Mariners 6, Yankees 0: Meche silences Yankees. "For the second game in a row, he didn't give up a run. The first time around, he mugged Cleveland. No disrespect to the Indians -- well, yes, disrespect to the Indians, who have a glum offense. This time, he put the hammer to the Yankees. The 20-5 Yankees. The we-lead-the-world-in-runs Yankees. And he did it in Yankee Stadium, where the Mariners hadn't thrown a shutout since 1991." (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

David Locke: "Luxury tax, no problem. What was built to stop him, Steinbrenner is using to his benefit. Every other team in baseball is holding down its payroll to stay under the threshold, while Steinbrenner just keeps spending. The Yankees have a larger advantage than they had before the labor deal. Can you say 'backfired'?" (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

Dan Werr's Digging in the AstroDirt for April 29. "I'm starting the Greg Colbrunn watch to check in on the way Colbrunn is being used. How can you help? Every time another batter appears in a Colbrunn-friendly situation, yell as loudly as you can, 'Use Greg Colbrunn instead!' If everyone does this simultaneously, Bob Melvin will hear." (Baseball Primer)

Many happy returns as Cubs beat Giants. "The return of Dusty Baker took a Shakespearean turn Tuesday night when the former Giants manager, through the instrument of his successor's son, emerged victorious." (Mercury News)

Elia's tirade becomes part of Cubs' lore. Lee Elia on Cub fans, April 29, 1983:

"The (expletive) don't even work,'' Elia said. "That's why they're out at the (expletive) game. They oughta go and get a (expletive) job and find out what it's like to go out and earn a (expletive) living. Eight-five percent of the (expletive) world is working. The other 15 percent come out here. A (expletive) playground for the (expletive).''

There's more. (ESPN.com)

Maddux is back: Ace wins third straight against Astros. The Braves have won 12 of their last 14. (ESPN.com)

Bi-Weekly Review: N.L. East. "Montreal’s salvation thus far has been its starting rotation. The only member of the four top starters with an ERA over 3 is Tomo Ohka (3.18.) The fifth starter has been mostly bleh, but that’s to be expected when that guy is Livan Hernandez more often than not." (Baseball Primer)

Prospectus Triple Play: Rangers, Cardinals, White Sox. "We've given [White Sox GM] Kenny Williams a lot of grief since his tenure began in 2000, but he's done some things right, and his clearest win to date is the acquisition of D'Angelo Jimenez." (Baseball Prospectus)

A couple of new Mets weblogs: Shea Daily and Betty's No Good Clothes Shop And Pancake House.

There are now 11 Cub blogs in the "Team-Specific Weblogs" section. No other team has more than 4. I still haven't come across a Diamondbacks blog.

The Toronto Black Jays? "The Toronto Blue Jays plan to formally change their name to the Jays and redesign the team's uniform, possibly introducing the colour black." (CBC Sports)

Batter's Box thread on the Black Jays. King Rat: "As a member of the 18-to-34 year old market segment, I'd like to know why the hell every team in professional sports feels compelled to put the colour black in their uniforms. And I also think that 'Toronto Jays' sounds less appealing to the ear than 'Toronto Blue Jays.' It's a lot choppier. I will now go fume with the rest of the young fogeys."

How long can KC train keep rolling? Rany Jazayerli: "The Royals have a powerful weapon in their battle to keep Lady Luck on their side all season: their bullpen." (Topeka Capital-Journal)

Rany Jazayerli: "I argued that the transformation of baseball's worst bullpen to one of its best is the single biggest factor in the Royals' amazing start. Remind me never to do that again. But it really was one of baseball's best bullpens, at least before [Sunday]." (Rob and Rany on the Royals, April 27 entry)

War, sluggish economy cited for rise in empty seats. (ESPN.com)

Mike Carminati: "Baseball has ridden two decades of revenue growth due to a baseball nostalgia that swept the country. They chose to kill that golden goose by pointing out every blemish in the sport just as that nostalgia was wearing thin." (Mike's Baseball Rants)

Jason Michael Barker: "Remember when Bob Melvin was first hired, and he made that comment about batting average and speed versus on-base percentage that made us all feel so much better about his hiring? It went something like, 'I'd much rather have a guy who hits .260 with a .360 OBP and doesn't run well than a guy who runs well, hits .300 but only has a .310 OBP.' Well, get ready to swing back the other way." (U.S.S. Mariner, April 28 entry, permalink not working)

Prospectus Triple Play: Brewers, Athletics, Astros. "Thanks to the [Oakland] organization's due diligence and risk acceptance, Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito are all signed through 2005, for contracts that total $6.2 million in 2003, $11.7 million in 2004, and $16.8 million in 2005. Considering the large contracts players like Freddy Garcia are being awarded in arbitration, signing the Big Three early and under market value has become essential to keeping the A's in contention on their budget. Of course, that risk acceptance can lead to signings like Terrence Long or Jermaine Dye too." (Baseball Prospectus)

Fish Fry, Week 4. Don Malcolm analyzes the Marlins. "Some interesting nuggets here—the Fish swing like overactive chimps when they’re ahead in close games (walking only 4.7% of the time). Is this possibly evidence of “hitting to the score”? Well, if so, how then to explain that when ahead in non-close games, the Fish post their highest OPS in all of these breakouts (.867)?" (Big Bad Baseball)

Milled down: Phillies' Millwood throws no-hitter, has Giants seeing red. "When the Giants lost Game 7 of the 2002 World Series, they prayed for the day they could forget the sight of 25 opponents in red uniforms mobbing one another in a joyous celebration at the mound." (San Francisco Chronicle)

Rob Neyer: "Prior to the season, 27 'ESPN experts' were asked to predict the award winners. For the National League Cy Young Award, 15 votes went to Randy Johnson. Five went to Mark Prior and three went to Roy Oswalt, with the remaining four votes going to four different pitchers. One vote went to Matt Morris (Matt Pike), one went to Wade Miller (Jeff Brantley), one went to Curt Schilling (Bob Klapisch) ... and one went to Kevin Millwood (Rob Neyer)."

Jayson Stark: "You think the Braves wanted to trade Kevin Millwood to Philadelphia? You think they wanted to hang by their TVs Sunday, watching Millwood pitch a no-hitter for somebody else? You think they wanted to let Millwood go off and become an ace for a team whose main goal in life was to force the Braves to start their offseason golf program as early this autumn as possible?" (ESPN.com)

Prospectus Triple Play: Expos, Giants, Blue Jays. "Vladimir Guerrero will drive you nuts if you watch him long enough...And you know what? You live with it. You live with it because he's slammed an amazing 410 extra-base hits over the last five seasons, and because he's one of the few players in the game who'll make you stop everything you're doing to focus all your attention on him." (Baseball Prospectus)

Jays rally from way back to beat K.C. Six runs in the 9th. (Toronto Star)

Worst Baseball Stadiums. ESPN.com readers sound off. "While most people fall over themselves praising Pac Bell, I feel empty every time I attend a game there. This is a stadium where the stock ticker above left field is given more attention than the out of town scoreboard," sez Erik Van Buren of Los Altos, California.

Bruce Markusen's Cooperstown Confidential for April 25. "Under other circumstances, I might be inclined to consider him as a 'Comeback Player of the Year' candidate, but he did have 26 home runs and 15 stolen bases last year, so perhaps we might have to create a new award, something like 'Most Improved Player.' That might be the best way to categorize the Yankees’ Raul Mondesi, who looks like a different player in 2003." (Baseball Primer)

Bi-Weekly Review: A.L. East. "Boston is going to have a very good offense; and the pitching should get better. While they are lucky to be 14-9 right now (.484 Pythagorean record), they should still win 90 games this year, unless Burkett/Wakefield/Fossum continue to struggle." (Baseball Primer)

Bi-Weekly Review: N.L. Central. "The Astros combine the worst of both worlds - a groundball oriented staff with a poor infield defense behind them...These guys would probably kill to get the infielders of the Cubs or Pirates behind them." (Baseball Primer)

Art Martone: "Funny thing about heart and courage and moxie: Those qualities have an uncanny correlation to the number of baserunners you have when the game is on the line. Because to drive home baserunners, you must have runners on base. It's only natural." (Providence Journal)

Fun with Quotes from The Southpaw.

Baseball bill sent for a vote. Oregon is trying to lure the Expos to Portland. (Oregonian)

Rob Neyer: "Questec is one of the greatest inventions since the Phillips head screwdriver. If we want a bigger strike zone, we can build a bigger home plate." (ESPN.com)

Joe Sheehan on Jack Morris. (Baseball Prospectus)

Prospectus Triple Play: Angels, Cubs, Tigers. "The major reason for optimism on the North Side this spring was the potential of the young pitchers, and they have been everything the Cubs could have hoped for thus far." (Baseball Prospectus)

Padres 2, Cubs 1: Cubs' lumber still slumbering. (The Daily Southtown) And so...

The Cub Reporter is temporarily The Padre Reporter.

Geoff Young: "Hey there, and welcome to The Padre Reporter." (The Cub Reporter)

Aaron Gleeman: "The whole 'we are forcing things' when a team (in any sport) is playing poorly has got to be one of the most often used cliches in sports. Is that what's really happening [to the Twins]? Who knows. I am sure they are putting pressure on themselves to score some runs, but is it really affecting their ability to do so? What was affecting their ability to score runs earlier in the year, before they realized they weren't scoring?" (Aaron's Baseball Blog)

Bi-Weekly Review: N.L. West. "Out in Denver (which at least is further west than Atlanta ever was), the Rockies are up to their usual shenanigans: dominate at home, flail on the road. The difference, so far, is that they're not flailing too badly." (Baseball Primer)

Bi-Weekly Review: A.L. West. "Seattle, at some cost, addressed the substantial weakness of their bench this past off-season with the acquisition of [Greg] Colbrunn, an excellent offensive player. And for some reason, Bob Melvin, who should be familiar with Colbrunn from their time in Arizona, essentially refuses to use him, giving more playing time and pinch-hit appearances to lesser hitters like Willie Bloomquist and John Mabry (and there ain't a platoon split in the world that makes them better hitters than Greg)." (Baseball Primer)

Say what? Rookie Bonderman outduels Zito.

Just how unlikely was Bonderman's spectacular eight-inning performance?

He had an 0-3 record and a 10.22 ERA entering his fourth major league start on the road for the worst team in baseball. The 20-year-old rookie was facing the elite A's, who traded him last year.

Last but not least, the opposing pitcher was AL Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito, who loses at home about once a year.

(ESPN.com)

Bi-Weekly Review: A.L. Central. "Despite their 1-16 record, the Tigers' pitchers rank 10th in the AL in ERA - which isn't completely horrible. They have also thrown the fewest innings in the league, mostly because they never have to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning on the road." (Baseball Primer)

Rob Neyer: "At this moment -- late in the evening of April 22, 2003 -- two questions about baseball tower above all others: How many games will the Yankees win? and How many games will the Tigers lose?" (ESPN.com)

Bi-Weekly Review: N.L. East. "The Phillies have been feast or famine offensively and are about to unload on someone after scoring: 4, 1, 3, 4, 4, 1 runs in the last 6 games. By the time you read this, they will have stuck a 12 on the Rockies." (Baseball Primer)

Josh Schulz: "There is nothing in the world as loathsome as when the Cardinals lose to the Diamondbacks...I hate the Diamondbacks. With a white hot passion. I used to live in Phoenix, and I swore I wouldn't see a base ball game there until the Diamondbacks were no longer World Champions." (Go Cardinals)

Alex Belth interviews New York Times beat writer Buster Olney. "The purest confidence I ever saw in any player I was around came from [Mariano] Rivera and [Derek] Jeter. I mean it wasn't even close." (Bronx Banter)

Mac Thomason: "Have you ever noticed how low an angle Rafael Furcal throws from? Most shortstops' throws to first go up in the air a little and are on their way down when they get to first base. I swear, Rafael's look like they're on a straight line." (Braves Journal)

Prospectus Triple Play: Mets, Rockies, Orioles. "The Orioles under [Peter] Angelos have been like a well-made car that didn't get any basic maintenance. The car will run pretty well for a few years, but down the road those things are going to catch up with you." (Baseball Prospectus)

Lots of good stuff this week at Mike's Baseball Rants, including a special Easter edition of Joe Morgan Chat Day and a comparison of this year's Tigers to the worst teams of all time. Permalinks don't seem to work, so go to the main page and scroll down.

Montreal's house of horrors. Jeff Merron on Olympic Stadium. "The stadium, half-built in time for the 1976 Olympics, has a well-deserved bad reputation. With a grandiose design, poor construction, frequent mini-disasters (explosions, fires, falling beams, roof cave-ins, etc.), and a patchwork quilt of ineffective fixes, the tomb-like structure has saddled Montreal with a mountain of debt and driven away baseball fans in droves." (ESPN.com)

Olympic Stadium disaster timeline. (ESPN.com)

Bob Elliott: "There is a lovable underdog quality to the Montreal Expos. Think the Cleveland Indians in the movie Major League." (Slam! Sports)

Expos win second home opener. (The first one was in Puerto Rico.) They beat the Diamondbacks, 4-0, behind Tomo Ohka. (Slam! Sports)

Paul Sullivan ranks the MLB parks from 1 to 30. Olympic Stadium is 29th. The dump de tutti dumps, according to Sullivan, is Shea. 1 thru 10: Wrigley, Fenway, Pac Bell, Yankee, Camden, Dodger, Safeco, PNC, Kauffman, Coors. (Chicago Tribune - registration required)

Derek offers his opinions. "Coors Field. Been there often. Named after beer, that's good. Named after bad beer, that's bad." (Let's Play Two)

Doug Pappas on the Angels sale: "I'd wager a considerable sum of money that franchise values will appreciate much more slowly over the next few years than over the past 10...To match [the past 10 years'] growth, the average club would have to be worth $525 million in 2007, $800 million by 2012. I don't think so..." (Doug's Business of Baseball Weblog)

Prospectus Triple Play: Red Sox, Reds, Padres. "Despite the repeated comments to the contrary in the media over the past year, the trade for Ken Griffey, Jr. was a good idea at the time. The fact that Mike Cameron has produced more for his team than Griffey has since the trade is a reflection of the injuries that have derailed Griffey's career, injuries which could not have been foreseen at the time. In contrast, re-signing Barry Larkin to a three-year extension at age 36 was an obvious mistake from the beginning." (Baseball Prospectus)

Derek Zumsteg on dangerous fans: "As much as it pains me to admit this--being a big proponent of alcohol myself--I don't doubt that many of these morons are drunk. And while I'd love to be able to deny it, I grew up in white-trash suburbs and...yeah, these guys typically look exactly like I fear they will when people tell me there's been another incident at a baseball game. Is the solution then to keep mullets out of stadiums? Or perhaps to screen entrance to the stadium by asking fans if they think Trans-Ams are cool, followed by severe beatings?" (Baseball Prospectus)

Cheer the Reaper. Andrew Miller on Jason Grimsley. (pitch.com)

Prospectus Triple Play: Yankees, Marlins, Pirates. "Thirty-seven runs in 14 games, a cool 2.6 runs per game. That's Tiger Territory, and is what the Pirates' bats have registered after tallying 33 in their opening four contests...In addition to his weekly start behind the plate, [Craig] Wilson should be getting all the right-handed platoon at-bats at first base, plus a bunch at either corner outfield spot. If [Lloyd] McClendon isn't going to take advantage of Wilson's sole strength--his bat--why bother having him on the roster?" (Baseball Prospectus)

Lonnie Wheeler: "Citizens of Hamilton County, let me ask you this: If you had known that the Reds would enter their new ballpark with baseball's 17th-highest payroll (11th in the National League), would you have voted to tax yourself for the $280 million required to build it?...[D]id you realize that, without Larkin and Griffey in the lineup -- a situation to which we have become all too accustomed -- the Reds are actually taking the field with the second-lowest payroll in all of baseball, ahead of only Tampa Bay? This is what we've been eagerly awaiting all these years?" (Cincinnati Post)

John J Perricone: "The Giants are off to their best start in 65 years, (or 85 years, whatever), led by, of all people, the screaming-hot JT Snow, who is leading the majors with 21 RBI, (and is second in batting average to the unbelievably more-unconscious Jim Edmonds), and has come out of the gate with a sizzling .385/.475/.694...All I can say is, I never imagined Snow could rebound from his miserable performance of the last two seasons and put together a run like this, anytime, anywhere, anyhow. I will be eating the biggest helping of crow you can imagine if this keeps up much longer." (Only Baseball Matters)

Fish Fry, Week 3. Don Malcolm analyzes the Marlins. "So far this year, [Vladimir] Nunez has been the major reason why the Florida bullpen has kept the Marlins flopping around and gasping for air." (Big Bad Baseball)

Lawrence Rocca: "It probably won't happen next week or next month, although you never know with Steinbrenner. But if the Yankees don't win it all this year, Torre is gone. If they don't make it beyond the first round of the playoffs, Steinbrenner might yank off his pinstripes right there in the dugout." (Newark Star-Ledger)

Ben: "The scary thing about the hot starts by the offenses of the Yankees and Red Sox is that each team's Giambi is struggling." (Universal Baseball Blog, Inc.)

Al Shank: "Since 'Chicago' won all those Oscars, and my wife is (sort of) from Illinois and used to go to what she calls 'Cubs Park,' my friend and Tidbits reader John Carbon is a major Cubs fan, my father-in-law roots for both Chicago teams and, finally, because both Chicago teams are off to good starts, I decided to take a look at the White Sox and Cubs." (Al Shank's Baseball Tidbits)

Brian Carstens: "Does Fred McGriff become even more of a bad memory each passing day or what? Hee Seop Choi seems too good to be true. Actually, he is too good to be true; like I said the other day, he can't possibly keep those numbers up." (The [Untitled] Cubs Page)

Bruce Markusen's Cooperstown Confidential for April 19. The best Puerto Rican-born players, position by position; players who have worn nicknames on their jerseys; and more. (Baseball Primer)

g: "Watching Kirk Rueter sail through four innings before giving up forty-seven hits in the fifth was familiar. Not familiar like the smell of an old uncle's smoking jacket, but familiar in the 'What's that sound? I thought I told you to put out the rat poison last night? Well, then what's that sound?' kind of way." (Waiting for Boof)

Joe: "I don’t know what was more surprising to me: the fact that Carlos Baerga hit a grand slam, a two-run home run and an RBI double en route to a career-high 7 RBI, or the fact that Carlos Baerga is only 34 years old." (Baseball Writing)

Note: The permalinks don't seem to work (yet) for these first two items. Try the main page(s) if you have to.

Advance Scout: Red Sox, April 18-21. At the start of each Blue Jays series, Batter's Box takes an in-depth look at their opponent. Cool.

Alan Schwartz interviews Blue Jays slugger Josh Phelps, who needs just 29 hits to become the all-time leader for hits by players born in Alaska. (ESPN.com)

Edward Cossette: "Since booing Pedro is anathema to me, I've been trying to figure out what would make a so-called Red Sox fan do such a thing. And this is my conclusion: Some people are not satisfied watching the game on the field — They want to be part of the action. By booing they attempt to be somebody, to insert themselves into the game any way possible, even if their actions are shameful (booing) or downright heinous (running onto the field to attack an umpire)." (Bambino's Curse)

Wood hits one of four homers in 16-3 rout. The Cubs® have scored 37 runs in their last 3 games, all against the Reds. (ESPN.com)

The Cub Reporter hopes that the Cubs® won't go after Miguel Tejada.

Rob Neyer: "There's a significantly better chance that both the Royals and Pirates will finish fourth rather than first or even second. But Allard Baird and Dave Littlefield both deserve credit, because at least they've got their teams headed in the right direction." (ESPN.com)

John Perricone has bad news about Robb Nen, the Giants' injured closer. (Only Baseball Matters)

Aaron Gleeman: "At what point does a player take all the decision making away from a manager and simply force himself into the everyday lineup? I'm not exactly sure what that point is, but I'm pretty sure Bobby Kielty is getting damn close to it." (Aaron's Baseball Blog)

Cards make sure that Morris gets victory. Scott Rolen hit two two-run homers. Morris hit a homer himself. Cardinals 15, Brewers 2. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Sean McAdam: "Now, as they celebrate their 10th birthdays this month, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies are merely just two more ordinary baseball franchises, with stadium issues, declining fan interest and murky futures." (ESPN.com)

Tim Kurkjian on Jim Leyland, manager of the World Champion Marlins of 1997, the 54-108 Marlins of 1998, and the 1999 Rockies. (ESPN.com)

John Sickels on the Marlins' and Rockies' farm systems. (ESPN.com)

Penny on the money again. Marlins 3, Phillies 1. (Miami Herald)

Rob Neyer: "Less than three weeks ago, I predicted that the Arizona Diamondbacks would win the National League West title in 2003. Immediately after that prediction was made public, I received a few messages from fans of the San Francisco Giants, the gist of which were, 'You're an idiot! Giants rule, dude!'...As it turns out, the Giants really do rule." (ESPN.com)

Lots of new weblogs in the left-hand column. Kudos to The Cub Reporter for finding many of them. Check out their Blog for Every Team page. Any Diamondbacks bloggers out there?

Attack overshadows Royals' rally for 11th win. A White Sox fan attacked umpire Laz Diaz during last night's game. The last time the Royals played in Chicago, seven months ago, father-and-son nitwits attacked KC coach Tom Gamboa. The Royals aren't taking the field tonight unless security is improved. (Yahoo!)

Greg Couch: "It's $1,500 for a ticket that has $45 printed on it. It's $155 for a ticket that says $30. But what can you do? Wrigley Field Premium has a magical supply of tickets you can't get at the Cubs ticket office...Who has jacked up these prices by, what, 3,000 percent? Who is sticking it to Cubs fans? It is the Cubs themselves. They own Premium. The Cubs are trying to cheat their own fans." (Chicago Sun-Times)

Moreno agrees to buy [Angels] for just over $180 million. (ESPN.com)

Clutch Hits thread on the Angels sale. Bob T: "I went to Disneyland last week with my brother and nephew and I saw nary a sign promoting the Angels or Ducks anywhere in the park...Can you buy Angels or Ducks stuff at Disneyland? No. In the hotels? No. At the ESPN SportsZone? No. Disney wanted cross-promotion, but they were seemingly afraid to 'taint' their theme parks with stuff that didn't have mouse ears on it." (Baseball Primer)

Hillenbrand rescues woeful BoSox bullpen with late hit. They blew a 4-run lead in the 8th. Ramiro Mendoza's ERA went from 11.57 to 16.71. (ESPN.com)

Expos impressed with Puerto Rican experience. They get a police escort and everything. (Slam! Sports)

Expos complete four-game sweep of Mets. And they're winning. (Yahoo!)

Royals bounce back from loss, clobber Cleveland. They're 10-1. Jeremy Affeldt: "After a 100-loss season, we've got something to prove." (Kansas City Star)

Fish Fry, Week 1. Don Malcolm analyzes the Marlins. (Big Bad Baseball)

Fish Fry, Week 2. "The Fish hitters are showing a reverse platoon differential, at least so far; this will probably even out, which means that Florida’s offense is almost certainly playing over its head right now." (Big Bad Baseball)

Derek Milhous Zumsteg: "Can we get over this booing thing with Alex Rodriguez? Alex gave us the best five shortstop-seasons this club ever saw, he was a consumate gentleman, he gave generously to Seattle of his pre-free-agency salary and his time." (U.S.S. Mariner)

Source says Disney near sale of Angels. "The Angels' purchase price apparently will be greater than the $140 million Disney paid for the team in 1998, but the gain would not cover the cost of renovations Disney made on the team's stadium, estimated at $100 million." (CNN.com)

Ad takes playful jab at Maddux; Braves not amused. "'Come see batting practice with Greg Maddux and the Braves,' urged the Marlins' promotional ad, which was published in local editions of Saturday's papers." (Miami Herald)

Maddux much better than advertised. 6 innings, 2 hits, 1 run. Braves 7, Marlins 1. Payback. (Miami Herald)

David Peng analyzes the 2003 Angels. "When he’s patient, [Troy] Glaus is a terrifying hitter in much the way Darryl Strawberry was in his prime: both are possessors of a swing that is both beautiful in its smoothness and startling in its rapidity and power...The one caveat going into 2003 will be a wrist injury that has bothered him all spring. If it doesn’t heal right, it would be a deathblow to the Angels’ playoff chances." (Baseball Primer)

A Hard Joe Morgan Chat Day’s Night. You've got questions, Joe's got answers, Mike's got comebacks. (Mike's Baseball Rants)

Bruce Markusen's Cooperstown Confidential for April 11. "The Devil Rays really have little to lose in signing John Rocker, a possibility that has been rumored this week. It’s not like Rocker would disrupt any kind of 'winning chemistry'—because there simply isn’t any at Tropicana Field, despite Lou Piniella’s early attempts to build something to the contrary." (Baseball Primer)

Joe Dimino and Aaron Gleeman analyze the 2003 Yankees. "[Nick] Johnson was terrible against [LHP] last year (.175/.316/.302), but if he’s going to be the regular first baseman, he needs to learn how to hit them, and he’s not going to get that experience on the bench. I realize the Yankees are trying to win the World Series, but the team needs to think long-term as well." (Baseball Primer)

Hurting Braves sign veteran pitcher Reynolds. Mike Hampton and Paul Byrd are hurt, and Greg Maddux is 0-3. Trouble. (ESPN.com)

Jayson Stark: "The question of whether the 1991-2002 Braves were a dynasty or the Buffalo Bills is one we've all debated a trillion times. But nobody is more tired of that debate than the Braves themselves. So maybe, if this is the year the Braves are no longer expected to win, that also means no one can accuse them of 'failing' (or pick your own favorite verb here) if they don't." Well, they did win one championship, so they're less like the Bills and more like the Ditka-era Bears or the Dr.J-era Sixers. (ESPN.com)

Red Sox finally pick up Pedro's 2004 option. "After negotiations in spring training failed to fold the option into a longer deal, the team decided it was worth the risk of injury to have Martinez's mind clear of distractions during the season." (ESPN.com)

Nate Silver: "[T]he price of Pedro's propriety is around $2.3 million bucks. While I'm not quite as down on the deal as Joe [Sheehan] is, that's a lot to pay for goodwill." (Baseball Prospectus)

Pedro willing to take less money for long-term deal. Maybe they'll get their goodwill investment back, and then some. (ESPN.com)

David Pinto interviews Bill James. (Baseball Musings)

Derek Zumsteg: "I have never gone to a game, even with friends, even with lots of friendly drinking, that approached the Fan Cost Index. It just doesn't happen for the average fan." (Baseball Prospectus)

Matsui hits first Yankee home run in grand fashion. He's the first Yankee to hit a grand slam in his first game at Yankee Stadium. (ESPN.com)

Jay Jaffe: "In addition to being the nadir of human achievement in recorded sound, 'Cotton Eye Joe' is absolutely the worst part of attending a game at Yankee Stadium, and that includes the Liza Minelli version of 'New York, New York' which accompanies a Yankee loss." (Futility Infielder)

Rob Neyer: "When you're a fan of a lousy team, you learn to take your small pleasures where you can find them, and revel in baby steps toward respectability....And I like the direction the Royals are taking." (ESPN.com)

Mike on the DH debate. (Mike's Baseball Rants)

Cooperstown Confidential: Opening Week Edition. Bruce Markusen on the history of the DH, and the top 10 Opening Day milestones and achievements involving Hall of Famers. (Baseball Primer)

Will Carroll: "[Ken] Griffey's injury is much more reminiscent of Phil Nevin's injury than Derek Jeter's, both in mechanism and result. Reports from Cincinnati indicate that, like Nevin, Griffey is likely out for something in the order of months rather than weeks." (Baseball Prospectus)

Unbeaten Giants on Cruz control in downing Padres. Two homers for Jose. Giants are 7-0. (ESPN.com)

Gwen Knapp on the Alou brothers. "Felipe came to this country first, encountering racial discrimination that younger Dominicans couldn't imagine...Jesus Alou said he didn't face the same prejudice that his brother did. He believes that Felipe, by enduring so much so well, made things easier for the next generation." (San Francisco Chronicle)