Still a little chilly for a July night, but that is not what I am going to complain about. No, I am now focusing all my anger on the new cell phone law. Being the law abiding citizen I am, I picked up one of those head set thingies for the phone and all I can say is I am much more of a liability trying to get that damn thing plugged in, clipped on, earpiece in and staying in, fumble phone, etc. etc. etc. than I am simply flipping the phone, pushing a button and saying hello! Very annoying and yes, I know I need to get into the Bluetooth age.

Got a lot of good reaction to what I wrote about Richie in my last post. I think the vast majority of fans want to see him succeed. I hear individuals yelling out encouragement every at bat. Wish Richie could hear it too. I don’t think he does. And I still contend he gets some of the most ridiculous strike calls in the league. Got one tonight. Ball at least a foot inside, which is how it seems Galarraga is determined to pitch him tonight.

Spoke with Curtis Granderson before the game for a piece I have coming up a little later this summer. I don’t mean to sound too old here, but what an impressive young man! Smart, well spoken, polite, socially conscious. Mom and dad did a good job with that one. We got a little off my intended topic and talked about something that struck me while I was talking to him. Where are the baseball media superstars? The ads are dominated by football and basketball players, where are the baseball players? I think this is huge in marketing the sport to young kids. Curtis agreed and pointed out that baseball tends to market regionally instead of nationally.

I think this is a mistake, especially with cable on line packages. Kids today have much more access to games outside of their areas then they did before, but they have to be given a reason to watch. Why can’t they have heroes across the country? I look at all the young, marketable players in the league right now, just a few off the top of my head, Granderson, Joe Mauer, Grady Sizemore, Felix…All good kids, good looking, well spoken, good players, fun to watch. Where are their billboards?

I know baseball has made progress but has yet to get out from under the cloud of the “Steroid Era” but still, to put it in simple terms, there are many more good guys in this game than bad. Visibility, coolness, product association, association with other athletes are all things that grab kid’s attention. While they may be selling a product, they are also selling baseball with such visibility, and I fear the visibility of baseball is going in the wrong direction. Instead of here’s Grady Sizemore eating his Wheaties we get the tabloid stories of Alex Rodriguez and his midnight visits with Madonna. Who’s Derek Jeter dating? Why not put some of these young faces forward instead? Do we really want a baseball section in US Weekly?

News from the dugout today, the skipper doesn’t think Erik Bedard is 100%. Thinks maybe the back or hip problems have lingered or hampered him. I haven’t seen any evidence of pain or injury behind the scenes, but with him it’s hard to tell. Actually, scratch that. We all agreed that he was much friendlier when he was on pain killers.

Felix seems to be coming along pretty well although he still takes the stairs gingerly. He has been throwing with no ill effects and the more people talk about it the more it sounds like he will make a start before the All Star Break. They are not rushing him by any means, but I think it would be good if he could get one before the break just to settle him down a little bit. He wants to pitch.