I had the honor of pitching in front of Cal Ripken. I got to pitch in front of Craig Counsell when he was at a Gold Glove caliber of play in Arizona. Scott Rolen, Mark Lewis, Mickey Morandini, all of them.

I never pitched in front of a player that had a better defensive season than Alex Gonzalez did when I was in Boston. Not sure what the defensive statistics say about that year, but I know as a staff we were all in love with the guy every day he was at SS.

Great shortstops, much like great center fielders, take athleticism to a new level, Alex certainly did that. Pokey Reese was another one. Their play in and around the bag, their ability to go into the hole, do things other guys never attempt, effortlessly, is one of the magics of the game of baseball.

Pitchers are selfish in this sense. I never EVER cared whether Jason got a hit or not when I was pitching. Sure I wanted him to go 4-4 and hit 4 bombs, but if he didn’t it did not matter to me. I just needed to know, had to know, that he was committed to every pitch he was putting down. He always was.

The same thing applies to defense in the field. Sure you want everyone to get 4 hits a night, but that’s not going to happen. So recognizing that, what I wanted above all else was that guy who took as much, if not more, pride in his glove work and defense as he did in hitting. That’s Alex.

In addition to being a fantastic teammate, he can flat out play defense as well as anyone I ever suited up against, or played with.

It may not get the coverage it deserves, since he’s not hitting 350 and doesn’t have 20 HR’s or 100 RBI’s, but he’ll win games, he’ll make the staff better, and he’ll make a difference.

Getting both he and Kotchman (even with Youk being a Gold Glover) reminds me of bringing in Cabrera and Dougie M in ‘04. Theo understands the dramatic shift in approach an above average defense can give a team.

I can remember pitching TO the left side of the infield with Alex and Pokey out there, same with Orlando. That’s huge. You cannot quantify it in numbers, but it has a direct impact on pitchers that control their fastballs.

That would be the name of my fantasy team by the way….

Was slotted first, ten team league, snake draft…

Avg/R/HR/RBI/SB for offense, W/S/K/ERA/WHIP for pitchers

1) (1)Hanley Ramirez SS This scoring system, this player? Other than Reyes scores across the board at this position as well or better than anyone else

2 (20)Brian McCann C Another guy that gives a positional edge over 90+% of the league

3 (21)Jon Papelbon RP What’s not to like?

4 (40)Felix Hernandez SP I think this is the year it all comes together. Polished 4 pitch guy

5 (41)Kevin Youkilis 1B The homers were no fluke. 41st pick nets me a 4 category guy…

6 (60)Matt Kemp OF Didn’t know a ton about him until the research started, then surprised he was still there…

7 (61)Brad Lidge RP Lidge/Papelbon? Oh my…

8 (80)Ichiro OF With the offense already in place is going to help tons in 3 categories….

9 (81)Chris Carpenter SP I believe he’s fixed (and if he is he’s a 1st or 2nd rounder), 1st outing backs that up…

10 (100) Chipper Jones 3B I think one of the steals of the draft. Too many people think he’s past being good, I’m not one of them

11 (101)Andre Either OF Hate having 2 guys in the same lineup, but both have potential to boost multiple categories

12 (120)Joba Chamberlain P Going to put up good to great K/ERA/WHIP and possibly wins as well

13 (121)Jermaine Dye OF Needed a huge assist in the HR department and hoping he helps me there

14 (140)Heath Bell RP another closer, could be a sick bullpen

15 (141)Chris Young SP Wins will suffer, but great ball park, will give me WHIP, ERA and some K’s

16 (160)Erik Bedard SP Could be a HUGE steal if he’s healthy

17 (161)Clayton Kershaw SP Took a flier. Stuff is unquestionable

18 (180)Howie Kendrick 2B needed best multi-category guy I could find at 2B, almost went with Aviles but used personal experience to make this pick…

19 (181)Shin-Soo Choo OF could be another huge steal if he gets off on a good note and stays consistent

20 (200)Todd Helton 1B Personal memory killed me here. In addition to being the last hitter I ever faced, I just can’t see him not being an awesome offensive player (so awesome I moved him for Adam Lind 30 minutes after the draft)

21 (201) JJ Putz RP nice filler for the pen and the occasional save along with great WHIP seemed appealing (until I moved him after the draft for Grant Balfour)

Players I wanted and missed by a pick Greinke, Oswalt, Capps, Bonifacio, . Players I had on list but didn’t take at the end, Werth, Burrell, Verlander, Hoffman.

Things that I absolutely guarantee for the 2009 Red Sox.

Terry Francona will manage the personnel to their maximum effectiveness, regardless of what any second-guessing couch potatoes want to think or know. Tito knows more than you about his players, and always will.

The best managers in the game aren’t the men who “X” and “O” better than everyone, they’re the men who manage their people the best. Tito is as good as anyone I’ve ever been around at that. While he may suck at Cribbage, he can manage people. He may be a bit off-kilter since this is his first season as a ML manager without me on his team, but I’ll cut him some slack…..

First the divisional prediction. Cop-out time. I will make the same claim I made last season. The winner of the AL East will be between NY, Boston and Tampa. Whichever team has the fewest DL days of the opening day starting rotation’s five guys and closer will win the East.

One exception to the above rule is this. I think of the three teams that are legitimate contenders (I would add Toronto as a factor but even having Butter on the bench as a General is not enough to overcome the big 3 in my opinion), only the Red Sox could manage a big injury to the staff and not get buried. Not that they will, but I think they could.

The East has been a war of attrition for years and this year people are going to take Tampa for real as a player in this fight. The same folks who last year spent the whole season saying “this month is it,” “they can’t keep it up,” “they’re ready to go down” about Tampa are the same folks this spring saying “they’ll come back to the pack” or “they’ll come down to earth.”

Problem is those comments were made with no logic behind them. Tampa won this division last year with not one player having anything close to a career year. They did it with their ace on the DL for part of the season. They did it with no 40 HR guy, no batting title contender. They did it because Joe Maddon can manage his people, and he got his younger players to understand that winning games is far cooler than being a star. You can have both. Now add to the mix Gabe Kapler, someone who will have a profound impact on superstar young players, a healthy Scott Kazmir, a more seasoned James Shields, Matt Garza and others and I don’t see them ‘fading.’ I think it’s going to be a challenge for sure, but they’ll hold their own in my opinion.

The Yankees? Well in addition to opening what many will come to realize is the most kick-ass new stadium on the planet, they spent about $14.5 trillion in the off season to add more studs and horses. That the formula refused to work in the last eight years didn’t stop them from continuing it. The difference now is they are mixing in some young homegrown studs at the ML level who are impact guys.

Joba Chamberlain has all the makings of being a true top of the rotation guy, or the next Mariano. His numbers and stuff don’t lie, he’s the real deal and I love the makeup I’ve seen so far.

CC, well, he’s CC. That means a guy who will scream for the ball every five days if not every four, want to be on the mound in the 9th and be pissed at less than perfection. What’s not to love? That’s an ace, that’s what you HAVE to have at the top of your rotation.

Now add Tex to the mix and once again it’s a lineup to worry about. If I am not mistaken the new ballpark dimensions mirror the old, which means LHH are going to continue enjoying hitting there. Missing A-Rod will not help them early, no matter what you think, but starting the season without that media BS in the clubhouse every day should be some sort of bonus.

The bigger piece coming into play for them now is the top end of their prospect list. Austin Jackson appears to be a five-tool guy everyone is excited about and supposedly isn’t that far off. People got complacent or just totally missed the fact that having Bernie Williams out there for a decade was an insane luxury. That CF area is enormous ground to cover and having someone out there that brings some pop at the plate will be a huge lift for them. Melancon, Brackman and McAllister are all potential big upside arms. Melancon is being mentioned as Mariano’s heir apparent and that’s not a bad thing for either guy. Meaning one guy is still far from done, but this kid supposedly has the tools and makeup to be the next one. I still think Chamberlain ends up in that spot. Brackman is the wild card. At 6′10″ and 270 pounds you are talking massive potential with massive consistency issues. Moving that much mass, under control, consistently, is incredibly hard to do and teach. If they do, and he progresses, you are talking about a right-handed Randy Johnson if he can pan out. That’s ace, top-of-the-rotation stuff that comes along every 20 years. Anytime you hear ‘middle of the rotation’ mentioned in a prospects accolades it means three things.

1) We may never hear his name again
2) He could be an ace
3) Not one of his pitches wows you.

The reason that never bothers me is they continue to do this to kids in their late teens and early twenties, before velocity gain and physical growth has stopped. Many kids getting these labels are in growth spurts and are trying to adjust to new bodies, both in height and weight, as well as learning how to get guys out as the McAllister kid is.

Jesus Montero is listed as a catcher, but with his offensive ability and his size, he’ll switch positions.

One thing to watch out for in the next two years: if Boston doesn’t get that catcher of the future, and Minnesota doesn’t re-sign Joe Mauer, he’s going to go off the charts after the 2010 season as a free agent when the Sox and Yankees will be at the front of the line.

So New York needs to stay healthy, get 30 or so from Burnett and Sabathia, 25-30 from Chamberlain and Wang becomes as good as any #3 in baseball, right alongside Dice or Lester. The Yankee defense, if it’s not solid, could prove to be a huge issue for them this year as far as Wang is concerned. He’s won consistently with a below average defense and he won’t suddenly start striking guys out. I expect his numbers to remain the same, or maybe improve outside W/L. He is a guy that could have across-the-board improvement in all categories but W/L if he doesn’t get consistent defense.

If they get that many starts from their rotation they are going to be very very good.

Boston, and yes there may be some bias here but it’s because I know them and I understand how they are approaching things, is the favorite for one reason. They won the wild card last year, were within nine outs of a World Series, and never had their ace. Josh had a tough year last year. He was far more hurt in the playoffs than anyone knew. You put him out there healthy, which he is, with Jon Lester, Dice, Wake, Penny/Smoltz/Masterson, and you can’t help but feel good.

The top three pitchers have a legitimate shot at finishing in the top 10 in Cy Young voting. It would not surprise me if two things happened I don’t think anyone is expecting this year:

1) Jon Lester is better than he was last year.
2) Dice is as good, if not better, than he was last year.

The Lester progression to me is natural. Given his makeup, his stuff, and the Farrell factor if he stays healthy there is no reason his numbers won’t continue to improve over the next few years. Add in the life experience (which cannot be underestimated imo) and you have a perennial Cy candidate.

Dice is just smart. He ‘grew’ last year and progressed and the W/L total, while surprising given the IP, was not a fluke. There are pitchers with marginal stuff who can throw out the occasional W/L % like he did last year, and then there are pitchers with good stuff who know how to make pitches in big spots. Dice is the latter. He knows how to execute when he’s in a bind and that means he gives up far fewer runs than you might expect. If he can improve his command and mindset early in counts, he can move into lofty company.

After those three you figure the combination of Wake, Smoltz, Penny, Masterson, Buchholz needs to make 72 starts. Can they do that and win 45 of them? Absolutely.

If Justin masters getting ahead and beating LHH he’s looking at a long and prosperous career as a starter in the big leagues. When your feature pitch is a sinker with more tail than sink, left-handed hitters can be a huge issue (reason being the ‘tail’ sees the ball move more to the barrel of a LHH’s bat than happens with sink, when the ball has dominating downward movement; Kevin Brown and Brandon Webb have massive sink). Few guys can do that and master the inside part of the plate to LHH. The key for Justin is that it’s something identified already and being addressed. Believe it or not, identifying the problem has been the most missed step in the process in the past. Even so, identifying it is one thing, but properly addressing how to ‘fix it’ never seems to get put in the mix.

You do that, imo, with command of the inner half of the plate to LHH through a cutter/FB mix. Greg Maddux was a master at this. He threw a sinker and a cutter to BOTH sides. If you know what side of the plate I am throwing to that can be an advantage. But if I can throw two pitches to that side of the plate — one that moves TOWARDS you and the other moving AWAY from you — it’s almost to my advantage that you ‘guess’ right as long as I am throwing the ‘other’ pitch. Add his pitching IQ and knowledge of hitters to the mix and you get 350 some odd wins and 100% of the HOF ballot. Justin will need to, again imo, be a guy that learns hitters more than some guys. He’ll need to learn LHH’s tendencies and create an ebb and flow that keeps LHH guessing and uncomfortable. If he can do that he’s going to win and win a lot.

Brad Penny remains the potentially biggest bargain of the year. I’ve known Brad since early in his Florida days and he’s a fantastic kid. Unfortunately, and fortunately, for him he’s got a high-maintenance body. Speaking as someone with experience in that department he’s got to keep on top of that and it appears he knows that and is doing that exact thing. If he’s healthy and pitches like he can, with Tek, Farrell and this bullpen, he could be a 15-20 game winner. That’s a lot of ifs, but certainly not out of the question. If he is in fact healthy then he immediately becomes the best #4 or 5 in the game and the Sox could win 110.

Smoltz, damn. Another “if” but I’ve heard nothing to think he won’t be healthy. If that is the case then things get even brighter. I bet you any amount of money, if you asked every manager in the game what rotation they would NOT want in a best of 5, or 7, it would be a healthy Sox rotation. Two of the best big-game pitchers in baseball (Smoltz and Josh), along with Dice and Lester? I’ll match that group with anyone all time in October.

That’s another huge if. October is a loooong way off. As a fan though you have to feel good knowing that the training staff, led by Paul Lessard, along with Tito and John, will manage their guys and the innings in the best possible manner to see that this staff arrives in October as healthy as possible.

I don’t even need to go into depth on the bullpen. Another “if,” but if they are healthy they present the one thing every opponent dreads. The ’seven-inning game’. In the late 80’s and early 90’s it was the Reds. Mid 90’s it was the Yankees with Rivera and Wetteland. A few years ago you had the Angels with Rodriguez and Percival.

Managers manage different, offenses play different. You know on nights when everyone’s available that not having a lead after seven pretty much means you lose. It’s not a “fait accompli” but you know going in….

This bullpen not only has that potential with Saito, Paps, Okie, but you have multiple arms able to fill both spots. Not just any arms either, but power arms. This is where I see the Sox having a huge edge given the coaching. You won’t have a “pitch Scott Proctor until his arm falls off” scenario here. They will be able to mix and match on almost every night and not burn any one guy out. That’s just huge, even more so in the East.

The offense? Let’s put it this way. Manny’s gone and there’s only one Manny. At the plate there is no comparable player in the game when he wants to play. Having said that, this offense is going to score runs and wear out pitchers. One of the keys will be Jacoby and his progression. On base he changes everything about the game for the hitter, pitcher and defense. Not many players can say that.

The Yankees have two players you could legitimately see as top 10 MVP candidates. The Rays? Not sure they have one beyond Pena right now. Longoria certainly could be that guy, Upton as well, but if you were betting and using track record there is nothing in the numbers that says Petey, Youk and David couldn’t be as well. If David is healthy, which it appears he is, he’s going to see his protection come back. No matter how the lineup shakes out Papi is the ‘don’t let him beat you’ guy, but he’s also surrounded by four guys who can beat you just as well: Petey, Youk, Bay and Drew. Don’t discount a healthy Mike Lowell either. The lineup is just so damn deep that other teams are going to have a hard time winning a series in which they don’t run out a No. 1 or 2.

The Red Sox lineup, like the Yankees, just crushes mediocre pitching. Not only that but the series in which you start your 4 or 5 in game 1, or 1 and 2, can get away from you fast because there are many games that these lineups are in your pen in the 3rd inning. I’ve watched many managers in the past five years lose all three games of a series in the first five innings of game 1 by mismanaging the bullpen.

What people miss is not the immediate effects, which often times are obvious, but the lingering ones. You use your pen for six innings in game 1, three in game 2 and three or four in game 3, and that’s 12 of your 27 innings being thrown by your pen. You arrive at the ‘by availability’ day when you have at most two or three guys available and the starter craps the bed again. That first game of the previous series can take you out of games for a week if a manager mismanages the bullpen.

No one wants to be considered ’strong’ in middle relief. It’s a calling card for teams that suck because middle relief is something you want to use 1-2 times a week tops. It’s the spot many teams park their 11th or 12th arm, or the young developing kid. Teams with payrolls like NY and Boston manage to park very talented, somewhat expensive veterans or young, up-and-coming studs in that roll. Their staff never misses a beat and combined with these offenses they end up turning three or four games a year every other team loses into wins.

One of the mandates of the Epstein era was revamping and recreating a truly deep minor league system. Is there any question as of today as to whether that’s happened or not? You’ve got a stable of arms that are primed and close to ready to make a difference in the big leagues and they are catching up on the position player pool as well.

I never thought having stacked prospects in the position player area was a major concern simply because having tons of arms means you have the ultimate bargaining chip in any trade.

Take a poll of GMs around the game and I would bet you’d see the ratio 2-1 or higher as to ‘untouchable pitching prospects’ vs. position prospects.

How many teams could create a package of talent that would garner a front-line catcher with one or two minor league pitchers and maybe a position player? Not many.

So there you have it. Another long winded post and another opinion…..

My call is the Sox win 105 games this year, the Division as well. No post season predictions yet.

Oh and I also think the Cy will go to a member of this staff: Beckett, Lester or Paps.

And you ARE NOT a store owner/collector looking to hawk it on eBay?

Some tips based on my experiences, spring training and in-season.

In Spring Training, at Fort Myers, one of the cool aspects of the complex is the closeness the fans and players have. However I’d offer this advice.

Ask players on their way out to the fields, and on their way off the fields.

Do NOT ask players going between fields during workouts, for the following reasons:

1) There is a schedule and groups are going field-to-field to get their drills in
2) Any player not working his ass off or concentrating on getting his work in that morning, you don’t want his autograph anyway:)

Ask players outside the dugouts during games, but not players doing warm ups and getting ready.

Do NOT ask DURING THE GAME!! I cannot overstate this strongly enough. This is neither the time nor the place to ask and you’re likely to become the butt of jokes if you hang your head over the dugout and shout “Hey Youk! Sign my JERSEY!” 30 seconds after he’s punched out.

Ask players after games who are done with their work on the main fields.

DO NOT ask players at the entrance or exit of the parking lots, or wait on the street corners and flag them down.

During the season, this is for you folks that on the rare occasion come DOWN TO THE DUGOUT while the game is being played. Tito has a bench there to give him clear access to the field, the players and the game, not to be more accessible to sign during the game, don’t ask:) I can 100% guarantee you aren’t going to get it signed, and it’s so ‘not right’ it’s borderline funny to watch.

Ask players NOT in their cars in the players lots.

Above all else, please PLEASE PLEASE abide by these two rules:

1) Let the kids up front to ask before the adults
2) Always, always say please and thank you.
3) Don’t ask to get more than one thing signed

If you follow the above and a player won’t sign, you don’t want his autograph anyway, or, trust that there is something being done schedule-wise that doesn’t permit him to sign.

My biggest issue, and the hardest thing I think to get across, is that rarely, if ever, are you asking alone. I never wanted to walk away leaving people behind when I had signed, so if I stopped to sign I tried to sign for everyone there; if I could not I usually did not. And because you ask by yourself, doesn’t mean the crowd won’t swell rapidly, especially here in Boston. Some players may bitch about it but other than 1-2 occasions every time I’ve had a public situation fans have been incredibly kind and respectful of my time, space and family. That’s another thing, there’s no need to get ‘into my space’ to get an autograph:)

The autograph and the process has become something players detest for reasons that might be hard to understand, but they exist none the less. Fifty percent or more of the people ‘wanting’ the autograph want it to turn a profit, and I have yet to find a player, myself included, that feels I ‘owe’ it to that person to do that.

People by and large have become incredibly rude and incredibly entitled, feeling players ‘owe them’ an autograph. I NEVER had issues signing and never refused when time permitted and I could accommodate. But I had no issues when ‘that fan’ showed up, making everyone very aware that they were by no means in need of the autograph, but I sure as hell owed it to them.

In public, out to eat or at the mall, please don’t start with “I really HATE to do this” or “I don’t want to do this but my friend wanted me to ask”… Don’t do that, just ask politely. If you truly hated to, you wouldn’t.

I promise you the please and thank you are two of the biggest pet peeves, kids rarely EVER do it anymore and most times it’s at the behest of mom or dad.

Be polite, be courteous and if the player doesn’t reciprocate just know you didn’t really miss anything – the player who isn’t signing is one you don’t want your kids to look up to anyway.

There are and always will be exceptions to every rule but I promise you most players really enjoy or don’t mind, as long as there is order, respect and some semblance of control when in public.

I generally never sign when out with my family because, believe it or not, I have some added concerns when in public and I prefer to have our eyes on our kids 24/7 and even though I feel bad about it, it’s something I try to stick to.

Players, again for the most part, are good guys. Most of us were fans before we were players and signing autographs is and can be a cool thing and a fun experience, but the most important thing is that treating us with the same respect you’d ask of anyone you didn’t know that walked up to you in public and asked you for something.

It never was a comfortable thing, always awkward (at least to me) and in certain public situations it can make others uncomfortable, but if you’re always polite it becomes very easy to tell the many great guys from the very few bad ones.

If the reports are true and the Sox have inked yet another young home-grown player, chalk one up for Theo.

So let’s see, this year the Sox are paying two of the top three MVP candidates, and what will likely be a left-handed power No. 1 less than $10 million total. Right around 15mm or so next year for all three, less than 25mm for all three in 2011, on out until 2012. Notice that all three have their contracts staggered in ending dates as well.

So for around $110-or-so million, two lineup cornerstones and a No. 1 are locked up for the next four years at least. Club options on all three could keep them together through 2013.

Did they leave some money on the table? Absolutely not. There isn’t a penny of this money ‘left on the table’. These players bought lifetime’s of security, and the club got All-Star talent and cost certainty, as a ‘great price’. You can’t leave ‘money on the table’ for a time that hasn’t arrived yet.

I couldn’t be happier for all three guys. They are all great kids, all have fantastic work ethics and not one of them has hit his ceiling yet. Anyone looking for regression, meaningful regression, need look again. Dustin will only get better, it’s part of both he and Youk’s makeup. Jon as well. He’s so damn young as a pitcher, considering how many innings pitched he has career-wise, there’s no reason to think he can’t be a top 10 Cy guy for the life of this deal, every year. Not to mention he’s making about $23 million less than Santana this year.

Things look great for this group. I’d expect to hear Jason Bay’s name more and more in the coming weeks, as well as some discussions with Josh as the season rolls along.

Add this mix and the incredibly young, incredibly talented and deep pool of arms coming through the minor leagues and you can’t help but golf clap that Theo has delivered on his promise to rebuild this organization starting with the draft, scouting and the minor league system.

All of these things will continue to add up and be attractive to the free agents that are out there, looking. This team is poised to be a contender for the next 5 years at a minimum, and it should be fun as hell to watch.

Now cross your fingers Minnesota gets confused and doesn’t re-sign Mr. Mauer this year …

In 2000, I was playing in Arizona with the Diamondbacks. Around those parts it’s no mystery that one Pedro Gomez and I didn’t really like each other. I thought very little of a man who so calmly, and happily, wrote articles that could only be labeled character assassinations.

I cannot seem to find the archived article, but here is a link to a story in the LA Times that referenced one example, this one about my manager at the time, Buck Showalter.

I took issue with the piece due to the immense number of flat-out lies in it. First off, we weren’t required to wear our socks with the “A” showing. We did fraternize with opposing players before games. Buck didn’t do much of the stuff Pedro claimed at the time the article was written. The article alleged some off-the-field personal conduct issues that Pedro had ‘heard’ about. This made him, in my mind, one of the worst forms of life in the media, someone who used his pen to settle a personal score. After the article was written, I vividly remember walking out of the clubhouse and seeing Buck’s daughter in tears after that game.

So I ‘talked’ to him about it and we agreed we just didn’t like each other. Much like CHB, he made reference to the fact that he’d written ‘nice things’ about me when I was traded to Arizona, as if that made it all OK, and that he should be able to slander teammates and coaches I played with because of it.

Now Buck was no saint. He’ll admit that, and all that goes with that. But I loved playing for him. He was always prepared and never out-managed in a game.

I bring all this up to make sure people understand that Pedro and I have never been real friends.

Why write this now? Here’s why. I am reading ESPN tonight and I happen to see that he’s actually written something someone there deems worthy of print. It’s on A-Rod (surprise), and deep in the article is this comment…. Read the rest of this entry »

We can’t be shocked by any names, any more. Oh, and in my opinion, if this question is asked …

In a December 2007 interview with ‘60 Minutes,’ three days after George Mitchell’s report on drugs in the sport was released, Rodriguez denied using peformance-enhancing drugs.

… the answer should be “No, never”, period.

Starting with this:

“I’ve never felt overmatched on the baseball field … I felt that if I did my, my work as I’ve done since I was, you know, a rookie back in Seattle, I didn’t have a problem competing at any level.” — Alex Rodriguez.

Which, btw, is not a “No, never!” all the way to “Yes”. Anything other than “I have never used Steroids, HGH or any other performance enhancing drugs” has to be considered a “Yes”, doesn’t it?

ADDENDUM!!! I made the horrific mistake I was forever pissed at the media for making and I want to apologize. Alex did in fact flat out deny ever using Steroids, or HGH in this interview and with Katie Couric by saying “NO, I never used them”. I’ll now take a page from my own book and never pull comments or content from a ‘published’ media source and use that as my reference material. So in closing, Alex did in fact flat out deny ever using PED’s in any form.

“You’ll have to talk to the union” and ‘failed to return inquiries’ are terms we’ve all heard before with many folks. If you go back to comments earlier in the decade when many players were complaining about the testing — I know I said it — the main concern was the ability for them to remain “anonymous”.

That’s a very insignificant piece here until someone who is actually innocent is nailed or outed. How will we know who that is? Will it happen?

I’d be all for the 104 positives being named, and the game moving on if that is at all possible. In my opinion, if you don’t do that, then the other 600-700 players are going to be guilty by association, forever.

It’s not about good and bad people, because Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi are two of the kindest human beings ever. Andy Pettite is a fantastic person. That’s seemingly got nothing to do with anything. One hundred and four players made the wrong decision, and it appears that not only was it 104, but three of the greatest of our, or any, generation appear to be on top of this list.

And before anyone asks, I’ll make it clear: My name will not appear on any lists of positive tests. I’ve never tested positive for steroids or HGH, and I’ve never taken steroids or HGH in my life, ever. You don’t need to call the union, or an agent to verify that.

RELATED LINKS:

A-Rod Reportedly Tested Positive For Steroids

Audio: Jose Canseco talking about Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez (4:32 mark talks about introducing A-Rod to a steroid dealer)

Guttenplan: A-Rod Falls Not So Hard

LEEINKS: More Audio … And A Korean Baseball “Fight”

Audio: Sherman: Roberts Writing Book On A-Rod

Well, besides being at 38 Studios pretty much every day around 10 a.m. — after visiting with Eric — I’m filling time with the kids homework (never had much of a chance to stay on top of that before), and trying to actually DO something around the house besides just live in it.

Starting to mess around with some old hobbies. Had an affinity for model railroading that my dad gave me when I was young, which has been fun. Also playing a lot of different new, and older games. There are a few I am hooked on right now, but the one eating most of my time is this! which, btw, you can download from Valve. Valve will soon be the way to get every game you want. Why drive to the mall or store, or order online, when you can get it cheaper, and immediately via a download service?

“>Also into this facebook thing. It gets addicting. Getting all my photos up and connecting with family all over the world is pretty cool. For you parents of teenagers, it’s a fantastic way to ’snoop’ and keep abreast of what they are up to.

Two other cool links are Twitter and Flickr.

On Twitter and Flickr I am under gehrig38. Twitter is an instant messaging service you can follow friends on, a mobile instant messenger really, and Flickr is a free photo holding site you can upload photos to store for use around the web. Both of the sites you can control access to who can and cannot view your pages and material. Very cool stuff.

As far as baseball goes, I have taken the reins of the All Time Greats Pittsburgh Pirate Team here.

Off to a 16-6 start riding a hot Willie Stargell to a one-game lead over the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The league is being managed by some diehards and there are some cool blog reports on the league action so far. I only just heard about Musial going down:) Poor Cards …

First things first.

You don’t have the next Johnny Bench in the wings, you do have some prospects that might potentially be catchers of the future, but you want to win a world series in 2009 and your best possible chance to do that is with Jason Varitek catching. I’m happy for Tek. I wish it would have gone differently but as a friend/fan of his I do know that the process, and the salary will have no bearing on his effort or passion to be as good as he can.

I always enjoy being a customer of good businesses run by good people, with employees that seem to enjoy doing what they do. I have to mention two companies I was a customer of that both left a great impression on me this past week.

I flew SF to LA on Virgin America Airlines. Every single person we ran into from the gate ramp to the plane, to landing and off the plane was beyond kind. A few went out of their way to say hello and have a great day. I love that stuff.

We rented a Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and it was as smooth and quick and easy a customer experience as I’ve had in awhile. It was another company with people that truly seemed to be enjoying their jobs.

I am now a customer of both companies and will use their services over others when I have the opportunity. Oh and neither of those companies is or has paid me a dime to talk nice.

So to the team that flew us to Anaheim on Virgin, and the Enterprise folks at LA and SF, thanks for the nice week. You made the trip bearable.

Could be Ben Sheets. Of all the guys on the market, from a pure pitching standpoint, Ben is the best when you combine stuff with command. Obviously you can’t operate in a bubble and disregard health but like many other low-risk, high-reward guys, you are looking at a guy with absolute power/strike out stuff who has fantastic command within the strike zone.

Being a right-handed curveball pitcher, he will give up his share of HR’s, but of all the guys in the game today, if I had to call out one guy that I think mirrored my stuff from a power/command standpoint, this is the guy. The other would be Josh, but he was far more of a power guy with power stuff at a much younger period than I was, plus he sucks at golf.

Ben will be 31 this year, so you are looking at a guy who could offer up 3-5 ace years if healthy. That is a big if, but no bigger than some other signings. He should be better than three games over, his ERA in my opinion should be lower, but you put this guy with the medical staff here, and John Farrell/Jason Varitek and he could be the best pitcher in the AL, or a top-three Cy guy.

If I was Ben, my No. 1 concern would be to get with a team that had a state of the art medical team, facility and was very “API”-ish about approaching the season.

I keep waiting to look at the box scores one year and see him at 14-2 at the break on the way to a 24-win season and an 8/1 or 9/1 K/BB ratio.

The other X factor for me is I don’t know him that well. I don’t know if he pitches through pain, if he needs to be 110% to ‘feel good’ or what, but I’ve never heard anything but good things about him.

I would love to see him wind up down in Tampa or with the Cubs.

Oh and one more thing. How the hell is Orlando Hudson not signed? This guy is an impact player on both sides of the line.