May 18

The one in the middle
Each division's records in games outside its division, entering the weekend:

AL West 51-33, .607
NL West 76-52, .594
NL East 63-65, .492
AL East 41-43, .488
NL Central 49-71, .408
AL Central 34-50, .404

Two conclusions: 1. The higher-revenue teams are on the East and West Coast, and 2. It's going to be practically impossible for a team from the AL West to win the wild card from the Yankees or Red Sox because there is no soft underbelly to that division, as there is in the AL East.

Light years
On Thursday night, the Mets' starting lineup made $63 million while the Padres' starting nine made $4 million. By the way, the two teams went into the game with identical records.

Start me up
Highest percentage of first-pitch strikes
NL starters (minimum five starts, through games of Thursday)

Pitcher	Percentage	Strikes, Batters Faced
Elmer Dessens, Cin.	.744	151 of 203
Curt Schilling, Ari.	.730	184 of 252
Vicente Padilla, Phi.	.723	180 of 249
Jon Lieber, ChC	.720	136 of 189
Brian Anderson, Ari.	.717	114 of 159
Roy Oswalt, Hou.	.710	181 of 255
Brian Lawrence, S.D.	.708	177 of 250
John Thomson, Col.	.692	144 of 208
Javier Vazquez, Mon.	.684	182 of 266
Terry Adams, Phi.	.682	120 of 176

Highest percentage of first-pitch strikes
AL starters (minimum five starts, through games of Thursday)

Pitcher	Percentage	Strikes, Batters Faced
Mike Mussina, NYY	.688	152 of 221
Roger Clemens, NYY	.679	169 of 249
Tanyon Sturtze, T.B.	.674	159 of 236
Paul Byrd, K.C.	.670	142 of 212
Derek Lowe, Bos.	.665	143 of 215
Pedro Martinez, Bos.	.655	129 of 197
David Wells, NYY	.655	163 of 249
Brad Radke, Min.	.653	139 of 213
Kyle Lohse, Min.	.648	125 of 193
Rodrigo Lopez, Bal.	.648	118 of 182

Lowest percentage of first-pitch strikes
NL starters (minimum five starts, through games of Thursday)

Pitcher	Percentage	Strikes, Batters Faced
Julian Tavarez, Fla.	.466	55 of 118
Hideo Nomo, L.A.	.481	102 of 212
Damian Moss, Atl.	.483	83 of 172
Nick Neugebauer, Mil.	.506	82 of 162
Jason Jennings, Col.	.508	97 of 191
Ruben Quevedo, Mil.	.513	98 of 191
Mike Hampton, Col.	.516	129 of 250
Brandon Duckworth, Phi.	.519	98 of 189
Russ Ortiz, S.F.	.529	110 of 208
Kirk Rueter, S.F.	.530	115 of 217

Lowest percentage of first-pitch strikes
AL starters (minimum five starts, through games of Thursday)

Pitcher	Percentage	Strikes, Batters Faced
Paul Abbott, Sea.	.474	65 of 137
Dan Wright, Dan, ChW	.486	104 of 214
Kenny Rogers, Tex.	.526	123 of 234
Mark Buehrle, ChW	.528	122 of 231
Todd Ritchie, ChW	.528	131 of 248
C.C. Sabathia, Cle.	.529	109 of 206
Chris George, K.C.	.540	67 of 124
Scott Erickson, Bal.	.541	126 of 233
Calvin Maduro, Bal.	.542	91 of 168
Ryan Rupe, T.B.	.550	110 of 200

Source: Elias Sports Bureau

On the dock of the bay
Devil Rays hysteria and the Backstreet Boys, an unlikely link:

As if you needed another reason to avoid a Backstreet Boys concert, look what reportedly happened to Helene Bahn when she accompanied her teenage daughter to a show in Tampa. According to a lawsuit filed last month in Florida's Circuit Court, Bahn claims she was seriously injured when Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean peeled off his Tampa Bay Devil Rays jersey and tossed it into the crowd. Bahn says after catching the shirt she was bum-rushed by other concertgoers and, during the struggle for the jersey, the garment somehow became wrapped around her neck. The ensuing tug of war, according to Bahn's lawyer, left his client with a herniated disc that required surgery, and other injuries. Bahn's lawsuit alleges that A.J. (he's the one with the Fu Manchu) should have known that "the throwing of an object such as a jersey would result in a melee breaking out."

Source: Thesmokinggun.com

What we don't know is which Devil Rays player A.J. wants to be. Jason Tyner? Chris Gomez? Or maybe he just liked the movie, "The Rookie."

Make it a cheeseburger ...
Now that Celtics and Red Sox fever has gripped The Hub, it should be noted that Tony Clark and Rodney Rogers played against one another in the 1990 McDonald's All-America basketball game. Clark scored seven points in the game.

Shipwrecked in the '80s
After eight undistinguished minor-league seasons, infielder/outfielder Bry Nelson finally got called up to the majors by the Red Sox. When he reported to Fenway Park on Tuesday and was handed his first big-league uniform, he complained to clubhouse boss Joe Cochran that he was given too high a number (58).

How far off, I sit and wonder
Double-A Chattanooga outfielder Willy Mo Pena hit 1,000 feet of homers in two at-bats in a game this week. Pena will be out of options next season and will have to make the Reds roster (or face being placed on waivers), along with fellow Reds outfielders Adam Dunn, Austin Kearns, Juan Encarnacion and a man named Griffey.

Not pretty enough
Phillies manager Larry Bowa tore into Pat Burrell after Wednesday's game for what he considered a poor swing at a 2-0 pitch. For the last seven games including that loss, Burrell led the Phillies in hits, homers, RBI, sacrifice flies and walks.

Don't dream it's over (don't let them win)
The following four pitchers had quality starts in all but one outing, entering the weekend (a quality start is a minimum of six innings pitched and a maximum of three earned runs allowed):

Randy Johnson (8 of 9)
Roy Oswalt (8 of 9)
Derek Lowe (7 of 8)
Odalis Perez (7 of 8)