Long Tossing

Shaking off the rust from a long winter's layoff, ingesting lots of masking agents just in case the new MLB steroid policy extends to bloggers, and stretching the little-used muscles in my brain as pitchers and catchers start to head south:

I'm mildly interested in the World Baseball Classic, mostly because I'm a sucker for international competitions, even contrived ones. That said, I really don't see any way for this to work, especially given the timing. If Johan Santana blows out his elbow in March pitching for Venezuela, or Miguel Tejada gets hit in the wrist by some Italian-American kid, Bud and his boys will be swamped under an avalanche of negative public opinion. Hell, it might even get Wayne Gretzky's wife off the front page of the Sports section for a few hours. I get that baseball's trying to open new markets, but the risks seem to outweigh the rewards.

The Hub is all atwitter about the possibility that Roger Clemens may come back to finish his career in Boston. 2 years ago, I'd be revving up a fully righteous indignance, but today I'm struck by my utter indifference. For starters, I think his agents are using Boston and New York to drive up the price for the Astros - I'd be stunned if Rajah actually leaves home. And if he does come to Boston, he'd likely not join the team until June, and he'd only show up on the day of his scheduled start. So I could safely pretend that he wasn't really on the team 80+% of the time. And on the days he did start, I could focus really intently on the catcher, batter, and umpire, which would improve my understanding of the tools of ignorance - in more ways than one. So, as you can see, I'm completely at peace with this news.

Nomar Garciaparra's not a Mexican. In other news, General Francissimo Franco is still dead.

In local baseball news, the Nationals have offered Sammy Sosa a contract. That's just what the nation's capital needs in the wake of a bizarre stadium lease negotiation, a roster with Sosa, Jose Guillen, and Alfonso Soriano competing to see who can create the most resentment in the ranks of their teammates. I hear Jim Rome's on the short list of color commentator candidates.

I'm on a pitch count, just like the World Baseball Classic participants. Whitney's on his way with more pointless drivel.