Danny Mac’s right. I should’ve taken a look at my own site and realized I hadn’t written a thing in over a month before I commented on anything he wrote. So I'll take advantage of the fact that he's MIA and write something before he does.
First things first, the Wily Mo Peña era has officially come to and in Boston. I have to say that I'm quite intrigued in what WMP's position would be with the Washington Nationals. Consensus among the baseball analysts I with whom personally conferred was that WMP would get more consistent playing time with an American League team that didn't already have a DH named David Ortiz. Either way, I'm watching the Mets-Nats game and there he is playing left field. Yes, he missed a ball that could have been caught by a mediocre defender and yes, he's already struck out twice. Actually, scratch that. He hasn't struck out yet, I just checked. It's wrong to assume. So much for responsible journalism. Anyway, he can make a big impact on a team, but does baseball really need another Adam Dunn? Also, he was traded for the exceptional player-to-be-named-later. So this is what you get for Bronson Arroyo. Well, best of luck to you WMP. You were the greatest punch-line among my friends and I, but it was mostly because you were loved by a red-faced Irish kid. (Update: WMP doubled and scored on a single in the 6th inning then hit two homers in his next two games. And the WMP era in Washington has officially begun.)
Onto a slightly less newsworthy item, Barry Bonds has hired lawyers to sue his "detractors." Apparently he's taken Curt Schilling's advice. In case you've forgotten, Schilling told Bob Costas on HBO, "If someone wrote that stuff about me and I didn't sure their ass off, am I not admitting that there's some legitimacy to it?" Well, Schill, Bonds told you his day would come and come it has. In reality, the likelihood of Bonds' charges sticking are slim, but this will make for a great winter. Imagine, Bonds and Schilling will both be free agents and both are not wanted by their current teams. I'm excited. One thing I'm still waiting for: Schilling's response on 38pitches.com. When's it coming, Schill?
I won't say anything about the AL East race, because the Yankees winning it would just be surprising. I'm honestly looking at the Wild Card as a good thing. I won't say anything else about it. But how about them Orioles? What a pain in the ass they have been. After taking two out of three from the Red Sox, they do the same to the Yankees. All I have to say is I can't wait to hear Bob Sheppard say in two years, "Now pitching for the Yankees, Érik Bédard."
Speaking of Franco-Canadians (thank you Wikipedia for letting me know that Bédard didn't learn English until college), what is going on with Eric Gagné? And yes, I do feel it's necessary to include the accents on the French names. They're included on Hispanic names, why not the French? Anyway, I digress. Gagné has given up 10 runs in 6 innings pitched. Now I'm not one to repeat statistics that have been beaten into our heads, but seriously now -- 10 runs in six innings? On the other hand, Gagné is not going to be this bad for the rest of the season. He's a Cy Young winner, for god's sake. It's just really entertaining to watch Red Sox Nation in full panic. EARTH TO RSN: The Red Sox still have Papelbon. They may be pressed, but you should be able to enjoy your AL East title. But the Yankees are going to make the playoffs. Yeah, I said it.
Not that there's a point to discussing any other sport during the summer, but the SuperSonics and the Storm may be moving to Oklahoma City. For those of you not familiar with Title IX or silly filler sports, the Storm is Seattle's WNBA team. You know, I think Oklahoma City really deserves a franchise. They were really great for the Hornets while they were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. But I feel like the Sonics/Storm owners are really heartless. A couple years ago when Seattle had a surprisingly good team and got the 3 seed in the Western Conference, the city really rallied around the team. Yes, the city has a case of "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately," but this is just the time to start getting excited about the Sonics. Good luck to Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, but it's Kevin Durant time. He was the most exciting player in college basketball last year and he's only going to get better. The city of Seattle was given 90 days to come up with a plan for a new arena or the franchise is moving to OKC. It's unfortunate that the Blazers and Sonics went 1-2 in the lottery because one of them was a lock to move to the Oklahoma/Missouri area. I'm so torn on the issue. However, with the Tim Donaghy scandal, at least I know the Sacramento Kings aren't moving to Vegas, aka Maloof heaven.
Okay that's enough. I'm going to try and be consistent again with the whole posting thing.
Photo Source: MLB.com
