El Guapo's Ghost Rambles on about the Red Sox

RAIN DOWN ON ME

There is no need to get into the he said – she said shit. We have an outcome on the MFY-D-Ray fiasco. The clubs play a double dip today. BUT, it is supposed to rain all day today and tomorrow in the Bronx. It is likely that at least one game will need to be rescheduled.

Over the next three weeks or so of the regular season, the clubs do not have a common off day. The mostly like scenario would be that if any of the potential rainout(s) have playoff implications, then the game(s) would be played on Monday, October 4th - the day before the start of the playoffs. Given the state of the MFY rotation, it would be a significant disadvantage for them to play one or more games the first Monday in October. Since it is likely that the MFY will make the postseason, would they give up or forfeit the A.L. East crown and home field?

News and Notes

• MLB will not make a decision on the Expos. My guess is that Selig will work some kind of franchise swap. My money is on Atlanta-Baltimore-DC three-way action.

• As if anyone needed another reason to be pissed at Buddy Boy Selig. If Selig wants to take credit for the wild card and interleague play, he could also take credit for making Bush president. No other baseball commissioner can make such a claim.

• After the RNC Convention, I have become a fan of the Bush twins. They are hilarious. I so want to pardo with them.

• The D-Rays have decided that their top prospects will learn on the job in Tampa. For their few fans, I hope ownership doesn't start crying poor when Rocco, Crawford, BJ and company all become arbitration eligible around the same time.

• Grady Fuson should get a call from Theo about a Special Assistant to the GM position.

• Erin Ness gets in World Series of Poker by qualifying in a Maxim office tournament? It doesn't matter how she got in the tournie. Any screen time for Erin is a good thing. She is certainly a cutie as well as this Sox staffer, who flashes the leather at Fenway.

• It is almost time for some football, which reminds me that Bill Parcells, Jerry Jones and Drew Henson had a hand in making the acquisition of A-Hole budget neutral.

• It is probably just me, but Oakland Coliseum’s outfield and foul ground look about twice as big as Fenway's.

• Sox road games need to be in HD; bring the HD cameras on the road. If ESPN can do it, so can NESN.

• Nick Swisher and Moneyball are linked forever in the baseball world. The central theme of the book and the A's philosophy is to find undervalued assets. My theory on one of the reasons for the A’s stat driven draft is that they knew OBP/walks would become trendy or appropriately valued in the marketplace so they drafted it. Fewer Scott Hatties would be available for the A’s each season. It was more cost effective to draft players with good plate discipline then to sign them as free agents in the future.

• Nice story on Abe Alvarez. I saw him last year in Burlington pitching for Lowell then a year later at Fenway. Unfortunately, he doesn’t project as anything more than a #4 at this time, but I am rooting for him to prove me wrong.