Pedro looks decent in return

He wasn’t Pedro Martinez circa 2000, but he was Pedro nonetheless. Martinez, the 36-year-old three-time CY Young winner, returned to the mound Tuesday in San Francisco after spending more than a month on the shelf with a hamstring injury. Pedro wasn’t blowing guys away, he had only three strikeouts, but tossed 100-plus pitches and was still touching 90 on the stadium’s radar gun in the sixth inning. We even got to see some vintage Pedro with a wicked slider, which can best be described as looking like a Frisbee at times, that absolutely stopped Fred Lewis in his tracks. He lasted six innings (here’s a short clip of a pitch from his final inning of work), punched out two hitters in the last frame, and the hamstring looked to hold up fine. Heck, he even helped his own cause with a pair of hits, which twice put him on the base paths on a cold and windy night in the City by the Bay. Hopefully you fantasy owners stashed Pedro on your DL while he was away as it now appears safe to use him at your discretion.

Changing of the guard

Randy Johnson. Andruw Jones. Pedro Martinez. Gary Sheffield. There was a time when having these four guys on your fantasy team pretty much gave you a straight path to the finals. Now having them can lead you straight to the nut house.

Newspaperman: The Karate Kid video history

It all started simple enough. Newspaperman in the deep throes of watching one of his many sweethearts have a good game, e-mailed The Jon. In this case it was Joey Votto’s three homer game Wednesday. This is a rough quote:
“Monster, baby. Monster. Three jacks in three at-bats, four RBIs, three runs, a walk and a stolen base. I have to change my panties!”

It was then The Jon finally pinpointed who Newspaperman reminded The Jon of.

Daniel LaRusso. Yes, you read that right, Daniel-San.

PEDRO IS A COCKFIGHTER …

About a month and a half ago it was reported that Pedro Martinez was seen at a cockfight in his native country. It made the rounds on talk shows and some cared, others didn’t. While this has no direct tie to fantasy baseball, tonight I bring to you proof that at least one Pedro really is into cockfighting …

Season opening tidbits

In less than a weeks time I’ve gone from feeling on top of the fantasy world (in my little bubble anyway), to pretty much feeling like crap about my team, particularly in the TheBaseballStars League. On draft day I felt like I crafted a gem, a squad that would be a force to be reckoned with. Now I’m just struggling to get a full team on the field.

Another victim of the hype: Roy Oswalt

Francisco Liriano. Two seasons ago, he was the hottest pitcher in baseball and possessed the best slider in baseball.
The guy was real talk. Every pitch in his arsenal had that zip. That extra kick that hasn’t been seen since the 1999 version of Pedro Martinez.
And then it happened, the exploding arm trick. It seems Liriano’s best slider ever caused too much movement and he went this side of Tommy John.
of course the jon had him. He fell into the category of the rookie keeper in the jon’s SLO and San Jose league named after respective college alumnus. And this is where the sordid tale of the jon went against all of his natural championship instinct. The Jon has just pulled a deal in the SLO league to secure Liriano as one of his keepers. Oswalt was traded for an 8th round pick so Liriano could be a keeper. A bad deal all the way … or was it?