Scott Miller

Troy Tulowitzki was back in Colorado's lineup Tuesday night, which shouldn't exactly be a big deal, except for the fact that, with Tulo scuffling early this season, Rockies manager Clint Hurdle was moved to pull the plug on him Sunday.

Yep, while Boston manager Terry Francona gave slumping slugger David Ortiz a mental day off, on the other side of the country (but away from the media glare), Hurdle did the same with Tulowitzki. And nope, Hurdle and Francona didn't exactly come up with the idea while jointly attending a meeting of Slumping Team Leaders Anonymous.

"Good minds think alike," Hurdle quips. "We did not text. We did not call.

"I found it humorous that we go somewhere and someone asked me about Ortiz."

Good thing Hurdle can laugh at the situation, given Tulowitzki's .149 start and two errors. And good thing Tulowitzki has friends in the clubhouse who can help pick him up during the tough times.

Why, before Tuesday's game in San Diego, several Rockies were watching San Francisco play Arizona on the clubhouse televisions as the Giants' John Bowker rapped out two more hits, leaving him at a cool .600 (6-for-10) with seven RBI in his first three major-league games.

"You're down to the fourth-best player from Long Beach," Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins teased Tulowitzki, who played his college ball -- like Bowker, Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria and Oakland's Bobby Crosby -- at Cal State Long Beach.

They tease because they care, of course -- and also because they know Tulowitzki is too good to remain down-and-out. He emerged as the Rockies team leader as a rookie last summer, dazzled with the glove, hit 24 homers, finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, drew comparisons to Cal Ripken Jr. and pretty much set himself up to win several Gold Glove awards.

"He's done a lot of good things," Hurdle says. "He's been a good story from that standpoint. I think sometimes things are overplayed and sometimes things are underplayed.

"When all is said and done, he'll get other days off. He'll be hitting, and it won't be a story."

Tulowitzki is only 23, yet he signed a six-year, $31 million deal that will keep him in Colorado through at least 2013. A year ago, Tulowitzki became the second-youngest opening day starter in Rockies franchise history. Amazing (and utterly impressive) that a year later, it's a monumental event when he's ragged enough that he's out of the lineup.

"A lot of people have affection for the way he plays the game and swings the bat," Hurdle says. "I don't think of it as anything more than a day off."

In a perfect world, Hurdle says, Tulowitzki would play roughly 150 games a season -- which, gasp, would mean taking 12 games off.

"You'd set it up for 150, and he'd probably play in 155 without injuries," Hurdle says. "He's pretty good at playing through things, too. He's got a hockey mentality. He doesn't have to be 100 percent to take the field.

"Guys who are willing to play hurt, it's hard to take them out of the lineup when they're healthy."

Tulowitzki went 0-for-3 with a walk in Tuesday night's 6-0 loss in San Diego. Chances are he'll regain his stroke soon, and his next day off will be later rather than sooner.

And no disrespect to Bowker, whose start in San Francisco has been nothing short of amazing, and nothing against Atkins' sense of humor, which is sharp ... but in the Cal State Long Beach rankings, even a slumping Tulowitzki isn't No. 4.

Likes: The frequent use of the No. 42 by so many players on Tuesday night as baseball celebrated the 61st anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. Suggestion for Commissioner Bud Selig: How about simply having every player, manager and coach wear the No. 42 every April 15 beginning next year? Robinson remains one of the game's proudest moments, a time when baseball was out in front of society as a whole in righting a longtime wrong and awarding rights to African-Americans that they should have had years earlier. Baseball should continue to trumpet the day and make everyone aware of Jackie Robinson and his everlasting meaning. ... San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler writing that "Alex Rodriguez makes $28 million this season, while the entire Marlins' payroll is $21.8 million. What's worse, I hear A-Rod hit on all their wives." ... Steve Poltz's Traveling disc. He's the guy who wrote the smash Jewel hit You Were Meant For Me, and he's a terrific lyricist with a knack for writing catchy tunes. Check him out at www.Poltz.com.

Dislikes: Tax day. Ugh. ... The end of spring break for the schoolkids. ... Erik Bedard on the 15-day disabled list so soon. ... Cleveland closer Joe Borowski, too. ... The persistent chill in the Midwest and East. I was cold just watching games from Detroit, Cleveland and Kansas City on television the past several days.

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"When they borrow your money they won't pay back
"They been borrowin' from me all way, in fact
"Now they been borrowin', boy, all of my life
"I believe one day they gonna borrow my wife"

-- Champion Jack Dupree, My Next Door Neighbor

So the players and owners revised the game's drug testing yet again on Friday, taking a few more steps toward a cleaner and better future.

As the kids in the back seat might ask, are we there yet?

Are we where we need to be regarding performance-enhancing drugs?

The short answer is no, for two reasons.

One, this will be an unending, unwinnable battle until scientists finally develop a reliable test that can detect the use of human growth hormone. They haven't, so we're still not completely sure of anyone in the game's guilt or innocence. The only way to sniff out HGH use is via old-fashioned detective spade work. And we already know that can help, but it can't detect everything.

Two, baseball would be better served if an independent, third-party was charged with the drug tests, as the World Anti-Doping Agency (strongly) suggests. The only way to win the trust of every fan is through greater transparency.

That said, players and owners agreed to extend the current program administrator, Dr. Bryan Smith, to a three-year term in which he can only be removed for cause and after an arbiter's hearing. That's not perfect, but it's pretty good. And at the risk of parroting the game's officials, baseball does have the strongest testing program of any of the major professional sports.

One of the best things about this latest revision is that it takes former Sen. George Mitchell's suggestion that the past is the past and grants amnesty to players named in his report. There will be no suspensions or fines levied to those Mitchell named.

Though I'm all for dirty players paying for their sins with strong suspensions, this is best done now moving forward. It's a waste of both time and money to go backwards and investigate what's done. Mitchell did that, and there is a public record now of what some players did.

Is it a thorough, exhaustive record? No. But it's pretty well detailed, provides us with a decent road map and at least has put baseball on the record in publicly acknowledging that yes, there was a Steroid Era.

Baseball has been testing for steroids for several seasons in the minor leagues, now, and the top 200 amateur players eligible for the annual June draft now are subject to drug tests as well (if they refuse, they can be deemed ineligible for the draft).
The game has reached the point with its next generation of players where drug testing is part of the way of life in professional baseball. Doesn't mean that 100 percent of the players will be clean, but it is a significant change in the culture from a decade ago.

The trick now is to remain vigilant.

Likes: That they name a "Tavern of the Game" on Milwaukee Brewers' telecasts, and that tavern (sponsored by a beer company) is awarded 40 tickets to a Friday night Brewers home game. Sunday's winner: Goodfellas Pub in Marchfield, Wis. ... The Dodgers' sound system guy playing the Who's Who Are You? when Chin-lung Hu bats. ... Sunday newspapers. ... M&M dark chocolate. ... Sneaking snacks into the movie theater to combat the ridiculous concession prices.

Dislikes: Big Papi on the bench for a Boston-Yankees game? Say it ain't so! I know David Ortiz is slumping, but wow. ... Atlanta releasing Scott Spiezio because Spiezio apparently remains ensnared in the throes of his alcohol and drug addiction. San, sad tale. ... Smart People. Saw it Saturday night and, while it's not bad, and I like just about every one of the cast members, there were just too many stretches. As a rental, maybe.

Rock-n-Roll lyric of the day:

"I woke up in a Soho doorway
"A policeman knew my name
"He said, 'You can go sleep at home tonight
"If you can get up and walk away'"

-- The Who, Who Are You?

Things were moving along just fine for Cleveland pitcher Paul Byrd, right up until Game 7 of last year's American League Championship Series.

Then word leaked that Byrd had taken human growth hormone, he acknowledged he had because of a medical condition, the Indians lost Game 7 and went home and then 2008 started and Byrd is standing here with an 0-2 record and a whopping 11.05 ERA.

OK, so that's an abridged version of what's happened over the past six or so months, but however long you analyze it, the bottom line is not good for Cleveland's Byrd man.

"My fastball just doesn't have a lot of life," the right-hander was saying after the Los Angeles Angels battered him for six earned runs and five hits over just three innings in Wednesday's 9-5 wing-clipping of Byrd and the Indians. "When I miss, it's like batting practice. You can't be perfect every pitch, but if you throw batting practice and you're  not perfect, you just watch (the baseballs) go over the fence."

The uncomfortable question here is whether the aftermath of the HGH stuff from last October is having any effect.

Has it affected his concentration level?

"I feel like that's been pretty good," Byrd says. "As far as I know, it hasn't caused me to lose concentration on the mound. It's been distracting sometimes when I'm not on the mound. But on the mound, my head's been pretty clear. I'm just leaving stuff up."

Is he putting extra pressure on himself after the fact?

"Not that I know of," Byrd says. "I'm excited to help this team get off to a good start, and I've done the opposite. I'm not giving the team quality starts, which is what I usually do."

Sundials always have been more suited than radar guns to measure Byrd's slow, mid-80s fastball. For him, it is all about location.

When he struggled in Oakland last Friday (five runs, three earned, eight hits, two walks in 4 1/3 innings), Byrd thought perhaps the chilly evening air affected him adversely.

But as he noted after walking two more batters in three innings against the Angels, Wednesday was a beautiful day.

"There's 85 m.p.h. fastballs that guys foul off, that have life, cut, sink, is sneaky," Byrd says. "Then there's 85 m.p.h. batting practice fastballs with no life that don't move and look like they're on a tee, that aren't sneaking up on anybody.

"That's what I have right now."

Byrd next is slated to start Tuesday night in Cleveland against Boston in an ALCS re-match. By then, perhaps his fastball will have its sneak back. He sure hopes so. The Indians do, too. Because the longer he goes without it, the uglier it's going to get.

Likes: The MLB Extra Innings television package and XM radio. I don't mean to be a shill for other people's products here, but to be able to watch or listen to almost every game being played every night is fantastic. The technology available today to bring the home team's games to fans who have moved, or to give those who live nowhere near a big league ballpark all sorts of options, is way cool. Had they had these things when I was a kid, I might still be sitting in my parents' living room. ... Toronto having to re-think its $2 tickets because of too many fights. Listen, I'm not promoting fighting, but in the days of luxury suites, new ballparks and rising ticket costs, it's nice to see baseball isn't losing touch with its blue-collar roots. Keep the $2 seats -- and just hire bouncers instead of ushers for those sections. ... The Masters this weekend. I'm not a huge golf guy, but I do appreciate American institutions, and every time I see a TV shot from Augusta, the place looks breathtakingly beautiful. ... Two incredible Bruce Springsteen shows in Anaheim this week. Anytime you get Light of Day to start, you know anything could happen the rest of the way. Anytime you get Trapped, you know it's a great show. And when you get several different songs on night two, including Candy's Room, Brilliant Disguise, Meeting Across the River and Jungleland, well, you sure ain't going home unhappy.

Dislikes: The weekend approaching and baseball underway? You're on your own for dislikes today. I've got no grumpiness at all.

Rock 'N Roll lyric of the day:

"One love
"One life
"When it's one need
"In the night
"One love
"We get to share it
"Leaves you baby if you
"Don't care for it"

-- U2, One

What you'll be talking about this week: Is Detroit ever going to, maybe, win a game? The only winless team in the majors at 0-6, maybe you think that's a