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May 8, 2007
There's got to be a morning after for those of us on Rocket overload . . .
COCO FOR THE DEFENSE: Talk about bad timing. Just before Roger Clemens brought the baseball world to a screeching halt, Bill James sent out an e-mail to a group of his friends pointing out that Coco Crisp "has been just unbelievable in center field". David Pinto was the first to note the e-mail publicly (baseballmusings.com), posting a chart of Crisp's putouts that demonstrate "he's catching balls close and far". In a subsequent post, David noted that Crisp has "caught nine balls (this season) that weren't caught last year"
Seth Mnookin shared more of the e-mail (sethmnookin.com), including a very interesting observation from James: "If Coco had been 11-for-20 with the bat over the last week, everybody would be talking about that. If he’d had a few good games as a reliever, like Okajima, everybody would be talking about that. But he’s just had this unbelievable streak in center field, and . . . nobody has noticed."
Hopefully, they'll start now.
RETURNING THE SERVE: Curt Schilling doesn't mention him by name, but he's obviously answering Dan Shaughnessy -- among others, I would guess, though I don't know who -- in today's unscheduled edition of 38pitches.com.
(Late edit: My bad. He does mention Shaughnessy by name -- at least by the nickname he uses for him -- and, in best Bill Parcells/Terry Glenn fashion, even refers to him as "she". Whew. Forget Red Sox/Yankees. The best show this summer may be Schilling/Shaughnessy.)
WALKING TALL: This is why the Red Sox wanted Todd Helton. (Denver Post)
OKAY, OKAY, BACK TO THE SHOW: Sean McAdam offers some interesting thoughts on the Clemens situation, and Bill Reynolds hopes Clemens gets what he deserves . . . and let's just say that doesn't mean riding off into the sunset (or at least riding on a horse some late October night at Yankee Stadium) with another ring in tow. Old friend Allan Wood collected the covers from the New York (and one of the Boston) newspapers on Monday (joyofsox.blogspot.com). (And thanks, Allan, for the plug!)
SKUNK AT THE GARDEN PARTY: Acquiring Roger Clemens is all well and good, but the New York Daily News' John Harper points out that "Clemens won't be the savior for this ballclub that his grand unveiling would lead you to believe. Undoubtedly he'll fill a significant hole in the starting rotation, but Clemens is a six-inning pitcher who is sure to be worn down by the return to the American League, which means he'll need help from the so-far underwhelming bullpen" . . . which lost again last night when Mariano Rivera surrendered yet another ninth-inning home run. (New York Post)
AND ANOTHER: Not everyone was as excited as Suzyn Waldman over Clemens' return. (www.wcbs880.com) The Daily News' Bob Raismann questions "Clemens' motives, [and] the lengths the Yankees have gone to sign him and spin the move."
AND STILL ANOTHER: Gerry Callahan's voice problems have kept him off the radio, but not away from the computer. In today's Boston Herald, Callahan says the Yankees "essentially bought the most expensive car on the lot, the most expensive house in the neighborhood, the most expensive athlete in team sports -- and they paid above the listed price. Talk about brilliant front-office maneuvering . . . "
THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS: David Wells, of all people, and Greg Maddux of the Padres don't think it's right that Clemens has a flex schedule. (espn.com)
WELL, I'M HAPPY ABOUT IT: Andy Pettitte is delighted to be reunited with the Rocket. (New York Daily News)
WHAT IT REALLY MEANS: Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan, writing on SI.com, examines every angle and, because Clemens is going to the Yankees and not the Red Sox, boils it all down to being "worth four to six wins, which makes it both economically sensible and gives it a greater potential to impact what should be a very good race in the AL East. The real winners here are the fans, who get a couple dozen more chances to see the greatest pitcher of our lifetimes. Who says the Yankees are bad for baseball?"
THANK YOU, ROCKET: The Post's Joel Sherman says Alex Rodriguez probably heard cash registers ringing when he saw the contract the Yankees gave Clemens. (New York Post)
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? As low as Class A if your name is Kei Igawa. (New York Daily News)
IN OTHER NEWS . . . Everyone was worried about the combustable mix of volatile young personalities on the Devil Rays, but things seem to be working out so far. (Tampa Tribune)
GOTCHA: Baseball's drug cops nailed another major-leaguer, though you probably haven't heard of him. (Tampa Tribune)
I'M IN YOUR CORNER: David Ortiz shows Barry Bonds some love. (Boston Herald)
ME TOO, SORT OF: The Press-Register's Paul Finebaum defends Bonds, in a way, by saying he's "showing no less class than [Hank Aaron], who just can't let bygones be bygones. He continues to wear his bitterness on his sleeve after all these years and will likely sulk all the way to the grave."
RELAPSE: Ron LeFlore -- once the subject of a television movie of the week for getting to the major leagues after being in prison -- is going back to jail. (Detroit Free Press)
INJURY REPORT: The Tigers have lost Joel Zumaya for 12 weeks (yahoo.com).
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 7:06 AM | Permalink
