Wednesday's first pitch

Leading Off

Elijah Dukes has a reputation for being bad. So it came as no surprise when he was benched for being late to a game. He must have been out late the night before. Right? The problem is, Dukes was just lending the community a hand, he had been at a Little League event. He wasn't partying late and sleeping in. He was telling kids to work hard and have fun. So now, the Great Falls Little League in Virginia is trying to raise $500 to pay Dukes fine.

Regional Roundup
A sweep. A sweep. For the first time all season, all four regional teams earned victories.

• He might not have a 95 MPH heater, but Brad Bergesen gets results. He led the Orioles to victory in his first career start.


• Raul Ibanez, sure is fitting in. The Phillies pummeled the Brewers.


• Joey Beimel is headed to the disabled list. Somebody break up Washington, the Nats won again. Seriously, though, there is a silver lining to the Nationals awefulness.


• The Pirates have really cooled off baseball's hottest team. The bad news is Ryan Doumit is out at least two months.

Best of the Rest

• Jarrod Washburn kept the Mariners' strong start going.


• The New York Post calls the Mets inept. We wouldn't go that far. But Tuesday's loss was painful. The Mets are not going to take down the Doc's signature after all.


• What happened to the House that Homers fly out of? There was only one big fly Tuesday. But Johnny Damon's blast teamed with Andy Pettitte's strikes to give the Yankees a victory. Xavier Nady doesn't need surgery.


• Magglio Ordonez doesn't have an extra base hit yet. Marcus Thames is heading to the disabled list, and the Tigers could have used him late Tuesday.


• Rocco Baldelli has joined Jed Lowrie on the disabled list.


• Edgar Renteria had a grand night.

Batter's Eye

• There's another new book about Roger Clemens. This one comes from the investigative staff of the New York Daily News. Didn't Jeff Pearlman already cover this stuff? All we know is we'll be picking up both books soon.

Today in history

1876 -- In the first National League game, Joseph Borden of Boston beat the hometown Philadelphia team 6-5.
1959 -- The Chicago White Sox scored 11 runs with only one hit in the seventh inning of a 20-6 rout of the Kansas City A's. Johnny Callison had the hit -- a single. In the inning, Chicago was the recipient of 10 walks -- five with the bases loaded -- three Kansas City errors and one hit batsman.

The Closer

Here's an AP story: A little more than three weeks after being placed on the disabled list because of an anxiety disorder, Dontrelle Willis hopes he's on track to get back to the major leagues.
The Detroit left-hander began a minor league rehabilitation assignment with the Class A Lakeland Flying Tigers on Tuesday night, pitching seven effective innings in a 4-0 loss to the Clearwater Threshers.

Here's The Southpaw's closing thought:

Baseball needs more players like Dontrelle Willis. He has the talent to be a dominant pitcher. But more than that, he brings intangibles that not enough players have.




1. He's brings zest to the game, through is crazy windup and pleasant demeanor. Don't you remember the first time you saw that leg lift? You talked about it for days. Pulled a hamstring trying to replicate it. Called friends and family to the TV room, saying, "Hey, watch this guy."


2. He's a fan. You know this is one of the guys who would play for free. So he treats fans and the media with respect.


3. He is one of 12 black pitchers to win 20 games. And the first since Dave Stewart in 1990. Let's be honest. The number's of blacks playing the game has gone up the past two years but it is still down drastically from the amount there was from the 60s through 80s. And, for whatever reason, there aren't many black pitchers. So any more success from Willis, who won the Rookie of the Year award in 2003 and 22 games in 2005, can only help bring more black kids to the game.

Of course, Willis is left handed. And we here at The Southpaw always root for southpaws.