Booze, Boo-Boos, Geezers And No-Nos.

Braves ace starter and 14-year veteran Derek Lowe was arrested in Atlanta last Thursday night for driving under the influence of alcohol. He was pulled over after driving erratically, refused to take a breathalyzer test, and was arrested on the charges of DUI, reckless driving and failure to maintain lane. Had he been anyone else, he'd probably still be sitting in jail waiting for someone to post bail. However, he escaped detainment in time to make his scheduled start Sunday against the Cardinals (the Braves won on a walk-off single by Brooks Conrad; Lowe didn't factor into the decision). This is the third instance of a ballplayer driving drunk this season, after Tigers star first baseman Miguel Cabrera belligerently swung at his arresting officer shortly before spring training, and Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo was arrested on similar charges this past Tuesday. Long gone are the days when baseball players are revered as role models for kids, it seems. They've become increasingly greedy, going for multi-million dollar deals worth more than some countries' GDP. As if that weren't enough, their bad attitudes (Brewers outfielder Nyjer Morgan has earned more ejections in the past 2 seasons than any other player in that time), leanings toward violence (Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez is still vilified for brutally beating his girlfriend's father at the end of last season), and now with substance abuse resurfacing, all signs point to a loosening of morals amongst ballplayers around the league. It's not a surprise, as there have been plenty of players throughout history that have been terrible role models, but with a resurgence of clean-cut, respectable players (Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, etc.), it's a shame to see this kind of behavior happening again.

And now, I have to do something that I rarely do: I have to apologize for my statements about Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano. After I wrote a post lamenting how poorly he's doing this season, he threw a no-hitter against the flailing White Sox on Tuesday. Despite giving up 6 walks and 2 strikeouts in 123 pitches, this was enough to keep the poor White Sox offense at bay to give Liriano his no-hitter. Although this only improves his record slightly (he's now 2-4 on the season), it's the first no-no of the 2011 season, so congratulations, Liriano. You could have done this a week ago and saved me from doing my least favorite thing (apologizing/admitting I was wrong).

And in other no-hitter news, Tigers hurler Justin Verlander threw the second no-no of his career last night against the floundering Blue Jays. If it weren't for a J.P. Arencibia walk, it would have been the first perfect game of both the year and Verlander's short career (he's only been playing for 6 seasons and is only 28). It brought his record for this season to 3-3, and lowered his ERA to 3.16. He only struck out 4 batters, but it brought his total so far to 55 K's. That's not all in the No-No News: the aforementioned Derek Lowe didn't allow a hit through 6.1 innings in Friday's win over the Phillies (Cliff Lee, although taking the loss, struck out 16 batters despite allowing 5 runs); Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals was perfect through 7.1 innings against the Brewers, and ended that outing with a 2-hit complete game shutout, the first in his very short career; and Marlins pitcher Anibal Sanchez had a perfecto going today, going 6.2 innings but giving up 2 hits before getting out of the inning and ending his day with 11 strikeouts.

Apparently, we've all traveled back in time to the 2003 season. That's the only explanation for why aging veterans Johnny Damon, Lance Berkman, and Alfonso Soriano are having such huge impacts on their respective teams: Damon has become a dominant force and a vital reason why the Rays, who had most of their important players leave them in the offseason, are viewed as a contender again...Berkman is getting more attention (and hits) on the Cardinals than the first baseman he's a backup for...only one player on the Cubs has more than 2 home runs, and it's Soriano with 11. By the grace of God, these players have battled through their mid-baseball-life crises and found new power, stamina, and ability with their new clubs. Hell, even Derek Jeter hit 2 home runs today, ending a 62-game drought dating back to last season (not to mention the fact that he's 44 hits away from 3,000). Even with a fresh crop of bright-eyed rookies such as Freddie Freeman and Eric Hosmer hitting the major league fields for the first time, all eyes seem to be turned to the class of yesteryear for headlines and exciting plays this season.

Finally, we'll end this post with a new segment, the Injury Updates. Zack Greinke made his National League debut for the Brewers in Atlanta this past Wednesday, but someone forgot to tell him he doesn't play for the Royals anymore: he only struck out 6 batters over 4 innings, and gained a 9.00 ERA as well as an 0-1 record to start the year; Rays third baseman Evan Longoria finally rejoined the team after his DL stint for his oblique injury, and has already hit his first homer of the season while providing offensive power Tampa Bay's been missing; Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton reportedly took 125 swings off a tee recently and reported little to no pain in his shoulder, and predicted he could be back in 2-3 weeks; still no word on how Twins catcher Joe Mauer's knees are feeling, but word is he should be back within a month; and Phillies second baseman Chase Utley is set to begin his extended spring training within the next few months, hopefully rejoining the big ballclub before the All-Star break.