Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

How about those first place Marlins, Royals, Rays and Orioles? You have to love early season standings.... Dontrelle Willis gave up 3 earned runs in 5 innings yesterday on just one hit. Of course he left inherited runners who were driven in on a ground out and a single. Most telling was the fact that Willis walked 7 batters and struck out zero. I don't think Willis will fare well in the AL with a walk to strikeout ratio like that... Happy birthday to Framingham's Lou Merloni... Alex Rodriguez needs just 3 RBI to pass Mickey Mantle for 46th place on the all-time list. I'm sure Yankee fans have mixed feelings about that... If A-Rod's 3 RBI come on 3 solo HR - then he will also pass Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 15th place on the all-time HR list. Of course any way the next 3 HR come from A-Rod he will still pass Williams and McCovey. I just like to think of A-Rod as a solo HR type of guy... Carlos Delgado is still the all-time leader in Toronto team history for HR (336), RBI (1058) and total bases (2786). Those numbers would only put him 5th, 6th and 7th respectively on the Red Sox all-time team lists... Kyle Snyder's time with the Red Sox is probably over. There are just too many teams out there who are desperate for a 5th starter for him to clear waivers... Nick Carfardo of the Boston Globe likened the situation of Mike Hampton to lottery winners who are beset with bad lucky after striking it rich. It seems like an apt comparison... It's worth noting that David Murphy (who the Red Sox traded to the Rangers in the Gagne deal) qualifies as a rookie and with his HR last night - he's probably the early leader for AL ROY. Murphy currently has an OPS of 1.180....