Wednesday's First Pitch - Loyalty, the Yankees and Derek Jeter; Manny needs a translator

Leading Off
From the beginning, The Southpaw has been a bigger fan of Aroldis Chapman than Stephen Strasburg.
Sure, we admitted Chapman was a risk. But we also thought his deliver was much more fluid than Strasburg.
On Tuesday, Chapman made his debut and was really impressive.
We think he's still two years away from being a star.
Sadly, Strasburg is about that far away from being effective again.

Player of the Day

Jonathan Broxton. Just because.

Regional Roundup

• Holy Orioles. They're 17-11 in their last 28 games.


• Steady goes the ship. Hoover's back.


• Even the Pirates had a big night.


• Did Jordan Zimmerman provide a preview.

Best of Rest

• Is Troy Glaus tradable? Another prospect shows up in Atlanta.


• This is a train wreck. An absolute train wreck.


• Why did Manny all of a sudden need a translator.


• The Mets are considering locking up RA Dickey.

Batter's Eye

• A JoePo rant. Always fun.

Wisdom from Springfield

A thought-provoking quote from the Southpaw's favorite animated show, "The Simpsons."

Homer: [hands Akira a detergent box] Akira, can you read this for me?
Akira: Ah, yes. This is a product called Mr. Sparkle, very popular dish detergent. [points at the mascot on the box] Hey, he looks like you!
Lisa: What's he saying?
Akira: He identifies himself as a magnet for foodstuffs. He boasts that he will banish dirt to the land of wind and ghosts.
Lisa: Wow!
Akira: Yes, you have very lucky dishes, Mr. Simpson. This soap is from the sacred forest of Hokkaidō, renowned for its countless soap factories.
Homer: Hokkaidō, eh?

Today in history, from baseball-reference.com

2004-- Minnesota's Terry Mulholland goes 6 innings and allows 2 runs in the Twins' 4 - 2 win over Baltimore. Mulholland and catcher Pat Borders‚ who was obtained the previous day from Seattle for B.J. Garbe‚ are the first pair of 40-something batterymates since Curt Davis and Clyde Sukeforth for the Dodgers in 1945.

2008-- Cliff Lee beats the Pale Hose 5 - 0 to become the first 20-game winner for the Cleveland Indians in 34 years; Gaylord Perry had done it most recently. No franchise had gone longer without a 20-game winner.

What to watch on YouTube

The Southpaw wastes time finding gems on Youtube so you don't have to.

The Closer

Loyalty and Pride could overtake Mystique and Aura. That's all we're saying. What if the Yankees aren't as loyal as Derek Jeter would like? What if The Captain's pride gets in the way? The next month could be crucial in decided whether or not Derek Jeter will wear pinstripes next season.