BIG WHINY PAPI

When asked about his 0 for 7 start of the 2009 season, David Ortiz threw a hissy fit:

"(Expletive) happens. Then you guys talk (expletive). Two (expletive) games already. (Expletive) are going crazy. What’s up with that, man? (Expletive). There’s (expletive) 160 games left. Y’all (expletive) go ahead and hit for me."

The guy hit .238 last year, despite his 28 homeruns. He can't play the field and is paid $13 million to hit. Which he hasn't done this season, and barely did last season.

Screw David Ortiz. Get paid millions of dollars, get worshiped by millions of fans, get caught cheating, get away with it, then get pissed when reporters interrogate you about sucking. Now go get some Midol, Papi.

And even now, he'll be coddled by the fan base and most reporters. In John Tomase's Ortiz column, he refers to Papi as "embattled." Everyone seems worried that Ortiz is putting himself under stress to excel, as if his hitting struggles are just mental.

To be blunt, maybe he just sucks when he's not cheating. His bat seems slow and erratic, almost out of control, as if he lacked the strength to quickly punch it through the zone, precisely striking the ball with the sweet spot.

SEIDENBERG OUT 8 WEEKS

Dennis Seidenberg, who had been averaging 23 minutes of ice time with the Bruins, needed surgery to repair torn ligaments in his wrist. He'll be out for 8 weeks, which means he'll miss the opening round of the playoffs. If the Bruins are fortunate enough to advance beyond that, they'll still have to wait several weeks for Seidenberg.

Mark Stuart also had surgery over the weekend, but will only miss 2 weeks.

Zdeno Chara broke his nose in Saturday's overtime loss, but won't miss any time. Hockey.

Source:
ESPN

SCOREBOARD WATCHING

It was a good night for the Bruins, and they didn't even have to play. That's probably what made it so good. The Sabres throttled the Rangers 5-2, the Thrashers lost (eliminating them from the playoffs), and the Canadiens lost in overtime. Here's what the standings look like:

Team - Games Remaining - Points
6. Montreal - 2 - 87 points
7. Philadelphia - 2 - 86 points
8. BOSTON - 3 - 85 points
-------------------------
9. NY Rangers - 3 - 82 points

The Rangers host the Maple Leafs tonight, and I think everyone in Boston is hoping Phil Kessel scores 4 or 5 goals. If the Rangers lose in regulation, the Bruins can clinch a playoff spot with just 1 point on Thursday.

BACK TO REALITY

Apart from Victor Martinez's heroics, not much went right for the Sox last night. All off-season, we've heard the mantra of "run prevention" from the Red Sox Front Office. And quite simply, the Sox failed to prevent runs last night.

It started with Lester, who had unbelievably strong then unbelievably weak innings. I'm not going to worry too much about him, though. He had a forgettable start to his '09 season (4-5, 5.65 ERA in April and May).

But it continued, with Okajima, Atchison, and Scutaro.

As important as the Sox' Front Office has publicly declared "run prevention" to be, they seem to have forgotten that a deep bullpen can prevent many more runs than a fleet-footed center-fielder, or a Gold Glove 3rd baseman. Red Sox Nation, prepare yourselves for many more games blown by middle relievers.

And when the Sox signed Scutaro, for some reason everyone in Boston thought he was a Gold Glove winner or something. He's a decent defensive short-stop, but he's no Alex Gonzalez or Pokey Reese. He's not even Rey Sanchez.

I know it's early, but how long should the Sox stick with Ortiz? I think it's unwise to hit him 5th in the order, and at the very least he should be moved down a few spots. He was 0 for 4 last night, 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position. As a team, the Sox went 1 for 12 with RISP.

Rubber game tonight, Andy Pettitte vs. John Lackey.

Source:
ESPN

Photo Credit:
Elsa/Getty Images