Routines

A look at Cliff Lee's pregame preparation:

CC Sabathia always ate a chicken sandwich. Jake Westbrook would have his day planned by the minute. Aaron Laffey, as a reminder of his minor-league days, would eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich about 45 minutes before his pregame routine. Paul Byrd never watched action movies - they made him hyper - and always wore the same torn pair of sliding shorts under his pants for good luck. Starting pitchers are always different on the day they pitch . . .

. . . Like Lee's approach to pitching - throw strikes, work fast, locate and stay away from 2-0 and 3-0 counts - it's simple. It starts with sleep. "I like to sleep in as late as possible," said Lee. "I love to sleep."

No real point to the article, but I always like to read stuff like this. If I were a reporter with access I'd be far more interested in seeing how guys spend their time in the hours before a night game than I would be in asking them about hitting approaches or what have you.