Cleveland had it in the bag.  They led 5-2 in the 8th over Boston, looking to take 2 of 3 at home after knocking Jon Lester out of the game.  Enter Jonathan Van Every.  The Boston farmhand started a 3 run rally to tie the game with a run-scoring single, then hit his 1st MLB homer to deep centerfield in the 10th off Jensen Lewis to put the Red Sox up for good.  Papelbon closed it, and Boston instead took 2 of 3 from the Tribe.  Good times.  Cleveland also put Travis Hafner on the 15 day DL.  Yovani Gallardo keeps trying to do it all himself.  He hit his second game-winning HR this year in the Brewers’ 1-0 win over Pittsburgh and pitched 8 innings of 2-hit shutout ball with 1 BB and 11 K.  Milwaukee is on a nice 7-1 roll.  Shane Loux won his first game since 2003 in the Angels’ 3-2 win over Baltimore, the Halos’ 3rd win in a row!  For the O’s, Nick Markakis kept his hit streak going at 16, and has reached base in 31 straight games, the current league best.  Adrian Gonzalez set a San Diego record with 9 HR in April after hitting 2 more against Colorado in the Padres’ 7-5 loss.  He also has an 11 game hit streak.  Todd Helton went 2-3 with a HR, raising his average to .303, so it is an official baseball season now that he is over .300.  Doug Davis of Arizona took his time to do it, but after 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB and 7 K, he had shut down the weak-hitting Cubs, and the Diamondbacks went on to win 10-0.  Chad Tracy was 3-4 with a 2B, HR and 3 RBI.  Nick Swisher leads the Yankees with 7 HR.  Not your typical statement, but it’s true after he became the 10th Dark-Sider to hit one from both sides of the plate in the same game.  His 4 RBI set the pace for New York, as they held off Detroit to win 8-6.  Not helping at all, Jeter and Teixeira combined to go 0-8.  Ryan Zimmerman has an 18 game hit streak and Scott Olsen pitched 5-2/3 of 1-run, 6 K ball, as the Nats won 4-1 over Philadelphia.  Noted whack job Julian Tavarez pitched the 9th for his 1st save in 3 years.  Zack Greinke gave up his first earned run of the season, and then another, but it mattered little as the Royals pounded out 15 hits and throttled the Bluejays, 11-3.  Greinke became the first Royal ever to go 5-0 in April, even though his ERA ‘ballooned’ from 0.00 to 0.50.  7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB and 8 K.  Not a bad night.  Billy Butler went 4-5 for the Royals with 2 HR.  Bluejay 2B Aaron Hill remained hot, going 2-4 to raise his average to .376.  All the Bluejays are hitting well, but Hill is a nice surprise so far.  Adam Wainright went to 3-0 and Ryan Franklin notched his 7th save as St. Louis downed Atlanta 5-3.  The Twins took 2 of 3 from the Rays, winning 8-3 in their series finale.  The top 3 batters, Denard Spam, Brendan Harris and Justin Morneau all had 3 hits and scored twice to beat Scott Kazmir and the struggling Al Champs.  AL Champion Rays…If you were reading this after being in a coma or on a space mission for a year, that would shake you up.  San Fransisco started out 2-7 this year, but they crawled and clawed back to .500 after beating the Dodgers 9-4 behind 8 K in 7 innings from Tim Lincecum and heavy hitting from Edgar Renteria and Bengie Molina.  Renteria was 4-5 with a 2B and 2 RBI, while Big Bengie went 3-5 with a 1B, 3B, HR and 4 RBI for the Giants.  Edinson Volquez is goofy looking, but he can deal it.  8 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.  That will usually get the job done.  He helped end Houston’s 11 game win streak at Cincinnati by only allowing a harmless early 2B to Miquel Tejada before handing it over to Francisco Cordero, who picked up his 7th save for the Reds in their 3-0 shutout.  Another great day on the diamond, and if you don’t have swine flu, another great day for you.

Not a bad night.  Full slate of baseball, Celtics scrape out a 3-2 series lead over the Bulls, my oldest son ran well in his track meet, my youngest son hit a 2 out, 2 run single to keep his team alive in an eventual 1 run Little League win and I had some nice pizza.  Hope you all enjoyed your evening as well.  Chase Utley enjoyed his.  Utley went 3-4, hit 2 HR and drove in 3 to lead Philly past the 4-15 National Disasters, 7-1.  Adam Dunn is hitting well, and Ryan Zimmerman has a 17 game hit streak going, but DC is not good.  Pedro Feliz and Raul Ibanez continue to tear it up for the Phillies, and Utley is hitting .357 with 7 HR and 20 RBI.  Boston’s 11 game win streak ended on a 2-out error by Javier Lopez trying to cover first on a grounder in the 9th inning, allowing Mark DeRosa to score the winning run in a 9-8 Indian triumph.  DeRosa had 4 hits and Kerry Wood got the win.  Houston won their 11th game in a row at Cincinnati, 8-3 over the Reds.  With some support, Wandy Rodriguez went 7 innings, gave up only 5 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB and 5 K.  He is 2-2 with a 1.69 ERA.  The Angels finally won back to back games, downing Baltimore 7-5.  In the loss for Baltimore, though, Melvin Mora returned from the DL with 3 hits and Nick Markakis extended his hit streak to 15.  Florida got back in the win column with a 7-4 victory over the Mets.  Jorge Cantu can do.  He went 3-3 with 2 HR and 5 RBI to lead the Marlins, who are the only team ever to win 7 in a row and also lose 7 in a row in April.  The Yankees scored 10 in the 7th against Detroit, and went on to win 11-1.  Trevor Hoffman got his first save for Milwaukee, closing a 6-5 win over Pittsburgh.  I wonder if they will retire his number and put it right up there with Hank Aaron’s #44?  Prince Fielder did his best to set up the save opportunity by stranding 6 runners with his 0-4 performance.  Milwaukee has managed to beat Pittsburgh 14 straight times!  17 straight at Miller Park.  How do you explain that?  Pittsburgh will have their first winning April in 7 years, though, so there’s that.  San Diego beat Colorado 4-3 with call-up Chad Gaudin going 5 scoreless and allowing only 3 hits in his first Padre start.  His 0.00 ERA matches Heath Bell’s, who closed it and picked up save #8.  Bartolo Colon sighting:  7 IP, 4 H, 1 UER, 1 BB, 6 K.  Chicago beat Seattle in the first of two games, 2-1 behind the rotund righty.  The second game was all Seattle.  Felix Hernandez had little resistance on his way to a 4-0 record.  8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K.  Not shabby.  Seattle pounded out 19 hits, led by Russell Branyan (5-5) and Yuniesky Betancourt (4-5, 5 RBI).  Speaking of hits, Toronto got right back to it with 14 more against the Royals in their 8-1 win.  Even though they didn’t need it, they got 7 strong innings from Scott Richmond, who ran his record to 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA.  The Dodgers got by the Giants 5-3 behind Manny Ramirez and Andre Ethier at the plate and Chad Billingsley on the bump.  Billingsley didn’t get a decision, but pitched 7-1/3 solid innings with 8 K.  Manny went 3-3 with 3 doubles and scored twice.  He is hitting .366 now.  Ethier scored the other 3 runs, going 2-4 for LA.  The Cubs hammered the Diamondbacks, 11-3 with good pitching and hitting by Carlos Zambrano. He went 7 innings for the win, but also contributed at the plate with a 3-4, 3 R, 3 RBI night.  Z didn’t get a shot at a triple, but he had a single, double and a HR, his 17th career jack.  I guess Carlos was trying to make up for Ramirez and D Lee not being in the lineup.  Soriano hit #7 for Chicago as well.  Jo Jo Reyes threw 7 innings of 3 hit ball for Atlanta, giving up only 1R, 1 BB and striking out 7 in the Braves’ 2-1 win over St. Louis.  He avoided losing his 9th consecutive game, and Matt Diaz drove in 2 in the 8th with a single off Kyle McClellan.  Albert Pujols was 0-3, proving even machines have off nights once in a while.

Just a few observations, thoughts and notes…Phillies use 2 grand slams to get by Nationals, 13-11.  Joel Hanrahan, the victim of the second one, ends up losing the game and blowing his 3rd save.  Jason Bay hit a 3-run bomb off of Kerry Wood in the 9th at Cleveland to win it for the Red Sox, 3-1.  Wakefield was dealing the floater again, going 7 scoreless with only 1 hit allowed.  Ryan Franklin nailed down save number 6 for the Cardinals in Atlanta as St. Louis won 3-2.  Houston beat Cincinnati 4-1.  Nothing special about the game, but it’s the 2nd time Roy Oswalt has pitched well against the Reds this year with a no-decision.  He went 7 innings with only 1 run allowed, but the Astros couldn’t win it until he was out.  He is an amazing 23-1 against Cincy in his career.  Justin Verlander sighting: 7 scoreless with 9 K against the Yankees.  Detroit won 4-2.  The Mets sent the Marlins to their 7th straight loss, 7-1 behind John Maine actually pitching decent and Omir Santos hitting a grand Slam.  Kansas City keeps getting great pitching.  This time it was Brian Bannister’s turn.  7 innings and only 1 hit allowed for the now 2-0 young hurler.  Jose Guillen jacked twice to supply some support, and KC won 7-1 over the mighty Blue Jays.  Dan Haren looked great in his win over the Cubs, and the Rattlers won 7-2.  LA lost late to SF, 5-4.  The Dodgers went ahead in the 7th because the *Casey Blake HR Meter* reached 5, but the pen couldn’t hold it down.

Hope your NFL team got some good players this weekend…If your NFL team is Miami, that is.  Otherwise, I don’t really care.  The draft is great, but I don’t get too excited yet.  If they sign, show up at camp, do well enough to actually make the team and start helping the team, then great.  Otherwise, it’s just a lot of talk about money and potential.  More speculation.  I hate speculation.  Hope for the best and move on.  How does the NFL draft impact my fantasy draft?  That’s the real issue here.  Let’s check some baseball notes and such…Florida was red hot at 11-1.  They don’t look so great now at 11-7.  Outfielder Cody Ross pitched a scoreless 9th, though.  Philly swept them this weekend with Jamie Moyer getting the win yesterday to improve to 12-1 lifetime against the Marlins.  Reds fans:  Jay Bruce and Joey Votto are really good.  Nationals rookie Jordan Zimmermann won again, getting by New York 8-1.  The Nats have only won 4 games total but JZ is 2-0.  Trevor Hoffman is set to make his Brewer debut, fresh off the DL.  Now they just have to get into a save situation for him.  The Astros have struggled so far, and the fact that Lance Berkman and Russ Ortiz are both hitting the same (.167) might have something to do with that.  Ortiz somehow is 2-0, though.  Cardinal fans couldn’t celebrate a sweep over the rival Cubs after a 10-3 Chicago win behind Rich Harden’s 9 strikeouts and Kosuke Fukudome’s hitting.  Mini-Ichiro went 3-4 with 5 RBI to help snap the Cubbies’ losing streak and raise his average to .371.  Colorado beat the Dodgers 10-4 to move to 6-11.  Jason Marquis got the win, and is 3-1.  The Pirates beat San Diego 8-3 to send the Padres to their 5th loss in their last 6 games after a 9-3 start.  Jake Peavy got hit hard again, giving up 5 earned runs in 5 innings.  He is 2-3 with a 5.74 ERA.  VUPL…Very Un Peavy Like.  Adam LaRoche hit 2 HR with 4 RBI for Pittsburgh.  Toronto leads the Majors in runs with 120, and more importantly, in wins with 14.  Roy Halladay got by the White Sox 4-3 to raise his record to 4-1 for the AL East leaders.  Oh My, Omar Vizquel is still in the Majors!  He has played in 5 games for the Rangers, and recently turned 42 years old.  Sunday, in the Rangers’ 8-5 loss to Baltimore, Vizquel was put in for defensive purposes in the 8th. (like Texas cares about defense) and he became just the 3rd player in history to play shortstop at that ‘advanced’ age, joining Luke Appling and Honus Wagner.  Omar is 6-14 (.429) at the plate in his limited time for Texas.  The Tigers may not be that great, but Brandon Inge is hitting .323 with 7 HR and 17 RBI, and Armando Galarraga is 3-0 after slipping by the Royals 3-2.  Jered Weaver alert:  7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.  That’s his line from the Angels’ 8-0 win over Seattle.  He is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA.  At 7-11, the Angels have not won back to back games yet this season.  Oh yeah, the Red Sox swept the Yankees in their 3 game series at the Fens.  10 in a row for Boston after the 2-6 start.  Even so, they’re still a game behind Toronto.  Jacoby Ellsbury stole home off Andy Pettite and Justin Masterson won his second start in place of Disabled Matsuzaka in the 4-1 Boston win last night.  Temporary call-up Michael Bowden pitched 2 scoreless relief innings for Boston before being sent back to Pawtucket, but at least he can tell his buddies there that he whiffed Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira while he was brought up.  Did I mention that I love Michael Bowden?  Takashi Saito picked up his 2nd save, giving Paps a little rest.  He got pinch-hitter Johnny Damon to fly out to right for the final out amid a lusty chorus of heart-felt booing from the faithful for ole’ #18.

Glorious weather here in the Quadrant…’Bout time.  First things first, Boston goes up 2-1 in their series with the Bulls after pounding them at the United Center, 107-86.  That’s more like it.  Jazz nip the Lakers 88-86, making it a very nice evening on the hardwood, even though the Spurs stunk it up and lost to Dallas again.  But we are here to talk baseball, so let’s do just that.  Dave Bush grew up just outside Philadelphia, and now he pitches for the Brewers.  Last night he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning against the Phillies before giving up a home run to Matt Stairs.  It’s the 3rd time he’s taken a no-no into the 8th in his career, only to be denied.  Milwaukee won 6-1 to take 2 of 3 from Philly.  Ryan Braun went deep again, his 4th.  Grady Sizemore blasted a 3-run HR for the Indians in the 8th inning to send the Tribe to a 5-2 win over Kansas City.  Don’t blame it on Gil Meche, though.  He pitched well again, tossing 7 sharp innings with only 5 hits.  Kerry Wood notched his 3rd save.  The Cardinals swept the Mets in their 3 game set, winning 12-8 behind Albert Pujols who went 3-4 with 2 HR and 3 RBI.  He also scored 4 times and intimidated the Mets entire team and coaching staff.  He leads the NL with 21 RBI and has 998 for his career.  Rick Ankiel also homered and hit 2 doubles for the Redbirds, but his running, diving catch in center may have been the highlight of the game.  He made like Jim Edmonds and laid out for a spectacular web gem they will replay all year, hopefully.  Carlos Beltran went 3-5 in the loss for the Mets, raising his average to .404.  Here’s one you don’t see everyday…Ichiro HR sends Mariners past Tampa Bay, 1-0.  Felix Hernandez out-dueled James Shields to go to 3-0 with 7 scoreless innings and only 4 hits allowed.  Joey Votto really likes Wrigley Field.  He has 53 career AB there, and 5 have ended with a HR.  He went 4-5 to raise his average there to .367, and the Reds dumped the Cubs 7-1.  The Reds just finished a 10 game road trip in the division with a 7-3 record.  Harang went 7 scoreless for Dusty’s Little Red Machine.  Adam Eaton sighting:  The ex-Phillie pitched 7-1/3 solid innings with 9 K to net his first Oriole win, leading Baltimore past the Chisox 6-2.  For Chicago, Jim Thome had 2 RBI to raise his career total to 1,499.  The Dodgers downed Houston 2-0 behind this Chad Billingsley line:  7-1/3IP, 3H, 0ER, 2BB, 5K.  He is now 4-0 on the year.  Jonathon Broxton picked up his 5th save.  Wandy Rodriguez slipped to 1-2 for the Astros despite only giving up 5 hits and 1 run in 6 innings.  His ERA is 1.80, but the Astros hitters aren’t supporting his efforts very well.  *Casey Blake HR Meter is at 4* He hit one Wednesday night.  Miguel Tejada had 2 hits for Houston, and is at .365.  The Angels got a HR from Torii Hunter in their 10-5 win over Detroit.  It was his 6th of the year.  He is hitting .353 and Bobby Abreu is hitting .373 for the Halos.  30 year-old Matt Palmer got his 1st MLB victory in his 4th career start.  Toronto just keeps impressing.  They beat Texas for their 5th straight series win to open the season and improved their record to 12-5.  Texas has lost 9 of 12 since starting 3-0.  These 2 teams are 1-2 in HRs, with Texas having 29 and Toronto having 28.  The Rangers, however, have not benefitted nearly as much due to some less than stellar pitching and fielding.  Kevin Millwood gave up 3 HR and 4 runs, losing his second game for the Rangers.  Andrew Jones was inserted at 1B in the 8th inning for Texas.  His first appearance there in his career.  Texas also sent pitcher Kason Gabbard back to Boston for cash.  You may remember Gabbard from the ‘worst deal of the Theo Epstein era’ that sent the promising, and at the time dominating, young Red Sox starter to Texas for the overweight, out of gas, ineffective Eric Gagne two years ago.  I guess Gabbard didn’t fit Nolan Ryan’s master plan for reshaping the image of the staff in Arlington.  Here’s hoping he does well back in Boston where he belongs.  This should be a fun sports weekend from Little League games on up.  Enjoy and stay safe.  ***ICS visitors reminder:  Check out all the amazing football videos while you’re here.

Time constraints today, friends.  Pesky work…Let’s just say there was good baseball last night and there was bad baseball last night.  We’ll pick up with tidbits, notes and such when we get a chance to regroup.  **Hockey news–Boston swept Montreal away last night in their first-round series, four games to zero with their 4-1 win.

A very wet day out east, and attendance paid for it.  Minnesota at Boston was ppd.,  so they will play a doubleheader today/tonight.  There was also rain in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore.  The total head count for all five games was less than the average for one normal game.  Delays and rotten playing conditions marred the action, but the teams pressed on.  Washington won their second ugly game in a row over the slumping Braves, 4-3, and Joel Hanrahan picked up his second save for the Nats.  Kerry Wood also got his second save, (both against the Royals) but also gave up a two-run HR before he was done, as the Indians got by the Royals 8-7.  Cleveland turned a double play in six consecutive innings.  Philly beat the Brewers 11-4 even though Ryan Braun went 5-5 with 2 HR and 4 RBI.  Jamie Moyer won #248, tying APBA legend Amos Rusie for 45th place on the all-time wins list, and Phillie third-sacker Pedro Feliz went 3-4 with a HR and 3 RBI, raising his average to .359.  No Brewer starter has reached the seventh inning this season.  Ouch.  Pittsburgh downed the Marlins again, 3-2 behind a nice outing by Jeff Karstens, who went six, allowed three hits, one run, two walks and struck out three.  Pirates starters have only given up more than two runs in 4 of their 14 games.  Matt Capps shut the door for his fourth save, and his ERA remained 0.00.  Andy LaRoche update:  After starting out 0-18 at the plate, he is 8 for his last 19.  Baltimore dropped the White Sox 10-3, knocking Jose Contreras around for six runs in 5-1/3 innings.  Jose is 0-3 with a 8.04 ERA.  Markakis went 4-4 and Brad Bergesen won his MLB debut for the Birds, who put Ryan Freel on the DL.  Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler both homered off Roy Halladay to lead the Rangers to a 5-4 win over Toronto.  Halladay is 3-1, and continues to struggle against Texas even when he is killing everyone else.  Houston snapped the Dodgers’ 8 game winning streak 8-5, but Manny homered and had 3 RBI to pass Honus Wagner for 18th place all-time with 1,735 RBI.  Ryan Franklin is perfect for the Cardinals with 3 saves and a 0.00 ERA since getting the opportunity to close.  Ankiel and Molina had 3 hits apiece and Chris Duncan extended his hit streak to 13 as St. Louis rallied to beat the Mets 6-4 after trailing 4-0 early.  Seven of the Mets’ starters are hitting over .300, yet they are only 6-7.  Seattle sent Tampa Bay to their 6th loss in their last 7 games, 4-2.  Jarrod Washburn improved to 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA.  Todd Helton went 3-5, homered, scored three times and drove in three, helping Colorado rally to beat Arizona 9-6 after trailing 6-3.  Arizona really needs Brandon Webb back.  The Giants won 8-3 over the Padres and Jake Peavy due in large part to Edgar Renteria’s grand slam HR, three hits and 5 RBI.  He just destroys Peavy.  It was the first grand slam ever given up by Peavy, who, even though San Diego is 9-5, is now 2-2 with a 5.13 ERA on the young season.  Only Houston’s Brian Moehler has a longer active streak without allowing a grand slam.  Matt Cain went six, giving up only two runs to go to 2-0.  The Cubs, Yankees and Angels also won, but their games didn’t appeal to me enough to comment.  70% chance of rain in Boston for that doubleheader today, they may have to play Thursday on their off day.

Very light schedule in the Majors last night, with only six games on tap after the previously discussed Red Sox/Orioles affair at the Fens.  Two of these were postponed due to weather, Oakland @ NY and San Diego @ Philadelphia, and two others maybe should have been.  At Washington, the weather was so bad it delayed the start of the Nats/Braves game and then delayed it further with stoppages throughout.  When they finally did get the game in, Washington came from behind and got their second win of the season 3-2 behind rookie Jordan Zimmermann in his MLB debut.  Only about 1,000 fans saw it in person, but it counted, nonetheless.  Not a bad night for the young prospect…6IP, 6H, 2R, 1BB and 3K.  Norwalk’s Joel Hanrahan picked up his first save for the 2-10 Nats.  A save in Washington is roughly equivalent to 3.14 saves for most teams.  Pittsburgh cooled off the red-hot Marlins and their seven game win streak with a 8-0 pounding in front of about 4,000 die-hard Bucco fans.  Ross Olendorf was too much for the Marlin hitters, pitching seven scoreless innings with 2 hits, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts.  Little Nate McLouth was the star at the plate with a HR and four RBI.  Cincinnati slipped by Houston 4-3 thanks to Joey Votto’s 2-run double in the 7th inning, and decent pitching by Bronson Arroyo, who is now 3-0.  Mike Hampton pitched well again for Houston, and didn’t factor in the final decision.  Francisco Cordero picked up his 5th save for the Reds, who have trailed in 10 of their 12 games so far, but have scraped back enough for a 7-5 record.  The final game for Monday was in the 92-degree heat of the night in Arizona, where the D-Backs got by Colorado 6-3, with Jon Garland picking up the win over the road-weary Rockies who are opening up the season with 11 of their first 14 games away from Coors Field.  The Rocks have dropped seven of their last eight games, and after this series will have played six times in Arizona and only three times in Colorado.  Just for fun, the Diamondback hitters have 96 strikeouts and only 93 hits to this point, even after “exploding” for 10 hits against Colorado.  They were hitting .215 as a team heading into last night’s game.  *Hockey News-Hockey News*  -Just in case you missed it, the Boston Bruins now lead their series with arch-rival Montreal 3-0 after a 4-2 victory on the road.  While they were out, the Celtics used the home court to escape another Chicago upset 118-115, tying the series at one win apiece.  Ray Allen was just being Ray-Ray in the second half, dueling with Ben Gordon, who was just insane.  Gordon was ‘stuck on automatic’ and had 42 points and Allen had 30, 28 in the second half, including six treys.  His game-winner was a cold-hearted killer three over Yucky Noah.  Oh by the way, Rondo hurt his ankle and left the game for awhile in the first half, but played the second half, netting a triple -double with 19 pts, 12 reb and 16 assists.  He also had 5 steals.  Glen Davis had 26 pts and 9 reb, Kendrick Perkins had 16 pts and 12 reb, and Paul Pierce had 18 pts and 8 reb.  Without KG, and little or no help from the bench, Boston would have to do alot more of this to advance deep into the playoffs.  I don’t know if that will happen or not, but this was a very entertaining game and a very nice end to a great day for Boston sports fans.

Bob your baseball blogging is on fire. Pretty much like my fantasy team. To read the words you write about my diamond in the rough draft picks does a baseball junkie good. The Galarraga‘s, Masterson’s and the Yunel Escobar’s of the world thank you. Although I’m knee deep in youth softball and video shoots I’m with you in spirit. (dang I hated missing our trip to KC) Instead I did go to KC for the weekend for our softball tourney. Between games on Saturday, I watched with one eye open as the Bulls worked our Celtics. Your optimism last year brought me back to the world of the NBA and your last post gave enough of a boost to check in on the Celtics again tonight. As much as the league still makes me scratch my head, it still has the ability to make a 40 year old man turn into a child. Gordon and Allen put together a 4^th quarter of basketball I won’t soon forget. This was not Jordan/Bird, but damn it was good. I’m just saying?

And as for Sanderson going to Penn State?? I don’t know what to say…

Dustin P for MVP.

Yes, today is Patriots’ Day, so as is always the case, the Red Sox host an early morning baseball game.  The Boston Marathon is also held on Patriots’ Day, but we do not promote insanely long jogs or any needless tests of endurance, for that matter.  Today’s game happened to be the last of a four game set with the Orioles, and the Bosox came away victorious at Fenway 12-1, sweeping the Birds and winning their fifth straight game to climb above .500 at 7-6.  Justin Masterson filled in for Dice-K and his sleepy arm, and did a nice job in 5-1/3 innings giving up only four hits and one run.  The Sox pounded out 15 hits off four different largely ineffective Baltimore pitchers starting with Mark Hendrickson, who gave up the first three runs on five hits and three walks before exiting after the 5th with 103 pitches thrown.  The Captain hit his third homer of the season in the second inning and Dustin Pedroia had four hits and three RBI to lead the way for the Red Sox.  Patriots’ Day, for the record, has nothing to do with the football team.  Even though many New Englanders use this time to swill a Sam Adams or two while discussing the upcoming NFL draft and how the Pats are going to fare this season.  The day marks the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which were the first of the Revolutionary War.  The Red Sox have scheduled home games on Patriots’ Day since 1959.  ICS will celebrate Patriots’ Day by watching the Celtics host the Bulls in Game 2 of their series at the TD Banknorth Garden (soon to be simplified to TD Garden in July) where they kindly let Chicago steal homecourt advantage in Game 1, losing 105-103 in OT.  As if playing without KG wasn’t challenge enough.  Someone help Rondo with Derrick Rose, please…

It would be so easy for me to just say that the only thing that mattered all weekend was Cleveland 22, New York 4.  14 runs in the second inning.  Wang getting drilled even worse than his last pathetic outing, sending his ERA to 34.horrible.  Yes, truly great news and a great game.  Thank you, Indians.  20 HR hit so far at the new place, 14 of them to rightfield, and not many by the home team.  Refreshing.  But I should also mention that the Zack Greinke show is still going strong and scoreless, and Gary Sheffield got #500 out of the way early in his Met career.  Let’s focus on Sunday’s action just to get current for today.  Top dogs: Florida 11-1, LA 10-3 and Toronto 10-4.  On pace to be first team mathematically eliminated from postseason: Washington 1-10.  For Toronto, they’re still hitting, but yesterday it was pitching that got them the win, with Ricky Romero tossing 7 scoreless innings of four-hit, six strikeout ball to lower his ERA to 1.71 in the Blue Jays’ 1-0 victory against the A’s.  The Dodgers are hitting like crazy, and yesterday they polished off the Rockies with 19 hits, winning 14-2.  Matt Kemp hit a grand slam among his 3 hits, which extended his season-opening hit streak to 13 games.  LA has won eight games in a row, including their first six at home to start the year.  The last time they opened that successful at home was 1947.  Their best start ever at home is 9-0 in 1946.  During the homestand they have managed 11 HR, 77 hits and 50 runs.  Mile High Headache: The Rockies’ team ERA is 5.74.  Speaking of pitching-induced headaches, Kansas City reliever Kyle Farnsworth (no relation to Leo) was tagged by Micheal Young of Texas for a game-winning HR that allowed the Rangers to avoid the always embarrassing and rare “Royal Sweep” with a 6-5 comeback win.  Farnsworth has lost three of the Royals’ five overall losses, and is 0-3 with an 18.90 ERA.  However, if the Royals are ever involved in a bench-clearer, they will benefit from Kyle being on their side.  Detroit beat Seattle 8-2 behind 12 hits.  Oddly, the 7-5 Tigers have had eight or more hits in all 12 of their games.  The Twins showed signs of life by completing a sweep of the Angels with their 3-1 win behind Glen Perkins, getting them back to .500 at 7-7.  The White Sox took three of four from the Rays in Tampa Bay, winning 12-2 on the strength of 17 hits.  One of those hits was Jim Thome’s 544th HR, which allowed him to inch closer to #13 on the all-time list.  That spot is currently occupied by Michael Jack Schmidt with 548.  45 year old Randy Johnson treated his 75 year old arm to a date with the D-Backs on Sunday.  The Giant ace (literally, dude’s 6′-10″) hurled 7 innings of one hit shutout ball with seven strikeouts, beating the light-hitting, Buddy Harrelson-like Diamondbacks 2-0.  After flirting with a no-hitter into the 7th, and Arizona being no real threat, Johnson needed a rest, retiring to the bench.  He picked up win #296 and checked the schedule to figure out how many times he can pitch against his former team again.  Arizona is hitting an NL worst .211 w/RISP.  The teams combined for six runs total in the three game series.  The Braves snapped their five game funk with an 11-1 thrashing of the Pirates behind 15 hits at Pittsburgh.  All of Atlanta’s runs were scored with two outs.  Javier Vazquez had a decent line for the win:  6IP, 5H, 0R, 1BB, 8K.  Boston has now won four in a row and the real Jon Lester showed up yesterday to down the Orioles 2-1.  Lester looked very sharp and found his groove with 7IP, 4H, 0R, 2BB and 9K.  Yook is still terrorizing pitchers at home as well as on the road.  He spends most of his time getting on base and fielding the ball really well.  Lastly, the Cubs and the Cards were postponed by bad weather, and there was no Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN…Bruins 2, Canadiens 0.  Heading to Montreal.  NBA playoffs also on tap all week.

Bruins 4, Canadiens 2.  Boston leads the series 1-0.  There’s your hockey news.  Celtics GM Danny Ainge had a “minor” heart attack.  Minor.  I classify anything that has to do with your heart sending you to the hospital as serious.  Chances are that with Garnett on the shelf, Ainge won’t be the only Celtic fan with heart problems this postseason.  Let’s talk baseball, shall we?  Florida swept the Braves in Atlanta, outscoring the Braves 21-7 in their three game set, and improved to 8-1.  Fredi Gonzalez insists that the season is more than just 162 games, it is 18 sets of 9 game stretches.  The fan-repelling Fish are on pace for a blistering 144-18 record.  Let’s not get too excited just yet.  Houston beat the Pirates 6-3, but they couldn’t slow down Nyjer Morgan and his stirrups.  Morgan went 3-5, and is hitting .400.  Adam LaRoche is hitting .294, which isn’t that big of a deal this early, but in his career he is a notoriously slow starter with a dismal April batting average.  Dismal to the tune of the third lowest ever among regular players since 1901, to be precise.  Looks like he has handed his bad luck down to his little brother Andy, because the thirdbaseman has managed to get off to a 1-20 start at the plate.  What does “LaLob” think of that?  The new Yankee Stadium opened for business with a spanking by the Indians, who scored nine in the 7th and went on to win 10-2.  Grady Sizemore belted a grand slam to usher in the “House that Jeets built” era.  Based on ticket prices, they’ll have the place paid off in no time.  The White Sox somehow had 14 hits and only 3 runs, but they got by Tampa Bay 3-2.  Carlos Pena hit his 5th HR for the Rays.  “Kettle on the Boil Alert” in Chicago, as Milton Bradley was tossed for arguing a called strike in the Cubs’ 7-4 loss to St. Louis.  Tick, tick, tick…Kahlil Greene (Mr. Spicoli to you and me) hit a homerun for the Cards.  Cub fans have to be encouraged by Fukudome hitting so well so far, though.  What the heck’s the deal with Toronto?  14 hits?  They lead the majors with a .317 team average.  They beat Minnesota 9-2 behind a very scary Roy Halladay, who is now 3-0.  8K and 0BB over seven strong.  Look out…They are getting it from everywhere, too.  Case in point, Marco Scutaro.  .310, 13R, 9RBI, 3HR, and he’s reached base in all 11 games.  George Bell Jr.?  Meanwhile, the Twins need some answers.  Liriano is 0-3 and the rest of their pitching stinks as well.  Hitting?  What hitting?  Joe Mauer, where are you?  Nationals win! Nationals win!  Adam Dunn hit his 3rd HR for his new team to propel the Artist Formerly Known as the Expos to their first win of the season, beating the Phillies 8-2.  Only 7 games back in the East.  The Angels got a big effort from a sharp Joe Saunders and defeated the Mariners 5-1.  However, the big news here was Ichiro setting the all-time Japanese hits record.  Isao Harimoto played 23 years in the Japanese league and had 3,085 hits.  Ichiro went 1-4 to reach 3,086 in his second game of his 18th professional season.  Now here’s where I get confused.  Ichiro is now the all-time Japanese hits leader, even though half of them came in America?  Japanese-born player, yes, but Japanese League player, no.  Harimoto played his whole career in Japan, in their league.  He is their leader.  Ichiro had 1,278 hits in his 9 year career in Japan.  He now has 1,808 hits for the Mariners.  If Evan Longoria goes to Japan to finish his career, can he pass Pete Rose on the hits list?  I didn’t think so.  That’s like saying Warren Moon’s CFL yards should count WITH his NFL yards.  Not so fast, my friend.  San Diego took 2 of 3 from the Metropolitans to make their opening stand at the new Shea (I know it’s called Citi Field, or Citi Bank Field, or whatever, so what?) a smashing disappointment.  San Diego is 7-3 after winning six of their last seven.  Heath Bell converted his fifth save in as many chances, and Chase Headley went 4-4 with 3 bibs.  Chase did well at Citi? What? What does that mean?…The Dodgers dropped San Fransisco like a two foot putt, 7-2, to join the Padres at 7-3 also.  Barry Zito is 0-for-April in his SF career.  Last year he started 0-8 on his way to 17 losses.  He is 0-2 with a 10.00 ERA after giving up six runs in 5 innings, but insists he is fine and just needs to work out some issues “here and there”.  Here are a few suggestions on where those issues might be:  In or around the strike zone.  Near his release point.  In between his ears.  In his bank account.  He is not the guy that came over from Oakland.  Look at the National League results of the ”Terrific Trio” of A’s pitchers who took the money and ran away from Oaktown, meaning Zito, Mulder and Hudson.  Tim Hudson had some marginal success with Atlanta, but major injury has shelved him and who knows what he will do if and when he comes back.  Mulder did nothing for St. Louis and injury took him him away as well.  Zito is making a mint for producing little or nothing for the Giants except pressure from the fans.  They haven’t had the best of luck since their heyday in green.  Have a nice weekend and enjoy your sports.

Sometimes you have to take a day off from work.  Just get away and recharge the batteries, maybe take in a ballgame.  Yesterday I was part of a 14-strong group that visited the “New K” in Kansas City to watch the Royals host the third game of their series with the Clevelanders.  The home team fell, 5-4, but it was a nice day and the park was very nice.  250 million dollars in rennovations will do that.  The stadium looks great, but the product on the field is still a question mark.  I don’t know how they will do this year, but .500 or so is a fair estimate at this point.  Kerry Wood picked up the save for the Tribe, looking better than ex-teammate Kyle Farnsworth of the Royals in the process.  More nice pitching efforts around the league yesterday, and here are some of the best:  Jason Marquis bit the hand that once fed him, as the Rocks downed the Cubs 5-2 behind seven strong innings from the ex-Cubbie.  5H, 1R and 3K from the mound and a two-run single at the plate.  Armando Galarraga (the LittleCat?) went to 2-0 for Detroit by hurling 6-1/3 IP with 4H, 0R, 2BB and 5K to lead the Tigers to a 9-0 rout of Chicago.  His ERA is a paltry 0.68.  I love the word paltry.  Where did that word come from?  Tim Wakefield gave the Red Sox a much needed win in Oakland, twirling a 4H, 2R, 2BB, 4K complete game gem.  Boston won, 8-2.  The 42 year old knuckler had a no-hitter through 7-1/3, wearing #42 on Jackie Robinson Day.  Everyone in the league wore #42 to honor the Dodger legend.  I am totally in favor of Robinson tributes and honors, but everyone wearing #42 is a little unnecessary.  Maybe on the 50th, 60th or 70th anniversary, or every 5 or 10 years, but why this year?  Hopefully, the jerseys are auctioned off or donated to charity, etc.  Let those who want to wear it have the choice, but patches or banners or pregame mentions are probably more in line.  Like anything else, the importance will diminish with overdoing it constantly.  As for Robinson’s Dodgers, Clayton Kershaw pitched great, going 7 innings giving up only 1H, 1R, 1BB and striking out 13 Giants.  He left with a 2-1 lead which quickly disappeared in the 8th.  LA prevailed, winning 5-4, but Kershaw had no decision to show for his efforts.  He became the youngest Dodger to strike out 13 or more since 1955, when a 19 year old Sandy Koufax did it.  *Casey Blake HR Meter is at 3.  Mike Hampton is still alive!  The oft-injured pitcher who has spent most of his career in the dugout or in rehab stints (pitching, not abusing) looked like a version of his younger, healthier self, tossing 6 innings with 4H, 0R, 1BB and 8K.  The ‘Stros beat the Pirates 4-1.  On the opposite side of good pitching, the Braves pen gave up 6 runs to let Florida get away with a 10-6 win in Atlanta.  Hitting-wise, there were plenty of stars weilding the heavy lumber, none more so than Ian Kinsler of the Rangers.  He went 6-6 at the dish, part of Texas pounding out 19 hits against Baltimore to win 19-6.  That’s the most runs they have had in a game since the 30-3 beating they administered on the Orioles in 2007.  Kinsler hit for the cycle and then some.  Rennie Stennent’s record of 7-7 in a nine inning game, however, stays safe for now.  Marlon Byrd was 5-6, and Nelson Cruz hit his 5th HR of the young season to tie the league lead.  Texas hits the ball alot.  Ex-Ranger and current Yankee Mark Teixeira did not hit the ball yesterday, going 0-4 with 3K.  He’s hitting .174!  Toronto had 16 hits in their 12-2 pasting of the Twins.  The Blue Jays have been a nice surprise so far offensively.  Ken Griffey hit his first HR in Seattle in ten years last night.  It was also his 400th as a Mariner, meaning he is the first player ever to hit 400 with one club and 200 with another (210 for Cincy) and giving him a career total of 613.  Also in the 11-3 win over the Angels, Ichiro debuted with a 2 hit game, smacking a grand slam HR in the process.  For the Angels, Torrid Hunter went 3-4.  DL Ugly:  Nady, Carpenter and Dice-K.  Parting shot:  Pujols-Ludwick-Duncan…”Maimer’s Row”?

ICS loved Harry Kalas.  One of our favorites and one of the best.  Everything that he said caught your attention and made you listen.  I will hear his voice for the rest of my life.  Couple that with the unreal death of Mark Fidrych, and it was a very sad day.  “The Bird” was the first colorful, whacky guy in sports that I noticed as a little boy.  His 1976 season was hilarious and awesome all at once.  There are unique athletes, but he was certainly one-of-a-kind.  He is without a doubt the most famous 29 game winner in MLB history, and those first 19 were amazing.  His Sports Illustrated cover with Big Bird is a classic.  Little leaguers in the 70′s started tidying up the mound with their hands because of him.  Pretty cool when a grown up reminds kids how to be kids.  As for yesterday’s games, just a few quick items to touch on.  Zach Duke was on for the Pirates, going to 2-0 by tossing a four hit complete game shutout against Houston.  The 7-0 win gave the Astros a five game losing streak.  That was the first shutout by a Pirate hurler in their home opener since John Candelaria in 1978.  Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko hit back to back jacks for the Chisox, giving them both 300 for their careers.  The first teammates to ever do that in the same game.  I remember Dye’s first because it was in his first at bat of his career for Atlanta in 1996.  Ted Lilly used the 36 degree weather and the Rockies’ ineptitude to go 6-2/3 innings before giving up a hit in the Cubs’ 4-0 win at home.  Lilly lost two no-hitters in the 7th inning last September also.  Tampa Bay pounded the Yankees at the Tropical Depression 15-5.  It got so bad for the Dark Side that Nick Swisher pitched the 8th inning and he actually held the Rays scoreless.  He homered as well.  Wang was wong, again, giving up 8 runs in 1 inning to raise his ERA to 28.93…Awesome!  Washington is 0-7.  Baltimore belted out 16 hits while Koji Uehara was busy giving up seven runs in five innings to Texas.  Despite his 7.20 ERA, he went to 2-0 with the 10-9 win.  Orlando Hudson went cycling against the Giants and Old Man Johnson in the Dodgers’ 11-1 rout of their long-time rivals.  Hudson went 4-5 to join Wes Parker as the only Los Angeles Dodgers to hit for the cycle.  Parker did it in 1970 at Shea, where the Mets used to stink.  Zack Greinke is the God of Hellfire!  5IP, 6H, 0R, 2BB, 9K and 0.00 ERA.  He goes to 2-0 with a 4-2 win over the punchless Tribe.  Albert Pujols hit HR #4 in a 2-1 win over Arizona to give the Cardinals their 5th straight win.  St. Louis leads the majors with Toronto and San Diego with six wins.  As if it wasn’t bad enough, Boston managed to lose at Oakland for the 11th time in their last 14 games there with Lester falling to 0-2 and Nomar hitting a HR off of him.  2-5 isn’t a big deal, they were 3-4 last year.  But Boston (other than Yook) is looking bad doing this.  They have scored only 15 of their 146 baserunners to date.  That’s 10%.  The league average is 15%.  The top teams will be right at about 20%.  I’m just sayin’.

Had a chance to visit with Dallas last month for an interview for the IOWA HALL of PRIDE.. What you see is what you get with Dallas. I had the luck of covering him a little at Iowa, and now to visit with him in his hometown was a treat. Maybe the Walk-on factor has always kept him so humble. It is a great quality. In this clip he explains how the #44 became his…

Some nice pitching over the weekend and some teams doing better than expected so far.  Seattle, San Diego and Florida are off to nice starts kind of unexpectedly.  Atlanta is 5-1, as well.  Here’s a sample platter of pitching gems from Sunday:  Josh Johnson’s complete game, five hit effort topped a strong Santana outing, as Florida beat the Mets 2-1.  Kyle Lohse helped the Cards sweep Houston by tossing a three hit complete game with no walks and four strikeouts, winning 3-0.  Chris Young went seven strong with seven strikeouts, no walks, four hits and one unearned run as San Diego knocked Lincecum and the Giants around, 6-1.  Kevin Millwood was brilliant for seven innings for Texas, giving up only four hits, walking none and striking out six.  He left leading 4-0.  The pen promptly gave up six runs to Detroit in the 8th to lose 6-4.  Erik Bedard was sharp for Seattle, going 8-1/3 innings with no runs, one walk, three hits and seven strikeouts in the Mariners 1-0 win over Oakland.  Aaron Harang tossed a magnificent complete game shutout over Pittsburgh, allowing only three hits and no walks while striking out nine, winning 2-0.  Quick notes:  Washington really sucks.  Cleveland sucks a little less.  Evan Longoria has five HR.  Brandon Webb to the DL.  Reed Johnson robbed Prince Fielder of a Grand Slam last night with a fantastic leaping snag in Milwaukee.  Casey Blake HR Meter is at 2. (unfortunately, his hits meter is only at 4)  Red Sox lose again, but Yook went yawd, and the Royals downed the Yankees with three runs in the 8th.  The Royals are hitting a MLB low .201 with 14 runs in six games…  A guy who hit a tree on a sudden-death hole won the Masters.

Not much worth discussing today.  Sox lose to the Rays again, Yanks win.  Argh.  Cards’ Carpenter flirts with no-hitter, holds on to salvage a split with the Pirates, winning 2-1.  Kyle Davies looks very impressive for Kansas City, giving them three straight impressive outings by starters and sole possession of first place in the AL Central.  What??  Texas rolls to 3-0 pounding the Tribe again.  Andrew Jones is rumoured to be alive and well, going 3-for-5 for the Rangers.  Masters heads to Day Two with Chad Campbell (who else?) your leader at -7.  Bob’s Notables:  Jim Furyk T2 -3, Zach Johnson T20 -2, Tiger Woods T20 -2, Greg Norman T20 -2, and Gary Player T91 +6.  If you have Directv, the Masters channels in HD are awesome…Have a nice weekend

Marlin Fever in Miami.  The Marlins are a league-best 3-0, wow!  Oh, they swept the Nationals…Nevermind.  Yankees lose again.  Wang Chung gives up 9 hits, 7 earned runs with 3 walks.  Nice.  Somehow the Phillies spoiled a very nice Vazquez start by erupting for 8 in the seventh off Brave relievers, mainly on four bases-loaded walks.  McDowell! Get someone else in there! (ironically, there is no one else) Casey Blake homerun count is at one!  Adam LaRoche and the Pirates have taken 2 of 3 from the Cardinals…This could be an angry, long year for Pujols at this rate.  Mets and Rangers are both 2-0, just like the 70′s and 80′s, huh?  Ha ha.  Royals fans rejoice:  Zack on the Attack Greinke solid in a win over Chisox.  6IP, 7K, 3H and a 2-0 win.  Greinke and three days of rain???  ”Big Unit” Randy Johnson gives up his first homer ever to a pitcher, loses bid for win #296.  Yovani Gallardo of Milwaukee not only blasted a two-strike, two-out, three-run bomb off the Ancient Mariner, who by the way is the oldest Giant player since 1909, but he out-pitched him and gave the Brew-Has a reason, albeit ever so slight, to temporarily forget that Sabathia and Sheets are no longer around.  Sadly, Tampa Bay found a way to get by the Sox and Lester at the Fens.  Lowrie left the bases loaded in the 8th, or there might have been a shot.  7-2 Bad Guys.  *Arnold Palmer tee’d off this morning at Augusta, so we’ve got that to look forward to through late Sunday.

Red Sox 5, Rays 3.  Beckett, Awesome.  Quite possibly the fourth best Opening Day Red Sox start in the last half century. Pedroia is still a Destroya.  Captain Crunches a Pesky one.  More to come.  Remember Opening Day, when C.C. Sabathia got lit up by the Orioles?  I do too.  Good times…Braves are half way to MLB record for consecutive shutout performances by starters to open the season, all against the reigning champion Phillies, no less.  Lot of catchers hitting home runs so far.  Nice Opening Day uniforms for the Twins, and nice to see Griffey go yard for the Mariners in his old, familiar #24.  Cardinals blew a save in their opener, picking up right where they left off last year when they led the majors with 31 such instances.  Tisk, tisk, LaRussa.  Nomar looks weird wearing a #1 Athletics jersey.  The rest of the team just looks plain weird in general.  Jim Thome goes yard, still defying the critics that said he’ll never make it, some 542 HR ago.  Kaz Matsui is still in the Majors…he plays for Houston, sort of.  Are there any other rotation mates that look as different in age than Tim Lincecum and Randy Johnson?  Adam Dunn conjures up images of Frank Howard from the old Senators…That’s not all good.  Bottom line is baseball is back and Spring in Iowa will be soon, as well.  Hopefully.