Baseball Today: Tuesday, May 13

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CLAY-MAKER: Bob Gibson was 3-6 with a 5.61 ERA in his first full season in the major leagues. Sandy Koufax was 2-4, 4.91. Greg Maddux was 6-14, 5.61. The list goes on and on, even among contemporary stars -- Josh Beckett (6-7, 4,10), Ben Sheets (11-10, 4.76), Tom Glavine (7-17, 4.56). The education of a young pitcher is like the education of anything else: In most instances, it takes time.

And thus we come to Clay Buchholz. No matter how well he pitched last September -- and pitch well he did, even beyond the no-hitter (Projo Sox Blog) -- he's a) 23 years old, b) in his first full year in the big leagues, and c) still learning his craft. What he learned last night was that when you don't have command of your fastball you don't have a whole lot, a lesson the Twins pounded into him over 4 2/3 innings in a 7-3 Minnesota win. Steven Krasner reports that the inconsistency in locating his fastball "soon spread to [Buchholz'] other pitches, resulting in five walks, three of them leading off an inning, always a recipe for disaster." By the time Terry Francona ended his evening (above), his record was on its way down to 2-3, his ERA on its way up to 5.53 (Projo Stats), and the Bartolo Watch, which we alluded to yesterday, was probably on its way to the starting line (and with reason; if the option is losing Colon, then sending Buchholz back to Pawtucket makes all the sense in the world). Our pals over at Sons of Sam Horn are already talking the talk.

A no-hitter in your second major-league start is what they call an indicator of ability, but turning that ability into skill isn't an overnight process. We're told the same thing over and over -- we even said it at the very beginning of all this -- and it bears repeating: It just takes time. Ask Bob. And Sandy. And Greg.

UNHOLY TRINITY: Sick of ESPN's Red Sox/Yankee-centric view of the world, Shysterball is taking at least a little delight in the struggles of Buchholz, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy.

ODD MAN OUT: Considering the haphazard way he was used all season, not to mention how poorly he pitched when he did get to the mound, it came as no surprise when word arrived yesterday afternoon that Julian Tavarez had been designated for assignment. Krasner reports Tavarez' departure means Craig Hansen gets to stay a while. Kraz also has some postgame notes, including a Julio Lugo medical update.

HEAD TO THE ROCKIES: The Denver Post reports the on-again/off-again trade discussions between the Red Sox and Colorado regarding Tavarez are on again, and a deal could be struck within a matter of days.

MAN-SIZED INSPIRATION: Some look to the Bible. Others to philosophers. But Arnold Schwarzenegger is the wind beneath Craig Hansen's wings. (Boston Herald)

THEY NOTICED! Krasner reports Kevin Youkilis was named American League Player of the Week.

TWO TO GO: Manny Ramirez clubbed home run No. 498 last night, and Krasner has his postgame reaction on that . . . and some other topics, too.

NO OFFENSE: Jim Rice says he's not at all irritated by Manny Ramirez' claim that he's the best defensive left fielder in Red Sox history, but then he basically asserts that Manny is full of beans. (ask14.sullivantire.com)

JINX THIS: Baseball Analysts includes Dustin Pedroia, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima in its look at 2007 rookies seeking to avoid the sophomore jinx in 2008. It has nice things to say about all of them, particularly Pedroia.

CREAM OF THE CROP: Even though three losses in four games in Minnesota may have dimmed the shine a little bit, almost everyone agrees: The Red Sox are the class of the A.L. East, and probably of the entire American League. (Boston Globe)

WHAT WE WORRY ABOUT: Remember all the fretting about how, between the Tokyo trip and the tough April schedule, the Sox would be lucky to be around .500 at this stage of the season? Boston.com's Eric Wilbur reminds us how silly all that was.

IT'S ALL THE SAME TO ME: In his last game with Boston, Jed Lowrie homered. Last night, in his first game with Pawtucket, he homered again. Joe McDonald tells us all about it.

'BEATING THE EVIL EMPIRE IS AWESOME': So said the Rays' Jonny Gomes after Tampa Bay's 7-1 smackdown of the Yanks. (St. Petersburg Times) Somewhere Larry Lucchino is smiling.

NOT YET: The New York Times reports Alex Rodriguez won't be ready to return in time for this weekend's series against the Mets.

TRADE DEFICIT CONTINUES: Baseball Musings' David Pinto notes that last night's hero for the Rays, Dioner Navarro, not only was traded away by the Yankees (for Randy Johnson), but that he'd look awfully good in pinstripes right now, since Jorge Posada is on the disabled list.

SPECIAL KEI: At least he is to Ian Kennedy. Igawa's meatball special Friday night in Detroit was enough to convince the Yankees to summon Kennedy back from the minors. (New York Daily News)

CLASS AND DIGNITY, MY FOOT: The blog Bugs and Cranks takes Goose Gossage to task for admonishing Joba Chamberlain to "act like a Yankee." It points out that acting like a Yankee over the years has included the Fritz Peterson/Mike Kekich wife-swap, not to mention Reggie Jackson standing at home plate admiring his home runs, and concludes: "The Yankee way is winning. Period."

OFF THE CLIFF: The Red Sox were shut out, but Cliff Lee cleaned up, in Dayn Perry's '25 Percent Awards,' which he gives at the season's quarter pole. (foxsports.com)

'SO'S YOUR MOM'???? One of the things I learned very early in the cyberspace age is, never send anything -- and I mean anything -- via e-mail that you don't want millions of people to see. Apparently, Carlos Delgado's agent missed the memo. (nj.com)

'R, B, RBI, HIT THAT BALL AND MAKE IT FLY': The Mets' Nelson Figueroa called the Nationals "a bunch of softball girls" for the "cheerleading" they were doing in their dugout during Washington's 10-4 win at Shea Stadium last night. (New York Daily News) No word if the Nats responded by telling Figueroa they wanted a pitcher and not a glass of water.

HOME SWEET HOME: Johnnie LeMaster -- who can forget his "Johnny Disaster" nickname? -- had some great stories to tell when he returned to San Francisco as part of the Giants' 50th anniversary celebration. (The Guardian's San Francisco blog)

GOODBYE, HISTORY: Asdrubal Cabrera turned an unassisted triple play for the Indians against the Blue Jays last night, and then flipped the ball into the stands as he returned to the dugout. (mlb.com)

HERE AND THERE The Astros' Shawn Chacon has tied a major-league record by starting a season with eight consecutive no-decisions (Houston Chronicle) . . . Shannon Stewart says his current situation with the Blue Jays "is like a bad dream" (Toronto Star) . . . Mark Teixeira had to leave last night's game because of back spasms (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . The Cubs are expected to sign Jim Edmonds and demote Felix Pie, which would seem to eliminate them as a possible landing place for Coco Crisp. (Chicago Tribune)

OLD FRIENDS: One day after removing himself from the closer's role, Eric Gagne says the little mental-health break did him a world of good; now he's tanned and rested and ready to start finishing games for the Brewers again. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . In the meantime, Guillermo Mota got the save for Milwaukee last night (rotoworld.com) . . . Ramon Vazquez hit a walkoff home run for the Rangers last night, a pitch or two after play-by-play announcer Josh Lewin predicted he would (Dallas Morning News) . . . Nomar Garciaparra will work out with the Dodgers in Milwaukee today (Los Angeles Times) . . . Pedro Martinez is frustrated by his slow recovery from the hamstring pull that sidelined him in early April. (New York Post)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:44 AM | Permalink

Baseball Today: Monday, May 12

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NOT GROUNDED FOR LONG: They don't go down easy, these Red Sox. Jacoby Ellsbury looked as if his night might be finished when he was hit in the knee by a pitch in the third inning (above), but he stayed in the game, scored a run by sprinting home on a sacrifice fly, and later made a running catch in right-center field. He was sort of a symbol of his team, which found itself on the short end of 5-0, 7-1 and 9-6 scores at various points during the evening and still came this close to pulling out an improbable win over the Twins. There was no Mother's Day Miracle this time, however, as pinch-hitter Manny Ramirez grounded out with the tying run in scoring position. Steven Krasner has the details of what Terry Francona called "as exciting a game [as] you can have and not win."

MORE OF THE SAME: Excitement was the buzzword of the weekend, though not always the way the Sox planned. Jonathan Papelbon provided a little Friday night -- for the Twins -- when he blew his second consecutive save opportunity; as Krasner reports, this time there were no checked-swing rollers, infield errors and broken-bat bloopers to blame. But he made the adjustments he had to make and was back to his old self Saturday night, saving the victory for a suddenly quick and efficient Daisuke Matsuzaka. Krasner tells us all about it.

Just as he'll tell us about tonight's finale of the wraparound weekend series in Minneapolis. Come back tomorrow for more.

WILDLY EFFECTIVE: David Pinto of Baseball Musings reports Matsuzaka is walking 5.7 batters per nine innings and his ERA of 2.45 is the lowest in history for a pitcher with a walk rate that high.

ERUDITE EMPIRE: That's what Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune is calling the Red Sox, whom he admires for their skill and their intelligence. Souhan says the Sox are "a super power . . . [who have] surpassed the Yankees as the dominant franchise in baseball."

(He also makes a Chuck Knoblauch/Dustin Pedroia comparison that, I have to admit, occured to me at some point last night while Pedroia was fouling off Nick Blackburn pitch after Nick Blackburn pitch.)

RIGHT BACK ATCHA: The New York Daily News' Bill Madden throws a little loving at the Twins, who don't seem to miss Johan Santana very much.

OUT OF POSITION: Ramirez pinch-hit in the ninth because a tight right hamstring kept him out of the starting lineup.

IN POSITION: The Herald's Rob Bradford reports Ramirez believes he's the best defensive left fielder in Red Sox history.

HOMEWARD BOUND: Bryan Corey's days in Boston are over; Krasner has word of the reliever's trade to San Diego. Corey says his part in last year's World Series run was "special," but admits he's happy to be moving closer to his home in Mesa, Ariz. (mlb.com)

IT'S NOT HOW MANY, IT'S WHEN: Ramirez' final-out grounder threw the spotlight on a recent Sox problem: The inability to hit with runners in scoring position. Krasner has some startling numbers.

BALANCING ACT: The Globe's Nick Cafardo talks to scouts who say the Red Sox have "done it right" when it comes to lineup construction. "They have guys who can wear down the pitcher, guys who can drill the ball in the gap, they have guys who can run and take the extra base and they have guys who can take it out of the yard," says one. "I don't understand why there aren't more lineups like Boston's in the league, because they've got it right."

HARDWARE WATCH: Krasner thinks Kevin Youkilis is in line for Player of the Week honors. Pinto looks at Youkilis' contract status and explains why the Sox shouldn't, and probably won't, sign him to a long extension.

CRISP AND EFFICIENT: He still wants to play every day, and he knows that -- when everyone's healthy -- it's probably not going to happen here. But for now, reports Cafardo, Coco Crisp is "going with the flow" . . . and the Sox are reaping the benefits.

WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? Saying that Bob Watson has "mishandled" much of what he's done as baseball's discipline chief, Curt Schilling expressed no surprise that Kyle Farnsworth's suspension for throwing at Manny Ramirez' head was reduced from three games to one. (Boston Herald)

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GOING OUT WITH A BANG: Jed Lowrie was all smiles Saturday night (above) when he hit his first major-league home run (which, coincidentally, proved to be the winning run). And he was still smiling yesterday when he got the inevitable tap on the shoulder to bag his packs and head back to Pawtucket. "I understand the role the team has for me," he told Krasner. His role: Fill in until Alex Cora returns.

COMING BACK WITH A BANG: Cora returned yesterday -- hence Lowrie's demotion -- and went 3-for-4 as he filled in for the ailing Julio Lugo, who suffered a mild concussion Friday night. (Both stories projo.com) Things aren't going well for Lugo (Boston Globe), as everyone knows, but the Boston Herald's Steve Buckley says he's maintaining his sense of humor.

WHO'S THAT IN THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR?? The second-place Rays completed a sweep of the Angels yesterday and say the feeling in Tampa now is that, in the words of Cliff Floyd, "we're going to win." (Tampa Tribune)

NEXT! Bartolo Colon may soon hop onto the well-traveled Pawtucket-to-Boston shuttle. He pitched well Saturday night in his first appearance since suffering an oblique strain in April and Joe McDonald reports the Sox will be faced with a perplexing decision. To wit: We can assume Colon isn't going to accept an extended stay at Pawtucket, especially with so many teams -- such as the one 160 miles to the south -- in need of starting pitching. So whenever the new opt-out day in his contract arrives, the Sox will either have to promote him or let him go. And if they let him go, they'll know they rehabbed him and nursed him back to health so he could pitch against them for somebody else . . . like the Yankees.

If all that sounds to you as if One Ben Mondor Way will -- barring unexpected injury to someone else in the rotation -- be the summer address for Clay Buchholz, I'd say you've got good ears.

CHANGE IN TITLE: Paul Kenyon says Charlie Zink isn't just a knuckleballer any more.

NEW KID IN TOWN Jose Vaquedano has joined the PawSox bullpen from Portland, and Kenyon reports he had an "interesting" debut.

THE RULE: Having read the book, I can say I totally agree with Chad Finn's glowing review of Red Sox Rule by Michael Holley. (I also agree with his criticisms of Patriot Reign, for the exact reasons he states.) Holley talks about the Sox book with the Boston Globe.

ENOUGH, ALREADY: It's one thing for opponents to be irritated by Joba Chamberlain's pumping and screaming and dancing. But now Goose Gossage is telling him to knock it off and act like a Yankee. (Bergen Record)

MISSED CHANCE: Yesterday's rainout in Detroit cost Derek Jeter a chance to hit cleanup. (New York Daily News)

JUST TRYIN' TO CAPTURE THE SPIRIT OF THE THING: It isn't often that a newspaper reporter will start a story with the letters "P.U.", but the New York Post's George King did in describing Kei Igawa's performance Friday night in Detroit. (New York Post)

END GAME? The Newark Star-Ledger's Dan Graziano notes the Mets entered the weekend with a 71-71 record since last June 1 and that management is preparing to reevaluate Willie Randolph.

ONE FOR WILLIE: Randolph had a shining moment yesterday, though, when he caught the Reds batting out of order in the ninth inning. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE . . . The Reds and Mariners have spent the better part of a week denying there's anything to these Ken Griffey Jr.-back-to-Seattle reports, but the Dayton Daily News' Hal McCoy reports the M's "desperately" want him back and have sent one of their executives to check him out. Pinto says that while Griffey would be an improvement over Seattle's current crop of DHs he's not nearly the player he used to be, and wonders why they wouldn't simply sign Barry Bonds instead.

I GET IT, DAVID: You have to be of a certain age, I suppose, to understand Pinto's reference in a short recap of the Astros' 8-5 win over the Dodgers.

THE DISEASE MARCHES ON: The Padres released Jim Edmonds, but the San Diego Union-Tribune's Tim Sullivan says he was a symptom, not the cause, of San Diego's problems.

NEXT STOP: CHICAGO: The Cubs may be interested in Edmonds. (Chicago Tribune)

WELCOME TO THE ETHER: Speaking of the Padres, team executive Paul DePodesta -- the former GM of the Dodgers and ex-Billy Beane assistant in Oakland -- has started a blog. His first topic: Greg Maddux' 350th career victory Saturday night. (San Diego Union-Tribune) Thomas Boswell calls Maddux and his two former Braves teammates, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, "great players who did it right."

'I DON'T CARE': That was Andruw Jones' repeated phrase to the Los Angeles Times' T.J. Simers, who observes that Jones is both "a Tubbo and clueless, which really isn't a very good combination for the player with the highest annual salary in Dodgers history."

HERE AND THERE: Richie Sexson's suspension for charging Kason Gabbard last week has been reduced to five games (Seattle Times) . . . Kevin Millwood, who has a strained right groin, is headed to the DL (Dallas Morning News) . . . Mark Prior, now with the Padres, is experiencing more discomfort with his shoulder (mlb.com) . . . Vernon Wells, as you've probably heard by now, has a broken wrist (Toronto Globe and Mail) . . . The Cardinals have taken the struggling Jason Isringhausen out of the closer's role (espn.com) . . . John Smoltz is optimistic he'll be returning to the Braves by the end of May after throwing Sunday for the first time in two weeks (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . The A's Eric Chavez is ready to begin a minor-league rehab stint seven months after back surgery. (San Francisco Chronicle)

OLD FRIENDS: Orlando Cabrera says he's a "hired gun," brought in by teams to fix their problems and, once things are settled, allowed to move on (Chicago Tribune) . . . Since the Brewers seemed incapable of recognizing what was staring them in the face, Eric Gagne took it upon himself to step down from the closer's role (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . Brian Shouse is a member of the committee that will replace Gagne and yesterday he recorded the fifth save of his career. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:36 AM | Permalink

Baseball Today: Friday, May 9

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HIT MAKER: We'd love for him to reflect in depth what he thinks about all this, but apparently he left his blog-updating equipment in Tokyo. So while Kevin Youkilis talks about his offensive emergence at the postgame-interview-soundbite level, others explain it all for us:

-- Our own Steven Krasner marvels that Youkilis can hit, and produce, almost anywhere in the lineup . . . a Terry Francona luxury that virtually no other manager enjoys. Last night it was the cleanup spot; placed there when Manny Ramirez was given the day off, Youkilis hit his fourth home run in five games, a two-run shot in the fifth inning that led the Red Sox to a 5-1 win over the Tigers.

-- The Boston Globe's Gordon Edes wonders if we're not seeing a Youkilis transformation from on-base machine to power hitter.

-- The Worcester Telegram and Gazette's Bill Ballou notes that Youkilis -- now with seven home runs this season -- didn't hit his seventh last year until May 28 (an inside-the-parker against the Indians, to boot) and didn't get No. 7 in 2006 until June 4.

-- The Boston Herald's Steve Buckley says you can call Youkilis anything you want but he doesn't want you to call him a power hitter. Seeing as how he's on pace for 31 homers and 121 RBI, though, perhaps he'd better get used to it.

Youkilis is well-known for his demonstrative outbursts -- a reader of the blog Shysterball caught his NSFW blast last week -- but now he's becoming known for his baseball skills, as well. The Twins blog Twinkie Town, previewing the upcoming Sox' weekend series in Minneapolis, waxes poetic -- kind of -- about Youk and says its one wish would be for Youkilis to be hitting behind Joe Mauer. (It might have happened, too. Remember those 2005 trade rumors that had Youkilis and Anibal Sanchez going to Minnesota for J.C. Romero? That would have been one for the ages, eh?) And he's one of the reasons Dan Lamothe at Red Sox Monster thinks everything's beginning to fall in place for the Sox.

TOP OF THE HEAP: The Detroit Free Press' Michael Rosenberg agrees. In the midst of a lament about the state of the Tigers, he calls the Red Sox the best team in baseball.

NO ARGUMENT HERE: MSNBC.com's Michael Celizic not only agrees, he goes further than that. When he looks at the Red Sox, he sees a team "that could keep right on riding roughshod over the division for years to come."

LONGEVITY AWARD: Josh Beckett pitched seven strong innings last night and recorded his 1,000th career strikeout along the way. Krasner reports Beckett, while pleased, wasn't overly excited about the milestone. ("It means you've been around for a while . . . ") That was the top item of a notebook that included bits on an obstruction play involving Dustin Pedroia and Tigers shortstop Rafael Santiago, Ramirez' rest day, Curt Schilling's second game of catch, and other game notes. Beckett's performance is looked at in more detail by the Globe's Amalie Benjamin and the Herald's Rob Bradford.

OH, DO I REMEMBER: The obstruction play with Pedroia -- in which the Sox argued, to no avail, that Pedroia should be allowed to score; instead, he was only awarded third base -- reminded Francona of the 2003 ALDS. To wit: Red Sox third baseman Bill Mueller got in the way of the A's Miguel Tejada, which gave Tejada third base, but Tejada mistakenly thought he was entitled to the next base, as well; he sauntered home and was tagged out. "It's why I'm here," Francona told Ballou.

Translation: Francona was the A's bench coach at the time and Oakland lost the series in no small part to that play. Not sure I quite follow the reasoning -- the Sox' managerial job opened because they lost the ALCS to the Yankees, not because they beat the A's in the ALDS, and the Oakland staff didn't get fired after losing to the Sox -- but it sounds good.

INCHING FORWARD: Buckley described Schilling's throwing session yesterday as another baby step in his recovery.

BACK TO NORMAL: Youkilis isn't Boston's only hot bat. Bradford reports on the reawakenings of David Ortiz and Mike Lowell.

EDGE, ELLSBURY: While the team record in games they start is nearly identical, the Sox score a startingly higher number of runs in games when Jacoby Ellsbury starts in center field (6.4) than when Coco Crisp starts (3.8). (Boston Globe)

WATCH THIS: If you watched last night's game on NESN, you heard Jerry Remy talk at length about stolen-base attempts -- specifically, an attempt by Ellsbury -- being determined by the time of the pitcher's delivery to the plate. The Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro breaks down that strategy from the Diamondbacks' point of view . . . and Arizona, remember, is run by former Theo Epstein assistant Josh Byrnes.

SYMPATHY FOR THE . . . ALL RIGHT, WE WON'T CALL HIM THE DEVIL: The blog Shysterball empathizes with Julio Lugo, failing to see why reporters needed to question him about his crucial error Wednesday night. "[Lugo] basically just screwed up. He knows it. The reporters know it. The fans know it. What else is there to add on a primary source reporting basis?"

SORROW AND JOY: There's no empathy for Lugo in the Sox blogosophere, as the blogs Center Field, Soxaholix and Papel-Blog demonstrate. The Yankee blogosphere, as represented by IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS . . . caught, regards Lugo as its favorite Red Sox player.

REUNITED: Jim Rice says the Red Sox do a wonderful job of keeping their former players in touch with each other. (ask14,.sullivantire.com)

WELCOME ABOARD: The Globe's Nancy Marrapese-Burrell has a nice feature on NESN's new Red Sox reporter, Heidi Watney.

STAY AS LONG AS YOU LIKE: The rehabbing Alex Cora was joined in Pawtucket yesterday by Sean Casey, and PawSox players were delighted: Cora and Casey treated their minor-league teammates to a big-league food spread after the game, as is the tradition for major-leaguers when they arrive. Joe McDonald has all the details, along with the recap of David Pauley's 3-2 win over Durham.

CLIMBING BACK UP THE LADDER: In more minor-league news, Benjamin's weekly notebook begins with an item on Daniel Bard, who's rebounding from a disappointing 2007. And Michael Bowden pitched 6 2/3 innings of one-hit ball Wednesday night at Portland. (rotoworld.com)

DANGER ZONE: The sight of Placido Polanco's bat shattering as he looped the game-winning hit into left field Wednesday night is all-too-familiar these days; maple, which is becoming the wood of choice for many players, has a tendency to splinter. Yahoo.com's Jeff Passan notes that the flying shards are extremely dangerous -- Pirates coach Don Long was hit in the face with one a few weeks ago and suffered nerve damage -- and, comparing it to the foul ball that killed base coach Mike Coolbaugh last year, says "neither Major League Baseball nor the MLB Players Association can afford to wait for another tragedy when it could take preventative measures. Were officials from either party to meet with Long . . . they would understand the issue must be resolved immediately."

UNHAPPY NEW YEAR: With last night's loss, Tigers starter Jason Verlander now has as many defeats -- six -- as he did all last year. (Detroit Free Press) And Miguel Cabrera, off to a slow start with the struggling Tigers, admits he misses the Marlins. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

THE ANSWER: The Detroit News' Rob Parker says Barry Bonds is the cure for what ails the Tigers.

ALL JOBA, ALL THE TIME: No matter what, every Yankee game seems to revolve around Joba Chamberlain. The other night he was despondent after surrendering a game-losing home run to David Dellucci. Yesterday he was jubilant (right) after striking out Dellucci in a key spot. But unlike Frank Thomas, who seemed unruffled by Chamberlain's normal post-K histrionics last month, Dellucci was fuming; he all but called Chamberlain a bush-leaguer and noted, "My home run (off Chamberlain) was in a much bigger situation, more a key part of the game and I didn't dance around and scream." (New York Daily News) Chamberlain, of course, insisted he meant no disrespect, and Peter Abraham came to his defense: "Joba is a good kid and he acts the same way in the clubhouse as he does on the field. He’s brash, loud, confident and it’s genuine. He’s not acting on the mound; the emotion is who he is. Take that away and he’s not in the majors" (LoHud Yankees Blog)

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WEIGHING IN: We haven't had a story on whether or not Chamberlain should be in the starting rotation in a few days, so here's Steven Goldman of the New York Sun. He wants Chamberlain to start.

BETTER TIMES AHEAD: The Yankees salvaged the finale of the three-game series with the Indians, and both Bill Madden of the Daily News and Mike Vaccaro of the Post see the glass as half full in the Bronx.

REALLY BETTER TIMES AHEAD: The blog Sliding Into Home has video of Keith Olbermann raving about the new Yankee Stadium.

BRING ME BACK: David Wells has a cure for the Yankee starting-pitching woes: Himself. (New York Post)

WORKING THINGS OUT: Neil Best of Newsday says Joe Girardi's relationship with the New York media is at the growing-pains stage.

HITCHIN' A RIDE: While riding the subway to Yankee Stadium Wednesday night, Rich Lederer of Baseball Analysts was stunned to be sharing the train with that night's Indians starter, Cliff Lee.

CAN'T WIN IF YOU CAN'T HIT: SI.com's John Donovan says the Padres' postseason chances are being killed by an offense that's downright offensive.

LOCAL BOYS: John McDonald, suffering from an ankle sprain, was placed on the disabled list by the Blue Jays. (Toronto Globe and Mail)

HERE AND THERE: The Rangers designated Ben Broussard for assignment (mlb.com) . . . Leo Mazzone wants back in baseball (AP via USA Today) . . . John Smoltz hopes to return to the Braves by the end of May (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . Nationals catchers Paul LoDuca and Johnny Estrada are both headed to the disabled list (Washington Post) . . . The Royals' Jose Guillen isn't playing because of a sore neck (Kansas City Star) . . . Rangers manager Ron Washington is safe until at least the All-Star break (Dallas Morning News) . . . The Brewers have placed former closer Derrick Turnbow on irrevocable waivers. (mlb.com)

OLD FRIENDS: Kason Gabbard had to leave the game because of bruising in his legs suffered when he was charged by Richie Sexson after throwing a pitch close to Sexson's head in the Rangers' game at Seattle last night (Dallas Morning News) . . . Say what you will about Johnny Damon, but you can do nothing but admire his frankness. Prior to yesterday's game he called himself out for not hitting. (mlb.com) And then he stepped up and led the Yankees to victory (New York Post) . . . Alex Gonzalez, who suffered a compression fracture in his knee earlier this year, is coming along slowly (Cincinnati Enquirer) . . . David Eckstein is on the DL in Toronto. (mlb.com)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:38 AM | Permalink

Baseball Today: Thursday, May 8

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NOW HERE'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T SEE EVERY DAY . . . and the fact is, you shouldn't have seen it last night, either. But that rarest of baseball sightings -- a Jonathan Papelbon blown save -- was built on this house of cards: A check-swing, excuse-me, didn't-mean-to-hit-it roller into no-man's land between the pitcher's mound and shortstop that went for an infield hit; an error by Julio Lugo (above); a bunt; an infield grounder that delivered the tying run; and a shattered-bat dying quail that looped into short left field just out of the reach of the leaping Lugo. Paplebon was seen flinging his glove and kicking over Gatorade buckets in the dugout upon its conclusion, but Steven Krasner reports he was downright philosophical as he discussed the Red Sox' 10-9 loss to the Tigers last night, a defeat that stung all the more because it wasted Boston comebacks from deficits of 4-0, 5-2 and 8-4. Such losses usually demand a scapegoat -- especially around here -- and last night's wasn't hard to find: Lugo, whose error was the key play in the inning (and who now has 10 in 33 games). Terry Francona defended his shortstop (Boston Globe), but the inevitable line of media questioning, which included resurrection of his three-error game in Toronto last month, prompted a why-are-things-so-negative-in-Boston? outburst from Lugo himself. To which the Boston Herald's Steve Buckley commented: "This is a guy who has said on numerous occasions that during his days with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays he thought it would be cool to play for the Red Sox. Then again, maybe he really didn’t know what he was getting into."

And what was he getting into? A place where 10 errors in 33 games, including a crucial ninth-inning flub that leads directly to a frustrating loss despite having your all-but-invincible closer on the mound, don't go unnoticed.

MISPLACED PRIORITIES: Chad Finn says that if Papelbon was looking for something to kick after the game, he should have started with Lugo. (www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases) Hey, at least he didn't go all Mark Buerhle on the dugout heater. (Chicago Sun-Times)

STARTING OVER: The string of strong performances from Red Sox starting pitchers was broken by Clay Buchholz, who allowed 10 hits and 5 runs before being yanked after four innings. Krasner has the details in his postgame notebook, which includes items on the strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out double play executed by the Sox that ended the eighth inning, Dustin Pedroia's pinch-hit single in the eighth that gave Boston a 9-8 lead, and an interesting night for Kevin Youkilis.

CHANCE FOR SECONDS: Krasner's pregame notebook leads with the reason Pedroia was available for pinch-hitting duties: Jed Lowrie was given the start at second base last night. Kraz also makes note of a pretty obscure record set Tuesday night by Tim Wakefield and Mike Timlin, and details on the Mother's Day Walk In The Park at Fenway.

BUT NOT MANY MORE CHANCES: Lowrie's days in the bigs are probably numbered, since Alex Cora has begun his rehab assignment in Pawtucket and may be ready to return to Boston in a few days. Joe McDonald talked to Cora before and after his 2-for-4 performance, in which he played second base but didn't get any chances in the field. Oh, the game? Kyle Snyder got the win as the PawSox beat Durham, 12-7. McDonald has the info.

STILL PERFECT: Jacoby Ellsbury stole two bases last night, his 12th and 13th of the season (which pulls him into a tie for the league lead), and he's now 22-for-22 in stolen-base attempts as a major-leaguer. (Boston Herald)

A TAVAREZ SIGHTING: Julian Tavarez -- dubbed "Rip Van" Tavarez by the Boston Globe's Gordon Edes -- got into his first game since April 24 and allowed three runs in his only inning of work. He told the Herald's Rob Bradford that the swirling trade rumors -- the Rockies allegedly are interested -- don't bother him and that "[whatever] I get, I'll take it."

EL GOLFER: Jim Donaldson spent a day on the links with Luis Tiant.

ODDS ARE . . . 20-1 that the Red Sox will sign Mark Teixeira when he (presumably) becomes a free agent this winter, according to SI.com's Jon Heyman. The favorite? The Yankees, at 3-2.

OFF THE CLIFF: The Yankee offense was shuttered last night by Cliff Lee, who beat Chien-Ming Wang, 3-0, in a battle of unbeaten pitchers. (Cleveland Plain Dealer) Wang, reports the New York Daily News, pitched well enough to win, but not well enough to beat the rampaging Lee, whose seven shutout innings dropped his ERA to 0.81.

SOME MISTAKES YOU JUST KEEP PAYING FOR: Sometime between pregame workouts, when Alex Rodriguez was the picture of optimism, and the end of last night's game, the decision was made that A-Rod needs another MRI, which means he probably won't be ready to return when he's eligible to come off the DL. (New York Daily News) The Post's Joel Sherman says it's all a result of the Yanks rushing him back too soon when he first suffered the injury, a miscalculation the Yankees admit.

STAY HOME: Bob Watson says that -- for all the reasons you'd think -- Roger Clemens isn't welcome on the U.S. Olympic Team. (New York Daily News)

THE RIGHT STUFF: In light of all that's happened to Clemens, Foxsports.com's Tracy Ringolsby thinks Mark McGwire's disappear-into-the-ether strategy looks pretty good.

MAKE IT, HURT: Partly as a lifetime achievement award and partly because he was the only major-leaguer to voluntarily cooperate with the Mitchell investigation, the blog Big League Stew is starting a campaign to get Frank Thomas named to the A.L. All-Star team.

SHIFT IN POWER: When I was growing up, the National League was far and away superior to the American League. Nowadays -- as starkly evidenced hereabouts by the Red Sox' last two World Series appearances -- the opposite is true. But David Pinto, writing for sportingnews.com, writes that the N.L. is actually outscoring the A.L. so far this year and that, with its influx of young talent, it may soon be No. 1 again.

LOCAL BOYS: Chris Iannetta's heroics continue, as his two-run triple helped the Rockies come from behind and beat the Cardinals, 4-3. (Denver Post) Pinto, writing on his Baseball Musings blog, thinks Iannetta should be playing four out of every five games. Elsewhere, John McDonald is making it clear he wants no part of the disabled list in Toronto. (Toronto Star)

ONE STEP BEYOND: Forget pink bats (which we'll see again on Sunday). The White Sox' Nick Swisher, John Danks and Toby Hall have all died their facial hair pink to raise awareness for breast cancer and pay tribute to Mothers Day. (Chicago Tribune)

HYPERTENSION: Yesterday's 9-0 loss to the Reds turned the mood sour in the Cubs clubhouse. (Chicago Tribune)

THE GLASS IS HALF FULL: Barry Zito didn't win, but he didn't pitch badly in his return to the Giants' starting rotation. (San Jose Mercury News)

YOUR TURN NOW: On Monday, a USA Today story sparked Ken Griffey Jr.-back-to-Seattle speculation. On Tuesday, the Reds threw cold water over the reports. Yesterday, the Mariners did the same. (Seattle Times)

HERE AND THERE: The Mariners are struggling and the effects are being felt at the box office. Tuesday night's game against the Rangers attracted the smallest crowd in the history of Safeco Field (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) . . . The rehabbing Mark Mulder has been diagnosed with a rotator-cuff strain (mlb.com) . . . Braves closer Rafael Soriano has no structural damage in his elbow, which doctors say is good news (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . The Mets' Angel Pagan may have hurt his shoulder when he collided with a wall after catching a foul ball yesterday in Los Angeles (New York Daily News) . . . Chad Gaudin is headed to the A's bullpen to make room in the rotation for the returning Rich Harden. (San Francisco Chronicle)

OLD FRIENDS: Former Red Sox farmhand Phil Dumatrait recorded his first major-league victory in the Pirates' 3-1 win over the Giants (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . Cliff Floyd is close to returning to the Rays (Tampa Tribune) . . . Pedro Martinez is slowly recuperating from his hamstring strain. (Newsday)

PASSAGES: Pat Santarone, the long-time Orioles groundskeeper who planted tomatoes in the bullpen every year in a competition with his friend Earl Weaver as to who had the best plants, has died at age 79. (Baltimore Sun)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:52 AM | Permalink

Baseball Today: Wednesday, May 7

AP Photo

THE VIEW: Ask the Tigers and they'll tell you they're in a slump. (Detroit News) Ask the Red Sox and they'll tell you Tim Wakefield (above) was brilliant. There's truth on both sides, and Steven Krasner tells us how the Sox saw last night's 5-0 whitewashing in Detroit: As a brilliant pitching performance by the 41-year-old Wakefield, who scattered two hits over eight innings (retiring 17 in a row at one point) without walking anyone. He had help, ranging from personal catcher Kevin Cash, who, reports Krasner, had a good night both offensively and defensively; to Manny Ramirez, who moved one home run closer to career homer No. 500 (Boston Herald); to David Ortiz, who homered one pitch before Ramirez hit No. 497. (Boston Herald). And not that it means anything, necessarily, but the Sox now have the largest lead of any first-place team in baseball, at 3 1/2 games. (Projo Stats)

BACK TO WORK: Krasner reports on Curt Schilling's first throwing session of the season, which consisted of playing long toss with John Farrell. Schilling himself talked about it before it happened on his blog (38pitches.com), then said afterward that, basically, it was the first step in a thousand-mile journey. (Boston Herald)

GET YOUR TICKETS NOW: Alex Cora and Sean Casey will be making rehab appearances in Pawtucket later this week. Krasner has the details. As for the PawSox, Shalise Manza Young reports they wasted a fine pitching performance by Davern Hansack in a 3-0 loss to Durham. She also has a feature on surprise leadoff hitter Jeff Bailey.

LOST IN AMERICA: Krasner reflects on Julian Tavarez, who hasn't pitched since April 24.

ON THE FLIP SIDE OF THE COIN . . . Jim Leyland exploded at the Tigers when they were floundering a few weeks ago. But now that they're floundering again, he's taking a different tack. (Detroit Free Press)

FABULOUS FREDDY: Joe Posnanski, who has consistently come out against Jim Rice's Hall of Fame candidacy, makes the case for Fred Lynn being enshrined. (joeposnanski.com)

NOW THAT'S A PIECE OF MEMORABILIA: Bob Feller and Carl Yastrzemski once wore the same uniform jersey -- for the Raleigh Caps -- and one of the team's former batboys now owns it. (Charlotte News and Observer)

AP Photo

BREAKING THE RULES: "Cut into Joba Chamberlain's skin," writes George King of the New York Post, "and he bleeds." It might not have seemed that way through his whirlwind first few months as a big-leaguer, but Chamberlain proved as human as anybody else last night as -- for the first time in a regular-season game -- he blew a late-inning lead, allowing a three-run, eighth-inning homer to David Dellucci that gave the Indians a 5-3 win over the Yankees. (The picture above captures his reaction.) His only previous blown save had come in the playoffs last year in Cleveland; this time, though, there was no swarm of midges to blame. What's to blame, writes the New York Daily News' John Harper, was a change in pitching philosophy as, in his own words, Chamberlain "didn't attack the zone as much as I should have." He was mixing in sliders and curveballs -- even though Dellucci did hit a fastball for the home run -- and Harper wonders if the expansion of his pitch repertoire was the first step toward a move into the starting rotation, where you can't just fire fastball after fastball at hitters for six or seven innings. Kevin Kernan of the Post says now we'll see how well Chamberlain reacts to the inevitable failure that, though it had eluded him to this point, every big-leaguer experiences. The reaction at Yankee Stadium was inevitable: Some of the fans actually booed Chamberlain, for which they were taken to task by Peter Abraham. (LoHud Yankees Blog)

JOBA TO THE MAX: SI.com's Tom Verducci says the Diamondbacks may have the new Joba Chamberlain -- he's already old?? -- in Max Scherzer.

MINOR MIRACLE: Down on the farm, Ian Kennedy transformed himself back into the prospect the Yankees think he is with 7 1/3 one-hit, shutout innings in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's win over Charlotte. (New York Daily News)

NO 42 MEDIUM: MLB has retired Jackie Robinson's No. 42 in honor of the player who broke baseball's color line, but SI.com's Bryan Armen says the best player in history to wear the number is Mariano Rivera.

GROWING UP: The New York Sun's Tim Marchman thinks that, unlike most, Chein-Ming Wang is still evolving -- as a pitcher, that is -- at age 28.

'DADDY DEAREST': That's the New York Post headline over its story on Koby Clemens, who stands by his embattled father and says his family remains strong and united in spite of all the recent negative press.

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: Suzyn Waldman, who was a target herself last year after her over-the-top reaction to Clemens' re-signing with the Yankees, says the only thing that surprises her about this year's Clemens Saga "is the glee with which people are going after Roger." (Newsday)

HELLO, DOLLY: Under the category of There's No Molehill Small Enough That We Can't Make Into A Mountain, MLB expressed its displeasure over the White Sox' inflatable-dolls-in-the-clubhouse incident. (Chicago Sun-Times) The White Sox brass didn't exactly apologize, though it called the whole thing "a little bit of a disappointment" and promised the issue was being "addressed." Ozzie Guillen, however, continues to be defiantly unapologetic (Chicago Tribune), and the Sun-Times' Rick Telander, an ex-athlete himself, says that's no surprise; ballplayers, in his words, "are adolescent boys," and always have been, and tells us "major-leaguers throughout history have done ludicrous things to break slumps." But he also tells us we're in a different era and Guillen has to watch his step, because "this beast . . . has the power to eat him up and spit him out." It was all a batting-practice fastball to the Sun-Times' Jay Mariotti, whose anti-White Sox venom bubbles in the calmest of times. Now, it's spilling onto a whole new plane.

SORRY, BUT THAT CAN'T BE IT: Refusing to believe they're unemployed simply because no one wants to deal with the baggage they carry, the MLBPA is opening an investigation into whether a collusion case can be made for Barry Bonds, Kenny Lofton and a few other still-unsigned free agents. (ESPN.com)

I WANT TO GO HOME: Ken Griffey Jr. all but told USA Today he wants to finish his career where he started, in Seattle, and the Cincinnati Enquirer's Paul Dougherty thinks the Reds should grant him his wish and trade him to the Mariners. But new Reds GM Walt Jocketty called Griffey trade talk "premature." (espn.com)

I WANT TO STAY HOME: The suddenly resurgent Pat Burrell is a free agent at the end of the year, but he'd love to re-sign with the Phillies. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

LOCAL BOYS: Chris Iannetta lifted his average to .362 with a homer and a double in the Rockies' 6-5 loss to the Cardinals (Denver Post), and the Rocky Mountain News' Dave Kreiger calls Iannetta's surge one the few rays of sunshine in Colorado. That's the good news. The bad news is that ex-Providence College star John McDonald had to be taken off the field in a golf cart after hurting his ankle in the Blue Jays' loss to the Rays. (National Post)

BACK FROM EXILE: The Giants are moving Barry Zito back into the starting rotation. (mlb.com)

YESTERDAY'S BEST: Lost in the noise of inflatable dolls was news that Gavin Floyd nearly no-hit the Twins for the White Sox (mlb.com) . . . Sidney Ponson made his third consecutive strong start as the Rangers beat the Mariners (Dallas Morning News) . . . The Astros came from behind no fewer than four times to beat the Nationals (Houston Chronicle) . . . Scott Olsen just missed pitching the Marlins' first complete-game one-hitter in almost five years, but he was still good enough to lead Florida to a shutout of the Brewers. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

WHISPERS: Josh Fogg -- "rotting in the Reds bullpen," according to the Denver Post -- could be headed back to Colorado . . . The Marlins are interested in Jacque Jones, who was cut loose earlier this week by the Tigers. (mlb.com)

OLD FRIENDS: Not only do the Brewers have no plans to replace Eric Gagne as closer, they claim they're not at all worried about his five blown saves, 6.14 ERA and .382 batting average allowed (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . Wil Ledezma is moving into the Padres' starting rotation (mlb.com) . . . Justin Duchscherer pitched a strong game for the A's (San Francisco Chronicle) . . . They're not crazy about ex-Blue Jay Eric Hinske in Toronto -- the fans are angry he never lived up to what they thought was his potential after he won the 2002 A.L. Rookie of the Year award with the Jays; their feelings about him are summed up rather nicely by our pal the Tao of Steib -- and he continued to give them reason to hate him by homering in Tampa Bay's 5-4 win at the Rogers Centre (Tampa Tribune) . . . Nor are they crazy about current Blue Jay David Eckstein (National Post), who's been struggling this year; he had to leave the same game because of a strained right hip flexor. (mlb.com)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:49 AM | Permalink

Baseball Today: Tuesday, May 6

AP Photo

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE: The numbers -- or at least most of them -- scream "ace." Record: 5-0, the second-highest number of wins in the league. ERA: 2.43, fourth-best in league. Batting average allowed: .158, second-best in the league. (All this, incidentally, is courtesy of the invaluable Projo Stats.) Daisuke Matsuzaka (above), by most measurable accounts, should be considered one of the best pitchers in the American League, indeed in all baseball.

Except . . .

Steven Krasner, writing the story of last night's 6-3 Red Sox win over the Tigers, lays out the case against Matsuzaka in eight simple words: Ball one. Ball two. Ball three. Ball four. He does not throw strikes, at least not with any consistency, and too many games resemble the water-dripping-on-the-forehead torturefest of last evening. By the time Terry Francona took us all out of our misery and lifted him after five excruciating innings, Matsuzaka had taken nearly two hours to throw 109 pitches, walk eight batters, and escape disaster through a combination of his admittedly superior skills (he allowed only one hit in those five innings), clutch pitching (a two-on, one-out strikeout of the sublime Magglio Ordonez in the fourth), and some luck (hard-hit balls that were caught, such as the two-out, two-on liner snared by J.D. Drew for the final out in the fifth, preserving a 4-1 lead). His performance was put into some historical perspective by Chuck Waseleski via the Boston Globe's Extra Bases blog.

Francona, noting that Matsuzaka was still suffering the aftereffects of last week's bout with the flu, chose the glass-is-half-full approach -- as he nearly always does -- in his postgame comments, lauding Matsuzaka's heart and competitive spirit. (Maybe Michael Rosenberg of the Detroit Free Press captured that dichotomy perfectly when he noted that, through three innings, Matsuzaka was on pace "for the never-seen 210-pitch no-hitter.") In the Boston Herald, Rob Bradford pointed out that while Matsuzaka often pitched like this last season, this time around he's winning these games.

Baseball -- especially professional baseball -- is a bottom-line business, and there's more than something to be said for someone who wins mosts of his starts, style points be damned. The problem, as articulated by Baseball Musings' David Pinto, is that Matsuzaka is a strange hybrid "of being wild, but at the same time very tough to hit." The troubling question: At what point will it become more important that he's wild than it is that he's tough to hit?

AUTHOR, AUTHOR! Just as his book Deep Drive, written with Bradford, is about to hit the shelves, Mike Lowell broke out of his season-long slump with a 3-for-5 night that included a home run and a double (and a near-homer in the seventh inning that was snared near the fence by Tigers left fielder Gary Sheffield). (projo.com) "Talk about a cheap publicity stunt," cracked the Herald's Steve Buckley, noting Lowell is set to do a series of book interviews today.

NEVER MIND: Remember when news of Curt Schilling's arm woes first surfaced in February? And how his personal physician, Dr. Craig Morgan, stated that "the percentage of [Schilling] being able to pitch effectively [without undergoing Morgan-recommended surgery] is probably between zero and five percent"? And the whispers that Schilling, while never saying so publicly, agreed with Morgan and was angry with the Red Sox for forcing him to undergo more conservative treatment? Well, Schilling is about ready to start throwing again and now he's saying the Red Sox were right all along. (Boston Globe)

HERE AND THERE: The rest of Krasner's notebook contains items on the bullpen, specifically the problems of Hideki Okajima when he enters games with runners on base and how Craig Hansen didn't help himself last night in his quest to earn a more prominent relief role; the continued offensive resurgence of David Ortiz, and Bartolo Colon's performance in a rehab stint in Florida.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL: The Sox' bullpen could be short a man soon; according to the Denver Post, the Rockies are trying to trade for Julian Tavarez.

IT'S AS IF DOM DeLUISE WON THE 100-YARD DASH: Bet you can't guess which team is tied for the league lead in stolen-base differential and leads in stolen-base percentage. (www.yfsf.org)

PLEASANT VALLEY SUNDAY: Baseball Analysts' Rich Lederer tells us about his morning and afternoon at Fenway last Sunday.

I REMEMBER CLELL: A stroll through the SI Vault led to Chad Finn reminiscing about Butch Hobson. (www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases)

BEEN THERE: The Sox will miss the struggling Jason Verlander in this series, and ex-Tiger Jack Morris, now working part-time as a Twins broadcaster, says he knows why Verlander is struggling: "His shoulder. There's something wrong with his shoulder." (Detroit News) Morris had bursitis in his own shoulder and thinks Verlander, based on the way he's throwing, is suffering from the same pain.

HOT TICKET: $850 for a seat behind the dugout. That's just one example of the sticker shock Yankee fans are in for when the team moves into its new stadium next year. (New York Daily News)

JOBA RULES: The Yankees may be prowling for starting pitching, but Joba Chamberlain is staying in the bullpen. (New York Daily News)

STAY THE COURSE: They also plan to stick with Jason Giambi at first base, at least for now. (New York Post)

WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM? You can almost hear the Bronx accent of ESPN.com's Bill Byast as he bellows that the Yankees start slow every year, and they always make the playoffs every year, so whaddya worried about now??

HE CALLED IT: The Daily News' Mike Lupica remembers that one of Brian McNamee's lawyers, Earl Ward, said, "Brian knows a lot about Roger's moral character. And if some of the stuff were to come out, Roger Clemens would look very, very bad." And he remembers when he said it: In January. Ward looks positively visionary these days.

NICE TRY: Still, the blog Sports Law Blog says these titillating disclosures of Clemens are all well and good, but none of it -- unless the judge is missing a few brain cells -- will be admissible into his lawsuit against McNamee.

REUNITED: The paths of Joe Torre and Willie Randolph, who spent so many years together in the Yankee dugout, are passing again this week at Dodger Stadium. Yahoo.com's Tim Brown reports that they're in different places . . . and not just geographically. Speaking of geography, things have gotten so bad at Shea Stadium -- Mets fans can't get past last September -- that Randolph says the team prefers to be on the road. (New York Post)

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU GOT 'TIL IT'S GONE: The New York Observer's Howard Megdal says current Mets whipping boy Oliver Perez is a lot more valuable than he's being credit for and his "loss would be staggering" if the teams allows him to hit free agency.

ANNOUNCERS, THUMBS UP: The blog Basebology gives Tim McCarver a little loving "for his refusal to play along with Joe Buck's idiocy in regards to jinxes and curses during the Cubs - Cardinals game on Fox Saturday afternoon."

ANNOUNCERS, THUMBS DOWN: Jeff Brantley -- who's already made a name for himself in the Reds' broadcast booth this year -- is now irritating some of the Cincinnati players with his on-air remarks. (mlb.com)

STRANGE BREW: The Sporting News' Gerry Fraley thinks the Brewers have deficiencies that need to be fixed before they can consider themselves contenders.

NEW PARK, OLD PROBLEM: Yahoo.com's Jeff Passan examines the Nationals' low attendance figures, even though the recently opened Nationals Park is a jewel.

REMEMBER WHEN? The Chicago Sun-Times has a 10-year anniversary piece, including video, on Kerry Wood's 20-strikeout game.

TONED DOWN: Ozzie Guillen was less profane, but no less passionate, as he pleaded with White Sox fans to be patient with his team. (Chicago Tribune)

NEVER ENDS, DOES IT? But just as the controversy over Guillen's foul-mouthed tirade had subsided, word comes that the White Sox were doing nasty things to some blowup dolls in their Toronto clubhouse Sunday in a light-hearted attempt to break their slump. For this, Guillen offers no apologies. "One hundred percent of the people in the clubhouse are 18 years old, and that's a private thing," he told the Chicago Sun Times. "If the players do it in the dugout where everyone can see or in the hotel lobby -- we did it in our clubhouse, and a lot of things happen in the clubhouse."

HERE AND THERE: Jimmy Rollins went 4-for-4 in a rehab game Monday (Philadelphia Daily News) . . . The Braves picked up Greg Norton from Seattle (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) . . . The Orioles' Adam Loewen has no structural damage in his pitching arm (Washington Post) . . . Mark Mulder continues to struggle in his Triple-A rehab assignment for the Cardinals (rotoworld.com) . . . Francisco Liriano, on the other hand, pitched well in Triple-A last night (rotoworld.com) . . . Good news for the Blue Jays: B.J. Ryan's been given clearance to pitch back-to-back days (mlb.com) . . . Ken Griffey Jr. played last night despite the fact that his best friend died of cancer earlier that day (frontier.cincinnati.com) . . . The Indians have dropped Jason Michaels (blog.cleveland.com) . . . Steve Traschel's spot in the Orioles rotation could be in jeopardy. (Baltimore Sun)

OLD FRIENDS: Nomar Garciaparra, recovering from a pulled left calf muscle, resumed baseball activities yesterday (mlb.com) . . . Bronson Arroyo says there's nothing wrong with him except that he's pitching terribly (mlb.com) . . . Keith Foulke pitched well in a rehab stint and is about ready to rejoin the A's (mlb.com) . . . The Brewers plan to stick with the embattled Eric Gagne as their closer. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:50 AM | Permalink

Baseball Today: Monday, May 5

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

YOU'RE RIDIN' HIGH IN APRIL, SHOT DOWN IN MAY: Ol' Blue Eyes could have been singing right to the Rays, whose sweep of the Red Sox at the Trop during the last weekend in April is yesterday's news after the Sox (above) returned the favor -- in far more convincing fashion -- at Fenway over the first weekend in May. It started with a rain-delayed 7-3 win Friday night that didn't end until 12:48 a.m, continued with a 12-4 thumping Saturday night that made a winner of Josh Beckett, and concluded with yesterday's 7-3 series wrapup behind more strong pitching from Jon Lester. (All stories projo.com.) That's a 26-10 runs differential, compared to the 10-5 combined scores that the Rays posted in their three wins in St. Petersburg. If a similarity strikes you -- the 10 runs scored by the Rays in both series -- you're right; the difference in the two weekends is that the Sox bats, silenced in the heat of central Florida, came alive in the cold and drizzle of the Northeast. Steven Krasner noted the offensive explosion in his Inside The Game feature Sunday, and it continued yesterday.

The Sox' fans, accustomed to far greater success than the long-suffering Rays followers, reacted a lot more sedately than the Tampa Bay crowds; no brooms, no gloating, no talk of redemption. (Even our old friend Steve Silva, who can be hilarilously over-the-top in times like these, kept it toned down.) As for the Rays themselves, they took the three losses in stride, saying in both the St. Petersburg Times and the Tampa Tribune that, in the words of manager Joe Maddon, they didn't see the weekend "being devastating to this group at all." Probably not; the Rays, in the words of Baseball Prospectus, are "swimming in prodigious young talent these days" and the long-term future is very bright. But the blog Shysterball thinks that, for this year anyway, "I have this feeling [the Rays] won't be getting much closer" to the Sox than the three games they trail by as we speak.

WELL-ARMED: Lost in the fireworks provided by the bats is the shutdown pitching of the Sox' starters, extending back well beyond this series. Sean McAdam takes a closer look at it all and some of the numbers are astounding: An overall 2.69 ERA for the starting pitchers (including emergency callups David Pauley and Justin Masterson) and a 1.92 ERA in the last eight games. Curt Schilling agrees with McAdam. (38pitches.com)

NOT SO WELL-ARMED: Good thing the starters are going go well, because -- as Sean notes -- the bullpen, save for Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, hasn't been nearly as reliable as the rotation. McAdam specifically mentions the struggles of Manny Delcarmen at the end of the column, which leads us to . . .

ANOTHER CHANCE: The recall of Craig Hansen, reported today in the notebook by McAdam and Paul Kenyon. His roster spot is that of Brandon Moss, who underwent an emergency appendectomy Saturday night and was reported yesterday to be comfortable and recovering. (projo.com) But the job Hansen may take is Delcarmen's. If you click back to the earlier McAdam column, you'll see where Sean notes the Sox are looking for an effective bridge to the Okajima/Papelbon tandem -- opponents are hitting .500 off Mike Timlin and Delcarmen has been scored upon in 9 of his 16 appearances this year, including 5 of his last 6 -- and Hansen will probably get a real shot to fill that role. On a transcript of his ESPN Radio appearance on the Hacks With Haggs blog, Peter Gammons says the Angels were raving about Hansen after he pitched against them two weeks ago.

The notebook also contains items on David Ortiz' ailing knee, the emergence of the stolen base as a Red Sox offensive weapon (who'da thunk?) and the continuing offensive struggles of Mike Lowell.

THE REAL MONSTER: Speaking of Papelbon -- which we were, a few steps back -- the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo has a nice feature on the Sox' closer, whose dominance is sparking memories (among those, like me, old enough to rememeber) of Dick Radatz.

TOUGH TALK: He's a players' manager through and through, which means any problems he needs to address will be taken care of out of the public eye. Every so often, though, Terry Francona will send a message to his players via the media . . . and that's what he seemed to be doing Friday night, when he talked about the "responsibility" of playing through minor aches and pains. Krasner related his comments, which appeared to be aimed at J.D. Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury; coincidentally or not, both were soon back in the lineup.

WHAT'S THIS? The Sox are now headed to Detroit for the beginning of an 11-game road trip, and they may not recognize what they see when they get there. Jim Leyland, "shocked" by his team's inconsistent offense, is promising a complete change in the batting order tonight. (Detroit Free Press)

THAT'S ONE ON ME: I didn't even know the Red Sox had Matt Miller. Well, they did, and they traded him to the Pirates. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

MOVE OVER, ICHIRO: Jeff Bailey is hitting like a fiend since PawSox manager Ron Johnson made him the team's unlikely leadoff man. (projo.com)

A BEGINNING: Okay, says the New York Daily News' Bill Madden, it's time to face facts: The Phil Hughes/Ian Kennedy Era is over, at least for now with Hughes on the DL and Kennedy on his to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. (New York Daily News) But it didn't matter yesterday, as the Yankee offense continues its own resurgence and led the Yanks to an 8-2 romp over the Mariners in the first game post-Hughes/Kennedy (New York Daily News), completing a weekend sweep and making a winner of Darrell Rasner, who was summoned as one-half of the replacement team for Hughes and Kennedy. (New York Post) The other? Kei Igawa. (New York Post)

AN ENDING? Rhode Island's Jim Salisbury, the national baseball writer for the Philadephia Inquirer, thinks the Yankees' struggle could set in motion of a series of events that will culminate in Brian Cashman being named Phillies' GM.

CROSSFIRE: Willie Randolph is becoming a polarizing figure in Mets Nation. Some, like Tim Marchman of the New York Sun, think he should go; others, like the blog Mets Today, disagree. It's my experience that once a manager gets to this point in the public arena, his departure is only a matter of time.

CINCO DE MAYO: He actually wrote it on May 2, but what better day to highlight Chad Finn's Random Lists of Five, which includes the five Red Sox players he hated the most (and all of whom played for "the reprehensible 2001 team"). I also enjoyed the Five True Yankees Of The New Millennium. (www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases)

ADIOS, JULIO: Finn also has a love letter to Julio Franco, who finally hung them up -- at age 49 -- this weekend, but who "very likely [is] still a couple of years younger than Miguel Tejada."

WHAT A BABE: Tejada's been the butt of a lot of jokes lately, and not without reason. Even so, he deserves props for delivering on his Ruthian promise to hit a home run for a child with muscular dystrophy. (Houston Chronicle)

IT'S A START: Roger Clemens finally apologized -- to his "family and fans" for "mistakes in my personal life" -- but continues to insist he never used performance-enhancing drugs. (New York Daily News)

WHAT ABOUT THEM? Ozzie Guillen wonders -- in the purplest language imaginable -- why the White Sox, who won the World Series in 2005, are so criticized in Chicago while the Cubs, who haven't won in 100 years, get a pass. (Chicago Tribune)

PACK YOUR BAGS THEN, SORI: Lou Piniella compares Alfonso Soriano to Bobby Bonds. (Chicago Tribune)

WHADDYA WORRIED ABOUT? Stop fretting about the Rockies' 12-19 record. The Denver Post's Woody Paige points out that it's only one game off last year's 13-18 mark at this point, and the Rox made it to the World Series in '07. So I guess those 20 wins in 21 games at the end of last season is something we can expect every year, then.

TURNAROUND IS FAIR PLAY: The Miami Herald notes the off-center characters in the Marlins' bullpen aren't spooked by opposing fans. In fact, it's the other way around.

MEDICAL REPORT: The Giants' Matt Cain has a hamstring problem (San Francisco Chronicle) . . . The Rockies' Kip Wells will undergo surgery to remove blood clots from his pitching hand (Denver Post) . . . The Tigers' Dontrelle Willis has had a setback in his rehab from an injured knee (Detroit News) . . . The Royals' John Bale broke his hand after punching a door (Kansas City Star) . . . The Braves' Peter Moylan may need season-ending surgery. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

OLD FRIENDS: Joel Piniero has a bad back and may miss his scheduled start tonight (rotoworld.com) . . . Eric Gagne "has become a crap shoot when the Brewers summon him to close games," according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; yesterday he suffered his fifth blown save of the year . . . Derek Lowe got hammered in Denver yesterday (Los Angeles Times) . . . But Bronson Arroyo was even worse, and Reds manager Dusty Baker suspects he may be injured (Springfield News-Sun) . . . Kason Gabbard made a strong rehab start for the Rangers Saturday and may start for Texas on Thursday night. (mlb.com)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:48 AM | Permalink

Baseball Today: Friday, May 2

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

THIRD TIME'S NO CHARM: There was no late-night magic at Fenway Park last night, even though it seemed for a moment that -- thanks to umpire Bruce Dreckman -- there might be. (Which, as Sean McAdam notes, would have been the last straw for the stumbling Blue Jays.) But Paul Kenyon has the details of a comeback, minor as it might have been, snuffed out in what wound up being a 3-0 Toronto victory.

So the stark reality that's been somewhat masked by the ninth-inning miracles of the previous two nights is now staring the glum Red Sox (above) in the face: They ain't hittin' (Boston Herald). (Check out the linescore of the last 50 innings from Joy of Sox.) As Rob Bradford points out in the Herald piece, Sox batters have struck out almost as many times (33) as they've reached base via hit or walk (37) in the last five games. The "You have to tip your hat to the opposing pitcher" rationale is wearing thin after five consecutive games in which they've scored four runs.

What's surprising, to me, is the lack of discussion about it; I thought my pals at Sons of Sam Horn would be all over it, but as of now this is the only thread regarding the offense (and a tepid one it is). Part of it, of course, is that we know -- or at least we're reasonably sure -- this team will hit; no less an authority than Jim Rice says so. (ask14.sullivantire.com) The recent blackout can't obscure the fact that the Sox actually performed very well offensively through the season's first month. (Baseball Analysts) And the team's recent run of success has somewhat curbed the knee-jerk regional panic that once would have accompanied such a stretch of offensive wretchedness.

But four runs in five games? Only four more baserunners than strikeouts? That's a team slump.

APRIL IS THE CRUELEST MONTH: It certainly was for the Blue Jays, who had dreams of glory when the season started but who find themselves looking up at the pack after a wretched start. (projo.com) It had our buddy the Tao of Steib doing some hard soul-searching yesterday afternoon, but the Toronto Star's Richard Griffin says the happy Jays are confident that their April showers will bring May flowers . . . or something. (Man, what a wretched phrase.) In his Inside The Game feature, Steven Krasner notes the Blue Jays didn't help themselves last night with yet more basepath blunders and some overaggressive baserunning that may have stemmed from manager John Gibbons' attempts to break the team's bad karma (though I'm sure Gibbons didn't use those words).

DRAMA KINGS: Can't say April (or the two days in March in which they also played games that count) was too cruel for the Red Sox, though. It started on Opening Day -- Night? Morning? -- in Tokyo when Brandon Moss' ninth-inning homer off A's closer Huston Street sparked the Sox to a come-from-behind, extra-inning win, and it continued all through the end of April as Boston won no fewer than eight games by scoring runs in the eighth inning or later. Our own Mike McDermott yesterday put together a slide show of all eight games.

MONTH OF NOTHING: ESPN.com's Jayson Stark doesn't mention the Sox, positively or negatively, in his April recap.

HO HUM: He does mention the Rays, though, who arrive in Boston tonight for the beginning of a three-game series. They're fresh off two wins in three games against the Orioles but, unlike their euphoria over sweeping the Red Sox last weekend, they're taking this bit of success in stride. (Tampa Tribune) They may not have B.J. Upton in the lineup tonight, though (Tampa Tribune)

ON THE CLOCK: McAdam and Kenyon report that word on the Sox' potential spring move to Sarasota may come sooner rather than later. It's the lead of a newsy notebook that includes items on David Ortiz' ailing knee, other injury details, Terry Francona praising Brandon Moss, and a kudo for the Sox' farm department.

COMRADES IN DIFFERENT UNIFORMS: Blue Jays hitting coach Gary Denbo first got to know Mike Lowell when he was working as a Yankees minor-league instructor and Lowell was a New York farmhand. They've stayed close through the years -- in fact, Denbo worked with Lowell on his swing in the 2005-06 offseason, prior to Lowell's joining the Red Sox -- and he wishes he could help his friend now as the Sox' third baseman struggles to get back on his feet offensively. (Boston Herald)

I NEVER SAW IT: As I said the other day, for what it is -- a forum to answer questions and quickly address issues -- Jim Rice's blog consistently delivers interesting material. Today he tells us he never experienced the type of racism Torii Hunter described during his visit to Fenway last week.

HOSPITAL VISIT: John Henry went to Children's Hospital to sit with, and bring gifts to, the 8-year-old boy who was hit by a foul ball at Fenway the other night. (Boston Herald)

MINOR STUFF: Joe Haggerty has a nice feature on Red Sox farmhand Daniel Bard. (hackswithhaggs.com)

AND THEN I MET A MAN WHO HAD NO FEET: And you think the Sox have got it bad.

The Yankees lost to the Tigers 8-4 last night, completing a three-game Detroit sweep. (New York Daily News) The Yanks also announced that not only is Phil Hughes indeed injured -- some (guilty as charged) were skeptical after the clumsy way they handled things Wednesday -- but that he'll be out until at least July because of a rib fracture. (Daily News) The Yanks' other kid starter, Ian Kennedy, is struggling, too (New York Post), and the only white knight riding to the rescue at the moment is Darrell Rasner. (Daily News) Not only that, but the Yanks' offense -- while not currently at Red Sox subterranean levels -- isn't scoring enough to pick up the slack. (Newsday) Joe Girardi is starting to catch some heat from the media for his "testy [and] secretive and confrontational" public persona. (New York Daily News) And Yankee fans, true to their I-want-what-I-want-when-I-want-it-and-I-deserve-it! DNA, are a) booing Kennedy (one night after booing Hughes) and b) writing to Peter Abraham and suggesting the Yanks sign Barry Bonds, David Wells and Mike Piazza as a means of righting the ship. (LoHud Yankees Blog)

There is good news, though. Bobby Murcer returns to the YES broadcast booth tonight. (New York Daily News)

CALM DOWN: Newsday's Ken Davidoff says the Yankees are in transition, not crisis.

MECHANICALLY SPEAKING: The blog Baseball Digest breaks down Hughes' pitching mechanics.

UNFUL-PHILED: Our own Michael Salfino, writing for sny.tv, says the Yanks have handled Hughes poorly.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, COME TO YOUR SENSES: The Daily News reports the pals of Roger Clemens -- today's bimbo revelation: a former stripper in Detroit -- are pleading with him to drop his defamation lawsuit against Brian McNamee, disappear from the public eye, and try to put together the pieces of his shattered life and reputation. Clemens' actions to this point, according to Peter Keane, a constitutional law professor at Golden Gate University, have been "like watching a lemming heading for the waves."

SEEN THIS ACT BEFORE: Paul Janszen, who had a front-row seat to Pete Rose's self-destruction 20 years ago, says Clemens "is Pete Rose to a T." (Cincinnati Enquirer)

NOW THE SEASON HAS REALLY BEGUN: Lou Piniella had his first volcanic eruption of the year after the Cubs blew a ninth-inning lead and lost to the Brewers. (Chicago Sun-Times)

HE'S NUMBER ONE: SI.com's Jon Heyman makes the case that the Angels' Mike Scioscia is the best manager in baseball.

SO'S HE . . . . IN A DIFFERENT WAY: The New York Sun's Tim Marchman makes the case that the Mets' Willie Randolph should be the first managerial dismissal of the year.

WHAT I MEANT WAS . . . Vin Scully clarifies his "I may retire" comments to the Los Angeles Times' Bill Plaschke.

THUMBS UP: The Washington Post's Thomas Boswell says that after the first month, we can conclude Nationals Park is a winner.

'BECAUSE HE'S A [BLEEPED BY REQUEST]': In a comprehensive Q-and-A with Big League Stew's David Brown, Tigers coach Andy Van Slyke discusses many topics . . . including former teammate Barry Bonds.

R.I.P.: The L.A. Times remembers former Dodger, Padre and Angel executive Buzzie Bavasi, who died at age 92.

FORGET IT: Director Ron Shelton says there are no plans for a sequel to the sublime baseball movie Bull Durham, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

HERE AND THERE: With Troy Tulowitzki sidelined until until perhaps the All-Star break, the Rockies are expressing interest in free agent Juan Castro (both stories Denver Post) . . . The Phillies' Ryan Howard is coming alive at the plate (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . Jose Canseco lost his house to foreclosure (AP via yahoo.com) . . . Derrick Turnbow's roster spot in Milwaukee may be in jeopardy (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . The Reds may put Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn on the trade block. (mlb.com)

OLD FRIENDS: Eric Gagne got his ninth save (and Brian Shouse got the win) in the aforementioned Milwaukee win over Chicago. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

CONGRATULATIONS . . . to our own Joe McDonald, who's in Salisbury, N.C., this weekend to pick