Tuesday's first pitch

Leading Off
Gentleman Jim has packed his bags and is headed to L.A.
You'd be hard pressed to find a time when a heavy hitter with 564 career home runs was traded at the end of August.
You'd be hard pressed to find a time when a player with 23 home runs, 74 runs driven in and a .499 slugging was traded this late in a season.
But that's exactly what happened and that's why Jim Thome is now a Dodger. As is John Garland
We don't know exactly how Joe Torre is going to work him into the lineup, especially with James Loney, who has more runs driven in, locked in at first base.
However, how can anyone not fit Jim Thome into their lineup?
And if anyone is up to the task, it's Joe Torre.

Regional Roundup
The O's did not look dandy. Andy did.

• Andy Pettitte took the Orioles to school in a big way. Looking at what the O's got for Aubrey Huff.


• How good has Ryan Howard been in September? Well, if he were to play ever game this month and not hit a home run or drive in a run, his career numbers for the month would be 160 games played, 44 home runs and 111 runs driven in. You know he's not going to go without hitting a couple of bombs and driving in his fair share of runners.


• John Feinstein says Stephen Strasburg needs to learn how to deal with the media.


• The Pirates dropped a pair in Cincinnati. The difference between the Pirates at home and on the road is amazing. They are 18-46 on the road and 35-29 at home.

Best of Rest

• The Mets have many issues that need to be addressed for 2010.


• The Dodgers trades might be the talk of the state, but the Giants already have the pieces in place.


• They Angels are getting hot. Joe Saunders pitched well and Vladimir Guererro hit well.


• The Braves are really in the hunt now, after getting a big win over the Fish.

Today in history
1912 -- Smokey Joe Wood of the Boston Red Sox, on his way to a 34-win season, beat Washington's Walter Johnson 1-0 in a specially arranged pitching duel at Boston. The victory was Wood's 16th consecutive.

1931 -- Lou Gehrig hit his third grand slam in four days as the Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 5-1.

1975 -- Tom Seaver struck out Manny Sanguillen in the seventh inning to become the first pitcher to strike out at least 200 batters in eight consecutive seasons. Seaver recorded 10 strikeouts in the Mets' 3-0 triumph over Pittsburgh.

The Closer
An article in Boston.com says the Red Sox need J.D. Drew if they're going to survive September.
That's not a good sign.
Drew has appeared in more than 140 games in a season just three times.
He's at 113 right now. So it's unlikely he's going to be the daily player they need.