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Multimedia: Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, from Los Angeles »
March 28, 2008
Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
BACK TO NORMAL: It was only an optional workout at Dodger Stadium, but most of the Red Sox -- like Mike Lowell (above) -- were there yesterday, anxious to resume their normal routines after a week in Japan that was anything but . . . well, routine. Sean McAdam was on hand, as well, reporting on the workout and other items, such as J.D. Drew's improving back and Mike Timlin's still-injured finger.
PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE . . . that the Red Sox plan to stress when it comes to their young players. In conversations with our own Joe McDonald, both Theo Epstein and Terry Francona say they'll give Clay Buccholz and Jacoby Ellsbury the same sort of support they gave Dustin Pedroia, who struggled both in his two-month stint with the Sox at the end of '06 and in the first month last year, and will try to manage unrealistic public expectations of people who don't realize that, as Epstein says, "Development isn’t a linear thing."
CASE IN POINT: Like, for instance, the Boston Herald's Gerry Callahan, who tears into Francona for not handing the center field/leadoff job to Ellsbury.
AP Photo
'YOUR AVERAGE BACKYARD WHIFFLE BALL GAME': That's what the Boston Globe's Eric Wilbur thinks we'll see Saturday night when the Sox and Dodgers face off in the L.A. Coliseum (above), with its 201-foot left-field fence.
60-MINUTE MAN: 60 Minutes will profile the Red Sox' Bill James on Sunday night, and cbsnews.com's report on James includes a couple of video clips.
THAT'S OUR GUY: Emil Brown's front-and-center performance -- both good and bad -- in the Sox-A's series in Japan has Joe Posnanski remembering Brown's days in Kansas City -- both good and bad.
LOOKING AHEAD: Anybody can pick an MVP or Cy Young winner after the season. FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal gives out these awards before the year starts, and he selects Terry Francona as Manager of the Year and Clay Buchholz as the A.L.'s Breakout Player. The baseball team at yahoo.com does the same thing; one of them picks Jon Lester as the breakout player.
NOT ACCORDING TO ME: John Dewan doesn't have Buchholz or Lester on his list of players who may have breakout years based on their spring-training stats. (actasports.com) To be fair, though, Dewan only looked at hitters . . . though there were no Sox on that list, either. One Yankee (Robinson Cano) made it.
ASK 14: Sullivan Tires has started a blog for Jim Rice in which he answers readers' questions. Today's inquiry: Whether or not Buchholz will stick with the Sox. (Jim says yes.)
RAY GUNS: Writing for SportingNews.com, David Pinto says Tampa Bay has a better starting rotation than either the Red Sox or Yankees.
RACE TO THE ALTAR: Hideki Matsui got married Wednesday, enabling him to win a bet with Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu over who would take his vows first. But Jeter -- as you'll see if you get to the bottom of the story -- isn't ready to concede just yet. (New York Times)
NO DEAL: Hank Steinbrenner denies reports that the Yankees are for sale. (New York Daily News)
GOOD CAUSE: The blog River Ave. Blues is holding a season-long pledge drive to raise money for The Jorge Posada Foundation, which provides emotional and financial support to families with children affected by craniosynostosis. Posada's son suffers from the disease.
GETTING CLOSER: The New York Times reports MLB and the Players Association are moving towards an agreement on the Mitchell Report’s recommendations on performance-enhancing drugs, which would include an amnesty on discipline for any players mentioned in the report but would also install "year-round drug testing and other measures" moving forward.
THE STORY THAT WON'T GO AWAY: As Brian McNamee was in the Boston area yesterday, telling kids not to make the mistakes he made (Boston Herald), Jose Canseco started blasting away at him as he defended his friend Roger Clemens. (New York Daily News) Canseco, of course, identified Clemens as a steroids user in his new book, though now he's backtracking from his own words and claims 'ol Rog is clean as a whistle.
PASSING THE TASTE TEST: The blog Bleacher Banter gives a thumbs-up to the food at the new Nationals Park.
SHORT STUFF: Orioles manager Dave Trembley threatens to "put a size 11 1/2 where it don't shine" -- jokingly (we think) -- if Nick Markakis doesn't stop taking grounders in the infield during batting practice. (Baltimore Sun)
WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? The blog Outs Per Swing: A Tampa Bay Rays Blog doesn't see why sending Evan Longoria to the minor leagues is such a bad thing.
THE OTHER TRIP: Eric Neel has a fascinating look at the visit to China by Joe Torre and the Dodgers earlier this month. (espn.com)
HERE AND THERE: It looks like Scott Rolen's broken finger will sideline him until May (mlb.com) . . . Another third baseman, the Dodgers' Tony Abreu, will also start the season on the DL (Los Angeles Daily News) . . . The Padres and Rays have expressed interest in Mariners outfielder Jeremy Reed. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
OLD FRIENDS: We don't think of baseball players having tattoos, mainly because not much of them is uncovered when they're in uniform, but Joe Haggerty reports ex-Sox reliever Rudy Seanez "had the fiercest body art ever seen in Fenway’s home clubhouse" (Hacks With Haggs blog) . . . Wily Mo Pena is recovering faster than expected from his strained left oblique (mlb.com) . . . Freddy Sanchez still hopes to be ready by Opening Day (mlb.com) . . . Bronson Arroyo had quite a spring (rotoworld.com) . . . Eric Hinske will be the Rays' fifth outfielder. (St. Petersburg Times)
THE REAL WORLD, PART ONE: We all love baseball and have fun with virtually every part of it, but sadness is part of the package, as well. ESPN's Jeff Pearlman profiles Jami Dawn Kennedy four months after the shocking death of her 27-year-old husband, big-league pitcher Joe Kennedy, because of hypertensive heart disease.
THE REAL WORLD, PART TWO: According to Baseball Musing's David Pinto, Peter Gammons is reporting that the Diamondbacks' Doug Davis has thyroid cancer. No word yet in the mainstream media on Davis' condition.
-- ART MARTONE
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