El Guapo's Ghost Rambles on about the Red Sox

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• I used to laugh out loud at work more than a few times when reading the AFKATBSG, now maybe once, but this is a good one…When Tommy John meets somebody and they say, "Hey, you're the surgery guy!", do you think he ever wants to grab them by the collar, push them against a wall and start screaming, "I won 288 f------ games! Two hundred and eighty-eight! I pitched in 3 World Series! You got that, moron?!?!?! Two hundred and eighty-eight wins!"

• From a Gordon Edes chat…Lee, El Guapo pitched in Venezuela last winter, but couldn't interest any big-league teams in his services. But his ghost hangs out on the blogsphere.

• “The Matrix” blew my mind and they have made two others. Good times will be had in HDTV.

• There is going to be a lot of anger and venom on the Boston streets that week. And not just as a result of road rage [from the DNC]. Just in case what is to be leveled upon Boston commuters wasn’t enough, the Yankees are also in town that previous weekend, creating what was going to be Bayer commercial waiting to happen anyhow into a "Calgon, take me away" situation. – Nice lines from Eric Wilbur.

• There is talk that Manny is setting up pitchers. It is usually the other way around. Has a hitter ever setup a pitcher?

• Speaking of Manny, Aflack should sell insurance when cars pull into the Lansdown parking garages.

• The length of Ortiz’s deal is fine. The dollars are a bit high for a DH considering the number of other glove-challenged players likely on the 2005 roster.

• Who the hell is Brian Seacrest? The guy was in the NY Times Magazine this past Sunday saying he is some kind of star.

• If the MFY acquire a CF in July, it will be Ken Griffey, Jr. not Beltran (everyone should hold off on the “look at the standings idiot” emails). The Reds are not a first place club; they are a .500 club since their runs scored and runs prevented are equal. Cincy is currently 5th in the NL in runs scored but 10th in OPS and 13th in runs prevented. Basically, the Reds have been lucky which is not likely to continue.

• Despite the injuries, Tito’s recent poor utilization of the pen, his desire to play two out machines - Crespo and Kapler, and Lowe’s struggles, the Sox have one of the best records and run differentials in baseball (Gammons like sentence - my apologizes).

• Raul Mondesi would not be a bad insurance policy or a platoon partner with Trot for the right price.

• It is no surprise that BK is hurt and heading back to Korea to get checked out. "He's been up front and honest," said Bailey. "He said he was having stiffness in his hip all along. During his last outing he had some stiffness in his hip and it migrated to his back. So something's going on there." If this was an issue, why didn’t BK say anything and why didn’t the medical team discover it?

• Without HBO, Comedy Central and FX, my television would project 90% sports related programming when now it is like 80%.

• “Super Size Me” looks great. Why isn’t being shown in Vermont? The freaking Sox movie is likely taking its spot because the multiplexes, even locally owned ones like here in the Green Mountain State, would not dare show more than one documentary at a time. (The commercials are driving me insane…most notably, the women with the stupid “Nomar is better” chant which is like saying my car stereo is better than the yours with your car being a Honda and his being a Jaguar…pathetic).

On a much more somber note, Doug Pappas pasted away last Friday much too young. Frequent visitors to El Guapo’s Ghost know that I referred to Pappas’ work often. Doug Pappas was always there to answer any of my questions more promptly than my own staff. Pappas was a beacon of the truth regarding baseball economics. Doug Pappas will be sorely missed; rest in peace.