"Oh woe is me," says the Flagrant Fan. Another loss for the Yankees. Now they are a game an a half behind the Red Sox and they look terrible. I told you that the loss of Nick Johnson was going to be a major loss. Bernie Williams is an important loss too. The Yankee attack is woeful. Giambi is still stuck in goo. Matsui is down in the .250's. Jeter is doing okay since he got back and Soriano is still Soriano, but this club isn't working right now and it's hard to know if it's a temporary lag or if this is the shape of the season to come.

The Red Sox really seem to have a chip on their shoulder and their attitude could take them to the show just the same way that it did for the Angels. It's amazing how far this team has come spiritually since Grady Little took over as manager. He has a team full of scrappers and they have gotten rid of all the malcontents (no matter how good they are doing in Texas). Now, if Lowe can figure it out on the road and Fossum could steady out the rest of the season, this is a powerful and deep team.

Mueller and Todd Walker and Kevin Millar have been huge pickups for the Red Sox and eventually, Ortiz and Jeremy Giambi will hit as they have in their history. Who would you rather throw in a game to give a starter a day off, Kevin Millar or Enrique Wilson?

Eric Gagne has become an amazing closer. He, Wagner in Houston and Smoltz in Atlanta are the best in the National League and may be the best in baseball (along with Rivera). Gagne has saved 18 games already (tied with Smoltz) and has struck out 45 batters in 25 innings! The league is batting .120 against him and he is averaging .64 baserunners per inning. Those are fantastic numbers.

Smoltz, who also has 18 saves has an even better ERA than Gagne (1.05! vs 1.88) but other than ERA, Gagne has Smoltz in every other pitching category. And Gagne has better stats in every category than Billy Wagner, who is having a great season. Probably the most unbelievable stat so far for Gagne is that his strikeout to walk ratio is 9 to 1. Wow!

Gagne is from Montreal and his name is mispronounced wherever he goes. Announcers anglo his name to "Gag-knee" but in french, the name is closer to "Gone-yay." Montreal is about six hours from here and I can't imagine how any player from up there can make the major leagues. Heck, it doesn't warm up until after school is out!


Mike Lowell is having a monster year in Florida. While the team has struggled and Lowell will probably end up getting traded (which is terrible for that franchise), he already has fifteen homers and thirty-nine RBI. What makes those numbers look so good is that his average hasn't changed. He's still hitting his normal high .270. He has carried that offense along with Louis Castillo and Alex Gonzalez while Ivan Rodriguez hasn't really gotten started yet.

I hope Lowell doesn't get traded. Owners like to blame cities for not supporting their teams but what happens when the emotional link between the fans and the team is constantly broken when the team trades it's most identifiable players? Oakland will eventually pay for the same thing as they lost Giambi and now have already said they will lose Tejada. The Twins also went through years like that.

I'm a fan and I know what fans like. We like to pick a player we can identify with and root that player on loyally for a long time. I still remember when the Yankees traded Bobby Murcer and I never got over it. The Marlins want to do that every time they unload the latest good, but high priced player. They give their fans a punch on the kisser. No wonder the fans would rather go to the beach.

Lowell's fast power numbers could mean that he has fully recovered from his bout with cancer. It was unbelievable what he was able to do considering that he went through chemotherapy at the same time.

Good for you, Mike Lowell. The Flagrant Fan is rooting for you.