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May 17, 2007
No lack of rainy-night material . . .
PUT ME IN, COACH: On a night when rain -- Journal photo, above, by Kris Craig -- prevented anyone from playing, the stories were about two guys who can't wait to get back on the field. Jon Lester is chomping at the bit to pitch, and he'll get his chance Saturday at Ottawa in a 50- to 55-pitch outing for the PawSox. In his own way, Jonathan Papelbon is also chomping at the bit to pitch, but his relative inactivity is purely circumstantial. (All stories projo.com)
TAKE ME OUT, COACH: J.D. Drew wouldn't have played last night, anyway, and we'll see if he's in the lineup in this afternoon's first game against left-hander Mike Maroth. (projo.com) Terry Francona, however, says he doesn't think Drew's back bruise, suffered when he lost a battle to the right-field wall, is serious.
WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE A BALLGAME EARLY? Because you'll miss the Mother of All Comebacks and spoil your family's Mother Day present to you. (projo.com)
LIST NUMBER ONE: Don't know whether this is good or bad, but the Red Sox have two players -- Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield -- in Jon Heyman's list of Top 10 players who are 40 or older in major league baseball. (si.com)
LIST NUMBER TWO: ESPN's Jerry Crasnick says Daisuke Matsuzaka was the fourth-best free-agent pitching signing of the offseason. Among those ahead of him: Gil Meche and Jeff Suppan.
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN: Imagine what life would have been like around here had the Sox completed one of those rumored Manny Ramirez-to-the-Mets trades that included Lastings Milledge. (New York Daily News) But Milledge might not be the Mets' biggest problem, not with what appears to be evidence of widespread steroid use in their organization. (New York Daily News)
SPEAKING OF STEROIDS . . . In a wide-ranging USA Today feature on Ichiro Suzuki, a very interesting quote from Ichiro was buried near the end of the story, with no followup: ''When you take steroids, it's not as if wings grow out of your back, and you start flying all over the place and stealing home runs (from hitters). The word 'cheating' doesn't apply for me regarding steroids."
It doesn't?
Hmm.
ON THE BRIGHTER SIDE . . . Pedro Martinez plans to be on hand when the Mets play the Yankees this weekend. (New York Daily News)
WHERE'D YOU HEAR THAT? The Chicago Tribune's Dave van Dyck writes that Joe Torre is on his way out as Yankee manager, to be replaced by Joe Girardi.
ONE OF US: Rick Morrissey sounds like a true New Englander, doesn't he? (Chicago Tribune)
ENOUGH OF THIS: If the Yankees were cruising along, Wil Nieves' offensive ineptitude would be a source of amusement, especially since Jorge Posada is hitting like he never hit before. But they're not, so the Yankees apparently are trying to get Jose Molina from the Angels. (New York Daily News)
UH OH: When asked by announcer Gary Thorne to comment on manager Sam Perlozzo, Orioles executive vice-president Mike Flanagan said he didn't think it was appropriate to comment on Perlozzo's day-to-day status. (Baltimore Sun)
EIGHT POINT PLAN: A week ago, the Tao of Steib blog listed eight ways for the Blue Jays to salvage their season. (Sorry, you can't have Ken Macha. He's been a great analyst for NESN.) But now the Tao has decided that the blog is going to be a happy place.
LOCAL BOYS: Rocco Baldelli is likley headed to the disabled list. (Tampa Tribune)
OLD FRIENDS: It's time for the Indians to make a decision on Andy Marte (Cleveland Plain Dealer) . . . David Riske got the save last night in Kansas City, and is doing what he can to keep the closer's job until Octovio Dotel returns (Kansas City Star) . . . Bronson Arroyo's pitching as well as he did last year, but the results haven't been the same (Cincinnati Post) . . . Casey Fossum, on the other hand, is stinking it up in Tampa Bay, yet the Rays were able to pull out a victory in spite of him (Tampa Tribune) . . . Trot Nixon drove in three more runs last night for the Indians (Cleveland Plain Dealer) . . . Kevin Millar is hitting again, though that's one of the few good things happening right now in Baltimore (Baltimore Sun) . . . Tomo Ohka is headed to the bullpen in Toronto (Toronto Sun).
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:57 AM | Permalink
