Willis said to leave team w/o permission; Duquette still wants him for pen  —  Dontrelle Willis' interesting career has taken another interesting turn, as he has left the Orioles' Triple-A Norfolk team without permission and is at least temporarily on the restricted list.

In Boston the V is for villain as Bobby Valentine managing for a short stay with Red Sox  —  Valetine must be wondering what he got himself into  —  It didn't take long for Bobby Valentine to walk right into controversy as the skipper of the Red Sox.  —  A week ago in this space …

The evolution of Roy Halladay  —  The last time I wrote about Phillies ace Roy Halladay, in the middle of spring training, he called it, “poor reporting on the extreme end of poor reporting.”  —  What I reported was that two scouts had expressed concern about Halladay's lack of velocity and sharpness …

Ivan Rodriguez career highlights  —  It was recently announced that veteran catcher and current unsigned free agent Ivan Rodriguez intends to officially retire in Texas on Monday.  —  When a great player like Rodriguez retires, it's nice to look back over his career, what his highs and lows were …

How “Perfect” Was Philip Humber's Perfect Game?  —  You got a guy who is 29 years old and making a comeback from Tommy John surgery - and, to top it off, hasn't won a game this year.  He throws a perfect game and nobody - and I mean nobody, including me - wants to put a damper on it.

The 10 greatest games in Tiger Stadium history  —  Last week, as I'm sure many of you know, Fenway Park celebrated its centennial anniversary.  It had a big celebration and media attention.  That's appropriate, as the park has lasted all this time.  However, while it's the only baseball stadium …

Rockies-Pirates postponed by rain  —  PITTSBURGH (AP)  —  Monday night's game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Colorado Rockies has been postponed by inclement weather.  —  The game was called six hours before the scheduled 7:05 p.m. first pitch due to a steady rain scheduled to fall throughout the area until Tuesday morning.

Texas Rangers' hero admits winning squeeze bunt was foul ball  —  DETROIT — Alberto Gonzalez had never attempted a suicide squeeze before Sunday afternoon, even though Ron Washington said that the utility infielder is the kind of player who must execute the do-or-die play.

NY Mets, not Yankees, have best starting pitching rotation in New York City, surprisingly  —  So far, Amazin's proving to have better starters than in the Bronx  —  Jon Niese is just part of a pretty deep New York Mets pitching rotation.  —  The contrasting climactic events at Fenway Park …

Schedule creates opportunity for Red Sox  —  Here is the Red Sox schedule for the next 22 games:  —  April 23-25: At Minnesota (3)  —  April 26-29: At Chicago (4)  —  April 30-May 2: Oakland (3)  —  May 4-6: Baltimore (3)  —  May 7-9: at Kansas City (3)  —  May 10-13: Cleveland (4)

Recap: Terry talks Baxter, Tejada before today's game  —  Prior to today's doubleheader, Mets Manager Terry Collins spoke to the media and said the following, per SNY's Matt Dunn:  — Mike Baxter is starting in left field for game one because he wants to get him in the lineup.