« Final: Red Sox 6, Athletics 4
Main
Lester being checked in Boston »
May 3, 2007
Lots of news today in baseball . . .
POCKET ROCKET: Normally, any conversation about Roger Clemens is about when and where he'll pitch this year. Last night, however, Josh Beckett got Clemens back in the news for a different reason: He became the first Red Sox pitcher to start a season 6-0 since Clemens in 1991. (projo.com) He also invoked statistical comparisons to Babe Ruth and Pedro Martinez, which, as Sean McAdam points out, is an exclusive list . . . and also suggests ''that Beckett may finally be edging closer to becoming the pitcher the Red Sox were after when they bundled a bunch of prospects for him in November 2005.''
RUSH TO JUDGMENT: One of those prospects, Anibal Sanchez, pitched a no-hitter last year and Red Sox haters were chortling that the Sox had given up a potential star. Sanchez' star isn't shining quite as brightly this year, as such statistics as ''has given up an average of more than two baserunners per inning in his six starts this season'' and ''has yet to pitch into the seventh in any of his starts'' indicate. (Miami Herald)
SHOWING THE LOVE . . . OR IS IT FORCED? Baseball Tonight's Fernando Vina thinks Beckett is one of the three top starters in baseball, though Jared Park of the Miscellaneous Media blog thinks he may have been under orders to choose different names than those put forth by fellow analyst John Kruk. (miscellaneousmedia.blogspot.com) ''Apparently,'' writes Park, ''it’s not a fireable offense for a retired second baseman to think Johan Santana isn’t one of the three best pitchers in baseball.''
BUMP IN THE ROAD: The picture wasn't as rosy for another young Red Sox pitcher, as Jon Lester had to leave last night's rehab start in Pawtucket after three rocky innings because of ''mild cramping'' in his left forearm. (projo.com) No one thinks it's anything major . . . but then, in the hours immediately after the incident, no one ever does, at least not publicly. We shall see what time brings.
SOGGY NO MORE: My wife had taken to calling him ''Coco Soggy'' because his play with the Red Sox had been anything but crisp. But, as McAdam points out in the Red Sox journal (second item down), Covelli Loyce Crisp is starting to blossom, both offensively and defensively. Steven Krasner looks Inside The Game for more highlights from Crisp. (All projo.com)
COUNTERPOINT: There's an obvious self-serving element that prevented most reporters from firing back at Curt Schilling after his broadside at the media last week. Seth Mnookin, who's not in the sports media per se, answers the big guy, whom he accuses of using ''his brush to paint reporters with some broad strokes . . . Curt’s blanket statement is about as accurate as . . . my saying that working as a professional baseball player is a pretty nice gig because you get paid tens of millions of dollars to shoot up with ‘roids.'' (sethmnookin.com)
CIVILIZED DISCOURSE: Schilling and the Boston Herald's Rob Bradford are starting their own discussion -- ongoing, apparently -- on athlete/media relations. (www.bradfordfiles.com)
A DAY LATE, BUT WORTH THE WAIT: Speaking of Schilling, he finally broke down Tuesday's ''[tough] loss and a rare one in the way we lost it.'' (38pitches.com)
THE BEST TRADES ARE THE ONES . . . Remember those rumors involving Rich Harden and the Red Sox? Never mind. (San Francisco Chronicle)
YOU SAY GOODBYE, AND I SAY HELLO: The A's traded for Ryan Langerhans on Sunday and traded him away after last night's game. (msn.foxsports.com)
WASHINGTON WHISPERS: Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal has an interesting look at what he calls the National crisis in Washington. (msn.foxsports.com)
THE CLUBHOUSE CHEF IS NEXT: You knew someone was going to pay for the Yankees' early season stumbles. Who'dve thought it would be the strength and conditioning coach? (New York Post)
HELPFUL HINTS: Joe Posnanski presents a glossary of terms for baseball fans, sparked by the observation from a reader that '' 'Five-tool player' means he can't hit.'' Among the terms: ''Clubhouse presence [means] old player who can't play anymore.'' Why does Ellis Burks, 2004, leap to mind? (thesoulofbaseball.blogspot.com)
OLD FRIENDS: Tom Gordon has a bad shoulder, and now the Phillies have no closer (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . Willie Harris is wowing 'em in Atlanta (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . Carl Pavano is injured again (New York Daily News) and even he's calling it ridiculous. Maybe we should have forseen this when he first had arm problems at Pawtucket oh-so-many years ago . . . Johnny Damon, though, is feeling better (New York Times) . . . Wade Miller is working hard to get back to the Cubs (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . Looks like Kevin Millar is starting to get antsy on the bench in Baltimore (Washington Post).
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:57 AM | Permalink
