7:10 PM, FSNP, WPGB
Ian Snell (7-7, 3.31) vs. John Maine (10-5, 3.07). Here's the box. To update some of the discussion in the MetsBlog interview, Moises Alou will not, in fact, come off the DL today. Lastings Milledge will start in the outfield instead. Xavier Nady will start in center. I'll be in the comments.
A couple of notes for today:
-P- Craig Biggio will retire at the end of the season. He's having his worst season since at least 1990, so it's time. He'll finish his career with probably a little less than 3,100 hits and a little less than 300 homers. We'll see if he makes the Hall of Fame in five years. I don't think I'd vote for him - he didn't really have a great season until he was 28, and he produced his best offensive seasons in a hitting crazy era (albeit in a tough park for hitters). Obviously, though, he was a really good player with a very broad base of skills. Here's Biggio's Baseball Reference card, by the way, since this seems to be a heated topic of discussion.
-P- The Hardball Times reviews their preseason predictions for the NL Central. Just for kicks, let's compare their predictions and mine:
| THT | Charlie | Actual |
| St. Louis | Milwaukee | Milwaukee |
| Chicago | Chicago | Chicago |
| Milwaukee | St. Louis | St. Louis |
| Houston | Houston | Houston |
| Cincinnati | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh |
| Pittsburgh | Cincinnati | Cincinnati |
Well, lookee there. Two of those columns are the same!
Sorry, I know I shouldn't brag. But The Hardball Times opened the door pretty wide there, and with the Astros, Pirates and Reds knotted up at the bottom, I may not get another chance.
UPDATE: Check this out - it's a blog about the Pirates' NY-Penn League affiliate, the State College Spikes. And here's one about the Hickory Crawdads.