Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Just saying but if I wanted to kill an ex-NFL player - I'd shoot them in the chest at close range. Right now everyone would just assume it was a suicide on the part of the player... Bill Belichick on the red carpet at the Kentucky Derby. I love Belichick but man does he look goofy here... Michael Bowden has a 2.70 ERA since joining the Cubs. Is it me or could the Red Sox use a reliever like that?... The owner of I'll Have Another got a little over $1.4 million for yesterday's win. The jockey got 10% of that - so a little over $140,000. A caddy for a winning golfer in one of the four majors probably makes more than that... I love this story about Jeff Francoeur buying a round of beers and it makes me like him all the more. The sad thing is even though he could easily afford to do this every game - if he did it people would come to expect it and feel entitled to it. Best to do it every once and a while as a surprise for the fans... Elementary kids in my neighborhood are selling light-bulbs for a school fundraiser. Is this like kids selling apples in the Great Depression? Under Obama are light-bulbs now luxury items like magazine subscriptions or chocolate candy bars?... Cool - an octopus dining on sea gulls... What's up with Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson? He should be a Cy Young contender but instead he's pitching like he's the second coming of John Wasdin... Finally saw the movie In Bruges and I liked it so much I immediately watched it a second time. Two big thumbs up...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Apropos of nothing a lefty comparison - before he was 26-yrs old Tom Glavine had 53 wins and had won a Cy Young Award. Jon Lester has 39 wins and has beat cancer... Good news for geeks - the lawsuit between the Tolkien Trust and New Line Cinema is over. This clears the way for The Hobbit to be made into a movie by Warner Brothers... Today should be called naming day in the US. In 1776 the Continental Congress officially adopted the name "the United States" as the name for the new country. Twenty five years later in 1791 - the capital of the new country was officially named Washington... If before the season you told Mariner fans that this late in the season their team would have the same record as Tampa Bay - they would have been happy. Funny - they don't seem happy... This is pretty cool - the Leningrad Cowboys and the Red Army Choir singing Sweet Home Alabama... Today is Red Sox prospect Michael Bowden's 23rd birthday. Bowden is the 2nd best prospect in the Red Sox organization according to Baseball America (behind Lars Anderson) but just the 83rd best prospect in baseball (also according to Baseball America)...

John Smoltz

The way the schedule and the rotation is currently set up - John Smoltz will pitch against the Tigers at Fenway on the 11th and then against the Rangers on the road on the 16th. He needs at least one quality start in one of those games or he's done in Boston.

There is no way the Red Sox can afford to start him the 22nd against the Yankees if he hasn't pitched at least one quality start. No way.

Keep an eye on Michael Bowden in Pawtucket. The Red Sox may alter his schedule to be able to step in and take Smoltz' rotation spot.