2006_06_01_archive

SportFlite FYI Episode 40

wild irresponsible speculations on

Wild, Irresponsible Speculations on the Mitchell Report

Former Senator George Mitchell released his long-awaited report on the

use of performance enhancing drugs in major league baseball a week

ago, and it's been met by an odd combination of outrage, righteous

indignation, and yawns.

On the one hand, Senator Mitchell's assignment was colossal, to sum up

the problem of PEDs in MLB and recommend a course of action. On the

other hand, he was given almost no power at all with which to

accomplish this assignment, whech means that the only cooperation he

got was from people who had nothing to lose: Ex-major leaguers,

ex-minor leaguers, long-banished clubhouse attendants and trainers,

who had been labeled pariahs in MLB anyway, and of course, people from

the Commissioner's office. Which assigned this task, as you'll recall.

Not surprisingly, then, there were, well, not many surprises in the

report. Sure, Andy Pettitte's name was a bit of a shock, but only the

most naieve among us would have assumed that it was just the

difference in his workout after Clemens joined the Yankees in 1999

that got him back on track. Slap hitters like Fernando Vina and Nook

Logan seem like a bit of a surprise because they don't "fit the

profile" of a steroid user, but then we learned from the Jason

Grimsley situation that you don't have to actually be any good to be

using.

Much of the report consists of re-hashing and detailing events about

which we already know: The BALCO scandal, the US government hearings

in 2005, drugs being found that seemingly belonged to Manny Alexander,

Juan Gonzalez, Ricky Bones, Alex Cabrera, and others. These incidents

were uses as springboards to try to conduct other interviews, though

the people who would make the biggest splash, i.e. the star players

themselves, made little or no effort to cooperate with Mitchell in his

investigation. So they didn't. In fact, the players were practically

advised by their Union NOT to talk to Mitchell or his associates. In

addition, because the Players' Union has beaten the Commissioner's

office into submission, even some of the names that Mitchell and

company were given during the investigation could not be provided in

this report.

The really interesting thing about the reports is not the names in it

(there are 86 players named in it, despite their general lack of

cooperation) but the names that are not. Jose Canseco said he was

suprised to hear that Alex Rodriguez was not named, an accusation

which A-Rod vehemently denied. Almost everybody was surprised to see

that Sammy Sosa was not implicated. But there are other names, hidden

names, if you will, that nobody had really discussed yet:

For example, on page 99 of the report, the arrest of Luis Perez, a

former bullpen catcher for the Florida Marlins and Montreal Expos is

detailed, including how he turned stool pidgeon on a number of his

former customers. In his deposition,

According to [MLB security chief Kevin] Hallinan's memo, Perez told

baseball officials "...that virtually every player on the Marlins

was `doing something' ranging from steroids and greenies, to

marijuana, etc. He also claimed that every pitcher in Montreal's

bullpen was on some form of steroid."

This was in September of 2002. It doesn't take a genious to go to

baseball-reference.com and figure out who these people were.

Here is the 2002 Marlins' roster, along with a few comments.

2002 Marlins

Vladimir Nunez

Vic Darensbourg

Toby Borland

Tim Raines

Ryan Dempster

Ramon Castro

Preston Wilson

Pablo Ozuna

Ozwaldo Mairena

Nate Teut

Nate Robertson

Mike Redmond

Mike Mordecai

Mike Lowell

Michael Tejera

Marty Malloy

Luis Castillo

Kevin Olsen

Kevin Millar

Justin Wayne

Julian Tavarez

Juan Encarnacion

Josh Beckett

Homer Bush

Hansel Izquierdo

Graeme Lloyd

Gary Knotts

Eric Owens

Derrek Lee

Cliff Floyd

Charles Johnson

Carl Pavano

Brian Banks

Braden Looper

Brad Penny

Blaine Neal

Armando Almanza

Andy Fox

Alex Gonzalez

Abraham Nunez

A.J. Burnett

Very few of these guys had some kind of significant spike in their

production at an odd time in their careers, like Sosa did in 1998 or

Bonds in 2000. But there are some potential connections here:

Tim Raines was diagnosed with Lupus in July 1999, a disease that is

sometimes treated with steroids. Could he have been a link in the

chain? it would not have been the firt time he was linked to drugs.

Mike Redmond is an interesting case. He joined the Marlins in 1998, as

a 27-year old catcher, about the time that he should have been

reaching his peak as a hitter. Despite a career minor league line of

.260/.319/.332 and a reputation as a catch-and-throw guy, he hit well

over .300 in limited playing time in 1998...and then did that five

more times in the next eight seasons, plus a .294 mark last season

with the Twins. He's 37 now and has continued to hit (most of the

time). Not that a career slugging average of .368 is anything to write

home about, but this comes from a guy who never hit better than .287

in a minor league season. Most guys don't get better when they face

tougher competition, you know? I'm not saying he was/is using, just

that it's worth thinking about.

A lot of these guys had sufferred or were suffering from injuries at

that time. Cliff Floyd, Charles Johnson, Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett,

Brad Penny, Carl Pavano, Alex Gonzalez and others either missed time

due to injuries in 2002 or very recently before that season. It's

certainly possible that one or mor eo fthem, in order to combat their

penchant for getting hurt, might have tried HGH or some steroid. But,

you know, like Pettitte and Vina, they probably only did it once or

twice. Right.

Remember "Roid Rage"? Well, how about this:

In 2006, 2002 Marlins' pitcher Julian Tavarez was suspended for 10

days for punching Tampa Bay's Joey Gathright during an on-field brawl.

During Spring Training. That was the 5th of Tavarez' tumultuous

career, most of which were for brawling or throwing at players.

The other groub that Perez ratted out was the Montreal Expos' bullpen:

2002 Expos Pitchers

Javier Vazquez

Tomokazu Ohka

Tony Armas

Masato Yoshii

Bartolo Colon

Scott Stewart

Matt Herges

Joey Eischen

T.J. Tucker

Britt Reames

Graeme Lloyd

Dan Smith

Jim Brower

Zach Day

Carl Pavano

Bruce Chen

Tim Drew

Sun-Woo Kim

Ed Vosberg

Scott Strickland

Note that both Graeme Lloyd and Carl Pavano appear on both lists, due

to a mid-season trade (including Cliff Floyd and Wilton Guererro, who

had previously been suspended for a different kind of cheating), for

whatever that's worth.

Matt Herges is mentioned elsewhere in the report as having bought HGH

from Kirk Radomski in 2005, but he was 32 years old in 2002 and was

struggling a little after a very good 2001 season with the Dodgers.

There are some injury-prone guys here, too, but there are also a few

who look like good suspects for PEDs, based on sudden changes in their

performance levels.

Dan Smith was 25 at the time, but had been a pro since he was 17, had

an unremarkable minor league career and had flopped in two attempts at

the majors. But in 2002, he "got it together" and pitched well in AAA,

getting called up to the majors, where he continued to pitch well. In

2003 he was awful again, and by 2005 he was out of baseball.

Joey Eischen was a journeyman LOOGY, the very picture of mediocrity,

in 2002, with a 4.37 career ERA in the majors. In 2002, however, he

went 6-1 with a 1.34 ERA at age 32, and managed to sustain his success

for at least a few years, though he fell apart in 2006 and did not

play last year.

Other non-pitchers on that team definitely fit the "body type" you'd

think of with respect to steroids and/or HGH: Vladimir Guererro and

Andres Galaragga at the very least, though there may be others. Just

becaus ePerez didn't specifically mention people who weren't pitchers

doesn't mean that we should be foolish and think that all the hitters

must have been clean.

On a more general note, look at the numbers: The 2002 Ezpos finished

the season 83-79, in 2nd place, but 19 games behind the Atlanta

Braves. the Marlins were worse, winning only 79 games and finishing

4th, thanks to the hapless Mets. So if the members of two teams as

blatantly mediocre as the 2002 Marlins and Expos were rife with PED

users, why should we believe that the players on the good teams were

innocent? How can we believe that?

We can't, of course. The 102-win Braves had Gary Sheffield, Matt

Franco, Kevin Millwood, and Darren Holmes, all of whom get some blame

in the Mitchell Report, not to mention likely candidates who have not

yet been outed like Javy Lopez, Vinny Castilla, and Julio Franco.

available for trade 1991 topps

free agent analysis part 4 of 4 and

Free Agent Analysis Part 4 of 4 and Ron Washington Hired

This is part four of a series where I will examine the free agents and

name the top players the Rangers should go after. This week, I will

examine the free agent relief pitchers and catchers.

Grade A:

Javy Lopez

Dan Kolb

Grade B:

Robert Fick

Mike Lieberthal

Mike Piazza

Gregg Zaun

Joey Eischen

Alan Embree

Aaron Fultz

Eddie Gaurdado

Darren Oliver

Mike Remlinger

J.C. Romero

Scott Schoenweis

Antonio Alfonseca

Joe Borowski

Chad Bradford

Doug Brocail

Mike DeJean

Octavio Dotel

Keith Foulke

Ryan Franklin

LaTroy Hawkins

Dustin Hermanson

Scott Sauerbeck

Roberto Hernandez

Kevin Jarvas

Matt Mantei

Troy Percival

Cliff Polite

David Riske

Felix Hernandez

Rudy Seanez

Justin Speier

Russ Springer

Tanyon Sturtze

David Weathers

Grade C:

Sandy Alomar, Jr.

Paul Bako

Rod Barajas

Gary Bennett

Henry Blanco

Todd Greene

Doug Mirabelli

Bengie Molina

Todd Pratt

Kelly Stinnett

John Halama

Ray King

Steve Kline

Kent Mercker

Terry Mulholland

Arthur Rhodes

Mike Stanton

Ron Villone

Jamie Walker

Jim Brower

Geremi Gonzalez

Steve Karsay

Jose Mesa

Jeff Nelson

Julio Santana

Rick White

Scott Williamson

Grade D:

Einer Diaz

Mike DiFelice

Vic Darensbourg

Chris Hammond

Mike Holtz

Tom Martin

Matt Herges

Brian Meadows

Guillermo Mota

Grade F:

Tim Laker

Chris Widger

Giovanni Carrara

Jason Grimsley

Esteban Yan

Top relief pitchers or catchers that the Rangers should go after:

1. Dan Kolb: He is a very good set-up man.

2. Robert Fick: He can fill the empty back-up catcher spot and back-up

the infield.

3. Darren Oliver: He is a good long relief pitcher and can fill in at

starter every once in a while.

4. Scott Schoenweis: He is a very good relief pitcher.

5. Gregg Zaun: He can fill our back-up catcher role.

6. Octavio Dotel: He has been a great relief pitcher.

7. Tanyon Sturtze: He is a good long relief pitcher and can fill in at

starter every once in a while.

8. Antonio Alfonseca: He was good before his injury last year.

9. Alan Embree: He is a good set-up man.

10. Russ Springer: He has done very well with the Astros.

Also, this week, the Rangers named Ron Washington their new manager. I

don't know enough about him to really give a good opinion but I am a

little worried that he wants Barry Bonds. He seems to be very popular

with his former players so will hopefully be someone that our players

will like and play hard for.

what im gonna do with this ere site

What I'm Gonna Do With This 'Ere Site

I want to plug you into the different Science Fiction worlds that I

have created. I would like to reprogram some of the old ideas and do

relief package

Relief Package

As news that Rafael Betancourt and the Indians have avoided the ugly

process of "exchanging numbers" and the ensuing negotiations by buying

out Senor Slo-Mo's arbitration years, to the tune of a 2 year deal

worth $5.4M, as well as the Indians holding a club option ($5M) for

what would have been Betancourt's first year of Free Agency (2010),

the Indians have further cemented their roster going forward by

ensuring that Betancourt remains in the fold for at least another 2

years.

In light of the recent deals meted out to relievers on the Free Agent

market (and realizing that a the situation of a player like

Betancourt, who was under the club's control for two more years even

before this deal due to his Major League service time, is completely

different than a player on the open market), the real coup in the deal

is the CLUB option for the 3rd year for only $5M. The protection that

the Indians retain in the chance that Betancourt's effectiveness wanes

in the first or second year (knocking firmly on wood) is something

that cannot be undervalued in the highly volatile world of relievers,

much less elite set-up men.

To wit, realizing that the "Hold" is a fairly new statistic (wherefore

art thou, GW RBI), it does measure the ability of a reliever to "hold"

a lead and transfer to a closer. While better, more complicated,

measures of relievers exist; for our purposes, consider the top hold

leaders from just the last few years:

2007

Brandon Lyon - ARI - 35

Heath Bell - SD - 34

Derrick Turnbow - MIL - 33

Jon Rauch - WAS - 33

Jonathon Broxton - LAD - 33

Rafael Betancourt - CLE - 31

2006

Scott Linebrink - SD - 36

Scot Shields - LAA - 31

Joel Zumaya - DET - 30

Aaron Heilman - NYM - 27

Juan Rincon - MIN - 26

Scott Proctor - NYY - 26

2005

Scot Shields - ANA - 33

Tom Gordon - NYY - 33

Scott Eyre - SF - 32

Ryan Madsen - PHI - 32

Julian Tavarez - StL - 32

Bob Howry - CLE - 29

2004

Tom Gordon - NYY - 36

Akinori Otsuka - SD - 34

Ray King - StL - 31

Chris Reitsma - ATL - 31

Salomon Torres - PIT - 30

Guillermo Mota - LAD/FLA - 30

2003

Octavio Dotel - HOU - 33

Brendan Donnelly - ANA - 29

Jason Grimsley - KC - 28

Paul Quantrill - LAD - 28

LaTroy Hawkins - MIN - 28

Tom Martin - LAD - 28

The lists, which contain few of the same names from year to year,

illustrate how relievers remain a volatile commodity and one that

really can't be counted on from one year to the next. The problem with

giving these players long-term deals (which is what they're demanding

now on the open market...even the marginal ones) is that if they do

regress, they are virtually unmovable and simply take up a spot in the

bullpen that could be filled by a more promising youngster cashing a

much smaller paycheck. It speaks to the importance of developing your

own players (whether they be relievers or otherwise) into MLB players,

as opposed to potentially overpaying for an extremely unstable

commodity.

Overpaying, you say?

How about the fact that the Brewers committed a combined $23M to Eric

Gagne and David Riske, while the South Siders gave Scott Linebrink a

4-year deal for $19M and Octavio Dotel a 2-year deal for $11M this

off-season in an attempt to fortify their bullpens. All are decent

pitchers, but none jump out as legitimate closers or even are would be

guaranteed to be viable set-up men for THIS season. However, with the

Brewers and White Sox bullpens being major question marks, with no

internal alternatives to exhaust, Milwaukee and Chicago simply

obtained the pitchers that they felt would best help their team,

regardless of cost.

Conversely, with the Indians boasting the likes of Rafael Perez,

Jensen Lewis, and Tom Mastny (with more young arms on the way), it

would seem that the Tribe will finally see some permanent help for

their bullpen coming up from the farm to stay, which puts them in the

enviable position of not having to explore the FA market as they have

in years past with...shall we say...mixed results. Having those

youngsters fill the pipeline at known salary numbers and with options

remaining in case of a regression is a luxury that cannot be

underestimated for a team that knows all too well what a Jose Jimenez

or Roberto Hernandez can (or more accurately, cannot) do.

But back to the impetus for the discussion, the deal for our presiding

judge of the bullpen (you know, because "Betancourt is in Session")

and the importance of the length of the deal. Some may argue that the

Indians should have included another option year or guaranteed the 3rd

year with a 4th year club option. However, it is important to remember

that Betancourt is no spring chicken due to his career starting as an

infielder (he was a 21-year-old SS for the Michigan Battle Cats),

spending some time in the Pacific Rim, and overcoming arm injuries

before finally settling in with the Tribe.

Betancourt will be 33 this year and 35 in the club option year,

meaning that the Indians would have been guaranteeing that 4th year to

a 36-year-old in 2011. To give that some proper perspective, consider

that everyone's favorite whipping boy, that "washed up, over-the-hill"

closer of ours, The Big Borowski, turned 36 this past May. Given the

volatility of relievers and the variables that seem to affect

relievers more than most, the 4th year is simply unnecessary.

But don't let that explanation of why including the 4th year in the

contract overwhelm the fact that the Indians re-signed (arguably) the

most effective reliever in the AL last year, locking in a set salary

for his two arbitration years and possibly buying out his first year

of Free Agency. The deal further solidifies the bullpen, as well as

the whole roster, for the short-term and the long-term as the Indians

lock in another piece to the puzzle for the foreseeable future...and

guest blogger holly tillman

Guest Blogger Holly Tillman

The following message is from Holly Tillman and then her mom. They

asked to post the following message. Good Luck Holly and Karen!

Dear Freinds, Family, and HPS Network community, I am involved in a

fundraising event to benefit the community of local nonprofit

organizations by getting sponsors through a single donation. The

organization I have chosen is the Hermansky Pudlak Syndrome (HPS)

Network because my mother has this serious illness, and quite frankly

I would like to find a cure or a way to help my mother deal with

symptoms. HPS causes albinism, a visual impairment, a platelet

dysfunction with prolonged bleeding, and progressive symptoms include

pulmonary fibrosis a terminal lung disease, Crohn's Disease, and

kidney disease. My mother is having to deal with all but the kidney

disease on a daily basis. At the moment there is no cure for the

disease, you can only treat the symptoms, and death occurs in patients

with pulmonary fibrosis usually in their 30's and 40's. My mother is

43 and is in the early stages of pulmonary fibrosis, so you can see

why this issue is so dear to my heart. If you'd like to make a

donation, please make checks payable to The Human Race, and write HPS

Network in the memo line, then send it to Holly Tillman at 4114

Landerwood Dr. Greensboro, NC 27405. Please have this sent to me by

March 10th 2008. If you would like to walk or run for the HPS Network,

give my mom a call (she is regional coordinator here in Greensboro) at

336 954 3604. The race is to be held at Grimsley High School on Sat.

March 15th. from 9am-noon. Refreshments and entertainment will be

provided. The event is sponsored by the Volunteer Center of

Greensboro. All contributions are tax deductible.

Many thanks in Advance

Holly Tillman

From Karen:

While this means a lot to Holly, it means so much more for me as i am

fighting for my life, and for the lives of those in the HPS community.

I was told 6 years ago that I would either be on oxygen, or dead by

now, and God has seen to it that I have beat the odds!! i am so

grateful to Him and modern technology. Without funding the HPS

Network, research cannot continue, nor can we continue to inform

people about this rare disease. On that note, I too thank you from the

breaking steroid scoop

BREAKING STEROID SCOOP!

YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

FROM READER FAGGOTYBACKPACK VIA A SPORTSWRITER HOOK-UP:

Damon

11:33 AM

radley, David Bell, Dante Bichette, Albert Belle, Paul Byrd, Wil

Cordero, Ken Caminiti, Mike Cameron, Ramon Castro, Jose and Ozz

ie Canseco, Roger Clemens, Paxton Crawford, Wilson Delgado, Lenn

y Dykstra, Johnny Damon, Carl Everett, Kyle Farnsoworth, Ryan Fr

anklin, Troy Glaus, Rich Garces, Jason Grimsley, Troy Glaus, Jua

n Gonzalez, Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi, Jeremy

Giambi, Jose Guillen, Jay Gibbons, Juan Gonzalez, Clay Hensley, Jerry

Hairston, Felix Heredia, Jr., Darren Holmes, Wally Joyner, Darryl

Kile, Matt Lawton, Raul Mondesi, Mark McGwire, Guillermo Mota, Robert

Machado, Damian Moss, Abraham Nunez, Trot Nixon, Jose Offerman, Andy

Pettitte, Mark Prior, Neifi Perez, Rafael Palmiero, Albert Pujols,

Brian Roberts, Juan Rincon, John Rocker, Pudge Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa,

Scott SChoenweiis, David Segui, Alex Sanchez, Gary Sheffield, Miguel

Tejada, Julian Tavarez,Fernando Tatis, Maurice Vaughn, Jason Varitek,

Ismael Valdez, Matt Williams and Kerry Wood."

THE LIST IS SCREWY, BUT YOU CAN FIGURE IT OUT.

THE PANDA CAN'T STOP SCREAMING!

Pudge is a disappointment. Rocker, ha ha. Nixon, ha ha and fuck you.

Damon is bad. Clemens and Andy, expected, but heartbreaking from Andy.

Would Jeebus do the roids? Varitek? Shocking. Sheffield, ha ha.

Pujols, sooo busted. On and on

UPDATE:

The report is out. I just scanned it and with a little help, don't see

Pudge or Varitek. Hmmm. Or Nixon, damn it. Greg Zaun, though. Poop.

Oh, I don't see Everett either. Shit. Motherfucker ruined Moose's

perfect game.

None of this seems to effect the Yankee Champinships of the 90s/2000.

Phew. Final list will come soon, I'm sure.

Big lesson? Pay cash. The whole report is filled with photocopied

checks.

UPDATE II: The final list from NYT. No Damon! Rondell White is there!

yankees named on mitchell report

Names On the Mitchell Report

As reports come in I will list them here.

Update 10:00am:

Clemens named according to ESPN.

Update 11:12:

Pettitte is named, damnit!

Update 11:40:

Deadspin has a list compiled completely from rumors.

Update 12:27:

Arod's contract was annouced today, finally ARod is not the big story!

I hope.....

Update 12:56:

Add Brian Roberts, Miguel Tejada, Chuck Knoblauch, Mike Stanton and

Jason Grimsley according to SI.com. Knobby? Why did he suck so bad

then?

Also, the backlash has started with this smear piece on Clemens. This

could get ugly fast.

please mr postman

Please Mr. Postman.......

With the absence of any hard Red Sox news, I'm going to delve into Ian

Browne's MLB dot com mailbag. There'll be a question about our veteran

starter, Curt Schilling. I'll print it and Browne's answer, and then

be back with a comment or two. After that, there'll be a question and

reply about our young phenom Clay Buchholz, whose stuff is so good,

it's scary! Here you go.. question numero uno.....

"What are your projections for Curt Schilling in 2008? I feel with the

incentives that were written into his contract recently, these will

prove invaluable to a productive season. Personally, I feel if

Schilling keeps his weight in check and continues to rely on other

pitches besides his once-dominant fastball, he will win 15-20 games in

2008."

-- Greg L., Owings Mills, Md.

"Schilling learned a lot about himself last season. Mainly, he learned

how to pitch without the velocity he's had most of his career. I think

Schilling is also making a strong commitment to getting in great shape

this offseason, which is always a key for any pitcher in his 40s. I

agree with your optimism, that he should have a pretty good year.

Plus, in Schilling's mind, this is going to be his last season, and

you know he wants to go out strong. This is the first time in a long

time he'll go to camp as something less than an ace or a co-ace, so I

bet that also motivates him."

Peter here, and right now Curt is in the midst of his off-season

training routine. He's not losing weight....that will come later. He

is building muscle mass, especially in his throwing shoulder. The hope

is that the "tired" shoulder problems of last year, when he missed

roughly six weeks to rehab into playing shape, will be a thing of the

past. Schill certainly knows how to pitch, that's for sure. He can't

overwhelm hitters with gas anymore, but he can mix up his speeds and

use his devastating splitter for maximum effectiveness. All we need

from Curt next year is six, maybe seven quality innings, giving up

three runs or less. He will be a 15 plus game winner if he can do

that, and that's so sweet. And not being the "top dog' of the rotation

WILL motivate him. Like the car rental company AVIS, "he'll try

harder!" Now, on to question numero dos.....

"I know that Clay Buchholz wasn't pitching at the end of last season

because of a tired right shoulder. Is he ready to go for next season?"

-- Karl M., Clifton Park, N.Y.

"Buchholz was in Boston earlier this offseason and underwent some

strength tests and the Red Sox were very pleased with the progress he

has made. The expectation is that Buchholz will be full speed ahead at

the outset of Spring Training. And as pitching coach John Farrell

recently said, the club is hoping to get about 180-185 innings out of

Buchholz in 2008."

Peter here, one more time on this still dark but balmy Saturday

morning, the first hours of an exquisite four day weekend. Clay

Buchholz is a gem in the making, a developing talent who has such

great stuff, he's a "can't miss" future All Star. Remember his

no-hitter last year against the Orioles? I sure do. He used his great

fastball and mixed in his "fall off the table" curveball to keep the

Baltimore batters off balance the entire night. His pitch count was

mounting in the later innings, however, and Theo MIGHT have had to

make a decision that would seemingly vilify him to every member of Red

Sox Nation and Red Sox International...a few more pitches and he would

have had to "strongly suggest" to Boston manager Terry Francona to

pull him from the game, no-hitter or no no-hitter. Boy, I'm glad it

didn't come down to that. He was shut down in early September of '07,

and that was a good move. As the above letter showed, 185 Buchholz

innings in 2008 will be a joy to behold. I love watching him pitch.

And with a Daisuke who will be embarking on his second run-through of

the American League and Josh Beckett continuing his dominance

and.....oh well, I could keep going, but I won't. We ALL know that the

2008 Boston Red Sox club will be a good one, fun to watch while

staying successful. What a combination! And maybe a Johan in the

starting five? We'll see.......

Click on the title of this post for an article from the Boston Globe

that illuminates, a little, the Jason Grimsley steroid tell-all "who

did this, who did that" story. There's not much Soxy stuff around

today. probably because so many people are taking the long weekend

off....time to be with families and friends, loved ones. Be well, have

fun, and I'll be back tomorrow, and every day thereafter, the Big Guy

in the sky willing. I'd love to see and respond to your

comments....comments about Schill or Clay, or ANYONE/ANYTHING.

Thanks!!

posted by Peter N @ 6:08 AM 2 comments links to this post

2 Comments:

At 12/22/2007 4:20 PM, Blogger gingerly said...

Peter,

I'm looking forward to seeing Buccholz pitch too, and I say we

hang on to Ellsbury no matter what. This is going to be a great

season . . . it just seems so far away when we're sitting here

in December.

And Peter, thanks for telling me about baseballnooz.com. I love

it. It used to be hard to find new baseball blog entries. Now

I've got a fresh page of them to view every day. Good deal.

Now if we could only fast-forward to Spring training.

Keith

At 12/23/2007 6:30 AM, Blogger Peter N said...

Keith, I'm so glad you set up an account that enables you to

comment directly...great job! And basballnooz dot com is a

great place to pick out your favorite blogs, Sox or others, and

get an overview of what's happening here and now, all at the

same place. I'm glad you like it. And for ALL of my readers,

the link is on my link list, near the top. Keith, I hope you

subscribed to the BN link to my blog, because I'm sitting at

number six on the top blog list, ready to crack the top five!

Always great to hear from you, and Clay Buchholz is as

untouchable as anyone gets! And that's good.

Happy and healthy holidays to you and yours, and again, thank

you for reading!!!!!

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Links to this post:

roch kubatko is jock sniffing turd

Roch Kubatko is a Jock Sniffing Turd

And other things that have pissed me off lately.

First things first, here is where Roch Kubatko demonstrates his

aforementioned Jock-Sniffing-Turdiness, in a blog entry about Jay

Gibbons' suspension for receiving illegal PEDs. The gist is that

Gibbons should be quickly forgiven because he was a man about it all,

took responsibility, even "offer[ed] a plausible explanation."

Sure, Gibbons took responsibility, now that he got caught. Once the

investigators back you into a corner and say, "here are the credit

card receipts, here is the proof that you bought all these illegal

drugs" it's easy to admit you did it. As for offering a plausible

explanation, well...Gibbons said he took a doctor's advice, to recover

from injuries more quickly. [Expect this excuse to get very popular

soon]. Was Gibbons suffering from any of the following; multiple

sclerosis, fibromyalgia, Crohn's disease, renal failure, short bowel

syndrome, idiopathic short stature? No. Oh. Then why did his doctor

recommend it? Probably because it was a prescription mill in another

state that was selling the stuff over the internet.

Not to mention this sampling of Jay Gibbons quotes from the past few

years:

November 2005: "We want to end the problem now and get back to playing

ball and not worrying about steroids every day."(The problem being

PED/steroid use).

October 2006: "I have passed every test administered by Major League

Baseball over all the years. I have never taken anabolic steroids. And

I am not going to dignify these claims and accusations with any

further response." (Responding to Grimsley).

That's not "taking responsibility." That's "choosing one's words

carefully" and, less precisely, "lying" and "being a dishonest shit."

But we're supposed to forgive him for this, eh Roch? No. No, I think

not. But I think what we are supposed to do is understand that you

don't want to take a hard line with any of the players, that you want

to keep being a warehouse mouthpiece, that you want to keep cracking

lame jokes on your blog and not knowing much about what makes a

baseball player, or team, any good. Roch Kubatko: jock sniffing turd.

(Note, I am going to keep saying that...Roch Kubatko is a jock

sniffing turd...because my sincere hope is to somehow link the terms

"jock sniffing turd" and "Roch Kubatko" in Google searches, so that if

someone types in Roch Kubatko they will see references to "jock

sniffing turd," or that if...and it could happen...they type in "jock

fans).

Now, today, Gibbons says he's going to try to win the fans back. To

wit: "All I can do is go out there and try to play good baseball and

try to win them back. That's my goal."

Given that Gibbons appears to not yet have actually played good

baseball at any time in the past several years, I must assume one of

two things. First, he has not tried to play good baseball. In that

case, the fact that he is going to try this year should make all the

difference.

On the other hand, it seems entirely possible that a .314 OBP and a

101 OPS+ is exactly what Jay's capable of, since that what he has done

in 779 ML AB, and that trying to play good baseball isn't going to

make an ass-hair's width of difference.

Some other random thoughts.

Really looking forward to that Mitchell report. I mean really. I just

hope Andy MacPhail gets some of his tradin' done before that thing

comes out. The more I think about it, though, the more I realize there

is, above all, one player I do not want to see on the Mitchell Report:

Pedro.

Yes, that Pedro. Why? Because he is, without a doubt, the best pitcher

I have ever seen, the best pitcher I will probably ever see, and in

the running for best at doing whatever it is he does in ANY category

that I've ever seen. I want to believe that the weird, brilliant,

crazy, genius Pedro was real. I want to believe that the ERA+ of 291

(TWO. NINE. ONE. GOOD GOD THAT IS INSANE. SANDY KOUFAX NEVER CRACKED

200!!!!!!) in 2000 was real, untainted. I want to believe that he was

just that freakin' good. I want to believe that at least one natural

talent went out there against all those 'roided and leaded hitters and

made them look like fools. Even when those hitters were playing for my

beloved Orioles.

It boils down to this; the few times I saw Pedro pitch in person (and

many many times on TV) I genuinely felt I was watching somebody do the

thing he was born to do, and doing it inimitably. That's rare. I don't

want the Mitchell report to cheapen that. I really don't.

Posted by LastBestAngryMan at 9:13 PM

2nd round playoff game scores

2nd Round Playoff Game Scores

CLASS 4-AA East

Leesville Road 21, Wake Forest-Rolesville 6

South View 34, Jack Britt 23

Millbrook 49, Garner 35

New Bern 48, Athens Drive 7

CLASS 4-AA WEST

Independence 20, Butler 7

East Burke 28, Scotland County 18

West Charlotte 22, Grimsley 14

Richmond County 19, E. Mecklenburg 13 (OT)

CLASS 4-A EAST

Southern Durham 20, Fuquay-Varina 7

Chapel Hill 13, Smithfield-Selma 7

Wilmington Hoggard 52, Pine Forest 23

Durham Hillside 42, Greenville Rose 30

CLASS 4-A WEST

No. 10 Shelby Crest (8-4) at No. 2 Mount Tabor (9-3)

No. 11 Charlotte Ardrey Kell (8-4) at No. 3 Ashbrook (7-5)

No. 8 Central Cabarrus (5-7) at No. 1 Watauga (9-3)

Purnell Swett 22, Asheville Reynolds 21

CLASS 3-AA EAST

Oxford Webb 35, Triton 13

Greensboro Dudley 18, NE Guilford 13

Nash Central 53, Wilson Hunt 20

Eastern Randolph 45, Western Guilford 13

CLASS 3-AA WEST

No. 10 NW Cabarrus (10-2) at No. 2 South Point (11-1)

No. 14 Parkland (6-6) at No. 6 Asheville Roberson (10-1)

No. 8 Glenn (11-1) at No. 1 Hickory (12-0)

No. 5 Charlotte Catholic (10-2) at No. 4 AL Brown (11-1)

CLASS 3-A EAST

Rocky Mount 52, South Granville 0

Southern Wayne 28, Southern Lee 19

Western Alamance 37, Hertford County 10

Bertie 20, West Craven 13

CLASS 3-A WEST

No. 10 Franklin (7-5) at No. 2 Anson (10-2)

No. 6 North Gaston (9-2) at No. 3 West Rowan (11-1)

No. 9 West Iredell (9-3) at No. 1 Carver (11-1)

No. 5 Statesville (9-3) at No. 4 Asheville (9-2)

CLASS 2-AA EAST

Southern Vance 47, Richlands 14

Northwood 35, Ledford 28

Reidsville 54, Cedar Ridge 12

St. Pauls 43, Southern Guilford 27

CLASS 2-AA WEST

No. 7 Lenoir Hibriten (8-4) at No. 2 Mount Pleasant (12-0)

No. 6 North Lincoln (9-3) at No. 3 Salisbury (9-3)

No. 8 West Henderson (5-6) at No. 1 Shelby (11-1)

No. 5 Canton Pisgah (9-3) at No. 4 Ashe County (8-4)

CLASS 2-A EAST

Northside-Jax 27, SW Onslow 7

East Duplin 35, North Brunswick 20

South Columbus 36, Bunn 0

Cummings 44, West Bladen 39

CLASS 2-A WEST

No. 10 East Lincoln (8-4) at No. 2 West Davidson (9-3)

No. 11 Maiden (7-5) at No. 3 Newton-Conover (8-4)

Wilkes Central 31, Atkins 28

No. 5 Lincolnton (8-4) at No. 4 Brevard (8-4)

CLASS 1-AA EAST

James Kenan 41, North Johnsotn 6

East Bladen 29, Wallace-Rose Hill 7

Louisburg 16, Camden 8

Pender 28, Ayden-Grifton 0

CLASS 1-AA WEST

Jordan-Matthews 33, Thomasville 21 (J-M ends Thomasville's 47-game win

streak)

No. 14 Hendersonville (7-5) at No. 6 West Montgomery (10-2)

Mount Airy 30, Swain County 0

No. 12 East Surry (9-3) at No. 4 Albemarle (8-4)

CLASS 1-A EAST

Plymouth 46, North Edgecombe 0

Roanoke 26, Williamston 20 (OT)

Perquimans 19, Northampton-West 6

Jones Senior 25, Northampton-East 0

CLASS 1-A WEST

South Stanly 28, Cherokee 13

Lakewood 14, Robbinsville 13

mitchell report made public now what

Mitchell Report Made Public, Now What?

Well, I didn't guess nearly as many players as I expected to, as you

can see below. I've bolded the players which I correctly guessed would

be mentioned in the Mitchell Report.

1. Barry Bonds

2. Mark McGwire

3. Rafael Palmeiro

4. Ken Caminiti

5. David Segui

6. Jason Grimsley

7. Sammy Sosa

8. Bret Boone

9. Brady Anderson

10. Lenny Dykstra

11. Paul Byrd

12. Jose Canseco

13. Jason Giambi

14. Jeremy Giambi

15. Gary Matthews, Jr.

16. Guillermo Mota

17. Scott Schoenweiss

18. Curt Schilling

19. Jose Guillen

20. Jay Gibbons

21. Gary Sheffield

22. Jim Leyrtiz

23. John Rocker

24. Rafael Betancourt

25. Matt Lawton

26. Roger Clemens

27. Ozzie Canseco

28. Rick Ankiel

29. Matt Williams

30. Mark Whitten

31. Eric Gagne

32. Benito Santiago

33. Wally Joyner

34. Miguel Tejada

35. David Ortiz

36. Juan Gonzalez

37. Ivan Rodriguez

38. Alex Rodriguez

39. Kyle Farnsworth

40. Carlos Delgado

41. Dante Bichette

42. Andres Galarraga

43. Albert Belle

44. Troy Glaus

45. Manny Alexander

46. Greg Vaughn

47. Mo Vaughn

48. Kevin Brown

49. Adrien Beltre

50. Mike Piazza

51. Jim Thome

52. Adam Dunn

53. Richie Sexson

54. David Cone

55. Bobby Bonilla

56. John Wetteland

57. Dwight Gooden

58. Darryl Strawberry

59. Melido Perez

60. Pasqual Perez

61. Jack McDowell

62. Mitch Williams

63. Roberto Alomar

64. Carlos Baerga

65. Chuck Knoblauch

66. Jose Mesa

67. Armando Benitez

68. Jay Buhner

69. Luis Gonzalez

70. Pat Hentgen

71. Keith Foulke

72. Mike Hampton

73. Denny Neagle

74. Rod Beck

75. Nomar Garciaparra

76. Bartolo Colon

77. Paul Konerko

78. Kenny Rogers

79. Raul Ibanez

80. Michael Young

Only 29 out of 80, not a very good percentage. But look at some of the

players I missed: Sammy Sosa, Bret Boone, Brady Anderson, Ozzie

CANSECO. There were even some admitted, not to mention caught,

performance enhancing drug users who were not mentioned in the report,

such as Guillermo Mota and Rafael Betancourt. These two men were found

guilty of using steroids by positive drug tests and were suspended by

Major League Baseball as a result; wouldn't you think they would be

included in a report regarding performance enhancing drugs in

baseball?

Others I was surprised were missing included Juan Gonzalez, who was

accused of steroid use by the owner of a team he played for, Manny

Alexander, who was also caught using banned substances and Luis

Gonzalez, who seemed like the prototypical steroid user in 2001 when

he hit 57 home runs after never hitting more than 31 (he never hit

more than 28 after).

Clearly the news that Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte used steroids

and HGH, respectively, is extremely disappointing for any Yankee fan.

However, one must look at the positive that Derek Jeter, Bernie

Williams, Alex Rodriguez, Tino Martinez and Jorge Posada were not

named anywhere in the 409 page findings.

I have no idea how this report is going to effect each individual

find out whos in mitchell report

Find out who's in Mitchell Report

Find out who's in Mitchell Report

MVPs, All-Stars named in steroids investigation

_________________________________________________________________

Posted: December 13, 2007

3:26 p.m. Eastern

� 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens among the players named

in the Mitchell Report

Players named by former New York Mets batboy Kirk Radomski, who

pleaded guilty to distributing performance-enhancing drugs and agreed

to co-operate with former Democratic Sen. George Mitchell's

investigation:

* Lenny Dykstra

* Larry Bigbie

* David Segui

* Brian Roberts

* Jack Cust

* Tim Laker

* Josias Manzanillo

* Todd Hundley

* Mark Carreon

* Hal Morris

* Matt Franco

* Rondell White

* Roger Clemens

* Andy Pettitte

* Chuck Knoblauch

* Jason Grimsley

* Gregg Zaun

* David Justice

* F.P. Santangelo

* Glenallen Hill

* Mo Vaughn

* Denny Neagle

* Ron Villone

* Ryan Franklin

* Chris Donnels

* Todd Williams

* Phil Hiatt

* Todd Pratt

* Kevin Young

* Cody McKay

* Mike Lansing

* Kent Mercker

* Adam Piatt

* Miguel Tejada

* Jason Christiansen

* Mike Stanton

* Stephen Randolph

* Jerry Hairston, Jr.

* Paul Lo Duca

* Adam Riggs

* Bart Miadich

* Fernando Vina

* Kevin Brown

* Eric Gagn�

* Mike Bell

* Matt Herges

* Gary Bennett, Jr.

* Jim Parque

* Brendan Donnelly

* Chad Allen

* Jeff Williams

* Howie Clark

* Nook Logan

Players linked to Internet purchases of performance-enhancing drugs:

* Rick Ankiel

* Paul Byrd

* Jay Gibbons

* Troy Glaus

* Jose Guillen

* Jerry Hairston, Jr.

* Gary Matthews, Jr.

* Scott Schoeneweis

* David Bell

* Jose Canseco

* Jason Grimsley

* Darren Holmes

* John Rocker

* Ismael Valdez

* Matt Williams

* Steve Woodard

Players linked through the BALCO investigation:

* Benito Santiago

* Gary Sheffield

* Randy Velarde

* Jason Giambi

* Jeremy Giambi

* Bobby Estalella

* Barry Bonds

* Marvin Benard

*

buy or sell nl west

Buy or Sell - NL WEST

Sorry for the delay folks - between a couple of ball games, a concert,

a new job, and some unbelievable family issues (really, they are

unbelievable), I've not been able to sit down and work on this. I'll

try harder, though!

The NL West is an odd beast where parity within the division rules

(all teams are within 5.0 games of first). But with even competition,

there is no decisively better team, nor is there a particularly good

team (all are .500ish teams), which makes for excitingly boring

playoff race - if such a thing is possible. To put it frankly, I don't

see any NL West team as capable of winning the World Series, or even

making it that far.

San Diego: Buy

Needs: San Diego has gotten decent pitching from most of their

rotation, with the notable exception of Jake Peavy. They need him to

turn it around in the 2nd half. The Padres need an infusion of power

in the infield, including 3b (there have been whispers of interest in

Mike Lowell and Shea Hillenbrand before the latter was picked up by

rival SF). Giles has had pedestrian power numbers, and as a result,

the OF could use a boost in power from an outside source.

Chips: Peavy has made it into whispers, though he is extremely

unlikely to be moved because of his age, talent, and contract.

Reliever Linebrink has been talked about as someone they could dangle

to add a bat, and has probably become expendable with the acquisition

of Scott Williamson from the Cubs. Klesko will be available upon his

return from the DL.

San Francisco: Buyer

Needs: This team needs someone to protect Bonds in the lineup,

provided Bonds is still between the lines and not behind bars. The

starters aren't great, but the offense makes it hard for any pitcher

to win. This team's window is closing after this season, with Schmidt

and Bonds free agents and a very old squad with little depth in the

ill-tended system. They could use some added mobility in the OF, as

well as more power from the CFer. The Giants could use a little more

depth in the bullpen, like everyone else, especially with the troubles

of Benitez. The team helped itself by acquiring Shea Hillenbrand from

the Blue Jays for pitcher Accardo.

Chips: Schmidt is their biggest chip and San Francisco should take the

best deal on the table for him, rather than settle for a draft pick if

he leaves. Chances are he'll still be a Giant after the deadline

passes, though. The Giants have a solid young catcher, Alfonzo, who

has performed well in limited time (5 HR in 99 ABs)

Los Angeles: Buyer

Needs: Furcal has not lived up to his lofty 2005 season, but there

aren't many replacements on the market. The Dodgers haven't gotten any

power out of their 3b since Bill Mueller went down, but Garciaparra

has played like his old self at 1b and drastically outperformed his

2004 and 2005 seasons. Lofton could be upgraded should anyone hit the

market (LA can afford just about anyone). The Dodgers have endured

injuries in the rotation and the bullpen (namely, Gagne), and could

use help in either department.

Chips: Los Angeles has the farm system to acquire just about anyone if

the seller is looking for young talent. Andy LaRoche, Joel Gonzalez,

Chad Billingsley (currently on the team) and Russell Martin (on MLB

team) are several prospects prospective sellers will ask for in

exchange for top talent. The out-of-grace Odalis Perez has also been

shopped to pitching-hungry teams

Arizona: Hold

Needs: Arizona jumped out of the gates looking like a young contender,

but either inexperience or clubhouse dramatics (ahem, Jason Grimsley)

have slowed them as of late. Arizona has possibly the best feeder

system in the bigs and has several young players learning on the big

stage. They don't really have a need for the time being, just a need

for players to get some experience under their belts.

Chips: Again, the Dbacks really aren't sellers because their team is

so young. Luis Gonzalez has had some issues with ownership and could

be had if a team is willing to take on his contract. Shawn Green is

another veteran outfielder on the market that could help an ailing

contender (LAA, NYY, DET?). The DBacks will not move any of their

young talent and would be wise to hang onto a veteran or two to teach

the youngsters.

Colorado: Seller

Needs: The Rockies need a better campaign from their SS than they have

seen this year - Barmes was much better in his rookie year before

injuring himself in shady circumstances. Many of their young players

are playing exceptionally well, but the power numbers have yet to

develop in most of them. The Rockies need help at catcher.

Chips: Any of their rotation members could be moved (Jennings,

Francis, Cook, Fogg, Kim) to a contender needing a #3-#5 starter.

Because Helton is an immovable contract, prospect Ryan Shealy should

be moved to a team who can play him, especially since he's getting

older and has torn up every level of MiLB and deserves to be in the

bigs. There has been talk between the Red Sox and Rockies revolving

around a bullpen arm for Shealy, who the Sox have been interested in

since last year's ill-fated Shoppach for Shealy swap. Ray King has

latest in banned substance news tom

The Latest in Banned Substance News: Tom Brady

Here's the story, of a scrub named Brady, who took some pills and

magically got good. He met a woman, we'll call her "Steroids," and

they pulled a fast one right before our eyes. He was barely, even

drafted. Now he's telling me that Visa cards are good. So it's time

now, to pull the plugs out, and show the world he's not our golden

son.

Does that tune sound familiar at all to you? Probably not because

you've most likely been brainwashed by the hype and hoopla surrounding

perhaps the third most overrated quarterback in NFL history (behind

two guys named Montana and Vick respectively - and Vick may be trying

to move his way off that list after his last 2 weeks, but I'll remain

skeptical for now). We hear all about how humble he is, how hard he

works, and how he came from no where. He was taken 199th overall in

the 2000 NFL draft. He has no great receivers. He is a team leader

with heart to spare and three Super Bowl rings. Blah...blah...blah. I

have heard enough and the truth must be told.

Ladies and gentleman, it's time to reveal to you the real story of Tom

Brady. Yes, that handsome young man who plays QB for the New England

Patriots. We all know who he is. We see his mug all over the place.

Does anyone else notice that he can't get that eye black off from

under his eyes? Hey Tom, you're playing in a dome, at night. Why do

you need eye black? We should send him a manual explaining how to use

the shower. I also know a great skin doctor if that whole shower thing

doesn't work out.

Enough about his looks now though, because it's his game and his rep

I'm here to revoke. Did you know that when Tom Brady was a freshman at

Michigan, he was listed as 6' 4'' and 215lbs? By the time he

graduated, he had sprouted to 6' 5'' and was down to a slim 213lbs.

That's just where it starts to get fishy. Brady is now back up to 6'

4'' and a whopping 225lbs! Hello? How do you not notice a guy

shrinking an inch while putting on 12lbs? There's some shady business

going on here that we can't explain and my guess is that he

was/is/recreationally using steroids. Shrinking is not really a common

problem for men between the ages of 22 and 29. Not to mention the fact

that Brady was drafted by the Montreal Expos in 1995. I feel like that

is where he found out about the wonderful world of performance

enhancing drugs. In fact, I believe his name was one of the names

blacked out on Jason Grimsley's affidavit. I'm putting the dots out

there for everyone to see. All you need to do is connect them.

Have you ever watched a Patriots game on TV? All you hear about all

day long is how great Brady is; apparently they also feel the need to

tell us how awful his supporting cast is. I feel for those receivers

and offense linemen and I hurt with each hit a tight end or running

back takes. People forget that Brady was taken really, really,

ridiculously late in the 2000 draft. They also forget that Brady spent

a season doodling on white boards and revving up the practice squad.

Mr. Wonderful was not always so wonderful. And yes, his team may lack

some of the star names in the NFL, but his teammates are still making

blocks to give him time to throw the ball, making catches, running for

yards after the catch, and running the ball to keep his arm from

falling off.

You can say it's the system and you can say he's always had that

special something. I say Tom has gotten help from outside sources. I'm

not saying it's just the steroids because I think he may have

purchased contacts. He may even wear two sets at the same time because

he seems to see things that other players do not. I also think he has

inside information. People have claimed the Bush administration has

been a little too secretive for our own good. I believe it's because

they're passing information on to Mr. Brady that no one else can see.

Why else would President Bush invite Brady to the White House? I don't

trust that it's for winning the Super Bowl. I know what's going on.

Brady is actually there collecting secret defensive plans and videos

so he knows exactly what he will be facing in the upcoming week.

So the ruse is over and it's time to come clean Tom. This will save

you a lot of embarrassment down the road.

The worst thing though, is that we as Americans are being duped into a

false sense of love for Tom Brady. We need to turn off SportsCenter,

we need to change the channel when Visa commercials are on, and we

need to tear down the billboards of this so-called "hero." It's time

to find a new hero.

Speaking of which, I hear that Shawn Merriman is trying to avoid

suspension. Anyone want to lend him some free help on his appeal?

*Disclaimer: There is NO proof that Tom Brady has ever used a banned

substance, I'm just sick of hearing about him. Perhaps Tom Brady is

himself a drug released upon the rest of you to make you feel all warm

and tingly inside. It doesn't work on me though, I'm too hardcore.

adam putnam hearts fred thompson

Adam Putnam Hearts Fred Thompson

I have to laugh that Adam Putnam is still actively cheerleading for

FRed Thompson. I knew Putnam was politically tone deaf, but this is

ridiculous. Adam, your candidate doesn't even care if he wins. Nice

time to endorse Thompson and be the co-chair of his Florida campaign.

It is bad when Putnam has to tell the media that Thompson will not

drop out before Florida.

"This is an election season very much in flux," Putnam said.

"People wrote John McCain off last summer, and he's the champion of

New Hampshire. People wrote off Fred Thompson before Iowa and he

placed a strong third." With Michigan up next, followed by S.C.,

Putnam said "absolutely" Thompson will not exit the race before

Florida.

Thompson could not even be bothered to be in New Hampshire the day of

the primary. That screams burning desire to be President.

Here is the Florida elected Republicans jumping on the Fred Express.

Jeff Miller co-chairman

State Senator Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland)

Speaker Pro-Tempore Marty Bowen (R-Haines City)

State Representative Larry Cretul (R-Ocala)

State Representative Clay Ford (R-Gulf Breeze)

State Representative Aaron Bean (R-Fernandina Beach)

State Representative Denise Grimsley (R-Lake Placid)

State Representative Doug Holder (R-Sarasota)

State Representative Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R-Miami)

State Representative Seth McKeel (R-Lakeland)

State Representative Mitch Needleman (R-Melbourne)

State Representative Bryan Nelson (R-Apopka)

State Representative Stephen Precourt (R-Orlando)

State Representative Garrett Richter (R-Naples)

State Representative Dennis Ross (R-Lakeland)

2007_06_01_archive

#4

I registered the blog with HCPL

Posted by BM's Blog at 2:25 PM 0 comments

#3

I created a Blog

Posted by BM's Blog at 2:23 PM 0 comments

#2

easiest habit - have confidence and know I am competent

hardest - don't look at everything as a crisis

Posted by BM's Blog at 1:46 PM 0 comments

in shadow of game

In the Shadow of the Game

David Segui has a confession. Lean in really close, and please don't

laugh. I'm only going to say it once. You won't believe it, and I know

its a little funny, but guess what?

He used HGH.

He had a doctor's prescription, but not a waiver from MLB. Whatever,

they can't test for it.

Segui will be labeled a cheater and a fraud, for his 139 career home

runs, and .291 batting average. According to reports, he started using

HGH in 2003, when he hit 5 home runs, then hit another one in 2004.

6 home runs. A travesty.

Segui and Jason Grimsley are now the two faces of HGH in baseball.

Before the expansion era, players of their caliber would be nothing

more then late september call-ups and career minor leaguers.

Isn't that great? The feds have done this massive hunt and have turned

up two sub-par players. Its so great that our country is so problem

free that we can investigate baseball.

But, I digress. We're told by the talking heads on SportsCenter that

steroids are evil, and that those who use them are scum. Its almost to

the point that every home run is automatically suspicious. The first

thing people say about Albert Pujols after the inevitable, "Wow" is,

"I hope he's clean."

While watching a ballgame the other night (interstingly, a Cardinal's

game) the topic of steroids came up, as it so often does. I think MLB

mandates it. You can't rebroadcast the game, and the announcers have

to talk about steroids, and what the league is doing to stop them.

But, one of the announcers pointed out that the game will survive. It

always has, and it always will. Its survived gambling scandals and

drug users. It will continue.

Know why? Because the game is just that. Its a game. There's a bunch

of stat freaks out there, and sometimes I can be one of them. But, I

don't get obsessed with them. I enjoy the game. I go to the ballpark,

listen on the radio, and turn on the TV because I love the game, and

will always be entertained by it. If someone hits a 500 foot blast,

thats awesome. If he flies out to the warning track, well, its not as

impressive, but the next batter comes up, the game moves on.

Everyone wants to protect 714 and 755. And I don't blame them.

Baseball's allure is that it is timeless, and its history is

remarkable. But, do we need to protect those numbers in this style?

This is no longer an investigation. It is a witch hunt and a mud

smearing campaign. At times, it reminds me of the French media's

attack of Lance Armstrong. Its shameful.

I'm not saying that players like Barry Bonds are innocent, and they

certainly aren't angels. And if they are found guilty of using

steroid, by all means, throw the book at him. But, in the mean time,

we don't need to put wires on pitchers or send in the Marines.

And should steroid users retire and slip out of the public eye and

never be caught, let history be the judge. How will fans fifty years

from now view Bonds? What will they think of HGH?

As for now, all we have is hearsay and hollow accusations, and thats

not good enough. If this is just the "tip of the iceberg" show me the

iceberg.

But no matter what happens out of this whole steroids mess, just

triad rangers in action 61506

open season on your property

Open season on your property

I don't normally comment on local stories here in Indy, but this

disgusting story deserves comment:

Burglaries surge 25% in area

$14 million in property was stolen in IPD area in 2004; only

$607,000 was recovered

Andrew Scott, 29, returned to his Far-Westside home after work to

find crooks had jimmied a window and taken his digital camera and a

jewelry box.

Wes Johnson, 57, was gone for about an hour when burglars broke a

window, entered his Northeastside home and made off with a Sony

PlayStation and other valuables.

Helores Grimsley, 81, had a kerosene heater and checks stolen from

her Near-Southside garage and home while she was asleep.

Those three incidents last week are among the most recent in a wave

of burglaries, which have increased more than 25 percent since 2000

in Marion and Hamilton counties.

As national and statewide rates remained flat from 2000 to 2004,

burglaries surged in Greenfield, Noblesville and many other

communities across the metro area

.

Drug use, the added opportunities provided by a growing population

and, one expert said, early releases from the Marion County Jail

helped drive the increase.

Burglaries are among the toughest crimes to crack, with 14 of every

100 IPD cases solved and about $4 of every $100 in stolen property

recovered. The losses reported in TVs, jewelry, tools and other

possessions amounted to nearly $14 million in the Indianapolis

Police Department area in 2004.

People need to be concerned about the rise, according to Jason

Hutchens, a deputy director for the Indiana Criminal Justice

Institute, a state planning agency. Burglaries, Hutchens said, are

often a gateway crime from which offenders graduate to more violent

offenses.

"These people are violent," Hutchens said. "I think there's a

perception by some to treat drug offenders, burglars and people

doing certain property crimes as nonviolent offenders, and that's

just not what the criminal history and research shows."

Burglaries in Greenfield doubled from 2000 to 2004, according to

the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. Indianapolis police

investigated 28 percent more burglaries in 2004 than in 2000.

Noblesville also saw a steep increase, with 48 percent more

burglaries over the same period.

Even after adjusting for population growth in several areas, the

rate of burglaries increased. In Noblesville, for example, the rate

was up 27 percent -- to 40 burglaries per 10,000 residents in 2004,

compared with nearly 32 per 10,000 in 2000. The IPD burglary rate

was 136 per 10,000 people in 2004.

IPD Maj. Lloyd Crowe said it will take the help of the public to

reduce the burglary rate.

"What people need to be is vigilant," he said. "It takes a

collaboration between the neighborhoods and the police."

The trend reflects just how difficult it is to catch a burglar,

police say. Without a witness, DNA or fingerprints, the crime

becomes impossible to prosecute.

Many burglars are stealing to support a drug habit, police say.

Meth was almost unknown in Indiana a decade ago, and as recently as

2000 police broke up fewer than 500 labs making the drug. But by

2004, the number had soared to more than 1,500.

New laws make it harder to set up a home meth lab, but police say

users are likely turning to other sources for the drug.

Addicts tend to be disorganized and prolific burglars, IPD Sgt.

Lloyd Walker said.

"The lust of the drug is just so severe that they don't worry about

being caught," Walker said. In the time it takes police to gather

and process evidence from one crime scene, Walker said a desperate

burglar can hit four or five more homes.

Criminologists also say an economy that has more people living in

poverty affects burglary rates. In Indiana, more than 516,000

people enrolled for food stamps in 2004, up 74 percent from 2000.

And the growth in areas such as Johnson and Hamilton counties

offers burglars more chances to act.

"I think we have always been a target," said Hamilton County

Sheriff's Detective Todd Uhrick. "People here do typically enjoy a

higher standard of living, which means they've got more stuff."

Marion County officials have struggled for decades to solve

crowding problems at the jail. To avoid violating a federal court

order, judges have released more than 10,000 inmates early since

2001.

Six of those released prisoners have gone on to be accused or

convicted of murder, but the question of how many have committed

lesser crimes after their release has drawn little attention.

"It's the same folks over and over," said Hutchens. "Twenty percent

of the criminals do 80 percent of the crime." (emphasis mine)

As a victim of both burglary and auto theft, I believe some comments

are in order:

1. I dealt with this issue in an earlier post. Law was originally

intended to protect order in a civilized society -- life, liberty and

property. It has morphed to protecting only life. Property is no

longer protected. Disagree with me? The cold numbers in this story

tell the tale: $14 million in property stolen, only $607,000

recovered; 14 of every 100 cases solved. Police cannot prevent or

solve these crimes. People are discouraged from defending their

property because it would threaten life -- that of the criminal. This

is unacceptable. The solution here is putting more police on the

street, but then we have ...

2. The meth labs. The police statement that many burglars are trying

to support a drug habit is illustrative of the ineffectiveness --

indeed, counterproductivity -- of the war against illegal drugs. We

don't want people cooking up meth in home labs -- for one thing, it's

not safe and can blow up the home, injuring the people involved. So we

make it more difficult to make meth -- better enforcement and banning

the OTC sale of certain cold medications used to make meth. Now, they

can't make meth in their homes and have to go to drug dealers for it,

which is more expensive. As a result, they have to resort to crimes

such as burglary and auto theft.

So, as a result of these new laws, instead of meth users killing

themselves by blowing up their own homes, they are burglarizing

everyone else's. Brilliant!

3. Jail Overcrowding. I've also commented on this before. The Star

won't touch it, not in the way it needs to be touched anyway. A

certain federal judge here has determined, at the behest of the ACLU,

that the Marion County Jail is overcrowded. The dangerous criminals

are a li'l uncomfortable, it would seem. A federal court order has set

a cap on the number of inmates. As a result, inmates get released all

the time.

So, instead of our jail being "overcrowded" with criminals, our

streets are now overcrowded with criminals, just waiting to pay a

baseball notebook_08

Baseball Notebook

Bonds Hits 12th Homer

720th of Career

Barry Bonds hits 12th homer in 87th game of season for Giants

yesterday. He needs 36 more homers this season to pass up Hank Aaron.

However, as most Bond's homers they come in a losing cause as Dodgers

win the game.

ESPN.com projects him to hit 25 homers this season so adding the 13

more he is projected to have by end of season he would have 733 homers

still 23 homers short of 756 which would pass Hank Aaron in career

homers.

Assuming he is not sent to jail for perjury or tax evasion he would

have to stay healthy the rest of this season and next season to pass

Aaron and to probably DH in the American League.

By the end of this winter Bonds should be in a courtroom somewhere and

whatever happens in the courtroom may more likely determine if he

breaks Aaron's record than what he does on the field.

Lackey Pitches Best Game of Season

According to ESPN Game Ratings Score

John Lackey received a 95 for his performance last night in the win

over the A's. Lackey pitched a complete game 1 hitter while striking

out 10.

The previous high score was 91 for a game Scott Kazmir pitched. C.C.

Sabathia received a 88 yesterday for defeating the Orioles giving him

the 4th best game score in AL plus he also is tied for 6th for his

game against the Pirates in May.

A's Lose Yesterday

Could Still Be 5 Ahead

Of Angels With Win Today

Despite their loss to John Lackey yesterday the A's can move back to 5

games ahead of Angels with a win today. Jered Weaver 5-0 will face Joe

Blanton 8-7 in the contest.

At the end of the day the A's will be either 5 ahead or 3 ahead

depending on whether they win. These are the games they have to win to

stay in first place when they directly decide their own fate and not

depend on another team to help them out.

Red Sox, Yankees

Both Win Yesterday

With the Yankees winning 1-0 and the Red Sox winning behind David

Ortiz hitting his 30th homer and driving in his 84th run of season.

Jon Lester's record went to 4-0 with the victory and his ERA is now

3.06. Lester has beaten some good teams including the White Sox

yesterday and the Mets two of the best teams in baseball.

The Yankees remain 3 games behind the Red Sox while the Blue Jays fall

to 6 behind with their loss to the Royals win their 4th straight and

are 14-6 in their last 20 games.

Breaking News on Lima: Lima was demoted to minors after the game

yesterday so don't know if it will be Lima Time again this year or

not. Mets may win NL East after all with Lima out of rotation.

Mets Wish it Wasn't

Lima Time Again

Jose Lima surfaces again after being demoted to minors and pitches a

typical Jose Lima game giving up 7 runs in 3 innings as his ERA

balloons to 9.87.

In 17 innings in his 4 starts he has given up 22 runs and 25 hits. He

even gave up a grandslam to Dontrelle Willis yesterday.

If the Mets are depending on Lima to win baseball games they are in

for an unpleasant surprise and with him in the rotation the Braves may

yet win another NL East division title as they will be assured of

gaining a game on the Mets anyday he pitches if the Braves can win

their game that day.

Unfortunately for Braves they couldn't do that and stayed at 12 and a

half back. The Reds made sure the Braves didn't come back this time

scoring enough runs that the Braves couldn't overcome the deficit like

they did on Thursday night.

Breaking Lima News: Mets decided Friday was enough Lima Time for

awhile and sent him back for reassignment.

Brewers Back

To .500 Again

The question of the day for the Brewers is will they go over .500

again today or fall back under .500. They seem to have a proclivity

for hanging around the .500 mark but still are only 3 and a half games

behind Cardinals.

Great story about players who made the Non-All Star team.

Insider: It's time to 'salute' our anti-heroes

Scott Miller July 6, 2006

By Scott Miller

CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer

Think you've got problems? When life gives you ivy, you're turning it

into poison?

Well, then, you're the Chicago Cubs.

Ha. That was a joke.

That's Rule No. 1 when it comes time to choose the annual

Anti-All-Star team each July. Jokes are good. Sometimes they even keep

the designated hitter from trying to run you over with his car. (Oh,

how we wish Albert Belle was still eligible for this team).

Rule No. 2 is hire an accountant who will ram expense reports right

through, because the team budget is outrageous. You try running a club

like this without a full staff of licensed therapists, psychologists,

trainers, lawyers, bailiffs, computer analysts and video game

coordinators.

See, while the real All-Stars get all the love and attention, in the

spirit of today's all-inclusive society, we make sure to take a few

minutes at midseason to acknowledge the efforts of the rest, too.

Like today's Little League teams that award trophies to every single

player, up to and including the fat kid who skips practice, spends

more time picking daisies than fielding fly balls in the outfield and

hogs the postgame pizza and Popsicles.

Our Anti-All-Star team encompasses everything that the little ol' game

in Pittsburgh next week does not: poor play, humorous play, antisocial

behavior, rap sheets, handcuffs and, yes, salad tongs.

Sometimes it's those with the biggest challenges who need the most

love.

So while the guy we had in mind as first-base coach is out fetching

bug repellant for our reliever who is hiding in the bushes, we present

our all-new, all-weather, all-season 2006 Anti-All-Star team:

Catcher: Michael Barrett, Chicago Cubs

Let's be honest. Lots of people around the game would love to slug

A.J. Pierzynski. But that doesn't mean they do it.

Barrett did. It cost him a richly deserved 10-game suspension, not to

mention the indignity of watching himself look like an over-sugared

12-year-old on highlight shows for years to come.

It would have been one thing if Pierzynski had made like Pete Rose and

attempted to knock Barrett from here to Pluto. He didn't. Pierzynski

slid, Barrett moved over to apply the tag, there was contact, they

both got up, Pierzynski doubled back to collect a piece of equipment

and -- pop! -- an episode of Batman broke out.

While Barrett is our guy for sheer brazenness, he had plenty of

competition. San Diego's Josh Bard also was strongly considered for

attempting to catch a knuckleball without a license in Boston earlier

this summer. Bard was charged with 10 passed balls in Tim Wakefield's

first five starts, but made a strong comeback by playing well as part

of the Padres' three-man catching team this summer (Bard, Mike Piazza

and Rob Bowen). In fact, Bard is hitting .378 with five homers and 19

RBI.

Also under consideration was Washington's Matt LeCroy, for making

manager Frank Robinson cry earlier this season. That came following a

game in which Houston stole seven bases and LeCroy was charged with

two throwing errors. Pass the tissues, we're just getting started.

First base: Richie Sexson, Seattle

A bitter disappointment since signing with the Mariners before the

2005 season, Sexson swats the occasional home run and grabs an RBI

here and there, but in between, oh, is it painful to watch. The guy

was batting .225 at midweek. Which isn't nearly the eyesore that his

.296 on-base percentage is. The good news is, he's only making $11.5

million this year -- a dirt-cheap salary considering the $14 million

the Mariners will owe him in each of the next two seasons.

Who's idea again was it to sign this guy?

If, for some reason, you disagree with this selection -- and unless

you're a relative of Sexson, that's awfully difficult to see -- our

runner-up is Phil Nevin of the Chicago Cubs, who's probably about to

be traded for the third time in 12 months. From San Diego to Texas to

the Chicago Cubs and beyond, it's like every one of the 30 teams is

attempting to put the cleats to his rear end.

Second base: Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee

Let's make this clear: We love the Brewers' young talent overall, and

we truly believe that Weeks' stay on our team will be brief and that

one day he will be a real All Star.

But for now, kid, you've gotta catch the ball!

His 21 errors at midweek not only were a major-league high at his

position, but a high at any position. The only other NL second baseman

with double digits in errors was Pittsburgh's Jose Castillo, with 11.

Then there's Atlanta's Marcus Giles, who is slumming along with a .246

batting average and a .340 on-base percentage. Ouch. That's part of

the problem in Atlanta, not part of the solution.

Third base: Tony Batista, free agent

In a wide-ranging search to add power to its lineup, Minnesota gambled

last winter that Batista would be a boon.

Instead, from Day 1 in spring training, Batista quickly became the

Round Mound of Gospel Sound.

The Twins cringed when they took one look at his doughy body this

spring. You would think that a guy who had been out of the majors for

a year would report in good shape. Instead, Batista looked as if he

spent more time at Krispy Kreme than at the gym.

Add that to the fact that he appeared more interested in converting

pagans in the Twins clubhouse than in changing fastballs into home

runs, it was a bad mix. (Not that there's anything wrong with

attempting to convert pagans, but perhaps it works better when things

are going OK with your day job.)

Batista was hitting .236 with only five homers in 50 games when the

Twins shipped him out.

Also considered was Seattle's Adrian Beltre, who has only seven homers

and 35 RBI while batting .259 -- and being paid roughly $11 million

(with another $24 million owed him over the next two seasons).

Shortstop: Clint Barmes, Colorado

The talk of baseball during the first part of 2005, things haven't

been the same for Barmes since he tripped on the stairs while carrying

venison and broke his shoulder.

While the Rockies have several young players who are doing yeoman's

work keeping them in contention in a tepid NL West, Barmes -- a

terrific kid from Larry Bird's alma mater, Indiana State -- isn't one

of them. He's batting just .209 with a .248 on-base percentage, and

that's only part of the story.

Barmes' on-base percentage at home in Coors Field, somehow is only

.289.

The guy is making Washington shortstop Cristian Guzman look like he

has a pulse (and Guzman is out for the year following spring shoulder

surgery).

He keeps this up; he's got a future in Coors ... as the full-time

humidor attendant.

Left field: Barry Bonds, San Francisco

Big Helmet is a big liability in the outfield, not nearly the plate

presence he once was and, when he's not hitting homers in bunches as

he once did, an all-around downer of a guy to have on your team. Which

is why we welcome him to this team with open arms (though we need an

airplane seat belt extension-type of device for those arms if we wanna

wrap them around that noggin of his).

Usually, Big Helmet is packing for the real All-Star Game at this time

of year. And while there are those who argue he deserves to be there

this year as a sort of lifetime award despite his appalling .246

batting average and miniscule 11 homers, there's no way that argument

holds water.

The Sullen of Swat (he's so big he gets two nicknames) has soiled the

game with his behavior this season, and the last place he deserves to

be is in Pittsburgh. If Greg Anderson, his personal "trainer," is

going back to the big house for his blind loyalty in refusing to

testify to a federal grand jury regarding whether Bonds perjured

himself, Bonds can cool his heels on our team while the Feds continue

to look at him.

Center field: Juan Pierre, Chicago Cubs

The Cubs sent pitchers Sergio Mitre, Ricky Nolasco and Renyel Pinto to

Florida for Pierre last December.

So far this season, Pierre, lugging around a dismal .314 on-base

percentage, has one homer and 12 RBI in 352 at-bats.

Nolasco has one homer and two RBI in 19 at-bats.

Give the pitcher Pierre's 352 at-bats at his current rate of one homer

every 19 at-bats, and Nolasco would have 19 long balls by now.

Right field: Rondell White, Minnesota

We're cheating a bit here because, technically, White was signed as a

designated hitter. But he has played five games in the outfield this

season, which qualifies him for our right field spot -- and, besides,

we've got a special treat already lined up as the DH.

So ... White, signed to DH -- and, at the very least, provide some pop

for a traditionally homer-challenged Twins team -- has, in 54 games

and 184 at-bats ... exactly 0 home runs.

That's, uh, zero.

Z-E-R-O.

Designated hitter: Carl Everett, Seattle.

Everett is on record as saying he does not believe that dinosaurs once

roamed the earth, nor does he believe that man actually landed on the

moon.

Apparently he doesn't believe that he's batting only .161 against

left-handers (and only .158 with runners in scoring position) this

season, either.

He was lifted for a pinch-hitter, newcomer Eduardo Perez, in the ninth

inning of Tuesday's 14-6 loss to the Angels ... and then charged into

manager Mike Hargrove's office following the game and engaged the

skipper in a shouting match (those within hearing range, and that

included most of the 206 area code, say Everett was doing most of the

shouting).

So what happens on Wednesday? Everett gets ejected, and you should

have seen the moment when Hargrove was out on the field defending him

to the umpires. No way was Hargrove getting ejected, too.

We think the skipper would have rather been marooned on a desert

island with hungry cannibals than spend the rest of Wednesday's game

alone in the clubhouse with Everett while the rest of the Mariners

were out in the dugout.

Starting pitcher: Brett Myers, Philadelphia

This one was a no-brainer.

There are not many iron-clad rules for our club, but one of them is

this: Anytime a guy is charged with assaulting his wife in the middle

of a city street (Boston in this case), and police have witnesses

saying he punched his wife in the face and pulled her hair, there's a

pretty good chance he'll be named to our team.

Myers' actions are the most despicable of the season, yet he still

started for the Phillies, in Boston, two days later.

Why?

"Because he's our best pitcher," Philadelphia GM Pat Gillick lamely

explained at the time.

Soon after that start, Myers went on a personal leave that is expected

to last through the All-Star break.

The entire situation was a disgrace for Myers and Gillick in

particular, and for the Phillies in general.

Meanwhile, here's the competitive list of starting pitchers edged out

by Myers:

* Russ Ortiz, Baltimore. The Diamondbacks wanted him gone so much that

they released him while knowing they would have to eat the remaining

$24 million on his contract. Now that's desperation.

* Esteban Loaiza, Oakland. Hasn't pitched well (3-5, 6.39 ERA) after

A's general manager Billy Beane broke the piggy bank and awarded him a

three-year, $21 million deal, but he sure can drive. When police

finally caught up to him last month and arrested him on drunken

driving charges, they clocked him traveling in his Ferrari at more

than 100 mph.

* Oliver Perez, Pittsburgh. He's gone from would-be staff ace to

Triple-A stiff, in a heartbeat.

* Runelvys Hernandez, Kansas City. Counted on to be a mainstay in

Kansas City's rotation this year, Hernandez reported to spring

training 40 pounds overweight in the estimation of the club, and had

to open the season in the minors. Try mixing in a few salads,

Runelvys.

Closer: Jason Grimsley, suspended.

You'd be a free agent, too, if you decided that Human Growth Hormone

was a good way to go, then decided to cooperate with the Feds when

they caught you taking delivery, then decided to stop cooperating

after you named names, then watched the whole thing blow up in your

face when it became public. Grimsley couldn't get out of the

Diamondbacks clubhouse soon enough after that, asking for his release.

That the Diamondbacks gladly paid Ortiz $24 million to go away but are

disputing what's left of the $800,000 they owe Grimsley tells

everything you need to know about the bitterness here.

While Grimsley is the obvious Anti-All Star closer, don't think

several others didn't make a bid for the team, too. Among them:

* Matt Wise, Milwaukee. He's not only an Anti-All Star, but an

Anti-Runelvys Hernandez, too. Proving that mixing in a salad is not

always as healthy as it sounds, Wise missed a few days last month when

he sliced the middle finger of his pitching hand on aluminum salad

tongs during a postgame spread. This after teammate Jeff Cirillo

sprained his ankle jumping up and down in frustration after one of his

batted balls went foul. "At least his was game-related," Wise

grumbled. "I was going after a freaking salad."

* Scott Sauerbeck, Oakland. There's a reason he's with the Athletics.

It's because he moved himself right out of Cleveland with his behavior

following a game earlier this season in which he and a woman were

taken into custody after fleeing Sauerbeck's vehicle and were found

hiding in the bushes around 4 a.m. Oh, and Sauerbeck is married, and

the woman wasn't his wife. The undercover (and under branches) couple

was caught when the owner of the house reported hearing voices

outside. Hey Destiny, shhhh! I don't think that's a drunk coming to

pee on this bush, I think it's the cops!

* Brian Shackelford, Cincinnati. After pitching in the 13th inning of

Wednesday night's four-hour, 19-minute Reds-Brewers game, was arrested

on suspicion of third-degree sexual assault at Milwaukee's Miller

Park. The arrest came just about the time the Cincinnati team bus was

leaving the stadium for the charter flight to Atlanta. Oops.

Manager: Joe Mikulik, Class A Asheville

So this is a bit of a stretch, but Mikulik's June 25 meltdown was so

good, so delicious, so enchanting that, in our book, it earned him an

immediate promotion to the majors.

Among other things too numerous to list, Mikulik's tantrum included a

dive -- or was it belly flop? -- into second base. It was the talk of

major league clubhouses and dugouts for days, though in a

don't-try-this-at-home sort of way. When asked if he ever considered

diving into a base while arguing, Padres manager Bruce Bochy grinned

wide and shook his head no. "I'd get hurt," he said.

If Mikulik isn't available, we know someone who likely will have some

time on his hands one day soon,

mitchell report fallout thoughts

The Mitchell Report Fallout: Thoughts...

Wheeeeeeee! It's like Christmas morning! Does everyone else find this

as hilarious as i do?!?

More on this later, but a couple things i wanted to point out:

What the hell were the Astros thinking trading for Miguel Tejada

yesterday? Seriously, you don't think the fact that he might be in

this report didn't come up once during trade talks? Either the Astros

are freaking retarded, or they just don't care. As sad as it is, i'm

inclined to think it's the latter...

The MLB Players Association sent out a letter to players during the

investigation basically telling them not to cooperate. Lovely.

It was amazing to me how many of the players paid for these steroids

with a CHECK. Hello, paper trail?! Are you stupid? Let's see, i'm

buying something illegal and i don't want anyone to know about it.

Instead of paying him the $1,100 to $3,200 (average payment) in cash

i'm sure most of these guys carry, they pay with a personal check. The

guy they were buying them from, Kirk Radomski, kept copies of all the

checks players had given him. You think he wasn't covering his ass

just in case?

Players mentioned in the report who have links to the Dbacks are:

- Jason Grimsley (We already knew that)

- Matt Williams (Same)

- Alex Cabrera

- Jack Cust

- Chris Donnels

- Stephen Randolph

- Mike Bell

- Matt Herges

- Troy Glaus

- Jose Guillen

- Darren Holmes

- Multiple Members of the Dbacks farm team the El Paso Diablos (Who

reportedly repeatedly crossed the border into Mexico to purchase

steroids.? Players on that team include the aforementioned Cabrera,

Cust, and Williams, as well as notable names such as Alex Cintron,

Travis Lee, Lyle Overbay, Robby Hammock, and Junior Spivey. Not for

nothing, but Cintron, Cabrera, and Cust led the team in pretty much

every offensive category. I'm just saying...

More on this later as more comes out and i delve deeper into the

Report...

Posted by Smitty Lite at 2:34 PM