Before I get started this week, and as become customary of the other fantastic bloggers at YouGabSports, I want to extend my prayers to those who have suffered through the tragedy in Boston earlier this week. I also want to extend my appreciation that my friends and extended "Gab Family" members are all safe and accounted for.

As some of you folks know through Facebook, my family and I were in Boston on Saturday afternoon for the Red Sox/Rays match-up. It was a great game, one that turned out to be a 2-1 Red Sox win and featured a stellar pitching match-up between David Price and Jon Lester. Our seats were great, Loge Box 155, right off the third base bag, the first time I haven't sat in the bleachers at Fenway.

But that wasn't the memory I took away from the game.

No, my memories are of a hopping Boylston Street, a community that was out and about enjoying a moderately warm spring day. It was a true sign of the glory of spring in New England, where people are itching so badly to get outdoors that they flock together the first chance they get.

And it was that memory that made Monday's events so surreal. Seeing the photos after the fact, where Boylston Street was a virtual ghost town really sank in the impact of the bombing. The serenity of the spring blown away by a single act of unexplained violence.

That said, my thoughts and prayers go not just to those that were lost or hurt in the attack, but also for the hope that the serenity of spring can return quickly to the area, not only for the sake of peace, but also for the comfort of being able to move forward.

Speaking of moving forward, now on to baseball:

- One interesting note from the game I attended on Saturday. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Jacoby Ellsbury rapped a single with one out in the innng. Then, while stealing second, the throw went into center field and Ellsbury proceeded on to third. 

This is where it got interesting.

Joe Maddon, who is known for his odd infield alignments opted to bring left fielder Matt Joyce into the infield as a fifth infielder. I have never seen this done before. My only assumption was that Maddon wanted to cut off the runner if he was going on contact. But what struck me more was that the situation called for Maddon to walk Victorino and open up the double play option to end the inning.

In the end, Victorino hit it up the middle, just deep enough to bring Ellsbury in with the winning run, but I was left thinking that the great baseball thinker overthrought the situation.

- What more can be said about the Atlanta Braves, who are sitting pretty with a 12-2 record at this stage in the season. We all knew that they were going to be much better offensively this season, but the pitching has been just as lethal. Coming into Thursday's action, the Braves lead all of baseball with a 1.77 team ERA through 14 games and have surrendered the fewest home runs in the game. That's good for a team that has the Major League's leading home run hitter in Justin Upton.

- Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter suffered a setback in his rehab from a broken ankle when a CT scan revealed a small fracture in the ankle. Jeter is now expected to be out until after the All-Star break, another piece of bad luck with injuries for the Yankees, who are barely recognizable this season. Jeter is under contract through the end of this season, but has a $8 million player option for 2014.

- The Colorado Rockies were thought to be dead in the water this season, but somehow they've managed to post a solid 11-4 record. However, that could be an anomaly as the team currently has a 4.30 ERA from its starting five, and that's with both Jon Garland and Jhoulys Chacin over performing. The Coors Effect just won't let this team succeed despite a mediocre pitching staff for long.

- The Detroit Tigers have to be plenty pleased with their decision to bring aboard Torii Hunter this winter. The 17-year veteran is off to an amazing start, posting a .413 batting average and a 1.027 OPS in 63 at bats. With the Angels reeling and Josh Hamilton struggling in Los Angeles, Hunter is sitting in his locker in Detroit and laughing it up for a contender, suddenly feeling a lot better about the Angels letting him go.

- New York starter Matt Harvey is one of the few bright spots for the lowly Mets this season. The 24-year-old burst onto the scene in 2012, with a solid 2.73 ERA and 70 strike-outs in 59.1 innings last season, but he's been even better in 2013. The right-hander has a 0.82 ERA and 25 strike-outs in 22 innings this season. That performance helped reward Harvey with the National League Player of the Week last week.

Virgil “Fire” Trucks, one of 5 pitchers to throw 2 no-hitters in a season, and the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers oldest living ballplayer passed away at the age of 95. He also was only one of two pitchers to win a World Series game without wining a regular season game. Virgil also tossed 4 no-hitters in the minor leagues.

In 17 seasons Trucks was 177-135 with a era of 3.39 and 1,534 strikeouts.

Trucks was the uncle of Butch Trucks, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, and his great nephew Derek Trucks is also a member of the Allman Brothers Band and has his own band with his wife, Susan Tedeschi, called the Tedeschi Trucks Band.

Virgil’s niece was my supervisor at the post office for 11 years. I have never met Virgil but I have met Butch before.

You have to give New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman some credit; the man can certainly get creative. Even George Steinbrenner would be proud.

While the rest of the baseball world is spinning its wheels, wondering how Cashman is going to replace the offense lost by losing both Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson for the first two months of the season, the hobbled GM (he broke his leg skydiving) is not leaving any stone unturned.

That apparently means making a quick streak down Major League Baseball's retirement list.

Cashman has contacted the agents of three retired ballplayers to date; first baseman Derrek Lee, third baseman Scott Rolen, and, wait for it, third baseman Chipper Jones. That's right, Cashman apparently thought the lure of playing for the Yankees and the untold riches that went with it would be enough to lure the lifelong Brave out of his nearly five-month retirement to play on a one-year deal with the Yankees.

Jones, for his credit, wasn't buying in.

"Enough with the rumors! While I am flattered about the speculation of being enticed out of retirement, I'm happy with life as a bad golfer!"

Still, that didn't stop Cashman from at least kicking the tires. After all, we are talking about a future Hall of Famer who is coming off a season in which he appeared in 112 games and a .287 average, 14 home runs, 62 RBI, and a  .832 OPS in his farewell tour. Still, it was far-fetched to say the least, with Jones more likely to return to the Braves than anywhere else in baseball.

James Huneker once said, "All men of action are dreamers." And when the action requires thinking outside the box, then dreams are maybe all that is left.

It beats settling for Juan Rivera.

Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is already slated to miss most, if not all, of the 2013 with a second surgery on his hip. Did he really need news of his involvement in an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency and Major League Baseball on top of that?

According to the New York Daily News, the investigation centers around Anthony Bosch, a man based in Miami that has advised Rodriguez on nutrition, dietary supplements, and training. Bosch and his father, Pedro  Publio Bosch, are being investigated for possibly supplying illegal substances to ball players.

In 2009, Bosch's father was a central figure in the Manny Ramirez suspension after it became known that the subscription that Ramirez used to get the banned drug that resulted in his first breach of MLB's policy on performance enhancing substances.

Major League Baseball is interested in Bosch's possible roles in the the circulation of synthetic testosterone, HGH (Human Growth Hormone), and other drugs that have been making their ways into drug tests performed under the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Players including Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon, Marlon Byrd, Yasmani Grandal, and Carlos Ruiz have all received suspensions in recent months for violating the agreement.

This is also not the first time Rodriguez has shown up on the radar of either the DEA or Major League Baseball. In 2010, Rodriguez was questioned for his ties to Anthony Galea, a Canadian sports medicine specialist. Galea plead guilty in 2011 to trafficking mis-branded drugs for treating professional athletes. As part of his guilty plea, Galea has agreed to supply the names of his clients and their treatments.

At the time of the Galea investigation, it was determined that Galea only supplied Rodriguez with anti-inflammatory medication and treated him with platelet rich plasma therapy. Rodriguez was questioned by Major League Baseball, but was never suspended.

On February 24, 2009, Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids and other performance enhancing substances during the period of 2001-2003.

All and all, it is not shocking to see Rodriguez still popping up on baseball's steroid radar. The sudden degeneration of his hip and his inability to perform at his previous pace are both signs of prolonged steroid usage and the long term after affects of using. Whether anything comes out of this current investigation remains to be seen, but one could imagine that the New York Yankees will look at this seriously and consider all options in regards to voiding A-Rod's albatross of a contract.

I was prepared to make my return by detailing my Hall of Fame ballot vote (if I was entitled to one). However, I felt it more prudent to discuss a topic closer to my personal leanings; the Boston Red Sox.