The Pennant Race - 8/21

You just get the feeling that for the second straight year, the Mets and Phillies will come down to the final weekend to determine the NL East winner. The Mets are playing good baseball, but they haven't been able to put much cushion between themselves and the Phillies since moving into first place.

Mike Pelfrey has really stepped up this season and did again last night, limiting the Braves to three hits in a complete game, 6-3 Mets victory. David Wright continued his run at the NL MVP with his 24th home run and 97th RBI. Rookie Dan Murphy's two RBI gave him 11 in 18 games and he's batting .404 in 47 at-bats.

The Phillies got a complete game of their own from Brett Myers, who scattered nine hits in shutting down the Nationals 4-0. Washington has lost 12 straight. After a brief stint in the minors, Myers has returned to form and is 3-1, 1.47 in his last five starts.

The Marlins' hopes are fading away. They dropped a 6-5 game to the Giants last night that put them 5 games behind the Mets and 7.5 behind the wildcard-leading Brewers. Florida rallied for 3 runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game, but Bengie Molina's sac fly won it for the Giants in the bottom of the ninth.

Speaking of the Brewers, they got themselves back to within 5 games of the Cubs with a 5-2 win over the Astros. J.J. Hardy hit a 2-run home run to help Manny Parra win his 10th game. Ryan Braun sat out for the 9th time in 11 games due to lower back soreness.

The Reds edged the Cubs 2-1 despite starter Ted Lilly allowing just two hits over seven innings.

The Cardinals remained 2.5 behind the Brewers in the wildcard with an 11-2 thumping of the Pirates. Todd Wellemeyer won his career-high 11th game and reached the century mark in strikeouts for the first time.

The Diamondbacks moved two games ahead of the Dodgers with an 8-6 win over the Padres. Neither starter Dan Haren nor Jake Peavy was good, but after allowing four runs in the first inning, Haren settled down to get the win. Adam Dunn belted a 3-run home run, his 34th of the season.

The Rockies played spoilers, beating the Dodgers 4-3. The Dodgers lead 3-0 early, but Brad Hawpe almost single-handedly beat LA. He reached on an error that cut the lead to 3-2, singled in the game-tying run in the seventh, and singled again in the ninth to drive in the go-ahead run.


There was no movement in the AL Central standings as both the White Sox and Twins were daytime winners. Chicago got four home runs in a 15-3 rout of the Mariners. Ken Griffey Jr. tied Sammy CheaterSosa with his 609th career home run, and his first in Chicago. Gavin Floyd earned his 13th win.

Francisco Lirano and four pitchers pitched the Twins to a 3-1 win over the A's. Little-used reserve Mike Redmond drove in two runs.

The AL East's top two teams remained 4.5 apart as they both lost last night. The Angels beat the Rays 5-4, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit, and then winning after blowing a 4-3 lead. Garret Anderson's ninth inning single was the game winner. K-Rod notched his 48th save.

The Red Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but it was all Baltimore after that as the Orioles won it 11-6. Melvin Mora, who had four RBI, and Ramon Hernandez each hit 3-run home runs. Clay Buchholz was hammered for five runs in 2.1 IP and is reportedly headed back to Pawtucket.

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The Pennant Race - 8/7

The Phillies came into today leading the Marlins by 2.5 and the Mets by 3. All three were involved in action this afternoon, with the Phillies and Marlins going head to head.

The Mets pen blew another lead for Johan Santana, but David Wright saved the day with a walk off 2-run home run for a 5-3 Mets win. Meanwhile the Marlins shut out the Phillies 3-0, after getting a big boost from rookie starter Chris Volstad.

Manny Ramirez homered this afternoon for the fourth time in 24 at-bats as a Dodger.

The Red Sox claimed Brian Giles off of waivers and have 48 hours to swing a deal. Where exactly Giles would play remains to be seen.

The Phillies claimed lefty set up man Scott Eyre off waivers from the Cubs and sent minor league pitcher Brian Schlitter (watch the typos) to Chi-town to complete the deal.

The Phillies have reportedly passed on free agent Freddy Garcia, feeling the veteran right-hander couldn't help them this year.

Chad Bradford made it through waivers and was dealt from the O's to the Rays for a player to be named later.

The Rockies were awarded Livan Hernandez after claiming the right-hander off of waivers from the Twins. The two teams couldn't work out a deal so the Twins decided to let him and his contract go.

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Yankees Outlast Mets and Rain

Yesterday's Yankees-Mets contest was delayed at the start and in the middle of the 6th inning by rain, but there was no stopping Andy Pettitte as he pitched the Yankees to a 3-2 win at Shea Stadium. A 57-minute stoppage didn't prevent Pettitte from returning in the bottom of the 6th, and though he gave up a solo home run to David Wright, he finished the inning and picked up his 9th win of the season.

A low scoring game was expected with Pettitte and Mets ace Johan Santana on the mound and that's exactly what the fans got. The Mets struck first when Ramon Castro drilled a Pettitte breaking ball over the wall in left-center field in the bottom of the 2nd for a 1-0 lead.

That would hold up until the 4th when Santana issued back to back walks to Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu to start the inning. Alex Rodriguez then lined a single to left to load the bases with no one out. Jason Giambi hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Jose Reyes fielded on the 2nd base side of the bag. His only play was to retire Giambi at 1st base as Jeter scored the tying run. Jorge Posada's deep fly to Carlos Beltran in center sent home Abreu with the go ahead run.

The Mets put two aboard with 2 outs in the 5th when Reyes singled and Damien Easley walked. But Pettitte waited out an aggressive Reyes, spun around and threw to Jeter covering 2nd base to pick off the Mets speedster to end the inning.

The rains started coming down heavily in the top of the 6th as the Yankees added what proved to be the winning run. A-Rod drew a 1-out walk and was balked to 2nd base. Santana struck out Giambi for the 2nd out and the Mets opted to walk the switch-hitting Posada to face the left-handed hitting Robinson Cano instead. But the move backfired when Cano singled through the right side to score A-Rod for a 3-1 lead.

Pettitte was finished after the 6th inning and Joe Girardi finished the game by rote. Jose Veras and Kyle Farnsworth pitched one inning each and handed things over to Mariano Rivera who saved his 22nd game in as many tries with a 1-2-3 9th inning.


News and Notes

Mariano Rivera has now saved 54 of Andy Pettitte's wins. The only higher total in baseball are the 55 saves Dennis Eckersley had for A's teammate Bob Welch.

Derek Jeter's 18-game hitting streak against the Mets and 15-game current hitting streak both came to an end with an 0 for 4 day. But Jeter did reach safely on a walk and has done so in 42 straight interleague games.

Robinson Cano has a career best 5-game RBI streak.

Knicks' 1st round pick Danilo Gallinari threw out the first pitch.

Interesting conversation on yesterday's telecast between Joe Buck and Tim McCarver as to whether or not Andy Pettitte could be Hall of Fame material. They pointed out the fact that every pitcher 100 games over .500 is in the Hall. Pettitte is 92 games over .500 after yesterday's win. One problem though and it's spelled HGH. No telling how that would affect Hall voters.

Johan Santana is 0-4 with 1 no decision, despite a 2.53 ERA, since June 1. Guess that must be Willie Randolph's fault too.

Since Joba Chamberlain threw 114 pitches in his last start, the Yankees have moved his start back to Tuesday against Texas. Mike Mussina, who had his start called after 2 innings on Thursday, will go on Monday.


June 28, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0		3	5	0
NY Mets	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0		2	6	1

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	0	0	0	1	2	0	.317
Jeter, SS	4	1	0	0	1	1	2	.281
Abreu, RF	3	1	1	0	1	1	0	.286
Rodriguez, 3B	3	1	1	0	1	0	1	.327
Giambi, 1B	4	0	0	1	0	3	4	.263
Farnsworth, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Rivera, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Posada, C-1B	2	0	0	1	1	1	1	.297
Cano, 2B	4	0	2	1	0	1	0	.244
Cabrera, CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	.249
Pettitte, P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
a-Betemit, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.267
Veras, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Molina, C	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.230
Totals	32	3	5	3	5	11	12
a-Struck out for Pettitte in the 7th.
BATTING TB: Abreu; Rodriguez; Cano 2; Molina. RBI: Giambi (46), Posada (20), Cano (33). 2-out RBI: Cano. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Cabrera 2; Posada; Jeter. SF: Posada. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Rodriguez (10, 2nd base off Sanchez/Castro). FIELDING DP: (Jeter-Giambi). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Reyes at 2nd base).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pettitte (W, 9-5)	6.0	5	2	2	3	4	2	3.98
Veras (H, 4)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2.96
Farnsworth (H, 9)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4.00
Rivera (S, 22)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.74

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Reyes, SS	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	.294
Easley, 2B	2	0	1	0	2	0	0	.252
Wright, 3B	3	1	1	1	1	0	1	.288
Beltran, CF	4	0	0	0	0	4	3	.273
Delgado, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.230
Tatis, RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	.256
Phillips, A, LF	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.120
a-Castillo, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.253
Sanchez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c-Nixon, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.171
Castro, C	3	1	1	1	0	0	0	.259
Santana, P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.147
Feliciano, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
b-Anderson, PH-LF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.200
Totals	31	2	6	2	3	7	8
a-Popped out for Phillips, A in the 7th. b-Singled for Feliciano in the 7th. c-Struck out for Sanchez in the 9th.
BATTING HR: Castro (2, 2nd inning off Pettitte, 0 on, 2 out), Wright (15, 6th inning off Pettitte, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Reyes; Easley; Wright 4; Tatis; Castro 4; Anderson. RBI: Castro (8), Wright (63). 2-out RBI: Castro. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Delgado. GIDP: Phillips, A. Team LOB: 5. BASERUNNING PO: Reyes (2nd base by Pettitte). FIELDING E: Wright (11, throw).

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Santana (L, 7-7)	6.0	4	3	3	4	8	0	3.01
Feliciano	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2.87
Sanchez	2.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	3.89

Balk: Santana.
IBB: Posada (by Santana).
Pitches-strikes: Pettitte 88-56, Veras 14-9, Farnsworth 11-8,
Rivera 12-10, Santana 113-66, Feliciano 15-10, Sanchez 34-20.
Ground outs-fly outs: Pettitte 8-5, Veras 1-2, Farnsworth 0-2,
Rivera 0-1, Santana 6-4, Feliciano 1-0, Sanchez 1-4.
Batters faced: Pettitte 24, Veras 4, Farnsworth 3, Rivera 3,
Santana 26, Feliciano 3, Sanchez 9.
Umpires: HP: Mike Everitt. 1B: Mike DiMuro.
2B: Tim McClelland. 3B: Larry Vanover.
Weather: 82 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 16 mph, R to L.
T: 3:00 (1:19 delay).
Att: 56,172.

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Around the Horn - 5/30

Joe Torre was back in the city so nice they named it twice. But it wasn't at Yankee Stadium and the Yankees weren't playing. Torre took his Dodger blue to Shea and got pummeled by David Wright and the Mets, 8-4. Wright belted a couple of home runs off of Brad Penny to help the Mets win their 3rd. Jose Reyes has reached base safely in 29 straight games.

The Giants completed a very unexpected 3-game sweep of the Diamondbacks with a 4-3 win. The Giants tied the game in the 8th on Fred Lewis' bases loaded walk and went ahead for good in the top of the 9th on Randy Winn's home run. Barry Zito came up with arguably his best start of the season (6 IP 3 ER 6 H 3 BB 5 K) while Randy Johnson allowed 2 runs and struck out 9 in 7 innings.

The Pirates pounded the Reds 7-2 behind a big night from starter Phil Dumatrait. The lefty allowed 1 unearned run, 2 hits, and struck out 9 in 7 innings.

Kyle Lohse out pitched Roy Oswalt in the Cardinals 3-2 win over the Astros. Albert Pujols belted his 13th home run for the Cards while Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman went deep for Houston. Berkman's home run tied him with Chase Utley for the major's lead with 17.

Jody Gerut's 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th gave the Padres a 5-2 win over the Nationals. Padres pitcher Chris Young, who was hit in the head by a liner off the bat of Albert Pujols last week, will need surgery on his septum and there is concern about a small skull fracture he suffered.

The Cubs 4th straight win sent the Rockies to their 4th straight loss. Derek Lee homered for the 2nd straight night to help the Cubs to an 8-4 victory.

The Braves pounded the Brewers 8-1. Mark Texeira homered and drove in 4 and Jose Campillo won his 2nd big league game. He also drove in 2 runs. Rafael Soriano returned to the Braves bullpen after 45 days on the DL.

Jesse Litsch has been flying under the radar for much of the season, but certainly not in Toronto. The Blue Jays starter improved to 7-1, 3.18 in the Jays 12-0 trouncing of the A's. Rod Barajas, who will be getting the bulk of playing time with Greg Zaun on the DL, capitalized on his chances with a 3-hit, 3 RBI day.

John Danks improved to 4-4 in the White Sox 5-1 win over the Rays. Joe Crede and Paul Konerko homered in a battle between division leaders.

Kevin Slowey pitched a complete game as the Twins sent the Royals down to their 11th straight loss, 5-1. Carlos Gomez was 4-5 with 2 RBI.

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Pitching Derails Subway Series Opener

If you were told before today's game that Johan Santana (5-2) would allow 3 home runs, you'd probably feel pretty positive about the Yankees chances, especially with a veteran, Andy Pettitte, on the mound. But it was the Mets taking advantage of a poor inning by Pettitte (3-5) and a bad job by the Yankees bullpen to win the opener of the weekend series, 7-4.

The Yankees had taken a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st inning when Derek Jeter belted a 2-run home run off the facing of the upper deck in left, but the middle innings caused Pettitte trouble once again. The left-hander has struggled in the 4th through the 6th innings, especially of late, and today was no different.

After allowing 2 harmless hits through the first 3 innings, Pettitte gave up 3 straight singles to start the 3rd. Carlos Beltran picked up an RBI after his single to left scored Ryan Church and moved David Wright up to 2nd with no one out. Pettitte then got into further trouble by walking Moises Alou to load the bases.

Pettitte looked he might escape further trouble after he retired Carlos Delgado on a pop out to Jeter and got a call 3rd strike on a 3-2 pitch to Damion Easley that appeared to be out of the strike zone. Easley argued with home plate ump Mike Reilly to no avail, but it may have influenced Brian Schneider's at-bat. Schneider appeared to take a called 3rd strike to end the inning, but much to Pettitte's amazement Reilly called it a ball. The call came back to haunt Pettitte, who then walked Schneider to force in the tying run. Luis Castillo then gave the Mets the lead for good with an infield single before Pettitte retired Jose Reyes on a pop out.

As Pettitte began to struggle, Mets starter Johan Santana breezed. He retired the Yankees on just 6 pitches in each of the 4th and 5th innings, which meant Pettitte had to get right back out there. As Santana set the Yankees down with ease, the Mets added some big tack on runs against the Yankees pen.

Kyle Farnsworth, who has been very reliable of late, reverted back to his old form in the 7th inning. Reyes lead off the inning by ripping a hanging cutter into the right field seats for his 3rd home run of the year. After a walk to Church, Wright crushed one the other way for a 2-run homer, his 8th, to give the Mets a 6-2 lead.

The Yankees finally chipped away at Santana on solo home runs Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu to cut the Mets lead to 6-4. When Jeter followed Abreu's home run with a 2-out double in the 8th, Willie Randolph immediately sent for closer Billy Wagner for a potential 4-out save. Wagner retired Hideki Matsui on an inning ending ground out to Castillo to get out of the 8th.

The Mets got one more big run off Joba Chamberlain in the 9th when Beltran tripled just out of the reach of a diving Melky Cabrera and came home on Delgado's 2-out single.

The Yankees had one last gasp in the bottom of the 9th when Giambi and Robinson Cano got a pair of cheap singles to bring the tying run to the plate. But Cabrera flew out, Shelly Duncan fouled out to Schneider, and Morgan Ensberg went down swinging on a 3-2 pitch.

News and Notes

Alex Rodriguez got closer to returning by playing in an extended spring training game. He homered in 4 at-bats.

Derek Jeter's 3 hits gave him a .386 average against the Mets, the highest opposing average against the Shea residents.

Billy Wagner has not been scored upon in 17 innings this season. Today's save tied him with Jeff Reardon for 6th on the all-time list with 367.

Weird stat of the day - Jason Giambi became the first player since Matt Diaz in 2005 to hit a pinch-hit home run off of Santana after being behind in the count 0-2.

Moises Alou was playing the first game of his career at Yankee Stadium after 17 years.

May 17, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Mets	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	0	1		7	13	0
NY Yankees	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0		4	9	0

NY Mets	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Reyes, SS	5	1	2	1	0	1	3	.263
Church, RF	4	2	1	0	1	2	2	.309
Wright, 3B	5	2	3	2	0	0	0	.279
Beltran, CF	5	2	3	1	0	1	1	.259
Alou, LF	3	0	1	0	1	1	1	.342
Chavez, LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.178
Delgado, 1B	5	0	2	1	0	2	6	.228
Easley, DH	4	0	0	0	0	3	5	.222
a-Anderson, PH-DH	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.237
Schneider, C	3	0	0	1	1	0	0	.307
Castillo, 2B	3	0	1	1	1	0	0	.261
Totals	38	7	13	7	4	11	19
a-Struck out for Easley in the 9th.
BATTING 3B: Beltran (3, Chamberlain). HR: Reyes (3, 7th inning off Farnsworth, 0 on, 0 out), Wright (8, 7th inning off Farnsworth, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Reyes 5; Church; Wright 6; Beltran 5; Alou; Delgado 2; Castillo. RBI: Beltran (24), Schneider (13), Castillo (9), Reyes (15), Wright 2 (34), Delgado (18). 2-out RBI: Schneider; Castillo; Delgado. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Beltran; Reyes 2; Delgado. Team LOB: 9. BASERUNNING SB: Wright (6, 2nd base off Pettitte/Moeller), Beltran (5, 3rd base off Pettitte/Moeller). CS: Alou (1, 2nd base by Pettitte/Moeller), Castillo (1, 3rd base by Ramirez/Moeller). PO: Alou (1st base by Pettitte). FIELDING Outfield assists: Church (Damon at home), Beltran (Jeter at 2nd base).

NY Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Santana (W, 5-2)	7.2	7	4	4	2	5	3	3.30
Wagner (S, 9)	1.1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	3	1	1	0	1	1	0	.257
Abreu, RF	4	1	2	1	0	1	1	.287
Jeter, SS	4	1	3	2	0	0	1	.314
Matsui, DH	4	0	0	0	0	1	2	.306
Giambi, 1B	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	.193
Cano, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.208
Cabrera, CF	3	0	0	0	1	0	2	.262
Gonzalez, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.257
a-Duncan, S, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.194
Moeller, C	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.243
b-Ensberg, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.214
Totals	34	4	9	4	2	6	12
a-Popped out for Gonzalez in the 9th. b-Struck out for Moeller in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Abreu (9, Santana), Jeter (6, Santana). HR: Jeter (2, 1st inning off Santana, 1 on, 1 out), Giambi (8, 7th inning off Santana, 0 on, 0 out), Abreu (5, 8th inning off Santana, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Damon; Abreu 6; Jeter 7; Giambi 5; Cano. RBI: Jeter 2 (21), Giambi (21), Abreu (25). 2-out RBI: Abreu. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Moeller; Matsui 2; Ensberg. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING DP: (Moeller-Gonzalez). Pickoffs: Pettitte (Alou at 1st base).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Pettitte (L, 3-5)	6.0	7	3	3	2	7	0	4.42
Farnsworth	1.0	3	3	3	1	1	2	4.05
Ramirez	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0.00
Chamberlain	1.0	2	1	1	0	2	0	2.95

HBP: Alou (by Pettitte).
Pitches-strikes: Santana 100-67, Wagner 21-15, Pettitte 116-73,
Farnsworth 29-17, Ramirez 13-8, Chamberlain 23-16.
Ground outs-fly outs: Santana 9-7, Wagner 1-2, Pettitte 3-7,
Farnsworth 1-1, Ramirez 0-1, Chamberlain 1-0.
Batters faced: Santana 30, Wagner 6, Pettitte 27, Farnsworth 7,
Ramirez 4, Chamberlain 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Wagner 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Mike Reilly. 1B: Bob Davidson. 2B: Alfonso Marquez. 3B: Andy Fletcher.
Weather: 71 degrees, sunny.
Wind: 15 mph, Out to RF.
T: 3:08.
Att: 55,093.

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A Night of Memories, Laughter, and Tears

The 27th annual Thurman Munson Award dinner was held last night at NYC's Marriot Marquis. The Yankees' Melky Cabrera and Alex Rodriguez were among the award winners. Proceeds from the dinner went to the AHRC New York City Foundation, which helps serve children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Thurman's widow Diane has helped to raise nearly $9 million for the foundation.

Some, such as the granddaughter Thurman never knew, were awestruck by his legacy. 12-yr old Madison was attending her first awards dinner.

"Is Grandpa really this loved in New York?" she asked her grandmother, Diana Munson.

Oh yes he was; still to this day. Amazingly, Diane Munson has never been to her late husband's locker in Yankee Stadium. With the Yankees moving across the street next season, that is about to change.

"To me, it's very touching," she said. "I want this to be a private moment in my life and in the lives of my children."

Another award recipient last night was Craig Biggio, the recently retired Houston Astro. A catcher, Biggio idolized Munson while growing up on Long Island, and attending Seton Hall University in NJ. When the Astros came to Yankee Stadium for an interleague game in 2004, Biggio made sure he stopped by The Captain's locker.

"The way that he played the game, his uniform was always dirty," Biggio said. "He truly was my hero growing up."

Melky and the Mets' David Wright weren't even born when Munson died, but both appreciated the magnitude of the evening.

"To be associated with Thurman and everything he did -- not only for New York, but everything off the field -- is just an incredible honor," Wright said. "I take a lot of pride in doing everything that I can in giving back to the New York fans.

Melky was also happy to still be in New York.

"I was a little worried about getting traded because I wanted to stay with my teammates. I'm really happy the trade didn't go through."

The Giants had a representative in Defensive End and Super Bowl champ Justin Tuck, who stopped by to express his good wishes.



Melky poses with the Knicks' Jamal Crawford, Diane Munson , and friends.








Sources - Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and Peter Abraham of the Journal News.

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Biggio Wins Munson Award

Craig Biggio grew up idolizing Thurman Munson, so it was appropriate that he win the Thurmon Munson Award for excellence in competition and philanthropic work within the community. Biggio retired after 20 years in the bigs, that included picking up his 3,000th hit this past season.

Joining Biggio in receiving awards are the Yankees Melky Cabrera, the Mets David Wright, Knicks guard Jamal Crawford and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. The awards will be presented at the 28th annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.

The AHRC New York City Foundation benefits from the event, with money going to assist children and adults with developmental disabilities.

photo courtesy of mlb.com

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Short Stops - 4/17

Josh Beckett has shown that he's not afraid to pitch inside, which has pissed off a number of opponents. Yesterday he nailed Vlad Guerrero on the wrist. Luckily for Vlad, he's only listed as day-to-day. When is someone going to retaliate at Manny or Big Papi for this stuff? You know it won't be the Joe Torre Yankees.

The Toronto Blue Jays were tied for 1st in the AL East entering this week's play, but the team is far from feeling good about themselves. Closer B.J. Ryan is out a minimum of 4-6 weeks with a strained ligament in his left elbow. The Jays are quietly hoping shutting him down will take care of the problem, but they're privately worried that he may need Tommy John surgery.

Reed Johnson underwent back surgery and is out until July. Slugger Troy Glaus also went on the DL with an inflamed heel.

Ryan Freel has received a 2-year, $7 million extension from the Reds.

As we have previously talked about, Hank Aaron said he will not be attending Barry Bonds' record breaking games. Since then the media has constantly asked Bonds about the perceived snub. Bonds, of course, has now blamed the media for trying to drive a wedge between him and Aaron. Um Barry, Hank doesn't want anything to do with you. In case you haven't noticed, he's not the media.

Among those with extra concern over yesterday's shooting at Virginia Tech, was Mets 3rd Baseman David Wright. One of his younger brothers is studying for an engineering degree there. Thankfully, he was all right.

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