IT'S POURING TODAY:

Weathering new heights -- Sox rained out for 6th time in ’06 (Jeff Horrigan, June 26, 2006, Boston Herald)

With a relentlessly blotchy weather radar and a dire forecast calling for the potential of a hard day’s night at Fenway Park, Major League Baseball decided it was best for the Red Sox and Philadelphia to wait until today at 1:05 p.m. to wrap up their interleague series. [...]

With a more encouraging forecast in line for today and both teams sharing a mutual day off, the decision to reschedule was relatively easy.

“If you’re going to lose an off day, at least they did it (early) so the guys can get out of here and have the rest of the day (off),” Sox manager Terry Francona said. “That is very helpful and very considerate.”

The rainout was the Sox’ sixth this season, with five coming at Fenway. It marked the most home rainouts for the team since 1989, when it also had five games postponed. The Sox only had four rainouts all of last year.

Here's how biblical the rain has become in New England: the greatest obstacle to mowing your lawn isn't the puddles but the frogs that have taken up residence.

MORE:
More ammo for arsenal: Lester’s cutter boosts his stock (John Tomase, 6/26/06, Boston Herald)

Jon Lester considers his cutter his fourth pitch, which says a lot about his fastball, curveball and changeup.

The left-hander may very well have the best pure stuff on the Red Sox staff, effortlessly tossing 94-mph fastballs, snapping off 77-mph curveballs and hitting just about every speed in between.

The pitch that really helped him take off is the cutter. It gives him a weapon off the inner third of the plate against right-handers and makes the rest of his repertoire more dangerous.

“You’ve got a two-seamer running away, a four-seamer in, a curveball and changeup away, and a cutter in,” Lester said. “You’ve got basically five or six different looks and the hitter has to honor each one. It gives the hitter another pitch to think about in the back of their mind that you might throw.”

While the cutter may be a revelation to observers, it’s not to his teammates.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 26, 2006 7:30 AM