Baseball Quick Hits
• Sweet Lou sits for four games. "I will serve it and I will learn from this experience," Piniella said before Monday night's game at Milwaukee. "These things won't happen again." Yeah right.
• Jamie Shields won last night for the D-Rays (when will they get rid of the stupid name, embrace history and name the team the Tarpons?) Shields is now 5-0. What's the big deal? No starter for the D-Rays has ever been 5-0.
• It took an extra inning, but Mark Ellis hit for the cycle. It was the second night in a row Boston's bullpen let the team down.
• Roger Clemens showed he had a scar tissue injury in his right groin. That's a Katastrophe
• From Baseball Musings:
The Marlins defeated the Braves 6-4 last night, by Yunel Escobar keeps hitting. Chipper Jones' replacement picked up four hits today, including a double and his first home run. In three games he's batting .500 and slugging .917. It's Yunel's chance to make an impression, and so far he's making the most of it.
• Rumor has it that Rays to take Vanderbilt pitcher David Price with the first pick in Thursday's amateur draft. And this year we are so lucky, it will be televised.
• As the baseball draft approaches here is a cautionary tale: Matt Harrington turned down $4.1M from Colorado but was represented by Tommy Tanzer. In 2001, San Diego took him in the second round, and Boras turned down $1.2M, a lot of money for a dirt poor family. He worked at a Best Buy, pitched for Fort Worth in an Independent League, was drafted late by the Devil Rays (13th round in '02), Reds (24th round in '03) and Yankees (36th round in '04). He turned them down and is somewhere.
• The staff of the Brooklyn Cyclones minor league baseball team played for 24 hours nonstop over the weekend, battling little leaguers, circus clowns and waiters, among others, and raising $2,500 for local food pantries.
In the words of John Kruk: "My wife doesn't think I am as disgusting as I used to be." John that means your wife still thinks you're disgusting.
