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Baseball Today: Thursday, April 5

A locally flavored spin around the baseball world . . .

THE NIGHT BEFORE: Josh Beckett did a pretty good job righting the good ship Red Sox last night in Kansas City (projo.com). A good thing, too, because -- as Jerry Remy pointed out on television -- today's debut start by Daisuke Matsuzaka is going to be pressure-packed enough. You really didn't want him out there trying to prevent a sweep.

THE DAY OF: Think there's enough Matsuzaka hype? (mlb.com)

LISTEN IN: Sean McAdam and I will be talking about Matsuzaka's start this afternoon, and Josh Beckett's performance last night, on ProJo SportsTalk with Art Martone, which will be uploaded by noon. (Was that plug shameless enough?)

SAY WHAT? Jim Rice has never been a public-relations master, but yesterday's public comments at the PawSox Welcome Home Luncheon -- an appearance scheduled as part of a full-court public-relations campaign by Pawtucket management to get him into the Hall of Fame -- seem particularly untimely. Among other things, Rice advocated that modern players should cheat (though, when the crowd moaned, he quickly added he didn't mean taking steroids) and that the only two things they have to remember are "[the] first and the 15th [of each month], because that's when they get paid." (projo.com)

SO THERE: Bill James has no lack of detractors, including a certain columnist in Boston, but USA Today lists him as the 43rd most influential person in the history of baseball. (USA Today)

BACK IN BUSINESS: Good news for out-of-market fans without a dish . . . albeit news that was a long time coming. (mlb.com)

CLEAR ENOUGH? Not a lot of wiggle room in Brian Cashman's response to whether or not Johnny Damon's injury would prompt the Yankees to contact Bernie Williams. (New York Daily News)

CAN'T TELL THE PLAYERS WITHOUT A SCORECARD . . . OR WITH ONE: The Dodgers will field an entire team of No. 42s on the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's major-league debut. (Los Angeles Daily News)

CHANNELING JIMY: One of the reasons the Red Sox hired Grady Little in 2002 is that he was such a change from the taciturn Jimy Williams. But, at the bottom of that same story, Grady gives as curt a "manager's decision'' as Williams ever did. Oh, that cutthroat L.A. media . . . (Los Angeles Daily News)

NO MATTER HOW MANY EARRINGS YOU PUT ON A PIG . . . Rick Morrissey isn't one of those people who waxes poetic about an afternoon at Wrigley Field. (Chicago Tribune)

BUT YOU CAN PUT EARRINGS ON A BEAUTY: As for me, I think that's just not true locally. (projo.com)

OLD FRIENDS: Shea Hillenbrand has a groin injury. He also has a lot of pride in his baserunning, as you'll find if you continue reading down into the story (mlb.com) . . . Dave Roberts, who has reason to take pride in his baserunning, has a bum shoulder, but an MRI showed no structural damage (Costa Contra Times) . . . There are certain members of Red Sox Nation -- and you know who you are -- to whom Jack Cust is a God. He's never made it to Boston, but it looks like he could be going to Japan (Fox Sports).

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:18 AM | Permalink