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February 9, 2008
Journal photo by Bob Breidenbach
G38: The story of the day -- the story of the last several days -- is Curt Schilling and Joe McDonald lays out the details in today's enstallment. I won't recap them here -- you can click the link for details -- but will, instead, point you to the fringes of the thing: To the Herald's Steve Buckley, who says that, love him or hate him, we're all going to miss him; to FoxSports' blogger crookdnose, who wonders if Schilling's failure to come clean earlier cost the Sox a chance at Johan Santana (his answer: no); to FoxSports' Ken Rosenthal, who says Schilling's injury is a constant reminder of how fragile pitching can be and that the Sox can't afford another blow to the rotation.
But leave it to Joe Posnanski to address the issue that I've been thinking about throughout this whole episode. In a nutshell: In this wired era of direct contact between subject and audience, with so many out there applauding the circumvention of the mainstream-media middleman, this indicates starkly the need for that middleman. Schilling is the most open of athletes, blogging regularly and in great detail about many things of interest to fans . . . but when his arm failed him, he didn't say a word until the issue was outed (by the mainstream media). His season, his career, and the state of the Red Sox' 2008 pitching rotation were all in play, and he was writing about John McCain.
And I'm not saying that's wrong. It's not his job to report on himself or his team. He shares his thoughts, he illuminates the fans on aspects of the game, he corrects or puts into context things the media have bollixed. But, by the very nature of who he is and what he does, he can't be expected to provide an objective, unbiased assessment that tells the whole story, any more than, say, I could be expected to provide an objective, unbiased assessment of The Providence Journal sports department. What he can tell you -- better than anybody -- is his side of the story. If the media's doing their job right, you get both sides of the story.
I'm not being as clear as I want to be on this, and I strongly recommend you click the link to Posnanski's blog entry. But I think this shows why it's not realistic to think that all we need to do is punch up an athlete's blog to find out all that's going on.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB: But that's not to say I don't enjoy athlete's blogs. The latest cyberspace author: The Yankees' Phil Hughes, who's off to a pretty promising start. Keep it up, Phil. At least outdo the pretty lame blogs of Clay Buchholz and Kevin Youkilis.
CONFLICTING OPINIONS: Derek Jeter thinks the Sox will miss Schilling, but Jorge Posada says his replacements may be just as good. (New York Daily News)
GETTING SO MUCH BETTER ALL THE TIME: Baseball Musing's David Pinto spent part of his offseason analyzing the offenses of each team and says the Red Sox will be better in 2008 than they were in 2007, at least in terms of runs scored. The reasons: Jacoby Ellsbury will be better than Coco Crisp, Dustin Pedroia should continue to improve, and the three veterans who had off-years (for them) in '07 -- Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo -- should bounce back to their expected levels of production.
MANNY BEING . . . WHO? The Boston Globe's Stan Grossfeld reports that Ramirez has been a workout fiend in Arizona this offseason.
SAME HERE: Pinto also examines the Yankee offense and concludes that it'll be among the best no matter how new manager Joe Girardi deploys the pieces.
FIRST LOOK: ESPN.com's Jonah Keri, writing for the YES Network, does a PECOTA-based statistical analysis of the 2008 Yankees. Conclusion: ''The biggest question mark, as it was for much of last season, is the bullpen.''
NO RELIEF FROM JOBA: And one of the reasons the bullpen is still a question mark is that Joba Chamberlain appears headed to the rotation. (mlb.com)
ELSEWHERE IN THE EAST . . . The Toronto Star does a quick Blue Jays' preview.
HE'S BAACCK: Carl Pavano is at the Yankees' minor-league complex as the team tries to salvage something, anything, from the four-year, $40 million contract they gave him in the winter of 2004-05. (New York Post)
HE'S NOT: Mike Stanley left the Yankees just before their championship run began and missed a chance to rejoin them at the end of it, and admits it still bothers him that he never got a championship ring. (Newsday)
IT'S FOR THE BEST: Don Mattingly admits that, in light of the family problems that have become public in recent weeks, it's probably a good thing he lost out to Girardi for the Yankees' managing job. (New York Daily News) The link, by the way, contains a particularly unflattering police mug shot of Kim Mattingly.
AND ON AND ON IT GOES: The Roger Clemens/Brian McNamee blood feud (pun intentional) went to another level Friday when McNamee claimed he also injected Debbie Clemens with HGH. (New York Daily News)
WHO DO YOU ROOT FOR IN THIS ONE? Chad Finn's having a hard time figuring that out, too. (touchingallthebases.blogspot.com)
PAGING MR. CLEMENS: Old friend Allan Wood has assembled the tabloid pages of the Roger Clemens saga.
MORE REACTION: Having weighed in on Schilling, Jeter and Posada turn their attention to Clemens. Nothing earthshattering, as you can well imagine.
HIS REWARD: The main domino in this scenario, the one whose arrest started the investigation rolling, was former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski. Because of his cooperation with the authorities, he got off with five months' probation. (Yahoo! Sports)
DIDN'T DO IT: Jack Cust is just as adamant as Clemens that he didn't take performance-enhancing drugs despite his inclusion in the Mitchell Report. (espn.com)
NOT SO FAST: Rosenthal doesn't think the acquisition of Erik Bedard solves all the Mariners' problems.
OH, YEAH? The Seattle Times' Steve Kelley disagrees.
TOO HIGH A PRICE: ESPN.com's Keith Law thinks the M's overpaid for Bedard.
ANATOMY OF A DEAL: Larry Stone of the Times details how it all went down.
FINALLY! Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan thinks the trading of Bedard is a signal that the Orioles are back on the right track. The Baltimore Sun explains the change in philosophy, and provides a quoteboard of reaction.
MISSING SIGNS: For many years -- 1964-81, we're told -- The Sign Man of Shea was fixture at Mets' home game. His name was Karl Ehrhardt and he passed away at age 83. (New York Times)
GODSPEED: Tommy Lasorda pens a farewell message to his "good friend'' Bobby Knight. (tommy.mlbblogs.com)
END OF THE LINE: Many of Lasorda's old Brooklyn teammates are saddened that this is probably the team's last spring training at Dodgertown in Vero Beach. (Palm Beach Post)
HERE AND THERE: The Pirates have looked into signing Bartolo Colon (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . The Detroit News' Lynn Henning thinks that, when all is said and done, Brandon Inge will remain with the Tigers . . . The Phillies are interested in Kris Benson (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . The Reds and A's are talking about a Joe Blanton deal (Cincinnati Enquirer) . . . The Brian Roberts-to-the-Cubs rumors are percolating again (Chicago Sun-Times).
OLD FRIENDS: Eric Hinske signed a minor-league contract with the Devil Rays (rotoworld.com) . . . The recuperating Anibal Sanchez isn't sure when he'll be pitching again for the Marlins. (Miami Herald) ''Maybe by the All-Star break,'' he says . . . Mike Maroth has hooked on with the Royals (rotoworld.com) . . . Kent Mercker -- remember him? -- is attempting a comeback with the Reds (Dayton Daily News) . . . Tony Clark appears headed to San Diego (San Diego Union-Tribune) . . . Keith Foulke is ending his one-year retirement and returning to the A's (San Francisco Chronicle).
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 10:44 AM to Martone
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