Dan Gould

And speaking of the M's, I don't know what the hell is wrong with Richie Sexson. I just saw the tape from last night, and read Sexson's comments - it sounds like he went up there expecting to get hit, the pitch was up near his head, and he went nuts. The only problem was, the pitch was over the plate and they didn't intend to hit him, despite the previous HBPs. Sexson deserves a good 5-10 game suspension, in my opinion, for not only going up there with a mindset that led to the incident - "throw at me, fine, but do it in the right spot" - that led to the situation, but also for the shots he got in on Gabbard.

At this point, I see the talent in the East as stronger than in the Central, which means that even as both divisions beat up on their competition, it seems likely that the East runner-up will be stronger than the Central runner-up. As bad as the Jays have been, their pitching is such that if they get a little offense (hello Barry Bonds?), they can be in the thick of things. The Yankees are the Yankees, and the Rays don't know enough to realize they aren't supposed to be where they are. All of the Central teams seem to have far more significant flaws. I could see 88-89 wins taking the division. What is interesting in the West is that the Halos and A's are tied, but their Pythag W-L tells a very different story. Basically, the A's run differential is so strong, they are actually a win behind where they "should" be. OTOH, the Angels have a run differential that predicts a 19-17 record, far worse than what they have. Its early, and the Angels have had injured starters out all year, so its possible that they won't trend downward. But the Angels have outperformed their run differential while the A's have underperformed. If that continues, its almost a given that the A's will move ahead (though, see the 2006 Indians). The M's look like the Tigers - lost and confused. They are even more desperate for the offense that Bonds could provide than the Jays are.

Well that was a big win for the Rays, Percival blowing the save in the ninth but not giving up anything else, then worked out of a lead-off triple in the tenth and iced it with a grand slam in the 13th. Is there any doubt that the "old Rays" would have lost this game? I kept watching after the Red Sox game ended because I was hoping that we'd get to that 4 1/2 game lead we should have had after Wednesday night. Here's a follow up to Giambi's struggles: With the Sox not coming to New York until the end of June, and I imagine they won't play the Indians soon either, Giambi better pick it up or he should be riding the pines or dare I say it, DFA'd? Watching the Tigers for four days, I have to wonder whether a lot of people were deceived about this team. It looked like they were ready to bust out but now they've slid right back to the cellar. If Verlander can't find his form, this team is surely cooked. Bonderman isn't much as a #2 (career ERA+ of 92) and the signing of Dontrelle Willis might turn out to be just as stupid as the Zito signing, if not quite as expensive. They really needed to wait and see if he can regain his form and pitch in the AL. Then of course there is Sheffield, who looks like he is toast (considering how annoyed I was that the Yankees picked up his option so that they could keep him from going to Boston, it looks like I should be real glad that the Sox aren't on the hook for almost two more years). I expect that the hitting will pick up as the weather warms, so they may get away with pounding teams into oblivion but I can't see how that gets them to even 90 wins this year.

Shawn, The Mercury half of the Mercury/Blue Rock years can be easily found on a Collectables comp, The Mercury Years and that's what I would most recommend. I'm So Satisfied contains all the recordings for Mercury and its subsidiary, but its not easy to find. When I finally found it cheap, I sent the Mercury comp to my brother, who became a Parker nut like me, so you may be the next guy I convert. There are two Duke compilations, Backtracking and Junior's Blues that are OOP. I covered those tracks by grabbing original LP comps like Best Of, Driving Wheel, and the ABC Collection. Those can be found cheap usually at Ebay Stores, so they can be an alternative to the OOP CDs. Allen would say that you should start with the Sun recordings, Mystery Train on Rounder is the place to go for that, but I really find that I go to Parker's "smoother" style of the Duke years and beyond.

Junior Parker's recording of Percy Mayfield's "What a Fool I Was". I think most people rate his Sun and Duke recordings highest but there isn't a single track I don't love from his Mercury/Blue Rock LPs. After I landed every Parker recording I could find (including about 20 45s that didn't make it to any compilation or were on the flip of one of his hits), I had a tough time programming a "Very Best Of" compilation to keep in the car. I've been listening to that sucker non-stop for about three weeks and only this morning did I finally take it out of the player.

Yeah, too bad he has to be followed by Paul Byrd. And too bad that Jason Giambi doesn't get to hit off Byrd every day. I saw on a Yankee blog an analysis where he divided pitchers into "finesse" "power" and "in-between" and showed how, for the last two years, Jason Giambi has done all of his damage off of "finesse" guys, of whom Byrd is a perfect example, and can't hit power guys to save his life any more. So every time Giambi says he that he feels great and is ready to bust out, check the schedule for who he's going to be facing. And remember, too, that in 250 ABs from last May to this May, he is hitting .180.

You want the fans to boo someone who helped you win a world series? I will never understand Red Sox fans. The sooner his ass is riding the pines, released, or traded, the better this team will be. That is what I want to see.

Look for the new upcoming single: "My Cock Crows At Dawn". Some parts are a little more well-done than we like, but its all juicy and finger-lookin' good!

If Lowrie plays average defense, its obviously a huge upgrade. Lugo kills us with the glove, and most infuriatingly, its almost all on routine plays. Lugo's BA is empty with a .353 slugging. His .354 OBP is an improvement over recent years but nothing to write home about. Based on his minor league performance, Lowrie can be expected to easily exceed him in both areas. But with 9 million invested for 2 4/5 more years, there is no way Lugo gets traded or released, and with Cora due back this weekend, Lowrie goes back to Pawtucket anyway. But anyway you cut it, when no one else wants a player and you give him a 4 year 36 million dollar deal for this kind of production and defensive incompetence, its one of the worst signings any GM can make. World Series or no, Lugo does nothing but hurt the team 90% of the time. Remember he was going to bat lead off? I'm hoping that the fans at Fenway boo him viciously every time he comes up until he crawls to Theo and says he can't take it anymore.

Excellent, SS!

I didn't stick around to watch, but that is good news that he didn't do anything even stupider than giving Julio Fucking Lugo a four year 36 million dollar contract. Seriously, its bad enough that he thought so much of this piece of shit, but what possessed him to throw so much money at him? Another Scott Boras win - get the Red Sox to bid against themselves on one of his idiot clients who have either entered their decline phase or have entered their decline phase and never stayed healthy in the first place - Lugo and Drew, a hundred million dollars of shit. Tell me that the rookie who played second base, Lowrie, isn't at least Lugo's equal with the bat? He's got better pop and a better eye so his OPS will be higher, and whatever advantage Lugo has in the speed department is cancelled out by his frighteningly bad defense. My God the fucking loser is on a pace for 50 errors!

With the Yanks, Rays and O's losing, it can't be a bad night. Tremendous comeback but Paps has put the first guy on with an excuse-me swinging bunt. I hope he doesn't make this his first blown save. Now a motherfucking error by that asshole Lugo on a double play ball. Jesus Christ. To lose this after coming back will be infuriating. And does anyone care to wager whether the O's go over .500 again?

Well I figured Syesha (who I've grown to appreciate quite a bit more than I did at the start, and that isn't just because of the clothes they've given her to wear) would be the one to go, until stoner messed up his lyrics (how appropriate is that). Its clear to me though that the kid and the rocker dude are the most accomplished, polished singers. Whoever gets the boot, they should end up in the finals.

This could be Larry Kart, too.

Because he was fucking hyped up on steroids and Novitsky was on his motherfucking tail you fucking moronic ass wipe. I think this one would work better if someone else had posted it.

Jon is still king, but this one gives him a run for his money.

I thought there was some connection between Billy Crystal, Milt Gabler, and the nickname "face" (which is why Crystal named his production company "Face Productions"). I can't recall if it was a musician who bestowed the nickname or what.

Jon's really on a roll.

You continue to amaze me, and not in a good way. You want to insist that this is the government. Fine. You do that. The fact is that they have been investigating Clemens for all of what, six weeks. In his column last week, Mike Lupica declared that "four reporters have invested four months on the story" of the affair with McCready. "they have no case"? How can anyone with a brain declare that? They have Brian McNamee. They have Andy Pettitte and Laura Pettitte, Debbie Clemens and Chuck Knoblauch. They have extremely contradictory evidence from team medical personnel on Clemens claim of receiving B-12 and Lidocaine shots. They have physical evidence that may directly link Clemens at the genetic level. If anything, the government has a stronger perjury case against Clemens than they do against Bonds, because of two crucial differences: 1) Bonds' trainer has refused to testify against him. McNamee is the crux of the case against Clemens, and because of his own risk (jail if he lies) and his proven honesty (Pettitte, Knoblauch, Mrs. Clemens) makes him a powerful eyewitness. 2) Clemens boldly and foolishly denied outright all claims against him, while Bonds very artfully and carefully answered direct questions about BALCO steroids and the evidence they had against him. And last but not least, you should at least be aware that the government does not go after individual users of steroids, they go after distributors, and they go after anyone who recklessly and cravenly commits perjury in a legal proceeding. First, its I want MLB to take away Gag-me's record. Now, its I want the Feds to arrest Gag-me. Grow a brain or give it up.

You know far more about horse racing in the U.S. than I do, but what I have read is this: The track veterinarian said he had never, ever seen such a breakdown so far after the finish line. If that isn't the very definition of "fluke" and "incredibly unusual" I don't know what is. Its also been said that synthetic surface would have made no difference, due to the steady reduction of force while the horse 'gallops out.' I have no idea why you think she should have been scratched prior to the race, as I have heard of no adverse medical report about her fitness to run. If you're saying that fillies shouldn't be allowed to race against colts, then fine, but its not like they've never competed, or won, before, even if it is a rare event. Finally, isn't it in fact not surprising that after one ankle snapped, the other gave way due to the added stress? Yes its sickening but that is what happens when these animals break down. (Just to be clear, I bolded your comments about whether the injury was fluky or incredibly unusual)

Roger throws another one, high and tight, at anyone suggesting that he give it up. I have to wonder though if that line "I have sometimes made choices which have not been right" will come back to haunt him. And he better be damn sure that he never mentioned steroids or HGH to any of these women, particularly Mindy McCready.

Kevin Bresnahan (update): These chickens have UPC codes, so these are definite for crossing the street.

Ah, my world has meaning again. Probably the best time to get Kazmir was in his first start after a lengthy rehab. He wasn't sharp with his off-speed stuff and with the bats already looking alive lately, we were ready to go get 'im. I'm still torn about Lester as he throws too many pitches still but his walk rate has declined and he isn't giving up too many hits. An ERA under 4.0 from your number five starter is pretty good. The big difference though between him and Buchholz is that when Lester gets in trouble, he needs to make a quality pitch to induce contact, and hope that his defense makes the play. Clay on the other hand has the stuff to get out of jams by getting swings and misses. It seems like the Yanks get decent teams at the right time - the M's really look bad, and up next is Cleveland, after they got swept out of KC. At least the Indians have Lee going who has been on quite a roll.

And Brandon Moss, who threw a runner out at the plate and then hit a long homer in Friday's game, had an emergency apendectomy last night and is probably out for four weeks! They decided not to make a roster move until after today's game, and they have to move Manny to DH and play Ellsbury, Crisp and Drew in the OF. The injuries may not be as catastrophic as the Yankees (and some other teams) but its not been easy, that's for sure. At least this keeps Coco Crisp off the trade market for a while. I'm not even sure who the best OF option at Pawtucket is, but I've really liked watching Moss play. Apparently a number of GMs have inquired about him but the Sox have no interest in moving him.

Well forget about a rainout today. It looks like the last of the showers will pull out of the Boston area in the next hour. Probably a chance of some spotty rain in the afternoon but that killer weather system is finally getting out of here.