No Dice? Kazuhiro Takeda was Japan?s pitching coach at the World Baseball Classic last year. Prior to the second game of the Red Sox-Yankees series this past week he commented about Dice-K, ?I saw him pitch and it wasn?t even half of what he could do? I talked to him earlier. He commented how long the season was over here and he?s getting quite tired, but he?s trying to save himself for later, also.? Monday night Dice-K was rocked by the Blue Jays, giving up seven earned runs over 5 1/3 innings pitched. If Dice-K is tiring this could spell trouble for the Red Sox. Ozzie Guillen: Can you believe this rant! Ozzie Guillen has a history of being a little imprudent when speaking to the press. After losing 5-4 to Texas in eleven innings Ozzie Guillen ranted about his team?s failure this season, "We've got a $100 million payroll and they don't show it on the field? If this keeps up, bring on the Double-A kids. They're killing me. They're killing my family, my coaching staff and the White Sox fans. I hope they care the way we care. I'm tired of seeing this [expletive] every day." Guillen went on to say, ?I'm tired of seeing that [expletive], day in and day out. And I don't want to spend a miserable September seeing the same [expletive]. If I have to see the same [expletive], I told [team GM Kenny Williams], bring somebody up. [Expletive] it. If it's my fault, I should be moving out of here then. If it's my fault, [expletive] fire my ass and I'll be fine. I have the job to do, and I get paid a lot of [expletive] money to make this club work, but it's not easy to work with people like that. It's not easy.'' After his remarks were widely reported by the media, Guillen became upset again. In reference to cross town manager Lou Piniella, Guillen said, ''The manager eight miles from me was mother-[expletive] his players? and no one said [expletive], I say we need to play better, and all of a sudden they say, 'Ozzie is a piece a [expletive]? Lou is tough, Lou is great.' I say anything close to what he says, and I'm the bad guy, I'm the [expletive].? The first person to email me a correct list of Ozzie?s ?expletives? will receive a [expletive]-load of free stuff from RealGM! Red Sox Rookie Pitches No Hitter Twenty three year old Clay Buchholz became the first Red Sox rookie to throw a no hitter. He completed the feat using an arsenal of pitches that included curveballs, changeups and fastballs. Buchholz became only the third pitcher to throw a no hitter in either his first or second career Major League start. In the ninth inning the crowd at Fenway Park was on their feet for the whole inning. "I sort of tried to zone everything out, but it was sort of hard with 40,000 people screaming," he said. "I'm in a blur right now." Buchholz was called up Saturday when teams were allowed to expand their 25 man rosters. This should mean that he can?t pitch in the playoffs, but leave it to the Red Sox to claim an injury to allow him to fill in and pitch. The Red Sox should look into using him as a pinch runner, as he is experienced at stealing (although as far as we know he is 0 for 1, having been caught stealing laptop computers in junior college). Scott Baker Comes Within 3 Outs of a Perfect Game Scott Baker, who started the season in AAA Rochester, came within 3 outs of being the first Minnesota Twin to pitch a 9 inning perfect game. After retiring the first 24 Kansas City Royals hitters that he faced Baker gave up a walk to begin the ninth, than with one out gave up a hit to Royals? captain Mike Sweeney. When asked if he was disappointed about giving up a hit, Baker responded, "No, absolutely not, I did the best I could. What else could I do? Why would I be upset about anything?" Baker made his first major league start this season on May 19th. Last season the Twins refused to trade him for Alfonso Soriano and it looks as though that decision is paying off. Baker was a second round pick in 2003. He has been held in high regard by the Twins management ever since although he has not had an easy path to the big league as he has been sent up and down 5 times. "I appreciate everything that's happened to me in my career so far," Baker said. "There's no doubt it's made me stronger." Baker seems poised to be the next great pitcher in an organization that already boasts some of major league baseballs top pitching prospects. As you can see Baker is an upstanding young man, and the rumour of his cross dressing is completely untrue and in very poor taste. Dodgers Claim Loaiza The Dodgers, in the hunt for both the NL West Division and the NL Wildcard, gave their pitching rotation a boost Wednesday when they claimed pitcher Esteban Loaiza off waivers from the Oakland Athletics. Loaiza, a two time All Star, missed the first four and a half months of this season, but in his two outings since getting back from the DL he has given up only 3 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings pitched. The Dodgers, who also recently signed David Wells, will be picking up 8 million dollars of guaranteed money for Loaiza. The A?s recalled Colby Lewis to take Loaiza?s spot on the major league roster. The low budget A?s say they did not make this move just to save money but that the trade was done more to give new guys opportunities. Billy Beane?not for the money??? Ya right! The Joba Rules are set to change Yankee rookie reliever Joba Chamberlain has played a huge part in the Yankees success this season. In order to preserve his arm, and avoid injury the Yankees had him under strict rules that are about to change. The rules were: if Joba pitched one inning it would require one day off, two innings ? two days off and three innings ? three days off, and he could only be asked to pitch two innings if he had two days of rest before that. Because Joba has had relatively low pitch counts lately (he is averaging 14.3 pitches an inning in his past six outings) the rules are about to change. Soon manager Joe Torre will decide when and how to use Joba depending on his pitch count in previous outings. Who needs rules anyway? Tit for Tat or is that bat for bat? In the second inning of the Yankees-Devil Rays game on Saturday, September 1st, Joe Torre asked the umpires to check Akinori Iwamura?s unusual bat model to make sure that it was legal. Not to be outdone, in the next inning, Joe Maddon asked the umpires to check Alex Rodriguez?s bat to make sure that it was legal. Both bats were confiscated and sent to the commissioner?s office for inspection. Is the unthinkable thinkable? THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL HISTORY August 29th 1993 ? George Brett got his 200th stolen base and joined Willie Mays and Hank Aaron as the only players with 3,000 hits, 300 homers and 200 steals. August 31st 1959 ? Sandy Koufax ties Bob Feller's major league record of 18 strikeouts in a game. August 31st 1990 ? Ken Griffey Senior and Junior become the first father-and-son combination in major league history to play in the same game as teammates. September 2nd 1990 ? Dave Stieb, loser of three previous no hit bids with one out to go, finally throws a no hitter. Questions/comments can be sent to [email protected]