During the winter, new bosox manager Bobby Valentine took a couple pot-shots at Yankees Derek Jeter and A-Rod. It was obvious to just about everyone what he was doing then especially with all the disturbing news coming from his new team: anything to distract what is on the field. Okay? Got it.

But today in reports out of beantown, the mouth is now taking shots at one of his team's most beloved hard-workers: Kevin Youkilis. Now, the "Greek God of Walks" ain't what he used to be (yes, I am stealing lines from my own pieces but sometimes you do need to repeat yourself) but when the manager comes out and tells the newspapers he doesn't think you're doing it emotionally, that you're not there? Well, that is not going to sit well with any player.

Of course, the other big mouth (or, as Ian from Minor Threat would classify Pedroia, "small man/big mouth) comes to his teammates defense with some pretty damning quotes about the sox' new manager. "I really don't know what Bobby is trying to do," Pedroia said Monday. "That's not the way we go about our stuff around here. He'll figure that out. The whole team is behind Youk. We have each other's backs here."


And this too: "I don't know what Bobby's trying to do, but that's not the way we do things here," said Pedroia. "Maybe that stuff works in Japan."

Of course when Youkilis went in to chat with his skipper, Bobby V thought it was about something else. Bobby has since apologized, but Youkilis gave this quote: "Yeah, we talked, but everything, whatever we talk about, stays inside that room," Youkilis said. It sure doesn't sound like the end of this or a satisfying conclusion.


Meanwhile, up in the Bronx, the Yankees took two out of three from the slow-starting Angels. Ten games into the season, the Yanks are tied for first along with pretty much the rest of the AL-East; the sox are in last all by themselves. And I thought the O's would be keeping them company. So far, the Yanks have received a few good starts by Kuroda and Nova, but the rotation (minus Pineda and with Pettitte on his way back) has not shown what it is capable of.


But the bullpen which was stellar last year is up to its old tricks, especially with David Robertson performing his Houdini-act. Yesterday, it was getting out of the mess Soriano created in the bottom of the 7th which allowed the Angels the appearance of getting back in the game. The line-up, with a few notable exceptions like Derek Jeter, have not hit their stride as of yet, but we know they will, This is a team designed to make pitchers throw a lot of pitches and to score a lot of runs.


Yanks start a 3-game series tonight at Yankee Stadium versus their usual punching-bags, the Minnesota Twins. Starter and ex-Yankee Carl Pavano should hear even louder boo's than what were given to Tebow in attendance yesterday.


I am seriously considering retracting my pick of the Giants in the NL-West now that closer and beard-master Brian Wilson will be having season-ending elbow surgery. This won't be his first Tommy John so there have been a few reports that state this could be career-threatening. I sure hope not: as much as Bochy (who needs a push-button closer in my opinion) and the Giants need him, Wilson's brand of crazy is needed around MLB, too.


And in case you hadn't heard, my book, "A Rose by Any Other Name" came out last week in both print edition (available here: https://www.createspace.com/3527985) or electronically for the Kindle exclusively  (here: http://www.amazon.com/Rose-Any-Other-Name-ebook/dp/B007SABVQC/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1334590274&sr=1-1)

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Here it is: your moment of baseball Zen:

You’ve gotta love Jeff Francoeur, a goodwill, stand-up guy wherever he goes. The onetime Met, now with the Kansas City Royals, expressed his admiration for the faithful (but dwindling) Oakland A’s fans who still show up every night in the cold, dreary Oakland Coliseum — not just with his words but with his deeds. Last Wednesday Francoeur renewed his affection for the fans in right field in the coliseum by having 20 pizzas sent to section 149. Last year, he sent a baseball wrapped with a $100 bill to the same fans, telling them to buy beer and bacon with it. “Baseball to me is fun, but sometimes we take it too seriously,” Francoeur said.
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Thanks for reading,
Brian