Eric Seidman comments on Milton Bradley's quote about playing time with the Texas Rangers, and not wanting to play on days that might hurt his statistics. I think Eric gets it right. The first part of the quote is spot on, but offered with no humility. The second part of the quote, about not playing to preserve statistics, is dead wrong.

The Cubs have made a commitment to Bradley, but statistical preservation issues aside, he just is not very likely to be on the field all too often given his track record and the fact that the senior circuit will require his presence in the field. Bradley is, in my eyes, the most talented player of the last ten years who truly deserves to sign one-year deals each season.

I'd add Manny Ramirez to that list, but the point is well taken.

Their seems to have been a lot of anger between Brian Giles and his girlfriend.

It turns out Trevor Hoffman didn't get along with Moores or Alderson.

Elijah Dukes paid up his child support.

MetsGrrl finds a reason not to want Derek Lowe on the Mets. She also likes the way Omar Minaya is approaching negotiations:

Right now, waiting is the best thing to do, because the bottom is dropping out of the market, and if you think that's going to change soon, you're wrong. Being desperate is just going to waste money. What's your hurry? It's not like anyone else is walking around with the cartoon suitcase of money with dollar bills hanging out of it. And even if Derek Lowe wanted to sign with us for three sacks of baseballs and a box of Bazooka, I'd say no. We don't need that.

MLB Fanhouse posts video of Brian Giles that appears to show him knocking his girlfriend to the floor.

It's not a great year for significant others associated with the Padres:

San Diego Padres outfielder Brian Giles is being sued by his former girlfriend for more than $10 million, alleging he battered her while she was pregnant and caused her to suffer a miscarriage.

That's more than Giles's 2009 salary.

Brett Myers doesn't want to pitch at Fenway Park again. I'm sure the feeling is mutual.

Adam Loewen lied to the Baltimore Orioles to get out of his contract. I know Baltimore's not the greatest place to play right now, but that's pretty low.

The suspensions came down for the fight between Fausto Carmona and Gary Sheffield, and Gary is still angry about the fracas:

Sheffield, battered in the fight, is still upset at Martinez and Cabrera for taking cheap shots while Carmona had him wrapped in a headlock.

"I'm not one of these guys who sits and talks about what they're going to do," said Sheffield. "I'm just going to do it. But when I do, I challenge you to your face. I'm not going to surprise you with anything. You're going to know I'm coming. That way you'll be ready.

"I want you ready. Just like you know I'm going to be ready."

Martinez and Cabrera would not talk to reporters after batting practice Monday.

When Detroit reporters asked how long Sheffield intended to pursue Martinez and Cabrera, he said, "It's on. It will never end until I get you. I don't mess around with anybody. I don't bother anybody.

"But when you bother me, it's on. It could be on or off the field."

That sounds like a pretty serious threat to me. Maybe ESPN should assign a camera crew to follow Sheffield around so they can get the future brawl on tape. It could be a great reality show, The Hunt for Fausto in October.

A.J. Pierzynski gave Cliff Lee an extra reason to pitch well Monday night.

"He slammed his bat down and stared me down[ after popping out]," Lee said. "I stared back. He was chirping in the dugout. It gave me a little extra energy. Actually, I appreciate him doing that."

Pierzynski denies this. There's an old saying, however, that if a person tells you you're drunk, ignore him, but if two people tell you, sit down. It's time for A.J. to sit down.

I think I would like Manny a lot better if he just stood up and said, "Hair rules are stupid, I'm not cutting my hair," instead of splitting them. I do like Torre's response to all this:

"He haunts me with this," Torre said. "He said, 'It's the hair.' Every time he gets a hit he tells me, 'It's the hair.' He's been funny. I continue to tell him, I say, 'If it was the hair, I would have snuck into your apartment when you were in Boston and shaved your head.' I said, 'It's your ability.'"

Major League Baseball handed down suspensions and fines for the brawl between the White Sox and the Royals. Both managers and two Royals received penalties. Zack Greinke and Miguel Olivo will appeal their five game suspensions.

Sam Mellinger compares Ozzie Guillen and Zack Greinke's statements to the press after bean balls resulted in a bench clearing brawl. Guillen:

Benches clear in baseball, these things happen at least a few times every summer. Maybe the thing to take from this is that Guillen all but promised it will happen again, which is why he might get suspended.

"Get ready for the warnings," he said. "I signed a five-year deal with this organization, and we play Kansas City a lot."

And Greinke:

In other news, Zack Greinke's final pitch plunked Nick Swisher in the hip, and my first thought was, "THAT's how you hit somebody."

Greinke said the right things afterward, that he had trouble with the fastball inside to lefties all day, that the 7th was his worst inning, it was hot out there, so maybe he just a little tired.

So then I thought, "THAT's how you avoid a suspension."

Now we get to wonder about every inside pitch these teams throw against each other.

My latest article on SportingNews.com looks at how a loss of Manny Ramirez would effect the Red Sox runs and wins. Over a third of a season, the Red Sox don't lose that much, and a good trade might even help them.

Of course, there is something to be said for concentrating offense in one player. A great player is more likely to get hot in a short series, which really helps in the playoffs. Manny demonstrated that last year.

Over the last few days, however, I've come to the conclusion that the Red Sox should trade Manny, just to send a message. A Keith Hernandez trade, if you will. Send him to San Diego where his power will disappear. Send him to Seattle so he can know what it's like to play for a lousy team. Send him to Washington with the proviso that Washington exercices his option and dooms him to also ran status for two more years.

He's no longer a lovable goof ball. He's no longer so good that he'd be impossible to replace. His actions the last month strike me as a player who wants to be traded. His pushing the traveling secretary, sitting out games, and his non-hustle in the middle of a no-hitter all send the message Manny wants out. Grant him his wish. At some point, the other players will start wondering why they can't get away with the crap Manny pulls, and then the Red Sox have real problems.

Kevin Kaduk at Big League Stew discusses Ken Griffey, Jr. and his throat slashing gesture toward Jeff Brantley. Kevin is trying to remember a piece of history:

(I also seem to remember Griffey being mad at ESPN for something, but the exact details are not ringing a bell and Internet searchin' is proving fruitless.)

I was there. I believe it was during the 1997 playoffs, Griffey was upset with something Peter Gammons said, also probably about his fielding. He told ESPN he would not talk to them during the playoffs and convinced his teammates to boycott ESPN as well, getting them all F*** ESPN tee shirts. ESPN tried to smooth things over through Harold Reynolds. I remember Griffey being on speaker phone in the news room, with the coordinating producer of Baseball Tonight trying to reach an understanding with him. Griffey was unable to explain his reasons for the boycott and was unwilling to work with the higher ups at ESPN to fix the situation. (Given that ESPN broadcast the first round of playoffs at the time, not being able to talk to one of the teams was a big deal.)

Griffey may be a clean player, but he's no saint.

Bob Lobel provides more information on what is going on between the Red Sox and Manny Ramirez. He was fined six figures for pushing the traveling secretary and didn't like that one bit. Manny's way of answering?

"The thing that most people are forgetting and haven't talked about is the strikeout in Yankee Stadium," Lobel said. "The bat on the shoulder for the three pitches from Mariano Rivera. That was a big [expletive] to the Red Sox after the fine. I'm just telling you ... there are things in the front office that are perceived ... I'm saying that there is a strong feeling that that [three-pitch strikeout] was the message to the Red Sox and it's a strong feeling that that's unacceptable ... there's a feeling that he didn't give it his all, let's put it that way ... I'm just saying the front office has not forgotten that moment. It's akin to Nomar sitting on the bench [in a game in which Derek Jeter dove into the stands at Yankee Stadium in 2004]. It's the same thing. It's an at bat that resonated very strongly in the front office."

I'd say the probability of Manny being around next year just dropped.

Update: Industry sources say the fine was was an order of magnitude lower.

According to industry sources, Ramirez, in addition to apologizing to McCormick, paid a fine of between $10,000 to $15,000, with the money going to an agreed-upon charity. The fine is at the lower end of that range.Reports that Ramirez had been assessed a six-figure fine are not true, and Red Sox officials have not raised the issue that Ramirez's strikeout against Mariano Rivera in a pinch-hit appearance July 6 was in any way related to the discipline administered.

Chase Utley has a potty mouth.

Update: Everyone is apologizing.

Here's a little more on the Manny Ramirez altercation with traveling secretary Jack McCormick. This is the part that got me (emphasis added):

Ramirez and McCormick later met behind closed doors and Ramirez apologized to McCormick, who also spoke with GM Theo Epstein about the incident. "There's no animosity on my part,'' said McCormick, who is in his early 60s. "I hope there's not on his. I think he feels the same way.

It's one thing to fight with someone like Youkilis, another professional athlete. But pushing old men around? Please. I hope the Red Sox quietly fined Manny for this.

There must be something in the water in Houston. There was another player-employee scuffle:

Manny Ramirez shoved Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick to the ground in an argument over Ramirez' ticket allotment. Several onlookers moved quickly to separate the two.

Ramirez had asked McCormick for 16 tickets for Saturday night's Red Sox-Astros game, an unusually high number for day-of-game. In addition to handling all travel details for clubs, traveling secretaries also take player ticket requests for both home and away games.

When McCormick cautioned Ramirez that he might not be able to fulfill his request, Ramirez responded by shouting: "Just do your job!"

An argument insued and Ramirez pushed McCormick, sending him to the ground.

Ramirez apologized, and McCormick, Ramirez and Francona all say the problem is settled. So I guess as long as Manny apologizes for being an arrogant jerk, he can continue to be an arrogant jerk. Unlike Shawn Chacon, Manny is actually valuable to the team, so I guess attacking an employee is okay in that case.

The Astros, as expected, put Shawn Chacon on unconditional waivers.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz interviews Drayton McLane about the altercation between Shawn Chacon and Ed Wade.

"We can't have anarchy," McLane said that he told the players. "You can't have rebellion. If (Chacon) disagreed with what Cecil wanted him to do, he should have had the courage to sit down and talk to him. He wouldn't come in Cecil's office."

McLane was adamant that Chacon will never return to the Astros.

"Absolutely not," McLane said. "If you shoved a policeman down or any other public servant, can you imagine shoving a principal in a school? It was in full view of several players. Players pulled Chacon and restrained him. There's absolutely no way. You can't defy authority. Even if he disagreed with what they wanted him to do, he should have had the courage to sit down and talk to him."

There's audio of the interview at the link as well. Ortiz reported last week that the Astros clubhouse was toxic. Cooper certainly didn't have the respect of Chacon.

The Astros suspended Shawn Chacon indefinitely. He and Ed Wade got into an argument and Shawn attacked:

According Chacon, he was in the lunch room after batting practice when Cooper asked him to join him in his office.

"And I said, 'what do you want to speak to me about?'" Chacon said. "He said, 'we just want to talk to you.' I said, 'anything you can say you can say to me right here. I don't want to go to the office. He looked at me and I said there's nothing for me to say to you guys.' And I don't think whatever they had to say to me they were going to make me happy. I didn't want to get in a closed-room conversation. I just wanted to be left alone.

"I sat down to eat and Ed Wade came to me and very sternly said, 'you need to come with me to the office.' I said 'for what?' I said 'I don't want to go to the office with you and Cooper.' And I said 'You can tell me whatever you got to tell me right here.' He's like, 'oh, you want me to tell you right here?' And I said, 'yeah.' I'm not yelling. I'm calm."

It deteriorated quickly afterward, according to Chacon.

"He started yelling and cussing," Chacon said of Wade. "I'm sitting there and I said to him very calmly, 'Ed, you need to stop yelling me. Then I stood up and said 'you better stop yelling at me.' I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling and stuff and was like, 'You need to (expletive) look in the mirror.' So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him because at that point I wanted to beat his (butt). Words were exchanged."

Players quickly intervened to separate Wade and Chacon, who remembers being pulled away by backup outfielder Reggie Abercrombie.

Shawn was upset about being removed from the rotation, and the meeting was to discuss that. I highly doubt we'll see Shawn in an Astros uniform again. I wonder if Wade will press charges?

Ryan Lefebvre made this comment about Milton Bradley Wednesday night:

Lefebvre, who is the son of former major league manager Jim Lefebvre, said he met with Daniels and Washington about his on-the-air comments, but did not talk to Bradley. Lefebvre said the comments were intended to praise Josh Hamilton, who missed nearly four years of professional baseball with cocaine and alcohol additions, rather than tear down Bradley.

"It was a conversation about how Josh Hamilton has turned his life around and has been accountable for his mistakes," Lefebvre told The Associated Press. "Right now, it seems like the baseball world and fans are rooting for him. ... It doesn't seem like Milton Bradley has done the same thing in his life."

When Bradley heard the comments, he tried to run up to the booth to confront Lefebvre, but Washington and Daniels stopped him. Sometimes it's best not to play into people's preconceived notions about your personality. Otherwise, you tend to prove them correct.

Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro exchanged words and pushes:

In the fourth, after No. 9 hitter Duran hit a two-run homer for a 3-0 lead, Garza and Navarro had heated words when pitching coach Jim Hickey visited the mound. Hickey even appeared to shove Navarro.

When Garza and Navarro got in the dugout after the inning, television cameras caught them face-to-face in an apparent scuffle that spilled into the tunnel leading to the clubhouse. Manager Joe Maddon, Hickey and others could be seen rushing to break up the fracas. It wasn't clear if any punches were thrown.

I believe Garza shook off Navarro before the home run.

It turns out the tussle between Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis was caused by Kevin doing too much complaining:

Multiple Red Sox players confirmed yesterday that Thursday night's dugout altercation between Manny Ramírez and Kevin Youkilis resulted from Ramírez objecting to what he believed was excessive - and chronic - complaining about the strike zone by Youkilis in the dugout, as well as the first baseman's penchant for throwing equipment after at-bats.

Both Ramírez and Youkilis downplayed the incident yesterday.

"That was a misunderstanding," Ramírez said. "Even in the best family, you fight and stuff like that. But it's done, it's over with. We've got everything straightened out."

"The whole thing was basically a misunderstanding of words and stuff like that," Youkilis said. "To me, it's no big deal."

I think Francona was right when he said there was too much testosterone that night. I thought that stuff was banned, anyway. :-)

Bob Watson suspended a number of Red Sox and Rays based on last night's game:

Three Red Sox were suspended: Crisp for seven games, pitcher Jon Lester for five games and first baseman Sean Casey for three games.

Major League Baseball disciplinarian Bob Watson penalized five Rays: Shields for six games, DH-outfielder Jonny Gomes and pitcher Edwin Jackson for five games, outfielder Carl Crawford for four games and second baseman Akinori Iwamura for three games.

All eight players also were fined undisclosed amounts. The Red Sox and Rays have often clashed in the past, and a bench-clearing brawl in Boston's 7-1 win Thursday night was their latest outburst.

I find it interesting that Lester was suspended. He hit a batter later in the game but was not tossed for that.

Shields hits Crisp in the 2nd for the pitcher's 2nd HBP of the game. It looked to me like it barely grazed Coco, but Crisp charged the mound after saying something to Shields. Shields let loose a right to the face, and the benches emptied. Shields is gone, and the umps are taking a long time to sort this out. The Red Sox lead 3-1.

My opinion of Gary Carter just went way down.

Richie Sexson had his suspension reduced to five games, so he'll miss the Texas series and any possible retaliation.

Major League Baseball suspended Richie Sexson six games for charging the mound and throwing his helmet at Kason Gabbard. He'll appeal, but it's good to see MLB coming down hard on that behavior.

Of course, if they really wanted to hurt the Mariners, they'd force Richie to play every inning. :-)

I think Deadspin has the best take on the blow up dolls in the White Sox locker room:

Guillen, of course, defended the shrine, saying "I'm sure it wasn't done to disrespect anyone. . . A lot of worse things happen in the clubhouse. . . If people got their feelings hurt because of that . . . they don't really know much about baseball."

Duly noted. He is right about that. There was a time when struggling baseball teams used real live women in the locker room as slump-busting shrines.

If you ever meet Dave Campbell, ask him about the first time he met Mickey Mantle.

My wife Marilyn is a real estate agent and send this article about Jose Canseco walking away from his California house:

'I do have a judgment on my home and it to me is very strange because it didn't make financial sense for me to keep paying a mortgage on a home that was basically owned by someone else,' he said.

Canseco said the foreclosure was not a difficult issue emotionally. But he sympathized with the millions of other Americans who have already lost, or face losing their homes, because of soaring interest rates on sub-prime loans.

'I decided to just let it go, but in most cases and most families, they have nowhere else to go,' he said.

He gets no sympathy in the comments as it seems he was able to pay the mortgage but chose not to.

Jorge Arangure Jr. details the feud between Edgar Renteria and Orlando Cabrera.

MLB thought the pitch Kyle Farnsworth threw behind Manny Ramirez was an intentional head-hunt:

Farnsworth was suspended three games and fined $2,000 Saturday for throwing behind Ramirez's head in the seventh inning Thursday night in the Bronx. The story was first reported Saturday morning on the Daily News' Web site.

Bob Watson, MLB's vice president of on-field operations, felt Farnsworth "intentionally" threw at Ramirez, according to the release issued by the league.

"Intentionally, huh? The ball slipped," Farnsworth said. "As far as I know, I didn't hit him. If I'm going to hit someone, it's not going to be in the head, that's for sure. I don't want to endanger anybody's career. That's definitely not an area to throw at."

I think Farnsworth will be more careful about letting the ball slip next time.

Police had to taser Al Reyes twice last night. That's some birthday celebration!

The bouncers tried to control Reyes, but the 6-foot-1, 240-pound right-hander kept pushing them away. A Tampa Police officer working extra duty at the bar stepped in and yelled, "Stop Police!," but Reyes "continued spitting blood and thrashing about," according to a police incident report.

Moments later, the officer warned Reyes he was going to Tase the pitcher, and he did, knocking him to the bar floor. Ignoring police commands to stay down, authorities said Reyes got up and was Tased a second time.

With a 13.50 ERA so far this year, it's easier to knock Al out of the game than out with a shock. :-)

Hat Tip, BBTF.

Larry Bowa decided he's bigger than the rules of the game. He basically dared the umpires to throw him out last night by not staying in the coaches box:

Montague said it was "probably one of the dumbest ejections he's had.

"We got a memo and an edict, and they're adamant about the box and stuff," the umpire said. "Don't go up in front of the box toward home plate, and don't get any closer to the foul lines. I told Bo in the bottom of the fifth, because he got up close. And that's what caught my eye. And I just told him, 'Bo, you got the memo, we got the memo, and you've got to stay back.' I went over and told Joe in-between innings what I told Bo. And Bo just said, 'I'm going to do it the way I've always been doing it.'

"I said, 'Bo, if you go up, I'm going to have to run you.' And he said, 'Do what you've got to do, and it is what it is.' When he got up in front of it again, I said, 'Bo, I told you once, now get back in the box.' He argued it, and finally I said, 'You're gone.' So I gave him every chance in the book and he defied it."

Points to Bowa for an excellent use of, "it is what it is." (IIWII)

So now everybody knows Larry is unhappy with the rule. He got to perform his childish tirade. I assume that tonight he'll stay in the box with his helmet on. I doubt the Dodgers will continue to pay him to be tossed from games.

Pat Jordan tells you all you need to know (and somethings you don't) about Jose Canseco. I need to go disinfect myself now.

Hat tip to Alex Belth.

So Bob Costas doesn't like bloggers either? That's too bad. When Bob was stuck working the "B" game for NBC on Saturdays, I thought it was a shame. Costas was smooth, knew his game and worked well with his analyst. I looked forward to him becoming the voice of baseball on the network. Then, CBS came in and offered a billion dollars for exclusive rights, and before Bob could take the chair held previously by Curt Gowdy and Vin Scully, Sean McDonough got the job.

Costas seemed to buy into the idea that he was the best play-by-play man not covering baseball. You could almost see his head swell during the 1990s as he hosted sports events for NBC. Like any job, however, you have to keep working at to remain good, and when Bob returned to the booth when NBC briefly bought baseball broadcasting rights, he was more schtick than insight.

So I'm not surprised he doesn't like bloggers, people who might publicly challenge the lofty throne Costas sits on, hosting the Olympics from his hermetically sealed room. He should have been great, but now he's just a bitter old man.

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Major League Baseball handed down suspensions today stemming from the Yankees-Rays brawl. Peter Abraham has the press release. I like the wording:

Shelley Duncan of the Yankees has been suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed amount for his violent and reckless actions, which incited the bench-clearing incident.

Good. They're not sugar coating this. The Yankees lose Duncan and Cabrera for three games, and the Rays lose Jonny Gomes. With appeals, the players likely will be able to pick the time of their suspension, so New York doesn't have to lose both players at once.

Joe Girardi and Shelly Duncan talked this morning:

Joe Girardi said yesterday that if he saw a replay that showed what Shelley Duncan did was dirty, he would have a meeting with him.

Girardi and Duncan met this morning.

Duncan said later he didn't want to talk about the meeting. Let's see, 2 + 2 ...

Duncan watched the replay and said that what he did wasn't what he meant to do, making him the anti-Pee Wee Herman.

My Baseball Bias posts a photo of Duncan coming in with his spikes thigh high.

I hope these two teams got it out of their systems:

The benches cleared after New York's Shelley Duncan slid into Rays second baseman Akinonori Iwamura with the spikes raised after singling off third baseman Evan Longoria's glove and trying to stretch the hit into a double.

Duncan was immediately tossed. Tampa Bay's Jonny Gomes was ejected, too, after racing in from right field and barreling into Duncan as other players poured onto the field. No punches appeared to have been thrown as order was restored.

Yankee third base coach Bobby Meacham and hitting coach Kevin Long also were ejected by the umpiring crew, which met with Girardi and Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon before the game.

New York left-hander Heath Phillips was ejected during the first inning after one of his pitches appeared to graze Longoria's shirt. The Rays had already scored two runs and three hits in the inning.

If they haven't it's going to be a very eventful 18 games between the clubs this season.

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Scott Spiezio's career with the Cardinals is at an end after an arrest warrant was issued following a December car accident:

Irvine police responded to a report of a single-car crash at 12:20 a.m. on Dec. 30.

Officers found a 2004 BMW registered to Spiezio had crashed into a curb and fence. The driver was seen running from the crash site, Handfield said.

A neighbor told police Spiezio arrived at their condo complex appearing disheveled and apparently injured. The neighbor said Spiezio allegedly assaulted him, causing significant injuries, Handfield said.

Another version of the story I read on my radio program mentioned that Spiezio vomited in the neighbor's condo. At least no one was killed, and let's hope this encourages Scott to clean up his life.

I can't wait to see the PETA protests at Shea.

Update: They took down the cock fighting video.

Capitol Puishment reviews a bad week for a couple of Nationals. Dukes isn't going to do a team much good if he winds up in jail with Albert Belle.

Capitol Punishment notes the Nationals went for the player with the better bad attitude.

There's strange doings in the Mets game. Milledge hit his second home run of the game, and then there were some close pitches thrown to Maine. Reyes doubled, then went to third on a wild pitch. I guess that pitch came close to Castillo, who took a couple of steps to the mound. That caused the benches to empty, but there was no actual violence. Castillo walked, then during a pitching change radio went to commercial. When they came back, Miguel Olivo rushed Jose Reyes, who was standing at third, and got Sandy Alomar, Sr. instead. That got both teams back on the field in a more serious brawl. Once things were settled, Olivo was tossed and Wright singled in Reyes. It's 10-0 Mets in bottom of the fifth.

Has anyone seen video of Milton Bradley throwing the bat after the strikeout in the fifth on Sunday? I'd like to know if it really looked like he was throwing it at the ump.

Bradley about his argument with the umpire after the game (original post here):

Runge said that after Bradley struck out looking to end the fifth, he "flipped the bat about 5-10 feet in front of me."

Bradley said Runge asked him in the eighth if he threw his bat at him.

"I said, 'Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous.' He said, 'Well, it was reported to me by the other umpires that you threw your bat at me.' And I said, 'That's completely ridiculous. I've done a lot of things. I'm trying to turn it around. I would never harm anybody."

Once on first base, Bradley asked Winters if he told Runge he threw his bat. "He goes, 'Yeah, you did.' I go, 'Are you kidding me? That's completely ridiculous. If I strike out and the inning's over, why are you looking at me? Everything's always about me."

Then, a fan heckled Winters.

"I pointed to the guy in the crowd, affirming it," Bradley said.

Bradley said Winters responded with a string of expletives.

"That's when I went at him and he kicked me out," Bradley said.

Crew chief Bruce Froemming wouldn't allow a reporter to speak with Winters.

Maybe someone should ask Todd Helton what happened. The injury was to Bradley's knee.

You know it has to happen sooner or later. Milton Bradley is at first, and he's jawing with the umpire. Instead of ignoring Milton, the ump answers him. Bradley goes after the ump, but the first base coach, Meacham, stops him. Meacham then takes up the argument, but Bradley goes after the ump again. This time, Bud Black grabs Milton, wrestles him to the ground, and injures what appears to be a hamstring. So the Padres are now down two starting outfielders, as Cameron bruised his thumb earlier and is day to day.

Earlier, Bradley was complaining about the first base ump to the home plate ump. But no one knows why. Maybe he was called for a check swing?

Update: Bud Black gets thrown out, too. He yells at the third base ump after the ump calls a check swing strike on Adrian Gonzalez. That tells me a check swing call was probably bothering Milton. Of course, now he may be out for the rest of the season, so good job, MB, hurting your team because you can't hold your temper.

Bleed Cubbie Blue gets a bit of revenge on Andre Ethier. That's why I won't let my daughter marry a professional ballplayer!

There was a lot of maturity on display in the Phillies clubhouse last night.

After the game, Myers got into a shouting match with a reporter and had to be restrained by teammate Pat Burrell.

When Myers was asked about the two home runs, he said they were really "just pop ups."

A reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer questioned whether Myers really thought they were pop ups, and Myers got angry.

"You're not even a beat reporter, you're a fill-in, you don't know anything about baseball," said Myers, who then called the reporter "retarded."

The Inquirer reporter asked if Myers could spell retarded, and Myers stood up. Burrell then restrained Myers, and Myers refused to speak any further.

Which reporter? Was it the one who wrote this story?

Update: Yes it was.

The Atlantic League suspended the pitcher and catcher who were involved in the hit by pitch that led to Jose Offerman's arrest.

The minor league pitcher involved in the fight for which Jose Offerman is facing two counts of second-degree assault after charging the mound with a bat, has been suspended for his role in the incident.

The independent Atlantic League also fined Matt Beech of the Bridgeport Bluefish an undisclosed amount. Beech planned to appeal, said his attorney, John Robert Gulash.
Long Island Ducks catcher Jared Price also was fined and suspended two games.

Beech hit Offerman with a pitch Aug. 14 and the former major league All-Star infielder, who had homered in his first at-bat, charged the mound. During the ensuing melee, the middle finger on Beech's non-throwing hand was broken and Bridgeport catcher John Nathans suffered a concussion.

We used to see a comic at Stiches in Boston in the 1980s who did a great Johnny Most (Celtics radio play by play announcer) impersonation. This reminds me of one of his bits from that:

Bird drives the lane, Moses Malone pulls out a knife, and HE STABS BIRD IN THE LEG! There's blood all over the floor, and THEY'RE CALLING THE FOUL ON BIRD! Since when is it a foul in the NBA to get stabbed in the ass!

Indeed.

Jose Offerman reacted badly to being hit by a pitch last night in Bridgeport, CT (my old stomping grounds):

Former All-Star Jose Offerman was arrested Tuesday night after charging the mound and hitting the pitcher and catcher with his bat during an independent minor league game.

Bridgeport police said Offerman was arrested, but did not detail the charge. Police said he posted bond.

Offerman, playing for the Long Island Ducks in the Atlantic League, homered in the first inning. The next inning, he was hit by a pitch from Bridgeport's Matt Beech and charged the mound with his bat.

Offerman hit Beech in the hands and struck catcher John Nathans in the head.

There's a great picture with the article, showing Jose threatening Beech with the bat while Nathans tries to hold him back. And to think, Offerman used to play for the Blue Fish!

It looks like Barry Bonds is planning to sue Curt Schilling.

Police arrested Scott Olsen of the Marlins early Saturday morning, and Scott resisted:

Bentolila said Olsen was arrested in the Miami suburb of Aventura, where an officer clocked him driving 48 mph in a 35 mph zone and attempted to pull him over at about 3:40 a.m.

Olsen continued to drive about one mile, running a stop sign before stopping at his Aventura home, Bentolila said.

The pitcher got out of his car and sat down on a plastic chair in front of his home. When backup officers arrived and tried to arrest him, Bentolila said Olsen kicked at the officers, who used a stun gun on the 6-foot-5 pitcher.

Olsen then failed a field sobriety test and refused an alcohol breath test, Bentolila said. A booking photo showed Olsen had two scrapes on his forehead over his right eye.

Olsen just came off suspension for a run in with Serigo Mitre, the third scrape he's had with a teammate since he's been with the Marlins. He's also gotten into trouble for an obscene gesture at fans in Milwaukee. Somehow I don't think he'll be with the Marlins much longer. I also hope he gets some help. It sounds like if he continues in this direction, he or someone else is going to get seriously hurt.

John Ryan asks if Barry Bonds is boycotting ESPN.

I have been thinking about this for a long time now -- specifically since May 29, when Barry Bonds ignored pleas to play in that Mets game a.k.a. Armando's Last Stand -- and on Monday night, "Baseball Tonight" at least noticed the oddity that the left fielder has skipped all three of the Giants' ESPN games this year, not to mention the Home Run Derby.

I'll preface this (somewhat long) entry by noting that Bonds is also sitting out tonight's non-ESPN game, and that this is only a theory of mine. But all three sit-outs came with some odd circumstances that might look odder when piled up. As of now, I'll have to wait until Sept. 7 to test this idea again.

Nate Silver does the math:

In other words, the probability that if Bonds were picking 16 out of 91 games at random to miss, it would so happen that all 3 of the ESPN games were included among those 16, is 1,200,635,647,008,340 divided into 260,462,895,672,871,000, or about 215-to-1 against.

When I worked at ESPN, Griffey got into a snit one year and refused to talk to ESPN reporters during the playoffs. He even went so far as to get his teammates on Seattle to boycott ESPN as well. So things like this do happen.

Rays of Light has details from Elijah Dukes' divorce case, including an unsubstantiated allegation by NiShea Dukes:

NiShea Dukes accused him of smoking marijuana daily and taking steroids. The judge asked her if she had seen him take steroids and her answer was no. She believes that he does take steroids, due to how aggressive he has been with her in the past.

Dukes admitted marijuana use but not the steroid use. The court will test him for drugs in order for Dukes to see his children.

David Samson foolishly criticizes the Ichiro contract, and the Mariners take him down a peg.

''The Seattle Mariners ownership and management have never criticized another team for whatever they have done, even if one might consider it to be folly,'' Mariners president Chuck Armstrong told The Seattle Times. ``It strikes us as bizarre that Samson would go public and make such a statement.''

Those big contracts bring in fans. The rapid growth in baseball attendance started with the introduction of free agency. And if I remember correctly, the Marlins first World Series championship was a resulted of hired help.

Hat tip, FishStripes.

It seems the appropriate response would be to cover her up with a Jeter jersey. :-)

(Hat tip, Bleed Cubbie Blue)

The Devil Rays put Dukes on the inactive list to give him time to get his life straightened out. His life just got a little more complicated:

Dukes was benched for two games last month after his wife said she sought a protective order because she and the couple's two children were threatened by the player. Last week, he was given a personal day off after published reports detailed a pregnant 18-year-old girl's claim that Dukes is the father of her unborn child.

"The last couple of weeks has been a very frustrating time for everybody involved," Friedman said. "But people who do know Elijah know that at his core, he is a good person. He genuinely is. But obviously he's made poor choices and has done so repeatedly."

I'm guessing Dukes' good core is buried pretty deep.

The Devil Rays moved Elijah Dukes to the temporary inactive list. This sounds a bit permanent to me:

Details have not yet been released on the exact status of Dukes, but his belonging have been removed from his locker.

Stay tuned.

There was another shoving incident last night:

Sampson, who pitched seven strong innings, tried to console Wheeler when he came back to the dugout. Wheeler turned and shoved Sampson with both hands, then yelled at Sampson to go to the other end of the dugout.

The shoving was reminiscent of the scuffle between the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano and Michael Barrett two weeks ago, though this one was over in an instant. Wheeler (0-4) was contrite after the game and told Sampson he wanted to talk to him after the media finished asking Sampson questions.

"There's nothing going on," Wheeler said. "I love Chris. It was just frustration on my part. I'm a professional, I should be better than that. I take full responsibility."

Sampson said the outburst shouldn't be blown out of proportion.

"It's not a big deal," he said. "There's no issues there. I think of Dan like a big brother. It was bad timing on my part. I was trying to pat him on the back and tell him, 'We'll get them next time.' He was in the heat of the moment."

It's like the ghost of Billy Martin keeps possessing players.

Michael Barrett keeps arguing with his pitchers:

Hill was long gone by then, but he was involved in a familiar scene in the Cubs dugout early on, getting involved in an animated discussion with Barrett between innings after Seattle pitcher Jarrod Washburn singled home a run in the fourth. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild stepped in to calm Hill down, avoiding another made-for-ESPN scene as the TV cameras followed their every move.

Coming on the heels of the Barrett-Carlos Zambrano fight that occurred only 12 days earlier, the latest dugout drama is likely to fuel speculation that Barrett's days with the Cubs are numbered. If the No. 1 catcher can't get along with his pitchers, something has to give, and it's much easier to deal a catcher than a starting rotation.

Hill denied there was a problem, saying he was angry with himself.

"No, no, no," he said. "No disagreement. I just told him I was upset about the pitch. I just wish I made a better pitch to Washburn. He said 'Just hang in there and keep us where we're at and we're going to win this game.' "

Barrett talked around the subject, but conceded the talk was heated at times.

"It was the heat of the moment," Barrett said. "We just talked things through. Rich did a pretty good job overall. I think he was disappointed about hanging the slider to Washburn. It wasn't even a big deal. Whatever happened, I don't even know. We were just talking about pitch selection, and what we were going to do the next inning.

On top of that, Lou Piniella doesn't want to talk:

Manager Lou Piniella blew off the media after the loss, stewing in his office while Barrett, Hill and Will Ohman faced the music in the clubhouse.

The Cubs appear to be a team on the verge of a breakdown, with Piniella in the middle with nowhere to hide.

When does bad luck turn into bad managing? The Cubs have three slots in the lineup, #5, #7 and #8 in which they're getting substandard production, OBAs around .300 and slugging percentages below .400. The lack of production from the five hole creates a huge void in the order and wastes the talents of the number six hitters (no one to drive in, no to keep the rally going). Maybe Lou could come up with a better order. But this is a team of great strengths and even greater weaknesses. The two balance, so the Cubs score a decent amount of runs. But if there's a game that needs a timely hit, almost half of the order is unlikely to produce one. At this point, the GM needs to find better players to complement his superstars.

A number of people e-mailed me about that AA manager who put on a show the other day after being tossed from a game (video at the link). Maybe I'm an old fart, but I don't see the humor in it. The guy acted like a five year old. I'm glad the Braves suspended him.

Combining bits of Earl Weaver, Billy Martin and Lou Piniella, the weekend tantrum by AA manager Phillip Wellman prompted his bosses at the Atlanta Braves to take action Monday.

The Mississippi Braves manager went wild Friday during his team's 7-6 loss at Chattanooga. His tirade took him on a tour of the diamond as he covered home plate with dirt, threw a base and crawled on his belly.

Wellman and the club declined comment, spokesman Nicholas Skinner said.

Sorry, this guy is nothing like the three managers mentioned above. The best thing about watching Earl and Billy argue were their mouths going 100 MPH. If they kicked dirt or threw a base, they did it because it was convenient to the argument. They didn't calmly walk around destroying the field. Wellman has a lot to learn.

Too much information:

In New York, A-Rod used to be a regular at the VIP Club, where he always asked for a dancer who performs under the stage name Monique.

Monique is 5-feet-5 with brown hair and brown eyes and has a well-toned, muscular figure, a pal said.

When the stripper jumped over to the Hustler Club, Rodriguez started going there to see her perform and buy sexy lap dances, a source said.

He even took her out for a pricey shopping spree at the Versace store on Fifth Ave., the source said.

A petite stripper at the Hustler Club said A-Rod "likes the she-male, muscular type. They brought me up to the champagne room one time. I spun around once and that was it. I'm not his type."

She said A-Rod often brought his wife to the club "and she's very pretty. I'd rather dance for her any day."

At this point, A-Rods wife may take her up on that.

In the notes to this article on what A-Rod said to Howie Clark, there's some real bad news:

A second magnetic resonance imaging exam on Phil Hughes's left ankle revealed a Grade III sprain, indicating a torn ligament. Hughes will not be allowed to throw off a mound for about six more weeks, though General Manager Brian Cashman said the Yankees have ruled out surgery. "He can walk on it, and it doesn't look all that bad," Cashman said. "But it is what it is. They've got him in a boot. He's been throwing with a boot on it. But it's going to push him back, because he's not going to be able to throw off a mound." Cashman said Hughes's hamstring was almost fully healed when he injured the ankle doing conditioning drills last Friday. Hughes's timetable would make it unlikely that he could return before August.

Maybe it's not Pavano. Maybe it's the way the Yankees rehab their pitchers.

As for A-Rod:

Rodriguez singled in the ninth to make it 7-5, and his verbal interference with Clark allowed the Yankees to pile on. The third base coach, Larry Bowa, said that Rodriguez did not cross a line of good sportsmanship.

"If you say, 'I got it,' I think that's very unacceptable," Bowa said. "He didn't say, 'I got it.' He said, 'Hey, hey.' They parted like the Red Sea."

Alex claims he said, "Ha." John Gibbons sums up why this probably bothers people so much:

"Maybe I'm naïve. But, to me, it's bush league. One thing, to everybody in this business, you always look at the Yankees and they do things right. They play hard, class operation, that's what the Yanks are known for. That's not Yankee baseball."

The Jays say it was more than "Ha."

With two out in the ninth and the Yankees on their way to a 10-5 win, Jorge Posada launched a sky-high pop-up. As substitute Jays third baseman Howie Clark settled under the ball, Alex Rodriguez ran past him on the basepath. Video replays clearly showed Rodriguez yelling something that was variously described by Jays on the field at the time as "Mine!" or "I got it!"

Clark thought he was being called off by shortstop John McDonald. So he stepped out of the way and it fell in as another run scored.

"I was under the fly ball and I thought I was called off ... and I let it drop. I heard a `Mine!' call," Clark said.

In reality, I think the Blue Jays are upset that they were fooled. Last night's game was Howie Clarks' 2007 debut. That means he hasn't had time to build a pattern recognizer for his teammates voices, and what they say to call him off the ball. So he hears something, and drops the ball. That's pretty embarrassing. So sure, they're mad at A-Rod, but if Clark plays a few games with McDonald, this doesn't happen.

Elijah Dukes is in trouble again:

The wife of Tampa Bay Devil Rays rookie outfielder Elijah Dukes filed for a restraining order against her husband and said she fears for her life, The St. Petersburg Times reported Wednesday.

NiShea Gilbert, a middle-school teacher, said that Dukes allegedly burst into her classroom at lunchtime in April. A frightened Gilbert then ran to the principal and got a deputy, who banished Dukes from the school.

Gilbert told a Florida court that Dukes threatened to kill her and sent her a photo of a handgun to her cell phone.

Gilbert played a voice mail allegedly from Dukes for the newspaper. "You dead, dawg. I ain't even [expletive]. Your kids, too."

Dukes, has a history of bad behavior. Apart from this being a heinous way to treat anyone, let alone your wife, I'm amazed at the stupidity of these people. Albert Belle, Barry Bonds and now Dukes leave messages on cell phones and answering machines. Have they no inkling that these things might be kept and can be traced? It boggles the mind.

Another major league player stands accused of abusing his wife.

Venezuelan-born Callaspo, 24, was taken into custody on suspicion of assault and criminal damage, according to police who did not release any details. He still was being interviewed by detectives late Thursday.

Police officers responded to a call at Callaspo's home about noon Thursday and said the player's 22-year-old wife, Marianny Paola, had minor injuries.

Callaspo did not accompany the team on its flight to Houston, where the Diamondbacks begin a nine-game road trip Friday.

"We do not feel that he should be with the team due to the allegations," Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall said.

Good for the Diamondbacks. Teams appear to have learned a lesson from the Brett Myers situation last year.

The Mariners demoted Julio Mateo today after his wife required stitches:

Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Julio Mateo was being questioned by police Saturday following a domestic dispute at a Manhattan hotel that left his wife needing stitches to her mouth, police said.

The incident occurred around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, police said, shortly after the Mariners defeated the New York Yankees 15-11 in a game where Mateo did not pitch. The 6-foot, 220-pound reliever was not at the midtown hotel when police arrived after the dispute, police spokesman Sgt. Mike Wysokowski said.

Mateo voluntarily turned himself in at a Manhattan police station Saturday evening and was speaking to investigators. A police spokesman said the pitcher was not immediately charged with any crime.

There's few details available, but Mateo wasn't at the game today and Mariners demoted him because they don't know his availability.

Gary Thorne on how he made the mistake about Schilling's sock:

Mirabelli said he spoke with Thorne in the Boston clubhouse about six months after the 2004 playoffs.

"As he was walking away he asked, 'How about the bloody sock?' I said, 'Yeah, we got a lot of publicity out of that,' and that was all he can recall me saying," Mirabelli said. "He said he assumed what I meant was that the sock was fake and that it was just a publicity stunt. That by no means is what I meant. There was never a doubt in mind there was blood on the sock."

There a huge leap from "lots of publicity" to "painted sock." As I said yesterdy, Thorne is a sloppy with his facts.

Update: Hat tip to Joy of Sox for breaking the story.

The feud between Jose Guillen and Brendan Donnelly escalated last night after Donnelly struck out Jose and then hit Johjima with a pitch. Jose, ever the calm soul, handled the situation well:

Yesterday, in a game that was 14-1 in the eighth inning, Donnelly fanned Guillen on three pitches, punctuating the strikeout with a gesture that caught Guillen's ire.

Guillen had to be restrained from going after Donnelly, and the benches and bullpens emptied. When the game resumed, Donnelly hit the next batter, Kenji Johjima, prompting an immediate ejection from plate umpire Phil Cuzzi.

Jose wants to settle it on the field of honor:

"If he wants to take care of this problem, our clubhouses are pretty close, so he can have one of the batboys come get me outside and we can take care of this as men. That's it. That's all I have to say."

How about this? One of them stands on first base, the other on third. Each gets a bucket of balls and the two throw at each other until one falls down.

Neither Kevin Mench nor Geoff Jenkins wants to platoon. Brew Crew Ball likes Ned Yost's reaction:

Ned's cleaning up the streets, boys, and there's nowhere scum like you can hide! Or something like that.

Don't these players that by Yost putting them in situations where they can succeed, they become more valuable players? When Paul O'Neil came over to the Yankees in 1993, New York was using him mostly vs. right-handed pitchers. He played the fewest games of his Yankees career (strike adjusted) in 1993 because of that. But he excelled so much in that situation, he turned into a full time player.

Jenkins and Mench should look at this as an opportunity to put up good numbers. Otherwise, the Brewers can find other players who can just hit from one side of the plate, or even dip into their farm system for a cheap replacement for both.

Nico at Athletics Nation praises David Stern for his rejection of Tim Hardaway after the former player's anti-gay comment.

If greasy hair, All-Star game ties, family conflicts of interest, and just all around ickiness don't top your "Commissioner Wish List," why not try David Stern, Commissioner of the NBA? Now there's a Commish I can get excited about. Stern is underrated because he's so good; just as with an umpire, if you are too aware of the Commissioner's existence, it's probably not a good thing. Stern has quietly brought salary caps, consequences for unacceptable behavior, and other necessities to the NBA, while being so unobtrusive that many NBA fans probably couldn't name him and most NBA fans certainly couldn't tell you what the heck he looks like. And in the last 48 hours, Stern, already an exemplary Commissioner, truly outdid himself. This week, Tim Hardaway made a series of comments that, paraphrased, began with, "I hate gay people because they're gay and that's awful," and ended with, "I wish I hadn't said that because it has turned out to be inconvenient for me that I said it." You know, Tim, perhaps you should try something other than speaking out loud, because that really isn't working for you. Or for anyone, really.

So here was Stern's response, after immediately informing Hardaway that he was no longer welcome as one of the retired players due to appear at today's NBA's All-Star Weekend Kickoff:

I'm not a huge Bud Selig fan, but this is a little unfair to Bud. After all, he pushed Marge Shott out of the club of owners after her favorable comments about Hitler, and slapped a suspension on John Rocker after pretty obnoxious comments along the same lines. Maybe Nico is too young to remember those incidents.

I've always thought fans should decide these things anyway. Reds fans could have boycotted the teams games. Fans could have booed Rocker out of Atlanta. Imagine the message sent if Tim Hardaway was introduced and booed off the court by the fans. (Although I suppose, Stern might be afraid the fans might cheer.)

A.J. Pierzynski appeared on the Jerry Springer show as a guest bouncer. Which is a perfect excuse link to a video:

The Padres are getting in trouble all over the place. First Jake Peavy runs into trouble at the airport, and now Marcus Giles gets into a fight at the Patriots-Chargers game. San Diego fans have to hope the team is as aggressive on the field. :-)

Jake Peavy found out what happens when you double park:

San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct Thursday at Mobile Regional Airport.

The 25-year-old Mobile native was taken to the Mobile County Metro Jail shortly before 7 a.m. and was released on a $350 bond, according to the jail log.

His crime? Double parking at the airport.

Padres general manager Kevin Towers told The Associated Press he was told that Peavy was headed for a goodwill tour of the Dominican Republic with other major league players when he double-parked to drop off his bags and was told by airport police to move his car.

"The airport police told him he couldn't park his car there and he said, 'Write me up a ticket and I'll pay for it,"' Towers said. "He was arrested."

I guess no one ever told Peavy parking laws at airports aren't about fines vs. no fines. They're about car bombs. It's not like parking in Boston where it's worth the fine every so often. This gets taken seriously.

A Braves draft pick takes a baseball bat to a car:

Steven Michael Evarts, 19, a standout pitcher for Robinson High School, was arrested Monday on charges of criminal mischief causing $1,000 or more in damage. Evarts was released on a $2,000 bond.

Evarts and two other men were seen damaging Barbara Montague's Chevrolet Blazer on Dec. 9, said Laura McElory, a spokeswoman for the Tampa Police Department. It's believed Evarts and Montague's son were in a dispute regarding their friends competing for the same spot on another high school baseball team, McElory said.

Damage to the vehicle, estimated at more than $3,700, included smashed windows and dents to the vehicle's body, police reports said. The other two suspects have not been arrested.

It seems he was channeling John Cleese:

When Basil's car breaks down on his way back to his gourmet night, it sets off one of his most memorable meltdowns. "Start, you vicious bastard!" he screams at his car. He then warns the car he is counting to three, and when it still doesn't start, he leaps out and shouts, "You stalled just once too often!... I've laid it on the line to you time and time again!... I'm gonna give you a damn good thrashing!" Basil runs off-screen and returns with a tree branch, which he smacks against the hood and windshield of the car in a fury.

Of course, when Cleese beats a car, it's hilarious!

You just can't take A.J. Pierzynski anywhere:

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski of the 2005 world champion Chicago White Sox picked a fight with World Series MVP David Eckstein of the 2006 world champion St. Louis Cardinals during the TNA pay-per-view Turning Point on Sunday, Dec. 10 from Universal Studios Orlando.

Pierzynski had a shoving match with Eckstein. Pierzynski's pal Dale Torborg, the strength and conditioning coach for the White Sox and formerly the Demon in WCW, slugged Eckstein's brother, Rick, a minor league coach.

''Dale and I were a little upset that they got the big entrance, yet we just got introduced from the [seats]. Plus, they got the [entrance] music, and we didn't,'' Pierzynski said. ``It was a little disappointing. We got a little jealous, so we took out our frustrations on them.''

Given that it was a TNA event, I assume it was staged and Andy Kaufman was somehow involved.

Hat tip: Batgirl.

Gary Sheffield thinks it's the 1980's.

Speaking to reporters at a charity event in New York Wednesday night, disgruntled Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield was anything but charitable when it came to GM Brian Cashman.

Sheffield told the New York Daily News that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner wants the slugger in the Bronx, "But when you have middle men blocking him and don't let you do certain things and get in the way, they let their personal feelings get in the way."

Asked if he was referring to Cashman, the slugger retorted "You know who the middle man is; you talk to him every day."

I'm sorry, I was under the impression that Cashman won the power to make decisions on player personnel last year. Maybe Gary missed the whole Torre firing fiasco that showed pretty clearly George doesn't get everything he wants any more.

Cashman is making absolutely the right move for the Yankees. Sheffield, due to his rather low salary for what he's capable of producing, is worth more to the Yankees under contract than as a free agent. After all his years in the game, Gary should know that by now.

It appears Barry Bonds was not a team player in 2006:

The prevailing opinion is that the Giants will seek to re-sign Barry Bonds, who needs 22 home runs to break the all-time record, but sources said the club is weighing many factors.

Money is only one factor. Sources said the Giants also want assurances that Bonds would conduct himself in a more professional manner than he did this past season.

According to sources inside and outside the Giants clubhouse, Bonds exasperated teammates and coaches several times last season when he chose to make himself unavailable in pinch-hitting situations.

Multiple sources confirmed that Bonds had taken off his uniform during the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss at Milwaukee on Sept. 24. The Giants brought the winning run to the plate, but rookie catcher Eliezer Alfonzo hit into a game-ending double play and the loss officially eliminated the Giants from the division race.

Afterward, manager Felipe Alou covered for Bonds, saying it was a manager's decision.

I'm somewhat amazed Alou allowed that to go on. Felipe's always struck me as an in-your-face, speak-my-mind manager. If the stories in the article are accurate, then it's good Felipe is gone. I'm not quite sure why the Giants are still interested in bringing Barry back:

But sources said that before the Giants open talks to bring him back, upper management wants assurances that Bonds would be attentive to new manager Bruce Bochy and handle himself in a professional manner.

After all these years of special treatment by the Giants, why do they think Barry will change now? And what, exactly, is the penalty if he disobeys Bochy? The only discipline I can imagine working is benching him so he can't break the home run record, but that's going to cost the team wins. If a team signs Bonds, they pretty much have to accept the baggage he carries.

I didn't see what caused it, but Milton Bradley and coach Gerald Perry had words in the dugout. Perry looked like he was shouting at Milton, but I just got home a few minutes ago and didn't see what caused the argument. Can anyone fill us in?

The Padres are involved in a great three-way race for the division and the wild card, and the San Diego Union-Tribune is covering a spat between the GM and a former backup catcher. Here's how it started. Speaking of Doug Mirabelli, Towers said:

"He called (Dave) Roberts (when Mirabelli was traded) and said, 'I guess I'm getting called back to the big leagues,' " Towers said before Monday's game with the Dodgers. "I'm glad I didn't hear that. . . . I don't miss him. These guys don't miss him."

Mirabelli accused Tower of character assassination:

Claiming Padres General Manager Kevin Towers had committed "character assassination," but declining to dispute any of the particulars, Boston catcher Doug Mirabelli reacted swiftly to Towers' sharp criticism published in yesterday's San Diego Union-Tribune.

"I was happy to be going back to Boston - I won't deny that," Mirabelli said of the May 1 trade that returned him to the Red Sox after an unhappy April with the Padres. "But in no way was I trying to diminish the San Diego Padres or that organization. . . . My sarcasm, I understand, gets taken out of context a lot, but that's probably from not knowing me for a long time."

I'm not sure when telling the truth became character assassination. Mirabelli should be Towers favorite player at this point. Because of Doug, he was able to move Loretta and make room for Barfield. Because Mirabelli was a pain in the behind, the Padres ended up with Bard and Meredith. I'd be sending him a thank-you note.

Correction: It's the Union-Tribune, not the Union News.

Players from the Fort Worth Cats and St. Paul Saints did a little too much celebrating last night:

Two members of the Fort Worth Cats baseball team were arrested this morning after they and dozens of people got into a fight at a St. Paul bar, police reported.

About a dozen officers responded to the fight at the Half Time Rec as members of the Cats fought with members of the St. Paul Saints team.

The Cats beat the Saints 2-1 Sunday night to win the American Association league championship.

It's nice they went out together after the game. I guess good sportsmanship breaks down if you've had too much to drink. Thanks to John Norquist for the link.

Albert Belle received three months jail time and five years probation for stalking his ex-girlfriend.

Superior Court Judge James Keppel warned Belle that if he contacts the victim again he will go to prison.

I wonder if TradeSports puts out a contract on Belle contacting the girlfriend again. I bet the odds would be pretty high that Albert breaks his probation and contacts the woman.

The Philadelphia Inquirer publishs the 911 calls made during Bret Myers alleged assualt on his wife. A news story accompanies the transcript.

Witnesses to Phillies pitcher Brett Myers' alleged beating of his wife on a busy Boston street described a vicious pummeling meted out by an athlete who dwarfed his spouse, according to a transcript of 911 calls obtained by the Inquirer.

"There's a guy like beating up his girlfriend," a woman told Boston's 911 operators during the June 23 incident.

"I got a guy smacking a girl around right in front of the Hynes Convention Center. She's crying. She's got no shoes on," a man reported. "He's a pretty big guy... and he's hitting her hard."

Tampa Bay's trio of trouble makers are at it again:

Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon was "appalled." Executive vice president Andrew Friedman was perturbed.

And most Rays players either didn't want to talk about or were dumbfounded by a story in Friday's USA Today that portrayed Triple-A Durham players B.J. Upton, Elijah Dukes and Delmon Young as impatient to make it to the majors, derisive toward the minor leagues and antagonistic toward the organization that cuts their paychecks.

Said Upton to USA Today: "I can't believe I'm still here."

Said Dukes: "Those guys up there [in the majors] shower in Evian. Here, we use sewer water."

Said Young, who frequently has been outspoken in his criticism of the organization that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2003: "I don't know what they're waiting for. They're what, 30 games out of first place? They think we're going to mess up their clubhouse chemistry. B.J. should be up there. What are they waiting for? They always have excuses."

All three were in trouble this year, suspended or arrested. However, I also wonder if this is a way to get out of the organization? Tampa Bay's never been a good franchise, and while that seems to be changing, a good minor league player might be better off being traded anywhere else. My guess is that the three are immature jerks, but you never know.

Albert Belle pleaded guilty today to stalking his former girlfriend:

Former major league slugger Albert Belle pleaded guilty to one count of stalking his ex-girlfriend, authorities said Wednesday. Belle, who remains jailed, is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 24 in Maricopa County Superior Court -- the day before his 40th birthday.

Prosecutors said Belle faces at least a 90-day jail sentence plus supervised probation and must avoid all contact with the victim.

How do Detroit fans feel about the return of Dmitri Young? Will he get the same treatment Brett Myers gets from the Philadelphia fans and press? Should either of them be playing? If not, what do they need to do to get back to the point where fans accept them playing major league baseball?

David Montgomery disputes Bill Giles version of the Brett Myers incident:

"I'm embarrassed that we can't do the right thing about this incident," Montgomery said in a phone conversation yesterday. "And convey how serious we take issues of domestic abuse."

Montgomery was clearly perturbed that Giles used a 15-minute phone conversation between the two as the basis of his "knowledge" about the Brett Myers incident in Boston. As for Giles' contention that Phillies employee Debbie Nocito claimed to have witnessed the entire incident and disputed other eyewitness accounts of an assault, Montgomery said, angrily, "Debbie's account was that she did not see it."

"It doesn't mean we don't think it happened."

Earlier in the conversation he said of Giles, "As far as this, he clearly misunderstood me."

Montgomery's version makes a lot more sense.

Brian Shackelford joins Brett Myers in the "arrested for assaulting a woman" category:

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brian Shackelford was arrested early Thursday on suspicion of third-degree sexual assault.

The 29-year-old player was arrested shortly after midnight at Miller Park, where the Reds played the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night, police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said. She declined to provide details on the arrest other than to say it involved a woman Monday.

"It's an ongoing criminal investigation," she said.

Sgt. Michael Damian said Shackelford was still jailed Thursday morning.

The Reds moved on to Atlanta, so it's not clear who is going to bail out Brian. If the Reds learned anything from the Myers incident, it's don't let this person pitch anytime soon.

Update: Looking at Shackleford's stats, the Reds wouldn't want him pitching anytime soon anyway.

Brett Myers asked for and was granted a leave of absence by the Philadelphia Phillies in the wake of his arrest in Boston:

"First, while I dispute that the facts are as alleged, I recognize that my behavior was inappropriate and for that I apologize," Myers said in a statement. "Second, I recognize that the incident created an embarrassing situation for many people, including my wife and family, my teammates, the Phillies organization, and fans, and I am very sorry for that."

He'll be out through the All-Star Game.

Via The Hardball Times, Bob Klapisch remembers his run in with Bobby Bonilla and discusses why baseball players don't say interesting things anymore.

John Rocker sets the record straight on sensitivity training:

When Rocker was ordered to attend similar training after the former Braves reliever made offensive remarks in a Sports Illustrated story published in 1999, he left shortly after showing up, he told the Chicago Tribune.

"The guy told me when I got there I had to show up to make it look good for people, so after about 15 minutes I left and walked right out of the room and it satisfied the powers that be," Rocker told the newspaper.

And as far as fines go:

"It was a farce, a way for the scared little man, Bud Selig, to get people off his [backside]," Rocker, speaking to the Tribune, said of the sensitivity training.

He also told the newspaper that he didn't pay any of the fine levied against him by Selig. Rocker was fined $20,000 for his comments, but that was reduced to $500 after appeal.

"I never paid a cent, a lot of players never pay a cent," Rocker told the newspaper. "It's just a front to look good and the way Selig cowers to pressure."

Good to see MLB does such a good job of enforcing discipline.

I'm not surprised Ozzie Guillen doesn't want to attend sensitivity training:

Guillen did not deny an ESPNdeportes.com story that quoted him doubting he would ever attend a major-league baseball mandated sensitivity class, instead calling the entire situation "uncomfortable" for him.

"I don't need this job," Guillen said. "I don't need to kiss anybody's butt.

"I apologized."

Guillen walked out of the press conference after answering a question about the Web site's story in which Guillen said he didn't know what a sensitivity course was about, and that he doubted he would ever attend one.

Later though, Guillen said through a team spokesman that he indeed would do whatever he is ordered to do, including the sensitivity training.

Ozzie can't say it himself. He can be blustery and macho in front of the press, but he has to send a spokesman to be submissive. I wonder how the sensitivity teacher is going to handle being told to @%$# off by Ozzie?

Meanwhile, the White Sox are being accused of stealing signs. And they offer evidence:

Signs were changed after the fifth inning, and the White Sox went four for 36 with one extra-base hit and one run after the switch.

This sounds more like La Russa being La Russa, looking for an external excuse to internal failure. I guess the Tigers were stealing signs last night, too.

Selig came down hard on Ozzie Guillen today, suspending him one whole game for his part in the beaning of Chris Duncan and fined him for calling a reporter a fag. Guillen will also undergo sensitivity training. Ozzie is such a personality, however, I can see the class coming out talking more like Ozzie than the other way around.

And if he's going to WNBA games and Madonna concerts, how much more sensitive can he get? :-)

Ozzie Guillen apologized last night for remarks made Tuesday.

Just when you thought it was safe to like Jeff Kent...

Randy Johnson picked up a five-game suspension for throwing at Eduardo Perez.

Randy Johnson was suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount for intentionally throwing at the Indians' Eduardo Perez on Wednesday night. Yankees manager Joe Torre was also suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount for Johnson's actions after the teams were warned.

Unless appealed, Johnson's suspension is scheduled to begin Friday in Washington.

With Johnson (8-5) nursing a 6-1 lead the following inning, Perez, a longtime nemesis, came to the plate with one out and nobody on. The Big Unit threw his first pitch way inside, and Perez pointed his bat at the mound and took a few steps toward the pitcher.

Good. This makes Sean Tracey's decision seem even more like the right one.

If this story is true, Ozzie Guillen and Ken Williams go into the baseball jerks category:

White Sox rookie pitcher Sean Tracey got into hot water with his manager Ozzie Guillen -- for getting an out.

Tracey was summoned to start the seventh inning and got Hank Blalock to ground out, but getting an out might not have been the reason Tracey was brought into the game. White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski was hit by two pitches in the game and a source told the Chicago Sun-Times that Tracey was told to hit Blalock as retaliation. Tracey threw two inside pitches to Blalock before getting him to ground out.

After getting the out, Tracey was removed from the game. Guillen slammed a water bottle to the ground when Blalock grounded out and the manager then brought Agustin Montero in to pitch. Guillen was then seen in the dugout barking at Tracey, who pulled the collar of his jersey over his head.

Guillen's explanation makes no sense:

Guillen didn't address why he screamed at Tracey and had a different explanation why he took the rookie out of the game.

"I tried to get Montero ready [to face Blalock] and wasn't able to. It was a little late," Guillen explained. "It was my mistake. I didn't get him up quick enough. I didn't want Tracey in that situation."

Pierzynski gets hit by pitches a lot. Maybe it's the way he stands at the plate. If a pitcher doesn't want to hit another human being with a deadly object, that should be fine. He got the out, after all, and when you're trying to win a ball game, that's a tad more important.

Update: South Side Sox has more on this. It seems Tracey did try to hit Blalock, he just wasn't very good at it.

The suspensions and fines came down today in last weekend's brawl in Chicago. Barrett got the most, ten games. I assume it will be appealed.

Albert Belle is going to jail for violating terms of his previous bail. He's been calling the ex-girlfriend he was ordered not to contact:

Last month, the former girlfriend called police and said she was receiving hangup phone calls, Clark said. Detectives began an investigation and checked phone records, which showed the calls were coming from Belle. Last week, Belle called and spoke with the woman.

"The nature of the conversation was harassing but not threatening," Clark said.

That was enough probable cause to arrest Belle for felony stalking and violating the previous court order, he said. Clark said because Belle is accused of committing another felony while out on bond, he is ineligible for bail in the new case.

I still think My Name is Joey would be an excellent reality show.

Delmon Young received a 50 game suspension today for throwing his bat at an umpire:

"The Tampa Bay Devil Rays fully support the decision," the team said in a statement. "As stated before, we do not tolerate this type of conduct from anyone in the Devil Rays' organization."

The suspension is retroactive to April 27, the day after Young tossed his bat in a Triple-A game while playing for Durham. The 20-year-old outfielder has agreed to perform at least 50 hours of community service, and can play again June 19.

Good. I don't care how badly the umpires call a game, there is no place for violence against them.

Just Off-Camera does a very good job of demonstrating fans hatred of Barry Bonds has little to do with race or steroids. It can be summed up by Barry not signing the ball for the young man who caught number 713.

Jason Kendall will sit on the bench for four games as he's the only one suspended for his altercation with John Lackey. That seems appropriate. Charging the mound because the pitcher threw a great curve ball should not be allowed.

Jose Mesa earned a four day suspension for hitting Omar Vizquel. It should be more given that it's a personal vendetta. I hope Mesa received a warning that the next time he hits Vizquel the penalty will be much harsher.

Delmon Young is in a lot of trouble:

Durham Bulls outfielder Delmon Young threw a bat into the chest of the home plate umpire after being called out on strikes in the first inning of Wednesday night's game at Pawtucket.

There's no place for umpire intimidation at any level of baseball. Otherwise, we'll be back to the 1890's where the game was full of cheaters on the field. Replacement umps or not, Young deserves a long suspension.

Update: Young's been suspened indefinitely as the case is investigated. There's video of the incident from the in-house taping.

The ejection prompted Young to flip his bat toward the umpire. One observer who spoke on condition of anonymity said that while Young didn't flip the bat hard, he clearly intended it to hit the umpire.

It's not the first time Young was suspended for touching an ump, either:

It's the second significant run-in with an umpire for Young, who was suspended last season while with Double-A Montgomery for bumping an umpire almost a year ago to the day. He was suspended for three games for that incident.

Update: Here's an eyewitness account by a Devil Rays fan. (Hat tip, Deadspin.)

I don't think this is needed:

Bob Watson, head of discipline for Major League Baseball, is expected to be at Citizens Bank Park today to meet with right-handed pitcher Jose Mesa and discuss disciplinary action for Mesa touching off a beanball incident by hitting shortstop Omar Vizquel of the San Francisco Giants with a pitch Saturday.

If you say you're going to hit a batter every time you face him, and you do it three out of three times, there's no doubt it wasn't by accident. I would say after the second time, Jose needed to get a long suspension.

Mesa needed to be told after the first beaning that the next time he hits Omar, he's out of baseball. Why it's taking so long is beyond me. Vizquel's life could be in jeopardy here.

Paragraphs like this:

When we were kids, there were two baseball players we were instructed to pattern ourselves after, examples of how the game provided structure and organization and produced quality, upstanding gentlemen who were beacons of Good American Values to us all. One stood for hard work, hustle and dedication; the other represented dignity, earnestness and decency. The first was Pete Rose. The second was Steve Garvey. That worked out well.

Julian Tavarez received the fifth suspension of his career today.

Bob Watson, baseball's vice president in charge of discipline, cited Tavarez for "violent and unsportsmanlike actions" during Monday's game against the Devil Rays. Tavarez punched Tampa Bay's Joey Gathright lightly on the jaw after a play at home plate.

The penalty would start next Monday, when Boston plays its season opener, unless the players' association appeals.

Maybe it's time to just throw the book at Julian. I understand players losing their tempers once in a while, but Tavarez is just dangerous. Maybe a 50 or 100 game suspension at this point would make the pitcher think before he struck.

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Randy Johnson supports a sixteen-year-old child he fathered from an affair early in his career. He's suing to get back some of the money he's spent on the girl over the last nine years.

Court papers reveal that Johnson first agreed in 1997 to pay $5,000 a month in child support for Heather Roszell, plus another $750 in monthly day care expenses.

Laurel Roszell claimed things turned sour last year when she asked the all star to buy Heather a car and foot the bill for community college classes.

He fired back with the legal equivalent of a high and hard fastball - demanding that she return about $71,000 in day care payments, plus $26,000 in interest because the teen was too old to be in day care, legal papers show.

"My daughter is 16 and has not been in day care for at least five years," Johnson said in a legal affidavit dated Feb. 3. "[Roszell] should not receive a windfall for expenses she did not incur."

I disagree with The Coalition of the Dark Side that Johnson is a deadbeat dad. He's paid over half a million in child support over nine years before day care expenses. It does, however, appear unseemly to sue over this matter.

The Daily News, at the bottom of the article, asks, "Why?"

Observers were befuddled that Johnson would file a lawsuit over what amounts to chump change for the millionaire - all while risking unwanted publicity on an intensely private matter.

Because he's a highly competitive athlete. It's not about the money, it's about winning something that Randy feels he should win. That's why he's a great pitcher. It's the same thing that drives players to cheat with drugs and corked bats and spitballs. These athletes have an intense desire to win, so intense that it often clouds their judgement. They put down others do they appears even greater. If you want to win, you want this kind of player on your team. But you need to accept all the baggage that goes with it.

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There's lots of great baseball related items at Deadspin this morning, but George Brett setting up a coach to look like a terrorist takes the cake.

Correction: It was a coach, not a player.

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Via Redleg Nation, it seems Pete Rose is really at the bottom of the barrel.

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The assualt case against Kenny Rogers was settled today, with Rogers agreeing to an anger management class in order to reduce the charges against him.

Mr. Rogers, who is in spring training with the Detroit Tigers, was originally charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to a year in jail.

If Mr. Rogers completes the anger management course by July 28, the charge will be reduced to a Class C misdemeanor, which includes no jail time.

Can you say, "Temper, temper?" Of course you can. Daniel Striped Tiger could not be reached for comment, although he's said to be very happy Mr. Rogers is playing for his favorite team.

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I haven't see any other stories confirming that Soriano might move to center. This one in the New York Times seems to imply that Soriano will stay in left:

Soriano did not speak to the news media before the game. But he did have a brief conversation with Robinson in the manager's office.

Robinson said that he needed to hear from Soriano personally that he was willing to play left field, not just for one game but permanently. Robinson said Soriano indicated as much.

"He finally said to me, 'Yes, I will go play left field today,' " Robinson said before the game. "When he answered me that he was willing to play left field, that was the end of the conversation."

Stay tuned.

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Roch Around the Clock is reporting that Soriano will play this afternoon. There also might be a solution to moving his from second base:

Soriano told at least one teammate today that he'd prefer to play center, and Robinson has said in the past that he'd accommodate Soriano. Maybe that's the solution. Anything to keep him off second base, where he's committed 105 errors in the last five seasons. The next highest total is 59 by Ray Durham.

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Here's the full story on last night's standoff from Mark Zuckerman in the Washington Times.

Following batting practice, Soriano met with Robinson and Bowden and reiterated his position.

"Nothing is against his will," Robinson said before the game. "He doesn't have to go out there. I can't force him to go out there. The manager of a ballclub makes out the lineup, informs him he's in the lineup tonight and he's playing left field. ... For the ballclub's sake, for his sake, I hope he does. I hope he goes out to left field."

When the Nationals took the field in the top of the first, though, Soriano was nowhere to be found, so Robinson emerged from the dugout and approached plate umpire Mike Estabrook. Robinson informed Estabrook he was making a change and signaled for Brandon Watson to come off the bench and take over center field, with Ryan Church moving from center to fill the vacancy in left.

Robinson retreated to the dugout step, looked inside and put his hand on his hip, clearly frustrated.

"I've never had it happen before myself," Robinson said after the game. "I don't feel betrayed, though. That's his decision."

I'm not sure what Soriano's options are here. If I'm working for someone and I'm unhappy, I can quit and find another job. Alfonso's not in that position, unless he wants to leave baseball. He doesn't have enough time to be a free agent, so even if he retires for a year the Nationals would still control his rights, I believe. If Bowden can suspend Alfonso without pay, there's no real pressure to trade him.

Alfonso Soriano appears to have no leverage. At some point, his agent needs to sit down with the player, explain the value of $10 million dollars, explain that it's one year, and if he plays really well he'll get an even bigger free agent contract for 2007.

For the majority of us, a $10 million dollar salary means we're going to do pretty much anything the boss asks, as long as it's not illegal. Playing left field, with that in mind, seems to be a reasonable request.

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Alfonso Soriano refused to play the outfield tonight for Washington, and the Nationals are threatening to put him on the disqualified list:

The Nationals are off Tuesday, then travel to play the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter on Wednesday. If Soriano refuses to play in that game and again at home against the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, the Nationals will take action.

"We told him if we get to Thursday, and he refuses to play left field, we told him at that point we will request that the commissioner's office place him on the disqualified list, at that time - no pay, no service time," Bowden said.

"If he refuses to play and goes home, and the commissioner's office accepts our request to place him on the disqualified list, then at that point, if he were to sit out this year, he would not be a free agent, he would stay our property because his service time would stay the same."

Will Soriano give up all that money? Or will Washington trade him? Stay tuned.

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John Rocker hasn't grown up yet.

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The Marlins became fed up with Pokey Reese today and gave him his walking papers:

"I think that the 72 hours that have passed is more than a reasonable amount of time for him to offer some explanation for his unexcused absence," Beinfest said. "We still do not have that explanation, and we're moving on."

I wonder if Reese will offer an explanation. Maybe he just didn't want to play on a lousy team.

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You've probably seen the news about Kenny Williams calling Frank Thomas an idiot. But those stories don't link to the interview that was the last straw for Kenny. Here it is. The feud between the two comes down to the diminished skills clause of Frank's old contract:

Arvia: The weird thing about this is A's GM Billy Beane and Kenny are pretty tight (or were until Beane made some disparaging remarks about Williams in a book) ...

Thomas: No it isn't. Bottom line, Kenny and I have never seen eye to eye, from Day 1. There's no secret about that. It started in 2000. That has stuck with him from Day 1, when he took the job in 2000.

I would have been better off in 2000 asking to be traded instead of sitting in that situation I did for that five years. After we lost to Seattle in the playoffs that year, I should have been traded.

That's when the bitterness started, and it was over a contract. You're damn right. And you saw how it ended up — first superstar in the game to get money taken off the (bleeping) plate. That's where all that started.

Thomas does say one thing in the interview that do think is idiotic:

Thomas: And you're talking to me right now like I'm 40 years old. I'm not 40 years old. I'm 37. I'm in my prime.

You think about what Barry Bonds has done from the ages of 37 to 41. It shows you what a player 37 can do — 37 to 40 are your prime years. Baseball is a game, from the ages of 35 to 40, you know so much more.

Frank is still very good, but he's not in his prime.

Ozzie Guillen apologized to Alex Rodriguez today over Guillen's remarks in Sports Illustrated:

"I learned a lesson. I never took a first shot at anybody in my life and now I feel like I took the first shot. I feel embarrassed, I feel guilty. I wish I had not said it the way it sounds or the way I said it," Guillen said at a news conference at the White Sox's spring training complex on reporting day for pitchers and catchers.

Albert Belle is in jail:

Scottsdale police arrested former baseball star Albert Belle on Thursday on suspicion of stalking an ex-girlfriend.

Belle, who lives in Scottsdale, was taken into police custody at 10 a.m. and charged with felony stalking/harassment, police said.

I assume this is his mug shot. According to the report, Albert is accused of threatening to kill the woman.

First of all, if this proves to be true, I hope the woman takes measures to protect herself.

Second, it's always sad to see a great ballplayer end up in jail. When they're playing, I take a lot of the stories of bad behavior with a grain of salt. It's real easy to dislike someone as hyper-competitive as a major league ballplayer. But when the game is over, that competitiveness should moderate. Given this accusation, it looks like it didn't for Albert.

Ozzie Guillen says nasty things about Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra over their World Baseball Classic decisions. Criticizing A-Rod, at this point, takes all the guts of a tape worm. No matter what he does, on the field or off, someone is going to complain. Since people appear to be able to get under Alex's skin, Ozzie's jumping on the band wagon.

Maybe Alex should adopt the Barry Bonds attitude. People hated Barry well before any one thought he might be cheating. And Bonds likes it that way. He thrives on the hate. Hate makes his opponents make mistakes against him. If the fans are not going to love A-Rod, I say go all out for being despised. Embrace the dark side Alex.

Bob Ryan expands on Teddy Greenstein's column from the other day on why few voted for Albert Belle for the Hall of Fame.

''He just liked to bully people," maintains Ocker, who says he was happy to vote for Rice. ''He wanted to scare people, just for sport. And he got about 10 percent worse every year. In the end, he only had two teammates who'd talk to him. But Kenny Lofton gave up on him and began blasting him to the press. And Wayne Kirby gave up about halfway through his last season."

...

It's a biblical saga. Albert Belle has sown, and now it's harvest time. He could reap only 7.7 percent of the vote, and the only hope a man in that circumstance has of getting in is via the Veterans Committee, far, far down the road. He'll have to depend on -- how funny is this? -- friends.

It's interesting that a couple of the writers quoted said they didn't vote for him because of the length of his career, which is a perfectly good reason not to vote for Albert. Albert, however, made it easy for writers to find the negatives in his career.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune reminds us of Albert Belle's shortcomings:

So why do I still believe that Albert Belle got way more Hall of Fame support than he deserved?

Oh, yeah. Because I covered him in 1998 when he played for the White Sox.

I saw him curse at reporters. Saw him react callously after accidentally flinging a bat into the stands that bloodied the face of a 10-year-old girl. Saw him pile up meaningless stats before sparse crowds. Saw his teammates and coaches revile him.

Albert Belle was, and I'm guessing still is, a lowlife.

With 40 votes in his first year, I don't think there's much of a chance to Albert getting in any time soon.

Sidney Ponson got out of jail yesterday. We now wait to see if any club is willing to take on his baggage. He's really thrown away a promising career. Over the last two seasons, the league's hit .315 against Sidney. Since he doesn't give up many home runs, either the defense behind him been really bad, or he's been serving up meat balls.

Manny Ramirez hits a solo shot in the fifth inning. The Red Sox are winning 4-2 in the top of the 7th. Manny just walked, and hustled faster to first than he did on the ground out. In my opinion, Manny should be on the bench. To quote Scotty, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me."

Of course, as I wrote that, Manny goes first to third on a hard liner to center. It was a high risk play, but Manny made it. Barely. It appears he knows he screwed up and he's going overboard to make up for it.

It happened again. On July 26th, Manny hit a comebacker to the pitcher and didn't run hard to first. The pitcher made a bad throw, but Manny was out anyway. In the first inning tonight, the same thing happened. Each time, Ramirez going full out is safe. Manny came out to play left in the bottom of the inning. Sending Manny to the showers was the appropriate response.

If Manny doesn't want to play full out for the playoff berth, he shouldn't be in the game.

The Orioles released Sidney Ponson today.

Ponson, on the 15-day disabled list with thumb and calf injuries, has one season left on a three-year deal that would pay him $10 million in 2006.

"The Orioles did what we felt was justified and right, and indeed what we were compelled to do," said H. Russell Smouse, the team's general counsel. "There was really no alternative after a deliberate consideration of all the facts."

Ponson's agent, Barry Praver, also did not return a call. Praver and Ponson have not talked to the media since the 28-year-old pitcher's arrest last week.

"We will clearly grieve it," said Michael Weiner, the general counsel of the players' association.

The Orioles invoked the morals clause:

Every player on the 40-man roster signs a standard contract that includes a morals clause, paragraph 3(a), that reads: "The Player agrees to perform his services hereunder diligently and faithfully, to keep himself in first-class physical condition and to obey the Club's training rules, and pledges himself to the American public and to the Club to conform to high standards of personal conduct, fair play and good sportsmanship."

The Orioles believe Ponson violated that rule.

"It relates to his alcohol-related conduct over a period of time," Smouse said.

The Rockies ended up paying Denny Neagle most of his remaining contract when they tried something similar. I suspect the Orioles will find themselves in the same position.

But good for the Orioles for trying. They certainly gave Ponson a chance to clean up his act. I suppose if he were pitching like an ace and the team was in the middle of a pennant race, things might be different. Sir Sidney strikes me as someone who's wasted a lot of talent and the good will of his organization.

Sidney Ponson ran into trouble with the law again. Isn't it time somebody did an intervention? This is the fourth time he's gotten in trouble since last December? Two fights and two DUIs. Sidney has a problem, and if he doesn't deal with it soon, he may end up like Dwight Gooden.

Jeff Kent and Milton Bradley are not getting along. Given the two people involved, I just surprised it didn't happen sooner. There's video at the link that's worth watching as well.

A pox on both their houses. Kent has little credibility since lying about his motorcycle accident. Bradley is very sensitive to criticism. They're not the first teammates to hate each other and they won't be the last. It really doesn't matter as long as the team wins, which the Dodgers aren't doing right now.

There is one thing I'd like to comment on, however. A quote from Bradley:

"Me being an African-American is the most important thing to me - more important than baseball," said the 27-year-old center fielder, whose voice never went beyond his normal speaking level. "White people never want to see race - with anything. But there's race involved in baseball. That's why there's less than 9 percent African-American representation in the game. I'm one of the few African-Americans that starts here."

I also don't see what wrong with 9% of ball players being African-Americans. If 25% of ballplayers are Hispanic, that means less than 75% of ball players are American of some type (non-Americans other than Hispanics make up the rest). So if 9% of all players are African American, then 12% of American born players are African American, which is very close to the US census figure of 13%. In other words, if I'm being color blind about choosing players, I'd expect to wind up with between 12 and 14% African Americans among my American players. Now, unless you believe that African Americans are inherently better ballplayers than Americans of other origins, then I don't see the problem.

If anyone should complain it's the Asian-Americans. They make up 4% of the population, meaning that there should be about 30 Asian-American in the majors. As far as I know, the majority of Asians in baseball right now are foreign citizens.

Am I saying there's no racism in baseball? Of course not. I have no doubt there are racist people in the game. I wouldn't be surprised if one of you could find patterns of salaries, trades, minor league promotions, etc. to argue your point. But it's not shown in the percentage of African Americans in the game.

Update: See this post for an update on the percentage of Hispanic players in the league and an updated calculation based on that.

There was an interesting reaction to Rafael Palmeiro yesterday:

When Rafael Palmeiro strode to the plate yesterday for his first plate appearance since he was suspended for a positive steroid test, the boos showered down on him like rain. Then, just when you thought that there would be no ambivalence from the sweat-soaked crowd at Camden Yards, a cheer rose up to drown out the righteous multitude.

The scene would be played out at a lower volume the next time Palmeiro was introduced.

First boos. Then cheers.

It even seems some fans came to the game just to boo him:

It was a strange scene that got stranger when a surprisingly large number of fans got up after the first inning and left the ballpark, apparently braving the 106-degree heat index just to register their disapproval at the first sight of their fallen hero.

They could have stayed home in protest, but I guess they didn't want to give David Steele the satisfaction, so they came, they booed and then they miraculously morphed into golf fans.

I would say a mixed reaction like that from home town fans is bad for Palmeiro. Wade Boggs got a standing ovation from Fenway when he appeared after the Margo scandal. It sounds to me like Palmeiro is going to get much worse treatment on the road.

Rafael Palmeiro is back on the team, but he's stuck on the bench. The Orioles are using Freire at first and Gibbons at DH.

Kenny Rogers was loudly booed when he came out to pitch. The NESN broadcast has the stands well miked, so we'll get a good idea how the fans treat Rogers throughout the game.

The more I read about the decision to overturn Kenny Rogers suspension, the more I'm in disbelief. The arbitrator for all intents and purposes completely overturned the decision.

An independent arbitrator ruled Tuesday that Selig had overstepped his bounds in acting as judge and jury in the case of Rogers' June 29 altercation with two TV cameramen. Selig's initial 20-game suspension of Rogers was overturned, essentially reducing it to a 13-game penalty. Arbitrator Shyam Das also changed the nature of Rogers' $50,000 fine, making it a charitable contribution.

So Kenny gets to deduct the fine from his taxes? It gets better.

Das' ruling also allows Rogers to file another grievance at the end of the season if he does not meet incentive bonuses in his contract because of the missed starts. Rogers would receive $100,000 for every 10-inning threshold between 160 and 200. He's pitched 1331/3 innings this season and has pitched at least 195 innings in six of the last seven years.

So his two weeks off is now a paid vacation! The only baseball people who suffered were Rogers teammates, who had to play a man short for 13 games. The union must be real proud of itself today.

Once again, Selig and MLB show their incompetence. The union argued before the appeal that Selig shouldn't hear it. Do their lawyers know how to read the CBA? Do their lawyers know how to argue in front of a arbitrator? After all, it doesn't really matter if Bud hears the appeal or not. He just has to get on the phone to Watson and DuPuy and tell them what to do.

What a joke. If I were a cameraman, I'd refuse to cover the Rangers in protest.

Kenny Rogers suspension was reduced by an arbitrator to 13 games. He'll be able to pitch tomorrow.

For once I agree with Bud Selig:

"I strongly disagree with Arbitrator Das' decision today," Selig said. "It sends the wrong message to every one of our constituents: the fans, the media and our players. There is a standard of behavior that is expected of our players, which was breached in this case. The arbitrator's decision diminishes that standard and is contrary to the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. In my opinion, the decision is seriously ill-conceived."

This is a horrible decision. Is the union happy they got a thug off on a technicality? This is one time Fehr should have said, "We can get your suspension reduced, but you deserve the punishment. Take it and don't complain." I hope that the two cameramen Rogers attacked take him for a lot of money. I'm really disappointed in the union leadership.

From reading the comments to this post on Manny Ramirez, I guess I didn't make my point clear. I'm not comparing Sammy and Manny as hitters. What I'm saying is that Sammy was a great hitter and everybody loved him despite his antics. When he stopped being a great hitter, suddenly the antics were a reason to strongly dislike him.

I believe the same thing is true of Manny. It doesn't matter that Manny is better than Sosa over his full career. What matters is that people are willing to excuse his actions because of his greatness. Once Manny's production falls to a level that's easily replaced, the fans won't be so forgiving. Rather than pleas to keep Manny when he wants to sit out a game, Red Sox fans will be calling for his head.

Manny Ramirez was scratched from tonight's lineup. There's been no word from the Red Sox as to why he was taken out of the lineup.

Update: Olerud is batting in Manny's slot and drives in the first run of the game in the bottom of the first.

Update: Manny is still with the Red Sox. Given all that's going on, Francona didn't want to play Manny tonight. Francona will speak to the press after the game on the subject.

Sounds to me like there's more to this than meets the eye.

Manny Ramirez was scheduled for a day off yesterday. With the Nixon injury, the Red Sox asked if he would play. Manny said no.

So, really, what are team officials to do? You want the home runs and RBI, you get the teenage behavior, too. With Ramirez, it is all part of the deal. The Red Sox won a World Series last year and Ramirez was a very big part of that, and the unfortunate reality is that the Red Sox need Ramirez more than he needs them. In the short term, that will remain true as long as the Sox want to win.

The Red Sox could always bench him. Grady Little did that in 2003. It was just for one day, but the message came through as Manny played great the rest of the season. Maybe Francona should have Manny take Friday off as well.

Update: LyfLines reprints their thoughts on Manny from two years ago.

Good for Bud Selig. He did not reduce Kenny Rogers' suspension. Even better, the arbitrator who is going to hear the grievance of the union (over whether Bud should make the decision) won't issue a stay. Rogers suspension starts tonight.

This really hurts the Rangers:

That team will now have 24 active players instead of the customary 25.

"We've got some options. None of them are going to be as good as Kenny," Showalter said. "But that's the cards that we're dealt, and it looks like we'll be playing with 24 players for a while. It puts a lot of emphasis on nobody getting kicked out of a game, that's for sure."

The team is falling, the pitching staff is in disarray, and now because of the idiocy of their ace, they're down a man for almost three weeks. Good job sinking your team's chances, Kenny.

Nothing really new to report after Rogers appealed his suspension to Selig. There won't be a decision until next week, and then the union will probably appeal on a technicality.

In what may be his last game for three weeks, Kenny Rogers is going out in style. Through four innings tonight, he's only faced 14 Oakland batters, allowing two hits and no runs. His appeal will be heard tomorrow, leaving Buck Showalter wondering what to do with a tattered rotation. I bet Buck didn't think he'd miss Ryan Drese this quickly.

And there's the chance that the MLBPA will file a grievance if the suspension isn't reduced. I find that ludicrous, especially after the outburst against the cameraman earlier this week. The MLBPA has to realize one of the things that makes their members valuable is all the free press coverage they receive. This should be one time where they say to their player, be a man and take your punishment.

Update: The Athletics got to Rogers in the fifth and six for four runs. Rogers didn't lose the game, but he'd helped his team on the way to the loss, 6-4.

Kenny Rogers needs to learn to ignore camera people:

Rogers jawed at a cameraman for Dallas-Fort Worth television station WFAA as he was booked into the county jail. Just as with the incident that led to the charges, the exchange was caught on tape.

WFAA reported on its Web site Monday that photographer Mike Zukerman was videotaping the procedure when Rogers turned to him and said, "You're getting really close; you know that? Do you hear me?"

A few seconds later, Rogers again turned to the camera, saying, "You must be pretty proud of yourself, too."

After Zukerman replied, "It's just my job, Kenny," Rogers responded: "Yeah. Your job. That's just your excuse."

That's going to look really good when he faces these charges.

Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle pens the only non-boiler plate article on Kenny Rogers at media day I've seen this morning.

His decision to accept a spot on the American League All-Star team for tonight's game may be an indication that he simply doesn't understand. By showing up here, he made himself The Story. Whether he pitches or not, he's the one guy every eye will be on.

Rogers said several times on Monday that he never craved attention. His actions say otherwise.

Rogers keeps saying that he's there because the players voted for him. But when did the players vote? The incident happened June 29. The All-Star reserves were announced July 3rd. I would have thought that most ballots were cast before the incident. If the incident occurred earlier, I wonder how that would have effected the voting?

Kenny Rogers apologized this afternoon:

"I feel compelled to come before you and express my deep regret for my actions," Rogers said. "The incident should have never occurred."

...

"I should have acted professionally, and I regret that was not the case," Rogers said. "I am deeply disappointed. ... This incident was completely out of character, and I think you know it will never happen again."

At least it won't happen while you're serving your suspension.

Interestingly, Rogers lawyer advised against his speaking. If Rogers is taken to court, I wonder how his statement will affect the proceedings?

Bud Selig suspended Kenny Rogers for 20 games this afternoon. He was also fined.

"While I recognize that the relationship between players and members of the media may sometimes be difficult, there is no circumstance in which a player may settle a difference of opinion or a dispute through physical means," Selig said.

That's absolutely right. However, I don't understand this:

The suspension applies only to regular-season games, and Rogers would be eligible for the All-Star Game if selected.

I wonder if Rogers will be chosen, or if the commissioner will make it clear to those in charge of the selection that Kenny is not welcome on the team?

Update: According the the Dallas Morning News, Rogers was fined $50,000.

The number of games and the money are pretty stiff. I really hope they don't reduce this on appeal. I was thinking 30 games or more would be appropriate.

With Kenny Rogers being investigated for assault, another Ranger pitcher pleaded no contest to a similar charge. Frank Francisco will not spend time in jail although he will serve time in a work detail (think the modern equivalent of breaking rocks). He'll also attend anger management classes and spend 500 hours in community service. Sounds like they'll keep him very busy while his right elbow heals.

Frank's infraction was in the heat of the moment. I wonder what they'll do with Kenny Rogers, who's act appeared to be premeditated.

The Kenny Rogers saga is starting to come into focus. It looks like someone in the Rangers organization is trying to undermine him:

Hart cited a report Thursday in The Dallas Morning News that a "club official" floated a story accusing Rogers of faking the injury so he could miss a couple of tough starts.

Hart called the report "laughable" on radio and "uninformed" at Thursday's news conference.

Accurate, is more like it. At least two members of the local media got the story, unsolicited.

And it's no secret. One player told me he's sure that Rogers is aware some faction of the club is behind the media rips.

Question: What's the upside of planting bad stories about your ace in the middle of a pennant race?

Answer: Nothing, unless you're paving the way for his exit after the season, if not sooner.

As always, it would be nice if we knew the name of the source so we could judge the veracity of the claims ourselves. Whatever's going on, the Rangers are doing a good job of undermining their chances to make the playoffs.

I didn't know there were jurisdictions in baseball.

The Rangers talked with MLB on Thursday. Because the incident occurred on the field, MLB has jurisdiction. A decision on possible discipline is expected Friday, Texas owner Tom Hicks said.

"At this point there's nothing the Texas Rangers will or can do," Hicks said. "We will support whatever the commissioner decides."

So it's all up to Bud and his Buddies. Of course, it doesn't mean the Rangers can do nothing. I would not be surprised to see Rogers moved to another team. Most teams want to have good relations with the media that cover them. Moving Kenny would help restore that.

Kenny Rogers attacked two cameramen last night. One was taken to a hospital on a stretcher (Fox has a video link of the incident).

This wasn't Randy Johnson being surprised by a reporter jumping out of the bushes, or Tim Belcher being upset after a bad game. This was a premeditated act of violence over rumors in the press. You would think at 40 years old and 17 years in the majors Rogers would have a little more maturity.

I don't see how the Rangers can keep The Gambler at this point. He deserves a huge fine and a huge suspension. I won't be at all surprised if he's arrested and charged with assault.

I also wonder what's really going on here. At this point in his life, he should be secure money wise. According to Baseball Reference (scroll down), he's made over $55 million dollars over his career. Is he really that competitive that a lack of a contract extension, the release of a friend, and rumors in the media sends him off the deep end? I'm clueless here. He just threw away his career for no good reason.

Radley Balko points out the lastest Congressional interference in baseball, by the same man who conceived the steroid hearings. (Hat tip, Instapundit.)

Personally, I'd like to see baseball anti-trust exemption removed, just so that Congress would no longer have a good reason to get involved in the game.

Robert Fick not only is still in baseball, he's given the Padres some offense this season. He drove in both runs in their 2-1 victory over the Dodgers last night. Since coming up in May, Fick is hitting, getting on base, and supplying some power. He's also catching again, which makes him happy.

"I've figured out what I need to do," Fick said yesterday. "I've done some stupid things in the past. I'm taking better care of myself on and off the field. And I think I've found a home here.

"The old Robert Fick might have gotten mad at not playing more and may have lost the respect of his teammates. But it's been different here. The Padres have been true to their word. For one thing, I'm catching again," he said.

I hope this is true. We'll see what happens when his batting stats return to normal and he's not playing every day.

I have to disagree with Rick Duncan at Pesky's Pole, who equates a statement David Ortiz made before a game with the statements on New York citizens that got John Rocker into so much trouble. Here's the statement Rick notes:

Once, when Grady Little was manager, Ortiz stuck his head into the manager's office during the manager's daily pregame briefing with reporters and offered his playful assessment of what was to take place on the field that night.

"We're going to kick their ass, drink their beer and rape their bitches."

Here's what I wrote to Rick when he e-mailed me a copy of the article:

Thanks for sending me the article. I don't agree with your conclusion. Rocker said his comments away from the heat of battle. His comments were aimed directly at a group of people who had nothing to do with baseball. He was making a political statement. Ortiz was psyching himself up for a game. If Ortiz had said, "We're going to kill the other team," everyone would know that he wasn't litterally going to kill anybody, even though that would be considered offensive if made in a political context. It's very different from him saying in an interview away from a game that he's going to kill all white people. Now, I believe Rocker was unduly punished for his statements. People have a right to speak freely. Rocker should have been shunned, released, traded, booed, but the commissioner should not have suspended him. The Braves have a right not to have a player who thinks like that on their team, but the commissioner doesn't have the right to police the speech of anyone. In Ortiz's case, I don't think he approves of rape. Maybe I'm wrong. But the contexts are very different, so to cast him as John Rocker just doesn't hold water.

To sum up my point better, Ortiz used an offensive metaphor in the context of battle, whereas Rocker spoke what he believed to be true. Ortiz didn't litteraly mean what he said, while Rocker did. That's a big difference to me. As always, I'm interested in your comments on the subject.

Omar Vizquel is worried that Jose Mesa's feud with him isn't over:

"I am going to wear some extra padding because I'm not going to take any chances," Vizquel said. "If he hits me, I'll be ready. He still throws hard."

The feud developed between the once close friends when Omar showed up Mesa in an intersquad game, and then when Omar said some unkind things in his autobiography.

Mesa says it's over:

He insists he has no plan of hitting Vizquel in the head, back or any other body part.

"He's a professional. I'm a professional," Mesa said. "He's going to play his game, and I'm going to pitch my game. What happened is in the past. It's over."

Yes, these are grown men.

Do you know what this reminds me of?

"The problem is when you're playing a team with a manager who somehow forgot how the game is played, there's problems," Schilling said on a Boston radio station Tuesday. "This should have been over a little bit ago. Lou's trying to make his team be a bunch of tough guys, and the telling sign is when the players on that team are saying, 'This is why we lose 100 games a year, because this idiot makes us do stuff like this.' They [Rays players] said that on the field."

It reminds me of this:

Schilling said he was wrong in some of his past comments that indicated steroid use in baseball was greater than what he told the committee.

“I made a mistake,” Schilling said. “Being called on that (at the hearing) made me actually start to look at the subject matter instead of guess about it.”

So is Schilling exaggerating again? How many players said that, Curt? Who were they? Curt, at this point, doesn't have a lot of credibility when he's not under oath.

Sidney Ponson's troubles continue, this time with a DUI he hadn't reported to the Orioles:

Unaware until Thursday that Ponson had been arrested in January on charges of driving under the influence and speeding, manager Lee Mazzilli summoned a small group of reporters to a hallway outside his office and issued a brief statement before heading to Viera.

"One, I'm not happy about it. I don't like it," he said. "This club stands for tradition. It's got a long history. It's just a black eye for us and we'll deal with it internally."

It's much easier for a team to tolerate shenanigans from a winning pitcher with a good ERA than from a losing pitcher with a high ERA. I get the feeling from the quotes like this:

"We'll always take everything into account," Flanagan said.

Asked if he was disappointed that Ponson hadn't become a "changed man" since December's arrest, Flanagan said: "I can't go there. I'd like to go there, but I can't go there."

That the Orioles aren't going to be too patient if Sidney doesn't perform on the mound.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Lots of speculation about how quickly Barry Bonds can recover from his knee operation, and even more about if he wants to come back.

On the knee:

Bonds had surgery on his right knee on Jan. 31, then banged it into a table at SBC Park; he had another operation on the same knee last week in San Francisco. Conte was relieved afterward because he said that Bonds's long-term prognosis was promising.

"It's not a matter of if he'll play again," Conte said. "It's a matter of when."

On any return:

What awaits Bonds now is anyone's guess. A month ago, you had to give $10 to win $1 on a "can-he-catch-Hank Aaron'' bet. Now, even Babe Ruth seems far away.

Besides, the home run records are now an afterthought. The specter of Bonds in the dock is just as compelling.

This story has grown so many tentacles that it often seems in danger of strangling itself. Tuesday's developments make it more tangled still. Every day there are more members of the "everybody" class, and fewer buffers between Bonds and a hard, cruel world that may get even harder and crueler.

This isn't the endgame, but you can see it from here.

Being a jerk is a big part of what brought Barry Bonds to this point. Unfortunately, it's also part of what made him the great player. The supercompetitiveness could not be left on the field. He wanted his opponents to hate him. His clubhouse perks set him apart from his teammates. He wouldn't tolerate the press. What's left is a reservoir of goodwill that could fill a thimble.

So when the feces hit the fan, there was no one to back up Bonds. After Sunday's revelations, I doubt he's getting much support from his family. Bill James would often write in his Abstracts that every strength covers up a weakness. Bonds ego driven competitiveness pushed him to the top of the list of great hitters. But in his hour of adversity it's left him alone and pathetic.

Will he be back? Probably. In the end, the competitiveness will win out. I wonder, however, if things will be the same on the field. Will pitchers be more willing to go after a weak kneed Bonds? Will he be able to drive his body with his repaired left knee? Will he be able to plant his right leg for the follow through on his swing? Will other teams take advantage of his immobility in left field?

I hope Scorsese makes this into a movie some day.

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Sidney Ponson has been given a chance to settle his assault chaarges out of court. Ponson expects to wrap up the case in the next 10 days, pay a fine to charity and perform community service. It also looks like this arrest served as a wake-up call to the pitcher:

In an attempt to control his temper, Ponson has chosen to attend 27 hours of anger management counseling. For years, friends and colleagues have been preaching the importance of avoiding confrontations. He's finally ready to listen.

"I still have to go to a couple of sessions," he said. "I want to get more details about it so I can help friends and stuff like that. I want to do some more."

Said Beattie: "I think when someone goes through what Sidney's gone through and he recognizes that maybe I would like someone else to help me with this whole process and he reaches out and gets something like that, that's always a benefit.

I know someone who went through a similar realization after ending up in jail for disorderly conduct and nearly losing his job. He cleaned up his act and seems to be much happier with his life. Let's hope Sidney can do the same thing.

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive during March. Click here for details.

Batgirl tells the story of A.J. Pierzynski and Stan Conte. The guys in the audience will get to wince twice.

David Letterman interviewed Randy Johnson last night and he seemed genuinely upset that the Big Unit had to apologize for pushing the camera out of his face.

Johnson: I guess I'm just not used to photographers jumping out of the bushes and all that but there's no doubt I was wrong ...

Letterman: No, no, please.

Johnson: Okay.

Letterman: Please, you didn't do anything wrong.

Johnson: Alright, you're right.

Letterman: You're compeletly backwards. This guy was a goon and a thug.

Johnson: You're right.

Letterman: He should be apologizing to you.

One of the things I've loved about Letterman over the years is that he's not afraid to criticize the people who pay him.

Johnson also said his favorite teammates were Curt Schilling and Luis Gonzalez.

They also got into his nickname:

Letterman: What is the origin of the nickname?

Johnson: Well, I think it's pretty self explanatory (audience starts laughing, and Johnson doubles over laughing at the reaction of the audience).

Letterman: (after chortling) Oh my god.

Johnson: (raising his right had over his head) My height.

At one point Letterman asked him about how he went from a good pitcher to a great pitcher. Johnson gave a generalization about the people who helped him along the way without naming names. As a baseball fan, I wish Dave had followed this up more, asking about Nolan Ryan's influence specificially. But it was a good interview for Randy; his sense of humor came through and Letterman threw the blame for the video incident onto the cameraman. A plus for the big unit.

CBS New York tried to get footage of Randy Johnson going to the doctor's for his physical this morning. Randy didn't appear too happy about it. You can read the story and see the video here. It's one of those situations where the camera men are best ignored. Just be quiet and walk on by, or at least say how happy you are to be in New York.

Update: Johnson has apologized for the incident.

Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune looks at how the Cubs management and players can heal the rift with Sammy Sosa now that it looks like the slugger will remain in Chicago. Frankly, it's my opinion that Sammy has most of the work to do; he has to show that he's part of the team. Of course, nothing cures animosity like winning. If Sosa comes out of the gate showing his power and the Cubs are in the heat of the pennant race, he'll be forgiven quickly.

Sir Sidney Ponson has apologized for his actions in Aruba.

"I'd like to say that I'm not at all proud of what happened and the way I behaved on the beach that particular day," Ponson told reporters Wednesday in his native Papiamento language before boarding a private jet headed to Miami. "I would like to apologize to everybody, but especially to the young people of Aruba, who always considered me their role model. I'm very sorry for what took place and I would surely never let this happen again."

Good for him. He still awaits a trial that may interfere with Spring Training.

Sir Sidney Ponson was released from jail today.

Ponson appeared before a judge Tuesday and prosecutors said they would not oppose his release as he awaits trial, the daily La Prensa reported. The 28-year-old right-hander faces charges of public violence and simple aggression. No trial date has been set.

I wonder if Ponson will claim that Pete Gray really did it? :-)

I just noticed the Sidney Ponson story this morning. It appears to be a combination of "Here come de judge," and "Sock it to me!" that has landed Sir Sidney in jail.

According to police reports, Ponson was confronted on the beach Saturday by a group of people who asserted he had harassed them by recklessly operating his personal watercraft. In the ensuing altercation, Ponson allegedly struck a man in the face, then fled the scene. The alleged victim, who turned out to be a local judge named W. Noordhuizen, was hospitalized, and Ponson was later taken into police custody.

Ponson was/is an island hero. My guess is he'd be very easy to recognize. And hitting a judge just isn't a good idea. They tend to be friends with judges who might hear your case.

In his defense, it's not clear who threw the first punch.

"The people on the beach apparently told him, 'Come here,' " Lejuez said. "They invited him to discuss the matter. So he went to the beach to discuss the matter. He did not go to the beach to fight. But once he was on the beach, the fight started. . . . One of them tried to hit him, and that's when the fight started."

Once the fight began, two people described by Lejuez as friends of Ponson's came to his defense. Lejuez said he has seen their statements to police, and they are "very similar" to Ponson's statement.

While hitting a judge is mistake, my guess is Sidney didn't know at whom he was swinging. But hitting a professional athlete is just plain stupid. I wonder if Sidney took Crash's advice and used his left hand to throw the punch?

It was a bad year on the field for Ponson and it's ending as a bad year off the field, too. Are there undubbings?

Nick Peters talks to a few Giants players about the recent fights with the fans. The players think they are in a no-win situation, and decry the abuse they've been hearing.

Snow said when fans get personal, that crosses the line. And in this age of the Internet, there's more information out there for people to look for weaknesses.

"Players' families don't want to go to some games on the road because fans are so abusive," Snow said. "That was the case in Anaheim during our World Series."

Teammate Jason Schmidt echoed those sentiments.

"The fans don't have a right to say anything just because they bought a ticket," he said. "They get away with too many things. I mean, people yell things in the stands that you wouldn't get away with at a grocery store or in a bar.

"When fans pop off and nothing is done about it, they think they can get away with anything. I've seen ushers stand around and do nothing. Players are at the mercy of everyone. Good-natured stuff is OK, but they have to draw the line."

Maybe professional athletes should be forced to watch Spencer Tracy in Bad Day at Black Rock. There was a character who could take some taunting.

And Felipe Alou does his best to reinforce cultural stereotypes.

Giants manager Felipe Alou, providing the perspective of experience and ethnicity, called it "a very difficult and dangerous situation. It's easier to control the players, but who can control (fans)? There are so many. Players are expected to tolerate a lot, but don't ever mention mother or family to a Latin."

I suspect Felipe will be hearing a lot of comments about his family on the road this year.

The Angels have agreed to a financial settlement with Jose Guillen and are leaving open the possibility of placing him on the post-season roster. It seems to me that the Angels are trying to work through this problem with Guillen, rather than get rid of him.

"Any time you get a resolution before a hearing for a grievance there is a lot less distraction than it could have been sitting in a room for five hours," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We would definitely keep the door open for Jose because we recognize the talent. There are some things, obviously, that have to be worked through. We'd have to sit down and talk about those things. We recognize what Jose has done to get us to this point."

Anaheim began the day tied with Oakland for the AL West lead. If the Angels win the division, they will have until the day of their playoff opener to decide whether to put Guillen on the postseason roster. But Guillen isn't expected to be on the playoff roster.

Guillen is lucky to have Scioscia as a manager. Many others would have wanted him gone by now. Mike appears to be very patient, and if Jose can control his temper it appears that Scioscia would want him back.

Milton Bradley was suspended for the rest of the regular season by MLB. At least he is contrite:

"From the bottom of my heart, I apologize for my outburst," the 26-year-old Bradley said shortly after learning of the suspension. "Getting upset has caused me to hurt family, hurt friends, hurt my team, hurt fans.

"I need to talk to somebody about anger, get treated, find a way to correct that situation. It's not even about baseball. This is about what I need to do for my life. I let anger get the best of me."

I'm glad he realizes he has a problem. Too bad he didn't deal with it sooner.

Jose Guillen has been suspended without pay by the Angels. He'll miss the rest of the regular season, and will not play in the post season if the Angels can win the AL West.

Guillen has drawn the ire of his teammates, coaches and the front office for a number of incidents this season, but Saturday's apparently was the last straw.

After being removed from the game for a pinch runner in the eighth inning, Guillen threw his hands into the air, walked slowly off the field and threw his helmet toward the end of the dugout occupied by manager Mike Scioscia. Upon reaching the dugout, Guillen threw his glove against the dugout wall.

Scioscia downplayed the incident immediately after Saturday's game, but after a meeting Sunday afternoon, Guillen was told to pack his bags.

"It was a tough decision, I didn't sleep at all last night thinking about it,' Scioscia said. "We had to do something with Jose, I think it was becoming a distraction. Anything that gets in the way of winning, you have to put to the side.

What an amazing event. You're in the last week of the season with the division title on the line and you suspend your 2nd best player. As of Sept. 23rd, Guillen had 21 win shares, 2nd most on the team behind Vlad Guerrero. I don't know whether to applaud Sciocia and Moreno for putting a poor teammate in his place, or criticize them for handicapping their team at a critical juncture.

Mostly, I'm struck at the difference in the way the Angels handled this from the way the Red Sox handled the Carl Everett situation a few years ago. In that case, the front office undermined the manager's authority. So the Angels front office gets major points for sticking up for Scioscia (as did Cleveland with Bradley and Wedge).

Guillen put himself in gold last year with a superb season. It's too bad he's let his temper eat away at his success. Unfortunately, it's a lose-lose situation for both the player and the team.

Gabe Lacques of the Pasadena Star News talked to the Angels about being in the visiting bullpen in Oakland.

Angels relievers were anything but surprised that a major incident occurred near the visitor's bullpen area at Oakland's Coliseum. They have been taking abuse there for years.
Certainly, it has been nothing on the scale of Monday's fracas, which ended in Texas Rangers reliever Frank Francisco hurling a chair into the seats, resulting in his arrest.

But going to Oakland, Brendan Donnelly says, means two things: Hearing a stream of blue commentary from overzealous fans and wondering if security will be sufficient enough to handle it.

"I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often,' Donnelly said Tuesday. "Security's not good there. Fans in Oakland are notoriously brutal.'

Have the A's ever wondered if attendance could be improved by improved security? I suspect most people don't want to sit next to a fan who is yelling profanities all night. Fenway Park has provided discreet ways to inform security of annoying fans for years. Maybe Oakland should take a cue from Boston to make their park more enjoyable for players and fans.

This SF Chronicle editorial gets it right.

Update: Philip M. in the comments links to an article where eyewitnesses claim there was no profanity. Okay, but remember this is the stadium where fans throw things at players. My guess is that this fan said something that stepped over a line.

There was just an altercation between the Rangers' bullpen and some fans. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the Rangers started streaming out of the dugout, and then someone in the bullpen threw s chair into the stands. It looked like the pitching coach of the Rangers had to be restrainted. Stay tuned.

Update: I don't know the Rangers faces well enough, but one of the relievers and one of the fans at field level near the dugout were shouting and pointing fingers at each other. It appears that it was Frank Francisco who threw the chair. He was out of the game and game out of the dugout with the rest of the team.

Update: Just saw a good replay of the chair toss. It looks to me like he threw the chair over the offending fan and hit the woman behind him.

Update: It looks like the Rangers want the field box by the bullpen cleared out. Macha appears to agree

Update: The Bay Area FoxSports channel is doing a poor job of showing what happened. There's only been a couple of replays, and very little information from the announcers. A NY or Boston station would have shown it 100 times by now.

Update: This is all happening in the top of the 9th with an 0-2 count on Blalock.

Update: They've just announced that if a fan comes on the field, the game will be forfeited to the Rangers.

Update: They finally got the game back underway. Blalock singled, the A's are bringing in Bradford to pitch to M. Young.

Update: Bradford got Young to end the inning. The A's will bat in the bottom of the 9th tied at 5.

Update: Now that he's come into the game, it appears that it was Doug Brocail who was in the shouting match with the fan.

I was very disappointed to read about Milton Bradley's problems with the Cleveland Indians leading to his ouster from the clubhouse and likely trade from the club.

On Wednesday, Bradley was removed from a game against Houston in the third inning for not running hard on a second-inning popup that dropped for a single. Bradley was told quietly by Wedge that he needed to be on second base. Bradley responded, and while it was not a shouting match, the disrespect he showed for his manager in front of his teammates forced management's hand.

...

Shapiro would not characterize the most recent exchange between Bradley and Wedge. However, the GM said the club expects its players to display "passion, professionalism and respect."

"There is a line that they can't cross," Shapiro said. "You have to make sure that line is meaningful."

The Indians are clearly doing the right thing here. No one on the Indians can say they don't know what is expected of them.

What I don't understand is Bradley. Here he is, a major league baseball player. He's not the greatest outfielder ever, but he's good enough to start for an ML team. If he hustles and keeps his mouth shut, he'll be set for life in a couple of years. Plus, he has an obvious promotional opportunity. Instead, he's not playing hard, then complaining when he's called on it. Carl Everett without the talent.

I'm not sure that this really fits in the category, but

The Yankees were so embarrassed by their showing, they refused to participate in the spirit award, which usually goes to a member of the losing team. And it's probably safe to assume principal owner George Steinbrenner didn't go right back to bed in Tampa after getting up early to watch his $182-million team get beaten so badly.

I heard during the Tampa broadcast of today's game that Giambi was going to get the spirit award but refused to take it. I have mixed feelings about this:

• You should be a gracious guest, and respect the customs of your host.


• If you accept an award for losing, that makes you a loser. I don't want losers playing for my MLB team.

So in the end, I can't fault Giambi for not accepting the honor(?). His competitive spirit is part of what makes him a great player. He doesn't want to be seen as a loser, and I can't blame him for that.

This is just perfect.

A few weeks after admitting he bet on baseball, Pete Rose is going to an eastern Connecticut casino to sign his new book and dine with high-rollers.

The career hits leader, who agreed in 1989 to a lifetime ban from baseball following an investigation of his gambling, is to appear at Foxwoods Resort Casino on Saturday for an invitation-only signing of his book, "My Prison Without Bars," the Day of New London and the Norwich Bulletin reported.

Hank Aaron isn't happy with Pete Rose:

"During these past few days, I've looked at Pete on television, and he hasn't given any signs of an honest confession," Aaron told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview published in Friday editions.

"Plus, I've seen absolutely no truth whatsoever in what he's saying," he said.

Aaron, a vice president with the Atlanta Braves, said Rose should be treated like anyone else who gambles on games.

"I just think it's hogwash to say that he should be put back into the game just because the public wants it," Aaron said. "A rule is a rule, and the rule is on every clubhouse door that you can't bet on baseball. It doesn't say that you're excluded if you have 4,000 hits or 700 home runs."

The backlash continues.

If you ever had any doubt that Rose was a complete idiot, read John Dowd's column in the Washington Post:

Following that deposition, with the facts in hand, Bart directed me to find a resolution. I spent an entire month meeting with Pete's lawyers. Bart and I agreed on the fundamental points of such a resolution: Pete would have to reconfigure his life. He would have to stop betting. He would have to make a candid response to all of the hard evidence. He would have to explain his association with all of the characters in the betting operation. He would have to submit to, and complete, a full rehabilitation. During his rehabilitation, he would be removed from the game of baseball.

I had been advised by federal authorities that if Rose agreed to these terms, he would not be prosecuted for tax evasion but would have to pay all taxes, interest and penalties due. Upon successful completion of his rehabilitation, he would have been readmitted to the game of baseball and could receive all honors which come with achievement and good conduct. He would have been eligible, if chosen, for admission to the Hall of Fame.

I worked for a month with Pete's counsel. They tried but could not get Pete to admit the truth. They asked if I would meet with him alone and talk to him. They believed I could bring him around. Bart approved and I agreed to talk to Pete. But Pete's agent vetoed the meeting.

We were at complete loggerheads. Pete's criminal counsel wanted the resolution we were working on but his agent would not budge. Bart, then-deputy commissioner Fay Vincent and I met with Pete's agent. He told us that Pete was a legend and would not admit to any of the allegations. It was a short meeting.

That sort of blows away Rose's argument that if he had been a drug addict, he would have been treated differently. Baseball was willing to work with Rose to fix his life and keep him in the game. It might not have worked; some people can never shake their demons. If Rose had tried rehad and failed he would have been a tragic figure, and I think baseball would have found a way to put him in the Hall of Fame. Instead, he's a loathsome individual who is quickly dissipating any good will that existed for him.

Jayson Stark outlines why Selig may be changing his mind about reinstating Rose:

For nearly 15 years, baseball has allowed Rose to position himself as a sympathetic martyr in the eyes of a huge segment of the public. Now, all of a sudden, he isn't looking so sympathetic.

After years of living with all the calls and letters from fans urging Selig to bring the Hit King back into baseball, people in the commissioner's office say they've been stunned by the reversal of that tide in the last week. Since Monday, the anti-reinstatement calls and emails have vastly outnumbered the pro-Pete sentiment, they say.

"He's done a lot of damage to himself in the court of public opinion," said one source. "And that's the court he's always thrived in."

I'm not sure how many opinions have changed, but until Monday, the people against Rose had no reason to call the commissioner's office. Now they do. It's good to see.

Robert Tagorda links to and discusses a George Will opinion piece on Pete Rose. This story has appeared in comments on another post on this site, but I thought Robert's post made it worth bringing the story to the top of the blog.

Joel Jacobson writes:

One of the things I think ought to be remembered about Pete Rose is that while he was managing the Reds to successive second-place finishes he often started himself at first base instead of Nick Esasky. People forget about Esasky because vertigo ruined his career so early, but he was a genuine left-handed power hitter. If the Reds had played Esasky every day, they likely would have gotten something approaching 30 HRs and 108 RBIs from him (his 1989 numbers, his first year as a regular). Instead they platooned him with Rose, a singles hitter (and not much of one by then, either) with no speed and a bad glove.

Over 1985-1986, when Esasky was 25 and 26, his batting average was exactly the same as Rose's, and his on-base percentage was a little better, and his slugging average was 139 points better. But Rose gave himself nearly as many at-bats as he gave Esasky.

I'm convinced the Reds could have won several more games during those years if they had been managed by someone who had started Esasky and saved Rose for pinch hitting. And if they won a few more games, they might have won some pennants instead of being perennial runners-up. In other words, Rose playing himself probably cost Cincinnati a pennant or two.

I think there's only three ways of looking at Rose's managerial decision to play himself when he had a much better alternative on the bench. Either (1) he was out of touch with reality to the extent that he honestly believed he was a better hitter than Esasky; or (2) he cared more about padding his stats and enjoying himself than about whether his team won; or (3) he was betting on the Reds to lose.

The first alternative is basically an insanity defense, and while there's some evidence to back it up it's pretty far-fetched. The second alternative requires us to believe Rose's competitive desire to win wasn't the dominant aspect of his personality, although we are constantly told the contrary was the case. But the third alternative is consistent both with his competitiveness (he gets to beat the gamblers) and with the well-documented greed that sent him to jail.

I think Rose the player-manager bet on his team to lose, and then made it happen.

I actually think choice (1) may have had a lot to do with it. Rose was intensely competitive, which would make him think he's not only a better hitter than Nick was, but he probably thought he was the best hitter on the team. Interesting speculation, however.

Commenting on the Rose situation a few days ago, I wrote the following:

I don't think Pete Rose's election to the Hall of Fame is a sure thing if he's re-instated. Up until this point, there was no smoking gun that Rose bet on baseball, just a lot of evidence that led some resonable people to believe he bet, and some resonable people to believe he didn't. Now there will be no room for doubt. So the writers will have to decide if they want to let someone into the Hall of Fame who bet on baseball. The problem for Rose, however, is that you need 75% of the voters to name you on your ballot. A small 25% minority can keep you off. So Phil Sheridan and others don't have to convince a lot of people. I bet they win. :-)

It looks like this is happening already. Peter Gammons has changed his mind, and will not vote for Rose if given the opportunity. Other writers are taking the "just say no" attitude as well. This well planned mea culpa may have backfired on Rose.

Update: You can add Mark Kreidler to the list of people who won't vote for Rose.

Eric McErlain has a link to a Fay Vincent interview on ESPN where Fay says Pete bet on baseball as a player (it's about 6:30 into the audio).

Scott Ott has his typically funny take on Pete Rose getting into the Hall of Fame at his blog, Scrappleface. He also links to this interview with Tom Verducci, who has gotten the only advance copy of the book.

SI.com: What do you think the public reaction will be?

Verducci: I'm really curious to see how fans react to this. Rose has remained far more popular than I could imagine all these years, especially in the way he has been perceived as being victimized by baseball. If you believed he had been wronged, do you now hold it against him that he was lying for all these years? And does he go far enough toward explaining himself? My guess is that in Cincinnati, where he's still revered, that he be wildly popular no matter what he does. Outside Cincy, it'll be interesting to see what the reaction is. I think fans want to forgive him, but they need to see at least a pilot light of contrition. I think the commissioner really took note of the ovations Rose received in Atlanta in 1999 and in San Francisco in 2002. He's going to be watching the fallout from this confession very closely.

The cat is officially out of the bag. ABCNEWS is reporting Rose admits in the interview that he bet on baseball. I don't understand this, however:

The revelation is also expected to be included in Rose's new autobiography, My Prison Without Bars, which is to be released the same day. In his interview with Primetime, Rose says he bet without knowing how drastic the penalties would be.

Rose never heard of the Black Sox? Rose never saw the rules against gambling that I believe are posted in every clubhouse? Please.

By the way, there was a Baseball Prospectus story about Rose being reinstated last August. I reported on it here. That same day, Bob DuPay denied the story. Now, some are saying Rose's admission vindicates the BP story. Not quite. Here's what they said:

Pete Rose and Major League Baseball have reached an agreement that would allow him to return to baseball in 2004, and includes no admission of wrongdoing by Rose, Baseball Prospectus has learned. According to several sources, Rose signed the agreement after a series of pre-season meetings between Rose, Hall of Fame member Mike Schmidt, and at different times, high-level representatives of Major League Baseball, including Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball's Chief Operating Officer, and Allan H. "Bud" Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball.

(Emphasis added.) Obviously, there has been an admission of wrongdoing. Maybe that changed once the story got out. But it does bring into question BP's unnamed source. I'm sure we'll be hearing more from Will and Derek about this.

Phil Sheridan has an excellent column on Pete Rose and his new book. Sheridan doesn't think Rose's alleged mea culpa changes anything:

So we will soon be overwhelmed with images of the new, contrite Pete Rose. After 14 years of defiant dishonesty, he will no doubt recast himself as the victim of a terrible gambling addiction. He will say that he has beaten that addiction, even though he remains a regular in Las Vegas and a recent Los Angeles Times column by T.J. Simers began, "Ran into Pete Rose at Santa Anita on opening day."

Santa Anita is a racetrack. Rose reminded Simers that betting the horses "is legal. There are 35,000 people here today, and I don't think I'm the only one making bets today."

No, Pete, but you are the only one of those 35,000 who needs to convince the commissioner of baseball that you are a changed man. It is legal for an alcoholic to be in a tavern at midnight, but that doesn't make it smart.

...

Pete Rose hasn't changed. Only his story has.

I don't think Pete Rose's election to the Hall of Fame is a sure thing if he's re-instated. Up until this point, there was no smoking gun that Rose bet on baseball, just a lot of evidence that led some resonable people to believe he bet, and some resonable people to believe he didn't. Now there will be no room for doubt. So the writers will have to decide if they want to let someone into the Hall of Fame who bet on baseball. The problem for Rose, however, is that you need 75% of the voters to name you on your ballot. A small 25% minority can keep you off. So Phil Sheridan and others don't have to convince a lot of people. I bet they win. :-)

It looks like Bill Singer will be taking his lounge act somewhere else. The Daily News reports that he will be fired.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident in Phoenix, Singer met privately with Duquette and offered his explanation for the incident, saying that he had been on a low-carbohydrate diet, which caused him to suffer a chemical imbalance in conjunction with drinking alcohol.

"That didn't wash with Jim and it sure as hell won't wash with Fred," a Mets source said in reference to Mets owner Fred Wilpon. "Plain and simple, there's no excuse for that kind of behavior, and there's no saving this guy."

I guess this means the Mets job is open again. I'm still available. :-)

Fines have been handed down for the events of the fourth inning in yesterday's Yankees-Red Sox game. The bullpen fight is still being investigated.

Edward Cossette of Bambino's Curse places yesterday's fracas squarely on the shoulders of Pedro Martinez.

It's a pretty sad day when trying to find a bright spot in the darkness that was yesterday's so-called "game," the only glimmer I can find is that, as Michael Gee concludes,

The bench-clearing brouhahas in the top and bottom of the fourth innings of the Red Sox' 4-3 loss to the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS were created by one man - Martinez (Gee, Herald).

And the one man appears to be an anomaly and not a sign that the whole team is slouching toward Gomorrah. As the Herald's Massarotti observes, "Interestingly, following the game, not a single Red Sox player defended Martinez' pitch to Garcia. Not one."

Update: The New York Post blames, Pedro, also.

A couple of people thought I was putting too much blame on Pedro for throwing Don Zimmer to the ground yesterday. In my first post on the subject, I write that it looked like Zim deserved it. In my second post, I said "Pedro beat up an old man." That was unfair to Pedro.

A good report on the all the incidents at the game, and people's reaction to it can be found in Tyler Kepner's NY Times article. It's very clear Zimmer was the aggressor:

David Ortiz tried to settle Ramirez, but both benches and bullpens had begun to empty. Zimmer bolted from the Yankees' dugout toward Martínez, a stationary target in foul territory in front of the Boston dugout. Martínez looked stunned and said something. Zimmer kept charging and lunged at Martínez with his fists. Then Martínez grabbed Zimmer and flung him away.

Martínez said he was "shocked" that Zimmer was trying to punch him. "He's an older man, a wiser man," Martínez said. "I respect Joe and him. I should never hit him. I was just trying to dodge him away."

As Martínez stood there, Zimmer's body landed hard on the grass, bouncing and rolling to a stop. The Yankees were predictably outraged. "You don't do that to a senior citizen, especially to Don Zimmer, a well-respected person," Garcia said. "He should have just backed away."

A more editorial view of the game comes from the Boston Globe's Jackie MacMullan. Jackie has some more quotes including this one from Derek Jeter:

"All I saw was the bald head go down," said shortstop Derek Jeter. "I wasn't sure if it was Zimm or Boomer [David Wells]. Hey, Zimm is intense. That's the only way you can stay in this game all these years."

When I saw it happen, I thought it was Wells, because, in my mind, going after Pedro was something Wells would do.

MacMullan sums up this way:

But Martinez wasn't the only loser. The game of baseball took a hit yesterday. The fourth-inning scrum may have been great theater, but it was an all-too-sad, all-too-familiar refrain for these two storied franchises.

Martinez was out of line for throwing at Garcia. Zimmer was certifiably crazy to try to be Rocky Balboa at his age. Ramirez overreacted to Clemens's pitch, and looked all the worse for it after he struck out on the same at-bat. No Red Sox employee should be waving towels in the Yankees bullpen. No New York relievers should be punching anybody for waving a towel.

It's the same old story. The Red Sox behaved badly, and lost. The Yankees behaved badly, and won.

There's a bit of moral equivalency in that last statement. Martinez and Ramirez behaved badley out of frustration. The Yankees did nothing to provoke them other than play the game well. Garica and Zimmer behaved badly because they were defending themselves and their teammates. I won't condone that, but I understand it. The groundskeeper and Nelson behaved badly because both appear to be idiots.

Let's hope they all play nice today.

Here's some more information on the bullpen brawl during the Yankees-Red Sox game:

New York reliever Jeff Nelson fought with a Fenway Park employee in the Yankees' bullpen in the ninth inning of the AL championship series Saturday night.

With tempers already high following a bench-clearing melee earlier in the game, Nelson took exception to Paul Williams, who was waving a white flag in the bullpen in the ninth inning. The reliever told Williams he didn't like it, and the two started to fight.

"He was standing in our bullpen waving the rally flag," Nelson said following New York's 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the AL championship series.

"I told him if you're rooting for the Red Sox, why don't you go in their bullpen," Nelson said. "He jumped in my face and tried to take a swing at me."

It seems this particular Sox employee has caused trouble in the past.

Nelson said it was the same employee who yelled at the Yankees' dugout during Game 4 of the ALCS in 1999 when a number of fans threw water bottles on the field following a controversial call.

"After a while, we started to remember that," Nelson said.

During that game, fans threw things on the field in the right-field corner after a pair of calls went against the Red Sox. Many members of the Yankees were on the top step of the dugout when that occurred.

This is a developing situation. The report by Fox during the Cubs-Marlins game indicates the employee may be pressing charges against Nelson and Garcia. Stay tuned.

WBZ in Boston reported more on this fight tonight. Jason Fournier writes:

I saw Bob Lobel report on this story tonight at 6:05 on the WBZ 6:00 news. They had an interview with a former bartender from Club Q (the guy was fired for leaking the story, which his boss said was not supposed to get out). His name was Marc Cerrone (I may have spelled it wrong, it was only up for a moment) and he said there was "a lot of physical contact". According to Lobel, there are reports that Zito's father confirmed that his son had told him there was some kind of scuffle.

I could not find the story on the WBZ web site, but I did find this link to a report by anchor Liz Walker that Zito's father confirmed an altercation. Good to see that people are coming forward.

Looks like Hudson is going to have some explaining to do to his teammates.

Update: Ken Macha speaks on the incident.

A's manager Ken Macha told ESPN's "SportsCenter" on Monday that Hudson and left-hander Barry Zito were signing autographs at the bar on the night before Game 3 of Oakland's division series against the Red Sox.

The players and Hudson's brother had to be separated from several Red Sox fans after a confrontation, but Hudson told Macha no punches were thrown. Hudson wasn't on the field before Game 5 on Monday night, and players usually aren't available to reporters before playoff games.

"I think it's a non-issue," Macha said earlier Monday. "He's sitting there, and he's amazed at what this thing has been blown out to. It's a non-issue."

Robert Fick has been fined by the commissioner's office:

Atlanta Braves infielder Robert Fick was fined an undisclosed amount by the commissioner's office on Sunday for his actions in Game 4 of the National League Division Series.

I still think he should have been suspended, and I hope the fine is huge. The Braves should fine him also to show they don't condone that kind of play.

Update: According to the Fox broadcast, Bobby Cox did fine Fick. Good for Cox.

Mike Spellman of the Daily Herald has Cubs and Braves reaction to the dirty play by Fick. Robert is unrepentant:

Fick, using a different pronunciation of his last name, dismissed the Cubs' protests.

"I don't give a (bleep) what Dusty says," Fick said as he put on his socks, his shoes and then his pants. "If he wants to call it a cheap (bleeping) play, he can call it whatever he wants.

"Whatever you guys come up with, I really don't give a (bleep). It's an elimination game, and you've got to do what you've got to do. I'm not saying I did it on purpose, but it's (bleeping) baseball."

With that attitude, he should definitely be suspended.

Robert Fick, in running out a ground ball, appears to have tried to knock the ball out of Karros' glove as Fick crossed the base. It looked like Karros was injured on the play, but he's staying in the game..

It's obvious from the replay that this was intentional. Fick should be suspended. There's a real difference between playing hard (see the slides into home in the Giants-Marlins game) vs. playing dirty. This was dirty and should be punished.

Kyle Fransworth slipped making the throw on the play, and he was injured and is out of the game in favor of Mark Guthrie.

Jayson Stark on ESPN.com has a good column that tries to look at the Larry Bowa situation from all angles. The summation:

If this season ends with the Phillies making their first postseason appearance since Joe Carter's home run in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series, it's a good bet this whole debate will be moot. As consistently as Wade has defended the manager, it may be just a big blowtorch of hot air, anyway.

But regardless, it's suddenly an issue on a whole lot of minds. And it's going to hover there for the next three weeks -- if not beyond.

"We can talk about all this stuff," Wade said. "But the bottom line still comes down to his effectiveness as a manager, and his ability to get us to the finish line."

For any manager, that's the way it ought to be. And for this manager, that's the way it ought to be. If he wins, how he does it is just part of the show. But if he doesn't, it's everyone's right to ask: Why not?

The problem here isn't the Phillies making the playoffs or not. The problem is that the Phillies have underperformed all year. They are playing .540 ball, when the pythagorean method has them at .565. Usually, this happens because teams don't win the close games, but the Phillies are 31-29 in one and two runs games. But compare this to Felipe Alou (who, by the way, is not a manager I consider to be that great). The Giants are playing .616 ball, but the prediction for them is .564! The Phillies and the Giants should be tied. But the Giants are 44-18 in close games. And if a manager is going to make a difference, it's how he handles these close games; does he put in the right pitcher, the right pinch hitter, the right defense. Yes, there's a lot of luck involved, but Alou is getting the luck to come down on his side more often that Bowa.

This Phillies team was designed to beat the Braves. They're not even close. Fiery is great. You shouldn't like to lose when you're a professional athlete. But Lou Piniella does fiery and his players love him. It's because there's a difference between positive and negative criticism. As far as I can tell, Bowa can only do the negative; no one wants to be around that very long.

Manny Ramirez is back in the lineup tonight, and singled his first time up to set up the Sox first run. I suspect he'll need to do a lot of that on this road trip if he doesn't want to be booed by the Fenway fans when he returns.

Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe pens an excellent piece on the Manny Ramirez situation:

Oooh, this is getting interesting. Let's go over this one more time so there is no confusion on anyone's part. The $160 million man, who leads the Red Sox in home runs (31) and is second in runs batted in (90), a guy that people who don't have to live with him think is one of the most valuable players in the league, declares his physical readiness for a game in the heat of a pennant race, and the manager says, "No, thank you"? Is that what's going on here?"

Ab-so-lutely.

"I like the way our club has responded the past few days," explained Little. "I'm putting the team out there I feel gives us the best chance to win tonight."

Oooh, this is really getting interesting.

Still don't get it? The manager pulled a Popeye. He's reached the that's-all-I-can-stand-I-can't-stands-no-more phase with his juvenile slugger. Manny Ramirez has been benched.

The implication was that this might not be a one-day thing, either.

"I've got to see a game that day when he figures into the lineup that gives us a good chance to win," cooed Little, who has just taken the most important step of his managerial career.

And I've just gotten to like this team a whole lot better. First of all, the players were really upset at Manny. The other 24 (or is it 39 now?) players have really pulled together during this. Grady Little, rather than making excuses for his star, firmly came down on the side of the players who want to win. And, as I learned from the broadcast last night, the front office fully supports the decision to bench Ramirez. This is in stark contrast to the situation a few years ago with Carl Everett.

You always wonder with the Red Sox if they reall want to win, if they really are a team. Right now, I'd have to say yes.

Being away over the weekend I missed the whole Philly phiasco involving Larry Bowa and Tyler Houston. It seems that the Phillies released Houston on Saturday because he was a "divisive force" in the clubhouse. Never mind that the Phillies are in a pennant race and Houston is batting .448 as a pinch hitter this year (13 for 29). Houston shot back yesterday.

"I wasn't going to talk about it until I read the papers and saw what Bo had to say, and the way it all went down," Houston said. "It's all crap. I'm sick of seeing these lies."

Here's the way things played out, according to Houston: After Bowa threw his temper tantrum in Montreal on Thursday, a group of players talked on the team bus to the airport. They decided that they should band together in spite of Bowa, and that they should make a public show of their disdain for the manager.

"Everybody feels the same way about Bo," Houston said. "He doesn't give a crap about anybody in there. He doesn't give a crap about his players. Bo only cares about himself. You see it in the negativity and disrespect that he has for his players, the way he speaks to his players. He's the first one to slam you, embarrass you, throw stuff in the dugout, throw his hands up in the air.

"I've read that the team is winning because of Bo's meeting. It's not winning because of Bo's meeting, it's winning because of the players' meeting. Bo's meeting was just the last straw with Bo. We had to have a players' meeting, because of him. In our meeting, everybody on that bus felt the same way about Bowa."

The next night, Pat Burrell crushed a two-run homer to left field, the first big hit since the Montreal meetings. Bowa went to the end of the dugout, clapping his hands and waiting to congratulate Burrell. But Burrell sprinted toward the opening near the middle of the dugout, avoiding Bowa.

"That was kind of a staged thing," Houston said. "But Tyler Houston is the last person who had anything to do with that. That was more veteran players than myself that were endorsing players' doing stuff like that. I had nothing to do with it."

Now, faced with this, Bowa could take the high road, say he stands behind his previous comments and let it go. But not Larry.

After yesterday's game, Burrell again denied that he intentionally snubbed Bowa. The manager, when apprised of Houston's comments, became enraged.

"He's a loser," Bowa said. "That was not the reason. He was an extra guy who causes problems. I had 15 guys [players] doing backflips when we let him go."

And then Bowa makes a big mistake, similar to Gary Hart daring the press to find him fooling around.

Bowa suggested that reporters ask first baseman Jim Thome whether there was any truth to Houston's assertion that the players dislike their manager. Thome kept the bat on his shoulder, metaphorically speaking.

"Let's talk about the game," Thome said.

Asked another question, and given another chance to support Bowa, Thome wasn't swinging.

"We won the game," he said. "We're in the wild-card race. That's what it's all about."

Thome, at least, knows when to make a no comment, but this particular no-comment I find very damning to Bowa. And it's damning on a number of levels. First, it's not Bowa's job to get the players to like him. It's his job to get the players to win. When asked if players like him, Bowa should say something like, I don't care how they feel about me. I want to win, and I'll push them anyway I can to make them win. If they don't like that, tough. People, and the players, would respect that. But Bowa seems to need the players to like him. But why would they like someone who drove away Scott Rolen? Why would they like someone who's "the first one to slam you, embarrass you, throw stuff in the dugout, throw his hands up in the air?" Why would they like someone who can't manage a good team to their potential?

Bowa has a Billy Martin personality without Martin's managerial know-how. And Billy could only get away with it so long. My guess is that if the Phillies fired Bowa tomorrow (and Dallas Green with him), you'd see a blossoming of the team similar to what happened in NY in 1978. The Phillies may win despite Bowa this year, but long term they will underachieve with the loathsome person at the helm.

The Language Maven has more on the booing of Scott Rolen last night.

Rob Neyer has an excellent opinion piece on Pete Rose over at ESPN.com.

Pete Rose is, by most measures, a truly awful person. I know a lot of people think he's admirable because he hustled for 24 seasons, but I think that admirable quality is more than balanced by the credible allegations that he gulped amphetamines, went through money like it was water, cheated on his wives with something like obsessive abandon, and was generally a lousy father. Oh, and for his entire career as a player and manager, 26 years' worth, Rose consorted with a variety of shady characters involved with illegal gambling. And those are just the highlights.

I'm glad Rob said this, and I agree. I never really liked Pete Rose. There are a few players that don't hustle, but most ballplayers I've watched do hustle, and the ones that don't never hear the end of it. So what's so special about Rose's hustle? Rose made us notice his hustle. It wasn't enough to just hustle, he had to define himself by it.

And I also wonder, with the uppers he took, if the hustle was just the result of nervous energy? He ran to first after ball four because he was too hyped up to walk. That takes a little shine off the hustle.

According to ESPN.com, Bob DuPay, the COO of MLB, says the Baseball Prospectus story written about in the previous post isn't true.

Major League Baseball's chief operating officer, Bob DuPuy, shot down a Baseball Prospectus report Tuesday that claimed Pete Rose already has signed an agreement to be reinstated in 2004, calling it "totally unfounded, totally unsubstantiated" and "journalistically irresponsible."

DuPuy, who spoke to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark, said there has been "no decision, no agreement, no nothing" clearing the way for Rose to return to the game next year.

Baseball Prospectus, in a statement in response to DuPuy's denial, stood by its story, saying the report "was compiled using reliable sources. We believe that, in the end, our report will be found to be accurate."

So who do you believe? Here's a rule of thumb; don't trust unnamed sources. It's not that unnamed sources are wrong or untrustworthy per se, but there is no way for you and me to check their stories. ESPN quotes Bob DuPuy. I can call up the commissioner's office and check the veracity of DuPuy's quotes. I can't do that with the BP article. I don't know who gave them the story. Could it be someone with an agenda against the commissioner's office, or against Pete Rose? What are the biases of the source? Are there multiple sources? I don't know.

I personally hope that Zumsteg and Carroll have this story right on. It will be a feather in their cap, and a great day for internet reporting. But until the story proves to be true, or I can know and trust their sources, I can't put my full faith behind that story.

The last word on the Randall Simon affair goes to my good friend Jim "The Official" Storer:

It has come to my attention that Pirates' 1B Randall Simon was recently involved in a controversial incident involving a mascot.

It seems that in a promotional footrace between staffers dressed as a bratwurst, a kielbasa and an Italian sausage, Simon slapped the unsuspecting Italian sausage in the buns with his bat.

When will this senseless violence against anthropomorphized processed meat products end?! If Simon had a beef with the sausage, then he should have mustard up the courage to address the sausage to his face instead of hot-dogging it. Though he may not relish this approach, with the Pirates red hot and on a roll, the steaks were simply too high, and Simon's suspension will hurt his team's chances to ketchup in the standings instead of remaining one of the NL's wurst teams.

Had Simon played in an earlier day, would Turkey Mike Donlin or Bob Veale have been safe? Chicken Stanley or Coot Veal? First excoriated in the media, then suspended by league officials, Simon himself has now moved from the frying pan into the fire. Fortunately, appropriate discipline has been meted out.

As Simon contemplates his punishment, he should embrace Luis Tiant's words of wisdom: "It's nice to be with a wiener!"

I think we can lay "Sausagegate" to rest.

With one swing Wednesday night, Simon sent 19-year-old Mandy Block tumbling to the ground in the heavy costume. A fellow racer dressed as a hot dog also fell.

Simon, cited for disorderly conduct and fined $432, issued a public apology before leaving town after the Pirates' 5-4 victory over the Brewers on Thursday. Block said a team representative told her Simon would call her Friday to apologize.

"One of the public relations ladies called me and she talked to me and she was really nice and offered a lot and said, 'Anytime you're in Pittsburgh ... the best seat in the house is yours,''' Block said at her South Milwaukee home Thursday night.

"But all I wanted was the bat.''

Fifteen minutes of fame, good seats in Pittsburgh and an autographed bat! Not bad for a swing that didn't even hit her:

"I saw the bat before I got to him. I thought he was just going to fake me out,'' said Block, who stands 5-foot-3. "I am real little and I didn't take the blow very well.''

Block said the blow didn't hurt because it hit the head section of the costume, which is above her head.

Did the police really need to be involved with this? Is crime so rare in Milwaukee that the city's legal system can waste time with an incident that could have been cleared up with an autographed bat and an apology? Please.

Randall Simon hit a racing sausage with a baseball bat during last night's Pirates-Brewers game. He was arrested and questioned, but this seems more like a prank gone wrong to me:

Simon insists he did not deliberately try to knock down the female mascot.

"That wasn't my intention in my heart for that to happen," he said before Thursday's Brewers-Pirates game. "I was just trying to get a tap at the costume and for her to finish the race."

Simon said he hopes to apologize to the woman before he leaves Milwaukee.

"I thought at the moment they were trying to play with us. They were running right next to the players," he said. "I'm a fun player, and I've never hurt anyone in my life."

We know Simon is a good contact hitter, having only walked 54 times and struck out 107 times in 1214 career AB. Of course, food activists are getting involved.

In the future, they should just use dachsunds. :-)

Reporting, editorializing, then Scrappleface.

Dusty Baker is standing behind his comments about heat and race:

"I'm not playing the race card. I'm telling it like it is," Baker said by telephone Monday.

"What I meant is that blacks and Latins take the heat better than most whites, and whites take the cold better than most blacks and Latins. That's it, pure and simple. Nothing deeper than that."

Of course, in this way, Dusty is no different than most managers. The do not let facts get in the way of their beliefs, whether it be the usefulness of bunting or racial stereotypes.

Eric McErlain has his thoughts on Dusty Baker:

What we have here is what's commonly known as a gaffe. Baker should be allowed to apologize and move on -- something Campanis (whose record as a player and a scout marked him as anything but a bigot) should have been allowed to do after his infamous appearance on Nightline so many years ago.

You know, I'd like to agree with Eric. I've had a few e-mails saying that Dusty shouldn't be punished for this, that it's not so bad. But there is a history of people in baseball being punished for exercising their rights to free speech. Al Campanis, Marge Schott and John Rocker were each punished for saying stupid wrong things. But it was easy to punish those people. Campanis was a minor figure in baseball. Schott was a horrible person who was easy to dislike. Rocker pissed off New York. None of them should have been punished by MLB, other than the commissioner pointing out how stupid and wrong their comments were, and how he hoped they would learn something about a subject before talking about it. Then, if the fans want to punish these people by booing or not showing up at games, or if other GM's want to avoid trading with Campanis, that's fine. Let the market decide, if you will.

But MLB does punish this type of speech. And since they do, they should punish Baker, or announce that they have a double standard. I would love to see Selig come out and say that the three offenders above were treated unfairly, and the commissioner's office would no longer take action against speech. But until then, Dusty needs to be suspended, just like the rest of the bigots who shot off their mouths.

(Yes, I'm talking about two wrongs making a right. This is one of the few cases where I think it applies.)

Update: Here's a 1997 article from Salon in which Dusty talks about race, and he's really very positive about it. The article points out what a multicultural person Dusty is. Makes you wonder why he would make the remarks he did.

Dusty Baker has put his foot squarely in his mouth, as Rick Morrissey reports.

The Cubs had two problems in the first inning Saturday: It was hot, and Shawn Estes was white. Then it cooled off a bit, and Estes was still white. Worse, he was still Estes.

It is Dusty Baker's opinion that blacks fare better in hot weather than whites do. How we arrived at this topic is something of a mystery, but the discussion started with the rigors of day games at Wrigley Field and ended with a Baker commentary on skin color and heat.

Is the Cubs' manager right? There is enough evidence to suggest he isn't, but his theory does give Cubs fans another out should their team fall apart this season. To the normal excuses—too many day games, organizational cheapness, the Billy Goat curse, etc.—you can now add the Wilting White Man theory.

"You have to pretend that you're a construction worker out there," Baker said before Saturday's game. "You have no choice. It's easier for me. It's easier for most Latin guys and it's easier for most minority people. Most of us come from heat.

"You don't find too many brothers from New Hampshire and Maine and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Right? We were brought over here for the heat, right? Isn't that history? Weren't we brought over here because we can take the heat?"

Now, I was always taught that you wear light colors in the summer, because light colors reflect heat, while dark colors absorb heat. Morrissey goes on to point out studies that blacks suffer more during the heat than whites.

Kevin Blackistone, who I believe Dusty would call "a brother," does not refrain from criticizing Baker:

It should be pointed out that The Associated Press prefaced Baker's comments by noting that he was chuckling when he launched into his dizzying dissertation. That was to suggest that maybe he wasn't taking his own words seriously. Unfortunately, he plowed ahead.

"[Black's] skin color is more conducive to heat than it is for lighter skin people, right?" he went on. "You don't see brothers running around burnt. Yeah, that's a fact. I'm not making this stuff up. Right? You don't see some brothers walking around with white stuff on their ears and noses."

Who, boy.

Now, I'd like to just chuckle along with Baker, too. In fact, had he said the same thing to me in the privacy of a corner booth in some watering hole, I probably would have just chuckled at his commentary and shook my head.

But he said what he did to the media. Outlets around the country, including The Dallas Morning News, picked it up, and it was incorrect. It stood only to fuel a misnomer that has led to a stereotype.

Isn't that always the case. I really didn't mean what I said. It was just in fun. Al Campanis was just joshing. Trent Lott was just complimenting an old man. John Rocker was doing stand-up comedy! Blackistone finishes:

I don't want any of my previous or future condemnations of similarly foolish statements out of white mouths to be dismissed because I refrained from criticizing my own. After all, wrong is wrong, no matter the perpetrator's skin color. And Dusty Baker was flat-out wrong.

OK, Baker was wrong. What should be done about it? Should he be fired? Should he be suspended? More importantly, should we re-examine the complaints made about Bonds by Kent, that Dusty gave Bonds special treatment. Did Dusty do that simply because Bonds was black and Kent was white? If so, this isn't someone who should be managing a major league team, despite his talent for doing so. I'd like to hear other people who have been managed by Dusty give their opinion on this.

I think the commissioner should at least suspend Baker for his remarks. Possibly not let him manage the all-star game. Tony La Russa was the runner-up last year, let him manage the game. Oh, I'm sorry, he might melt in the Chicago heat.

Thanks to Darren Viola for pointing this story out to me.

Update: I have more to say here.

I was re-reading the ESPN article on the trade, and listening to the BBTN commentary (link on the same page), and I kept reading and hearing this, first from Everett:

"I'm going to go there and play the game I always play," he said. "I play hard and I play to win. It feels good that a team like that thinks that I'm one of the missing pieces to their team."

Then from Palmeiro:

"He's a very good player. He knows how to play the game. He plays the game hard and plays to win. He's a great team guy," Texas first baseman Rafael Palmeiro said of Everett.

Peter Gammons repeats this in his commentary. My question is, how many players doesn't play to win? It appears to me that most hitters and pitchers on the White Sox are currently playing to win. If some Chicago White Sox fans want to point out White Sox players who are playing to lose, I'd love to hear from you.

My second question is, where's the evidence that Everett plays to win? Here's a picture of Everett's career through July 1, 2003 (thanks to STATS, Inc.). Everett is in his 11th year of major league ball. He's had two outstanding years (1999 and 2000), one very good year (1998), and half a good year (1995). Other than that he's been ordinay to bad. His teams have made the playoffs twice, Houston in 1998 and 1999. Everett was 4 for 28 with 2 walks and 12 strikeouts in the playoffs, and Houston did not get out of the first round either year. So Carl may know how to play to win, but he certianly doesn't play to win all the time.

Well, sort of:

Colorado Rockies pitcher Todd Jones apologized to the organization and his teammates Wednesday for his recent anti-gay remarks, but he didn't back off what he said.

"I think my only mistake was that I made my views public," said Jones, who was teary-eyed at times during his brief statement. "And for that, I apologize to the Rockies and I apologize to my teammates for putting them through this."

No, his mistake is being closed minded.

Joel Sherman, in the NY Post, has a good summary of what happened. It seems Joe Torre draws the line at his integrity. Good for him. It also seems that pitching coach Billy Connors has a lot of pull in the organization, and some people don't agree with that. It will be interesting to see if Torre eventually tells Steinbrenner me or Connors. Torre doesn't need this job. He does it because he enjoys it. And Torre leaving over this would be a very bad PR move for the Yankees.

As for the team, I think the 15-1 victory today shows how little it will affect the players. If anything, they are probably more behind Torre now than they have ever been. Torre is so successful because he manages people extremely well, and his credibility is part of that. He'll fix things with Contreras. The question is, will Steinbrenner fix things with Torre?

I think he will. George will come out and claim some form of miscommunication, blame himself, and apologize to Torre. I think Steinbrenner realizes how valuable Torre is, and will make an effort to fix this. He won't change what really happened, but it will save enough face to make all happy.

The authors of Elephants in Oakland were at the game yesterday in right field and saw the whole Everett incident happen. The description is supposed to be here. But if that doesn't work, go to the main page and scroll down to the post titled "Trouble." And while you are at it, read the next post criticizing ESPN's coverage of the incident.

Seems Carl Everett in the last defensive half inning for the Rangers threw something into the stands and hit a fan. It's not clear if it was an accident, or if someone had thrown something at him. The umps called him over and talked to him, then leading off the next inning, he homers. It will be interesting to see what the game story is about this incident.

A fan attacked an umpire during the Royals-White Sox game last night. This is the same place where Royals coach Tom Gamboa was attacked last year.

Now the Royals' bullpen coach, Gamboa said he thought security was tighter for his team's return. He felt safe -- at least before the game.

"Oh yeah, the assistant to major league security was at the game tonight. He told me before the game that they had beefed up the security, but the fans will always outnumber the security force, so there is only so much they can do," Gamboa said.

Beefed up security. Is that like "Elite" Republican Guards? The Royals players took security into their own hands. Libertarians would be proud.

Several Royals players could be seen kicking and stomping the fan while he was pinned down. When the attacker was put into a police car, his head was wrapped with a white bandage, soaked with blood near the right temple.

Now, do you really want to be on the field with pissed off professional athletes? Ones with spiked shoes and holding wooden bats? These guys can hit a 95 MPH fastball, your head is a much easier target. Up until now, players tried to avoid contact with fans on the field, but I believe things changed last night.

When I was a regular at Fenway in the 1980's, they had a very good solution to security. They hired football players from the local colleges as bouncers. They were dressed in navy blue blazers and wore ties so they looked professional and authoritative. If someone was causing trouble in the stands, you could seek one of these men out and they would come talk to the offending person, and if needed escort them out of the park. If some fan ran onto the field, they would chase them down (and yes, they were good runners), tackle them, and lead them to the hoosegow. It was a win for everyone involved. The players had a summer job that gave them time to practice, they got to hang out at Fenway, and they worked cheap for the Red Sox. And the games were more enjoyable with them around. Someone should revive this practice.

I'm surprised to see Everett in the lineup tonight. I would think that he will not gel well with Showalter's strictness.

For the 14th year in a row, ESPN is about to do a piece about how to stop fighting in baseball.

I don't know what they are going to say, but it won't work. Unfortunately, it's always been part of the game, and always will be. These are competitive individuals, and sometimes people like that get mad and fight.

I find this article about Pete Rose not attending opening day very interesting:

‘‘Pete would love to return home and to be involved in baseball again, but now does not seem to be the right time,’’ Greene said. Rose, who is on baseball’s ineligible list, has been in quiet discussions with Commissioner Bud Selig regarding his reinstatement.

Sounds to me like Rose thinks he is going to be re-instated, and is making nice to make sure it happens.

Looks like Doug Glanville has beaten out Carl Everett for the starting CF job in Texas. I can only hope that this leads to Carl leaving baseball in the near future.