The season started out very, very well. The over-40 crowd was representing, bit time. Curt Schilling, Tom Glavine, Barry Bonds, Greg Maddux, Jamie Moyer and John Smoltz all looked great early on. There were lots of comments from adoring announcers and analysts about the turning back of the clock, the defeat of Father Time and so forth. All that, and the Rocket was on the way!
Now, we're edging toward the half-way mark of the season. Smoltz may be headed to the DL with shoulder trouble. Glavine and Schilling are suddenly looking like they are very, very tired. Curt has been particularly bad in the starts since he carried the no-hitter into the 9th, giving up 5 earned in 5 innings and 6 earned in 4. Maybe pitchers in their 40's need to be six inning pitchers, period. Moyer's team is so bad you can't tell if it's him or them. Bonds' knees remembered how fragile they really are. Clemens' return was delayed by a barking groin, the same issue that has plagued him for the last two seasons.
April was a blast, but June is getting hot and humid and hard. And Dan Haren (26), Josh Beckett (27), Mark Buehrle (28) and Carlos Zambrano (26) are looking a whole lot better than the old guys. And Prince Fielder (23) is pointing the way, not Bonds. Experience matters. They have to learn how to play. But baseball, like much of life, is a young man's game.
Hang in there, my 40-plus brothers! The rest of us need you to tell us we're still young (enough), too.
And God Bless Julio Franco!
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