In the top of the first inning last night, Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter reached base and then Gary Sheffield took a characteristically healthy cut at the first pitch he saw and fouled it back. He was right on the pitch and just missed it–Rich Harden eventually struck him out on a 3-2 splitter. Alex Rodriguez was next and he put a great swing on a 2-1 fastball that he just missed, fouling it straight back. Rodriguez whiffed as well and so did Jason Giambi to end the inning. That was just the start of a frustrating evening for the Bombers out in Oakland, but I missed the rest of the game.

I’m gearing up for a two-day visit to St. Louis tomorrow and Friday to promote my book on Curt Flood. I’ll be at Left Bank books on Thursday night and on various local radio and TV shows during my stay. Cliff will hold things down–as he’s been doing for weeks now–and continue to provide crack analysis on the Bombers. Alexbelth.com will hopefully launch tomorrow–with many kinks to be ironed out over the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you are interested in Curt Flood, here is an excerpt from the book, plus an interview with me that appears today on Viva El Birdos.

Take it ease, and go Yankees.