Three games in the Bronx, starting tonight; three more in Boston starting May 22. And Boston has gotten things off on the right foot to this point, leading the Yankees 11-3 in the top of the seventh. Nice.
- These two teams are vying for the affections of future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens. Clemens is 43 years old. He can still pitch, just not for a full season. As a result, he's planning to join some team mid-season. This approach also allows him to choose whomever he thinks will most likely be in the World Series. Tony Massarotti of the Boston Herald and John Harper of the New York Daily News made their best pitch in today's paper. From Massarotti:
Boston and the Red Sox have much more to offer now, assuming Clemens wants to leave Houston. Nearly 10 years have passed since Clemens left the Sox, but his impact still is being felt. Schilling is a Clemens disciple, as is right-hander Josh Beckett. And the Red Sox are who they are today because Clemens first wore their uniform.
Lest anyone forget, the Red Sox of the early 1980s were mediocre and dull. They also were anonymous. Then came 1986 and Clemens’ ascension to greatness, and the Red Sox really have not been the same since.
From Harper:
The Yankees offer him a return to an environment where he will be immediately comfortable, playing for a manager he adores in Joe Torre and teammates such as Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada with whom he still communicates by e-mail.
The Sox can’t match the Yankee firepower, and wouldn’t it be ironic if Johnny Damon’s defection, which has added a new dimension to the offense, helps convince Clemens he has a better chance of pitching the Yankees to a championship than he would for the Red Sox.
I say he signs with Boston or Houston. He's already won his championships in New York. Signing with Houston puts him at home, where he spent the last couple of seasons after leaving NY. But Boston gives him one thing that no other place can offer - the chance to occupy a special place in Red Sox history. You see, Clemens is tied at the top of the Red Sox career wins list with a guy named Cy Young. One more win in a Boston uniform would make him their all-time leader. And he knows it.
- Richard Cohen wrote a piece last Thursday in the Washington Post, also running in the NY Daily News, stating something that I agreed with: Stephen Colbert wasn't funny at the White House Correspondent's Association dinner. I agreed with Mr. Cohen not because of the content of Mr. Colbert's performance, but because of his delivery. Like a boxer with slow hands telegraphing his punches, he rarely connected.
For having the temerity and insolence to voice such a horrific thought Richard Cohen has been bombarded with some rather colorful email, a fact he discussed today. He sees something truly scary in the hatred.
But the message in this case truly is the medium. The e-mails pulse in my queue, emanating raw hatred. This spells trouble -- not for Bush or, in 2008, the next GOP presidential candidate, but for Democrats. The anger festering on the Democratic left will be taken out on the Democratic middle. (Watch out, Hillary!) I have seen this anger before -- back in the Vietnam War era. That's when the antiwar wing of the Democratic Party helped elect Richard Nixon. In this way, they managed to prolong the very war they so hated.
The hatred is back. I know it's only words now appearing on my computer screen, but the words are so angry, so roiled with rage, that they are the functional equivalent of rocks once so furiously hurled during antiwar demonstrations. I can appreciate some of it. Institution after institution failed America -- the presidency, Congress and the press. They all endorsed a war to rid Iraq of what it did not have. Now, though, that gullibility is being matched by war critics who are so hyped on their own sanctimony that they will obliterate distinctions, punishing their friends for apostasy and, by so doing, aiding their enemies. If that's going to be the case, then Iraq is a war its critics will lose twice -- once because they couldn't stop it and once more at the polls.
Are these Al Gore's "digital brownshirts?"
- A belated hat tip to the Baseball Crank, who has been writing, if not actually blogging, for six years now. Congratulations Crank. Your site is a great place to relax.
- WWTWD*: So I finally hit the golf course two days ago, first round of the year. Started birdie-birdie. Nice. Pulled my 5 iron off the tee on 7 and ended up looking at the green through several not too thick or imposing trees, across 75 yards of swamp and 145 to the flag. Pulled out a 6 iron, hooded the clubface to keep it low, three-quarter swing. Settled nicely on the green, 25 feet left for birdie. Applause from the other members of the foursome. Sweet.
WWTWND: Three putts later, a five.
(*WWTWD - What would Tiger Woods do?)
