won’t know how things come out before the program’s completion are NESN Red Sox announcers Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy, who will provide live commentary and learn the new outcome at the same time viewers do during the three-hour broadcast.
The show will also be followed by a half-hour What If “postgame” show in which NESN Red Sox studio hosts Tom Caron and Jim Rice will talk about what went into the making of the program.
Future episodes have not yet been scheduled, planned or decided, but Feld is optimistic about the show’s potential.
“I am very excited about it,” he said. “This is essentially a pilot episode, but we’re hopeful that it can become an ongoing series and [we’ll] make a few of these each year.”
NESN currently is conducting an online poll (www.Boston.com) for the top 10 “What If” moments in New England sports, including what if Bill Buckner cleanly fielded Mookie Wilson’s grounder in the 1986 World Series, Jeff Bagwell wasn’t traded to Houston, and Drew Bledsoe was never hit by Mo Lewis and Tom Brady remained New England’s backup quarterback in 2001.
Feld said he doesn’t know what, if any, influence the poll will have on future episodes.
“I don’t think we’ve really committed to that yet, but if there’s one moment that’s real compelling which most fans voted for, we would be hard-pressed not to try to develop a show about it,” Feld said.
And the nominees are…
The New England influence is much less than it was a year ago when both the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots were defending champions, but there are still some to be found among this year’s nominees for ESPN’s ESPY awards.
Categories of particular interest for New England sports fans are best comeback (Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi is one of three nominees); best baseball player (Boston’s David Ortiz); best NHL player (ex-Boston Bruin Joe Thornton, now with San Jose); best Major League Soccer player (New England’s Taylor Twellman); and GMC Professional Grade Play Award (New England’s Doug Flutie for his historic drop kick extra point).
The 14th annual ESPYs awards show will be televised on ESPN a 9 p.m. Sunday, July 16, at 9 p.m. People can vote online at www.espys.tv until midnight July 8.
Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600 or at aneff@bangordailynews.net
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