AL East

Derrek Lee hit two homers on the day today, bringing his season total to ten. Anyone who has read this blog at all knows that I am very anti-D-Lee. He had that one great year, and has basically been a good average guy with little power that ends up on the DL a lot. Matches his initials, isn’t that cute? 

He is having a pretty good season, but he hasn’t really been injured yet, and I still would not touch him.  If you have him, I would try to cash in on this time and see if you can trade him for someone a little more safe.

It has been a walk down memory lane for the Baltimore Orioles this week as Interleague play has allowed for the renewal of a great rivalries with two one-time World Series opponents.

This season the Phillies have recorded two series wins at home. Both have come against the Washington Nationals. This weekend they hope to pick their third home series win, and perhaps get their home schedule turned around, when they welcome the Baltimore Orioles to Citizens Bank Park.

Anyone who knows Ubaldo Jimenez knows that his boyhood hero is Pedro Martinez. Jimenez watched his fellow country man dominate opposing Major League hitters from his home in the Dominican Republic.

John Smoltz was smiling in front of his locker on Tuesday afternoon as he finally confirmed that he will return to big league pitching on June 25 vs. the Washington Nationals, following a final three-inning rehab stint on Wednesday at McCoy Stadium for the Pawtucket Red Sox.

But what he doesn’t want is fans thinking this is just about him.

The Mets came into Friday night’s game with the Yankees in a tough spot. The Yankees had just been swept by the Red Sox and were now 0-8 on the season against them. They had to be hungry, and for the Mets, they had lost a couple of close games against the Phillies that many thought they should’ve won. It was going to be a true test, and until the bottom of the ninth inning, they had passed the test with flying colors.

If only Luis Castillo had used two hands.

If you didn’t watch today’s game between the New York Mets and New York Yankees, I envy you. 

I am a baseball junkie, I love to just watch the game; Any two teams at any time.

However, today’s game was a painful one to sit through, and if it were not for the fact that it was a Mets game, the television would have been shut off after the fourth inning. 

Sorry for the editorializing.

With John Smoltz set to begin the 2009 season after coming off his current 30-day rehab assignment, the Red Sox have a roster decision to make. With five healthy starters already, and a potential Hall of Famer raring to go, something's gotta give.