MLB Bullets Is All Wet

For maximum effect, start playing Carl Orff's Carmina Burana right about now.

• As I'm sure you've probably heard, the Dodgers' Josh Beckett threw a no-hitter against the Phillies yesterday. It was the Dodgers first no-hitter since 1996.
• Ben Reiter looks at how Beckett did it and says that the Dodgers now have a #5 starter they can count on.
• David Schoenfield thinks that Beckett has finally become a pitcher rather than a thrower. He also thinks the no-hitter could be the spark the Dodgers need.
• Richard Justice thinks Beckett's no-hitter could be the most satisfying event of his career. Even more than winning the clinching game of the 2003 World Series when one considers all that he's gone through since then.
• Of course, the majority of Dodgers fans in Southern California didn't see the game, and there is no resolution in sight.
• As long as we're on the Dodgers, Yasiel Puig is not going to apologize for his flamboyant style, saying that "this is a game of entertainment."
• Bill Shaikin thinks that Puig should get elected to the All-Star Game in a landslide.
• D.J. Short thinks Matt Kemp's days as a center fielder may be numbered.
• Greg Maddux always had a reputation for being the smartest pitcher in the game. Joe Lemire seems to think Zack Greinke is a candidate for the smartest active pitcher.
• Rick Porcello is throwing more fastballs and fewer sinkers and that's a big reason for his improved results this year.
• Good news for the Cubs: Matt Cain is going to miss today's start.
• The other big Cubs news is the Manny Ramirez story. Matt Meyers compares Ramirez to Ricky Henderson, in that neither one ever wanted to leave the game.
• Whatever Derek Jeter plans to do after he retires, he knows one thing he won't do. He says he will never be a manager.
• White Sox manager Robin Ventura thinks that the Jeter tributes are getting "morbid" and reminds everyone he's retiring, not dying. Of course, maybe the White Sox shouldn't have given him a pile of dirt with the "ashes to ashes" symbolism.
• Ichiro Suzuki hasn't announced any retirement, but he does want to pitch at least once in the major leagues before he hangs up his spikes.
• We had a trade over the weekend. The Padres sent catcher Nick Hundley to the Orioles in exchange for reliever Troy Patton.
• Dennis Lin writes that the Padres will miss Hundley's presence, on and off the field.
• The Rangers, still reeling from all their injuries, have contacted he Nationals about trading for Tyler Moore.
• The Nationals have injury problems of their own.
• Two rookies with the Rangers, Rougned Odor and Nick Martinez, are making the most of their opportunities filling in for injured players.
• Nolan Arenado has been a big reason for the Rockies strong start, but he's going to miss 6-8 weeks with a finger that was fractured in a head-first slide.
• The Red Sox took it upon themselves to enforce baseball's "unwritten rules" on Sunday. Also, they lost their tenth straight game. Boston has now fallen eight games back of first-place Toronto.
• Jay Jaffe is ready to call off the Carlos Santana to third base experiment.
• Chris Johnson was removed from the Braves game on Friday for throwing a tantrum. But mainly for shattering a bat and hitting manager Fredi Gonzalez with some of the shrapnel.
• The Astros radical rebuilding efforts have brought a lot of losses. Evan Drellich writes that some in the organization are beginning to question the wisdom of GM Jeff Luhnow's plan, going so far as to call the team an "outcast" in MLB. The players in particular don't seem to be happy with parts of it. (h/t Hardball Talk)
• Any attempt by baseball to speed up the game by enforcing the 12 seconds to pitch rule is likely to have minimal to no effect. It might even make games longer, writes Ben Lindbergh.
• MLB has created a new program where fans can record their favorite memories of the game for all to see for decades to come.
• Woody Paige talks to 90 year-old World War II veteran Turk Lown and his long and illustrious career both inside and outside of baseball. Lown pitched seven years for the Cubs in the 1950s.
• Coco Crisp in developing a game where you can catch balls in his Oscar Gamble-style 'fro.
• The Lake County Captains are giving away a Jobu bobblehead.
• And finally, Adrian Beltre really doesn't want you to touch his head. Even if you're Miguel Cabrera. Heck, especially if you're Miguel Cabrera.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.