There’s a starman waiting in the sky.  He’d like to come and meet us, but he thinks he’d blow our minds.  -David Bowie

After seeing the above preview for the Bill Lee documentary SPACEMAN: A Baseball Odyssey, my mind began to wander.  It began to wander to a simpler place in time.  It began to wander to when you could get still get baseball cards for a dime.  It began to wanter to when Bill Lee was in his junk ball prime.  Aaah Bill Lee, prophet in his own mind.  Bill “the Spaceman” Lee, my favorite baseball player of all time.     

Okay, okay, okay.  When I was little, ok?  When I was little, around the corner from my house, ok?  Around the corner from my house, the Red Sox owned this house, ok?  The Red sox owned this house where players lived for the season.  Danny Cater lived there one year, I remember.  Barely.  But what I definitely do remember is:  Bill Lee lived there one year too.

Now, that same year, I was about thirteen.  Spike Lee remembers it as the Summer of Sam.  I remember it as the summer of Bucky Dent.  My brothers and I went to every home weekend game.  Every home weekend game.  There were no advanced sale bleachers back then.  There was no assigned seating in the no advanced sale bleachers back then.  First come, first serve.  The American way.

Okay, okay, okay.  Ya.  Bill Lee.  Bill Lee lived around the corner from me.  Gameday, from his house, the Spaceman would run to the ballpark.  Me and my brothers would get on the 57 bus.  Get on the 57 bus in Watertown Square.  Get on the 57 bus into Fenway.  We’d see Bill Lee running to the game.  We’d scream out the window at him.  The whole way.

We tried to make it in time for batting practice.  When Lee would get into the outfield for a catch, we’d come down to the bullpen fence and scream at him some more.  Scream through our popcorn holder megaphones.  He’d throw us a ball sometimes.  I was thirteen.  At that point in time, there was no debating who my favorite player was.  And, not for nothing, he shoulda pitched that game instead of Torrez.  At thirteen, I knew it.  I still know it now. The Bald Headed Gerbil shoulda knowned it too.

Peace out homies.  Six two and even!

We live we die.  We laugh and we cry.  We know not why.  Bent on a life between the lines.  End on a sign of the times.  -Bryan Ferry

For some time now you’ve been hearing it.  For some time now, us Sox fans have been jeering it.  Paul Revering it.  One if by land, and two if by sea.  And I, on the opposite shore will be, ready to ride and spread the alarm.  I’m ready to spread the alarm.  I’m ready to tell you Mariano Rivera is on his last legs.  I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking, “Just another douchebag Boston fan trying to stick it to the Yankees.  Maybe you’re right.  Afterall, it was William Shakespeare who said, “In time, we hate what we often fear.”  Thing is, as time wears on, Mariano is less fearful.  He’s 41 years old for gosh sakes.  41!  Everybody gets old, even the great ones.  When Shaquille O’Neal was asked his opinion about Michael Jordan’s comeback in Washington, Shaq Daddy simply replied, “39 ain’t 29, bro”.  No it ain’t.

Mariano Rivera is one of the great ones.  In fact, he is considered by many baseball experts to be the greatest closer in baseball history:

• Buster Olney says, ”No other player can instill calm in his team’s fans as reliably as Mariano Rivera, the game’s dominant closer and arguably the best relief pitcher of all time .”
• Joe Torre says, “He’s the best I’ve ever been around.  Not only the ability to pitch and perform under pressure, but the calm he puts over the clubhouse”
• Trevor Hoffman, the only closer with more saves than Rivera, says, “He will go down as the best reliever in the game in history.”
• Even my boy, Dennis Eckersley, says, “He is the best ever, no doubt.”

But, as great as  Mariano is, 41 ain’t 31, bro.  Don’t believe me?  Want proof?  Here’s your proof.  I got your proof right here.  Yesterday afternoon Mariano Rivera set a major-league record for consecutive 30-save seasons (nine) when he closed out the Yankees’ victory over the Angels.  Hooray Mariano Rivera!  However, in doing so, he also gave up a three-run bomb to Russell Branyan that cut New York’s lead to one run before Rivera retired the next two batters to earn his record-setting save.   For those of you keeping score at home, in each of his last three appearances, Mariano was charged with at least one run while not recording a single strikeout.  Big deal, you say?  Who cares, you say?  I say that makes the first time that Rivera has done that in three consecutive games in his 17-year major-league career.  First time.  Ever.  That’s gotta mean something, don’t it?  Sure it does.  This does too:  Between 1997 and 2009, Rivera gave up runs in three straight outings exactly four times.  He has now done it three times in the last 15 months.

I know we’ve seen this before.  I know last September Big Mo surrendered runs in three straight outings and then responded with two scoreless games to end the regular season and then added six scoreless outings in the playoffs to boot.  I know that.  This just seems different.  Joe Girardi said, “I don’t think Mo’s forgotten how to pitch.”  Neither do I, but mentally knowing what to do and physically being able to carry it out are two very different things.

Peace out homies.  Six two and Even!

Maybe in time I’ll see things in a different way, but all I can think about is right now and right now you let me down.  Right now you let me down.  You let me down.  -Black Flag

There was a time Adam Dunn was one of the premier left-handed power hitters in all of baseball who showed great patience at the plate.  I know, I know, this cat has been known to stike out a lot, but he has nonetheless compiled a career on-base percentage above .380.  In fact, coming in to this season, Dunn has been one of the game’s most prolific sluggers going for seven consecutive seasons with at least 38 bombs and a  hefty .850 OPS.  That’s why Billy Williams and the White Sox signed him for all that money.  The White Sox, reeling from their 2010 finish when they failed to win the AL Central, desperately wanted a left-handed bat.  Desperately seeking Susan.  They tried several times during the summer to trade for Dunn, but couldn’t reach an agreement with the Nationals. They even entertained the idea of bringing back DH Jim Thome, who helped the Minnesota Twins to the division title last season.  But no, they ultimately signed Dunn.  Like my main John Belushi always says, “I came out here, I didn’t have to.  I could have stayed in my dressing room, by myself, and let you die out here alone.  But nooooo!  I gotta come out here and help you, and what do you do?  You turn on me like a shark!”     

Adam Dunn has turned on the White Sox like a shark.  I know, it’s not intentional, but when you’re Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox, and you’re hitting a measly .163 with a robust 145 strikeout count on August 11, and you’re in the first year of a four-year, $56 million contract, it just doesn’t matter.  It just doesn’t matter because now you’ve got a target on your back.  It just doesn’t matter because now Chicago fans and people like me are openly questioning whether your season and your contract are the worst in history.  Barry Zito worst.  Andruw Jones worst.  Vernon Wells worst.  Darren Dreifort worst.  At least he’s not Denny Neagle worst.  Neagle coupled his bad contract with a DUI arrest, another for soliciting a prostitute and ultimately a buyout.  But make no mistakes, this Dunn contract still looks, pretty, pretty, pretttttty bad.

How bad?  Glad you asked.  Dunn is on pace for just 16 homers and 57 RBIs.  His OPS of .598 is nearly 300 points below his career norm (.883).   His batting average of .165 would make Rob Deer look good.  You remember Rob Deer, doncha?  Sure you do.  In 1991, Rob Deer, with his .179 batting average, set the record for the lowest in baseball history by a hitter with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.   You know what else Rob Deer did in 1991?  Huh?  Do Ya?  In 1991 Rob Deer led the majors in strikeouts with 175.  Dunn?  He’s on pace for 202.  Wait, it gets worse.

Last night, Adam Dunn went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the White Sox’ loss to the Orioles.  You might be asking what I had to ask every year at Passover.  You might be asking, “Ma nishtana ha-laila ha-zeh mi-kol ha-lelot?”  For the unitiated, that means, “Why is this night different from all other nights?”  That’s just it.  It’s not different.  It’s not different at all.  In fact, it is the 17th game this season in which Dunn went hitless with at least three strikeouts.  Big deal, you say?  Who cares, you say?  I say that sets a major-league record in that category.  I say the previous mark was 16 games with no hits and three-or-more strikeouts by Arizona’s Mark Reynolds in 2009.  Ozzie Guillen says, “I think he should learn his lesson.   He has to put himself in shape and come to spring training in shape and stay there.”

Peace out homies. Six two and even!

How gold?  Glad you asked.  Solid gold.  Solid Gold dancers gold.  Mmmmm, the Solid Gold Dancers.  Sorry.  Where was I?  Oh ya.  Freddy Lynn.  Gold.  Rookie of the Year gold.  MVP gold.  Gold Glove gold.  First player ever to win both MVP and ROY in the same season gold.  That’s how gold. This is how gold too:

• Freddy hit .331.
• Freddy hit twenty-one bombs.
• Freddy had 105 RBIs.
• He led the league in slugging percentage.
• He led the league in OPS.
• He led the league in doubles and runs scored.
• On one sunny afternoon in June, he smashed the Detroit Tigers.  Smashed the Detroit Tigers to the tune of three HRs, ten RBIs and sixteen total bases.  In one game!  Yowza!
• In the post season, he hit .306.
• In the post season,he had one ding and eight RBIs.

In Game Six against the Big Red Machine, Freddy slammed a crucial three-run jack in the first inning.  Freddy slammed a crucial three-run jack in the first inning that setup the critical Bernie Carbo jack that set up the famous Carlton Fisk jack that sits on a branch that sits on a log that sits in a hole in the bottom of the sea.  There’s a hole, there’s a hole, there’s a hole in the bottom of the sea.  Stewie Griffen style.

Now that’s what a rookie season looks like.  Now that’s why the should rename the award.  Write your congressman.  Write Bud Selig.  Tell ‘em Josh Q. Public sent ya.  Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Catcher – JP Arencibia

Make no mistakes, JP Arencibia is never going to hit for a high batting average.  Never.  Not in a box.  Not with a fox.  Not in a house.  Not with a mouse.  He will not do it here or there.  He will not do it anywhere.  What he will do is go yard.  JP is a streak hitter and when he streaking, he just tears the cover off the ball.  Earlier in the week he tore the cover off the ball to the tune of five bombs in six games.  Five bombs in six games all from the nine hole.  Just so you know, he’s the first major-league player to hit five bombs over six games from the last spot in the lineup since Dale Sveum did so for the 1987 Brewers.  I know.  Dale Sveum.  But still.  But still, Arencibia hit another one last night.  But still, Arencibia now has 18 for the season.  He’s an aggressive hitter who can knock the ball out to all fields in any ballpark.  Knock knock.  Who’s there?  JP Arencibia, bitch!  Honorable Mention:  Wilson Ramos

First Base – Freddie Freeman

This was a tough one.  This was a rough one.  An HR Puffnstuf one.  HR Pufnstuf, who’s your friend when things get rough?  HR Pufnstuf, can’t do a little cause he can’t do enough.  Eric Hosmer and Mark Trumbo can’t do enough either but I gotta go with Freddie Freeman here.  Freeman was just named the NL Rookie of the Month.  Freeman just came off a July in which he led all other major league rookies in batting average, hits, and on-base percentage.  Freeeman is in the middle of an 18-game hitting streak, and he hit in 23 out of 27 games in July.  Freeman here’s got a job. Freeman’s got prospects.  He’s bona fide.  What are you?  I’ll tell you what else Freddie Freeman is.  Freddie Freeman is well on his way to NL Rookie of the Year.  Danny Espinosa who?

Second Base – Danny Espinosa

Speak of the devil.  Heading into the All-Star break, Danny Espinosa was the front-runner for NL Rookie of the Year.  Like my main Pony Boy always says, “That was then.  This is now.”  It might have been Pony Boy.  Now that think of it, it prolly wasn’t Pony Boy.  Whoever it was, it fits.  Now, since the All-Star break, Espinosa is in the midst of a 11-72 skid.  This is a situation he’ll have to rectify if he wants to keep pace with Freeman.  He’ll have to do what he was doing before.  He’ll have to produces runs again.  He’ll have to hit bombs again.  I think he can.  Even if he doesn’t, he still plays superb defense.  Even if he doesn’t, he still is the only rookie who can say he hasn’t missed one game. Even if he doesn’t, he still makes this team.  Honorable Mention:  Jemile Weeks

Third Base – Justin Turner

The competition here is thin.  Very thin.  Thinner than that and even thinner still.  Cardinals third baseman Daniel Descalso is so bad that Tony La Russa had to play Albert Pujols at third base.  Chicago White Sox third baseman Brent Morel is hitting .250 and has drawn just three walks in 240 at-bats.  While Lonnie Chisenhall is undoubtedly going to be a star in the future, he’s far from that now.  Same for Mike Moustakas.  That leaves us with Justin Turner.  Wait.  I thought Justin Turner played second base.  No.  What is on second base.  Huh?  Let me explain.  Turner got the call from Triple-A Buffalo and provided instant value by hitting for average and playing solid defense at second.  So you were right, right?  Yes and no.  Turner then shifted to third base when David Wright went down in mid-May and has continued to serve as a traditional two-hole hitter with the ability to make contact and handle the bat.  Got it?  Good.  Turner doesn’t have the upside of some of the aforementioned players.  He appears to be a below average offensive second baseman with average defense and baserunning.  That doesn’t sound like ringing endorsement.  In fact in sounds a lot like my main man Stan Podalak:  “Well, I may not be very tall, but… I’m slow.”  Maybe so, but he’s all we got.

Shortstop – Elliot Johnson

Just like Jimmy Morris, it’s never too late to believe in your dreams.  It’s not too late for Elliot Johnson.  The 27 year-old Rays rookie toiled nine years in the minors and did not play more than 20 games at short until last season.  Look at him now.  This season the switch-hitting Johnson has served in a rough platoon with Reid Brignac earlier in the season and now with Sean Rodriguez.  He has served admirably.  Admirably Fletcher.  Admirably Nimitz.  Admirably Farragut.  Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead!  Elliot Johnson has gone full speed ahead.  Full speed ahead while providing value on defense and on the bases.  Sure he’s a utility guy.  César Tovar was a utility guy.  Tony Phillips was a utility guy.  Cookie Rojas and Bert Campaneris were utility guys.  How do you like them guys?  Honorable Mention:  Chase d’Arnaud

Outfield – Desmond Jennings

We caught  a glimpse of this guy last year.  Caught a glimpse of this guy in the thick of the pennant race.  Caught a glimpse of this guy in the ALDS.  In the thick of the pennant race and in the ALDS, this guy hit in eight different lineup slots, pinch-hit, pinch-ran and generally got his feet wet.  His feet are soaking now.  I know he only has 45 at-bats.  I don’t care.  Through 11 games since his call-up last month he’s batting .340.  Through 11 games since his call-up last month he has six walks and five stolen bases.  He’s gotten on base 23 times in nine games for a .436 on-base percentage and eight of his 16 hits have gone for extra bases, which is good for a .681 slugging percentage.    I have seen the future of the MLB and its name is Desmond Jennings.  Honorable Mention:  Josh Reddick

Starting Pitcher – Dillon Gee

What?  You thought I was going to say Michael Pineda?  You thought you said I’m alright Spider.  You thought wrong.  Dillon Gee got off to 7-0 in his first nine starts for the Mets this season.  That 7-0 start established a team record for rookies and made him a mainstay in a starting rotation.  he hasn’t slowed down since.   Gee, has almost single-handedly kept the Mets on the brink of playoff contention by going a team-best 10-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 20 outings.  Despite lacking the fire-balling prowess of the aforementioned Pineda, Gee has a penchant for winning.  My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery.  But that’s him.  This is about Dillon Gee.  This is about the best rookie starting pitcher in baseball.  Honorable Mention:  Michael Pineda

Closer – Craig Kimbrel

No Gomer Pyle here.  No surprise, surprise, surprise here.  Craig Kimbrel is the leader of the Braves bullpen.  He is  a 23-year-old flamethrower who has saved 32 games and struck out 86 batters in 54 innings.  How about that?  How about this:  Kimbrel’s 14.3 strikeouts per nine innings pitched is the eighth highest ever by a reliever with 50 or more innings pitched.  Yowza!  Honorable Mention:  Jordan Walden

Peace out homies.  Six two and even!

I’m winning.  I’m winning.  I’m winning.  And I don’t intend on losing again.  -Santana

Jake Westbrook  throws heavy and boring 90-mph sinker.  A stinker of a sinker.  Jake Westbrook throws a stinker of a sinker that when it’s going right, is very tough to beat.  I know.  I’ve seen it.  I’ve seen up close and personal.   I saw it up close and personal back in 2007.  I saw it up close and personal back in 2007 during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.   Back in 2007 during Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, Westbrook’s sinker was going right.  He did allow a two-run homer to Jason Varitek in the seventh, but otherwise, he throttled my beloved Red Sox.  Throttled ‘em real good like.  Of the 20 outs that Westbrook recorded that day, only three came on balls hit to the outfield.  He ended three innings with double-play grounders, one with the bases loaded in the second.  That’s what Jake Westbrook looks like when his sinker is going right.  That’s what he’s been looking like for much of this season.      

Yesterday, Jake Westbrook’s sinker was going right. Yesterday, Jake Westbrook pitched eight solid innings.  Yesterday, 15 of his outs involved a groundball.  Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.  Yesterday, in his 20th start of the season, Big Jake improved his record to 8-4 with a win against the Metropolitans.  Big deal, you say?  Who cares, you say?  So what, you say?  I say Westbrook’s eight wins are the second-most he’s ever recorded in his first 20 starts of a season.  What’s old is new again. I say he was 10-4 in his first 20 starts for the Indians in 2004.  However, I also say, Westbrook’s 5.04 earned-run average this year is the highest of his career in his first 20 starts of a season.  But I’m like Weezer, “I don’t care about that.”  I’m like Al Davis, “Just win baby!”  That’s what Jake’s Westbrook’s been doing.  He’s like Charlie Sheen.  Winning.

Peace out homies. Six two and even!

Mark the month and all its anniversaries.  Put away the draft of all your eulogies.  Clear the way for all your private memories.  -Suzanne Vega

In case you missed it, yesterday marked the 10-year anniversary of Adam Dunn’s first major-league game. On that day of Adam’s first game, he recorded his first Major League hit.  Hooray Adam Dunn!  Wait!  Not so fast!  On that day too, he also recorded his first Major League strikeout.  Boooooo Adam Dunn!  And so it has gone for most of his career.  Yesterday, Dunn reached his 10th anniversary with 363 home runs, the fifth-most in major-league history at the 10-year anniversary of a player’s big-league debut.  The four players ahead of him: Albert Pujols (408), Eddie Mathews (371), Ralph Kiner (369) and Alex Rodriguez (366).  Yesterday Dunn also reached his 10th anniversary with 1,756 career strikeouts.  That, by far, is the highest total in Major-League history 10 years to the day since a player’s first career game.  Nobody else is within 300 strikeouts of that record.  Nobody.  Not Reggie Jackson.  Not Sammy Sosa.  Not Jim Thome.  Not nobody.  In fact, Bobby Bonds own second place on that list; he whiffed 1,422 times in his first decade in the majors (1968-1978).  So hey, happy anniversary Adam Dunn!

Peace out homies. Six two and even!

Oh, put me in, coach.  I’m ready to play, today.  Put me in, coach.  I’m ready to play, today.  Look at me, I can be centerfield.  -John Fogerty

What’s crack-a-lacking sports fans?  I’ll tell you what’s crack-a-lacking.  Jacoby Ellsbury is crack-a-lacking.  That’s right,  Jacoby Ellsbury.  Attention please, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Fenway Park.  Now leading off, Ellsbury, center field, Ellsbury.  Ahhh, center field.  Once, the most glamorous position in all of baseball. Once the most the strawberry jamerous positon in all of baseball.  Dare I say it?  Once the grand slamerous position in all of baseball.  Once.  You shouldn’t grab me, Johnny.  My mother grabbed me once…Once!  It used to mean something to be the best center fielder in baseball.  Like it used to mean something to be the Heavyweight Champion of the World.  Like it used to mean something to be the Fastest Man Alive.  I still think it means something, dammit.  I’m Gumby dammit.    

• There was Ty Cobb.  A man so good that Joe DiMaggio once said, “Every time I hear of this guy again, I wonder how he was possible.”
• There was Joltin’ Joe hisself.  The Yankee Clipper covered so much ground in center field that the only way to get a hit against the Bombers was to hit ‘em where Joe wasn’t.
• There was Willie Mays.  Say hey!  The best centerfielder who has ever been borned.  Where triples went to die.
• There was the Mick and the Duke.
• Jimmy Wynn and Freddy Lynn.
• Cool Papa Bell, so fast he could turn off the light and be in bed before the room got dark.
• More recently, we’ve had Kirby, Junior and Ichiro.

That brings us to this.  Who is the best centerfielder today?  Matt Kemp just became only the second Dodger to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases before the All-Star break.  Curtis Granderson has been coming on like gangbusters, among the league leaders in all power categories.   Josh Hamilton continues to be the story of all stories; part Roy Hobbs, part Paul Bunyan.  But for my money, Jacoby Ellsbury is the best CF in the MLB.

We all know about his proficiency on the basepaths.  There hasn’t been this much excitement on the basepaths around Fenway Park since 1973.  Since Tommy Harper.  Tommy Harper may never have been allowed to join the Elks, but in 1973, he led the American League and set the Red Sox single season stolen base record with fifty-four.  Jacoby Ellsbury didn’t just break Tommy’s record, he shattered it.  He has 28 stolen this season already and shows no signs of slowing down.

But Jacoby Ellsbury is doing more than just stealing bases.  A lot more.  Jo DiMaggio once said, “You look forward to baseball like a birthday party when you’re a kid.  You think something wonderful is going to happen.”  Jacoby Ellsbury makes wonderful things happen.  He makes things happen with his glove.  Heard it in a glove song.  Heard it in a glove song.  Heard it in a glove song.  Can’t be wrong.  No it can’t.  In the field,  backed by his blazing speed, Ellsbury had no problem diving onto the warning-track dirt or into a patch of grass to make a highlight-reel catch.  His glove-work in center got him enough notice to already have been once selected as the Defensive Player of the Year in MLB.com’s annual This Year in Baseball Awards.  How about that?

How about this:  At bat he’s joke either.  His two jacks last night are just the latest examples of Jacoby’s stick.  The man of the hour, tower of power, he’ll devour.  He’s gonna tie you up and let you understand that he’s not your average man when he’s got a baseball bat  in his hands.  DAAAAAM!!!!!  Don’t believe me?  Ellsbury’s two bombs from last night give him 15 on the season.  Just so you know, among the Red Sox, only David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez have more.  Just so you know too, Jacoby also has more dings than A-Rod, Matt Holliday, Jayson Werth and Adam Dunn.

Aside from his newly found power, Ellsbury does all the little things.  He’s patient.  He bunts for base hits.  He fouls off pitches.  He hits to the other side.  He slices.  He dices.  He Juliennes.  It’s amazing to me this kid does not get the pub he deserves.  No respect I tellya.  With his wife, he made a toast on her birthday to the best woman a man ever had.’  The waiter joined him.  No respect at all.  I’m giving him respect.  I’m calling the best center fielder in the game.

Peace out homies. Six two and even!

Higher they can soar!  Fired up for more!  Even out the score!  Go, go Power Rangers!   -Power Rangers Lyrics

Yes indeedy-do, things are certainly happening now down in Texas.  The stars at night, are big and bright, deep in the heart of Texas.  Last night, deep in the heart of Texas Anaheim, the Rangers shut out the Angels.   So what, you say?  Big deal, you say?  Who cares, you say?  I say, over their last six games, Rangers pitching has only allowed a meager two runs.  Two runs!  Six games!  How about that?  How about this:  Since the mound was lowered in 1969, only one other major-league team has allowed two (or fewer) runs in a six-game span within one season: the 1974 Orioles bookended a streak of five consecutive shutouts with a 7-1 win and a 3-2 win.  Just so you know, that Orioles team featured Jim Palmer.  That Orioles team featured Mike Cuellar.  That Orioles team featured Dave McNally.

The Rangers rotation may not have a Jim Palmer, a Mike Cuellar or a Dave McNally but just the same, they do have two 10-game winners in Alexi Ogando and C.J. Wilson, a nine-game winner in Colby Lewis and a pair of eight-game winners in Holland and Matt Harrison.  Pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty good.  How good?  The Rangers have an ERA of 1.92 and four shutouts during their winning streak.   Opposing batters have hit just .146 (29 for 199) against Texas’ starting pitchers in those six games with only six extra-base hits (all doubles).  Ranger First baseman Mitch Moreland:  “This whole streak we’re on right now is really because of what the pitchers have done.”  You can say that again!  You can.  I’m not gonna.  But I will say, with its potent lineup finally healthy and its youthful pitching staff taking over, I don’t wanna see ‘em come October.  Do you?

Peace out homies. Six two and even!

Don’t you know I’m still standing better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid.  I’m still standing after all this time.  Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind.  -Elton John

Guess whos back, back again.  Izzy’s back, tell a friend.  That’s right sports fans, Jason Isringhausen is back.  Back with a vengeance.  Like my main Jack Kennedy always says, “We are tied to the ocean.  And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came.”  Jason Isringhausen is back from whence he came.  Back on the hill.  Back on the hill when the game is on the line.  Last night Jason Isringhausen was back on the hill when the game was on the line and recorded the 294th save of his major-league career.  Hooray Jason Isringhausen!  For those of you keeping score at home, that was Izzy’s first save since August 1, 2008.   For those of you keeping score at home, that’s a span of two years and 352 days.  For those of you keeping score at home, that’s the longest span between saves for a player who already had at least 250 saves to his credit.  The previous most: two years, 273 days, by Troy Percival (2005-08).  Pretty neat huh?    

Who says you can never go home again?  Oh?  Thomas Wolfe said it?  Big deal.  What does he know?  Clearly, Thomas Wolfe doesn’t know about Jason Isringhausen.  In the mid-1990s, Isringhausen, along with the imitable pitchers Bill Pulsipher and Paul Wilson, were widely hyped as the next generation of New York Mets’ superstars.  You might remember them.  You might remember them as Generation K.  You might also remember that all three of the players who comprised Generation K succumbed to pitching-related injuries within a year.  But still.  But still it was during that time that Isringhausen recorded his first career save.  How about that? How about this:  Last night the big right-hander needed only 11 pitches to retire Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman and David Freese.  Wooo doggie!  He’s still got it.  Still got enough to get his 294th of his career.  This doesn’t mean Isringhausen will close the final 10 weeks of the season, but it does mean that the 300 club is right in reach.

Peace out homies. Six two and even!