Main page | March 31, 2008 »

URI spring practice starts Saturday

University of Rhode Island football coach Darren Rizzi will get his first look at his team on the field when the Rams kick off spring practice Saturday. The Rams will have 14 practice sessions leading to the annual spring game on April 26.

Brown is also about to start spring practice and will play its spring game April 26.

Bryant has been practicing for a week. Its spring game is set for April 12.

Posted by Mike Szostak  at 6:29 PM to College Sports | Permalink | Comments 0

Rays put Baldelli on 60-day DL

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays placed outfielder Rocco Baldelli on the 60-day disabled list Friday and filled his roster spot by claiming outfielder Nathan Haynes off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels.

Baldelli, who missed most of last season because of lingering hamstring problems, is sidelined indefinitely with mitochondrial disorder, a condition he says leaves him feeling extremely fatigued after short workouts.

The Rays were hoping the 26-year-old could share the right-field job with Jonny Gomes and Cliff Floyd. Baldelli has appeared in just 127 of 486 games the past three seasons because of an assortment of injuries.

Haynes, 28, made his major league debut with the Angels last season and hit .267 in 40 games.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Pettitte throws bullpen session for Yankees

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte threw 25 pitches off a bullpen mound Friday and remained scheduled to pitch in a minor league game Sunday.

Originally slated to start the Yankees' second game of the regular season, Pettitte has been slowed by back spasms. He could make his first start Friday or Saturday.

"As far as during my bullpen and stuff like that, I feel great," Pettitte said. "It loosened up good. Do I still feel it walking around? Yeah. Sunday is a good day. I need to get some good work in. That's all I'm looking for now."

Pettitte hasn't pitched in a game since March 17.

In other news, left-hander Sean Henn, who will start the season on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis in his throwing shoulder, struck out one and walked one in a minor league game.

Humberto Sanchez, coming back from elbow ligament replacement surgery, will throw off a half-mound for the first time Tuesday.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 4:14 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Knee surgery for UConn's A.J. Price

FARMINGTON, Conn. (AP) - University of Connecticut guard A.J. Price had knee surgery Friday, a week after getting injured in the NCAA tournament.

The surgery on Price's left knee took about 80 minutes. Price's rehabilitation is scheduled to start Saturday and continue through the summer.

He was injured March 21 in the first half of UConn's overtime loss to San Diego in the first round of the tournament.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

SOCCER: 'In a sport that generally defies the American love for statistics, this year’s FA Cup semifinals are rife with them'

EDITOR'S NOTE: Colin McCullough writes a weekly soccer column and is an occasional contributor to ESPN. He submitted this column about the unusual matchups in next weekend's English FA Cup semifinals.

BY COLIN McCULLOUGH
Special to projo.com

On April 5 in San Antonio, four teams will fight for a spot in the NCAA men’s basketball final. Coincidentally, on the same day in London, the first semifinal will take place in the English FA Cup, the oldest soccer competition in the world.

So imagine for a moment that the Final Four lines up like this: Georgetown versus Coppin State and Austin Peay versus Mississippi Valley State. An unlikely scenario to be sure, but a similar one will be played out when Portsmouth face West Bromwich Albion and Barnsley meet Cardiff City for a place in the showpiece FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

Although games are not arranged on a regional basis, this year’s competition, which began with a record 731 teams, has spat out four semifinalists from four distinct parts of the UK. Portsmouth is a naval town on the south coast of England. West Bromwich Albion are from the Midlands, while Barnsley is located in the industrial north. Cardiff is the capital of Wales and its team, Cardiff City, is one of only three Welsh clubs that compete in the English league.

In a sport that generally defies the American love for statistics, this year’s FA Cup semifinals are rife with them. Three of the four teams ply their trade in the Championship, England’s second division, with Portsmouth being the only representative from the Premier League, the first tier of English soccer. The last time this stage of the competition featured only one team from the top flight was exactly one hundred years ago. For the first time in almost half a century, the semi-finals do not involve a team from London, Liverpool or Manchester, the traditional soccer powerhouses. (The top four teams in the English Premier League standings at the moment are Manchester United, Liverpool and – from London – Chelsea and Arsenal.) In fact, it’s necessary to go back to 1973 for an FA Cup Final that didn’t feature a club from one of these cities, when Sunderland beat Leeds United in a famously dramatic encounter.

Portsmouth will be the clear favorites to lift the FA Cup. In addition to being the sole Premier League team left in the competition, they boast a squad that includes a talented group of international players, including the national team’s first choice goalkeeper, David James. Portsmouth have also appeared in three finals, winning the most recent of those – a relative term, since the victory dates from 1939.

Their semifinal opponents, West Bromwich Albion, are pushing hard for promotion to the Premier League. West Brom, as they are known, were one of the founding members of the world’s first soccer league in 1888. They boast a superior FA Cup pedigree to Portsmouth, having won the trophy on five occasions, including once in the modern era, a mere forty years ago. By contrast, the first two of their five victories occurred in the nineteenth century.

Cardiff City have won the trophy just once, in 1927. If they mange to repeat that lone success, they will have engineered an interesting predicament. A considerable side benefit of winning the FA Cup is that the victorious team is admitted to the following season’s UEFA Cup – a knock-out competition for clubs throughout Europe that has been won by the likes of Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. Participation in this tournament – especially if they progress through one or two rounds – would generate much-need revenue for Cardiff City, but there is a problem. As the rules stand, a Welsh team can only qualify through a Welsh – not English – competition. The issue is under review by the English Football Association, but no doubt soccer’s mandarins hope that the semi-final result will render it a non-issue.

So will the fans of Cardiff’s opponents, Barnsley, along with many neutrals. The romantic money will undoubtedly be on this deeply unfashionable club from a town whose fortunes were tied to coalmines, all of which are now closed. It’s a shame that those bets were not placed in January, when the odds on the team winning the Cup were listed at 500-1.

Barnsley have spent most of their history in the second tier of English soccer. They enjoyed a single season in the top division a decade ago and currently have the lowest league placing of the four teams. Yet they too have won the FA Cup once, their sole triumph being somewhat overshadowed as a news item by the sinking of the Titanic ten days earlier.

Barnsley are, however, this year’s giant killers, knocking out Liverpool in the last sixteen and eliminating 2007 Cup winners Chelsea in the quarter-finals. A club that struggles to get 10,000 fans for their home matches are one game away from an FA Cup Final appearance in front of ten times that number. Their path to the semifinal suggests that there is nothing – and no-one – left for them to fear.

Posted by Art Martone  at 1:46 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Sports quotes of the week, from the AP

Compiled by MARK WIEDENHEFT
By The Associated Press

"The timing's not right. Let's see how Alex reacts. Let's see if they all call me a liar again. How's that for you? Let's see if all of a sudden they're going to call me a liar again." - Jose Canseco, according to excerpts released by ABC, on producing evidence to back his claim that he introduced Alex Rodriguez to a steroids dealer named "Max."

"It's over as far as I'm concerned. No further comment on the matter. I'm just excited to be playing baseball." - Alex Rodriguez, refusing to address allegations by Jose Canseco, who claims he introduced the three-time MVP to a steroids dealer.

"When we told him about a month ago, in the past he would have resisted it, we told him it was something the city wanted to do, and he got very emotional." - Hank Steinbrenner, on Legends Field being renamed George M. Steinbrenner Field in honor of his father.

"Coffee and breakfast instead of beer, kind of unusual." - Baseball fan Tony Massarotti, on bars around Fenway Park and elsewhere catering to big breakfast crowds as the season officially started in Japan at about 6:05 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.

"I've been riding for 22 years and have never been a part of anything like this. This is something special, a once-in-a-career type of thing." - G.R. Carter, jockey for Got Country Grip, before his 5-year-old paint horse matched the modern North American all-breeds record of 16 straight wins.

"It's fun to score goals, especially when you break some records." - Alexander Ovechkin, after breaking Washington's mark with his league-leading 61st of the season in Tuesday night's 3-2 shootout win at Carolina.

"I know that when you hit something like that, you really think about all the good things that happen to you. I have been really fortunate to have three different teams that are very, very good and that's why you get wins like that." - Rick Adelman, who became the 13th coach in NBA history to reach 800 wins when Houston beat Sacramento 108-100 Monday.

"WWE has the right machine, and we proved I'm the hottest thing on the market right now. If you can't sell nothing else, you can sell Floyd Mayweather." - Floyd Mayweather Jr., the 39-0 welterweight champion, who will wrestle in the "Big Show" at WWE's WrestleMania 24 at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando on Sunday.

"As you're coming in your agents tell you what you can do after you play out your first contract. So getting to this day is a dream come true. It kind of just seems like everything is working out like a storybook in my life. I played ball here. I grew up here. I got to play college ball here, NFL ball here. I'm getting married in Seattle. Things just all come together." - Marcus Trufant, when asked if the anticipation of signing a new contract motivated him last season. The Pro Bowl cornerback and his hometown Seahawks agreed to a $50.2 million, six-year contract.

"Now it's one voice; it's mine. Pressure is pressure. I've dealt with it in the past, and I'm looking forward to it." - Hall of Famer Larry Bird, after Donnie Walsh announced his 24th year with the Pacers would be his last. Walsh, the team's CEO and president since 1988, hired Bird as coach in 1997 and groomed him as his eventual successor.

"He wanted to go to a contender and we sent him there. We sent him to Utopia and we're left here with the carnage and I don't know why he's not happy." - Heat coach Pat Riley, responding to disparaging remarks Shaquille O'Neal made about some of his old teammates and trainers in a Boston Globe story. Riley dealt O'Neal to Phoenix before the trade deadline, allowing the 36-year-old center the chance to compete for another title.

"I was happy to start the game, but it was more about getting on the pitch, getting that 100th cap." - David Beckham, after playing in his 100th international game for England. Beckham was taken off in the 62nd minute of his team's 1-0 loss at France.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Former Yankee official seeks leniency, says he's not as bad as the players

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Former New York Yankees traveling secretary David Szen asked to be spared prison time for failing to report tips he received from players and coaches.

Szen, who was fired last December, said in court documents that his conduct pales compared to what high-profile players have done. He asked for probation when he is sentenced next week in federal court in New Haven.

Szen pleaded guilty in December to filing a false tax return and admitted he failed to report more than $50,000 in tips from players and coaches.

He was the Yankees' media relations director in 1982, later worked for the Seattle Mariners and returned to the Yankees in the 1990s as traveling secretary, arranging charter flights, buses and hotel rooms for the team.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:19 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Multimedia: Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, from Los Angeles

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses the rocky first outings by Daisuke Matsuzaka and Jon Lester in Japan, Manny Ramirez's new attitude, and Saturday night's freak-show exhibition game at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:18 PM to Red Sox | Permalink | Comments 0

Patriots' Watson has ankle surgery, may miss start of camp

In news first reported by the Boston Herald, tight end Benjamin Watson recently underwent left ankle surgery and may not be ready come training camp in late July.

The surgery reportedly revealed cartilage damage and scar tissue; when asked about the surgery, Watson declined. The Patriots refused to comment.

Watson first injured the ankle in Week 6 against Dallas, when he was dragged down from behind by Cowboys' safety Roy Williams, who is so notorious for taking players down that way that the NFL instituted a rule against using a "horse collar" tackle because of a high incidence of injury with the move.

Though Williams was fined three times for such a tackle last season -- including a one-game suspension late in the season after a takedown of the Eagles' Donovan McNabb -- he was not cited for the Watson tackle.

Watson played in 12 games last season. The Patriots cut veteran tight end Kyle Brady on Feb. 29, apparently before the extent of Watson's injury was known. David Thomas, who missed most of last season, and Stephen Spach, are the team's other players at the position.

-SHALISE MANZA YOUNG

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:17 AM to Patriots | Permalink | Comments 0

UNH's Kevin Regan named top college hockey player in New England

BOSTON (AP) - New Hampshire goalie Kevin Regan has been named winner of the Walter Brown Award as the top U.S.-born Division 1 college hockey player in New England.

Regan had a .933 save percentage and a 2.12 goals against average as the Wildcats posted a 25-9-3 record and won Hockey East's regular-season title.

The native of Boston is the program's all-time leader in saves with 3,208, save percentage with .929, games played with 111 and wins with 70.

The award, handed out by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston, will be presented at the New England Hockey Writers dinner on April 16.

The Wildcats open the NCAA tournament on Friday night against Notre Dame in Colorado Springs.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Columnists opine on baseball's opening day, Jose Canseco and A-Rod

KEVIN SHERRINGTON, The Dallas Morning News, on BASEBALL RENEWAL:
Hard as it may be to believe, I have it on good authority that baseball season already has begun in Japan. Not Japanese baseball, which already was in session. The American version. The one with all the best Japanese players.

Conclusion: Bud Selig continues his quest to find a country where the term "performance enhancing drugs" doesn't translate.

Oakland and Boston apparently played two games in Tokyo to mixed reviews. By all accounts, the opener was gangbusters. A Boston rookie, Brandon Moss, hit a game-tying home run off Huston Street in the ninth, forcing extra innings and sending the locals into convulsions of sushi-infused euphoria.

A Japanese baseball culture primer: Extra innings are a rare delicacy in Japan, where games are called after 12 innings, and not for a lack of relievers, either. They simply believe it's all the baseball anyone should have to endure in one sitting. This is, of course, a departure from American baseball, where everyone goes home after last call.

Anyway, the teams split and will resume the series next week on American soil, unless Bud gets a better offer from another country.

On a personal note, the start of baseball season has always sparked something hopeful that even the Rangers couldn't beat out of me.

Maybe it's just the promise of spring. A sense of renewal. The affirmation of life.

But I have to tell you, confirmation that baseball snuck in a couple of games a week ahead of time - at 3 in the morning Oakland time, at that - throws a wet blanket over my reawakening.
Never mind that this makes three times in eight years that Japan has hosted our opener. In case you didn't notice, baseball had a bad winter, and spring hasn't been so hot, either.

Coming next week is another Jose Canseco tell-all. In his sequel, he reportedly reveals that he introduced a steroids dealer to Alex Rodriguez, who repaid the favor by hitting on Canseco's wife.

Frankly, I gave Canseco the benefit of the doubt three years ago with his first book. Everyone laughed off his numbers then. At least he raised the dialogue about baseball's not-so-secret problem.

Still, enough is enough. If he had something on A-Rod besides his wife's perfume, he would have told us the first time.

Here's how you know the evidence is thin: Don Yaeger turned down an offer to co-author the book, calling the goods shaky. This is the same Don Yaeger who took the word of a couple of strippers in the case against Mike Price.

Now I know what you're thinking: I'd take the word of a stripper over Canseco, too.

How much bad news can you handle going into a season anyway? Let's count the ways:
Roger Clemens' congressional testimony became ripe political fodder when a top Republican released a report Tuesday blasting the Democratic majority's conclusion. The president of the Baseball Hall of Fame was forced to resign Tuesday for failing to "exercise proper fiduciary responsibility."

Edinson Volquez has a 2.79 ERA this spring and is the talk of the Reds' camp.

The Rangers renew their annual search for a rotation. Prediction: The FBI will find Jimmy Hoffa first.

If you think I'm not taking these sordid stories well, consider the case of Tim Kurkjian.

Twice in the last year I've heard the former Dallas Morning News staffer spin the funny tales from his book, Is This a Great Game, or What?

Both times he was beaten down afterward with questions about steroids and cheating.
If you've never met Kurkjian or caught his work on ESPN, seeing him grilled in person is like watching an angry mob string up one of Santa's elves.

I don't blame Bud Selig for all of these problems. A lot of people are responsible for baseball's malaise.

But it's probably not too much to ask that we hold on to traditions like opening day and quit selling out in the interests of international marketing. From what I can tell, the best to come out of the latest venture was a line from the Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy, who wrote that Brandon Moss' homer kept the Sox from being "Sadaharu Oh-for-Japan."

And the young hero? Moss struck out three times in Game 2 and lost his spot on the club. Here's hoping they explained he still had a seat on the plane.

WALLACE MATTHEWS, Newsday, on JOSE CANSECO:
In his first literary endeavor, the No. 1 bestseller "Juiced," Jose Canseco was able to accomplish something he never would have been capable of in his chosen field. As a ballplayer, Canseco averaged 114 strikeouts a season but as a first-time author, he took five big swings and connected on four of them.

That's a pretty good rate of success in any field. It is also the only reason anyone is paying the slightest bit of attention to his follow-up effort, the title of which will not be repeated here for fear, however remote, that it might actually help him sell a copy or two.

It is bad enough that a man who in his life has probably never read anything that didn't have a centerfold can somehow have "written" a book that lived for eight solid weeks on The New York Times bestseller list.

That one, at least, had names - Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and Pudge Rodriguez, to name the biggest - and a semblance of truth, since four of them, minus Pudge, either admitted to, were caught in the act of, or ran away from the accusations Canseco pinned on them.

This one has names, too, but little else. The sequel is never as good as the original, but this is so bad it's ridiculous. Jose Canseco says he introduced Alex Rodriguez to "a known supplier of steroids" - italics by the author - and that means, of course, that Canseco has the goods on A-Rod. Which means, of course, that you should buy this book (italics by the columnist).

Not.

No wonder Don Yaeger, Canseco's collaborator on "Juiced," ran away from the sequel the way McGwire ran away from the original. No wonder they had to resort to using the guy who ghostwrote O.J.'s "fictional" confession to the murder of his ex-wife. No wonder no legitimate publishing house would touch this mess with one of Canseco's alcohol swabs.

To claim that because a ballplayer once met a steroids dealer - and in the current environment, I defy you to show me one who hasn't - proves that said athlete is, like Canseco, a steroid abuser, a felon and a cheat, is ludicrous and probably libelous. For instance, at a boxing match some years ago, a promoter introduced me to a well-known, now deceased, Queens-based mob boss. Does that make me a capo?

What it does, is put A-Rod's name in play, the same way he put McGwire's and Giambi's and Palmeiro's and the rest of them. Canseco may be the boy who cried wolf but last time around, there really was a wolf at the door. That's why, as slimy as this messenger is, we have no choice but to take a look at the message. And considering all we have learned during the past three years from "Game of Shadows," a legitimate book by legitimate authors, the Mitchell Report, the Congressional hearings and the testimony of Brian McNamee and Kirk Radomski, one would have to be naive or foolish to swear that anyone in professional sports is absolutely clean.

This is less the fault of Canseco than of Bud Selig and Donald Fehr, who in their greed and amorality encouraged and abetted the flourishing of the steroid culture, compromised their game's integrity, tarnished the legacies of its greatest retired stars and cast suspicion on each and every one of their current stars. Perhaps worst of all, they created the monstrous figure of Jose Canseco, Best-Selling Author.

Without the help of Selig and Fehr, there is no "Juiced". And without "Juiced," there is no follow-up, a tirade motivated not by altruism or even greed so much as Canseco's hatred for Rodriguez, whom he alleges lusted after his second wife, Jessica - a woman, incidentally, Canseco was later arrested for smacking around and subsequently divorced.

No matter. At the time, the two were lovey-dovey, fresh off their romantic meeting at Hooters - no joke! - and Canseco's wound is still so raw he admits in the book that he "hates - - guts." In fact, he repeats the sentiment, in various forms, no less than six times in 10 pages.

So much for being a whistle-blower. So much for wanting to do the right thing. So much for not having an agenda or a vendetta. So much for the offering your reading public the plain, unvarnished, unadulterated truth.

Sadly, it may turn out that someday, A-Rod will wind up on the Shame Brigade with so many others, especially since baseball continues to drag its feet on HGH testing. Right now, the only consequence for a ballplayer using HGH is that he might wind up in Jose Canseco's next book.
If there is any justice in the world, the title of that book will be "Incarcerated: My View From the Lower Bunk." At the very least, Jose Canseco is guilty of criminal impersonation of a writer.

BOB KLAPISCH, The Record (Hackensack N.J.), on ALEX RODRIGUEZ:

To those who thought the final 10 years of Alex Rodriguez's career would be spent in a quiet, Spartan pursuit of Barry Bonds' home run record, we offer a much different crystal ball. Think of the last 24 hours as a sneak preview.

In just one day, A-Rod foolishly confessed to a long-running regret that he didn't end up with the Mets in 2000, then fended off Jose Canseco's implied accusation of steroid use. It was a busy news cycle for the Yankees' slugger, but then again, aren't they all?

Turns out Canseco had little to show for all the huffing and puffing about bringing down A-Rod; in his soon-to-be-released book, the only "evidence" of Rodriguez's cheating was Canseco's statement that he introduced him to a known steroids peddler. A-Rod emerges crime-free, but that's not to say the Yankees can count on him to keep his mouth shut, not even after signing that historic $275 million deal during the winter.

Put it this way: Imagine how the Yankees feel today knowing the cornerstone of the franchise, to whom they've committed $275 million, has been pining for the Mets all along.

That's what A-Rod told the New York Daily News on Tuesday, that he wishes he hadn't allowed himself to be steered toward the Rangers and their record-setting $252 million deal eight years ago. Rodriguez actually was bashing agent Scott Boras, but in doing so, expressed a retroactive admiration for the Mets that can't possibly sit well with the Bombers.

Even if Rodriguez is telling the truth - and his recollection is faulty; the Mets turned him down, not the other way around - he should know better than to be kissing up to the Yankees' cross-town rivals. The slugger can't have it both ways: he can't sell himself as an old-school, to-the-bone Yankee and then admit he could've (and should've) been playing at Shea.

Of course, the Yankees will never react to this in an official capacity. Not now, not after anointing A-Rod as their caretaker for the next decade. This is officially his team now, not Derek Jeter's, which means the front office is going to pretend A-Rod's comments never appeared in the newspaper.

But it tells you something about how A-Rod will be spending the next few years. He will be loose, open, telling us more than we need to know. And, apparently, Rodriguez won't be afraid to lay it on thick. Last week, he told The Boston Globe, "When all is said and done, Manny (Ramirez) will be the greatest right-handed hitter ever. I'm very biased because he's one of my best friends. I just love Manny."

Rodriguez's praise is nothing if not disingenuous: he's going to finish his career with more home runs, RBI and total bases than Ramirez, so why would he promote a concept he knows is statistically false? Because he thinks the fans at Fenway will be nicer to him next month?

If so, Rodriguez isn't just vain, he's terribly naive. But that's the surcharge the Yankees are paying for the third baseman's greatness. A-Rod is an amiable guy, but on a scale of one-to-tone deaf, he's off the charts.

Of course, the genetic coding for saying the wrong thing won't stop Rodriguez from hitting home runs in a steady blur. He's got a couple of more MVP awards in him, too, probably in 2008, as well. But the idea of A-Rod as a baseball warrior remains as alien as ever.

It's no coincidence that soon after re-signing with the Yankees, Rodriguez hired Guy Oseary, who's managed the careers of Madonna and Lenny Kravitz, to act as his new front man. When he was retained last December, Oseary told Variety magazine, "This is to help (Rodriguez) have more control of his image and brand."

To which Yankee fans must be thinking: If only A-Rod had similar control of his October slugging percentage.

Obviously, Rodriguez is the game's greatest five-tool player - ever - and the Yankees would've never made it to the postseason in any of the past four years without him. But does A-Rod really have to prattle on about the Mets, the Red Sox and whatever topic comes to him in the next soul-baring, Oprah-like moment?

It's not too much for the Yankees to ask A-Rod to do what he does best - hit fastballs to the planets. The rest can wait for Rodriguez's memoirs, which undoubtedly will have a chapter devoted to Canseco.

NEWS ITEM: Orlando Hernandez's fastball in decline.

The Mets are lucky Pedro Martinez is having a good spring, and that John Maine looks even better than that. If not, there'd be plenty of concern about El Duque's fastball, or to be more specific, its rapid evaporation.

At age 42, there's every reason to wonder if Hernandez's career is taking its final breath. He's revamped his delivery to take pressure off a chronic bunion on his right foot, without any success. Clocked at a mere 84-mph against the Cardinals last weekend, Hernandez is all but naked on the mound; he has no weapons to defeat major league-caliber hitters.

This would be a perfect opening for Mike Pelfrey, whom everyone in the organization keeps waiting to blossom. Sooner or later, the Mets reckon, their former No. 1 draft pick will have his breakthrough moment, but instead of progressing, Pelfrey looks more and more hittable, unable to command his slider in the strike zone.

Pelfrey will be handed the No. 5 rotation spot by default, but that still doesn't address the Mets' concerns about Hernandez (and the $6.5 million he's got coming to him).

Duque has been as tough and reliable as any New York pitcher in the last decade, but not even this wizard can create magic with a fastball in the low-80s. We may have seen the last of him.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments 0

Download today's sports cover

On today's sports cover, Joe McDonald writes why the Red Sox are not too concerned by the early-season struggles of Clay Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury, and Kevin McNamara updates the slow-moving search for a new PC basketball coach.

Click here to download the file in pdf format.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments 0