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Baseball Today: Friday, April 4

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson

EYEING THE BIG TIME: Granted, it was the Indianapolis Indians and not, say, the Toronto Blue Jays or Detroit Tigers. But while Bartolo Colon's performance last night at McCoy Stadium doesn't guarantee he's ready to step into the Red Sox' starting rotation, it also did nothing that would lead you to believe he isn't. Jim Donaldson has the details of a dominating performance that ended with Colon blowing a 95-mph fastball past Kevin Thompson for the third strike and final out of the fifth inning. The final line: 5 innings, 1 hit (a second-inning single by Adam Boeve), 0 runs, 1 walk (to, again, the pesky Boeve) and 5 strikeouts, in a 74-pitch (45 for strikes) outing. In his game summary, Joe McDonald talks to new PawSox pitching coach Rich Sauveur, who says, "It's not my call, but if anyone watched that game tonight you'd say, 'Yeah, he's ready.' "

Colon's next turn to pitch is Tuesday. It's unlikely he'd do so in Boston -- that's the Sox' home opener, and Daisuke Matsuzaka is penciled in -- but there's always Wednesday night against the Tigers. Stay tuned.

HIM, TOO: While it's true that just about every Pawtucket player is dreaming those Boston dreams, Bobby Kielty -- like Colon -- has reason to think he'll be at Fenway sooner rather than later. McDonald caught up with him after his 0-for-4 performance last night and finds him ready for just about anything. One person who's happy Kielty's where he is, is manager Ron Johnson (right, greeting Kielty with a smile during pregame introductions). "He's got a great attitude," said the skipper.

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson

THE REST OF THE STORY: McDonald's recap of the 3-0 victory includes a look at a strong outing from Craig Hansen and reaction from newcomer Jonathan Van Every after his two-run homer.

ELSEWHERE ON THE FARM: Justin Masterson, whom we may see in Pawtucket sometime this summer, pitched well in Portland's opener. (Kennebunk Journal and Morning Sentinel)

ALMOST HOME: As for the varsity, they're happy to be back on the East Coast -- or at least in the Eastern time zone -- as they prepare for the last leg of the endless journey, a three-game series in Toronto. (Boston Herald) Tonight's game is the Blue Jays' home opener, and it also marks Kevin Cash's official debut as Tim Wakefield's personal catcher. (Boston Globe)

ALMOST DONE: And when they get home to Fenway Park, they'll find the old girl will look a little different than she did when last they saw her, after Game Two of the World Series. The Boston Globe chronicles this offseason's changes, which include new seats, a new stairway and a new Coke sign.

CRASHING THE PARTY: As the Sox were showing off the new and improved Fenway, visitors were treated to an unlikely -- and unwelcome -- sight: a hawk attack on a teenage girl who was part of a group taking a tour. (Boston Globe) She wasn't seriously hurt, but the Globe got pictures of the whole thing.

Oh, and the girl's name? Alexa Rodriguez. Honest, that's what they said.

WHY TRADE HIM WHEN YOU CAN JUST GIVE HIM AWAY FOR NOTHING? Coco Crisp is on Tracy Ringolsby's list of players whose contracts should be eaten by their respective teams. (FoxSports.com) Also on the list: Nomar Garciaparra and Dave Roberts.

AT LEAST THEY'RE NOT NED FLANDERS ANYMORE: The blog Barstool Sports presents what it calls The Definitive MLB-Simpsons Analogy List and has the Red Sox as Lisa Simpson: "Beloved by all. Used to being overlooked and trod upon, so that when they finally get a day in the sun, they don't really know what to do with it. Unfortunate tendency to get a little self-righteous. Antagonistic relationship with those in positions of power." The Yankees? Monty Burns.

BEASTS OF THE EAST? And speaking of the Blue Jays ("Bumblebee Man" in the analogy) -- which we were, a few steps back -- David Pinto is impressed with them, even though they lost two of three at Yankee Stadium. (Baseball Musings) The Jays are also part of a discussion of the A.L. East that Chad Finn participated in at Baseball Analysts.

COMING UP SMALL: The Yankees congratulated themselves for their mastery of small ball in their 3-2 win over the Blue Jays last night. (New York Daily News) Joba Chamberlain pitched again and this time he simply walked off the mound after recording the final out of the eighth -- compared to the twisting, screaming Tazmanian Devil act he pulled on Thursday -- but says he didn't tone things down in response to the widespread criticism he received. (New York Post)

ROUND THREE: Ali-Frazier, Hagler-Leonard, Yankees-Rays. The war resumes tonight, previewed by the Daily News and the Post.

PAUL WHO? Newsday's Neal Best reports Paul O'Neill, now a part-time analyst on the YES Network, was denied admission to the Blue Jays' clubhouse at Yankee Stadium on Opening Day because the security guard didn't recognize him.

THE AGE-OLD QUESTION: So how much does clubhouse chemistry have to do with on-field success? FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal discusses the issue with David Wright, under the context of: Did the Mets collapse last year because of lack of adequate leadership? Wright, not suprisingly, says no. Incidentally, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Mike Berardino takes issue with Bill James' 60 Minutes identification of Wright as his favorite player. Berardino thinks James should have picked the Marlins' Hanley Ramirez . . . although, when he compares the two, Ramirez' weaknesses in comparison to Wright (lower on-base percentage, lower slugging percentage, worse defense) seem to far outnumber his strengths (more stolen bases, a one-point edge in batting average, a year younger).

THE MARCH OF TIME: The stathead world is abuzz with the news that Murray Chass, the very well-connected but numbers-phobic baseball writer for the New York Times, is apparently being given a buyout. (The Big Lead) Flags at Fire Joe Morgan are at half-staff. But Pinto says he'll pay Chass $10,000 to write for Baseball Musings.

IF WE COULD JUST PACK HIM IN ICE AND TAKE HIM OUT FOR THE GAMES: ESPN.com's Jayson Stark finds it impossible to believe that not one of the 30 big-leagues teams has room for Barry Bonds, who, as he points out, "did out-homer Vladimir Guerrero, Gary Sheffield and Travis Hafner last year, you know. He did have a higher slugging percentage than Mark Teixeira, Adam Dunn and Carlos Beltran. He did reach base more times than Manny Ramirez, Johnny Damon and Torii Hunter." So he talks to three executives with big-league teams, who give the honest, if anonynous, answer: The on-field Barry Bonds element may be tempting, but the complete Barry Bonds package is so onerous that no one wants to deal with it.

JUST SAY NO: Over the years, the Twins' Joe Mauer has always hit far better on the road than he has at home. His manager, Ron Gardenhire, thinks Mauer is too nice a guy and needs to learn to turn down the hometown folks tugging for his time in order to better prepare for games. (St. Paul Pioneer Press)

MAD-EYE MOODY WOULD BE PROUD: The Chicago Tribune's Rick Morrissey starts off with what seems to be a nice little column on Steve Bartman -- who, as we noted the other day, was (finally) exonerated by Moises Alou on the Play That Must Not Be Named -- but he quickly turns it into a nuclear attack on Jay Mariotti, whom he refers to as "Lord Voldemort over at the Sun-Times."

HUMAN SACRIFICE, DOGS AND CATS LIVING TOGETHER, MASS HYSTERIA! Who would have thought the Royals would be 3-0 and the Tigers 0-3 . . . especially when their first three games were against each other, and in Detroit, no less? That's where we stand today, however, after Kansas City completed the sweep with a 4-1 victory. (Kansas City Star) But while the Royals revel (SI.com), the Tigers stew. 'We stunk' was Jim Leyland's assessment (Detroit News), and the News' Lynn Henning is already wondering if owner Mike Ilitch is getting bang for the considerable amount of bucks he's spending. To make it worse, Gary Sheffield is probably headed to the disabled list because of a torn tendon in his finger. (Detroit Free Press)

ON THE FIELD: Johnny Cuerto (seven innings, 10 strikeouts) had an amazing debut for the Reds in a 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks (Cincinnati Enquirer) . . . The Giants threw caution to the wind with Tim Lincecum and it paid off with a victory over the Dodgers (San Jose Mercury News) . . . Kerry Wood got his first career save as the Cubs beat the Brewers (Chicago Tribune) . . . The Phillies derailed the Nationals' juggernaut, at least for a day. (Philadephia Inquirer)

QUICKLY: Sounds like Scott Kazmir is on the road to recovery (St. Petersburg Times) . . . Not so Mike Hampton (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . The San Francisco Chronicle thinks that if the A's are showcasing Rich Harden, his trade value rose with his five shutout innings against the Red Sox Wednesday.

OLD FRIENDS: Alex Gonzalez is at the stage of his rehab where he's ready to take BP (Cincinnati Enquirer) . . . Freddy Sanchez continues to have problems with his shoulder. (Rotoworld.com)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:29 AM | Permalink