23-year-old Jose Iglesias unexpectedly began the season as the Red Sox starting shortstop after Stephen Drew suffered a concussion in spring training. Iglesias, an all-glove, no-bat, prospect, hit .450 in his six game stint in the majors. The fan base immediately adopted a "let the kid play" mantra, but he was sent down regardless. It didn't help when Stephen Drew began the season at a glacial pace.

But Drew is the shortstop of 2013. He signed a one-year, $9.5 million dollar contract, because the Sox felt Iglesias wasn't ready to hit at this level. Drew, for his part, has picked it up at the plate, hitting a respectable .243/.333/.429 in May.

Then 3B Will Middlebrooks got shuttled to the DL, and yesterday Iglesias found himself back in Boston. Only now he was at 3rd, rather than short.

First off, I'd like to apologize for that terrible pun. Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez remains the best free agent signing of the winter. He threw 8 1/3 no-hit innings on Friday night against the Twins, and struck out 12 during the game. For the season, Sanchez has a 2.38 ERA in 64 1/3 innings with 80 strikeouts and 17 walks. His 2.8 fWAR is tops among all pitchers in baseball, including teammates Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander (who rank thrid and fifth in the AL in fWAR on their own). Only Yu Darvish has a better strikeout rate among starters. Yeah...life is pretty good right now for Sanchez. Cubs fans are probably sick thinking about how close they were to signing him, especially with as poorly as Edwin Jackson has pitched for them.

PIC OF THE DAY

Ben Revere tries (and fails) to make another spectacular catch. (Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports)

Game of the Night: Athletics 6, Astros 5. A five run fifth inning nearly held up for Houston. They led 5-3 after a Seth Smith solo homer in the sixth inning, and that score held until the ninth. Jose Veras came in for the save, and he pitched like...well, Jose Veras. John Jaso led off the inning with a walk. After striking out Eric Sogard, Veras proceeded to walk Coco Crisp to put two men on for Chris Young. The former Diamondback hit a three-run homer to put Oakland in front 6-5, and break Houston fans' hearts across the league. The Astros put two men on with one out against closer Grant Balfour in the ninth, but he managed to strike out Robbie Grossman and get Jose Altuve to ground into a fielders choice to end the game.

First base umpire Jeff Nelson blew a call in unbelievable fashion on Friday night in Seattle. In the bottom of the second inning, Mariners catcher Jesus Sucre hit a grounder to first baseman Mitch Moreland. Moreland threw to Elvis Andrus at second for one, and Andrus fumbled with the ball before throwing it back to first for the apparent double play.

Only that's not what really happened at all. Moreland's foot wasn't on the bag when he supposedly caught the ball from Andrus, so Sucre should have been safe to begin with. Also, there's the tiny little detail of Moreland not even actually catching the ball! That's right, pitcher Justin Grimm actually ended up making the catch on Andrus' throw, and he was nowhere near the bag.

That didn't stop Nelson from calling Sucre out on what went down in the scorebooks as a 3-6-1 double play. The worst part for the Mariners is that Brendan Ryan followed Sucre's at bat wtih an RBI double, which could have been a two-run double had Sucre not been called out. Texas won the game 9-5, but things could have played out much differently had Sucre not been incorrectly called out in the second inning.

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Mention the name Ozzie Smith to baseball fans and they’ll immediately think of his dazzling glove work at shortstop as well as his famous backflips on the diamond. Even those who didn’t see him play with the Cardinals in his heyday remember him for his guest appearance in the iconic “Homer At the Bat” episode of The Simpsons. Known as “The Wizard of Oz,” the Hall of Famer is considered as one of the best -- if not the best -- defensive shortstops of all time.

During 19 seasons in the majors with the Padres and Cardinals, Smith racked up 8,375 assists, the most all-time for a shortstop and set the all-time record for double plays turned, with 1,590 (since broken by Omar Vizquel). He won 13 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1980 to 1992 and started at shortstop in the All-Star Game from 1983 through 1992 (he was a 15-time All-Star).

Though known mainly for his defensive prowess, Smith racked up 580 steals and 2,460 hits during his career. He’s also well known for his iconic walk-off home run off Dodgers reliever Tom Niedenfuer (sorry Dodger fans) to win the 1985 NLCS which prompted Jack Buck’s famous, “Go crazy, folks!” call. Smith was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002 in his first year of eligibility with 91.7% of the vote.

Smith, 58 and living in the St. Louis area where he serves as president of the Gateway PGA Foundation, returned to the Cardinals organization in 2012 as a guest instructor during spring training (he’d had a widely publicized falling out with former manager Tony La Russa). I caught up with the Wizard in Rochester, N.Y. where he was getting ready to take the field in the Pepsi MAX Field of Dreams legends game.

Before Thursday night's Indians-Red Sox game, the Boston Red Sox aired a brief tribute video to former manager Terry Francona, the current manager of the Indians. Francona left the Red Sox after the 2011 season when the team collapsed down the stretch, and various borderline slanderous statements about Francona's tenure in Boston began to surface soon thereafter.

The tribute to Francona was brief, but the crowd gave him a great reaction. In addition to honoring Francona, several other members of the Indians that spent time in Boston were honored, including Cleveland third base coach Brad Mills, pitcher Justin Masterson, bullpen coach Kevin Cash, relievers Matt Albers and Rich Hill, and infielder Mike Aviles. Most of the video was reserved for paying tribute to Francona, the former Red Sox manager that led the team to a pair of World Championships during his tenure with the club.

Francona and Mills both seemed touched by the pregame tribute, and it was a classy move by the Red Sox to honor their former coaches and teammates before the series with the Indians began. Before the game, Francona talked about his return to Fenway, and after the game, Francona reflected on his first game back as an opposing manager.

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Baltimore Orioles pitching prospect Kevin Gausman made his major league debut on Thursday night. Earlier during the day, Ian broke down the boldness of Gausman's promotion, and there were questions of how he would perform. Even though the Orioles got smashed 12-6 in Toronto and Gausman got the loss, his performance opened a lot of eyes. Gausman allowed four runs on seven hits over five innings, striking out five and walking two. Gausman tallied seven whiffs on 89 pitches, and averaged a whopping 97 mph with his fastball on 63 pitches, topping out at 99. Yes, the end result wasn't exactly perfect for Baltimore, but Gausman sure did give the team and their fans a lot to look forward to for the future.

PIC OF THE DAY

Starlin Castro of the Cubs almost appears to be posing as he receives this throw at second base... (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)

Game of the Night: Tigers 7, Twins 6. Josh Willingham hit a solo homer in the seventh to put Minnesota in front 6-3, and things looked rosy for the Twins. Then, of course, they turned into the Twins. Casey Fien put two men on in the seventh and was replaced by Brian Duensing, who allowed a pair of RBI singles to cut the lead to 6-5. Jared Burton replaced Duensing, and allowed an RBI double to Jhonny Peralta to tie the game. In the eighth, Prince Fielder came up with men on first and second, and he singed to shallow right off of the glove of Brian Dozier. Omar Infante scored to put Detroit in front, and Jose Valverde slammed the door with authority in the ninth to finish the game.

In Thursday night's Orioles-Blue Jays game at Rogers Centre, Baltimore left fielder Nate McLouth experienced a trifecta of wackiness in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Toronto center fielder Colby Rasmus hit a fly ball down the left field line that McLouth got a beat on and grabbed while running. Without time to stop his momentum, McLouth fell into the stands up the left field line, but held on to the ball (unless you're willing to believe the Blue Jays fans who vehemently pleaded their case to the umpire). After McLouth got up and prepared to throw the ball back into the infield, a fan in the left field seats in the outfield threw a beer at McLouth, narrowly missing him.

The fan would be found and ejected from the stadium, and McLouth was no worse for the wear after his great catch. But difficulties would arise later in the sixth when Orioles pitching walked the bases loaded, only to see Edwin Encarnacion hit a grand slam off the left field foul pole to drive everyone home.

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During Wednesday night's Red Sox-White Sox game, Boston pitcher Koji Uehara was AMPED after pitching a 1-2-3 eighth inning that included a pair of strikeouts. He started dishing out high fives to his teammates.

Mike Napoli? You get a double.
Dustin Pedroia? You get one with the glove.
First base coach Arnie Beyeler? You'll get one too.
Will Middlebrooks? You're struggling at the plate, but what the hell, you can have one.
Shane Victorino, who isn't even playing thanks to a hamstring injury? YOU'LL GET ONE IN THE FACE!

No one can say the Baltimore Orioles aren't afraid to make a bold move to stay competitive in the AL East. 

Well, I suppose I might have said that during the offseason when the O's didn't add an impact hitter or pitcher to capitalize on the success of their improbable run to an AL wild-card playoff spot.

But manager Buck Showalter and general manager Dan Duquette are willing to take a risk with the young talent on hand in the Orioles' organization. The latest example of this is the decision to call up pitcher Kevin Gausman from Double-A Bowie and start him against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday (May 23). 

Gausman was Baltimore's first-round draft pick — fourth overall — last year out of LSU. Baseball America ranked him as the Orioles' No. 2 prospect behind phenom Dylan Bundy.

In eight starts for the Baysox this season, the 22-year-old right-hander compiled a 2-4 record and 3.11 ERA. But his 49 strikeouts and five walks in 46.1 innings are likely why the Orioles feel he's ready to make the jump from Double-A to the majors.