Blogosphere Malaise

The Bloggin' world seems to have taken a nap lately, as most blogs are posting less often and making shorter posts when they do. And when their posts are of a normal length, it's usually about something fascinating and completely baseball-related, such as complaining about pollen counts and placebos. Metropolitan himself is not immune to this, writing yawn-inducing blog entries that have way too many HDTV references and not nearly enough Mo Vaughn ones. I'd continue on this line of thought but since 99.9% of the people on this page either were searching either for a new Mike update or for Red Sox Infant Clothing, I digress.

Speaking of Big Mo, recently the Hartford Courant made the asonishing discovery that Mo Vaughn and David Ortiz are similar in some ways. I'd link to the story, but I live in a glass house regarding my stone throwing at other Bloggers feeling lazy lately, and don't feel like spending the 5 neccessary minutes to register for a free account with them, so I'll merely cut and paste ESPN's quick blurb:

He looks like Mo. Swings like Mo. Hits like Mo. It's no accident that David Ortiz, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound DH/first baseman, resembles the now retired Maurice Samuel Vaughn. In an interview with The Hartford Courant, Ortiz recalls the first time he met Vaughn. "I came to camp with Minnesota and he knew that Mo was my favorite player," Ortiz told The Courant. "Everybody would say, 'Man, you look like Mo. You're the same kind of player and everything.' One night Rudy (Pemberton) told me, 'Hey, let's go to dinner. One of my teammates is going to come with us.' I didn't know who it was. I walked in and saw Big Mo. I almost choked. I couldn't even speak."

I really have to take back my earlier comment about Ortiz gaining weight over the offseason, if anything he's lost some. Let's just hope he doesn't discover the Mo-Licious sandwich.

11 games into Spring Training and the vast majority of the Sox are still not hitting. We're leading the rest of our division with a 7-4 record, however that number is about as meaningful as the phone numbers I get from women at parties that suspiciously resemble the one for Domino's Pizza. The pitching is coming along, with some minor bumps like Kim being shut down for arm troubles and will almost certainly not be ready for season opener. However Francona and crew note that the Sox won't need a fifth starter until roughly April 11th, so if Kim recovers from the evil spirits attacking his back and shoulder he could conceivably still make his first scheduled start.

Speaking of pitching, the Dave McCarty experiment has been mercifully shut down for the immediate future, with Terry Francona saying

"We're certainly not going to quit on the idea of him pitching, but we're going to make it more on side days for a while so he can concentrate on playing the field. Physically, he feels like he's been hit by a truck."

Read: McCarty is done like dinner. Peter Gammons notes that he was topping out at 81-83 MPH, and if we need a fastball in an emergency at that speed, we can simply summon Wakefield.

For those of you looking for info on pitchers who can throw some serious heat, look no further than Pedro's most recent "This has nothing to do with my contract situation, I'm not winking it's just a nervous twitch" ravings about how great his arm feels. Please note, if you were worried about him walking 3 people, giving up 2 hits, and a run in 2 innings, it's not because Pe-Mart (Say it like K-Mart... See? It's funny!) is rusty or inneffective, but rather he's so damn strong that his fastball is rising. Because, you know, a 4 seam fastball (the kind Pedro throws) obviously hasn't been called a "riser" for the past 80 years. An odd sight was seeing Pedro gleefully claim he could throw 98 MPH, with a completely straight face, despite apparently being aware of what he was saying. His fastball has topped out at 92 MPH this spring and I haven't seen him throw higher than 96 (usually in a 2 out, 2 strike scoring situation, right before crumpling into a heap and sobbing while he tried to coax feeling back into his arm) since 2001. But, once again, I'm probably just being needlessly cynical due to Pedro's contract situation and propensity for being a blowhard. I'm sure we can expect the 230 innings, 300 K's, and less than 2 ERA he used to hand out like candy.

I'm not sure what to make of the two big Sox injuries this spring. Nomar's Achilles tendon injury, if handled correctly, is probably not a big deal. It's being described as "bruised" right now, which isn't too big a deal. What worries me slightly, and Mike will know exactly what I'm talking about, is sometimes Achilles tendon injuries never entirely go away. I'm of course talking about Cliffy Floyd, 3 month Sox veteran and a good offensive threat when the wrong cloud doesn't pass in front of the sun and injure him. Nomar's never been a particularly fragile dude though, so I think he'll come back from this.

Trot's back, on the other hand, worries me. First of all, a nerve being impinged by a disk is something I am well aware of the consequences of, as my dad personally had the same injury over 5 months ago. Granted, it was slightly more severe, however it's not a problem that just "goes away". Nixon's a power hitting outfielder, his back is the most important part of his body after his hands, eyes, legs, and bad haircut. He says he's getting better and might even be ready for the season opener, however he's not guaranteeing anything. Again, I'm slightly worried.

Nothing new to report from Yankees Land other than the fact that Jon Leiber is being, well, Jon Leiber, and has hurt his groin yet again. Yankees fans, I give you your fifth starter: Donovan Osbourne

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