Matthew

Bill Evans Trio: Consecration. Disk Three. I know that Turn Out The Stars is supposed to be the cat's meow, but I prefer the Consecration/The Last Waltz sets, Evans seems much more relaxed here.

Everytime I think about Bard, I remember Craig Hansen - upper 90s fastball, filthy slider, and in the end, no control, no clue, Calvin Schiraldi face when the going got tough, shipped out to Pittsburgh in the deal for Bay. Plus this kid began his pro career as a starter and was an unmitigated disaster, with 73 walks in 75 innings or something like that. And yet he's really turned it around, and he reaches that velocity with such apparent ease. I can't see how he makes the club out of spring training even though he looks very good so far, but I expect he'll get called up by July or so. Given Papelbon's salary demands, I do believe that they regard Bard as the long-term closer, as it seems likely Papelbon won't give up any free agency years even if he does sign a deal, and he wants to "set the market" when he does reach free agency. The only thing missing in this is Scott Boras and I'd expect that Papelbon will sign with him soon enough. If Bard continues to develop, I could very easily see Papelbon be allowed to walk in a couple of years and Bard takes over as closer. Could be a real lights-out situation for Boston: 8th. Bard. 9th. Papelbon. Though, to have two hard throwers back-to-back is not good out of a bullpen. Maybe Bard in the 7th, and curve ball specialist in the 8th., then finish with Papelbon.

Bill Jenkins has this tidbit: The Red Sox have a young right-hander, Daniel Bard, who has hit 100 mph on radar guns in college (North Carolina), the minor leagues and now in the Boston camp. This is a very deep pitching staff, but the Sox have to a consider a reliever who, in the words of one veteran scout, has "the best fastball I've ever seen. For one inning, he's unhittable. It takes off at 100 mph. You're not going to hit it." BTW: Jenkins (yes, the son of Gordon) is the best sportswriter in America, IMHO The Three Dot Lounge

Auschwitz: A New History by Laurence Rees. A look at the history of the Auschwitz concentration camp, and how it was run. A depressing account that shows how the German authorities worked hard to improve the method of killing people. According to the book, 1.1 million were killed in its four and a half year existence. Some heartbreaking stories (of course), and other stories that make you wonder about how people can be so evil. A challenging read.

Just for you Yankee fans.

Mine arrived in the mail today, in great shape.

Pudge is having a great WBC, so his stock is up right now. Probably be good over a season, could play 120 games as catcher and be decent. I would have thought he'd wind up in the AL though, good catcher and could DH if needed. Speaking of the WBC, I see where Matt Lindstrom (he of nailing a Dutch batter after giving up a homerun fame) and Ryan Braun have left the USA team because of injuries. I'm starting to lean toward the "having no WBC" camp, just too early to have games that are supposed to be meaningful.

It will be interesting to see if Boston extends Jason Bay's contract. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that the Red Sox want long term, he's a decent player, but i would not be surprised if they let him go at the end of the season and look for a big right-handed bat in the free agent market after the season. Maybe even trade him during the season.

Young Frankenstein. "Werewolf?" "There wolf!"

!!Happy Birthday!!

Dustin Pedroia out with a strained oblique. Hope it's not serious.

Has to be up there with April 20

I checked again, and the game is listed, I must have passed over it. Sweet, it should be a nice game to watch. I don't get it in my area via Comcast unless I want to pay and extra 160.00 for the year and its not even in HD. I hate Comcast. I get it off Direct TV, and I enjoy it a lot, though the studio guys could be better. I'm especially excited about baseball this year because, for the first time in my life, I'm in a situation where I can get MLB Extra Innings. Very cool to be able to catch all the games, I'm looking forward to watching East Coast games, I probably will be watching the Red Sox -- reading all those Roger Angell books in my youth has caused me to follow the Red Sox over the years, right now, even with ManRam, I find the Dodgers boring.

Papi and Lowell looked good yesterday, though I wonder how Lowell will hold up over the season. I admit that I don't think that Wakefield is a good starting pitcher, I just don't like the knuckle ball. That shortstop position though, Julio Lugo or Jed Lowrie? Yikes! I still think the Yankees are the third best team in the East, and nothing has happened to change my mind.

I checked again, and the game is listed, I must have passed over it. Sweet, it should be a nice game to watch.

This is one of my major complaints about the MLB Network, I went on their website to look at today's schedule, and the Yanks vs. Sox game was not listed! Come on guys & dolls at MLBN, help baseball fans out here! Speaking of Manny, did you catch him showing up at the Dodger game on his "adult" tricycle? Manny is always Manny.

Congratulations Dan, you'll have to let us know how you like the book. BTW, I can't believe how long this year's spring training seems, it feels like it's taking five months for the season to start.

The Vandermark 5: Alchemia. The Complete Recordings at Alchemia, Krakow, Poland, March 15-19, 2004. I know that a number of people here do not think too much of Ken Vandermark, but I like this box set immensely.

Thanks for the heads-up, I just placed my order.

Great outing by CC, I wondering if the Yankees are getting worried.

Knicks take the Pistons last night. Finally, a good game by the Knicks.

Dude, that's gnarly! PS: Watching UFO Hunters

Paul Theroux: Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown : Interesting travel book on Africa. I have to go to Africa about three times a year now, and this book seems to capture a lot of what I see also in the various countries I go to.

Things that make me go hummmm: So ARod is having trouble with his hip now. Strange, but isn't hip trouble one of the side effects of constant use of steroids (exhibit A: Albert Belle)? But that can't be, ARod stopped years ago, right?

Through the wonders of the internet, I can tell even here in Nairobi what a lying jerk ARod is in this interview. Class guy, blame his unnamed cousin and still not take any responsibilty, just the old tired line "I was naive and young". I never believed a word that came out of this guy's mouth, and it's only going to worse. Couldn't happen to a more deserving person, it'll be great when we find out he's been juicing as a Yankee since day one and he will be exposed further as A-Fraud.