Hitting the Links - Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins
Red Sox
- Bartolo Colon landed on the 15-day disabled list due to stiffness in his lower back, presumably from his hacks at the plate against Phillies ace Cole Hamels. Considering he swung so hard that he spun himself around several times and even forced his helmet to pop off, it's a wonder he didn't wrench his back even worse. Bartolo: your poor lower lumbar is under enough stress carrying your 3-bills-plus frame around, ease up on the swings in the interleague matchups, please.
- Daisuke Matsuzaka is on the comeback trail. In his first rehab start for Pawtucket, Dice-K lasted 5 innings, struck out 5 and gave up two runs. The Sox haven't been hurting without him by any stretch of the imagination, but it will certainly be nice to have him rejoin Josh Beckett atop the Sox rotation.
- Curt Schilling appears to have hit a snag in his recovery. Schill will likely shut it down for a few days and is scheduled to have the shoulder examined by Dr. Thomas Gill. Funny line from Rotoworld: "Besides the whole shoulder thing, Schilling's paladin recently got owned by a level 34 ogre."
- David Ortiz had the cast that was immobilizing his wrist removed and replaced by a removable splint. It's an encouraging sign of progress as the splint will allow the Large Father to begin doing range-of-motion exercises. Still no timeline on a possible return date or when he can swing a bat.
- Jacoby Ellsbury broke the Red Sox rookie record for steals on Sunday. The previous record of 31, which was set in 1908, was held by the immortal Amby McConnell. Ellsbury's season total currently sits at 34; that projects to 70 stolen bases over a full 162 game schedule. At this pace, Jacoby's got a real shot at breaking Kenny Lofton's AL rookie record of 66. What can we say, the kid's got wheels.
- Terry Francona feels for Willie Randolph. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes information with regards to this situation that most writers and reporters do not know and likely will never find out, but it seems like Willie got a raw deal. Not only can the Mets' woes be attributed to the fact that their bullpen sucks, they've had numerous players underachieving all year, their lineup is suffering from the effects of age and injuries, and at any given time they have approximately 8 starting pitchers on the DL, but apparently Willie was told he was being relieved of his duties at 3:00 AM the day after Father's Day. Seems like the Mets' ownership and Omar Minaya got some 'splaining to do.
- The Red Sox look to honor the Celtics tomorrow by pulling out the green uniforms in their first matchup against their 2004 World Series foes, the St. Louis Cardinals. It seems only fitting as the team made a similar gesture last season after the passing of legendary Celtics coach Red Auerbach.
- The Patriots released kicker Scott Player. Every fan hoping to show up at Gillette Stadium with a bleach-blond fu manchu and a single-bar facemask helmet (and I know there were many) shed a collective tear for the death of their dream.
- Mike Reiss predicts that we'll see a good deal of Brandon Meriweather this upcoming season. Reiss thinks last year's first round pick could be a part of the base defense and has a solid shot of "giving James Sanders a run for his spot alongside Rodney Harrison." This is very positive news as Meriweather looked overwhelmed with the complex Patriots defense at times last season.
- Richard Seymour says he feels better now than he has at any point over the past two seasons. Seymour missed 7 games last season and arguably hasn't been his dominant self since the 2005 season. If healthy, he will be an integral part of the revamped Patriots defense.
- In this ESPN Insider piece, John Clayton speculates that the Patriots will bring back Junior Seau for one more year. He has the team re-signing the 39-year-old Hall-of-Famer-in-waiting prior to the start of training camp. With all the young'ns the Pats will be welcoming to the LB squad, Seau's veteran leadership alone would prove to be worth the paycheck.
- Have we finally witnessed the last of Spygate? Senator Arlen Specter, who seems to have his hands in everything except the goings on of Congress, and who has apparently eschewed his responsibilities to the American public who elected him to office in order to pursue a silly vendetta against a team who beat up not one but both of his beloved hometown squads, says he's "got too many other big problems to deal with." No word yet on whether any of these "big problems" have anything to do with real senatorial work.
- The championship honeymoon period may be short lived for the Celtics, who could possibly be losing a key figure in their push to Banner 17. James Posey is expected to exercise his contract option and forgo the nearly $3.5 million that's due to him next year. Posey could probably pretty easily find a starting job on a shallower team, but hopefully the C's can convince him to stick around.
- Paul Pierce will not be asked to play for Team USA in the Olympics. The reasoning behind this is the fact that he was unable to participate the past two years because of injuries. I'm sure winning the NBA Championship softens the blow of getting the crap kicked out of you in international play (whatever happened to the Dream Team days of old?) a bit.
- It's sweet to be the champs: Kevin Garnett will be featured on a special edition Celtics championship Wheaties box. Just one of the many perks of being the kings of the NBA (like going to Disney World, apparently, according to Big Baby).
- Bruins captain Zdeno Chara didn't take home the Norris Trophy, but he is recovering nicely from shoulder surgery. The workout freak is out of the sling and has begun rehabbing the shoulder. Word is that he may not be 100% ready to go for camp but that he'll be set for the start of the season.
- Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli revealed that the club is getting close to a new deal with restricted free agent Dennis Wideman but that they aren't having such an easy time with unrestricted free agent Glen Metropolit. The Bruins have an offer on the table for Metropolit, but it's rumored that he also has an offer to play in Russia for as much as $2 million.
- Kevin Paul Dupont has a ton of info in this piece. Chief among all the points: the Bruins have some very serious decisions to make in regards to Glen Murray. He's due to make $4.15 million next season and it's likely the Bruins don't want to pay him that much; therefore, they could buy him out, keep him and demote him, keep him and have him remain on the NHL roster (if he's got enough left in the tank), or simply trade him. The Senators have reportedly showed interest in acquiring the 35-year-old.
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