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May 30, 2008
Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson
ONE AND DONE? Justin Masterson's stay in Pawtucket might not be a long one, not with the Red Sox probably in need of another starter next Tuesday. If so, his first appearance at McCoy Stadium -- which he made last night against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (above) -- might be his last, at least for a while. And he made it a memorable one, reports Shalise Manza Young, throwing six strong innings in what everyone assumes was a tuneup for a start against the Rays at Fenway Park next week. Masterson and PawSox manager Ron Johnson review the performance (favorably, of course) and Johnson, for good measure, also gives a thumbs-up to a batch of butterscotch-oatmeal cookies baked by Masterson's wife. She apparently enjoys delivering cookies to the clubhouse of whatever team her husband is with; she could be dropping some off in Boston in five days.
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: Rumors are flying that Jeff Bailey might be joining the Red Sox for their weekend series in Baltimore; Joe McDonald reported them Wednesday and the Boston Globe's Gordon Edes repeated them today. We'll find out this afternoon sometime whether or not they're true, and if they are Bailey made his farewell to McCoy -- temporary though it may be -- one for the books. Young relates he had his second two-home-run game of the homestand in the PawSox' 5-2 win, and also had two pitches thrown behind his head by Scranton/WB starter Dan McCutchen. That little bit of Red Sox/Yankee nastiness earned McCutchen and his manager, Dave Miley, the 'ol heave-ho.
NOT SO MIGHTY 'PEN: Both the Globe's Amalie Benjamin and the Boston Herald's Jeff Horrigan look at the Red Sox' bullpen deficiencies. Benjamin's story is centered entirely on the relief corps, while Horrigan examines them as part of a review of the entire pitching staff.
SPEAK FOR YOURSELF: Javy Lopez, however, has been doing his job as a LOOGY -- Left-Handed One-Out GuY, for those of you unaware with the term (though I doubt many people here fit that description) -- to perfection. (Not that Terry Francona only uses him for a batter at a time, but he's been much better against left-handers this year than he was in 2007.) He talks about his season with Joe Haggerty on the Hacks With Haggs blog.
NO JOSHING AROUND: The Herald's Michael Silverman says now that Daisuke Matsuzaka may be sidelined for a while, it's time for Josh Beckett to step up and start pitching like an ace again.
WRONG COUNT: Baseball Musings' David Pinto examines Matsuzaka's game logs and concludes the Red Sox are "more interested in limiting his innings than his pitches," since Matsuzaka's highest pitch-count games have come in those instances when he's walking a lot of batters. Pinto sees walks as a sign that a pitcher's mechanics may be off; bad mechanics, he adds, may be a sign of fatigure, and fatigue can lead to injury.
HOP ON BOARD, BREWERS FANS: You may have seen this yesterday on this very blog, but Julian Tavarez forgot his World Series ring in his locker at Fenway Park after being let go by the Red Sox (Madison Times). Deadspin's Will Leitch, who's a Cardinals fan, says Sox and Cards fan alike have "ridden the Julian Tavarez crazy train."
UNFRIENDLY CONFINES: Baltimore -- where he hasn't hit a home run since May 16, 2006 -- might not be the best place right now for Manny Ramirez as he sits one homer away from No. 500. (Boston Herald)
'OUR JOB IS KEEPING THEM QUIET' That's new Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail challenge to his players since "so many people [come to Camden Yards] rooting for the Yankees and Red Sox." (Baltimore Sun) So far, so good; the O's are 6-2 against the Sox and Yanks in Baltimore this year, with Boston in town for a four-game series starting tonight.
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY: Word came down yesterday that Troy Percival's hamstring injury isn't considered serious. But the Rays placed him on the disabled list anyway (St. Petersburg Times), and the Tampa Tribune's Joe Henderson says it's a good idea "because that's what a team looking at the long haul does".
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SAW THIS? Trying to figure out when national baseball columnists, like the Philadelphia Daily News' Paul Hagen, were writing about the Rays at the beginning of June? "Never" would be my guess.
OR THIS? The blog Rays of Light is guiltily, but giddily, looking ahead to potential playoff previews.
NOT TO ME, THEY'RE NOT: The Hardball Times' Geoff Baker doesn't include the Rays in his look at early-season surprises.
TAKE YOUR PICK: You can either choose to believe that the Yankees' pilot light has been extinguished (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) or that they're just a hot streak away from another late playoff run. (New York Observer) The Star-Tribune's case, I have to say, would carry more weight if it hadn't described the Horace Clarke Era as being in the mid-1970s. As we well know around here, Clarke was long gone by then and the Yankees won the pennant in 1976 and the World Series in 1977 and '78.
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: The New York Daily News' Mark Feinsand warns that Joba Chamberlain won't "rule their starting rotation - at least not yet."
STOKE YOUR ENTHUSIASM: Jorge Posada says he's almost ready to rejoin the Yanks. (New York Daily News) And Hank Steinbrenner says he still has high hopes for Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. (New York Post)
KID TROUBLES: The Yankees are having more disciplinary problems with 19-year-old Trenton outfielder Jose Tabata. (nj.com)
'RUE-LESS JOE': Love that New York Post headline about Joe Torre, who's back in the Big Apple with the Dodgers and who couldn't have made it clearer that the Yankees are in his rear-view mirror. The blog River Ave. Blues makes it just as clear that the feeling is mutual on the other side of the fence: "I loved Joe in New York, and I think it’s too bad that he couldn’t still be around to manage the team into the new stadium. But I still think it was the right move for him and the Yanks to part ways."
WAKE UP, SMELL COFFEE: It appears Willie Randolph may be ready to pull the plug on Carlos Delgado, at least as an everyday player. (New York Post)
WAVING THE CAP: In a fascinating look at the salary-cap structure in the four major sports, Mark Cuban concludes MLB and the NFL can survive without a salary cap, but it's necessary in the NBA and NHL. (blogmaverick.com) Why? Because for a sport to survive without a cap "it must be a [sport] where it takes more than 1 or 2 players to lead a team to a championship. Otherwise, the richest teams can just buy those 2 players, with a 3rd as insurance, which means the competitive balance of the league is purely dependent on finances. That is not a good position to be in." While you may dismiss these as simply the musings of an NBA owner, ShysterBall's Craig Calcaterra thinks Cuban may end up owning the Cubs when all is said and done.
LOSS LEADER: It's now 11 losses in a row (and counting) for the Royals, and as a result Joe Posnanski is back writing for the Kansas City Star. (His editor is one smart cookie; I'll have to remember her tactics.) The losing streak has resulted in Billy Butler being sent to the minor leagues and Jose Guillen offering to step into the role of Team Leader, which must have heads shaking and tongues wagging from Anaheim to Washington to Seattle. (Both stories Kansas City Star.)
THE RACE IS ON: It appears Jake Peavy will get back to the mound faster than Chris Young as the two Padre aces recover from their respective injuries. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
SO WHO'S WILLIE AND THE DUKE? The Dallas Morning News' Tim MacMahon says Josh Hamilton is the modern-day Mickey Mantle, from his on-field talents to his substance-abuse problems.
LOCAL BOYS: Pinto fingers the struggling Paul Konerko as one of the reasons that offense in the American League is down. But he had a good game last night against the Rays, and if he begins to hit more like Paul Konerko that bodes very well for the surprising White Sox.
HERE AND THERE: Time to start a Chipper Jones Watch? He's now hitting .420 after going 2-for-4 yesterday (mvn.com) . . . John Smoltz says his rehab is coming along nicely (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . Wrigley Field is one of the spots under consideration for an outdoor NHL game between the Blackhawks and Red Wings (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . Aaron Harang's four sterling innings in the 17-inning game at San Diego Sunday came back to bite both him and the Reds yesterday (mlb.com) . . . Randy Johnson tied Roger Clemens for second place on the all-time strikeouts list last night (mlb.com) . . . The Mariners eventually plan to put Brendan Morrow in the starting rotation, but his bullpen success so far means in probably won't happen this year. (Seattle Times)
OLD FRIENDS: Phil Dumatrait pitched what was, perhaps, the game of his career as he led the Pirates over the team that released him last year, the Reds (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . Rudy Seanez may not have pitched forever -- it only seems that way -- but it's been 17 years in the big leagues now and he credits martial arts for his longevity. (Philadelphia Daily News)
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:51 AM | Permalink
