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Baseball Today: Friday, May 4

The last day of a busy week of baseball . . .

SOX BEING SOX: It was just Manny being Manny, down to and including the stand-and-stare after his monstrous, two-out, eighth-inning home run that lifted the Red Sox over the Mariners. Good thing, too, because Dice-K being Dice-K put the Sox in a pretty big hole pretty early. But they recovered, thanks in no small part to the Boston bullpen being the Boston bullpen. (All stories projo.com)

ON THE WATCH: The nightly Matsuzaka one-inning meltdown is becoming a local concern, especially now that it happened against a decidedly Grade B offense -- unlike those of the Yankees and Blue Jays, against whom he had similar problems -- and it'll be interesting to see if it becomes a national, and international, one as well. (matsuzaka.blogspot.com) As this is being written, the Matsuzaka Watch hasn't weighed in on last night's doings, but it does have some other interesting tidbids.

YOU JUST CAN'T HAVE TOO MUCH, ESPECIALLY IF DICE-K PITCHES LIKE THIS: Pining for Clemens has been a New York thing thus far, but today Bob Ryan urges the Red Sox to wave "John Henry's golden checkbook in Roger's face". (Boston Globe)

AGE BEFORE BEAUTY: Mike Lupica, on the other hand, points out that "For years . . . [the Yankees] have tried [unsuccessfully] to build another championship team, and that doesn't just mean an AL East championship team, with old and overpaid pitching.'' (New York Daily News) Clemens, he says, fits both criteria.

BUT YOU JUST CAN'T HAVE ENOUGH, YOU KNOW? The Mets look like they don't, which is why Omar Minaya may kick the tires on Rich Harden. (Newsday)

IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME, JUST LOOK . . . at who the Yankees are starting this weekend against Seattle. (sports.yahoo.com)

ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S ALWAYS INJURED: The Yankees' American Idle is probably headed to the operating table for Tommy John surgery. (New York Post) If he does, people may finally stop questioning why Carl Pavano is on the sidelines.

OR NOT PITCHING WELL: The injury to Mike Timlin opened the door for Manny Delcarmen to get back to Boston, but he's barricading it shut with a series of bad performances . . . like yesterday's. (projo.com)

AND EVEN IF YOU DO, HOW DO YOU EMPLOY IT? Brett Myers has officially made the leap from No. 1 starter to closer. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

FEELING THE PAIN: The Yankees' fired strength-and-conditioning coach is reportedly ''devastated'' by his dismissal, according to his wife. (New York Daily News)

TRADITIONALISTS: The staid White Sox, on the other hand, find more conventional scapegoats. The hitting coach is usually their target of choice, and Greg Walker apparently is the latest. (Chicago Sun-Times)

(Interesting that Ron ''Papa Jack'' Jackson, who walked the plank in Boston just last fall, was the first such Chicago casualty, back in 1998.)

DEAR MICHAEL: Yankees announcer Michael Kay opens the mailbag and addresses the burning question in Yankee Universe: Why don't Yankee pitchers hit Red Sox hitters with the same frequency that Red Sox pitchers hit Yankee hitters?

TRADE TALK: MLB Trade Rumors is chewing on a whispered Yankees-Phillies swap of Jon Lieber for Kyle Farnsworth. (mlbtraderumors.com) Why does Farnsworth -- all power, huge potential, not enough production -- strike me as being the 21st-century, pitching version of Dave Kingman, minus the toxic personality?

TOGETHER AT LAST: The perfect marriage of player and organization: Jack Cust to the A's. (espn.com) The blog Catfish Stew notes that ''When Jack Cust is the answer, you are, perhaps, asking uncomfortable questions'' (catfishstew.baseballtoaster.com)

OLD FRIENDS: John Wasdin is on the DL in Pittsburgh because of a sprained thumb (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . Lew Ford may have his rehab assignment in Rochester extended (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) . . . Andy Marte felt felt tightness in his hamstring during a rehab appearance in Buffalo, and probably will have to stay on the disabled list (Cleveland Plain Dealer) . . . Byung-Hyun Kim's rehab assignment in Colorado Springs is coming along fine (Rocky Mountain News).

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:13 AM | Permalink