pimblr.com

BAY STATE BIKE WEEK — Massachusetts residents, cyclists and non-cyclists, are invited to join a national effort by riding their bikes to work during the first Bay State Bike Week, May 12-18. Ways people can participate include the Fifty-thousand-mile Commuter Challenge; Bike Buddies; Safe Rider Convoys; No Bike, No Problem; and Breakfast Pit Stops. For more information, visit www.baystatebikeweek.org or call 617- 918-4456 .
BLOOD PRESSURE, GLUCOSE AND CHOLESTEROL SCREENING — Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in celebration of the May 2008 opening of the Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center, is offering a complimentary series of health events and screenings designed to promote cardiovascular health awareness. The hospital will offer a Blood Pressure, Glucose and Cholesterol Screening at the Brookside Community Health Center, 3297 Washington St., Jamaica Plain, on Thursday, May 15, from 2-6 p.m. For more information and to register, call 1-800-BWH-9999 or visit www.brighamandwomens.org and click on classes.
NESE HOSTS “WEILL ON THE WAY” — New England String Ensemble, a non-profit professional orchestra, will host "Weill on the Way," a benefit celebration to support the orchestra’s upcoming 15th season and kindergarten-12th grade education programs. The concert will take place on May 15 on Beacon Hill. The event will feature cabaret-style music performed by soprano, Ute Gfrerer, hors d’oeuvres, a buffet dinner and a live and silent auction. Gfrerer recently returned from a German tour where she performed Kurt Weill’s "Seven Deadly Sins." The auction will include international travel destinations, exotic vacations, fine art, concert tickets and more. For those who cannot attend the event, can bid on auction items online at www.cmarket.com/auction/AuctionHome.action?vhost=NESEgalaauction. For tickets or more information, call 781-224-1117 or visit www.newenglandstringensemble.org.
BLOOD PRESSURE, GLUCOSE AND CHOLESTEROL SCREENING — Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in celebration of the May 2008 opening of the Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center, is offering a complimentary series of health events and screenings designed to promote cardiovascular health awareness. The hospital will offer a Blood Pressure, Glucose and Cholesterol Screening at the North American Indian Center of Boston, 105 South Huntington Ave., Jamaica Plain, on Thursday, May 15, from 1-4 p.m. For more information and to register, call 1-800-BWH-9999 or visit www.brighamandwomens.org and click on classes.

wickedlocal.com

Welcome to The Show! On Monday, ESPN.com senior MLB writer Jayson Stark will drop by at 1 p.m. ET for another installment of “That’s Debatable,” a weekly feature in which we break down a hot topic you have suggested.
Monday’s topic, courtesy of Chris Raab from Phoenix: “This one is a no-brainer, after the first interleague weekend, you have to do this. Which league is better: the American League or the National League?”
A mere five months ago, after the fabled Miguel Cabrera/Dontrelle Willis trade, a certain baseball writer (aka. me) wrote two different pieces about how the gulf between the American League and the National League had grown wider than ever.
Oops. Make me rewrite.
All of a sudden, I’m not so sure of that. And I have lots of company. Is the American League really better than the National League right now? Let’s talk.
What do we make of these three overpowering developments?
1. The National League is out-offensing the American League:
Batting average: NL .260, AL .259
On-base percentage: NL .334, AL .329
Slugging percentage: NL .410, AL .396
OPS: NL .743, AL .724
2. I argued in December that the AL had all the superpowers in baseball. Not anymore. The only two teams with .600 winning percentages both play in the NL — the Cubs (.614) and Diamondbacks (.636). And three AL teams we thought were either superpowers or on the verge of being superpowers — the Yankees, Tigers and Mariners — are all in last place.
3. The NL is now the league with the brightest young stars. I looked at the OPS leaders this season among players younger than 30 who have gotten at least 100 plate appearances. The top eight were all National Leaguers. And of the top 25, just four were American Leaguers. Bet you can’t name those four, either. They were Carlos Quentin, Kevin Youkilis, Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli.

sports.espn.go.com

Between fans of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, even over the winter the sniping never really ends, it just becomes a little more muted than during the regular season.
This year in particular, the offseason seemed more bombastic than usual, what with members of both organizations getting involved and ratcheting up the noise. First, A-Rod stepped on Red Sox toes with the ill-timed World Series announcement that he was opting out of his contract. He says it was his agent’s idea and that he regrets the timing, but that was just the first volley anyway.
After that came Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon’s remark to a reporter that the Series-clinching ball, the one he supposedly had in his possession, had been eaten by his dog. The dog’s name? "Boss," of course, what else?
Move on to spring training, where Hank Steinbrenner railed against Boston’s "Red Sox Nation," much to the delight of Red Sox fans everywhere. Steinbrenner promised to restore order to the universe by beating the Sox, and everyone else, and earning a Yankee World Championship.
Finally, Boston management responded by enrolling Mr. Steinbrenner in Red Sox Nation and sending him a David Ortiz autographed hat as a peace offering. Needless to say, that peace offering went unaccepted.
From a Red Sox perspective, then, the Yankees are the hated enemy, the thorn in their side, the bane of their existence. As a kid born and raised outside Boston, I can testify to the truth of that statement, and undoubtedly the same thing is true of Yankee fans everywhere, who used to say, "You have to win once in a while for it to be a rivalry," in a not-so-subtle nod to the fact that while the Red Sox were going 86 years without a championship, the Yankees were racking them up with regularity. Well, now that the Sox have won a couple, it seems the rivalry has become invigorated and reached a renewed intensity.

msn.foxsports.com

Winter Haven, Fla. — The Indians and Winter Haven were a marriage of convenience from the start.
In 1993, after nearly 50 years in Arizona, the Indians were bound for a brand new spring-training site in Homestead, Fla., until Hurricane Andrew shattered the ballpark and their plans.
And after 27 springs, the Red Sox had just bolted Winter Haven for a snazzy new place in Fort Myers.
So this city had an empty ballpark and training grounds. And the Indians needed a home.
They took their vows and were quickly united.
But after 16 years, the union ends Thursday when the Indians play their final spring training game at Chain of Lakes Park against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Indians haven’t officially killed their contract with Winter Haven yet, leaving a safety net in case Goodyear falls behind schedule. But if all goes as planned, by this time next year, the club will have traded palm trees and a wrinkled, old companion for a custom-built trophy wife in the desert. Goodyear, Ariz., awaits, arms — and purse — wide open.
That the relationship lasted this long is surprising, given the ballclub’s demands, the city’s indifference and the economic realities of spring training.
The Indians, whose 10-year lease with options to extend it expired in 2003, have publicly sought suitors to build them a new home for the past several years. Their finally leaving is more a slow end to a trial separation than a divorce notice suddenly arriving in the mail.
So tears are few — at both ends.
“I am not sorry to see them go,” said 62-year-old businessman Sam Killebrew, who was born and raised in Winter Haven and chairs the city’s chamber of commerce. “It was costing our government a half-a-million dollars. Economically, it was hurtin’ us.”
Gracious in goodbye, Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro said the club appreciated the convenience of Florida and Winter Haven’s support through the years. But what the team needs neither Winter Haven nor any other city in Florida was willing to provide: a state-of-the-art complex where players train, improve and mend year-round.

blog.cleveland.com

It was a beautiful day for baseball, but an early end to spring training left Boston Red Sox fans and local business owners wanting more.
“This spring training has been very disappointing,” said Joe Faria, who attended the final Red Sox spring game Wednesday afternoon. “There were less games than usual, but I guess it’s all about the money.”
Faria is a Boston native who moved to Fort Myers 12 years ago. He watches the Red Sox play several times every spring.
The Red Sox ended spring training earlier than usual so the team can travel to Tokyo for two exhibition games and a season-opening series that starts Tuesday.
The team played just 13 home games at City of Palms Park this year. In contrast, the Minnesota Twins will have played 16 spring home games at Hammond Stadium in south Fort Myers when their schedule is completed March 28.
“Why are they going to Japan anyway?” asked Trudy Hutchinson, a Red Sox fan who moved to Fort Myers from Hartford, Conn. five years ago. “They are taking away from the fans here and they are taking away from local businesses.”
For Bob Rairden, owner of Time Out Lounge, the shortened spring training means money out of pocket.
The sports bar on Cleveland Avenue is less than one mile from City of Palms Park and a popular spot for fans who like to throw darts, eat a sandwich and have a few beers after a game.
“We’ve lost two weeks of business,” Rairden said. “We lose $2,000 or $3,000 for every game that’s not played, but the fans who travel here for spring training usually come in every day. I’d say we’ve lost somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000.”
Nearby hotels are also hurt by the team’s early departure, which comes during a winter tourist season that some say has been slow anyway.

naplesnews.com