Thursday, the 18th

"I don't know a steroid from a reefer." - Lou Pinella on Sammy Sosa

And with that, good morning everyone. John Smoltz will be making his first start for the Sox against the Nats about a week from now. I know, he's too old. And he's recovering from another surgery. But mark my words, the Sox fans will absolutely love him when he comes back better than expected. By August, he will be an intrical part of that organization - guaranteed. I have seen him come back too many times before in Atlanta and have absolutely no doubt that this will happen.

YESTERDAY

It's the way the ball bounces, man. If you have been unfortunate to be double dipped by Verlander and Greinke, you have my deepest sympathies. Seriously. I, on the other hand, have been fortunate enough to avoid both of them. It's luck, I assure you and my day is coming. For now though, I will take my luck and run to the hills with it. Even with a miserable 8th inning, Lincecum came through with 20 for me and my bats pitched in 33 more led by Hill (12) and Dunn (7). If Beltran, Wright and McCann had brought any game at all, it would have been a great night. Nonetheless, my 53 was good enough to move me up another spot to #12 overall and I now have a 98 point safety net on the Leaderboard. Damn, it feels good. Unfortunately, I have to earn the right to keep it.

TODAY

If you were brave enough to play against the New York and Philly weather, I wish you the best. It appears that the vast majority took Haren of the Desert, including 80% of the Leaderboard. I am really happy to see this. At least I won't be alone if he goes down. Day baseball is on the way. Nothing makes the work day go faster. Here's the final.....

C: Varitek
1B: Berkman
2B: Kinsler
3B: Young
SS: Zobrist
LF: Bay
CF: Beltran
RF: Cruz
DH: Scott
PS: Haren of the Desert

TOMORROW

Weather:
Brewers/Tigers 60%
Braves/RedSox 60%
I am not worried about either of these right now and will pick freely.

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Cubs, Nationals, Phillies, Marlins, Yankees, Dodgers, Padres, Rangers

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Orioles vs. Bastardo (2-1 5.23 in 3 starts)
Yankees vs. West (2-1 3.00 in 5 starts)

Matchups to avoid:
Helms (1-11 vs. starter)
Ryan (0-8)
An. LaRoche (1-9)
Hunter (1-8)
Blake (0-8)

Pitchers:
Lee (4-6, 2.88, 3 R or more in 3 of last 5, 2-0 1.96 in June, 2-2 3.83 on road, at CHC)
Marquis (8-4 3.77, Low K's, 2 R or less in 5 of last 6, 4-3 4.62 at home)
Bills (9-3 2.72, 93 K in 92 IP, 3-0 2.41 in June, at LAA)
Saunders (7-4 3.66, roughed up in 3 of last 4, 3-2 2.74 at home)
Outman (4-1 3.43, 2-1 4.34 in June, Less than 7 IP in all but 1 start, at SD)
Washburn (3-5 3.30, 1 R or less in 3 of last 4, banged up)
Feldman (5-1 3.70, has not gone 7 IP this year, 1-1 3.12 in June, at SF)
I really kind oflike Marquis tomorrow, but Coors is still Coors. I think Bills will have a good game, but being on the road at an AL park makes me really nervous. So here is where I drive myself crazy. i have not taken Lee since Kerry FU Wood blew up on him a few months ago. And after all the shit I have given that jackass, I am sure there is some bad juju headed my way. On the other hand, if the FU stuff is deserved, which it surely is, would I really deserve the bad juju? This is the kind of stuff that has been in my head all afternoon. Fudge it, the Cubs suck. Keep Kerry FU Wood out of it and hope for the best. on top of that, maybe tomorrow is the day my run is supposed to end. By going against my instincts (any team that doesn't have Kerry FU Wood) maybe I can get around it.

First:
Miggy (4-14, GR)
Prince (never faced starter)
Youk (n/a)
Pujols (2-5)
Berkman (n/a)
Since Pujols has 5 HR in 35 bats at Kaufman in the past three years, I have to take him over the unknown matchups

Second:
Hill (n/a)
Scutaro (n/a)
Utley (2-4, HR vs. lefty)
Roberts (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Pedroia (n/a)
Phillips (1-1)
Cano (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Hill and Scutaro have the best matchups and are coincidently are hottest of the group here. Since Hill has more power, is cheaper, and hits righties better, he is my pick. 47 RBI's at 4.5 mil is with a favorable matchup.....

Third:
Wright (n/a)
Longoria (n/a)
ARoid (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Beltre (6-19, HR)
ARoid is sucking it up and Wright hits lefties only and has let me down a few times lately. Meanwhile, Longoris hits .370 vs. righties and this one does not impress me.

Short:
Rollins (3-8, HR vs. lefty)
Bartlett (0-1)
Zobrist (n/a)
Hanley (5-7 vs. lefty)
Tejada (n/a)
Betancourt (9-20)
Hanley has no HR's vs. lefties all year. Rollins isn't worth the money at all. While bartlett is fresh off the DL, he has comebackpretty well already. I am ready to take him again.

Left:
Soriano (3-8, HR vs. good starter)
Braun (n/a and left game last night with bad back)
Lind (n/a)
Ibanez (0-3 vs. lefty) WENT ON DISABLED LIST TODAY
Bay (n/a)
Crawford (n/a)
Lee (n/a)
Of this group, I think Bay will blow up Kawakami. The Braves pitcher will come at him with that weak offspeed stuff as the Asian pitchers often do on the first pitch and it will land out on the street.

Center:
Jones (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Ellsbury (n/a)
McLouth (n/a vs. Dice)
Beltran (n/a)
I don't care much for this position at all. Give me Ellsbury, just because he is the cheapest and therefore the lowest risk.

Right:
Mags (3-5, HR)
Cake (n/a vs. lefty rook)
Francouer (3-3, HR vs. Dice)
Pence (n/a)
Hawpe (n/a)
Ethier (1-3, HR vs. good lefty starter)
Hart (n/a)
I like Hawpe the best, but Corey Hart is on a tear (see stat corner). Remember that streak he went on last April was it? Maybe this is one of those.

DH:
Hafner (2-4, HR but may sit in NL park)
Ortiz (n/a)
Thome (1-2, HR but in NL park)
Sheff (3-6, HR)
Kubel (2-4 vs. good starter)
The bottom line here is that Ortiz may, just may be coming out of it. This is his chance to prove it to me.

Catcher:
McCann (0-2 vs. Dice)
Yadi (1-3)
Mauer (1-3 vs. good starter)
Martin (2-5, HR vs. good lefty starter)
I really don't care for any of these either. I am going to take a chance on VMart vs. Harden. I'll need his help anyway with Kerry FU Wood waiting in the wings to blow up my night.

As you can see, there isn't squat to choose from. Be wise and go with your gut.

FINAL LINEUP
C: VMart
1B: Pujols
2B: Hill
3B: Longoria
SS: Bartlett
LF: Bay
CF: Ellsbury
RF: Hart
DH: Ortiz
PS: (gulp) Lee

STAT CORNER

The longest current hitting streaks and the numbers that come with them:
D. Lee 14 games, .357 AVG, 2 HR, 8 RBI
Bartlett 12 games, .400 AVG, 2 HR, 17 RBI
Mauer 10 games, .442 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI
Hunter 10 games, .389 AVG, 4 HR, 9 RBI
Furcal 10 games, .294 AVG, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Hart 8 games, .443 AVG, 3 HR, 10 RBI
Flores 8 games, .400 AVG, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Blake 8 games, .375 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI
C. Pena 8 games, .393 AVG, 4 HR, 7 RBI
Kubel 8 games, .385 AVG, 4 HR, 6 RBI

DISCLAIMER

FU Detroit and KC Staffs! ( one time, for good karma)