« Greetings from north of the border
Main
Schilling's remarks on Bonds draw national attention »

Baseball Today: Wednesday, May 9

A bright sunny day in the world of local baseball . . .

ROLLING A SEVEN: Josh Beckett continues his incredible start to the season, and Sean McAdam says last night's rout of the Blue Jays was the kind of game that might have gotten away from him last year. More Red Sox notes here, including Kevin Youkilis' reaction to getting hit by a pitch yet again: ''I don’t know if it was intentional. Who knows? But it gets old after a while.'' For what it's worth, both Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy seemed to think it was -- Youkilis was plunked after going 3-for-3, and teams struggling as badly as the Blue Jays are (Toronto Sun) sometimes will provoke an altercation to get the blood stirring -- and it might bear watching over the last two games of the series. Especially since, as Lyle Overbay points out, ''we're going to need some help from other teams as far as catching [the Red Sox].'' (Toronto Globe and Mail) Hard to believe, but the Sox are already 8 1/2 games up on the Blue Jays.

SELF-PROMOTION: Some of the above links are from projo.com's new baseball package, produced in conjunction with the Associated Press and STATS Inc. It's got virtually every fact and number imaginable, and we'll be using it more and more in the days and weeks ahead. (And in more sports than just baseball.) Check it out; if you like baseball, I can pretty much guarantee you'll like what you see.

FEELING THE HEAT: Toronto GM (and Worcester native) J.P. Ricciardi is catching some flak in Toronto, and not just about the Jays' losing ways. (Toronto Sun)

NOW YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY: The Globe's Gordon Edes got to the bottom of Manny Ramirez' strange head-rub of Julian Tavarez Sunday in Minnesota.

And in case you missed it . . .

MARCHING FORWARD: George Mitchell's investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball has reached the stage where the players union has now agreed to let the players decide whether or not to provide medical records to investigators. The story continues: ''According to sources, Mitchell is now seeking information on a number of current and former Orioles who played during or around the time Jason Grimsley was with Baltimore in 2004 and 2005: Rafael Palmeiro, who tested positive for the steroid stanozolol in 2005; David Segui, who last year admitted using HGH; Jerry Hairston Jr., who was named as a player who bought performance-enhancing drugs over the Internet earlier this year, and Fernando Tatis.'' (New York Daily News) Sammy Sosa, incidentally, also played for the '05 Orioles.

THE STORY CONTINUES: They're talking Roger Clemens as far away as Denver, where ex-Astros Jason Hirsch and Willy Tavares say that, while they liked him well enough, Clemens' frequent absences prevented him from ever becoming a leader in Houston. (Denver Post)

AND WHY SHOULD HE HAVE BEEN? According to the Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice, Clemens ''never considered himself anything other than a Yankee.''

MEANWHILE . . . The Rocket has begun his workouts. (New York Daily News)

I'M RUBBER AND YOU'RE GLUE: Suzyn Waldman is unapologetic about her over-the-top reaction to Roger Clemens' return on Sunday's Yankee radio broadcast. (Newsday) I've already linked to it twice and am hesitant to do it again . . . aw, what the heck.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE: Roger Clemens' return to the Yankees has Rickey Henderson talking comeback. (New York Post)

INSIGHT: The St. Louis Post Dispatch's Bernie Miklasz says Tony La Russa's silence over his DUI arrest could hamper his ability to be a leader on this issue, and Miklasz speaks from experience: He was arrested himself for DUI in the 1990s.

SPARE ME: According to Devil Rays owner Stuart Sternberg, 17-year old Tropicana Field "has a shelf life of five [more] years." (Tampa Tribune) Either they're building domed stadiums out of straw down in central Florida, or . . . wait a minute . . . could it be . . . is it possible Sternberg is trying to strongarm the local politicos into building him a new place? Gee? Ya think??

These sort of tactics work best when you have some leverage, Stu. Since the United States has just about run out of cities -- save Las Vegas, which has issues of its own -- that want major league baseball teams, and since the Devil Rays a) aren't really a hot item and b) not a whole lot of people in and around Tampa would care one way or the other if they left, it won't be easy building the sort of civic panic that responds to this kind of shameless strongarming. Best of luck, Mr. Sternberg. You've got your work cut out for you.

SPEAKING OF TURNED-OFF FANS . . . The Dallas Morning News' Kevin Sherrington says that's what they've got in Texas . . . at least concerning the Rangers.

THEY GO TOGETHER IN THE GOOD 'OL U.S.A. . . . Want free tickets to a Brewers game? You've got 'em, as long as you undergo a prostate cancer screening at Miller Park. (theneweditor.com)

LOCAL BOYS: Dan Wheeler allowed a ninth-inning home run but still recorded his seventh save for the Astros (Houston Chronicle).

OLD FRIENDS: It was ''just one of those days'' for ex-sox farmhand Jorge de la Rosa (Kansas City Star) . . . I always wondered why the Sox were so reluctant to give Carlos Pena more of a chance last September (Tampa Tribune) . . . Andy Marte homered in Buffalo last night during his rehab assignment (Cleveland Plain Dealer) . . . Scott Williamson (10 runs, 11 hits in six innings) wasn't exactly lights out during his rehab stints, and now the Orioles have to decide what to do with him (Baltimore Sun) . . . Byung-Hyun Kim pitched pretty well in the fourth of his six scheduled rehab appearances (Rocky Mountain News) . . . Anibal Sanchez is headed to the disabled list (South Florida Sun-Sentinel).

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:09 AM | Permalink