Orioles announcers leave early

Oops! Duped by a rain delay, Orioles radio announcers left after one inning. Are things that sad in Baltimore?

media notes

Boston Globe's top 10 game-changers:

7. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox - "Defies logic, but maybe the toughest SOB in the game," said an AL assistant GM. "Watch some of the balls he hits and explain to me how he gets the barrel of the bat on the ball. Amazing. You can make the greatest pitch ever to this guy and he'll beat you." Pedroia also got rave reviews for his defense. "He has made individual plays at second base that have won ballgames," said an AL East infielder.

Peter Gammons from ESPN.com:

Boston has two No. 1 starters in Josh Beckett and Jon Lester. The Sox have Daisuke Matsuzaka and his 18-3 record of 2008. They may try to cut back on 42-year-old Tim Wakefield's innings, but Terry Francona says they may not need a fifth starter until early May. And Brad Penny not only threw 91-94 mph during Friday's minor league outing, enough to impress Francona and pitching coach John Farrell, but he also said, "That's the best my shoulder has felt in a couple of years." Clay Buchholz has learned to drive his fastball down in the strike zone. They love Michael Bowden. John Smoltz is agreeing to stick to his June timetable. And Justin Masterson can always start.
The difference for the Red Sox is that they have the following in front of Jonathan Papelbon: Takashi Saito, Ramon Ramirez, Masterson, Manny Delcarmen, Hideki Okajima, Javier Lopez and, in time, Daniel Bard with his easy 97-102 mph fastball.
"That," says one scout, "has a chance to be the best 'pen in the league."

predicting papi

espn.com fantasy article predicts a line of .275-30-100-100 for big papi. i think he can best that. also, take a look at these numbers w/ runners in scoring position. unbelievably clutch:

2003: 163 PAs, .273 BA, .368 OBP, .482 SLG, .850 OPS, 65 RBIs (one per 2.51 PAs)
2004: 197 PAs, .350 BA, .431 OBP, .594 SLG, 1.025 OPS, 90 RBIs (2.19)
2005: 212 PAs, .352 BA, .462 OBP, .580 SLG, 1.043 OPS, 92 RBIs (2.30)
2006: 203 PAs, .288 BA, .429 OBP, .538 SLG, .967 OPS, 79 RBIs (2.57)
2007: 192 PAs, .362 BA, .490 OBP, .658 SLG, 1.147 OPS, 77 RBIs (2.49)
2008: 159 PAs, .332 BA, .447 OBP, .680 SLG, 1.126 OPS, 71 RBIs (2.24)

now that he's a dodger, i can root for joe torre.

from roger angell's review of the new book the yankee years in the new yorker comes this tidbit. after the sox won game 7 against the yankees in 2004, torre called francona to congratulate him, then asked to speak to wakefield. we all know that wake lost game 7 in 2003 after grady little left pedro in to fry. "i'll never forget that phone call," says wakefield.

Manny speaks

"Sometimes you're better off to have a two-year deal in a place that you're gonna be happy than have an eight-year deal in a place that you're gonna, you know, suffer."

so he was suffering in boston?

what a dipshit.

spring training invitations

cool article on espn.com about veterans trying to stick w/ new teams, with a couple of old friends in it. former sox kevin millar (blue jays), matt clement (blue jays), scott williamson (tigers), trot nixon (brewers), and tony graffanino (indians) are trying to make their teams

Dontrelle Willis comeback story

on ESPN.com. Very interesting stuff. And the writer is right; I root for him to succeed; he's only 27 and it's a mystery why his stuff has vanished.

Red Sox's Pitching Program

Fascinating article on the Red Sox's "shoulder program" for pitchers in yesterday's Globe by Amalie Benjamin.

from the onion...

Scott Boras Able To Get Manny Ramirez $20 Billion In Economic Stimulus Money