The Disabled List, population many

Some big names in baseball have already been sidelined! If this trend keeps up, every team's roster will resemble Triple A rosters!

- So my Dodgers lost to the Rockies today, but that wasn't the big story of the day. Starting pitcher, and big free agent catch Jason Schmidt left the game with tightness in his right hamstring. Matt Kemp also left the game early, when he crashed his shoulder into the outfield wall, trying to chase down a fly ball. The Schmidt injury doesn't worry me too much, as long as it doesn't linger as the season goes on. Thank goodness the injury is tightness, and not a hamstring pull. Besides, our rotation is deep enough so that Schmidt won't be missed that much, should he miss a start or two. The Kemp injury looked far worse than it really was, and he'll only miss a couple of days as well. At least it wasn't Kent or Nomar that got hurt...

A quick comment about The Masters: I have heard people saying that Tiger Woods "choked" at the end of the tournament. He did not choke! He got beat by a hot golfer who made his shots down the stretch. Tiger, who usually makes his down the stretch, unfortunately did not.

- Also on the injury list: Chris Carpenter of the Cards and Mike Hampton of the Braves. Carpenter was placed on the 15-day disabled list with elbow troubles. It's not like the Cardinals can afford to lose a starting pitcher, much less their ace. With two relievers in their rotation--Wainwright and Looper, though Wainwright's transition to the rotation ought to be easier than Looper's--and a call-up from Triple-A, the Cardinals could be in serious trouble in the NL Central. As for Hampton, he has a torn tendon in his pitching elbow, and he'll miss the entire season for the second straight year. I'm still not sure what the Rockies were thinking when they paid this guy $121 million for eight years. He had one solid season (1999, where he went 22-4), and hasn't really come close to matching that performance. Then again, he did spend the first two years of that deal pitching in Coors Field, a hitter's park, to say the least.

- Alleged racist and radio show host Don Imus admitted that he went "way too far" when he referred to members of Rutgers' women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." Appearing on Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show today, he did what just about anybody in his situation has done in the past (aka Repairing your Image 101): he made a long-witted apology, pointed out how good of a person he really is, and wanted to meet those he offended in person and apologize to them. I have no comment about his apology, but I am interested in knowing what Imus was referring to when this happened:

During one exchange, Imus said he can't win with "you people." Sharpton was clearly irritated by that remark.

So let me get this straight. You made a racist comment, went on Al Sharpton's radio program to apologize and insist that you're not racist, and then you make another discriminatory comment?!? Now, I'm not implying that "you people" refers to blacks; in fact, it could mean "radio show hosts," "critics," or something more specific like "NAACP members." Whatever the term refers to, he can't say that without appearing discriminatory again! I love how Imus whines that he won't escape from this incident unscathed and without humiliation, as if I'm supposed to feel sorry for the guy after he made these remarks.

This Lakers-Denver game is pretty entertaining; the loser is pretty much guaranteed to face the Suns in the first round of the playoffs. Perhaps I'll have another blog entry later tonight or early tomorrow morning with some NBA thoughts. Until then, happy blogging!