These overachieving Red Sox are making a fan out of John Rooke. How about you?

Thinking out loud … while wondering if I’m now at the age where I can’t keep up with all the things I hate.

This is no mea culpa. Boston’s baseball team still resembles my lady buddy Bobbie’s shopping cart at Nordstrom Rack or Frugal Fannies — a little of this, a little of that and just a smidge of style or substance.

Think of Fenway as a Filene’s Basement for baseball.

But the Red Sox are also currently acting like deep-sea fishermen; they’ve cast their lines into the waters, they’ve hooked something and now they’ve begun the slow reel into the boat — or into Fenway Park.

They’re reeling me in. Sure, the schedule has been favorable, and this despite a current losing record at home. But the starting pitching has been a pleasant surprise. Thanks to a few run-inflated victories, their score differential is one of the best in the league, with a not-in-last-place record.

And for all the early-season injuries that have plagued this team, causing several (like me) to question training methods and/or personal grit, some of these guys will return soon — with the team’s collective heads still above water.

Not saying you should go spend your hard-earned discretionary income on inflated concessions or parking surrounding Fenway, but you might find a deal at reasonable ticket prices to see some overachievement for yourself.

And see that we might have an interesting summah at the ballpark, after all.

∎X post of the Week I, from @SoxNotes: “… Most recent Red Sox teams to start 17-13 or better through 30 games: 2024, *2021, *2018, *2016, *2013, *2009, *2008, *2007. *Made Postseason.”

∎The Celtics’ Brad Stevens was named NBA Executive of the Year last week. Hard to argue against the results here, but weren’t we ready to ride him out of town when he was coaching a few years ago?

∎That the Bruins had to go past Game 5 with Toronto tells you all you really need to know. Talent is adequate. Coaching is OK. Goalkeeping is solid. But there’s nothing transcendent on this team to push them over the top from good to great. Just sayin’.

∎NFL Draft grades, unless you’re grading a rookie class at least two years old, aren't very useful. The Patriots certainly addressed some needs on their roster. But they didn’t directly address two of their biggest needs — left tackle and a true "top gun" at wide receiver.

They got a QB. Yes, they selected linemen but passed on the chance to take a franchise cornerstone at tackle. I like the Ja’Lynn Polk pick, but there’s still no true “No. 1” receiver on this team, is there?

∎Christian Barmore’s new contract extension tells me one thing — there was little middle ground with Bill Belichick when he was the primary draft picker. Hit or miss. And Barmore was a hit.

∎Not for nothin’, but the Patriots now have only seven players over the age of 30 on the roster.

∎Speaking of age, CBS’ NFL Today made roster changes last week, replacing Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms on the desk with J.J. Watt and Matt Ryan. Is going younger always better?

∎There were more than 750,000 fans attending the NFL Draft last week in Detroit. Yes, that was a record for attendance. You can now expect draft site bidding wars from cities throughout the league to come next, beginning in a couple of weeks at the next round of owners’ meetings.

Foxboro, hello?

∎NFL Grand Poobah Roger Goodell and I have something in common — we don’t like preseason football. Good. Now that that is established, what do we do about it?

Decreasing the preseason to two games and increasing the regular season to 18 games is a likely, eventual occurrence. If there is an extra bye week within that build-out for recovery, would any player or team have an issue?

∎X post of the Week II, from @Englishscope24: “To all the tampering Head Coaches and Assistant coaches and flunkies…just call me and lmk if you want to recruit our players. Leave them and their families alone. Call me. I’ll see if they want to play for your programs. Yall have my number.”

∎Tampering is a real thing in college athletics these days, as perhaps you can gather. Even today, there are rules in place within professional ranks about what you can and cannot do in free agency. In the pros, as in life, you do the crime, you do the time.

More: Providence basketball coach Kim English has message for teams trying to lure his players away

The NCAA has nothing in place. It is the wild, wild West. Show some leadership here, Charlie Baker.

∎Rhody’s pick up from the portal prior to the door closing on May 1 featured St. John’s 6-foot-8 transfer forward Drissa Traore, who averaged less than two points per game for Rick Pitino’s team last season. But he’ll likely play a lot more in a Kingston front court that has the making of a solid unit for next season.

∎And while the Ivy carcass has been picked clean by college buzzards, Brown gets back two of their own from the portal — Kino Lilly and Nana Owusu-Anane. Should put the Bears in contention again for the next round of Ivy Madness.

∎Is a three-peat possible at UConn? The portal has been kind to the Huskies since their championship performance a month ago. Former Friar assistant, St. John’s, Manhattan and New Mexico coach Fran Fraschilla, an ESPN analyst, says “UConn is Mike Tyson in his prime. They are taking no prisoners.”

Agreed. Let’s put that big ol' target on their backsides again, shall we? Updated Way-Too-Early: 1, UConn; 2, Creighton; 3, Marquette; 4, Providence; 5, Xavier; 6, St. John’s; 7, Butler; 8, Seton Hall; 9, Georgetown; 10, DePaul; 11, Villanova.

∎Those returning to their former schools after the portal closed (with nearly 1,900 entries) included Butler’s Big East All-Freshman team member Finley Bizjack, who was rumored, perhaps, to not get the NIL he was looking for elsewhere, and Creighton’s All-Big East center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who is likely worth more in college than as a pro. For now.

∎NIL issues are already wreaking havoc at football programs, too. Like at Texas A&M, where athletic director Trev Alberts recently laid off staff in his department in response to "existing and emerging threats to our business model." Which is making as much money as it possibly can so it can pay the players. What else could he have been referring to?

∎I don’t blame former St. John’s players Chris Ledlum and Jordan Dingle one bit for suing the NCAA in order to play for another year. I mean, why not? They can likely make as much or more in school these days than they can as a first-year pro.

The trouble here is, St. John’s might not have room for those two on the roster, even if they win their lawsuit. Ledlum entered the transfer portal, provided he gets that extra year of eligibility.

∎How does a school athletic department in financial distress, like UConn’s, manage to keep coaches (and players) happy? Having continuity is a start. And keeping contractual obligations doesn’t hurt, either.

With the bonuses earned by Dan Hurley and his staff for all that winning, athletic director David Benedict had the presence of mind to take out an insurance policy in order to pay for those contracted bonuses, before last season started. Saved his strapped department nearly $3 million, he did, with that kind of foresight.

∎Not for nothin’, but former UConn basketball manager Mark Daigneault (2003-2007) was named as the NBA’s Coach of the Year at Oklahoma City. The Thunder earned this year’s top seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

It’s the Midas Touch, am I right? Everyone and everything touched by the Huskies’ program, of late, seems to turn into gold.

∎PC lacrosse midfielder Ryan Bell was named the Big East Offensive Player of the Year, the first Friar to win the award, with four Friars named to the All-Conference Team.

∎Former Providence College women’s basketball coach Bob Foley died last week after battling leukemia. Bob coached the most successful women’s team ever at PC, leading the 1990 Friars to 27 wins and a Big East title. It has been said that that PC era for women’s hoop was “UConn before UConn was UConn.”

Bob was the one teammate you wanted on your side during the lunchtime pickup games at Alumni Hall in those days — the man could post up a Mack truck. Good teammate and coach, and an even better person.

∎It was most definitely the end of an era last week on WPRO-FM, with Dan “Giovanni” Centofanti’s official retirement from radio’s airwaves. Fifty years on 92 PRO-FM. Fifty years at one spot, one place of business, one employer. In the broadcast world, that’s not just unusual — it’s nearly impossible.

Gio’s career has spanned the likes of Gary Berkowitz, Mighty Mike Osborne, Big John Bina, Jimmy Gray and Vic Michaels to Tony Bristol, Will Gilbert, Davey Morris, David Simpson, Kim Zandy, and so many more talented people. His time spent on PRO-FM is only rivaled in Rhode Island radio history by that of the late, great Salty Brine — for whom he once served as an intern.

And Gio’s career has spanned at least four station ownership groups, while remarkably the music format has remained intact into a sixth decade. The ratings have long been strong, thanks in large part to many talented people who have plied their trade on East Providence’s Wampanoag Trail. Like Gio. Salty would be proud.

∎This week’s sign of the apocalypse — Dave & Buster’s will begin allowing customers to bet real money on arcade games, like Hot Shot Hoops and Skee-Ball. This isn’t going to end well, is it?

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, facebook.com/john.rooke, and on Instagram and Threads @JRbroadcaster.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: These overachieving Red Sox are making a fan out of John Rooke