A couple of weeks ago a reader sent an e-mail commenting on a column about Bud Selig and steroids in which he felt I had taken a political shot at former President George Bush. The reader said I had “broken a rule” that is followed “religiously” by the writer on whose recommendation the reader had come to this Web site.

The writer was Bob Smizik, a Pittsburgh newspaper sports columnist turned Internet columnist, like some other people I know.

According to the reader, Smizik refrains from making political comments. That certainly is his prerogative. That also might be the writer’s and the reader’s preference, which is all right. But that’s an individual choice, and this individual chooses to follow his own policy.

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Whoever said that April is the cruelest month must have played for the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles were so bad this April that they made it easy – make that mandatory – for everyone to remember their 1988 April. That April they lost the first 21 games of the season, 6 under manager Cal Ripken Sr., then 15 more after they fired Ripken and replaced him with Frank Robinson.

Other teams have good Aprils, but they can be as disconcerting as 21-game losing streaks in the first month of the season. People who have followed baseball for many years should know better, but they allow themselves to be fooled. Not people in uniform or in front offices, but those who watch games.

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If I had asked before the season began who would have the better starting rotation, the Red Sox or the Mets, is there any question what the answer would have been?

Red Sox: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Tim Wakefield, Clay Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka when he got off the disabled list at the start of May.

Mets: Johan Santana and four question marks.

The Mets’ question marks had names – Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, John Maine and Jonathan Niese – but they warranted question marks because who knew how they were going to pitch.

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