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April 25, 2008
Journal photo / Mary Murphy
MASTERFUL: Baseball Musing's David Pinto has the headline we almost used for Justin Masterson's performance yesterday in his emergency start against the Angels, and it certainly fits. Because, in the words of Paul Kenyon, "A few years from now, or maybe even in only a few months, not many people are likely to remember that the Red Sox bullpen blew a lead yesterday and the Sox lost to the Angels, 7-5. It is very likely, though, that many will remember they were there the day Justin Masterson made his major-league debut." Steven Krasner gives his first-day impressions in Inside The Game. And on his Hacks With Haggs blog, Joe Haggerty has a quick Q-and-A with Red Sox director of player development Mike Hazen about Masterson.
The skunk at yesterday's garden party was the bullpen (Boston Herald), which turned a 3-1 seventh-inning lead -- and a potential Masterson victory -- into a 7-3 ninth-inning deficit that was only made more respectable by David Ortiz' two-out, two-run homer in the ninth (described here by Krasner). But a loss in the 24th game of the season, no matter how it happens, is backpage news when a pitcher performs as well as Justin Masterson his first time on the big stage. He's going back to Portland now -- Bryan Corey is replacing him on the roster -- but we'll no doubt be seeing more of him. And perhaps very soon.
M*A*S*H NOTES: Krasner notes that Josh Beckett looks okay to make his Sunday start, but the flu-ridden Daisuke Matsuzaka will stay home this weekend and miss the series in Tampa.
MANNY BEING MANNY: You can't say a bad word about Manny Ramirez to some people, and Krasner acknowledges that he may catch some heat from the Manny Can Do No Wrong You Mediot You crowd, but he still takes Ramirez to task for not hustling on wind-blown, second-inning popup that fell in for a hit, a hit that should have been a double but was only a single because he "lolly-gagged his way down the first-base line." Kraz also chronicles the first rematch between Ramirez and Francisco Rodriguez since Manny won Game Two of the ALDS with a home run that just recently touched down somewhere over the Canadian border; K-Rod won this battle though Ramirez did drive the ball to the triangle in center.
COCO BEING COCO: Krasner and Kenyon detail a successful return to the lineup by Coco Crisp, and Krasner breaks down Crisp's fourth-inning steal of third.
JUNK TO YOU, TREASURE TO ME: The David Ortiz jersey that was buried under the new Yankee Stadium proved to be a $175,100 windfall for the Jimmy Fund. (New York Daily News)
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY: Casey Kotchman missed Game Three of last year's ALDS because of food poisoning. But even though he's pretty sure he got it from something he ate on the plane ride from Boston to Los Angeles after Game Two, he avoided all food, except for a few protein bars, at Fenway Park during the just-concluded series. (Los Angeles Times)
ASK 14: Jim Rice's blog is certainly no 38pitches.com, but for what it is -- a forum for Rice to answer questions from readers -- it continually delivers. Today he refutes an assertion that the Sox were too conservative in keeping him out of the 1975 World Series by stating, "I couldn’t play. I couldn’t grip a bat."
DOWN ON THE FARM: Mike Szostak has an interesting conversation with PawSox knuckleballer Charlie Zink.
DON'T BOTHER: A Roy Oswalt-to-the-Yankees rumor began circulating yesterday (mlb.com), but he's already told the Houston Chronicle the only three teams to whom he'd accept a trade are the Red Sox, Cardinals and Braves.
THE PATRIOTS CAN TELL YOU HOW TOUGH IT IS TO BE PERFECT: Joba Chamberlain suffered his first major-league loss last night as the White Sox pushed across a run in the ninth and beat the Yankees, 7-6. And if that's not bad enough, the next stop for Joba (and the Yanks) is Cleveland, where a swarm of midges derailed their postseason hopes last October. (New York Post) Phil Hughes was last night's starting pitcher but was lifted after two innings because of a rain delay. The Daily News' John Harper says that was the right move by manager Joe Girardi.
GIVE HIM A MINUTE, WILL YA? The blog Bugs and Cranks thinks it's absurdly early to be giving a thumbs-down, or a thumbs-up, on Hughes.
EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING: At least that's how most Yankee fans are probably responding to the news that Kyle Farnsworth hurt his elbow last night. (LoHud Yankees Blog)
REACTION TIME: Writing in the New York Sun, Steven Goldman says both the Yankees and Mets have been slower to address their problems than their competitors.
HANG IN THERE: Jim Kaat says that while the current Yankees "don't compare to the ones of the late 1990s", they can still win the East if they stay in contention all season and put themselves in position to make a run by Labor Day. (yesnetwork.com)
ACE WILD: Francisco Liriano's recovery from elbow surgery isn't going well -- as yesterday's "nine-batter beatdown" in an 11-2 loss to the A's demonstrates -- and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire all but said after the game that the left-hander, now 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA, will be sent to the minor leagues next week to get the rehab work he needs. (St. Paul Pioneer Press) Pinto, who wonders if Liriano is worried about reinjuring himself, thinks that's a good idea.
STAGE FRIGHT: The blog The Good Phight lists the seven stages of sports star appreciation in Philadelphia, and notes with worry that Ryan Howard is in Stage Five, from which "[most] players do not recover." But Pat Burrell, said to be buried in Stage Six, was a hero for the Phils again yesterday. (Philadephia Inquirer)
AND THE WINNER IS . . . Oakland. The A's are the team that landed Frank Thomas. (San Jose Mercury News)
COUNTING DOWN TO AN EXPLOSION: The Bucco Blog is furious at the way the Pirates are handling Tom Gorzelanny, and says he needs to be shut down. Perhaps the Bucs could take a cue from the Japanese high school coach who forfeited a game that his team trailed 66-0 in the second inning because he was afraid his pitcher's pitch count would reach 500 by the fourth inning. (Reuters)
REPAYING HIS DEBT TO SOCIETY: Nationals outfielder Elijah Dukes spent 25 hours last week cleaning out cages and mopping at a Tampa zoo as way of getting his probation on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge reduced by five months. (St. Petersburg Times) Dukes had the time because he's on the disabled list due to a hamstring pull.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE: Remember Statman, the guy who provided so much entertainment when he revealed himself to be Dan Duquette's statistical analyst in the spring of 1997? He's back, and he's calling on all fans "bombard their team owners with letters and emails and petitions demanding that their team hire Barry Bonds." The blog Big League Stew has done just that -- sort of -- to the Indians, but Royals fans need not bother; their team isn't interested. (Kansas City Star)
SOUND FAMILIAR? It's probably just a coincidence that they made this announcement two months after Dr. Charles Steinberg joined them from the Red Sox, but the Dodgers yesterday announced ambitious plans to renovate Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Times), and they want to have it finished by the stadium's 50th anniversary in 2012 . . . the same year the Sox say they'll be finished with their renovations of Fenway Park, which that year will be celebrating its 100th anniversary.
THE REAL CURSE: The Sporting News' Gerry Fraley calls it "the curse of the Mitchell Report," and says it's struck Jason Giambi and Eric Gagne particularly hard.
AMNESTY MEANS AMNESTY: Bud Selig says that just as players named in the Mitchell Report face no discipline from MLB, neither do team executives who were implicated. (New York Daily News)
STICK TO THE SPONSOR: NJ.com reports players aren't allowed to drink water in the dugouts at Chicago's US Cellular Field. They can only take Gatorade, which is Major League Baseball's "official sports drink."
OH, FOR A MULLIGAN: FoxSports' Tracy Ringolsby lists 12 deals general managers wish they had back. No Red Sox transactions made the list, though the Yankees (Carl Pavano) had one.
GAME OF THE DAY: Tim Lincecum outdueled Chris Young as the Giants beat the Padres, 1-0. (San Jose Mercury News)
I GOT A BASEBALL JONES: SI.com's John Donovan looks at the one-time Braves tandem of Chipper and Andruw Jones, who have gone their separate ways both geographically and career-wise.
THE WRIGHT STUFF: The blog Big League Stew has an interesting sitdown with the Mets' David Wright.
FIRST OF MANY? Ron Washington could the inaugural managerial casualty of 2008 if the Rangers don't turn things around soon. (Dallas Morning News)
BROKEN: On his blog earlier this week, Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun said his team's road trip "could make or break our April." With three straight losses to the Rays, guess we know which way it's going.
HERE AND THERE: Harold Reynolds is joining the studio team at the Mets' network, SportsNet New York (New York Daily News) . . . The Orioles' 8-7 win over the Mariners was tempered by the news that Adam Loewen has forearm discomfort (Baltimore Sun) . . . Gary Sheffield says he doesn't know what's wrong with his shoulder (Detroit Free Press) . . . The Giants have no intention of skipping a start or two of the struggling Barry Zito. (San Francisco Chronicle)
OLD FRIENDS: Another ex-Red Sox reliever blew a game in relief for the Brewers yesterday, but this time it was David Riske and not Eric Gagne (Wisconsin State Journal) . . . Dave Roberts, who'll be out three months because of knee surgery, says he knows he may have lost his job to Fred Lewis but he understands that's how it goes (San Francisco Chronicle) . . . Justin Duchscherer will return to the A's rotation Saturday. (rotoworld.com)
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
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