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Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: The importance of finishing first »
September 12, 2007
WOW: The scoreboard-watchers in Toronto (where the Yankees, who still have hopes of overtaking the Red Sox for the A.L. East title, were playing), Baltimore (where the Angels, who are chasing Boston for the best overall record in the league, were playing) and Chicago (where the Indians, who are also in the hunt for the best record, were playing) had to be heartened by the early returns from Boston last night. But happiness turned to shock and then disappointment as the Sox, who trailed 8-1 in the fourth inning, came back for a 16-10 win that kept their pursuers at bay, at least for another night. (projo.com) (Above, Julio Lugo congratulates David Ortiz after Ortiz' seventh-inning home run. Journal photo by Bob Breidenbach.) It was an important victory for the Sox, one Sean McAdam thinks may prove to be the most important of the season. One of the catalysts for the comeback was birthday boy Jacoby Ellsbury (Boston Herald); another was the little-used Kevin Cash. (Boston Globe) As for the Devil Rays, it seemed like old times (St. Petersburg Times), which was disheartening coming as it did on the heels of a 1-0 win Monday that they were touting as a playoff-like victory.
WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? The NFL apparently is going to come down hard on the Patriots for stealing signs (projo.com), but such subterfuge is part of the game in baseball. Joe McDonald talks to some players who explain why.
LET'S GO! McAdam has the latest on the Sox possibly opening the 2008 season in Japan farther down in the notebook. Julio Lugo went to Japan at the start of the 2004 season with the Devil Rays and he'd love to go back. (Boston Herald)
SWEEPING THE POLLS: The Sox, who ranked No. 1 with SI.com yesterday, are still No. 1 in FoxSports.com's Power Rankings, as well.
THE BIGGEST NIGHTMARE IN YANKEE UNIVERSE: The New York Sun's Tim Marchman points out that, with the salaries of Curt Schilling, Matt Clement, Mike Lowell and Eric Hinske coming off the books, the Red Sox will have a ton of money to spend this offseason and ''there isn't a better fit for [Alex] Rodriguez'' in free agency than Boston.
HAPPIER THOUGHTS: YU can fixate on the present, where the Yanks made it six in a row by beating the Blue Jays. (New York Daily News) The news that Roger Clemens will probably start Sunday in Boston (New York Daily News) has got to make them happier than the knowledge that Mike Mussina will start tonight. (New York Post)
POSSIBLE, BUT NOT LIKELY: That's Larry Manhken's assessment of the Yankees' chances of overtaking the Red Sox in the A.L. East. (Replacement Level Yankees Weblog)
UNDECIDED: Despite being healthy and having a good season, Andy Pettitte is mulling retirement. (New York Daily News)
Q AND A WITH THE REAL BOSS: Brian Cashman sits down for an interview with Phil Allard of the The 10th Inning Journal. (wcbas880.com)
WHO'S THE IDIOT? People who say Johnny Damon stinks, that's who. Peter Abraham tells us why. (LoHud Yankees Blog)
A.L. RACES: The Tigers' 4-1 victory over the Rangers in the night game showed why they're still contenders for the A.L. wild card. Their 13-6 loss to Texas in the opener showed why they're long shots (Detroit Free-Press) . . . The Mariners' death rattle continues: They lost for the 15th time in the last 17 games, 7-4 to Oakland, and are only mentioned here because they're tied with the Tigers in the loss column (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) . . . They're important to the Red Sox only in that the Sox inch closer to a playoff spot with each of their losses; the magic number for Boston securing a postseason berth is now eight (magicnumbers.org) . . . As for the race for the A.L.'s best record, the status quo was maintained as the Angels beat the Orioles (Los Angeles Times) and the Indians beat the White Sox (Cleveland Plain-Dealer). Los Angeles of Anaheim's victory came at a price, however, as Gary Matthews Jr. suffered an ankle sprain and will miss at least five games (AP via projo,com).
N.L. RACES: Every game but one had playoff implications, as the Astros beat the Cubs (Chicago Sun-Times), the Braves beat the Mets (New York Post), the Brewers beat the Pirates (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel), the Padres beat the Dodgers (San Diego Union-Tribune), the Giants beat the Diamondbacks (Arizona Republic), the Reds beat the Cardinals (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) and the Rockies beat the Phillies (Philadelphia Inquirer).
To see how all those games affected the races, check out the divisional standings and wild-card standings. (Projo Stats)
ADVANTAGE, SAN DIEGO: SI.com's Tom Verducci thinks the Padres will benefit most from MLB's new, elongated postseason schedule.
WEIGHING HIS OPTIONS: When questioned by the local media to clarify his remarks in Tuesday's USA Today, when he said he might step down as Cardinals manager at the end of the year, Tony La Russa explained what would go into his decision to leave St. Louis. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
STAYING PUT: The White Sox last night extended Ozzie Guillen's contract through 2012. (Chicago Sun-Times)
GET READY FOR MORE: The New York Times reports that the names of 10 additional major league players may surface in the investigation that already has tied Rick Ankiel, Troy Glaus and Jay Gibbons to performance-enhancing drugs.
JAY WHO? The Orioles didn't have much to say in support of, or condemnation of, Gibbons. In fact, they didn't say much of anything on the whole subject. (Baltimore Sun)
ON THE WAY OUT? Meanwhile, the Baltimore Examiner reports the Orioles may attempt to void the remainder of Gibbons' contract.
UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT: David Segui, who was linked to earlier steroids investigations, says HGH is not a performance-enhancing drug: ''It's completely separate from the steroid issue. It's a separate entity. Before people want to hang somebody by the toes, they need to know the facts.'' (Baltimore Sun)
DOUBLE STANDARD: SI.com's Jon Heyman wants to know why the baseball players implicated in the HGH scandal are catching such flak while Rodney Harrison, who admitted and was suspended for the same crime, is getting off far more lightly. My opinion: In baseball, the players refuse to admit using performance-enhancing drugs, or even to address the issue in any meaningful way, and MLB is perceived to be doing nothing save for random 50-game suspensions slapped on lower-minor-league unknowns. In the Harrison case, he was caught and punished. And then he apologized. I have no illusions that this problem is any less serious in football than it is in baseball -- I think quite the opposite is true, in fact -- but the perception, rightly or wrongly, is that the NFL has a stricter policy in place and is better policing its players. And American society will forgive almost anything if it's followed by an "I'm sorry.'' Baseball does itself absolutely no favors in the public eye with this shuck-and-duck, admit-nothing, pretend-it-doesn't-exist behavior, particularly on the part of the players. So when someone does get caught, or allegedly caught, a lot of pent-up wrath from frustrated media members/fans is going to fall on their head.
That's why, Jon.
THE NEW BALL FOUR: Indians pitcher Paul Byrd is a man of faith. And now he's writing what is being touted as ''a candid and graphic [book that looks] at how he has managed to remain true to his faith despite the pitfalls associated with a ballplayer's daily lifestyle.'' (Fanhouse)
SOLIDARITY: Actor Danny Glover went to last night's Yankees-Blue Jays game to lend his support to an effort to unionize concession workers at the Rogers Centre. (Toronto Star)
WHO KNEW? It turns out Devil Rays catcher Josh Paul's mustache really is a tribute to 1970s porn star John Holmes. (St. Petersburg Times)
QUICKLY: The Tigers' Joel Zumaya is fine after getting a scare with an injured fingernail. (mlb.com)
OLD FRIENDS: David Murphy is doing well in Texas. (Baseball Musings)
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:47 AM | Permalink
