The season is about 27% or so complete, so now is a great time to make some random, and  some very short sited assessments…..

Jason Werth is going to be getting a boat load of money this offseason. On pace for 34HR, 124RBI, 1.048OPS. Not to mention, he hit a ball off of John Lackey that still hasn’t landed (check it out, if not for the stadium, the ball would have traveled 3 miles). Sure he is 31, but he also plays a quality RF. Utely-Howard-Werth is a fearsome trio, it will be interesting to see how much Philly values him at.

John Lackey is really lacking. Just shows you how little spring training means, because he was un-hittable this spring. Now, not so much. Sporting a 5.07 ERA he has been his own worst enemy. Lackey has 26BB, on pace for 94 for the season, shattering his career high of 72. Walks kill, and for whatever reason, Lackey has been walking a lot of guys this season. Sox fans are really starting to worry about his contract, sure its a small sample size, but you always like to see the guy get off to a good start.

Casey Mc-Who? McGehee… guy is on pace for 34/149/.922. Never heard for him before this year. Perhaps it’s because I do AL only roto.

Tampa Bay, everything is going their way. Seems like they get a quality start every single night. I think their bullpen is suspect, but with the way the starters are going, it hasn’t be truly tested.

Bruce Bochy is not a good manager. Now that I live in SF, I watch the Giants. They have some of the best starting pitching in baseball. However, Bochy must really hate Tim Lincecum  because he is trying to pull a slow-Dusty on him. It only took 1+ years for Dusty Baker to blow out Mark Prior’s arm, Bochy is trying to ruin Tim in about 4 years. Bochy rides closer Brian Wilson way too hard as well.  After scoring only 1 run in the three game sweep against the A’s (obviously they were swept, as you can only win 1 game with 1 run), the Giants are in dire need of a line-up reshuffle. Actually, they need a legit clean-up hitter. Aubrey Huff is not one, he is more like a sixth batter. It doesn’t help that their best prospect, Buster Posey, plays the same position as one of their more effective bats, Benji Molina. Big problem, not sure what the solution is. Posey needs to start helping this team, unless the Giants are going to get offense in a trade.

Funny to see Joel Sherman question the Yankees at the first sign of trouble. This is Sherman’s M.O., last season when the Sox were killing the Yanks early, Sherman was all over the Yanks inferiority. When they won the World Series, he was S’ing their D’s. No one loves to flip-flop like Sherman. Now, the Yanks are playing with some jabroni named Russo, so you know that there must be something wrong. History dictates that the Yankees always crush in the second half of the season. They still scare the crap out of me.

Jason Heyward, as good as advertised. Brave fans have their next icon to replace Larry Wayne Jones.  The J-Hey Kid looks like the next superstar of baseball, on pace for 36/130/.989. Just shows you how unpredictable the MLB draft is. Heyward went #14 in 2007. Aside from David Price (#1) and Matt Weiters (#5) some teams have some serious explaining to do. Sure it’s way to early to judge the ’07 draft, but Heyward sure looks like the best player, doesn’t he?

Ty FREEKING Wigginton has 13 HR! ……..

Ubaldo Jimenez is Pedro incarnate. How scary good has he been? He has been better than Grienke was last season, and that was scary good. At the same time Colorado, a very trendy pick to win the west is stuck in mediocrity. Imagine how bad they would be if not for Pedro, I mean Ubaldo.

Johnathan Papelbon, hate to harp on the negatives, but is there any Red Sox fan out there who feels confident when he comes in? Just not the same pitcher he was in 2007, and each season he has regressed a bit.

Jason Bay finally got off last night with 2HR against CC, bringing his season total to 3. Mets fans may be upset that Bay has provided little power up to this point, but they should just chill the F out. Bay is one of the streakier players in baseball. He gets in a groove, he gets out of a groove (see May ’09 and July ’09). He is batting .309 with a .395OBP, plus the guy comes to play every day. Mets fans want someone to get on (not named Ollie), how about Jose Reyes.

Ichiro is well on his way to his 10th straight 200 hit season. The only negative that you can say is that about 81% of his hits are singles. The guy is amazing.

Two more things..

Darnell McDonald has been one of the most pleasant surprises in Boston. Sure his numbers are nothing to get a woody over, but where would they be without him? Mike Cameron is almost ready to come back, and the Sox are going to have a decision to make. McDonald is out of options, so if they choose to send him down, someone is going to claim him. Might it be time to part ways with Mike Lowell?? He is clearly making a play to get out, I think it’s time for the Red Sox to do show him the door. More and more this year, we have heard that Lowell isn’t quite the club house leader everyone perceived him to be. He doesn’t want to be there. Papi seems to have discovered how to hit the ball again. He isn’t going anywhere. Bill Hall is the back MIF and OF, he isn’t going anywhere. It comes down to Lowell and McDonald, and I really hope the Sox keep McDonald, not because he is better, but because he is more useful. I would think that there are plenty of suitors for Lowell, especially when the Red Sox eat some of his contract.

Someone named Doug Fister has a 1.96ERA, he has been a real pain in the ass to all those who oppose him.

After the biggest kick-in-the-crotch loss since I don’t remember when, the Red Sox have an opportunity to make a radical move.  In Florida, ex-Red Sox prospect, now current super star, Hanley Ramirez has flown off the reservation. See article. OK, the Marlins are in a tricky position, side with the manager, or side with their star player. This situation may publicly be resolved in the near future, but sounds like some bad feelings that won’t go away. Theo Epstein sees how his team is playing, they need a kick in the ass. Time to dial up the Marlins and make them a deal they can’t refuse, Corleone style. Sox get back Hanley, Marlins get Scutaro to fill the immediate void at SS. Then you offer up Cassey Kelly, and perhaps another prospect. Sure, it’s a steep price to pay, but its the right move. Ramirez would be the super star bat that the Red Sox so sorely miss. Florida gets a serviceable SS, at a reasonable price. Florida also gets the crown jewel of the Red Sox organization. The Red Sox can change the direction that this season is heading, and also lock up a star for a reasonable rate. Everyone wins in this. Time to to make this call Theo. The window is only open a crack. Sure, the pitching has betrayed the Sox more than the offense of late, but this is a solid move. Hanley would change the complexion of the line up dramatically. The Pitching has to come around, and even if it doesn’t, Kelly is not the answer this year. This is just the kind of, dare to be great move that Theo needs to make.

I have always been a fan of Friday Night Lights, so I was eager to watch the season premier. Even though for some reason the show gets released early on Direct TV, I stayed away from spoilers (repeat..I HAVE NO IDEA HOW ANYTHING PLAYS OUT). Now my biggest beef with the show, was I guess a minor thing. In the first season, they never really told you what year in school each character was. It was sort of implied that star QB, Jason Street was a senior. He was being recruited to go to college, so maybe a junior. Still, the lines were very bleary. However, I could accept this. It was a new show and they didn’t know how long it would be on for. So they took some liberties, fine. I accept that. Did it bother me, yes, but what can you do.

So getting ready for the 4th season, we knew that Coach Taylor was out at Dilon, but due to school redistricting he was going to be coach at East Dilon. Ok, I was down for that.. solid plot twist. However, after watching the first episode it is clear that the writers took a left turn from reality. Let me point out some of the most ridiculous things.

-Landry is still is school? I have absolved them about lying or changing characters age, but this one is just too silly.

-They reason they opened East Dilon was to get additional funding, yet at the start of the season we see East Dilon as not even prepared for the new school year. The football field is in terrible shape. So, you are telling me that the state opened a new school but so how forgot to get it ready for the new school year?

-It was said last season that the town was going to be divided, so in theory that would mean half the students from Dilon would be going to East Dilon. Yet amazingly at the start of the new season, East Dilon is filled with people we have never seen. In fact, it seems to just be a totally new town. No players aside from Landry are there.

-In the scenes for next weeks episode, they show the Mighty Ducks story line playing out (you know, the movie with Emilio Estevez). How original.

-During their first game, East Dilon is playing in some ratty old uniforms… so they had to use the old uniforms that have been sitting around for god knows how long?

Some could say I am nitpicking, but I disagree. Common sense was thrown out of the window here and this is just sloppy writing by the writers. I am not saying they should have made East Dilon a pristine new school, but come on. What the hell were they doing all summer? Coach Taylor didn’t take a look at his new school until a couple days before the semester started? Just makes no sense. I will continue to watch, but I must say… very lame start.

Also, who wants to bet that Tim Riggins becomes a coach for East Dilon?

It was hinted in scenes for next week, but Buddy is so switching sides.

Who else things that Coach Taylor is going to coach these boys up, and who sees a win versus their rivals at Dilon later in the season?

I really hope this gets better, but my expectations are lowered.

There is no way around this one. Once you say the hit, even though it lead to a goal, you knew it was bad. The Bruins gutted out a win versus a Flyer team that needed to win. The Bruins did this without David Krejci and Adam McQuaid, short handed they beat down the Flyers. Up 3-0 in the 2nd round, flying high, but I couldn’t be more upset.

The Bruins season was a total disaster, but everything started to change in the playoffs. Suddenly, two goal deficits weren’t insurmountable. Suddenly, the Bruins started playing Bruin Hockey. Miroslav Satan, who did ZERO in the regular season, re-found his game. Satan-Krejci-Lucic line was really clicking. The Bruins were starting to get the breaks that did not come during the regular season.

When Marco Sturm went down, I shrugged. No big deal. No offense (litteraly) to the scoreless Sturm, but he just wasn’t in the flow of the game, and hadn’t been for quite some time. It also allowed the Bruins to dress Shawn Thornton, who probably should have dressed over Sturm anyways.  But loosing Krejci, I just can’t see how they can get past this. Sure, they should close out the Flyers, but next round just seems like too much. Sure I could see them beating Montreal, but Pittsburgh… no way. Krejci just did too much for this team. The cog in the hotest line, penatly kill, power play… he played it all. There is a reason the Bruins game Krejci the contract and not Kessel.

So what’s next? Well, there is no reason why they can’t win 1 of 4, so they should dispose of Philly. The logical choice is to put Savard on that line, but I don’t know if he can handle how many minutes the Bruins are going to be asking of him. Also, Savard and Krejci are completely different players, so there is no garauntee that the line clicks.  You could give Sobotka the chance to shine, and I really like him, but I am not sure he is up to it. That would be asking a lot of a guy who has two assists so far in the playoffs. The Bruins could also re-shuffle the lines, but that opens up too many possibilities that I am not qualified to judge.

So, in the end, it’s going to take some sort of playoff miracle for the Bruins to drink from Lord Stanley’s Cup. It can happen, it’s just going to take something special. Regardless, this playoff run has made the season satisfying.

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I had been meaning to post this, but it wasn’t long enough and I couldn’t find enough stats to make it better. However, this short bit on Mark Recchi needs to be read and he must get his DAP.

In today’s a couple days ago Boston Globe, Kevin Paul Dupont had a nice piece on Mark Recchi. I had been thinking about writing something about one of the most underrated players in NHL history, but it mostly came down to the numbers. So, here is a little breakdown of Mark Recchi, by the numbers…..

1- Times that Mark Recchi lead the league in a points scoring category (66 assists in 99-00)

2- Times that Mark Recchi’s name is inscribed on the Stanley Cup (09-91, and 05-06)

8- Times that Mark Recchi lead his team in scoring

12- Number of people ahead of Mark Recchi on the NHL all time points list.

14- Times that Mark Recchi has been in the top three on his team in scoring.

16- Number of people ahead of Mark Recchi on the NHL all time assists list.

22- Number of people ahead of Mark Recchi on the NHL all time goals list.

Mark Recchi is a sure fire Hall of Famer.  He is the highest scoring player from a draft that included; Mike Modano, Teemu Selanne, Jeremy Roenick, Rod Brind’Amour, Alexander Mogilny, Trevor Linden, Tony Amonte and Rob Blake. At 42 years old, he is still one of the most effective Bruins. Gotta love him.