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04/23/2007: "Look - A Sports Rant ... How Quaint!"

The upside to a dark, dank weekend is a chance to catch up on the sports stories ...

- Ever think there's a reason why pitchers spend time in the minor leagues honing their craft? Apparently, the Yankees forgot about that, since they gave pitcher Chase Wright - who only had a couple of starts at Double-A and had never pitched higher than Single-A before this season - the chance to start against the Red Sox and star pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. It was historic, but not in the way Wright may have hoped. In the third inning, Wright gave up consecutive home runs to Manny Ramirez, J. D. Drew, Mike Lowell and Jason Veritek. It was the first time a team went back-to-back-to-back-to-back since the Dodgers did it last year (of which Drew was a part, amazingly), and only the second time a pitcher had given up 4 consecutive home runs in MLB history. Needless to say, he got the rest of the night off ...

- BTW, did you see Dice-K's first pitch to A-Rod? Right at the earhole. How do you say "I got your MVP right here" in Japanese ...

- The NBA Playoffs kicked off this weekend with some yawns and some surprises. The Lakers again showed that they'll only go as far as Kobe can carry them, as he was hot early and cold late in a loss to Phoenix. Don Nelson showed that you can go home again, as the Warriors - in the playoffs for the first time in over a decade - looked like the seasons veterans in handing the Mavericks a nasty loss. And the Heat learned what Laker fans already knew - that Shaq is getting older by the minute. About the only part of him that looks playoff ready is his mouth ...

- So how is your Monday going? Busy? Stressed? I'll bet it's not as bad for you as it is for Dontrelle Willis of the Marlins. The D-Train has the start tonight against the red-hot Braves in Miami, but that's the least of his worries. Before taking the mound, he has another appointment to keep - the birth of his first child. The plan is for his wife Natalee to have labor induced in the morning and the Train to take on the Braves this evening. They didn't plan it that way deliberately - it just worked out that way. Should be interesting to see how the miracle of birth affects an already-animated Willis ...