I got the word late last night on ESPN News, of all places, that Pulitzer Prize winning author David Halberstam had been killed in a car crash at age 73. This is definitely a sad day, and I’ve spent most of it reading tributes to Halberstam. As Peter Gammons writes today in his blog, Halberstam was the “greatest journalist of my lifetime.”

As a journalist, I don’t pretend to have any of Halberstam’s gifts, but I’ve tried drawing inspiration from his writing and reporting. Because this is a baseball blog, I can start by recommending his baseball books, particularly “Summer of ‘49″ and “The Teammates.” But every American should read his most important works, specifically “The Best and the Brightest” and “The Powers that Be.”

David Halberstam was 73.

Well, I didn’t want to make a big deal about it on the blog, but I went and had laser-eye surgery yesterday. So far, so good. I’ve been wearing glasses and contacts since junior high, so I felt like the time was right to do it. I just returned from a follow-up with the doctor (about 21 hours after the surgery) and I’m clear to do some work on the computer today.

For me, the procedure wasn’t quite as painless as others have said. The first couple hours were pretty rough, but I sat on the couch, squinting at the TV, watching The Package as Oakland’s Danny Haren blanked the Angels. I watched the Yankees batter Cleveland lefty Jeremy Sowers and watched pieces of Mark Buehrle’s no-no. My vision was pretty good by the time King Felix walked off the mound with a stiff elbow.

I watched a taped replay this morning of the late innings of the Twins game, and it really seems like they dodged a bullet. Morneau speared that liner to end the seventh. Bartlett caught a liner to end the eighth. And then, the ridiculous running play to end the game. Joe Nathan is 4-for-4 in save opportunities now, but opponents are batting .419 against him. His velocity seems fine (94-96 mph), but he’s missing his spots, and his slider has been surprisingly hittable. I’m anxious to see Johan this evening out of these new eyes.

The Twins couldn’t have scripted a better start to the season for Ramon Ortiz. He is 3-0 with wins over the Orioles, Yankees and Mariners. A pitcher known for rushing his delivery in pressure spots simply hasn’t faced much pressure. The Twins have outscored the opposition in his three starts 23-5. In each case, the opposing starter was either brutal or injured or both. Baltimore’s Jaret Wright (shoulder) and Mike Mussina (hamstring) both landed on the DL soon after facing the Twins. And Seattle’s Jeff Weaver continues to be a regular season punching bag.

Still, here’s a look at Ortiz’s numbers after three starts in recent seasons:

Year     Rec     ERA     IP      H     R     ER    BB     K

2007    3-0    2.05    22.0   16     5      5       2     8

2006   0-2     7.31    16.0   26   13    13      3     2

2005   0-1     7.30    12.1   20   10    10      5    10

2004   0-2    12.66   10.2   23   16    15      5      9Â

So, of course I ordered The Package. Julie asked why the heck I waited so long. I tuned in just in time to see Pudge Rodriguez rack up six RBI against the Royals. She took comfort in knowing Barry Zito can still twirl six scoreless for the team on the other side of the Bay.

I need to get busy on a Felix Hernandez column, but I found some interesting tidbits making my morning rounds today: Aaron Gleeman had some fun with numbers, analyzing the Twins start using the wonderful reference tool that is baseball-reference.com. Here are two of his nuggets:

Ramon Ortiz and Carlos Silva have yet to serve up a homer in 22.2 combined innings after allowing 63 homers in 371 innings last season (one every 5.9 innings).

Jason Bartlett has committed four errors in 87 innings at shortstop, but the rest of the position players have combined to play errorless defense. The only other error on the team belongs to [Dennys] Reyes.

And for my money, nobody covers the Twins minor league system as thoroughly as Seth Stohs. Scroll down through today’s entry and you’ll find this tidbit:

Ft. Myers played Lakeland last night and there was quite the pitching matchup. The Twins sent Kyle Waldrop to the mound to fact Tigers top prospect Andrew Miller. Waldrop was definitely up for the task, recording his first Win of the season. The righty went 5.1 innings and gave up no runs on four hits and two walks. He struck out six.