Boston media roundup heading into the last weekend in April: The raves which Red Sox ace pitcher Pedro Martinez has been drawing from local newspaper, television and radio reporters must amuse former Baltimore Orioles star right hander Jim Palmer who does the TV color at Orioles games. Many of us who were priviliged to see Palmer, Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan and other greats marvel at the way Martinez has been babied and virtually nursed along to the point where a complete game by him will be headline news on Hub sports pages. To keep stardom in perspective, one should look up their records, especially that of the Cleveland Indians fireballer who spent the four prime years of his career in the U.S. Navy during WW II. In 1946 the 27-year-old Feller started 42 games for the Indians, completed 36 of them, had 10 complete-game shutouts, pitched 371 innings, struck out 348 batters, had a 2.18 ERA and won 26 games, losing 15. Not bad for the Van Meter, Iowa farm boy who was regularly facing American League greats like Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio….
The Boston Herald’s hard hitting political columnist, Howie Carr, had another great piece today, this one spelling out how tight many Massachusetts politicians are with their contributions to charity. “Pols don’t give to charity, period.” Carr wrote. “This not to say elected officials don’t love giving away money, as long as it’s your money they’re giving away, not theirs.” Carr concluded his rundown with a reminder to his readers that Mass. Sen. John Kerry who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, gave only $135 to charity in 1993, claiming he was broke. “But that same year he somehow scrapped together $8,600 for a brand-new, handmade, imported Italian motorcycle—a 1993 Ducati Paso 907 IE,” Carr wrote….
Steve Buckley who covered last night’s Bruins-Canadiens playoff game in Montreal for the Herald, described Bruins defenseman Kyle McLaren’s vicious forearm to the face of Canadiens’ star Richard Zednik in the waning minutes of the game as a cheap shot, totally uncalled for and one which “disgraced” the Bruins uniform.