Random Thoughts (July 26, 2009)

I know it's unusual to get a Random Thoughts on a Sunday night but I'm not in a great mood* so I thought I would share my irrelevant take on life with you in spite of the Lord's request that I take the day off. (* I'm stealing from the great Joe Posnanski once again but you need - no, you deserve - to know what could ruin the mood of the eternally optimistic TheBostonInsider. I had one or ten too many at the Red Sox game last night, my softball game this morning almost led me to commit a crime of passion, and I have a paper for my graduate class due in a few hours that I just don't feel like writing. Enjoy!) And, we're off... Let me start with a new beginning. After avoiding joining Twitter out of nothing more than ignorance, TheBostonInsider is the newest member of the insanely popular social network. I decided to join so I could follow the quick-hit thoughts of the best sports writers - like Sports Illustrated's baseball scribe Jon Heyman - but I will also post some of the things that drip out of my head that can't be wiped away with a napkin. Don't be afraid to stop by every once in a while... For the second straight week, TheBostonInsider joined Mark Linehan and Bernie Corbett for some great sports talk on "Rounding Third" from the Baseball Tavern. Linehan and Corbett had another great lineup of guests. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe chimed in from Cooperstown and Red Sox historian (and Jim Rice's most important cheerleader) Dick Bresciani also called in from upstate New York. Joining Mark and Bernie at the Tavern - home to Boston's best clamroll - was baseball analyst Buck Martinez and the author of the Fat White Guy blog, Rob Lunn. Martinez, who managed the United States in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, had a great idea for the future of the controversial WBC. He believes that every four years, the WBC should be played in place of the MLB All-Star Game. Martinez would like to see a series of exhibition games played in the MLB cities that have multiple stadiums - New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Make sure to tune in this Saturday on ESPN 890 AM at 2pm. TheBostonInsider is scheduled to call in from Baltimore, where he expects to drop a small stimulus package on the bars of the Inner Harbor... Due to a shoulder injury that makes it impossible to make a pain-free overhanded throw - as well as a Pedro-like ability to command the mound - I am the default pitcher for my slow pitch softball team. It is a job that is usually a lot of fun. Today was the exception. I thought I was going up against Mass Mayhem but instead I found myself pitching against the Billy Beane All-Stars. Instead of getting up to the plate and taking their hacks, Mass Mayhem decided to run up my pitch count and draw walks. Slow pitch softball pitching is no exact science (especially when one has to vomit into the Charles River between innings) but the basic idea is to swing the bat if the pitch is around the plate. The losers of Mass Mayhem just sat there with bats on shoulder. They did earn five walks in the game but I also recorded an unofficial world record with three strike outs by the way of an umpire's decision. My physical state of being, combined with my mounting frustration, almost led me to take action with my bat. I was thinking of going Izzy Alcantara on Mass Mayhem but then I remembered that it's Sunday morning slow pitch softball and going to jail for murdering an opponent would not have been a good way to spend my time. I am already regretting the decision... Buster Olney of ESPN reported that the Red Sox have interest in trading for Padres firstbaseman Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez would cost the Sox a bunch in terms of prospects but he is under contract through 2010 ($4.75 million) with a team option for $5.5 million in 2011. With the Red Sox struggling to score, Gonzalez is a very attractive option. His numbers compare very favorably with those of Yankee firstbaseman Mark Teixeira, who the Sox tried to sign this past winter. Theo Epstein would most likely have to be willing to part ways with his top two pitching prospects, Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden, just to start the negotiations but Gonzalez' combination of production, youth, and affordability makes him worth trading away some of the brightest chips in the organization... Enjoy APA format...