« Angels Run Over Sox, 10-4: Game story
Main
Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: A win tonight would be nice »

Baseball Today: Wednesday, August 8

STANDING PROBLEM: They still have the best record in baseball, and their lead is still the biggest of any first-place team. But it no longer feels like the summer of love for the Red Sox, not after a sloppy 10-4 loss to the Angels last night cut their advantage over the white-hot Yankees to five games. (projo.com) I always find our old friends at Sons of Sam Horn are pretty good -- generally -- are keeping their heads while all around us are losing theirs, and a thorough analysis of the situation can be found in a thread entitled ''Remain calm, all is well''. The biggest point: The schedule, which has served up nothing but patsies to the Yankees for the last month, swings into the Sox' corner this weekend; the Yanks' next six series are at Cleveland, home against Baltimore, home against Detroit, at L.A., at Detroit, and home against the Red Sox. The Sox, meanwhile, play not one but two series against Tampa Bay during that stretch. Writes a poster named jtn46: ''[The] Red Sox . . . are on a 98-win pace. I mean, what more can we really expect. The lead has dwindled mostly because the Yankees score touchdowns every night against lousy teams while the Red Sox have actually been playing pretty well . . . It's obviously maddening, but all we can really hope for is that the Yankee schedule starts to bring them back to Earth and that the Red Sox take advantage of their mushy schedule the way the Yankees just did.''

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE . . . Old friend Allan Wood points out the Red Sox' magic number is 45 (joyofsox.blogspot.com)

END OF AN ERROR: It appears Wily Mo Pena's days in Boston are numbered (projo.com Red Sox Journal, second item down), which suits him just fine. (Boston Globe)

MOVING TOWARD LOWELL? The Boston Herald reports Mike Lowell's representatives have had ''casual conversations'' with the Red Sox about a contract extension.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: Brandon Moss' promotion to the Red Sox, even temporarily, was a dream come true, but his first game was more like a nightmare. (projo.com)

AS IF RED SOX NATION DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE IN ANAHEIM . . . . Angel Stadium is rat-infested, prompting a visiting Red Sox fan to comment: ''If this was a restaurant, they'd be closed.'' (Riverside Press-Enterprise)

DON'T GO THERE: Eric Gagne's pregame meeting with the Southern California media on Monday night, a jovial affair for the most part, turned sour when a reporter asked about allegations of steroids use during his days with the Dodgers. (Los Angeles Times) John Klima of the Los Angeles Daily News, however, can't help but speculate ''about how [Gagne became an outstanding closer] . . . They have to consider the transformation that occurred.''

WHICH LEADS US TO . . . The breaking of baseball's most hallowed record, which finally occurred last night. (San Francisco Chronicle) The topic has been so thoroughly chewed over the last several years that there's very little left to say; all sides of the issue are pretty well covered by ESPN.com's panel of experts. Suffice to say the people of San Francisco -- at least the ones at the ballpark -- were ecstatic, and Barry Bonds gave a gracious and at times moving speech. Even Hank Aaron, who was particularly churlish about the prospect of Bonds moving past him on the all-time list, sent along a video tribute that was played at the ballpark. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) The only skunk at the garden party -- or rather, the skunk not at the garden party -- was commissioner Bud Selig, who wasn't there to see Bonds break the record. Stephen A. Smith thinks that's disgraceful. (Philadelphia Inquirer) Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News, however, says it's Bonds that's the disgrace.

ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW: Ryan Klesko says Bonds could have hit 900 or 1,000 home runs if he hadn't played so long at Candlestick Park. (examiner.com)

FROM ONE MAVERICK TO ANOTHER: Mark Cuban salutes Barry Bonds. (blogmaverick.com)

FIGHT NIGHT IN CANADA: Revenge, said Don Corleone, is a dish best served cold. The Blue Jays must agree because, more than two months after this, they finally made Alex Rodriguez pay for his bush-league scream at Howie Clark on that night in May. (New York Daily News) Our old buddy the Tao of Stieb loved it, but it all was, as Ralph Kramden might say, a mere bag of shells as the Yankees continued to roll. (New York Post) The real battle, apparently, was between Blue Jays starter Josh Towers -- who hit A-Rod -- and Yankees first-base coach Tony Pena, with Towers aiming some remarkably personal insults Pena's way. (National Post) In the end, the Toronto Star's Dave Feschuk called it much ado over nothing.

BACK TO NORMAL: The reason the Yankees are surging is obvious: Their offense is performing at historic levels. (New York Sun) Which begs the question: What will happen when it isn't?

DOMESTIC BLISS: The last time the Yankees were in Toronto, Alex Rodriguez was sighted with a blonde stripper and ignited a week's worth of tawdry tabloid headlines. This trip in, he was spotted with another blonde: His wife. (New York Daily News)

WELCOME ABOARD: The Yankees have activated Jason Giambi from the disabled list and promoted pitching prospect Joba Chamberlain to the big club. (New York Daily News)

BYE, BYE BOOMER? There are indications the Padres will release the struggling David Wells later this week. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

CRIB SHEET: Confused about baseball's waiver rules? The blog View From The Bleachers explains them.

A ROSE IS A ROSE: Some insights on Pete Rose in Bill Giles' new book. (Cincinnati Enquirer) Among them: Rose said the four vices of man are smoking, drinking, gambling and womanizing, and he was a .500 hitter since he only succumbed to two (gambling and womanizing).

QUICKLY: Twins players say they hear Mike Piazza doesn't want to play in Minnesota, which would preclude a trade for the A's designated hitter (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) . . . The Arizona Republic says Eric Byrnes ''is more popular than suntan lotion in this town,'' which explains why the Diamondbacks spent so much to keep him . . . Now that he's finally reached 300 wins, Tom Glavine will begin thinking about whether or not he wants to play in 2008 (journalnews.com) . . . The Phillies' Jimmy Rollins thinks the only real difference between the Marlins' Hanley Ramirez and the Mets' Jose Reyes is that Ramirez is stuck in Miami while Reyes plays in New York, which means everyone knows Reyes and no one knows Ramirez (South Florida Sun-Sentinel) . . . The Marlins will listen to trade offers for catcher Miguel Olivo. (mlb.com)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:52 AM | Permalink