Edward Cossette: "Twenty games. Twenty days. It's a true fact, to use the vernacular of freshman composition students, that the pennant cannot be won in the next twenty days, but it sure can be lost. This is a time for brave hearts, Red Sox fans." (Bambino's Curse)

This trip appeals to Astros. They're going to New York and Boston for the first time. (Houston Chronicle)

Chat wrap: Rob Neyer, June 6.

Big bad wolf: Hi Rob - what about the Jays? Riccardi strikes me as an excellent GM with a current 2 year plan. Given their hitting so far this year, do you think he might change gears and be a pitching buyer this summer?

Rob Neyer: I doubt it. In fact, I suspect the opposite. Corey Lidle's going to get pretty expensive after this season, and it wouldn't surprise me if the Blue Jays traded him for prospects. Maybe if the Jays were in the Central they'd shoot for 90 wins and the division title. But they're in the East, so they have to stick to their plan.

(ESPN.com)

Cotton-Eyed Joe Morgan Chat Day.

Brian (NYC): In your opinion, who is the best of all time at robbing homeruns in the outfield? To me that is the most exciting play in baseball.

Joe Morgan: You have to remember they just lowered the fences to those dimensions in recent years. When I played in Cincinnati, the fence was 12-13 feet high. But now you can jump over them. Probably Mike Cameron and Torii Hunter are the two best. Had they been lower all the time, Eric Davis would be in that category. You couldn't jump over the Astrodome fence, that's for sure.

Mike: Ah, Joe the fences at Riverfront were 12 feet from 1970 to 1983 but were lowered to 8 feet in 1984. Of course, that was after you left, but it was twenty years ago.

By the way, my pick is Timmy Lupus. That catch in The Bad News Bears was amazing. Runner up? Jeffrey Maier.

(Mike's Baseball Rants, June 9 entry)

Jon Weisman: "As far as the Dodgers tying the Giants and then falling five games behind, it recalls what I wrote April 22 when the Dodgers fell behind by 8 1/2 games early this season, but pledged they could make up the difference. It's not enough to merely be able to make up the difference. The problem with making up such a deficit is that all it gets you to is square one. That said, the Dodgers remain only 2 1/2 games out of a playoff spot right now..." (Dodger Thoughts)

John J Perricone: "I was just looking through the hitting statistics of all the National League teams, and I was wondering if anyone but me has noticed what a bunch of weak singles hitters the Giants seem to have become?" (Only Baseball Matters)