Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

A poker buddy pointed out to me last night that just maybe JD Drew was made to look better than he was because he was playing all those years in the National League. I had been a JD Drew defender but that observation got me thinking. We all know that pitchers experience a big difference when going from the NL to the AL and vice versa. Look at how Randy Johnson struggled when he came to the AL and how great Roger Clemens' ERA became once he switched leagues. The list is long - Ted Lilly with the Cubs this year, Jeff Weaver with the Cardinals last year, etc. But what about hitters? Off the top of my head - I couldn't think of a single recent big-time hitter that improved on switching from the NL to the AL. Vlade Guerrero for hitters and Pedro Martinez for pitchers seem to be the exceptions to the rules but those two were just freakishly talented players. You could argue Jim Thome and Troy Glaus but they are essentially AL guys who had brief stints in the NL. Besides Guerrero - Gary Sheffield seems to be the only guy who comes to mind who switched to the AL after a long time in the NL and was still as successful. Maybe there is something to a batter losing something when coming to the AL just as a pitcher can expect a serious jump in ERA when switching leagues... As a Red Sox fan - Brandon McCarthy scares me. I know that he has a 5.82 ERA but I also know that he seems to kill the Red Sox - I saw him in his one prior start against Boston and he just looked great. Plus lately he's been hot. In his last four starts McCarthy is 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA. Dice-K and the Red Sox are big favorites tonight and you have to like the Red Sox because this club just doesn't lose back to back games. However, Dice-K has shown a vulnerability to the home run ball and the Rangers lead MLB in HR. The over/under for this game is 10 runs but it just as easily could be a 1-0 game as a 11-10 game...