Valadius

How's this for a stat: for the first time in franchise history, the New York Yankees have allowed seven or more runs in each of their first two games.

Put it in the books.

WHAM

I'm enjoying MLB Network at my desk. Opening Day is something else.

Derrek Lee rebuffs the MFYs, opts to stay retired rather than jump on board a sinking ship.

Brennan Boesch cut by Detroit. Worth taking a flyer on?

Here's what I remember about Kevin Young and those Pirates - I had a Game Boy baseball game in the late '90s, and Kevin Young was by far the worst clean-up hitter in the whole game.

I would still like to have him. Great for those 14-inning games.

Well, he was finally a Met. Now he isn't. That is all.

Sports Phone? What?

I want the MFYs to forfeit all their wins from the last four seasons. Oh wait, that only happens if you pay an amateur athlete or look the other way with an assistant coach's child abuse.

In these notebooks, he spelled out all the athletes � from baseball to tennis to high school players � buying his products. The name that really made Garcia's jaw drop was hometown hero Alex Rodriguez. Born and raised in Miami and starring on the diamond since he was 18 years old, A-Rod admitted in 2009 that he had used steroids, claiming in an ESPN interview that his doping was limited to a three-year window � 2001 through 2003 � while he played under a record contract for the Texas Rangers. Ever since then, A-Rod claimed, he'd been playing clean. He'd never failed an MLB drug test since penalties were put into place. Yet there was his name, over and over again, logged as either "Alex Rodriguez," "Alex Rod," or his nickname at the clinic, "Cacique," a pre-Columbian Caribbean chief. Rodriguez's name appears 16 times throughout the records New Times reviewed. Take, for instance, one patient list from Bosch's 2009 personal notebook. It charts more than 50 clients and notes whether they received their drugs by delivery or in the office, how much they paid, and what they were taking. There, at number seven on the list, is Alex Rodriguez. He paid $3,500, Bosch notes. Below that, he writes, "1.5/1.5 HGH (sports perf.) creams test., glut., MIC, supplement, sports perf. Diet." HGH, of course, is banned in baseball, as are testosterone creams. That's not the only damning evidence against A-Rod, though. Another document from the files, a loose sheet with a header from the 19th Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine, lays out a full regimen under the name Cacique: "Test. cream... troches prior to workout... and GHRP... IGF-1... pink cream." IGF-1 is a banned substance in baseball that stimulates insulin production and muscle growth. Elsewhere in his notebook, Bosch spells out that his "troches," a type of drug lozenge, include 15 percent testosterone; pink cream, he writes, is a complex formula that also includes testosterone. GHRP is a substance that releases growth hormones. There's more evidence. On a 2009 client list, near A-Rod's name, is that of Yuri Sucart, who paid Bosch $500 for a weeklong supply of HGH. Sucart is famous to anyone who has followed baseball's steroid scandal. Soon after A-Rod's admission, the slugger admitted that Sucart � his cousin and close friend � was the mule who provided the superstar his drugs. In 2009, the same year this notebook was written, Sucart (who lives in South Miami and didn't respond to a message left at his home) was banned from all Yankees facilities. The mentions of Rodriguez begin in 2009 and continue all the way through last season. Take a page in another notebook, which is labeled "2012" and looks to have been written last spring. Under the heading "A-Rod/Cacique," Bosch writes, "He is paid through April 30th. He will owe May 1 $4,000... I need to see him between April 13-19, deliver troches, pink cream, and... May meds. Has three weeks of Sub-Q (as of April)." Elsewhere in his notebooks, Bosch writes that "Sub-Q" refers to his mixture of HGH, IGF-1, and other drugs. The notebooks and client lists aren't the only evidence linking Rodriguez to Bosch. Former employees say Bosch would openly brag about selling drugs to Rodriguez. "He was always talking about A-Rod," says one former employee who asked not to be named. "We never saw any athletes in the office, so we didn't know if he was just talking bullshit or not. But he would brag about how tight they were."

Thanks to these morons, next year's ballot gets even more ridiculous. The following players, to me, should be sure-fire, first-ballot Hall of Famers: Tom Glavine Jeff Kent Greg Maddux Frank Thomas Mike Mussina isn't a first-ballot guy to me but I would still vote for him, if I had room on my ballot. 20th in WAR for pitchers all-time, above the likes of Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, and Nolan Ryan. A veritable bumper crop of Mets that become eligible next year: Moises Alou Armando Benitez Damion Easley Paul Lo Duca Trot Nixon Hideo Nomo Jay Payton Kenny Rogers Steve Trachsel And THEN, in 2015, you've got three of the best pitchers of the last 25 years: Randy Johnson Pedro Martinez John Smoltz Along with a couple of mashers and former Mets who will probably be on the ballot a while: Carlos Delgado Gary Sheffield I think it may be time to propose eliminating a limit to the number of players one can select on their ballot.

What a fucking joke. Kenny Lofton joins the Lou Whitaker club of one-and-doners that should have stuck around longer. At least Bernie Williams drops off the ballot.

My one consolation on Piazza is that Yogi Berra only received 67% of the vote his first year, and all the writers loved him.

This is shaping up to be the nightmare I've long thought might come. What a mess.

I'd lower the threshold to 60%. Everybody that reaches 60% gets in eventually. Let's spare people a year or two of waiting.

Dale Murphy did an AMA today on Reddit.

Bah! Who plays baseball on the beach?

For some reason, I'm hung up on the wooden plank with the nails in it. I don't see the point or the Floridian connection.

I've taken a spin through Blue Jay-land. They weren't happy when it looked like they would have to only give up Arencibia and Gose. D'Arnaud and Gose has them practically shaking with rage. They still haven't gotten over losing Halladay, it seems.

Jeffy wants a new airplane to play with.

Frayed Knot wrote: Also wouldn't shock me if Nieuwenhuis started the year out in Vegas Vegas? When the hell did this happen?

If we had money to spend, this is where I'd spend it.

Edgy MD wrote: Wowzers, Edgardo. Has anybody this side of Rickey fought retirement so tenaciously? Julio Franco.