Pointing More Fingers

It must be written, somewhere in the Official Playing Rules, that Jose Valverde, when he comes in to pitch the ninth, has to put the leadoff man on, and the leadoff man has to steal second.

Alex Rios did both this afternoon, with the White Sox down 3-1. The rules must also require him to walk someone (Koseki Fukudome).

Papa Shut 'Em Down then did just that, retiring AJ Pierzynski and Gordon Beckham to preserve the victory. 

-----------------------------------------------

Whenever I type Gordon Beckham's name into a blog post, I have to remind myself that he's not the guy who married one of the Spice Girls.

-----------------------------------------------

Someone beside me has no doubt noticed, by now, that the bumper music on Tigers' radio before Valverde's inning is always "Shake Your Moneymaker" by The Black Crowes, a 90s cover of the politically incorrect blues song written in 1961 by Elmore James (all blues songs by definition being politically incorrect). Maybe that's his problem. He needs a new song.