Miscellaneous Thoughts

Some morning, first cup of coffee observations...

So the first thing I see this morning is an article by Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe about Pedro Martinez "vowing to become a free agent at the end of the season". The article waits till the very end to remind the reader that even after the season is over - the Red Sox have a brief window of exclusivity to negotiate with their free agents and the article doesn't mention the possibility of arbitration at all. I may comment on the Red Sox free agents later - after I've actually had some coffee and have woken up a bit more... Freddie Garcia of the Mariners may be the hottest starter in the AL right now. Last night Freddie went 8 innings and only gave up one run but got a no-decision because the Mariner offense is freezing cold right now... Last night the Yankees beat the Royals to get back over .500 for the season (12-11). The Royals have to be the biggest disappointment in baseball right now (Mariner fans may beg to argue). Many people expected them to duplicate last year's fast start but instead the Royals have gotten out of the gate with a lousy 7-14 record... Jose Cruz Jr. came into last night's game against Oakland as a pinch hitter and went 0-1. That means that he has tied Greg Vaughn for the most futile batting stretch in team history (0 for the last 34 at bats). Cruz will have the chance to have the record all to himself with his next at bat... The hottest pitcher in the NL may be Randy Wolf of the Phillies who pitched 7 innings of shutout ball last night. This comes on the heels of a complete game shut out in his last start. The Phillies need Wolf to be the ace of the staff if they are going to compete for the playoffs this year... Roger Clemens had another strong start last night to run his record to 5-0 with a 1.95 ERA but just as important (to me at least) - Clemens still holds an edge over Derek Jeter in batting (.273 for Clemens vs. .168 for Jeter)... OK here's a visual that will stick with me all day. Someone on a FARK chatboard wondered whether Yeardly Smith (the voice of Lisa on The Simpsons) ever makes love while doing the voice. I'm willing the bet that Hank Azaria has made love to someone while doing the Moe voice at least once... Roger Clemens' win last night gave him 315 for his career to move him past Gaylord Perry into 15th place all-time. Next up for Clemens - Phil Niekro and his 318 career wins... Harvard middle linebacker Dante Balestracci got a free agent invite from the Patriots. Belichick likes smart players and Balestracci certainly qualifies there. If Dante does make the team - then that will be a big plus for his parents since he also has brothers playing football at Holy Cross and Brown. The Balestracci clan would be able to car pool to most home games for all the boys... Funny NBA playoffs recap by Bill Simmons...