« PawSox swept in doubleheader again
Main
Projo SoxTalk: Relief strength, starting questions »
August 10, 2007
GOTTA GET BACK IN TIME: Good news for the sleep-deprived: From now until the end of the regular season, no Red Sox game will start later than 8:11 p.m. and only three -- on August 23 and 24, and September 16 -- will start later than 7:10 p.m. (projo.com) Those who've been up until the wee hours watching the games from Seattle and Anaheim this last week no doubt welcome the news, though all bets are off once the playoffs start.
HEAD TO HEAD: That Sept. 16 game is a Sunday night battle at Fenway between the Sox and Yankees, the last regular-season meeting of the year between the teams, and it'll go directly against the Patriots' home opener, a nationally televised night game against the Chargers in a rematch of the AFC semifinals. (projo.com)
ONE TEAM'S ROAD TO OCTOBER: It appears more and more as if the Sox will be leaning on their bullpen to get there (Boston Herald), though the Herald's Tony Massarotti wonders if the starting pitching is strong enough to carry the load. There's also plenty of concern about David Ortiz, who's experiencing an historic power drop this season. (Boston Globe)
AND ANOTHER'S: The Yankees start playing varsity teams again tonight in Cleveland, and they hope the momentum they've built pounding the JVs over the last month will carry them into the postseason. (New York Daily News)
MACHO MEN: Roger Clemens' retaliation for Josh Towers hitting Alex Rodriguez will cost him a start, and Joe Torre a game, as suspensions were handed down yesterday. (New York Post)
FUTURES GAMES: The rest of the Red Sox' season begins in Baltimore, where the Orioles have abandoned all pretense of trying to win now and are instead building for 2008 and beyond. (Baltimore Sun)
A LITTLE LATE, BUT WORTH THE WAIT: It took a few days, but Curt Schilling finally talked about his performance Monday night. (38pitches.com)
NOT SO APPEALING: Steve Silva critiques Sox Appeal, as only he can, on Boston Dirt Dogs.
HISTORY LESSON: The next time a Yankee fan crows "1978" in an attempt to resurrect the past, point out 1988, when the Yankees had a 10-game lead on the Red Sox on June 10 and finished the season 6 1/2 games behind them . . . a 16 1/2-game turnaround. (joyofsox.blogspot.com)
WHAT HE MEANT WAS . . . he'd love to stay with the Red Sox. That's what Wily Mo Pena's agent says, refuting a Globe story in which Pena said he'd welcome a trade. (Boston Herald)
AND WHAT HE MEANT WAS . . . he still wants to pitch. That's the word from David Wells' agent, Gregg Clifton, even though Wells himself said he'd retire if the Padres released him, which they did. (Both stories, San Diego Union-Tribune) The Diamondbacks may be interested if Clifton, and not Wells, is right. (East Valley Tribune)
ONE OF US: Blue Jays third-base coach Brian Butterfield lives in Maine and wants to work for the Patriots in the offseason. (Witness the night he was so pumped by the Pats' drafting of Ty Warren that he had extra energy for his duties with the Jays.) He's a de-facto member of Red Sox Nation, in other words, as evidenced by the way he feels about the Yankees. (Toronto Globe and Mail)
GOING NINE: Chad Finn touches on eight things Red Sox and one thing Celtics in his latest Touching All The Bases column, which begins with him wondering ''how giddy Suzyn Waldman will be if David Wells shows up in Georgie Porgie's private box.'' (weei.com)
THRILL OF A LIFETIME: Brandon Moss is back with the PawSox, but he'll never forget his first three days in the bigs. (projo.com)
I KNOW THAT VOICE: Did ESPN's call of Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run sound familiar? It should; it was Dave O'Brien of the Red Sox' radio broadcast team. (Boston Globe)
LOOKING AHEAD: Speaking of Bonds, he hit home run No. 757 and is starting to think about 2008. (San Francisco Chronicle)
THANK GOD IT'S OVER: That's how Hank Aaron feels about Bonds' pursuit of his record. (Atlanta Journal and Constitution)
GUILT BY ASSOCIATION: Mike Lupica of the Daily News says the players' union obstructionist stand on testing for performance-enhancing drugs casts the shadow of guilt on everyone, including Alex Rodriguez.
LEAVE ME OUT OF THIS: Chipper Jones, who opened the Is-A-Rod-On-Steroids? door two days ago, slammed it shut yesterday by refusing to talk to the New York media. (New York Daily News)
THE COMPLETE LIST: ESPN.com's Rob Neyer moves beyond steroids and lists the ten biggest cheaters in baseball history.
MOVE OVER, BABE, HERE COMES RICK: Rick Ankiel's conversion from pitcher to outfielder -- done successfully almost 90 years ago by this guy -- got off to a rousing start. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
QUICKLY: Shannon Stewart apparently was claimed off waivers by the Cubs (San Francisco Chronicle), though Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune notes there's no guarantee they'll get him . . . Bobby Jenks has recorded 36 consecutive outs, the sixth-longest streak in baseball history, but he doesn't want to jinx it by talking about it (mlb.com) . . . The Yankees, satisfied with the state of Mariano Rivera's health, hope to reach agreement with their veteran closer on a new contract soon after the season ends (New York Times).
OLD FRIENDS: Joel Piniero, last seen buried at the bottom of the Red Sox bullpen, pitched seven shutout innings for the Cardinals in a start against the Padres (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . Derek Lowe has a sore hip and the Dodgers are ''very concerned'' (Los Angeles Times) . . . Byung-Hyun Kim's return to Arizona was less than spectacular (Arizona Republic) . . . Willie Harris helped the Braves steal one from the Mets (New York Daily News) . . . Tony Graffanino is out for the season (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . Dave Roberts injured his leg last night and could be headed to the disabled list (San Jose Mercury News) . . . Phil Dumatrait pitched well for the Reds in his second big-league start (Cincinnati Post) . . . Tomo Ohka was released by the Mariners (Seattle Times).
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:43 AM | Permalink
