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.

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.

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.’’

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

Burnett, who was expected to pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, will appeal the suspension. There’s no answer yet on how the Yankees rotation will be adjusted during his suspension or how it will affect the expected starters for next week’s series against the Red Sox.

Here are some excerpts from his ESPN Deportes interview on Wednesday.

“Everything I achieved, I did it thanks to my perseverance, which is why I never had any long, difficult moments [as a baseball player]. If you have a bad day in baseball, and start thinking about it, you will have 10 more. I will calmly wait for my induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Don’t I have the numbers to be inducted?

I always played with love and responsibility, and I assure you that I will not answer nor listen to rumors. If anything ugly comes up in the future, we will confront it immediately, but with all our strength, because I will not allow anybody to tarnish what I did in the field.

The scandal on steroids and all those suspensions will not overshadow the game. Currently, there are many Latino players performing well [offensively]. There’s [Albert] Pujols, Carlos Pena; Nelson Cruz has 15. Then what? There’s someone else that already has 22 home runs [Adrian Gonzalez] … we have hit and will continue to hit homers in the Major Leagues.”

Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin scored on a power play early in the first period, but Red Wings answered by scoring twice in  the second period. Rookie defenseman Jonathan Ericsson had his appendix removed on Wednesday night and scored the tying goal for Detroit, quickly followed by a goal by Valtteri Filppula. Justin Abdelkader added his second goal of the series (and second of his career) late in the third period to seal the win.

“We found a way to win two games, but we haven’t been as good as we’re capable of being,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. “I thought we were exhausted out there. It’s amazing what will does for you.”

The series moves to Pittsburgh for games 3 and 4 on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Smoltz plans to make two more rehab starts, this time with Triple A Pawtucket, before joining the Sox rotation in mid-June. If he stays on schedule, his second start with the Sox will be in an interleague game against the Atlanta Braves, where he pitched for his entire 21-year career before he was signed by the Sox in January.

Joel Glass said Nelson’s shoulder rehabilitation, which has sidelined him since February, has been moving forward ahead of schedule but his status is still uncertain for the series against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Nelson suffered what was called a season-ending shoulder tear, but team president Bob Vander Weide told The Orlando Sentinel that he wants Nelson to take another MRI and consult with doctors for a possible comeback.

“I know it for a fact anything can happen, and I have to accept them both in the same way,” Nadal said after the match. “You cannot collapse either because you’ve won a match or because you’ve lost it. This is sport, and you can have victories or defeats. No one remembers defeats on the long run. People remember victories.”

Soderling will play No. 10 seed Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals. They will be joined by No. 2 seed Roger Federer, who bested Tommy Haas 6-7, 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 on Monday. Federer, who needs a Roland Garros title to complete a Career Slam, has lost in the finals to Nadal each of the past three years.  The field is rounded out by No. 3 seed Andy Murray, No. 12 seed Fernando Gonzalez, No. 16 seed Tommy Robredo and the winners of two matches to be completed today. No. 6 seed Andy Roddick will play No. 11 seed Gael Monfils, while No. 5 seed Juan Martin Del Potro will play No. 9 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The cause of death hasn’t been released at this time, but Kalas did undergo surgery in February which caused him to miss most of spring training.

I simply don’t know Phlllies baseball without Kalas. Even all the years that the Phillies were unwatchable, they were watchable because you could always listen to Harry. I remember when I was in school in Boston and we were watching “Inside the NFL” on HBO. Harry was doing the voiceover and I told my friends that this guy is our baseball announcer. They looked and me and said, “this guy does your baseball games??!” His voice was that great. Anyone would have loved to listen to him for 162 games.

“We lost Harry today,” David Montgomery, the team president, said. “We lost our voice.”

The Phillies will still play their game today against the Nationals, but they have cancelled tomorrow’s visit to the White House to meet with President Barack Obama.

Kalas was 73 years old and had been broadcasting Phillies games since 1971.

Tim Graham of ESPN.com says that the Bills aren’t close to either trading or signing tackle Jason Peters. He is an elite tackle, but the Bills still question his commitment and don’t want to pay him the ginormous salary that he is demanding.

And guess who’s name came up as a potential trade partner? The Eagles! No, seriously!

The Eagles’ name has been thrown in this trade rumor for months now. According to Graham, the discussions start with a first- and a third-round pick. Also, according to a league source the Bills and Eagles have not had any discussions regarding Peters.

If the Eagles were confident that Peters wouldn’t be a malcontent and that they could sign him, I’d pull the trigger on the first- and third-round picks. Although, I think he could be had for less considering he didn’t show up until two days before the opener last year. He seems determined to be a problem if he’s not paid.

Think about it, what are the odds that you could select a tackle at his level with either of those draft picks? They aren’t good. Even if you traded up, you’re going to select a highly rated prospect, but that’s all he is. Robert Gallery is a nice guard, but he was drafted #2 overall to be a tackle. He stunk at tackle. If you can use draft picks on a sure thing, why wouldn’t you?

The big question for me is how he would behave once you gave him the money. If he’s the offensive version of Albert Haynesworth, I wouldn’t do the deal. But I don’t know the answer to that question. Hopefully, someone a lot smarter than me in the Eagles front office has that information. And who knows, maybe that’s why they haven’t spoken to the Bills.

Many New York Metro area denizens were crushed as the Mets had hopes of an undefeated season not long ago. The loss drops them to 2-1 and speculation is rampant they could slide into a tailspin.

Awesome!

Photo Caption: A really big picture of Marshawn Lynch.

So yeah, Lynch has now had gun issues and running-over-people-and-fleeing-the-scene issues. If he screws up again, he’ll be looking at a much longer suspension.

Hours after the 22-year old finished pitching in a game, police say a minivan blew threw a stoplight and caused Adenhart’s Mitsubishi to hit a light pole, killing three people including Adenhart.

The person driving the minivan fled the scene, but was later caught and charged with felony hit-and-run.

WOW.

Johnson was suspended eight games in 2007 for multiple violations of the Personal Conduct Policy. He also served two months in prison for violating the terms of his probation.

Welcome to Cincinnati, Tank!

Man what do you do if your chic farts?It doesn’t seem as if women
should fart. I was walking in the grocery store in the chips and dips
aisle. This lady was walking in front of me pushing her cart she
stopped to pick up some pringles and let one rip. Sounded like a growl
and and a motor but smelt like a dead carcus. OMG! Now I knew it
wasn’t me LOL and we were the only two people on the aisle. She just
smiled and kept walking like nothing happened the smell followed her.
I swear I could see it like smoke out of a train just nasty.
My boy told me he was kissing a girl and she gave him a silent killer.
This is definitely a mood killer. Do you continue to kiss her? This is
a WWMBD moment (What Would Marty B Do). I would of definitely stop
kissing her LOL and asked her if she was ok. But this is what he did
he started sniffing the air and asked her if she smelled what he
smelled. She said naw I don’t smell anything, and kept it moving. He
asked her again you sure you don’t smell anything and she said yes
hunny I’m sure. Then she asked what it was he smelled he started
laughing and said oh nothing.
I guess women have to let go at times too but it just doesn’t seem
right, but if they do then it shouldn’t smell or make a sound. I mean
come on if you were on a date with Angelina Jolie a lunch date eating
spaghetti and pancakes or whatever it is people eat in Hollywood and
as she’s feeding you she farts. Do you let her slide because of her
beauty or call her out?

Behind 13-year veteran-rookie pitcher Kevin Milwood, the Rangers defeated the Cleveland Indians 9-1 in front of a sellout crowd of almost 50,000 fans.  That’s more fans than the Florida Marlins drew all of last season.

Leading the way for the Rangers was second baseman Ian Kinsler who went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs.

PHOTO CAPTION:  Hank Blalock’s name has been circulating around the league as the leading candidate for the American League MVP.

If the Rangers can keep this pace, they will finish the season 162-0.  Their magic number to clinch the division is now 161.  Technically, it’s still at 162 because no other team in their division has played a game.

PHOTO CAPTION:  Manu used to wear the number 0 jersey.

This is a huge blow to a Spurs team that may have been able to beat Los Angeles this year, but most likely not.  During the past couple seasons, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers have dominated the four-time champions.

To replace the injured guard, Spurs GM R. C. Buford is looking to resign retired Hall of Famer David Robinson to a 20-game contract.

The Yankees are currently down 6-3 and Sabathia left in the fifth inning after giving up six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. He walked five, struck out none and had a 12.46 ERA.

I’m sure Red Sox fans were just crushed to see him take this big steamer in Camden Yards.