Sox in 1st Place / McCoy Stadium

A few quick thoughts:

--Though I talked my friend down off the cliff when the Sox were 2-10, even I have to admit surprise that they're in first place on May 27th.  They're in first for two reasons: their obvious turnaround--and the mediocre play of the Yanks and Rays.  Had either team played better, this would be a much different season.  And let's not forget that the Sox are 5-1 against the Yanks.  Otherwise...

--Shockingly sparse crowd at McCoy Stadium last night.  I know it's Triple-A baseball, but I have never seen the place as empty on such a beautiful night before.  I know the Bruins Game 7 was on, and that maybe it was a travel night for some people, but the crowd of maybe 3,000 was the smallest I've ever seen there on such a good day, by about 5,000.

--The crash you heard was Michael Bowden's career hitting rock bottom.  Or the sound of 3,000 people booing him after he gave up a grand slam to Barte, hitting below .200 at the time, in the 9th inning last night, turning a 3-1 lead into a 6-3 loss.  (They got another run on a blown call by the 3rd base ump. that even the guy who sang the national anthem could've called correctly.)  Well, okay, the guy who sang that (beautifully, I might add) was blind, but still...

--Keep Carl batting 6th.  You have the best hitting lineup in MLB right now; don't fix what's not broken.

--If I'm the Sox, I keep Lackey and Dice-K injured, if you know what I mean.  Not so much Scutaro, but where do you put him?  If he's to be traded--since he's not playing there next year anyway--the time is now.

--Lost in the self-congratulating is the fact that Papelbon and Bard both have ERAs hovering at or over 3.00.  They haven't exactly been lights-out.  A 3.00 for your one-inning 8th and 9th inning guys is rather high.  The really good ones keep it in the twos.

--Jenks started the Pawsox game yesterday and pitched just the first inning.  People all around me--including employees of the park--were aghast at the short work.  I had to remind them that he's a one-inning pitcher in the majors, so you don't want to stretch him out or over-extend him at Triple-A.  Come on, guys...

--We're going to start to see the Indians come back down to earth now.  They have seriously overachieved.

--Speaking of the Indians, have you noticed that the Native American stereotypes in baseball run the gamut from smiley, dopey looking wahoos (Cleveland) to tomahawk-wielding scalpers (Atlanta).  There's nothing in between?  And when do we do away with those, anyway?  I'm not a politically-correct fascist, but--now's the time.  No major league team would dare to have similar African-American stereotypes, as well they shouldn't.