After a very sparse winter as far as posting to this blog, the flood gates have opened. Let's dive right in.
## In 2010, Joel Zumaya was considered to be among the hardest throwers, if not THE hardest thrower, in baseball, but after injuring his arm, he missed all of 2011. He has come back this year, but in his first day in camp, in fact his first outing on the mound, he threw only 13 pitches before his elbow exploded again. He is now considering retirement at age 27. Some things are just too painful to write about.
## Terry Francona has added his two cents on the Red Sox beer issue, saying he thinks it's just a PR ploy and that it may backfire. His point is, that sometimes the little perks that you allow the players get out of hand, and that it might be better to regulate them rather than eliminate them all together. Current manager, Bobby Valentine, actually had a good response, "At ESPN, he's paid to say things. Here, we're paid to do things." Not too bad, Bobby, saying in effect, you can say what you want and move on, but I have to live with my decisions.
## Bobby Abreu has made his unhappiness with the Angels very public, but now says he's "...resigned to his new role." I wonder what his 'new role' is? "Nice to have you here, Bobby. Pick up all those bats will you?" I still don't think this is going to end well for Abreu.
## Now, there is speculation that the Rangers Josh Hamilton will declare for free agency after the season. As always, when a high profile player goes the free agent route, sports writers start predicting that he'll end up with the Yankees. Yes, the Yanks have Nick Swisher probably going to declare his free agency this fall, so they may have an opening, but a source close to the Yankee front office says that's Hamilton's too dangerous a gamble, considering his off-the-field problems with alcoholism. We'll probably hear the rumors about Tori Hunter joining the Yanks, too.
## Well, that didn't take long. The Yankee's newest acquisition, David Aardsma, didn't even make it to camp before the Yanks put him on the 60-day DL. Who does he think he is, Nick Johnson? Apparently, he still has rehab issues with his Tommy John surgery.
## Mark Teixeira says he going to change his style when batting left-handed this year. He says he got caught up in trying to hit balls into the short porch in right field, and that teams took advantage by putting an extreme shift on him. This year, he says he's going to try to hit to all fields, batting lefty, and may even start to (gulp!) bunt. With your speed, Mark, I don't think that's such a good idea. We might see a runner thrown out at first by a left fielder for the first time in history.
## Jason Varitek has decided to retire. As with Posada, there is already a discussion as to his possible induction into the Hall of Fame. I consider Posada only a marginal candidate for the Hall, and his career numbers are much better than Varitek's. Buster Olney has a great idea. On opening day, the Red Sox should have Tim Wakefield throw out the first pitch to Jason Varitek. This would be terrific PR, Boston.
## D & C columnist, Bob Matthews, is at it again. He says the Angels are his choice to be the only team to win 100 games this year, because of the addition Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. The Angels won 87 games last year, and they have a good team and a very good manager in Mike Scioscia, but winning 13 more games? I don't think so. There isn't enough protection in the lineup for Pujols and Wilson didn't seem to impress too many scouts during his free agency. I believe they'll win the AL West, but not 100 games. Annie-O says Detroit can do it and she's got a better shot of being right.
## It seems a foregone conclusion that Kentucky and Syracuse have locked down two of the four #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, but there are seven possibilities for the last two spots. Kansas, Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina, Marquette and Baylor, can all make strong cases for their inclusion into that group. I think it will come down to the first three I named: Kansas, Duke & Mich. St. and will be determined by the results of their conference tournaments.
***THEY SAID IT***
"The Temple Owls are in talks to join the Big East. This is shocking. Unlike new schools SMU, Houston, Boise State and San Diego State, Temple, situated in Philadelphia, actually is in the East." -- Janice Hough
"Broadneck High School of Annapolis, Mid., lost its Anne Arundel County girls swimming title after it was discovered that a team member violated a rule by shaving at the site of the meet — and any points she scored were forfeited. On the bright side, the Bruins became the first swim team ever credited with a quality start and a blown shave." -- Dwight Perry
"Fans want Israel to postpone attacking Iran until Madonna performs there in May. This is getting a little out-of-hand. Last April, they tried to delay major league baseball's opening day until she had dated all of the Yankees." -- Bob Mills
"There is overemphasis on 40 times for NFL quarterback prospects: "Peyton Manning and Tom Brady can't outrun the cast of 'The Biggest Loser,' and they've done pretty well for themselves." -- Bob Molinaro
[Editor's note: This site sometimes does strange things with the alignment of paragraphs and lists. I have to make some weird adjustments in the edit mode to make it look right when I publish. Yesterday, neither I, nor my "editor," Annie-O, checked out the the published version so part of the 'Nicknames' section got messed up, specifically the Iona and St. Mary's Gaels part. So if that made no sense to you, please re-read it now after I've corrected it. Sorry - Chad.]
CP-
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