Curt Schilling Sells His First Video Game
Jerk
Former Boston Red Sox pitcher and current jerk Curt Schilling sold his first video game from his 38 Studios, to EA Studios. His first game is “Project Mercury” a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game like World of Warcraft is a single-player epic role playing game.
It will have the creation an enormous world, with heroes and villains and a rich back story from the brilliant minds of R. A Salvatore and Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn, and be available for PlayStation3, Xbox 360, and the PC.
“Project Mercury” is the first game to be published for 38 Studios which is the creative enterprise of the World Series MVP and avid gamer Schilling. It will be developed at Big Huge Games, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 38 Studios, under the leadership of Ken Rolston, former lead designer of the critically acclaimed hits, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivionare.
Such disgusting news for me to receive on the same day that Final Fantasy XII dropped.
Former Yankees ‘God Bless America’ Singer Moves To Boston
Sweet Caroline Next?
For nearly a decade at New York Yankees games, Irish tenor Ronan Tynan belted out “God Bless America.” After being accused of making an anti-Semitic remark he was absent from the Yankees World Series run in October but is now moving to Boston.
Tynan says that he’s gotten death threats and all employers haven’t been returning any of his calls. The New York Times was shown a letter from a doctor wrote saying that he would let Tynan die on the operating table if he was his patient.
As the story goes, a real estate agent brought two Jewish ladies to view an apartment neighboring Tynan’s. The agent warned Tynan that the “two Jewish ladies” were very particular, and the tenor wondered if living next to him would be prudent. Later, when an associate of the agent told Tynan the apartment had been sold, he joked,
“Don’t worry, they’re not Red Sox fans.” Tynan retorted, “As long as they are not the Jewish ladies,” which was overheard by the client, Dr. Gabrielle Gold-Von Simson, also Jewish.
Gold-Von Simson complained to the Yankees, who then told Tynan not to come to Yankee Stadium for Game 1 of the 2009 ALCS against the Los Angeles Angels.
“I made a comment that was misunderstood,” Tynan said. “If anyone knows the pain of discrimination, I do.”
Tynan was born with lower leg problems that forced him to wear braces. After complications following a car accident, Tynan elected to amputate both legs. He would go on to compete in the Paralympics on two prosthetic legs, representing Ireland in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Paralympics, according to the Paralympics Web site. He won four gold medals, two silvers and a bronze.
Following the controversy, Tynan apologized to the Anti-Defamation League. ADL director Abraham Foxman, accepted the mea culpa.
Red Sox fans already have “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond to serenade them in the eighth inning of every home game. But could Tynan make an appearance at Fenway Park to sing “God Bless America,” in an upcoming Yankees series? It would certainly fuel the fire the rivalry.
WTF: Topps Baseball
RIP Harry Kalas
Talk about cutting corners. If your not a baseball fan then the baseball card of Seattle Mariners newest pitcher Cliff Lee might not seem all that bad. But if you are and look a little closer and notice that card company Topps has airbrushed the Mariners jersey onto Lee.
Actually it might have gone over except for the HK patch he wore on his left shoulder with the Philadelphia Phillies of the late broadcaster Harry Kalas. Topps already creating an error card for card collector sets.
WTF: Lego Fenway Park
Can You Still Burry Lego People In Left Field?
I never had any skills in the Lego making department, it extended to pretty much making just a square. I always loved looking at those huge displays of Lego’s that made up the White House or Washington Memorial in the mall or someplace, so I think this is cool.
But has anyone ever seen how expensive Lego’s are? They can be more expensive than Health Care.
Prince Fielder Already Plunked Over Celebration
Last September, Milwaukee Brewers Prince Fielder’s bowling pin stunt irked the San Francisco Giants and they let it be known they had not forgotten in Fielders first at bat against the team. Giants pitcher Barry Zito’s first pitch plunked Prince in the back.
Fielder appeared to know it was coming and once it happened picked up the ball and flipped it back to Zito as if to say, “That ain’t nothing.”
Umpire Ted Barrett stepped in front of the plate and said something to Zito, but didn’t appear to issue any warnings. Fielder had a bemused expression. He clapped his hands as he stood on first base. After the inning ended, he and Zito crossed paths with no words, no eye contact.
Zito finally earned his $126 million.
Orel Hershiser To Replace Steve Phillips In Sunday Night Baseball Booth
True Blue
I’m complete idiot and realized today that I had one of the biggest brain farts in recent memory, oddly though its been for the good. Today I received word that Orel Hershiser will join Jon Miller and Joe Morgan in the Sunday Night Baseball booth this season on ESPN.
Hershiser replaces former analyst Steve Phillips, who him and his disco stick where fired from ESPN in October after having an affair with an ESPN employee. That’s where my brain fart comes in, during the whole Phillips fiasco in October that lead to his firing I never once thought about how he wouldn’t be in the booth anymore on Sunday nights. That’s a huge relief for me. Make no mistake about it I can not stand Phillips or to put it a little nicer I hate him and make no qualms about it.
Miller and Morgan have been together on Sunday Night Baseball for over 20 years and last year they added a third man into the booth for the first, so that’s how I will rationlize him no longer being in the booth escape me.
Miller, the recently announced winner of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2010 Ford C. Frick Award, and Hall of Famer Morgan will be joined by ESPN analyst and former Major League Baseball Cy Young Award winner Hershiser in the Sunday Night Baseball booth this season.
In addition to his Sunday Night responsibilities, Hershiser will continue to serve as analyst during ESPN’s College World Series and Little League World Series coverage, and provide analysis for Baseball Tonight. That’s why his nickname is Bulldog, he just gets down and does it all.
I’ve always enjoyed Orel in the booth on Monday and Wednesday Night Baseball and now he’ll be with ESPN’s “A-Team”. His knowledge of the game and game situations trumps his tendency to be bland at times.
Baseball PSA: Save A Baseball Free Agent Today
A Public Service Announcement urging all of us to do our part to save an unsigned free agent. Sarah McLachlan even lends her gracious heart in this worthy cause. Truly touches the heart and makes it strings.
Seriously we need to get Jermaine Dye a job now!
7-Foot-1 Minnesota Twins Pitcher Turning Heads In Spring Training
Stretch
Minnesota Twins pitcher Loek Van Mil from the Netherlands who is 7′1″ is making quite an impression in Spring Training and the 25-year-old has quickly moved up in the Twins farm system.
He was found by Twins international scouting director Howard Norsetter in Van Mil homeland that eventually lead the right-hander on the phone every few weeks and worked him out a few times at a baseball clinic in Amsterdam. The scouts where so impressed with what they saw that they asked him if he’d like to sign a contract. A week earlier, the Seattle Mariners had approached Van Mil and offered slightly more money, but the right-hander already had developed a loyalty to the Twins way.
Van Mil orginally started out as a catcher but was forced out from behind the plate due to his height and suddenly found himself on the mound where he has prospered. Last season, he pitched well enough for Class A Fort Myers to earn a promotion to Class AA New Britain where he had an ERA of 2.45. Another good sign came this off-season when the Twins placed him on the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
His fastball has been clocked at 92 to 93 mph, and the Twins are happy with how his hard slider and changeup have progressed this Spring Training.
The Twins already have the tallest player in the major leagues with right-handed pitcher Jon Rauch at 6′ 11″
MLB Network Teams Up With Fox Business While Victor Rojas Leaves
All Day, Every Day
MLB Network announced a partnership with a cable competitor and on the same day the network lost one of its studio hosts.
MLB Network studio host Victor Rojas is leaving the network for a position as play-by-play voice of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim after the untimely death of Rory Markas. Rojas a favorite of mine behind Matt Vasgersian and Joe Magrane, had been with MLB Network since its debut said in a statement that he is “extremely grateful to MLB Network for not only taking a chance on me, but also for allowing me to pursue this opportunity.” Rojas: “I feel like I’m leaving as a better person and broadcaster.”
MLB Network also announced that they have teamed up with Fox Business Network in a partnership which the two networks will share on-air updates.
The Fox Business morning show will feature previews of MLB Network’s 30 Clubs in 30 Days. Meanwhile, MLB Network will air an FBN Market Update during Spring Training telecasts and the MLB Tonight studio show.
WTF: Heath Bell & Sean Gallagher
Norway Is Not Impressed
It’s spring training time in baseball and that means a pitchers days is usually finished before noon and that allows them to spend most of their time on the golf links.
Somebody should have stopped San Diego Padres pitchers Heath Bell and Sean Gallagher before they left their hotel rooms and that those pants are hideous. It reminds me of when your a kid and you try to do things to prove your not a kid anymore like dressing yourself.
That’s never a good idea and there should be some parental supervision because then you have that as the finished product.
New York Yankees Each Have To Return $10,000
That Miller Light Just Cost You $10,000
I guess the rich don’t always get richer as is the case with the New York Yankees. The Yankees won their 27th championship last fall but have received word they will have to give back $10,000 of their World Series bonus. Winning sucks.
Major League Baseball Players Association has informed the Yankees that there was a mistake in the calculation of the World Series championship share, that’s what happens when I’m asked to doing any arithmetic.
Winning the World Series the Yankees divided up $21.2 million. Originally the Yankees awarded 46 players and coaches full shares, making a full share $365,052. But it was later discovered that that three people (two trainers and a player) were not allocated their proper share.
Those who received full shares are now being asked to pay back approximately $10,000 each.
Seattle Mariners Go Revolutionary & Abandon The Use Of Weights
Will It Work?
The Seattle Mariners are completely overhauling their approach to fitness and training this spring training. The Mariners have abandoned the use of weights in the teams facilty in Arizona and back in Seattle for the next three years. They are applying muscle science to particular movements instead of workout programs designed decades ago.
The Mariners have signed a three-year contract with Dr. Marcus Elliott of Santa Barbara, Calif., founder of the Peak Performance Project (P3). Elliott has been working with Mariners trainers the past couple of months to overhaul the team’s entire approach to fitness. The idea is to focus on reducing injuries and making the Mariners players more athletic through a series of workouts that have little to do with traditional weightlifting.
“If you’re going to build athletes, you have to do athletic things with them,” said Elliott, 44, who has trained many elite athletes on an individual basis, as well as worked with the U.S. Olympic Training Center and the Australian Institute of Sport and the Sports Science Institute of South Africa. Elliott has also worked with the New England Patriots and Utah Jazz.
The team will focus on strengthening the movements used in baseball like the ability to generate force through a player’s hip rotation. They also have players doing specific workouts designed to increase lower body strength and make that translate into an ability to hit a baseball and react more explosively to balls hit in their direction.
Workouts like 30-minute cardiovascular “flush run” that pitchers do after a start which have long been a part of baseball tradition already been scaled back dramatically. Elliott feels such runs are a waste of time. He says it’s like training a marathon runner when pitchers and ballplayers have to be worked like sprinters.
Each player has received an extensive physical evaluation upon arriving at camp. There are computer printouts of each player’s strengths and weaknesses in the areas that are going to be targetted by the new training regimen.
The team isn’t forcing the big league players to completely abandon their prior fitness regimens if they really don’t want to. They instead are working the new system in slowly at a base level to introduce players to it and the players have been receptive.
The farm system of the Mariners won’t have a choice as the team is making this system mandatory at every minor league level of the organization. Trainers are being taught the system and weight rooms adapted at the various minor league sites.
No team in baseball is doing this but I have no idea what sort of conditioning really works the best since I don’t do any myself.
Manny Ramirez Endorses Sum Poosie Energy Drink
There's So Many Flavors Of Sum Poosie
Manny being Manny. Manny Ramirez according to the Los Angeles Times is picking up checks wherever he can get them and is now endorsing Sum Poosie, an energy drink.
Manny’s not the first athlete to hop into bed with Sum Poosie. Santana Moss has also done some work for the energy drink in the past. But now they have an athlete that’s bigger in stature. Well at least in name that is.
Sum Poosie on their website even offers you the chance of becoming a distributor of theirs. That means you can have Sum Poosie whenever you want so that’s not a bad idea.
If your wondering what Sum Poosie taste likes, it’s just like strawberries.
MLB Sees Record $6.6 Billi In Revenues For 2009
Est. 1869
The economy has taken a bite out of every sports league this past year, but for Major League Baseball, they were able to actually see revenues increase in 2009.
The league reports that gross revenues were $6.6 billion for 2009, a record figure for the league. The figure is a 1.5 percent increase the $6.5 billion pulled in for 2008.
The increase of revenues comes against the backdrop of MLB seeing a decline in attendance this past year. While still the fifth highest on-record, MLB saw a total paid-attendance figure of 73,418,529 for 2009, a decrease of 6.58 percent from a total of 78,591,116 in 2008.
By comparison, the news that MLB saw record revenues for 2009 falls on the heels of the NBA reporting that it was $400 million in the red last season. Revenues for the NFL were $7.6 billion for the 2008-09 season. The NHL topped $1.1 billion in revenues for the 2008-09 season.
Ozzie Guillen Joins The Twitter World
Going To Be Interesting
Twitter just got a whole lot better on Tuesday night. Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen started a Twitter account. And it’s glorious so far.
“what I saw on the field today was a lot of grass…”
“3 day of Spring Training and im already boreddddddd”
“Iam tired from bad very bad golf”
“going to eat in half hour why dye no have a job ?”
“I feel nice and relax today I don’t know why yeeessssssss carlos quentin and rios in camp b ready people”
I’m mesmerized by them but that’s not the case with general manager Kenny Williams. Williams was first sent a text asking him to comment on the fact that his say-anything manager had opened a Twitter account.
“Are you serious?’’ was his reply.
Asked about it in person and his reply was “No comment…and make sure you write that it is a no comment.’’
Asked if he was next to join the social media craze that Guillen had now fallen into, Williams said, “No, never.’’ After the Wednesday workout, Guillen admitted that Williams was not happy about it and the two had to clear the air.
“I feel like I was doing something wrong,’’ Guillen said. “People are treating me like I was a murderer or something, or steal someone’s money or didn’t pay my taxes.”
“If this thing bothers the White Sox or Kenny or Jerry then we’ll talk about it. I talked to Kenny about it. I said what it was. He can see what I say. If that thing offends anyone, beat it because I didn’t do anything wrong.’’
Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella has even chimed in on the situation wondering how Ozzie can Twitter in 140 characters saying that Guillen needs more space than that.This is going toi make following the White Sox this season a whole lot funner.
Chicago White Sox To Be Featured In MLB Network Reality Series
Must See
MLB Network announced that Chicago White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, General Manager Ken Williams and Manager Ozzie Guillen will be featured in The Club, an original reality series produced for MLB Network that will air this summer.
It’s a follow up to 2009’s The Pen that featured the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen and what happens in a major league bullpen. The Club will follow Reinsdorf, Williams and Guillen with unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to a Major League Baseball club’s front office. The Club is scheduled to premiere on MLB Network on Sunday, July 4 at 7:00 p.m. CST.
The Club will focus on the realities and challenges both on and off the field for the men who run a MLB franchise. Beginning this month through to the Trade Deadline on July 31, MLB Productions’ cameras will capture footage at the club’s Spring Training camp in Arizona, during roster meetings, on Opening Day, on the road for away games and to get a look at Reinsdorf, Williams and Guillen away from the ballpark.
MLB To Begin Testing For HGH
Est. 1869
Major League Baseball plans to implement blood testing for human-growth hormone (HGH) later this year on minor league players.Human growth hormone is already banned under the Joint Drug Program but do not test currently for HGH, because no scientifically validated test exists. The program calls for immediate and automatic implementation of testing for HGH once a scientifically validated test is available.
The Minor League Drug and Treatment Program is far more stringent than its MLB counterpart due to negotiations that need to take place with the union for the players. Just this week, new tests for additional PEDs and stimulants were added to the MLB program that makes it far closer to a WADA-based program than MLB’s.
Bud Selig plans to use the same blueprint with HGH and move to get the union’s approval to test on the major league level. Michael Young of the Texas Rangers, Bronson Arroyo of the Cincinnati Reds and Derrek Lee and Ryan Dempster of the Chicago Cubs said they welcome the policy.
The disclosure that Major League Baseball will begin testing in the minor leagues this year prompted the player unions for the NFL to issue a statement that they remained skeptical about the efficacy of current testing. The NFL Players Association said it looked forward to discussing with the league its proposed blood-testing program.
The plans to move forward on the testing comes one day after a British rugby player Terry Newton was suspended for two years after testing positive for HGH.
Kansas City Royals Mascot Embattled In Weinergate
Wienergate
Kansas City Royals mascot Sluggerrr is being sued for hitting a Kansas man with a flying hot dog that almost took his eye in September. Yes I did say hot dog, not a baseball, that almost put his eye out last year.
John Coomer has filed a lawsuit against the Royals seeking more than $25,000 for injuries he sustained September 8 when he was smacked in the eye by a wayward wiener thrown by Sluggerr. Coomer says it caused a detached retina and the development of cataracts in his left eye.
Coomer’s case claims that the Royals “failed to adequately train its agents in the proper method in which to throw hotdogs into the stands at Kauffman Stadium.”
And now we have wienergate and the Royals are looking for someone new to wear the mascot’s large lion costume.
WTF: Jayson Werth
Grizzly Adams?
You go from looking like WWE wrestler Edge to looking like Grizzly Adams. That must have been one hell of an off season. Johnny Damon’s Jesus look has nothing on this.
MLB Banns Guns Weapons In Clubhouses & Ryan Franklin Isn’t Happy
Shave Your Face
Major League Baseball took a preemptive strike against weapons in clubhouses over the weekend and banned deadly weapons in the baseball clubhouses.
Signs have been placed in spring training locker rooms stating “individuals are prohibited from possessing deadly weapons while performing any services for MLB.” The rules apply to employees of the commissioner’s office, other central baseball businesses and to teams, including players.
MLB felt it need to react in with incidents like Plaxico Burress and Gilbert Arenas become a little more common. While baseball is doing the right thing here not all are pleased like St. Louis Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin. Franklin an avid outdoorsman, doesn’t like the ban on firearms in the clubhouse.
“If you grew up around it, being in the outdoors and stuff, I was taught as a young kid how to respect firearms,” Franklin said. “First of all, you don’t get stupid with it. Always treat a gun like it’s loaded. That’s what I taught my son and daughters. There’s a place for them.”
Franklin needs to stop worrying about bringing in his hunting rifle or bow into the clubhouse and instead worry about not blowing leads in game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Matt Kemp Orders Rihanna A Midget Stripper
Where's Was My Invitation?
Los Angeles Dodgers star Matt Kemp got his freak on with Rihanna behind closed doors and order her a midget stripper. When Rihanna was asked, recently what she planned on doing for her birthday, she responded with:
“I’m gonna do something really special which is chill in the house with all my very close friends. I didn’t want to do a big party or club because we usually do that and it’s kind of boring now, so I want it to be somewhere intimate where I don’t have to worry about cameras or anything, just me and my friends and have a good time. My party… I don’t want to remember it so we definitely are going to get wasted.”
Still can’t escape the cameras.
WTF: Albert Pujols
One Shot, One Kill
Pitchers across Major League Baseball are asking themselves why is the baddest man on the face of the planet allowed to add another weapon to his arsenal, he already has two.
New York Mets To Pay Bobby Bonilla $1.9 Milli Until 2035
Absolutely Brilliant
Welcome to another day of why I hate former ESPN analyst and New York Mets general manager Steve Phillips. With days away from pitchers and catchers reporting in Major League Baseball and the Mets trying to hang with divisional Philadelphia Phillies and cross town rivals New York Yankees the one thing they wont be able to do is touch Bobby Bonilla money.
Beginning in 2011, the Mets will pay Bobby Bonilla $1.19 million in deferred money every July 1 until 2035. Seriously. That’s right, the Mets payroll still includes the 6 time all-star. He retired in 2001 and he hasn’t played for the Mets since 1999.
Bonilla’s second stint with the Mets turned out to be just as disastrous as his first. After a knee injury sidelined him in March, he gained weight and hit just .160 in 60 games with the team. The Mets then placed him on irrevocable waivers but went unclaimed.
He was finally released in January after reaching an unusual agreement with the Mets. Instead of picking up his $5.9 million salary for the 2000 season, the team pledged to pay him $1,193,248.20 each July 1st from 2011 to 2035, nearly $30 million.
Who makes such idiotic decisions? None other than Steve Phillips who was the Mets general manager from 97-’03.
Steve Phillips Ex-Mistress Say His Sex Addiction Claim Is Fake
Still Hate This Guy
Steve Phillips, the ESPN baseball analyst who recently spent 45 days in sex rehab, was on the Today Show yesterday but today his former mistress Brooke Hundley, the former ESPN production assistant who he slept with at least twice last summer, thanked all her supporters and then scoffed at the idea that Phillips is a sex addict.
“Sex addicts don’t pick out a single young employee to go after who has to worry about her career if she says anything. Steve’s not a sex addict. The only thing he’s ever been addicted to is feeding his own ego.”
In the message posted on her Facebook page, Brooke Hundley wrote that she doesn’t believe for a minute that Phillips is a recovering sex addict.
Adding that a “true sex addict has an unrelenting need to get sex anywhere anytime and rack up multiple people.”
Did I ever mention how much I hate Phillips?
