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From Frank Galasso: Take that, Oakland »
April 3, 2008
Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
LARGER THAN LIFE: A good pitcher can make a team, any team, seem that way sometimes. So with the Red Sox' bats still somewhat somnolent as they reach the end of their round-the-world-in-19-days trek, it was up to Jon Lester to keep the Sox in the game against the A's until they managed to generate some offense. Lester did his job to perfection, holding Oakland scoreless over 6 2/3 innings and getting credit for the 5-0 win as his teammates came alive in their last three at-bats. Sean McAdam has the details, in which the Sox give plenty of credit to Lester for helping them complete their two-game sweep of the A's.
For all the talk of how difficult this trip would be, the Red Sox have actually won five of the six games they've played on it -- the two exhibition games in Tokyo, one of the two against the A's in Japan, and both games in Oakland. The last challenge: Keeping it up over the three games in Toronto this weekend.
HELPING HANDS: McAdam notes that Lester was aided yesterday by Alex Cora, who was making his first start of the season, and Bryan Corey, who continues to make a strong case for the last bullpen spot. That decision will have to come soon, with both Josh Beckett and Mike Timlin getting ready to come off the disabled list. Continuing his stellar defensive play was Kevin Youkilis, who broke Steve Garvey's record for consecutive errorless games at first base.
MUSICAL CHAIRS: With J.D. Drew back in the lineup, Jacoby Ellsbury was left standing yesterday as Terry Francona tries to make four outfielders go into three spots. "There’s not anything scientific (about the process for now)," Francona tells McAdam.
BACK EAST . . . Hard to believe the Red Sox, asleep in their Toronto hotel rooms as I write this, are back on Eastern time; that's a place they haven't been since boycott day against the Blue Jays. But while they rest tonight, the PawSox will step into the spotlight. They open their season against the Indianapolis Indians at McCoy Stadium and Joe McDonald reports it'll be Bartolo Colon on the mound.
ON FURTHER REVIEW . . . Terry Francona thinks it's time to institute a replay system in baseball. (Boston Herald) Jason Varitek's homer-that-wasn't Tuesday night was just the latest piece of evidence, in Francona's mind.
AND FURTHERMORE, WHO CARES ABOUT THE PATRIOTS AFTER WE LOST THE BOSTON YANKS?? Medford resident Wally Carew calls himself "one of a passionate but distinct minority who feels that the wrong team left Boston" 55 years ago. (Boston Globe) I can't speak to "passionate," but I'm certainly on board with "distinct minority."
THE NEW MOOSE: The New York Daily News' Bill Madden says Mike Mussina ran up against the realities of his diminished skills in a 5-2 loss to the Blue Jays, though he wasn't helped by the season-long adventure that will be Jason Giambi at first base. (New York Post) The Tao of Steib was certainly pleased.
NO BIGGIE: Joba Chamberlain pumped and danced and screamed after striking out Frank Thomas on Tuesday night, and it wasn't long ago -- remember back with Oil Can Boyd played for the Red Sox? -- that major league players took great offense at such hijinks. But the old school Thomas says times have changed and he has no problems with such theatrics anymore. (New York Daily News)
WHAT'S THAT THEY SAY ABOUT PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES?: Allan Wood provides visual evidence as to why Red Sox fans shouldn't get on their high horse about this one. (Joy of Sox)
FITNESS FIRST: Though Chamberlain doesn't appear to be the Charles Atlas type, he was stressing the importance of proper diet and exercise to a New York boys & girls club yesterday. (New York Post)
IT'S THIS KIND OF THINKING THAT LEADS YOU TO RETIRE BAILEY HOWELL'S NUMBER: Peter Abraham chides Yankee fans who booed LaTroy Hawkins on Opening Day for having the effrontery to wear No. 21 -- Paul O'Neill's old number. Abraham correctly labels O'Neill as belonging in the Hall of Very Good and not someone whose uniform should be hanging alongside Babe Ruth's and Mickey Mantle's. (LoHud Yankees Blog)
As one who has long thought the Celtics, like the Yankees, have a lax to non-existent retire-the-number criteria -- leading to Howell and Don Nelson being placed on par with Bill Russell and Larry Bird -- I can only say, right on, Pete. It's for the all-time immortals, not good players on your championship teams.
AM I MISSING SOMETHING? The Toronto Star's Richard Griffin recalls that Melky Cabrera was suspended for three games for his spring-training shenanigans against the Rays. Why then, he wants to know, was Cabrera in the lineup Tuesday night, leading the Yankees over the Blue Jays? (The answer: Baseball's elongated appeals process.)
LET'S TALK: After years of Jose Canseco accusing everyone but the groundskeepers of using steroids, MLB finally wants to bring him in and hear what he has to say. (New York Post)
POUND OF PREVENTION: Yahoo Sport's Tim Brown thinks Larry Bowa's three-game suspension for "refusing to abide by a new rule that confines him to arbitrary lines drawn by scattered groundskeepers" -- and his, uh, spirited reaction to being ejected for not following said rules -- focuses attention on an issue where MLB, in an overreaction to last summer's Mike Coolbaugh tragedy, overstepped its bounds.
THE INTERNET -- A BROADCASTER'S WORST NIGHTMARE: I listened in great amusement last night as seconds -- and I mean, literally seconds -- after Reds analyst Jeff Brantley eviscerated Edwin Encarnacion for not being "a clutch hitter . . . a clutch player" and imploring Dusty Baker to "take him out of the game," Encarnacion clubbed a walkoff, three-run homer to beat Arizona, 6-5. Used to be that announcers could smear their faces with egg the way Brantley did and it just sort of disappeared into the ether. But not today. A quick Google search of "Jeff Brantley and Encarnacion" delivered the Web sites East Windup Chronicle, Triple Steal, WSI: Totally Biased and Red Reporter, all of which had accounts of the incident . . . and none of which were particularly kind to Brantley,
BREAK TIME: To no one's surprise, the Mets announced Pedro Martinez would be sidelined four to six weeks because of the strained left hamstring that had him limping off the mound Tuesday in Miami. (New York Daily News) SI.com's Jon Heyman says that's tough, but points out the Mets aren't the only team with injury problems. And FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal wonders why "a high-revenue team is scrambling to find starting pitching in the season's first week."
EVER HEAR OF PUTTING YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS? The blog Baseball Digest Daily found Branch Rickey's 1954 scouting report of 18-year-old Don Drysdale in the Library of Congress. Rickey, who was then running the Pittsburgh Pirates, predicted Drysdale's future stardom . . . but he also said the Pirates were "in no [financial] position to make [Drysdale] a bonus player," which is why Big D achieved that stardom with the Dodgers.
NOT-SO-GRAND THEFT: On the same night the Marlins' Robert Andino beat the Mets with a walkoff home run in the 10th inning, he got word, according to mlb.com, that his South Florida home was on the verge of being robbed. He arrived at the ballpark yesterday and said everything was fine, but gave no details on the incident.
TAKE THIS JOB AND . . . White Sox GM Ken Williams is fed up with the negative perception of his team, and you can forget that Don Corleone stuff about revenge being a dish best served cold. "I'll tell you," he said, "I want to have another parade [for winning a World Series championship], and when we have another parade on the South Side, then I'll really tell people what I think." (Daily Herald)
LIGHTEN UP: The Cubs think Carlos Zambrano's forearm cramps are caused by his pregame consumption of coffee and energy drinks, and they want him to cut down on the caffeine. (Chicago Tribune)
DISCERNING CUSTOMERS I: St. Louis fans don't seem too excited about this year's Cardinals, and Yahoo Sport's Jeff Passan doesn't blame them.
DISCERNING CUSTOMERS II: The only question I have to Baltimoreans (as Joe Castiglione might say) is: What took you so long to reach this level of disgust? (Baltimore Sun)
QUICKLY: The Cubs have decided to move Alfonso Soriano back to the leadoff spot (mlb.com) . . . The signing of Rudy Seanez prompted the Phillies to designate Wes Helms, the subject of trade rumors all spring, for assignment (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . An unsubstantiated story on the Web site Examiner says the Tigers are interested in Nationals closer Chad Cordero . . . Looks like there'll be no deal between Alex Rios and the Blue Jays, at least for now (Toronto Globe and Mail) . . . Two Yankee fans had their season tickets revoked when they were caught trying to take some Yankee Stadium bunting home as souvenirs (New York Daily News) . . . Aubrey Huff began worming his way back into the hearts of angry Orioles fans by driving in four runs in a 9-6 win over the Rays (Washington Post) . . . Marcus Giles changed his mind yet again and now will join the Dodgers' Triple-A team in Las Vegas (cbssportsline.com) . . . J.J. Putz is headed to the DL because of a rib injury, which might help explain Tuesday's blown save. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
OLD FRIENDS: Derek Lowe felt much better yesterday after taking a line drive off his left calf Tuesday (Los Angeles Daily News) . . . Chris Reitsma still hasn't told the Mariners whether or not he'll report to Triple-A Tacoma. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:30 AM | Permalink
