Check out the batting order Cleveland used today, along with each hitter’s 2004 OBP…
RF Lawton (.361)
SS Vizquel (.364)
DH Hafner (.413)
C Martinez (.368)
3B Blake (.362)
1B Broussard (.381)
2B Belliard (.370)
CF Sizemore (.400)
LF Crisp (.316)
Sigh.
ESPN is wrong. Edgar will retire at the end of the year. Hooray.
ESPN is reporting that the retirement is effective immediately. While this saddens me, it fits right in with Edgar’s personality, avoiding the entire farewell tour that other stars have dragged out over their last seasons. I would like to see the fans given at least one more chance to give him a standing ovation in uniform, but this is his call, and I trust him to make the one he’s most comfortable with.
Personally, I’m blaming the freakish looking bear.
The Mariners have called a press conference for 2:30 pm pacific time, reportedly to announce the retirement of Edgar Martinez. I cannot get specifics at this time, but I would be surprised if the retirement was effective immediately. I’d imagine he’ll get a pretty big going-out party during the next homestand, at least.
The end of an era has come. Rather than attempt to write my own tribute to Edgar, I’ll simply point you to the best one you’ll ever read. It’s Derek’s finest piece of writing, and perhaps the best writing about baseball you’ll read this year.
I can finally answer the most asked question of the year; “Where’s Rett Johnson?”
The answer, as of today, is San Bernardino. He left Arizona yesterday and is going to be making his season debut for Inland Empire tomorrow night. Hopefully the issues that sidelined his career are behind him and he can resume throwing the way we all know he’s capable of. Welcome back Rett.