Hey, the Twins scored a run! It only took them nearly three games' worth of innings to do so, but they finally pulled it off. And look! A win came with those runs! Amazing what can happen in the game of baseball when your offense starts clicking! Granted, it took a ton of walks, a bad decision and throw by Tom Wilhelmsen, and Brendan Ryan replacing his glove with a stainless steel pot on Joe Mauer's grounder up the middle, but a win is a win.
- I mentioned earlier that things were getting a little sticky with Heath Bell and Albert Pujols, and it's just getting worse. The Machine still has yet to hit a homer this season, and Bell just blew his 4th save in 7 tries. A little closer to home, Clete Thomas forgot to bring his baseball bat with him into the batter's box, but at least he was merely making the major league minimum salary.
- After being arrested last week for shenanigans and mischief in the wee hours of the night in New York, Delmon Young was reinstated from his 7-game suspension by the Detroit Tigers. He offered up an apology yesterday after speaking with a rabbi, and I do have a question for Delmon. How excruciating was it for him to sit down with all those microphones and people surrounding him?
- I hate the New York Yankees as a whole, and I especially despise Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, but I'll admit that I was disappointed to hear that Mariano Rivera suffered a torn ACL from chasing after a batting practice fly ball. We'd normally file this under, "WHY THE HELL IS YOUR PERENNIAL ALL-STAR CLOSER GOING 100% IN THE OUTFIELD FOR BATTING PRACTICE?" except as Jeter himself mentioned, Rivera's been doing this "for twenty-some years." Kudos to Mo, however, as he pledges that he will not leave baseball due to this injury. Honestly, watching a pitcher dominate with just a single pitch has been a real joy, even if he dons pinstripes.
- He's 19 years old, has an ego larger than Russia, and he's already batting 3rd for the Washington Nationals. Yes, that would be Bryce Harper. As of today, he has a .316/.417/.526 line, which if he returned to catcher, he would probably become the newest incarnation of "Mauer With Power." Oh, you can also head over to NotGraphs and vote on who has the better throwing arm: Harper, or George Washington?
- Finally, we have to finish up with some ridiculous news. For a couple years now, some ballplayers have been using a spray made up ground-up deer antlers from a manufacturer named Nutronics Labs. MLB investigated and released a statement that use of the spray could lead to a positive drug test. Can you guess what's next? Of course, Nutronics Labs is now suing MLB, claiming that their comments have led to as much as $50 million in losses. I can't wait for the settlement to come 6 months from now (sarcasm doesn't carry over well online, does it?). Regardless, with how reckless he is with his supplements, I imagine Bronson Arroyo using this deer antler spray like a middle school boy uses his Axe body spray.
Softball season has officially started, and I kicked off my league by going 4 for 8 with two doubles. By the way, you can settle a mini-dispute between my girlfriend and myself. A teammate of mine requested the number 00. I wanted that too, so as a compromise, I asked for 0. Is it awesome having both a 00 and a 0 on the roster (like I believe) or is it ridiculous (as she believes)?