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March 22, 2007
Stories -- some national, some not -- with a local twist:
RED SOX: The Pirates were impressed by what they saw from Daisuke Matsuzaka. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) Note, however, the semi-wet-blanket statement from the unnamed scout at the end of the item . . . A must read: Tom Verducci's profile of Matsuzaka in Sports Illustrated (both in print on the Web), which examines not only the pitcher himself but the seemingly counterproductive American strategy of overprotecting pitcher's arms. You'll gasp -- or at least I did -- at the work habits of Matsuzaka and most Japanese pitchers, and gasp again when you realize that Matsuzaka, who doesn't even ice down his arm after starts, seems absolutely none the worse for wear by it all. And you'll worry what coming to the United States, with its different schedule (Matsuzaka, for instance, pitched only once a week in Japan) and vastly different athletic culture, will mean for him.
MY FAVORITE BLOGGERS: Speaking of unnamed scouts, one of them gives Joe Posnanski the most honest preseason assessment of a division race you're likely to find anywhere. Posnanski, a columnist for the Kansas City Star by day, has started a must-read baseball blog entitled "The Soul of Baseball," based on his friendship with the late Buck O'Neil and named after the book Posnanski just completed on O'Neil. He's a great reporter and an even better writer, and stopping at his blog is one of the joys of my day . . . As are my stops at Seth Mnookin's "Feeding The Monster" blog, named after his book on the Red Sox. Today Seth gives some valuable -- and unexpected -- insight into just how STATS Inc. gets the initial information on its defensive metrics . . .
THE ENEMY: Steven Goldman, who earned his Internet chops writing "The Pinstripe Bible" on the YES Network's Web site and who now also works for Baseball Prospectus, writes a story in the New York Sun that the Yankees could be sabotaging themselves with their plan to give so much playing time to Doug Mientkiewicz, whom he thinks just might be the worst first baseman in franchise history . . . More and more, it's looking like this is Alex Rodriguez' last year in the Bronx (New York Post) . . .
OLD FRIEND: Pedro Martinez talks about his health, his future, and his past (with the Red Sox) in a fascinating Boston Herald piece . . .
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: A Rocky Mountain News sitdown with Todd Helton . . .
AND FINALLY: Rocco Baldelli doesn't sound nearly as optimistic as his manager when discussing how long his hamstring tweak with keep him out of the lineup (St. Petersburg Times) . . . Yet more bad news for those hoping that the Extra Innings package of out-of-market games will somehow remain available on cable television (New York Times) . . .
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 7:53 AM | Permalink
