« Final: Indianapolis 5, PawSox 3
Main
Projo SoxTalk with Art Martone and Sean McAdam »
May 2, 2007
Highlights and lowlights in the world of baseball . . .
LOWLIGHTS: It doesn't get much lower for Jonathan Papelbon and the Red Sox, though the consensus on last night's meltdown can be boiled down to four words: Can't win 'em all. ''That's the beautiful thing about baseball,'' Papelbon tells Sean McAdam. Steven Krasner's Inside The Game breaks down Papelbon's performance, and, if it's any consolation, points out that it could have been a lot worse. Prior to last night, the Sox bullpen had been the only one in the majors not to blow a save or lose a game. Papelbon took care of the former, Brendan Donnelly the latter. (All stories projo.com)
AND NOW, THE GOOD NEWS: The Sox won't be facing personal nemesis Gustavo Chacin when they head to Toronto next week. (yahoo.com)
CLEMENS? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' CLEMENS: That's the opinion of Julian Tavarez, who says the Sox already have Kason Gabbard and Davern Hansack. Not to mention Jon Lester, who ''is going to be a Sandy Koufax some day''. (Boston Herald)
FEELING FINE: The Miami Herald comes to Boston and profiles ex-Marlin Josh Beckett, who says he's ''in a really good place right now, mentally and spiritually . . . My aura is different.'' The one thing he doesn't like about Boston is the fan and media scrutiny. ''We've got a guy who wears No. 38,'' he tells the Herald. ''He can have all the exposure he wants.'' The wall-poster-readers are going to have a field day with that one . . .
FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH: The guy who wears No. 38, who was in line for the win before Papelbon's implosion, is too busy to blog. But he promises to get to it later, and made a point to say ''I’ll take Paps in that situation 30 more times this year and like our chances''. (38pitches.com)
YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH: Yahoo's MLB Experts Blog says the A's made a phone call to the Red Sox, asking if they'd be interested in trading for injured ace Rich Harden. The blog concludes: ''The call to the Red Sox could have been an effort to tempt the New York Yankees, who are not yet frantic over their starting pitching, but could be soon and, perhaps, should be.''
ESPECIALLY NOW: For 6 1/3 innings last night, there was euphoria in Yankee Universe. And then Phil Hughes hobbled off the mound. ''Has any 10-1 victory in the team's history seemed so depressing?'' asks writer Mike Puma. (New York Post)
WOE-HITTER . . . screamed the Daily News headline about a night that turned a frsutrated Brian Cashman into Roseanne Roseannadanna. (''It seems like if it's not one thing, it's another.") He also seems ready, later in the story, to throw the Yankees' strength and conditioning coaches under the bus.
Changing times. Used to be the Yankees would only fire managers and pitching coaches when things went bad.
HOW ABOUT THE GM? Don Zimmer, who apparently appointed himself Yankee ombudsman after leaving the team in 2003, says flatly that "Cashman is the problem''. (New York Post)
PILING ON: Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci trots out statistics that show the Yankees' bad April puts them in worse shape than you might think. (si.com) And SNY.tv's Ted Berg and Michael Salfino say New York baseball, both the Yankees and Mets, is headed south. (sny.tv)
IT'S COMING: The New York Daily News reports federal investigators have targeted the users -- i.e., the players -- in their probe of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. And Kirk Radomski, the onetime Mets clubhouse attendant who pleaded pleaded guilty last week to distributing steroids, is cooperating with the feds.
AND IT'S COMING SOON: The Washington Post's John Feinstein puts the imminent drug scandal into perspective. "Welcome to the latest chapter in Major League Baseball's ongoing nightmare: steroids, steroids and more steroids . . . Chances are . . . pretty good that there are going to be some significant names showing up at some point soon."
The most significant, of course, is Barry Bonds, whom Feinstein says will ''break baseball's most cherished record and stain the game by doing so''. So will the hammer fall before Bonds hits No. 756?
THE STORY CONTINUES: As reports surface over Josh Hancock's use of alcohol, and how it may have been a factor in Saturday night's fatal car accident, Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty addresses the stories and says players are responsible for policing themselves. He also doesn't think manager Tony La Russa's March arrest for DUI ''has compromised his ability to confront players over alcohol abuse''. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:54 AM | Permalink
