Nomar 0-for-3 With Pawtucket. Nomar Garciaparra played shortstop for Pawtucket Sunday night, playing 4½ innings and going hitless in three at-bats against LHP Brandon Claussen.

1st inning: Swung at the game's first pitch and hit a one-hopper to shortstop and was thrown out. ... 3rd inning: Tried to check his swing on a 1-2 pitch and was called out by first-base umpire Mike Belin. ... 5th inning: Hit a routine grounder to short on a 2-0 pitch and was thrown out again.

He handled three chances: a ground ball hit right at him and two popups. On the second pop, he drifted out to short left field and was nearly run over by teammate Justin Sherrod, who dove to the ground about a foot behind Garciaparra's legs.

Nomar joked about offering at Claussen's first delivery. "I don't know what the over-under was that I'd swing at the first one." ... The game was delayed for 27 minutes because of thunderstorms and tornado warnings (PawSox announcer Andy Freed saw a twister just over the Ohio River beyond the left-field fence). Garciaparra was set to DH if the field was too wet. ... Reports from the Providence Journal, Boston Globe and Hartford Courant.

Fifty Games In. Although Trot Nixon and Nomar Garciaparra have yet to play a single inning and the team has been without Bill Mueller, Ellis Burks, Scott Williamson and Byung-Hyun Kim for various lengths of time, the Red Sox have the best record in baseball at 31-19 (a 100.44-win pace). I looked over my scorecards and picked out some of the best games:

May 30 (#50): Schilling, Embree and Foulke implode in the 8th inning and Seattle scores six times, taking a 7-5 lead. But Boston comes right back, tying the game in the bottom of the inning. Varitek singles, McCarty doubles, Damon hits a sac fly and Andy Dominique's first major league hit ties the game. McCarty then sends everyone home happy with a 2-run home run to center (on a 3-0 pitch; Boston hitters are now 8-for-8 after getting the green light) in the bottom of the 12th. Schilling had retired the first 17 Mariners, but by the end, it was a distant memory. Sox win 9-7.

May 7 (#29): Kansas City leads 6-2 going into the bottom of the 8th. After singles from Ramirez and Kapler, Mirabelli's hit and a throwing error close the gap to 6-4. In the 9th, Damon walks and Bellhorn belts a game-tying home run. Ramirez walks and with 2 outs, pinch-hitter Varitek lines a first-pitch double into the right field corner to win the game, 7-6.

April 11 (#7): Trailing Baltimore 4-1, Boston scores single runs in the 8th (Damon walks and scores on Millar's single) and 9th (Crespo doubles and scores on Damon's hit) before Ortiz belts a 2-run home run into the Monster seats in the 12th. Red Sox win 6-4.

April 16 (#9): Facing the Yankees for the first time since the ALCS, Boston nails Vazquez for 4 runs in the first inning. Damon reaches on an error, Mueller homers, Ramirez homers, Millar singles; Burks reaches on a force, takes second on a walk and scores on Jeter's error. Wakefield throws 7 strong innings and the Red Sox win 6-2.

April 24 (#17): Both the Yankees and Red Sox have numerous scoring chances in the Bronx before Boston finally comes out on top 3-2 in 12 innings. Ramirez begins the inning with a double, goes to third on a groundout, and after Millar is hit with a pitch, Manny scores on Bellhorn's sac fly. Timlin then retires the Yankees in order, capping 6 no-hit innings from the bullpen. (Boston has won 6 of its 7 games (so far) against New York.)

May 8 (#30): With me and roughly 250 other Sons of Sam Horn sitting in the right field stands, Schilling pitches a complete game (5 H, 0 BB, 8 K) against the Royals, winning 9-1. Pokey Reese hits 2 home runs (one an inside-the-parker to right). After the game, I get my scorecard autographed by Sam Horn himself.

May 11 (#33): In the home half of the 8th, trailing Cleveland 3-2, Ramirez and Varitek quickly make outs. But then Ortiz doubles off the wall. Mueller follows with another double to left to tie the game, Kapler singles and McCarty, fresh off the bench, lines a 2-run triple into the right field corner. Foulke sets Cleveland down in the 9th (with 2 K) and Boston wins 5-3.

April 29 (#21): After Lowe allows 2 runs in the top of the first (snapping the team's 32-inning scoreless streak), Boston explodes for 7 in the bottom half. The first 6 (and 8 of the first 9) batters reach safely. The inning is highlighted by Varitek's 3-run home run and Reese's two-run single. Boston finishes a doubleheader sweep 7-3.

April 25, 28 and 29 (#18-20): Three straight shutouts: 2-0 over New York (Pedro 7 IP, 4 H, 7 K), 6-0 over Tampa Bay (Schilling 7.1 IP, 5 H, 8 K) and 4-0 over Tampa Bay (Kim, 5 IP, 1 H).

May 15 (#37): Bronson Arroyo (overcoming the flu) throws 100 pitches in Toronto (8 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 K). Youkilis makes his major league debut and homers in his second AB. Bellhorn and Ortiz also go deep and Boston wins 4-0.

[As far as worst games, there was April 8 (#4) when Bobby Jones walked four Orioles in the 13th inning, giving Baltimore a 3-2 win; May 13 (#35) when Toronto's 1-2-3 hitters (Hudson, Catalanotto, Wells) reached base in 14 of their 15 plate appearances, leading the Jays to a 12-6 win; and May 27 (#47) when Oakland routed the Sox at Fenway 15-2.]

McCarty Does Some Yard Work. Wow! Red Sox 9, Seattle 7 in 12 innings. Box.

A total team effort. I couldn't watch the game -- and have to wait until Tuesday to watch my tape -- so I'll concentrate on the offense and pitching (though from the SoSH game thread, I know Pokey made some fantastic plays (as usual) and McCarty and Crespo also helped out with their gloves):

Bellhorn: 2-5, 2 runs scored
Youkilis: 3-5, double, HBP, 3 runs scored
Ramirez: 1-4, double, 2 rbi
Varitek: 1-5, HBP, 2 runs scored
Millar: 2-2, double, walk
McCarty: 2-3, double, game-winning HR, 2 runs scored, 2 rbi
Dominique: 2-2 (his first 2 major league hits), game-tying rbi
Schilling: Retired the first 17 Mariners, 7.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R
Timlin: Scoreless 10th inning on 12 pitches
A. Martinez: 2 hitless innings (the 11th and 12th)

Keith Foulke blew a save for the first time this season in an ugly 8th inning. Seattle scored 6 times -- capped by an Ibanez's three-run home run -- to lead 7-5. But the Red Sox came back immediately against Hasegawa in the bottom half. Varitek singled on a 1-1 pitch. McCarty (who had gone in to play first base in the top of the inning) doubled on the first pitch he saw. Pinch-hitter Damon brought Varitek in with a sac fly and Andy Dominique (another pinch-hitter) singled in McCarty to tie the game.

The Yankees lost 7-6 in Tampa Bay, so the Red Sox reclaim first place by one-half game (and have baseball's best record). ... Nomar plays for Pawtucket tonight.

Is There a Worse Perversion Of The English Language Than "Friendly Fire"? According to an Army investigation, former NFL player Pat Tillman was killed by other US troops, not enemy fire. Sisyphus Shrugged: "I find it incredibly distasteful when supporters of the current administration try to shove [Tillman] up on a pedestal because he could have been rich instead. I haven't found any other area of political discourse where [they] think that it's honorable and righteous and patriotic to consider anything over profits."

Digby: "Like the Bush administration, [the New York Times] seem[s] to think that 'taking responsibility' means acting as if it was some vague and ephemeral 'somebody' who committed the act and then going on as if nothing happened. These are children's ethics."

"An internal Army report warned in November that Iraqis were being detained too long and without appropriate review in an immense U.S.-run prison system that failed to keep track of them, did not provide proper sanitation and medical care, was understaffed, and inappropriately mixed juveniles and adults." Good to see the "liberal" Washington Post giving this story the visbility it deserves -- on page A31.

AWOL shows off his souvenir. In time, Bush'll probably start believing he wrestled it away from Hussein himself. The pathetic fool has a bad case of penis-envy.

Good News! Nomar Garciaparra begins a rehab assignment with Pawtucket in Louisville tomorrow night. He will lead off and play four innings on both Sunday and Monday, then return to Boston for physical therapy. If all goes well, Nomar would join the PawSox in Toledo on Thursday. (More on his progress here.)

Terry Francona says that when Nomar returns, he may mix and match with his infielders. Garciaparra, Pokey Reese, Mark Bellhorn and Kevin Youkilis may rotate into three infield spots - second base, shortstop and third base - and sometimes at DH.

Bill Mueller's knee surgery yesterday was a success and he began his therapy today. Red Sox medical director Bill Morgan: "He had essentially a 20-30 minute procedure. There were no structural defects whatsoever. [The ligaments were] intact. His meniscal cartilage, the fiber cartilage, the knee was intact. He has some very mild degeneration of his patella joint, his kneecap. He has some arthritis, that part was shaved out just to get rid of the fibrillated tissue, which will help the symptoms to some degree. He did very well. He had no problems." ... Trot Nixon may begin his rehab assignment as early as next week and Scott Williamson is expected to begin throwing on the Red Sox next road trip.

Pedro Martinez struggled a bit last night, giving up a home run to Bret Boone in the 2nd and a leadoff double to Randy Winn in the 3rd; Winn later scored. In the 5th, Rich Aurilia homered, and after Pat Borders struck out, Winn doubled (again), Ichiro Suzuki singled and Scott Spiezio was hit by a pitch. A double steal put runners at second and third; the score was 4-1. ... But Pedro got Edgar Martinez swinging and Raul Ibanez on a pop to third. Francona: "That was the game, I thought, in the fifth. If they go up 6-1, it makes it tough."

Boston rallied for 5 runs in the bottom half of the inning. Kevin Millar and Gabe Kapler doubled with one out. When Pokey Reese struck out, Joel Pineiro had two outs, a 4-2 lead and a man on second. But he couldn't close the door. He walked both Johnny Damon and Mark Bellhorn before David Ortiz bashed the first pitch he saw to right-center. It was Ortiz's 100th career home run and 2nd career grand slam. Ichiro: "It was just close enough for me not to get it. I want to say it was really close, but in that situation, it felt really far."

Martinez is now 13-0 against Seattle with a 1.30 ERA in 12 starts and one relief appearance (August 14, 1999).

Date     Site         IP  H ER BB  SO  Result
04-11-98 Fenway Park   9  2  0  2  12  Red Sox  5-0 
05-12-99 Fenway Park   8  4  2  1  15  Red Sox  9-2 
08-14-99 Fenway Park   4  3  1  1   6  Red Sox 13-2 
09-04-99 Safeco Field  8  2  0  3  15  Red Sox  4-0 
04-04-00 Safeco Field  7  2  0  2  11  Red Sox  2-0 
08-02-00 Fenway Park   9  5  2  2   7  Red Sox  5-2 
09-04-00 Safeco Field  8  6  1  1  11  Red Sox  5-1 
05-01-01 Safeco Field  8  3  0  4  12  Red Sox  2-0 
05-12-02 Safeco Field  8  4  1  3  12  Red Sox 10-4 
05-18-02 Fenway Park   8  6  1  0   9  Red Sox  4-1 
08-16-03 Safeco Field  7  3  1  3   7  Red Sox  5-1 
08-25-02 Fenway Park   6  6  1  2   4  Red Sox  8-1 
05-28-04 Fenway Park   7  8  4  0   9  Red Sox  8-4
Totals                97 54 14 24 130  1.30 ERA

Updated!
The Glass Is Half-Full. Michael Silverman is right: "The Red Sox are in first place, they had the best record in baseball at first pitch last night, their pitching staff is ranked at the top or in the top three of nearly every significant pitching category, and the offense can boast being one of the five best around. ... [S]omeone should state the obvious. Things are good right now. Stop and smell the flowers." ... The lineup is missing these two important pieces:

2003     AVG  #AL   OBP #AL   SLG  #AL
Nixon   .306 13th  .396 7th  .578   5th 
Nomar   .301 16th            .524  16th

In addition to winning the batting title last season, Bill Mueller (who is having knee surgery today) was 6th in OBP (.398) and 11th in SLG (.540). Kevin Millar is still slumping and Ellis Burks is out of action. But the team is currently 5th in runs scored, 2nd in on-base percentage (.001 behind Cleveland), 5th in slugging and 8th in batting average.

On the mound, Derek Lowe has a 6.22 ERA, Scott Williamson has been hurt, Pedro Martinez and Bronson Arroyo have been inconsistent and Byung-Hyun Kim (6.17) is on the DL and back in Korea. And yet, thanks to Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield and a superb bullpen, the Red Sox are 1st in team ERA, 1st in fewest walks+hits per inning, 1st in opponents batting average (.241, .014 lower than Tampa Bay), 1st in opponent on-base (.313) and 1st in opponents slugging (.376).

The Red Sox are tied with Anaheim for the best record in baseball (29-18) -- and they have a ½-game lead on the Yankees, who are in Tampa Bay.

Martinez, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are assisting the relief effort in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where flooding has killed more than 800 people. ... The Red Sox are 7-for-7 when they swing at 3-and-0 pitches. Ortiz has been the most successful (3-3, with a double and home run); Ramirez, Brian Daubach, Jason Varitek and Doug Mirabelli are all 1-1.

Korea Times, quoting Byung-Hyun Kim: "I feel my shoulders, ankles and hips are not working properly, but not too seriously either. I will be here until I'm fully recovered." ... The Herald reports that "all signs point to [Nomar Garciaparra] beginning his 7-10 day rehab with Triple-A Pawtucket at Toledo sometime between June 3-6." ... A report on Trot Nixon from the Naples Daily News.

Weekend match-ups:

Tonight: Pedro Martinez (4-3, 3.68) -- Joel Pineiro (1-5, 5.43)
Saturday: Tim Wakefield (4-2, 3.21) -- Freddy Garcia (2-3, 2.71)
Sunday: Curt Schilling (6-3, 2.82) -- Ryan Franklin (2-4, 4.75)

"Wolf!" As John Ashcroft warns of "disturbing" intelligence that Al Qaeda is "almost ready to attack the United States," another administration official says: "There's no real new intelligence, and a lot of this has been out there already. There really is no significant change that would require us to change the alert level of the country." Ashcroft himself says there is no new information indicating when, where or how an attack might happen.

Could the administration be crying wolf to distract the public (yet again!) from Bush's dropping poll numbers, the 806 dead American soldiers and the ever-increasing reports of torture throughout Iraq? ... It turns out the Homeland Security department was shocked by Ashcroft's announcement and the Justice Department didn't bother to inform state and local police forces of any alleged threat. The FBI's field offices were also kept in the dark. ... And the seven people Ashcroft says pose a "clear and present" danger to the US? Newspaper links here indicate that several of them have been in custody for quite some time.

Remember back in May 2002, when the mainstream media first reported that the Bush administration had known of bin Laden's threats to hijack airplanes for terrorist activity? White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer admitted the terror warnings at that time were issued to change the subject. When asked if the warnings were to "raise the awareness [or] to arouse the American people to a new danger, Fleischer said: "[I]t was just more as a result of all the controversy that took place last week."

Notes 'N Things. Mark Bellhorn has played 43 games this season -- and he's either walked or struck out in every one of them. ... Andy Dominique enjoyed his debut. ... Gary and Daryle Ward are the first father and son combination to hit for the cycle. ... An announcement: "Boston.com has acquired Boston Dirt Dogs, a popular Red Sox fan Web site, and will incorporate its content into Boston.com's award-winning sports section in June." ... Manny Ramirez is The Sporting News' cover story.

BlogWatch: El Guapo's Ghost: "There doesn't seem to be any women that want to explore how Mark Bellhorn can hit 225 with an OBP of 400. If you know where they are located, please let me know." ... Fenway Hotdogs in October saw her first game at Fenway in 2 years; it was a good one. ... The House That Dewey Built was there also. ... Damn! So was Sports Retort. ... Musings from RSN has been silent for a month. ... Obey Pedro has also been on a sporadic schedule. ... RallyCuff is (like me) sick of seeing the sports media fawn over Ben Affleck as though he is The Grand High Exalted Mystic Red Sox Fan. ... Red Sox Haven looks at Keith Foulke. ... Top of the Ninth is writing letters to a certain Skydome waitress. ... All the cool Red Sox fans are addicted to The Soxaholix. ... A new blog: Surviving Grady.

With Blood Dripping From Their Hands ... Upon further review, the editors at the New York Times think they may not have been as "rigorous" in checking out some of the administration's claims about Iraq's alleged WMD. "In some cases, information ... was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged. Looking back, we wish we had been more aggressive in re-examining the claims as new evidence emerged — or failed to emerge." ... The Times is sorry. ... Good comments from Left I on the News, Daily Kos and Slate (lots of helpful links at Slate). And don't miss the incomparable Get Your War On.

Kos: The idiot establishment media is playing along with Bush (as usual) and pretending that the 'handover' date has significance beyond the shuffling of a few legal documents. Fact is, nothing much will change. The decidedly non-liberal Wall Street Journal makes this clear as day."

I'm sure the Times et al. will continue to play along with this charade and then 'round about, oh, January 2006, they publish an Editors' Note stating that now they realize that they failed to apply basic journalistic practices to their reports on the "handover" claims of the Bush administration back in the summer of 2004. And the Times will once again say "sorry" and promise to do better next time.

Red Is The Color Of Love. Ed Cossette is in love. So am I. A Red Sox team that gets on base 31 times in 8 innings and waltzes to a 12-2 victory over a possible playoff opponent will always cause my heart to skip a beat.

Ed mentions the "deep throated, all encompassing crowd roar" we heard many times last night at Fenway Park. He's describing the "Yoooooouuuuuuk" chant for 3B Kevin Youkilis, but the noise I love most is what I hear a split-second after Manny Ramirez makes perfect contact with the baseball -- and the tiny white circle gets smaller and smaller against the dark sky. ... What is that roar? It's not clapping, really, and it's not screaming, though it includes both of those things. The roar seems to mimic the arc of the home run, as well as the fans themselves as they rise en masse out of their seats.

I tape the games on the weekend and usually watch them both on Mondays. Two days ago, I rewound and watched Ramirez's Saturday home run against Ted Lilly several times. And what I enjoyed most wasn't the home run -- though Manny's swing is a thing of beauty -- but the synchronization of the action on the field and the roar of more than 35,000 fans. The ball appeared to rise and sail on the strength of that roar.

Andy Dominique made his major league debut last night. He took over at first base in the top half of the 8th inning and here he was, coming to the plate in the bottom half. The crowd gave him a standing ovation and he quickly got ahead 2-0. Then the chant began -- "An-dy! An-dy! An-dy!" -- it was loud! -- and I'd be surprised if it didn't distract him a bit. He took two strikes and then waved at strike three. No matter. ... It was another glorious night at the ball park, three wonderful hours spent in the company of the team we love.

Shit. Bill Mueller will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Friday and will be out at least six weeks. Kevin Youkilis will be the regular third baseman and catcher/first baseman Andy Dominique was recalled from Pawtucket. ... Dirt Dog sums things up nicely.

Babe Ruth Learns To Walk. Dan McLaughlin, aka The Baseball Crank, is reading my book -- uh, excuse me, my "marvelous book" -- "Babe Ruth and the 1918 Red Sox" and he has a few comments on Ruth's development from a part-timer who often hacked at the plate to an everyday player who walked an ungodly amount of times.

He divided Ruth's plate appearances into three sections: 1914-17, when he was a full-time pitcher who also pinch-hit from time to time; 1918, when he first began playing every day; and 1919-20, his first two years as a regular. ... The results? "(1) the rapid rise in Ruth's walk rate is a compelling testimony to how quickly fear of the Babe's power caused pitchers to work around him; and (2) the very quick improvement in both Ruth's BB and K rates shows what a quick study Ruth was. This wasn't a guy who gloried in waiting out the pitcher; Ruth learned to wait. And he learned that lesson in just a few years, while lesser players can take their whole careers to get the point."

Beginning in 1915 -- Ruth's rookie season with the Red Sox -- there were calls by the Boston sportswriters to have the young lefty play the outfield (he often played center field in spring training contests). His prowess as a slugger was immediately apparent to anyone who saw him. However, he did strike out a lot -- and that was one reason why Boston managers Rough Carrigan and Jack Barry did not give him any extra batting time.

From 1914-17, Ruth struck out 68 times in 368 at-bats, an average of one strikeout per 5.3 AB. By contrast, in 1917, Ty Cobb struck out once every 17.3 AB and Tris Speaker's rate was once every 37.4 AB. ... In 1918, despite having 100-175 fewer at-bats than most other regulars, Ruth still led the American League with 58 strikeouts. He also drew 58 walks; the St. Louis Browns walked him intentionally in five straight plate appearances over two days during the summer of 1918.

Ruth's patience also boosted his batting average. In 1923, he batted .393 and he won his only batting title the following season with a .378 mark. He hit over .370 six times and finished his career with a .342 batting average (tied for 8th all-time). ... Because there is absolutely nothing boring when it comes to Babe Ruth, let's look at his seasonal walk and strikeout totals:

Year  Gms   BB    K
1914    5    0    4
1915   42    9   23
1916   67   10   23
1917   52   12   18
1918   95   58   58
1919  130  101   58
1920  142  150   80  
1921  152  145   81
1922  110   84   80
1923  152  170   93
1924  153  142   81
1925   98   59   68
1926  152  144   76
1927  151  137   89
1928  154  137   87
1929  135   72   60
1930  145  136   61
1931  145  128   51
1932  133  130   62
1933  137  114   90
1934  125  104   63
1935   28   20   24
Tot  2503 2062 1330

From 1925 to 1934, Ruth had Lou Gehrig batting behind him, so I'm sure that didn't hurt. .. By the way, how in the hell did Gehrig get 175 RBI in 1927, 174 RBI in 1930 and 184 RBI in 1931 with Ruth hitting in front of him?

Kim: Second Opinion in South Korea. Bothered by back and hip injuries, Byung-Hyun Kim has gone home to South Korea to see a specialist. There is no timetable for his return. A lot of Red Sox fans don't like Kim, but I'm not one of them. However, I hope this situation is not taking a turn for the worst.

I agree with SoSHer Smiling Joe Hesketh's comments: "Kim was lights out in September last year after being lights out in June and July. He had a rough August that was a result of Grady flogging him like a horse; I've said it many times, check out Kim's 2003 game logs from his ESPN page, he was worked extremely hard and in groupings that would have just killed many other pitchers. In August, beginning August 13, Kim pitched in 14 of the next 20 games, just a ludicrous usage pattern. His strong September was a result of Gump actually giving him some time to rest at the beginning of the month ... and then when he was ready to go Gump mecilessly worked him again."

The logs bear this out. Kim pitched in 11 of 14 games from August 20 to September 3. Then he was rested, appearing in only two of Boston's next 11 games. The yo-yo usage returned when he was used in six of seven games. ... His September stats, however, were sterling: 49 batters in 13 innings, 6 hits, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 11 strikeouts. ... A list of the mistakes made by Tito's Predecessor would overload the Internet, but his misuse of Kim has to be up near the top.

Nomar Garciaparra held his 5th (and final) Nomar Bowl yesterday at Malden's Town Line Ten Pin. Teammates Johnny Damon, Jason Varitek, Keith Foulke, Mark Bellhorn, Brian Daubach and Kevin Millar, as well as Terry Francona and Theo Epstein were there. Nomar's agent Arn Tellem said he believes Garciaparra will stay with Boston after this season. ... Nomar is expected to work out with his teammates before today's game, taking batting practice and grounders. ... With eight more plate appearances, Millar will trigger a $3.5 million option for 2005. ... Trot Nixon played his first game since April 29 last night, going 2-4 with a double. Nixon slid hard into second base on the double and seemed fine. He fielded no balls in right field. ... Picking on Jeter is fun.

RIP: Doug Pappas, 43, died last Thursday while hiking in Texas's Big Bend National Park. You can check out his excellent work at his "Busines of Baseball" blog and at Baseball Prospectus." More talk of his work is here. ... A review of Rob Bradford's "Chasing Steinbrenner," which details the 2003 struggles of the Red Sox and Blue Jays to toppling the Yankees. Has anyone read this book?

The Red Sox lead the AL with a 3.51 ERA. Oakland is second at 3.68. ... Two A's comment on Derek Lowe's alleged gesture at the end of last October's ALDS. Eric Chavez: "It was classless, but people sometimes do dumb things. I don't know if he regrets it, and I really don't care." Bobby Crosby: "I wasn't playing, but it made me upset ... I'm looking forward to going and stomping on them a little bit." ... San Francisco Chronicle: "As usual, Red Sox believe this year is really the year." ... SoSHer Jose Melendez has been offering his daily "Keys to the Game"; he outdoes himself today.

Tonight: Curt Schilling (5-3, 2.84) vs. Tim Hudson (5-1, 2.90)
Wednesday: Derek Lowe (3-4, 6.02) vs. Mark Redman (3-2, 3.60)
Thursday: Bronson Arroyo (2-1, 4.10) vs. Mark Mulder (5-2, 2.98)

Off Tonight; Oakland At Fenway Tomorrow. Tim Wakefield threw only 89 pitches through seven innings last night, but the demands of fatherhood had left him exhausted. "You see my eyes? I've been trying to help out my wife as much as I can. That's part of life. I have a beautiful son at home and a beautiful wife who has blessed me with this child. I labored there for a couple of innings. I'm just a little sleep-deprived right now." (Also here and here)

David Ortiz leads the AL with 18 doubles: "I kind of look like Johnny Damon, but in slow motion." (Also) ... Toronto starter Miguel Batista threw a whopping 94 pitches in three innings. ... Bill Mueller flew to Phoenix to get a second opinion on his sore right knee. Orthopedist David Zeman, who removed bone chips from Mueller's left knee in March 2002, will examine him. Some beat writers think a stint on the disabled list is likely. ... Trot Nixon will play three innings in right field in an extended spring training game today in Fort Myers, then DH for the rest of the game. ... Francona will use today's off day to give the starters an extra day of rest -- Schilling, Lowe and Arroyo against Oakland.

"The Photographs Are Us" Susan Sontag: "If there is something comparable to what these pictures show it would be some of the photographs of black victims of lynching taken between the 1880's and 1930's, which show Americans grinning beneath the naked mutilated body of a black man or woman hanging behind them from a tree. The lynching photographs were souvenirs of a collective action whose participants felt perfectly justified in what they had done. So are the pictures from Abu Ghraib." ... A collection of those photographs/postcards can be seen here.

Saudi Prince Turki al-Faisal: "No matter how exalted the aims of the US in that war, in the final analysis it was a colonial war very similar to the wars conducted by the ex-colonial powers when they went out to conquer the rest of the world."

Flip -- Flop: "Justice Department officials recently announced that they were awarding $47 million to scores of local law enforcement agencies for the hiring of police officers. Mr. Bush had just proposed cutting the budget for the program ... by 87 percent, to $97 million next year, from $756 million. ... The administration also announced recently that it was providing $11.6 million to the states so they could buy defibrillators to save the lives of heart attack victims. But Mr. Bush had proposed cutting the budget for such devices by 82 percent, to $2 million from $10.9 million. ... In April, Secretary Thompson announced that the administration was awarding $3.1 million in grants to improve health care in rural areas of Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico and New York. He did not mention that the administration was trying to cut the same rural health program by 72 percent, to $11.1 million next year, from $39.6 million."

Digby on you-know-who: "He's like a Japanese speaking actor playing a role in phonetic English. No matter how passionately he delivers the lines, the inflection and the rhythm are always off because he doesn't understand the language he's speaking."

Notes. Nick Cafardo's Sunday column has a lot on Derek Lowe's woes. "When I'm pitching from the windup, I'm fine. When I'm pitching from the stretch, I'm flying open. ... [The] ball flattens out and there's no sink. In that Tampa game [Wednesday], seven straight hits? I'd still be out there if they hadn't taken me out. ... I'd be scared to death if I knew I was mechanically right and this were happening to me, but I know there's something wrong with my mechanics, and if I find a way to correct it and stop doing it, I'll start pitching better." Lowe faces Oakland tomorrow night. ... Ellis Burks feels he's about two weeks away from being activated. ... Trot Nixon will start playing the outfield tonight in Fort Myers. ... And Francona says Ramiro Mendoza -- who? -- is making "sluggish progress." Whatever.

Also: Manny Ramirez made a personal pitch to Theo Epstein on behalf of Raul Mondesi. ... The Rockies have abandoned their experiment with a four-man rotation after only 15 days. The idea may not work for Colorado right now, but how can a team learn anything in only two weeks? ... For "[Tito's Predecessor] Appreciation Night," the independent league Brockton Rox planned to hand out "bobble-arm dolls" showing the Grinning Jackass signaling for a relief pitcher. However, the idea was scrapped after the Cubs, who currently employ the Moron, spoke out against the idea. ... "[Pedro] Martinez was in much better spirits last week in Florida, as demonstrated by his memorable nude 'rally time' dash through the clubhouse."

Various Sunday Things. Jody Reed and Tony Gwynn recall Pedro Martinez's start on June 3, 1995, when he retired the first 27 Padres he faced. ... Pedro altered his pregame routine and threw in the outfield more than a half-hour before his scheduled first pitch. That allowed him to reach 90 miles per hour in the first inning; he hit 92 in the third inning. ... Martinez's seven strikeouts moved him past Don Drysdale into 26th place on the all-time list (2,489).

Anastacio Martinez got credit for the win Friday night, in his major league debut. He retired the Blue Jays in order in the 7th on 9 pitches and was pulled after giving up a leadoff single in the 8th. Pedro: "I know him pretty well, I would say, and I'm very happy for him. This game is actually being televised in the Dominican and I'm pretty sure his family was happy to see him in my game."

Although he's on the 15-day DL, Scott Williamson says he is merely sore. "I could be pitching but just not as effectively as I'm capable. ... What I've got now is what every pitcher gets at some point in the season. ... I couldn't get on top of my fastball and my command was done. I couldn't get the ball down. It's not like guys have been hitting me. When I've given up runs, it's been from walks. That won't be a problem once I get this out." ... Ortiz, on Manny's mammoth, game-tying, two-run homer, that cleared the Monster seats and Lansdowne Street: "Man, I wouldn't be parking my car out there."

Trot Nixon was scheduled to begin playing right field in extended spring training games today. ... Art Davidson: "[Harvard senior] Mike Morgalis was spending a quiet evening in his dorm room Friday night when when he was asked a favor by his roommate. It wasn't to help him with a paper or borrow $10. Morgalis was asked if he was available to pitch the next day to Nomar Garciaparra."

It's Raining Pretzels. George W. Bush "suffered cuts and bruises early Saturday afternoon while mountain biking on his ranch. He was on the 16th mile of a 17-mile ride when he fell [and] suffered minor abrasions and scratches on his chin, upper lip, nose, right hand, and both knees." A White House spokesman: "It's been raining a lot and the topsoil is loose. You know this president. He likes to go all out. Suffice it to say he wasn't whistling show tunes."

According to the Weather Channel website, Crawford, Texas hasn't had a drop of rain for over a week. More lies! ... There are unconfirmed reports that the bike was sent to Gitmo for questioning. ... And believe it or not, Bush said last week that Iraqis are ready to "take the training wheels off" and assume political power. Ha!

That'll Solve That Nasty Torture Problem. "Mobile phones fitted with digital cameras have been banned in US army installations in Iraq on orders from Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ... [A] "total ban throughout the US military" is in the works.

Outta Sight. Manny: "When I was in left field, I was thinking I wanted to hit one out because my mom and kids were here at the game. I got all of it." ... Boy did he ever. Micheal Nakamura came out of the pen to start the bottom of the 8th inning. The game was tied 5-5. Nakamura hung a 2-2 breaking ball and Manny crushed it. Looking at the replay, the ball just hung there, suspended in mid-air, belt-high, as if on an invisible tee, for a fraction of a second. Then it was gone. The blast gave the Red Sox the lead and sparked them to abuse four Toronto pitchers for 4 hits and 6 runs.

Bronson Arroyo wasn't sharp, but he kept the Sox in the game. After Josh Phelps opened the fourth inning with a solo home run, tying the game at 4-4, and Eric Hinske doubled, Arroyo retired the next three hitters, preventing further damage. Arroyo threw 96 pitches through six innings and I had no problem with him coming out for the 7th, facing the Blue Jays' 8-9-1 hitters. However, when he surreneed an 0-1 homer to the first batter, Simon Pond, it was time to make a move -- and Tito did. Mike Timlin retired the six batters he faced (on only 19 pitches) and Lenny "Everyday" DiNardo pitched a perfect 9th.

Tizzle: "I'm happy with the contract I have now and I'm even happier knowing I'm going to stick around these guys. This is a beautiful ballclub we have here. This is a good situation when you are still young and when you get the chance to play for ... a team that has the chance to win the World Series. ... I was getting advice from [Pedro], and he told me the best move you can ever make is to stick around this ballclub. He loves the attitude of the people here and he said, 'I recommend you stick around this ballclub.'" (Also here and here)

Damon on the tutoring and early literacy programs at the Boston Public Library: "I had a stuttering problem when I was young. I wasn't a great reader until I got past the third grade. The library system is great to go to get that kind of help. The library system is very dear to me." ... Kevin Youkilis experienced his first game at Fenway Park.

Scott Williamson was placed on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to Wednesday) with right elbow inflammation; an MRI showed no serious injury. Francona: "[T]wo weeks of inactivity is better than being gone for two months. We're confident that the 15 days is all it will take." ... An MRI on Bill Mueller's right knee showed mild patellar tendinitis, but he'll keep playing. ... Nomar Garciaparra will take batting practice and do some running for the next three days. After that, he'll face more live pitching.

Pedro/Ted Lilly at 7:05 pm.

Bush Lied About 9/11 Commission Meeting. On April 30, George W. Bush insisted he "answered every question" posed to him by the 9/11 Commission, adding that White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales -- who was in attendance -- never advised him not to answer a question. It looks like Bush has been caught in yet another lie.

The Hill reports: "The Bush administration has refused to answer repeated requests from the Sept. 11 commission about who authorized flights of Saudi Arabian citizens, including members of Osama bin Laden’s family, from the United States immediately after the attacks of 2001." Commission Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton recently told a group of Democratic senators that "We don't know who authorized it. We've asked that question 50 times."

This matter could be cleared up immediately by checking the transcript of the Bush/Cheney session, except the White House insisted -- and the Commission agreed -- that no recording or transcript would be made.

Damon Shaves; Ortiz Signs; Williamson Disabled. A Jumbotron provides a view of this afternoon's beard-off at the Prudential Center. Johnny Damon says he began shaving at age six.



David Ortiz signed a $12.5 million, two-year contract extension this afternoon. Ortiz is making $4,587,500 this season. The extension will pay him $5.25 million next season and $6.5 million in 2006. There is a team option for $7.75 million in 2007 or a $750,000 buyout. ... Scott Williamson was put on the disabled list and Anastacio Martinez was called up from Pawtucket.

Tampa Bay 9, Boston 6. Derek Lowe fell apart in the 3rd inning, allowing seven straight hits -- and seven runs -- before being sent to the showers. As BDD says, the price goes down every day -- although at this rate, there won't even be an offer.

Tampa Bay's Victor Zambrano was worse, throwing 133 pitches in 4.2 innings, walking nine (a new Devil Rays record) and striking out eight. ... The Red Sox's first inning unfolded like this: BB, K, BB, K, BB, K. ... Boston did not hit a fair ball until Kevin Millar doubled (to the opposite field!) on Zambrano's 36th pitch. It took 14 batters (and 78 pitches) before the Red Sox hit 3 fair balls.

Staked to a 7-0 lead after three innings, Zambrano nearly threw it all away. In the fourth inning, he threw a whopping 45 pitches, walking four (2 with the bases loaded) and hitting a batter. He allowed three runs in that inning and three more in the fifth. That closed the gap to 7-6, but Boston managed only one single over the final 4.1 innings. And so Tampa Bay matched its longest winning streak of the season (one game). Box.

The Yankees won last night and lead the Red Sox by a half-game. Bronson Arroyo -- the anti-Lowe -- will right the ship tonight.

The Hurt Parade. Scott Williamson underwent an MRI on his right elbow on Thursday. He had received a cortisone shot earlier this month to deal with lingering tendinitis, but it flared up again Tuesday night. The club maintains the MRI is simply precautionary and hopes Williamson can return as early as tonight.

Bill Mueller was also sent back to Boston for tests on his right knee. He was examined by team physician Bill Morgan today and the Red Sox should know by tonight if a DL stint is necessary. ... Byung-Hyun Kim experienced minor back pain while pitching on Tuesday. Sean McAdam reports that the Sox are not as eager to get rid of Kim as some reports have indicated. Of course, trying to swing a decent deal now would be impossible; Kim's value is as low as it's ever been. McAdam quotes one scout as saying Kim "looked like he had the arm of a 40 year old."

Foulke Festival: In 19 appearances covering 22.1 innings, Keith Foulke has allowed only one run (April 17, Yankees, Boston was ahead 5-1 at the time); his ERA is 0.40. In his last 12 outings covering 13 innings, Foulke has walked two and struck out 15. Opponents are 3-42 against him (.071). ... Gordon Edes chats about Beltran, Williamson and Internet Sox sites. ... Art Martone on "Still, We Believe" (also here and here).

Johnny Damon shaved his beard this afternoon, but says it will return -- "quicker than you know. ... It's going to take about two weeks, but I'm going to keep it neater this time." ... Damon also clarified his comment that the team missed Nixon more than Garciaparra. "What I meant is that the guys were filling in better for Nomar than the guys filling in for Trot. With Trot out, I have a different outfield around me every day."

Starters for the Blue Jays series:
Friday: Bronson Arroyo (2-1, 3.53 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (4-4, 3.69)
Saturday: Pedro Martinez (4-3, 3.75) vs. Ted Lilly (2-2, 5.24)
Sunday: Tim Wakefield (3-2, 3.31) vs. Miguel Batista (2-3, 5.01)

The Sham Continues. Two members of the 9/11 Commission, including the Chairman, admit their questioning of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani may have been too hagiographic. Jamie Gorelick was "disappointed in us in a way that I haven't been in the past ... We should have recognized the importance of asking the four or five critical factual questions, not wasting a lot of time in complementing the mayor." The New York Times noted the "conspicuously gentle questioning" of Giuliani: "Every question from the panel was framed with praise and expressions of gratitude. ... The commission opted not to confront Mr. Giuliani directly with its critical findings." The Times thought the Commission may have "retreat[ed] in the face of the Giuliani legend." ... Also: James Ridgeway of the Village Voice has written some excellent articles on the 9/11 investigation and timeline.

Release It All. More details: detainees being ridden like animals, sexually fondled by female soldiers, sodomized with broomsticks, forced to retrieve their meals from toilets; an Army translator raping an Iraqi boy while a female soldier takes pictures; many videos, including one of a naked detainee smeared with shit. ... There are also claims that US guards have raped women detainees at several prisons, impregnating many of them. ... The wedding massacre: "American soldiers started to shoot us. They were shooting low on the ground and targeting us one by one."

NYT: "A series of Justice Department memorandums written in late 2001 and the first few months of 2002 were crucial in building a legal framework for United States officials to avoid complying with international laws and treaties on handling prisoners ... [The memos] provided arguments to keep United States officials from being charged with war crimes ... They were endorsed by top lawyers in the White House, the Pentagon and the vice president's office ..."

All of the pictures and videos must be released. Every last one of them. I will decide how much I want to see. This was done in my name. I've paid for this with my taxes. Let me see what I got for my money.

Wow! A Democrat Shows Some Spine! From the Department of the Fucking Obvious. Hey, Kerry, are you taking notes? ... House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi: "Bush is an incompetent leader. In fact, he's not a leader. He's a person who has no judgment, no experience and no knowledge of the subjects that he has to decide upon. ... He has on his shoulders the deaths of many more troops, because he would not heed the advice of his own State Department ... Not to get personal about it, but the president's capacity to lead has never been there. In order to lead, you have to have judgment. In order to have judgment, you have to have knowledge and experience. He has none. ... He's gone. He's so gone."

Torture Update. The Pentagon can't keep its stories straight. ... UPI: "Efforts at the top level of the Bush administration ... to contain the Iraq prison torture scandal and limit the blame to a handful of enlisted soldiers and immediate senior officers have already failed." ... Another disc of pictures has surfaced; two new photos from Abu Ghraib have been released.

"[A] new war crime investigation will have to be initiated soon: allegations on the slaughter of Iraqi civilians during the siege of Falluja." ... Videotapes of guards beating prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are being provided to senate investigators. ... There are calls for a congressional probe into whether the Justice Department lied to the Supreme Court last month when it stated the US does not engage in torture.

Sgt. Samuel Provance claims intelligence officers were calling the shots at Abu Ghraib: "There's definitely a cover-up." ... Denver Post: "Pentagon records provide the clearest view yet of the US tactics used at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere to coax secrets from Iraqis." There are also multiple reports of soldiers abusing women and children.

US helicopter gunships and ground troops attacked what Iraqis said was a wedding celebration. Approxmiately 40 people were killed, "mainly women and children below the age of 12" according to the director of a nearby hospital. News footage showed a truck containing bloodied bodies, many wrapped in blankets, piled one atop the other. Several were those of children; one was decapitated."

Finally: The US has circulated a draft Security Council resolution to give US peacekeeping troops another one year exemption from prosecution by the world court at The Hague.

Wakefield's Whirlwind. "I wanted to win for my new son. Being a new father, I'm pretty excited about that. It's been a whirlwind. I'm still on cloud nine." The game ball was in his locker, next to a picture of days-old Trevor Stephen Wakefield. ... The victory was Wakefield's 105th with the Sox, tying him with Pedro Martinez and Lefty Grove for 8th place on the team's all-time list. He also pitched his 1,707th inning, tying Bob Stanley for 5th in team history.

Wakefield told catcher Doug Mirabelli that because of his hectic schedule the past few days he'd probably be relying on him more than usual in the early innings. Carl Crawford began the first inning with an infield single that Mark Bellhorn should have charged quickly. Bellhorn did hustle on a similar play in the 3rd and threw the speedy Crawford out. After the hit, Wakefield retired the next 13 Devil Rays (Crawford did come around to score (stolen base, fly to right, grounder to first)). Wakefield allowed singles to Brook Fordyce and Crawford to start the 6th, but pitched out of that jam with little trouble. ... Scott Williamson and Mike Timlin both looked a bit rusty, each allowing a run in their one inning of work.

Edes, Globe: "Sources inside and outside the club said yesterday that the Sox are actively shopping [Byung Hyun Kim], with one major league scout insisting that, depending on the deal, the Sox would be willing to eat part of Kim's two-year, $10 million contract. ... The Sox, according to one club source, are hopeful that Kim continues to improve, not to earn a return trip to Boston, but so the Sox can persuade somebody else to take him off their hands. ... One major league source with National League ties said the Diamondbacks reached a similar point last May, when they traded Kim to the Red Sox for Shea Hillenbrand. The Diamondbacks, the source said, also struggled with what they perceived to be Kim's immaturity, and his refusal to take advice, from the coaching staff or teammates, especially as it pertained to his workout routine."

Hohler, Globe: "More than eight weeks after they placed Nomar Garciaparra and Trot Nixon on the 15-day disabled list, the Red Sox last night remained uncertain when either player will join the team. ... The length of the absences has stunned everyone involved because the injuries initially were considered relatively minor." ... The Pawtucket Times reported Garciaparra might begin his rehab this weekend in Rhode Island, but the team said he would be working out that day at Fenway. ... Trot Nixon played in an extended spring training game Monday and was pleased with how he felt afterwards. MLB says he's close to returning. It sounds like he'll be back before Nomar. ... On Monday, Ellis Burks took batting practice for the fourth straight day.

Michael Silverman of the Herald looks at Garciaparra, Varitek and Lowe and the free agent market (anonymous quotes from scouts and agents). ... Two pieces on Boston's sub-par fielding. ... Schilling and Martinez watch Johnson's perfect game. ... More on the Red Sox travel troubles. ... Thomas Boswell: "The Weird, Wacky World Of Baseball Injuries" ... San Francisco's Jason Schmidt threw 144 pitches in a complete game, one-hit, 1-0 victory over the Cubs. ... The Yankees managed only one hit after the 3rd inning and lost 1-0, in 11 innings, to the Angels. The Red Sox are back in first place.

Father Knows Best. Tim Wakefield allowed only 3 hits over 7 innings and the Red Sox scored five runs before making an out in the 7th inning and beat Tampa Bay 7-3. Manny Ramirez doubled twice, singled and walked; Bill Mueller went 3-4; Pokey Reese singled twice; and Mark Bellhorn belted a 3-run HR (one pitch after missing a home run that sailed foul past the right field pole). The Yankees are playing the Angels in Anaheim.

Randy Johnson Pitches Perfect Game. Box and recap. Johnson became the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game. He's 40; Cy Young was 37 when he did it in 1904. Johnson is the 6th pitcher to throw a no-hitter in both leagues; he no-hit the Tigers while with Seattle on June 2, 1990. He also threw the first no-hitter in Seattle history and now he's thrown the first one for Arizona.

Johnson went to three balls on only one hitter -- Johnny Estrada in the second inning. Estrada fouled off three straight 3-2 pitches before going down swinging, one of 13 Atlanta strikeouts. ... It was the 17th perfect game and the 7th in the National League.

1st: Jesse Garcia (c) bunt grounded out first unassisted. Julio Franco (cc) struck out swinging. Chipper Jones (ssbb) struck out swinging.

2nd: Andruw Jones (sb) flied out to center. Johnny Estrada (bfsbffbfff) struck out swinging. JD Drew (sf) struck out swinging.

3rd: Mark DeRosa (b) flied out to right. Nick Green (cbcffffb) grounded out shortstop to first. Mike Hampton (cbcb) struck out swinging.

4th: Garcia (cf) struck out swinging. Franco (fs) flied out to center. CJones (bsc) struck out looking.

5th: AJones lined out to left. Estrada (fsfbff) flied out to right. Drew (bc) flied out to right.

6th: DeRosa (bc) grounded out third to first. Green (bfbsf) struck out swinging. Hampton (cbs) grounded out shortstop to first.

7th: Garcia (bff) struck out swinging. Franco (bsbf) grounded out second to first. CJones (bfsb) struck out swinging.

8th: AJones (fsb) flied out to center. Estrada (ffb) struck out swinging. Drew (sbf) grounded out second to first.

9th: DeRosa (bsf) grounded out second to first. Green (csbf) struck out looking. Eddie Perez hit for Hampton. Perez (sbfb) struck out swinging.

A Modern Crusade. "It was an e-mail we weren't meant to see. ... [W]e're not supposed to know the National Security Council's top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios." Read.

Reminds me of what Bush said when Bob Woodward asked him how he thought history would judge the Iraq war? Bush: "We won't know. We'll all be dead."

Waiting and Pedro. Michael Silverman offers some anonymous quotes about waiting until the end of the season to decide whether to resign Martinez:

NL scout: "I wouldn't sign him until the season is almost over. Make him earn every cent. ... I think he's hurt and I have concerns about him. I'd look at that other crop of free agents and see who I could bring in."

AL scout: "He's not going to blow you away anymore and his secondary stuff is not as sharp anymore. He used to be the guy you'd build a club around -- he's not that guy anymore."

MLB executive not employed by the Red Sox: "I have real doubts about his arm but I have no doubts about the quality of his pitches. He still may be the best pitcher in baseball, it's just determining how much he's worth. ... [L]et's say it's $35, $40 or $45 million for three years and you get only 350 or 400 innings in that time -- you have to win the World Series with him to justify that. ... I've got no sense of the market with him. Everyone is assuming that the Yankees will be in on him because Steinbrenner is supposedly getting loopier than ever and if the Yankees don't win it this year, he wants one more championship before he dies and you know he likes signing ex-Red Sox."

The Boston media has been talking about Pedro being string in his last 3 starts (21 IP, 7 ER) so I looked at his game log:

Date Opp Score Dec  IP   H  R ER HR BB  K   W  L  IP    ERA  BAA
0404 BAL L 2-7  L   6.0  7  3  2  1  1  5   0  1  6.0  3.00 .269
0410 TOR W 4-1  W   7.2  4  1  1  1  2  7   1  1 13.2  1.98 .204
0415 BAL L 7-12 -   5.0  8  7  7  2  4  3   1  1 18.2  4.82 .250
0420 TOR W 4-2  W   7.0  5  2  1  0  2  6   2  1 25.2  3.86 .233
0425 NYY W 2-0  W   7.0  4  0  0  0  1  7   3  1 32.2  3.03 .219
0501 TEX L 5-8  L   4.0  9  6  6  1  1  3   3  2 36.2  4.17 .250
0506 CLE W 5-2  W   7.0  4  2  2  1  3  8   4  2 43.2  3.92 .238
0511 CLE W 5-3  -   7.0  5  2  2  0  2 11   4  2 50.2  3.73 .232
0516 TOR L 1-3  L   7.0  6  3  3  1  1  6   4  3 57.2  3.75 .231
Total              57.2 52 26 24  7 17 56

Martinez has had only two truly bad outings: April 15 and May 1. In every other start -- 7 out of 9 -- Pedro allowed 3 or fewer runs -- which should be good enough to give the Red Sox a shot at victory. However, run support for Pedro has been puny -- less than 4 runs per 9 innings. Martinez and the Red Sox have had the misfortune of going up against a very solid pitcher nearly every time out. In 8 of Martinez's 9 starts, Boston's batted against Halladay 3 times, Ponson and Sabathia twice, and Vazquez once.

Baghdad Burning. From an Iraqi woman's blog (May 7 entry): "People are seething with anger - the pictures of Abu Ghraib and the Brits in Basrah are everywhere. ... American and British politicians have the audacity to come on television with words like, 'True the people in Abu Ghraib are criminals, but ...' Everyone here in Iraq knows that there are thousands of innocent people detained. Some were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, while others were detained 'under suspicion'. In the New Iraq, it's 'guilty until proven innocent by some miracle of God'. ...

"I don't understand the 'shock' Americans claim to feel at the lurid pictures. You've seen the troops break down doors and terrify women and children ... curse, scream, push, pull and throw people to the ground with a boot over their head. You've seen troops shoot civilians in cold blood. You've seen them bomb cities and towns. You've seen them burn cars and humans using tanks and helicopters. Is this latest debacle so very shocking or appalling? ...

"I sometimes get emails asking me to propose solutions or make suggestions. Fine. Today's lesson: don't rape, don't torture, don't kill and get out while you can -- while it still looks like you have a choice. Chaos? Civil war? Bloodshed? We'll take our chances -- just take your Puppets, your tanks, your smart weapons, your dumb politicians, your lies, your empty promises, your rapists, your sadistic torturers and go."

Also: The truly insane Zell Miller compares prison abuse to showering after gym class (also here and here). ... An Ohio manufacturing plant that George W. Bush used last year as a backdrop to show how his economic polciies were working has shut down. ... Condoleezza Rice "has made a hobby of receiving memos/reports with dire information, and then doing absolutely nothing about them." ... The 9/11 Commission will be holding public hearings in New York City tomorrow and Wednesday.

Cesar Crespo. He has not walked in 59 plate appearances this season. I've always thought that an OBP below .300 is not acceptable for a major league player; Crespo's OBP is .196. ... I wondered how many 3-ball counts Crespo has seen. Checking his splits at ESPN, I counted only 58 PA -- and I found only one 3-ball count. ... I looked at my scorecards to double-check. I counted 60 PA, so while the totals do not match exactly, they give you a pretty good idea of how bad Crespo is. What follows is the number of times he put the ball into play (or struck out) on which counts:

     ESPN   Me
0-0    7     7
0-1    4     4
0-2   10    10
1-1    6     6
1-2    9    10
1-0    6     6
2-0    3     3
3-0    0     0
2-1    5     5
2-2    7     7
3-1    0     1
3-2    1     1
      58    60

I found two 3-ball counts: a full count on April 11 and a 3-1 count on May 16. As we see, Crespo is usually hacking at the first pitch he sees or he's quickly in an 0-2 or 1-2 hole. ... Of course, Crespo isn't in Boston to hit. He plays a variety of positions -- and that is what he has done. But he has been shaky in the field as well, his dropped pop-up in the first inning on Saturday, being the latest example. ... Can't the Red Sox find a utility infielder who can muster a .200 on-base percentage?

"I Killed Innocent People For Our Government." An eye-opening Q&A with Marine Staff Sgt. Jimmy Massey, a 12-year veteran. He was involved in the initial Iraq invasion and was honorably discharged last December 31. He's now back in his hometown of Waynsville, NC, where he spoke with Paul Rockwell of the Sacramento Bee:

Q: What experiences turned you against the war and made you leave the Marines?

A: I was in charge of a platoon that consists of machine gunners and missile men. Our job was to go into certain areas of the towns and secure the roadways. There was this one particular incident - and there's many more - the one that really pushed me over the edge. It involved a car with Iraqi civilians. From all the intelligence reports we were getting, the cars were loaded down with suicide bombs or material. That's the rhetoric we received from intelligence. ... Every car that we lit up we were expecting ammunition to go off. But we never heard any. Well, this particular vehicle we didn't destroy completely, and one gentleman looked up at me and said: "Why did you kill my brother? We didn't do anything wrong." That hit me like a ton of bricks. ...

Q: The reports said the cars were loaded with explosives. In all the incidents did you find that to be the case?

A: Never. Not once. There were no secondary explosions. As a matter of fact, we lit up a rally after we heard a stray gunshot. On the outskirts of Baghdad. Near a military compound. There were demonstrators at the end of the street. They were young [6-10 kids] and they had no weapons. ... The order to shoot the demonstrators, I believe, came from senior government officials, including intelligence communities within the military and the U.S. government. ... M-16s, 50-cal. machine guns. ...

I am so glad I am talking with you, because I suppressed all of this. ... It's kind of therapy for me. Because it's something that I had repressed for a long time. ... It's starting to leak out about the civilian casualties that are taking place. The Iraqis know. I keep hearing reports from my Marine buddies inside that there were 200-something civilians killed in Fallujah. The military is scrambling right now to keep the raps on that. My understanding is Fallujah is just littered with civilian bodies. ...

Q: I would like to go back to the first incident, when the survivor asked why did you kill his brother. Was that the incident that pushed you over the edge, as you put it?

A: Oh, yeah. Later on I found out that was a typical day. I talked with my commanding officer after the incident. He came up to me and says: "Are you OK?" I said: "No, today is not a good day. We killed a bunch of civilians." He goes: "No, today was a good day." And when he said that, I said "Oh, my goodness, what the hell am I into?"

Q: Your feelings changed during the invasion. What was your state of mind before the invasion?

A: I was like every other troop. My president told me they got weapons of mass destruction, that Saddam threatened the free world, that he had all this might and could reach us anywhere. I just bought into the whole thing.

Q: What changed you?

A: The civilian casualties taking place. That was what made the difference. That was when I changed. ... I killed innocent people for our government. For what? What did I do? Where is the good coming out of it? I feel like I've had a hand in some sort of evil lie at the hands of our government. I just feel embarrassed, ashamed about it.

Q: What happened with your commanding officers? How did you deal with them?

A: There was an incident. It was right after the fall of Baghdad, when we went back down south. On the outskirts of Karbala, we had a morning meeting on the battle plan. I was not in a good mindset. All these things were going through my head - about what we were doing over there. About some of the things my troops were asking. I was holding it all inside. My lieutenant and I got into a conversation. The conversation was striking me wrong. And I lashed out. I looked at him and told him: "You know, I honestly feel that what we're doing is wrong over here. We're committing genocide." ... And I knew right then and there that my career was over. I was talking to my commanding officer. ... I've had an impeccable career. I chose to get out. And you know who I blame? I blame the president of the US. It's not the grunt. I blame the president because he said they had weapons of mass destruction. It was a lie.

And On The 21st Day, He Rested. Johnny Damon is "looking forward to getting home and jumping on my boat and fishing." ... Boat? You mean he doesn't just walk out onto the lake? (I have to get in my Son of God references before "Jesus Shaves" on the 21st.)

His teammates will similarly enjoy their first day without a game in nearly three weeks. Boston's last off-day was April 26 and since then -- "riddled with injuries and fatigue" -- they have gone 10-10 against Tampa Bay, Texas, Cleveland, Kansas City and Toronto. Kevin Millar: "This has been the worst travel I've ever seen. We've gotten into three cities at 4 in the morning or later." (Looks like Herald can't wait to panic.)

Damon suggests the team misses Trot Nixon more than Nomar Garciaparra: "We have a spot for Trot right away, but we're going to have to finagle the lineup a little bit to get Nomar back in there because Pokey and Bellhorn have done a great job. But I think we mostly miss Trot." I can't say I agree with this. It should be pretty easy to mix-and-match Reese and Bellhorn at 2B. ... Speaking of the disabled duo, Nomar played in another simulated game at Fenway yesterday and will be reevaluated today. Nixon is scheduled to DH in an extended spring training game today."

Bill Mueller will likely be back at 3B tomorrow night, but if the Red Sox continue to keep 14 position players (yes please!), which seems likely, Kevin Youkilis may stick around. ... He and fellow rookie Lenny DiNardo had to wear Hooters outfits through customs and the flight to Tampa. ... Cesar Crespo has not walked this year (56 plate appearances). ... Boston obtained outfielder Henri Stanley from the Padres for cash and assigned him to Pawtucket. Theo: "He's a guy we've had our eye on for a while. He's not off to a great start this year, but sometimes that's the time to get a player."

In Tampa Bay:

Tuesday: Tim Wakefield/Mark Hendrickson
Wednesday: Curt Schilling/Rob Bell
Thursday: Derek Lowe/Victor Zambrano

Text of 1791 Pittsfield Ordinance. Posted by John Thorn to SABR-L:

"#10 - Bylaw to prevent damage to new meeting house windows: no ball games within eighty yards of the building. At a legal Meeting of the Inhabitants of the Town of Pittsfield qualified to vote in Town Meetings, holden on Monday the fifth day of Sept 1791 __

"Voted, The following ByeLaw, for the Preservation of the Windows in the New Meeting House in said Town __ viz,

"Be it ordained by the said Inhabitants that no person or Inhabitant of said Town, shall be permitted to play at any game called Wicket, Cricket, Baseball, Batball, Football, Cats, Fives or any other games played with Ball, within the Distance of eighty yards from said Meeting House - And every such Person who shall play at any of the said games or other games with Ball within the distance aforesaid, shall for every Instance thereof, forfeit the Sum of five shillings to be recovered by Action of Debt brought before any Justice of the Peace to the Person who shall and prosecute therefor -

"And be it further ordained that in every Instance where any Minor shall be guilty of a Breach of this Law, his Parent, Master, Mistress or guardian shall forfeit the like Sum to be recovered in manner, and to the use aforesaid -"

(See also this.)

Also: From Baseline magazine: "Boston Red Sox: Backstop Your Business -- Keeping track of stats in the numbers-obsessed world of baseball is nothing new. But Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein has amassed a collection of personnel data other teams -- and corporate business managers -— can only dream about."

I Heart Bronson. Let me count the ways. He threw eight scoreless innings in Toronto on Saturday. He allowed only three hits and no walks and he tied a career high with six strikeouts. ... As Jerry Remy pointed out on NESN, Arroyo was aggressive on the mound, working quickly and going right after each batter. He did not nibble: 70 of his 100 pitches were strikes. He threw more than one ball to a batter only seven times and he fell behind a batter 2-0 only once -- Frank Catalanotto in the 1st inning.

Chris Gomez tripled to begin the bottom of the third. Arroyo struck out Orlando Hudson and then got Catalanotto on a liner to shortstop and Vernon Wells on a fly to right. ... In the 4th, Carlos Delgado was hit by a pitch and, after Josh Phelps flew out to right, took third on Eric Hinske's single. Arroyo buckled down and got Simon Pond to ground into a first-pitch double play. Inning over. Arroyo then retired the next 12 hitters. ... He was unperturbed by the scoring threats and focused solely on the man at the plate. In that regard, he was the anti-Lowe.

The afternoon's other big story was the major league debut of Kevin Youkilis. He homered to deep left in his 2nd at-bat. He got the silent treatment when he returned to the dugout, so he simply high-fived some imaginary teammates before sitting down on the bench. Then he was mobbed. Youkilis got the home run ball (thanks to Pedro Martinez providing a couple of autographed baseballs to the woman who caught it) and gave it to his parents, who were sitting two rows behind the Sox dugout.

Yook is the 7th Red Sox player to hit a homer in his first big league game, following Lefty Lefebvre (June 10, 1938), Ben Steiner (April 17, 1945), Eddie Pellagrini (April 22, 1946), Merl Combs (Sept. 12, 1947), Danny Sheaffer (April 9, 1987) and Sam Horn (July 25, 1987).

Doug Mirabelli on the day's events: "If you were looking for a negative, you couldn't find one ..." Capping the afternoon was Seattle's 13-7 victory in 13 inings in the Bronx. New York had several golden chances to win the game -- bases loaded, one out, and Jeter, Rodriguez and Giambi up in the bottom of the 9th and men on second and third with Matsui and Sierra up in the 12th -- but could not "find a way to win." ... Boston is back in first place.

Stuff: "Being Nomar" (a long feature in the Globe's maagzine). ... Tim and Stacy Wakefield became parents for the first time yesterday with the 2:20 pm birth of their son. ... The Herald's Karen Guregian chatted with Manny Ramirez in the center field grass. ... Bill Mueller will be out until at least Tuesday with inflammation in his right knee. ... Gordon Edes with some background on Lenny DiNardo, including his major league debut at Yankee Stadium. "It was really fun, something I'm going to tell my grandkids about. To be in the bullpen and hear them yell, 'DiNardo, you suck.' That's something I'm going to cherish. If you don't hear that, there's something wrong."

Pedro and Halladay at 1:05 pm.

The Greek God Of Walks. Kevin Youkilis (one of the heroes of Moneyball) was called up from Pawtucket. He will wear #20 and start at third base in his major league debut this afternoon. ... Man, that's a piss-poor lineup:

Damon cf
Bellhorn 2b
Ortiz 1b
Ramirez dh
Millar rf
McCarty lf
Mirabelli c
Youkilis 3b
Crespo ss

Remember when Jimy (or was it Tito's Predecessor; it's all become a blur) would bench Nomar and Manny in the same game rather than one of them one night and the other one the following game? ... I'm curious why Francona is sitting Varitek, Daubach and Pokey today.

Is Nomar's Injury More Serious Than Previously Announced? Boston Dirt Dogs reported yesterday that it had "learned through sources with direct, daily contact with Nomar Garciaparra and Victor Garciaparra, Nomar's uncle and private business manager, that the shortstop actually tore the sheath surrounding his achilles tendon," a much more serious injury than what has been reported by the Red Sox. BDD added that Nomar "will be back with the team the first week of June and will start rehabbing with the PawSox at the end of next week."

Theo Epstein quickly disputed the report. "As far as we know, the report is untrue. ... Nomar had some fluid buildup in the sheath due to tendinitis, but it was not torn." ... More Theo: "It's not an accurate report. The injury was as diagnosed. Early on, there was a fluid buildup in the area of the sheath but, no, there was no tear and there is no tear." ... While BDD stands by its report, the Globe quotes Victor Garciaparra as saying "There's no tear."

Epstein also said there was no truth to a Seattle report that Boston has discussed a three-way trade with the Mariners and Royals that would bring Carlos Beltran to Boston in exchange for Johnny Damon and Byung-Hyun Kim. Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi: "I don't know anything about it."

David Heuschkel asks a reasonable question: "Lenny DiNardo and Mark Malaska are the 11th and 12th pitchers on a 12-man staff. So why is manager Terry Francona using them in crucial situations when he has four quality relievers?" Heuschkel quotes Francona as saying (a) he had to go to the bullpen "early" and (b) "I just wanted to get to the top of the order" before bringing in Embree. DiNardo faced the 6-7-8-9 hitters before being pulled, so Francona clearly expected DiNardo to pitch the entire 6th inning.

Tito apparently learned from his mistake, because last night, with the game tied 3-3 and the bases loaded with Blue Jays in the 6th inning, Francona called on Embree, who needed only 4 pitches to snuff out the Toronto rally. ... "That saved the game for us right there," Francona said. Exactly! If Francona had applied that same logic back on May 9 (Royals) and May 13 (Toronto), Boston might be 23-13 rather than 21-15.

Elsewhere: Garciaparra is scheduled to play in simulated games this weekend. ... Ellis Burks took BP for the first time on Friday. ... Bill Mueller was scratched from Friday's lineup with inflammation in his right knee and will likely miss both games this weekend. ... Kim made his first Pawtucket start last night and allowed three runs and three hits in two innings. He struck out one, walked two and threw 46 pitches. (More game info and box score here.)

Good news: The Yankees will not be trading for Jose Vidro. He agreed to a 4-year, $30 million contract extension with the Expos on Friday. ... New York Post: The Red Sox are talking to Aaron Boone, who expects to be playing ball in August.

Bronson Arroyo returns to the rotation this afternoon. However, he has been battling the flu all week. "[I]f I feel healthy, I would think 100 [pitches] would be fine. But I don't know how I'm going to feel after I go out there and throw." ... He faces Pat Hentgen at 1:05 pm.

A Long At-Bat. In the 7th inning on Wednesday night, with Jason Grabowski on base, Alex Cora batted against Matt Clement:

Pitch 1 - Ball
Pitch 2 - Called Strike
Pitch 3 - Ball
Pitch 4 - Foul
Pitch 5 - Foul
Pitch 6 - Foul
Pitch 7 - Foul
Pitch 8 - Foul
Pitch 9 - Foul
Pitch 10 - Foul
Pitch 11 - Foul
Pitch 12 - Foul
Pitch 13 - Foul
Pitch 14 - Foul
Pitch 15 - Foul
Pitch 16 - Foul
Pitch 17 - Foul
Pitch 18 - Cora hits 2-run home run to right field.

Story and box.

18-Inning Circus. I worked some overtime this week, so I taped Wednesday's and Thursday's games. I watched them both this afternoon. Ugh.

The starters can't finish the first inning without giving up at least one run, the opposition is getting a lot of hits on supposed pitcher's counts, balls are falling between fielders in both fair and foul territory, errors are being committed on pick-off throws and line drives right at the outfielders, some of the hitters aren't running hard out of the box, situational hitting and working the count has seemingly gone out the window. Their travel schedule has been brutal. Is anything going right for the Red Sox these days?

And Francona's use of the bullpen has me worried. Last night, Toronto led 3-2 going into the bottom of the 6th. Curt Schilling was out of the game. Who was entrusted with keeping the game close? Lenny DiNardo. ... On NESN, Jerry Remy didn't criticize the move, but he did remark: "We've seen a great deal of Lenny DiNardo." Indeed -- the young lefty was also the first man out of the pen the previous night.

The 6th inning of a 3-2 game is not too early to go to the top arms in the pen. That means Timlin, Williamson, Embree, Arroyo and/or Foulke. ... DiNardo is either your last or next-to-last choice. He allowed a double, a groundout, a single and then committed a throwing error. All three of his baserunners later scored. Toronto scored five times in the inning and went on to win 12-6. Even if DiNardo had pitched a 1-2-3 inning, there is no justification for bring him in at that point.

And why is Francona using Scott Williamson like he's the dregs of the pen? He threw the 8th inning on Wednesday with Cleveland up 6-2; on Thursday, he faced three batters in the 7th with the Red Sox behind 8-6. ... Tonight? We have a ground ball pitcher working on turf. I fear we will see the Derek Lowe Face very early this evening.

Also: City officials in Pittsfield, Mass. have released a document they say shows baseball was being played in that town in the late 1700s. The evidence is a 1791 by-law to protect the windows in the town's new meeting house by banning anyone from playing ball within 80 yards of the building. "It's clear that not only was baseball played here in 1791, but it was rampant," said historian John Thorn. "It was rampant enough to have an ordinance against it." Before this, the earliest documentation was 1823.

How Does The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Really Feel About The Widows of 9/11? Kristen Breitweiser, an activist from New Jersey whose husband died in the South Tower, recently submitted an Op-Ed which catalogued government missteps leading up to 9/11. WSJ columnist and editorial board member Dorothy Rabinowitz urged the Op-Ed editor to not publish the essay -- and then accidentally e-mailed the note to Breitweiser. It read in part:

"[T]otal and complete -- not to mention repetitive -- nonsense from people given endless media access to repeat the very same stupid charges, suspicions, and the rest. ... this is just an opportunity for these absurd products of the zeitgeist -- women clearly in the grip of the delusion that they know something, have some policy, and wisdom not given to the rest of us to know -- to grab the spotlight. again,. and repeat, again, the same tripe before a national audience. My thoughts -- we don't publish nonsensical contentions that offer no news, no insight -- solely on the grounds that those who feel attacked get a chance to defend their views. For that we have the letters column."

"The Crucial Pedro Split" Eric Van begins his discussion with this:

                    AVG   OBP    SLG
First two batters  .438  .438  1.000
Next four batters  .333  .375   .533
                    ---   ---    ---
Total 1st 6        .370  .396   .696 (4 HR in  48 PA)
 
Thereafter         .199  .276   .315 (2 HR in 163 PA)
 
Which interestingly breaks down:
 
# 9 hitter         .353  .450   .471  (21 PA)
Everyone else      .178  .251   .295

and

                    AVG   OBP   SLG
First 15 pitches   .414  .414  .862
After 15 pitches   .209  .286  .325

finnVT adds this:

Pitches  AB   H  HR  BB  SO   AVG   OBP   SLG    OPS
 1- 15   29  12   4   0   2  .414  .414  .862  1.276
16- 30   29   5   0   3  11  .172  .273  .241   .514
31- 45   29   9   0   1  10  .310  .355  .379   .734
46- 60   28   5   0   4   7  .179  .281  .179   .460
61- 75   27   6   0   2   6  .222  .276  .370   .646
76- 90   27   5   1   3   7  .185  .267  .444   .711
91-105   18   4   1   3   5  .222  .318  .444   .763

The Globe's Gordon Edes notes the ESPN split and quotes David Wallace: "Maddux went through a similar thing a couple of years ago. Could be just one of those baseball aberrations. Some of it might be due to the weather earlier in the year, when he wasn't getting a feel for the ball."

Ron Chimelis ends his game story with this sentence: "The infrequent use of [Scott] Williamson has been a bit of a mystery, but the Red Sox insist he's healthy, and he looked OK last night." ... Williamson's appearance in the eighth inning last night was his first action since last Wednesday in Cleveland. His game log:

Date Sox# Opp  Score   IP  H  R ER BB  K  PIT  IP   ERA   BAA
0404   1  BAL  L 2-7  1.0  1  1  0  0  1  17   1.0  0.00 .200   
0408   4  BAL  L 2-3  2.0  1  0  0  0  1  24   3.0  0.00 .167   
0415   8  BAL  L 7-12 1.0  0  0  0  1  1  21   4.0  0.00 .125   
0416   9  NYY  W 6-2  0.2  0  0  0  2  0  26   4.2  0.00 .105   
0420  13  TOR  W 4-2  1.0  0  0  0  1  2  15   5.2  0.00 .091   
0424  17  NYY  W 3-2  1.0  0  0  0  1  0  11   6.2  0.00 .083   
0425  18  NYY  W 2-0  2.0  0  0  0  0  2  19   8.2  0.00 .067   
0429  21  TAM  W 7-3  1.0  0  0  0  1  2  16   9.2  0.00 .061   
0501  22  TEX  L 3-4  2.0  2  1  1  0  2  40  11.2  0.77 .095   
0505  27  CLE  W 9-5  1.0  1  0  0  0  3  16  12.2  0.71 .109   
0512  33  CLE  L 4-6  1.0  0  0  0  0  0   8  13.2  0.66 .102

He hasn't thrown that many pitches in any outing, except for 40 pitches on May 1. In that game he faced 8 batters. His pitch count per hitter was:
7th inning: 3-3-3-6-6
8th inning: 7-7-5
As Chimelis says, there has been no indication that anything is wrong. It would have been nice to see Williamson instead of Malaska in some recent games.

RHP Jamie Brown was called up from Pawtucket to replace Byung-Hyun Kim. Francona called Brown "a strike-thrower who attacks the strike zone." Brown (3-1, 2.84, .199 opponents average in six starts) has walked just two batters in 38 innings and none in his last 26.2 innings. Last season, Brown walked only 22 batters in 112 innings. He was given a locker between Pedro and Keith Foulke. ... Nomar Garciaparra took batting practice for a second straight day. He plans to work out in three of the next four days and be re-evaluated on Monday. ... Trot Nixon is heading back to Fort Myers to play extended spring training games.

Thursday: Curt Schilling (4-2, 2.81) vs. Miguel Batista (0-3, 4.98)
Friday: Derek Lowe (3-3, 5.01) vs. Justin Miller (1-0, 3.00)
Saturday: Bronson Arroyo (1-1, 4.55) vs. Pat Hentgen (2-2, 5.99)
Sunday: Pedro Martinez (4-2, 3.73) vs. Roy Halladay (3-4, 3.99)

What's Up With Kim? Jackie MacMullan explores the physical and mental problems of Byung-Hyun Kim. "[H]is stubborn refusal to deviate from his rigid workout regime has not only alienated teammates who have tried to help him, it has frustrated the front office and the coaching staff as they continue to attempt to tap his obvious potential. ... He is pitching alongside two of the greatest pitchers in the game, Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling. He pitches alongside a guy (Derek Lowe) who threw a no-hitter. He is part of a rotation that includes a gutsy knuckleballer (Tim Wakefield) who has made a living out of being crafty and resourceful. All have been willing to help, but their suggestions are often met with stony silence."

Johnny Damon says Kim's single-minded approach to pitching has made it close to impossible to establish a relationship with him. Theo Epstein admits: "His assimilation has been an even bigger challenge than we thought." ... We read similar things about Kim last season. I'd hoped that having Schilling (who pitched with Kim in Arizona from 2000-03 and believes he can be a star) on the staff would help alieviate that. It doesn't look like it has.

Terry Francona said that Kim will be used as a starter in Pawtucket "for a couple innings every few days. ... The idea is to get some of that aggressiveness or explosiveness back. I've looked at some old (game) tapes of Kim and he used to fly off the mound. He needs to get that back."

A Better Man(ny). Mr. Ramirez talks about his family and the Red Sox: "I definitely want to finish in Boston. This is the place to be. If you're going to win a World Series, this is the place to do it. Not New York, not Miami, that's nothing. The big thing is winning here, and we've got the pieces to do it this year, and I think we're going to do it. ... I think the best thing that happened to me was coming here, because it's been a challenge for me. It definitely makes you better. A lot of people said, 'Oh, he's going to Boston, he's not going to be the same player, he's not going to like it, the media is this and that.' Well, I'm showing people it's not bad.'"

Kevin Millar, Johnny Damon and a few fans try to answer some of the citizenship questions.

Who Pissed In This Guy's Cornflakes? "Let me know when [Manny Ramirez] opts to become a naturalized human being. ... Ramirez is, and always has been, an arrogant, standoffish soul, and no oath of citizenship can alter the base reality of the man. ... [he] has the personality of a toilet seat ... unsure in the field, undependable on the bases, a quitter whenever the mood strikes him." ... Bob Dicesare = asshole. And look, here's his email address: bdicesare@buffnews.com

Best Summation So Far. Robert M. Jeffers in a post to Atrios:

"The story changes so fast you can't keep up with it.

"They first learned about this when the 'courageous' soldier took the pictures to his superiors. And the pictures were all 'personal.'

"But then stories came out that the pictures were ordered by MI for 'intimidation' purposes.

"And the ICRC reported it had told the Admin. about these problems months ago.

"And it was limited to a handful of 'bad apples.' Except the same thing happened in Afghanistan.

"And the photos were staged, not 'snapshots.'

"And they knew something was up in November, but they fixed it. But they were surprised by the allegations in January.

"But no one knew about it. But everyone knew about it, because there was a breakdown in command.

"But there was no breakdown. And the Geneva Convention has always applied.

"Except when it hasn't.

"And we've always followed it. Except when we didn't.

"And we don't abuse prisoners. Except when we do. It's not 'American.' Except it is expressly sanctioned by military regulations. Except it can only be sanctioned by the SoD, because Rumsfeld keeps tight rein on everything.

"Except he doesn't. Because this was authorized in Iraq, not in Washington. Except it couldn't have been, because Rummy runs a tight ship.

"Except he didn't know. But don't call it 'plausible deniability.' Because there's a chain of command.

"Except Rumsfeld doesn't know what it is. He only knows about the PR campaign he's been conducting since these photos went public.

"But he isn't lying. He just doesn't know anything.

"But it's okay. Because he's doing a great job.

"Even though everything is a shambles."

Youneverknow. Last night's game had me thinking of Joaquin Andujar. With 2 quick outs in the bottom of the 8th, Boston trailed Cleveland 3-2. But David Ortiz sliced a line-drive double into the left field corner and when Bill Mueller followed with another opposite field double, off the left field wall, pinch-runner Cesar Crespo scored the tying run. Gabe Kapler chopped his second infield hit of the night and Boston had men at 1st and 3rd.

Brian Daubach was announced as a pinch-hitter for Pokey Reese and Cleveland manager Eric Wedge pulled Jose Jiminez and brought in Scott Stewart, his only left-handed reliever. Terry Francona countered by calling Daubach back and sending up David McCarty. ... Blind Squirrel McCarty took a strike before finding a nut -- rifling a low-and-away pitch down the right field line. The fans wisely left the ball alone (as they had with Varitek's game-winning hit last Friday), so while it rattled around the corner for McCarty's first triple in four years, both runners were able to score. Keith Foulke pitched a perfect 9th -- striking out the final two batters -- and Boston won 5-3. New York beat Anaheim in 10 innings, so the Red Sox held onto their half-game lead.

I have no idea what's up with Pedro Martinez and why he cannot get into a groove until the second or third inning, but hopefully, he and Dave Wallace can figure something out. Seven of the first 12 Cleveland batters reached base against Martinez, then none of the next 16 did. He also struck out the side in the first two innings (something he had not done even once so far this season) and finished with a season-high of 11 Ks.

He allowed two runs in the first inning, but was not hit particularly hard. After striking out Matt Lawton, Omar Vizquel reached on a grounder that took an odd bounce off the lip of the grass and past Ortiz's glove. With Vizquel being held on first, Gerut grounded a singled through the hole into right. Victor Martinez then pounded a first-pitch fastball to the right-center field gap that brought in both runners. Travis Hafner struck out looking, and after Ronnie Beillard walked (on what looked like strike 3), Ben Broussard struck out swinging.

In the second, Lou Merloni struck out swinging (the NESN gun registered strike 3 at 100 mph, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't an accurate reading!), Coco Crisp singled to center, Lawton struck out again, Vizquel singled up the middle (and stole second base) and Gerut walked. That was the last batter that reached base against Pedro (and outside of Victor Martinez's home run in the 8th, the last Cleveland base runner of any kind). Martinez struck out V. Martinez for the third out and then retired the side in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th innings.

There has been an amazing (and highly annoying) trend in games between Cleveland and Boston this year. The scores after one inning:

May 3:

Boston     0
Cleveland  2

May 4:

Boston     0
Cleveland  2

May 5:

Boston     1
Cleveland  2

May 6:

Boston     0
Cleveland  2

May 10:

Cleveland  2
Boston     2

May 11:

Cleveland  2
Boston     0

Memo to Tim Wakefield: Please pitch a scoreless first inning tonight. Thanking you in advance,

Some Bits from BP. Rany Jazayerli: "Very quietly, with almost no fanfare whatsoever, one of the most significant developments of the year just occurred in Denver. As reported in this article in the Denver Post, the Rockies are switching to a four-man rotation. ... In one stroke, Dan O'Dowd has mixed together two of the most compelling issues in baseball analysis today--how to win at altitude, and how to optimize the usage of your pitchers."

Joe Sheehan: "With Nomar Garciaparra's return getting closer, the Red Sox are going to have an interesting decision to make. Mark Bellhorn is third on the team in OBP and out-hitting Pokey Reese by what would be about 50 runs over a full season. I think Reese has to be in the lineup behind Derek Lowe, but none of the other Red Sox starters gets enough ground balls to justify playing him over Bellhorn. How Terry Francona handles this is the first real test for him as Red Sox manager. ...

"Nobody asked me, but I wouldn't sign Pedro Martinez to a three-year contract at gunpoint, and I wouldn't commit to more than $20MM over the life of a two-year deal. The Sox have better uses -- Edgar Renteria, to name one -- for that money. And no, Lowe isn't one of them. Why people are lumping him in with Martinez, Garciaparra and Jason Varitek is beyond me. He's a No. 3 starter heavily dependent on his defense. Although I suppose if Sidney Ponson can turn one good half into $22 million, Lowe will do all right for himself."

Bullpen Usage. There has been talk on message boards and blogs about Terry Francona's recent bullpen use. He'd have to go a long way to piss me off the way the previous two Boston managers did, but there have been legitimate questions about his decisions in the last two games.

Sunday: Derek Lowe struggled throughout this entire start, never retiring more than 4 consecutive batters. The game was tied 2-2 when Kansas City batted in the top of the 6th inning. Lowe had thrown 84 pitches. Randa singled to left and Guiel sacrificed him to second. Santiago lined out to center. So far, so good. ... Lowe then walked the #8 and #9 hitters (Relaford and DeJesus) to load the bases. Berroa reached on an infield single to third and a run scored. The Royals led 3-2 and the bases remained loaded.

Following along online, I have no idea when the Red Sox bullpen got active. Even watching on TV, it is often hard to pinpoint stuff like this. Several fans wanted Lowe pulled after the two walks, but it's entirely possible (even likely) that whoever was warming up was not ready. Even after the first walk, there was no huge urgency to get the pen up. But DeJesus walked on only five pitches. I'm guessing, but Francona may have had no other choice (i.e., he couldn't stall long enough) and had to have Lowe face Berroa (who had grounded out twice and struck out to that point).

Francona made his move after Berroa's hit. Berroa singled on the first pitch, so any reliever didn't gain much extra warm-up time. ... Mark Malaska came in to pitch. He fell behind Beltran 3-0, fought back to a full count, but then surrendered a bases-clearing double that gave Kansas City a 6-2 lead. ... Each team scored single runs in the 8th and 9th innings and Boston lost 8-4.

Why Malaska? The following pitchers were in the pen:

Timlin
Williamson
Foulke
Embree
DiNardo
Arroyo
Malaska

Curt Schilling had pitched a complete game the previous day and Timlin was the only reliever to have worked on Friday (1 inning, 8 pitches), so everyone was available. Francona has his pick of the pen. ... I don't know if anyone else besides Malaska was getting ready, but it's clear that he was the worst choice (or the 2nd least-reliable choice (after DiNardo)).

The 6th inning was not too early to bring in a stopper to cool the rally and keep the score at 3-2. Lowe was nearing 100 pitches and had battled all day. The pen was completely rested. And the Beltran at-bat was clearly the most important moment in the game. That was obvious, not only in hindsight, but as it was happening. Francona should not have relied on his worst option to put out the fire.

Monday: Not as serious as Sunday's mistake, but it irked me. Keith Foulke pitched the top of the 8th inning and retired Crisp, Lawton and Vizquel on 8 pitches. Boston trailed 9-6. Foulke should have pitched the 9th inning as well, but Francona brought in Malaska, who gave up a double and an rbi-single on his first six pitches. Obviously, the Red Sox did not come back -- or even mount a decent rally -- but why not stay with the better pitcher and keep the game as close as possible?

Was it merely to show faith in Malaska and get him "back on the horse"? I hope not. Certainly, Francona's decision to boot Kim out of the rotation flies in the face of that theory. Bringing Arroyo back to the #5 spot shows me that winning games is paramount, more important than keeping everyone happy.

Francona's use of the pen this season has been quite good. I have questioned some of his moves, but then learned the following morning that so-and-so was under the weather or otherwise unable to pitch. Taking a second look at the situations, his decisions often made a lot more sense. But his use of Malaska on Sunday and Monday is baffling.

Pedro faces off against CC Sabathia tonight at 7:05.

#5 -- Kim Out, Arroyo In. After his failed start last night, Byung Hyun Kim has been replaced in the rotation by Bronson Arroyo. Kim may be sent to the bullpen, Pawtucket or the team's training center in Fort Myers. Regardless, Arroyo will get the ball this Saturday in Toronto. (Discussion here)

Manny Ramirez missed last night's game because he was in Florida being sworn in as a United States citizen. ... Johnny Damon has agreed to shave his beard (but not cut his hair) in the next two weeks in exchange for the Gillette Co. donating $15,000 to the Boston Public Library.

Nomar Garciaparra played five simulated innings in an early Monday afternoon workout at Fenway. Nomar batted against coach Dale Sveum and will face Double-A Portland right-hander Eric Glaser today. Francona: "He did the groundballs, threw to first. Did the groundballs to second. He came in and hit off a tee. He hit off of a coach. He ran the bases. And he did that for five innings. He revved it up pretty good." When Nomar faces Double-A pitcher Eric Glaser today, it will be the first time he has faced a professional pitcher since March 17.

Trot Nixon will also take batting practice today and is scheduled to return to Fort Myers later this week to resume his rehabilitation. ... Ellis Burks has begun begun working out, just two weeks after undergoing knee surgery. Francona: "I think he's trying to set all (speed) records (for) coming back. He's already swung a bat and he's been throwing. He's doing pretty good." If all goes well, Burks could be activated by early June.

Would You Believe ...? In her senior honors thesis, Devon Largio of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign outlines 27 different rationales used by the Bush administration for the war in Iraq. In her 212-page study -- "Uncovering the Rationales for the War on Iraq: The Words of the Bush Administration, Congress and the Media from September 12, 2001, to October 11, 2002" -- Largio "not only identified the rationales offered for going to war, but also established when they emerged and who promoted them. She also charted the appearance of critical keywords such as Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Iraq to trace the administration’s shift in interest from the al Qaeda leader to the Iraqi despot, and the news media’s response to that shift." [Links to the PDF filesd for the Abstract and Table of Contents, Executive Summary and Thesis.]

Also "Report of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the Treatment by the Coalition Forces of Prisoners of War and Other Protected Persons by the Geneva Conventions in Iraq During Arrest, Internment and Interrogation" has been posted online.

Another "Bring 'Em On" Moment. "Arab commentators reacted with shock and disbelief to US President George Bush's robust backing of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. ... 'After the torture and vile acts by the American army, President Bush goes out and congratulates Rumsfeld. It's just incredible. I am in total shock,' said the editor of the influential Algerian national daily al-Watan. ... Analysts have said the damage from images seen worldwide of soldiers abusing naked Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghuraib prison would be indelible, incalculable and a gift to al-Qaida leader Usama bin Ladin."

When the Bush administration's lawyers assured the Supreme Court that the government "would honor its obligations under the [Geneva] 'convention to prohibit torture and that sort of thing,' it already knew about the Abu Ghraib incidents. More lies -- this time to the Supreme Court. (Kos on Rumsfeld)

What's Wrong With This Sentence? "The Bush administration was bracing itself last night for the release of new pictures and video footage from Abu Ghraib which show US soldiers having sex with an Iraqi woman prisoner, troops almost beating a prisoner to death, and the rape of young boys by Iraqi guards at the jail." Are we supposed to believe this Iraqi woman consented to group sex with US soldiers? ... From the same story: "NBC News has quoted military officials as saying that the new photographs also show US soldiers 'acting inappropriately with a dead body'. ... NBC also reported that the rape of young boys by Iraqi guards, apparently in a special section of the prison, had been filmed by US soldiers."

A must-read interview with former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds: "[I]f they were to hold real investigations -- I'm not talking about this semi-investigation they're holding under this 'Joint Inquiry' -- the pure show of the 9/11 Commission that has been getting the mass media's attention. If they were to do real investigations we would see several significant high level criminal prosecutions in this country ... certain people that we know from this country standing trial; and they will be prosecuted criminally. ... And that is something that they are not going to let out. And, believe me; they will do everything to cover this up." (Also)

From Government Executive Magazine: "A former FBI translator said Wednesday that the bureau had 'real, specific' information relating to the Sept. 11 attacks before they happened. Sibel Edmonds worked for the agency working from Sept. 20, 2001 to March 2002. Edmonds said she was hired to retranslate material that was collected prior to Sept. 11 to determine if anything was missed in the translations that related to the plot. In her review, Edmonds said the documents clearly showed that the Sept. 11 hijackers were in the country and plotting to use airplanes as missiles. The documents also included information relating to their financial activities. Edmonds said she could not comment in detail because she has been under a Justice Department gag order since October 2002. Edmonds has testified before the Sept. 11 commission, the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Select Intelligence Committee."

Saturday In The Park. The Sons of Sam Horn held its (2nd?) annual bash yesterday afternoon. More than 200 fans cheered "Gehrig 38" to a complete game victory over the hapless Royals. Pokey Reese hit 2 home runs (one of them an inside-the-parker), Jason Varitek stole two bases -- but get this -- David McCarty bopped one into the monster seats. A long day (I got up at 5am and didn't get back to my apartment until 11:15 pm), but a game to remember. ... At least two bloggers were there: Portland Sox Fan and House That Dewey Built (whose recap is even shorter than mine).

Schilling: "I was excited about it (but) somewhat nervous about it. It's been so much more than I thought it was going to be. I swear, I look so forward to pitching in this park every time. It's just a charge. I thought I knew what it was going to be like and it's so much more than I thought." ... Also: "The last couple of days, I've really put some time and effort into watching these guys (on video) so far this season. Getting a look at 30, 40 at-bats from each guy that I felt like I was probably gonna see (allowed me to) get a feel for how we wanted to go about it."



Pokey: "When the ball left the bat, I was thinking two. Then when it got by Gonzalez, I was thinking three. And when I saw Sveumer waving me on, I thought he was kidding. I really had to kick it in." ... Reese is the 24th player in big league history to hit inside-the-park and over-the-fence home runs in consecutive innings. [I'm shocked it's been done 24 times in consecutive innings.] Robin Yount last did it for Milwaukee June 18, 1982. ... The last Red Sox player to achieve the inside-the-park/over-the-fence homer feat in one game was Tony Armas on Sept. 24, 1983, in Detroit. ... It was the 126th inside-the-park home run in Red Sox history. ... Reese said it was his first ITP HR at any level of baseball and his first two-homer game of his career. ... Pokey has hit in 11 of his last 13 games, going 15-for-44 (.341) to raise his average from .175 to .262.

Nixon says his back has almost fully healed, but he's limited now by that strained quad. "I can't say [my back] doesn't hurt at all, but with as many swings as I've taken the cage and in batting practice, I haven't had any problems with my back. It feels much better. ... I only feel [pain in my quad] running full speed. We're going to stress it a little bit and see if we can pinpoint where the pain is coming from." ... Francona says Nixon's timetable is "at a standstill."

Nomar "engaged in a series of early-afternoon workouts at Fenway. He did three segments each of fielding grounders and hitting off the batting tee." Francona: "It was the most work he's done so far, and I'd say he was running about 70-80 percent." ... Garciaparra took batting practice for the first time since going on the disabled list. Theo spoke with Nomar afterwards: "[H]e was really upbeat. He was very positive. It might have been his best day yet." ... Garciaparra on Saturday: "My injury is improving. I know there'll be some tenderness after swinging the bat today, but the tenderness doesn't last as long as it used to, and that's a positive sign. I'm moving ahead in the workouts. I still haven't tried going to my right and throwing from the hole, but my lateral movement is getting better."

Steve Buckley on PawSox catchers Kelly Shoppach and Andy Dominique. ... David Heuschkel: "Pedro Martinez continues to arrive at the park when he wants. As often happens, he did not show up in time to stretch with his teammates at 11 am." I question how much of a problem this actually is. Do the other starters always attend these workouts on their days off? Or do they have their own routines? This item is useless (or is being used merely to paint Pedro in a bad light) without it being put into proper context.

Detroit and Texas combined to set a new record for runs in a fifth inning, scoring 18 times Saturday night. Detroit scored eight runs in the top half (32 minutes) for a 14-4 lead; the Rangers answered with 10 runs (36 minutes) to tie the game at 14-14. ... The old record for runs in a fifth inning was 16, last set on August 3, 1986, by the Yankees (10) and Cleveland (6). The major league record for runs in any inning is 19, by Cleveland (13) and Boston (6) in the eighth inning on April 10, 1977. ... Texas won the game 16-15 in 10 innings.

Peter Schmuck, of the Baltimore Sun, while explaining that Fat Billy from Ohio is baseball's greatest pitcher: "No one -- ever -- was better than Sandy Koufax when he dominated the National League in the 1960s, but his tenure as the greatest pitcher lasted only from 1961 to '66." ... Um, not even close. Koufax was great, no question about it, but Pedro leaves him gasping and choking in the dust. Check out the ERA+ stats for Martinez and Koufax. I posted a little bit about this back on March 11 (see also here and here).

The Red Sox Have Done It Again Tonight!

Royals   101 040 000 -  6  9  1
Red Sox  002 000 023 -  7 13  2

Boston 8th.
Ramirez singled to center.
Millar flied out to right.
Kapler singled to center, Ramirez to second.
Mirabelli singled to left, Ramirez scored, Kapler to third, Kapler scored on throwing error by left fielder Stairs.
Grimsley relieved Affeldt.
Mueller lined out to left.
Daubach hit for Reese.
Daubach struck out looking.

Boston 9th.
MacDougal relieved Grimsley.
Damon walked.
Damon to second on passed ball by Santiago.
Bellhorn homered to right, Damon and Bellhorn scored.
Ortiz struck out swinging.
Ramirez walked.
Sullivan relieved MacDougal.
Millar popped out to second.
Varitek hit for Kapler.
Varitek doubled to deep right, Ramirez scored.

Nomar, Nixon Out Until Mid-June? It's becoming more likely that both Nomar Garciaparra and Trot Nixon may not return until sometime in June. ... I hope Theo is working hard to upgrade the bench, so we don't have to suffer through any more McCarty/Crespo plate appearances than is absolutely necessary.

CC Sabathia on Manny's HR, that tied the game at 2-2 in the 6th: "I just wasn't concentrating. I lost focus. ... I had been throwing fastballs in all day, 95, 96. Then I hang a breaking ball. It's unbelievable how he can do that. I don't think A-Rod or anybody could hit that. That was sick. That's all I can say." ... A Pedro/Sabathia rematch is set for Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

David Ortiz's name is not on the All-Star ballots -- and several Sox are miffed. ... Pokey Reese finished the trip 7-18 (5-13 against Cleveland). ... In 15 career starts against Cleveland, Pedro is now 11-1 with a 1.72 ERA. He has won his last five starts at Jacobs Field, posting a 1.80 ERA. ... The bullpen improved its ERA to 2.12, the best in the majors. ... Keith Foulke has not allowed a run in his last seven innings.

Doctors are not sure if Lynn Jones will regain vision in his eye after accidentially poking himself with a screwdriver on Wednesday. Jones was released from The Cleveland Clinic yesterday after one surgical procedure but will return Monday for another one. Francona: "He went to a specialist [yesterday]. The specialist felt a little more optimistic about the chances for at least some recovery. [Wednesday] it didn't look promising at all, but [yesterday] he got some encouraging news today that they can save some of his eye sight."

The Globe reviews "Still, We Believe" -- Ty Burr points out "what a wonderful, if sadistic, medium for emotional time travel is the documentary film, in that it can transport a viewer back to a nanosecond when hope bloomed and doubts fell away and the world was good. ... [T]he true subject of the film is the ion-charged zone between Fenway and its fans. On that score, it scores repeatedly."

MLB reversed itself. Spiderman logos will not be placed on the bases during interleague games. According to Geoffrey Ammer, president of worldwide marketing for the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, "We never saw this coming, the reaction the fans had."

Probable starters for the Kansas City series:

Tonight: Tim Wakefield/Jeremy Affeldt
Saturday: Curt Schilling/Jimmy Gobble
Sunday: Derek Lowe/Darrell May

Red Sox 5, Cleveland 2. So many good things to mention tonight: Pedro Martinez (after throwing 12 extended-warmup pitches in the first inning and failling behind 2-0) shut down Cleveland on only one hit through six innings. He allowed no outfield outs until the last out in the 6th -- which was good, because the outfield of McCarty-Kapler-Millar scared me. ... Manny Ramirez, with a picture-perfect swing, belted a game-tying home run to right in the 6th inning. I love watching him hit. ... Whoever kidnapped Pokey Reese and was wearing his uniform doubled and tripled. ... Kevin Millar went 4-4 -- four hard singles to left. ... The Boston bullpen began the game with a MLB-best ERA of 2.17 -- and Alan Embree and Keith Foulke tossed two more shutout innings.

Were Pedro and Varitek trying out some new gameplan to eschew strikeouts and simply get outs in the fewest amount of pitches? If so, it was working and they should keep it up. Pedro's pitches: 16-6-8 10-19-10 24 = 93. And still, Martinez struck out a season-high 8 batters, to move past Rick Langston and Jim Kaat into 28th place all-time. ... CC Sabathia did not walk or strike out a batter in his 6.2 innings. ... Why does David McCarty consistently swing like he's hitting popups with a fungo bat? ... Johnny Damon came off the bench to pinch-run for David Oriz in the 8th. Manny took a called strike and Damon measured Rick White's move. Damon stole second on the next pitch and then raced around to score as Manny singled on the 1-1 pitch.

The Red Sox head back to Boston to face the Royals. And about 200-250 SoSH members (including me) will be in the right field boxes on Saturday afternoon, cheering fellow poster Curt Schilling on to victory.

Breaking The Mental Curve. Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus looks at Barry Bonds's April (.472/.696/1.132) and declares: "It's not only the best start anyone has had in the past 30 years, it's the best month any player has had in that time." BP includes the top 17; here are the top 10:

Player              Month     PA    AVG    OBP    SLG     OPS
-------------------------------------------------------------
Barry Bonds          4/04     92   .472   .696  1.132    1828
Todd Helton          5/00    102   .512   .588  1.000    1588
Barry Bonds          5/01    117   .369   .547  1.036    1583
Frank Thomas         5/94    118   .452   .593   .988    1581
Barry Bonds          8/02    116   .447   .621   .961    1581
Barry Bonds          7/03     93   .415   .581  1.000    1581
Barry Bonds          9/01     92   .365   .565  1.000    1565
Richard Hidalgo      9/00    120   .476   .533   .971    1504
Chipper Jones        7/99    113   .413   .558   .913    1470
Larry Walker         4/97    106   .456   .538   .911    1449

Sheehan: "Bonds' start is the best that we have record of. It might be the best ever, although it's possible Ted Williams or Babe Ruth had a run like this. A .700 OBP over a full month is breaking the mental curve. ... Unless there's a sea change in Bonds' performance, he's going to put up a season that, while it might not be the greatest ever, is certainly going to be the freakiest."

Sheehan also notes that Helton played 15 of his 23 games in May 2000 in Coors Field and still yielded 300 points of OPS to Bonds. ... Bonds played 15 of his 24 games in his home park -- which is more favorable to pitchers. You'd hardly know it, but it's possible that Bonds's performances over the past 3 years have been hindered by the fact that he plays half his games in San Francisco.

             AVG   OBP   SLG    OPS
01-03 Home  .351  .549  .829  1.378
      Road  .340  .535  .789  1.324
  
2002 Home   .351  .564  .750  1.314
     Road   .386  .596  .842  1.438
 
2003 Home   .369  .569  .805  1.374
     Road   .313  .485  .692  1.177
 
2004 Home   .533  .767 1.500  2.267
     Road   .375  .605  .625  1.230

Ha! Look at those home numbers for this season so far. Bonds is 16-for-30, with 9 HR, 30 BB and only 4 K. ... While marveling at Bonds, I've wondered if baseball fans in 1920 felt the same way watching Babe Ruth in his first year as a Yankee. Ruth's slugging percentage was off the charts and he outhomered all but two major league teams.

                    HR
Babe Ruth           54
St. Louis Browns    50
New York Giants     46
Philadelphia A's    44
Chicago White Sox   37
Washington Senators 36
Cleveland Indians   35
Chicago Cubs        34
St. Louis Cardinals 32
Detroit Tigers      30
Brooklyn Dodgers    28
Boston Braves       23
Boston Red Sox      22
Cincinnati Reds     18
Pittsburgh Pirates  16

Only the Phillies (64) and the rest of the Yankees (61) had more HR than Babe. In 1920, Ruth outslugged his nearest competitor .847 to .632. In 1921, the margin was even larger: .846 to .606. Those two seasons were the gold standard for slugging until Bonds's mark of .863 in 2001.

Watching Bonds since 2001 is like experiencing Pedro in 1999-2000 or Ruth in 1920-21. These are unprecedented performances by athletes performing at a level far beyond that of their peers. Millions and millions of baseball fans followed the game for decades and never got to see anything like this. When we are old, young fans will be in awe that we watched guys like Bonds and Martinez every day. We are privileged.

The US Has Lost The War. Seymour Hersh: "There are many more photos even inside that unit. There are videotapes of stuff that you wouldn't want to mention on national television that was done. There was a lot of problems. There was a special women's section. There were young boys in there. There were things done to young boys that were videotaped. It's much worse." ... AP: "US soldiers who detained an elderly Iraqi woman [for six weeks without charge] last year placed a harness on her, made her crawl on all fours and rode her like a donkey." ... More photos have been released.

Bush says he was "shaken" by the reports of torture, yet according to his own press secretary, he hasn't bothered to even look at the Taguba Report. As TPM notes, he seemed unaware of what the report even was and then claimed he couldn't get a copy until it came up through the chain of command. Bush seems "blithely indifferent to what is a huge setback to American goals and standing in the Middle East and indeed throughout the world. There's an echo here of his response to the pre-9/11 warnings streaming up through the government bureaucracy. It hasn't landed on his desk yet, with an action plan, so what is he supposed to do?" ... Even some neocons are mystified by his behavior.

Does Anyone Else Find This Disturbing? "At least six air traffic controllers who dealt with two of the hijacked airliners on Sept. 11, 2001, made a tape recording that day describing the events, but the tape was destroyed by a supervisor without anyone making a transcript or even listening to it, the Transportation Department said today. ... [The FAA quality-assurance manager] crushed the cassette in his hand, cut the tape into little pieces and dropped them in different trash cans around the building ..."

"Sometimes We Worry More Than We Need To." The bats returned and while Kim struggled with his location, the bullpen (Arroyo, Embree, Williamson, Foulke) was rock solid once again. ... Red Sox public relations director Glenn Geffner predicted that Ortiz would go deep twice -- and Tizzle hit a solo shot in the 1st and a 3-run job in the 3rd. .. In the 6th, Bill Mueller mashed a 3-run tater to right to break a 5-5 tie and send the Sox on their way.

Ortiz couldn't believe Jason Davis took exception to Manny Ramirez flipping his bat and admiring his 459-foot homer: "Who does he think he is, Nolan Ryan? That nobody can get a home run off him?" ... More Tiz: "You're going to face bumps in the road. Everything isn't going to be all flowers and beautiful things. ... Why do we have to panic? Sometimes we worry more than we need to."

All eyes are on Pedro Martinez tonight. El Rey: "I don't have to prove anything to anybody. I'm just here to have good games and bad games and whatever God has to offer. I'm not competing with anybody except my opponent." ... Pedro also said a few words to the Globe. ... Martinez is 10-1, 1.66 in 14 starts against Cleveland and 5-0, 1.88 in 6 starts at Jacobs Field. He faces C.C. Sabathia.

Gordon Edes reports on the contract negotiations between the Red Sox and Pedro Martinez in the spring of 2003. Negotiations stalled on an extension although the club did exercise the $17.5 million option for 2004. A source told Edes that Pedro wanted a 3-year deal, plus an option, that would have paid him between $14.5 and $15.5. ... Edes: "[I]t should give pause to those who wish to describe Martinez as trying to squeeze every last cent out of the Sox. It remains to be seen what Martinez will be able to command on the open market this fall, but what he was willing to do at the time was, indeed, accept a hometown discount. In a business where players measure themselves against their peers, Martinez was willing to cede the distinction of being the game's highest-paid player to a 40-year-old pitcher eight years older than he was [Randy Johnson], and at a number -- given his track record -- that could be termed eminently reasonable."

First base coach Lynn Jones suffered a serious eye injury yesterday, when a screwdriver accidentally struck him in the eye. ... There were no updates on Nomar Garciaparra or Trot Nixon, although Francona said the inflammation around Nomar's right Achilles' tendon has slowly subsided. ... Jason Varitek is hitting .462 (12-26) in his last eight games. ... The Red Sox are 14-0 when leading after eight innings.

The Yankees rallied late and beat Oakland last night 4-3. Rivera gave up singles to the first two A's in the bottom of the 9th, but did not allow a run. Jose Contreras was demoted to Tampa (A); Donovan Osborne is now the 5th starter. Jeter had the night off, so Torre just slotted Enrique Wilson in the leadoff spot. Stupid? Sure, but at .210, he is hitting 30 points higher than Capt. Intangibles. ... Both the Red Sox and Yankees are 16-11. The Orioles (13-12) are 2 games back.

Who Were The Ad Wizards Who Came Up With This One? Ads for "Spider-Man 2" will be placed on all three bases and the on-deck circles at ballparks during interleague games from June 11-13. The ads will be about 4 inches square, with a red background and yellow webbing. The Red Sox will receive about $100,000, but most of the other teams playing at home that weekend will get about $50,000. ... Just when you think Selig can't disgrace the game any more than he has already ...

Log Rolling In Our Time. In its "Red Sox Blog Mini-Roundup," the Sports Retort blog said some very nice things about yours truly: "The daily Red Sox reports at Joy of Sox have become a must-read for me. The tone and length are great -- it's like reading a daily digest of the various papers' Red Sox notes columns. Allan posts a lot of political commentary, too, which is fine by me. Of course, I tend to share a lot of his opinions, so that probably makes it easier to take."

I don't get to Sports Retort every day, but I really should. He offers a lot of information and thought-provoking analysis in a short amount of space. The six-part season preview was wildly comprehensive. In the comments on last night's game, SR looks at the Sox hitters' VORP and discovers that "Half the order is still playing like a group of castoffs ... The loss of Nomar and Nixon was bound to affect the offense, but not to this degree. ... [A] 15-11 still looks like a decent record to me."

US Army Report On Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Now Online. The complete text of "Article 15-6 Investigation of the 800th
Military Police Brigade" by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, thanks to MSNBC. ... "The Pentagon has admitted that 25 prisoners have died in US military custody in Iraq and Afghanistan, at least two of them murders." ... From June 2002: "A former chairman of Amnesty International yesterday called for an independent investigation into claims that US troops tortured Taliban prisoners and assisted in the disappearance of thousands of others in the war in Afghanistan." The evidence was presented in a British documentary film, "Massacre at Mazar." (Also here and here)

NYT: "The Walt Disney Company is blocking its Miramax division from distributing a new documentary by Michael Moore that harshly criticizes President Bush, executives at both Disney and Miramax said Tuesday. The film, 'Fahrenheit 911,' links Mr. Bush and prominent Saudis — including the family of Osama bin Laden — and criticizes Mr. Bush's actions before and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." Get a head start on learning about these decades-long family connections by clicking here.

Out Of Order. One day after saying that it was too early to make any type of lineup change -- three or four games not being much of a representative sample -- Terry Francona decided to move Bill Mueller from the #2 spot in the batting order to #8. (Mark Bellhorn batted second.) ... Tito: "Billy beats himself up so much, he's so conscientious. Maybe this will put him in a position where he can relax a little bit."

Mueller: "After the first inning you hit at all different times anyway. A number doesn't matter to me." ... Although Mueller had more ABs in both the 2nd and 7th spots last season, Mueller was most effective in the eight spot. In 120 at-bats, he hit .400/.500/.792 (with 10 of his 19 HRs). ... Mueller went 2-4 last night; Bellhorn walked and singled in five trips.

Derek Lowe had an ugly 1st inning (4 hits to the first 5 batters, 2 runs scored) and he couldn't stem the tide of baseruners in the fourth when Mueller committed two throwing errors. As they did against Curt Schilling, the Cleveland batters were aggressive. Lowe faced 10 batters in the fourth, but threw only 22 pitches. All but one of the hitters saw 3 pitches or fewer; the one who didn't walked on 4 straight balls.

Cleveland led 7-1 after four innings. Manny Ramirez's 6th home run of the season gave Boston one more run, but the Red Sox didn't do much of anything until the final inning. Facing Kaz Tadano, Brian Daubach doubled and Dave McCarty walked. After Mueller grounded out, pinch-hitter Gabe Kapler singled in one run and Johnny Damon belted a first-pitch 3-run homer to cut the lead to 7-6. Scott Stewart came out of the pen and gave up a single to Bellhorn. Ortiz then grounded to first, which should have been a game-ending 3-6-1 double play, but Stewart forgot to cover the bag. Rafael Betancourt was called on to face Ramirez -- and he struck him out swinging on four pitches to end the rally and the game.

The four-run rally was nice, even though it fell short, but it would be even nicer if the Red Sox stopped waiting until the very last inning before deciding to score some runs. ... Lenny DiNardo pitched two hitless innings in relief of Lowe, not allowing the ball to be hit out of the infield. ... Papa Jack was interviewed by NESN and he noted that despite the offensive slump, the hitters were still having good at-bats and not striking out too much. WTF? What games has he been watching? The Red Sox are absolutely striking out. They are 3rd in the AL with 191 Ks, only 5 fewer than Toronto, and Cleveland's Rick White whiffed Daubach, Jason Varitek, Kevin Millar and Bellhorn in succession Monday night. And they are having horrific at-bats. Manny has been lunging at outside stuff that he almost never hacks at and Millar is onc again trying to pull everything short of a throw to first. Too many others seem resigned to grounding out.

Three Sides Of Pedro. Michael Silverman says Pedro deserves some slack. ... Mike Fine writes a load of crap. ... Gordon Edes looks at the insurance costs as an important part of the negotiations.

Etc.: Millar was on the bench last night after fouling a ball off his left foot on Monday, but he's expected to go 0-4, err, be back in the lineup tonight. ... Bellhorn walked for the AL-best 27th time last night, putting him on pace to break Ted Williams's team record of 162. ... Darrell Johnson, who managed Boston to the 1975 pennant, died Monday of leukemia at age 75. ... Damon praises Varitek as the unofficial Red Sox captain and adds that he likes to watch Manny pimp his long home runs. Ramirez's solo blast leading off the 6th inning was a 459-foot rocket to left field. ... Yome Damon (Johnny's mom): "He was so cute when he was young. Now he's not so cute."

Jose Contreras put the Yankees in a 7-1 hole last night against Oakland, but New York rallied and won 10-8. The Red Sox and Yankees are both 15-11 and tied for first place in the East. ... Byung-Hyun Kim will restore order tonight, facing Jeff D'Amico at 7:05 pm.

Le Moron Est Sur L'Autobus! Two months ago, we learned that George Bush's campaign website was selling clothing made in Burma, a military dictatorship whose goods were banned from the US by Bush himself. ... Now we find out that aWol's campaign bus was built by a French-Canadian company named Prevost. And Bush is apparently driving around with a French flag. ... It's enough to make you choke on your Freedom Toast!

It's Aggravation, Not Panic. MainerInExile, from last night's game thread: "I don't want to be one of those red sox fans who overreacts, but sometimes when no one is looking I rip my hair out." ... Check out the unexpurgated Soxaholix.

Curt Schilling: "I called the wrong pitch and it ended up costing us the game. ... When you give up early runs against an offense like ours that's trying to get something going, it makes it hard on you. ... It was probably the only one all night that I didn't want to throw and threw anyway." ... Afterwards, Schilling said that as Victor Martinez came to the plate, he went "brain dead". Varitek called a fastball in and Schilling said okay "knowing full well I wanted something else." When the pitch caught more of the plate than it should have, Martinez belted it to deep right for two runs. ... The sleepy Bosox bats couldn't come back, though they did have their chances:

3rd inning: 1st and 3rd, 2 outs, Ortiz grounds out to first.
4th inning: bases loaded, 1 out, Bellhorn hits into a double play.
6th inning: 1st and 3rd, 2 outs, Bellhorn grounds out to second.
7th inning: bases loaded, 1 out, Daubach strikes out, Varitek strikes out.
9th inning: man on 3rd, 1 out, Ortiz grounds out to second, Ramirez walks, Daubach flies to left.

It's fine if Schilling wants to shoulder the blame, but this loss was not his fault. In the first time through the batting order, the Cleveland hitters were very aggressive, swinging at fastballs early in the count. Schilling threw 25 pitches to the first 9 batters (and excluding Hafner's 6-pitch AB, he threw only 19 pitches to the other 8 batters). Schilling and Varitek mixed in more splitters and curveballs the second and third times through the order and kept the Cleveland bats quiet. After allowing 4 hits to the first 8 batters, Schilling gave up only 3 hits to the next 20 hitters.

Boston was within easy reach of the lead for the entire game -- they had the tying run on third with 1 out in the 9th -- but the bats were silent. Only Varitek is hitting well right now, but the one player getting the most attention for his slumping is Mueller. Earlier this season, he fell into an 0-20 funk and he went 1-13 in the recent Texas series. In his last six games, Mueller is 2-23. He's hitting 3-29 with runners at second and/or third. That's too Jeter-esque for my taste. ... Another black hole in the lineup is Kevin Millar, who is hitting only .231 since June 29, 2003 (that includes last year's playoffs).

Boston:  012 312 302 - 13

That's how many runners the Red Sox left on base last night; they lead the majors in LOB with 222. Boston is hitting an AL-worst .216 with runners in scoring position and .189 with the bases loaded. Yet the Red Sox's opponents have been even worse:

            AB   H  2B  HR  BB   K   AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS
Red Sox    235  52  15   5  38  49  .221  .337  .349  .686
Opponents  200  40  15   2  27  41  .200  .302  .315  .617

Part of the problem is with Nomar and Nixon out, Tito has to give significant plate appearances to lightweights that would normally be riding the bench or playing in Pawtucket. In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, McCarty, Bellhorn, Kapler and Crespo batted 6-7-8-9. It is tough to be consistently good with a lineup like that.

Nomar Garciaparra had a good day despite having to work out indoors because of rain in Boston. Francona: "He took groundballs in the gym off the wall with himself throwing. He did it, sat down, did it again, and then he simulated some base running." ... Keith Foulke suffered back spasms on Sunday. Francona said it wasn't that serious; Foulke has pitched only once in the last week (Thursday/Tampa Bay). ... Ellis Burks, a self-described quick healer, hopes to return before the end of the month.

Theo Epstein talks a little more about the various free agents. "There's no strategy to make these guys play the year out for contracts. There are and there will be attempts to sign these guys." ... Carlos Beltran (.316-8-19) edged Manny Ramirez (.338-5-16) as April's AL Player of the Month. ... Byung-Hyun Kim should throw about 80 pitches in his start on Wednesday night. Bronson Arroyo will likely pitch out of the pen in that game. ... More on "Still, We Believe," the Red Sox film that damn well better come to Manhattan.

Manny Says He's A Loaner. Ramirez says if the Red Sox don't sign Pedro Martinez, the Yankees will. "I bet you if it comes to that time, they're going to go and get him. ... In Pedro's situation, it's not about the money. I think he wants to stay here bad." To that end, Manny has offered to defer part of his salary to keep Martinez in Boston. "How long is (Pedro) planning to stay, three years? I'll loan them a contract. Whatever they want. How much do they need? It's for Pedro." Last night, Karen Guregian asked him if he was serious. "I want Pedro to stay. Pedro's the heart of the team. He's been here so long. I think it's going to be a sad moment to see him leave. That's why I said what I did. It's really no problem for me. Hey, how much money do I need?"

More on Pedro's Pronouncement: Ron Chimelis calls it "a desperate, selfish, almost pathetic attempt to reclaim the very spotlight he says he dislikes." ... Lenny Megliola: "When Pedro speaks about anything, he knows exactly how it's going to play, especially in Boston. ... There's a bit of Russian Roulette going on here. If Pedro has a Cy-kinda-year, management takes the bullet. It either has to pay him or wave goodbye, which won't make fans happy. If Pedro goes 12-8, 3.68 and has a stint on the DL, he takes the bullet."

Trot Nixon tweaked his left quadriceps and will take a few days off. ... Bronson Arroyo will be used in all types of situations. Tito: "He has the ability to go long. But he can also pitch the ninth inning. By no means will he pitch in games that are out of hand. He's going to pitch in games that we have a chance to win." ... Nomar Garciaparra had Sunday off and was reevaluated today. ... John Tomase lists 10 replacements if Pedro and Lowe are not around in 2005, but it's not a very promising bunch.

Bob Hohler reminds us that Boston is not hitting: "Coming off a loss in which they went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position, [they] dropped a third straight game for the first time this year as they went hitless in their only four chances with runners in scoring position, dropping their league-worst average in those situations to .222, and effectively stranded all but one other runner who reached base."

Curt Schilling, Derek Lowe and Pedro Martinez flew on to Cleveland before Sunday's game. The matchups:

Monday: Schilling/Jake Westbrook
Tuesday: Lowe/Jason Davis
Wednesday: Kim/Jeff D'Amico
Thursday: Pedro/C.C. Sabathia

All games start at 7:05 pm.

Torture. "Former Iraqi human rights minister Abdel Basset Turki said US overseer Paul Bremer knew in November that Iraqi prisoners were being abused in US detention centres. "I told him the news. He didn't take care about the information I gave him." ... Guardian: "For the families standing in the dusty car park of Abu Ghraib prison yesterday, the revelations of torture and abuse came as no surprise."

NYT: "An internal Army investigation has found a virtual collapse of the command structure" ... Sunday Mail: "Thirty cases of torture and murder by British and American troops against Iraqi POWs are being investigated ... [including] urinating on a terrified Iraq captive." ... AP: "Amnesty International said it has uncovered a 'pattern of torture' of Iraqi prisoners by coalition troops, and called for an independent investigation into the claims of abuse." ... And in Brooklyn: "[T]he men were repeatedly slammed into walls and dragged across the floor while shackled and manacled, kicked and punched until they bled ... and subjected to multiple unnecessary body-cavity searches, including one during which correction officers inserted a flashlight into Mr. Elmaghraby's rectum ..."

Xymphora: "[T]his abuse was a systematic and official act by the CIA and military intelligence to 'soften up' prisoners before they were interrogated. Seymour Hersh has seen the secret internal military report which confirms that the torture was an official and sanctioned action of the American government, known to Army leadership at the highest levels. ... Anecdotal evidence reported in the Arab press indicates that we have only seen the tip of the iceberg ... In particular, we have not heard all the stories of sexual abuse of male prisoners, and have not heard anything about what they did to women prisoners. ... No weapons of mass destruction, no Saddam connection to al Qaeda, no prospect of democracy, and the Iraqi people worse off than under Saddam and headed for worse things yet. The last thing the Americans had was that at least the brutality had stopped. The massacre at Falluja and the torture have finished all possible arguments for this illegal and immoral attack on the people of Iraq." (On the Falluja massacres.)

ESPN Could Use A Fact Checker. Gary Miller had a short note about Curt Schilling and his contributions to Red Sox "fans' favorite website, Legends of Sam Horn." ... How lame is this? I typed "sam horn discussion" and "sam horn red sox" into Google and the "Sons of Sam Horn" website was the first result both times. It took me all of 10 seconds. ... However, Miller nearly makes up for that error by disclosing Moises Alou's secret for toughing up his hands so he can hit without batting gloves -- he pees on them.

Red Sox Respond To Pedro. Theo Epstein's comments:

"The goal of the Boston Red Sox is to build a team every year that can compete for, and win, a World Series. These are our core values: team over individual, a World Series over everything else. Although building a winning team is our primary focus, we have the utmost respect and admiration for our individual players and the sacrifices and contributions they make to help the organization achieve its goals.

"We respect our players. We tell our players the truth. We listen to our players. We protect our players. We negotiate with our players in good faith, and we make every effort not to discuss these negotiations in public. We want our players to succeed, and we do everything we can to help them win. Sometimes, however, our commitment to building winning teams, every year, means that we will have disagreements with our players about the length and precise value of their next contracts. These disagreements are unfortunate but they are inevitable. They will be resolved in time. In the meantime, we continue to focus on our most important mission: winning."

Tony Massarotti says Martinez is simply engaging in "campaign rhetoric". ... Damon, Ortiz and Varitek offer comments. ... Two stories about Pedro possibly returning to the Dodgers.

Friday's game was postponed after a 3:32 delay due to "90-mph winds, hail the size of golf balls, rain, thunder and lightning." Which meant Saturday eveing featured a good old-fashioned 2-for-the-price-of-1 doubleheader. ... I followed the first game via MLB at work, hustled home, walked the dogs and settled in for the nightcap. And stayed up to 12:30 am watching an ugly Pedro start and a comeback that started much too late.

Martinez lasted only 4 innings, giving up 9 hits and 6 runs. Pedro threw 8 pitches to the leadoff batter (Michael Young) and then Blalock homered. He threw 33 pitches in the 3rd inning (4 runs, 5 hits) and 26 more in the 4th (2 doubles, 1 run). Nothing worked well -- no snap to his breaking balls, hanging curves, missing spots with the changeup. He walked only one batter (Deullucci in the 4th), but had very little control of anything.

His velocity was a bit higher than it has been in previous starts (he hit 92 several times), but I think that was overthrowing or simply because he couldn't spot his other pitches. Martinez did the same thing in Game 7 last october. Running on the fumes of fumes, he had to rely on his fastball, which he could get up to 95, was comng in flat. (That's why the suggestion that Pedro was still able to pitch in the 8th because he was throwing 95 is horseshit.) ... And while Martinez refused to use it as an excuse, because of some confusion surrounding when the second game would begin, Pedro was forced to cut short his pregame routine.

Other stuff: Alan Embree has added a curveball this year. "I've probably thrown more breaking balls so far this year than I did all of last year." Embree has not allowed a run in 11 of his 12 appearances this year; he has a 1.74 ERA while holding opposing hitters to a .160 average (8-for-50). Embree said he decided to make the curve a priority after allowing a game-tying single in Game 1 of the ALDS. ... A Dominican newspaper said David Ortiz and the Red Sox were close to a deal, but Ortizzle says the two sides haven't spoken since spring training. ... The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a long feature on Manny.

Marlins starter Darren Oliver recently allowed five home runs in a 13-10 loss to Colorado -- including three in a span of five pitches. Jeromy Burnitz began the Rockies 4th inning by homering to center on the first pitch. Charles Johnson looked at a ball, then homered to left. And Matt Holliday took a strike before homering to left.

Is This Pedro's Last Year In Boston? Michael Silverman of the Herald broke the story: "Every team in the majors, including the Yankees, will get a crack at signing free-agent-to-be Pedro Martinez next year after the Red Sox ace halted negotiations with the team yesterday. Martinez told the Boston Herald he would pursue free agency at the end of this season after never receiving a long-term contract extension offer from the ballclub this winter and spring."

Pedro had originally said he'd explore the market if he hadn't signed an extension by Opening Day, but that deadline had been extended by one month. Martinez said he wished he "could say, truly, that I was going to stay in Boston, but now they're going to have to compete with the rest of the league." He added: "I gave them every opportunity, every discount I could give them to actually stay in Boston and they never took advantage of it. Didn't even give me an offer." ... Theo Epstein had no comment.

Pedro accuses Red Sox management of lying and playing dirty by leaking concerns about his shoulder to the media. Pedro said he "made moves from my salary to come down all the way where I could without falling below anybody I didn't feel like I had to fall below, and they never made any movement." ... This is interesting. Who is this "anybody"? Curt Schilling? ... Finally: "I'll play for anybody ... Boston has probably the same chances the Yankees will have." ... Karen Guregian adds her two cents and Nick Cafardo asks if ownership is playing hardball.

What I think it means: Pedro is signed through the 2004 season and the Red Sox are content to wait until November to judge both his performance and health before making any long-term decisions. It's the same thing they are doing with Nomar, Varitek and Lowe. And it's smart business. ... The team will make what it believes is a fair offer in the fall and Pedro will either take it or go elsewhere.

At this point, Martinez has no leverage -- he's not going to scare Henry into making an above-market offer. This must be a move Martinez feels he has to make in the negotiation dance, although he surely knows it will piss off a majority of fans. Coupled with his poor outing last night in Texas, sports radio and certain writers in Boston are going to have a field day with this (Dirt Dogs is off and running).

A SoSH poster notes: "This statement by Pedro means nothing. Not letting a player test the FA waters only makes sense *if* that player is willing to give you a hometown discount. If a player makes it clear that he doesn't want to give you a hometown discount, then there is no point in 'locking him up' before he hits FA, because you still end up paying him the same amount, only you remove your own flexibility a lot earlier, and if said player has a misread on the current market, you might even save yourself some money."

How many bidders will Martinez have when he files? Every major league team knows his history and those that can afford him will be watching him carefully this year. ... Some fans have wondered if Pedro will now take it easy this season, so as not to risk arm damage. I don't think so. With the Red Sox adopting a wait-and-see posture, Martinez is effectively showcasing himself for his next (and last) contract. He has to stay healthy and effective. That can be nothing but a plus for Boston.

Cafardo's article also contains this gem: "Martinez did ask reporters, after he said his piece, to respect his wishes of not asking questions pertaining to his contract for the rest of the season." ... This is where Pedro screws up. I'd rather he spoke to the media, but I won't rip him if he doesn't. But to suddenly make this pronouncement to the writers he's been avoiding and then ask them to leave him alone again is hypocritical. ... I love Pedro and hope he stays in Boston -- and I trust Red Sox management to do the right thing for the team.

My Favorite Game. When I was a kid, I had a book of reproduced newspaper clippings of famous events throughout baseball history from the New York Times. The one story/game that fascinated me most back then -- and still does today -- was from May 2, 1920.

The Times game story begins: "The Robins and the Braves celebrated May Day in this ordinarily peaceful city by staging a prolonged, heart-breaking struggle for twenty-six innings at Braves Field and bombing to bits all major league records for duration of hostilities. When darkness threw its mantle over the scene, forbidding further battling, both teams were still on their feet, interlocked in a death clutch and each praying for just one more inning in which to get in the knockout blow.

"As far as results in the chase for the pennant go the game was without effect, for the final score was 1 to 1. In the matter of thrills, however, the oldest living man can remember nothing like it, nor can he find anything in his granddad's diary worthy of comparison. Heart disease was the mildest complaint that grasped the spectators as they watched inning after inning slip away and the row of ciphers on the scoreboard begin to slide over the fence and reach out into the Fenway."

The linescore of the game -- played 84 years ago today -- was so long that it had to be broken up into two lines for each team. Here it is:



Played in a crisp 3:50, the game set a new record for innings. The previous mark had been 24 innings, set on September 1, 1906 between the Red Sox and the Philadelphia A's. The National League record was 22 innings, set by Brooklyn and Pittsburgh on August 22, 1917.

Both starting pitchers -- Brooklyn's Leon Cadore and Boston's Joe Osechger -- went the distance! (In that 24-inning contest, Philadelphia's Jack Coombs and Boston's Joe Harris also threw complete games.) Cadore estimated that he threw "at least 300 curves." He could not lift his arm to comb his hair for three days afterwards and did not pitch for eight days.

Osechger threw mostly fastballs and when he talked about the game in 1970, he said he didn't think he threw more than 250 pitches. He usually threw only about six warm-up pitches, but after about the 12th inning, he began throwing only a couple. Oeschger also ended up on the bench for a week, but that was because he pulled a leg muscle running sprints the next day. (Almost exactly one year earlier -- on April 30, 1919 -- he pitched a 9-9, 20-inning tie for the Phillies.)

The box is a little blurry, but the #2 batter for Boston, Charlie Pick, went 0-11.

Check this out:

Saturday, May 1, 1920

Brooklyn  000 010 000 000 000 000 000 000 00 - 1  9  2
Boston    000 001 000 000 000 000 000 000 00 - 1 15  2

Sunday, May 2, 1920

Phillies  001 000 200 000 1 - 4  9  1
Brooklyn  000 000 201 000 0 - 3  6  4

Monday, May 3, 1920

Brooklyn  000 010 000 000 000 000 0 -  1  12  1
Boston    000 001 000 000 000 000 1 -  2  13  2

Did Brooklyn have the worst three-day weekend in the history of baseball? After the 26-inning tie on Saturday, Brooklyn took a midnight train back to New York. On Sunday, they played 13 innings and lost to the Phillies. They took another overnight train back to Boston and played the Braves again on Monday, this time losing in 19 innings. ... In three days, Brooklyn played 58 innings of baseball, scored only 5 runs and didn't win anything. ... Brooklyn set a record for most innings played in 3 consecutive games (58) and Boston set a record for the most innings played in 2 consecutive games with 45 (May 1 and 3, 1920; they had Sunday off).

In August 1989, Laura and I saw the Dodgers beat the Expos in Montreal 1-0 in 22 innings. While the game did not go the 27 innings (or more) that I was hoping for, it did set a record as the longest extra-inning 1-0 night game and the longest extra-inning 1-0 game by time: 6:14. It is also the longest game in Expos history. ... I have been to 19 major league ballparks and this game remains the best game I have ever seen in person. ... I would love for that to change this October. It would only take 9 innings.