Hardball Heaven

Count me among those who feel the Globe's sports coverage has slipped in recent years. It's certainly nothing like it was in the heyday of the mid-to-late 1970's, when for a measly quarter, you could read the best offerings of Peter Gammons, Bob Ryan, Will McDonough, Ray Fitzgerald, and Leigh Montville. The Globe's bench writers back then were people who would go on to have successful writing careers with Sports Illustrated, like Ian Thomsen. Back then, you learned something in the paper every day - whether from Gammons' baseball notebook, or Will the Shill's football column. Nowadays, the writers generally seem lazy, and unwilling to put in the time and energy to track down good, interesting stories. Then again, every now and then, a squirrel finds an acorn.

Today's Globe has a few interesting nuggets:

- Johnny Traitor actually tried to sell his Chestnut Hill home to Manny Ramirez for $5.1 million, feeling that it would get Manny out into the solitude of the Boston suburbs. Manny, sensing he was going to be traded, didn't bite. Still - imagine Manny and the missus at the closing with the Damons? (Actually, rich people don't do their own closings, do they - they send surrogates.)

- We all know about the Yanks' professionalism (lotta good it's done this decade) and George's disdain for facial hair. Now we read that Joe Torre has taken to calling Johnny "John Damon." The paper quotes Torre as saying, "What I told John is, you don't have to prove yourself to anybody, because you've already established who you are (insert wise-ass joke here)." John? This is pushing the borders of lunacy. Torre's telling the guy not to change, and here he is changing the name he's gone by since he started playing baseball. Check out this great article from Chris Snow.

- From Shank Shaughnessy's column -- we read that Jon Papelbon's college coach at Mississippi State disregarded the youngster's pleas to pitch and instead used him at first base. "The coaches are still catching hell for that one," Pap says.

- Shaughnessy also delves into a new Mets book, and points out a passage that reveals that Pedro is not looking forward to when the Mets have to come to Fenway this summer during interleague play. If any ex-ballplayer is going to receive a thunderous standing O, it's Pedro. We may not like the terms he left on, but we recognize greatness when it's in our presence. Nobody on this planet did what this guy did for a four-year stretch.

- Again from Shaughnessy -- best T-shirt sighting in Fort Myers, re: John Damon -- "Looks like Jesus, acts like Judas, throws like Mary." Out-standing.

- Newcomer Josh Beckett's is the hardest autograph to get

- We also read that new Sox SS Alex Gonzalez (already being touted as the greatest defensive SS in Red Sox history) backed out of playing for the Venezuelan team in the World Baseball Classic because Luis Sojo wanted to carry another pitcher. Sojo says playing time for Gonzo would have been tough with Omar Vizquel and Carlos Guillen also in the mix at SS. All sides agree this is probably for the best -- Gonzo gets to play more with his new teammates this spring.

- Last note -- not a big fan of the World Baseball Classic -- I'd like to see baseball back in the Olympics, maybe every four years, with pros playing for their countries. But the matchups are intriguing, assuming this isn't a glorified All-Star game. The teams everyone feels are the best bets: Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Japan, and the US. I'm liking Venezuela versus the US for all the marbles. Starts to get interesting Tuesday night, with the Dominican playing Venezuela, and the US playing a Nomar-less Mexican squad.