Autographs

I missed this yesterday -- it's actually from Sunday's New York Times -- but here's a fun article by Ray Robinson, reminiscing about seeking player autographs in hotel lobbies during his 1930s childhood. It wasn't always pretty, particularly when Lefty Grove was involved:

At the moment I approached him, Grove was decked out in an egg-white Panama suit. Thrusting my autograph book into Grove’s hand, I turned to a page devoted to pictures of him. I asked politely if he would sign for me as I handed him my pen. He took the pen and signed Lefty Grove.

But as he returned the pen and book to me, he gazed down at his pants. A rivulet of dark, blue ink had dribbled down from his fly to his right knee.

Ashen-faced, Grove grabbed me, not so gently, by the back of the neck. In my panic, I thought he was about to fling me across the lobby at 100 miles per hour, a smidgen faster than his fearsome fastball. Instead, thank heaven, he thought better of it.

“I don’t ever want to see you again!” Grove said with a growl.

I made certain he never did.

We're certainly in a different era now. If that little episode had happened last week instead of seventy years ago there would be a lawsuit, a media frenzy, and no less than two Very Special Episodes of "Outside the Lines," one attacking players for attacking fans, and another attacking fans for not respecting players' privacy.

But it's different in another way as well, and that's in the nature of today's autograph seeker. I've mentioned this before, but whenever I have to go to Cleveland for lawyer business, I stay at the same hotel that visiting teams call home when playing the Indians. The hotel does a pretty good job of keeping folks away from the players, and the fans do a pretty good job of following the rules. Outside the front door, they put up a velvet rope separating autograph seekers from players waiting for cabs or valet service or whatever. There's no real reason why the fan can't get past the little three foot rope -- heck, I'm standing beyond it myself waiting for my cab -- but the fans tend to respect it. No one is spilling ink on anyone's pants.

But the fans are very different than Robinson and his buddies in another way too. They're not kids, and they don't have scrapbooks as such. They're guys way past 30 carrying binders full of baseball cards and 8x10" glossies of every player on the team in plastic pages. I assume they're all memorabilia dealers. But despite the fact that they have devoted their lives to this kind of pursuit, in a way they're way less committed than the Robinson gang. Whereas Robinson and his friends used the meager media resources at their disposal to memorize players' faces and pick them out of crowds in hotel lobbies, the guys up at the Cleveland Marriott often have conversations like this:

Guy #1: Who's that? I think that's a player.

Guy #2: Um, Ramirez? No, [flips madly through his pages] that's Martinez. At least I think it's Martinez.

Guy #1: When did he get called up?

Guy #2: Dunno. I'm pretty sure it's Martinez though.

Guy #1: I thought Martinez was black.

Guy #2: You're thinking of the other Martinez who got traded. He was Dominican. This Martinez is from Puerto Rico.

Guy #1: If you say so.

Guy #1 and #2 in unison, thrusting out pens: Mr. Martinez! Mr. Martinez! Please, over here Mr. Martinez!

I find this byplay kind of funny, but it's kind of perplexing too because I simply don't get the concept of autographs as ends rather than means. Sure, I understand that there's a market for them, but why? What's the value? On a simple level, an autograph is proof that you were in the presence of someone famous, right? That's what Robinson and his pals were after, anyway. "I saw Connie Mack in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria, and here's your proof." Kids of a certain age don't believe anything you tell them, so you need that kind of proof. I once carried around an autographed 1965 Hank Aaron card for three days because I knew the Freiheit boys wouldn't believe me when I told them I met Hank Aaron (they were out of town that weekend, but I didn't know it). It's kind of bent now.

But what if you're an adult? If I told Gladys in Accounting that I saw George Clooney at Arby's yesterday, I would hope that she'd believe me. I don't need his autograph for proof of my brush with fame. I will always remember it, and if Gladys thinks I'm lying, hey, that's her problem. If I interrupted George Clooney's beef-and-cheddar lunch, what am I really doing besides (a) bothering him; and (b) fulfilling some twisted desire to somehow get a "piece" of George Clooney? Assuming I'm not twisted, who is George Clooney to me other than an entertainment services provider, and what am I to him other than a customer?

It's even worse, I think, if you buy an autograph from a dealer. If you do that, what are you saying other than "I bought some proof that at some point someone I don't know was in the presence of someone famous?" I have another autograph -- this one of George Brett on a baseball -- that I have very mixed feelings about. I got it when I was 11, but I didn't get it from George Brett. I got it from Gaylord Perry, who gave it to me when my father impulsively stopped our RV at Perry's peanut farm in the summer of 1984. Perry had a whole room full of stuff his buddies and teammates had signed over the years. I suppose he planned to sell them or something, but he gave me the Brett ball. No, Perry wasn't a dealer, but I look at that ball sometimes and wonder what it's supposed to mean.

I'm rambling now, but I've had these vague weird feelings about autographs for a long time now, and reading Robinson's piece made me think about them a bit.

Gettin' Away

I've often thought it would make a good book or at least an article for someone to tag along with players on their rare, in-season off days and see how they spend their time. No, not to expose debauchery, but to see the lengths -- great or otherwise -- players will go to to have some fun, wile away the time, or, in the case of Ron Villone, see their families:

He was standing down the right-field line, taking pictures of his son playing baseball. He looked like any other father watching a travel baseball game in River Vale, N.J. The difference between this father and every other parent was that he is actually a major league pitcher. He is Ron Villone.

As I watched Kyle, my nephew, play center field for River Vale on Monday night, I spotted Villone. I knew Ron Villone Jr. plays shortstop for the team. But, since his father has a full-time job with the St. Louis Cardinals, I didn’t expect to see him there. The Cardinals had a day off, so Villone traveled to New Jersey and was a picture-taking father instead of a left-handed reliever.

No, it wasn't a superhuman effort for Villone to drive the 112 miles up from Philadelphia where the Cards landed Sunday night in advance of their series with the Phillies, but it was an effort, and one which you know Villone doesn't get the opportunity to take very often during the season.

I'm a catcher, ma'am. It's what I do.

Catchers have a rough go of it. They get hit by foul tips. They get run over. They get jawed at by batters, umps, and sometimes even their own pitchers. They have to squat uncomfortably for an hour and a half every day. They take such punishment even though they are more often than not the smartest guy on their team. It's hard, often thankless work.

But sometimes they get the glory, like Max Ramirez did last night. You've probably seen the play already (if you haven't, it can be seen as the last play on the embedded highlight reel here), but here's a first hand account from ShysterBall's Texas Bureau Chief, Royce the Hack, who was live on the scene:

OK, the Rangers lose tonight in Arlington to the Mighty Angels, 9-6. The box score will reveal some ugly business from Louis Mendoza, including three home runs. Two of them were waaaay over 400 ft - including one from Guerrero that was into the upper deck - 450 ft. plus. Impressive offense, but butt ugly pitching. Mendoza was yanked before the fifth out, but it was about five pitches too late.

Anyway, what wasn't ugly was a double play by Rangers catcher Max Ramirez. After being mowed over by Jeff Mathis at the plate and knocked four feet cleanly on his ass, Max lays on his back for maybe one second. Then, you can literally see him raise his head, shake it off, then in a snap, he springs up on his knees and fires a rope to Ramon Vasquez at third to catch Casey Kotchman, who was trying to sieze the moment from second. Mendoza just gave up too much right out of the gate, but that one play was worth watching the game for. It was as good a defensive play as you'll ever see.

Thanks for the report, Royce. Keep this up and the news bureau will see that you get that transfer out of sweltering North Texas you've been bucking for.

To Whom It May Concern

Indians' owner Paul Dolan has published an open letter to Tribe fans explaining the reasons for trading Sabathia. Lots of "CC is a great guy" and "it has been a trying year for us" stuff, but this paragraph sticks out in a pretty big way:

We made extensive attempts to secure CC's future in Cleveland by signing him to a contract extension. In fact, we offered CC a top of the market contract that included the highest annual salary in the history of the Indians' organization. Unfortunately, due to CC's desire to test the free agent market, we determined that trading CC provided the best outcome for the long-term success of the organization.

Anyone else find it odd that the team is so publicly divulging what happened during contract negotiations? It's not like the talks between CC and the team were on the sports pages every day.

If I were CC (well, the CC who can pitch real good) I'd probably be a bit miffed.

Everyone's Doin' It

Milton Bradley: New York Times Blogger.

Note to self: don't start blog war with the New York Times anytime soon.

And That Happened

Red Sox 1, Twins 0: This was one of those games which people who don't really like baseball simply don't get. I had it on as Mrs. Shyster messed with her laptop, moving money to offshore accounts or IMing firemen or whatever the hell it is she does when I'm watching baseball. She'd look up occasionally, notice that no one has scored yet, and wonder aloud how I could devote so much mental energy to such a boring game (she did mention that Scott Baker looked like he was 14 years-old once, and that almost passes for analysis). Of course I was digging it because I like pitching and good defense and bunts and timely hitting and all of the good fundamentals which were on display here.

Royals 7, Rays 4: Give Carl Crawford a point for honesty, but not before deducting ten for lollygagging:

Carl Crawford started in center for the first time since June 18, 2006, and his lack of hustle helped the Royals take a 3-2 edge when Gload singled up the middle in the third. Crawford failed to charge the ball and Teahen scored from first, never slowing down en route to the plate.

"I think I got a little lackadaisical," Crawford said. "I didn't think he was running. Then I looked up ... and it was too late by then. It was just a bad effort on my part. I probably could have gotten to the ball a little quicker. I was doing my normal thing that I do in left, and forgot I was in center. You've got to be a little more aggressive in center."

In other news, Mark Grudzielanek sat out due to "body soreness." Call me crazy, but I get the feeling that these wraparound series lend themselves to flat play and less-than-optimal motivation. After a whole career of thinking of Sunday as the end of a series, these Monday conclusions have to feel to the players like they were held over at an airport overnight.

Pirates 10, Astros 7: The things you do the day after a 17-inning game: Runelvys Hernandez: 4 IP, 13 H, 10 ER.

Mets 10, Phillies 9: The Mets' bullpen (3.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R) did everything it could to blow the first decent Pedro Martinez start in nearly a month, but it seems that they have failed at failing as well.

Angels 9, Rangers 6: Josh Hamilton's OPS by month: April (.982); May (.977); June (.813); July (.703). What's up? If I had to guess I'd say fatigue. After his famous exile from baseball, Hamilton had 50 at bats in 2006 and 238 in 2007 (both in the Majors and in AAA). We're not yet to the break in 2008, and he already has 350, a bit less than half of which have come in the furnace that is the Ballpark at Arlington. Simply put, the man hasn't been worked this hard -- in this kind of heat -- since he was a teenager in the Sally League, and his body might need a break.

Rockies 4, Brewers 3: Wait, I thought the Brewers weren't going to lose anymore now that they have traded for Sabathia. Have I been misled?

Dodgers 3, Braves 0: Hiroki Kuroda comes one Mark Teixeira double away from a perfecto. The game story -- and a few Braves sites I've seen this morning -- want to blame the fact that Atlanta played 17 innings yesterday and then hopped a cross-country flight, but the Braves players quoted said that Kuroda was simply dealing.

A's 4 Mariners 3

Marlins 3, Padres 1

Sorry for the short shrift on the last two, but I got squeezed by my kids this morning, who don't realize that there will one day come a time when people won't let them sleep as late as they want to.

Deadspin v. 2.0 Stumbles Out of the Gate

I'm actually a pretty big fan of A.J. Daulerio's. While most folks know him best from some of his long-form performance art at the 2007 Super Bowl, he's actually an excellent writer and knows a hell of a lot about sports. Now that he's in charge over at Deadspin, he'll no doubt be doing more writing and less mascoting, and that will serve the site very well. Upshot: Daulerio was a good choice to succeed Leitch, and I'll continue to read the site.

That said, there were two posts over there today which may make me rethink the previous paragraph.

First, in his introduction post this morning, new Associate Editor Clay Travis -- a lawyer, by the way; we're totally taking over -- says:

I do not like fat girls from Florida with bingo wings, people from Long Island, ‘Bama Bangs, Georgetown University, the major league baseball regular season, goatees, the NFC East, billable hours, old white men who claim that writing about sports is hard, or Jim Rome.

Deadspin is a general sports beat, isn't it? It's not a single-subject thing like this place or a site like Yahoo! where folks have their own particular bailiwick. How on Earth do you get that job if you admit that you hate one of the major sports' regular seasons?

I suppose I can get over that, though, because I happen to know a few places where I can get some decent baseball coverage.

More problematically, in today's Comment Ombudsman piece, Rob Iracane says:

Let me get this right out in the open: new Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio has granted me the ability to execute commenters, and I am going to take quick advantage of this ability. Mr. Daulerio does not hide behind a folksy, aw-shucks Midwestern sensibility. Rather, he has embraced the dark, cutthroat side of sportsblogging that permits the public humiliation of one's readers. The good news is that I'll be a little more lenient in letting in new commenters, so if you want an invite, send me an e-mail or go ahead and audition below to become a commenter.

Also, my sword will no longer be silent and I will broadcast the news to everyone once you have been killed off. Don't let the Gawker Media technical issues that bewilder us on a regular basis worry you too much; if you have trouble logging in, that doesn't necessarily mean your commenting privileges have been taken away. In fact, if you make duplicate comments about not being able to sign in because of some mythical hamster, I will not just ban you from commenting, I will track you down and slice your Achilles.

That's a rather strange choice considering that as recently as two weeks ago Leitch was defending Deadspin from accusations that its commenters served as a distraction from the site's editorial voice. With the move towards a be-funny-or-die comments section, Deadspin has essentially put its comment threads on equal footing with the actual writing, thereby validating many of the criticisims of the Bissinger/Costas gang. You got a commenter bringing down the discourse? Too bad. You asked for it.

In addition to the move being a bad one, it was poorly executed as well. To wit, note that today's piece still has the old Leitch-penned preamble:

We want the place to continue to be as much fun as it is every day, and it's not an execution thread like our friends at Gawker do. We like to be inclusive here, because if we're not, we'd be forced to rely on our own wit and knowledge, and that's a scary thought indeed.

Whoops.

So, to sum up: Deadspin has essentially pledged to decrease its baseball coverage, to be less inclusive, and to depend on the commenters to perform like trained monkeys under penalty of virtual death.

Wonderful.

Francoeur's Back

Turns out it was only a three-day demotion. I'm sure he's all fixed now.

The Worst All Stars

Bleacher Report ranks Varitek as the worst All-Star selection in the last ten years. It's a fun list that reminds just how far the Midsummer Classic has fallen.

As for Varitek, I don't necessarily agree that he was the worst. Sure his numbers are godawful, but fame and history have to matter for something, even if they're not the first thing I'd look to when filling out a roster. At least with Varitek there will be a day in the future when we remember his career and think "oh yeah, All-Star catcher," without the sort of irony we muster when talking about, say, Ron Coomer. In other words, the memory of his 2008 season will fade, we'll think of his glory years, and his selection to this year's team will be understandable in ways that other guys' -- Mark Redman? Mike Williams -- will not be.

Ignoring Occam's Razor

A-Rod's former trainer believes that Madonna brainwashed Rodriguez with kabbalah beginning in November 2007 and it was that which drove a wedge between him and his family:

"She believes it's what ruined her marriage," Romero added.

A-Rod's first encounters with the Material Mom came through their common friend, Miami nightclub owner Ingrid Casares, Romero said.

Once Madonna and A-Rod started working out together in New York in November 2007, he was under the complete spell of kabbalah's most famous practitioner, the slugger's confidant said.

Yeah, kabbalah. I'm sure the widely-publicized affair with the Playboy Bunny/stripper five months earlier had nothin' to do with it.

Obligatory All Star Game Post

Except for the occasional snarky comment in the recaps, I'm not going to have anything much to say about the All-Star rosters. This is mostly because I tend to avoid many of the standard evergreen column topics around these parts. You can always count on about 150 season previews and All-Star Game roster pieces from other sources each year. Many of those sources do a much better job than I ever could, and the ones who don't kind of lower the value of such things by their very presence. I don't want to do that, so I'll usually step aside.

For one of the many sources for better analysis than I can provide, check out Keith Law's piece over at ESPN. He hits on most of the things I noticed (Varitek and all of those AL relievers) and many things I hadn't thought about until I read his piece (John Lackey's inexcusable absence). That last one is particularly problematic for me. Yes, Lackey missed some time in the first half, but if we're really going to continue with this charade that the All Star Game Really Matters, don't you have to pick the players who give you the best chance to win rather than treat the game as a first-half awards banquet? If I needed to win a series against the Martians right now, I'd have Lackey in my rotation. Wouldn't you?

Anyway, despite Law's niche as the scouting/prospects guy over there, he used to write an awful lot of general baseball back in his Prospectus days. That stuff was always really good, and it's always a special treat when ESPN lets him talk about something other than the command some Southern Leaguer has over his breaking ball.

Put Ryan Church On The Shelf

In late May, the Mets were roundly criticized for continuing to play Ryan Church despite continued headaches dizziness, and lethargy following a concussion he received on May 20th. Soon afterwards, Church went on the DL where he spent most of June. Church came back last week, but soon began feeling awful again, and he's now leaving the team for further treatment. With all of the appropriate I-am-not-a-doctor caveats, this left me dumbfounded:

At that time, the Mets were criticized for relying on Church to decide whether he could play after the second concussion. Jerry Manuel said yesterday that the team would no longer allow the patient to dictate treatment. "I'm just going to take it out of his hands," Manuel said.

It's no secret that this blog is highly critical of the National Football League. I hate most everything about it, from its salary structure to its pension system, from its labor rules to its selectively paternalistic approach to the players, from its hyper-seriousness to the culture of gambling it cultivates and tacitly encourages. But one thing I can't fault the NFL for is its in-season medical care to active players. When a quarterback gets a concussion, you read about the battery of medical tests he undergoes and the disappointment he feels when the medical staff tells him that he can't play. Careers have been ended by concussions in the NFL, obviously, but when they do, it's more often than not because doctor has told the player that he simply can't go anymore.

Then there's the Mets. Do they not have access to a neurologist who could have decided whether Ryan Church was able to play in late May and again this past week? After all of the drama in late May, they were still letting him decide whether to play or not? Ryan Church is a professional athlete. He's been trained since he was but a lad to say "put me in coach, I'm ready to play," no matter how ready he actually is. The fact that the Mets were, as Manuel says, leaving the decision in his hands despite the seriousness of post-concussion syndrome speaks to either incompetence or negligence or both.

Are the Mets so desperate to win that they'd willingly risk a player's health over it, or do they simply not know any better?

And That Happened

Brewers 11, Pirates 6: A pretty impressive offensive performance for Milwaukee. Now, if they could only get some pitching. Oh, wait. Brewers' fans have visions of 1987 Doyle Alexander and 1998 Randy Johnson dancing in their heads. The way C.C. has pitched recently, those may not be unrealistic expectations.

Twins 4, Indians 3: Silver lining: the eight straight losses for the Indians brings some sort of clarity to this team, however grim. By officially going into the tank like they have, the Indians have made it a little easier for Shapiro to do the things he needs to do to ensure that they can contend over the next couple of years (i.e. Sizemore's prime). Things like unload their soon-to-walk ace for much needed offensive help. Things like designate their "closer" for assignment. Things like bringing back guys like Hafner, Martinez, and Carmona slowly, ensuring that they don't get overworked, re-injured, or disillusioned in some desperate and tenuous playoff run this season. Sure, losing sucks, but sometimes the timing works out OK. Just ask the 1996-97 San Antonio Spurs.

Braves 7, Houston 6: 17 innings. As Mac said, this one reminded me an awful lot of Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS, except this time (a) Atlanta won; and (b) both Houston and Atlanta kind of stink so it doesn't really matter all that much. Chipper Jones reached base seven times in nine plate appearances. Some folks down south are sad that he's not hitting .400 anymore, but his OBP is still up around .485, and that's nothin' to sneeze at.

Tigers 2, Mariners 1: Only 15 innings? The Astros and Braves mock them for their lack of stamina and resolve. Jamie Burke takes the loss for Seattle, which is pretty cool considering that Jamie Burke is a catcher. According to the box score he didn't walk anyone, and according to the game story he hit 86 on the gun. Scouts from the Rangers, Royals, Pirates, and Nationals were later seen writing furious memos to their front offices.

Reds 6, Nationals 5: Edinson Volquez wasn't all that dominant today -- he gave up three runs in six innings -- and after the game, Nats' manager Manny Acta vented: "We should have won the game. We caught Volquez on one of his bad days. We should have scored eight runs against him." The Nats have scored eight runs against a pitcher only once this season, and have scored that many in an entire game only six times. They are currently dead last in runs scored in all of Major League Baseball. In other words, Manny Acta probably needs to aim lower.

Rangers 11, Orioles 10: Only 22,000 showed up for this one. But you know how these things go. Some day there will be hundreds of thousands of people who will all claim to have been at the first game in which All-Star pitcher George Sherrill saw action.

Diamondbacks 3, Padres 2: A month or two ago I thought that the Dbacks had the luxury of allowing Randy Johnson to come back at his leisure and see what he had left in the tank with no real worries about whether things would pan out or not. In light of a horrifying month for both Arizona and Johnson, I had reassessed, figuring that if Arizona managed to hang on to the division, it would be with Johnson as the situational lefty at best. Given yesterday's performance (6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 10K) maybe it's time for me to reassess again. Of course only a couple more starts will tell us whether yesterday's performance was actually a function of Johnson figuring it out or merely a function of playing the Padres.

Mets 4, Phillies 2: All-Star Billy Wagner blows his sixth save in 25 chances, but has his bacon saved by a .269/.296/.366 hitter who just so happens to be the Mets' Clutch God this season. Apropos of nothing except my desire to note that he's not even the best hitting second baseman in his division whose name starts with the letter U, Chase Utley goes 1-6.

Marlins 10, Rockies 5: Cody Ross in the four-game series against the Rockies: 12-20, 2 HR, 4 2B, 15 RBI.

White Sox 4, A's 3: Rich Harden didn't have it today, and with the kinds of lineups the A's run out there anymore, their starting pitcher needs to have it.

Cubs 7, Cardinals 1: Between dropping two of three to the Cubs and the Brewers grabbing Sabathia, the Cardinals' somewhat surprising run this season may soon be coming to an end.

Angels 7, Blue Jays 1: While they have a few less wins than Tampa Bay and get a fraction of the press the Red Sox get, I still have the Angels as the team most likely to win the AL this year. Their lead -- five games -- is the biggest in baseball, and after a rocky start, Jon Garland is coming around, giving them four starters that match up pretty decently with the four that Tampa Bay, Boston, and Chicago can trot out. Obviously they need some offensive help, but unlike the other AL contenders, they have some breathing room to experiment and figure things out during the dog days.

Dodgers 5, Giants 3: For all of the high-profile signings of the past few years, and no matter how the Furcals, Jones, and Garciaparras of the world come back from their various injuries and ailments, this Dodger team is going to rise or fall based on the play of Kemp, Ethier, Martin, and Loney. Yesterday they delivered, going 7-16 and driving in all five of the Dodgers' runs.

Rays 9, Royals 2: Terry Francona named two Rays to the All-Star team (Kazmir and Navarro), but noted "You know, at some point, if [Rays'] fans want them to be on the team, they're going have to step up and vote. That's the way it goes." Good luck. Despite the best record in baseball and despite coming off a potentially season-defining whuppin' of the Red Sox, the Rays drew an average of just over 22,000 for the last three games against the Royals, which is around a half-full house. Oftentimes teams don't see a success-driven attendance bump until the year after the success, but one would think that if there was any potential for Rays fever around Tampa Bay, folks would have started catching it by now.

Yankees 5, Red Sox 4: A-Rod ties Mickey Mantle on the career home run list. I've known exactly how many home runs Rodriguez had for some time now, and I've long known how many home runs The Mick had in his career. The brain works in funny ways, though, and mine hadn't really ever put those two converging numbers together at once until Rodriguez hooked that ball around the left field pole in the second inning and ESPN flashed it on the screen. For a few moments I sat there thinking "Wow. Mickey Mantle. This Rodriguez fellow might be pretty good." And of course I know better. If an obsessive like me can take a guy like Rodriguez for granted like that once in a while, imagine how many casual fans out there are missing the fact that one of the best players in the history of the game is in his prime and on our televisions on something like a weekly basis.

Remembering the Redbirds

In honor of the new AAA stadium rising downtown, my hometown Columbus Dispatch has recently been running retrospectives of Columbus baseball history. This morning's -- recalling the Columbus Redbirds of 1931-1954 -- has a couple of fun stories:

Larry MacPhail was new to Columbus. He was sent to the city in 1931 to run the American Association franchise that the St. Louis Cardinals had purchased from the Cincinnati Reds, and it was immediately clear to him that Neil Park, the club's old concrete ballpark on Cleveland Avenue, would have to be replaced . . .

. . . MacPhail, though, still had much to learn about Columbus. Former Dispatch Sports Editor Paul Hornung used to tell a story, relayed to him by one of his predecessors, of the day in 1931 when MacPhail asked a Dispatch writer to accompany him on a little journey for a big surprise.

MacPhail stopped the car at a vacant lot on the south end of town, got out and produced a long roll of paper. When he stretched it out, it revealed a blueprint of a new baseball park.

"This is where I'm going to build my new stadium," MacPhail told the writer.

Just then the wind shifted, and a foul odor wiped the proud grin off the new general manager's face.

"What's that smell?" MacPhail said.

"Oh, it's the rendering plant, among other things," the writer said. "It always smells like this around here."

MacPhail rolled up his blueprints and got back in the car. Not long after that, it was announced that the Red Birds would have a home on W. Mound Street.

Just so you know, Mound Street ain't near the rendering plant. Unfortunately for Columbus' beer leaguers, however, the giant rec-league softball park is -- and the rendering plant is still there too -- which is one of the reasons why I don't play softball anymore.

There's also a fun story about the free stuff Enos Slaughter used to get for hitting home runs during his stint in Columbus.

Overall, a surprisingly good story from a newspaper whose baseball coverage normally ranges from intolerable to execrable.

And That Happened

Bonus Holiday Edition!

I'm not gonna be blogging today. There are parades to attend, meat products to grill, fireworks to watch, and alcohol to consume. And my afternoon is pretty packed too.

But I do feel obligated to recap last night's action as it's The American Thing To Do.

Diamondbacks 6, Brewers 5: Milwaukee led 5-0 entering the bottom of the ninth. This should be easy work! Single. Walk. Single. Double. Single. Double. Single. Ballgame. The best part: you know that given the score half the people left the park before the inning started.

Phillies 4, Braves 1: The Braves are now seven back of Philadelphia. They have lost eight of nine to the Phillies this year. You do the math.

Dodgers 5, Astros 2: According to the game story, Chad Billingsley said he threw only three offspeed pitches through the first four innings and didn't start throwing breaking balls until the fifth."I was getting the fastball in for strikes on the first pitch and I was able to get ahead in the count," Billingsley said. "I was just sticking with the fastball." In other words, the Astros were only able to muster two runs against batting practice.

Reds 5, Nationals 3: I watched most of this game from Chez Shyster. This was fun: top of the fourth inning, Former Red Dimitri Young at the plate. Reds' announcers George Grande and Chris Welsh are talking about the good old days:

Grande: Young always produced when he was with the Reds. In his four years here, he was at .310, .300, .303, and .302.

Welsh: Are you talking about his weight?

Giants 8, Cubs 3: Tim Lincecum (6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 8K) sat down on his legs, relaxed his shoulders, got his left side on target, and picked up the frickin' dollar.

Red Sox 7, Yankees 0: Jon Lester shuts out the Yankees. I don't mean to shortchange his effort, but making New York miss wasn't that hard given that lately Yankee players are more concerned with trying to avoid process servers than they are about playing baseball.

Royals 10, Orioles 7: Tony Pena hit a home run. That was his fourth career home run in 726 at bats. If there is any justice in the world Garrett Olson -- the man who gave up that home run -- is, as we speak, being forced to buy the drinks for each and every person on the Orioles active roster.

A's 3, White Sox 2: Quite a duel between Vazquez (CG, 4 H, 3 ER, 10K) and Duchscherer (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER), but the guy with the 1.96 ERA won it behind blasts from Jack Cust and Donnie Murphy.

Mets 11, Cardinals 1: Mitchell Boggs had given up nine runs through three innings, but La Russa didn't pull him. Why? The Cards had used six pitchers in Wednesday night's win, and dammit, the bullpen needed rest. This was Boggs' turn to wear it, and wear it he did, throwing his 100+ pitches, giving up his ten hits, eleven runs, and six walks, and taking one for the team in every sense of the word. We rightfully celebrate outstanding performances and understandably boo poor ones, but I have always found there to be an admirable nobility in a pitcher wearing one like Boggs did. It would probably be unseemly in front of the hometown fans and on television for his teammates to high five him after such an ugly loss, but I hope that the Cardinals players gave Boggs some modest fist bumps and respectful nods back in the clubhouse.

Tigers 8, Mariners 4: This could be fun: "During his pregame session with reporters, Tigers manager Jim Leyland said 'it's a possibility' when asked if Joel Zumaya could be a starter next season."

Rockies 6, Marlins 5: Due to a postgame fireworks show, over 48,000 people showed up at Coors Field. I'm guessing that was pretty unsettling for the Marlins.

Announcement

From here on out, this blog will simply be known as "Ball."

Why?

Success, baby. Success.

(thanks to Mahnu.Uterna a/k/a Sara K. for the link and, I must admit, the joke, which I shamelessly ripped off).

Great Moments in Motivation

At least one Sox fan has decided that, despite the quite convincing Tampa Bay sweep, the Rays have sealed their doom because:

You played "Sweet Caroline" after the final out of last night's game.

That's a play right out of Smug Upstart Wannabes 101--the mark of a team that's so confused by its own success, it feels it has to take these opportunities to step on the 600 pound gorilla's nuts when he's down, because it's not sure it'll ever have another chance to do so. It was sophomoric--instantly recalling the "1918" chant that was popular 'round Tampa Bay before our 2004 heroics--and frighteningly lame. But it doesn't surprise me.

Getting defensive about a shitty Neil Diamond song? You're damn right, amigo. Because it's our shitty Neil Diamond song. To use it to openly mock us when you could have simply pointed to the standings and shuffled off the field knowing we'd been outgunned and outquaffed... let's just say you didn't earn yourselves any karma points.

In fact, I'm betting that with this maneuver, you have sealed your fate, Tampa Bay Rays. Forget the postseason. Forget the Jay Leno interviews and ticker tape parades and a trip to the moon on the President's personal hovercraft. The Gods of Baseball are a fickle bunch, and while your post-June relevance has been the feel-good story for the first half of the 2008 season, I think you've doomed yourselves to bridesmaid status in the AL East.

Given how educated the city of Boston is as a whole, I am constantly amazed at how much superstition, hoodoo, and hokum is involved in rooting for its teams.

Shopping Sabathia

No real surprise here, but Mark Shapiro is making it pretty clear that the Indians are going to be sellers this trading season:

"It's pretty obvious," Shapiro said. "If you're looking for an announcement that we're going to start trading guys, you won't get that until we make our first trade. But I think it's fairly obvious at this point."

The biggest chit they have, of course, is C.C. Sabathia. According to the article, there are many possible suitors, with the Cubs, Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers, Rays, Red Sox and Yankees all potential landing places. Some of these make more sense than others. The Cubs, who have the easiest path to the World Series, and the Dodgers and Red Sox, who have a lot of pitching, may not really need him, at least for the price Shapiro will no doubt demand. The Phillies likely don't have the players it will take to get him. That leaves Tampa Bay, Milwaukee and New York.

I have long thought (well, for a couple of weeks anyway) that Milwaukee makes the most sense because (a) Cleveland has no corner bats; and (b) Milwaukee has many, but the general consensus among the smart Indians' fans I've talked to is that Cleveland will want some pitching back as a part of any package. Maybe so. Milwaukee doesn't really have that, so maybe Milwaukee isn't an option.

New York would no doubt dangle Hughes and/or Kennedy, and possibly one of their middling though potentially high-upside hitting prospects, but if you believe what you read Cashman and at least Hal Steinbrenner, while possibly interested, aren't going to jump into things like the Yankees of old would have. They passed on Johan Santana. They may very well pass on C.C. Sabathia too, safe with the knowledge of course that they could simply pay to get him this winter if they really want to.

That leaves Tampa Bay. The first place Tampa Bay Rays. The potential American League East Champion Tampa Bay Rays. A team with a loaded farm system. A team who, more than anyone on this list, if they got Sabathia, could be said to have put themselves over the top. Can you picture a rotation of Sabathia-Kazmir-Shields-Garza over a four game series come August? Can you picture facing them over four games in the ALDS?

I bet Andrew Friedman can, and I bet he has Mark Shapiro on his speed dial.

More Clemens-McNamee Monkeyshines

People are filing motions -- blah, blah, blah -- lawyers are making premature factual arguments in order to rile up the press -- blah, blah, blah -- Rusty Hardin probably asserted claims in an amended complaint that he knew to be time-barred by the statute of limitations -- blah, blah, blah -- Andy Pettitte may have his deposition taken in the middle of the season -- blah, blah, blah -- Everyone probably wants this case to go away so as not to distract attention from the impending Rodriguez divorce case -- blah, blah, blah.

Brave New World

The Braves are going nowhere and they know it. Acceptance of such things can often bring welcome clarity, and Atlanta seems to be no exception as they are considering two moves -- the demotion of Jeff Francoeur and the shopping of Mark Teixeira -- which will help move the team in the right direction over the long term.

The Francoeur move may be a case of closing the barn door after the horses have already run off. He's been in the Majors for three years now, and has shown no signs of maturation whatsoever. Francoeur seems to be a hopeless case right now. He needed more time in the minors, but once he got off to that hot start in 2005 no one had the guts to send him down again. Since then he has been a team poster boy, a notorious man-about-town, and has shown neither the willingness nor the ability to figure out what the heck he's supposed to be doing in the little white box in front of the umpire. How he has remained so clueless when Chipper Jones -- a perfectly good role model -- has been hanging around the whole time is beyond me, but hopeless he has remained, and his utter lack of production, more than just about everything, is why the Braves are floundering.

Sending out feelers on Teixeira is also a good move. The guy turned down 8 years and $140M from the Rangers last year, and there's no way the Braves come close to offering that. Heck, there's no way the Braves even come close to offering the college town discount to that which, it should be noted, Teixeira has shown no indication of being interested in in the first place. The guy is walking, either to the Bronx, Queens, or to Baltimore, and that's pretty much that. Moreover, given the way the Braves got burned when the offered Maddux arbitration before the 2003 season (the sumbitch accepted it!) my suspicion is that they wouldn't offer it to Teixeira either, thus negating the "keep him around and take the draft picks when he walks" argument. You don't get those picks unless you offer arbitration. I'm pretty bad at valuing trades, so I have no sense of what Atlanta could expect to get for Teixeira, but it seems that something is better than nothing, and Teixeira's bat won't really be missed in the epic battle for third place which looms in the Braves' future.

The streak of division titles ended a couple of years ago, but Braves fans have still been sort of living in the afterglow. Sure, the team hasn't been as strong as it once was, but most of the faces have been the same. There has still been a sense that at any given time the Braves were only a winning streak away from glory. That's still technically true, but it's time for us to let go and face reality. Mark Teixeira is not going to be a part of the next good Braves team. Jeff Francoeur probably isn't going to ever be a part of a good team. Smoltz is probably done, and I'd be shocked if we saw Glavine beyond this year.

This is Kelly Johnson's and Brian McCann's and Yunel Escobar's and Jair Jurrjens' team now. It's around those guys -- with some mentoring from Chipper and Tim Hudson -- that the Braves need to build. Rather than wait until this winter, they should begin that process now.

Porn Hack?

No, that title is not a transparent attempt to increase page views (though increase them it no doubt will). Rather, it's a curious phrase Braves' reliever Will Ohman used to describe Dan Uggla's swing in a story I missed from the June 23rd Sports Illustrated.

The lead-in described Uggla as a strong country boy with good instincts but less than a rigorous mental approach to the game. A man whose modus operandi seems to be to swing hard and hope for the best. Then came the money shot:

"His strength is, he takes an absolute porn hack," says Atlanta Braves pitcher Will Ohman. "I'm not going to say he doesn't have an approach, but the approach of swing-hard-in-case-you-hit-it is working."

Because most of you are reading this at work, I'll strongly advise you not to do a Google search for "porn hack." It's not pretty. Just trust me when I say that I just did such a search for you and I can tell you that there isn't a lot of baseball content that comes back.

Has anyone ever heard this term before? Are guys in clubhouses all over the country talking about "porn hacks?" Am I just sheltered? If the answer to those questions is no, can someone please get the AJC's Mark Bradley to ask Ohman about this? Inquiring minds want to know.

(thanks to reader Scott M. for the heads up)

And That Happened

Twins 7, Tigers 0: The Twins have owned the Tigers at the Metrodome this season, outscoring them 39-17. They took two of three in this series. They have won 13 of 15 overall. They aren't substantially outperforming their Pythagorean record, so it's not like they aren't legit. They're a strong team, on a roll, doing things no one thought they'd be doing this year. So somebody explain this:

Google News Search Results as of 5PM on July 2, 2008

"Chicago White Sox" 25,620

"Detroit Tigers" 15,926

"Cleveland Indians" 15,827

"Kansas City Royals" 14,253

"Minnesota Twins" 12,913

And you thought I was disrespectin' the Twins.

Yankees 18, Rangers 7: Forget what I said yesterday about the Yankees being vexed by Texas' pitching. Jason Giambi had a granny and six RBI. Alex Rodriguez shook off all the crazy-ass rumors swirling around him over the past 48 hours and managed a nice little 2-3, HR, 3 RBI performance. Following the game he had a three-way with Lisa Bonet and Warren Beatty, thereby completing the insane love pentagon he and his soon-to-be ex-wife seem to have embarked upon. Oh, and Sidney Ponson faced -- and got rocked by -- his old team. Not that anyone cares about a fat and belligerent drunk's revenge fantasies now that the Rodriguezes have turned the Bronx into Peyton Place.

Marlins 4, Nats 2: Washington had only three hits and one walk. They must have really been in a hurry to catch that flight to Cincinnati.

Angels 7, A's 4: According to the game story, "Saunders (12-4) became the first Angels pitcher with at least 12 wins before the All-Star break since 1991, when Chuck Finley and Mark Langston did it." Two guys! But that's not all. That year, not one, not two, but three Angels' pitchers piled up wins. In addition to Finley, who finished with 18 wins, and Langston, who won 19, Jim Abbott won 18 himself. Overall, the California Angels were second in the AL in team ERA that year, so it wasn't as though they were cheap wins. Those of you too young to really remember 1991 may be asking yourself how far that ace-laden Angels got into the postseason. Sorry, bub: they finished 81-81 which that year amounted to rock solid last place in the AL West. Seventh! Fourteen games behind the eventual champion Twins.

I offer that as a little reminder to one and all what life used to be like before three divisions and wild cards and interleague play that allowed one league to beat up on another. There really wasn't anyplace to hide back then.

Orioles 5, Royals 2: Daniel Cabrera (CG, 7 H, 2 ER) proves that you can mess with DeJesus (3-4, HR) and still beat the Royals.

Phillies 7, Braves 3: The Phillies jumped out to a 5-0 lead, which the Braves closed to 5-1 in the fifth. In the sixth, the Braves loaded the bases with no one out. If you're a Braves fan you know exactly what happened next: Jeff Francoeur hit into a double play. Sure, one run scored, but the life was sucked out of the rally and the Braves didn't really threaten again. Well, in the eighth Chipper hit a homer to pull it to 5-3, and a runner made it to second. Of course then Francoeur struck out. The only possible positive you can say is that he saw seven pitches on each of those occasions, but in the end, Frenchy is still Frenchy, and he's still killing the Braves.

Pirates 9, Reds 5: Xavier Nady was Xquisite (3-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI), as he and his buddies beat the livin' tar out of Darrell Thompson and the Reds. This despite John Van Benschoten getting lit up his own self (2.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER). There are other guys out there who, like Van Benschoten, had potentially promising hitting careers derailed by a team who thinks he was going to make a better pitcher, but because of his unique name, I will always remember him. 2001 was eons ago in terms of online baseball analysis, but even then, in real time, everyone seemed to think that the Pirates were making a huge mistake. Everyone except for Cam Bonifay anyway. Of course, Bonifay was fired about a week after that draft, so it's not like Van B had to stay on the mound. I'll always wonder what kind of hitter he'd make.

Dodgers 4, Astros 1: For as bad a season as it has been so far for Los Angeles, they are amazingly still only one and a half games back in the West. Somebody has to win that division, and right now it could just as easily be the Dodgers -- who will have some important people come back in the second half -- as anyone else.

Rays 7, Red Sox 6: Suh-weep. These teams don't face each other again until September 8th. You can bet that the Red Sox will have a hell of a lot to think about between now and then.

Rockies 8, Padres 1: Randy Wolf (4 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 4 BB) isn't doing anything to help his trade value.

White Sox 6, Indians 5: Grady Sizemore had two homers, but A.J. Pierzynski's lone shot [I'm an idiot; A.J. homered twice too -- thanks to Sam for the correction] was better timed -- a walkoff -- leading the Sox over the Indians again.

Cardinals; 8, Mets 7: The walkoff bug was contagious last night. This time it was Troy Glaus for the Cardinals whose second homer of the night ended it in the bottom of the ninth. In other news, David Wright -- in an effort to keep the Mets visible on the back pages of the New York tabloids -- has recently been spotted shacking up with Debbie Gibson. And in a startling turn, Wright's wife has run away to Paris with the guy from Milli Vanilli. No, the other one. I'm pretty sure Rob's dead.

Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 3: The Brewers have just owned Arizona recently -- they've taken 10 of 13 -- yet if the music ended today, Arizona would be in the playoffs and Milwaukee would not, and that just doesn't seem fair.

Mariners 4, Blue Jays 2: According to the game story, Miguel Cairo "has built an 11-year major league career out of hard work and preparation. He said if he didn't have his strong work ethic, 'I'd be home [retired] already by now.'" Well, a strong ethic and the bad judgment of Bill Bavasi anyway. But I have not come here to insult Miguel Cairo -- well, maybe just a little -- I have come here to praise him! M-Cai goes 2-4 with two doubles and three RBI as Seattle takes down Toronto yet again.

Cubs 6, Giants 5: According to the game story, this game was broadcast around the world to 176 countries and more than 200 U.S. Navy ships as part of "Salute to the Military Night" by the Giants and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area. My brother was in the Navy, and once when I was 16 I got to go on his ship for what they call a "dependent's cruise" in which sailors' families get to ride around Chesapeake Bay for a few hours and watch the crew do their thing. I hung out down on my brother's rack and took a long nap. There was a TV down there. For the entire five or six hours of the cruise, it was surrounded by a half dozen swabbies watching the worst porn you could possibly imagine. I offer this as a way of saying that I question how much of the Navy was tuned in to the Giants' game.

Simpsons Did It

Remember when Mr. Burns hired Jose Canseco, among others, to be a ringer for the nuclear power plant's championship softball game against Shelbyville? That was funny. Sixteen years later it's a tad pathetic:

Santa Monica Barney's Beanery had a ringer for its softball tournament against the chain's four other stores June 23 at the Field of Dreams: retired major league baseball slugger Jose Canseco.

"[Santa Monica manager] Jonah Dumont told the other teams ahead of time that he had a last-minute hire whose name is Jose," joked Barney's owner, Palisadian David Houston. "Jose was really nice for coming out and playing with us . . ."

. . . Canseco crushed several home runs during the one-day tournament, one of which cleared the opposite field and landed in the parking lot over 350 feet away.

I've never been to Barney's, so I have no idea what kind of place it is, but according to their website, Barney's was the place where Janis Joplin had her last ever drink before dying, and Jim Morrison was once arrested there for peeing on the bar.

I guess what I'm saying here is that Jose probably shouldn't expect this association to provide the springboard back into the world of fame and fortune he no doubt craves.

The Freak

As MLB Trade Rumors and Neyer have both noted, the Tim Lincecum article in SI is really good. My only somewhat cool observation about it is that if everything in the article were exactly the same except, rather than being a Major Leaguer, Lincecum was a high school prospect, wouldn't everyone be accusing Lincecum's dad of being one of those psycho-Marinovich parents? Wouldn't we all be fearing for Lincecum's future? If Lincecum suffers a severe arm injury in September, won't we all be saying that anyway? Just askin'.

That aside, my favorite part of the article has nothing to do with Lincecum:

Throwing a baseball is an act of violence that has been graphically defined by Dr. James Andrews, Dr. Glenn Fleisig and the other doctors and clinicians at the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) in Birmingham. From the loaded position, the shoulder, at its peak speed, rotates forward at 7,000 degrees per second. "That," Fleisig says, "is the fastest measured human motion of any human
activity."

While in the loaded position, the shoulder and elbow bear the equivalent of about 40 pounds of force pushing down. When the ASMI biomechanists wanted to know how much more force an arm could take, they brought cadavers into the lab and pulled and pushed upon the elbow joint to find the breaking point. The cadavers's ligaments blew apart just after 40 pounds of force. "So a pitcher is just about at the maximum," Fleisig says.

For some reason I find it insanely cool that Dr. Andrews and his colleagues are busting cadavers' elbows in order to keep hurlers' arms healthy. I've given passing thought to donating my body to science after I'm gone (mostly after reading this book). If I decide to do it, I think I want it to go towards baseball-related research. Like, they can bean me in the name of batting helmet testing or something.

Bad Medicine

Clearly the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge houses some sort of time travelling device. How else to explain this:

A lucky group of Staten Islanders came away with free Bon Jovi tickets early this morning.The rest are out of luck.

By 9:46 a.m., all 1,500 tickets to the free July 15 concert in Central Park that were available at Richmond County Bank Ballpark in St. George had been given away. The ticket frenzy meant only the most devoted were rewarded in a crowd that had begun
lining up before sundown last night.

The Bon Jovi concert is part of the All-Star Game festivities. I'm assuming that the game itself is sold out already, but if they are having trouble selling tickets for some reason, they can simply tell people in Staten Island that Dave Winfield, Hubie Brooks, and Teddy Higuera will be playing. The tickets would be gone in a jiffy.

That is, assuming the Islanders didn't spend all of their money on McDLTs and Swatch watches.

Great Moments in Chisox Uniforms

If the Google searches which lead people to this site are any guide, you guys like stuff about uniforms. To that end, check out Paul Lukas' latest, which tracks the sartorial highlights and lowlights of the Chicago White Sox, a team which at times has been the best dressed and the worst dressed in baseball.

I do take slight issue with his negative take on the 1982-86 duds. While I agree that it looked pretty bad on the players, that pullover with the big SOX-across-the-chest design looks pretty good on throwbacks-worn-as-street clothes, as do almost all of the pullover designs.

I'm not saying I'll never be seen in public wearing a traditional button-down jersey, but you have to admit that there is something odd about them on a normal Joe.

Davey Johnson Interview

It's mostly about the Olympics, but Johnson holds court on other stuff too:

Q: What was your reaction to the way the Mets handled the Wilie Randolph situation?

DJ: Well, (chuckles a little bit), A lot of times I think big organizations in New York, that's part of the way they like to do business. I remember when I was fired, and I was very successful. We won a World Series (in 1986).

We were on the road, I'm not even sure where it was, Philadelphia I think, and Frank Cashen came in, he wasn't on the road trip, and at the time we had like three GM's, Al Harrison, Joe McIlvaine and Cashen. I was getting ready to go to the ballpark. I think it was about two o'clock.

Frank Cashen knocks on my door. I said that's not a good sign, what are you doing here? I know what he was doing here, he was going to make a change. So he fired me, and asked me if I would leave quietly and not talk to the press.

I said if that's what you want I would have liked to have the opportunity to speak to my players, and tell them thank you for all the effort and the good times, and wish them luck in the future. But (Cashen) wanted me to sneak out of town and have all the emphasis on the new (manager) . . . They had a car waiting out back for me, they rushed me to the airport, they had my flight already arranged, and I was on a plane like that. I think that was before cell phones, so nobody had a way to reach me until they got me at home, two or three days later.

The New York Mets: classy since at least 1990.

16 IP, 8 H, 0 ER, 10K

If you're a pitch count guy, you're not gonna wanna read this.

And That Happened

Yesterday, July 1st, was my 13th wedding anniversary. Without going into too much detail, allow me to say that I had better things to do than watch the evening box scores roll in, so today's recaps may be a bit more abbreviated than normal.

Orioles 7, Royals 5: On July 1, 1995, as I was saying "I do" to Mrs. Shyster, Tom Gordon was getting rocked by a White Sox lineup featuring Ozzie Guillen, Tim Raines, and, John Kruk. Gary Gaetti and Vince Coleman figured prominently for the Royals. The lessons here: (1) I really couldn't think of anything interesting to say about the Roylas-Orioles game; and (2) I've been married a long time.

Rays 3, Red Sox 1: The Sox only draw two walks for the second night in a row. Meanwhile, the Rays' confidence grows stronger and stronger. The more I see of these guys, the more they resemble the 1991 Braves to me. As a fellow traveler to many a sabermetrician I'm supposed to be smarter than this, but I'm just going to say it: good defense, good pitching, and no fear goes a long damn way in this league, and that describes the Rays pretty well right now.

Phillies 8, Braves 3: Morton. Carlyle. Acosta. Ohman. Boyer. Ring. Those are the names which strike fear in lineups that dare oppose the Atlanta Braves.

Nationals 9, Marlins 6: For as much as we all kinda wish he'd disappear, Elijah Dukes is turning into a pretty darn useful player. June line: .291/.395/.481. Last night 3-5, 3 RBI, 3 R.

Rangers 3, Yankees 2: The Yankees have been utterly vexed by the Rangers' mighty pitching staff. Joba, on the other hand, needs to find a way to throw strikes, because this 90+ pitches in four innings business just isn't going to cut it. No one reasonably expects him to be an ace yet, but he should at least be expected not to be a drain on the bullpen and everyone's patience.

Twins 6, Tigers 4: Nate Robertson seems not to have gotten the "Tigers no longer stink" memo, as he's still pitching like it was April (4 IP, 11 H, 6 ER).

Rockies 4, Padres 0: Aaron Cook throws a 78-pitch shutout which lasts 1:58. The Padres, it seems, aren't even trying anymore.

White Sox 3, Indians 2: Yet another excellent Cliff Lee performance (8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER) is wasted by the Tribe, as Joe Borowski does his thing (i.e. coughs up a lead in a critical situation) in the bottom of the tenth to hand the game over to Chicago.

Mets 7, Cardinals 4: Wright and Delgado power a 14 hit attack as the Mets bounce back to beat the Cardinals.

Pirates 6, Reds 5: A wild one in the Queen City, as the teams score five of the games' 11 runs in extra innings. Matt Capps blows yet another save -- he's been doing that a lot lately -- but vultures a win as David Weathers gives up two in the top of the 11th.

Angels 5, A's 3: Seems that Garret Anderson (2-4, decisive HR) was only mostly dead.

Brewers 8, Diamondbacks 6: Seeing Randy Johnson get smacked around like this (3.2 IP, 8 H, 7 ER) is like watching Ali vs. Holmes.

Giants 2, Cubs 1: Matt Cain had been struggling, but he figured something out last night, blanking the Cubbies over 8 innings (8 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 10K).

Dodgers 7, Astros 6: The Dodgers scored almost as many runs last night as they have in the past week.

Mariners 7, Blue Jays 6: The Mariners treated the Blue Jays pretty poorly considering it was Canada Day and all.

Big Mac's Long Road Back

USA Today's Bob Nightengale goes searching for Mark McGwire. Big Mac isn't talking -- and he hasn't for nearly three years now -- but others are saying a lot:

"The perception of Mark is so completely different than the reality," says Craig Daedelow, a friend of McGwire who often sees and talks to him. "People think he's out of the game, but they have no idea just how much he's still in the game."

Although McGwire declined to comment for this story, friends, colleagues and those in the game say he is slowly returning to baseball. They point to the secret hitting lessons he gives to a small group of major leaguers, minor leaguers and college players, and the time two years ago he nearly became the hitting coach of the Colorado Rockies.

They say they are convinced the 44-year-old will be in a baseball uniform in the near future, and not because he is in search of glory or a place in the Hall of Fame after two failed bids, but because his enduring passion for baseball is driving him back after he retired in 2001.

"He would be a tremendous hitting coach," Colorado Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd says. "Really, he'd be great at just about anything he wanted to do in baseball. He has so much passion for the game, and so much to offer."

I'm often critical of the uneven way in which players associated with steroids are treated by the media and the public at large. Some are pariahs, whether they are convincingly linked to steroids or not. Others don't miss a beat on their way to glory, and possibly Cooperstown, their legends mostly intact, their careers basically uninterrupted.

I don't lose a lot of sleep over McGwire's treatment, however. His performance in front of Congress in 2005 has been widely mocked, but not undeservedly so. Unlike Palmiero, Sosa, Canseco, Schilling or any of the others called before the committee that day, McGwire stood alone as someone with both the freedom to speak without fear of retribution -- he was out of the game by then -- and the integrity and popularity required to bring reason and thoughtfulness to bear on the issue of performance enhancing drugs. Barry Bonds was hated before steroids, and to a large extent so was Roger Clemens. Jose Canseco is a joke of a human being and Ken Caminiti was a tragedy. McGwire was different. He was about as close a thing baseball had to a hero at the time and was thus uniquely positioned to do something good, yet failed.

What would the discourse have looked like if, on that fateful day before Congress, McGwire had said "Yes, I took steroids. Here's why. This was my cost-benefit analysis. Now let's talk about it"? Initially, of course, it would have caused a shit storm, but that happened anyway. In the long run, however, the national conversation about performance enhancing drugs would have been elevated a bit, as we all would have had to deal with the fact that a guy all of America looked up to was taking them and being honest about them. Sure, some would have still called him a cheater and continued to beat the drum they're still beating today. But others would have thought twice. I believe that moment, had it been effectively seized by McGwire, would have led to a lot more thinking, reason, perspective, and compassion and a lot less bloviating when it comes to steroids. Of course McGwire didn't do that, and he's been in self-imposed exile ever since, his reputation in tatters, and his Hall of Fame chances virtually non-existent. I haven't shed many tears for McGwire over this because he, perhaps more than anyone, could have prevented all of this madness.

But it has been three years, and based on the accounts of McGwire I've read in this story and elsewhere, they haven't been easy ones. I don't believe the death sentence -- even a self-imposed one -- is appropriate punishment for McGwire's sins, and I'm happy to see that he is taking baby steps back into the game.

Perhaps most significantly, I'm happy to see that aside from an obligatory mention by Nightengale, none of McGwire's surrogates in this story are talking about his Hall of Fame chances. If they were, I'd view McGwire's implied desire to come back to the game with some skepticism. I'd think that glory was his goal, and as anyone who knows anything about such things knows, glory is not something you can just go out and grab, especially after all McGwire has been through.

Redemption can be earned, however, and based on what I'm reading here, it sounds to me like that's what McGwire's after. Not in the form of some maudlin media mea culpa or figurative group hug, but by getting back to basics. By passing along his knowledge to the next generation. By returning to the healing ho-hum day-to-day existence of baseball. By offering, one hopes, some wisdom and perspective earned through his own experiences, both good and bad.

It is my hope that McGwire chooses to return to baseball in some official capacity, and that when he does he is welcomed back. Not with open arms by one and all -- that's probably too much to ask -- but at least with some degree of wary acceptance.

In other words, he should be given a chance.

Showin' Him The Money

Torii Hunter, Doctor of psychology (third item down):

Zach Cone, a high school outfielder from Georgia who was a third-round pick in the June draft, took early batting practice with the Angels on Monday and hit one home run.

Cone, who is expected to sign with the Angels this week, met several players, including Hunter, who showed Cone the pay stub from the twice-monthly check he received Monday. Hunter, who is making $16.5 million this season, was razzed by Scioscia and several players for showing the kid his check, but he provided a defense."

Kirby used to do that to me," Hunter said, referring to former Twins teammate Kirby Puckett. "He did it to motivate me."

I suppose some players may be motivated by that kind of thing. It will be pretty ironic, though, if one day Cone takes Hunter's job because he's younger and cheaper. If he does, I hope Cone shows him his league minimum pay stub.

Etticks

Shenanigans! Tomfoolery! Monkeyshines! Or, as they call it in Pittsfield, Monday:

Former Sox general manager Daniel Duquette was raked over the coals by Red Sox fans for failing to get the team to the World Series. Now he is embroiled in a state ethics controversy for allegedly selling Pittsfield Mayor James M. Ruberto two face-value tickets to the 2004 World Series at a time when seats were fetching as much as $2,000 apiece . . .

. . . The mayor’s attorney, Leonard H. Cohen, said in a statement that the purchase of the World Series tickets did not influence the mayor's dealings with the minor league team. Cohen said he drove a hard bargain to allow the Dukes to play at Wahconah Park because it resulted in substantial economic benefits to the city.

“He purchased two tickets at face value ($190/ea) to the second game of the 2004 Red Sox World Series for one reason and one reason only,” Cohen said. “He, like countless other Red Sox fans in New England and elsewhere, at last had hopes that his beloved team would win the World Series in his lifetime.”

Cohen added: “Jimmy Ruberto, dedicated public servant and long suffering Red Sox fan, purchased two tickets to see his team and there is simply no impropriety in that.”

Well, of course there is. This public ethics stuff has formed a large part of my business in recent years, and this fact pattern is pretty damn par for the course in my experience. No one simply hands public officials wads of cash anymore. They give them access to things to which they otherwise wouldn't have access. Beachfront condos. Tee times at exclusive golf courses. Here in Ohio, Buckeyes tickets are a particularly common topic of conversation over at the Ethics Commission, and in Massachusetts I'm sure Sox tickets are too.

The "I paid face value" defense never works because every state's ethics law talks about the inherent value of the item being provided. OSU-Michigan tickets have a face value of about fifty bucks. Good luck finding them at that price. Give them to a politician at that price and you've done him a gigantic favor.

And guess what? He doesn't have to do something for you in return in order for there to be trouble. Every state has two laws: one for bribes, and one for "improper gifts." Bribes require a showing of a quid pro quo. Improper gifts do not -- the whole point of the gifts law is to punish the appearance of impropriety, not an actual rigged deal -- so this mayor's defense that he drove a hard bargain with Duquette over the Wahconah Park deal is irrelevant. The law would have been broken even if the deal wasn't ultimately done.

It's probably worth noting as well that just about every state has a law that penalizes both the recipient of the gift as well as the giver. In my experience, however, the giver usually isn't charged, so I suppose Dan Duquette's Hall of Fame candidacy is still viable. Which is nice.

New York: National League City

That's what David Cone says to BATS' Jack Curry anyway:

“I know you have to go back to the late 80s, but it wasn’t a Yankee city when I started here. It was the Mets. If the Mets win, people will come out of the woodwork. I’ve seen it happen . . . There’s a still sleeping giant in New York called the National League fan. There are a lot of people who followed the New York Giants that are still alive. There are a lot of people who still consider New York a National League city.”

I remember that, as I suppose many of you do too (ShysterBall readers skew older, I think). It was also expressed artistically in "Seinfeld." If you watch the early episodes, all the references were to the Mets. That whole Costanza working for the Yankees thing and Larry David's Steinbrenner imitation didn't show up until later in the run.

Great Moments in Labor Relations

The Players' Union is pursuing a grievance against the Astros over their treatment of Shawn Chacon. I presume the complaint revolves around no one instructing him to retreat to a neutral corner after the knockdown.

And That Happened

Tigers 5, Twins 4: Recent-day irresistible force meets recent-day immovable object. Not sure which is which, actually, but the team with the fuzzy kitty cat mascot won. Joel Zumaya gets an old school save -- nearly two innings -- in only his fifth start back following his shoulder injury. Just three days earlier, Leyland said that he "wasn't right." Hurm.

Royals 6, Orioles 5: Who mixed up the scripts? I thought Kansas City was supposed to blow a four run lead in the ninth and then blow it all in the 11th. Greinke has been saving his teammates' bacon all year, so it was nice to see them save his for once (5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER).

White Sox 9, Indians 7: Nick Swisher's two dingers -- one of which was a granny -- trumps Jhonny Peralta's 5-5, 3 RBI performance as the Tribe loses again. That, combined with the Royals win discussed supra (Get me! I'm using my legal training!) means that the Tribe is now in the cellar in the AL Central. Trade. Sabathia. Now.

Rays 5, Red Sox 4: You get the feeling from the box score that Joe Maddon was managing this one like it was game seven of the World Series, as the Rays use six pitchers in a game in which they never trailed. Un-Soxlike stat of the game: Boston drew only two walks.

Reds 4, Pirates 3: Griffey hits a game winning home run in the bottom of the ninth. Not bad for an old man who can't hit lefties. No, I'm not being mean. That's what little Darren Baker told Griffey before the game when he asked why he was left out of the lineup. From the mouths of babes.

Cardinals 7, Mets 1: It was nice of the Mets to roll over so easily, because by doing so they allowed La Russa to pitch Mark Mulder in the ninth inning in what amounted to a glorified rehab start. How helpful! Speaking of helpful, a long time ago the band Yo La Tengo had these t-shirts with Mr. Met on them. Anyone got a lead on where a brother could find one now?

Rangers 2, Yankees 1: The Bombers' first three hitters combined for a sweet 0-11, and the other six had only four hits among them, this against the worst staff in baseball.

Marlins 6, Nationals 5: Didja Know? Jon Rauch is the tallest pitcher to ever give up two home runs against the Marlins to blow a game!

Astros 4, Dodgers 1: Most useless thing I learned at SABR: Jose Valverde -- who chalked up save number 22 in this game -- was given the nickname of "Big Potato" by the Diamondbacks' TV analyst Jim Traber. Seems he was trying to call him "Big Daddy" in Spanish, but said "Papa Grande" instead. Why yes, alcohol had been consumed prior to that gem being introduced to the roundtable. In other news, the Astros are 4-1 following violent outbursts by disgruntled swingmen this year.

Padres 15, Rockies 8: I view this outburst as a big "F-You" to Jake Peavy, who complained Sunday about not being able to give up three and still get a win.

Blue Jays 2, Mariners 0: Halladay (CG SHO, 4 H, 6K) was one of the few starters who bothered to show up last night. It's a shame he had to beat a knuckleballer, though. I worry that if R.A. Dickey doesn't become a success, the weirdness quotient of Major League Baseball may be diminished.

A's 6, Angels 1: Greg Smith is another one who showed up (CG, 4 H, 1 ER). The Angels made it easy for him, though, by only looking at 100 pitches the whole game. It's hard to go from first to third on a single (as I understand ONLY the Angels are allowed to do by law) when you never see first.

Diamondbacks 6, Brewers 3: The Dbacks avoid sinking below .500. Not that it matters much in that division, which is starting to look like the 1994 AL West. Eric Byrnes left the game with a pulled hamstring -- the other one this time -- and is heading back to the DL. That could be good news for Arizona, actually.

Cubs 9, Giants 2: Nothin' like facing Barry Zito to stop a losing streak. He may as well have greeted the Cubs at SFO with a basket of baked goods. I think he met DeRosa with a big sloppy kiss (3-6, 6 RBI).