By JIMMY D / Albert Pujols and legend Bob Uecker | Jimmy's archive

Who hasn’t wished they had a young Randy Johnson in their fantasy starting rotation?

Strikeouts, wins, low WHIP.

As it turns out, it’s looking more and more like you can. And the young Johnson is named Young.

While the Big Unit continues to show his age and his career continues to fade to black (or is that fade to pinstripes?), another 6 foot 10 starter is just coming of age.

In case you had your head in the sand last week, Padre righty Chris Young flirted with a no-hitter. Just for fun, he did it again in his next start.

Young took no-hitter into eighth last week and finished with a one-hit gem. He followed it up Sunday with 5 1/3 of no-hit ball before a pinch single in a 1-0 win over the Pirates.

His line was eight innings, two hits, a walk and four Ks as he lowered his ERA a full point during the week.

There were hints something might be up in San Diego back on April 12. Young started at Florida and allowed just one hit in six innings of work. He struck of seven for good measure.

He pitched into the seventh in six of his next eight starts, with just two stinkers along the way. In fact, it was the May 24 bomb in Atlanta where he gave up three homers and six earned runs in just three innings of work that seemed to have turned the tables.

What the pitching-impoverished Rangers were thinking when they traded him last summer in the Adam Eaton deal remains a mystery. But this is the same team that overpaid big for Kevin Millwood and acquired flaky Philly starters Vicente Padilla and Robinson Tejada as well.

So maybe it shouldn’t come as a big surprise. At 6 foot 10, we should have seen him coming.

No yuck-yuck: Uecker files restraining order

Milwaukee Brewer play-by-play man, smalltime actor (recall his “Just a bit outside” call in the baseball flick Major League) and all-round funny guy Bob Uecker made headlines this week.

But it wasn’t about celebrating his 35th year in calling games in Brew Town.

It seems he filed a harassment injunction against a woman who has been following and pursuing him on and off for the past seven years. According to the Associated Press, security had to haul her away from Miller Park recently when she showed up, apparently with the goal of having the Ueck work for a charity.

She allegedly sent a letter to the former Miller Lite pitchman saying he possessed a “sneering dislike towards me.”

She wrote, “Both in your broadcast position and somewhat ambassador role, you interact publicly with many people, yet disdainfully I am met with your recurrent coldness.”

Poetic and psychotic, just like Mrs. Jimmy

This doesn’t really have anything to do with fantasy sports, but Jimmy figures that when he turns 71, like the Ueck, he might think having a 45-year-old female “fan” earnestly pursuing him could be pretty fantastic. Realistically, he’ll probably have to pay $5.99 a minute for that kind of weird behaviour.

NHL playoff pool shambles

OK, so who has any Edmonton Oilers left in their NHL playoff pool? Anyone who figured the Canes would be decent picks back in April when you were conducting your drafts?

Jimmy applied his legendary insight and clairvoyance in plucking Matt Cullen and Justin Williams in his pool. That’s right. Jimmy should be sitting pretty with a pair of Hurricanes.

The only problem is that his crystal ball clouded up a bit when he made the minor oversight of selecting nine Flyers. Oops.

Pujols out: Edmonds to rescue?

Albert Pujols owners are crying this week, as the stud 1B went on the 15-day DL with a strain. His gaudy numbers (25 HR, 65 RBI) had baseball focusing on him and his possible pursuit of 73 home runs, instead of on that other guy out in San Francisco and his tainted pursuit of 756 home runs.

For at least one day, the absence was good news for Jim Edmonds owners. The acrobatic CF, who is also suffering along with an abdominal injury and has only batted once in seven games, got into the game at 1B and went 3 for 3 with a double and two runs scored.

He can’t play the outfield, but could muddle through at 1B while he heals. And it could keep his bat in the middle of the lineup where you can milk him for some more production.

“For the time being, it's a good fit for the situation I'm in,” he told the Associated Press. “It worked out today and we'll see how it goes tomorrow. I don't really know what's going to happen.”

That’s all you can do in fantasy. Stay busy and maybe you stay lucky.

Jimmy D