Sacre Blew

My gosh, that's twice in two outings that Gagne's given up a multi-run lead. So much for those "six inning games."

I know, I know, it's only a couple games, but the bullpen should not be the problem right now.

Wow

Obviously the big news has been 756, 500, and 300; but in my opinion this is the best story of the 2007 baseball season so far. It's hard to believe his implosion (4 BB, 2 H, 5 WP in 2/3 inning) was almost 7 years ago.

(Oh, and Joel Piniero got the win.)

756

Thank god that's over. Now we might actually get normal baseball news again. Five games...what's the bet on how low this number gets? I say they never get within 3.

Coco versus the Moose

The Sox escaped a close one yesterday when Coco was nearly run over by Moose the Mariner. It could have been the most freakish injury of all time. NESN showed the video about 100 times. And I got to watch about 20 extra times courtesy of TIVO because my daughter started laughing hysterically every time she saw the moose on TV.

Could you imagine if the Sox lost him to injury because of that? And Elsbury is on the DL in the minors, so they would have extra pissed off.

In other Mariner news, Jose Guillen popped off that the M's brought up Adam Jones - their top hitting prospect. And then Jones goes and has a pretty good weekend series, while Guillen struggles, including the golden sombrero on Saturday. Once an ass. Always an ass.

Finally...

The Yankees are done with the "feast on the bottom-dwellers" portion of their schedule. Their last 17 games were against the two bottom teams in the both the Central and East; they scored over 9 runs/game in that stretch. What's cool is that in that time they gained no ground in the standings. But now, 20 of their next 23 games are against teams with winning records; 17 of those are against division or wild-card leaders! This should be interesting.

Also, your 2007 trivia answer: "Clay Hensley." A known 'roider, and now a minor leaguer. Also, his name can be sung to the tune of this song, which is awesome.

Speaking of Clay Henry, I was once on a flight with him. Not too exciting, but for a little while it was the closest I came to a celebrity sighting in LA. But then I helped Flavor Flav get his luggage onto an airport shuttle (from the economy lot). In terms of celebrity sightings, you really can't do much better than that.

Clubs

This is pretty cool - tons of information & stories, in a single graph. Interesting stuff:

• Ted Williams' massive plateau for WW II (and a smaller one for the Korean War)
• Griffey's (non-war-related) injury plateaus
• The two largest accelerations in HR rates are...Palmeiro and Sosa, of course. Both had relatively umimpressive HR totals until they took off in their late 20's-early 30's (Palmeiro was the slowest to the 200-HR club...by about 3 years). McGwire started out fast, slowed in his late 20's, then took off again. Bonds was already well on his way to 500, when at age 34 he started crushing. But we knew that already.
• Ted Williams was the oldest to join the 500 HR club, at . I had assumed Murray was the oldest.
• Babe Ruth is insane. Not counting his pitching years, the only hitters to have consistently hit as many HR/year as he did are McGwire and A-Rod.
  

500 slaps

So A-Rod finally did it. Youngest to reach 500, beating Jimmie Foxx by 330 days. To become the youngest to reach 600 (currently it's Babe Ruth), he has to hit his next one hundred home runs in...4 years, 188 days. Which gives him until the end of the 2011 season. I don't see that as being a huge problem. Only question is: which team will he be playing for? My money's on the Angels (but I hear the Las Vegas Devil Rays have a really hitter-friendly park.)

Fun fact: A-Rod's Baseball Reference page is sponsored by "Posse N Effect", a "Beastie Boys Tribute Band". They're, uh, really good.

Game Thread

Earl and I will be having beers tonight...Unfortunately, by then, the game will be over. Unless there are millions of extra innings.

So, let's discuss the game now.

By the way, the White Sox crushed Clemens in the top of the second. All-in-all...8 runs scored. I was happy (insert light and cheery background music here).

Then...in the bottom of the second the Yankees scored 8 times (and the inning isn't over, yet!). (insert dark, brooding music here with a rising maniacal laugh).

Way back

Oh ho ho, Rheal, do not forget moi, zee other Franch Canadian relief pitcherre from zee 2000 Red Sox, John Was-din! While I am technically from Virginia, zee town I was born in was Fort Belvoir...clearly a stronghold for zee quebecois, no? Like you, I too am not out of baseball...just hiding in zee bottom of zee NL Centrál! Ees quite an anoymous life down here, no? Did you know zat I was a first round draft pick? Zut alors!

The Rheal Dheal

Oh ho ho, I now see zat you Boston Red-Stockings have just made a, how-you-say, blockbusting trade for none other than Monseuir Eric Gagné! Zut Alors! Apparently six years without a French Canadian relief pitcher is a bit too mahch, no? My uncanny québécois skills of deduction lead me to zee conclusion zat it is actually me, Rheal Cormier, whom you miss, no? And yet, why is for you do not trade for moi? I have been here, in Cincinnatti, all zis time! But, it is I, Rheal Cormier, who will have zee final laugh. "Ha ha ha", I say.

...you filthy Americans, with your "bullpen help", and your "non-waiver trade deadlines", and your "fast cars", and your "deodorant". You make me, how you say, seeck to my belly. I go now.