FanHouse Chris Woodward

NEW YORK -- The Red Sox jersey of John Smoltz, shelled Thursday night by the Yankees, hung in a locker Friday at Yankee Stadium.

But Smoltz was not there. He was designated for assignment by the Red Sox, possibly ending his likely Hall of Fame career.

"He worked extremely hard," Boston general manager Theo Epstein said. "The results just weren't there."

Smoltz was 2-5 with an 8.33 ERA in eight starts after he recovered from shoulder surgery. Opposing batters hit .343 off him, including a .444 mark by lefties.

"It got to a point where we thought we needed to make a change to help our team do better," manager Terry Francona said.

I highly doubt that it was a tribute to former Met and current Brave Chris Woodward (besides, I couldn't find a picture of Barry Lyons without his hat), but the Mets tried a different look for Tuesday's game against San Francisco, as almost all of the Mets shaved their heads before the game.

Not everyone looks great, but then again, it's probably not that big a deal. After all, I said to Billy Wagner about his 'do, "That is one ugly looking cut." His reply was, "Yeah, but I'm rich."

They must have felt they needed to try anything against Giants fireballer Matt Cain, and it worked early as David Wright (who came up with the idea) and Carlos Beltran (who was the apparent barber) had back to back doubles off of Cain as two runs scored. It should be noted that Jose Reyes, who doubled to lead off the game, is one of the four players who did not shave his head (along with Aaron Sele, who has to take family pictures on Thursday, Aaron Heilman, and the fourth player to be revealed below).

Shawn Green did shave his head, and according to Wright during a pre-game interview, he wasn't thrilled with the prospect since he had to shave the hair that he just had styled in Arizona (I hope it wasn't too expensive). Since Green was fifth in the N.L. in hitting coming into the game, it might not have been the best idea to go bald ... and sure enough he went 0-for-4 (paging Delilah ... white courtesy phone).

Tom Glavine, who was the fourth Met player who did not shave his head (but in his in-game interview said that he doesn't think he's going to escape the barber too much longer), won his 294th career game despite giving up a home run to Barry Bonds (who's been bald for years and is now ten home runs away from Hank Aaron).

Bald is indeed beautiful.

Previously on The Fanhouse:
Barry Bonds Blasts 745

As teams finalize their rosters in preparation for Opening Day, here's a quick look around the division to see what i's have been dotted and what t's have been crossed today:

Mets:
In addition to Chan Ho Park being happily sent to the minors, they've given Lastings Milledge another shot with the big club to start 2007. The combination of Milledge maturing over the off-season and Shawn Green's batting woes made this happen. Reliever Ambiorix Burgos also makes the team as a result of Park going down, which means I'm going to have to commit the spelling of "Ambiorix" to memory.

Braves:
Kyle Davies and Martin Prado have been sent down to Richmond. Davies has shown some inconsistency while the Braves have enough confidence that Lance Cormier's shoulder has improved to the point where he could be the fifth starter. Prado had a good spring, but the second base job has always been Kelly Johnson's to lose, and the Braves have Pete Orr and Chris Woodward to back up.

Marlins:
Sergio Mitre, after missing most of the '06 season, will start the Marlins home opener while Ricky Nolasco will start the season in the bullpen. It's a temporary arrangement, but the original plan was reversed to start the season ... both will eventually be starters. Also, 37-year-old Jason Wood, with 81 career major league at bats (as opposed to 6,434 minor league at-bats), has made the team as a utility infielder.

The good news for Braves fans is that Chris Woodward is a dangerous man with a bat in his hands. The bad news is that he poses more of a threat to his teammates than to opposing pitchers with said bat.

Just when Matt Diaz's bat finally heated up, he took a bat to the face and looked like a snaggled-toothed hockey player. "I don't even like hockey," the Braves left fielder said Monday after teammate Chris Woodward accidentally hit him in the face during batting practice before a 6-4 win over Houston at Osceola County Stadium. Fortunately for Diaz, a chipped front tooth was the worst damage. He was scratched from the lineup so the Florida resident could visit his family dentist in nearby Lakeland. "Woody, that's the hardest hit you've had all spring," cracked Craig Wilson to Woodward, who was loosening up with a bat when Diaz bent over to pick up a weighted bat sleeve.

Don Waddell probably could have used this kind of nasty edge on his Thrashers before he traded Glen Metropolit and all those draft picks to get Keith Tkachuk.

Woodward, by the way, is hitting .214 for the spring. Craig Wilson, who made the wisecrack, isn't faring much better with a .231 average.