Random Sports Themes for an Otherwise Empty Day …

How is this for a foursome? I'm going to tell myself that the only reason Bill was allowed in was because Brady demanded it …

Per Angry L.A. Greg's request …

The Tigers ended up with today's baseball draft's most highly touted pitching prospect while most of us were thinking, "They have a baseball draft?" If you are interested, here is what other teams did. Of note, "Tampa Bay took Long Beach State third baseman Evan Longoria," who is apparently unrelated to the Desperate Housewife of the similar name. The Red Sox picked South Carolina high school outfielder Jason Place and North Carolina right-hander Daniel Bard at numbers 27 and 28.

Cause for worry?


Photo courtesy of the Boston Globe / Boston.com

Jeez, Beckett looked good last night, eh? What is it with this guy? That's two poor outings in a row. Is he morphing into Matt Clement? A stat, by way of Ms. MacMullen: "Beckett's numbers at Fenway this season are 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA. After last night, his road outings have produced a pedestrian 4-3 mark with an ERA of 7.00 … A trend or a fluke? Inquiring minds want to know."

Globe Blogger Eric Wilbur notes that the Red Sox decision to start David Pauley again in Yankee Stadium, rather than bring up touted prospect Jon Lester, reflects badly on the Red Sox brass:

Pauley could summon the Ghost of Lou Merloni and announce that, “The Red Sox are making a mockery of my career.” And he might be right. There’s a reason that Jon Lester is not starting tonight in Yankee Stadium. The club doesn’t feel that Yankee Stadium is the place for a promising lefty to begin his career, not the way to ruin a guy’s psyche in what they hope to be a long and fruitful career.

Surprisingly, Herald columnist and radio jackarse Gerry Callahan employs a bit of sarcasm in one of his columns, noting:

Maybe they don’t want him to miss his prom. The way the Red Sox have handled Lester, who made his 80th minor league start last night, is proof that some people can be too patient with their young talent, too careful, too fearful that a rough start will just ruin a young athlete’s career.

Tony Mazz defends the Red Sox decision not to start Lester tonight, noting that ". . . he is far too valuable." Tony Mazz cites the Tigers' differing treatment of Jeremy Bonderman and Matt Maroth early in their careers, noting the kid gloves properly used with Bonderman – the future ace: " If you have two sets of dinnerware – porcelain and fine china – would you put the china in the dishwasher? Of course not."

The Red Sox are still likely to get on the phone with Pawtucket soon, to find a starter for Saturday's contest.

The annointed savior pitched four scoreless innings for Pawtucket last night, despite struggling with control. He noted, "I had too many walks, too many pitches, and my command was bad …" The four inning stint does little to dispel the rumor that he'll be with the big club before Saturday for his Major League debut.

Last night, Terry Francona played coy when asked to confirm that Lester would start on Saturday. There's another shocker.

First things first. The Globe reports that David Wells won't be back in time to make his Sunday start, so Pauley will likely get the call a third time irrespective of his performance tonight. Either way, he still needs to endure the limelight that nearly every paper in the two cities is reporting will be hot and heavy on the young Pauley tonight. That is, everyone by The Hartford Courant's David Heuschkel, who considers adopting Curt Schilling's line, noting " "He's not climbing Mount Everest …[h]e's playing a baseball game at Yankee Stadium."