RANDOM THOUGHTS

##  The Cleveland-NY game got rained out yesterday, and since this is the only time the Yanks play in Cleveland, they will have to fly in on an off-day for both teams to make it up. Both teams are off Monday, Cleveland plays at home Sunday and Tuesday and the Yanks will be in NY on both Sunday & Tuesday. Seems perfect. It's too logical - MLB will never go for it.

##  Milwaukee GM, Doug Melvin, agreed with some statistical analysts, who say that closers have little value because anybody can get three outs in an inning to end a game. Melvin was quoted as saying, "Maybe everybody can do it, but NO ONE  can do consistently." Yeah, right. Doug Melvin meet Mariano Rivera.

## Executive Vice Presidant of MLB told Buster Olney in an interview, that the outside pitch was the one most often missed by the Umpires, especially the outside pitch to lefty hitters. He also mentioned that one of the reasons was that catchers are so good at "framing" pitches.  "Framing," by the way, is baseballs official way of saying that catchers are adept at pulling pitches back into the strike zone. As Annie-O will tell you, I have often said that I think umpires are wrong about 80% of the time when calling outside pitches.
But even though MLB has acknowledged this problem for years, they haven't been able to solve it.

##  The umpiring crew for the Washington Nationals game got stuck in traffic in Washington yesterday and got to the park late. No truth to the rumor that no one noticed they weren't there until the 6th inning.

## Michael Carter-Williams is leaving Syracuse to turn pro. He's a very talented player, but he could really use another year of seasoning. He plays out of control sometimes and makes mistakes, but boy, the ability is there.

***THEY SAID IT***
" According to a recent Gallup-Healthways measure of job happiness, bus drivers are in a group with the lowest mental well-being. In a related story, it just got harder to sleep on the team bus."  -- RJ Currie
"Tom Brady cuts Danny Amendola's hair to look just like Wes Welker's."  -- The ONION.COM

"Fans wearing signs and T-shirts lampooning the skinflint Marlins were ejected from Florida's home opener Monday, but they actually got off easy. Do it again, they were warned, and we'll make you stay and watch all nine innings."  Dwight Perry
"As he left the court after his team lost to La Salle, Ole Miss guard Marshall Henderson flipped off the crowd with both hands. If it were up to me, this would make the “One Shining Moment” montage."  -- Brad Dickson
"Many Colorado Rockies fans were complaining because the team doesn’t have their home opener until April 15. Today’s high temperature in Denver? 18 degrees. I think this is Mother Nature’s way of saying “STFU.”  -- Janice Hough
From Norman Chad - "The Stupidest Things In Sports"
"Relief pitchers warming up when they come into a baseball game. What the heck have they been doing in the bullpen for the past 10 minutes? That would be like letting reserves shoot around for a while after they substitute into a basketball game."
"Baseball teams paying millionaire players meal money. Think about it."

CP-