[Reprinted from baseballgeeks.mlblogs.com on 5/1/06]***BASEBALL GEEZERS OF THE DAY***
Kenny Rogers, the ballplayer and not the country singer. 4 Ks, 2 hits, 1 walk. Sure, it was the lowly Twins, but Kenny is helping to confirm the Tigers' title as surprise team (to me) of the year. Rogers certainly will have his bad outings, but it is this kind of outing that clearly shows that he is far from done.
Mike Mussina strikes out 7 in 6 innings, and looks absolutely solid. Thanks to Mike for making Gregg and I look good for recommending him as a must two-start starter for Week 4. He almost got himself kicked out of the game, though, for arguing balls and strikes, so we must also thank Joe Torre for taking the heat off Moose.
Schilling does deserve honorable mention, notwithstanding a come back down to earth performance against Tampa Bay this morning... he put himself in position to do what only two other Red Sox pitchers have done in the history of the franchise... start the season 5-0 (hat tip Baseball Tonight). The other two pitchers? A guy named Pedro. And, a guy who became a big time HR hitter who is commonly known as "The Babe."
Another honorable mention to Jamie Moyer who wins his first game of the season. I wouldn't expect Mr. Moyer to be making a habit of getting wins with Seattle, though, this year.
***DAN JOHNSON CLIMBING THE CHARTS, WITH A BULLET***
Another HR for him today. After a 1/32 start, he is coming out of his slump very nicely. Remember that the guy hit something like .350 in near 60 ABs in spring. Dan Johnson, as far as I am concerned, is still a very viable fantasy option. Especially now.
***MY MAN LOVE FOR BILL HALL***
When Koskie was picked up by the Brew Crew, I felt that I would end up looking really bad with all of the praise I had given to Bill Hall, based on his PlayerTrack rankings last year and my propping him up as a fantasy superstar for 2006.
Again. Bill Hall hits one over the fences today, and he helps to convince Ned Yost that he must find a place for Bill in the lineup.
***STEROIDS, SCHMEROIDS***
33 HRS were hit today, alone. David Ortiz sets the Red Sox record for HRs in the month of April with 10. Nick Swisher hits his, yes, 10th HR, one short of the A's record. Eric Chavez hits his ninth (I suppose Swisher and Chavez DO have to give some credit to the lousy KC pitching staff).
The long ball era is alove and well. What do the steroid accusers who claim that the long ball era is due to them have to say now?
A viewer voicemail yesterday, on this week's podcast, asked about whether the success of the small ball era in the WBC will translate into the MLB thereby imploding the fantasy baseball concept, which depends largely on the long ball.
35 HRs were hit just yesterday, alone.
Moral: did we even have to answer the voicemail?
***FRANCOUER, TRUE TO FORM: WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET***
You can almost predict Francouer's monthly power output. It is like clockwork, ever since he came up in mid season last year. He is going to get you 4 HRs and 14-15 RBIs every month.
His average last year fell off so significantly, that I have accurately predicted (thus far) that Francouer was going to have a lousy batting average. He IS better than a .200 hitter, though. Expect 4 HRs/15 RBI a month with a consistent .250 average the rest of the way.
He is a batting average and OBP killer in fantasy, so if you need help in these categories, you should part with Jeff. There are better options out there.
***IT AIN'T OVER UNTIL THE FINAL BUZZER/OUT***
So, I'm watching the end of the Laker game this afternoon. About 15 seconds to go, and I watch the Lakers go down by 4 AND foul. I turn off the television. Next thing I know, my brother is calling some 15 minutes later shouting: "DID YOU SEE THAT?!?!?!" **** (sidenote: thanks, J, for the call, allowing me to catch the replays). (Sidenote 2: I still hate Kobe. The player, not the beef. Not that I have had the beef. I couldn't afford it. Kobe can... maybe not after the impending divorce.)
And, lightning strikes twice in reverse this time. I caught a brief glimpse of Trevor Hoffman throwing a strike to a Dodger in the top of the 9th this afternoon, as I see that the Dodgers are winning 5-0. I shut that off, and slam my hand hard on my desk as I see some ten minutes later on the EAPN scoreboard that the Pads caught the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth...
AND THEN THE DODGERS LOSE. 
It is probably best that I missed that one, or this computer I am typing on could very well be too busted up to allow me to enter this blog entry.
***PETER GAMMONS, ON DRUGS?***
His quote tonight on ESPN, paraphrasing from memory: "I don't see how Red Sox fans will boo Johnny Damon in the upcoming series at Fenway."
Hitting the pipe, Peter? The booing will most certainly be deafening.
