MLB taking students to see film 42
Thank You Jackie
Major League Baseball and its 30 teams plan to take thousands of teenagers to see the Jackie Robinson film “42.”
MLB announced teams will chose students from the eighth grade to the 12th grade in the United States and Canada for private screenings in their cities. Commissioner Bud Selig will host the first showing Tuesday in Milwaukee along with Sharon Robinson, daughter of the player who broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947.
Selig says the movie depicts the proudest moment in baseball history. He says the film can help “educate our next generation about Jackie Robinson’s vital impact on our nation.”
Miguel Cabrera Gets Actual Crown For Triple Crown
Doesn't Get Much Better Than That
Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera won the triple crown in baseball this season a feat that had not been achieved since Carl Yastrzemski did so in 1967. Cabrera received an actual crown from Major League Baseball and it features a Detroit Tigers “D” on the front, golden baseball on the top, and is lined with purple cloth.
Cabrera was presented with the trophy prior to Game 3 of the World Series in Detroit. Commissioner Bud Selig and former Triple Crown winner Frank Robinson presented him with the award. He also won the Hank Aaron Award for Most Outstanding Player in the American League.
The back is further customized to reflect Cabrera’s statistics of his league-leading .330 batting average, 44 home runs, and 139 RBIs which were engraved on the crown’s rim.
MLB Fires Arbitrator Shyam Das
Can't Play By Our Rules Go Find Work Elsewhere
Shyam Das was not fired solely because of his decision on Ryan Braun’s positive drug test, but it certainly played a major role, according to persons familiar with the decision but not authorized to discuss the dismissal.
Das, who delivered the landmark ruling that overturned a possible drug-related suspension for Braun, was fired by Major League Baseball last week as baseball’s independent arbitrator, a post he’d held since 1999.
As an independent arbitrator, Das serves at the pleasure of both the players’ union and MLB’s central office, and either party can terminate the relationship at any time. Both parties must agree on the hiring of a new arbitrator.
After Das ruled that a drug sample collector’s failure to follow protocol with Braun’s sample violated baseball’s joint drug-testing policy, Rob Manfred, MLB’s vice president of labor relations, issued a scathing rebuke of Das’s decision:
“Major League Baseball considers the obligations of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program essential to the integrity of our game, our Clubs and all of the players who take the field. It has always been Major League Baseball’s position that no matter who tests positive, we will exhaust all avenues in pursuit of the appropriate discipline. We have been true to that position in every instance, because baseball fans deserve nothing less.
“As a part of our drug testing program, the Commissioner’s Office and the Players Association agreed to a neutral third party review for instances that are under dispute. While we have always respected that process, Major League Baseball vehemently disagrees with the decision rendered today by arbitrator Shyam Das.”
Players’ union executive director Michael Weiner expressed disappointment Monday at Das’s dismissal.
“Shyam Das has been served the parties with distinction and professionalism for 13 years,” Weiner said. “We think he’s an excellent arbitrator.”
Weiner said the union is conferring with the commissioner’s office to find a replacement.
On Monday, the AP reported that Colorado Rockies catcher Eliezer Alfonzo’s 100-game suspension has been overturned due to storage and shipment of his urine sample. Monday afternoon, MLB released a statement saying that Alfonzo’s grievance “raised issues that were nearly identical to those resolved in the arbitration involving Ryan Braun.”
Das has been a critical behind-the-scenes figure in baseball, making several other key rulings in disputes between the union and MLB, and has drawn the ire of commissioner Bud Selig before.
In 2000, Das reduced MLB’s suspension of Atlanta Braves reliever John Rocker from 45 days to 14, and also cut his fine from $20,000 to $500 for controversial comments Rocker made to Sports Illustrated. Said Selig: “It completely ignores the sensibilities of those groups of people maligned by Mr. Rocker and disregards the player’s position as a role model for children.”
Five years later, Das ruled that Selig’s punishment of pitcher Kenny Rogers – who shoved two cameramen – was too harsh, trimming Rogers’ suspension from 20 games to 13. Das also ruled that Rogers’ $50,000 fine would be converted to a charitable contribution.
Narc Out Major League Baseball Players For Tobacco Use
Snitch
We reported on the subject matter that Major League Baseball wants to rid itself of smokeless tobacco products in the past. The commissioner Bud Selig wants it gone, U.S. Senators want it gone but the players and the union aren’t as willing just yet.
The two sides did come to a recent agreement when the new CBA was agreed in November with some severe restrictions being placed on when and where a player, manager, etc. can use tobacco products in and around the ballpark.
A refresher of the new terms, via the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Under the agreement that MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association announced in November, big-league players, managers and coaches will no longer be able to carry a tobacco tin or package in their uniforms or on their bodies at games, or any time that fans are in the ballpark. They will be prohibited from using smokeless tobacco during televised interviews, at autograph signings and other events where they meet fans, or at team-sponsored appearances. Violators are subject to discipline.
But if the new policies weren’t sufficient enough to help curb the dreaded tobacco epidemic among baseball players, there has also been a policy implemented where a Kid who is Campaigning to be Tobacco-Free (or anyone else for that matter) who catches a big leaguer or manager or whomever in the act of violating these policies can narc them out courtesy of an online form where a Good Anti-Tobacco Samaritan can report the alleged violation, including uploading documentary evidence.
Enforcement of these restrictions is essential, and we urge team managers and personnel, and league officials, to rigorously enforce them. To encourage fans to play a role and support compliance, we are asking them to report violations to the Knock Tobacco Out of the Park Coalition.
Lance Berkman Says Bud Selig Used Extortion On Houston Astros
Fat Elvis
St. Louis Cardinals Lance Berkman says baseball Commissioner Bud Selig used extortion to get new Houston Astros owner Jim Crane to change leagues as a condition for the team’s sale in November.
Berkman told ESPN.com and CBSSports.com in an interview at Kissimmee, Fla.: “I feel basically like the commissioner extorted Jim Crane into moving the Astros.”
Although a key figure on last year’s World Series champion Cardinals, Berkman still has a soft spot for the Astros and Houston, where he played for 12 seasons.
Four months ago, Berkman termed it a “travesty” that the Astros were being forced to move to the American League in 2013 to facilitate baseball’s scheduling realignment. And Berkman said he’d feel comfortable using the word “extort” in face-to-face conversation with Selig, should the opportunity present itself.
“If he called me, I would tell him,” Berkman said. “I think that’s exactly what it was. To tell (Crane), ‘We’re going to hold the sale of the team up until you guys agreed to switch?’ It just happened that the Astros were being sold at an optimal time for that to happen.”
It’s not the first time Berkman has kicked sand Selig’s way. In September 2008, after MLB determined an Astros-Cubs series should be played in Milwakee after Hurricane Ike, Berkman said: “Major League Baseball has always valued the dollar more than they do the individual, the players and their families.”
Selig took out a two-page ad in the Houston Chronicle to justify the move. Crane agreed to buy the Astros for $680 million last May but sought to renegotiate erms after the Players Association and the commissioner’s office agreed on a realignment plan that would place 15 teams in each league.The Astros were reluctant to switch leagues because of increased travel costs and increased short-term costs to produce a designated hitter.
Crane told ESPN.com that he did, in fact, receive a price reduction to $615 million with former Astros owner Drayton McLane and the other 29 MLB teams making up the difference. Crane isn’t complaining about the settlement and, apparently, not looking for sympathy from Berkman.
“I think it was a good deal for baseball,” Crane told ESPN.com. “I think it was a good deal for our owners. Would we have preferred to stay in the National League? Probably, yeah. But that wasn’t the deal that was presented to us.
“Lance can say what Lance wants to say. He has great ties to the Astros and was a great player there for years. We certainly understand that he’s opinionated, but I wouldn’t use that strong a term (‘extort’). I think it was just a business deal that got renegotiated.”
While it may be all fine with Crane, we’ll see if there might just be a fine from Selig.
Glad to know the Fat Elvis listens to the show since I’ve been saying this exact same thing since the notion of the Houston Astros being moved into the American League was brought up.
Bud Selig Not To Retire At End Of Contract?
Where's The Respect For The Man
Bud Selig, who turns 78 in July, has been baseball’s commissioner for nearly 20 years and according to the New York Daily News has no intention on retiring as previously stated at the end of this current contract. Selig has said on numerous occasions that he plans to retire when his contract expires at the end of the 2012 season.
“The fact is, even if Bud really wanted to retire, he can’t,” one baseball exec told the newspaper. “Right now, there isn’t anyone out there who could get the votes (necessary of three-quarters of the owners). That’s the situation Bud has created.”
Another MLB executive said there is “a very divided group of new owners in the game, all of them with different agendas. They fall into line for Bud because he’s essentially one of them and has been on the job so long and has made a lot of money for them. But it’s really gonna be tough for the person who comes after him.”
Selig served as baseball’s acting commissioner from 1992, when owners forced out Fay Vincent. He was given the title and position on a permaanet basis in 1998.
Joe Torre Resigns From MLB Job To Pursue Purchase Of Dodgers
Just Say It Joe, You Didn't Like The Job
The commissioner’s office loss of Joe Torre could be the Los Angeles Dodgers gain. After one year working under Bud Selig as executive vice president of baseball operations, Torre has resigned to “explore opportunities with a group that will pursue ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers,” MLB said in a release Wednesday morning. The resignation is effective immediately.
Disgraced Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has agreed to sell the club because of financial woes stemming from a messy divorce with Jamie McCourt.
“I have made this decision because of a unique chance to join a group that plans to bid for the Dodgers,” Torre said in the statement. “After leaving the field, this job was an incredible experience, one that I enjoyed very much.”
Torre will join the investment group headed by L.A. real estate magnate Rick Caruso.
The Los Angeles Times reported last month that McCourt has until April 30 to sell the Dodgers. Initial bids for the team originally were due by Jan. 13, but the deadline has been extended to Jan. 23.
In Torre’s absence, senior vice presidents Joe Garagiola Jr., Kim Ng and Peter Woodfork will oversee the baseball operations functions of the commissioner’s office, MLB.com reports. A permanent replacement will be named at a later date.
MLB Announces Plan For Additional Wild Card Teams
Est. 1869
Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced several changes Thursday at the owners meetings in Milwaukee. Among the highlights:
The long-expected sale of the Houston Astros from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane was unanimously approved. Crane agreed to purchase the team in May for $680 million, but will get $35 million from McLane and $25 million from MLB because the Astros will move to the American League in 2013. At that point, each league will have 15 teams, meaning there will be at least one interleague series at all times. Houston will go from the NL Central to the AL West.
Selig announced an additional wild card to each league. However, it is unclear whether that plan would be implemented in 2012 or 2013. Selig added that the two wild-card teams in each league will face each other in a one-game playoff to advance to the next round.
Tony La Russa could still manage 2012 All-Star Game
2,728
Tony La Russa might not have managed his final game in a St.Louis Cardinals cap after all. If commissioner Bud Selg has his way, La Russa would manage the National League in the 2012 All-Star Game in Kansas City.
“I’d like to see him do that,” Selig told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We’ve got to see what happens. Tony La Russa is one of the great managers in baseball history, Certainly he’s one of the legendary managers in this generation. There’s no argument about it,” Selig said.
La Russa wouldn’t be the first manager to return to manage an All-Star Game after being replaced by his own team. Danny Murtaugh did it in 1972 after leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to the World Series. But that was before the game “meant something” more than pride.
MLB has no clear rules dictating a replacement for an All-Star Game manager who has left or been removed from his job.
Bud Selig Says MLB Plans To Expand Replay
Where's The Respect
Commissioner Bud Selig told a Dallas radio station baseball plans to expand its use of replay, but he says reviewing every close call would hurt the game. Umpire Ron Kulpa blew a call at first base during St. Louis Cardinals 16-7 victory at Texas in Game 3 of the World Series on Saturday night, kickstarting the replay debate once again. Baseball currently limits replay use to disputed home runs.
Selig told ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM that baseball will “enlarge replay a little bit.” He also said, “If you’re going to start replaying every controversial decision or every close call, I think that hurts the sport.”
The Associated Press reported in April baseball was leaning toward expanding replay for the 2012 season to include trapped balls and fair-or-foul rulings down the lines.
Selig, in an interview with MLB Network’s Bob Costas on Thursday, hinted that baseball might add replay for batted balls that land close to the foul lines.
MLB Probes Report Of Alex Rodriguez Poker Player
Swinger
New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, currently rehabbing in Miami after knee surgery July 11, could face suspension if reports are true that he took part in illegal, underground poker games in California. Allegations that Major League Baseball is taking very seriously.
“We’re talking to people involved in the investigation, and we’re taking this very seriously. Because he had been warned about this before, I would say a possible suspension would be very much in play.”
MLB said investigators with the commissioner’s office will interview Rodriguez and he is expected to offer full corporation. The allegations, first published by RadarOnline.com, are that Rodriguez played in at least two of the games, one of which took place at the Beverly Hills mansion of a record executive at which a fight nearly broke out when one of the poker players refused to pay up after losing “more than a half-million dollars.”
According to the story, details of which were provided by another player at the games that Rodriguez “tried to distance himself from the game” when things threatened to turn violent.
According to the New York Post, actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Tobey Maguire also were involved in the underground poker games.
In 2005, Rodriguez had been warned about gambling in underground poker clubs by the Yankees and by baseball commissioner Bud Selig, both of whom were concerned that possible involvement with gamblers who might be betting on baseball games could result in a Pete Rose-type lifetime ban from the game. At the time, Rodriguez admitted that his participation “wasn’t the right thing to do.”
Gabby Giffords Intern Will Throw Out First Pitch At MLB All-Star Game
Hero
Daniel Hernandez, the intern who held Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords alive in the minutes after Jared Lee Loughner shot her in the head, will be throwing out the first pitch at tonight’s MLB All-Star game. Hernandez, 21, is hailed as a hero after his quick thinking was credited with keeping Rep. Giffords alive until paramedics arrived. Hernandez held her upright so she could breathe and applied pressure to her head wound.
Among those killed in the shootings, in which six people died and 12 others were wounded, was Christina Taylor Green, the daughter of Los Angeles Dodgers scout John Green and granddaughter of former Major League Baseball manager Dallas Green.
MLB commissioner Bud Selig invited the families of all of the victims to participate in the pre-game ceremony.
Loughner, 22, is charged with 49 federal crimes in connection with the mass shootings. Last month a judge ruled Loughner was not currently competent to stand trial.
Mark Cuban Says There’s Interest In Los Angeles Dodgers
S.O.S. Mark
For a while now we have posted the story of Los Angeles Dodgers fan Roger Arrieta creator of the website www.markcubansavethedodgers.com has been trying to persuade Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to try and buy his favorite team from owner Frank McCourt. Arrieta has gotten the attention of the Mavericks owner and now Cuban has told TMZ.com on Tuesday that he’d be “very interested” in buying the Dodgers “if the deal’s right and they’re fixable.”
The franchise may soon be up for bid if baseball commissioner Bud Selig decides to seize the financially fragile franchise from team owner if he is unable to meet the team’s payroll next week. His ability to do so suffered a huge hit Monday when Selig refused to sign off on a television rights deal with FOX that would have given McCourt hundreds of millions of dollars in upfront cash.
Cuban, who previously made failed bids for the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers, told TMZ’s Harvey Levin that he needs to investigate the various separate pieces of the Dodgers business.
“I can’t imagine that it’s not going to be such a mess that it’s going to make it hard to turn around. It’s not for sale yet, but we’ll see what happens,” Cuban said.
Los Angeles Dodgers May Not Make May Payroll
Your Fault
The Los Angeles Dodgers appear to lack the funds to meet their payroll obligations in May, which could accelerate Major League Baseball’s seizure of the club. The Los Angeles Times reported that a $30 million loan from FOX, which raised the ire of Commissioner Bud Selig and prompted him to take over the club’s day-to-day operations, covered the April payroll and the first obligation in May. But according to people the Times cited familiar with the situation, the club lacks the cash for the second May payroll obligation, which could prompt MLB to cover the payment for Frank McCourt and seize the team.
The commissioner’s office effectively took control of the team on April 20, and Tom Schieffer, the former Texas Rangers president, appointed by Selig must approve any transaction over $5,000. MLB is investigating the finances of the team and related entities since McCourt bought the Dodgers from the FOX division of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. in 2004.
Based on an opening-day payroll of $103.8 million, the Dodgers payroll for its major league roster in the second half of May will be approximately $8.25 million. The figure includes 16 days salary, but not any signing bonus payments that happen to fall due.
Bud Selig Wants To Ban Smokeless Tobacco
What Kind Of Example Are You Setting
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig knows chewing tobacco has been almost as much a part of baseball over the years as “Play Ball!” and the seventh-inning stretch. It’s ingrained in the culture of the game and is evident anytime a player steps on the sticky floor of a big league dugout. Selig though hopes the time has finally come to rid the game of the unhealthy habit. In a letter to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids on Thursday, Selig told the group’s president he believes “smokeless tobacco should be banned at the Major League level.”
In order to make that happen, the owners have to negotiate with the players’ union and have the ban added to the next collective bargaining agreement.
“In the current round of bargaining with the MLBPA, MLB will propose restrictions on the use of smokeless tobacco at the Major League level comparable to the restrictions in place at the Minor League level,” Selig wrote.
Smokeless tobacco, including dip and chew, is already banned in minor league ballparks and has been since 1993.
Los Angeles Dodgers Ownership At Stake In McCourts Split Part IV
Off The Richter Scale
For awhile now on this site we have posted updates on the on-going divorce of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt now his ex-wife is accusing her ex-husband of making financial deals concerning the team behind her back in violation of a court order, according to a court filing.
Jamie McCourt filed court papers requesting a judge order Frank McCourt to turn over all documents about team finances after reading in the Los Angeles Times about a $200 million loan that Frank McCourt tried to secure from Fox Television against the team’s cable TV rights.
“It is outrageous that Jamie and her counsel have to rely upon the news media for information that Frank is affirmatively obligated under California law to provide before the fact,” stated the filing by attorney Michael J. Kump, who represents Jamie McCourt.
Jamie McCourt, who is seeking half ownership of the team under California community property law, maintains she has a right to know about all its financial dealings as any “non-marital business partner” would. But Frank McCourt, who maintains the team is his property alone, said his ex-wife has agreed that he is the designated control person in charge of running the team’s business operations.
In a Feb. 16. letter to Kump, lawyer Sorrell Trope, who represents Frank McCourt, said his client will give his ex-wife the information she is entitled to, but “her rights are not nearly as broad as you characterize.” A judge in December threw out a 2004 marital property agreement that gave Frank McCourt sole ownership of the Dodgers, clearing the way for Jamie McCourt to seek half the team.
Jamie McCourt served as the Dodgers’ CEO until her then-husband fired her in 2009 and she filed for divorce, ending a 30-year marriage. The court filing stems from a Feb. 25 Times story that stated Fox had agreed to lend McCourt $200 million under the condition that, if McCourt defaulted, Fox’s TV contract would be extended at below-market rates for up to four years.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig rejected the deal, “a clear sign that Frank’s actions were deemed to be not in the best interests of the franchise,” Jamie McCourt’s court filing stated. Since Jamie McCourt has a presumptive 50 percent interest in the Dodgers and other McCourt assets, she is entitled to all information that could affect those assets, the court papers state.
In a letter included as an exhibit with the court filing, Trope wrote that Frank McCourt rejects the notion that his ex-wife has a 50 percent presumptive interest. He scheduled a March 4 meeting between the parties to discuss the terms of the information exchange.
“Frank has fully complied, and will continue to comply, with his obligations to Jamie, and he expects Jamie to fully comply with her obligations to him,” said Ryan Kirkpatrick, an attorney for Frank McCourt.
Stand Up To Cancer Honors Bud Seligs Efforts
Thank You
Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has played a prominent role in the fundraising efforts of Stand Up To Cancer, a program that is aimed at raising funds for collaborate research in the fight against cancer. Selig and his wife, Suzanne, were honored as SU2C named its first Innovative Research Grant after the Seligs because they were the first major donor to SU2C with a $10 million initial pledge in 2008 and nearly $30 million total.
“We’re very proud to be here. Major League Baseball was one of the original sponsors of Stand Up To Cancer, and we have an ongoing four-year commitment. Of all the things we’ve done, I think this is the one I’m most proud of.”
The Seligs were introduced by actor Ray Liotta to a standing ovation and honored in a video segment featuring President Barack Obama, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre and Hall of Famer Hank Aaron.
“I share your passion for conquering this disease once and for all,” President Obama said. “To Bud and everyone at Stand Up To Cancer, and everyone in America playing your part, thank you.”
“Major League Baseball was the first significant contributor to Stand Up with us and they continue to be a lead donor for Stand Up To Cancer,” said SU2C co-founder Laura Ziskin, who is the executive producer of the fundraising special and a cancer survivor.
Do your part and Stand Up To Cancer.
5 People Arrested In Protest Against MLB Holding 2011 All-Star Game In Arizona
Only Going To Get Hotter
Police arrested five protesters outside the quarterly meeting of Major League baseball team owners in Minneapolis. They were among 100 people who gathered outside a downtown hotel Wednesday, trying to deliver petitions to commissioner Bud Selig to move the 2011 All-Star game out of Arizona because of that state’s new law cracking down on illegal immigrants. They say an event that could pump $60 million into Arizona’s economy belongs elsewhere.
Police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer said Thursday the five were booked into the Hennepin County Jail for trespassing after they refused to leave.
Selig said last month he considers the law a political issue and has shown no sign that Major League Baseball will move next year’s All-Star game out of the state.
Jackie Robinson Day
PROUD
On this day back in 1947 Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball and today 63 years after the monumental occasion parks across North America will celebrate Jackie Robinson Day. Robinson becoming the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues prefaced the integration of the U.S. military and public schools.
For the second consecutive year, Commissioner Bud “Genius” Selig has invited all players and uniformed personnel to wear the late Hall of Famer’s famous No. 42. That number was retired by Selig throughout baseball in 1997, the 50th anniversary of Robinson taking the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
“April 15, 1947, is a day that resonates with history throughout Major League Baseball,” Selig said. “With all Major League players, coaches and umpires wearing Jackie’s No. 42, we hope to demonstrate the magnitude of his impact on the game of baseball. Major League Baseball will never forget the contributions that Jackie made both on and off the field.”
This year’s main celebration is at Yankee Stadium, just north of where Robinson initially played for the Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Jackie’s widow, Rachel Robinson, and his daughter, Sharon, will be in attendance. There also will be ceremonies in the other 11 ballparks and Jackie Robinson Foundation scholars will be honored. Jackie’s Foundation offers a $10,000 scholarship toward college tuition for minority students and has awarded $18 million in scholarships to more than 1,300 people.
Even clubs that are not hosting games today will have an opportunity to honor Robinson, as any team that is not playing at home will hold Jackie Robinson Day celebrations at their ballparks during another home stand in April. The celebration at each ballpark will include a ceremonial home plate and special lineup cards to commemorate the day.
Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is the only active player and last player to ever regularly wear the No. 42 as Rivera has been wearing the number since his rookie year in 1995 which was prior to Selig retiring it in 1997.
President Obama To Throw First Pitch
Don't Bounce It
President Barack Obama will throw out the ceremonial first ball at the Washington Nationals opener, marking the 100th anniversary of a presidential pitch to start the season.
William Howard Taft first did it on April 14, 1910. This will be the 48th time a president has made an opening-day pitch in the nation’s capital. The Nationals open at home on April 5 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I am proud that President Obama will continue the long presidential tradition of throwing out the first pitch of opening day in Washington, D.C.,” baseball commissioner Bud Selig said.
Obama will have an experienced target, too: When he played in Texas, new Nationals catcher Ivan Rodriguez, a 14-time All-Star, twice caught ceremonial pitches from President George W. Bush, a former Rangers owner.
Obama threw out the first pitch at last year’s All-Star game in St. Louis, wearing a White Sox jacket. Noting that the Nationals host the White Sox this season for a three-game series June 18-20, Washington manager Jim Riggleman joked, “He’s going to be answering some tough questions about whether he’s a Nationals fan or a White Sox fan.”
Former NBA General Manager’s Cell Phone Found In Thrift Store
Who Is This?
A Utah man shopping at his local thrift store came across an interesting buy that connected him to the NBA. The Utah man bought a used cell phone for only 50 cents. When he went home and plugged it in, the Blackberry lit up with phone numbers for famous athletes and entertainment stars.
It turns out that the phone belonged to former Utah Jazz general manger and New York Knicks president and current Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts. He had lost the phone about 10 years ago.
All of the information was still saved and a list of the contacts included Patrick Ewing, Alan Houston, Wayne Gretzky, Bud Selig, David “The Goon” Stern, Marv Albert, Tom Brokaw and Jerry Colangelo, to name a few.
The phone actually has e-mails of proposals to bring an Major League Soccer team to Salt Lake City sent to former city Mayor Rocky Anderson and even former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman.
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.
You Make Me Sick
THAT WAS DISGUSTING TIM!!!
Being an O.G. Major League Baseball fan, I’ve seen some terrible umpiring in my time and it’s easy to forget these professionals are human beings too but crew chief umpire Tim McClelland’s error at third base goes right up there as being the worst call or non-call of all time. Thankfully McClellands blunder didn’t have a drastic effect on the Yankees drubbing of the Angels 10-1 in Angel Stadium.
The Yankees had Jorge Posada on third and Robinson Cano on second with one out. Nick Swisher grounded back to reliever Darren Oliver, who threw home. Posada got caught in a rundown and hustled back to third but Cano had already advanced toward third as well. Mike Napoli saw both runners OFF the bag and instinctively tagged them both, Cano first and then Posada. But McClelland ruled Posada out and Cano safe.
In baseball tuff to be on the end of a play that bang bang and to fast for the eye, its another when an umpire inexcusably is out of position to make the correct call, but the worst is when an umpire is in the right positioning not paying attention on the action in front of him causing a total mental collapse. The ladder case was McClelland.
“When he tagged Cano, I thought Cano was on the base,” McClelland said. “[The replay] showed that Cano was off the bag when he was tagged. I did not see that, for whatever reason. So, obviously, there were two missed calls.”
At least McClelland isn’t in denial, as umps have found out its been hard to hide in this day in age where there is no escaping a camera. But just because we live in the era of the camera doe not mean baseball should move the replay rules any further into play. Since MLB as already addressed the situation of trying to ensure correct calls being made by adding two extra umpires (total of 6) onto the field, how about umpires dropping the ego and asking for help?
McClelland has been around some of baseballs infamous moments before, he was there for the George Brett pine-tar incident in 1983, the Sammy Sosa corked-bat confiscation in 2003 and the Matt Holliday safe (replays suggest otherwise) slide into home for the winning run in the Rockies’ 2007 play-in game against the Padres.
Bud Selig shouldn’t have to change rules for guys having an ego and deciding not to seek out assistance or guys just being plain lazy.
Are You Surprised Anymore??
Dirty, Dirty
The list has reawakened today on Commissioner Bud Selig’s birthday .”The list” is the names of 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003 has again been compromised, this time with Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz outed as users. Back in 2003, Baseball first tested for steroids and the results from that season were supposed to remain anonymous but some results have been leaked. As part of the drug agreement between the union and MLB, the results of the testing of 1,198 players also were meant to be anonymous but that has not been the case.
According to the New York Times:
The information about Ramirez and Ortiz emerged through interviews with multiple lawyers and others connected to the pending litigation. The lawyers spoke anonymously because the testing information is under seal by a court order. The lawyers did not identify which drugs were detected.
But this means more star players have been outed as cheats. Ramirez, now with the Dodgers, has already been tainted, of course, with this year’s 50-game suspension for a violation of Major League Baseball’s drug policy (he took a banned substance that masks performance-enhancing drugs). But Ortiz is another story.
Immensely popular in Boston for his clutch homers and large personality, Ortiz once said that those caught using PEDs should be suspended for a year under the current testing policy.
Ortiz said that he believes players are clean because testing is quite invasive, and if they test positive now, they should be thrown out of the game for the rest of the year. He said that players and whole teams should be tested “three or four times a year, that’s it” which he thinks would give a good reading on who is or who isn’t on steroids.
“I think you clean up the game by the testing. I test you, you test positive, you’re going to be out. Period,” Ortiz said. “If I test positive using any kind of banned substance I’m going to disrespect the game, my family, my fans and everybody. And I don’t want to face the situation so I won’t use it. I’m sure everybody is on the same page.”
As of now Ortiz, Ramirez, and Scott Boras are declining comment.
To those that want the rest of the 100 name “list” to be released, its not likely to happen. The power of the players union and the job of agents to protect the players will work to keep the rest of “the list” sealed but will actually hurt the game more in the long run than do it any good. They will have done their job with there clients best interest in mind, that is until his name is revealed.
Surprised? No. Disappointed? Yes.
