***Yanks - Red Sox tonight at Fenway.***
This used to be a big deal: fans honing their voices, players sharpening their spikes, the Red Cross laying in a supply of bandages & plasma. It's just not the same and it doesn't have anything to do with the Sox not playing up to par. Lately, the players have been displaying so much respect (if not actual friendship) toward one another, that you'd never know it was a rivalry. Oh, everyone gives it lip-service, but that's just television hype. Two weeks ago, my son attended a game at Fenway, decked out in a Yankee shirt and couldn't get anyone to even spit beer at him, let alone attack him with a David Ortiz Louisville Slugger. Maybe they should get Pedro Martinez to throw out the first beanball.
***REMEMBER HIM?***
Jayson Stark wrote about baseball players whose contracts made them untradeable. Kei Igawa (Stark refers to him as 'Special Kei') made the list as honorable mention. Says Jason, "... he's doomed to spend two more years adding to his record as the all-time franchise wins leader in exotic Moosic, Pa., where the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees toil. Why? Because trading him would cost the Yankees even more money." Since he's off the 40-man roster,he doesn't count as salary for the luxury tax. That changes if he's traded.
***A LITTLE FRIDAY HUMOR***
# From LA Times Mike DiGiovanni: When asked if they found anything in the neurological tests on his head after his collision with Mark Teixeira, Bobby Wilson replied, "Just a hamster chasing a peanut."
# Comedian Matt Goldich: "Yankees visited White House yesterday. Michelle got upset when A-Rod cut directly across the Rose Garden"
# Jay Leno on the Philly taser attack: "Let me tell you: These cops are not fooling around anymore. They'll taser anyone on the field who doesn't belong there. … So more bad news for the Dodgers."
# A couple of Senators hosted a ceremony honoring Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox for his years of service in baseball. But the decorative writing on the dessert cake misspelled his name in a rather unfortunate way.
***DAMON GETS HURT***
And that's no bull...wait, it is bull: Red Bull. According to Johnny, that 'extra energy' is a cause of muscle pulls and strains. Damon also admits to not being able to sleep nights because of it. "I've got to cut down on the caffeine," he said. Here's an idea for a new commercial: RED BULL! WE'RE THE NEW STEROID! ...and it's undetectable.
***PICASNER LEADS THE WAY?***
I always feel justified when some baseball figure takes up one of Picasner's cause. The latest is the Official Scorer problems. Some of the judgement calls are ridiculous, but now I'm collecting allies who want to keep the game as pure as it should be. Or are they? I should have known. The concern is NOT over ethics or anything so lofty; no, it's about the money! If scorers play with official statistics, it could mess up a players arbitration arguments. Poor guys. Never mind right and wrong: let's get the money right. I give up on this one.
***COMPLETE GAMES AND PITCH COUNTS***
A story in today's paper mentions that Roy Halladay is the current active leader with 52 complete games and 17 shutouts. Wow! 52 complete games! In a related story, former Philly pitcher, Robin Roberts (not the ESPN personality) died this week at age 83. How are these two related? Well, in a 6-year span, 1950 thru 1955, Robin started 232 games (38+/year) and completed 161 (almost 27/year). By the way, he won an average of 23 games and and logged an average of 323 innings during that period. The innings didn't seem to hurt him, he lasted 19 seasons.
***GOOD GAME TO WATCH***
Texas 13
Kansas City 12
CP-
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