A comment and a link

A random comment, and a relevant link...

• I listen, fairly often though not usually for very long, to WEEI, Boston's all-sports radio station. I'm not, as a general rule, enamored of it, but I'm interested in the Red Sox and Patriots, so I tend to go there to see what's going on. The callers are, for the most part --- well, let's just say that the level of intellectual discourse, which is not high from the hosts, tends to be significantly lower from the callers. Nature of the beast, I suppose, but it can be aggravating. I listened, this morning, to a caller who wanted to complain about Terry Francona. In particular, this caller thinks that Francona leaves pitchers in too long.
  
  Well, I've never noticed that as a tendency, and he couldn't POSSIBLY be as bad about it as his predecessor was, but to each his own. But this caller thought that this tendency showed in last night's game. So I start to think it through. Matt Clement started the game, right? 5 innings, 4 runs. Certainly nothing special. Not disastrous, but not what you want from your starter. 1 run in the second, 3 in the 3rd. 0 in the 4th. 0 in the 5th. Pulled after 5.
  
  Well, when, exactly, did this caller think that Francona should have pulled him? After the scoreless 1st? After the solo HR in the 2nd? He could have pulled him after 3, I suppose, but given that Clement went two more innings without giving up another run, it's tough to see how that's a managerial offense that warrants a phone call...





• I noted yesterday that the addition of Wily Mo Pena to the Red Sox not only helps the Red Sox, it prevented/prevents the Yankees from getting him, and they could sure use him.
  

  Red Sox fans who've complained about the Arroyo for Pena trade (and you know who you are) should be thrilled that Pena's in Boston instead of New York. Just like last year, when the Yankees could have used Jay Payton to fill their black hole in CF, the Red Sox have added the kind of depth that Yankee fans are wishing they had.

  
  Chris Lynch is thinking similar thoughts...