Quick thoughts

Meant to mention this the other day. A big shout-out to Joe Andruzzi who recently got the news that he is now cancer-free. Less than a year ago the former Patriots offensive lineman was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of lymphoma.

With everything else that has happened in New England sports this last year - World Series Championship, undefeated regular season, best record in the NBA, an Ivy League football championship, a college bowl bid after flirting with being the number one team in the nation - this might be the best news. It's not going to cause the euphoria with the fans that, say a Celtics Championship will. But Andruzzi healthy again...that's great news.

Starting rotation

Sixteen of the Red Sox 23 wins have come from the starting rotation (well, the regular starting five of Matsuzaka, Beckett, Wakefield, Lester, and Buchholz).

The Dice-man is leading the way with five wins and a 2.43 ERA.

Wake is second in ERA with a 3.33, and third in wins with three.

Beckett is at four wins and 3.70, Lester two and 3.94, and Clay at two and the only ERA over four at 4.50.

By comparison, Baltimore has had seven pitchers with at least two starts. Of the five with a minimum of four starts, there are eight wins between them and only two with ERA's below four, with another two with ERA's over seven. The Rays have 13 wins from their starting five, but only one starter with a sub-four ERA. Like the Sox, the Blue Jays have 16 wins from their starting five, but have two pitchers with ERA's over four, including AJ Burnett's 5.19 ERA. The Yankees have been slightly better than the Rays with their starting five, getting 14 wins from them, but they've had three guys with ERA's over four, and none below three. Two of their starters (one now back in the minors, and the other on the disabled list) have ERA's over eight.

If these ERA numbers stay fairly consistent, it's only a matter of time before the Sox starters separate from the pack.

"I know the writer and I think very highly of him"

-Bob Ryan on John Tomase, Friday morning appearing on Mike & Mike in the Morning

Ryan wasn't excusing the whole Spygate thing. He was explaining how writers roll the dice whenever relying on unnamed sources.

The Herald is already feeling enough negative feedback that they have deactivated the comments sections following Tomase's articles due to the shots being taken by Herald readers in those forums. Without the direct route to Tomase, readers displeased with the Herald and Tomase have begun voicing their displeasure in the comments attached to other writers.

Regardless of how good Tomase may or may not have been in the past, if he cannot produce something tangible to back his story, his career as a Patriots beat writer might as well be over. I would be shocked if his access to Patriots events weren't extremely limited.

Backs to the wall...

Down two games to none with one of the worst two-game shooting stretches in playoff history coming from their star, the Cleveland Cavaliers have their backs to the wall. The question out there is - what did the Celtics learn from their struggles in Atlanta in the first round?

I would be surprised if LeBron James had a third stinker in a row.

That said, it's interesting to note that the C's strategy in this playoff series has been - we're gonna stop LeBron. If the rest of the Cavs can beat us, then so be it, but we don't think they can.

Monday observations

After what has felt like a decade of futility at Madison Square Garden, Isiah Thomas got the heave-ho...sort of.

Thomas is a man of no authority now in the NBA.

After managing the Knicks past the point of irrelevance with horrendous coaching and personnel decisions, so far past the point of irrelevance that the team was so bad they were relevant only as a cautionary tale to the rest of the NBA, Thomas was finally axed as the coach of the Knicks. For some reason the team kept Thomas on the payroll.

I have a theory about that.

Thomas has (to call it single-handedly would absolve James Dolan of his culpability, and let's face it, Dolan has just been as culpable as Thomas) pretty well annihilated the New York basketball franchise, making it the laughingstock of professional sports. He is to the NBA what the Ragnarok is to Norse Mythology. He is the Destroyer, and he has done it to them both on and off the court.

As such, I think David Stern asked the Knicks to keep him on the payroll to keep him from doing this to any other franchise.

He currently has a position with no title, no one reports to him, and he apparently has no responsibilities in this position (as yet). Sounds like someone the NBA wants kept out of the way.

Like I said, just a theory. But I know if I'm Stern, I'm trying to keep him from doing this to any other franchise.

Props...

To Danica Patrick for putting to rest the comparisons to Anna Kournikova with an outright win in the 50th open-wheel race of her career. After taking the flag at the Japan 300, Patrick has become the first woman to win one of the major races in the sport's circuit. While not a fan of racing, I thought this deserved a mention.

To Vikings' defensive end Kenechi Udeze for the fact that his leukemia is in remission and that he has found a bone marrow donor in his fight against this form of cancer. Now let's hear some good news on Joe Andruzzi who is engaged in his own battle with cancer, having been diagnosed (according to a January update from Sports Illustrated) with Burkitt's Lymphoma. That particular form of lymphoma is rare, but aggressive wherein a cancerous mass can double in size in just 24 hours.

To Big Papi who seems to be working his way out of his slump. It's nothing short of amazing that the Red Sox have led the American League in run production (and are third overall) in spite of Ortiz's struggles at the plate. Currently, with Ortiz only barely within spitting distance of the Mendoza Line (.160, up from a low in the double digits), the team leads the AL in run production with 104 (as of Monday morning), RBI's with 99, slugging percentage at .446, and the majors in batting average at .295, and on base percentage at .367. What does this mean for the rest of the league when Ortiz really begins hitting?