Hawk gets on the internets

Brian Anderson hit his first HR of the spring, though it was off of fellow 2003 first round pick David Aardsma. More encouraging than the HR off of a prospect, was Anderson's plate presence. He actually looked like he had a plan out there, and is starting to look much more comfortable. I know spring training stats don't mean much, but he now has a .265/.316/.471 line.

Relieved -- Equally as encouraging as Anderson's improving plate presence, was Brandon McCarthy's first ever relief appearance in which he inherited runners. McCarthy relieved Javier Vazquez in 5th inning, and immediately induced an inning-ending double play. He stuck around for the sixth, where he displayed his first snappy curveball of the spring, grabbing a couple of strikeouts. It was easily the best he's looked all spring, and he's looked better with each consecutive outing. He even indicated that pitching from the stretch may have helped him hone his mechanics.

Prime Time -- Joe Crede likes when the lights are on. Before Saturday, he struggled to do much of anything positive for much of spring training. With the Cubs in town, a standing room only crowd on hand, and a nationally televised game, Crede his first HR of the spring, going 4-4 on the day. The 4 hits matched his previous output for the entire spring, and raised his spring batting average by over 120 points.

Trade on the horizon? -- Last week when we acquired Alex Cintron, I thought that Joe Borchard's absence from the line-up for a few days might mean something. Since then, he has played practically everyday. Thankfully for us, he's been playing pretty damn well, attracting interest from the Florida Marlins. During the broadcast, Hawk noted the inordinate number of scouts the Sox have been playing in front of the last week or so.

Count Down -- Jose Contreras reported no pain during a session of long-toss on Saturday, but the Sox are being cautious with him. He will not make his scheduled start on Monday, but will throw side sessions again tomorrow, Monday, and Wednesday. If all goes well, and at this point it sounds like it should, Contreras will make his next start Saturday against Barry Bonds and the Giants.

All your blogs are belong to Hawk -- Daggumit, where's the "any" key?

Hawk Harrelson, who regularly admits that he doesn't even know how to turn on a computer, has teamed up with DJ and some poor WGN intern to start a blog. That's right, Hawk & DJ have a blog! When they announced it on the telecast Saturday, Hawk just said, "what's a blog?" and DJ sounded just as clueless trying to explain it to him.

I hope this doesn't cut into Hawk's busy golf schedule. Hopefully, Hawk will still contribute to Yardwork occasionally. In any event, it should be, at the very least, a never-ending supply of entertainment for me.

And if you can't get enough of the White Sox - TNA Wrestling connection, here you go...