Josh Beckett won't be going to Japan, but Dice-K will.

The hard feelings brewing between the Yankees and the Rays could end up being a season long story.  The two teams meet for three more games in the Grapefruit League, including two games today with split squads.  Once the regular season starts they will meet for four games at Yankee Stadium during the first week of games, then twice in Tampa two week later, and again in Tampa for a four game set in mid-May.  I doubt that the suspensions handed down by Bob Watson Friday will put the bad blood to rest, and it’s apparent MLB agrees as they’ve added an extra umpire to the crew for today’s games.  Melky Cabrera and Shelly Duncan were suspended three games, and Johnny Gomes for two games for their roles in the latest brawl.  Watson also meted out fines for all three players.  I looked at the pictures, Duncan, who was out by a mile, deliberately directed his spikes at Akinori Iwamura’s family jewels.  Not cool.

Speaking of the Yankees – there was a story published Friday about how hot baseball tickets are this season.  MLB is expecting another year of record sales at the ballpark turnstiles; this is despite the fact that some ticket prices have gotten totally out of control.  For example, the price of four seats behind the Yankees dugout in the “House that Ruth Built” jumped from $150 each to $250.  Those same seats sold for $4 each back in 1972.  So those four seats that used to cost about $1000 for the season (back then they played 15 double headers!) are now going for $81,000.  In other words, the cost of a ballgame went from $1000 a season to $1000 a game. 

On the flip side of that – The Atlanta Braves announced a Split Season ticket program where you can put together your own group to split sets of season tickets.  The Giants are credited with starting the practice, and other teams like the Rangers, and White Sox have followed suit, and there may be others. No doubt the Giants came up with it as a way to build sales in the post-Bonds era.  However, it happens to be a feasible way for families to take in a ball game in these days of game seats priced at $100 and much more. 

John Maine of the Mets threw another five scoreless innings yesterday, bringing his total to ten consecutive scoreless innings this spring.  He’s given up just one run in his last 12 innings.  Maine looks like he’s ready to take the next step in his development this season.  Lots of folks will point to his terrible second half last season and look elsewhere.  The hip pain that got worse as the season wore on last year is gone, and he’ll be undervalued in most drafts.  If he falls to you in the later rounds of your draft, go ahead and take a chance on him.  He’s going to be better than the projections I’ve seen for him.  You’ll thank me later.

The injuries are piling up all around the Majors.  The latest is Wily Mo Pena of the Nationals, who will be out for at least four weeks with a “significantly torn” oblique muscle.  Another guy who will be out a while is Kaz Matsui of the Astros.  He’s going to have surgery to repair an anal fissure (you don’t want to know) that will keep him out for about two weeks.  Both of these players will likely start the season on the DL. 

A lot of different things come across my desk during the course of the day.  Most of it is detritus that immediately gets tossed in the circular file, but some of it is truly useful, well, to someone anyway.  I thought I would pass some of it on.  I was reading the Hardball Times (one of the best sites around-bar none) where they had posted this link to a page on CBS Sportsline.  It’s a comprehensive list of auction values, for those of you that play the auction game.  There is also a list of sleeper candidates.  Looks pretty handy to me.  Another site that I am really starting to appreciate is Fangraphs.  You owe it to yourself to pay them a visit.  The good people there keep adding new features, and some of the data and writing you’ll find there is fascinating.  I’ll also let you in on a dirty little secret about their site; you can see projections for any player by most of the major services that make them.  For instance, if you go to the stat page for Albert Pujols, you can see and compare his projections from Bill James, Zips, Chone, Marcel, and Miner – all in one place!  SHHHH! Don’t tell anybody.   I also came across this list of the Las Vegas/MLB game win totals over/under for the 2008 season.  Thought I’d throw that in for you gamblers out there.  It’s also interesting to see what teams the oddsmakers think will be successful this season, just as a point of comparison.

The fantasy baseball world is keeping a close watch on the pitching situation with Lou Pinella’s Cubs.  Ryan Dempster is trying to make the switch to starter, and so far has not looked good.  Friday he lasted just an inning and two-thirds, giving up six runs (five earned), on five hits and a pair of walks.  He’s given up eight runs in less than 11 innings of work this spring.  Meanwhile, the competition for his vacated closing job is hardly a competition at all.  Kerry Wood and Bob Howry have been brutal this spring.  Howry can’t get anyone out, and his ERA is through the room.  Wood has been a bit better, he threw a scoreless inning Friday, but he’s still not the dominant pitcher he needs to be to take the closers job.  Carlos Marmol, on the other hand, has been downright nasty, surrendering no runs and just three hits in his five innings thus far this spring.  Marmol has got to be the favorite for the job, although Pinella values experience in the closer role, which leads me to believe that Howry is the guy he really wants on the job. 

The Red Sox are going to be without Josh Beckett for their trip to Japan where they will open the 2008 season against the Oakland A’s on March 25^th.  The Sox did get a bit of good news Saturday morning though, when Daisuke Matsuzaka’s wife gave birth to a son around 7:30 in the morning.  Matsuzaka’s participation in the trip to his homeland was in question as the original due date for the birth was March 19^th.  Now Dice-K will be able to make the trip, and will likely start the opener.

For today’s edition of Stumblin’, I found this story about a Ness City, Kansas woman who spent two years on her boyfriend’s porcelain convenience.  Never mind the questions about how or why she did it.  What the heck did she do there for two whole years?  After reading that, I figured out a great way for her to cash in on her 15 minutes of fame.  Do you think maybe she could get an endorsement deal for this innovative product?
Enjoy!

Email your questions, comments, and suggestions to TimM@SportsGrumblings.com