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May 25, 2007
ON TARGET: Jon Lester made his second start last night after sitting out 2 1/2 weeks because of pain in his forearm and the results were impressive: 5 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 1 strikeout. (projo.com) ''I felt good,” said Lester. “The forearm felt good; everything felt good.'' An interesting note: He retired the first 11 batters he faced after retiring the last 10 he faced Saturday on Ottawa, giving him a string of 21 consecutive batters -- seven perfect innings.
HIM, TOO: The Boston Herald's Rob Bradford has an interesting profile of the next highly regarded pitcher coming down the Red Sox pipeline, Clay Buchholz. The Sox selected him with the compensatory draft pick they received for the Mets' signing of Pedro Martinez, but only after satisfying themselves that an early-in-his-life incident -- the theft of 29 laptops from a school by Buchholz and one of his friends -- was a youthful indiscretion and not a warning sign of further trouble.
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE: The Red Sox may be cruising along with a 9 1/2-game lead, but not everything is clicking on all cylinders. Sean McAdam takes a look at potential problems the Sox could be facing, and what might have to be done to fix them. (projo.com)
SORRY ABOUT THAT: In case you missed it -- we had it on this very blog yesterday afternoon (that link also has an audio clip of Crisp's comments, courtesy of The Score) -- Coco Crisp, appearing on WSKO Radio's Sportsbeat with Scott Cordischi and Bryan Morry, says Alex Rodriguez apologized to Dustin Pedroia for his hard takeout slide Tuesday night. (projo.com)
MAN OF THE PEOPLE: Nomar Garciaparra, continuing in Los Angeles the charitable efforts he was known for in Boston, will host 'Carne Asada Sunday' after a game on June 10 at Dodger Stadium, where he will hang out with fans, share soft tacos and listen to mariachi music. (Los Angeles Times)
STORM CLOUDS BREWING: The New York Daily News reports that "hawks" in the commissioner's office are pushing for [commissoner Bud] Selig to punish [Jason] Giambi for essentially admitting to USA Today last week that he had used steroids in the past.
BUT THE SKIES ARE BLUE IN THE YES BROADCAST BOOTH: When YES play-by-play announcer Michael Kay began to talk about Giambi's steroid use, John Flaherty talked about Giambi retreating to the ''comfort zone'' of the batter's box and Paul O'Neill chose to rag on Dustin Pedroia. (New York Daily News)
NOT YET: It looks like Roger Clemens will make at least one more minor-league start. (New York Daily News) The New York Post's Kevin Kernan, however, thinks that's a bad idea.
AGE ISSUES: Why are 40-something pitchers always a gamble? Because they get injured. The latest is Randy Johnson. (Arizona Republic)
AND AN IDIOT SHALL LEAD THEM: The Yankees are seeing signs that Johnny Damon is getting hot . . . and if he does, they think the team will benefit. (New York Post)
WHISPERS: The Todd Helton-to-the-Yankees rumors are still circulating. (Denver Post) . . . On his ESPN blog, Buster Olney makes the case for a Wily Mo Pena-to-San Diego trade.
CHANGE IS GOOD: Baseball Musing's David Pinto, who once worked on the show, explains why ESPN's Baseball Tonight has evolved over the years and why, in spite of critics like this one on the blog The DiaTribe, it was necessary to change.
THE UNTHINAKBLE: The Chicago Sun-Times' Gordon Wittenmyer thinks the Cubs may be preparing for life without Carlos Zambrano.
HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HE DIDN'T KNOW: Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune says ''[it's] not pretty watching reality [about the Cubs] work its way into Lou Piniella's brain tissue.''
THE DEFINITIVE SIGN YOU HAVE TOO MUCH TIME ON YOUR HANDS: A Web site commemorating the Phillies becoming the first professional sports franchise in history to lose 10,000 games, a milestone they should pass before the All-Star Break. (www.celebrate10000.com)
OLD FRIENDS: Wade Miller will make one more rehab start and then the Cubs will decide what to do with him (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . Mike Gonzalez will undergo is third MRI of the season (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:59 AM | Permalink
