Hardball Heaven

A little bit of everything happening around MLB today...

* Barry Bighead finally hit #714 to tie the Babe.**

* Evidently, Pedro can beat the Yankees (7 ip, 4 h, 0 er, 8 k), but their multi-million dollar closer, Billy Wagner, can't (0.1, 2 h, 4 er, 3 bb). Yanks scored 4 in the 9th to tie, and then won it in the 11th.

* Hell of a brawl in the Windy City today. White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski bowled over Cubs catcher Michael Barrett to score a run, and Barrett immediately came up swinging. Both benches cleared, with many wild haymakers being thrown. Pierzynski's hit looked clean, but in Barrett's defense A.J. didn't just get up and head to his dugout. He headed toward Barrett and gave him a little nudge. I don't know - if I just landed hard on my keister, and the guy who did it was coming at me, (and it was a jackass like Pierzynski) I'd probably slug him too. But that's just me.

* Red Sox are spanking the Phils tonight. The hitting star? Would you believe Josh Beckett? He and Brett Myers were locked up in a tight duel until the 6th, when Beckett hit a soft single to right to drive Alex Gonzalez in to make it 1-1. Beckett then scored a few batters later on a Papi sac fly for the go-ahead run. One inning later, Beckett took Myers deep. Take that, Bronson. Alex Gonzalez has also hit a homer. Sox are leading comfortably in the bottom of the 8th, 8-1. (Thank God we don't have Billy Wagner.)


(**We're all upset that a slug like Barry Bonds has tied such a cherished mark, but think about it this way. Many, many years from now, when our kids are following baseball like we do, the name 'Barry Bonds' will be synonymous with 'cheat,' and the name 'Babe Ruth' will still be legendary. It's all about the legacy, and Barry's is shot.)