Baseball Sunday

Around the horn

D'oh!

Wilson Valdez, shortstop for Triple A Columbus, came to bat in the bottom of the ninth Monday with the Clippers trailing Louisville, 7-6.

The tying run was on third base with two outs. There were two strikes on Valdez when he ... tried to bunt? Yes, he tried to bunt, fouled it off. He was out and the game was over.

That's right. A walkoff foul ball. You don't see that very often.

Nice insight

Red Sox's David Ortiz was asked why Boston's offense has started to hit in the last week after a slow start.

"Because we've got good hitters," he explained.

Perfect girl

Mackenzie Brown, a 12-year-old from Bayonne, New Jersey, retired all 18 boys she faced to become the first girl to record a perfect game in her town's Little League baseball history.

Brown had 12 strikeouts in the 8-0 victory on April 21, the league said on its Web site. She also had two hits in the game. To celebrate, Brown will throw out the first pitch Sunday at New York's Citi Field prior to a Major League Baseball game between the Mets and Washington Nationals.

Tidbits

The Rockies have played more games in Arizona (6) than at Coors Field (3) so far this season.

The Padres have filed a complaint with Major League Baseball about the visiting bullpen at the new Citi Field in New York, saying visiting relief pitchers can't see the field.

When the Braves got Brian Bartow from the Cardinals in a trade for reliever Blaine Boyer on Monday, they literally got a rocket scientist. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Bartow is one semester short of getting his degree in aerospace engineering at the University of Miami and has interned with Boeing and NASA.

Arthur Giddon, 100, will be a batboy during Red Sox batting practice this weekend at Fenway. He's qualified. He was batboy for the Boston Braves in 1922 and 1923.

Fantasy tips

Two weeks can make or break your fantasy season, right?

OK, maybe not, but people sure can get a false sense of their fantasy team based on whether their players start off hot or not.

With a little game of "True or False" we'll take a look at some of the early trends developing in the baseball world and whether you can really believe in them.

1. Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is the best fantasy player? True. Cabrera seems to be content and comfortable in Motown and that has translated into major production at the plate. In 12 games, Cabrera was hitting a league-high .489 with four homers and 12 RBIs — and that should continue on an above-average Detroit squad.