Mike Leake stole a win for the Reds!

OK, I am probably the 4,391,335th blogger to make that joke.
But I wanted ME saying it on record.

I hope the Reds kept track of the alternate uniforms. If one is missing, Leake had better have an alibi.

The Dodgers ARE going back to Brooklyn!

Why else would they be wearing the old uniforms?

I guess someone listened to my plea!

Hey Brooklyn! BRING THE DODGERS BACK!

You are never going to get a better chance!
The Dodgers are a mess... they have gone from one of the classy and glamorous franchises to a team that needs to be bailed out.

So come on. There MUST be a billionaire in Brooklyn who can bring them back!

Hey, that whole "Bring the Nets to Brooklyn" thing isn't happening anytime soon. So come on! Have them play in MCU Park and put in some temporary seats.

L.A. stole the Raiders and lost them.
Have them lose the Dodgers as well!

BELIEVE IT! The Indians are the best team in the American League!

Is it early?

Sure.

But the White Sox just dropped a week of games and the Twins are banged up (and lost to Baltimore).
And oh yeah, Justin Masterson is 4-0 and making the Victor Martinez trade look worse for the Sox. (Hindsight being 20/20.)

If the Tribe wins tomorrow, they will have taken 3 of 4 from the Royals. Usually that doesn't mean anything, except that they were the best teams in the A.L. when the series started.

Start watching, Cleveland fans. Something cool might be happening.

Red Sox fans... can you IMAGINE if this guy bought our team?

He wanted to!
Frank McCourt is a Boston guy and he wanted to buy the Sox from the John Harrington and the Yawkey family.

Instead John Henry and company took over in 2002 and won two more World Series titles in the first 7 years of his ownership than the Yawkeys did in nearly 70 years.

Meanwhile McCourt took over the Dodgers... and now they need to be taken over by baseball. Not loaned money like the spend crazy Diamondbacks. Not bailed out like the Madoff sucker Mets.

Nope. TAKEN OVER! It's Bud Selig saying "We are taking your toys away."

When has this happened before? Well, kind of once when nobody wanted to buy the Expos and Bud Selig wanted to make sure John Henry moved from the Marlins to the marquee franchise Red Sox and Jeffrey Loria could take over the Marlins.

The Expos were part of baseball and run in a disgraceful manner, yet still managed to put winning products on the field in 2002 and 2003.

That was a different scenario. The Expos were devastated financially after the strike and couldn't draw small crowds to Stade Olympique. They had no TV deal and desperately needed to move. Everyone knew they had to move to Washington DC (the only place that had a big league ready park) but they also needed to appease Peter Angelos and the Orioles. So while that was being hashed out, MLB owned the Expos and destroyed a once wonderfully quirky franchise.

This new situation is different. This isn't an expansion team gone wrong. This isn't a team that needs to be relocated.

This is the FREAKING LOS ANGELES DODGERS!
If there is any team in baseball that should be a big spending colossus like the Yankees it should be the Dodgers! The play in Los Angeles! They have a terrific stadium... a steady fan base... money... tradition... stars want to play in L.A.

It can be argued that Frank McCourt is the worst owner in the history of American sports.
In 2004 he bought the Dodgers... one of the glamor franchises in baseball. And in 8 years it was transformed into such a catastrophe that the league had to pull and Expos.

IMAGINE this with the Red Sox!
Imagine there is no 2004... no 2007... the Curse is alive... this obscene divorce hanging over the team... the experience of going to the ballpark is WORSE... and it is so bad that baseball needed to take over.

It could have happened. And Bud Selig made sure the Sox were sold to John Henry.

It's not often I say this, but MAN am I thankful for Bud Selig's decision.

So now baseball owns the Dodgers, which means there will be a new owner soon.
Why not me?

How could I be worse?

Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed

OK, show of hands who thought the Red Sox were going to get 3 homers out of Jed Lowrie ALL YEAR!

I sure as hell didn't!

I don't know how long this will last but having Lowrie hitting means that Marco Scutaro will be giving the Red Sox... wait for it... DEPTH!

Of course today started off pretty badly with a leadoff homer by old friend Coco Crisp. And when the A's loaded the bases in the 6th, I thought it was going to become unraveled.

But alas, things broke the right way and lo and behold the Red Sox got a split in Oakland.

And I get to update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 3

April 8 - 9-6 win against the Yankees. (The Sox end their 6 game losing streak with a slugfest. John Lackey stinks but Phil Hughes stinks even more.)
April 10 - 4-0 win against the Yankees. (Beckett and Sabathia duel in a game that was 1-0 until the late innings.)
April 20 - 5-3 win in Oakland. (Red Sox survive a lead off homer and two bases loaded situations and facing the tying run at the plate to win their first road game.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 6

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picke doff, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)

-3.

Bring on the Angels... bring on the wins.

Don't forget, Jed Lowrie ENDED the 2008 Division Series against the Angels with a walk off hit.

Go get em, Jed!

Hey! Where are our bats?

Oh great.
The Red Sox take a 3 game winning streak into Oakland, get a solid start from John Lackey... and the left their bats in Boston.

Fannnntastic! Look, it is encouraging that Lackey had a good solid start right after Dice-K's start. But should the Sox really be WASTING them?

And Okajima didn't exactly look great.
I gave him a tearful good bye last December. That would be a more fitting ending to his Red Sox career than being put on waivers.

The Sox play tomorrow afternoon. Let's hope their bats showed up.
Lets update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 2

April 8 - 9-6 win against the Yankees. (The Sox end their 6 game losing streak with a slugfest. John Lackey stinks but Phil Hughes stinks even more.)
April 10 - 4-0 win against the Yankees. (Beckett and Sabathia duel in a game that was 1-0 until the late innings.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 6

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picke doff, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)

-4.

The Red Sox are not the worst team in baseball right now. (That would be the Mets.)
But is THAT really the standard we are going for?

Carlos Delgado and the missed chance to be a legend in New York - My Latest for The Hardball Times

In my latest for The Hardball Times, I take a look at the solid and dignified career of Carlos Delgado.

But I also wonder what could have been. If the Mets won the 2006 NLCS, he would have been a post season immortal in New York, which means a special place in baseball history. Just ask career journeyman Don Larsen.

You can read the article HERE.

Grady is the caretaker

I picked Grady Sizemore to be the AL Comeback Player of the Year in my preseason predictions and so far that is looking pretty solid.

But I am officially intrigued by this Indians team. First of all they are in first place with an eye popping 12-4 record.

Secondly they have come into the home park of another surprising team, the Royals, and won a solid extra inning affair to make it 4 in a row.

What if...?
Could they...?
Is Grady Sizemore the spark this team needs?

Yeah it is early, but we all kept saying "It's early" with the 2006 Tigers and the 2008 Rays until they were in the World Series!

I am just glad they are playing fewer and fewer games with the Chief Wahoo hats.

This Lincecum fellow isn't bad

Not sure if you noticed or not... but this kid can pitch.

And the Giants made a very interesting statement tonight. They went into Colorado, who were red hot and only lost 3 games all year (and as I wrote earlier, 2 of those losses were extra inning affairs.)

The light hitting Giants made sure the Rockies were down 5 runs before they even came to bat. And Lincecum made sure they didn't get as much as a hit until the 7th inning. By then it was an 8-0 ass whuppin'.

With Ubaldo Jimenez coming off the DL tomorrow, the Rockies can't be too sure what they are going to get from him. And the Giants are throwing Matt Cain on Wednesday.

In other words, the Giants are making a statement.
The Rockies may have the best record in baseball, but the Giants are still the champs.

And this Lincecum kid might have a future.

The Sully Baseball Show... Tonight's guest Dan Hershberg

Dan Hershberg, creator of Philly Phaithful, joins me on The Sully Baseball Show, part of the Seamheads National Podcasting Network.

Listen in.

Listen to internet radio with Seamheads on Blog Talk Radio

The Red Sox are Eric Liddell

The Red Sox are no longer the worst team in baseball. Today's win against the Blue Jays (with Dice-K dealing and Lowrie continuing to go nuts at the plate) put the Red Sox at 5-10.

The Mets are 5-11 as are the Astros. So at least until tomorrow, the Sox are no longer at the bottom.

Now the metaphor that people like to say about the baseball season is "It is not a sprint, it is a marathon." But ironically I think a sprint is illustrating the Red Sox season so far.

There is a great scene in Chariots of Fire, a film that sadly didn't hold up as well as I had hoped. Eric Liddel, played the wonderful late Ian Charleson, is the favorite to win a track event between British and French runners. But on the first turn he falls and everyone, including his rival Harold Abrahams watching in the stands, is stunned. And the incredible Ian Holm mutters "Get up, lad! Get up!"

Liddell got up, the Vangelis music kicked in, and he starts running superfast. You know he was running superfast because it is all in slow motion.

He burst ahead of the other runners and won the race, collapsing in a heap.

That could very well be the Red Sox. Stumbling out of the gate. Looking lost. Even their rivals taking note. And then, composed, taking off at full speed.

Since falling to 2-10 with stupid 7-6 loss last Friday to Toronto, the Red Sox won their next three. They outscored Blue Jays in the three games by a combined score of 21-3.

They head off to Oakland and then to Anaheim and Baltimore. Going 5-4 in that stretch isn't asking a lot.

Bit by bit they'll catch up with the pack.

Cue up the Vangelis.

It looks like the Rockies hired a hypnotist for 2011

The Rockies have some good hitters, a pair of MVP candidates and a solid team. They were picked to win the NL West by a lot of people. And frankly, I would have picked them as well if I knew that they also hired a hypnotist for the season.

It's the only explanation for their April.

The hypnotist has convinced the entire team that it is September.
The Rockies are the TEAM of September. Last September they went on a 10 game winning streak that brought them back into contention. It didn't work (they had a bad last 2 weeks.)

But in 2009 they won 10 of 11 in a stretch in September and then went on a 5 game winning streak at the end of the season to clinch a playoff spot.

And of course in 2007 they won 14 of their last 15 games (including 11 in a row) to force a one game playoff with San Diego. They won that, swept the Phillies in the Division Series and the Diamondbacks in the NLCS to make their run 22 out of 23 before getting swept in the World Series.

In short September is the month where the Rockies make their presence known to the world.
But this April, the Rockies are world beaters.

They are a big league best 12-3. And 2 of those 3 losses were in extra innings, so a bounce here and there and they'd be 14-1!

The only explanation is they've been hypnotized by someone saying "It is September.... It is September... time is running out... time to save the Rockies season..."

If that is the case, they might keep up this .800 pace all year!
They have an outside chance at 130 wins if they do.

Take a look at them the next time they play. If there is someone moving a watch like a pendulum in the dugout, then this April makes sense.

So nice...

It is so nice to have the Red Sox just win a damn game that they take control of.

I didn't have to fret about this game. It was a well pitched well played solid Sox win.

I took my kids to the zoo today and only once checked the Sox game on my phone.

How about a big Patriots Game win on Monday?

Justice for Chris Resop

Last week, I saluted Pirates reliever Chris Resop for his 3 shutout innings, all after the 9th. He didn't get a win nor a save nor a hold for that, yet he helped keep the mighty Rockies off of the board long enough for the Bucs to win.

Well today the ledger evened out.

The Pirates looked like they were going to blow a game where they had a 4-0 lead before the Reds even came to bat. I warned them that losing a game like this meant they didn't DESERVE a .500 record.

The Pirates blew the lead, took it back and let the Reds tie it in the 7th. With 2 outs on the 7th, Resop came in to face back up Cincinnati catcher Ryan Hanigan. On his second pitch, Hanigan popped up to end the inning.

The next inning Andrew McCutchen drove home the go ahead run and the Pirates went on to win.

So a game where Resop throws 3 shutout innings in relief, all extra innings, he gets nothing positive for his record.

A game where he threw 2 pitchers to a back up catcher? He gets a win. That's the universe paying him back.

Hey Cleveland fans! Don't watch the NBA... support the Indians

Seriously. Don't watch the NBA Playoffs. You will just grind your teeth and get angry. And haven't you done that enough since the Browns won the 1964 NFL Title?

There is something fun happening at the Jake (or whatever the hell it is called now.)

Grady Sizemore homered today and if he is healthy, the Indians will plug an All Star into their lineup.

And guess what? The Indians have 10 wins already! Only the Royals and the Rangers have 10 wins in the American League. And here's another thing to think about.

The Twins are having bullpen and health issues. The White Sox are a veteran team that can age in a hurry and have a shaky pen as well. And I think the Tigers are overrated and are playing sub .500 baseball.

What happens if that continues?
What if the Twins health derails them the way that injuries cut down the perennial playoff participant Red Sox and Angels last year?

What if the White Sox can't get their act together all year?
What if the Tigers' weaknesses are exposed?

None of those are outlandish scenarios.

Where does that leave the American League Central?

It leaves the Royals, stacked with young talent and the Indians.

Don't look now, but the Indians are winning games that they don't have to make up for later in the season. You aren't dreaming, but the A. L. Central is winnable.

And if they make the playoffs, who knows?
Oh I am sure YOU had the Giants winning the World Series when the playoffs started in 2010!
I am sure YOU had the Phillies winning it when the 2008 playoffs kicked off.
No doubt when the post seasons of 2002, 2003 and 2006 began, you wrote Angels, Marlins and Cardinals in pen!

Start paying attention, Indians fans. This could be a very fun year.
Either way, there is at least hope.

You can't get that watching the NBA playoffs this year.

Break out your Indians hat! Any one of them.

Maybe the Yankees obsessing over 2005 wasn't so dumb

This off season I made fun of the Yankees and their obsession with players who were last good in 2005.

But with the way that Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia has pitched, maybe they were on to something.

If Andruw Jones becomes an elite slugger again, then I will declare Brian Cashman a genius.

Don't lose this game, Pirates

The Pirates are up 4 runs before the Reds even come to bat. So listen to me Pirates and you listen good. If you have ANY hopes to go .500 (an Everest not scaled since 1992) then THESE are the games you can not blow.

You are going to lose close games.
You are going to lose some blow outs.

But when you put a 4 spot on the board in the first, then you NEED to close out the game.

I expect the Pirates to be 7-8 by the end of today.

Then they would need to go 75-72 the rest of the way to have a winning season.

Lose this game, and you don't deserve it!

I can get used to THIS Josh Beckett!

Seriously. If Josh Beckett has a solid "stopping losing streak" and "shutting down the oppositon" kind of season, then who knows? Maybe this season WILL turn around.

Seeing Beckett and Lester pitch well could go a long way. Having Buchholz get HIS act together would go even further.

It's a long season.

I'd rather be the worst team in baseball in Mid April than Mid September.

Some seats are too good

John Farrell is having a hard enough time watching his Blue Jays fall behind 2-0 in the first inning.

Does he REALLY have to be so close to the Yahoo in the Bruins jersey and old school Red Sox hat?

I mean he can lean right over and say "If you pitch to Papi without a shift you ahhhh totally re-tah-ded."

"Thanks for the tip."