The Hiatus: It should be “what I thought about over the last three weeks,” as the inordinate time between posts has left our (admittedly few) readers wondering. My excuse is simple: there is no baseball in the Middle East — but instead politics, which is a form of entertainment far more dangerous, if less satisfying.  Come to think of it, I can think of no Muslim who has played this game, but I am open to correction. The closest is Yu Darvish, now of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. His parents came to Japan from Iran, though he says he now considers himself “100 percent Japanese.” The kid is good.

Pokey: Jim Bowden’s fetish for former Redlegs continues apace. The most recent addition is one Pokey Reese, an eight year veteran who last played in 2004. The reason for the addition? Jim has been less than forthcoming. What is so astonishing is that Pokey wracked up some $11 million in salary in his indifferent career, a goodly sum for a player who strikes out more than he walks — with a 0.43 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Here is Pokey in his last days, with the Red Sox, when he did anything but hit well:

All Is Right With The World: The Nats tore up the Arizona Assholes on Friday, with Willie Harris taking the honors when he put a Micah Owings slider in the Arizona bullben. The final 7 to 4 belied the relative worth of the two teams: the Assholes (I am thinking of changing their name, now that this showboat is on the DL) are one of the best teams in baseball, while the Nats are … er … ah … ah … “building for the future.” Owings is great with the bat (we keep being told), but has a nasty habit of hitting players he should be striking out. This game was no different; Owings hit Milledge and Mackowiak for no good reason other than “he pitches inside.”

If you follow the Nats in the same way that I do, then you check the morning standings to see not where they stand in relation to the Braves, Phillies, Mets and Marlins — but where they stand in relation to Friars, Giants, Mariners and Royals. The Nats are better than any of them. It’s of inestimable psychological importance that the Acta’s move forward, at the same time that some of the game’s more traditional names sink southwards. By the end of the year they will easily surpass the Reds and Pirates, who are both one-major-DL away from fading from sight. Dusty, in particular, is very busy just now blowing this guy’s arm out.

Bobby Richardson: I’ve been thinking about Richardson lately, because one afternoon it occurred to me that baseball announcers who focus on the glory days of the New York Yankees spend a lot of time talking about “that pepperpot,” Billy Martin. But for me, at least, the real Yankees pepperpot was Bobby Richardson – an incomparably better second bagger than Martin and a better hitter. Martin’s legacy is built on his stint as manager, not a player (I suppose that’s obvious, but still), with the result that Richardson is all-but-forgotten. Richardson won three World Series with the Bombers, and teamed with Tony Kubek to form one of the best doubleplay combinations of the late ’50s.

Martin glorifiers will point out that Billy won the Series MVP in 1953, but Richardson won it in 1960, though Mazeroski’s walk-off won the seven-game tilt for the Bucs. As Casey Stengel noted of him: Bobby Richardson was the best .260 hitter ever to play the game.” Richardson wore #1 while with the Yankees, but so did Martin — and it was Martin’s number that was retired.