With star running back Ronnie Brown placed on the IR and out for the rest of the season Miami’s wildcat may need to be put down.

Brown is the lynch pin of that system and without him i doubt it will be as productive as it has been in the past. Brown is out for the season with a foot injury and was placed on the IR earlier today.

Ricky Williams will move into Brown’s starting role for the remainder of the season though I doubt his career high 5.3 yards per carry will stand without Brown present to distract defenses.

Williams is not as good as he was in 2002, he’s in his 30’s now and though I’m sure he’s still in great shape has probably been going downhill for years. He also lacks the versatility that made Brown so great which is why we will most likely see the elimination or at least a downplaying of the wildcat offense.

ESPN.com reports that Larry Johnson has signed a one-year contract with the Bengals.

No one claimed Johnson off waivers last week presumably due to sub-par performance coupled with a history of behavior issues. The Bengals have offered Johnson a fourth string slot on their depth chart so we probably wont be seeing much of the man who was slated to break Preist Holmes’ franchise record unless Cedric Benson’d hip strain becomes more serious.

Tonight is probably one of the biggest games of the season for the Patriots.

They face the 8-0 Indianapolis Colts. If they win they will prove that Tom Brady is back and that they can compete in the top of the league once again. I think the Patriots can hand the Colts their first loss of the season despite allowing more points per game on defense. The patriots have allowed 14.4 points while th colts have allowed just 13.5.

The Patriots defense has allowed 39.0 third down conversions  per game to the colts 44.1. Third down conversions can be utterly demoralizing to a defense. On top of that the Colts also allow more total yards per game, 303 to the pats 291.

One of the Colts best Defensive players, Bob Sanders, is out for this game. This could make it very easy for Wes Welker to pick them apart on the sub-10-yard pass attempt game.

Lastly but probably most importantly, the Colts are a one-dimensional offense depending entirely on Peyton Manning. Yes, they have Joseph Addai in the backfield but when they use him it’s usually for some bizarre Half-back back reminiscent of college offenses. With Leigh Bodden and a reformed Brandon Meriweather in the secondary passing all day just wont fly on this defense.

Meriweather has been playing well this season and watching him I see a bit of Troy Polamalu in his play style. Give him another year or two and he can be a premier safety in the NFL.

On offense the the patriots Outscore the Colts 28.1 to 27.1 points per game. The patriots also utilize more of their weapons with Maroney being an option he will most likely have a decent game tonight.

For our fantasy playing readers I’d say Welker and either of the elite QB’s playing in this game would be a likely start although I wouldnt bank on either defense as it will probably be a very offensive game.

This game will most likely set the tone for the rest of the season for both teams. I recommend you watch it it will probably be one of the top games of the season.

It’s a bunch of guys from Mormon country who got into the playoffs on a wing and a prayer. First they deposed the reigning champions, beating them twice, and then they took out the number two team. Now they’re in the national championship, going against a big-money team laden with international stars.

And you’ve never heard of them.

Real Salt Lake went into the final weekend of the MLS season needing a whole bunch of results to go their way in order to make the playoffs. They took care of their own business, annihilating local rival Colorado Rapids, but that was only one step of a 5-piece parlay the Utah team needed to reach the postseason. And, improbably, every piece fell into place.

There really isn’t any good way to compare how lucky Salt Lake even was to make the playoffs. The closest metaphor I can come up with would be if last season’s Tampa Bay Rays made the playoffs. Not a great team, hardly even a good team, but somehow the math worked out in their favor.

Of course, in baseball, squeaking into the playoffs usually means you’re rewarded with the toughest opponent on the slate. MLS is much the same way – Salt Lake’s four-leaf clover gave them a date with the Columbus Crew, last season’s MLS Cup Champions and this season’s best team in record. But Salt Lake became the little team that could, beating Columbus in both halves of the two-game series to earn a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals. (I know, “Eastern Conference Finals” and Salt Lake City? MLS has a strange process that lets the best 8 teams qualify, regardless of conference. They get broken into East and West after that.)

But even beating the champs left them with a match against the Chicago Fire, who had dispatched the New England Revolution in their Eastern Conference Semifinal matchup. The game was in Chicago, where massive supporters groups light flares and hurl streamers and dance and sing for 90 minutes solid, all in an effort to intimidate the away team.

And somehow, despite having just barely made it into the playoffs in the first place, the Rocky Mountain gang pulled it off. After a full 90-minute game and 30 minutes of overtime, nobody had scored. So the Eastern Conference Championship would go to the team that could best win in penalty kicks.

Here’s another baseball reference for you. Imagine penalty kicks as being like a Home Run Derby. Only the Home Run Derby counts, and they use it instead of extra innings. That’s what the pressure is like.

Remarkably, Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando (”moonpie” to his detractors in fanbases around the league) stopped three of the penalty shots he faced in a Herculean effort that saw this season’s Cinderella through to the championship.

But two household names are waiting to smash the glass slipper. Landon Donovan, David Beckham, and the rest of the Los Angeles Galaxy will take on the “Eastern Conference Champion” Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup Final November 22nd in Seattle. L.A. will be a heavy favorite, but so was Chicago. And so was Columbus.

And so were the four teams Salt Lake leapfrogged on the last weekend of play.

For once, the Cinderella story might not end at midnight. It might carry through to next season.

For sports fans who desire their information rapidly and already versed on the blogs, boards and even their teams’ Twitter feeds, there is a new game in town.  Launched Monday, Spitter (www.spitter.com) is a sports fan’s newest real-time source for news and discussion.

Powered by SpitterBot, Spitter searches the Internet for the best sports news headlines and fan discussions and presents them on pages organized by team.  Registered members of Spitter (the spitters?) post comments and news links directly onto team-specific pages for the community to share.

Thus, a Red Sox fan can go to the Red Sox page on Spitter.com and find real time news headlines with links to current coverage of the team, from a wide range of media sites, paired with fan discussion and commentary by other Sox fans.

Spitter currently features specific page sites for the teams in NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and international soccer leagues, colleges, PGA golfers and drivers in NASCAR, FormulaOne and MotoGP.

According to The Boston Globe, the Red Sox designated pitcher John Smoltz for assignment this afternoon. If he is not claimed on waivers, the club has 10 days to release him or send him to the minors.

Smoltz has struggled this season; he allowed nine hits and eight earned runs in 3 1/3 innings of a 13-6 loss to the Yankees on Thursday night. He has an ERA or 8.33.

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

The Red Sox head to the Bronx to start a four-game series against the New York Yankees tonight.  The Sox are 8-0 in the season series with their rivals but trail them by 2.5 games in the division.  The Sox are also floundering while the Yankees are firing.  Still, there are reasons to be optimistic and they start with the starting pitching.  Match-ups favor the Red Sox.

Tonight John Smoltz faces Joba Chamberlain.  Smoltz is pitching less like his old self and more like a 42 year-old who doesn’t throw a knuckleball or take steroids.  He is also a right-hander with slowed fastball pitching against a lot of lefthanders in a park where check-swings can knock balls out of right-field.  Still, the Yankees counter with Joba.  Joba has three straight wins, but those are on the heels of starts in which he went 4.1, 3.2 and 5.1 innings.  In two starts against the Red Sox this season, he is 0-1 with a .344 batting average against in 11 innings pitched.  Also factor in that Red Sox ringer Victor Martinez is 2/5 against him and David Ortiz is batting .320 with 2 homers against the Yankees this season, further noting that much of his at-bats against them came in his early-season super-slump.  J.D. Drew is on another one of his hot streaks between injuries.  The Sox better hope for a bloodbath tonight because it is doubtful Smoltz will keep the runs off the board.  Still, Smoltz knows how to pitch and how to win a big game.

Friday is another Beckett vs. Burnett showdown.  This season the enigmatic A.J. Burnett is 0-1 with a 12.91 ERA, 2.74 WHIP and .382 batting average against in his games against the Red Sox.  Those numbers came in two starts totaling 7.2 innings pitched.  Josh Beckett, who is now in pennant-race cruise control, has not completely dominated the Yankees this season but in three start against them, he is 2-0 with a 5.82 ERA (most coming in his last duel with A.J.) with 16 strikeouts in 17 innings.

Saturday’s matinee on FOX features Clay Buchholz against C.C. Sabathia.  Buchholz has not faced the Yankees yet this season and has a 7.45 ERA and no decisions in his two career starts against the team from the Bronx.  C.C. pitched an ok game against the Red Sox earlier this season, going seven innings and giving up four runs for an 0-1 mark on the season.  In his career against the Red Sox, dating back to his Indians days and including the 2007 ALCS, Sabathia is 2-5 in eight starts with a 4.07 ERA.  Keep in mind the Red Sox right-handed lineup features Mike Lowell and Varitek and Victor batting from the right.

It’s Southpaw Sunday for the series finale with Jon Lester and Andy Pettite facing off.  Pettite pitched well against the Red Sox this season, going six innings and giving up three earned runs in his sole start against them.  In his career against the Sox, Pettite is 16-9 with a 3.72 ERA.  In 2008, he was 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA and .375 batting average against.  In two starts this season against the former Highlanders, Jon Lester is 1-0 with a 3.46 ERA and .255 batting average against, retiring 17 Yankees by the strikeout.

In terms of offense, the Red Sox have added Victor Martinez but will likely miss Jason Bay for this series.  The Yankees return the same lineup against the Red Sox that they had earlier in the season.  One team may be slumping while another is thriving but that is the nature of baseball.  The Yankees also feature a stronger bullpen with the emergence of Phil Hughes as a setup-man.  Other x-factors include David Ortiz facing a fan-reception as vitriolic as he faced in the 2004 ALCS and the fact that being 0-8 against the Red Sox, the Yankees might also need to win their head games to beat the Sox in the next few days.

I would like to use this post to clarify my purposes and goals in contributing to On the Record Sports as well as address some criticism I have received.  I am here, simply, to provide commentary on sports topics and events as well as pass on interesting articles and information.  Since almost all of the sports news Blast currently has the capabilities to report would be from wire articles and not firsthand information and sources, I will not just post news.  You can get that from national websites such as ESPN.com, FOXSports.com, CBSSports.com and any regional newspaper site.  I expect this blog would not be your first source for sports news.

So if I do not supply you with news, then what do I provide?  I will link you to interesting stories that are not getting the star treatment on the major websites and will also write analysis that goes beyond the mere facts of an event.  While the Internet–and blogging in particular–has enabled much quicker access to information than previously allowed by print media, I believe that it has had the counter-effect of watering down the analysis.  An AP article can tell you that a team made a move or that a player did something but it generally will stop short of saying what that occurrence actually means.

Today I received a comment, which I interpreted as a sarcastic swipe (if it was not, my apologies), thanking me for the “mindless” sports info because it was just what he “needed.”  For starters, if a person actually needed sports information, which likely is information about the teams and athletes he or she follows, he or she likely would go about finding it on his or her own.  Secondly, I do not know what readers “need.”  What I can do, is write and reccommend material I think sports fans would find interesting.  Last Friday’s post was a collection of links.  One link was an article on SI.com about BC linebacker Mark Herzlich and the support he has received in his battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma.  While it did not concern an outcome or player transaction, it was a heartwarming, well-written article that I believe conveys the true spirt of sportsmanship.  Whether you are a BC fan or not, it is worth every sports fan’s time to read.  National sports media however are sometimes so busy reporting on Michael Vick, Brett Favre and steroids that some good articles and writers slip through the cracks.  The lines about the Red Sox being engaged in discussions with the Indians about Victor Martinez (who is now in the everyday starting lineup) as well as the Pirates not making a move that day were relevant to the Major League trade deadline.

David Ortiz’s June performances and comparisons to other teams’ sluggers is another example of an observation that isn’t worthy of a news article but still insightful.  Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain do not play for the Red Sox or Yankees but their performances warrant attention from all baseball fans.

Blogging breaks down the barriers between writers and readers.  Commenting allows readers to share information or post criticism.  An unfortunate side effect is that commenters–at least from what I have seen on this blog–also leave their politeness and courtesy offline.   Suggestions and questions are highly welcome and will be considered.  Jabs that insult my writing or deride a post with no valid suggestion or information are just a waste of your time.  Saying that you would like to see more non-Boston material is a valid comment and one that I have considered.  Asking my thoughts on a team, player, transaction or any other sports issue is a good comment.  Responding to a post or another comment with your own thoughts is also a good comment and stimulates discussion which is something blogs should do more often.  So is sharing related stories and information.  I will respond to those comments and encourage you all to do the same.  Corrections, especially when it comes to statistics, are also welcome.  I previously worked as a newspaper sports writer and received my fair share of criticism.  If you have a complaint, I ask that you back it up.

Some sports material to enjoy with your morning coffee and get you to the weekend.

With sports and sports media focusing on subjects such as performance-enhancing drugs, NFL quarterbacks’ retirement or reinstatements, college recruiting scandals and hotel voyeurism, a lot of the good in sports is often overlooked.  In this excellent article for SI.com, Kevin Armstrong chronicles the support Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich has received in his battle with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer with which he was diagnosed in the spring.  As exemplified by Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis and the Clemson team and university community, who would consider Mark and the Eagles far from friends on the gridiron, athletes and coaches do not need to wear the same uniform to all be fighting for the same victory.

It’s college basketball time all the time in North Carolina.  The Charlotte Observer says the 2010 ACC basketball season will be close and that BC is among the teams that can emerge as a “dark horse” to win the conference.  The Triangle-based News and Observer also provides a summer basketball preview and has BC at the top with UNC and Florida State.   In addition he News and Observe has ACC football previews.  The Boston Herald has good coverage of BC and the ACC.  The Boston Globe will likely run original material for the Eagles’ basketball games against UNC and Duke and a couple football games.

The Pirates did not make any trades on Thursday but still has until 4pm EST Friday to make a non-waiver deal.  That is if there are players left at the Major League level of the Pirates system.  The Dodgers acquired Baltimore Orioles reliever George Sherill for two minor league players.

Foxsports.com columnist Kevin Hench writes a letter of thanks to Brett Favre.

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi says that trade talks for Halladay are all but dead.  The Red Sox and Indians are reportedly discussing a deal that would send Cleveland first baseman/catcher Victor Martinez to the Red Sox.  A third team will likely get involved.

With the Red Sox’s comeback win over the A’s Thursday afternoon and a Yankees ninth-inning loss to the White Sox that night, the Sox trail in the AL East by 2.5 games.

Julio Lugo is tearing it up as a second baseman and shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals.  Since he was given to the Cards by the Red Sox last week, Lugo is 10 for 25 with a homerun and stolen base.  His fielding hasn’t been bad either.

Until the Dallas Stars Ice Girls make their 2009 Lake Day video, we’re stuck with the 2008 edition.  And 2007, in which you learn about the squad.

Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is pitching Air Tran.

The new United Football League plans to bring pro football to Hartford in 2009.  The league has not yet announced team names.  Michael Vick says he’s talking to pro teams, but did not specify that they are NFL teams.  Franchise QB for the New Whalers?

Down 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh to the Oakland A’s in today’s getaway-day game, Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz unleashed some vintage Papi and blasted a three-run homer to centerfield to put the Sox ahead for good.  The Red Sox split the four-game series with the Athletics and head to Baltimore Friday for a three-game weekend series.

Some sports musings while we await news of the move that will save the Red Sox’s season.

• Theo Epstein will make a significant move before Friday’s 4pm non-waiver trade deadline.  While the team is just behind the Yankees in the AL East and leading the Wild Card standings, the post All-Star break swoon looks more like a tailspin every day.  Looking beyond the obvious 4-8 “second-half” record, the Sox have two pitchers on the DL–Tim Wakefield will be back whereas Daisuke Matsuzaka is setting the stage for an acrimonious free agent departure which can’t come soon enough, a banged-up catcher who tends to fade in the second-half of seasons (to Varitek’s credit, most catchers do), shortstop issues and slumps by Jason Bay and J.D. Drew.  Like the 2004 squad, this year’s team is highly talented but flawed to the point where postseason dreams can be derailed.  Victor Martinez and Roy Halladay look like the top two choices since Indians lefty Cliff Lee, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, was traded to the Phillies earlier today.  Cleveland will likely want to further stockpile prospects and, more importantly, replace the recent loss in pitching with young arms.  As we all know, the Red Sox have pitching prospects.  It must be noted that Sox GM Theo Epstein has worked multi-team deals in the past (Nomar in 2004 involved the Cubs, Twins and Expos; Manny-Bay involved the Pirates and Dodgers).  You would have to think that the arrival of Victor Martinez would coincide with the departure of newcomer Adam LaRoche.
• The Pirates continued to throw everything off their sinking ship today, trading infielder Freddy Sanchez to the Giants and shortstop Jack Wilson and Ian Snell to the Mariners.  It appears that these are actually good trades that dumped the salaries of veterans the Bucs would not resign in exchange for Major League-ready prospects.  San Francisco sent over right-handed pitcher Tim Alderson who is currently in AA but a top pitching prospect.  The Mariners sent shortstop Ronny Cedeno, who is really just an expiring contract, and catcher/first baseman Jeff Clement who has 20-homerun potential at the Major League level.  Maybe Pirates GM Neal Huntington really does have a plan.  Hopefully by this time in a year or two, when Huntington talks to his colleagues around the league, it will be as a buyer.
• Before today’s deal for Sanchez, the Giants acquired first baseman Ryan Garko from the Indians.  The club may not be done dealing as pitcher Randy Johnson went on the DL today.
• In football news, Boston College was again picked to finish last in the ACC Atlantic Division.  The Eagles are used to not receiving any respect from the media but there are quite a few question marks this season: another coaching change (former defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani is now head coach after Jeff Jagodzinski left over the winter), another quarterback change (redshirt freshman Justin Tuggle vs. old freshman Dave Shinskie in a “Necessary Roughness” impression vs. juco transfer Codi Boek), major defensive losses (linemen Ron Brace and B.J. Raji went to the NFL; linebacker Mark Herzlich is being treated for the cancer Ewing’s Sarcoma) and the same kicking game which is always a question.  Still, BC returns 13 starters from last season’s division-winning team, including four of five offensive lineman and star sophomore runningbacks Montel Harris and Josh Haden.  The losses of Brace, Raji and Herzlich will be big but the Eagles were one of the top defenses in the country last year and still possess a deep linebacker corps.  Far from the floor of the Atlantic, BC will again contend for a trip to the ACC title game and finish the season with eight wins.
• Some washed-up NFL quarterback decided against a run at another last hurrah this season.  That does not however rule out the chance of a Roger Clemens dating show-like midseason return.
• I do not normally watch The Real World or any “reality” TV due to my involvement with the original reality TV–sports.  While up late one night, I attempted to see whether anything could be watchable in HD and put on a Real World Cancun episode from OnDemand.  Not only was I struck by how MTV cast four ok-at-best looking women including one with bad teeth and a self-mutilation problem, but how easily any of these people can get some action.  I would be more intrigued to see an entire show based on how they pick up their conquests which I bet involves something along the lines of “Hey, I’m on the Real World.  There are the cameras.  Come home with me and you could be on TV.”

While we tend to bother ourselves with the AL East, one of the more intriguing baseball storylines is going on out west.  The San Francisco Giants are nine games behind the Dodgers in the NL West standings but only one game behind the Rockies in the Wild Card standings.  Anchoring the Giants’ rotation are Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, two of the game’s top young pitchers.  Rounding out the rotation are Randy Johnson, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez, who threw a no-hitter on July 10 but has been about average or below in all his other starts.  Cain is 12-2 with a 2.27 ERA, 1.21 wHIP and 108 strikeouts.  Lincecum, at 10-3 on the season, has a 2.45 ERA with a 1.07 WHIO and 168 strikeouts.  Each has three complete games on the season.  Team ERA is 3.60 and Team WHIP is 1.30.  Offense is another story as only Kung-Fu Panda Pablo Sandoval and Bengie Molina have double-digit homerun totals with 15 and 11 respectively.  Sandoval is also the only every-day player with an OBP over .350, reaching base at a clip of .377.

Despite the offense and somewhat shallow starting pitching depth, the Giants can be a nasty draw in a play-off series, especially one in which Cain and/or Lincecum can start twice.  All they need to do is get there.  Thus, while the usual suspects are in the talks for the big trades, don’t count out the Giants who are either a bat or another arm away from the play-offs and a bat and arm away from winning in the play-offs.  The Giants have not won a World Series in their time in California.  While overtaking the Dodgers in the division would require a stretch run reminiscent of the late summer and fall of 1951 that culminated in the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World,” these Giants can make some waves by the bay this season.

Note: the title of this post in an allusion to a legendary mantra for that other Boston baseball club in 1948.

The Red Sox bats showed life tonight in an 8-3 win over the Oakland A’s, exploding for 14 hits.  Although it was against the A’s, any offensive explosion is a welcome sight for a team that since the All-Star break was in one of those slumps where just nothing is going right.  At least now, they might be regrouped with both hitting and pitching coming together.  It is often said that when a team’s players are slumping together, “someone is gonna pay.”  Let’s just hope the charges continue through the upcoming series with the Orioles, Rays and Yankees.

As important as the hitting and Josh Beckett’s pitching (7 IP, 3 ER, 10 K, 1 BB, 8 H), the bullpen continued its stellar performance by continuing its scoreless streak–now at 24 innings–since the All-Star break.  Central to the bullpen is rookie reliever Daniel Bard.

In 27.2 innings, Bard is rocking a 1.01 WHIP, 2.28 ERA and .184 batting average against on top of 34 strikeouts.  Most impressive is the distribution of Bard’s runs: in his 23 relief appearances since arriving at the big club from Pawtucket, Bard has only allowed earned runs in three of them.  The last time one of Bard’s runners scored was on June 25–eight appearances ago.

We think we know what’s going on in Sox trade land, but manager Terry Francona said before Monday’s game that we may never really know what’s said behind closed doors.

Francona said that he has been speaking with general manager Theo Epstein regarding trade negotiations before Friday’s deadline but the names that have been discussed aren’t the usual suspects.

“I listen to the talks. I don’t listen to the radio, but I talk to Theo,” Francona said. “Some of the people I hear talked about on the radio — you guys have no idea. I talk to Theo a lot. I know what’s going on, but I also know what’s not going on.”

Francona didn’t talk about any moves, either hypothetically or realistically, but said that they team may be active close to the deadline like it has in years past.

“We were players sometimes in the past and we may be players in the future,” said Francona. “Boston, as a city, seems to be a player in everything. We’re not the biggest city in the country, but we are one of the biggest markets in baseball.”

Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated reported in the Daily Scoop that the Sox are actively pursuing big deals. Rumors have them interested in Victor Martinez and Adrian Gonzalez to add depth offensively to the infield – but they’re two of the usual suspects tossed around all the time.

We’ll see by Friday.

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick on Monday, almost two years after suspending him indefinitely for his involvement in a dogfighting ring.
Goodell first suspended Vick in August of 2007 after he admitted running a dogfighting ring and lying about his involvement in the operations. He was recently released after serving 18 months in prison and was reinstated “with conditions” that could have him back on the field.

He cannot participate in regular-season games until Week 6 (Oct. 18-19), but he can immediately take part in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games. A number of teams have already said they would not Vick and no teams have come forward to announce that they would. Once the season begins, Vick may participate in all team activities except games, and Goodell said he would consider Vick for full reinstatement in October.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to commissioner Goodell for allowing me to be readmitted to the National Football League,” Vick said in a statement released by his agent, Joel Segal. “I fully understand that playing football in the NFL is a privilege, not a right, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity I have been given.”

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

This past weekend as well as the impending non-waiver trade deadline at 4pm EST on Friday makes this Monday a bit manic for baseball talk.  For the Red Sox, Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson (he put in a year with the Sox) probably with it were Sunday because that was a fun day…for them.  It was not so fun for future Hall of Famer John Smoltz who gave up six earned runs in five innings for a loss against the Orioles.  The Nation, who spent most of the season hearing that the Red Sox have a “surplus of pitching” while being reminded that “you can never have too much pitching.”  For a recap, pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka and Tim Wakefield are on the DL, Smoltz has yet to prove he is a play-off pitcher and Clay Buchholz arrived from Pawtucket with one good outing and one that makes one question his impact on the team.  Roy Halladay is still with the Blue Jays and it becomes more likely every day that he will finish the season in Ontario.  Worse than the pitching, the Red Sox’s offense has been sluggish.  This team can use a hitter and a pitcher or just every player playing well (that includes 70 Million Dollar Man J.D. Drew who, due to his injury history, may be a candidate for bionic enhancement).  Which event is more likely?  Right.  Recall how the 2004 team was sputtering at this time that year when Theo dealt for Dave Roberts, Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz.

At the very least, it appears the Sox’s bullpen is back on track.

According to Yahoo! (formerly of the Boston Globe and recently a sub in the NESN booth) writer Gordon Edes on Saturday:

“The Red Sox continue to track Cleveland’s Victor Martinez(notes), the switch-hitting catcher and first baseman who would give the team’s dormant offense an immediate lift while giving GM Theo Epstein a valuable piece for the future. The Adam LaRoche(notes) deal has no impact on the Red Sox’s interest in Martinez, but so far Boston reportedly is unwilling to give up Clay Buchholz(notes). This trade makes too much sense for the Red Sox for it not to happen. The All-Star Martinez will wear out the Green Monster, he could be the team’s first baseman (and less likely, their catcher) for years to come, and he’s terrific in the clubhouse, especially with Latin players and young players. GM Mark Shapiro will extract a high price, but there’s a match to be made here.”

I was unsold on Martinez until I read and heard more about his clubhouse character.  I like guys like that on teams and feel they’re sometimes necessary to get other players to play well.  That and he is a switch-hitter who plays multiple positions, far more valuable than Adam LaRoche.  Plus, Francona likes carrying three catchers in the play-offs and Martinez gives the team that without sacrificing offense or another position.

Leave it to the Yankees to catch the A’s right when they traded Matt Holliday.  Luckily the Red Sox get the A’s for four days starting tonight.

Coinciding almost annually with the Hall of Fame inductions is chatter about Pete Rose being taken off the permanent ineligibility list so he can be on the Hall of Fame ballot or considered by the Veterans Committee.  I for one believe that Rose should never be enshrined in Cooperstown.  Few people seem to remember or realize that Rose became permanently ineligible as part of a deal he struck with Major League Baseball in which he admitted there was factual basis to the ban and MLB would not make a formal finding about his gambling.  In addition, Rose initially denied he gambled as manager of the Reds before admitting in 2004 that he did gamble on games he managed but never against his own team.  A manager who bet on games he managed–who involved himself with gamblers and had control of the outcome of those games–should be treated the same as players who took dives for money.  Rose might say he never bet against his own team and maybe he didn’t, but why believe him now?

Although not Roy Halladay or Victor Martinez, the Red Sox stirred trade waters this afternoon by raiding the Pittsburgh Pirates vessel and demanding first baseman Adam LaRoche, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Walking the plank back to the Bucs are minor league shortstop Argenis Diaz and pitcher Hunter Strickland.  The word on the web about Diaz most recently a Portland Sea Dog, is that he is an excellent (although prone to errors due to attempting crazy and amazing plays) defensive shortstop with a cannon arm but a sub-par hitter.  Sox Prospects.  Strickland, a starboard-sider, has a low-90s fastball (in miles; likely high 80s in knots) with a slow, unexplosive delivery.  Far from lost treasure, these prospects are more likely headed to the Davey Jones’ locker that is the Pirates organization.    With LaRoche making $7M for this year’s voyage and up for a new crew at its end, Pittsburgh will save some pieces of eight through this trade.   As in every late summer voyage, the Pittsburgh crew will drift through the sea a gang of ghost pirates.

For the Sox, LaRoche gives skipper Terry Francona a fierce port-siding plank out of the cabin to spell first-matey Kevin Youkilis or third-matey Mike Lowell (with Youk manning that port) to hammer cannonballs coming from the starboard.  This barter the most recent in a week of ship shaking with the albatross Julio Lugo buried at sea last Fri., Tim Wakefield in sick bay and the impressment of Jed Lowrie and Clay Buchholz in the last days past.  General Theo Epstein is in the crow’s nest with his spy-glass on the lookout for what may be acquired or plundered from other ships.

Captain Jason Varitek has not been ahoyed for comment.

The Tribune Company may force the Chicago Cubs to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to speed up the sale of the team by the media company, according to reports. If they file, the Cubs would become the first team to go under since the Seattle Pilots went bankrupt in 1970.

Tribune Co. spokesman Gary Weitman declined to comment.

The company has reached an agreement to sell the Cubs, their home park of Wrigley Field and a stake in a regional sports cable network for slightly less than $900 million to the Ricketts family, Reuters previously reported. The company is also in talks with a second group of potential owners.

Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy in December and put the Cubs, Wrigley Field and a 25 percent stake in a local sports TV network on the block in April 2007.

The company would only hope to keep the team in chapter 11 for a short amount of time to ensure the Cubs and related assets are free of liabilities so as to speed a sale, a Reuters source said.

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

It’s the first day of the All-Star Break and tonight is the annual State Farm Home Run Derby (8pm, ESPN).  The Red Sox do not have a representative in the Derby this year although All-Star pitcher Josh Beckett has gone deep in interleague games this year and in 2006.  Some quick notes while you wait for tonight’s jacks:

For those thinking small on homer day…  Great note from Joe Castiglione in the WRKO Red Sox Radio broadcast (as heard on Hartford affiliate WTIC 1080 AM) of Friday night’s 1-0 win over the Royals: Nick Green’s eigth-inning bunt was the first sacrifice bunt for a Red Sox position player this year.  The team has seven total sac bunts on the season; six of which were by pitchers in interleague play.  More importantly, Green’s bunt moved Jacoby Ellsbury to second and Ellsbury scored on a hit by Dustin Pedroia, making the bunt a complete success.  This is a great example of Francona’s management style and modern baseball: while bunting on a regular basis is for the most part stupid because a runner on first with no outs scores more often than a runner on second with one out, there is a time and place for it–when you know there will be an out anyway–such as when a hitter (or pitcher) is not hitting well or you’re just facing a lights-out pitcher.  It’s somewhat ironic that the bunt and scored run came against Royals starter Brian Bannister who himself is a follower of statistical analysis and smart baseball.

The Red Sox own a three-game lead in the AL East at the mid-summer siesta as they won three straight games against the Royals and the Yankees lost three straight in comical fashion to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California, United States of America.  Nota bene that the Sox won two games against Kansas City by shutout, Lester going eight innings on Friday and Beckett going the distance on Sunday, while the Yankees had to pitchers not make it out of the fifth inning and C.C. Sabathia pitched less than stellar against an Angels team missing Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter.  Further note that the Sox are done with the west coast this season and the Yankees still have two trips out there.  Don’t however, forget about the Rays, because they are absolutely menacing head-to-head against the Red Sox and Yankees.

Apparently (and apparitiously) the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee is not favored by some ballplayers visiting the Brewers. Players from the Twins and Marlins have reported some supernatural events.   I’m starting a screenplay for a more adult version of Angels in the Outfield in which teams embrace the ghosts of their visiting teams’ hotels and clubhouses.  There should be a show on NESN–hosted by Heidi Watney of course–that follows players’ superstitions and takes viewers to haunted locations on team road trips.  With players as superstitious as they are, can this be explolited?  Imagine Dustin Pedroia hiding a walkie-talkie in an opposing pitcher’s room’s closet, or Kevin Millar personally hiding in a closet or under a bed.  It will be difficult hiding anything in A-Rod’s closet as it is already filled with skeletons…

Enjoy the rest of Blast and tonight’s blasts from St. Louis.  I’m picking Adrian Gonzalez to tee-off.

The baseball media are buzzing after Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said that the team would listen to offers for ace Roy Halladay, one of the best pitchers in the majors.  Naturally, fans, writers and bloggers in Boston and New York are running themselves ragged on what it will take either of the top AL East clubs to land Doc Halladay.  Will it be a package including Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain (which if it happens, will go down as one of the worst trades in recent history)?  Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden?

I am of the mind that Halladay will not be traded to a team in the AL East.  Note that the Blue Jays, while fourth in the division standings, are still 43-42 — eight games behind the Red Sox and seven behind the Yankees.  With seven teams ahead of them in the AL Wild Card standings, the Jays are still just seven games back.  On July 8.  They are not entirely out of the race but a trade to one of the division (who would also be a Wild Card leader) leaders would almost certainly knock them out of the hunt.  Halladay is also signed through 2010 so unless Ricciardi is not planning on contending for a  play-off spot until 2011, his presence with the Red Sox or Yankees would increase the likelihood of the Jays staying home for another October.

Working in favor of the Red Sox is that the club has both the prospects and ability to take on money to be a formidable trading partner.  The Yankees have no prospects (remember the prospects they didn’t trade for Santana–Hughes, Kennedy, Joba?) but can pick up another bad contract (Vernon Wells’ name has been swirling).  The Blue Jays would only make a trade if it could make their team better which is a concept many people in the blogosphere and talk radio do not understand.

I do not think the chance of Halladay being traded is as high as the hype.  Ricciardi is likely just hoping for an offer he can’t refuse.  If one comes his way, I would expect it to be from one of the NL leaders: either the Phillies or Cardinals hoping to distance themselves from close division opponents, or the Dodgers looking to lock up a pennant.

Red Sox starting pitcher Tim Wakefield was named to his first All-Star Game on Sunday. At 42 years old, he is the second-oldest pitcher to be named an All-Star; Satchel Paige was chosen at age 46.

Wakefield, a 17-year veteran, is 10-3 so far this season with a 4.30 ERA. His next start is scheduled for Wednesday night against the Athletics.

Wakefield will be joined by teammates Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon on the pitching roster, both selected by their fellow players, while second baseman Dustin Pedroia and outfielder Jason Bay were named All-Star starters by the fans. First baseman Kevin Youkilis was named a reserve by the managers’ vote.

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was found dead Saturday with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head. Police said a gun was discovered near the body of a woman, identified as a “friend” of McNair’s, who was also shot dead in a downtown Nashville condominium.

McNair, a three-time Pro Bowler, led the Titans within a yard of forcing overtime in the 2000 Super Bowl, which they lost 23-16 to the St. Louis Rams. He retired in April 2008 as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.

“If you were going to draw a football player, the physical part, the mental part, everything about being a professional, he is your guy,” former Ravens and Titans teammate Samari Rolle said. “I can’t even wrap my arms around it. It is a sad, sad day. The world lost a great man.”

McNair began his career in 1995 with the Houston Oilers, who eventually became the Titans, and finished with 31,304 yards passing and 174 touchdowns. He was forced to retire last year due to injuries.

“On the field, there isn’t player that was as tough as him, especially at the quarterback position,” the Ravens’ Derrick Mason said. “What I have seen him play through on the field, and what he dealt with during the week to get ready for a game, I have never known a better teammate.”

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

For people who drive standard or have at least tried to learn, the most difficult part of the learning process is getting moving in first gear without stalling.  Shifting from first to second is also tough but once you can do that, you can do the rest.  David Ortiz’s 2009 season follows a similar start.  Mired in a deep slump (if slump is even the word as it was raised that Papi was done and would never recover) that led to questions about his health, age and even his eyes, the Red Sox designated hitter did not hit a homerun until May 20.  That did not lead to much of an emergence as Ortiz did not hit another until June 6.  After lastnight’s win over the Nationals in which he hit a three-run shot, Ortiz has seven total on the season.  Seven homers with a .219 batting average on June 25 is not what anyone would have expected from David Ortiz in the offseason.  Discounting the slugger’s “lost” two months of this season, one would find quite an impressive June.

In 18 games this month, Ortiz is batting .327 with six homers, eight walks, 15 runs batted in; reaching base at  a clip of .413.  Knock out the games between his first and second homeruns, Big Papi is batting a robust .357 and reaching base at .460.

In comparison, Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira cooled slightly from his May– .330, 13 hr, 34 rbi, .391 obp  –to put up June numbers of .297, 4, 13, .409.  Alex Rodriquez is hitting .152 with 2 h and 13 rbi yet is getting on base at .317.  Just call him Mr. Je-June.  It must be noted that A-Rod is playing with a temporarily-fixed torn hip labrum.  Red Sox 3B Mike Lowell attempted to play with a torn hip labrum during the 2008 ALDS against the Angels to painful results.  Cardinals 1B and Sports Illustrated posterboy  Albert Pujols (Pujols is to SI as Springsteen is to Rolling Stone) has smashed 10 homers and 28 rbi in June to go along with a .295 average and .398 obp.  Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez has also cooled from his early season smashing to June bat .238, 4, 7, .467 (walks…the folly of being the lone slugger in an NL lineup).  Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera is .274, 5, 9, .346 for June.  Rays 1B (and Havermill, MA; Northeastern alum–catch that, John?; former member of the Red Sox and Yankees; current AL homerun leader) Carlos Pena is .250, 5, 11, .381 for the month.  Add Red Sox leftfielder Jason Bay to the list of players whose June is not as hot as May as he is hitting .266, 4, 20, .341 on the month but still driving in runs.  Former Red Sox and current Dodgers leftfielder Manny Ramirez is .000, 0, 0, .000 for June so Bay is a definite upgrade there…

Is Big Papi back?  Maybe; there is still a lot of season to go.  He is however in high gear and cruising.  At the very least, he can rival teammate J.D. Drew for the title of Mr. June, as Drew’s .292 average and 48 total June homers in his career are the best of any other month of the year for him.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona revealed yesterday that John Smoltz will pitch for the big league team next week while Brad Penny and Daisuke Matsuzaka stay with the club. How is this possible? The team will go with a “six-man rotation” for the time being.

This writer calls shenanigans on this six-man rotation. What Francona and management are really saying is that they are either waiting for a good deal in exchange for Penny or seeing what they can do with the struggling Matsuzaka. While it is likely that there will be six starts by six pitchers in six games, possibly twelve by the same six in twelve games, this so-called rotation will not last the team the rest of the season.

With strong starts against the Yankees last week and the Marlins tonight, Brad Penny has reemerged as a solid starter. While it is now indisputable that he is helping the Red Sox, he likely can help them more by being traded if they can use him to gain a prospect or stretch-run role player (e.g. a Dave Roberts in 2004). Such a move however would only make sense if the team can replace or upgrade pitching production from his spot in the rotation. The Red Sox luckily have John Smoltz returning to the majors and Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden annihilating AAA batters with Pawtucket.

Based on performance, Daisuke Matsuzaka who has appeared in seven games totaling 31 innings with a 1-4 record, 7.55 ERA, 2.10 WHIP and .372 opposing batting average, should be the one to lose his spot in the rotation, either by a bump to the bullpen or a trip to the DL. Keep in mind that Terry Francona gives his players a lot of time to work out kinks (see Kevin Millar, Mark Bellhorn, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia). Any move of Matsuzaka will not be immediate. Still, with Smoltz, Buchholz and Bowden, if it turns out that Matsuzaka is still fatigued from his WBC performance or just needs some time to work outside the majors, there is a suitable (probably better) substitute within the organization.

Before any move is made, the team must see what Smoltz can provide the team. If he’s done, then holding on to Penny would be the smart thing to do. Still, it is reasonable to believe that the team really saw something positive in Smoltz and truly expects him to contribute to make the deal and give him the rehab time. If Smoltz can contribute, the team then needs to assess the health of its current staff (the summer months are always good to put a pitcher on the DL) and its depth because there is always the chance that a starter other than Penny will get hurt.

There really is a dearth of available starting pitching for trade this year. Penny is a bargain for the remainder of the season and will be a free agent when the season concludes. Likely he will go to the National League–the Phillies and Mets have been mentioned in trade rumors, and the Brewers would be wise to trade for him. Since they really do not need anything (a shortstop would be nice but Penny cannot fetch one that would be an upgrade over Green-Lugo-Lowrie), the Red Sox can hold out trading Penny until another team makes the right offer.

Why not keep a six-man rotation? Because that would reduce the number of starts for aces Jon Lester and Josh Beckett and Tim Wakefield who is having an All-Star season. It would also mess with pitchers’ heads as they are used to pitching after four days of rest and would suddenly get six. Plus– no other team uses a six-man rotation.

Prediction: Smoltz comes back solid; Penny is traded for a mid-level prospect. Buchholz spot starts over Matsuzaka and joins the rotation upon any other starter coming down with injury.

Three members of the Bruins organization took home the jackpot at the NHL Awards in Las Vegas on Thursday.

Bruins goalie Tim Thomas won the Vezina Trophy (top goaltender), defenseman Zdeno Chara was awarded the Norris Trophy (top defenseman), and Bruins coach Claude Julien was honored with the Jack Adams Award (top coach).

“It’s always a great feeling to prove people wrong,” Chara said. “I played basketball, tennis, soccer, and it was all just part of a kid having fun. I just never quit. I was close, but I never quit.’’

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

Red Sox righthanded pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka will miss at least his next start in the rotation, manager terry Francona said Saturday. Medical tests including a possible MRI and he will be evaluated throughout the week.

“We need to get him looked at physically,” said Francona. “He’s gonna get looked at by (Red Sox physician) Tom Gill. He’s going to get tests done. There’s a potential for MRIs. All of that information will be coming very soon.”

This season, Matsuzaka is 1-5 with an 8.23 ERA, and opponents are batting .378 against him. He hasn’t been able to pitch his way into the seventh inning yet this season, putting stress on the Sox bullpen.

John Smoltz will come off his rehabilitation to take Matsuzaka’s scheduled start on Thursday against the Washington Nationals.

“We don’t have to do something just to do something,” Francona said. “We wanted to take the time to make sure everyone understood that. Now we’re going to go slower and use proper judgment. When you take a guy out of the rotation, you take a guy out of the rotation to fix it.”

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

After picking fireballer Stephen Strasburg out of San Diego State with the first overall pick in last week’s Major League Baseball amateur draft, the Washington Nationals have more reason not to rush him to the majors or in any other way try to win more games this season: getting the top pick in the 2010 draft.  Proclaimed baseball’s LeBron James by Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci in a June 8 cover story, high school star Bryce Harper, currently a sophomore in Las Vegas, NV, has opted to earn his GED rather than finish high school so he could enroll in junior college for next year and and expedite his draftability.  According to MLB rules, a player must be 16 and have finished high school to be eligible for the draft.

According to Verducci’s article, the 6-3 / 205 lb. lefthanded-hitting and right-throwing Harper catches and pitches.  As a pitcher, he tops 96 on the gun.   As a hitter, he slugs 500-ft. homeruns. (There are highlight videos of Harper on YouTube.)  After two years of high school, he will begin next fall at the College of Southern Nevada.

While he can be a real-life Roy Hobbs or Steve Nebraska, one must keep in mind that he still has not faced Major League, or even minor league or college competition.   In addition to an express lane to professional baseball, Harper’s decision is as much a step-up in competition.  Parents may shudder at the “loss of youth” but sports fans should rejoice because if Harper is the next Babe Ruth, we get to see him soon.  Who wants to bet he hires Scott Boras next spring?

For those of you wondering who the youngest player in MLB history was, that would be Joe Nuxhall who was two months shy of his sixteenth birthday when he pitched 2/3 of an inning for the War-depleted Reds in a War-depleted league in 1944.  He began (or resumed) his ten-year career in 1952 and went on be a long-time and much-beloved broadcaster of the Reds.

The Los Angeles Lakers won their 15th franchise championship on Sunday night, defeating the Orlando Magic, 99-86, in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Finals MVP Kobe Bryant, who won his fourth NBA title, had 30 points in Game 5 and averaged 32.4 points in the series.

“It felt so good to be able to have this moment. We tried not to envision it too much because you just get too excited,” Bryant said. “You try not to think about it, just think about playing the game, and for this moment to be here and to reflect back on the season and everything that you’ve been through, it’s the top of the list.”

After winning his 10th career title, Lakers coach Phil Jackson broke a tie with legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach and set a new NBA record for championships by a coach.

“I’ll smoke a cigar tonight in memory of Red,” Jackson said.

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

After falling behind 3-1 on Thursday night, the Red Sox rallied for a 4-3 win against the visiting Yankees. With the win, the Sox swept the series and improved to 8-0 against New York this season.

David Ortiz homered twice during the series and has brought his average back up over the Mendoza Line.

“Man, it feels good,” Ortiz said.

We’re hoping the good feelings keep coming — Ortiz is scheduled to start at first base tonight in the first game of an interleague series against the Phillies.

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

43-year-old pitcher Tom Glavine, who was coming back from shoulder and elbow surgery, was released from the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. He is the most winningest active pitcher in the majors with 305 career wins in the big leagues, the majority of which was spent with the Braves.

Glavine threw six scoreless innings in a rehab start for Class-A Rome on Tuesday night and said he was “very surprised” that the team released him when it seemed he was recovering well. The team said Glavine wasn’t cut because of the economy of salary issues.

“This was not a business decision,” general manager Frank Wren said. “This was a performance decision. We’ve been evaluating him the last four weeks and everyone felt we had a better chance to win at the major league level with one of our younger pitchers.”

Wren said the team thought Glavine’s comeback was “not working” and didn’t view his return to baseball as a successful move.

Whether or not Glavine decides to speak with other teams about continuing his career is yet to be known, but either way it’s only a matter of time before he joins the Hall of Fame.

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.

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