Il Gattopardo

We were the leopards, the lions. Those who take our place will be jackals, sheep. And the whole lot of us—leopards, lions, jackals and sheep—will continue to think ourselves the salt of the earth.

Tonight those words, spoken by Burt Lancaster's Prince Don Fabrizio Salina as the aristocracy erodes around him in Luchino Visconti's The Leopard, were echoed by whom?

A) Julian Tavarez to Mike Timlin as he packed his belongings and left the Metrodome in a scene very much reminiscent of the day Nomar was traded. Except this time Manny was sad.

B) Suzyn Waldman to John Sterling after the Rays scored four runs in the fourth en route to a 7-1 defeat of the Yankees.

C) Omar Vizquel to Rich Aurilla, Ray Durham and Dave Roberts(!) as they waited in line to visit with the trainer before tonight's 7-3 loss to the Astros.

D) Wily Mo Peña to Rob Mackowiak while the two shagged fly balls prior to tonight's 10-4 win over the Mets.

E) All of the above.

Sunday dealings

It's been a very active Sunday for the Sox. Bryan Corey has been traded to the Padres. Jed Lowrie has been sent down to Pawtucket. Manny Ramirez is out of tonight's lineup with a sore hamstring. And there's news that the Sox remain in talks with the Rockies regarding Julian Tavarez.

Happy for Bryan Corey, a 34-year-old minor league journeyman who might now be able to enjoy his first extended stay in the big leagues. Sad for Jed Lowrie, a 24-year-old rookie who deserves a spot on the 25-man roster but is better off playing every day in Pawtucket. Devastated that my prediction of Manny hitting numbers 498, 499 and 500 tonight will not come true. Optimistic that the Sox can unload Tavarez, Lugo and $2M for David Nied.

Oh wow, Juan Marichal is on Baseball Tonight. That's pretty sweet. Which is the bigger hit to Marichal's reputation, attending that cock fight in the Dominican or being seen with Kruk and Phillips?

The Rays just took three games from the Angels to improve their record to 21-16. Today they got four innings of one-hit ball from the bullpen and toasted Justin Speier for three runs in the sixth. Cliff Floyd returned to the lineup for the first since his April 9 knee surgery and collected 2 hits and 2 RBI. The Rays have the second-best home record in the American League (13-7), a solid bullpen, a rotation headed by Shields and Kazmir and a lineup that is really enjoyable to watch. I wish they weren't in the AL East so I could get behind them just a bit more.

Hot dogs, scowls and drunkards

Got home from work last night just in time to see Carlos Guillen's fly that Sox' 5-0 win in the books. So I've got little to say about the game aside from, How 'bout Mike Timlin and his incredible, shrinking ERA! Also, Julian Tavarez now has not pitched in twelve days. Trade rumors abound. Papelbon said in an interview yesterday that Tavarez ordered two hot dogs in the bullpen during Monday's game. Funny because two hot dogs is reportedly what the Rockies are offering for Julian's services.

Tigers, I sincerely hope you're enjoying your nap, we'll do our best not to wake you. Ah, but in Detroit some are happy that at least they're not the Indians. And in Cleveland Neville Chamberlain continues with his Indian appeasement. Meanwhile, Seattle denizens react to the impending move to Oklahoma City with a robust boycott.

Julio Lugo has accounted for 50% of the Sox' errors, 50% of the caught stealings, 85% of the scowls, 67% of the cup adjustments and 0% of the home runs.

Tomorrow the Sox face Armando Galarraga, a twenty-five-year old righty with a 1.88 ERA and 399 career home runs. He eagerly awaits interleague play so he can finally hit number 400.

Recently we've had the much-publicized story of a Yankee fans killing a Sox fan with an automobile and less recently the less-publicized tale of the Red Sox mob that battered a Yankee fan. Awfully sad days for the rivalry. And for drunkards. While it's true that the buried Ortiz jersey had a happy ending, what an astonishing circle jerk it took to arrive there. I think all involved on both sides could use some of NBA star Chris Bosh's humility. If you're in search of some pleasant news relating to the rivalry, look no further. We'll win the border war one school bus at a time! All of your children will belong to us, Connecticut!

Also:
Cora, Casey Pawtucket-bound.
Schilling's throwing session a success
Apparently MLB released some kind of Sox DVD today.