Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Happy 45th birthday to immortal hottie Elle McPherson...What? Peter Gammons had this puzzling statement in his last column: "Crisp was frightened by the death valley that is center and right-center field in Fenway Park." What? Crisp played Gold Glove defense at Fenway. Was I missing something? I'd look for Crisp to be among the favorites for a Gold Glove this year too... I've long wanted to read Shelby Foote's epic The Civil War: A Narrative (3 Vol. Set) and finally I've got the first volume in my hands. I've read about the first 200 pages and I must say this this may just be the best book of history I've ever laid eyes on... Speaking of Coco Crisp - Jacoby Ellsbury should go fairly high among outfielders in many fantasy baseball drafts. Think of Coco Crisp as a later round equivalent to Ellsbury. I'd look for Crisp and Ellsbury to put up similar numbers this season. Same is true of Joba Chamberlain and Seattle's Brandon Morrow. Both pitchers have about equal stuff but Joba probably goes a few rounds ahead of Morrow... Cy Young was born on this day in 1867. Young's record of 511 wins is often cited as one of the records that cannot be broken. To me, though, the real unbreakable record of Young's is his 749 complete games. Pud Galvin is in second place with 646 and Tim Keefe is third with 554. That's a difference of about 200 complete games between 1st and 3rd place. You won't find an entire pitching staff in baseball these days with a combined 200 complete games.