Chris Thompson

Virginia

Co-Founder and Staff Writer at Defector

Co-founder and Staff Writer at @DefectorMedia. Send your tips to [email protected]

Articles

Red Sox Now Chasing Rafael Devers Across The Country, Waving Lineup Card

3 days ago | defector.com | Chris Thompson

Rafael Devers did what his bosses wanted. The Red Sox went out and grabbed a big-time addition over the winter, but to maximize their investment they needed Devers to shift away from his preferred position—the one he's been playing his entire career, and the one the Red Sox extended him a nine-figure contract to continue playing off into the future. Devers wasn't happy about the request and resisted for a while.
Celtics Flatten Knicks By Sticking To The Formula

3 days ago | defector.com | Chris Thompson

The Boston Celtics and New York Knicks have played 149 minutes across three games of their second-round playoff series. The Celtics—the higher seeded team and the defending NBA champions—have led outright for about 128 minutes of that time, and the teams have spent about another 11 minutes tied, meaning the Knicks have led in this series for a little over 10 total minutes.
Tyrese Haliburton Sure Knows How To Pick His Spots

1 week ago | defector.com | Chris Thompson

Cleveland's home crowd was caught chanting "overrated" at Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton during the second quarter of Tuesday night's Game 2. Donovan Mitchell, performing heroically for a severely depleted Cavaliers squad that was at that moment up 10 points, made an effort to discourage the chanting, but it persisted long enough to be picked up by TNT's microphones. This was a minor miracle: The production quality Tuesday was somehow even worse than it was Sunday.
The Pacers Out-Styled The Cavaliers And Swiped Home-Court Advantage

1 week ago | defector.com | Chris Thompson

They say the home crowd was extremely noisy Sunday night, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series between the Indiana Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Play-by-play guy Spero Dedes called it "just deafening." Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, asked about the challenge facing his young team in the second round of the playoffs, didn't even mention the opponent. "This place is very loud, very crazy," he told TNT sideline reporter Jared Greenberg, after the first quarter.
The Rockies Are Bad At Every Part Of Baseball

2 weeks ago | defector.com | Chris Thompson

First, some good news: The Colorado Rockies got a big early homer against the Atlanta Braves Monday, off the bat of designated hitter Hunter Goodman. The Rockies had two men on, and Atlanta's Bryce Elder threw a big fat cement-mixer of a slider, and Goodman put some mighty wood to it. Rockies play-by-play guy Drew Goodman (unrelated) couldn't immediately accept that something had happened to cause the home team to have more runs than the opposition. Here is the proof:Look at that sucker fly.
JJ Redick Pushed The Panic Button And Lost Anyway

2 weeks ago | defector.com | Chris Thompson

LeBron James failed to score a point in the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the Western Conference first-round series between his Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves erased a 12-point third-quarter deficit and won the game by a single bucket; with the victory they pulled into a 3–1 series lead over the higher-seeded Lakers, who are now a loss away from elimination.
Horrible Rangers Loss Also Really Funny

2 weeks ago | defector.com | Chris Thompson

The Texas Rangers found an excellent way to lose a baseball game Sunday night. Or, if they didn't find it or invent it, they at least deserve recognition for having iterated this delightful method. They were tied at two runs apiece with the San Francisco Giants in the bottom of the ninth inning, in what had been a somewhat choppy and frustrating game for both teams.
James Wood Is A Special Case

3 weeks ago | defector.com | Chris Thompson

James Wood, 22-year-old outfielder for the Washington Nationals, is mighty big and mighty strong. I think we've been very clear on this matter. Washington's offense, to date, isn't much—they rank eighth worst in the majors both by Statcast's Weighted On-base Average and by Baseball Reference's OPS+—but you cannot blame this on Wood, who is ranked third in the National League in home runs (7) and is 10th in runs batted in, and whose OPS Wednesday morning is a robust .902.
The Hobbled Braves Are Hanging In There

3 weeks ago | defector.com | Chris Thompson

Hey, the Atlanta Braves won a game! Not just one, either: Nine of them, while you were off oiling your disgusting mustache. Nine of 15, in fact. Over the weekend they won their second series of the season, sweeping the visiting Minnesota Twins, and then Monday they triumphed in a rousing effort against the dreaded St. Louis Cardinals.
O's, No! | Defector

3 weeks ago | defector.com | Chris Thompson

Because it is a long enough regular season to test and re-test just about every variable, every team in baseball is going to have their wieners mangled in at least one game. Even the mighty zillion-dollar Los Angeles Dodgers recently had their tender bits forcibly run through a cheese-grater by the Chicago Cubs.