Sports Redux: Smoltz Isn't Our Savior

OK, let's rationalize. The guy hadn't pitched in over a year. He was adjusting to a new league (wait, it's interleague play, that doesn't really count) and feeling the eyes of six million diehard fans on him, waiting for him to be the same guy he was in 1993. And he said afterwards that all in all, he felt pretty good back up on the mound. In other words, folks, we're going to give Smoltzie a mulligan.

In the most anticipated debut this year, John Smoltz gave up four runs in the first inning, which may be the biggest inning in Nationals history. Throw that out, though, or at least chalk it up to butterflies, and he pitched a pretty good game. From the second on, he gave up three hits and one run in four innings, and finished with a flourish, striking out the side in the fifth. "If he throws the ball like that," said Terry Francona, "he's going to be just fine."

For Smoltzie's part, he's guardedly pleased; he said he's "very encouraged with how good I can be and the way I felt and the stamina and everything going forward." He admits that being in a regular rotation and not having the weight of New England's desperate expectations on him (our words, not his) every time he goes out will be good. Pitchers like routines.

The NBA held its draft last night. The good news is, we got through the evening without Danny Ainge doing something crazy. The Celtics only made one pick, in the bottom of the second round, and grabbed Lester Hudson, a 6'1" shooter out of Tennessee-Martin. The draft itself didn't feature a lot of surprises (though provided us with another excellent Simmons diary), but there were a flurry of trades. The biggest: Shaquille O'Neal to Cleveland (which the big guy learned about on Twitter). Also shaking things up: Orlando got Vince Carter from Jersey, the Knicks got Darko Milicic from Memphis, and we're pretty sure somewhere in the second round, ESPN told us that Michael Jackson was traded to Heaven for a 2013 pick and cash considerations. And Jay Bilas loved that trade.

Rodney Harrison has only been an ex-player/current media figure for about 45 minutes, but we already like him in his new job a lot. He told the Dan Patrick Show that he's sick and tired of hearing about Brett Favre all the time. He also allegedly said that he'd rather play against Favre than with him, because you can count on an interception coming your way. Giggle.