Wed - August 18, 2004
About As Much Fun As Shooting Yourself In the Face...
...that's how I'd describe Page 2's turgid series of e-mail correspondence between two unfunny dudes with absolutely rotten taste in music, movies, TV, lady-humans and sports, Bill Simmons and Chuck Klosterman.
Other than the fact they'd make great roomies, there's nothing revelatory here. "90210", Dokken, Josie Moran's tits, "Singles" vs. "Reality Bites" (correct answer - they both sucked), painful self-referential crud all over the place. Seperately, these guys are hard to stomach. Together, well, let me put it this way : if their correspondence was instead an overheard conversation at a diner, cinema or airline terminal, police would need dental records to identify the bodies.
I'm not challenging the right of either individual to share their dimwitted likes & dislikes with the rest of the world (though I'm not exactly prepared to defend said right to the death, either, but as great debates go, it's not exactly Shapely-Curtis. It's not even Gore-Stockdale-Quayle.
Posted at 01:24 PM
Dreifort Done For Year
Perhaps Guillermo Mota wasn't so expendable after
all. With a torn ACL, Dodgers reliever Darren Dreifort is facing the 9th and
10th operations of his playing
career.
From MLB.com :
Dr. Frank Jobe plans to have Dreifort wait two weeks before an operation, to allow swelling in the knee to subside. He said that this surgery ordinarily is not considered career-threatening, but he's never come across a Dodger with a more checkered medical history.
"He has not done well as far as connective tissue," said Jobe.
Here's the medical history: Dreifort has undergone two Tommy John elbow reconstructions, a right knee reconstruction, four arthroscopic knee operations and one arthroscopic right hip operation. The next two operations would make 10.
Here are the financial implications: Dreifort is guaranteed $13 million in salary in 2005, plus $400,000 of a $2 million signing bonus in the final year of a five-year, $55 million contract. Since he signed that contract, he has undergone or needed six operations, while winning nine games.
Here are the bullpen implications: Dreifort's injury, combined with the departure of Mota, leaves manager Jim Tracy's previously well-defined relief roles leading to closer Eric Gagne in disarray. Tracy said that any combination of rookies Yhency Brazoban and Duaner Sanchez and journeyman Giovanni Carrara could be used, but said that he would consider adding Edwin Jackson when he returns from a minor league rehab assignment that starts on Wednesday night.
From MLB.com :
Dr. Frank Jobe plans to have Dreifort wait two weeks before an operation, to allow swelling in the knee to subside. He said that this surgery ordinarily is not considered career-threatening, but he's never come across a Dodger with a more checkered medical history.
"He has not done well as far as connective tissue," said Jobe.
Here's the medical history: Dreifort has undergone two Tommy John elbow reconstructions, a right knee reconstruction, four arthroscopic knee operations and one arthroscopic right hip operation. The next two operations would make 10.
Here are the financial implications: Dreifort is guaranteed $13 million in salary in 2005, plus $400,000 of a $2 million signing bonus in the final year of a five-year, $55 million contract. Since he signed that contract, he has undergone or needed six operations, while winning nine games.
Here are the bullpen implications: Dreifort's injury, combined with the departure of Mota, leaves manager Jim Tracy's previously well-defined relief roles leading to closer Eric Gagne in disarray. Tracy said that any combination of rookies Yhency Brazoban and Duaner Sanchez and journeyman Giovanni Carrara could be used, but said that he would consider adding Edwin Jackson when he returns from a minor league rehab assignment that starts on Wednesday night.
Posted at 01:06 PM
Tue - August 17, 2004
Burrell Delays Surgery, Bowa Goes Comatose
Tied with the Marlins and trailing the Cubs,
Giants and Padres by 4 1/2 in the Wild Card hunt, the Phillies are holding out
hope that Pat Burrell might yet hit again this season. The left-fielder,
suffering from an injured left wrist, sought a second opinion from doctors
yesterday in Baltimore.
Medical experts did not say "you're ugly, too", though it would've been funny if they did. Seriously, though, Philadelphia are only two games closer to contention than the Mets, and Burrell is considering playing down the stretch one-handed. So maybe he's not so smart, either.
The Philadelphia Daily News' Bernard Fernandez wrote yesterday about the gloom surrounding the Phillies.
What's really depressing is that this $93 million roster, following yesterday's 3-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants at sold-out but sullen Citizens Bank Park, has attained mediocrity at 59-59. With only seven victories in their last 20 games, the odds against a return to contention for the Phillies are up there with hitting the Powerball lottery, discovering the lost continent of Atlantis on your next trip to the Jersey shore, or using that old high-school chemistry kit in the attic to clone a T-Rex.
The Phillies are now 8 ½ games behind Atlanta in the National League East and 4 ½ behind in the wild-card race, but needing to catch and pass three teams, all healthier and hotter than them.
"It's not panic time yet," catcher Mike Lieberthal said with the straight face of someone who knows he's holding a losing hand but hopes to somehow bluff his way to the pot. "It's not September yet. The only way we're going to get to the playoffs is if we start winning, like, right now. We've got to go on a streak and get hot. The games are dwindling down."
And how. Manager Larry Bowa, the one-time firebrand whose public demeanor has turned milquetoast as the defeats have mounted, is said to be under instructions from the front office not to erupt like Krakatoa and get himself tossed out of any more games. So if you were expecting Bo to go ballistic during a meeting on the mound after pitcher Vicente Padilla walked Barry Bonds in the seventh inning, which set up a two-run, go-ahead rally by the Giants, you probably are disappointed. Bowa said his piece to plate umpire Mark Carlson, but he didn't wave his arms, fling his cap or, presumably, spew expletives.
It's almost as if there has been an invasion of the body snatchers in the manager's office and Bowa has been taken over by - yikes - Terry Francona.
"We have to be able to go through tough times," Bowa, or the pod person resembling him, said in a monotone after the Phillies had managed only five hits off the eminently hittable Brett Tomko and three relievers. "That's why you play in a city like this. You have to be mentally tough in this city because they're going to get you. One way or another, they're going to get you. If you don't have tough skin, you'll melt."
Medical experts did not say "you're ugly, too", though it would've been funny if they did. Seriously, though, Philadelphia are only two games closer to contention than the Mets, and Burrell is considering playing down the stretch one-handed. So maybe he's not so smart, either.
The Philadelphia Daily News' Bernard Fernandez wrote yesterday about the gloom surrounding the Phillies.
What's really depressing is that this $93 million roster, following yesterday's 3-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants at sold-out but sullen Citizens Bank Park, has attained mediocrity at 59-59. With only seven victories in their last 20 games, the odds against a return to contention for the Phillies are up there with hitting the Powerball lottery, discovering the lost continent of Atlantis on your next trip to the Jersey shore, or using that old high-school chemistry kit in the attic to clone a T-Rex.
The Phillies are now 8 ½ games behind Atlanta in the National League East and 4 ½ behind in the wild-card race, but needing to catch and pass three teams, all healthier and hotter than them.
"It's not panic time yet," catcher Mike Lieberthal said with the straight face of someone who knows he's holding a losing hand but hopes to somehow bluff his way to the pot. "It's not September yet. The only way we're going to get to the playoffs is if we start winning, like, right now. We've got to go on a streak and get hot. The games are dwindling down."
And how. Manager Larry Bowa, the one-time firebrand whose public demeanor has turned milquetoast as the defeats have mounted, is said to be under instructions from the front office not to erupt like Krakatoa and get himself tossed out of any more games. So if you were expecting Bo to go ballistic during a meeting on the mound after pitcher Vicente Padilla walked Barry Bonds in the seventh inning, which set up a two-run, go-ahead rally by the Giants, you probably are disappointed. Bowa said his piece to plate umpire Mark Carlson, but he didn't wave his arms, fling his cap or, presumably, spew expletives.
It's almost as if there has been an invasion of the body snatchers in the manager's office and Bowa has been taken over by - yikes - Terry Francona.
"We have to be able to go through tough times," Bowa, or the pod person resembling him, said in a monotone after the Phillies had managed only five hits off the eminently hittable Brett Tomko and three relievers. "That's why you play in a city like this. You have to be mentally tough in this city because they're going to get you. One way or another, they're going to get you. If you don't have tough skin, you'll melt."
Posted at 04:47 PM
Who Killed Bambi : Looper, Ginter & DeJean
Ordinarily, I'd say whatever these clowns do off
the field makes no difference to me (especially if they have good lawyers), but
this item from MLB.com is akin to a nuclear
attack on one's intelligence.
Is it asking too much for the action-starved denizens of the Shea bullpen & clubhouse to stick to a simple golfing obsession? Or gambling? Or in the case of a certain disabled catcher/1B, a fixation with the lamer aspects of prog-metal? At least those pursuits, while all questionable on one level or another, don't result in the slaughter of defenseless forest critters.
On the other hand, were an arrow to fly astray and pierce the flesh of Captain Fucko (above), I suppose I could be convinced that archery has some redeeming value.
Is it asking too much for the action-starved denizens of the Shea bullpen & clubhouse to stick to a simple golfing obsession? Or gambling? Or in the case of a certain disabled catcher/1B, a fixation with the lamer aspects of prog-metal? At least those pursuits, while all questionable on one level or another, don't result in the slaughter of defenseless forest critters.
On the other hand, were an arrow to fly astray and pierce the flesh of Captain Fucko (above), I suppose I could be convinced that archery has some redeeming value.
Posted at 04:22 PM
Yanks Pick Up Spencer
The Yankees have shown an inexplicable soft spot
for one-time phenom Shane Spencer, signing the liquored-up outfielder to a minor league
contract.
Though his Flushing tenure was far shorter than that of Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden or David Cone, Spencer did his best to cram several embarrassing incidents as a Met into a short span and for that alone, has probably earned himself an invite to a futue Yankees Old-Timers Day.
Though his Flushing tenure was far shorter than that of Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden or David Cone, Spencer did his best to cram several embarrassing incidents as a Met into a short span and for that alone, has probably earned himself an invite to a futue Yankees Old-Timers Day.
Posted at 01:56 PM
Flying Feline Grounded
Newsday's Merle English reports on the Parks Department's attempts to squash the scariest act
in Queens since David Cone whipped it out in the Mets bullpen.
The death-defying, high-diving cat act has been scratched from the Cole Brothers Circus.
Rincon aka Supercat, the Siamese aerialist, is unlikely to repeat in New York City its famous five-story leap from the pinnacle of the Big Top onto a pillow held by its trainer.
Last month, just days before the Florida-based circus was to open in Queens, State Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) asked the Parks Department to bar the circus from city parks, contending that the cat was forced to risk its life, jumping 50 feet.
Monday, Kruger issued a news release saying he received a letter from Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe stating Cole Brothers agreed to eliminate the act from the show.
"It's a credit to Commissioner Benepe that he saw the merits of my argument," Kruger said in an interview. "Hopefully, it closes a chapter and prevents any further abuse and mistreatment."
Renee Storey, a Cole Brothers vice-president, confirmed that she told parks officials "if the Parks Department is unhappy with the diving cat part of the performance, even though everything is fine, we would eliminate this from the performance." The issue is moot this year, she said, because the show has ended in New York.
Every year, the circus acts are subject to review, Storey explained, so the cat may not be back.
Kruger wants more. He said he asked the Parks Department to reconsider granting the circus a permit next year because a tiger escaped from the circus grounds in Forest Park in July, tying up traffic on the Jackie Robinson Parkway.
Storey said if the circus is barred, "It would be a terrible disappointment to the thousands of people that come." Rincon, a stray cat its trainer brought from Brazil, has performed at the circus for four years "by popular demand," Storey said.
The death-defying, high-diving cat act has been scratched from the Cole Brothers Circus.
Rincon aka Supercat, the Siamese aerialist, is unlikely to repeat in New York City its famous five-story leap from the pinnacle of the Big Top onto a pillow held by its trainer.
Last month, just days before the Florida-based circus was to open in Queens, State Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) asked the Parks Department to bar the circus from city parks, contending that the cat was forced to risk its life, jumping 50 feet.
Monday, Kruger issued a news release saying he received a letter from Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe stating Cole Brothers agreed to eliminate the act from the show.
"It's a credit to Commissioner Benepe that he saw the merits of my argument," Kruger said in an interview. "Hopefully, it closes a chapter and prevents any further abuse and mistreatment."
Renee Storey, a Cole Brothers vice-president, confirmed that she told parks officials "if the Parks Department is unhappy with the diving cat part of the performance, even though everything is fine, we would eliminate this from the performance." The issue is moot this year, she said, because the show has ended in New York.
Every year, the circus acts are subject to review, Storey explained, so the cat may not be back.
Kruger wants more. He said he asked the Parks Department to reconsider granting the circus a permit next year because a tiger escaped from the circus grounds in Forest Park in July, tying up traffic on the Jackie Robinson Parkway.
Storey said if the circus is barred, "It would be a terrible disappointment to the thousands of people that come." Rincon, a stray cat its trainer brought from Brazil, has performed at the circus for four years "by popular demand," Storey said.
Posted at 10:49 AM
Brian Cashman, Punching Bag
Maybe you haven't given the New York Times Corp.
your personal details. Or perhaps you'd rather wait for the book. Assuming you
don't fall into either of the above categories, I highly recommend the Times' excerpts from Buster Olney's "The Last Night
Of The Yankee Dynasty". Over the past year and half, we've seen
extended reportage on the sort of tsuris foisted upon Billy Beane, Theo Epstein and J.P. Ricciardi. Cashman has
more rings than all of them combined (OK, they don't have any) and if Olney's
treatment is anything to go by, he might have the most unpleasant working
conditions by a large margin as well.
An excruciating noise often jarred Mary Cashman out of her sleep; she once described it to a friend as sounding as if her husband was "chewing on marbles." Brian Cashman's teeth-grinding intensified whenever the Yankees were going through a difficult stretch or playing in the postseason.
Cashman, the team's general manager, was a chronic worrier anyway, and then something would go wrong with the team and in the middle of the night his upper and lower jaws would grate like ice in a blender.
Dentists advised him that a mouth guard might save his teeth, but he fretted that the guard would leave him perpetually cotton-mouthed, a common side effect. Anyway, he figured the problem would stop as soon as he changed jobs - and George Steinbrenner's general managers tended to come and go like pizza delivery men.
Steinbrenner hated to lose, but he distrusted success, convincing himself that it would make his employees soft. When the Yankees won he pushed even harder, became more intense, his explosions more unpredictable, and it was no small matter to stand in the teeth of a Category 5 Steinbrenner rant. Getting yelled at by the Boss, one employee said, "is like being hit by a machine gun. Rapid fire, coming at you pretty hard. He's a loud talker, and it feels like he's screaming at you, even when he isn't. And he's demeaning." You IDIOT, how could you do something SO IDIOTIC? Everyone IN THE WORLD is going to see what an IDIOT you are.
Physically, Cashman seemed cast for the role of a cerebral general manager: after seven weeks in Florida for spring training, his pale-white complexion would hardly have changed; college buddies called him Powder. He was about 5 feet 7 inches, with the bulk once gained through weight lifting now gone; he was almost frail-looking. Cashman had trouble keeping pounds on his body because there was the small problem of remembering to eat between phone calls.
The 2001 season was the last on Cashman's contract, and he was getting fed up. His days at Yankee Stadium lasted 15 hours, and even when the team played road games and he could go home at night, Steinbrenner's presence in his life was constant. He called during games and after games and late at night, complaining that the Yankees weren't good enough, warning Cashman that he was responsible for the mess. Steinbrenner sometimes ordered him to fly to Tampa immediately, or to join the team on the road, with little or no explanation. And sometimes, when Cashman or another executive rushed to Florida for a command performance, Steinbrenner would ask why he was there.
An excruciating noise often jarred Mary Cashman out of her sleep; she once described it to a friend as sounding as if her husband was "chewing on marbles." Brian Cashman's teeth-grinding intensified whenever the Yankees were going through a difficult stretch or playing in the postseason.
Cashman, the team's general manager, was a chronic worrier anyway, and then something would go wrong with the team and in the middle of the night his upper and lower jaws would grate like ice in a blender.
Dentists advised him that a mouth guard might save his teeth, but he fretted that the guard would leave him perpetually cotton-mouthed, a common side effect. Anyway, he figured the problem would stop as soon as he changed jobs - and George Steinbrenner's general managers tended to come and go like pizza delivery men.
Steinbrenner hated to lose, but he distrusted success, convincing himself that it would make his employees soft. When the Yankees won he pushed even harder, became more intense, his explosions more unpredictable, and it was no small matter to stand in the teeth of a Category 5 Steinbrenner rant. Getting yelled at by the Boss, one employee said, "is like being hit by a machine gun. Rapid fire, coming at you pretty hard. He's a loud talker, and it feels like he's screaming at you, even when he isn't. And he's demeaning." You IDIOT, how could you do something SO IDIOTIC? Everyone IN THE WORLD is going to see what an IDIOT you are.
Physically, Cashman seemed cast for the role of a cerebral general manager: after seven weeks in Florida for spring training, his pale-white complexion would hardly have changed; college buddies called him Powder. He was about 5 feet 7 inches, with the bulk once gained through weight lifting now gone; he was almost frail-looking. Cashman had trouble keeping pounds on his body because there was the small problem of remembering to eat between phone calls.
The 2001 season was the last on Cashman's contract, and he was getting fed up. His days at Yankee Stadium lasted 15 hours, and even when the team played road games and he could go home at night, Steinbrenner's presence in his life was constant. He called during games and after games and late at night, complaining that the Yankees weren't good enough, warning Cashman that he was responsible for the mess. Steinbrenner sometimes ordered him to fly to Tampa immediately, or to join the team on the road, with little or no explanation. And sometimes, when Cashman or another executive rushed to Florida for a command performance, Steinbrenner would ask why he was there.
Posted at 12:46 AM
Mon - August 16, 2004
Glove Shows Zero Love For Celts
The Boston Herald's Mark Murphy reports on Gary Payton's reluctance to report to Boston.
Gary Payton's agent yesterday questioned comments by his client in a Southern California newspaper that the guard may ``quit'' rather than report for duty with the Celtics this fall.
``Right now he's thinking about what is best for his family but there is no timetable right now,'' Aaron Goodwin said of Payton, who was dealt from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Celtics two weeks ago as part of a six-player swap.
According to Goodwin, Payton has not made up his mind about playing for the Celtics.
Payton was quoted in yesterday's Riverside Press-Enterprise as saying that the Celtics, ``ain't going to get nothing. It's about respect. (The Lakers) didn't respect me. Why should I respect them?''
Payton also told the paper that he wanted to be traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Los Angeles Clippers or the Houston Rockets.
Goodwin expressed surprise that Payton, so quickly after returning from the weeklong cruise Friday, had time to give an interview.
``I talk to Gary every day, and the situation has nothing to do with Boston,'' Goodwin said. ``The issue is one, that this all occured while he was on vacation and two, that this (trade) occured after he was assured by the Lakers that they wanted him to stay.
``Those are the bigger issues. The Lakers didn't keep their word to him. But right now he hasn't even digested the fact that he's been traded. He respects the Boston organization, and he sees this as a good opportunity.
``But the Celtics and Lakers were both aware that he wasn't going to be back in time to take the physical. I wanted to give him the opportunity to come back and discuss this with his family. The stunner here isn't playing for Boston. The stunner is what the Lakers did.''
Goodwin said that if the Lakers hadn't told Payton they wanted him back for next year, the 36-year-old veteran would not have exercised the $5.4 million option on his contract.
According to the agent, the Oakland native would have then looked into returning ``home'' by pursuing an opportunity with Golden State.
Payton, on the other hand, told the Press-Enterprise that he was willing to forfeit the final $5.4 million.
``I don't care about that,'' Payton said. ``If it goes down, I'll quit. I can go on and do something else.
``I wasn't going to Boston to take a physical. I ain't going to move my family no more. I can't take my family to Boston. It ain't no disrespect to Boston.''
One aspect is clear, however. Payton is furious with the Lakers.
``They used me so they could get other players,'' he said. ``Boston is going to lose out on this. They ain't going to get nothing.''
Not that I have any experience in such matters, but given Payton's history of getting angry at his employers, coaches, teammates, etc., perhaps Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers could've sought some assurance that the Glove was willing to accept the trade? There had to be some way of doing so without tampering.
It would be shame if anything was implied by Payton and Rick Fox preferring to retire rather than play for Boston (though unlike Barry Bonds, Fox has spent more than a little time in the city).
Gary Payton's agent yesterday questioned comments by his client in a Southern California newspaper that the guard may ``quit'' rather than report for duty with the Celtics this fall.
``Right now he's thinking about what is best for his family but there is no timetable right now,'' Aaron Goodwin said of Payton, who was dealt from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Celtics two weeks ago as part of a six-player swap.
According to Goodwin, Payton has not made up his mind about playing for the Celtics.
Payton was quoted in yesterday's Riverside Press-Enterprise as saying that the Celtics, ``ain't going to get nothing. It's about respect. (The Lakers) didn't respect me. Why should I respect them?''
Payton also told the paper that he wanted to be traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Los Angeles Clippers or the Houston Rockets.
Goodwin expressed surprise that Payton, so quickly after returning from the weeklong cruise Friday, had time to give an interview.
``I talk to Gary every day, and the situation has nothing to do with Boston,'' Goodwin said. ``The issue is one, that this all occured while he was on vacation and two, that this (trade) occured after he was assured by the Lakers that they wanted him to stay.
``Those are the bigger issues. The Lakers didn't keep their word to him. But right now he hasn't even digested the fact that he's been traded. He respects the Boston organization, and he sees this as a good opportunity.
``But the Celtics and Lakers were both aware that he wasn't going to be back in time to take the physical. I wanted to give him the opportunity to come back and discuss this with his family. The stunner here isn't playing for Boston. The stunner is what the Lakers did.''
Goodwin said that if the Lakers hadn't told Payton they wanted him back for next year, the 36-year-old veteran would not have exercised the $5.4 million option on his contract.
According to the agent, the Oakland native would have then looked into returning ``home'' by pursuing an opportunity with Golden State.
Payton, on the other hand, told the Press-Enterprise that he was willing to forfeit the final $5.4 million.
``I don't care about that,'' Payton said. ``If it goes down, I'll quit. I can go on and do something else.
``I wasn't going to Boston to take a physical. I ain't going to move my family no more. I can't take my family to Boston. It ain't no disrespect to Boston.''
One aspect is clear, however. Payton is furious with the Lakers.
``They used me so they could get other players,'' he said. ``Boston is going to lose out on this. They ain't going to get nothing.''
Not that I have any experience in such matters, but given Payton's history of getting angry at his employers, coaches, teammates, etc., perhaps Danny Ainge and Doc Rivers could've sought some assurance that the Glove was willing to accept the trade? There had to be some way of doing so without tampering.
It would be shame if anything was implied by Payton and Rick Fox preferring to retire rather than play for Boston (though unlike Barry Bonds, Fox has spent more than a little time in the city).
Posted at 11:57 PM
Rule No. 7 - No Dry Humping
This is the lamest thing I've ever seen.
There's no finer example of an affluent society run amok than adults paying $30 a head to lay amidst other pajama-clad dopes, trying to find some emotional epiphany (either that or the sort of frottage poor people have to cop on the subways at rush hour).
Seriously, if the organizers behind this scam can charge $30 a cuddle, the $200 glory hole can't be far behind.
There's no finer example of an affluent society run amok than adults paying $30 a head to lay amidst other pajama-clad dopes, trying to find some emotional epiphany (either that or the sort of frottage poor people have to cop on the subways at rush hour).
Seriously, if the organizers behind this scam can charge $30 a cuddle, the $200 glory hole can't be far behind.
Posted at 11:17 PM
If It Keeps A Microphone Out Of His Hands, I'm All For It
ESPN is reporting that Deion Sanders, 37,
legendary foe of Carlton Fisk and Tim McCarver, and one of the most heralded, if
not downright contact-phobic players in NFL history, is considering a comeback with the Baltimore
Ravens.
Though I can't possibly think of a positive spin for this story, it would be nice if the Ravens excused Sanders from road trips so he can spend more time with Roger Clemens' family.
Though I can't possibly think of a positive spin for this story, it would be nice if the Ravens excused Sanders from road trips so he can spend more time with Roger Clemens' family.
Posted at 09:39 PM
Who Stole The Soul?
I'm not sure which part of this story is more
offensive, that a respected chronicler of rock history like the
Miller Brewing Company fucked up by not recognizing a single Black
artist, or that none of the beer company's commemorative cans feature
the likenesses of Robert Pollard, Lee Ving or Mike Doskocil,
From CNN.com :
Miller Brewing is celebrating the "50th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll" with eight commemorative beer cans that feature Rolling Stone cover shots of Elvis Presley, Blondie and others.
What's missing, some say, is a black artist.
Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University, called the absence "beyond conspicuous," because black artists often are credited with inventing rock 'n' roll.
"It would be like doing a set of cans of six great Impressionist painters and not including any French people on it," he said. "It leaves out an enormous amount."
The promotion, which ties rock's anniversary to Presley's debut at Sun Studios, also depicts Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and Willie Nelson, as well as the guitars of Eric Clapton and Joe Walsh, on cans being issued this summer by the brewer and the magazine.
Gary Armstrong, chief marketing officer for Rolling Stone publisher Wenner Media, said race wasn't a consideration when choosing the artists.
"We didn't even consciously think pro or con, the same way that the only woman on there is Blondie. We just went with the people that we thought were appropriate," he said. "We went through (the covers) and said these people we don't think are appropriate, or wouldn't appeal to Miller drinkers."
Miller spokesman Scott Bussen said the company started with a broad wish list, but its choices were limited to Rolling Stone covers.
"I'm sure that our objective was to get as diverse a representation of musical acts as well as diversity," he said.
Armstrong noted that Rolling Stone wasn't around for the birth of rock 'n' roll -- it debuted in 1967, years after many formative black artists of the genre emerged. And some artists who appeared on its covers balked at being associated with a promotion involving alcohol, he said.
"These are the artists that gave us approval to use their images on the beer cans," Miller spokeswoman Molly Reilly said.
Six of the initial 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1986 were black, including Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles and Little Richard.
I'll only note that Blondie is a band, Deborah Harry is a woman and Joe Walsh is neither.
From CNN.com :
Miller Brewing is celebrating the "50th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll" with eight commemorative beer cans that feature Rolling Stone cover shots of Elvis Presley, Blondie and others.
What's missing, some say, is a black artist.
Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University, called the absence "beyond conspicuous," because black artists often are credited with inventing rock 'n' roll.
"It would be like doing a set of cans of six great Impressionist painters and not including any French people on it," he said. "It leaves out an enormous amount."
The promotion, which ties rock's anniversary to Presley's debut at Sun Studios, also depicts Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and Willie Nelson, as well as the guitars of Eric Clapton and Joe Walsh, on cans being issued this summer by the brewer and the magazine.
Gary Armstrong, chief marketing officer for Rolling Stone publisher Wenner Media, said race wasn't a consideration when choosing the artists.
"We didn't even consciously think pro or con, the same way that the only woman on there is Blondie. We just went with the people that we thought were appropriate," he said. "We went through (the covers) and said these people we don't think are appropriate, or wouldn't appeal to Miller drinkers."
Miller spokesman Scott Bussen said the company started with a broad wish list, but its choices were limited to Rolling Stone covers.
"I'm sure that our objective was to get as diverse a representation of musical acts as well as diversity," he said.
Armstrong noted that Rolling Stone wasn't around for the birth of rock 'n' roll -- it debuted in 1967, years after many formative black artists of the genre emerged. And some artists who appeared on its covers balked at being associated with a promotion involving alcohol, he said.
"These are the artists that gave us approval to use their images on the beer cans," Miller spokeswoman Molly Reilly said.
Six of the initial 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1986 were black, including Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles and Little Richard.
I'll only note that Blondie is a band, Deborah Harry is a woman and Joe Walsh is neither.
Posted at 05:44 PM
Meaningless Game Highlighted By Meaningful Brawl
Jack Etkin of the Rocky Mountain News writes
about the Joe Kennedy the Pirates haven't heard of.
The Colorado Rockies' attack consisted of five singles, two of which never left the infield, some harsh words and a few punches.
They ended their trip meekly, losing 3-0 to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. What the Rockies hope is that an incident in the fourth inning - when pitcher Joe Kennedy hit Jason Kendall with a pitch, those two fought briefly and the teams pushed and shoved once the benches emptied - might have a residual benefit.
"It's just nice to see emotion on the ballclub," manager Clint Hurdle said. "It's the first time we've been on the field (in a melee) in two years. It doesn't bother me at all. Good, old-fashioned hardball in the heat of summer."
Kendall was hit with a pitch Saturday night by Jamey Wright. Indeed, Kendall twice has led the league in getting hit by pitches. This year, he has been hit 14 times and is tied for third in the league. Kendall wears a protective pad on his left arm that runs from just below to just above his elbow.
As Kendall headed toward first base, Kennedy came toward the plate and moved his left shoulder forward, as if to gesture toward home plate umpire Paul Nauert that Kendall was turning in toward the ball.
"I was just trying to go in on him in that situation," Kennedy said. "He dives and leans over the plate, and it got him. I was yelling at the umpire (that) (Kendall) needs to get out of the way, and he came after me. It wasn't directed toward Kendall at all."
Kennedy called his outburst a "heat-of-the-moment" reaction and said he was upset at putting another runner on base. Asked again whether he directed a comment toward Kendall, Kennedy said, "No. It was all at the umpire."
That would not appear to be the case, judging from comments from Kendall, Hurdle, Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon and crew chief Randy Marsh.
Kendall said that Kennedy, clearly not talking to Nauert, said, "(Bleep) you. Get the (bleep) out of the way."
Marsh said, "Kennedy yelled something that I think got Jason fired up." When what Kennedy supposedly hollered at Kendall was repeated to Marsh, the umpire said, "That's pretty accurate."
McClendon said of Kennedy, "He said some things I can't repeat. But it was certainly unwarranted, particularly from a rookie pitcher, who ought to just keep his mouth shut and pitch the game. He'll learn."
Kennedy is by no means a rookie and after this season will have three-plus years of service and be eligible for arbitration. If McClendon wasn't aware of that, neither was Kendall. He said at the scouting meeting at the start of the series to go over the Colorado pitchers, when Kennedy's name came up, "I didn't know if he was a lefty or a righty."
Hurdle said he told Nauert that he heard Kennedy "clear as day," but told Nauert what the umpire heard Kennedy say to Kendall wasn't what Hurdle heard.
Kendall was immediately ejected. But Kennedy stood with catcher J.D. Closser along the first base line while Hurdle conferred with Nauert.
"I still don't get how a guy can charge the mound, a pitcher can stand there, take the blow and he gets thrown out of the game," Hurdle said. "Their point was if he wouldn't have had a verbal altercation, that wouldn't have happened. I dispute that."
The Colorado Rockies' attack consisted of five singles, two of which never left the infield, some harsh words and a few punches.
They ended their trip meekly, losing 3-0 to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. What the Rockies hope is that an incident in the fourth inning - when pitcher Joe Kennedy hit Jason Kendall with a pitch, those two fought briefly and the teams pushed and shoved once the benches emptied - might have a residual benefit.
"It's just nice to see emotion on the ballclub," manager Clint Hurdle said. "It's the first time we've been on the field (in a melee) in two years. It doesn't bother me at all. Good, old-fashioned hardball in the heat of summer."
Kendall was hit with a pitch Saturday night by Jamey Wright. Indeed, Kendall twice has led the league in getting hit by pitches. This year, he has been hit 14 times and is tied for third in the league. Kendall wears a protective pad on his left arm that runs from just below to just above his elbow.
As Kendall headed toward first base, Kennedy came toward the plate and moved his left shoulder forward, as if to gesture toward home plate umpire Paul Nauert that Kendall was turning in toward the ball.
"I was just trying to go in on him in that situation," Kennedy said. "He dives and leans over the plate, and it got him. I was yelling at the umpire (that) (Kendall) needs to get out of the way, and he came after me. It wasn't directed toward Kendall at all."
Kennedy called his outburst a "heat-of-the-moment" reaction and said he was upset at putting another runner on base. Asked again whether he directed a comment toward Kendall, Kennedy said, "No. It was all at the umpire."
That would not appear to be the case, judging from comments from Kendall, Hurdle, Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon and crew chief Randy Marsh.
Kendall said that Kennedy, clearly not talking to Nauert, said, "(Bleep) you. Get the (bleep) out of the way."
Marsh said, "Kennedy yelled something that I think got Jason fired up." When what Kennedy supposedly hollered at Kendall was repeated to Marsh, the umpire said, "That's pretty accurate."
McClendon said of Kennedy, "He said some things I can't repeat. But it was certainly unwarranted, particularly from a rookie pitcher, who ought to just keep his mouth shut and pitch the game. He'll learn."
Kennedy is by no means a rookie and after this season will have three-plus years of service and be eligible for arbitration. If McClendon wasn't aware of that, neither was Kendall. He said at the scouting meeting at the start of the series to go over the Colorado pitchers, when Kennedy's name came up, "I didn't know if he was a lefty or a righty."
Hurdle said he told Nauert that he heard Kennedy "clear as day," but told Nauert what the umpire heard Kennedy say to Kendall wasn't what Hurdle heard.
Kendall was immediately ejected. But Kennedy stood with catcher J.D. Closser along the first base line while Hurdle conferred with Nauert.
"I still don't get how a guy can charge the mound, a pitcher can stand there, take the blow and he gets thrown out of the game," Hurdle said. "Their point was if he wouldn't have had a verbal altercation, that wouldn't have happened. I dispute that."
Posted at 05:29 PM
No Respect For Captain Fucko
One of the few things Art Howe has done right
recently has been to keep LHP John Franco out of games. Said
strategy has not gone unnoticed by the Mets' captain, writes the NY
Post's Joel Sherman.
It feels as if Jesse Orosco has pitched more recently for the Mets than John Franco. At least it feels that way for Franco, who is on the roster in name only these days.
"It's been three weeks," Franco said yesterday. "There has to be some place I can pitch."
But he hasn't. Franco worked an inning in Milwaukee on Aug. 5, and that has been his lone action since July 27. That is one appearance in 18 games, and Franco admits his frustration. More interesting than that, however, is that — unsolicited — he proclaimed no problems with owner Fred Wilpon or GM Jim Duquette. Noticeably missing from that list was Art Howe.
Asked specifically about the manager, Franco hesitated a few beats before saying, "I don't have a problem with anybody." Once again, though, he did not mention Howe by name. According to members of the organization, Franco has privately questioned the communication skills of the team's second-year skipper.
Interestingly, Franco said that aside from "hello and good-bye" when they pass, he has not talked to Howe, including about his vanishing from use. Asked about if he was owed a courtesy to have his situation explained considering his seniority, Franco laughed this time before replying, "Who knows? I'm not owed anything. I've been around a long time. I understand what is going on."
That appears to be the phasing out of Franco. He turns 44 next month, is not signed beyond this season, is already serving as the de facto bullpen coach. Even he acknowledges, "I have not pitched well." Franco, 2-7 with a 5.59 ERA, says he has not made his mind up about next season, though it could be that his mind is being made up for him.
Howe said he is just looking to get Franco "in a good spot." But, he added, it has become a "Catch-22 because it is tough to stay sharp when you are not pitching, but we have played so many tight games that it is tough for me to find a place to use him." Since July 27, the Mets have played four games in which the final score had at least a five-run differential, and Franco pitched in just one of these games.
Is Howe hurting his own job status by his handling of this situation?
"It is what it is," Franco said of the situation. "People have their own philosophies and ways of working things out."
This might be the most depressing realization of all --- that for all of Howe's mistakes that in all should result in a new manager in 2005, a perceived snub of Wilpon fave Franco might prove to be the most fatal.
It feels as if Jesse Orosco has pitched more recently for the Mets than John Franco. At least it feels that way for Franco, who is on the roster in name only these days.
"It's been three weeks," Franco said yesterday. "There has to be some place I can pitch."
But he hasn't. Franco worked an inning in Milwaukee on Aug. 5, and that has been his lone action since July 27. That is one appearance in 18 games, and Franco admits his frustration. More interesting than that, however, is that — unsolicited — he proclaimed no problems with owner Fred Wilpon or GM Jim Duquette. Noticeably missing from that list was Art Howe.
Asked specifically about the manager, Franco hesitated a few beats before saying, "I don't have a problem with anybody." Once again, though, he did not mention Howe by name. According to members of the organization, Franco has privately questioned the communication skills of the team's second-year skipper.
Interestingly, Franco said that aside from "hello and good-bye" when they pass, he has not talked to Howe, including about his vanishing from use. Asked about if he was owed a courtesy to have his situation explained considering his seniority, Franco laughed this time before replying, "Who knows? I'm not owed anything. I've been around a long time. I understand what is going on."
That appears to be the phasing out of Franco. He turns 44 next month, is not signed beyond this season, is already serving as the de facto bullpen coach. Even he acknowledges, "I have not pitched well." Franco, 2-7 with a 5.59 ERA, says he has not made his mind up about next season, though it could be that his mind is being made up for him.
Howe said he is just looking to get Franco "in a good spot." But, he added, it has become a "Catch-22 because it is tough to stay sharp when you are not pitching, but we have played so many tight games that it is tough for me to find a place to use him." Since July 27, the Mets have played four games in which the final score had at least a five-run differential, and Franco pitched in just one of these games.
Is Howe hurting his own job status by his handling of this situation?
"It is what it is," Franco said of the situation. "People have their own philosophies and ways of working things out."
This might be the most depressing realization of all --- that for all of Howe's mistakes that in all should result in a new manager in 2005, a perceived snub of Wilpon fave Franco might prove to be the most fatal.
Posted at 02:37 PM
Sun - August 15, 2004
The Begining (And Hopefully The End) Of CSTB's Olympic Coverage
Whoops.
Afterwards, Larry Brown said "I don't know why anyone in the world would be in awe of us anymore." He's right about that --- I didn't see Carlos Arroyo asking for autographs. Now that the myth of US superiority has been punctured (again), perhaps the BBC could show highlights of someone else's games?
Posted at 11:59 PM
Acroperformance Is A Sport
Well, it sounds more like a sport than NASCAR. The NY Times'
Alex Williams on the evolution of Competitive Cheerleading :
Come December, judges who consider the cheerleading performance of the Georgia All-Stars at the Battle Under the Big Top competition in Atlanta may face a peculiar challenge. They will have to decide not only whether the squad has the best routine, but whether it really has anything to do with cheerleading.
"We're doing something new this year," said Jamie Parrish, the team's coach. For no particular reason but to provide visual impact, the 2 1/2-minute performance by his coed "all star" squad will be modeled around a highly conceptual hospital theme. Forget pleated skirts. The girls will wear skimpy white nurses' outfits festooned with red crosses, the boys blue surgeons' scrubs. In place of a martial fight song, the team will cue Bon Jovi's "Bad Medicine." As for pompoms, megaphones, and, yes, actual cheers, such vestiges of another age would seem almost risible in this context.
Despite the gaudiness of productions like his team's, Mr. Parrish actually considers all this more a sport than a spectacle. He is at the vanguard of a new wave of coaches who are rendering traditionbound cheerleading nearly unrecognizable to those who think it belongs first and foremost on the sidelines of "real" sports.
Indeed, at a time of year when varsity squads are breaking camp in anticipation of the first big gridiron clashes, the greater contest may be playing out within cheerleading itself — a battle for the soul of a quintessentially American institution. The momentum to turn competitive cheerleading into a major sport has grown so strong (even internationally, with talk of putting it in the Olympics) that the purists find themselves leading a new reactionary push, to reinforce the premise that cheerleading must actually involve . . . well, leading cheers.
"The days of Go! Fight! Win! are completely archaic these days," Mr. Parrish said happily.
The split is so stark, in fact, that Mr. Parrish maintains that competitive cheerleading now merits a name unto itself. " `Acroperformance' is what I'd call it," he said.
But the greater divide may be cultural. Some who insist on redefining cheerleading as a sport do not equate it with stodgy old things like field hockey. "In a way, I can say that cheerleading has become an extreme sport," said Scott Braasch, president of Cheer Tyme Inc., an all-star center in Lemoyne, Pa., whose teams like to incorporate booming sound effects like jet-fighter whooshes and whip cracks into their routines. "You just watch college nationals — you'll see four people throwing a person 30 feet in the air, girls doing X-out double folds, which are back flips with two twists. You're seeing skills you see people doing off diving boards." Rare is the gym these days that doesn't find some way to co-opt the rebel chic of either vertical skateboarding or hip-hop and work an expression like "X-treme," "Outlaw," or "Starz" into its name.
Come December, judges who consider the cheerleading performance of the Georgia All-Stars at the Battle Under the Big Top competition in Atlanta may face a peculiar challenge. They will have to decide not only whether the squad has the best routine, but whether it really has anything to do with cheerleading.
"We're doing something new this year," said Jamie Parrish, the team's coach. For no particular reason but to provide visual impact, the 2 1/2-minute performance by his coed "all star" squad will be modeled around a highly conceptual hospital theme. Forget pleated skirts. The girls will wear skimpy white nurses' outfits festooned with red crosses, the boys blue surgeons' scrubs. In place of a martial fight song, the team will cue Bon Jovi's "Bad Medicine." As for pompoms, megaphones, and, yes, actual cheers, such vestiges of another age would seem almost risible in this context.
Despite the gaudiness of productions like his team's, Mr. Parrish actually considers all this more a sport than a spectacle. He is at the vanguard of a new wave of coaches who are rendering traditionbound cheerleading nearly unrecognizable to those who think it belongs first and foremost on the sidelines of "real" sports.
Indeed, at a time of year when varsity squads are breaking camp in anticipation of the first big gridiron clashes, the greater contest may be playing out within cheerleading itself — a battle for the soul of a quintessentially American institution. The momentum to turn competitive cheerleading into a major sport has grown so strong (even internationally, with talk of putting it in the Olympics) that the purists find themselves leading a new reactionary push, to reinforce the premise that cheerleading must actually involve . . . well, leading cheers.
"The days of Go! Fight! Win! are completely archaic these days," Mr. Parrish said happily.
The split is so stark, in fact, that Mr. Parrish maintains that competitive cheerleading now merits a name unto itself. " `Acroperformance' is what I'd call it," he said.
But the greater divide may be cultural. Some who insist on redefining cheerleading as a sport do not equate it with stodgy old things like field hockey. "In a way, I can say that cheerleading has become an extreme sport," said Scott Braasch, president of Cheer Tyme Inc., an all-star center in Lemoyne, Pa., whose teams like to incorporate booming sound effects like jet-fighter whooshes and whip cracks into their routines. "You just watch college nationals — you'll see four people throwing a person 30 feet in the air, girls doing X-out double folds, which are back flips with two twists. You're seeing skills you see people doing off diving boards." Rare is the gym these days that doesn't find some way to co-opt the rebel chic of either vertical skateboarding or hip-hop and work an expression like "X-treme," "Outlaw," or "Starz" into its name.
Posted at 11:48 PM
Unit K's 14, Depleted Mets Roll Over
Not to diminish Randy Johnson's achievement in striking out 14 Mets and pitching 8 1/3rd shut out innings in today's Diamondbacks 2-0 win, but let's put it in perspective. Johnson was facing a Mets lineup that featured Gerald Williams, Joe McEwing, Jason Phillips. Cliff Floyd had the day off...because lord knows, the Mets have depth aplenty what with Piazza, Reyes and Matsui all unavailable. September call-ups cannot come soon enough for New York. Neither can the end of the season.
If the overall state of things at Shea weren't gloomy enough, I refer you to Thursday's Baseball Prospectus and a column entitled "Rational Exhuberance ; Meet The Mets : A Decade Without A Plan" by Jonah Keri.
Duquette, who looked like he'd exhibit patience and good judgment in the GM's chair, instead reverted to the bad habits of his predecessors. On the day the Mets took out a 14th mortgage on their future by overpaying for Victor Zambrano and Kris Benson, they stood seven full games behind the NL East-leading Braves and 7.5 games out of the wild card lead. We heard all the excuses: Pitching coach Rick Peterson had found an easily correctable flaw in Zambrano and would also fix Benson; Mets superscout Al Goldis was staking his reputation on monster performances from the team's newly acquired pitchers; sure, Scott Kazmir was a great prospect who'd dominated the minor leagues, but high school pitchers take forever to develop, so why not go with a guy who's already arrived?
The Mets could pile the excuses a mile high. The bottom line was they'd goofed, just as they had so many times in the last decade. The Mets must now race against Zambrano's rapidly ticking service-time clock, shelling out big arbitration dollars while hoping to solve his huge control problems. Benson's never been the same since missing the 2001 season to elbow surgery, let alone hurting his shoulder last year; though the Mets claim the trade would be worth it if they lock him up long-term, why couldn't they have waited until after this latest non-contending season to sign him?
The questionable decisions by management, the excuses from all sides, the continued second-division performance by a team that perennially features one of the highest revenue streams and payrolls in the game. We've heard how Dallas Green was a butcher who shouldn't have be trusted around young pitchers. How Steve Phillips was too impetuous to run a ballclub. How Jim Duquette may be in over his head. When a team makes a bad trade, a manager fails or a free-agent signing blows up, it's inevitably the general manager or manager who gets blamed. At what point does the person who hired all these people get his share?
The blame cuts both ways too. As the Mets' trades went down at the deadline, the buzz had Fred Wilpon going over his general manager's head to get the deals he wanted, something he's reportedly done in the past. If the owner constantly intervenes in a futile attempt to instantly turn a mediocre team into a winner, he's also to blame for meddling where he shouldn't, instead of leaving the decisions to the people he hand-picked to run the operation.
No matter how you slice it, for the team's years of bungling, Fred Wilpon owes Mets fans an apology. A big one.
Posted at 11:14 PM
Houston Man Killed By Flesh-Eating Bacteria
from the Associated Press :
A man has died from flesh-eating bacteria that entered his body through a minor cut on his leg.
Dr. Kenneth Dean Creamer, 52, died late Thursday in a Victoria hospital where he had been treated since July 17, two days after he was exposed to the saltwater bacteria vibrio vulnificus.
Creamer, a Houston dentist, apparently hurt himself July 15 when he slipped on a dock during a fishing trip. Within days, both Creamer's legs had to be amputated and he went into a coma, a hospital spokeswoman told the Houston Chronicle for its Saturday editions.
(Chris D. & the Flesh Eaters - not involved in this tragedy)
Creamer is the seventh vibrio-related death in Texas this year, according to the Texas Department of Health. The federal Centers for Disease Control said a typical year brings 16 vibrio-related deaths in the Gulf Coast states.
On the bright side, since Creamer hadn't lost his arms, he could still fly on Air France.
A man has died from flesh-eating bacteria that entered his body through a minor cut on his leg.
Dr. Kenneth Dean Creamer, 52, died late Thursday in a Victoria hospital where he had been treated since July 17, two days after he was exposed to the saltwater bacteria vibrio vulnificus.
Creamer, a Houston dentist, apparently hurt himself July 15 when he slipped on a dock during a fishing trip. Within days, both Creamer's legs had to be amputated and he went into a coma, a hospital spokeswoman told the Houston Chronicle for its Saturday editions.
(Chris D. & the Flesh Eaters - not involved in this tragedy)
Creamer is the seventh vibrio-related death in Texas this year, according to the Texas Department of Health. The federal Centers for Disease Control said a typical year brings 16 vibrio-related deaths in the Gulf Coast states.
On the bright side, since Creamer hadn't lost his arms, he could still fly on Air France.
Posted at 10:05 PM
Mets Battle Empty-Stadium-Phobia
The Daily News' Michael
O'Keefe (who was really good in "Caddyshack" many years ago) writes
today about the efforts of some MLB franchises to welcome gay and lesbian fans.
Half of baseball's 30 franchises have hosted gay-related events at home games since 2001.
"Our job is to make everyone feel welcome," says Kathy Killian, the Phillies' director of group sales. "We open our doors to anybody who wants to buy baseball tickets."
But as the Phillies learned last week, clubs that cater to gay fans will draw protests from fundamentalist crusaders and alienate fans who are squeamish about homosexuality. Killian says she received a few dozen complaints, mostly from people associated with Repent America, an anti-homosexual group; a minor scuffle broke out at Citizens Bank Park between Repent America protesters and gay fans.
"We are Christian people and we saw this as an opportunity to evangelize," says Michael Marcavage, director of Repent America.
Cyd Zeigler, one of the organizers of "Out @ the Ballgame," a night for gay and lesbian fans at Shea Stadium on Sept. 13, says the Mets seem happy to sell them tickets but are nervous about potential controversy; Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said the club welcomed all fans but declined to answer questions about the event.
"They want our money," says Zeigler, an editor at the New York Blade and Outsports.com, "but they don't want the publicity."
Half of baseball's 30 franchises have hosted gay-related events at home games since 2001.
"Our job is to make everyone feel welcome," says Kathy Killian, the Phillies' director of group sales. "We open our doors to anybody who wants to buy baseball tickets."
But as the Phillies learned last week, clubs that cater to gay fans will draw protests from fundamentalist crusaders and alienate fans who are squeamish about homosexuality. Killian says she received a few dozen complaints, mostly from people associated with Repent America, an anti-homosexual group; a minor scuffle broke out at Citizens Bank Park between Repent America protesters and gay fans.
"We are Christian people and we saw this as an opportunity to evangelize," says Michael Marcavage, director of Repent America.
Cyd Zeigler, one of the organizers of "Out @ the Ballgame," a night for gay and lesbian fans at Shea Stadium on Sept. 13, says the Mets seem happy to sell them tickets but are nervous about potential controversy; Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said the club welcomed all fans but declined to answer questions about the event.
"They want our money," says Zeigler, an editor at the New York Blade and Outsports.com, "but they don't want the publicity."
Posted at 08:59 PM
Heyman's Hot Stove Notes
from Jon Heyman's column in Sunday morning's Newsday
:
Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Roy Oswalt were all blocked on waivers. So were Ben Sheets and David Wells. And Kevin Millwood. So none of them can be traded. The only Met blocked on waivers so far is Jose Reyes. No Yankee has been claimed. Teams don't want to take out second mortgages.
Many viable relievers were blocked. Cashman doesn't think the Yankees will upgrade the bullpen (beyond removing Felix Heredia, that is).
According to a source, Brad Penny had an arm issue before going to the Dodgers. They should have insisted on a physical before trading Paul Lo Duca and Guillermo Mota to the Marlins. The Dodgers are advertising ex-Yankees farmhand Yhency Brazoban (acquired for Kevin Brown) as a viable Mota replacement. He throws 98 but is untested.
Of all the midyear pickups, El Duque might be the best.
Jose Contreras, who left without saying goodbye to Joe Torre, had lost Torre's faith. But if he continues to pitch well for the White Sox, Contreras could become an even greater source of tension between the Yankees' Tampa and New York factions. The Yankees didn't get the best out of Contreras.
The Astros are saying they'll try to re-sign Carlos Beltran. Good luck there. Almost everyone else assumes he's headed for the Yankees.
Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Roy Oswalt were all blocked on waivers. So were Ben Sheets and David Wells. And Kevin Millwood. So none of them can be traded. The only Met blocked on waivers so far is Jose Reyes. No Yankee has been claimed. Teams don't want to take out second mortgages.
Many viable relievers were blocked. Cashman doesn't think the Yankees will upgrade the bullpen (beyond removing Felix Heredia, that is).
According to a source, Brad Penny had an arm issue before going to the Dodgers. They should have insisted on a physical before trading Paul Lo Duca and Guillermo Mota to the Marlins. The Dodgers are advertising ex-Yankees farmhand Yhency Brazoban (acquired for Kevin Brown) as a viable Mota replacement. He throws 98 but is untested.
Of all the midyear pickups, El Duque might be the best.
Jose Contreras, who left without saying goodbye to Joe Torre, had lost Torre's faith. But if he continues to pitch well for the White Sox, Contreras could become an even greater source of tension between the Yankees' Tampa and New York factions. The Yankees didn't get the best out of Contreras.
The Astros are saying they'll try to re-sign Carlos Beltran. Good luck there. Almost everyone else assumes he's headed for the Yankees.
Posted at 08:05 PM
Rickey Mulling Retirement
If Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield can think about
quitting, surely 45 year old Rickey Henderson is entitled to do the
same. From John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle :
"I might just walk away from it," said Henderson, setting a timetable for the first time.
"I'll wait until the winter to see what'll be my opportunity. I don't think I'll continue doing the same thing I'm doing now. I don't think there will be any more Newark. I think I'm above the league. It's not so much of a challenge for me."
Calling himself the "Barry Bonds or Babe Ruth of the independent league," Henderson is hitting .284 (he was at .300 on Aug. 6) in 68 games for Newark, most recently as a designated hitter. He has nine homers, 28 RBIs, 69 walks and a .458 on-base percentage and is 27-for-29 in stolen-base attempts.
He said he hasn't spoken with A's officials during his visit -- he plans to return to the Bears on Tuesday -- about returning to Oakland for a fifth stint. He hit .208 in 30 games for the Dodgers last season.
"The A's and other ballclubs know what I'm doing, how I'm playing and how healthy I am," Henderson said. "If a team needs a player to come in and help out, they can call. Right now, I'm still loving the game and having fun. If you can't compete with the young players, then it's time to give it up. I think I can still compete."
There has been speculation of Henderson returning to the A's for a final September day -- either to suit up as a player or to say goodbye and retire.
"I'd rather do it and play," he said. "If I was hurt or couldn't run the bases, that would be great. But I still think I can perform. It would be tough for me to come back for one day. I never want to leave the game and wonder if I could still play. That's probably why I'm still in Newark. I know inside of me I'm not through, so if I don't get an opportunity to play in the big leagues, I guess I can get it out of my system doing what I'm doing."
Asked about Bonds breaking his career walks record this year, Henderson playfully suggested the record should still be his: "I always tell Bonds they give him a pass. He's not getting no walks. They're giving him a pass."
"I might just walk away from it," said Henderson, setting a timetable for the first time.
"I'll wait until the winter to see what'll be my opportunity. I don't think I'll continue doing the same thing I'm doing now. I don't think there will be any more Newark. I think I'm above the league. It's not so much of a challenge for me."
Calling himself the "Barry Bonds or Babe Ruth of the independent league," Henderson is hitting .284 (he was at .300 on Aug. 6) in 68 games for Newark, most recently as a designated hitter. He has nine homers, 28 RBIs, 69 walks and a .458 on-base percentage and is 27-for-29 in stolen-base attempts.
He said he hasn't spoken with A's officials during his visit -- he plans to return to the Bears on Tuesday -- about returning to Oakland for a fifth stint. He hit .208 in 30 games for the Dodgers last season.
"The A's and other ballclubs know what I'm doing, how I'm playing and how healthy I am," Henderson said. "If a team needs a player to come in and help out, they can call. Right now, I'm still loving the game and having fun. If you can't compete with the young players, then it's time to give it up. I think I can still compete."
There has been speculation of Henderson returning to the A's for a final September day -- either to suit up as a player or to say goodbye and retire.
"I'd rather do it and play," he said. "If I was hurt or couldn't run the bases, that would be great. But I still think I can perform. It would be tough for me to come back for one day. I never want to leave the game and wonder if I could still play. That's probably why I'm still in Newark. I know inside of me I'm not through, so if I don't get an opportunity to play in the big leagues, I guess I can get it out of my system doing what I'm doing."
Asked about Bonds breaking his career walks record this year, Henderson playfully suggested the record should still be his: "I always tell Bonds they give him a pass. He's not getting no walks. They're giving him a pass."
Posted at 06:06 PM
Waiting For The Best-Seller About Mark Shapiro
Jim Thome, Robbie Almoar, El Barto and Milton
Bradley are all gone. They tried to get rid of Omar Vizquel and all he's done
is hit .356 over his last 41 games. Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe checks in with the Tribe's
Mark Shapiro, whose team is just one game behind the Twins after
winning their last six in a row (including last night's 7-1 contest at the
Homerdome).
"What's encouraging," GM Mark Shapiro said Friday, "what makes it feel somewhat real and sustainable, is that we've played well the whole year, with the exception of one component that failed regularly, and it was crucial. But we've been a team that played hard and played right and hit the ball hard from Day 1."
The weak link was the bullpen, with its league-worst 5.25 ERA and more blown saves (24) than saves (23). The Tribe pen had allowed 96 more earned runs than the league-leading Angels' pen, and 71 more than the league average. But with the return of Bob Wickman from Tommy John elbow surgery and former Sox castoff Bob Howry, apparently fully recovered from surgery to remove a mass in his right forearm, the bullpen has stabilized. In the last 21 games entering the weekend, the pen had an ERA of 3.26 and had converted nine of a dozen save opportunities.
That has allowed the Tribe to more fully enjoy the benefits of a young, dynamic offense that in the parlance of Sox GM Theo Epstein is an on-base machine. Entering the weekend, the Indians were first in the league in runs with 646, a total of 156 more than they scored last season after 116 games. They were hitting .282, just 1 point behind co-leaders Anaheim and Baltimore, and their .358 on-base percentage was tied with the Red Sox for best in the majors. They were third in the league in walks with 439, up from 345 last year at this time.
And that was despite trading talented outfielder Milton Bradley, who clashed with manager Eric Wedge in spring training.
"That was a defining moment for us as a team, to trade our best player," Shapiro said. "Some of it was market-driven. We have to stick with what we believe in, a team approach to winning. We can't rely on just one guy, or two or three. We have to have different guys in the lineup carrying us every night. Maybe that's not what I'd do in Boston, but with a $38 million payroll, it's what I have to do here.
"That team approach is something I think your football fans in New England are familiar with, and have seen how it can work."
And as Edes points out there are 11 more Indians/Twins games between now and the end of the season.
"What's encouraging," GM Mark Shapiro said Friday, "what makes it feel somewhat real and sustainable, is that we've played well the whole year, with the exception of one component that failed regularly, and it was crucial. But we've been a team that played hard and played right and hit the ball hard from Day 1."
The weak link was the bullpen, with its league-worst 5.25 ERA and more blown saves (24) than saves (23). The Tribe pen had allowed 96 more earned runs than the league-leading Angels' pen, and 71 more than the league average. But with the return of Bob Wickman from Tommy John elbow surgery and former Sox castoff Bob Howry, apparently fully recovered from surgery to remove a mass in his right forearm, the bullpen has stabilized. In the last 21 games entering the weekend, the pen had an ERA of 3.26 and had converted nine of a dozen save opportunities.
That has allowed the Tribe to more fully enjoy the benefits of a young, dynamic offense that in the parlance of Sox GM Theo Epstein is an on-base machine. Entering the weekend, the Indians were first in the league in runs with 646, a total of 156 more than they scored last season after 116 games. They were hitting .282, just 1 point behind co-leaders Anaheim and Baltimore, and their .358 on-base percentage was tied with the Red Sox for best in the majors. They were third in the league in walks with 439, up from 345 last year at this time.
And that was despite trading talented outfielder Milton Bradley, who clashed with manager Eric Wedge in spring training.
"That was a defining moment for us as a team, to trade our best player," Shapiro said. "Some of it was market-driven. We have to stick with what we believe in, a team approach to winning. We can't rely on just one guy, or two or three. We have to have different guys in the lineup carrying us every night. Maybe that's not what I'd do in Boston, but with a $38 million payroll, it's what I have to do here.
"That team approach is something I think your football fans in New England are familiar with, and have seen how it can work."
And as Edes points out there are 11 more Indians/Twins games between now and the end of the season.
Posted at 01:29 PM
Sat - August 14, 2004
Richard Justice On Billy Beane
The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice answers mail from
lowly readers in Saturday's edition.
Q: I know you will have some fabrication of a reason, but to leave Billy Beane off your list of best general managers (he is the best) is not only idiotic, it reflects the mentality of most baseball types who spurn the methods he and others (Epstein and Depodesta) have used successfully. Baseball Prospectus picked the Astros for fourth, basing their estimations on this system. You picked them to finish first or second, based on what? The team "looked" good? - Bob in Houston
A: I actually did leave two guys off that should be on any list of best general managers -- Minnesota's Terry Ryan and Chicago's Jim Hendry. They may, in fact, be the two best in the game.
Both came from player development and understand the importance of making a roster, coaching staff, etc., fit. As for Billy Beane, no, I did not overlook him. I find him an interesting guy, very bright, very good at his job.
Would I hire him? Not on a dare. He revealed private conversations with other general managers to an author for the book `"Moneyball.'' He actually had discussions with other general managers and did not tell them that he was working on a book and that these conversations would be included in the book.
What he showed is that he can't be trusted. I know several general managers who simply won't deal with him. I stood beside him in the Oakland clubhouse last fall when he blurted out the line about "giving me $50 million more'' and the A's would do better in the playoffs.
Excuse me? He's the guy who told the world he knew a better way, and now he's wanting a bigger payroll. Two points of the book "Moneyball'' are an absolute lie perpetuated by Billy. One is that the A's were built on this system of analyzing numbers instead of evaluating players in the traditional way. That's flat out wrong. That system has been used only for three drafts. Their best players are high school guys.
He may have discovered the greatest system on earth, but we don't have a big enough sampling to know.
Second, he did not come up with the idea of evaluating players through on-base and slugging percentages. Teams have used that for years.
So, no, I didn't have him on my list for a reason.
You don't really think I'm idiotic, do you?
I did blow it on the Astros. However, I think my reasoning was sound. I was buying into the up-side. I didn't figure three-fifths of the starting rotation (Wade Miller, Tim Redding and Andy Pettitte) would either be injured or unproductive. I didn't think Morgan Ensberg, Jeff Kent and Jeff Bagwell would have such dramatic declines in offensive production.
I'm hesitant to lay into Justice too much because I thought the Astros had a good shot, too. Though I was dopey enough to think Octavio Dotel was ready to assume Billy Wagner's role,
Justice's gripe with Beane is a weird one --- he's offended on behalf of other GM's? Or is because it isn't cool to spill the beans on confidential shit to Mr. Tabitha Soren --- not a member of the baseball scribe fraternity, but the author of one of the best baseball books in eons just the same.
Beane's remarks about wanting another $50 million after the A's were eliminated by the Red Sox last year weren't too classy, but they were the product of frustration. Why wouldn't Beane want more money to play with? Those who actually read "Moneyball" seem to understand that the Beane's success is less about a strict "numbers -good, scouts-bad" approach but has more to do with making the most of limited resources. The whole point is that with a payroll a fraction of New York or Boston's, Beane has little margin for error. If New York overpays for Jose Contreras, if Boston drops ten million on B.K. Kim, it isn't the end of the world for either club.
The A's made the post-season the last four years in a row and for all the crap repeated over and over again about the inability to win a series, you can't blame that on the way the roster was assembled. If Jeremy Giambi remembers to slide against the Yankees in 2001, the A's are in the ALCS. If Eric Bryne touches the plate (or Miguel Tejada doesn't stop running) against Boston in 2003, the A's are in the ALCS.
Despite a 3 game losing streak, Oakland are still leading the AL West and have the 2nd best record in the league. If Justice wants to play up Beane's supposed arrogance or lack of ethics to help maintain relations with his other pals in the game, that's fine, but to anyone paying attention, it just looks petty. "Would I hire him? Not on a dare." Is Richard buying the Expos?
Q: I know you will have some fabrication of a reason, but to leave Billy Beane off your list of best general managers (he is the best) is not only idiotic, it reflects the mentality of most baseball types who spurn the methods he and others (Epstein and Depodesta) have used successfully. Baseball Prospectus picked the Astros for fourth, basing their estimations on this system. You picked them to finish first or second, based on what? The team "looked" good? - Bob in Houston
A: I actually did leave two guys off that should be on any list of best general managers -- Minnesota's Terry Ryan and Chicago's Jim Hendry. They may, in fact, be the two best in the game.
Both came from player development and understand the importance of making a roster, coaching staff, etc., fit. As for Billy Beane, no, I did not overlook him. I find him an interesting guy, very bright, very good at his job.
Would I hire him? Not on a dare. He revealed private conversations with other general managers to an author for the book `"Moneyball.'' He actually had discussions with other general managers and did not tell them that he was working on a book and that these conversations would be included in the book.
What he showed is that he can't be trusted. I know several general managers who simply won't deal with him. I stood beside him in the Oakland clubhouse last fall when he blurted out the line about "giving me $50 million more'' and the A's would do better in the playoffs.
Excuse me? He's the guy who told the world he knew a better way, and now he's wanting a bigger payroll. Two points of the book "Moneyball'' are an absolute lie perpetuated by Billy. One is that the A's were built on this system of analyzing numbers instead of evaluating players in the traditional way. That's flat out wrong. That system has been used only for three drafts. Their best players are high school guys.
He may have discovered the greatest system on earth, but we don't have a big enough sampling to know.
Second, he did not come up with the idea of evaluating players through on-base and slugging percentages. Teams have used that for years.
So, no, I didn't have him on my list for a reason.
You don't really think I'm idiotic, do you?
I did blow it on the Astros. However, I think my reasoning was sound. I was buying into the up-side. I didn't figure three-fifths of the starting rotation (Wade Miller, Tim Redding and Andy Pettitte) would either be injured or unproductive. I didn't think Morgan Ensberg, Jeff Kent and Jeff Bagwell would have such dramatic declines in offensive production.
I'm hesitant to lay into Justice too much because I thought the Astros had a good shot, too. Though I was dopey enough to think Octavio Dotel was ready to assume Billy Wagner's role,
Justice's gripe with Beane is a weird one --- he's offended on behalf of other GM's? Or is because it isn't cool to spill the beans on confidential shit to Mr. Tabitha Soren --- not a member of the baseball scribe fraternity, but the author of one of the best baseball books in eons just the same.
Beane's remarks about wanting another $50 million after the A's were eliminated by the Red Sox last year weren't too classy, but they were the product of frustration. Why wouldn't Beane want more money to play with? Those who actually read "Moneyball" seem to understand that the Beane's success is less about a strict "numbers -good, scouts-bad" approach but has more to do with making the most of limited resources. The whole point is that with a payroll a fraction of New York or Boston's, Beane has little margin for error. If New York overpays for Jose Contreras, if Boston drops ten million on B.K. Kim, it isn't the end of the world for either club.
The A's made the post-season the last four years in a row and for all the crap repeated over and over again about the inability to win a series, you can't blame that on the way the roster was assembled. If Jeremy Giambi remembers to slide against the Yankees in 2001, the A's are in the ALCS. If Eric Bryne touches the plate (or Miguel Tejada doesn't stop running) against Boston in 2003, the A's are in the ALCS.
Despite a 3 game losing streak, Oakland are still leading the AL West and have the 2nd best record in the league. If Justice wants to play up Beane's supposed arrogance or lack of ethics to help maintain relations with his other pals in the game, that's fine, but to anyone paying attention, it just looks petty. "Would I hire him? Not on a dare." Is Richard buying the Expos?
Posted at 10:45 PM
Air France Vs. The Limbless
From the Associated Press :
A woman sued Air France in federal court Friday, saying an employee told her she could not board a flight because she has no limbs.
Adele Price, 42, who was born with birth defects caused by the leprosy treatment drug thalidomide, said at a news conference the employee told her that ``one head, one bottom and one torso cannot and will not be allowed to fly on Air France'' without help.
Price said she paid someone to fly with her and eventually completed the trip.
In England, Price had been told by an Air France agent that she would need clearance from an American doctor to return home, according to the lawsuit. When Price provided that clearance to an Air France agent in New York, she was asked for additional medical clearance, which forced her to stay in the United States another five days and cancel all the business she had intended on the trip, the lawsuit said.
She eventually bought a ticket on British Airways, which let her travel alone.
Price's shameful treatment at the hands of France's national carrier might be mitigated by the knowledge that she's probably Southwest Airlines' dream passenger --- when the flight is inevitably oversold, they can just throw her in the overhead bin.
A woman sued Air France in federal court Friday, saying an employee told her she could not board a flight because she has no limbs.
Adele Price, 42, who was born with birth defects caused by the leprosy treatment drug thalidomide, said at a news conference the employee told her that ``one head, one bottom and one torso cannot and will not be allowed to fly on Air France'' without help.
Price said she paid someone to fly with her and eventually completed the trip.
In England, Price had been told by an Air France agent that she would need clearance from an American doctor to return home, according to the lawsuit. When Price provided that clearance to an Air France agent in New York, she was asked for additional medical clearance, which forced her to stay in the United States another five days and cancel all the business she had intended on the trip, the lawsuit said.
She eventually bought a ticket on British Airways, which let her travel alone.
Price's shameful treatment at the hands of France's national carrier might be mitigated by the knowledge that she's probably Southwest Airlines' dream passenger --- when the flight is inevitably oversold, they can just throw her in the overhead bin.
Posted at 07:47 PM
Jefferson Re-Ups With Nets
from
the Newark Star-Ledger's Dave
D'Alessandro :
How much do the Nets value Richard Jefferson nowadays?
Enough for the boss to travel across an ocean to deliver him a new contract.
On the eve of his first game as a U.S. Olympian, the Nets forward officially signed a six-year, $76 million extension yesterday after the paperwork was brought to Greece by team CEO Rod Thorn.
The signing represents a slight departure from the frugal new regime of Bruce Ratner, but the Jefferson contract doesn't take effect until 2005-06, when the Nets will no longer be a tax-paying team -- a significant difference from the case of Kenyon Martin, who was not offered a big-money contract because it would have taken effect next season.
How much do the Nets value Richard Jefferson nowadays?
Enough for the boss to travel across an ocean to deliver him a new contract.
On the eve of his first game as a U.S. Olympian, the Nets forward officially signed a six-year, $76 million extension yesterday after the paperwork was brought to Greece by team CEO Rod Thorn.
The signing represents a slight departure from the frugal new regime of Bruce Ratner, but the Jefferson contract doesn't take effect until 2005-06, when the Nets will no longer be a tax-paying team -- a significant difference from the case of Kenyon Martin, who was not offered a big-money contract because it would have taken effect next season.
Posted at 06:47 PM
"But everybody knows that makes Danny Ainge a liar again"
Considering that Rick Fox is still deciding
whether or not to retire, this is some deal for Danny Ainge --- he's given up 3
players in exchange for a conditional draft pick....and gets called a liar.
Ross Siler of the LA Daily News reports on sudden changes to last weeks Lakers-Celtics trade, as
caused by guard Gary Payton's refusal to report to Boston for a
physical.
The Lakers' tumultuous offseason took perhaps its strangest turn Friday when the team amended its Aug. 6 trade with the Boston Celtics and sent point guard Marcus Banks (above)) back to Boston after Gary Payton refused to report for a physical with the Celtics.
As part of the amended trade, the Lakers replaced the 22-year-old Banks with forward Jumaine Jones in the deal and returned the Celtics' 2005 second-round draft pick. The Lakers still receive Chucky Atkins and Chris Mihm. The Celtics get Payton, Rick Fox and a conditional 2005 first-round pick.
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak was unavailable to comment, but a team spokesman said the deal had to be amended because Payton did not meet a one-week deadline Friday afternoon for all players in the trade to report for a physical.
The trade would have been voided as a result, but the Celtics and Lakers amended the deal. Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge took back Banks, likely as insurance in case Payton decides not to play with Boston next season.
An NBA spokesman said teams are allowed to put whatever requirements they agree to regarding physicals in a trade agreement. The Celtics agreed to waive the requirement for Payton to take a physical in the amended deal.
The rights to Fox and Payton still are controlled by the Celtics. The two players have a combined $10.3 million in salary-cap friendly contracts set to expire after next season.
Both Ainge and Celtics coach Doc Rivers met with Payton last week, trying to persuade him to come to Boston. Whether the Lakers could have seen Payton's refusal to report in advance was one question left unanswered Friday.
Banks, meanwhile, clearly was a player Kupchak coveted after scouting him at UNLV in advance of the 2003 draft. The Lakers could not move up enough, however, to select Banks at the end of the lottery picks.
Only a week ago, Kupchak said of Banks: "He can be an impact player in this league if he continues to improve. Whether it's this year, this training camp or at the end of the year or two years, I don't know."
As it turned out, Banks' tenure with the Lakers lasted just one week, long enough for him to pick up a purple jersey, meet with reporters Monday at the team's El Segundo practice facility and take a physical.
Neither Banks nor his agent could be reached to comment. But Banks' father said his son was stunned by the news and disappointed to be leaving Los Angeles. Banks grew up in a family of Lakers fans in Las Vegas.
"He loves Boston, but everybody knows that makes Danny Ainge a liar again," Arthur Banks said of the man who drafted, traded and now wants back his son. "To get somebody fired up like that, then renege on it, that's crazy."
Arthur Banks later added: "Hopefully, God will give him another opportunity to play for the Lakers. ... Did (the Celtics) realize they had something good in Marcus after another organization wanted to take him?"
More choice quotes from Marcus' dad, courtesy of the Boston Herald's Mark Murphy :
Though Arthur Banks said his son looks forward to returning to Boston, the family has also been floored by Ainge's back-and-forth dealing with the young point guard.
Banks, told about last week's trade by his agent, Michael Higgins, was also told of yesterday's move by Higgins. Arthur Banks said Ainge has not called his son.
``They didn't tell us why this all changed, and it weighs on me as well as Marcus,'' the elder Banks said last night. ``When you draft Marcus with the 13th pick in the draft and you tell him all these things about how you want him, what do you really mean?
``Is this guy a man of his word, or is he just out there trying to create space on his salary cap?'' he said of Ainge. ``You have to win the trust of the fans. It's not just about moving around for the sake of money. That doesn't show loyalty or a team concept. That just shows that it's a meat market, and that anything is possible."
The Lakers' tumultuous offseason took perhaps its strangest turn Friday when the team amended its Aug. 6 trade with the Boston Celtics and sent point guard Marcus Banks (above)) back to Boston after Gary Payton refused to report for a physical with the Celtics.
As part of the amended trade, the Lakers replaced the 22-year-old Banks with forward Jumaine Jones in the deal and returned the Celtics' 2005 second-round draft pick. The Lakers still receive Chucky Atkins and Chris Mihm. The Celtics get Payton, Rick Fox and a conditional 2005 first-round pick.
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak was unavailable to comment, but a team spokesman said the deal had to be amended because Payton did not meet a one-week deadline Friday afternoon for all players in the trade to report for a physical.
The trade would have been voided as a result, but the Celtics and Lakers amended the deal. Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge took back Banks, likely as insurance in case Payton decides not to play with Boston next season.
An NBA spokesman said teams are allowed to put whatever requirements they agree to regarding physicals in a trade agreement. The Celtics agreed to waive the requirement for Payton to take a physical in the amended deal.
The rights to Fox and Payton still are controlled by the Celtics. The two players have a combined $10.3 million in salary-cap friendly contracts set to expire after next season.
Both Ainge and Celtics coach Doc Rivers met with Payton last week, trying to persuade him to come to Boston. Whether the Lakers could have seen Payton's refusal to report in advance was one question left unanswered Friday.
Banks, meanwhile, clearly was a player Kupchak coveted after scouting him at UNLV in advance of the 2003 draft. The Lakers could not move up enough, however, to select Banks at the end of the lottery picks.
Only a week ago, Kupchak said of Banks: "He can be an impact player in this league if he continues to improve. Whether it's this year, this training camp or at the end of the year or two years, I don't know."
As it turned out, Banks' tenure with the Lakers lasted just one week, long enough for him to pick up a purple jersey, meet with reporters Monday at the team's El Segundo practice facility and take a physical.
Neither Banks nor his agent could be reached to comment. But Banks' father said his son was stunned by the news and disappointed to be leaving Los Angeles. Banks grew up in a family of Lakers fans in Las Vegas.
"He loves Boston, but everybody knows that makes Danny Ainge a liar again," Arthur Banks said of the man who drafted, traded and now wants back his son. "To get somebody fired up like that, then renege on it, that's crazy."
Arthur Banks later added: "Hopefully, God will give him another opportunity to play for the Lakers. ... Did (the Celtics) realize they had something good in Marcus after another organization wanted to take him?"
More choice quotes from Marcus' dad, courtesy of the Boston Herald's Mark Murphy :
Though Arthur Banks said his son looks forward to returning to Boston, the family has also been floored by Ainge's back-and-forth dealing with the young point guard.
Banks, told about last week's trade by his agent, Michael Higgins, was also told of yesterday's move by Higgins. Arthur Banks said Ainge has not called his son.
``They didn't tell us why this all changed, and it weighs on me as well as Marcus,'' the elder Banks said last night. ``When you draft Marcus with the 13th pick in the draft and you tell him all these things about how you want him, what do you really mean?
``Is this guy a man of his word, or is he just out there trying to create space on his salary cap?'' he said of Ainge. ``You have to win the trust of the fans. It's not just about moving around for the sake of money. That doesn't show loyalty or a team concept. That just shows that it's a meat market, and that anything is possible."
Posted at 06:39 PM
Reyes On The DL (Again)
Tides Disguised As Mets Defeat
D-Backs
The Daily News' Adam Rubin reports on the never-ending saga of Jose Reyes and the shortstop's struggle to stay upright.
Oft-injured Jose Reyes should miss the next four to six weeks with a stress fracture of his left fibula.
An MRI taken yesterday revealed the break to Reyes' calf bone - the non-weight-bearing, outside and smaller of two long bones in the lower leg.
"It's been a bad week," GM Jim Duquette said yesterday. "I'm anxious for Monday to get here."
Said Reyes: "Right now I feel bad because I want to be on the field with my team."
Reyes, who cried when he suffered injury setbacks earlier this year, appeared reasonably upbeat and expressed some surprise at the severity. He had felt discomfort in the lower leg since an early July series in Philadelphia and was receiving treatment, but Duquette speculated the fracture originated when Reyes tripled on Tuesday. Regardless, the medical staff permitted Reyes to pinch-hit Wednesday, and Reyes labored to second with a double.
"Obviously if we had known we wouldn't have pinch-hit him, but there wasn't any further damage done," Duquette said.
When a right hamstring injury suffered March 14 in Port St. Lucie lingered and Reyes suffered back pain because of a revised running style designed to alleviate stress on the muscle, Duquette gave up predicting return dates. The GM reverted to predictions yesterday, expressing the belief Reyes will be back this season.
Stress fractures require rest. So why come back, with the Mets unlikely to play meaningful games in September?
"If I feel good, I want to play, no matter if there is one week left, two weeks left," said Reyes, who told trainers before learning of the fracture he could return today."
Duquette is probably too classy to bury Art Howe, but I have no such qualms. Considering Reyes' recent history of leg troubles, there is no justification for the manager using Reyes as a pinch-hitter on Wednesday, even taking into account the Mets' depleted bench. To what extent Reyes' injury was aggravated, I don't know, but it unlikely that stretching a single into a double is prescribed therapy for a broken fibula.
All of that said, Howe is getting some serious effort out of guys like Eric Valent, Gerald Williams, Joe McEwing, Danny Garcia, etc. You know, all the players you thought you'd see playing for the Mets in August. 2B Danny Garcia hit a 3 run HR off Casey Fossum and collected 4 RBI's on the night as New York beat Arizona, 10-6. Fossum, dealt to Arizona by Boston in the Curt Schilling trade last Thanksgiving, saw his record drop to 2-12. Arizona haven't held a lead in almost a week.
Despite giving up 6 earned runs in 7 innings pitched (5 of 'em on 3 home runs), Kris Benson earned his first win as a Met. New York's Richard Hidalgo hit a solo shot off Fossum in the 3rd, his 19th of the season and 15th since coming to the Mets in exchange for David Weathers. Mike Cameron (above) took Steve Sparks deep for a two run HR in the 6th, making it a career-high 25 for the center fielder.
Entering tonight's Edgar Gonzalez / Al Leiter matchup, the Mets trail by 6 1/2 games in the race for the NL Wild Card. Though overtaking 6 teams with 6 weeks left seems impossible, all kinds of crazy things can happen. For one thing, I bet some of you thought the voters of New Jersey would never elect a gay Governor.
Posted at 05:02 PM
Smoke On The Water
From Newsday's Samuel Bruchey :
He had been chased by police for miles through North Patchogue early Friday. His car had slid over an embankment into a pond. It was sinking fast and filling with water.
But all Yaysn Abdul-Mattin wanted to do, police said, was suck on his crack pipe.
"We kept calling out 'Get out of the car! You're going to drown!'" Suffolk Police Officer Armand Reyes said. "But the only thing we heard was the sound of his lighter going click, click, click."
When the water rose chin-high, Abdul-Mattin dropped the pipe and crawled through a shattered rear window of his 1989 Lincoln, and was arrested for driving while impaired, Reyes said.
Police said they first spotted Abdul-Mattin swerving south on County Road 83, before he led them onto a private driveway on Clio Place, into the backyard and into the pond.
He had been chased by police for miles through North Patchogue early Friday. His car had slid over an embankment into a pond. It was sinking fast and filling with water.
But all Yaysn Abdul-Mattin wanted to do, police said, was suck on his crack pipe.
"We kept calling out 'Get out of the car! You're going to drown!'" Suffolk Police Officer Armand Reyes said. "But the only thing we heard was the sound of his lighter going click, click, click."
When the water rose chin-high, Abdul-Mattin dropped the pipe and crawled through a shattered rear window of his 1989 Lincoln, and was arrested for driving while impaired, Reyes said.
Police said they first spotted Abdul-Mattin swerving south on County Road 83, before he led them onto a private driveway on Clio Place, into the backyard and into the pond.
Posted at 04:14 PM
Creative DIY At Bristol Rovers
From Paul McInnes in today's Guardian :
Bristol Rovers manager Ian Atkins has demanded that the visiting dressing room be painted grey. Apparently the colour of the changing room can dramatically affect a team's outlook. "The idea is to make the place as dull and dreary as possible, to demotivate the opposition," explains the stadium manager Ian Holtby. "We experimented with all sorts of different things - including one version with a red stripe all the way around the walls - but decided on all grey." According to the club, Atkins spent the summer on a psychology course. Although a month in front of Living TV sounds more like it.
Too early to tell if the vistors' decor has proven suitably discouraging ; Rovers and Notts County are tied at 0-0 at intermission today.
Bristol Rovers manager Ian Atkins has demanded that the visiting dressing room be painted grey. Apparently the colour of the changing room can dramatically affect a team's outlook. "The idea is to make the place as dull and dreary as possible, to demotivate the opposition," explains the stadium manager Ian Holtby. "We experimented with all sorts of different things - including one version with a red stripe all the way around the walls - but decided on all grey." According to the club, Atkins spent the summer on a psychology course. Although a month in front of Living TV sounds more like it.
Too early to tell if the vistors' decor has proven suitably discouraging ; Rovers and Notts County are tied at 0-0 at intermission today.
Posted at 03:55 PM
Fri - August 13, 2004
Moving Junior To RF (When & If He Recovers)
The Cincinnati Enquirer's John Fay wrote today
about the odds of Ken Griffey Jr. moving to right field next
season...and the slim chances of Junior being dealt to another team.
"Let's put it this way: In light of his injury history, we would be remiss if we didn't at least explore him playing one of the other outfield position," general manager Dan O'Brien said.
"Kenny is very open-minded about that," said Brian Goldberg, Griffey's agent. "He didn't bring it up when I spoke to him last night. But I think as he gets closer to being ready next spring, it's something he'd look at."
But you can argue how much that will help. Remember, Griffey suffered his latest injury - a complete tear of the right hamstring - while playing right field, not center.
Ideally, the Reds would move Griffey to first base. He played two games there when he was with Seattle. Former manager Bob Boone thought Griffey had the potential to be a Gold Glove first baseman.
But the Reds have a first baseman in Sean Casey, who happens to be their best hitter. And Casey, who plays only first, is the only other Reds position player on a long-term contract. Casey is signed through 2005 with a club option for 2006.
Trading Casey to open up first for Griffey is a possibility.
What about trading Griffey to a club that can play him at first or use him as a designated hitter?
Two problems there. One, Griffey becomes a five-and-10 player after this season. Because he is a 10-year big-league veteran and he has played with the same club for five years, he can reject a trade. Griffey's list of acceptable teams would be short. Remember, part of the reason he came here was to be closer to his offseason home in Orlando, Fla.
"A big part of him coming to Cincinnati - besides the history and him being from here - was geographic," Goldberg said.
And, right now, because of his injuries and his contract, the list of teams willing to take him is shorter than the list of ones to which he'd go. In other words, a trade in the offseason isn't likely. O'Brien says as much.
"In light of his injury, I don't think anything in the offseason is going to transpire, except him rehabbing," O'Brien said.
Griffey is under contract through 2008 at $12.5 million a year. (There's a club option with a buyout for 2009).
Given his run of injuries, the club probably would have to take on some of his contract to trade him.
"That's something we haven't looked at," chief operating officer John Allen said.
With Griffey's miserable recent history and the Reds' cheapskate history, the only way I can envision the player leaving town would be in a swap of bad contracts. But with Mo Vaughn and Jeff Cirillo retired, I'm struggling to think of anyone whose deal would bear comparison
"Let's put it this way: In light of his injury history, we would be remiss if we didn't at least explore him playing one of the other outfield position," general manager Dan O'Brien said.
"Kenny is very open-minded about that," said Brian Goldberg, Griffey's agent. "He didn't bring it up when I spoke to him last night. But I think as he gets closer to being ready next spring, it's something he'd look at."
But you can argue how much that will help. Remember, Griffey suffered his latest injury - a complete tear of the right hamstring - while playing right field, not center.
Ideally, the Reds would move Griffey to first base. He played two games there when he was with Seattle. Former manager Bob Boone thought Griffey had the potential to be a Gold Glove first baseman.
But the Reds have a first baseman in Sean Casey, who happens to be their best hitter. And Casey, who plays only first, is the only other Reds position player on a long-term contract. Casey is signed through 2005 with a club option for 2006.
Trading Casey to open up first for Griffey is a possibility.
What about trading Griffey to a club that can play him at first or use him as a designated hitter?
Two problems there. One, Griffey becomes a five-and-10 player after this season. Because he is a 10-year big-league veteran and he has played with the same club for five years, he can reject a trade. Griffey's list of acceptable teams would be short. Remember, part of the reason he came here was to be closer to his offseason home in Orlando, Fla.
"A big part of him coming to Cincinnati - besides the history and him being from here - was geographic," Goldberg said.
And, right now, because of his injuries and his contract, the list of teams willing to take him is shorter than the list of ones to which he'd go. In other words, a trade in the offseason isn't likely. O'Brien says as much.
"In light of his injury, I don't think anything in the offseason is going to transpire, except him rehabbing," O'Brien said.
Griffey is under contract through 2008 at $12.5 million a year. (There's a club option with a buyout for 2009).
Given his run of injuries, the club probably would have to take on some of his contract to trade him.
"That's something we haven't looked at," chief operating officer John Allen said.
With Griffey's miserable recent history and the Reds' cheapskate history, the only way I can envision the player leaving town would be in a swap of bad contracts. But with Mo Vaughn and Jeff Cirillo retired, I'm struggling to think of anyone whose deal would bear comparison
Posted at 11:59 PM
Little Steven Says Trios R Lame
In advance of tomorrow's Million Band March on Randall's Island, Little
Steven does his best to explain the 10 minute sets granted to most of the
performers, as well as offering some sage advice.
Dearest Bands,
Get ready for a wild one.
As some of you might know, we were originally going to do three days and have everybody there but unfortunately we ended up limited to the one day and so we're trying to get as many bands in as possible.
To do that we are patterning the first two-thirds of the show after the early Alan Freed and Murray the K shows.
Time is ridiculously tight so we need everybody to keep their sets under ten minutes. We would like everybody to limit their sets to three songs. If that's only six or seven minutes, that's even better for us as far as keeping on schedule. At around nine and a half minutes the turntable stage will start to turn even if you're still playing.
I actually think if that happens - one band still playing while they disappear and at the same time the next band playing as they come around - it will be a very cool thing. If we do have a minute or two or three in between sets we will have hosts to bring the next band on. Every band's name and website will be projected on the video screen while they're playing.
The order of the performances will be done by random selection and does not indicate one band being more important than another.
Some of the bands first on will be playing to possibly very few people and will have to adjust to that and perform for the cameras as well as the beautiful fanatics who get there early.
On the other hand, we may need to ask some of the later bands to limit their set to two songs, and conceivably one song, if we are running over because we have a very very strict curfew at 11pm.
In the eyes of the film which we are shooting, everyone is equal.
And by the way, Chris Columbus has come on as director. He has asked that we provide him with set lists if possible from each band which will help him a lot in the filming of the event. Please email us the names of the songs you plan to perform as soon as you can.
If your band does not have a "look" this might be a good time to consider it. The film is going to be seen worldwide and will be shown on television in many countries and of course end up on DVD.
If you are a three-piece band, I respectfully suggest you consider adding a fourth or even fifth member if at all conceivable. I know it's short notice but, for three songs, it's something you may want to think about. (And by the way, if you need more money to do this we will find it for you.)
I only suggest this because it is extraordinarily unlikely for anyone to make it as a three-piece band. I know history has given us a handful but in virtually every case all successful three-piece bands were all virtuoso musician based. Traditional Rock and Roll, or Garage Rock as we now call it, is song-based and therefore communicates best with a texture made up of four instruments. Howlin' Wolf's early Sun sessions as well as Muddy Waters' first electric band established the tradition, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones carried it on, and its effectiveness has never been, and most likely will never be, improved upon (with all due respect to Jack and Meg).
(Don't talk to Pete Best about quartets, he's heard it all before)
Please understand we will continue to support you whether you have a "look" or not or if you are a three-piece band or not or if you are a Republican or not.
Our revolution has come a long way in four years and one of our main goals is to continue to establish a new infrastructure that allows Rock and Roll bands to make a living playing music (our campaign has reached its second stage with the establishment of a 24/7 channel at Sirius Satellite Radio).
The better your songs are, the better you look, the more musical you sound, and the more exciting your performance, the better our chances of winning this war we are waging against the exclusive domination of hard rock, hip hop, contemporary pop, and rootless, soulless, mindless, lifeless, hopeless, joyless mediocrity in general.
Solidarity,
Little Steven
Not to take Steven's comments out of context or anything, but in a mainstream that is indeed dominated by a lot of "rootless, soulless, mindless, lifeless, hopeless, joyless mediocrity", it' is too bad that solidarity doesn't extend to other genres ---the best Hip Hop is as synapse-snapping as anything on Saturday's bill (if you look up "mediocrity" in the dictionary, there's a little picture of the Ravonettes next to it).
I do truly believe, however, that Little Steve is fighting the good fight and putting together an event like this is far tougher than second-guessing someone else's act of evangelism (or imposing my own ill-focused aesthetic on others). And with that in mind, let us all say a prayer for the luckless rock trios of all time -
Nirvana
The Jam
Yo La Tengo
Mission Of Burma (sans loopsters Martin or Bob)
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Cream
ZZ Top
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Husker Du
Minutemen
Gories
Big Black/Rapeman/Shellac
(perhaps a couple of these illustrate Van Zandt's point about about the exceptions being "virtuoso musician based")
Of course, had Rush or the Police added crucial fourth or 5th members, they'd have been a lot easier to tolerate (nor would they have faded into obscurity).
Dearest Bands,
Get ready for a wild one.
As some of you might know, we were originally going to do three days and have everybody there but unfortunately we ended up limited to the one day and so we're trying to get as many bands in as possible.
To do that we are patterning the first two-thirds of the show after the early Alan Freed and Murray the K shows.
Time is ridiculously tight so we need everybody to keep their sets under ten minutes. We would like everybody to limit their sets to three songs. If that's only six or seven minutes, that's even better for us as far as keeping on schedule. At around nine and a half minutes the turntable stage will start to turn even if you're still playing.
I actually think if that happens - one band still playing while they disappear and at the same time the next band playing as they come around - it will be a very cool thing. If we do have a minute or two or three in between sets we will have hosts to bring the next band on. Every band's name and website will be projected on the video screen while they're playing.
The order of the performances will be done by random selection and does not indicate one band being more important than another.
Some of the bands first on will be playing to possibly very few people and will have to adjust to that and perform for the cameras as well as the beautiful fanatics who get there early.
On the other hand, we may need to ask some of the later bands to limit their set to two songs, and conceivably one song, if we are running over because we have a very very strict curfew at 11pm.
In the eyes of the film which we are shooting, everyone is equal.
And by the way, Chris Columbus has come on as director. He has asked that we provide him with set lists if possible from each band which will help him a lot in the filming of the event. Please email us the names of the songs you plan to perform as soon as you can.
If your band does not have a "look" this might be a good time to consider it. The film is going to be seen worldwide and will be shown on television in many countries and of course end up on DVD.
If you are a three-piece band, I respectfully suggest you consider adding a fourth or even fifth member if at all conceivable. I know it's short notice but, for three songs, it's something you may want to think about. (And by the way, if you need more money to do this we will find it for you.)
I only suggest this because it is extraordinarily unlikely for anyone to make it as a three-piece band. I know history has given us a handful but in virtually every case all successful three-piece bands were all virtuoso musician based. Traditional Rock and Roll, or Garage Rock as we now call it, is song-based and therefore communicates best with a texture made up of four instruments. Howlin' Wolf's early Sun sessions as well as Muddy Waters' first electric band established the tradition, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones carried it on, and its effectiveness has never been, and most likely will never be, improved upon (with all due respect to Jack and Meg).
(Don't talk to Pete Best about quartets, he's heard it all before)
Please understand we will continue to support you whether you have a "look" or not or if you are a three-piece band or not or if you are a Republican or not.
Our revolution has come a long way in four years and one of our main goals is to continue to establish a new infrastructure that allows Rock and Roll bands to make a living playing music (our campaign has reached its second stage with the establishment of a 24/7 channel at Sirius Satellite Radio).
The better your songs are, the better you look, the more musical you sound, and the more exciting your performance, the better our chances of winning this war we are waging against the exclusive domination of hard rock, hip hop, contemporary pop, and rootless, soulless, mindless, lifeless, hopeless, joyless mediocrity in general.
Solidarity,
Little Steven
Not to take Steven's comments out of context or anything, but in a mainstream that is indeed dominated by a lot of "rootless, soulless, mindless, lifeless, hopeless, joyless mediocrity", it' is too bad that solidarity doesn't extend to other genres ---the best Hip Hop is as synapse-snapping as anything on Saturday's bill (if you look up "mediocrity" in the dictionary, there's a little picture of the Ravonettes next to it).
I do truly believe, however, that Little Steve is fighting the good fight and putting together an event like this is far tougher than second-guessing someone else's act of evangelism (or imposing my own ill-focused aesthetic on others). And with that in mind, let us all say a prayer for the luckless rock trios of all time -
Nirvana
The Jam
Yo La Tengo
Mission Of Burma (sans loopsters Martin or Bob)
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Cream
ZZ Top
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Husker Du
Minutemen
Gories
Big Black/Rapeman/Shellac
(perhaps a couple of these illustrate Van Zandt's point about about the exceptions being "virtuoso musician based")
Of course, had Rush or the Police added crucial fourth or 5th members, they'd have been a lot easier to tolerate (nor would they have faded into obscurity).
Posted at 11:09 PM
Julia Child, RIP
from the BBC :
The doyenne of US television cookery shows, Julia Child, has died in her sleep at her California home, aged 91.
Ms Child is credited with introducing French cuisine to the American public with a series of TV shows and books dating back to the early 1960s.
"America has lost a true national treasure," a spokesman for her publisher, Alfred A Knopf, said.
Ms Child's passion for French cooking was sparked by a spell spent in Paris with her husband, a US diplomat.
In 1961, she published her seminal cookbook, Mastering the art of French Cooking, which in turn gave rise to a television series, The French Chef.
Soon, she was a household name in the US, exhorting her audiences to experiment with French recipes and share the results with friends and family.
"Dining with one's friends and beloved family is certainly one of life's primal and most innocent delights, one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal," she wrote in an introduction to one of her books.
Her warbling voice and encouraging demeanour are credited with demystifying French cuisine for a whole generation of Americans.
She was born in Pasadena, California, in 1913, and worked during World War II for a US intelligence agency that served as a precursor to the CIA.
The doyenne of US television cookery shows, Julia Child, has died in her sleep at her California home, aged 91.
Ms Child is credited with introducing French cuisine to the American public with a series of TV shows and books dating back to the early 1960s.
"America has lost a true national treasure," a spokesman for her publisher, Alfred A Knopf, said.
Ms Child's passion for French cooking was sparked by a spell spent in Paris with her husband, a US diplomat.
In 1961, she published her seminal cookbook, Mastering the art of French Cooking, which in turn gave rise to a television series, The French Chef.
Soon, she was a household name in the US, exhorting her audiences to experiment with French recipes and share the results with friends and family.
"Dining with one's friends and beloved family is certainly one of life's primal and most innocent delights, one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal," she wrote in an introduction to one of her books.
Her warbling voice and encouraging demeanour are credited with demystifying French cuisine for a whole generation of Americans.
She was born in Pasadena, California, in 1913, and worked during World War II for a US intelligence agency that served as a precursor to the CIA.
Posted at 09:11 PM
Japanese Players Prepared For Strike
As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of MLB's last work
stoppage, were you aware Japan might be bracing for one of their
own?
Japanese professional baseball players reportedly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to authorize a strike as part of their efforts to prevent the merger of several Pacific League teams.
About 98 percent of the 750 members of the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association voted to authorize the players' executive committee to declare a strike, although no date was set, the Nikkan Sports newspaper reported.
A representative of the Japan Trade Union Confederation attended the meeting and pledged support for the players' association, it said.
On Tuesday, the Orix BlueWave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes signed a basic agreement on their proposed merger, but the move must be approved at an owners' meeting Sept. 8. Under the agreement, the merged club would be run by a new company jointly owned by Orix Corp. and Kintetsu Corp., the parent companies of the two teams.
The proposed merger has prompted speculation that Japanese baseball will be transformed into one league with 10 teams. The two-league format, featuring six teams in both the Pacific and Central leagues, has been in place since 1950.
In July, the Japanese baseball players' association promised to fight the proposed merger but stopped short of calling for a strike.
If just the Buffaloes and the BlueWave merge, it is expected that up to 100 players and team personnel could lose their jobs.
Japanese professional baseball players reportedly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to authorize a strike as part of their efforts to prevent the merger of several Pacific League teams.
About 98 percent of the 750 members of the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association voted to authorize the players' executive committee to declare a strike, although no date was set, the Nikkan Sports newspaper reported.
A representative of the Japan Trade Union Confederation attended the meeting and pledged support for the players' association, it said.
On Tuesday, the Orix BlueWave and the Kintetsu Buffaloes signed a basic agreement on their proposed merger, but the move must be approved at an owners' meeting Sept. 8. Under the agreement, the merged club would be run by a new company jointly owned by Orix Corp. and Kintetsu Corp., the parent companies of the two teams.
The proposed merger has prompted speculation that Japanese baseball will be transformed into one league with 10 teams. The two-league format, featuring six teams in both the Pacific and Central leagues, has been in place since 1950.
In July, the Japanese baseball players' association promised to fight the proposed merger but stopped short of calling for a strike.
If just the Buffaloes and the BlueWave merge, it is expected that up to 100 players and team personnel could lose their jobs.
Posted at 06:33 PM
Rocca Clobbers Wilpons
There'll be no basking in the after glow of yesterday's 2-1 win over Houston. Despite
recent strong outings by Victor Zambrano and Kris Benson, the Star-Ledger's Lawrence Rocca ranks the trades for both
as symptomatic of a dysfunctional organization.
Two weeks ago today, the Mets swapped their two best pitching prospects, their best catching prospect, their most hard-nosed big-league player and what seemed like the first-born son of their next 20,000 season ticket-holders for a pair of still-developing power right-handers.
Simply put, the Mets have a front office that's run with too much interference from the top, with too much influence from below and with too little cash to overcome the inevitable mistakes that are made when the person hired to make baseball decisions, namely the GM, is not given true autonomy.
In essence, Tom Glavine drove the trade for Benson, and Al Leiter, pitching coach Rick Peterson and superscout Bill Livesey did the same in the deal for Zambrano. They did it because of the power vested in them by Jeff Wilpon.
Do those four baseball men have valuable opinions? Absolutely. Did they have biases that couldn't help but cloud their judgments when it came to the pitchers? You bet they did.
Glavine and Benson have the same player agent. Leiter personally dislikes Scott Kazmir, the most coveted left-handed pitcher in the minors, who was sent to Tampa for Zambrano. Leiter and Glavine didn't like Ty Wigginton's sloppy defense. Peterson is an egomaniac who thinks he can "fix" anyone. And Livesey signed Zambrano when he was with the Devil Rays. One thing you can always count on with scouts: They never fall out of love with the players they sign.
What would a package of Kazmir, Wigginton, Justin Huber and Matt Peterson gotten this winter? How about Zambrano, Aubrey Huff and Lou Piniella from Tampa? If not, it's certainly a starting point for negotiations on a deal that would net you the pitcher, a power-hitting first baseman (or left fielder, if Cliff Floyd is moved) and the manager they should have hired instead of Art Howe, who does little more than punch a time clock. At the very least, Kazmir would have netted Zambrano, a pitcher the Devil Rays were willing to move because of his impending salary bump, but he probably could have gotten a lot more. Benson could have been signed as a free agent, and if not, Pedro Martinez, Matt Clement, Carl Pavano, Eric Milton and Matt Morris were also going to hit the market.
We'll never know because the Mets bought at the wrong time, they paid too much and they listened too much to the wrong people.
This is why Billy Beane and Brian Sabean and John Schuerholz and Gerry Hunsicker would never work for the Wilpons. Duquette has a bright future as a GM, but you better believe he never would have accepted this job if he had a decent GM job anywhere else.
Fred and Jeff Wilpon are tireless workers with an insatiable thirst for knowledge about running a baseball team. Yet they still haven't learned the most important lesson. Unless you are willing to spend $183 million like the Yankees, enough for two rosters, you need to let the one you do have be shaped by your general manager.
(unidentified man on the right gives Jeff Wilpon, left, a trophy for riding the Cyclone 20 times in a row without vomitting)
Two weeks ago today, the Mets swapped their two best pitching prospects, their best catching prospect, their most hard-nosed big-league player and what seemed like the first-born son of their next 20,000 season ticket-holders for a pair of still-developing power right-handers.
Simply put, the Mets have a front office that's run with too much interference from the top, with too much influence from below and with too little cash to overcome the inevitable mistakes that are made when the person hired to make baseball decisions, namely the GM, is not given true autonomy.
In essence, Tom Glavine drove the trade for Benson, and Al Leiter, pitching coach Rick Peterson and superscout Bill Livesey did the same in the deal for Zambrano. They did it because of the power vested in them by Jeff Wilpon.
Do those four baseball men have valuable opinions? Absolutely. Did they have biases that couldn't help but cloud their judgments when it came to the pitchers? You bet they did.
Glavine and Benson have the same player agent. Leiter personally dislikes Scott Kazmir, the most coveted left-handed pitcher in the minors, who was sent to Tampa for Zambrano. Leiter and Glavine didn't like Ty Wigginton's sloppy defense. Peterson is an egomaniac who thinks he can "fix" anyone. And Livesey signed Zambrano when he was with the Devil Rays. One thing you can always count on with scouts: They never fall out of love with the players they sign.
What would a package of Kazmir, Wigginton, Justin Huber and Matt Peterson gotten this winter? How about Zambrano, Aubrey Huff and Lou Piniella from Tampa? If not, it's certainly a starting point for negotiations on a deal that would net you the pitcher, a power-hitting first baseman (or left fielder, if Cliff Floyd is moved) and the manager they should have hired instead of Art Howe, who does little more than punch a time clock. At the very least, Kazmir would have netted Zambrano, a pitcher the Devil Rays were willing to move because of his impending salary bump, but he probably could have gotten a lot more. Benson could have been signed as a free agent, and if not, Pedro Martinez, Matt Clement, Carl Pavano, Eric Milton and Matt Morris were also going to hit the market.
We'll never know because the Mets bought at the wrong time, they paid too much and they listened too much to the wrong people.
This is why Billy Beane and Brian Sabean and John Schuerholz and Gerry Hunsicker would never work for the Wilpons. Duquette has a bright future as a GM, but you better believe he never would have accepted this job if he had a decent GM job anywhere else.
Fred and Jeff Wilpon are tireless workers with an insatiable thirst for knowledge about running a baseball team. Yet they still haven't learned the most important lesson. Unless you are willing to spend $183 million like the Yankees, enough for two rosters, you need to let the one you do have be shaped by your general manager.
(unidentified man on the right gives Jeff Wilpon, left, a trophy for riding the Cyclone 20 times in a row without vomitting)
Posted at 06:07 PM
Ben Schwartz On The Cubs
Ben writes :
Forget Bruce Froemming robbing Nomar of that tag at second yesterday, apparently the Cubs lost because someone got their feelings hurt :
"Sosa was 0 for 5 with four strikeouts in Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Padres and declined to comment afterwards. Before the game, he was visibly upset with a report in Thursday's Tribune regarding a Baker comment that Sosa was 'sensitive.'"
Then, the Empire struck back at Boss Daley :
"All of a sudden, the Chicago Tribune, out of nowhere, has made a Freedom of Information Act request concerning the city's maintenance of the facade of City Hall...," Daley said. "Is this the Chicago Cubs or the Chicago Tribune? Both."
Plus TRIB columnist John Kass hints that Daley, of course has a congenital case of South Side raciscm, more than Cub fans have with falling concrete:
"So does Mayor Daley, who can't explain how white friends of his get $100 million in city affirmative action contracts but knows for sure that Cubs manager Dusty Baker decides what goes on the front page."
And now we get the first place Dodgers with the wild card very much in play.
Posted at 04:28 PM
Here Come The Indians
The Indians are surging and today's win over Seattle excepted, the Twins are
slipping. Cleveland trail Minnesota by 3 in the AL Central and the Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheenan says it's no
mirage.
First things first: The record is real. The Tribe is outplaying its projected record by about three games, largely on the strength of a weak schedule. (The Twins, just as an example, are outplaying their projection by five games.) Like the Twins and Tigers, the Indians are basically a .500 team that's benefiting from the White Sox's inability to play to their component skills. That's not to say that they're not catching some breaks: The Tribe has an AL-best 22 one-run wins, and their 22-14 record in those games (8-4 since the All-Star Game) is the best in the league.
(Omar Vizquiel and Coco Crisp)
This isn't a balanced team. The Indians are in a race because their offense has exceeded expectations, bludgeoning all comers. They lead the AL in runs and are third in the circuit in EqA. The offense has been built on two poles--doubles and OBP, categories in which they lead MLB. For a team that had seen its runs scored decline in every year since 1999, and had one of the worst offenses in baseball last year, it's been a reminder of the heady days of the 1990s, when the Indians had a dominant offense that would be among the league leaders in those categories in most years.
Joe continues with dissection of Cleveland's shaky pitching and crap defense...but the Indians' rebuilding is way ahead of schedule. Chicago's inability to "play to their component skills" might not be so glaring if they had Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez in the middle of the batting order.
The Akron Beacon Journal's Terry Pluto writes:
Suddenly, the Indians are a team that believes they belong on the doorstep of contention. They won Thursday's game with Omar Vizquel and Victor Martinez resting, Tim Laker and John McDonald in the lineup.
They swept a series by allowing only four runs in three games, and Chad Durbin coming back from an early season bullpen blowup followed by an exile to Class AAA Buffalo to return and throw seven shutout innings Tuesday.
They not only are making Tribe fans pay attention this year, but they also have the Twins sweating. And they are a team that should be even better next season.
First things first: The record is real. The Tribe is outplaying its projected record by about three games, largely on the strength of a weak schedule. (The Twins, just as an example, are outplaying their projection by five games.) Like the Twins and Tigers, the Indians are basically a .500 team that's benefiting from the White Sox's inability to play to their component skills. That's not to say that they're not catching some breaks: The Tribe has an AL-best 22 one-run wins, and their 22-14 record in those games (8-4 since the All-Star Game) is the best in the league.
(Omar Vizquiel and Coco Crisp)
This isn't a balanced team. The Indians are in a race because their offense has exceeded expectations, bludgeoning all comers. They lead the AL in runs and are third in the circuit in EqA. The offense has been built on two poles--doubles and OBP, categories in which they lead MLB. For a team that had seen its runs scored decline in every year since 1999, and had one of the worst offenses in baseball last year, it's been a reminder of the heady days of the 1990s, when the Indians had a dominant offense that would be among the league leaders in those categories in most years.
Joe continues with dissection of Cleveland's shaky pitching and crap defense...but the Indians' rebuilding is way ahead of schedule. Chicago's inability to "play to their component skills" might not be so glaring if they had Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez in the middle of the batting order.
The Akron Beacon Journal's Terry Pluto writes:
Suddenly, the Indians are a team that believes they belong on the doorstep of contention. They won Thursday's game with Omar Vizquel and Victor Martinez resting, Tim Laker and John McDonald in the lineup.
They swept a series by allowing only four runs in three games, and Chad Durbin coming back from an early season bullpen blowup followed by an exile to Class AAA Buffalo to return and throw seven shutout innings Tuesday.
They not only are making Tribe fans pay attention this year, but they also have the Twins sweating. And they are a team that should be even better next season.
Posted at 12:45 AM
Thu - August 12, 2004
Screwed : Al Goldstein's Sad Fate
The New York Times' Andy Newman reports on the tough twilight years of Screw's Al
Goldstein.
His company, Milky Way Productions, home of Screw and his long-running cable show, "Midnight Blue," went into bankruptcy last year. His mansion in Pompano Beach, Fla., with the 11-foot statue of a raised middle finger out back, was sold in June to pay debts.
Mr. Goldstein's probation papers officially list him as homeless, and he says he spent much of the last month sleeping in a borrowed car behind a Boston Market restaurant in Pompano Beach and at a shelter for the homeless in Fort Lauderdale.
"Anyone who wishes ill on me should feel vindicated because my life has turned into a total horror," he said with characteristic restraint Tuesday evening at his in-laws' house.
Mr. Goldstein said that a pornographic-video company in Los Angeles recently offered him a sales job at $1,000 a week but that Florida authorities told him any move had to be approved by his probation officer in New York, where he is serving three years for harassing a former wife in the pages of Screw. On Monday, he flew to New York on frequent-flier miles. On Tuesday, he said, his probation officer denied him permission to move to California.
"They want me to get out of the men's field, the only field I have expertise in," Mr. Goldstein said. "They want me to take a job at Burger King for $5.50 an hour. But who's going to hire me with a criminal record? On probation?"
In truth, things could be a lot worse for Mr. Goldstein. He has shed nearly 150 pounds since a stomach-stapling operation last year. He has a new wife, Christine, a psychology graduate student 40 years his junior who obviously did not marry him for his nonexistent wealth.
She sat beside him Tuesday as he showed off his newly svelte (O.K., scrawny and pouchy) physique in a leather vest he bought at a Florida thrift store for $3.50. "Wednesday they have a senior citizen discount," he explained. "Fifty percent off."
But Mr. Goldstein is miserable unless he is in the spotlight. "Today I went to my doctor to have my diabetes checked," he said. "I walked past the town house I used to live in on West 61st Street, and I kept thinking: 'That's who I was. I was a somebody with a chauffeur, a limo, a town house. Now I sleep on a floor.' " He sat surrounded by what he called his few remaining possessions: a bunch of DVD's and CD's and several boxes of cigars.
A large silver cross around his neck gleamed against his chest hair. He has been wearing it for a few months. "I feel doomed as a Jew," he said. "I'll try anything else."
Mr. Goldstein said he felt lost without the bully pulpit from which he cursed his enemies for four decades. "I don't have a soapbox," he said. "All I can do is tell Christine that when she's dead I'm going to date her sisters."
I'd suggest that Al start a blog, but it doesn't sound like he has broadband.
There were few sights more inspiring on Manhattan Cable than Al's crazed monologues aimed at any number of persons or companies that slighted him in some way. Not content with taking on political or industry foes, the recipients of Al's most inspired attacks tended to be merchants who had offended him with unfair returns policies (usually 47th St. Photo or Hammacher Schlemmer). I'll fondly remember Al literally spitting at the camera, describing Morten Downey Jr. as "a fucking piece of shit, a modern-day Joe Pyne". I know, there are starving people deserving of our charity, but if anyone knows a way to send Goldstein a few bucks, please, pass it on.
His company, Milky Way Productions, home of Screw and his long-running cable show, "Midnight Blue," went into bankruptcy last year. His mansion in Pompano Beach, Fla., with the 11-foot statue of a raised middle finger out back, was sold in June to pay debts.
Mr. Goldstein's probation papers officially list him as homeless, and he says he spent much of the last month sleeping in a borrowed car behind a Boston Market restaurant in Pompano Beach and at a shelter for the homeless in Fort Lauderdale.
"Anyone who wishes ill on me should feel vindicated because my life has turned into a total horror," he said with characteristic restraint Tuesday evening at his in-laws' house.
Mr. Goldstein said that a pornographic-video company in Los Angeles recently offered him a sales job at $1,000 a week but that Florida authorities told him any move had to be approved by his probation officer in New York, where he is serving three years for harassing a former wife in the pages of Screw. On Monday, he flew to New York on frequent-flier miles. On Tuesday, he said, his probation officer denied him permission to move to California.
"They want me to get out of the men's field, the only field I have expertise in," Mr. Goldstein said. "They want me to take a job at Burger King for $5.50 an hour. But who's going to hire me with a criminal record? On probation?"
In truth, things could be a lot worse for Mr. Goldstein. He has shed nearly 150 pounds since a stomach-stapling operation last year. He has a new wife, Christine, a psychology graduate student 40 years his junior who obviously did not marry him for his nonexistent wealth.
She sat beside him Tuesday as he showed off his newly svelte (O.K., scrawny and pouchy) physique in a leather vest he bought at a Florida thrift store for $3.50. "Wednesday they have a senior citizen discount," he explained. "Fifty percent off."
But Mr. Goldstein is miserable unless he is in the spotlight. "Today I went to my doctor to have my diabetes checked," he said. "I walked past the town house I used to live in on West 61st Street, and I kept thinking: 'That's who I was. I was a somebody with a chauffeur, a limo, a town house. Now I sleep on a floor.' " He sat surrounded by what he called his few remaining possessions: a bunch of DVD's and CD's and several boxes of cigars.
A large silver cross around his neck gleamed against his chest hair. He has been wearing it for a few months. "I feel doomed as a Jew," he said. "I'll try anything else."
Mr. Goldstein said he felt lost without the bully pulpit from which he cursed his enemies for four decades. "I don't have a soapbox," he said. "All I can do is tell Christine that when she's dead I'm going to date her sisters."
I'd suggest that Al start a blog, but it doesn't sound like he has broadband.
There were few sights more inspiring on Manhattan Cable than Al's crazed monologues aimed at any number of persons or companies that slighted him in some way. Not content with taking on political or industry foes, the recipients of Al's most inspired attacks tended to be merchants who had offended him with unfair returns policies (usually 47th St. Photo or Hammacher Schlemmer). I'll fondly remember Al literally spitting at the camera, describing Morten Downey Jr. as "a fucking piece of shit, a modern-day Joe Pyne". I know, there are starving people deserving of our charity, but if anyone knows a way to send Goldstein a few bucks, please, pass it on.
Posted at 11:43 PM
Mets 2, Astros 1
A funny looking lineup for both banged-up teams
today, Biggio and Bagwell only available to pinch-hit for Houston, New
York making do without Piazza (DL), Floyd (terminally aching but pinch-hitting),
Reyes (mystery shin problem) or Matsui (can't throw or
see).
Victor Zambrano (above) made Jim Duquette (if not Rick Peterson) look like a genius, for one day at least, scattering two hits and 2 walks over 7 strong innings ; Ricky Botalico, Mike Stanton and Braden Looper combined for two innings of scoreless relief (and please note that the words "scoreless relief" are more likely to appear when they are not preceded by the words "John Franco").
Former Mets P David Weathers took the loss in relief of Andy Pettitte. There's nothing classy about continually gloating over Duquette's fleecing of Gerry Hunsicker in the Richard Hidalgo/Weathers trade, but class is overrated.
Victor Zambrano (above) made Jim Duquette (if not Rick Peterson) look like a genius, for one day at least, scattering two hits and 2 walks over 7 strong innings ; Ricky Botalico, Mike Stanton and Braden Looper combined for two innings of scoreless relief (and please note that the words "scoreless relief" are more likely to appear when they are not preceded by the words "John Franco").
Former Mets P David Weathers took the loss in relief of Andy Pettitte. There's nothing classy about continually gloating over Duquette's fleecing of Gerry Hunsicker in the Richard Hidalgo/Weathers trade, but class is overrated.
Posted at 10:45 PM
NJ Gov. Busts Out Of The Closet
From the Associated Press :
In a stunning declaration, Gov. James E. McGreevey announced his resignation Thursday and acknowledged that he had an extramarital affair with another man. "My truth is that I am a gay American," he said.
"Shamefully, I engaged in adult consensual affairs with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony," the married father of two said. "It was wrong, it was foolish, it was inexecusable."
(he did not have sex with that man. Or that man. McGreevey on the far right).
The Democrat said his resignation would be effective Nov. 15.
McGreevey said he would step down because his secret -- both his sexuality and his affair -- leaves the governor's office vulnerable.
"I am removing these threats by telling you directly about my sexuality. Let me be clear: I accept total and full responsiblity for my actions," he said. "However, I am required to do now to do what is right to correct the consequences of my actions."
Without knowing how McGreevey being gay is any bigger a problem for New Jersey than Southside Johnny being straight, there is a silver lining. At least the former Gov. is spared the indignity of being outed by Terrell Owens.
Update : Upon further research, being a) gay or b) adulterous is less of a problem for McGreevey than giving his boyfriend a no-show job.
In a stunning declaration, Gov. James E. McGreevey announced his resignation Thursday and acknowledged that he had an extramarital affair with another man. "My truth is that I am a gay American," he said.
"Shamefully, I engaged in adult consensual affairs with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony," the married father of two said. "It was wrong, it was foolish, it was inexecusable."
(he did not have sex with that man. Or that man. McGreevey on the far right).
The Democrat said his resignation would be effective Nov. 15.
McGreevey said he would step down because his secret -- both his sexuality and his affair -- leaves the governor's office vulnerable.
"I am removing these threats by telling you directly about my sexuality. Let me be clear: I accept total and full responsiblity for my actions," he said. "However, I am required to do now to do what is right to correct the consequences of my actions."
Without knowing how McGreevey being gay is any bigger a problem for New Jersey than Southside Johnny being straight, there is a silver lining. At least the former Gov. is spared the indignity of being outed by Terrell Owens.
Update : Upon further research, being a) gay or b) adulterous is less of a problem for McGreevey than giving his boyfriend a no-show job.
Posted at 10:11 PM
Larry Rocca On Giambi
Add the Star-Ledger's Lawrence Rocca to the list
of commentators fed up with the secrecy surrounding Jason Giambi's health scare.
Rocca goes one step further than most, suggesting that Mr.-I'm-Not-On-Steroids and the Yankees part ways as soon
as possible.
Now that Giambi is headed for a full recovery from his undisclosed illness -- truly good news for a nice guy -- the time has come to make the harsh admission that the Yankees would be better off without him, for the rest of this season and his spectacularly bloated contract.
Recuperate in Tampa the next three months, Jason, then get back to playing in another uniform, in another city. Oh, and for your own sake, make it west of the Mississippi.
No team would take Giambi and all the money still owed him, but the Yankees would surely chip in some cash and he could agree to restructure his contract, by lopping off years or deferring huge portions of money, regardless of what the Players' Association says. After all, a player has a right to be happy, and there's not a polygraph test Giambi wouldn't send into spastic scribbles by saying he loves life as a Yankee.
The feeling is mutual. While Giambi is personally liked by Joe Torre and most members of the team, he is regarded as soft by many in uniform, who won't ever forget that he begged out of Game 5 of last year's World Series.
Giambi's insistence on having his personal trainer, Bob Alejo, and father, John, around so much before the club finally put a stop to it this year has worn on his teammates to no end. General manager Brian Cashman, who has the patience to deal with George Steinbrenner, was spewing exasperation earlier this season when he called the Alejo issue a "never-ending saga."
Giambi's time here never should have begun. The poster boy wild child for the "Animal House" A's, he is a Southern California kid who didn't fully understand what he was getting himself into by signing a seven-year lease in Torre's corporate clubhouse.
Giambi might never have signed with the Yankees if it weren't for his father's strong influence and lifelong love of the Yankees, so you have to wonder how much this veil of secrecy about his current physical condition comes on instructions from John Giambi, who made some sanctimonious statements about media and fan speculation in an interview in yesterday's Daily News.
Well, when a millionaire athlete volunteers to the press that he is being tested for cancer, his personal trainer says he is being tested for a potentially fatal parasite and then that player grows as tight-lipped regarding his final diagnosis as he has been regarding his testimony to a grand jury investigating an alleged steroid distribution ring, people are going to wonder what's being hidden.
Now that Giambi is headed for a full recovery from his undisclosed illness -- truly good news for a nice guy -- the time has come to make the harsh admission that the Yankees would be better off without him, for the rest of this season and his spectacularly bloated contract.
Recuperate in Tampa the next three months, Jason, then get back to playing in another uniform, in another city. Oh, and for your own sake, make it west of the Mississippi.
No team would take Giambi and all the money still owed him, but the Yankees would surely chip in some cash and he could agree to restructure his contract, by lopping off years or deferring huge portions of money, regardless of what the Players' Association says. After all, a player has a right to be happy, and there's not a polygraph test Giambi wouldn't send into spastic scribbles by saying he loves life as a Yankee.
The feeling is mutual. While Giambi is personally liked by Joe Torre and most members of the team, he is regarded as soft by many in uniform, who won't ever forget that he begged out of Game 5 of last year's World Series.
Giambi's insistence on having his personal trainer, Bob Alejo, and father, John, around so much before the club finally put a stop to it this year has worn on his teammates to no end. General manager Brian Cashman, who has the patience to deal with George Steinbrenner, was spewing exasperation earlier this season when he called the Alejo issue a "never-ending saga."
Giambi's time here never should have begun. The poster boy wild child for the "Animal House" A's, he is a Southern California kid who didn't fully understand what he was getting himself into by signing a seven-year lease in Torre's corporate clubhouse.
Giambi might never have signed with the Yankees if it weren't for his father's strong influence and lifelong love of the Yankees, so you have to wonder how much this veil of secrecy about his current physical condition comes on instructions from John Giambi, who made some sanctimonious statements about media and fan speculation in an interview in yesterday's Daily News.
Well, when a millionaire athlete volunteers to the press that he is being tested for cancer, his personal trainer says he is being tested for a potentially fatal parasite and then that player grows as tight-lipped regarding his final diagnosis as he has been regarding his testimony to a grand jury investigating an alleged steroid distribution ring, people are going to wonder what's being hidden.
Posted at 09:40 PM
Sheff Talks Retirement. Just Like Everyone Else
Gary Sheffield's been playing through pain for years, but what are we to make of his retirement threats when they come on the heels of close friend Barry Bonds wondering aloud about not coming back, Jason Giambi losing the power to walk upright let alone hit, and Sammy Sosa's skills deserting him all at once?
If you're like me, you might just bemoan the game losing 4 of its most wonderful personalities. And if you're like The New York Times' Jack Curry, you transcribe Gary's comments and add some further context.
In an sometimes rambling, sometimes riveting interview before the Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 4-2, Sheffield, 35, spoke about the possibility that he would retire after the season because of chronic pain in his shoulder.
While the Yankees have officially said that Sheffield has bursitis, it is known that he also has a damaged acromioclavicular joint. When the joint is disrupted, it results in a separated shoulder.
Sheffield, who went 0 for 2 Wednesday, said that handling the mental anguish had been as daunting as handling the physical pain.
"Some days are worse than others where you can't deal with it mentally or you want to quit the game altogether," Sheffield said.
Sheffield, who is in his 17th season, said his long, productive career had given him the luxury of walking away if he wanted. When Sheffield was asked if he ever had a retirement conversation with himself, he said, "All the time."
Sheffield is in the first year of a three-year, $39 million contract and has probably been the Yankees' most valuable player, with a .295 batting average, 26 home runs and 83 runs batted in. He hurt his shoulder two months ago and had a cortisone shot on June 21. He said he could get a second shot after the Yankees return to New York on Aug. 20.
If Sheffield retired after the season, that would put the Yankees in a precarious position because he has been so important to their offense and because they expect him to be with them through 2006. Sheffield said the Yankees should understand that he is only being honest.
"I might feel different tomorrow and say something different," Sheffield said. "I just feel that way today."
Sheffield, who has made more than $90 million in his career, said he was comfortable enough financially to forfeit the $26 million that is left on his contract. While Sheffield emphasized that that was not something he wanted to do, he offered a graphic analogy to describe how he wants to have a healthy shoulder for his post-baseball life, not just while he is playing.
"That's like somebody telling you, 'Let me cut your leg off and you continue to do what you do,' '' he said. "How long can you do it?"
Posted at 07:16 PM
Never Let It Be Said That Donald Sterling Won't Pay
"It was purely sex for money, money for sex, sex for
money, money for sex."
(The Donald, shown here with Elgin Baylor. It really doesn't get any better the more times he repeats it.)
(The Donald, shown here with Elgin Baylor. It really doesn't get any better the more times he repeats it.)
Posted at 06:58 PM
When In Doubt, Just Bring Steve Spandau Ballet Back From The Dead
from today's Guardian :
EastEnders producers were yesterday considering whether to rewrite forthcoming episodes of the BBC soap after a break-in at the home of a senior staff member.
A burglar escaped with a laptop computer and documents containing details of long-term storylines, fuelling speculation that the raid might have targeted the scripts. But a BBC spokeswoman said yesterday that unrelated items had been taken.
The burglary took place on Monday. The BBC declined to comment on the stolen scripts, but they are thought to include the return of Peggy Mitchell. Barbara Windsor, who plays the long-serving landlady, was forced to leave the show in March owing to illness, but is expected back early next year.
Some of the scripts were due to be changed anyway, after Jessie Wallace, who plays Kat Slater, was taken to hospital at the weekend.
The BBC has warned all newspapers of the theft, placing them on notice that any information about storylines offered to them in the near future could be of dubious provenance. Tabloids in particular are always keen to get their hands on advance information about soap storylines, and are willing to pay big money to tipsters.
The burglary comes after a bumpy few months for EastEnders, with revelations about Dirty Den actor Leslie Grantham's internet sex preferences and criticism in the press for poor storylines. In the ratings the soap has been losing ground to Coronation Street and Emmerdale. The success of the Yorkshire village soap against its urban rival prompted Granada's head of drama, John Whiston, to claim that Emmerdale could leapfrog EastEnders in the ratings.
This week, EastEnders' Ferreira family was criticised by respondents in a survey of young British Asians, who said the characters were poorly researched. One of those surveyed complained that the BBC did not seem to recognise the extent of the mistake it had committed by giving one character, Tariq, a Muslim name and another, Kareena, a Hindu name. Respondents added that, with their Portuguese surname, the family should have been from Goa and Catholic.
I'm shocked that anyone thinks the character of DJ Rony Flawless (above) was poorly researched. But all kidding aside, there is a storyline explanation for Elvis-obsessed Dan's bastard offspring Tariq having a muslim name given that Tariq wasn't a member of the Ferreria family and he wasn't Dan's to name.
EastEnders producers were yesterday considering whether to rewrite forthcoming episodes of the BBC soap after a break-in at the home of a senior staff member.
A burglar escaped with a laptop computer and documents containing details of long-term storylines, fuelling speculation that the raid might have targeted the scripts. But a BBC spokeswoman said yesterday that unrelated items had been taken.
The burglary took place on Monday. The BBC declined to comment on the stolen scripts, but they are thought to include the return of Peggy Mitchell. Barbara Windsor, who plays the long-serving landlady, was forced to leave the show in March owing to illness, but is expected back early next year.
Some of the scripts were due to be changed anyway, after Jessie Wallace, who plays Kat Slater, was taken to hospital at the weekend.
The BBC has warned all newspapers of the theft, placing them on notice that any information about storylines offered to them in the near future could be of dubious provenance. Tabloids in particular are always keen to get their hands on advance information about soap storylines, and are willing to pay big money to tipsters.
The burglary comes after a bumpy few months for EastEnders, with revelations about Dirty Den actor Leslie Grantham's internet sex preferences and criticism in the press for poor storylines. In the ratings the soap has been losing ground to Coronation Street and Emmerdale. The success of the Yorkshire village soap against its urban rival prompted Granada's head of drama, John Whiston, to claim that Emmerdale could leapfrog EastEnders in the ratings.
This week, EastEnders' Ferreira family was criticised by respondents in a survey of young British Asians, who said the characters were poorly researched. One of those surveyed complained that the BBC did not seem to recognise the extent of the mistake it had committed by giving one character, Tariq, a Muslim name and another, Kareena, a Hindu name. Respondents added that, with their Portuguese surname, the family should have been from Goa and Catholic.
I'm shocked that anyone thinks the character of DJ Rony Flawless (above) was poorly researched. But all kidding aside, there is a storyline explanation for Elvis-obsessed Dan's bastard offspring Tariq having a muslim name given that Tariq wasn't a member of the Ferreria family and he wasn't Dan's to name.
Posted at 03:10 PM
Junior KO'd
Stop me if you've heard this one before. The Reds' Ken Griffey Jr. is done for the year
following an MRI that showed more extensive damage to his torn right hamstring
than originally thought. Griffey reinjured his right leg last week against San
Francisco, nearly a month after tearing the hammy while running down a fly ball
at Milwaukee's Miller Park.
Since his Cincinnati homecoming, Griffey has struggled to stay healthy. I'd be interested to know how a guy who appears to be in exceptional physical condition has managed to find himself plagued with such a laundry list of torn or strained muscles or tendons on a regular basis. Whether or not this has anything to do with Junior's alleged reluctance to take part in pre-game stretching or perhaps casts a shadow on the Reds' medical staff, I cannot say. But can you name another player with such consistently terrible luck? Other than Jose Reyes, that is.
Much as I hate to question the judgement of Dr. Art Howe, was it really necessary for Reyes to pinch hit for Ricky Botalico in the 7th last night, given the former's recent injuries? If Reyes wasn't fit enough to start on Wednesday, what did Howe imagine might happen were Reyes required to run after making contact?
Since his Cincinnati homecoming, Griffey has struggled to stay healthy. I'd be interested to know how a guy who appears to be in exceptional physical condition has managed to find himself plagued with such a laundry list of torn or strained muscles or tendons on a regular basis. Whether or not this has anything to do with Junior's alleged reluctance to take part in pre-game stretching or perhaps casts a shadow on the Reds' medical staff, I cannot say. But can you name another player with such consistently terrible luck? Other than Jose Reyes, that is.
Much as I hate to question the judgement of Dr. Art Howe, was it really necessary for Reyes to pinch hit for Ricky Botalico in the 7th last night, given the former's recent injuries? If Reyes wasn't fit enough to start on Wednesday, what did Howe imagine might happen were Reyes required to run after making contact?
Posted at 08:38 AM
Piazza On The D.L., Mets Back On Time-Warner
The Mets have put Mike Piazza on the 15 day
disabled list, retroactive to August 7. Piazza, suffering from inflammation in
the left knee, had his roster spot occupied by Danny Garcia, who was called up from Norfolk
just prior to tonight's game against Houston.
In news that should please masochists all over the city, Mets telecasts have returned to Time-Warner cable sytems in a deal brokered by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Though Spitzer should be going after the bodega that sold me a contaminated bottle of Yoo Hoo last year, his intervention in the dispute between Time-Warner and Cablevision has enabled thousands of price-gouged New Yorkers to bask in the technicolor, ritual humiliation of the team they love. Nice going.
In news that should please masochists all over the city, Mets telecasts have returned to Time-Warner cable sytems in a deal brokered by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
Though Spitzer should be going after the bodega that sold me a contaminated bottle of Yoo Hoo last year, his intervention in the dispute between Time-Warner and Cablevision has enabled thousands of price-gouged New Yorkers to bask in the technicolor, ritual humiliation of the team they love. Nice going.
Posted at 12:30 AM
Wed - August 11, 2004
Summer Camp - Not Just For Being Bound, Gagged & Beaten With Flashlights Anymore
Jamie at The Shrewdness Of Apes has already commented on
Sunday's NY Times "Camplified" feature (ie. a
ghastly package tour of would-be N-Sucks doing their thing for summer campers
--- an exercise slightly more cynical and way more efficient than that of
Tiffany or Fingerbang's mall tours of yesteryear).
(not coming to a camp near you)
I was so disillusioned while reading Eric Dash's article, I could literally feel myself turning into Carrie McLaren.
OK, not really.
Are Huckapoo any worse than Sahara Hotnights?
Why do children deserve any sort of a safe haven from predatory marketing? If the rest of us get bashed over the head with consumer anxiety on a daily basis, why should kids get off easy?
That said, if I was a parent (and I'm not --- I had my man parts irradiated as part of a plea bargain with the State Of Wisconsin), I'd sooner buy my kids a one-way ticket to Neverland than send them to a camp where tomorrow's TRL fixtures were part of the program.
I know what you're saying, "we all can't be reading "The Gulag Archipelago" at the age of 7." But why the hell not? The problem isn't that products are being sold aggressively to kids, the problem is that most of the products in question are terrible. Mom, Dad, if your offspring want you to rent a DVD featuring the voice of Ray Romano, how hard would it be to propose a kid-friendly alternative? Like say, Rick Shapiro?
(not coming to a camp near you)
I was so disillusioned while reading Eric Dash's article, I could literally feel myself turning into Carrie McLaren.
OK, not really.
Are Huckapoo any worse than Sahara Hotnights?
Why do children deserve any sort of a safe haven from predatory marketing? If the rest of us get bashed over the head with consumer anxiety on a daily basis, why should kids get off easy?
That said, if I was a parent (and I'm not --- I had my man parts irradiated as part of a plea bargain with the State Of Wisconsin), I'd sooner buy my kids a one-way ticket to Neverland than send them to a camp where tomorrow's TRL fixtures were part of the program.
I know what you're saying, "we all can't be reading "The Gulag Archipelago" at the age of 7." But why the hell not? The problem isn't that products are being sold aggressively to kids, the problem is that most of the products in question are terrible. Mom, Dad, if your offspring want you to rent a DVD featuring the voice of Ray Romano, how hard would it be to propose a kid-friendly alternative? Like say, Rick Shapiro?
Posted at 11:59 PM
Seattle's Season Just Got Shittier
Think the Mariners wish they had tried dealing
Eddie Guardado to a contender two weeks ago?
Season-ending injuries are one thing when playing out the string, but this is
one that already puts Seattle on the back foot in 2005.
"If he says I need the surgery, I'm going to stay right there and have him do it as soon as he can," Guardado said. "And as long as he's going to go in there, I'm going to ask for the 95-mph surgery."
(the Moose swears this happened while washing his truck)
"If he says I need the surgery, I'm going to stay right there and have him do it as soon as he can," Guardado said. "And as long as he's going to go in there, I'm going to ask for the 95-mph surgery."
(the Moose swears this happened while washing his truck)
Posted at 10:12 PM
Floundering Phillies Lose Millwood, Game
Some of you up-with-people types have accused me
of only clipping depressing news items from the baseball world. To which I can
only say, one person's depressing news is someone else's ray of sunshine. On
the same day they learned that P Kevin Millwood might be lost for the rest of the
season, Philadelphia managed to give a precious game away to a
Colorado team with nothing to play for.
The Philadephia Inquirer's Jim Salisbury shares the 911. And I don't mean the late ECW fixture who did choke-slams and not much else.
(left - 911, looking like a super sized Keith Hernandez, now delivering choke-slams in that big Pat's Steaks in sky. On the right, a young Paul E. Dangerously rocking the mic)
The Phillies lost another game last night - in harrowing fashion - and when it was over, you couldn't help but feel that this club might be as cooked as one of those ears of corn that Keith Jones, hockey player turned farmer, was grilling down on the concourse.
Make no mistake about it: This was a game the Phillies should have won, a loss that will come back to haunt them. Then again, you can say that about a number of games that this disappointing team has played this season.
Tim Worrell, who has filled in admirably for injured closer Billy Wagner, came in to try and nail it down for the home team.
In an instant, Phillies fans got two more reasons to believe.
Facing Worrell, Todd Helton led off with a screamer to left. It looked like a game-tying homer, but it hit the top of the wall, missing being a homer by an inch or two. Helton stopped at second. The Phils had dodged trouble - for the moment.
They looked to skirt danger when second baseman Chase Utley made a tremendous play - with skill and instinct - to nail Helton at third on a ground ball by Preston Wilson.
In the end, it all went wrong last night. Worrell walked Jeromy Burnitz, putting two men on for pinch-hitter Vinny Castilla.
Castilla hit a high, slicing shot to the right-field wall. If you've watched Abreu consistently since he arrived in 1998, you know that plays at the wall often give him trouble. And this one did. The ball sailed over Abreu's outstretched glove, scoring two runs. Castilla scored on a sacrifice fly. It proved to be the winning run after the Phils rallied for a too-little, too-late run in the bottom of the ninth.
After a loss like this, you'd figure 36,636 Philadelphians would voice their displeasure. But when this horror show ended, there was very little booing. Maybe everyone was too stunned to boo.
The Philadephia Inquirer's Jim Salisbury shares the 911. And I don't mean the late ECW fixture who did choke-slams and not much else.
(left - 911, looking like a super sized Keith Hernandez, now delivering choke-slams in that big Pat's Steaks in sky. On the right, a young Paul E. Dangerously rocking the mic)
The Phillies lost another game last night - in harrowing fashion - and when it was over, you couldn't help but feel that this club might be as cooked as one of those ears of corn that Keith Jones, hockey player turned farmer, was grilling down on the concourse.
Make no mistake about it: This was a game the Phillies should have won, a loss that will come back to haunt them. Then again, you can say that about a number of games that this disappointing team has played this season.
Tim Worrell, who has filled in admirably for injured closer Billy Wagner, came in to try and nail it down for the home team.
In an instant, Phillies fans got two more reasons to believe.
Facing Worrell, Todd Helton led off with a screamer to left. It looked like a game-tying homer, but it hit the top of the wall, missing being a homer by an inch or two. Helton stopped at second. The Phils had dodged trouble - for the moment.
They looked to skirt danger when second baseman Chase Utley made a tremendous play - with skill and instinct - to nail Helton at third on a ground ball by Preston Wilson.
In the end, it all went wrong last night. Worrell walked Jeromy Burnitz, putting two men on for pinch-hitter Vinny Castilla.
Castilla hit a high, slicing shot to the right-field wall. If you've watched Abreu consistently since he arrived in 1998, you know that plays at the wall often give him trouble. And this one did. The ball sailed over Abreu's outstretched glove, scoring two runs. Castilla scored on a sacrifice fly. It proved to be the winning run after the Phils rallied for a too-little, too-late run in the bottom of the ninth.
After a loss like this, you'd figure 36,636 Philadelphians would voice their displeasure. But when this horror show ended, there was very little booing. Maybe everyone was too stunned to boo.
Posted at 08:54 PM
Alaskan Movie Buff Acquitted
Another soda-related highway fatality.
From CNN.com :
A man was acquitted Tuesday of charges he caused a fatal crash by taking his eyes off the road while watching a movie on a DVD player mounted on his truck dashboard.
Jurors acquitted Erwin Petterson Jr., 29, of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of manslaughter. No law in Alaska prohibits operating a DVD player in view of a driver.
Petterson had been charged in the deaths of Robert Weiser, 60, and Donna Weiser, 56, when his truck collided with their vehicle on a highway in southern Alaska on October 12, 2002.
"I think this case was really important because it brought out the issue for public discussion," said the prosecutor, June Stein, after the acquittal. "It's probably an issue the Legislature should address."
Neither Petterson nor his lawyer could immediately be reached for comment after the acquittal. Lindsey Petterson said her brother was taking a long drive in his truck.
"He hasn't been able to drive in over two years," she said. "He just wanted to be alone for a while. He's very happy he can get on with his life again."
Stein argued that Petterson and his passenger Jonathan Douglas were watching a DVD movie when Petterson's pickup truck crossed the center line, hitting the Weisers' sport utility vehicle head-on.
Petterson testified he was not watching a movie and that his truck strayed into oncoming traffic when he reached for a soda.
The Weisers died at the scene.
Marty Zoda, Douglas' former wife, testified that her ex-husband told her the DVD was running when the accident happened, a claim Douglas denied.
If installed as recommended, DVD players will not work in an automobile unless the emergency brake is on or the vehicle is in park.
Prosecutors said Petterson overrode those safety measures when he installed an entertainment system including a DVD player, speakers and a Sony PlayStation 2 in his pickup truck.
Without wanting to seem callous towards those who lost loved ones in this tragedy, I speak from personal experience when I say that long-haul journeys are a real snooze and what road warrior amongst us hasn't at one time or another, challenged a passenger to a game of "Madden 2005" whilst in transit?
DVD's don't kill people - people who can't watch DVD's and drive at the same, time kill people.
From CNN.com :
A man was acquitted Tuesday of charges he caused a fatal crash by taking his eyes off the road while watching a movie on a DVD player mounted on his truck dashboard.
Jurors acquitted Erwin Petterson Jr., 29, of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of manslaughter. No law in Alaska prohibits operating a DVD player in view of a driver.
Petterson had been charged in the deaths of Robert Weiser, 60, and Donna Weiser, 56, when his truck collided with their vehicle on a highway in southern Alaska on October 12, 2002.
"I think this case was really important because it brought out the issue for public discussion," said the prosecutor, June Stein, after the acquittal. "It's probably an issue the Legislature should address."
Neither Petterson nor his lawyer could immediately be reached for comment after the acquittal. Lindsey Petterson said her brother was taking a long drive in his truck.
"He hasn't been able to drive in over two years," she said. "He just wanted to be alone for a while. He's very happy he can get on with his life again."
Stein argued that Petterson and his passenger Jonathan Douglas were watching a DVD movie when Petterson's pickup truck crossed the center line, hitting the Weisers' sport utility vehicle head-on.
Petterson testified he was not watching a movie and that his truck strayed into oncoming traffic when he reached for a soda.
The Weisers died at the scene.
Marty Zoda, Douglas' former wife, testified that her ex-husband told her the DVD was running when the accident happened, a claim Douglas denied.
If installed as recommended, DVD players will not work in an automobile unless the emergency brake is on or the vehicle is in park.
Prosecutors said Petterson overrode those safety measures when he installed an entertainment system including a DVD player, speakers and a Sony PlayStation 2 in his pickup truck.
Without wanting to seem callous towards those who lost loved ones in this tragedy, I speak from personal experience when I say that long-haul journeys are a real snooze and what road warrior amongst us hasn't at one time or another, challenged a passenger to a game of "Madden 2005" whilst in transit?
DVD's don't kill people - people who can't watch DVD's and drive at the same, time kill people.
Posted at 07:58 PM
Barry On Barry
The Greatest/Grouchiest hitter of our generation looks
into the crystal ball with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Rob
Biertempfel.
Barry Bonds will sit down this winter and decide how much longer he wants to play baseball.
One more year? Two? Five? Bonds shrugged. All he knows -- or all he'll say, at least -- is that he wants to end his career in San Francisco.
"If I wasn't having fun, I'd quit," Bonds said Tuesday. "Just putting on a uniform and playing, that's what my happiness is. But it will only be for a little while longer. Then, I'll be gone quick.
"I've got a timetable. When that time comes, I'll let you guys know. Unless they kick me out first."
onds is signed through 2005, with a club option for 2006 that would pay him $18 million. The Giants have not yet indicated whether they're willing to fork over another king's ransom and extend the contract.
Bonds is 68 homers shy of Hank Aaron's all-time record. He is closing in on what would be his second batting title in three seasons. But, he also turned 40 three weeks ago and has a reputation of being ... um, difficult.
"Would I sign me? I don't know," Bonds said with a wink. "I can't run, can't hit, can't play. I'm too demanding. I cause too many problems. Why would you want me on your team, right?"
Uh....leadership? Nutritional advice? Even taking a probable decline into account, Bonds transforms a mediocre batting order into something approach a contender. Though that said, you can probably assume the Giants wouldn't mind spreading some of that $18 million around to assemble a better supporting cast.
Barry Bonds will sit down this winter and decide how much longer he wants to play baseball.
One more year? Two? Five? Bonds shrugged. All he knows -- or all he'll say, at least -- is that he wants to end his career in San Francisco.
"If I wasn't having fun, I'd quit," Bonds said Tuesday. "Just putting on a uniform and playing, that's what my happiness is. But it will only be for a little while longer. Then, I'll be gone quick.
"I've got a timetable. When that time comes, I'll let you guys know. Unless they kick me out first."
onds is signed through 2005, with a club option for 2006 that would pay him $18 million. The Giants have not yet indicated whether they're willing to fork over another king's ransom and extend the contract.
Bonds is 68 homers shy of Hank Aaron's all-time record. He is closing in on what would be his second batting title in three seasons. But, he also turned 40 three weeks ago and has a reputation of being ... um, difficult.
"Would I sign me? I don't know," Bonds said with a wink. "I can't run, can't hit, can't play. I'm too demanding. I cause too many problems. Why would you want me on your team, right?"
Uh....leadership? Nutritional advice? Even taking a probable decline into account, Bonds transforms a mediocre batting order into something approach a contender. Though that said, you can probably assume the Giants wouldn't mind spreading some of that $18 million around to assemble a better supporting cast.
Posted at 07:47 PM
Wright Hits First Shea HR, Piazza Undergoes MRI
For once it was someone else's center fielder
misplaying a ball in a crucial spot, the Astros' prize rental Carlos Beltran, in
this case overrunning a Mike Cameron single for a two base error in the 4th
inning of NY's 7-3 comeback win over Houston last night.
3B David Wright (above) hit his 3rd HR of the season, his first ever at Shea, a solo shot off Tim Redding in the 7th. Wright was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's on the night. Solid work from the slowwwwww working Steve Tracschel (7 IP, 3 earned runs, a solo homer to Lance Berkman in the first) and perfect relief from Mike DeJean on a night in which the Mets gained ground on all 3 of the NL East clubs they're chasing.
Yes, I'm reduced to grasping at straws And not the bendy, loopy kind, either. In addition to Tom Glavine getting his teeth knocked out, Kaz Matsui continues to suffer from back troubles, and Mike Piazza could be headed for the disabled list, writes the New York Post's Mark Hale.
There may be an explanation for Mike Piazza's hitting woes. There may also be some more bad news for the Met slugger, who may have to go on the disabled list with an ailing left knee.
Piazza underwent an MRI at NYU Medical Center yesterday and was diagnosed with having fluid in his left knee. The All-Star catcher/first baseman, who received a cortisone injection yesterday and missed his third straight game last night, initially hurt the knee while sliding into the base of the stands to catch a pop-up in Philadelphia on Memorial Day.
"It's not anything structural, but there is some swelling in there," Piazza said. "It's one of those things that sort of adds to the frustrations this time of year."
Since July 1, Piazza is a miserable 14-for-86 (.163) with one homer, two doubles and just six RBIs.
"It's been sore since the day I flexed it in Philly. It just hasn't improved," he said. "I haven't been able to really do a full sprint since then. There's significant swelling. It's tough."
Asked about the possibility of going on the DL, Piazza did not rule it out.
"We're going to see," said Piazza, who will be re-evaluated today. "Obviously that's an option. We'll see what we think would be best."
3B David Wright (above) hit his 3rd HR of the season, his first ever at Shea, a solo shot off Tim Redding in the 7th. Wright was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's on the night. Solid work from the slowwwwww working Steve Tracschel (7 IP, 3 earned runs, a solo homer to Lance Berkman in the first) and perfect relief from Mike DeJean on a night in which the Mets gained ground on all 3 of the NL East clubs they're chasing.
Yes, I'm reduced to grasping at straws And not the bendy, loopy kind, either. In addition to Tom Glavine getting his teeth knocked out, Kaz Matsui continues to suffer from back troubles, and Mike Piazza could be headed for the disabled list, writes the New York Post's Mark Hale.
There may be an explanation for Mike Piazza's hitting woes. There may also be some more bad news for the Met slugger, who may have to go on the disabled list with an ailing left knee.
Piazza underwent an MRI at NYU Medical Center yesterday and was diagnosed with having fluid in his left knee. The All-Star catcher/first baseman, who received a cortisone injection yesterday and missed his third straight game last night, initially hurt the knee while sliding into the base of the stands to catch a pop-up in Philadelphia on Memorial Day.
"It's not anything structural, but there is some swelling in there," Piazza said. "It's one of those things that sort of adds to the frustrations this time of year."
Since July 1, Piazza is a miserable 14-for-86 (.163) with one homer, two doubles and just six RBIs.
"It's been sore since the day I flexed it in Philly. It just hasn't improved," he said. "I haven't been able to really do a full sprint since then. There's significant swelling. It's tough."
Asked about the possibility of going on the DL, Piazza did not rule it out.
"We're going to see," said Piazza, who will be re-evaluated today. "Obviously that's an option. We'll see what we think would be best."
Posted at 04:32 PM
T.O. Covers His Ass
From today's NY Times :
On Tuesday, Eagles officials opened The Philadelphia Inquirer to a headline that said: "Owens Dances Around Questions About Sex." The headline referred to a question-and-answer article in the September issue of Playboy magazine. The interviewer stated that Jeff Garcia, the former San Francisco quarterback with whom Terrell Owens had a contentious relationship, has "denied media rumors he's gay." Owens was then asked, "What do you think?"
Owens replied: "Like my boy tells me: 'If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it is a rat.' "
Speaking with reporters after Tuesday morning's practice, Owens repeated those words, but he said that the interview was only a "loose conversation" and that "everybody is going to make a big deal out of it, but it wasn't like I came out and said Jeff was gay." He said that Garcia had a girlfriend when the two played together in San Francisco.
In the Playboy article, Owens was then asked what he would do if an NFL player admitted he was gay.
"I probably wouldn't say anything right off the bat," Owens said in the interview. "I'd just see what everyone else has to say. I'd probably keep my distance, and hopefully, he would keep his. If it was a guy who was helping us win ball games, hey, I'd have no problem with it. He can do what he wants to do outside of my everyday life."
Much like our close friend John Smoltz, Owens --- surely aware that he's already played alongside homosexuals in college and the pros? --- feels compelled to stress that he'd keep his distance. Because after all, the only reason a gay man would make his way through the football ranks and endure all the hate & ignorance through said journey.. .would be for a shot at fucking Terrell Owens.
I have no idea whether or not Jeff Garcia is gay. I do wonder, however, why Owens, Playboy and the rest of the media haven't noticed that Garcia and Lance Armstrong are the same person.
(former 49'ers QB Garcia, shown in the company of women)
(6 time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong, shown touching a man while removing his belt).
On Tuesday, Eagles officials opened The Philadelphia Inquirer to a headline that said: "Owens Dances Around Questions About Sex." The headline referred to a question-and-answer article in the September issue of Playboy magazine. The interviewer stated that Jeff Garcia, the former San Francisco quarterback with whom Terrell Owens had a contentious relationship, has "denied media rumors he's gay." Owens was then asked, "What do you think?"
Owens replied: "Like my boy tells me: 'If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it is a rat.' "
Speaking with reporters after Tuesday morning's practice, Owens repeated those words, but he said that the interview was only a "loose conversation" and that "everybody is going to make a big deal out of it, but it wasn't like I came out and said Jeff was gay." He said that Garcia had a girlfriend when the two played together in San Francisco.
In the Playboy article, Owens was then asked what he would do if an NFL player admitted he was gay.
"I probably wouldn't say anything right off the bat," Owens said in the interview. "I'd just see what everyone else has to say. I'd probably keep my distance, and hopefully, he would keep his. If it was a guy who was helping us win ball games, hey, I'd have no problem with it. He can do what he wants to do outside of my everyday life."
Much like our close friend John Smoltz, Owens --- surely aware that he's already played alongside homosexuals in college and the pros? --- feels compelled to stress that he'd keep his distance. Because after all, the only reason a gay man would make his way through the football ranks and endure all the hate & ignorance through said journey.. .would be for a shot at fucking Terrell Owens.
I have no idea whether or not Jeff Garcia is gay. I do wonder, however, why Owens, Playboy and the rest of the media haven't noticed that Garcia and Lance Armstrong are the same person.
(former 49'ers QB Garcia, shown in the company of women)
(6 time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong, shown touching a man while removing his belt).
Posted at 08:56 AM
Terrifying Promotions, Continued
Following the Mariners' Edgar Bear night, the Mets have a special giveaway planned for August 12 featuring the much loved Sanrio creation Hello Joe McEwing (seen above).
Tom Glavine is expected to miss a start having suffered minor injuries in yesterday afternoon's car accident. It is truly a shame the Mets can't pay Glavine enough money to hire a limo service rather than rely on yellow cabs.
In tonight's action, following Jose Reyes running New York out of the 3rd inning, the Mets trail the Astros, 3-1 at Shea.
Posted at 01:21 AM
Tue - August 10, 2004
Klapisch On Howe, Piazza
Though there's plenty of blame to go around for
the Mets' crummy 2004, The Bergen Record's Bob Klapisch lays much of it at the
feet of Art Howe and Mike Piazza, with the judgement of Jim Duquette
and Fred Wilpon questioned as well.
Looking back, it feels like a past millennium when the Mets were celebrating their three-game sweep of the Yankees, exchanging looks that said: The universe is ours. But in the last month the Mets have been swirling downward like toilet water. Lucky for them, the Astros and Diamondbacks, two other teams on that long, flat road to nowhere, are coming to town, but with an 11-game deficit and just 52 games remaining, the Mets' collapse already is complete.
The two biggest problems facing general manager Jim Duquette are his nice-guy, do-nothing manager, Art Howe, and the equally troubled Mike Piazza. The fact that Piazza sat out two of the three games against the Cardinals, the National League's best team, all but doomed the Mets to being swept, and sent a loud message to ownership that it's time for Piazza to finally become an American League designated hitter.
The entire catcher to first base experiment was based on having Piazza total more at-bats, not less. But not only is he just as injury-prone today as a year ago, he's in one of the worst slumps of his career. Piazza has one multi-RBI game since June 13, one home run in the past three weeks, and is batting .133 (4-for-30) over his last 11 games.
Piazza makes a point of saying he didn't ask out of the lineup in St. Louis. Semantically, that is correct. But neither did he assert himself when Howe chose to sit him. Having the team's best player on the bench against the powerhouse Cardinals was a joint retreat by the manager and slugger alike.
By now, it's become obvious Piazza has no home anywhere on defense: He's a DH waiting to be traded. But with $15 million still owed him in 2005, one Met official rightfully asked, "Who would take him?
Even the front office admits it'sstunned at how poorly Kaz Matsui has played - regressing from a Gold Glove shortstop in Japan to the major leagues' worst infielder. The Mets, nice guys to a fault, say they don't want to embarrass Matsui in his native country by prematurely announcing he'll be at second base in 2005. But one insider says, regardless if Matsui is offended, the conversion process will begin "the second day of the off-season. That's when he'll be told."
While the Mets are at it, they should dig to the core of their lethargy, which comes directly from the manager's office. Howe is enduring his second failed summer at Shea, and this time he can't blame injuries. The Mets were only a game out of first place after beating the Phillies on July 15, then plummeted to nine out in just two weeks.
During that time, the Mets were a reflection of their manager, which is to say they played soft. When a team evaporates that quickly, it usually means the manager was a non-factor in the dugout and in the clubhouse. Sometimes, players tune out the manager because he's too tightly wound, like Larry Bowa. Other managers are just too nice, like Boston's Terry Francona, who lost the clubhouse a month ago.
Either way, an out-of-touch manager is usually on a bullet train to dismissal. Howe is no exception. One Met veteran said during the recent road trip, "It's like playing for your grandfather."
(Grandpa Art as a young man)
Looking back, it feels like a past millennium when the Mets were celebrating their three-game sweep of the Yankees, exchanging looks that said: The universe is ours. But in the last month the Mets have been swirling downward like toilet water. Lucky for them, the Astros and Diamondbacks, two other teams on that long, flat road to nowhere, are coming to town, but with an 11-game deficit and just 52 games remaining, the Mets' collapse already is complete.
The two biggest problems facing general manager Jim Duquette are his nice-guy, do-nothing manager, Art Howe, and the equally troubled Mike Piazza. The fact that Piazza sat out two of the three games against the Cardinals, the National League's best team, all but doomed the Mets to being swept, and sent a loud message to ownership that it's time for Piazza to finally become an American League designated hitter.
The entire catcher to first base experiment was based on having Piazza total more at-bats, not less. But not only is he just as injury-prone today as a year ago, he's in one of the worst slumps of his career. Piazza has one multi-RBI game since June 13, one home run in the past three weeks, and is batting .133 (4-for-30) over his last 11 games.
Piazza makes a point of saying he didn't ask out of the lineup in St. Louis. Semantically, that is correct. But neither did he assert himself when Howe chose to sit him. Having the team's best player on the bench against the powerhouse Cardinals was a joint retreat by the manager and slugger alike.
By now, it's become obvious Piazza has no home anywhere on defense: He's a DH waiting to be traded. But with $15 million still owed him in 2005, one Met official rightfully asked, "Who would take him?
Even the front office admits it'sstunned at how poorly Kaz Matsui has played - regressing from a Gold Glove shortstop in Japan to the major leagues' worst infielder. The Mets, nice guys to a fault, say they don't want to embarrass Matsui in his native country by prematurely announcing he'll be at second base in 2005. But one insider says, regardless if Matsui is offended, the conversion process will begin "the second day of the off-season. That's when he'll be told."
While the Mets are at it, they should dig to the core of their lethargy, which comes directly from the manager's office. Howe is enduring his second failed summer at Shea, and this time he can't blame injuries. The Mets were only a game out of first place after beating the Phillies on July 15, then plummeted to nine out in just two weeks.
During that time, the Mets were a reflection of their manager, which is to say they played soft. When a team evaporates that quickly, it usually means the manager was a non-factor in the dugout and in the clubhouse. Sometimes, players tune out the manager because he's too tightly wound, like Larry Bowa. Other managers are just too nice, like Boston's Terry Francona, who lost the clubhouse a month ago.
Either way, an out-of-touch manager is usually on a bullet train to dismissal. Howe is no exception. One Met veteran said during the recent road trip, "It's like playing for your grandfather."
(Grandpa Art as a young man)
Posted at 10:51 PM
Glavine In Car Wreck
The AP is reporting that Mets P Tom Glavine was
taken to the hospital this afternoon following an automobile accident, en route
to Shea via taxi cab from LaGuardia Airport.
No word yet on the extent of Glavine's injuries, if any.
In even worse news, John Franco wasn't in the cab.
No word yet on the extent of Glavine's injuries, if any.
In even worse news, John Franco wasn't in the cab.
Posted at 09:46 PM
Fan Friendly Phil Nevin
Following on from today's thoughts about Roger
Clemens, I do find it telling that some hot tempered players are characterized
as "passionate", while similar anti-social acts from the likes of say, Milton
Bradley or Carl Everett, are more often framed as examples of sociopathic
behavior.
The San Diego Union-Tribune's Bill Center on Phil Nevin :
The lightning rod that is Phil Nevin received another jolt Sunday.
"I do always seem in the middle of it," Nevin said Sunday . . . and that was before the first baseman and Kevin Towers engaged in a heated exchange after the Padres general manager reacted to Nevin's latest dig at Petco Park.
After the pair cooled down, Towers talked about Nevin.
"Phil's greatest quality is his intensity," said Towers. "And that quality gets him in trouble."
Sunday's incident was far from his first as a Padre. Earlier this season, Nevin engaged in an argument with a fan in Philadelphia that apparently involved profanity in front of a teenage girl. He has made gestures toward fans in the past at Qualcomm Stadium.
Earlier this season, Towers suggested the possibility of anger-management classes for Nevin.
"If there's one knock that people can say about me, it's that a lot of times, especially in the past, it's about the way I've handled failure," Nevin said Sunday morning in front of his cubicle in the Padres clubhouse.
"I'm passionate . . . no doubt about it," Nevin continued. "And I wear that passion, my emotions right out there. I react.
"I love this city and this team. This is the only place I want to play. This is the only team I want to play for. It's been a special time here."
Some would say Nevin has found a strange way to return that love.
(Phil and a close friend, presumably not purchased at Petco)
Clearly, there are two camps regarding Nevin.
One that recognizes that Nevin carries a big stick to go with his truculent behavior . . . and is willing to look the other way when he vents.
One that believes he should be traded.
Of course, he can't be traded. The 33-year-old Nevin has a no-trade contract with the Padres that runs through the 2006 season. Which is another part of the problem since Ryan Klesko, who is also 33 and whose most comfortable position is also first base, has the same deal.
The logjam has become fodder for sports talk radio. Trade Klesko . . . trade Nevin . . . trade 'em both.
"Let's put that in perspective," said Nevin. "What kind of person listens to sports-talk radio all day. Get a life. Get a job. To talk about something you know nothing about . . . "
If fans aren't sure of what they are seeing in Nevin on the field, they have even less idea of who the off-the-field Nevin is.
The man who lashes out is also very involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Each weekend, he invites between 50 and 100 victims of the disease to games. Inside his cubicle are cards and drawings from children he has visited and helped.
"I know there are younger fans in the stands because I'm hosting some of them," said Nevin. "Do I want to have them seeing me snap, no. And I don't want the younger players on this team seeing that . . . I don't want them seeing me yelling and screaming."
The San Diego Union-Tribune's Bill Center on Phil Nevin :
The lightning rod that is Phil Nevin received another jolt Sunday.
"I do always seem in the middle of it," Nevin said Sunday . . . and that was before the first baseman and Kevin Towers engaged in a heated exchange after the Padres general manager reacted to Nevin's latest dig at Petco Park.
After the pair cooled down, Towers talked about Nevin.
"Phil's greatest quality is his intensity," said Towers. "And that quality gets him in trouble."
Sunday's incident was far from his first as a Padre. Earlier this season, Nevin engaged in an argument with a fan in Philadelphia that apparently involved profanity in front of a teenage girl. He has made gestures toward fans in the past at Qualcomm Stadium.
Earlier this season, Towers suggested the possibility of anger-management classes for Nevin.
"If there's one knock that people can say about me, it's that a lot of times, especially in the past, it's about the way I've handled failure," Nevin said Sunday morning in front of his cubicle in the Padres clubhouse.
"I'm passionate . . . no doubt about it," Nevin continued. "And I wear that passion, my emotions right out there. I react.
"I love this city and this team. This is the only place I want to play. This is the only team I want to play for. It's been a special time here."
Some would say Nevin has found a strange way to return that love.
(Phil and a close friend, presumably not purchased at Petco)
Clearly, there are two camps regarding Nevin.
One that recognizes that Nevin carries a big stick to go with his truculent behavior . . . and is willing to look the other way when he vents.
One that believes he should be traded.
Of course, he can't be traded. The 33-year-old Nevin has a no-trade contract with the Padres that runs through the 2006 season. Which is another part of the problem since Ryan Klesko, who is also 33 and whose most comfortable position is also first base, has the same deal.
The logjam has become fodder for sports talk radio. Trade Klesko . . . trade Nevin . . . trade 'em both.
"Let's put that in perspective," said Nevin. "What kind of person listens to sports-talk radio all day. Get a life. Get a job. To talk about something you know nothing about . . . "
If fans aren't sure of what they are seeing in Nevin on the field, they have even less idea of who the off-the-field Nevin is.
The man who lashes out is also very involved in the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Each weekend, he invites between 50 and 100 victims of the disease to games. Inside his cubicle are cards and drawings from children he has visited and helped.
"I know there are younger fans in the stands because I'm hosting some of them," said Nevin. "Do I want to have them seeing me snap, no. And I don't want the younger players on this team seeing that . . . I don't want them seeing me yelling and screaming."
Posted at 09:20 PM
Where Are They Now Dept; : Byung-Hyun Kim
Forgotten in the midst of a frustrating Red Sox
season is the fate of South Korean P Byung-Hyun Kim, making $5 million this year
and next and showing few signs of a return to the big
leagues. From Joe McDonald of the Providence Journal :
Kim speaks very little English, has his own bizarre workout regimen, has directed rude gestures at fans, and no doubt is one of the highest paid minor leaguers of all time. The Sox signed the right-handed submarine-style pitcher to a two-year $10-million contract during the offseason, and he's spent the majority of the season in Triple A.
He's had injury problems this season and even took a trip home to see a "specialist" to figure out what was wrong. Whoever he visited overseas seemed to help him.
Kim certainly has been much better since his return two months ago, but he's still not what Boston expected.
Recently, Red Sox director of player development Ben Cherington had a closed-door meeting with Kim, Pawtucket manager Buddy Bailey and pitching coach Mike Griffin. Because of the language gap, the group had a conference call with an interpreter so that Kim knew specifically what the organization was thinking.
It's not that easy to get up close and personal with the 25-year-old South Korean. But to get a better understanding of what he's all about all you needed to do was visit the PawSox' dugout on Thursday.
Pawtucket hosted an autograph session with its players on the field prior to the club's game against the Rochester Red Wings. More than a thousand fans gathered on the warning track around the field to meet with players, who were sitting at tables. The only player not involved at the start of the session was Kim.
When he finally emerged from the clubhouse, opened the door to the dugout and witnessed just how many people were on the field, his jaw literally dropped and he turned as white as the chalk in the batters' box.
He quickly took refuge in the trainer's room and it took him 35 minutes to calm down before a team official escorted him out to his designated spot to sign autographs.
Obviously, big crowds scare him, and that's not a good sign for a highly paid player in this area of the country.
Despite his rollercoaster season, Kim has been working around the clock in an attempt to reach the level of success he once enjoyed.
His workout regimen is like no other pitcher in baseball. He's always moving, stretching, meditating and is never seen sitting still. On a recent road trip with the PawSox, Kim went to bed early, woke up around 10:30 p.m. and worked out until 2:30 a.m. He spends hours shadow pitching in front of a mirror to figure out his mechanics.
While it seems as if he's in his own little world, he's the only one who knows what he needs to accomplish if he wants to be even close to being on the Boston Red Sox radar screen any time soon.
Kim speaks very little English, has his own bizarre workout regimen, has directed rude gestures at fans, and no doubt is one of the highest paid minor leaguers of all time. The Sox signed the right-handed submarine-style pitcher to a two-year $10-million contract during the offseason, and he's spent the majority of the season in Triple A.
He's had injury problems this season and even took a trip home to see a "specialist" to figure out what was wrong. Whoever he visited overseas seemed to help him.
Kim certainly has been much better since his return two months ago, but he's still not what Boston expected.
Recently, Red Sox director of player development Ben Cherington had a closed-door meeting with Kim, Pawtucket manager Buddy Bailey and pitching coach Mike Griffin. Because of the language gap, the group had a conference call with an interpreter so that Kim knew specifically what the organization was thinking.
It's not that easy to get up close and personal with the 25-year-old South Korean. But to get a better understanding of what he's all about all you needed to do was visit the PawSox' dugout on Thursday.
Pawtucket hosted an autograph session with its players on the field prior to the club's game against the Rochester Red Wings. More than a thousand fans gathered on the warning track around the field to meet with players, who were sitting at tables. The only player not involved at the start of the session was Kim.
When he finally emerged from the clubhouse, opened the door to the dugout and witnessed just how many people were on the field, his jaw literally dropped and he turned as white as the chalk in the batters' box.
He quickly took refuge in the trainer's room and it took him 35 minutes to calm down before a team official escorted him out to his designated spot to sign autographs.
Obviously, big crowds scare him, and that's not a good sign for a highly paid player in this area of the country.
Despite his rollercoaster season, Kim has been working around the clock in an attempt to reach the level of success he once enjoyed.
His workout regimen is like no other pitcher in baseball. He's always moving, stretching, meditating and is never seen sitting still. On a recent road trip with the PawSox, Kim went to bed early, woke up around 10:30 p.m. and worked out until 2:30 a.m. He spends hours shadow pitching in front of a mirror to figure out his mechanics.
While it seems as if he's in his own little world, he's the only one who knows what he needs to accomplish if he wants to be even close to being on the Boston Red Sox radar screen any time soon.
Posted at 09:04 PM
Hacky-Sac "Rocker" In Shitstorm Accusations
Sincere thanks to Kevin T. for the tip. From
the Chicago Tribune's Michael Hawthorne :
The bus driver for rock star Dave Matthews called from the road Monday to say his luxury coach was not the one responsible for dousing passengers on a Chicago River tour boat with foul-smelling muck over the weekend.
Witnesses on the architectural sightseeing cruise told police they saw a long black tour bus dump liquid waste Sunday afternoon as their boat crossed under the Kinzie Street bridge.
About two-thirds of the passengers seated on the upper deck of Chicago's Little Lady were soaked with the "brownish-yellow" substance.
One witness gave Chicago police an Oregon license plate number that belongs to the 2003 Monaco Royale Coach driven by Jerry Fitzpatrick (above), who has been Matthews' tour bus driver for three years.
Fitzpatrick confirmed he was in Chicago with Matthews, whose band played the second of two shows at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin later that night. But the driver said he was parked in front of the Peninsula Hotel, 108 E. Superior St., when the waste rained down from the bridge several blocks away.
"There is no way I could be responsible for that," Fitzpatrick said from downstate Effingham. "I haven't emptied the tank for days. Besides, we are very cautious about how we do that sort of thing."
To bolster his case, Fitzpatrick coaxed Sgt. Paul Gardner of the Effingham Police Department to inspect the bus. He then gave Gardner his cell phone to tell a reporter that the tank was nearly full.
"One of the strangest requests I've ever had, that's for sure," Gardner said.
A publicist for the Dave Matthews Band issued a statement Monday night saying the group's management had "determined that all of the buses on our tour were parked at the time of this incident."
Back in Chicago, officials with the Chicago Architectural Foundation still were fielding angry calls from passengers on the ill-fated cruise.
All 120 passengers were given refunds on their $25 tickets. Five went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for testing, police said.
Several have since called the foundation demanding compensation for clothing and personal items that got soaked.
"One man had a very expensive leather jacket that I'm sure he's not going to want to wear again," said Lynn Osmond, the foundation's president and CEO. "Our first concern is getting through the next few days and making sure nobody gets sick. Then we want to know who is responsible for this."
After dropping off Matthews at Midway Airport on Monday, Fitzgerald headed to Arkansas for a break. He said he planned to empty the waste tank when he got home.
"This band is very environmentally conscious," he said. "We wouldn't have anything to do with this sort of thing."
The bus driver for rock star Dave Matthews called from the road Monday to say his luxury coach was not the one responsible for dousing passengers on a Chicago River tour boat with foul-smelling muck over the weekend.
Witnesses on the architectural sightseeing cruise told police they saw a long black tour bus dump liquid waste Sunday afternoon as their boat crossed under the Kinzie Street bridge.
About two-thirds of the passengers seated on the upper deck of Chicago's Little Lady were soaked with the "brownish-yellow" substance.
One witness gave Chicago police an Oregon license plate number that belongs to the 2003 Monaco Royale Coach driven by Jerry Fitzpatrick (above), who has been Matthews' tour bus driver for three years.
Fitzpatrick confirmed he was in Chicago with Matthews, whose band played the second of two shows at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin later that night. But the driver said he was parked in front of the Peninsula Hotel, 108 E. Superior St., when the waste rained down from the bridge several blocks away.
"There is no way I could be responsible for that," Fitzpatrick said from downstate Effingham. "I haven't emptied the tank for days. Besides, we are very cautious about how we do that sort of thing."
To bolster his case, Fitzpatrick coaxed Sgt. Paul Gardner of the Effingham Police Department to inspect the bus. He then gave Gardner his cell phone to tell a reporter that the tank was nearly full.
"One of the strangest requests I've ever had, that's for sure," Gardner said.
A publicist for the Dave Matthews Band issued a statement Monday night saying the group's management had "determined that all of the buses on our tour were parked at the time of this incident."
Back in Chicago, officials with the Chicago Architectural Foundation still were fielding angry calls from passengers on the ill-fated cruise.
All 120 passengers were given refunds on their $25 tickets. Five went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for testing, police said.
Several have since called the foundation demanding compensation for clothing and personal items that got soaked.
"One man had a very expensive leather jacket that I'm sure he's not going to want to wear again," said Lynn Osmond, the foundation's president and CEO. "Our first concern is getting through the next few days and making sure nobody gets sick. Then we want to know who is responsible for this."
After dropping off Matthews at Midway Airport on Monday, Fitzgerald headed to Arkansas for a break. He said he planned to empty the waste tank when he got home.
"This band is very environmentally conscious," he said. "We wouldn't have anything to do with this sort of thing."
Posted at 05:58 PM
Ambulance Chasing With Mike Lupica
Several years back, I had the dubious fortune of
finding myself sitting in the front row at MSG just behind the Rangers' bench
for a Saturday matinee against the Devils. Sitting next to me was the NY Daily
News' Mike Lupica. For 3 periods, I resisted the urge to turn to my left and let
my neighbor know exactly what a shit writer I thought he was. Good thing too,
as Lupica was sitting to my right and the person sitting to my left was 8 years
old.
In retrospect, I wish I had done something. Coughed a lot. Vomitted. Pretended I thought Mike was Stephen Colbert from "Strangers With Candy". And let this be a lesson to the rest of you : the next time you encounter a public figure at a sporting event with his children, don't chicken out like I did. Do everything in your power to make yourself a nuisance and make the target of your aggression summon security. You won't get the chance everyday.
I've had a lot of fun this year taking a shot or 20 at Jason Giambi and his health woes, poor performances, ghastly haircuts, etc. And all of that said, I find nothing remotely amusing about the ghoulish coverage of his undefined ailment. Though he's pretty high on my disliked public figure list (almost as high as Mike Lupica), I'd never wish a life-threatening illness on the guy. A career-threatening illness, perhaps, but that's as far as I'd go.
Lupica, in Tuesday's Daily News, seems pretty hung up on details surrounding Giambi's hiatus . I wonder why it isn't enough for everyone to know he's obviously going through something pretty scary. Much like Lisa Olson several weeks ago, Lupica implies that Giambi's illness is the sort which player or team would like to keep quiet, not so much that they don't actually know what's wrong with him.
There has never been an incident quite like this, with a name as big as Giambi's, certainly not around Joe Torre's Yankees. When the Yankees finally figured out that David Cone's pitching hand was going numb because of an aneurysm in his pitching shoulder, they got the news right out. Same when they found out Torre had prostate cancer. And Darryl Strawberry's colon cancer.
All we have gotten with Giambi are vague answers and vague timetables about his return.
This isn't a newspaper threatening to tell the world that Arthur Ashe had contracted AIDS from tainted blood.
Oh no, it certainly isn't that. Though what possible purpose was served from throwing that example out there?
Do you think Mike Lupica is saying Jason Giambi has
a) AIDS
b) the big disease with the little name
c) SIDA
d) AIDS
e) all of the above
They could be paying Giambi more money than A-Rod, Manny Ramirez and Carlos Delgado combined. That still doesn't give anyone a right to know what's up with him until he either figures it out or is comfortable disclosing what he's learned.
In retrospect, I wish I had done something. Coughed a lot. Vomitted. Pretended I thought Mike was Stephen Colbert from "Strangers With Candy". And let this be a lesson to the rest of you : the next time you encounter a public figure at a sporting event with his children, don't chicken out like I did. Do everything in your power to make yourself a nuisance and make the target of your aggression summon security. You won't get the chance everyday.
I've had a lot of fun this year taking a shot or 20 at Jason Giambi and his health woes, poor performances, ghastly haircuts, etc. And all of that said, I find nothing remotely amusing about the ghoulish coverage of his undefined ailment. Though he's pretty high on my disliked public figure list (almost as high as Mike Lupica), I'd never wish a life-threatening illness on the guy. A career-threatening illness, perhaps, but that's as far as I'd go.
Lupica, in Tuesday's Daily News, seems pretty hung up on details surrounding Giambi's hiatus . I wonder why it isn't enough for everyone to know he's obviously going through something pretty scary. Much like Lisa Olson several weeks ago, Lupica implies that Giambi's illness is the sort which player or team would like to keep quiet, not so much that they don't actually know what's wrong with him.
There has never been an incident quite like this, with a name as big as Giambi's, certainly not around Joe Torre's Yankees. When the Yankees finally figured out that David Cone's pitching hand was going numb because of an aneurysm in his pitching shoulder, they got the news right out. Same when they found out Torre had prostate cancer. And Darryl Strawberry's colon cancer.
All we have gotten with Giambi are vague answers and vague timetables about his return.
This isn't a newspaper threatening to tell the world that Arthur Ashe had contracted AIDS from tainted blood.
Oh no, it certainly isn't that. Though what possible purpose was served from throwing that example out there?
Do you think Mike Lupica is saying Jason Giambi has
a) AIDS
b) the big disease with the little name
c) SIDA
d) AIDS
e) all of the above
They could be paying Giambi more money than A-Rod, Manny Ramirez and Carlos Delgado combined. That still doesn't give anyone a right to know what's up with him until he either figures it out or is comfortable disclosing what he's learned.
Posted at 05:16 PM
Marty Noble's Love Letter To Clemens
Moving stuff in this morning's Newsday from Marty
Noble, who finds nothing but goodness oozing from every pore of the Astros'
Roger Clemens.
Clemens' retirement plan had been spawned by his desire to put an end to life without father for the K-Kids -- sons Koby, Kory, Kacy and Kody. All that baseball had given him in 20 summers had come at a price he no longer was willing to pay -- time away from home. But the liberating agreement with Astros owner Drayton McLane is like a senior citizen discount without an AARP card.
To bring this Yankee home, McLane agreed to accommodate Clemens' desire to see his sons compete -- on days he is not pitching he's allowed to watch his kids play.
"I can't say enough about the opportunity," Clemens said. "I get to do two things I love -- pitch and see the boys compete. It's been a grind sometimes. But I've balanced it pretty good. I don't think I've shortchanged anybody here or at home. There were a lot demands on my time in All-Star week, and I did a lot. But I thought it needed to be done. It was a big week for my hometown. And I think everyone at home enjoyed themselves that week."
"Rocket's got it nice," Astros second baseman Jeff Kent says with envy but without resentment. "I'm old-school. He worked for what he has. He deserves it, he earned it."
"He's unique, so when he gets a unique set-up like this, it's appropriate," longtime Astro Jeff Bagwell said. "Nobody resents what he's got. In fact, it's better because we don't have to put up with his crap on days he doesn't pitch and just gets in everybody's way. And we can get on him all the time."
So the Astros regularly re-introduce themselves to the guy wearing No. 22 and send him e-mail and beeper messages when they're on the road and he's not. "Just so he doesn't miss us," catcher Brad Ausmus said.
According to teammates' estimates -- and no one takes attendance -- Clemens has missed 30 games already, including a few at home. He has been a late arrival for home games on several occasions. But he hasn't missed a turn in the rotation -- 23 starts, 15 at home.
Clemens is as devoted to his sons as he is to his well-documented workouts. As focused as he is when he pitches, he still checks his PDA between innings for messages from Debbie when his sons are playing.
Interesting to compare and contrast the way the media deals with absentee superstars. Each absence, excused or otherwise, by a Pedro Martinez or Manny Ramirez is meant to symbolize either player's selfishness, whereas Clemens' devotion to his family is lauded at every turn.
Noble does note, however, there is a flipside to this feel-good story.
Of course, not everything is perfect in his world. The Astros' shortfall -- a 55-56 record -- undermines his enjoyment.
Perhaps one of the advocates of "team chemistry" can look into this for us?
Clemens' retirement plan had been spawned by his desire to put an end to life without father for the K-Kids -- sons Koby, Kory, Kacy and Kody. All that baseball had given him in 20 summers had come at a price he no longer was willing to pay -- time away from home. But the liberating agreement with Astros owner Drayton McLane is like a senior citizen discount without an AARP card.
To bring this Yankee home, McLane agreed to accommodate Clemens' desire to see his sons compete -- on days he is not pitching he's allowed to watch his kids play.
"I can't say enough about the opportunity," Clemens said. "I get to do two things I love -- pitch and see the boys compete. It's been a grind sometimes. But I've balanced it pretty good. I don't think I've shortchanged anybody here or at home. There were a lot demands on my time in All-Star week, and I did a lot. But I thought it needed to be done. It was a big week for my hometown. And I think everyone at home enjoyed themselves that week."
"Rocket's got it nice," Astros second baseman Jeff Kent says with envy but without resentment. "I'm old-school. He worked for what he has. He deserves it, he earned it."
"He's unique, so when he gets a unique set-up like this, it's appropriate," longtime Astro Jeff Bagwell said. "Nobody resents what he's got. In fact, it's better because we don't have to put up with his crap on days he doesn't pitch and just gets in everybody's way. And we can get on him all the time."
So the Astros regularly re-introduce themselves to the guy wearing No. 22 and send him e-mail and beeper messages when they're on the road and he's not. "Just so he doesn't miss us," catcher Brad Ausmus said.
According to teammates' estimates -- and no one takes attendance -- Clemens has missed 30 games already, including a few at home. He has been a late arrival for home games on several occasions. But he hasn't missed a turn in the rotation -- 23 starts, 15 at home.
Clemens is as devoted to his sons as he is to his well-documented workouts. As focused as he is when he pitches, he still checks his PDA between innings for messages from Debbie when his sons are playing.
Interesting to compare and contrast the way the media deals with absentee superstars. Each absence, excused or otherwise, by a Pedro Martinez or Manny Ramirez is meant to symbolize either player's selfishness, whereas Clemens' devotion to his family is lauded at every turn.
Noble does note, however, there is a flipside to this feel-good story.
Of course, not everything is perfect in his world. The Astros' shortfall -- a 55-56 record -- undermines his enjoyment.
Perhaps one of the advocates of "team chemistry" can look into this for us?
Posted at 01:56 PM
Wonderful Timing In Seattle
If you think this promotion is awkward, you should've been at Rich Aurilla Weasel Night.
UPDATE :
The Mariners' Edgar Bear looks suspiciously like Avid Merrion's Bear On Hampstead Heath (above). This seems less and less kid-friendly the more I think about it.
Posted at 10:19 AM
Piazza In Pain
Mike Piazza sat out both of the Mets' weekend
losses to St. Louis. Mired in an extended slump since the start of July,
Piazza's defensive liabilites at first base weren't nearly as aggravating as the
fact the position switch from C to 1B seemed to do little to make him any
sharper at bat. In a sobering piece in yesterday's NY Post, the All-Star
catcher came clean to Michael Morrissey.
Piazza, who began uncovering the mysteries behind his horrendous skid on Saturday, revealed yesterday he's been undergoing treatment on a swollen left knee since he injured it on Memorial Day. Both wrists also are sore.
"I realize playing with pain is part of the game, especially at this point in my career," Piazza said before the 6-2 loss to St. Louis. "There really hasn't been one day in the last three or four years that something hasn't hurt."
"That, combined with my poor performance, is doubly frustrating. I told Art [Howe], 'I'll do whatever you want me to do, but it's just obvious.'
"I need some time to, No. 1, heal, and also try to get myself right mechanically . . . I totally left it in his hands. I told him how I felt, told him how I needed to feel. I'm not saying I don't want to play, I'm not saying that I do."
"It's just obvious: when I go to hit the gas, it's just not 100 percent," Piazza said.
Piazza has been an automatic out for the last six weeks, and the formerly confident slugger may have reached rock bottom. In his last 27 games, he's batting .152. On this road trip, he's 5-for-33. He has one homer and four RBIs since the All-Star break.
Asked if this was as mechanically out of whack as he's ever been, Piazza said: "It seems like now because of the factors involved and the frustration of the team, it's a little bit more of a domino effect. I can't say.
"I've had my tough stretches before," he added. "I don't think this is any different. I'm confident that I'll pull out of it."
At another point, he was less confident.
"Hopefully I can get the ship right," he said.
Finally, Michael Malone, formerly of the now-defunct New York Sports Express, writes in yesterday's Editor & Publisher about the fallout from his very funny Mike Piazza/"Teen Wolf" hoax, already noted in this space.
Piazza, who began uncovering the mysteries behind his horrendous skid on Saturday, revealed yesterday he's been undergoing treatment on a swollen left knee since he injured it on Memorial Day. Both wrists also are sore.
"I realize playing with pain is part of the game, especially at this point in my career," Piazza said before the 6-2 loss to St. Louis. "There really hasn't been one day in the last three or four years that something hasn't hurt."
"That, combined with my poor performance, is doubly frustrating. I told Art [Howe], 'I'll do whatever you want me to do, but it's just obvious.'
"I need some time to, No. 1, heal, and also try to get myself right mechanically . . . I totally left it in his hands. I told him how I felt, told him how I needed to feel. I'm not saying I don't want to play, I'm not saying that I do."
"It's just obvious: when I go to hit the gas, it's just not 100 percent," Piazza said.
Piazza has been an automatic out for the last six weeks, and the formerly confident slugger may have reached rock bottom. In his last 27 games, he's batting .152. On this road trip, he's 5-for-33. He has one homer and four RBIs since the All-Star break.
Asked if this was as mechanically out of whack as he's ever been, Piazza said: "It seems like now because of the factors involved and the frustration of the team, it's a little bit more of a domino effect. I can't say.
"I've had my tough stretches before," he added. "I don't think this is any different. I'm confident that I'll pull out of it."
At another point, he was less confident.
"Hopefully I can get the ship right," he said.
Finally, Michael Malone, formerly of the now-defunct New York Sports Express, writes in yesterday's Editor & Publisher about the fallout from his very funny Mike Piazza/"Teen Wolf" hoax, already noted in this space.
Posted at 12:46 AM
Mon - August 9, 2004
Burrell Out For The Year
After hurting his wrist in batting practice last
week, Phillies LF Pat Burrell is scheduled for season-ending surgery on Friday.
This comes on the heels of injuries to Billy Wagner, Kevin Millwood, Ryan
Madson, David Bell and Vicentne Padilla.
Philadelphia fortified their rotation somewhat on Monday, acquiring P Corey Lidle from Cincinnati in exchange for OF Javon Moran and LHP Joe Wilson.
A day after leaving his start against Pittsburgh in the first inning, Dodgers P Brad Penny's MRI showed his injury wasn't as severe as originally feared. According to ESPN, Penny's strained right biceps should only cost him one start.
Philadelphia fortified their rotation somewhat on Monday, acquiring P Corey Lidle from Cincinnati in exchange for OF Javon Moran and LHP Joe Wilson.
A day after leaving his start against Pittsburgh in the first inning, Dodgers P Brad Penny's MRI showed his injury wasn't as severe as originally feared. According to ESPN, Penny's strained right biceps should only cost him one start.
Posted at 11:46 PM
Home Field Advantage In San Diego
The San Diego Union-Tribune's Bill Center reports
on yesterday's shouting match between Phil Nevin and Padres
GM Kevin Towers, with the attributes of Petco Park
being the supposed topic of conversation.
Hours after 200 pet owners showcased their prized canines in a pregame parade around the field, the Padres backed deeper into their own doghouse – losing to Pittsburgh 4-2 to finish their longest homestand of the season with a possibly devastating loss.
And the cost of the defeat on the field was compounded minutes later when the frustration exploded into a heated exchange between General Manager Kevin Towers and first baseman Phil Nevin.
The confrontation came behind closed doors down the hall from the main clubhouse. But it could be heard by other Padres players and the media assembled for postgame interviews.
Towers, who called Nevin into the meeting, was upset about Nevin's latest reaction to the idiosyncrasies of Petco Park.
With the Padres down 3-2 in the eighth inning, Nevin lined a shot toward the Home Run Porch down the right-field line. But instead of catching the right corner of the porch, the drive went parallel to the seats and hit the wall beyond the seats.
Instead of a 325-foot home run, Nevin had a 350-foot double. And instead of tying the score, Nevin was stranded at second base as Rich Aurilia hit a drive to deep left-center that was tracked down by center fielder Tike Redman for the inning's final out.
Standing at second, Nevin looked back at the Home Run Porch in right and the distant spot where Aurilia's drive fell short in left-center, fired his helmet toward the Padres dugout, stared in the direction of Towers' suite behind home plate and uttered several expletives about the Padres' first-year home that could be easily deciphered by even a novice lip-reader watching the telecast.
Many of the 39,742 fans on hand also got the point. Towers certainly did.
Before meeting with Towers, Nevin said:
"I thought it was out. But we are where we are. I know I had three balls this week that would have changed games this homestand and didn't go out. Just make it real. That's all I asked."
After the postgame exchange – perhaps the loudest since Towers became GM in 1996 – Nevin said only: "There's nothing to talk about."
Said Towers: "I'm not going to comment on it. We're all very emotional. What happens in the clubhouse, stays in the clubhouse."
Towers and the Padres brass have apparently had it with Petco Park being used as an excuse. Other teams have homered here. Pirates backup catcher Humberto Cota popped one out yesterday with what amounted to a one-handed swing to tie the game 2-2 in the fourth. And first baseman Randall Simon homered in the sixth to make it 3-2. But something is clearly amiss when the Padres are at home.
On the road, the Padres have the second-best record in the National League (28-23) and are hitting .286 and averaging almost a homer a game.
At home, they are two games above .500, hitting .250 and averaging less than two homers every three games. Even manager Bruce Bochy believed the Nevin and Aurilia drives were going for homers.
Hours after 200 pet owners showcased their prized canines in a pregame parade around the field, the Padres backed deeper into their own doghouse – losing to Pittsburgh 4-2 to finish their longest homestand of the season with a possibly devastating loss.
And the cost of the defeat on the field was compounded minutes later when the frustration exploded into a heated exchange between General Manager Kevin Towers and first baseman Phil Nevin.
The confrontation came behind closed doors down the hall from the main clubhouse. But it could be heard by other Padres players and the media assembled for postgame interviews.
Towers, who called Nevin into the meeting, was upset about Nevin's latest reaction to the idiosyncrasies of Petco Park.
With the Padres down 3-2 in the eighth inning, Nevin lined a shot toward the Home Run Porch down the right-field line. But instead of catching the right corner of the porch, the drive went parallel to the seats and hit the wall beyond the seats.
Instead of a 325-foot home run, Nevin had a 350-foot double. And instead of tying the score, Nevin was stranded at second base as Rich Aurilia hit a drive to deep left-center that was tracked down by center fielder Tike Redman for the inning's final out.
Standing at second, Nevin looked back at the Home Run Porch in right and the distant spot where Aurilia's drive fell short in left-center, fired his helmet toward the Padres dugout, stared in the direction of Towers' suite behind home plate and uttered several expletives about the Padres' first-year home that could be easily deciphered by even a novice lip-reader watching the telecast.
Many of the 39,742 fans on hand also got the point. Towers certainly did.
Before meeting with Towers, Nevin said:
"I thought it was out. But we are where we are. I know I had three balls this week that would have changed games this homestand and didn't go out. Just make it real. That's all I asked."
After the postgame exchange – perhaps the loudest since Towers became GM in 1996 – Nevin said only: "There's nothing to talk about."
Said Towers: "I'm not going to comment on it. We're all very emotional. What happens in the clubhouse, stays in the clubhouse."
Towers and the Padres brass have apparently had it with Petco Park being used as an excuse. Other teams have homered here. Pirates backup catcher Humberto Cota popped one out yesterday with what amounted to a one-handed swing to tie the game 2-2 in the fourth. And first baseman Randall Simon homered in the sixth to make it 3-2. But something is clearly amiss when the Padres are at home.
On the road, the Padres have the second-best record in the National League (28-23) and are hitting .286 and averaging almost a homer a game.
At home, they are two games above .500, hitting .250 and averaging less than two homers every three games. Even manager Bruce Bochy believed the Nevin and Aurilia drives were going for homers.
Posted at 11:38 PM
Possible New Addition To The Sirius Satellite Lineup
Our 2nd favorite contributor in Jersey City, NJ,
Brian Turner forwards the following letter.
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 23:21:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: Charles Chicanery <Charles_Chicanery@hotmail.com>
To: XX@XXXX.org
Subject: People With Disabilities Radio
B---n T----r,
W---Radio
Dear Mr. T----,
Allow me to be the first person to introduce you to the wonderful programming that is KPDR Radio. We are the Internet's first station playing only music from developmentally-challenged and physically-disabled artists.
Our play list includes of course the many great seeing-impaired performers like the late Ray Charles, funk phenomenon Stevie Wonder, jazz chanteuse Diane Shuur, country legend Ronnie Milsap as well as some of the more obscure acts like 70's country-pop crooner Terri Gibbs ("Somebody's Knockin'"), and early blues pioneer Blind Lemon Jefferson. We have added the later catalog of the brilliant hard rock band Def Leppard after drummer Rick Allen's arm was amputated.
Considering the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) declaration of obesity as a disease, we are pleased to announce that KPDR has added the talents of Wilson Phillips (Carnie Wilson's pre-surgery years was when they had all their hits anyway), early Luther Vandross, later Ella Fitzgerald, Meat Loaf and the entire Capitol-EMI catalog of Heart.
(no airplay for the modern Carnie, though she's much easier to shop for now)
We are anxiously awaiting CMS pronouncement that alcoholism and drug addiction will join the list of debilitating conditions, for it will open up our play lists immensely.
Since we are a non-profit organization not in any direct competition with your listener base and we are always attempting to promote "over the airwave" radio on our "Internet-only" station, we were hoping to enlist your talents on a pro-bono basis. It has been brought to our attention that you are, considering your influence and clout, an expert on such information.
The AWD (Americans With Disabilities) front will not divulge the names or occupations of its members, citing some bogus "privacy" clause, therefore, because of their refusal to cooperate with us, we are forced to use other means to collect a roster of eligible artists and musicians for our play list. We were playing Roy Orbison for over a month before finding out the glasses he wore were simply a prop- he wasn't seeing impaired at all! Mistakes like these are why we need your help. This is where you come in.
I realize your time is valuable to you and to your station, so as to maximize both of our efforts I would simply request from you to provide us with a list of disabled performers or bands with disabled members. Simply mail me back a comprehensive list and we will start from there.
If you want to volunteer any more of your time to our endeavors, I would love to schedule a time to speak with you.
Thank you,
Charles Chicanery
Program Director
KPDR Radio (Internet only)
Persons with Disabilities Radio
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 23:21:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: Charles Chicanery <Charles_Chicanery@hotmail.com>
To: XX@XXXX.org
Subject: People With Disabilities Radio
B---n T----r,
W---Radio
Dear Mr. T----,
Allow me to be the first person to introduce you to the wonderful programming that is KPDR Radio. We are the Internet's first station playing only music from developmentally-challenged and physically-disabled artists.
Our play list includes of course the many great seeing-impaired performers like the late Ray Charles, funk phenomenon Stevie Wonder, jazz chanteuse Diane Shuur, country legend Ronnie Milsap as well as some of the more obscure acts like 70's country-pop crooner Terri Gibbs ("Somebody's Knockin'"), and early blues pioneer Blind Lemon Jefferson. We have added the later catalog of the brilliant hard rock band Def Leppard after drummer Rick Allen's arm was amputated.
Considering the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) declaration of obesity as a disease, we are pleased to announce that KPDR has added the talents of Wilson Phillips (Carnie Wilson's pre-surgery years was when they had all their hits anyway), early Luther Vandross, later Ella Fitzgerald, Meat Loaf and the entire Capitol-EMI catalog of Heart.
(no airplay for the modern Carnie, though she's much easier to shop for now)
We are anxiously awaiting CMS pronouncement that alcoholism and drug addiction will join the list of debilitating conditions, for it will open up our play lists immensely.
Since we are a non-profit organization not in any direct competition with your listener base and we are always attempting to promote "over the airwave" radio on our "Internet-only" station, we were hoping to enlist your talents on a pro-bono basis. It has been brought to our attention that you are, considering your influence and clout, an expert on such information.
The AWD (Americans With Disabilities) front will not divulge the names or occupations of its members, citing some bogus "privacy" clause, therefore, because of their refusal to cooperate with us, we are forced to use other means to collect a roster of eligible artists and musicians for our play list. We were playing Roy Orbison for over a month before finding out the glasses he wore were simply a prop- he wasn't seeing impaired at all! Mistakes like these are why we need your help. This is where you come in.
I realize your time is valuable to you and to your station, so as to maximize both of our efforts I would simply request from you to provide us with a list of disabled performers or bands with disabled members. Simply mail me back a comprehensive list and we will start from there.
If you want to volunteer any more of your time to our endeavors, I would love to schedule a time to speak with you.
Thank you,
Charles Chicanery
Program Director
KPDR Radio (Internet only)
Persons with Disabilities Radio
Posted at 10:38 PM
Dick Griffin On Tosca Firing
And the love affair between J.P. Ricciardi and the Toronto
media continues. From today's Toronto Star and Richard Griffin :
Even in something as straightforward as the firing of his manager yesterday, Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi demonstrated his lack of people skills and absence of consideration for the feelings of others.
The Blue Jays had just finished suffering their fifth consecutive defeat, a graceless 8-2 loss at the hands of the relentless, unsympathetic Yankees.
With a press release already printed announcing the firing of Carlos Tosca, replaced by first base coach John Gibbons, Ricciardi allowed his doomed skipper to go through a pointless post-game media briefing, still thinking he was in charge, before breaking the news.
After the writers left, some 20 minutes following the game, Ricciardi, accompanied by team president Paul Godfrey, slid through Tosca's office door and lowered the boom. By the time they were done meeting, most of the players had already left the clubhouse, robbing Tosca of a chance to address the men he had led for the last 26 months.
"We haven't told the players, yet," Ricciardi said. "We'll tell them tomorrow."
That is highly unusual. In addition, this could be the first time a manager was replaced by someone on his own staff, wherein the fired guy addressed the media, but the new manager didn't. Gibbons had left the building. He spoke to Tosca, as did each of the coaches, then departed.
The truth is this firing was not much of a surprise. It's a decision that could have been made at any time. With the Jays already counted out of any post-season bid and with Tosca having survived the all-star break and trade deadline, the best bet was that it would wait until season's end. But scapegoats sometimes have expiry dates.
"We came out of spring training and we had expectations this year of building off what we had done last year," Ricciardi said. "We won 86 games and we had a lot of positive things going. For us to get off to such a bad start was definitely a concern. I know we had a lot of injuries, but with everything being equal, the way we came out of spring training was a major concern."
Ricciardi (above) now welcomes manager No.3 in less than three years. He fired his first manager, Buck Martinez, two months into his first season, citing philosophical differences, replacing him with Tosca. He lasted two years and 67 days.
Gibbons will have a two-month interim reign, after which Ricciardi will again appoint someone new. The new manager's contract will likely be three years, through '07, to coincide with the GM, the end of his obligation to the Jays.
Even in something as straightforward as the firing of his manager yesterday, Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi demonstrated his lack of people skills and absence of consideration for the feelings of others.
The Blue Jays had just finished suffering their fifth consecutive defeat, a graceless 8-2 loss at the hands of the relentless, unsympathetic Yankees.
With a press release already printed announcing the firing of Carlos Tosca, replaced by first base coach John Gibbons, Ricciardi allowed his doomed skipper to go through a pointless post-game media briefing, still thinking he was in charge, before breaking the news.
After the writers left, some 20 minutes following the game, Ricciardi, accompanied by team president Paul Godfrey, slid through Tosca's office door and lowered the boom. By the time they were done meeting, most of the players had already left the clubhouse, robbing Tosca of a chance to address the men he had led for the last 26 months.
"We haven't told the players, yet," Ricciardi said. "We'll tell them tomorrow."
That is highly unusual. In addition, this could be the first time a manager was replaced by someone on his own staff, wherein the fired guy addressed the media, but the new manager didn't. Gibbons had left the building. He spoke to Tosca, as did each of the coaches, then departed.
The truth is this firing was not much of a surprise. It's a decision that could have been made at any time. With the Jays already counted out of any post-season bid and with Tosca having survived the all-star break and trade deadline, the best bet was that it would wait until season's end. But scapegoats sometimes have expiry dates.
"We came out of spring training and we had expectations this year of building off what we had done last year," Ricciardi said. "We won 86 games and we had a lot of positive things going. For us to get off to such a bad start was definitely a concern. I know we had a lot of injuries, but with everything being equal, the way we came out of spring training was a major concern."
Ricciardi (above) now welcomes manager No.3 in less than three years. He fired his first manager, Buck Martinez, two months into his first season, citing philosophical differences, replacing him with Tosca. He lasted two years and 67 days.
Gibbons will have a two-month interim reign, after which Ricciardi will again appoint someone new. The new manager's contract will likely be three years, through '07, to coincide with the GM, the end of his obligation to the Jays.
Posted at 10:05 PM
Edgar Calls It Quits
Suffering through a miserable year and no doubt
sick of watching all of his veteran teammates leave town over the past several
weeks, Seattle DH Edgar Martinez has declared his retirement,
effective at the end of the 2004 season.
Martinez, 41, leaves the game with a lifetime batting average of .312, 305 home runs, 1244 RBI's and a .420 on-base percentage.
Martinez, 41, leaves the game with a lifetime batting average of .312, 305 home runs, 1244 RBI's and a .420 on-base percentage.
Posted at 09:45 PM
Sick & Tired Of Barry (Being Sick & Tired)
Carrying a heavy frame on 40 year old legs, I'm
not surprised that Barry Bonds is vocal about the wear & tear he endures,
nor am I surprised that his once mind-blowing skills in LF have diminished.
Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, however, thinks Bonds complains too
much.
Barry's tired, and so tired of saying he's tired that now he has got his manager saying it and the club's trainer saying it, and even the owner of the San Francisco Giants, Peter Magowan, saying it loud enough to make you think Bonds might finish this singular career in the American League. Ah yes, the AL, where the game just isn't so damn tiring. The league has the designated hitter, who is mostly a designated sitter.
In case you've tuned Bonds out -- and given almost any random sampling of his reluctant public utterances, you're better off for it -- the game's incomparable slugger first mentioned in early May that he was being walked so often that he was growing tired of standing all the time.
No, seriously.
And here it is August. The man's gotta be dead on his feet.
"Walking is harder than hitting because you're on your feet all day," he told MLB.com.
"I never sit down. I'd go on the bases, stand up, go to get my glove and stand out there, except for a few minutes, go and hit, grab my glove, run a base, score, whatever, grab my glove, go out there.
"That's hard. That's not easy. Let somebody do that and see how it feels."
Now while you look for the phone number for Amnesty International, I'll just start by pointing out that there are plenty of people who'll stand for the whole game tomorrow night, many of them stadium ushers, some of whom were doing the same thing in Forbes Field before Bonds was born.
Waitresses and bartenders, porters and bell captains, umpires, toll takers, bricklayers, soldiers, sailors, butchers, bakers, and former Candlestick Park ticket takers, pretty much remain on their feet a lot longer than Bonds, even when he walks four times.
And somehow, intelligent people talk as if this goofy issue of keeping Bonds vertical is a looming crisis.
"I want him to [finish his career] here, but I don't have to play left field and have to stand there and never sit down," Magowan has said for the record. "I don't get walked and have to be standing on first base all the time. I could see how he might make life a lot easier on himself as an American League player."
But that's not today's issue. Today's issue is the hot inconvenience for a 40-year-old man to have to remain upright for literally minutes at a time, especially when the man is only earning about $111,000 per game? If you prefer the hourly rate, that's a little more than $37,000 an hour, which I'm still guessing makes what your own compensation look like a booger, no?
How about a chair? Would anyone mind, do you think, if Barry just took a lawn chair out to left with him? (I'm sorry -- had someone bring him one). Is there a rule against it? Judging from what's left of Barry's defensive prowess, he would get just as good a jump on the ball from the chair as he's getting from a standing start.
There's another solution. It's called retirement. Maybe it's time Barry sat down behind a desk, freed from the rigors of keeping his perfectly lethal swing intact. That way maybe he'll have time to think about what he's saying from time to time. Maybe then, there will be no more pronouncements about how he could never play in Boston because it's a racist town and that he was more interested in surpassing Babe Ruth's records than Hank Aaron's and how they'll never name a street or a tunnel after him because "they don't build stuff for blacks."
"I live in the real world, brother," he told the Boston Globe's Gordon Edes this summer. "That's all. I do the best I can in the real world. I ain't mad at it, but it's still the real world."
Bonds grew up in major-league clubhouses, grew into a regal athleticism, and will grow old amid the limitless privileges of astounding wealth and worldwide fame. He's never been near the real world, and it's just as well, because it can be very, very tiring.
There are few more unsympathetic characters in baseball than Barry. And few easier targets. I wish Collier would do us a favor and post his medical credentials alongside his column because it's pretty impressive that he's so sure Bonds is moaning without just cause. If Barry is using a cane at the age of 50, will Collier offer an apology?
Barry's tired, and so tired of saying he's tired that now he has got his manager saying it and the club's trainer saying it, and even the owner of the San Francisco Giants, Peter Magowan, saying it loud enough to make you think Bonds might finish this singular career in the American League. Ah yes, the AL, where the game just isn't so damn tiring. The league has the designated hitter, who is mostly a designated sitter.
In case you've tuned Bonds out -- and given almost any random sampling of his reluctant public utterances, you're better off for it -- the game's incomparable slugger first mentioned in early May that he was being walked so often that he was growing tired of standing all the time.
No, seriously.
And here it is August. The man's gotta be dead on his feet.
"Walking is harder than hitting because you're on your feet all day," he told MLB.com.
"I never sit down. I'd go on the bases, stand up, go to get my glove and stand out there, except for a few minutes, go and hit, grab my glove, run a base, score, whatever, grab my glove, go out there.
"That's hard. That's not easy. Let somebody do that and see how it feels."
Now while you look for the phone number for Amnesty International, I'll just start by pointing out that there are plenty of people who'll stand for the whole game tomorrow night, many of them stadium ushers, some of whom were doing the same thing in Forbes Field before Bonds was born.
Waitresses and bartenders, porters and bell captains, umpires, toll takers, bricklayers, soldiers, sailors, butchers, bakers, and former Candlestick Park ticket takers, pretty much remain on their feet a lot longer than Bonds, even when he walks four times.
And somehow, intelligent people talk as if this goofy issue of keeping Bonds vertical is a looming crisis.
"I want him to [finish his career] here, but I don't have to play left field and have to stand there and never sit down," Magowan has said for the record. "I don't get walked and have to be standing on first base all the time. I could see how he might make life a lot easier on himself as an American League player."
But that's not today's issue. Today's issue is the hot inconvenience for a 40-year-old man to have to remain upright for literally minutes at a time, especially when the man is only earning about $111,000 per game? If you prefer the hourly rate, that's a little more than $37,000 an hour, which I'm still guessing makes what your own compensation look like a booger, no?
How about a chair? Would anyone mind, do you think, if Barry just took a lawn chair out to left with him? (I'm sorry -- had someone bring him one). Is there a rule against it? Judging from what's left of Barry's defensive prowess, he would get just as good a jump on the ball from the chair as he's getting from a standing start.
There's another solution. It's called retirement. Maybe it's time Barry sat down behind a desk, freed from the rigors of keeping his perfectly lethal swing intact. That way maybe he'll have time to think about what he's saying from time to time. Maybe then, there will be no more pronouncements about how he could never play in Boston because it's a racist town and that he was more interested in surpassing Babe Ruth's records than Hank Aaron's and how they'll never name a street or a tunnel after him because "they don't build stuff for blacks."
"I live in the real world, brother," he told the Boston Globe's Gordon Edes this summer. "That's all. I do the best I can in the real world. I ain't mad at it, but it's still the real world."
Bonds grew up in major-league clubhouses, grew into a regal athleticism, and will grow old amid the limitless privileges of astounding wealth and worldwide fame. He's never been near the real world, and it's just as well, because it can be very, very tiring.
There are few more unsympathetic characters in baseball than Barry. And few easier targets. I wish Collier would do us a favor and post his medical credentials alongside his column because it's pretty impressive that he's so sure Bonds is moaning without just cause. If Barry is using a cane at the age of 50, will Collier offer an apology?
Posted at 08:13 PM
Kicker Conspiracy, Far East-Style
The Independent's David McNeill reports on the
riotous scenes following Japan's controversial 3-1 defeat of hosts China
in Saturday's Asia Cup final.
Chinese fans, pumped up over their team's first chance in 20 years to beat their great rivals, reacted furiously after a Maradona-style handball goal by the Japan midfielder Koji Nakata sealed the match. The goal, already described as "the hand of Koji" by the Chinese press, was greeted with jeers and whistles by angry supporters who left the Japanese team to collect the cup in an almost empty Beijing Workers' Stadium.
Watched by about 12,000 security personnel, thousands spilled out into the streets chanting anti-Japanese slogans and singing "Long Live China!" Some burnt Japanese flags and attacked the car of a minister from the Japanese embassy, Chikahito Harada. The Japanese team and supporters were bussed out of the stadium under police escort to escape the rioting, and again to Beijing international airport yesterday after a sleepless night listening to obscenities being shouted outside their windows.
China's coach, Arie Haan of the Netherlands, who refused to collect his runners-up medal, blamed his team's loss on the Kuwaiti referee, Saad Kameel. "The first goal was a free-kick to Japan that should have been for us, the second was handball and the third was after a foul on [the Manchester City full-back] Sun Jihai," Haan told the China Daily. "How can you win when this happens?"
Beijing's first encounter with European-style football hooliganism capped a bad-tempered tournament that has been a showcase less for football skills than for xenophobia and racial epithets.
The Japanese national anthem was drowned out by jeers at every match in which the team played, and its athletes were serenaded throughout each appearance by whistles and chants concerning the size of their genitals. Japanese supporters were pelted with bottles and rubbish and warned by authorities not to wear their team's kit to avoid "provoking" the other side.
The controversy has for the first time brought home to millions in Japan who watched the tournament on television the depth of anti-Japanese sentiment in China, where lingering hatreds over the brutal occupation by the Imperial Army in the 1930s and 1940s have been stoked by growing Chinese nationalism and fanned by what many consider Japan's historical amnesia. Thanks to selective history textbooks, many Japanese people are unaware of some of the most notorious crimes of the occupation.
The right-leaning Yomiuri newspaper in Japan said the behaviour of the Chinese fans was "caused by the anti-Japanese propaganda long promoted by the Chinese authorities," and their efforts to arouse patriotic sentiment. The newspaper's China bureau chief, Akira Fujino, said: "China wants to prevent Japan from becoming a political or military superpower through criticising its past; maintaining anti-Japanese public opinion is an important part of this strategy."
Chinese fans, pumped up over their team's first chance in 20 years to beat their great rivals, reacted furiously after a Maradona-style handball goal by the Japan midfielder Koji Nakata sealed the match. The goal, already described as "the hand of Koji" by the Chinese press, was greeted with jeers and whistles by angry supporters who left the Japanese team to collect the cup in an almost empty Beijing Workers' Stadium.
Watched by about 12,000 security personnel, thousands spilled out into the streets chanting anti-Japanese slogans and singing "Long Live China!" Some burnt Japanese flags and attacked the car of a minister from the Japanese embassy, Chikahito Harada. The Japanese team and supporters were bussed out of the stadium under police escort to escape the rioting, and again to Beijing international airport yesterday after a sleepless night listening to obscenities being shouted outside their windows.
China's coach, Arie Haan of the Netherlands, who refused to collect his runners-up medal, blamed his team's loss on the Kuwaiti referee, Saad Kameel. "The first goal was a free-kick to Japan that should have been for us, the second was handball and the third was after a foul on [the Manchester City full-back] Sun Jihai," Haan told the China Daily. "How can you win when this happens?"
Beijing's first encounter with European-style football hooliganism capped a bad-tempered tournament that has been a showcase less for football skills than for xenophobia and racial epithets.
The Japanese national anthem was drowned out by jeers at every match in which the team played, and its athletes were serenaded throughout each appearance by whistles and chants concerning the size of their genitals. Japanese supporters were pelted with bottles and rubbish and warned by authorities not to wear their team's kit to avoid "provoking" the other side.
The controversy has for the first time brought home to millions in Japan who watched the tournament on television the depth of anti-Japanese sentiment in China, where lingering hatreds over the brutal occupation by the Imperial Army in the 1930s and 1940s have been stoked by growing Chinese nationalism and fanned by what many consider Japan's historical amnesia. Thanks to selective history textbooks, many Japanese people are unaware of some of the most notorious crimes of the occupation.
The right-leaning Yomiuri newspaper in Japan said the behaviour of the Chinese fans was "caused by the anti-Japanese propaganda long promoted by the Chinese authorities," and their efforts to arouse patriotic sentiment. The newspaper's China bureau chief, Akira Fujino, said: "China wants to prevent Japan from becoming a political or military superpower through criticising its past; maintaining anti-Japanese public opinion is an important part of this strategy."
Posted at 05:26 PM
Our Man In Iraq, Update
Following up on the comings and goings of the crafty Ahmad Chalabi, courtesy of the Sydney
Morning Herald.
Iraq's interim government has issued arrest warrants against the former Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi and his nephew Salem Chalabi, the head of the tribunal trying Saddam Hussein.
Ahmad Chalabi, a former Pentagon favourite, was sought in an investigation into whether he counterfeited or laundered Iraqi currency. Salem Chalabi was sought over the murder of the director-general of the Finance Ministry, Haithem Fadhil, on May 28.
Ahmad Chalabi, whose fortunes declined during the latter days of the US occupation, has been in holiday in Iran. He rejected the charges and said he would return to Iraq to fight for his reputation.
"I do not know who is doing this and why. They are not patriots. I have done my duty and helped liberate Iraq."
"I can easily prove that these charges are untrue and I intend to defend myself and clear my name."
Earlier this year he fell out of favour over allegations that his political faction gave flawed intelligence to US agents and leaked US secrets to Iran.
He and the interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, have clashed over issues such as Dr Allawi's moves to partially reverse the country's de-Baathification process.
In the months since the US turned against him, he has tried to transform himself into an Iraqi populist. That effort has included reaching out to the anti-US Shiite preacher Moqtada al-Sadr.
Some analysts have predicted that al-Sadr and Ahmad Chalabi might form a loose alliance, with the former wielding influence from the pulpit and the latter entering electoral politics.
The warrant reportedly accuses him of counterfeiting old Iraqi dinars. But he told CNN that he was working as head of the Governing Council's finance committee to try to stop the circulation of false currency, and that the counterfeit bills had been in the possession of the committee.
"Without a doubt, I'm being set up .. . They think they can hurt me by doing this, politically," Mr Chalabi said.
Iraq's interim government has issued arrest warrants against the former Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi and his nephew Salem Chalabi, the head of the tribunal trying Saddam Hussein.
Ahmad Chalabi, a former Pentagon favourite, was sought in an investigation into whether he counterfeited or laundered Iraqi currency. Salem Chalabi was sought over the murder of the director-general of the Finance Ministry, Haithem Fadhil, on May 28.
Ahmad Chalabi, whose fortunes declined during the latter days of the US occupation, has been in holiday in Iran. He rejected the charges and said he would return to Iraq to fight for his reputation.
"I do not know who is doing this and why. They are not patriots. I have done my duty and helped liberate Iraq."
"I can easily prove that these charges are untrue and I intend to defend myself and clear my name."
Earlier this year he fell out of favour over allegations that his political faction gave flawed intelligence to US agents and leaked US secrets to Iran.
He and the interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, have clashed over issues such as Dr Allawi's moves to partially reverse the country's de-Baathification process.
In the months since the US turned against him, he has tried to transform himself into an Iraqi populist. That effort has included reaching out to the anti-US Shiite preacher Moqtada al-Sadr.
Some analysts have predicted that al-Sadr and Ahmad Chalabi might form a loose alliance, with the former wielding influence from the pulpit and the latter entering electoral politics.
The warrant reportedly accuses him of counterfeiting old Iraqi dinars. But he told CNN that he was working as head of the Governing Council's finance committee to try to stop the circulation of false currency, and that the counterfeit bills had been in the possession of the committee.
"Without a doubt, I'm being set up .. . They think they can hurt me by doing this, politically," Mr Chalabi said.
Posted at 03:39 PM
Rick James, pt. II
One of the best things about reading The
Independent every day is the amount of care the paper puts into obituaries for
what other dailies would consider to be marginal figures. Their Rick James obit, dated this morning, 9
August, is a good example.
Posted at 03:04 PM
From Folk Hero To Pariah : Kevin Millar Plays Damage Control
Incredibly, this could be a controversy that has blown over within 48
hours. Though the prospect of Boston putting Millar on waivers seemed
pretty far fetched, more than a few frenzied (if not homicidal) persons were
recomending just that over the weekend. The Herald's Steve Buckley explains.
It was a contrite Millar who practically wanted to sink into the floor in the clubhouse as he attempted to make amends for earlier remarks he aimed at manager Terry Francona about playing time.
``I wanted to apologize to Terry,'' Millar said after meeting with the manager. ``I didn't want this to turn out where he's the bad guy . . . I'm not challenging Terry Francona as manager . . . he's always been loyal to me.''
The reason for Millar's backpedaling is comments he made late Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park before the Sox' game against the Detroit Tigers. Dismayed that he was not in Francona's lineup, Millar sought solace from a collection of writers who cover the team, saying, among other things, ``I'm not going to be lied to. I'm not going to be lack-of-communicated to. I wasn't told I was on the bench. I didn't know that was the situation."
As things happened, Milalr wound up in the lineup Saturday anyway. WIth Manny Ramirez asking out of the game becuase of what were termed ``flu-like symptoms,'' Millar took the slugger's place, batting third and playing left field. He contributed two walks and an RBI single in the Sox' 7-4 victory over the Tigers.
Before yesterday's series finale against the Tigers, an 11-9 Red Sox victory, Francona told reporters he had already spoken with Millar about the incident, saying he preferred to keep the nature of the discussion ``in-house.''
Said Francona: ``Some things need to stay between a manager and his players. You can ask Kevin Millar.''
But Francona, who has a reputation for not criticizing his players publicly, made it clear he was not happy with Millar's comments.
``I want him to want to play,'' Francona said. ``But I'm not sure the way he handled it is the way I would have wanted him to handle it.''
Millar was originally penciled in to bat fifth and play first base yesterday. But when Ramirez was again pulled out of the lineup at the last minute - once again, because of what the club said were ``flu-like symptoms'' - Millar was moved to third in the order, playing left field. He went 0-for-4 with a walk in the Sox' wild, homer-happy victory.
``I didn't want this to be a me-against-Terry Francona thing. It's not,'' Millar said. ``I came in (Saturday), I was frustrated. I probably should have taken a walk down to the dugout for an hour.
``But this isn't a situation that's going to last. We turn the page . . . and we go on. That's basically it.''
The next time I'm upset about someone ignoring me, I have to remember to say "I'm not going to be lack-of-communicated to."
It was a contrite Millar who practically wanted to sink into the floor in the clubhouse as he attempted to make amends for earlier remarks he aimed at manager Terry Francona about playing time.
``I wanted to apologize to Terry,'' Millar said after meeting with the manager. ``I didn't want this to turn out where he's the bad guy . . . I'm not challenging Terry Francona as manager . . . he's always been loyal to me.''
The reason for Millar's backpedaling is comments he made late Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park before the Sox' game against the Detroit Tigers. Dismayed that he was not in Francona's lineup, Millar sought solace from a collection of writers who cover the team, saying, among other things, ``I'm not going to be lied to. I'm not going to be lack-of-communicated to. I wasn't told I was on the bench. I didn't know that was the situation."
As things happened, Milalr wound up in the lineup Saturday anyway. WIth Manny Ramirez asking out of the game becuase of what were termed ``flu-like symptoms,'' Millar took the slugger's place, batting third and playing left field. He contributed two walks and an RBI single in the Sox' 7-4 victory over the Tigers.
Before yesterday's series finale against the Tigers, an 11-9 Red Sox victory, Francona told reporters he had already spoken with Millar about the incident, saying he preferred to keep the nature of the discussion ``in-house.''
Said Francona: ``Some things need to stay between a manager and his players. You can ask Kevin Millar.''
But Francona, who has a reputation for not criticizing his players publicly, made it clear he was not happy with Millar's comments.
``I want him to want to play,'' Francona said. ``But I'm not sure the way he handled it is the way I would have wanted him to handle it.''
Millar was originally penciled in to bat fifth and play first base yesterday. But when Ramirez was again pulled out of the lineup at the last minute - once again, because of what the club said were ``flu-like symptoms'' - Millar was moved to third in the order, playing left field. He went 0-for-4 with a walk in the Sox' wild, homer-happy victory.
``I didn't want this to be a me-against-Terry Francona thing. It's not,'' Millar said. ``I came in (Saturday), I was frustrated. I probably should have taken a walk down to the dugout for an hour.
``But this isn't a situation that's going to last. We turn the page . . . and we go on. That's basically it.''
The next time I'm upset about someone ignoring me, I have to remember to say "I'm not going to be lack-of-communicated to."
Posted at 01:50 PM
Sun - August 8, 2004
Blue Jays Fire Tosca
Toronto have fired manager Carlos Tosca (above), replacing him with former Mets catcher John Gibbons on an interim basis. Tosca's record in a little more than two seasons was 189-19, though a miserable 47-64 (18-34 on the road) so far this season, last in the AL East.
The Blue Jays lost their 5th in a row earlier today, dropping an 11-4 decision to the Yankees, the 11th time this year Toronto's pitching staff has allowed 11 or more runs.
Posted at 10:49 PM
Sherman on Duquette, Heyman on DePodesta
Trailing 6-1 to the Cardinals today and likely
to be swept in the weekend series, the Mets have plummeted out of the pennant
race since the trades for Kris Benson and Victor Zambrano. And while neither
trade can be blamed for New York's miserable showings against Atlanta and St.
Louis on the current road trip, the NY
Post's Joel Sherman has no shortage of bones to pick.
Jim Duquette is furious. Outside executives — not armed with his inside information and financial parameters — are criticizing his deadline deals, specifically moving Scott Kazmir. Fans and media who have never seen Kazmir so much as lift his left arm are brutalizing the Met GM for moving such a talent.
Duquette defends the moves, saying that within his payroll dynamics, the Mets received two starters (Kris Benson and Victor Zambrano) they believe will flourish under pitching coach Rick Peterson for a package they were comfortable dealing. The Met analysis was Kazmir was a minimum of three years from helping, and might yet end up in the bullpen. Tampa GM Chuck LaMar said the lefty would be up Sept. 1 "if not sooner" to pitch in the rotation.
For the record, I side with the critics and, after canvassing opinions from 10 executives and scouts, here are the six main reasons why:
1) The Mets were six games out and behind three superior teams when the deals were executed and, thus, should have sold, not bought. Tampa, rebuilding with Kazmir, was just 11/2 games worse than the Mets entering this weekend.
2) The Mets fretted Benson (above) would be dealt to, and sign, with Atlanta. So what, the execs said, Benson is not talented enough for such worries. Besides, the Braves are financially strapped and retaining Benson (unlikely, the officials said) would, for example, prevent them from keeping Russ Ortiz, a better pitcher, whom the Mets could then sign as a free agent. "Finances should be a Met strength and they don't fully use it," an AL executive said.
3) Three scouts who saw Kazmir, 20, this year (two at Double-A, one at Single-A) projected him as a top-of-the-rotation starter. Among the most valuable trade chips is a high-ceiling, lefty starter, making little money and already succeeding at a high level. "There are just not a lot of power lefties out there like this guy," an AL farm director said.
4) Not one executive argued against trading Kazmir noting the poor track record for both high school pitchers and small lefties (even LaMar said durability was the long-term question). The problem was timing. At the deadline, only non-contenders hone in on prospects. The Mets said if they marketed Kazmir in winter, teams would have backed off, wondering why they were doing so. But the Mets could have shot high this offseason (Ben Sheets?) and waited for the other club to mention Kazmir, reducing suspicions. "In July you have a limited market place," an NL GM said. "In November, you could talk to and about anything."
5) The execs said the Mets would have been better served putting Kazmir, Huber, Peterson and Wigginton into one deal. One AL executive said, "That would have gotten them whomever will be the best player traded this offseason." Duquette called it "fantasy" to find a match with that kind of trade.
6) One AL assistant GM said, "No matter what Kazmir becomes in the majors, he has incredible value now. To get a questionable guy [Zambrano] for that is not enough." Duquette countered, "You don't get a No. 1 starter for a No. 1 pitching prospect." He cited the overwhelming packages for Randy Johnson in 1998 and even Freddy Garcia this year. But that suggests the Mets would have gotten more had they simply put well-regarded prospects Kazmir, Huber and Peterson in one deal.
A couple of thoughts about today's ongoing debacle :
What's up with Art Howe bringing in Mike DeJean in the 5th inning? Wouldn't Matt Ginter or Pedro Felicano make more sense in such a spot? Why is Ginter even on the roster if he's not used in one of the more obvious long-relief situations?
Kaz Matsui has left a game early for the 2nd day in a row, which means the Mets missed an opportunity to start Al Leiter nominee for the 2nd coming of Ozzie Smith, Joe McEwing.
Add Newsday's Jon Heyman to the growing chorus of persons wondering why Matsui can't be moved to 2B as soon as posible.
It is time now for the Kaz Matsui and Mike Piazza experiments to end. The Mets must transfer Matsui from shortstop to second base now, and they have to move Piazza permanently back to catcher. They have no choice.
A Mets person cited "integrity" as the reason they'll keep Matsui at shortstop for the year and mentioned the cultural shame a demotion would bring in his homeland. But Matsui told me no promises were made to him.
The current plan with Piazza is to have him catch only Al Leiter and Steve Trachsel, which has never been adequately explained. Nor could it.
Elsewhere in his Sunday column, Heyman chimes in with more criticism of Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta and his deals at last week's deadline.
Moneyball Maestro Paul DePodesta gets a pass for the Dodgers' silly trade with Florida because he was surely under orders to save money. The Dodgers are now telling people they won't give more than three-year deals, which means star third baseman Adrian Beltre is a goner.
There's nothing wrong with saving money if it means getting rid of Juan Encarnacion. LA are 6 1/2 games ahead of the Padres in the NL West. --- presumably a few more weeks will have to go by before the loss of Paul Lo Duca's leadership dooms the Dodgers to a late collapse.
Not that Heyman --- or anyone else --- has a monopoly on crap predictions. It was in this space just a few months ago that someone who looks an awful lot like me proclaimed the Marlins to be "the class of the NL East".
Jim Duquette is furious. Outside executives — not armed with his inside information and financial parameters — are criticizing his deadline deals, specifically moving Scott Kazmir. Fans and media who have never seen Kazmir so much as lift his left arm are brutalizing the Met GM for moving such a talent.
Duquette defends the moves, saying that within his payroll dynamics, the Mets received two starters (Kris Benson and Victor Zambrano) they believe will flourish under pitching coach Rick Peterson for a package they were comfortable dealing. The Met analysis was Kazmir was a minimum of three years from helping, and might yet end up in the bullpen. Tampa GM Chuck LaMar said the lefty would be up Sept. 1 "if not sooner" to pitch in the rotation.
For the record, I side with the critics and, after canvassing opinions from 10 executives and scouts, here are the six main reasons why:
1) The Mets were six games out and behind three superior teams when the deals were executed and, thus, should have sold, not bought. Tampa, rebuilding with Kazmir, was just 11/2 games worse than the Mets entering this weekend.
2) The Mets fretted Benson (above) would be dealt to, and sign, with Atlanta. So what, the execs said, Benson is not talented enough for such worries. Besides, the Braves are financially strapped and retaining Benson (unlikely, the officials said) would, for example, prevent them from keeping Russ Ortiz, a better pitcher, whom the Mets could then sign as a free agent. "Finances should be a Met strength and they don't fully use it," an AL executive said.
3) Three scouts who saw Kazmir, 20, this year (two at Double-A, one at Single-A) projected him as a top-of-the-rotation starter. Among the most valuable trade chips is a high-ceiling, lefty starter, making little money and already succeeding at a high level. "There are just not a lot of power lefties out there like this guy," an AL farm director said.
4) Not one executive argued against trading Kazmir noting the poor track record for both high school pitchers and small lefties (even LaMar said durability was the long-term question). The problem was timing. At the deadline, only non-contenders hone in on prospects. The Mets said if they marketed Kazmir in winter, teams would have backed off, wondering why they were doing so. But the Mets could have shot high this offseason (Ben Sheets?) and waited for the other club to mention Kazmir, reducing suspicions. "In July you have a limited market place," an NL GM said. "In November, you could talk to and about anything."
5) The execs said the Mets would have been better served putting Kazmir, Huber, Peterson and Wigginton into one deal. One AL executive said, "That would have gotten them whomever will be the best player traded this offseason." Duquette called it "fantasy" to find a match with that kind of trade.
6) One AL assistant GM said, "No matter what Kazmir becomes in the majors, he has incredible value now. To get a questionable guy [Zambrano] for that is not enough." Duquette countered, "You don't get a No. 1 starter for a No. 1 pitching prospect." He cited the overwhelming packages for Randy Johnson in 1998 and even Freddy Garcia this year. But that suggests the Mets would have gotten more had they simply put well-regarded prospects Kazmir, Huber and Peterson in one deal.
A couple of thoughts about today's ongoing debacle :
What's up with Art Howe bringing in Mike DeJean in the 5th inning? Wouldn't Matt Ginter or Pedro Felicano make more sense in such a spot? Why is Ginter even on the roster if he's not used in one of the more obvious long-relief situations?
Kaz Matsui has left a game early for the 2nd day in a row, which means the Mets missed an opportunity to start Al Leiter nominee for the 2nd coming of Ozzie Smith, Joe McEwing.
Add Newsday's Jon Heyman to the growing chorus of persons wondering why Matsui can't be moved to 2B as soon as posible.
It is time now for the Kaz Matsui and Mike Piazza experiments to end. The Mets must transfer Matsui from shortstop to second base now, and they have to move Piazza permanently back to catcher. They have no choice.
A Mets person cited "integrity" as the reason they'll keep Matsui at shortstop for the year and mentioned the cultural shame a demotion would bring in his homeland. But Matsui told me no promises were made to him.
The current plan with Piazza is to have him catch only Al Leiter and Steve Trachsel, which has never been adequately explained. Nor could it.
Elsewhere in his Sunday column, Heyman chimes in with more criticism of Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta and his deals at last week's deadline.
Moneyball Maestro Paul DePodesta gets a pass for the Dodgers' silly trade with Florida because he was surely under orders to save money. The Dodgers are now telling people they won't give more than three-year deals, which means star third baseman Adrian Beltre is a goner.
There's nothing wrong with saving money if it means getting rid of Juan Encarnacion. LA are 6 1/2 games ahead of the Padres in the NL West. --- presumably a few more weeks will have to go by before the loss of Paul Lo Duca's leadership dooms the Dodgers to a late collapse.
Not that Heyman --- or anyone else --- has a monopoly on crap predictions. It was in this space just a few months ago that someone who looks an awful lot like me proclaimed the Marlins to be "the class of the NL East".
Posted at 10:15 PM
Manny Has The Weekend Off
Despite the absence of Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox managed to score a combined 18 runs the past two afternoons, winning two in a row over Detroit, surviving Tim Wakefield (above) giving up 6 home runs earlier today. In Sunday's edition, The Providence Journal's Steve Krassner wonders about Ramirez' benching.
Make of this what you will.
About 40 minutes before last night's scheduled first pitch, Manny Ramirez was scratched from the starting lineup.
A little background now.
Ramirez, who has been the Red Sox' cleanup hitter virtually all year, had been moved up to the number three spot by manager Terry Francona for last night's game against the Tigers. David Ortiz, back from his five-game suspension, swapped places with Ramirez, dropping down from third to cleanup.
Francona toyed with the idea of batting Ramirez third in spring training, followed by Nomar Garciaparra and Ortiz. That was the order for the exhibition opener. Ramirez also hit third on Opening Day, but the next day he was the Sox' cleanup man, with Ortiz third.
Ramirez has indicated in the past that he is more comfortable batting fourth.
Yesterday, Francona said that Ramirez, who has been struggling in 19 games since the All-Star break (.219 with only 2 homers and 8 RBI) had gone to the manager after Friday night's game suggesting the batting-order switch.
But then the "flu" struck.
Another byproduct of Ramirez's "flu-like symptoms" was that his good buddy, Kevin Millar, who railed against Francona and his inconsistent starting lineups before batting practice, was inserted into Ramirez's spot in left field.
What to make of all this?
After the game, Francona insisted Ramirez was under the weather and said he wasn't sure about Ramirez's status for today. Ramirez, though, was smiling after the game and said he would "probably" be back in the lineup.
"He looks terrible. It came on him real quick," said Francona. "He was all bundled up. If he doesn't look better than he does now, (he won't play today). He came down to tell us he'd pinch hit, but for us to not want him to pinch hit, he had to be sick."
Ramirez pleasantly answered postgame questions about his health and his feelings about batting third.
"I was feeling great and then I got the flu in my throat," said Ramirez. "I'll probably be in there (today). I'm feeling better now."
Posted at 09:07 PM
Mushnick On Spike...Again
Proving that he's nothing if not consistent, the
NY Post's Earl of The Easily Outraged, Phil
Mushnick devotes all of Sunday's column to the many crimes committed by Spike
Lee. Since quoting Phil at length makes my skull hurt, I'll try to
limit this to the highlights.
1) Lee is a "maker of mostly bad movies".
Granted, the new "She Hate Me" looks pretty shitty. And "Girl 6" was no great achievement, nor was "Crooklyn". "Son Of Sam" totally sucked, even with the George Tabb cameo. But with a resume including "Do The Right Thing", "Four Little Girls", "She's Gotta Have It", "School Daze", "The Kings Of Comedy", "He Got Game", "Malcom X", "Jungle Fever", "Get On The Bus", "Clockers", and "25th Hour", I would characterize Spike Lee as a maker of mostly good movies.
Either you think Lee's a mostly interesting director or you don't. Though I wouldn't confuse prolific with good, the guy makes some pretty bold decisions from film to film, some bolder than others. I'm not familiar with Phil's background in cinema, but much like his comments about Serena Williams not looking so good in hot pants, he's a little out of his depth here.
2) Having shilled for Nike and their overpriced, slave-manufactured sneakers, Spike Lee has no right to complain about corporate greed.
Though this is not the craziest charge Mushnick has leveled at Lee, Phil is pretty quick to call someone else a hypocrite. Mushnick's columns are crammed with concern for the younger generation, what with the the evil influence of steriod pushers, scalped tickets, nasty cable TV companies, etc. the purveyors of which regularly advertise alongside Phil's column, either in print or online (and don't forget the classy ads for strip clubs and handgun peddlers in the Post's sports section). So Spike Lee has fed his children with wages paid by Merchants Of Human Misery. So has Phil.
But it is telling that Lee (and Nike) are regularly blamed by Phil for street crime, misplaced priorities, and helping to tap into the uncontrollable anxiety that many young blacks supposedly feel when they see an expensive product they cannot afford. In Phil's world, said youngsters start killing each other for sneakers and there's blood all over Lee's hands. Meanwhile, Pat Riley and Bill Parcells can work as Cadillac pitchmen and Phil isn't so bothered. But I suppose no one ever died during an auto theft (and white fans of Bill Parcells are far less impetuous).
3) Spike's Mars Blackmon character "which he often called upon to sell pricey Nikes, was a pitiful black street stereotype, a late 1980s and early '90s Stepinfetchit, head to toe."
I think this is overstating things, just a tad. Surely Lee has the right to create a comedic figure. I wouldn't expect Phil to know much about artistic expression but there are black personas other than say, Bill Cosby and Barry Sanders, that Lee and any other interpretive artist can draw from.
4) Spike Lee is a boorish, annoying clown with his loudmouth routine and cartoonish ensemble while standing courtside at Knicks games.
(Spike - he paid for his seat and he's going to get his money's worth. Possibly in the background, the very reserved Billy Crystal)
OK, admittedly Spike isn't sporting one of those No Neck Blues Band beards like Phil, but surely he's entitled to wear whatever he wants in public. Though his front row hysterics are more than a little tiresome (and more than a little dangerous if Reggie Miller is the target), are Lee's offenses at NBA games any worse than those committed by Jack Nicholson, Jimmy Buffet, Larry Miller or Calvin Klein?
For the record, I don't really think that Phil is a racist just because he holds a black celebrity to a very different standard than that of a white public figure. I just think he's had a hard on for Spike Lee for the past 20+ years and perhaps he needs to talk to a therapist about it.
1) Lee is a "maker of mostly bad movies".
Granted, the new "She Hate Me" looks pretty shitty. And "Girl 6" was no great achievement, nor was "Crooklyn". "Son Of Sam" totally sucked, even with the George Tabb cameo. But with a resume including "Do The Right Thing", "Four Little Girls", "She's Gotta Have It", "School Daze", "The Kings Of Comedy", "He Got Game", "Malcom X", "Jungle Fever", "Get On The Bus", "Clockers", and "25th Hour", I would characterize Spike Lee as a maker of mostly good movies.
Either you think Lee's a mostly interesting director or you don't. Though I wouldn't confuse prolific with good, the guy makes some pretty bold decisions from film to film, some bolder than others. I'm not familiar with Phil's background in cinema, but much like his comments about Serena Williams not looking so good in hot pants, he's a little out of his depth here.
2) Having shilled for Nike and their overpriced, slave-manufactured sneakers, Spike Lee has no right to complain about corporate greed.
Though this is not the craziest charge Mushnick has leveled at Lee, Phil is pretty quick to call someone else a hypocrite. Mushnick's columns are crammed with concern for the younger generation, what with the the evil influence of steriod pushers, scalped tickets, nasty cable TV companies, etc. the purveyors of which regularly advertise alongside Phil's column, either in print or online (and don't forget the classy ads for strip clubs and handgun peddlers in the Post's sports section). So Spike Lee has fed his children with wages paid by Merchants Of Human Misery. So has Phil.
But it is telling that Lee (and Nike) are regularly blamed by Phil for street crime, misplaced priorities, and helping to tap into the uncontrollable anxiety that many young blacks supposedly feel when they see an expensive product they cannot afford. In Phil's world, said youngsters start killing each other for sneakers and there's blood all over Lee's hands. Meanwhile, Pat Riley and Bill Parcells can work as Cadillac pitchmen and Phil isn't so bothered. But I suppose no one ever died during an auto theft (and white fans of Bill Parcells are far less impetuous).
3) Spike's Mars Blackmon character "which he often called upon to sell pricey Nikes, was a pitiful black street stereotype, a late 1980s and early '90s Stepinfetchit, head to toe."
I think this is overstating things, just a tad. Surely Lee has the right to create a comedic figure. I wouldn't expect Phil to know much about artistic expression but there are black personas other than say, Bill Cosby and Barry Sanders, that Lee and any other interpretive artist can draw from.
4) Spike Lee is a boorish, annoying clown with his loudmouth routine and cartoonish ensemble while standing courtside at Knicks games.
(Spike - he paid for his seat and he's going to get his money's worth. Possibly in the background, the very reserved Billy Crystal)
OK, admittedly Spike isn't sporting one of those No Neck Blues Band beards like Phil, but surely he's entitled to wear whatever he wants in public. Though his front row hysterics are more than a little tiresome (and more than a little dangerous if Reggie Miller is the target), are Lee's offenses at NBA games any worse than those committed by Jack Nicholson, Jimmy Buffet, Larry Miller or Calvin Klein?
For the record, I don't really think that Phil is a racist just because he holds a black celebrity to a very different standard than that of a white public figure. I just think he's had a hard on for Spike Lee for the past 20+ years and perhaps he needs to talk to a therapist about it.
Posted at 03:48 PM
Joel Steinberg, Daddy Dearest
A crying shame New York magazine wasn't able to
get this interview in time for their Father's Day
issue.
Joel Steinberg, free after serving nearly 17 years in the beating death of his 6-year-old adopted daughter, still describes himself as "a good father" and said he had "pushed" Lisa Steinberg but didn't hit her.
"I was a good father," he said in an interview with New York magazine that hits newstands on Monday. "Of course, I'm sorry my daughter's dead. But the medical reports showed no 'present' or 'historical' fractures or wounds. That means no history of abuse. Got it?"
An expert quoted by the magazine said Steinberg was selectively quoting from a medical report that showed the girl had injuries including brain swelling.
"If a man my size, with a fist as big as mine, hit you in the forehead, you'd hit the floor and have a mark you'd remember. If I hit a little girl that way, the bruise would have been bigger than her head!" he said. "What about the people at school, her friends on West 10th Street? How come nobody saw nothin'?"
Steinberg admitted to the magazine that he "pushed" his daughter, "with the soft pad, you know, on your palm?,"
"As soon as we saw that she wasn't breathing right, we called the ambulance," he said. "What would anyone else have done?"
Steinberg, a disbarred lawyer, has been living in a Manhattan halfway house since he was released June 30.
"I went from middle-aged millionaire to penniless bum!" he told New York.
"I can't even afford a subscription to Cruising World, which is not about what you might think. It's about sailing. I like to look at the pictures.I used to take my daughter and even Hedda out on Long Island Sound, for the peace and fresh air. That rhythm of the water. We had some good times, everybody forgets."
Joel Steinberg, free after serving nearly 17 years in the beating death of his 6-year-old adopted daughter, still describes himself as "a good father" and said he had "pushed" Lisa Steinberg but didn't hit her.
"I was a good father," he said in an interview with New York magazine that hits newstands on Monday. "Of course, I'm sorry my daughter's dead. But the medical reports showed no 'present' or 'historical' fractures or wounds. That means no history of abuse. Got it?"
An expert quoted by the magazine said Steinberg was selectively quoting from a medical report that showed the girl had injuries including brain swelling.
"If a man my size, with a fist as big as mine, hit you in the forehead, you'd hit the floor and have a mark you'd remember. If I hit a little girl that way, the bruise would have been bigger than her head!" he said. "What about the people at school, her friends on West 10th Street? How come nobody saw nothin'?"
Steinberg admitted to the magazine that he "pushed" his daughter, "with the soft pad, you know, on your palm?,"
"As soon as we saw that she wasn't breathing right, we called the ambulance," he said. "What would anyone else have done?"
Steinberg, a disbarred lawyer, has been living in a Manhattan halfway house since he was released June 30.
"I went from middle-aged millionaire to penniless bum!" he told New York.
"I can't even afford a subscription to Cruising World, which is not about what you might think. It's about sailing. I like to look at the pictures.I used to take my daughter and even Hedda out on Long Island Sound, for the peace and fresh air. That rhythm of the water. We had some good times, everybody forgets."
Posted at 01:34 PM
Sat - August 7, 2004
"This Is Not Martha's Vineyard"
In the wacky record biz, all sorts of concessions
can be made for artists that for one reason or another, are loathe to tour or
reluctant to visit radio stations. That said, even
the most rudimentary marketing campaign faces a challenge when the performer is
in incarcerated until at least 2009, writes Jeff Leeds in Saturday's
New York Times.
In the calculating eyes of music industry executives, the rap artist Jamaal Barrow possesses the sort of street credibility that instantly draws fans and sells records - a prison sentence. Unfortunately for them, he's serving it right now.
Mr. Barrow, professionally known as Shyne and a former protégé of the rap music impresario Sean Combs, was heavily courted this winter despite being just three years into a 10-year sentence for a shooting while he was with Mr. Combs at a Manhattan nightclub. But now, after signing Shyne to a multimillion-dollar-record contract to put out some of his unreleased recordings, executives at Vivendi Universal's Def Jam Recordings are finding that some of the very traits that stirred up such interest - his hardcore image and tangles with the law - may prove to be major drawbacks as they market his new album, "Godfather Buried Alive,'' due in stores Tuesday.
With the performer behind bars in upstate New York, a concert tour is out of the question. So is the customary swing through radio station studios in the biggest markets. The New York State Department of Correctional Services has started to enforce rules limiting the number of reporters who can visit. And whatever modest publicity efforts Shyne can undertake will not take place on Friday nights or Saturdays - he recently began observing the Jewish Sabbath, a nod, he says, to his great-grandmother, an Ethiopian Jew.
"No one would want to be here,'' Shyne said in a telephone interview last week from the Clinton Correctional Facility. "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I have to make the best of it. I am here and I have adjusted. I've found a way to stay on top of everything.''
Overcoming the hurdles prison places on marketing is not impossible, as the rapper Tupac Shakur proved.
"The truth about it is," said Antonio Reid, the chairman of the Island Def Jam Music Group, "there are times when our marketing plans don't really include the artist anyway - maybe it costs too much to move them around, maybe the artist doesn't live in the U.S.''
"I know I can't do anything with him,'' Mr. Reid said of Shyne. "We approach it like he's just in Japan."
Since he cannot make in-person visits, Shyne has settled for telephoning a handful of major radio stations to speak to D.J.'s. He also plans to offer a series of $10,000 scholarships to radio listeners in some markets, and will call 10 fans competing in a contest on Vibe magazine's Web site.
Prison also serves up its own particular obstacles. While speaking last month with Felli Fel, a D.J. with the top-rated KPWR-FM in Los Angeles, Shyne said he would have to wind up his interview because there apparently had been an attack inside the prison. A moment later, the phone line went dead.
In an interview last week, Shyne was matter-of-fact about the interruption. "This is jail; people get stabbed every day. This is not Martha's Vineyard.''
But his imprisonment may affect more than just his music's marketing. James B. Flateau, a spokesman for the New York prison system, said the department was "in the process" of discussing the album with the State Crime Victims Board, which is authorized to examine whether money earned by an inmate can be sought by his or her victims under the state's so-called "Son of Sam" law.
Shyne, as well as lawyers involved with his record deal, contend that his income from the album cannot be seized under the law. In fact, he said the release of an album from behind bars "is against all odds'' and should provide inspiration to the public and his fellow inmates alike.
In the calculating eyes of music industry executives, the rap artist Jamaal Barrow possesses the sort of street credibility that instantly draws fans and sells records - a prison sentence. Unfortunately for them, he's serving it right now.
Mr. Barrow, professionally known as Shyne and a former protégé of the rap music impresario Sean Combs, was heavily courted this winter despite being just three years into a 10-year sentence for a shooting while he was with Mr. Combs at a Manhattan nightclub. But now, after signing Shyne to a multimillion-dollar-record contract to put out some of his unreleased recordings, executives at Vivendi Universal's Def Jam Recordings are finding that some of the very traits that stirred up such interest - his hardcore image and tangles with the law - may prove to be major drawbacks as they market his new album, "Godfather Buried Alive,'' due in stores Tuesday.
With the performer behind bars in upstate New York, a concert tour is out of the question. So is the customary swing through radio station studios in the biggest markets. The New York State Department of Correctional Services has started to enforce rules limiting the number of reporters who can visit. And whatever modest publicity efforts Shyne can undertake will not take place on Friday nights or Saturdays - he recently began observing the Jewish Sabbath, a nod, he says, to his great-grandmother, an Ethiopian Jew.
"No one would want to be here,'' Shyne said in a telephone interview last week from the Clinton Correctional Facility. "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I have to make the best of it. I am here and I have adjusted. I've found a way to stay on top of everything.''
Overcoming the hurdles prison places on marketing is not impossible, as the rapper Tupac Shakur proved.
"The truth about it is," said Antonio Reid, the chairman of the Island Def Jam Music Group, "there are times when our marketing plans don't really include the artist anyway - maybe it costs too much to move them around, maybe the artist doesn't live in the U.S.''
"I know I can't do anything with him,'' Mr. Reid said of Shyne. "We approach it like he's just in Japan."
Since he cannot make in-person visits, Shyne has settled for telephoning a handful of major radio stations to speak to D.J.'s. He also plans to offer a series of $10,000 scholarships to radio listeners in some markets, and will call 10 fans competing in a contest on Vibe magazine's Web site.
Prison also serves up its own particular obstacles. While speaking last month with Felli Fel, a D.J. with the top-rated KPWR-FM in Los Angeles, Shyne said he would have to wind up his interview because there apparently had been an attack inside the prison. A moment later, the phone line went dead.
In an interview last week, Shyne was matter-of-fact about the interruption. "This is jail; people get stabbed every day. This is not Martha's Vineyard.''
But his imprisonment may affect more than just his music's marketing. James B. Flateau, a spokesman for the New York prison system, said the department was "in the process" of discussing the album with the State Crime Victims Board, which is authorized to examine whether money earned by an inmate can be sought by his or her victims under the state's so-called "Son of Sam" law.
Shyne, as well as lawyers involved with his record deal, contend that his income from the album cannot be seized under the law. In fact, he said the release of an album from behind bars "is against all odds'' and should provide inspiration to the public and his fellow inmates alike.
Posted at 11:45 PM
Voisin Starts Packing C-Webb's Bags
What with Vlade leaving town, the Kings' Peja Stojakovic is demanding a trade.
The Sacramento Bee's Ailene Voisin would much rather see Chris Webber shipped
elsewhere.
Clubs that collapse as dramatically as the Kings during those final weeks, with players imitating actors who forget their lines, and whose lead character suddenly steals the script and pockets the applause, seldom survive intact.
But the wrong guys are running for the exit.
Someone better bar the door, quickly.
The Kings have already committed one serious error - failing to appreciate Vlade Divac's immense popularity and ensuring that the veteran center retired as a member of the organization - and once again are embroiled in a situation that should have been addressed aggressively months ago.
There have been only two reasonable choices: The team's most powerful personality (Chris Webber) should be traded or the head coach (Rick Adelman) should be replaced by someone willing to confront the heavyweights.
Devastating finishes call for desperate measures. Haven't the Kings learned anything from the Lakers?
When relationships become strained beyond repair, manifested by lousy chemistry on the court and poisoned dynamics in the locker room, the key ingredients require a serious second look.
And from the time Webber returned March 2 following knee surgery and an eight-game suspension, the view was the same in Serbia as it was in Sacramento: ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly.
Given the severity of his injury and 10-month rehabilitation, he was in no position to resume his role as the dominant player, much less demand that others step aside.
His mobility was significantly hampered. He carried at least 15 pounds of unnecessary muscle, a serious liability for any elite athlete with bad knees. Realistically, he was at least an offseason and several months away from discovering whether his full complement of skills would ever be recaptured.
But worst of all, Webber never embraced the nuances of a system that enabled the Kings to attack from all angles, yet attack as a single, highly efficient entity.
But no one challenged the power forward about his game or his post-game critiques - everyone was always at fault, it seemed, except Webber - or insisted that he join the team instead of revising the game plan to accommodate his individual desires. When someone should have intervened and taken control of the situation, no one did, and that someone should have been the head coach.
So why would anyone be surprised that Divac would leave? That Stojakovic would request a trade? That Webber's ridiculous ramblings, inferences and innuendos would never abate?
Clubs that collapse as dramatically as the Kings during those final weeks, with players imitating actors who forget their lines, and whose lead character suddenly steals the script and pockets the applause, seldom survive intact.
But the wrong guys are running for the exit.
Someone better bar the door, quickly.
The Kings have already committed one serious error - failing to appreciate Vlade Divac's immense popularity and ensuring that the veteran center retired as a member of the organization - and once again are embroiled in a situation that should have been addressed aggressively months ago.
There have been only two reasonable choices: The team's most powerful personality (Chris Webber) should be traded or the head coach (Rick Adelman) should be replaced by someone willing to confront the heavyweights.
Devastating finishes call for desperate measures. Haven't the Kings learned anything from the Lakers?
When relationships become strained beyond repair, manifested by lousy chemistry on the court and poisoned dynamics in the locker room, the key ingredients require a serious second look.
And from the time Webber returned March 2 following knee surgery and an eight-game suspension, the view was the same in Serbia as it was in Sacramento: ugly, ugly, ugly, ugly.
Given the severity of his injury and 10-month rehabilitation, he was in no position to resume his role as the dominant player, much less demand that others step aside.
His mobility was significantly hampered. He carried at least 15 pounds of unnecessary muscle, a serious liability for any elite athlete with bad knees. Realistically, he was at least an offseason and several months away from discovering whether his full complement of skills would ever be recaptured.
But worst of all, Webber never embraced the nuances of a system that enabled the Kings to attack from all angles, yet attack as a single, highly efficient entity.
But no one challenged the power forward about his game or his post-game critiques - everyone was always at fault, it seemed, except Webber - or insisted that he join the team instead of revising the game plan to accommodate his individual desires. When someone should have intervened and taken control of the situation, no one did, and that someone should have been the head coach.
So why would anyone be surprised that Divac would leave? That Stojakovic would request a trade? That Webber's ridiculous ramblings, inferences and innuendos would never abate?
Posted at 11:27 PM
Reds' Mouthpiece Manuevering Comes To A Close (We Think)
From John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer :
Joe Nuxhall and the Reds have made their peace. And in all likelihood, controversy - at least as far as broadcasters are concerned - is behind the club.
A source confirmed a Channel 19 report that Nuxhall's longtime partner in the booth, Marty Brennaman, has agreed to a three-year contract extension that will keep him as the team's No. 1 radio play-by-play man through 2007.
Despite the timing, Brennaman's extension was unrelated to the Nuxhall controversy.
Neither the Reds nor Brennaman would comment on the extension.
As for Nuxhall, he released a statement saying his "emotions got the best of me," leading him to say the organization forced him into retirement.
He ended the statement with: "As far as I am concerned, this little episode is over."
The episode might be over, but the public relations ramifications aren't gone. Popular perception is that Reds chief executive officer Carl Lindner forced out Nuxhall.
I only hear Reds action on radio every now and then, so I was looking for someone else to fill in the blanks here. Other than the possibility of Joe Nuxhall dropping dead on-air, why were the Reds (seemingly) so eager to give him and/or Brennaman the boot? The Enquirer's Paul Daugherty might have been onto something :
There was ample evidence that until October 2002, when he signed his current deal he now claims was forced upon him, Joe was using his beloved status to take it easy on the job. For a few years, Joe coasted. He knew it and wasn't especially troubled by it. When he was on the air, Joe often sounded disengaged, especially when the Reds were losing or playing poorly. When he wasn't on the air, he slept occasionally.
What should the Reds do? The club is as good at managing the news as Wily Mo Pena is at catching routine fly balls.
Instead of celebrating their most prized employees - Nuxhall and Barry Larkin come to mind - the Reds seem to want them gone. They don't do anything without bumping into the furniture.
Joe Nuxhall and the Reds have made their peace. And in all likelihood, controversy - at least as far as broadcasters are concerned - is behind the club.
A source confirmed a Channel 19 report that Nuxhall's longtime partner in the booth, Marty Brennaman, has agreed to a three-year contract extension that will keep him as the team's No. 1 radio play-by-play man through 2007.
Despite the timing, Brennaman's extension was unrelated to the Nuxhall controversy.
Neither the Reds nor Brennaman would comment on the extension.
As for Nuxhall, he released a statement saying his "emotions got the best of me," leading him to say the organization forced him into retirement.
He ended the statement with: "As far as I am concerned, this little episode is over."
The episode might be over, but the public relations ramifications aren't gone. Popular perception is that Reds chief executive officer Carl Lindner forced out Nuxhall.
I only hear Reds action on radio every now and then, so I was looking for someone else to fill in the blanks here. Other than the possibility of Joe Nuxhall dropping dead on-air, why were the Reds (seemingly) so eager to give him and/or Brennaman the boot? The Enquirer's Paul Daugherty might have been onto something :
There was ample evidence that until October 2002, when he signed his current deal he now claims was forced upon him, Joe was using his beloved status to take it easy on the job. For a few years, Joe coasted. He knew it and wasn't especially troubled by it. When he was on the air, Joe often sounded disengaged, especially when the Reds were losing or playing poorly. When he wasn't on the air, he slept occasionally.
What should the Reds do? The club is as good at managing the news as Wily Mo Pena is at catching routine fly balls.
Instead of celebrating their most prized employees - Nuxhall and Barry Larkin come to mind - the Reds seem to want them gone. They don't do anything without bumping into the furniture.
Posted at 10:55 PM
QPR 1, Rotherham 1
I really hope I didn't hear Ian Holloway describe Gareth Ainsworth (above, scorer of QPR's only goal this afternoon) as "pretty good in the air --- for a white man" in his post-match comments. Sporting Life quotes QPR's manager as saying "wide man ". I've replayed Holloway's interview on QPR World a half dozen times (much like Olly's Pollack-esque paintings, its weirdly hypnotic)....and it sounds like "white man". Oh well, enunciation ain't everything.
I don't mean to give Holloway a hard time. Ainsworth and Martin Rowlands were both pretty good on the ground, too (for men of any racial, ethnic or national background).
Other than that, QPR's less than auspicious return to Division One (and I'm not calling it the Coca Cola Championship --- this rebranding nonsense doesn't disguise the fact we're still talking about the old Second Division) was marked by brutal heat, Coca-Cola signage, a viciously profane dude 3 rows behind me who's on a fast track to a voice box, the obligatory Mick Jones sighting (thankfully, making zero concessions to said brutal heat) and a dubious foul called on Matthew Rose leading to the visitors' equalizer.
Posted at 08:39 PM
Four Eyes No Better Than Two For Kaz, Revisionist History WIth Roger
(St. Louis starter Matt Morris won his 12th last night, allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks over 7 innings)
Still on pace for a 40 error season, despite sitting out a trio of games this week, Kaz Matsui catches the blame from the NY Post's Michael Morrissey for the Mets' 6-4 loss last night to the Cardinals.
Yesterday afternoon, someone asked Art Howe if it was worth keeping Kaz Matsui on the bench rather than mess with a winning lineup.
Out the previous three games with a left ankle bone bruise, the error-prone Matsui missed the Mets' series sweep over Milwaukee.
"No, if he's healthy, he's ready to go," Howe answered.
A few hours later, Matsui — wearing glasses in the field for the first time — committed his major-league leading 23rd error at shortstop, allowing the go-ahead run to reach second in the seventh inning of the Mets' 6-4 loss to St. Louis.
In the seventh, Matsui faltered. He came to the United States as a Gold Glove winner in Japan, but his glove and arm have been hazardous materials. He doesn't have a nickname yet, but HazMatsui isn't bad.
Matsui dropped and then threw away a routine grounder by Cards starter Matt Morris leading off the seventh, and frustrated, snake-bitten starter Tom Glavine couldn't pick up his teammate. Matsui dropped the ball as he was transferring it from glove to hand and then fired a sidearm throw in the dirt.
In this morning's Newsday, David Lennon catches up with former Met Roger Cedeno, currently coming off the bench for Tony La Russa :
At Busch Stadium, the fans say please and thank you when asking for autographs, even when they are turned down in their polite request. And if you're wearing Cardinal red, there is no such thing as an unforgivable sin on the baseball field. Just try to do better the next time.
Is it any wonder that Roger Cedeño is happy here? Cedeño generated more boos than anyone short of John Rocker during his second tour in Flushing, a stay with the Mets that ended on the final weekend of spring training when he was dealt to St. Louis.
But that trade not only rescued the outfielder's spiraling career, it did something even Cedeño, the eternal optimist, thought impossible - allow his family to watch him play at his home ballpark once more. Last season, Cedeño's wife, Thais, and young daughter, Michele, endured so much profanity-laced abuse at Shea that he felt it was unwise for them to attend games there. At Busch, they never want to leave.
"My daughter loves it," said Cedeño, whose second daughter, Veronica, was born in October. "You don't hear any bad words in the stands. They've got class."
"I'm very comfortable here," Cedeño said. "It's unbelievable. The fans are great. In the second game I played here, I went 0-for-4, and they say, 'It's OK. You'll get them tomorrow.' I'm not used to this. There's a feeling that you want to do something when you have that support behind you. Everybody wants to do the little things because the fans appreciate it."
In the sheltered Cardinals clubhouse, in a town where the media spotlight shines with the intensity of a flickering candle, most of Cedeño's teammates will never understand the personal hell he languished through in New York. His friends on the Mets did, marveling at the barrage of boos that rained down on him at Shea, and Cedeño is thankful to be performing in front of a more sympathetic audience.
"They really understand the game," Cedeño said. "They know how hard it is. They don't put pressure on us."
There you have it. Cedeno's problems with NY fans stemmed from the latter's inability to understand baseball, not their impatience with the latter's inability to catch the ball, failure to make contact, etc. Perhaps a few of those oh-so-supportive St. Louis fans recognize that unlike the Mets, their club isn't paying Cedeno $5 million a year to swing at pitches over his head, nor are their hopes invested in a leadoff hitter who turns up for spring training overweight, an outfielder far more adept at drunk driving than he is coming within 20 feet of a routine fly ball.
The Post's Morrisey has an almost identical item today, this after the Star-Ledger's David Waldstein ran a piece earlier in the year that had Cedeno bemoaning the verbal abuse his family withstood at Shea. With so many buddies in the Mets press corps, I can only assume that Roger Cedeno is an absolutely terrific person to hang around with. As evidenced by his 2002 and 2003 seasons, he's not much of a ballplayer.
Posted at 12:20 PM
Cards Get Walker
During tonight's Mets/Cardinals telecast on Fox Sports NY, your
fountain of information, Fran Healy is reporting that St. Louis have acquired OF
Larry Walker from the Colorado Rockies.
(Update : for once, Healy was not full of shit. Just days after putting his Denver home for sale, Colorado sent Walker to St. Louis in exchange for P Jason Burch and two players to be named later.
According to the St. Louis Dispatch, Walker had already turned down trades to Arizona, Texas and Florida. Colorado will cover $9 million of the $17.5 million Walker is owed this season and next.)
(Update : for once, Healy was not full of shit. Just days after putting his Denver home for sale, Colorado sent Walker to St. Louis in exchange for P Jason Burch and two players to be named later.
According to the St. Louis Dispatch, Walker had already turned down trades to Arizona, Texas and Florida. Colorado will cover $9 million of the $17.5 million Walker is owed this season and next.)
Posted at 02:16 AM
Racist Turd Wins TN Congressional Primary
The AP's Woody Bard has the story of James L.
Hart, the GOP's nominee for U.S. Congress in Tennessee's 8th District.
With 86 percent of the primary vote counted Thursday, write-in candidate Dennis Bertrand had just 1,554 votes compared to 7,671, or 83 percent, for James L. Hart, a believer in the discredited, phony science of eugenics.
In November, the GOP candidate will oppose Rep. John Tanner, a Democrat who has represented the northwest Tennessee district for 15 years.
Hart, 60, vows if elected to work toward keeping ``less favored races'' from reproducing or immigrating to the United States. In campaign literature, Hart contends that ``poverty genes'' threaten to turn the United States into ``one big Detroit.''
``I didn't expect to win,'' Hart said. ``I thought their network would beat my ideas.''
He has run for the 8th District seat before and drawn little attention. But people began to notice this time because he was the only Republican on the ballot.
Hart said he will have lots of time to campaign for the general election since he was forced Wednesday to resign from his job as a real estate salesman because of the attention he drew during the primary.
``They didn't say 'You're fired' in exactly those words, but it was pretty clear what they wanted,'' Hart said.
While campaigning, Hart sometimes wears a protective vest and carries a .40-caliber pistol, but he said he has run into no trouble.
``When I knock on a door and say white children deserve the same rights as everybody else, the enthusiastic response is truly amazing,'' he said.
If a black person opens the door, he says he simply drops off campaign literature and leaves.
What's wrong with "one big Detroit"?
Granted, the Tigers and Lions have sucked recently, but the Pistons and Red Wings are nothing but a source of civic pride, as were the Gories (above), Bantam Rooster, the Electrifying Mojo, etc. You could do a lot worse than one big Detroit (one big Chattanooga comes to mind).
With 86 percent of the primary vote counted Thursday, write-in candidate Dennis Bertrand had just 1,554 votes compared to 7,671, or 83 percent, for James L. Hart, a believer in the discredited, phony science of eugenics.
In November, the GOP candidate will oppose Rep. John Tanner, a Democrat who has represented the northwest Tennessee district for 15 years.
Hart, 60, vows if elected to work toward keeping ``less favored races'' from reproducing or immigrating to the United States. In campaign literature, Hart contends that ``poverty genes'' threaten to turn the United States into ``one big Detroit.''
``I didn't expect to win,'' Hart said. ``I thought their network would beat my ideas.''
He has run for the 8th District seat before and drawn little attention. But people began to notice this time because he was the only Republican on the ballot.
Hart said he will have lots of time to campaign for the general election since he was forced Wednesday to resign from his job as a real estate salesman because of the attention he drew during the primary.
``They didn't say 'You're fired' in exactly those words, but it was pretty clear what they wanted,'' Hart said.
While campaigning, Hart sometimes wears a protective vest and carries a .40-caliber pistol, but he said he has run into no trouble.
``When I knock on a door and say white children deserve the same rights as everybody else, the enthusiastic response is truly amazing,'' he said.
If a black person opens the door, he says he simply drops off campaign literature and leaves.
What's wrong with "one big Detroit"?
Granted, the Tigers and Lions have sucked recently, but the Pistons and Red Wings are nothing but a source of civic pride, as were the Gories (above), Bantam Rooster, the Electrifying Mojo, etc. You could do a lot worse than one big Detroit (one big Chattanooga comes to mind).
Posted at 12:34 AM
Fri - August 6, 2004
Laura Bush : Unsafe At Any Speed
John Kerry's wife The Ketchup Lady might be hard
to understand and equally rough on the eyes, but at least she never
killed anybody.
Thanks to Mr. B. Daniel of Anytown, USA for passing along a link to childbutcher.com , an impressive, if slightly terrifying compendium of decades-old evidence linking Laura Bush to a traffic fatality claiming the life of a Midland, TX male acquaintance.
Thanks to Mr. B. Daniel of Anytown, USA for passing along a link to childbutcher.com , an impressive, if slightly terrifying compendium of decades-old evidence linking Laura Bush to a traffic fatality claiming the life of a Midland, TX male acquaintance.
Posted at 11:46 PM
Mumbling Through Leather
Kids, take it from me - using a handkerchief over
the phone while making an obscene phone call to Hillary Clinton virtually
guarantees you'll be misunderstood. The same can be said for pitchers, catchers and infielders muffling their mouths
with gloves.
Posted at 11:28 PM
Finding A Pulse On Long Island
Just days after the Mets traded the new Bill Pulsipher (aka Scott Kazmir) for Victor Zambrano, the Seattle Mariners have signed the old Bill Pulsipher (affectionately known as "Bill Pulsipher"), purchasing his contract from the Atlantic League's Long Island Ducks and assigning him to the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League.
Posted at 09:46 PM
Glove Story - Payton To Celtics In 5 Player Deal
Here's the deal :
TO BOSTON -
G Gary Payton
F Rick Fox
a conditional first round pick (reverts if LA ends up in the lottery)
TO LOS ANGELES -
C Chris Mihm
G Marcus Banks
G Chucky Atkins
a future 2nd round draft choice
The Celtics also receive cash and a homemade DVD-R collecting highlights from Rick Fox's acting career, including episodes of "Oz", Spike Lee's "He Got Game" and those amazing Radio Shack ads with Vanessa and the kids.
TO BOSTON -
G Gary Payton
F Rick Fox
a conditional first round pick (reverts if LA ends up in the lottery)
TO LOS ANGELES -
C Chris Mihm
G Marcus Banks
G Chucky Atkins
a future 2nd round draft choice
The Celtics also receive cash and a homemade DVD-R collecting highlights from Rick Fox's acting career, including episodes of "Oz", Spike Lee's "He Got Game" and those amazing Radio Shack ads with Vanessa and the kids.
Posted at 09:01 PM
He's Dead, Bitch : Rick James, 1948-2004
Without Rick James , we'd have no MC Hammer, no Mary Jane Girls and quite probably, no career revival for Eddie Murphy's brother. And "In My House" was a pretty good single.
Posted at 08:52 PM
There Are Few Headlines That Bring A Smile To My Face Quite Like...
..."Megadeth Members Exchange
Lawsuits"
From Billboard.com:
Bassist David Ellefson's action, filed July 12 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that co-founding guitarist David Mustaine breached their long-running partnership agreement. He claims Mustaine wrongfully took the lion's share of the band's income (estimated at more than $200 million since 1984) for himself and cut Ellefson out of the band's music publishing and merchandise revenues.
Ellefson also says that Mustaine (above) libeled him in an online posting. The bassist is seeking at least $18.5 million in damages.
Bassist David Ellefson's action, filed July 12 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that co-founding guitarist David Mustaine breached their long-running partnership agreement. He claims Mustaine wrongfully took the lion's share of the band's income (estimated at more than $200 million since 1984) for himself and cut Ellefson out of the band's music publishing and merchandise revenues.
Ellefson also says that Mustaine (above) libeled him in an online posting. The bassist is seeking at least $18.5 million in damages.
Posted at 08:44 PM
Knicks Keep Baker, Lose Out On Dampier?
From ESPN.com:
Erick Dampier may be willing to take the Knicks' $4.9 million mid-level exception ... but is it already gone?
F Vin Baker's agent, Aaron Goodwin, told ESPN Insider Chad Ford on Thursday that Baker already has agreed to a multiyear contract with the Knicks that starts at $3.5 million -- eating most of New York's mid-level exception.
"Vin is done," Goodwin told Ford. "The [Knicks] mid-level is gone. ... Vin [contract] starts at $3.5 [million], which negates Dampier for mid-level."
While there had been previous rumblings about the Knicks' interest in re-signing Baker, talk of the team using part of its larger exception to get him comes as a surprise. There had been previous suggestions that Baker might take the Knicks $1.6 million veteran's exception instead. Thursday's The Journal News (Westchester/Putnam counties, NY) reported that a source confirmed that the Knicks had used the smaller exception to keep Baker for this season, with a team option for a second year.
Goodwin, however, dismissed that scenario as an option.
"I would never take $1.6 million for Vin. That is not negotiating, it is accepting, which I never have or will do without a fight," he told Ford.
The Knicks have yet to officially announce a deal with Baker. A phone call to the team for comment wasn't returned.
Those who aren't surfing for Vin Baker updates 24-7 might've missed the following item, courtesy of the Boston Herald's David Webber, detailing a lawsuit against Baker brought by his former personal trainer, Steven Gordon. Gordon claims he helped facilitate Baker's trade from Seattle to Boston and was promised large sums of cash by the player. If Gordon really is responsible in some way for said deal, perhaps the Celtics should be suing him?
Erick Dampier may be willing to take the Knicks' $4.9 million mid-level exception ... but is it already gone?
F Vin Baker's agent, Aaron Goodwin, told ESPN Insider Chad Ford on Thursday that Baker already has agreed to a multiyear contract with the Knicks that starts at $3.5 million -- eating most of New York's mid-level exception.
"Vin is done," Goodwin told Ford. "The [Knicks] mid-level is gone. ... Vin [contract] starts at $3.5 [million], which negates Dampier for mid-level."
While there had been previous rumblings about the Knicks' interest in re-signing Baker, talk of the team using part of its larger exception to get him comes as a surprise. There had been previous suggestions that Baker might take the Knicks $1.6 million veteran's exception instead. Thursday's The Journal News (Westchester/Putnam counties, NY) reported that a source confirmed that the Knicks had used the smaller exception to keep Baker for this season, with a team option for a second year.
Goodwin, however, dismissed that scenario as an option.
"I would never take $1.6 million for Vin. That is not negotiating, it is accepting, which I never have or will do without a fight," he told Ford.
The Knicks have yet to officially announce a deal with Baker. A phone call to the team for comment wasn't returned.
Those who aren't surfing for Vin Baker updates 24-7 might've missed the following item, courtesy of the Boston Herald's David Webber, detailing a lawsuit against Baker brought by his former personal trainer, Steven Gordon. Gordon claims he helped facilitate Baker's trade from Seattle to Boston and was promised large sums of cash by the player. If Gordon really is responsible in some way for said deal, perhaps the Celtics should be suing him?
Posted at 07:27 PM
Clarity & Conviction, Redefined.
from the Chicago Tribune :
President Bush signed legislation Thursday authorizing $417 billion in defense spending. In his remarks, the president misspoke when talking about the war on terrorism.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
Later, press secretary Scott McClellan assured reporters that Bush had no intent to harm Americans. Rather, it "just shows even the most straightforward and plain-spoken people misspeak," he said.
"The American people know this president speaks with clarity and conviction," McClellan said. "And the terrorists know by his actions he means it."
Just so you're keeping score, the President is not a boob. He is merely straightforward and plain-spoken.
President Bush signed legislation Thursday authorizing $417 billion in defense spending. In his remarks, the president misspoke when talking about the war on terrorism.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
Later, press secretary Scott McClellan assured reporters that Bush had no intent to harm Americans. Rather, it "just shows even the most straightforward and plain-spoken people misspeak," he said.
"The American people know this president speaks with clarity and conviction," McClellan said. "And the terrorists know by his actions he means it."
Just so you're keeping score, the President is not a boob. He is merely straightforward and plain-spoken.
Posted at 01:45 PM
Knicks Get Crawford, Sink Further Into Cap Hell
Hey, it's only money. Jamal Crawford (above) signed a 7 year, $55.4 million contract with Chicago, and has been swapped to New York in a sign and trade deal. The Knicks will also acquire Jermoe WIlliams in exchange for Dikeme Mutombo, Othella Harrington, Frank Williams and Cezary Trybanski.
Crawford led the Bulls in scoring last season, averaging 17.3 points per game. According to a number of sources, this trade nearly blew up over Isiah Thomas' insistance that the Bulls take Moochie Norris in the deal, while others claimed Thomas' counterpart, Chicago's John Paxson was equally adament that the Knicks accept Scottie Pippen.
Posted at 01:50 AM
Wright Busts Out, Mets Sweep Brewers
Rookie 3B David Wright (shown above engaging in a weird gang handshake of sorts with Mike Piazza and Mike Cameron) knocked in 6 runs yesterday aftenoon, 3 of 'em on a first inning 3-run homer off Victor Santos, as the Mets won their third in a row over Milwaukee, 11-6. New York find themselves 7 1/2 behind NL East leading Atlanta, who are currently trailing Houston, 1-0.
Victor Zambrano, making his Mets debut following last week's controversial trade with Tampa Bay, got the win despite giving up 8 runs (6 earned) in 5 and a third innings.
Most remarkably, John Franco pitched the 9th inning with a 5 run lead and managed to survive unscathed.
In the Bronx, Kevin Brown pitched 8 shutout innings of 4 hit ball, as the Yankees beat the A's, 5-1. This was Brown's 2nd game back since coming off the DL suffering from parasites (we think).
Newly inked John Olerud (above) went 3-3 on his 36th birthday (which is amazing as he doesn't look a day under 37).
Though the story is getting too ugly to justify it's own entry, back in Boston, WBZ TV's Bob Lobel reported this evening that Nomar Garciaparra injured his ankle prior to the start of spring training....while playing soccer. I've not heard who Lobel's source for this report was, but personally speaking, I wouldn't believe everything Jeff Kent says.
Posted at 01:32 AM
Radio Yackmaster Suspended For Remarks On Loria
I implore our Florida readers (Grandma, this
means you) to give me the scoop on this one, ie. what did Goldberg actually say
about Jeffrey Loria?
From Jim Sarni and Tom Jicha of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel :
Hank Goldberg remains suspended indefinitely without pay by WQAM (560-AM) for comments he made about Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria's marital situation.
Earlier this week, Goldberg talked about Loria's separation and the impact it might have on the baseball team and its hopes of getting a new stadium.
"I reported a story, that's what I do," said Goldberg, who didn't know he had been suspended until he met Ed Kaplan in the station parking lot Tuesday and Kaplan informed Goldberg he was filling in for him.
WQAM station manager Greg Reed wouldn't confirm the reason for the suspension but said "there's a little more to it than that."
Reed said he couldn't comment further because Goldberg's lawyer was involved.
This is Goldberg's third suspension at WQAM. He was taken off the air for comments about Joe Robbie Stadium and for an altercation with WQAM sales manager Luane Winick.
From Jim Sarni and Tom Jicha of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel :
Hank Goldberg remains suspended indefinitely without pay by WQAM (560-AM) for comments he made about Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria's marital situation.
Earlier this week, Goldberg talked about Loria's separation and the impact it might have on the baseball team and its hopes of getting a new stadium.
"I reported a story, that's what I do," said Goldberg, who didn't know he had been suspended until he met Ed Kaplan in the station parking lot Tuesday and Kaplan informed Goldberg he was filling in for him.
WQAM station manager Greg Reed wouldn't confirm the reason for the suspension but said "there's a little more to it than that."
Reed said he couldn't comment further because Goldberg's lawyer was involved.
This is Goldberg's third suspension at WQAM. He was taken off the air for comments about Joe Robbie Stadium and for an altercation with WQAM sales manager Luane Winick.
Posted at 12:29 AM
Thu - August 5, 2004
Mostly Dull Rockers Join Forces To Topple Emperor
From the NY Times' Jeff "Live At" Leeds :
Bruce Springsteen and an eclectic chorus of musicians, including R.E.M., the Dave Matthews Band, Keb' Mo' and Death Cab for Cutie, will stage concerts in nine of the presidential campaign's swing states this fall to raise money and press voters to oust the Bush administration, organizers of the concerts said Wednesday.
The weeklong lineup of rock concerts, to begin on Oct. 1 with shows in six Pennsylvania cities, signals an unexpected surge of political activism among some of the nation's top recording artists. Even for artists who have delved into politics before, sometimes to the dismay of concertgoers, the concept of focusing on swing states just weeks before the election injects a twist into the usual campaign calculus.
The artists will perform without pay, and proceeds will go to America Coming Together, a group run by veteran Democratic supporters. The MoveOn political action committee, an arm of the liberal group MoveOn.org, which will present the tour, hopes to enlist hundreds of thousands of members at the shows.
Organizers declined to predict how much they would raise for their get-out-the-vote efforts, as many plans are incomplete, but the total could easily be millions of dollars.
Mr. Springsteen, for example, generated an estimated $38.7 million last year during his sold-out 10-night stand at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Mr. Springsteen has long tried to avoid taking overtly partisan positions, but he said he believed the time had come to act.
"On Sept. 12, man, I was rooting for the president, and I hoped that the seriousness of the times was going to bring forth some strength and wisdom in our leaders," Mr. Springsteen said in a telephone interview this week. He added: "But I never understood from the very beginning what the war in Iraq was about. I did have a strong feeling we were misled into it. You get angry for the young men and women who have given up their lives. It was the tax cuts, the environmental rollback, the civil rights issues, these are all things where I said, 'I've got to find some way of getting involved.' "
Mark McKinnon, the media director for the Bush campaign, said, "We think it's unfortunate these particular fine musicians have decided to affiliate with a hate-filled fringe group like MoveOn.'' Republicans have complained about a video briefly posted on MoveOn's Web site in December likening Mr. Bush to Hitler.
Mr. McKinnon added that Mr. Bush had drawn his own support from the entertainment world, citing stars like Lee Ann Womack, Kid Rock and Jessica Simpson.
Sheesh, is that the best he could come up with? Has McKinnon never heard of Johnny Ramone or Vincent Gallo?
Bruce Springsteen and an eclectic chorus of musicians, including R.E.M., the Dave Matthews Band, Keb' Mo' and Death Cab for Cutie, will stage concerts in nine of the presidential campaign's swing states this fall to raise money and press voters to oust the Bush administration, organizers of the concerts said Wednesday.
The weeklong lineup of rock concerts, to begin on Oct. 1 with shows in six Pennsylvania cities, signals an unexpected surge of political activism among some of the nation's top recording artists. Even for artists who have delved into politics before, sometimes to the dismay of concertgoers, the concept of focusing on swing states just weeks before the election injects a twist into the usual campaign calculus.
The artists will perform without pay, and proceeds will go to America Coming Together, a group run by veteran Democratic supporters. The MoveOn political action committee, an arm of the liberal group MoveOn.org, which will present the tour, hopes to enlist hundreds of thousands of members at the shows.
Organizers declined to predict how much they would raise for their get-out-the-vote efforts, as many plans are incomplete, but the total could easily be millions of dollars.
Mr. Springsteen, for example, generated an estimated $38.7 million last year during his sold-out 10-night stand at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Mr. Springsteen has long tried to avoid taking overtly partisan positions, but he said he believed the time had come to act.
"On Sept. 12, man, I was rooting for the president, and I hoped that the seriousness of the times was going to bring forth some strength and wisdom in our leaders," Mr. Springsteen said in a telephone interview this week. He added: "But I never understood from the very beginning what the war in Iraq was about. I did have a strong feeling we were misled into it. You get angry for the young men and women who have given up their lives. It was the tax cuts, the environmental rollback, the civil rights issues, these are all things where I said, 'I've got to find some way of getting involved.' "
Mark McKinnon, the media director for the Bush campaign, said, "We think it's unfortunate these particular fine musicians have decided to affiliate with a hate-filled fringe group like MoveOn.'' Republicans have complained about a video briefly posted on MoveOn's Web site in December likening Mr. Bush to Hitler.
Mr. McKinnon added that Mr. Bush had drawn his own support from the entertainment world, citing stars like Lee Ann Womack, Kid Rock and Jessica Simpson.
Sheesh, is that the best he could come up with? Has McKinnon never heard of Johnny Ramone or Vincent Gallo?
Posted at 11:19 PM
If The Tigger Suit Doesn't Fit, You Must Acquit
In the unlikely event Kobe has to appeal someday, he could do worse than hire defense attorney Jeffrey Kaufman.
Posted at 10:59 PM
Whoop Dee Damn Do, D.C. Returning To Motown
Detroit native and power forward Derrick Coleman
has been reunited with Larry Brown, the Syracuse alumnus acquired by the Pistons
in a trade with Philadelphia's Corliss Williamson.
Writes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press ;
The addition of another big man to a team that also includes Antonio McDyess and Elden Campbell doesn't exactly bode well for fans hoping to see more of teenage center-forward Darko Milicic, the second overall pick in 2003 who barely played last season, but it's possible the Pistons will move Campbell for the backup point guard they still need.
Writes Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press ;
The addition of another big man to a team that also includes Antonio McDyess and Elden Campbell doesn't exactly bode well for fans hoping to see more of teenage center-forward Darko Milicic, the second overall pick in 2003 who barely played last season, but it's possible the Pistons will move Campbell for the backup point guard they still need.
Posted at 10:17 PM
Missouri, No Longer Known As "The Blow-Me State"
From Knight-Ridder's Steven Thomma :
Missourians voted by a 71 percent-to-29 percent vote to amend their state constitution to define marriage as between a man and woman only.
Voter turnout for the Missouri election exceeded forecasts by up to 400,000. The big increase, in a primary dominated by Democrats, helped advocates of the amendment overcome a better-financed opposition.
Although Missouri was the fifth state to add a ban against same-sex marriage to its constitution, it was the first to do so since a Massachusetts court ruled last year that its state-mandated ban was unconstitutional.
"This vote reveals that support for traditional marriage is strong across party lines," said Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America.
I remain mystified. I was unaware that proponents of gay marriage were in any way advocating the abolition of "traditional" (or as I like to call it, heterosexual) marriage any more than the lovers of vanilla Diet Coke seek to inhibit the fizzy consumption of Diet Coke w/ Lemon fans. By and large, I've found most homosexuals to be an open-minded lot, so what's with the Mizzou paranoia?
Missourians voted by a 71 percent-to-29 percent vote to amend their state constitution to define marriage as between a man and woman only.
Voter turnout for the Missouri election exceeded forecasts by up to 400,000. The big increase, in a primary dominated by Democrats, helped advocates of the amendment overcome a better-financed opposition.
Although Missouri was the fifth state to add a ban against same-sex marriage to its constitution, it was the first to do so since a Massachusetts court ruled last year that its state-mandated ban was unconstitutional.
"This vote reveals that support for traditional marriage is strong across party lines," said Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America.
I remain mystified. I was unaware that proponents of gay marriage were in any way advocating the abolition of "traditional" (or as I like to call it, heterosexual) marriage any more than the lovers of vanilla Diet Coke seek to inhibit the fizzy consumption of Diet Coke w/ Lemon fans. By and large, I've found most homosexuals to be an open-minded lot, so what's with the Mizzou paranoia?
Posted at 09:57 PM
Jeff Cirillo, Record Breaker
Ladies and Gentleman, a player whose skills are so diminished, acquiring Rich
Aurilla renders him surplus to requirements. The San Diego
Union-Tribune's Tom Krasovic explains.
The Padres yesterday set a franchise record they'd rather forget.
When they released Jeff Cirillo, they ate the largest sum guaranteed a released player. The Padres owe Cirillo about $5.75 million, exceeding the club's total loss on pitcher Randy Myers.
An insurance claim that gave the Padres $9 million last summer dulled some of the sting of paying Myers $13.6 million after claiming him off waivers in August 1998 and later releasing him.
As part of a six-player trade with Seattle, the Padres in January accepted most of Cirillo's heavy contract while shipping out bloated contracts they'd given pitcher Kevin Jarvis and catcher Wiki Gonzalez.
Cirillo hit a three-run home run to help beat Seattle on June 27, but he appeared in just 33 games and batted .213. In his final appearance, Cirillo popped out on a sacrifice bunt try, contributing to a 2-1 loss to first-place Los Angeles. Last month, the Padres signed another utility man who bats right-handed, Rich Aurilia, and Cirillo's playing time was further decreased.
The Padres yesterday set a franchise record they'd rather forget.
When they released Jeff Cirillo, they ate the largest sum guaranteed a released player. The Padres owe Cirillo about $5.75 million, exceeding the club's total loss on pitcher Randy Myers.
An insurance claim that gave the Padres $9 million last summer dulled some of the sting of paying Myers $13.6 million after claiming him off waivers in August 1998 and later releasing him.
As part of a six-player trade with Seattle, the Padres in January accepted most of Cirillo's heavy contract while shipping out bloated contracts they'd given pitcher Kevin Jarvis and catcher Wiki Gonzalez.
Cirillo hit a three-run home run to help beat Seattle on June 27, but he appeared in just 33 games and batted .213. In his final appearance, Cirillo popped out on a sacrifice bunt try, contributing to a 2-1 loss to first-place Los Angeles. Last month, the Padres signed another utility man who bats right-handed, Rich Aurilia, and Cirillo's playing time was further decreased.
Posted at 09:05 PM
Character Assassination Of Nomar Nearly Complete
Man, both sides in this pissing match aren't exactly covering
themselves in glory. Though that's the thing about a pissing match, , the weapon
of choice isn't that glorious.
Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe has the latest dirt on Nomargate.
His story never wavered. From the beginning, Nomar Garciaparra attributed the tendinitis in his right Achilles' tendon to a ball striking him in batting practice before an exhibition game between the Red Sox and Northeastern University March 5 at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla. But Garciaparra said he never knew who hit the ball. And no one else in the organization acknowledged hitting the ball or witnessing the incident.
As it turns out, the episode may not have happened. Two sources familiar with Garciaparra's case said yesterday that Garciaparra told a different story to club officials, but the team never contradicted the shortstop's story, even though club officials were aware it wasn't accurate. One source said he was told Garciaparra was injured before spring training.
Garciaparra's agent, Arn Tellem, called the assertion "absolutely, positively [expletive]. Totally, unequivocally, positively false."
Francona and Epstein last night declined comment on the latest development, saying the Sox had agreed the night before with Tellem to halt a public dispute that centered on Garciaparra's physical condition and the reasons why the club and the five-time All-Star were unable to agree on a contract extension that would have kept him in Boston.
Why Garciaparra would shield the exact nature of his injury is unknown. One possible explanation is that his value on the free agent market could be diminished if he suffered from a chronic case of Achilles' tendinitis rather than from an injury from a specific trauma. Another possibility was that he wanted to avoid additional questions about the rigorous training program for elite athletes in which he participates each winter at the Athletes' Performance Institute in Tempe, Ariz.
In other Red Sox news, if Dale Sveum is in the passenger seat when you're pulling into traffic...I hope you have air bags.
Bob Hohler of the Boston Globe has the latest dirt on Nomargate.
His story never wavered. From the beginning, Nomar Garciaparra attributed the tendinitis in his right Achilles' tendon to a ball striking him in batting practice before an exhibition game between the Red Sox and Northeastern University March 5 at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla. But Garciaparra said he never knew who hit the ball. And no one else in the organization acknowledged hitting the ball or witnessing the incident.
As it turns out, the episode may not have happened. Two sources familiar with Garciaparra's case said yesterday that Garciaparra told a different story to club officials, but the team never contradicted the shortstop's story, even though club officials were aware it wasn't accurate. One source said he was told Garciaparra was injured before spring training.
Garciaparra's agent, Arn Tellem, called the assertion "absolutely, positively [expletive]. Totally, unequivocally, positively false."
Francona and Epstein last night declined comment on the latest development, saying the Sox had agreed the night before with Tellem to halt a public dispute that centered on Garciaparra's physical condition and the reasons why the club and the five-time All-Star were unable to agree on a contract extension that would have kept him in Boston.
Why Garciaparra would shield the exact nature of his injury is unknown. One possible explanation is that his value on the free agent market could be diminished if he suffered from a chronic case of Achilles' tendinitis rather than from an injury from a specific trauma. Another possibility was that he wanted to avoid additional questions about the rigorous training program for elite athletes in which he participates each winter at the Athletes' Performance Institute in Tempe, Ariz.
In other Red Sox news, if Dale Sveum is in the passenger seat when you're pulling into traffic...I hope you have air bags.
Posted at 08:35 PM
All I Need Is A Pennant Race
...to be reminded how much Robbie Alomar Sucks.
The Chicago White Sox have acquired 2B Robbie Alomar from
the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for cash, a $10 gift certificate to the
Wiener Circle and an autographed photo of Alain Jourgenson circa 1984.
I hate to trot out a cliche, but this is truly one of those trades that will help both teams. Except the White Sox.
I hate to trot out a cliche, but this is truly one of those trades that will help both teams. Except the White Sox.
Posted at 07:19 PM
CSTB Can't Be Bought...
...because these guys don't have enough money.
Allow me to introduce
myself,
My name is Max and I am working hard to promote my site. I'm currently seeking partner sites to host a small text advertisement for my site http://buy-football-tickets.com. Our site has a great reputation for providing excellent customer service, as well as, being a safe and efficient way to buy NFL football tickets.
Our ad usually consists of a few lines of text, with some of these words linked back to our website. The duration of the ad is your choice of anywhere from 3 months to 1 year. Ideally, the ad would run on your index page and couple of other pages. Of course we are always open to suggestions. Please let me know what you would charge for this.
Thanks for your time; I look forward to your reply,
Max - Buy-Football-Tickets.com
No, thank you, Max. The next time I need to purchase NY Giants tickets for $770 each, I'll know exactly where to go. In the meantime, I'd be happy to run your text ad for the next 3 months for One Million Dollars (US). We're having a special right now at CSTB and since I like you so much, we'll extend the ad for another 3 months for just $500,000.00. I look forward to your reply.
(Max, before the internet)
My name is Max and I am working hard to promote my site. I'm currently seeking partner sites to host a small text advertisement for my site http://buy-football-tickets.com. Our site has a great reputation for providing excellent customer service, as well as, being a safe and efficient way to buy NFL football tickets.
Our ad usually consists of a few lines of text, with some of these words linked back to our website. The duration of the ad is your choice of anywhere from 3 months to 1 year. Ideally, the ad would run on your index page and couple of other pages. Of course we are always open to suggestions. Please let me know what you would charge for this.
Thanks for your time; I look forward to your reply,
Max - Buy-Football-Tickets.com
No, thank you, Max. The next time I need to purchase NY Giants tickets for $770 each, I'll know exactly where to go. In the meantime, I'd be happy to run your text ad for the next 3 months for One Million Dollars (US). We're having a special right now at CSTB and since I like you so much, we'll extend the ad for another 3 months for just $500,000.00. I look forward to your reply.
(Max, before the internet)
Posted at 06:33 PM
Rock Promoters Given License To Kill
First of all, there's nothing particularly festive about "festival
seating". Secondly, even if city officials are correct in claiming
that many performers had bypassed Cincinnati because of the old ban, they must
acknowledge that just as many artists will skip their city because it's
Cincinnati.
(ex- Cincy resident Greg Dulli --- if you want to watch him smoke while you're standing, you can now do so in his former hometown. Assuming he's playing there. And smoking. And you've got a ticket. )
(ex- Cincy resident Greg Dulli --- if you want to watch him smoke while you're standing, you can now do so in his former hometown. Assuming he's playing there. And smoking. And you've got a ticket. )
Posted at 05:32 PM
Wed - August 4, 2004
Daley Vs. Tribune Corp.
Ben Schwartz has tipped us off to Fran
Spielman's piece in today's Chicago Sun-Times, detailing Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's continued assault on the
Cubs' parent company.
Mayor Daley ridiculed the Tribune Co. on Tuesday for making what they insist was "millions" of dollars worth of repairs to "potentially hazardous" pedestrian and bleacher ramps at Wrigley Field without the required building permits.
Daley accused the media conglomerate that owns the Cubs, the Chicago Tribune and WGN radio and television of employing a "double standard" that holds private landlords and politicians to one set of rules and its own executives to another.
"It's a disgrace. They're the Tribune. They have all the ink you want in the world and they can write any editorial they want. But they will not look at themselves and this is an example. . . .I think they're totally embarrassed," he said.
Cubs President Andy MacPhail has said he had no idea permits were required for the repair work, but Daley finds that difficult to believe.
"That's why they get paid big salaries over there. That's why they have lawyers and consultants," the mayor said.
"Could you see me giving that answer [and the Tribune would] write an editorial about me: 'Mayor says I didn't know we needed permits.' . . . I'll tell you one thing. If we did that, there'd be headlines all over -- all day long."
The mayor had earlier accused the Tribune Co. of concealing the first of three incidents of falling concrete at Wrigley over a six-week period, and he threatened to shut down all or parts of the landmark stadium if that's what it takes to protect fans
The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that a 2001 report on the structural integrity of 90-year-old Wrigley Field uncovered serious defects and recommended repair and replacement of pedestrian and bleacher ramps to avert a "potentially hazardous condition" that could cause "local failure."
The Sun-Times also reported that a review of city building permits issued at Wrigley over the past three years showed no evidence that the Cubs had made those repairs.
On Tuesday, Daley returned to Chicago from the Democratic convention in Boston and a side-trip to Poland and had a good laugh at the Tribune Co.'s expense.
When a reporter noted that the Cubs had done major structural repairs without permits, Daley feigned shock and gasped for air for maximum effect.
"My God. There must be an investigative reporter for the Tribune here. Where are they? We need a special prosecutor. We need a thorough investigation by the federal, state and local governments and United Nations," the mayor said.
Mayor Daley ridiculed the Tribune Co. on Tuesday for making what they insist was "millions" of dollars worth of repairs to "potentially hazardous" pedestrian and bleacher ramps at Wrigley Field without the required building permits.
Daley accused the media conglomerate that owns the Cubs, the Chicago Tribune and WGN radio and television of employing a "double standard" that holds private landlords and politicians to one set of rules and its own executives to another.
"It's a disgrace. They're the Tribune. They have all the ink you want in the world and they can write any editorial they want. But they will not look at themselves and this is an example. . . .I think they're totally embarrassed," he said.
Cubs President Andy MacPhail has said he had no idea permits were required for the repair work, but Daley finds that difficult to believe.
"That's why they get paid big salaries over there. That's why they have lawyers and consultants," the mayor said.
"Could you see me giving that answer [and the Tribune would] write an editorial about me: 'Mayor says I didn't know we needed permits.' . . . I'll tell you one thing. If we did that, there'd be headlines all over -- all day long."
The mayor had earlier accused the Tribune Co. of concealing the first of three incidents of falling concrete at Wrigley over a six-week period, and he threatened to shut down all or parts of the landmark stadium if that's what it takes to protect fans
The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that a 2001 report on the structural integrity of 90-year-old Wrigley Field uncovered serious defects and recommended repair and replacement of pedestrian and bleacher ramps to avert a "potentially hazardous condition" that could cause "local failure."
The Sun-Times also reported that a review of city building permits issued at Wrigley over the past three years showed no evidence that the Cubs had made those repairs.
On Tuesday, Daley returned to Chicago from the Democratic convention in Boston and a side-trip to Poland and had a good laugh at the Tribune Co.'s expense.
When a reporter noted that the Cubs had done major structural repairs without permits, Daley feigned shock and gasped for air for maximum effect.
"My God. There must be an investigative reporter for the Tribune here. Where are they? We need a special prosecutor. We need a thorough investigation by the federal, state and local governments and United Nations," the mayor said.
Posted at 11:46 PM
Good Seats Still Available For QPR's Home Opener...
...You Just Can't Buy Them
As floods wrecked havoc on West London traffic
last night, my evening commute --- usually about 15 minutes --- lasted nearly 3
1/2 hours. Trapped in the CSTB-mobile, a scan of the FM dial proved very
educational.
(fully pimped out, grateful hitchhiker riding shotgun)
Listening to XFM, I learned that the guy from Hope Of The States can't sing to save his life. Listening to pirate radio, I learned that reverb on voice-overs is very very annoying. And listening to BBC London, I caught the tail end of an interview with a harried football club executive who was explaining to a perplexed reporter that tickets for his team's Division One opening day this coming Saturday, were no longer on sale. It seems the new security company said club had just contracted didn't have the proper credentials as specified by the local council.
Pathetic stuff, I thought. What cash-strapped, poorly managed, terminally unlucky club could this possibly be?
Oh, fuck.
Meanwhile, QPR have been told by the Football League to suspend ticket sales for Saturday's game at home against Rotherham because of a shortage of qualified stewards.
The club could have to settle for 12,000 - 13,000 supporters and a potential £100,000 loss in revenue because they don't have enough trained staff to cope with the expected 18,000 full house.
New chief executive Mark Devlin said: "I would like to assure supporters that we are doing everything we can.
"This is a nightmare that should never have happened and, with proper planning, could have been avoided. It is our priority to rectify the situation as soon as possible."
Devlin, who only took over as chief executive on Monday, added: "If necessary we'll have to look at alternative stewarding arrangements although we have signed an agreement with our new stadium security company CES, who are keen to do everything possible."
(fully pimped out, grateful hitchhiker riding shotgun)
Listening to XFM, I learned that the guy from Hope Of The States can't sing to save his life. Listening to pirate radio, I learned that reverb on voice-overs is very very annoying. And listening to BBC London, I caught the tail end of an interview with a harried football club executive who was explaining to a perplexed reporter that tickets for his team's Division One opening day this coming Saturday, were no longer on sale. It seems the new security company said club had just contracted didn't have the proper credentials as specified by the local council.
Pathetic stuff, I thought. What cash-strapped, poorly managed, terminally unlucky club could this possibly be?
Oh, fuck.
Meanwhile, QPR have been told by the Football League to suspend ticket sales for Saturday's game at home against Rotherham because of a shortage of qualified stewards.
The club could have to settle for 12,000 - 13,000 supporters and a potential £100,000 loss in revenue because they don't have enough trained staff to cope with the expected 18,000 full house.
New chief executive Mark Devlin said: "I would like to assure supporters that we are doing everything we can.
"This is a nightmare that should never have happened and, with proper planning, could have been avoided. It is our priority to rectify the situation as soon as possible."
Devlin, who only took over as chief executive on Monday, added: "If necessary we'll have to look at alternative stewarding arrangements although we have signed an agreement with our new stadium security company CES, who are keen to do everything possible."
Posted at 11:10 PM
Cablevision vs. Time-Warner : Whoever Wins, You Lose
As the Yankees' YES Network and the Red Sox's NESN discuss
plans for a merger of sorts, Time-Warner Cable TV and and Cablevision
continue their fight over the latter's demand for increased fees for Mets games
(and the former's wish to make MSG and Fox Sports premium channels). Dave
Goldiner of the NY Daily News captures some of the anguish from fans denied a chance to watch the Metropolitans play out
the string.
"For a Mets fan, it's bad, and I'm a brazen Mets fan," said David Mojica, 23, as he checked out gear at the Mets Clubhouse store in midtown. "You want to watch every game."
So serious fans were busy hatching a plan B to catch the Mets-Brewers contest.
One fan was going over to watch the game at her boyfriend's house, where he has another cable service. Another was driving to his brother's place in Connecticut.
Clearly, it is time for legislators (particularly those looking to get their names in the paper) to mediate this dispute. We can't have females going to their boyfriends' houses, or god forbid, anyone driving to Connecticut.
"For a Mets fan, it's bad, and I'm a brazen Mets fan," said David Mojica, 23, as he checked out gear at the Mets Clubhouse store in midtown. "You want to watch every game."
So serious fans were busy hatching a plan B to catch the Mets-Brewers contest.
One fan was going over to watch the game at her boyfriend's house, where he has another cable service. Another was driving to his brother's place in Connecticut.
Clearly, it is time for legislators (particularly those looking to get their names in the paper) to mediate this dispute. We can't have females going to their boyfriends' houses, or god forbid, anyone driving to Connecticut.
Posted at 10:32 PM
First Amendment Goes Tits Up On American Airlines
from the Associated Press, dated August 1 :
A couple returning home from a Costa Rican vacation was ejected from an American Airlines flight because the man was wearing a T-shirt depicting a bare breast.
Oscar Arela and his girlfriend, Tala Tow, were removed from Flight 952 on Saturday after he refused to change the shirt or turn it inside out at Miami International Airport. The flight left 90 minutes late without them.
The couple, making a connecting flight from Costa Rica, said nobody on the earlier flight objected to the shirt and claimed the airline violated their constitutional right to free speech.
"It's a picture of a man and woman, and the woman's breast is showing," Tow said. "The flight attendant basically walked up to us and yelled, 'You have to take off that shirt right now.'"
American spokesman Tim Wagner said Sunday that crew members acted properly.
"The description I heard was a picture of a graphic of a naked man and woman performing a sexual act," he said. "We as an airline are in the service business, and we have the same latitude as a restaurant that says proper attire is required."
Tow said four Miami-Dade police officers and three federal security agents escorted her and Arela off the flight. She said the T-shirt image was reproduced from a Venezuelan record label.
Wagner said the couple could legally be barred from the flight even though they committed no crime. The airline gave them a refund. He did not know if they booked another flight.
"I'd like to figure out how a T-shirt that offends one member of the crew somehow impacts the safety of the flight or the ability of the flight to continue to New York," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. "If they want to permit this kind of action by flight attendants, then they better have a clear policy that is announced in advance and made known to passengers in advance."
Wagner noted on American's Web site the policy clearly states that someone who is "clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offense to other passengers" can be removed from a flight.
The above garment, however, can be worn on an American Airlines flight.
A couple returning home from a Costa Rican vacation was ejected from an American Airlines flight because the man was wearing a T-shirt depicting a bare breast.
Oscar Arela and his girlfriend, Tala Tow, were removed from Flight 952 on Saturday after he refused to change the shirt or turn it inside out at Miami International Airport. The flight left 90 minutes late without them.
The couple, making a connecting flight from Costa Rica, said nobody on the earlier flight objected to the shirt and claimed the airline violated their constitutional right to free speech.
"It's a picture of a man and woman, and the woman's breast is showing," Tow said. "The flight attendant basically walked up to us and yelled, 'You have to take off that shirt right now.'"
American spokesman Tim Wagner said Sunday that crew members acted properly.
"The description I heard was a picture of a graphic of a naked man and woman performing a sexual act," he said. "We as an airline are in the service business, and we have the same latitude as a restaurant that says proper attire is required."
Tow said four Miami-Dade police officers and three federal security agents escorted her and Arela off the flight. She said the T-shirt image was reproduced from a Venezuelan record label.
Wagner said the couple could legally be barred from the flight even though they committed no crime. The airline gave them a refund. He did not know if they booked another flight.
"I'd like to figure out how a T-shirt that offends one member of the crew somehow impacts the safety of the flight or the ability of the flight to continue to New York," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. "If they want to permit this kind of action by flight attendants, then they better have a clear policy that is announced in advance and made known to passengers in advance."
Wagner noted on American's Web site the policy clearly states that someone who is "clothed in a manner that would cause discomfort or offense to other passengers" can be removed from a flight.
The above garment, however, can be worn on an American Airlines flight.
Posted at 10:15 PM
Starry-Eyed Judge Sends Weiland To Europe
Let freedom ring --- the man can't stop Weiland.
From MTV.com :
Scott Weiland got good news on Tuesday when he appeared in a Pasadena, California, court — the judge overseeing his probation from two felony charges of drug possession deemed his efforts to stay clean a success and granted the singer permission to leave the country for Velvet Revolver's European tour.
At his probation status hearing, Weiland received a certificate from Genesis, a nearby treatment facility, for completing a six-month program there. Pasadena Superior Court Commissioner Collette Serio also noted that all of Weiland's drug tests have come out negative. While Velvet Revolver tour Europe, the singer will have to continue periodic drug testing.
"The judge congratulated [Weiland] for complying with everything," Weiland spokesperson Mitch Schneider said. "They were very happy with his participation in the [rehab] program, and that he had been so cooperative.
"The judge even congratulated him on his success with Velvet Revolver and apologized for the technicality," Schneider said, referring to a bench warrant issued on Friday and held until Tuesday to ensure Weiland's appearance in court.
From MTV.com :
Scott Weiland got good news on Tuesday when he appeared in a Pasadena, California, court — the judge overseeing his probation from two felony charges of drug possession deemed his efforts to stay clean a success and granted the singer permission to leave the country for Velvet Revolver's European tour.
At his probation status hearing, Weiland received a certificate from Genesis, a nearby treatment facility, for completing a six-month program there. Pasadena Superior Court Commissioner Collette Serio also noted that all of Weiland's drug tests have come out negative. While Velvet Revolver tour Europe, the singer will have to continue periodic drug testing.
"The judge congratulated [Weiland] for complying with everything," Weiland spokesperson Mitch Schneider said. "They were very happy with his participation in the [rehab] program, and that he had been so cooperative.
"The judge even congratulated him on his success with Velvet Revolver and apologized for the technicality," Schneider said, referring to a bench warrant issued on Friday and held until Tuesday to ensure Weiland's appearance in court.
Posted at 09:49 PM
Red Sox Management, Tellem Still At Odds Over Nomar Exit
OK, I'm officially sick of this story now.
Boston principal owner John W. Henry spoke at length during last night's Devil Rays/Red Sox broadcast on NESN, giving his version of the events surrounding Nomar Garciaparra's departure. The Boston Globe's Gordon Edes has more of the same in today's paper :
According to Henry, six days before last Saturday's trade, Garciaparra's agent, Arn Tellem, told Epstein he had to talk the shortstop out of demanding a trade.
"We knew from that that he didn't want to be here," said Henry, who had informed reporters in advance that he planned to be in Tropicana Field last night and would answer questions pertaining to the trade.
Reached late last night on the West Coast, Tellem said it was "absolutely false" that at any time he had to dissuade Garciaparra from demanding a trade. He acknowledged that in December he asked the Red Sox to trade Garciaparra to the Dodgers if the Alex Rodriguez deal was made.
(is this man a liar?)
Henry also said that last March the Sox offered Garciaparra a package for $60 million, which mirrored the figure Garciaparra had not accepted the previous March but was worth more than the $48 million offer the team had made after the 2003 season. Henry acknowledged that much of the money in the March 2004 offer was deferred, but he contended that Garciaparra and his agent never made a counteroffer after the initial impasse in March 2003.
Tellem also contradicted this Henry claim. In fact, said the agent, it was his idea that the contract be restructured to include deferred money as a way to break the "logjam." Where the sides disagreed, he said, was on when the deferred money would be paid. Tellem was asking for the deferrals at the end of the contract or at retirement, which would have made the present-day value of the deal between $14 million and $14.5 million. The Red Sox, according to Tellem, wanted to begin the deferrals when Garciaparra was in his mid-60s, making the present-day value between $12 million and $12.5 million. Henry acknowledged that it was out of character for him not to contact Garciaparra when the trade was made, but said he was too angry after CEO Larry Lucchino told him of his conversation with the shortstop. Lucchino said he asked Garciaparra about his injured Achilles' tendon, and, according to Lucchino, Garciaparra said, "It's great, now." Garciaparra has disputed Lucchino's account, which implies that he misled the Sox about his condition, saying he had little interest in speaking with Lucchino at the time and was being sarcastic.
Elsewhere in the paper, Edes has a more extensive contradiction of Henry's account from Garciaparra's agent, Arn Tellem:
After being informed of John W. Henry's remarks last night regarding failed negotiations between the sides -- most notably, Henry's contention that Tellem told Sox general manager Theo Epstein he had to talk Garciaparra out of demanding a trade -- Tellem felt compelled to respond.
"I categorically deny that," Tellem said of Henry's claim that six days before Garciaparra was traded, the agent told Epstein he had to dissuade Garciaparra from making the trade demand. "I never had to talk Nomar out of asking to be traded. That's absolutely false."
(or maybe this guy isn't telling the truth?)
Tellem said he expected that at a meeting July 24 at Fenway Park between the agent, Garciaparra, Henry, Sox CEO Larry Lucchino and Epstein, that the Sox GM would assure Garciaparra he would not be dealt. "Theo led me to believe that," Tellem said, "but it didn't happen."
Henry said last night that the Sox wound up offering Garciaparra $60 million -- the same figure they'd offered the year before -- but admitted much of the money was deferred. He also said Tellem never made a counterproposal to any of the Sox offers since the 2003 season ended.
(how about him?)
Not true, Tellem said. "I was the one who suggested that we use deferred money to break the logjam," he said. "Larry Lucchino said that was a good idea. They came back with a proposal that, based on the way the players' association calculates contracts, was close to $12 million (in average annual value), and by the owners' calculation closer to, but less than, $12.5 million. It contained a significant amount of deferred money that wouldn't be paid to Nomar until he was 60 or 70. I told them respectfully that I would be in my 80s by then and given my health history, I wasn't sure I'd be around to make sure the contract was enforced."
(who wouldn't want to speak to Larry seconds after being traded?)
Boston principal owner John W. Henry spoke at length during last night's Devil Rays/Red Sox broadcast on NESN, giving his version of the events surrounding Nomar Garciaparra's departure. The Boston Globe's Gordon Edes has more of the same in today's paper :
According to Henry, six days before last Saturday's trade, Garciaparra's agent, Arn Tellem, told Epstein he had to talk the shortstop out of demanding a trade.
"We knew from that that he didn't want to be here," said Henry, who had informed reporters in advance that he planned to be in Tropicana Field last night and would answer questions pertaining to the trade.
Reached late last night on the West Coast, Tellem said it was "absolutely false" that at any time he had to dissuade Garciaparra from demanding a trade. He acknowledged that in December he asked the Red Sox to trade Garciaparra to the Dodgers if the Alex Rodriguez deal was made.
(is this man a liar?)
Henry also said that last March the Sox offered Garciaparra a package for $60 million, which mirrored the figure Garciaparra had not accepted the previous March but was worth more than the $48 million offer the team had made after the 2003 season. Henry acknowledged that much of the money in the March 2004 offer was deferred, but he contended that Garciaparra and his agent never made a counteroffer after the initial impasse in March 2003.
Tellem also contradicted this Henry claim. In fact, said the agent, it was his idea that the contract be restructured to include deferred money as a way to break the "logjam." Where the sides disagreed, he said, was on when the deferred money would be paid. Tellem was asking for the deferrals at the end of the contract or at retirement, which would have made the present-day value of the deal between $14 million and $14.5 million. The Red Sox, according to Tellem, wanted to begin the deferrals when Garciaparra was in his mid-60s, making the present-day value between $12 million and $12.5 million. Henry acknowledged that it was out of character for him not to contact Garciaparra when the trade was made, but said he was too angry after CEO Larry Lucchino told him of his conversation with the shortstop. Lucchino said he asked Garciaparra about his injured Achilles' tendon, and, according to Lucchino, Garciaparra said, "It's great, now." Garciaparra has disputed Lucchino's account, which implies that he misled the Sox about his condition, saying he had little interest in speaking with Lucchino at the time and was being sarcastic.
Elsewhere in the paper, Edes has a more extensive contradiction of Henry's account from Garciaparra's agent, Arn Tellem:
After being informed of John W. Henry's remarks last night regarding failed negotiations between the sides -- most notably, Henry's contention that Tellem told Sox general manager Theo Epstein he had to talk Garciaparra out of demanding a trade -- Tellem felt compelled to respond.
"I categorically deny that," Tellem said of Henry's claim that six days before Garciaparra was traded, the agent told Epstein he had to dissuade Garciaparra from making the trade demand. "I never had to talk Nomar out of asking to be traded. That's absolutely false."
(or maybe this guy isn't telling the truth?)
Tellem said he expected that at a meeting July 24 at Fenway Park between the agent, Garciaparra, Henry, Sox CEO Larry Lucchino and Epstein, that the Sox GM would assure Garciaparra he would not be dealt. "Theo led me to believe that," Tellem said, "but it didn't happen."
Henry said last night that the Sox wound up offering Garciaparra $60 million -- the same figure they'd offered the year before -- but admitted much of the money was deferred. He also said Tellem never made a counterproposal to any of the Sox offers since the 2003 season ended.
(how about him?)
Not true, Tellem said. "I was the one who suggested that we use deferred money to break the logjam," he said. "Larry Lucchino said that was a good idea. They came back with a proposal that, based on the way the players' association calculates contracts, was close to $12 million (in average annual value), and by the owners' calculation closer to, but less than, $12.5 million. It contained a significant amount of deferred money that wouldn't be paid to Nomar until he was 60 or 70. I told them respectfully that I would be in my 80s by then and given my health history, I wasn't sure I'd be around to make sure the contract was enforced."
(who wouldn't want to speak to Larry seconds after being traded?)
Posted at 09:22 PM
John O. On The (Bad) Dream Team's Loss To Italy
Our man in Idaho, John O. writes :
I've been waiting for you to break down the US exhibition loss to Italy in basketball. I didn't watch, just read about it on the Internet. I just don't like the NBA style of play, and I am happy to see a bunch of fundamentally sound shooters kill them from beyond the arc.
I was listening to George Karl on the radio last night outline the rule differences between the American game and the International game (1 time out per half, and that time out can only come when the ball is dead, for example) and i found that pretty interesting. I bet they will make some adjustments and not be humiliated again like that, but I don't think they are a shoe-in for the gold.
(time-tunnel Larry Brown flashes the international sign for "why hasn't CSTB 'broken down' the US Olympic team's defeat?")
The other big difference between the American game and the International game is that there's no way in hell George Karl could've become the highest paid coach in all of sports anywhere other than the USA. I didn't see the game, John. They generally don't bust into the UK TV schedule to show Olympic tune-ups for other countries' favorite sports. But even with my limited knowledge of what transpired, I'm pretty confident that had Iverson, Stoudemaire and LeBron not been benched, the US would've only lost by 10.
I've been waiting for you to break down the US exhibition loss to Italy in basketball. I didn't watch, just read about it on the Internet. I just don't like the NBA style of play, and I am happy to see a bunch of fundamentally sound shooters kill them from beyond the arc.
I was listening to George Karl on the radio last night outline the rule differences between the American game and the International game (1 time out per half, and that time out can only come when the ball is dead, for example) and i found that pretty interesting. I bet they will make some adjustments and not be humiliated again like that, but I don't think they are a shoe-in for the gold.
(time-tunnel Larry Brown flashes the international sign for "why hasn't CSTB 'broken down' the US Olympic team's defeat?")
The other big difference between the American game and the International game is that there's no way in hell George Karl could've become the highest paid coach in all of sports anywhere other than the USA. I didn't see the game, John. They generally don't bust into the UK TV schedule to show Olympic tune-ups for other countries' favorite sports. But even with my limited knowledge of what transpired, I'm pretty confident that had Iverson, Stoudemaire and LeBron not been benched, the US would've only lost by 10.
Posted at 07:48 PM
Cowboys To Cut QB Carter
On the bright side, there's
nothing here that should affect his ability to be elected President
someday.
Posted at 06:32 PM
Jeff Johnson On Peter Vescey
Jeff writes :
I've been trying to be ambitious enough to finish my cutting and pasting from Lexis Nexis of every single time Peter Vecsey has beaten the dead horse that is Shawn Kemp's unwillingness to wear a condom. Seriously, the number is in the 50s. He's a bit harsh, no? If I were Kemp I'd have my lawyer fuck with him. I will letcha know when I get around to it.
You'd have your lawyer fuck with Vescey on what grounds? That Kemp isn't a serial impregnator? For the price of 30 minutes in legal fees, Shawn can get a vasectomy and still have enough change for an In-n-Out double double. But since you're adept with the Lexis Nexis action, Jeff, how many times has Pete referred to Rasheed Wallace as "Rashweed"?
I've been trying to be ambitious enough to finish my cutting and pasting from Lexis Nexis of every single time Peter Vecsey has beaten the dead horse that is Shawn Kemp's unwillingness to wear a condom. Seriously, the number is in the 50s. He's a bit harsh, no? If I were Kemp I'd have my lawyer fuck with him. I will letcha know when I get around to it.
You'd have your lawyer fuck with Vescey on what grounds? That Kemp isn't a serial impregnator? For the price of 30 minutes in legal fees, Shawn can get a vasectomy and still have enough change for an In-n-Out double double. But since you're adept with the Lexis Nexis action, Jeff, how many times has Pete referred to Rasheed Wallace as "Rashweed"?
Posted at 05:23 PM
"The Defendant Knew Where His Paws Were"
In the state of Florida you have a right to a
quick and speedy trial. CNN.com updates y'all on a story CSTB highlighted this past April, in
which the cuddly figure known as Tigger is accused of getting gropey with an
underage Disney World visitor.
During opening statements, Jay described Michael Chartrand as "a 36-year-old man who abused his Walt Disney World job to steal the innocence of a child." The prosecutor also disputed claims that Chartrand didn't know where he was placing his hands because of the bulkiness of the costume's paws.
"This defendant knew where his paws were," Jay said.
The Tigger costume will be shown to jurors on Tuesday, and they will be allowed to try it on in the jury room during deliberations.
Kaufman tried to raise doubts about the girl's credibility. He told jurors that the girl switched stories about the number of times she was groped and the order in which photos were taken of her with Tigger, a character from the Winnie-the-Pooh books and Disney movies.
The defense attorney also suggested that the girl and her mother were pursuing the criminal case to help in any civil case they filed against Disney.
Kaufman said he expected jurors to handle the Tigger costume so they can see how difficult it would be to grope somebody inside the bulky outfit.
Before the trial started, a Disney lawyer had suggested that the orange Tigger costume be dyed black or white and its ears removed if it is introduced as evidence at the trial. But the prosecutor said Monday that the jury would see the costume Tuesday as it's seen at the park.
The judge agreed to let the jury see 20 pictures that Chartrand turned over to detectives of himself, dressed as Tigger, posing with Disney World visitors. Kaufman objected, saying "a lot of those pictures aren't of my client." But Jay said the images would help refute likely defense arguments that the touching was accidental.
During opening statements, Jay described Michael Chartrand as "a 36-year-old man who abused his Walt Disney World job to steal the innocence of a child." The prosecutor also disputed claims that Chartrand didn't know where he was placing his hands because of the bulkiness of the costume's paws.
"This defendant knew where his paws were," Jay said.
The Tigger costume will be shown to jurors on Tuesday, and they will be allowed to try it on in the jury room during deliberations.
Kaufman tried to raise doubts about the girl's credibility. He told jurors that the girl switched stories about the number of times she was groped and the order in which photos were taken of her with Tigger, a character from the Winnie-the-Pooh books and Disney movies.
The defense attorney also suggested that the girl and her mother were pursuing the criminal case to help in any civil case they filed against Disney.
Kaufman said he expected jurors to handle the Tigger costume so they can see how difficult it would be to grope somebody inside the bulky outfit.
Before the trial started, a Disney lawyer had suggested that the orange Tigger costume be dyed black or white and its ears removed if it is introduced as evidence at the trial. But the prosecutor said Monday that the jury would see the costume Tuesday as it's seen at the park.
The judge agreed to let the jury see 20 pictures that Chartrand turned over to detectives of himself, dressed as Tigger, posing with Disney World visitors. Kaufman objected, saying "a lot of those pictures aren't of my client." But Jay said the images would help refute likely defense arguments that the touching was accidental.
Posted at 05:06 PM
Tue - August 3, 2004
Reasoned Mets Analysis You'll Only Find By Leaving This Blog
Kaley nails this one.
If acquiring Benson and Zambrano was supposed to be a clever move that would improve the team now and in the near future, then an equally clever move is long overdue. It's hardly original to suggest this, and I've done so before, but now it's become imperative: Reyes and Matsui MUST swap positions NOW.
What conceivable reason could there be to wait any longer? After this latest loss, the Mets are 9 games back, closer to last than first. The meaningful games are over. It's time to get on with the very realistic business of building the odds-on favorite to win the NL East in 2005. And if that team is to include Kaz Matsui, he will not be playing SS.
Whether it's his refusal to wear glasses or metal cleats or just a simple lack of skill, strength or smarts it doesn't matter. What matters is this: Jose Reyes would have made those plays yesterday and the Mets would have won. Full stop.
Add Mike M. at East Coast Agony to the list of those unhappy with the trading of Scott Kazmir and Justin Huber.
What doesn't make sense is giving up Kazmir now and not getting fair value for him. Victor Zambrano is not a good pitcher now, has never been exciting for a sustained stretch, and I have no reason to believe he will get much better than he already is. Rick Peterson can only do so much. I refuse to believe that even with Scott's injury problems, Zambrano is the best the Mets could do.
I haven't spoken much about Benson, because I think he has more potential than Zambrano. Not as much potential as Kazmir, certainly, but that's no longer here nor there. As much as I liked Ty Wigginton, he didn't have a place on the team anymore and deserved to be traded. Who can say what Matt Peterson would've turned into given another year in the Mets organization? Not me. It would've been nice to find out, though I will take Benson and not worry about it too much.
Sending Huber to Kansas City to complete the Benson deal is the other move of the day that stunned me and made me really want to get inside ownerships' heads. Huber was the heir apparent to Piazza behind the plate, and his arrival seemed imminent, with Jason Phillips struggling enough to preclude him from getting a shot at being a placeholder in 2005, and Vance Wilson simply not good enough to serve as a starter. My initial belief is that the Wilpons, after seeing how Piazza struggled at first base, in particular how often he was injured playing the position, and perhaps comparing his batting numbers unfavorably to those he accrued behind the plate, thought that he and the rest of the team would be better served by a return to catching in 2005. If this wasn't their thinking, they created a huge question mark at catcher with no answer in sight. If this was their thinking, I'm thoroughly disgusted.
If acquiring Benson and Zambrano was supposed to be a clever move that would improve the team now and in the near future, then an equally clever move is long overdue. It's hardly original to suggest this, and I've done so before, but now it's become imperative: Reyes and Matsui MUST swap positions NOW.
What conceivable reason could there be to wait any longer? After this latest loss, the Mets are 9 games back, closer to last than first. The meaningful games are over. It's time to get on with the very realistic business of building the odds-on favorite to win the NL East in 2005. And if that team is to include Kaz Matsui, he will not be playing SS.
Whether it's his refusal to wear glasses or metal cleats or just a simple lack of skill, strength or smarts it doesn't matter. What matters is this: Jose Reyes would have made those plays yesterday and the Mets would have won. Full stop.
Add Mike M. at East Coast Agony to the list of those unhappy with the trading of Scott Kazmir and Justin Huber.
What doesn't make sense is giving up Kazmir now and not getting fair value for him. Victor Zambrano is not a good pitcher now, has never been exciting for a sustained stretch, and I have no reason to believe he will get much better than he already is. Rick Peterson can only do so much. I refuse to believe that even with Scott's injury problems, Zambrano is the best the Mets could do.
I haven't spoken much about Benson, because I think he has more potential than Zambrano. Not as much potential as Kazmir, certainly, but that's no longer here nor there. As much as I liked Ty Wigginton, he didn't have a place on the team anymore and deserved to be traded. Who can say what Matt Peterson would've turned into given another year in the Mets organization? Not me. It would've been nice to find out, though I will take Benson and not worry about it too much.
Sending Huber to Kansas City to complete the Benson deal is the other move of the day that stunned me and made me really want to get inside ownerships' heads. Huber was the heir apparent to Piazza behind the plate, and his arrival seemed imminent, with Jason Phillips struggling enough to preclude him from getting a shot at being a placeholder in 2005, and Vance Wilson simply not good enough to serve as a starter. My initial belief is that the Wilpons, after seeing how Piazza struggled at first base, in particular how often he was injured playing the position, and perhaps comparing his batting numbers unfavorably to those he accrued behind the plate, thought that he and the rest of the team would be better served by a return to catching in 2005. If this wasn't their thinking, they created a huge question mark at catcher with no answer in sight. If this was their thinking, I'm thoroughly disgusted.
Posted at 11:59 PM
Better Late Than Never Dept.
From CNN.com :
Al Qaeda surveillance of possible terror targets in three U.S. cities occurred before September 11, 2001, but there was an indication of reconnaissance updates as recently as January, Bush administration officials said Tuesday.
"We know from the way al Qaeda does business, including on the 9/11 attacks, that they do their homework well in advance, then they update it just before they launch an attack," said Frances Fragos Townsend, a homeland security adviser to President Bush.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday that some of the information was updated earlier this year but that "there's no evidence of recent surveillance."
Neither Ridge nor Townsend said how much information was updated in January.
At a news conference Tuesday morning at the Citigroup financial building in Manhattan, Ridge commended employees for their conduct and decisions to work.
"The terrorists wish to make Americans that live in freedom, live in fear," Ridge said. "Just by showing up at work, you have made a powerful statement that they will not succeed."
Ridge said it was a "judgment call" to release the information when he did and insisted that the Department of Homeland Security "does not do politics."
Damn straight, though just to be on the safe side, Ridge might want to consider canceling the November election. In the meantime, I will continue to make a powerful statement just by getting out of bed. Bad enough that supposedly free persons are catching heavy shit for their opposing views, but Ridge has brought the level of rhetoric to a new low. Drunks, malingerers, slackers and con artists are no longer mere lazy bums, they're downright unpatriotic.
Al Qaeda surveillance of possible terror targets in three U.S. cities occurred before September 11, 2001, but there was an indication of reconnaissance updates as recently as January, Bush administration officials said Tuesday.
"We know from the way al Qaeda does business, including on the 9/11 attacks, that they do their homework well in advance, then they update it just before they launch an attack," said Frances Fragos Townsend, a homeland security adviser to President Bush.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday that some of the information was updated earlier this year but that "there's no evidence of recent surveillance."
Neither Ridge nor Townsend said how much information was updated in January.
At a news conference Tuesday morning at the Citigroup financial building in Manhattan, Ridge commended employees for their conduct and decisions to work.
"The terrorists wish to make Americans that live in freedom, live in fear," Ridge said. "Just by showing up at work, you have made a powerful statement that they will not succeed."
Ridge said it was a "judgment call" to release the information when he did and insisted that the Department of Homeland Security "does not do politics."
Damn straight, though just to be on the safe side, Ridge might want to consider canceling the November election. In the meantime, I will continue to make a powerful statement just by getting out of bed. Bad enough that supposedly free persons are catching heavy shit for their opposing views, but Ridge has brought the level of rhetoric to a new low. Drunks, malingerers, slackers and con artists are no longer mere lazy bums, they're downright unpatriotic.
Posted at 11:53 PM
Nomar Refutes Epstein's Injury Claim
He's been out of town for 4 days, but Nomar
Garciaparra continues to play a starring role in the Red Sox soap opera.
Speaking to Gordon Edes in today's Boston Globe, the shortstop takes exception to management claims that he
was looking to bail on the season.
Epstein said he informed Cubs GM Jim Hendry last Thursday that talks might have to be broken off because he could not trade Garciaparra if the shortstop was hurt and likely headed for the disabled list. Epstein said he told Hendry that if the Cubs elected to acquire another shortstop, Orlando Cabrera, from the Montreal Expos, that he wanted to speak to Hendry about possibly trading for the Cubs' incumbent shortstop, Alex Gonzalez.
But Hendry, relying on reports filed from his scouts and satisfied by a conversation Saturday between the Cubs and Sox trainers that Garciaparra could continue to play, elected to make the deal, a four-team trade in which the Sox ended up with Cabrera from the Expos and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz from the Minnesota Twins.
Garciaparra, aware of published reports that raised the question of whether he had misled the Sox, and informed of the Sox executives' comments by agent Arn Tellem, called last night from Denver, where the Cubs are playing the Rockies tonight, to give his side of the story.
"I don't know why they brought up private conversations," said Garciaparra, who was clearly agitated but spoke in even tones. "But I'll just give you the facts.
"We were concerned with how the Achilles' was going, so I talked to the trainers and the manager to make sure we were all on the same page.
"Was it sore? Yes. Did it hurt? Yes. But it was about avoiding going on the disabled list, it was about avoiding time off. I also was saying that I couldn't continue playing every single day that season. I never said I couldn't play.
"The issue was the six games on turf [three in Minnesota, three in Tampa Bay]. You [media] guys were aware of it. Was it sore? Absolutely. Does it hurt? Absolutely. But I was playing on it. Maybe I'd have to miss more than one day once in a while, maybe consecutive days to make sure it was OK. But after I missed the first game Friday [in Minnesota], I was in the lineup the next day."
Garciaparra insisted he didn't tell the team he would have to go on the DL, a direct contradiction to assertions made by Epstein yesterday that Francona and the trainers, after that meeting last Wednesday in Baltimore, had called him and told him that Garciaparra said he would have to miss "significant time" in August and that there was a "significant chance" that he would have to go on the DL.
Garciaparra last night denied that he had told the Sox he felt the Achilles' might blow out. "There are times when I'm running that it feels tight and stiff, like a tight hamstring," he said.
Published reports have suggested that Garciaparra may have misled the Sox about his condition. Fueling those suspicions in part is a conversation Lucchino said he had with Garciaparra right after the trade (initial reports had Lucchino saying he called Garciaparra before the trade was finalized, but Lucchino corrected that, saying it was afterward), which he originally shared with Boston Herald columnist Gerry Callahan.
"I called him to wish him good luck and good health and said thanks for all you've done," Lucchino said yesterday. "I told him I was calling on behalf of John [Henry] and Tom Werner as well, and that we all had a lot of respect for what he'd done for the franchise.
"Then I asked him, `How's the heel?' He said, `Great.' I said, `Great? A couple of days ago you said you had serious concerns.' He said, `That was then. It's great now.'
"Maybe that was a medical assessment. An injury like that does go up and down. But I was puzzled by that. I said I was a little puzzled. He said, `It's great now.' I said, `Oh, I guess. Good luck, and I'm glad you're in the other league.' "
"I had just gotten traded," Garciaparra said. "He had just gotten rid of me. I was talking to my parents. Do you think I really wanted to talk to him right now? He was the last person I wanted to talk to, to be honest with you.
"I wasn't saying much. I was really short. He was saying thank you and stuff. Then he said, `By the way, how's the Achilles'?' That's the first time he'd ever asked me about the Achilles'.
"I said, `It's great. It's fine.' "
Was he being sarcastic?
"Yeah, I was. I'd just gotten traded. He said, `What do you mean, it's great?' I said, `It bothers me, but it's fine. Yeah, it bothers me, but I'm fine.' Just like, `I'm playing.' I never said, `I'm fine now.' "
Garciaparra said he was distressed that all of this has been raised in the aftermath of the trade.
"Stuff is coming out, they're saying stuff about my agent," he said. "It's sad. Here's the truth. Those are the facts. This is it.
"I'm not mad at them. I'm not going to rant and rave. I'm not jabbing anybody. If they don't want me, fine. They traded me. Why can't that be enough?"
Pretty hard to tell from this vantage point who is telling the truth. Ordinarily, I'd hope the club would take the high road and not seek to trash the player's credibility, though the degree to which they're obviously defensive about trading a player as popular as Nomar can't be underestimated.
I've read a few entries from other wonderful, staggeringly well-written blogs (only one of which I'm awake enough to link to) in which Theo Epstein is castigated for giving up Garciaparra for two players with such unimpressive offensive numbers as Cabrera and Mientkiewicz. What these observers don't seem to appreciate is that with a mere two months to go on his current pact and a recent injury he's not fully recovered from, Nomar's former club were not dealing from a position of strength. Given that Garciaparra would only be attractive to a club that considered itself a contender and Boston had to somehow get a serviceable shortstop in return, what Epstein accomplished is pretty remarkable. If we're to believe that Nomar's medical condition is being exaggerated by Epstein and Lucchino in order to save face, it would also stand to reason that the same whispering campaign would've hurt their ability to get much in return for the player. And perhaps it did.
Finally, in a world where many children have to cope with their entire families being blown to bits, and in some affluent countries, parents haven't explained where babies come from, the Boston Globe has expert advice on helping New England youngsters cope with the loss of Nomar.
''A child experiences ballplayers and teams as if they are extensions of themselves and their family," said Dr. Carolyn Newberger, a Brookline child psychologist. ''The Red Sox are their home team, and their home team and their neighborhood and family are all part of who they are. When their hero is traded, there is a loss of a sense of safety and permanence."
To ease the pain, Newberger said, parents should try telling their young softball and baseball players that professional baseball is like a job, and that people often leave one job because they can get a better job that will make them happier. Empathy, she said, also goes a long way.
''Rather than saying this is the way things go and there will be someone else, say, 'I see you're upset. I know this is upsetting. Do you want to talk about it? Because I'm upset, too,' " she said.
Epstein said he informed Cubs GM Jim Hendry last Thursday that talks might have to be broken off because he could not trade Garciaparra if the shortstop was hurt and likely headed for the disabled list. Epstein said he told Hendry that if the Cubs elected to acquire another shortstop, Orlando Cabrera, from the Montreal Expos, that he wanted to speak to Hendry about possibly trading for the Cubs' incumbent shortstop, Alex Gonzalez.
But Hendry, relying on reports filed from his scouts and satisfied by a conversation Saturday between the Cubs and Sox trainers that Garciaparra could continue to play, elected to make the deal, a four-team trade in which the Sox ended up with Cabrera from the Expos and first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz from the Minnesota Twins.
Garciaparra, aware of published reports that raised the question of whether he had misled the Sox, and informed of the Sox executives' comments by agent Arn Tellem, called last night from Denver, where the Cubs are playing the Rockies tonight, to give his side of the story.
"I don't know why they brought up private conversations," said Garciaparra, who was clearly agitated but spoke in even tones. "But I'll just give you the facts.
"We were concerned with how the Achilles' was going, so I talked to the trainers and the manager to make sure we were all on the same page.
"Was it sore? Yes. Did it hurt? Yes. But it was about avoiding going on the disabled list, it was about avoiding time off. I also was saying that I couldn't continue playing every single day that season. I never said I couldn't play.
"The issue was the six games on turf [three in Minnesota, three in Tampa Bay]. You [media] guys were aware of it. Was it sore? Absolutely. Does it hurt? Absolutely. But I was playing on it. Maybe I'd have to miss more than one day once in a while, maybe consecutive days to make sure it was OK. But after I missed the first game Friday [in Minnesota], I was in the lineup the next day."
Garciaparra insisted he didn't tell the team he would have to go on the DL, a direct contradiction to assertions made by Epstein yesterday that Francona and the trainers, after that meeting last Wednesday in Baltimore, had called him and told him that Garciaparra said he would have to miss "significant time" in August and that there was a "significant chance" that he would have to go on the DL.
Garciaparra last night denied that he had told the Sox he felt the Achilles' might blow out. "There are times when I'm running that it feels tight and stiff, like a tight hamstring," he said.
Published reports have suggested that Garciaparra may have misled the Sox about his condition. Fueling those suspicions in part is a conversation Lucchino said he had with Garciaparra right after the trade (initial reports had Lucchino saying he called Garciaparra before the trade was finalized, but Lucchino corrected that, saying it was afterward), which he originally shared with Boston Herald columnist Gerry Callahan.
"I called him to wish him good luck and good health and said thanks for all you've done," Lucchino said yesterday. "I told him I was calling on behalf of John [Henry] and Tom Werner as well, and that we all had a lot of respect for what he'd done for the franchise.
"Then I asked him, `How's the heel?' He said, `Great.' I said, `Great? A couple of days ago you said you had serious concerns.' He said, `That was then. It's great now.'
"Maybe that was a medical assessment. An injury like that does go up and down. But I was puzzled by that. I said I was a little puzzled. He said, `It's great now.' I said, `Oh, I guess. Good luck, and I'm glad you're in the other league.' "
"I had just gotten traded," Garciaparra said. "He had just gotten rid of me. I was talking to my parents. Do you think I really wanted to talk to him right now? He was the last person I wanted to talk to, to be honest with you.
"I wasn't saying much. I was really short. He was saying thank you and stuff. Then he said, `By the way, how's the Achilles'?' That's the first time he'd ever asked me about the Achilles'.
"I said, `It's great. It's fine.' "
Was he being sarcastic?
"Yeah, I was. I'd just gotten traded. He said, `What do you mean, it's great?' I said, `It bothers me, but it's fine. Yeah, it bothers me, but I'm fine.' Just like, `I'm playing.' I never said, `I'm fine now.' "
Garciaparra said he was distressed that all of this has been raised in the aftermath of the trade.
"Stuff is coming out, they're saying stuff about my agent," he said. "It's sad. Here's the truth. Those are the facts. This is it.
"I'm not mad at them. I'm not going to rant and rave. I'm not jabbing anybody. If they don't want me, fine. They traded me. Why can't that be enough?"
Pretty hard to tell from this vantage point who is telling the truth. Ordinarily, I'd hope the club would take the high road and not seek to trash the player's credibility, though the degree to which they're obviously defensive about trading a player as popular as Nomar can't be underestimated.
I've read a few entries from other wonderful, staggeringly well-written blogs (only one of which I'm awake enough to link to) in which Theo Epstein is castigated for giving up Garciaparra for two players with such unimpressive offensive numbers as Cabrera and Mientkiewicz. What these observers don't seem to appreciate is that with a mere two months to go on his current pact and a recent injury he's not fully recovered from, Nomar's former club were not dealing from a position of strength. Given that Garciaparra would only be attractive to a club that considered itself a contender and Boston had to somehow get a serviceable shortstop in return, what Epstein accomplished is pretty remarkable. If we're to believe that Nomar's medical condition is being exaggerated by Epstein and Lucchino in order to save face, it would also stand to reason that the same whispering campaign would've hurt their ability to get much in return for the player. And perhaps it did.
Finally, in a world where many children have to cope with their entire families being blown to bits, and in some affluent countries, parents haven't explained where babies come from, the Boston Globe has expert advice on helping New England youngsters cope with the loss of Nomar.
''A child experiences ballplayers and teams as if they are extensions of themselves and their family," said Dr. Carolyn Newberger, a Brookline child psychologist. ''The Red Sox are their home team, and their home team and their neighborhood and family are all part of who they are. When their hero is traded, there is a loss of a sense of safety and permanence."
To ease the pain, Newberger said, parents should try telling their young softball and baseball players that professional baseball is like a job, and that people often leave one job because they can get a better job that will make them happier. Empathy, she said, also goes a long way.
''Rather than saying this is the way things go and there will be someone else, say, 'I see you're upset. I know this is upsetting. Do you want to talk about it? Because I'm upset, too,' " she said.
Posted at 10:58 PM
The Unhappy Recap
Suffering from lung cancer through the past year, Hall Of Famer Bob Murphy passed away today at the of 79. Murph did the Mets play-by-play from the team's inception in 1962 until his retirement last season. He also had prior stints with the Red Sox and Orioles.
Posted at 10:30 PM
Action, Time, Vision @ Neverland
I don't wanna kick a guy when he's down, even a
freakish, meglomaniacal child-fucker, but Michael Jackson is going to have a very hard time finding
personal liability insurance at that amusement park he calls home.
A 15-year-old boy was injured in an ATV accident at Jackson's Neverland Ranch Thursday afternoon.
The teen was riding an all-terrain vehicle around Jackson's ranch when it flipped over because of a flat tire.
The teen, described as a private guest by Jackson attorney Brian Oxman, "is just fine, no broken bones, no internal injuries, he's doing just fine," the lawyer told the Associated Press.
A security guard directed paramedics to the boy, who was purportedly at or near the compound's main house. He was airlifted out of the ranch and later taken by ambulance to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, about 35 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, where he is listed in good condition.
As long as he doesn't sit for a few days, he'll be fine.
A 15-year-old boy was injured in an ATV accident at Jackson's Neverland Ranch Thursday afternoon.
The teen was riding an all-terrain vehicle around Jackson's ranch when it flipped over because of a flat tire.
The teen, described as a private guest by Jackson attorney Brian Oxman, "is just fine, no broken bones, no internal injuries, he's doing just fine," the lawyer told the Associated Press.
A security guard directed paramedics to the boy, who was purportedly at or near the compound's main house. He was airlifted out of the ranch and later taken by ambulance to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, about 35 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, where he is listed in good condition.
As long as he doesn't sit for a few days, he'll be fine.
Posted at 05:51 PM
Walker To Hawks, Crawford to Knicks
The NY Post's Peter Vescey is reporting that
the Mavericks are about to send Antoine Walker to the
Hawks in exchange for Jason Terry and Alan Henderson. Said trade
would probably wipe out any possibility of Dallas trying to acquire the
disgruntled Jason Kidd and his maximum salary from New Jersey. Though this
news will disappoint Isiah Thomas, who was trying to land Walker, Vescey and the
Post's Marc Berman report on a deal the Knicks are allegedly about to complete.
Bull combo guard Jamal Crawford could become a Knick as soon as today, as Chicago GM John Paxson has made a counter-offer that Knick president Isiah Thomas is expected to accept, according to sources.
Paxson has removed two overpaid swingmen — the Knicks' Shandon Anderson and the Bulls' Eddie Robinson — from the deal, allowing the Bulls to save an additional $10 million in future payroll.
Though Thomas wanted to move Anderson, it appears Paxson is willing to accept Moochie Norris in a compromise the Knick president couldn't refuse.
Meanwhile, The Post has also learned Golden State center Erick Dampier will visit the Knicks in New York this week, an indication the Knicks are still very much in the hunt.
If the Crawford deal goes through as expected, the Knicks still have the pawns to trade for Dampier or at least be in position to award him the mid-level exception. Nazr Mohammed, Kurt Thomas and Othella Harrington are all available in a Dampier package.
Bull combo guard Jamal Crawford could become a Knick as soon as today, as Chicago GM John Paxson has made a counter-offer that Knick president Isiah Thomas is expected to accept, according to sources.
Paxson has removed two overpaid swingmen — the Knicks' Shandon Anderson and the Bulls' Eddie Robinson — from the deal, allowing the Bulls to save an additional $10 million in future payroll.
Though Thomas wanted to move Anderson, it appears Paxson is willing to accept Moochie Norris in a compromise the Knick president couldn't refuse.
Meanwhile, The Post has also learned Golden State center Erick Dampier will visit the Knicks in New York this week, an indication the Knicks are still very much in the hunt.
If the Crawford deal goes through as expected, the Knicks still have the pawns to trade for Dampier or at least be in position to award him the mid-level exception. Nazr Mohammed, Kurt Thomas and Othella Harrington are all available in a Dampier package.
Posted at 05:12 PM
Ledge Soundalike Fails To Phase Sox
I don't know if any of you are watching tonight's
Red Sox/Tampa Bay contest, but there's a
particularly loud, though incomprehensible heckler being picked up by NESN's
microphones at slightly less volume than Jerry Remy. Said public display of
moan-and-groan recalls nothing as much as the Legendary Stardust
Cowboy's "Paralysed", though I think the Ledge usually performed for
bigger crowds than the D-Rays.
Posted at 01:35 AM
Mon - August 2, 2004
Tyler Houston Says "Shut Up, Little Man"
I'm hungry for a big steak right about now,
perhaps due to the subliminal skills of the Philadelphia Inquirer's Jim Salisbury, watching time
run out on the Phillies' Larry Bowa.
Bowa's job status is being discussed almost nonstop. After yesterday's 6-3 loss to the spirited Chicago Cubs, catcher Mike Lieberthal, the longest-tenured Phillie, said he'd like to see general manager Ed Wade address Bowa's uncertain status because it has become a distraction.
"I'd like to know if he's going to be here the whole season," Lieberthal said. "Everyone should know. With all the talk on TV, I think the players want to know what's going on."
Wade was not with the team in Chicago yesterday. At last check, he was not planning to be in San Diego, the next stop on this nightmarish trip that has so far produced one win and six losses as the Phils have dropped from a half-game behind the first-place Atlanta Braves to 51/2 back in just a week. Attempts to reach Wade last night were unsuccessful.
With the trade deadline passed - and the results unspectacular - Bowa's status has become the No. 1 concern on Wade's plate.
There have been strong indications in recent days that he is considering a change, and will use the remainder of this road trip to decide if Bowa stays or goes.
In his postgame remarks yesterday, Lieberthal didn't offer an opinion on whether Bowa should be fired or not. He was talking about the uncertainty of the situation and how it had infiltrated the clubhouse.
"I don't think anybody is expecting a change," he said. "But obviously, everybody is hearing it. We see it on TV. I expect Larry to be here the whole year, but you never know.
"It's all about winning in any sport, and if the players don't win, it happens."
Not all Phillies players agreed with Lieberthal's assertion that the skipper's status was a distraction.
"To be honest, none of us care," closer Billy Wagner said. "It's his job. We don't worry about it. It's hard enough worrying about our own jobs.
"We need to worry about baseball. Whatever is going on with Bo is partly because we haven't played well."
The Phils added a couple of solid arms to their bullpen at the trade deadline, but they needed to do more. A starter would have helped. A centerfielder would have helped. Essentially, the Phils are relying on the same cast of characters that has disappointed for much of this season to come through over the final two months.
Bowa is relying on them to save his job, if indeed it can be saved.
Just to show he isn't holding a grudge, Tyler Houston writes about his loving relationship with Bowa in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal.
After playing for the Phillies last year, I'm constantly e-mailed by fans wanting the scoop about the manager few players can stand and why he released me in the middle of a pennant race when I was leading the majors in pinch hitting. I've put it off, but now that his days appear numbered, I'm going to tell the story.
At this time last season, the Phillies lost a game in Montreal and Bowa threw one of his tantrums, saying things many players didn't appreciate. Upon boarding the bus to the airport, longtime veteran Dan Plesac held a meeting. He slammed Bowa and his staff, saying it was time to win for ourselves and to forget about the coaches.
Plesac's plan was for the players to ignore the coaches in the following series in New York against the Mets. We agreed we could no longer stand Bowa or his sidekick, third-base coach John Vuckovich.
Another player, who is still with the Phillies, suggested that if struggling Pat Burrell hit a home run, he should not shake Bowa's hand. Indeed, Burrell homered the next day and shunned Bowa. I was the first player to greet Burrell at the top of the dugout, which in Bowa's eyes immediately made me the mastermind of the scheme.
The next morning, I got a phone call telling me I was designated for assignment for being a bad influence on Burrell and in the clubhouse.
Phillies general manager Ed Wade has one downfall -- that is, he won't get rid of Bowa. Wade has built a team that should steamroll to the playoffs. Instead, it's limping along and will probably again watch the playoffs on TV.
Everyone from announcers to clubhouse people want Bowa gone, but Wade can't pull the trigger. Ed, if you are too afraid to do it, I'd be more than happy to fly to Philly and fire the little guy for you.
Bowa's job status is being discussed almost nonstop. After yesterday's 6-3 loss to the spirited Chicago Cubs, catcher Mike Lieberthal, the longest-tenured Phillie, said he'd like to see general manager Ed Wade address Bowa's uncertain status because it has become a distraction.
"I'd like to know if he's going to be here the whole season," Lieberthal said. "Everyone should know. With all the talk on TV, I think the players want to know what's going on."
Wade was not with the team in Chicago yesterday. At last check, he was not planning to be in San Diego, the next stop on this nightmarish trip that has so far produced one win and six losses as the Phils have dropped from a half-game behind the first-place Atlanta Braves to 51/2 back in just a week. Attempts to reach Wade last night were unsuccessful.
With the trade deadline passed - and the results unspectacular - Bowa's status has become the No. 1 concern on Wade's plate.
There have been strong indications in recent days that he is considering a change, and will use the remainder of this road trip to decide if Bowa stays or goes.
In his postgame remarks yesterday, Lieberthal didn't offer an opinion on whether Bowa should be fired or not. He was talking about the uncertainty of the situation and how it had infiltrated the clubhouse.
"I don't think anybody is expecting a change," he said. "But obviously, everybody is hearing it. We see it on TV. I expect Larry to be here the whole year, but you never know.
"It's all about winning in any sport, and if the players don't win, it happens."
Not all Phillies players agreed with Lieberthal's assertion that the skipper's status was a distraction.
"To be honest, none of us care," closer Billy Wagner said. "It's his job. We don't worry about it. It's hard enough worrying about our own jobs.
"We need to worry about baseball. Whatever is going on with Bo is partly because we haven't played well."
The Phils added a couple of solid arms to their bullpen at the trade deadline, but they needed to do more. A starter would have helped. A centerfielder would have helped. Essentially, the Phils are relying on the same cast of characters that has disappointed for much of this season to come through over the final two months.
Bowa is relying on them to save his job, if indeed it can be saved.
Just to show he isn't holding a grudge, Tyler Houston writes about his loving relationship with Bowa in today's Las Vegas Review-Journal.
After playing for the Phillies last year, I'm constantly e-mailed by fans wanting the scoop about the manager few players can stand and why he released me in the middle of a pennant race when I was leading the majors in pinch hitting. I've put it off, but now that his days appear numbered, I'm going to tell the story.
At this time last season, the Phillies lost a game in Montreal and Bowa threw one of his tantrums, saying things many players didn't appreciate. Upon boarding the bus to the airport, longtime veteran Dan Plesac held a meeting. He slammed Bowa and his staff, saying it was time to win for ourselves and to forget about the coaches.
Plesac's plan was for the players to ignore the coaches in the following series in New York against the Mets. We agreed we could no longer stand Bowa or his sidekick, third-base coach John Vuckovich.
Another player, who is still with the Phillies, suggested that if struggling Pat Burrell hit a home run, he should not shake Bowa's hand. Indeed, Burrell homered the next day and shunned Bowa. I was the first player to greet Burrell at the top of the dugout, which in Bowa's eyes immediately made me the mastermind of the scheme.
The next morning, I got a phone call telling me I was designated for assignment for being a bad influence on Burrell and in the clubhouse.
Phillies general manager Ed Wade has one downfall -- that is, he won't get rid of Bowa. Wade has built a team that should steamroll to the playoffs. Instead, it's limping along and will probably again watch the playoffs on TV.
Everyone from announcers to clubhouse people want Bowa gone, but Wade can't pull the trigger. Ed, if you are too afraid to do it, I'd be more than happy to fly to Philly and fire the little guy for you.
Posted at 10:41 PM
Mushnick's One-Man Campaign Against Titillation, Slow Baserunning
From today's NY Post
column by The Only Principled Man On Earth:
If Kris Benson's wife were a microbiologist in pursuit of a cure for a deadly disease — instead of a hot babe who's apparently allergic to clothing — we wouldn't yet know a thing about her, would we?
Not if we're reading the NY Post or any other Murdoch paper, we wouldn't.
Cliff Floyd runs the bases like Mike Piazza. He'll wait to see what happens to the ball before bothering to run. Always a good idea, especially until your team is eliminated.
This is the same Cliff Floyd, by the way, who is talking about retiring when his contract runs out, such is the agony he endures every time he runs down a fly ball or tries to reach first on a hit that would've been a double for another player. There are many targets deserving of Muschnick's scorn for displays of unsportsmanlike conduct, avarice or greed. It's truly a slow weekend for news when Holy Phil has to dump on a player's wife and a cripple.
If Kris Benson's wife were a microbiologist in pursuit of a cure for a deadly disease — instead of a hot babe who's apparently allergic to clothing — we wouldn't yet know a thing about her, would we?
Not if we're reading the NY Post or any other Murdoch paper, we wouldn't.
Cliff Floyd runs the bases like Mike Piazza. He'll wait to see what happens to the ball before bothering to run. Always a good idea, especially until your team is eliminated.
This is the same Cliff Floyd, by the way, who is talking about retiring when his contract runs out, such is the agony he endures every time he runs down a fly ball or tries to reach first on a hit that would've been a double for another player. There are many targets deserving of Muschnick's scorn for displays of unsportsmanlike conduct, avarice or greed. It's truly a slow weekend for news when Holy Phil has to dump on a player's wife and a cripple.
Posted at 07:11 PM
Entire Nation Obsessed With Sven's Cock
Hard for me to put this in any sort of
perspective that will make sense to CSTB's American readers. But let's just
pretend for a second that not only is Larry Brown the coach of the NBA Champs
and the US National Team, but he's single and a renowned lothario. The National
Enquirer is preparing a story that Brown has been enjoying carnal activities
with a female employee of the league...but then learns that Commissioner David
Stern has been having relations with the same woman.
Stern, wary of the appearance of impropriety, approaches the tabloid through an intermediary and offers to dish the dirt on Brown's sex life, just so long as the Commissioner's acts remained unreported.
The above scenario, is of course, pure fantasy (and not exactly my chosen fantasy either), but just serves to illustrate the insanity surrounding the scandal that has enveloped England coach Sven-Goran Erickson and his recently deposed boss, Mark Palios of the Football Association.
Writes the Guardian's Richard Williams,
Observers abroad are shaking their heads in wonder that England, a nation with the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe, and whose town centres are weekend no-go areas for anyone with an aversion to walking through vomit or watching strangers having sex in public, can get so worked up about such a small, private matter among consenting, unattached adults.
(Sven assures the talented gals of Atomic Kitten that they haven't lived until they've been in a 5-way with him and Tord Grip)
Stern, wary of the appearance of impropriety, approaches the tabloid through an intermediary and offers to dish the dirt on Brown's sex life, just so long as the Commissioner's acts remained unreported.
The above scenario, is of course, pure fantasy (and not exactly my chosen fantasy either), but just serves to illustrate the insanity surrounding the scandal that has enveloped England coach Sven-Goran Erickson and his recently deposed boss, Mark Palios of the Football Association.
Writes the Guardian's Richard Williams,
Observers abroad are shaking their heads in wonder that England, a nation with the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe, and whose town centres are weekend no-go areas for anyone with an aversion to walking through vomit or watching strangers having sex in public, can get so worked up about such a small, private matter among consenting, unattached adults.
(Sven assures the talented gals of Atomic Kitten that they haven't lived until they've been in a 5-way with him and Tord Grip)
Posted at 06:06 PM
Heyman 2nd Guesses Kazmir Trade
From yesterday's Newsday and Jon Heyman :
There was mixed reaction to the Mets' back-to-back bombshells. One AL executive was impressed, saying this proves "Jim Duquette is better than Steve Phillips." But another called trading Scott Kazmir for Zambrano "a bit of an overpay." Another said it will "come back to bite them in the butt.
The dealing of Kazmir has the fingerprints of Mets veterans. Kazmir was cocky, and that rubbed some veteran Mets the wrong way in spring training. No wonder Al Leiter won't accept a trade. He wouldn't want to give up his assistant GM powers.
You have to wonder whether the Mets erred in not surrendering Kazmir for Alfonso Soriano this past spring.
There was mixed reaction to the Mets' back-to-back bombshells. One AL executive was impressed, saying this proves "Jim Duquette is better than Steve Phillips." But another called trading Scott Kazmir for Zambrano "a bit of an overpay." Another said it will "come back to bite them in the butt.
The dealing of Kazmir has the fingerprints of Mets veterans. Kazmir was cocky, and that rubbed some veteran Mets the wrong way in spring training. No wonder Al Leiter won't accept a trade. He wouldn't want to give up his assistant GM powers.
You have to wonder whether the Mets erred in not surrendering Kazmir for Alfonso Soriano this past spring.
Posted at 05:31 PM
Highly Competitive (ie. Asshole) Dad Bounced From Little League Game
Don't you just hate these stage parents, living
vicariously through the achievements of their kids? Someone oughta sentence Dad
to repeated viewings of the "Bad News Bears" trilogy, sans the first one.
From the Associated Press :
Astros Pitcher Roger Clemens was asked to leave a youth baseball game over the weekend for arguing a close call that went against his son's team.
Clemens was at the game Saturday watching his son, Kacy, compete in a 10-and-under game organized by Triple Crown Sports when Clemens contested a call at second base that went against the Katy Cowboys.
He spit sunflower seeds at an umpire's leg and was asked to leave, said Jim Carpenter, a field supervisor with Triple Crown.
"I supported the umpire's decision and he [Clemens] respectfully left," Carpenter told the Craig Daily Press.
Katy lost the game 11-5 to the Bakersfield Curve.
From the Associated Press :
Astros Pitcher Roger Clemens was asked to leave a youth baseball game over the weekend for arguing a close call that went against his son's team.
Clemens was at the game Saturday watching his son, Kacy, compete in a 10-and-under game organized by Triple Crown Sports when Clemens contested a call at second base that went against the Katy Cowboys.
He spit sunflower seeds at an umpire's leg and was asked to leave, said Jim Carpenter, a field supervisor with Triple Crown.
"I supported the umpire's decision and he [Clemens] respectfully left," Carpenter told the Craig Daily Press.
Katy lost the game 11-5 to the Bakersfield Curve.
Posted at 05:18 PM
Edes On Nomar's Health
In addition to comments by Boston's former SS that he was treated shabbily by Red Sox
principal owner John Henry, today's Boston Globe column by Gordon Edes
claims the shipment of Nomar Garciaparra to Chicago was prompted by concerns
that he'd miss additional playing time this
year.
The Cubs traded for Garciaparra even after being informed by Sox general manager Theo Epstein that Garciaparra expressed fears that he would have to go back on the disabled list because of his sore right Achilles' tendon, and was uncertain about how much he would be able to play the remainder of the season. One Cubs official, who asked to remain anonymous, praised Epstein for full disclosure of Garciaparra's medical condition, and said trainers from both teams spoke Saturday morning to discuss Garciaparra, hours before the deal was finalized.
Cubs manager Dusty Baker said yesterday he expected Garciaparra might need to miss one game a week, which is a much sunnier scenario than the one Garciaparra presented to Sox officials in recent days, according to those officials. And none of the Cubs executives who spoke about the Garciaparra negotiations expressed fears they were gambling that Garciaparra would remain healthy for the balance of the season.
The Sox' focus changed to (Orlando) Cabrera in the final days before Saturday's deadline, according to multiple sources, after Garciaparra told team trainers and manager Terry Francona that he would have to miss extended periods of time the rest of the season, and might have to go on the 15-day disabled list. Indeed, between games of the day-night doubleheader with Baltimore just before the All-Star break, Garciaparra underwent an MRI on his Achilles'. The results, according to the Sox medical staff, were encouraging, but Garciaparra, according to team sources, complained of ongoing soreness and at one point expressed a fear that he thought the tendon "would blow."
Did Garciaparra indicate to the team he had to go on the DL? "That I don't know if I'd be comfortable saying completely," said Terry Francona. "First of all, the conversations I've had with Nomar are supposed to kind of stay between me and Nomar. I mean, we'd talk a lot.
"There were some concerns about him and this trip especially, being on turf, and then going forward."
Yesterday, Garciaparra evaded answering questions about those assertions directly. At first, he said he could not respond because he did not know what the team had said. He then said that what was said was between him and the trainers, then emphasized that to date he only had missed a game or two at a time since coming off the DL.
" I was playing," Garciaparra said. "I was happy to be back. I took a day off on turf, then was in the lineup [Saturday]. Draw your own conclusions. I took one day because of the turf. Some things were discussed between me and the trainers, but nothing had changed. I knew it was something that was going to linger all year. I understood that rest was going to heal it, and I was going to rest in the offseason.
"I really haven't hid anything from you guys [reporters]. I told you why I sat down on certain days."
The Cubs traded for Garciaparra even after being informed by Sox general manager Theo Epstein that Garciaparra expressed fears that he would have to go back on the disabled list because of his sore right Achilles' tendon, and was uncertain about how much he would be able to play the remainder of the season. One Cubs official, who asked to remain anonymous, praised Epstein for full disclosure of Garciaparra's medical condition, and said trainers from both teams spoke Saturday morning to discuss Garciaparra, hours before the deal was finalized.
Cubs manager Dusty Baker said yesterday he expected Garciaparra might need to miss one game a week, which is a much sunnier scenario than the one Garciaparra presented to Sox officials in recent days, according to those officials. And none of the Cubs executives who spoke about the Garciaparra negotiations expressed fears they were gambling that Garciaparra would remain healthy for the balance of the season.
The Sox' focus changed to (Orlando) Cabrera in the final days before Saturday's deadline, according to multiple sources, after Garciaparra told team trainers and manager Terry Francona that he would have to miss extended periods of time the rest of the season, and might have to go on the 15-day disabled list. Indeed, between games of the day-night doubleheader with Baltimore just before the All-Star break, Garciaparra underwent an MRI on his Achilles'. The results, according to the Sox medical staff, were encouraging, but Garciaparra, according to team sources, complained of ongoing soreness and at one point expressed a fear that he thought the tendon "would blow."
Did Garciaparra indicate to the team he had to go on the DL? "That I don't know if I'd be comfortable saying completely," said Terry Francona. "First of all, the conversations I've had with Nomar are supposed to kind of stay between me and Nomar. I mean, we'd talk a lot.
"There were some concerns about him and this trip especially, being on turf, and then going forward."
Yesterday, Garciaparra evaded answering questions about those assertions directly. At first, he said he could not respond because he did not know what the team had said. He then said that what was said was between him and the trainers, then emphasized that to date he only had missed a game or two at a time since coming off the DL.
" I was playing," Garciaparra said. "I was happy to be back. I took a day off on turf, then was in the lineup [Saturday]. Draw your own conclusions. I took one day because of the turf. Some things were discussed between me and the trainers, but nothing had changed. I knew it was something that was going to linger all year. I understood that rest was going to heal it, and I was going to rest in the offseason.
"I really haven't hid anything from you guys [reporters]. I told you why I sat down on certain days."
Posted at 10:35 AM
Shaughnessy On Nomar
Nomar leaving town gives Dan one less thing to
get all doomy & gloomy about, so the Globe columnist gets his sucker punches in one last
time.
Thank the baseball god, he's gone. We no longer have to watch Nomar Garciaparra pretend that he cares about the fortunes of the Boston Red Sox.
This is a strange story. No one ever played harder, or gave more, to the Boston Red Sox and the citizens of Red Sox Nation than Nomar Garciaparra. He was probably the most popular Sox player since Ted Williams, and rightfully so; no player was more worthy of your applause. But at the same time, no player polluted the clubhouse more than Nomar, and in the end, he was the ultimate non-team guy.
He had to go. He was more miserable than any athlete I have ever seen. In the Sox clubhouse, he was as happy as Michael Moore at a Bush family reunion.
His misery dates back to before this season. After the Sox beat the Oakland A's in the fourth game of the 2003 Division Series, the Sox boarded the team bus for the first leg of their journey back to Oakland for the series finale. Everyone was buoyant and gripped with the prospect of going to Oakland and winning Game 5 . . . everyone except for the star shortstop. He got on the bus, turned toward the excited throng, and said, "Why is everyone so happy? As soon as we lose, everyone's just going to rip us."
That was Nomar. The ultimate downer. The wonderful talent who hated playing in a place where people cared too much.
The allegedy grumpy Garciaparra had an RBI single in his Cubs debut, Chicago beating the Phillies 6-3 on Sunday afternoon.
Thank the baseball god, he's gone. We no longer have to watch Nomar Garciaparra pretend that he cares about the fortunes of the Boston Red Sox.
This is a strange story. No one ever played harder, or gave more, to the Boston Red Sox and the citizens of Red Sox Nation than Nomar Garciaparra. He was probably the most popular Sox player since Ted Williams, and rightfully so; no player was more worthy of your applause. But at the same time, no player polluted the clubhouse more than Nomar, and in the end, he was the ultimate non-team guy.
He had to go. He was more miserable than any athlete I have ever seen. In the Sox clubhouse, he was as happy as Michael Moore at a Bush family reunion.
His misery dates back to before this season. After the Sox beat the Oakland A's in the fourth game of the 2003 Division Series, the Sox boarded the team bus for the first leg of their journey back to Oakland for the series finale. Everyone was buoyant and gripped with the prospect of going to Oakland and winning Game 5 . . . everyone except for the star shortstop. He got on the bus, turned toward the excited throng, and said, "Why is everyone so happy? As soon as we lose, everyone's just going to rip us."
That was Nomar. The ultimate downer. The wonderful talent who hated playing in a place where people cared too much.
The allegedy grumpy Garciaparra had an RBI single in his Cubs debut, Chicago beating the Phillies 6-3 on Sunday afternoon.
Posted at 01:34 AM
Sun - August 1, 2004
Mets Roster Moves
Texas acquired RHP Scott Erickson from New York
(NL) yesterday for a player to be named later (let's hope his name isn't Sucks
As Bad As Scott Erickson), along with the Rangers covering the pitcher's major
league minimum salary between now and the end of the year.
Prior to yesterday's 8-0 defeat at the hands of the first place Braves, Tyler Yates and Jae Won Seo were sent to AAA Norfolk. Considering Seo's reaction the last time he was demoted, it is fair to say he's probably not thrilled. It's also fair to say that he was given every concievable chance to nail down the number 4 spot in the pitching rotation , and while not entirely useless, proved himself to be erratic and unreliable While Pitching Coach Rick Peterson --- in retrospect, the most important new acquisition the Mets made during the last winter ---has managed to work wonders for the big 3 of Glavine, Leiter and Traschel, the sage advice for the former A's hurling guru hasn't made a discernable difference for the enigmatic Seo. Jim Duquette and Peterson are clearly hoping the latter will be of great assistance to Victor Zambrano, whose control issues made him an unlikely trade target (not if the price was Scott Kazmir).
If you're alarmed by the shellacking Kris Benson took from Atlanta Saturday, well, you oughta be. But this was also his 3rd outing against the Braves in 11 days. It would seem the Braves knew just what to expect --- though given that Benson's had just much an opportunity to became familiar with Atlanta hiitters, perhaps someone can explain why the frequent matchup would always favor the hitting team.
Tom Glavine (above) did a fine job throwing batting practice to former teammates Andruw and Chipper Jones, Sunday, the former homering and collecting 4 RBI's, the latter getting 3 hits in Atlanta's 6-5 win over New York. With the series sweep, the Mets find themselves 9 games behind Braves and unless Bobby Cox suddenly decides to retire and is replaced by Gene Mauch down the stretch, you can cool it with that "meaningful games" nonsense.
(Monday update : Ahem. My characterization of Zambrano as an "innings-eater" was way off base. The guy has averaged fewer than 6 innings per start this year, so if anything, this is yet another starter that will require mucho bullpen support. The refrain I keep hearing from the few supporters of this trade who aren't named Duquette is that Scott Kazmir might be a big league pitcher someday (September 1, if you consider Tampa Bay to be the bigs) but Zambrano is a big leaguer right now. Which is true enough --- he's got a shot at leading the majors in three crucial categories : walks, HBP and wild pitches.)
Prior to yesterday's 8-0 defeat at the hands of the first place Braves, Tyler Yates and Jae Won Seo were sent to AAA Norfolk. Considering Seo's reaction the last time he was demoted, it is fair to say he's probably not thrilled. It's also fair to say that he was given every concievable chance to nail down the number 4 spot in the pitching rotation , and while not entirely useless, proved himself to be erratic and unreliable While Pitching Coach Rick Peterson --- in retrospect, the most important new acquisition the Mets made during the last winter ---has managed to work wonders for the big 3 of Glavine, Leiter and Traschel, the sage advice for the former A's hurling guru hasn't made a discernable difference for the enigmatic Seo. Jim Duquette and Peterson are clearly hoping the latter will be of great assistance to Victor Zambrano, whose control issues made him an unlikely trade target (not if the price was Scott Kazmir).
If you're alarmed by the shellacking Kris Benson took from Atlanta Saturday, well, you oughta be. But this was also his 3rd outing against the Braves in 11 days. It would seem the Braves knew just what to expect --- though given that Benson's had just much an opportunity to became familiar with Atlanta hiitters, perhaps someone can explain why the frequent matchup would always favor the hitting team.
Tom Glavine (above) did a fine job throwing batting practice to former teammates Andruw and Chipper Jones, Sunday, the former homering and collecting 4 RBI's, the latter getting 3 hits in Atlanta's 6-5 win over New York. With the series sweep, the Mets find themselves 9 games behind Braves and unless Bobby Cox suddenly decides to retire and is replaced by Gene Mauch down the stretch, you can cool it with that "meaningful games" nonsense.
(Monday update : Ahem. My characterization of Zambrano as an "innings-eater" was way off base. The guy has averaged fewer than 6 innings per start this year, so if anything, this is yet another starter that will require mucho bullpen support. The refrain I keep hearing from the few supporters of this trade who aren't named Duquette is that Scott Kazmir might be a big league pitcher someday (September 1, if you consider Tampa Bay to be the bigs) but Zambrano is a big leaguer right now. Which is true enough --- he's got a shot at leading the majors in three crucial categories : walks, HBP and wild pitches.)
Posted at 01:21 PM
Chemistry - What's It Worth?
In everyday life, chemicals are something we
can't live without, as Scott Weiland, Mitch "Blood" Green or Robert Downey Jr.
could well attest. Whether or not chemistry between teammates is overrrated
will be put to the test over the season's final two months, after Dodgers G.M.
Paul DePodesta made some radical changes to his first place club.
Tony Jackson of the LA Daily News touches on this in yesterday's column.
The Dodgers clubhouse was in a collective funk after hearing the news on Friday. If anyone thought general manager Paul DePodesta had made a mistake by upsetting what had been a remarkable team chemistry, no one was saying it. But there was no mistaking the popularity of the players who won't be around any longer.
"It's a shock," first baseman Shawn Green said. "You always hear a lot of rumors floating around, and nothing ever really happens, but something really happened today. We're getting a couple of quality players, but we obviously gave up some good guys, as well."
Pitcher Jose Lima, the man generally credited with orchestrating the Dodgers' newfound cohesiveness this season, said the entire team was down.
"If I'm usually a cheerleader 100 percent, now I have to be a cheerleader 200 percent," Lima said. "There are a lot of sad people here. It would be a little easier to take if we weren't in first place, but it's hard."
Sentiment aside, DePodesta might not be totally insane. Adding Brad Penny could mean taking Wilson Alvarez out of the starting rotation and moving the latter to a set up role. Hee Seop Choi , though appearing unimpressive to me back when the Derrek Lee deal went down, eeks out plenty of walks. And Paul Lo Duca, though one of the bettter offensive catchers in the game, doesn't have a history of hitting well down the stretch. Perhaps best of all, LA managed to dump Juan Encarnacion on the Marlins. LA's dealings are a funny combination of trades that might pay long term benefits (ie. adding Penny) as well as others clearly designed to improve the team right this minute (ie. making 38 year old Steve Finley the starting center fielder).
Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheenan is amongst those who don't share Joe Morgan's opinion that LA haven't improved the team.
With no big Johnson to show off, the hysterics over the Blue Crew's six-player trade with the Marlins reached a peak Saturday. I was, and remain, absolutely astounded over the reaction to what was an excellent deal for the Dodgers. They traded away two players who have already peaked ---- Guillermo Mota in '03, Paul Lo Duca in '01 ----who are rapidly becoming expensive, whose perceived value far outstrips their actual value, and whose in-season trends are downward. In exchange, they upgraded their rotation and acquired a young left-handed hitter with monster upside who is already a productive player.
The way in which Lo Duca has been held up as some kind of star is insane. He's been league-average catcher for two seasons, and he has a demonstrated capacity for collapse in the second half. Calling him an All-Star-—he made the team in 2003 as the #2 guy in the player voting, and this year as injury replacement-—clouds the fact that he's just an average player, an All-Star by the worst definition: guy having a good first half. If they played the game in November, he'd be sitting in Section 14 and paying for parking.
Paul DePodesta gets it, though. Chemistry is a three-game winning streak. Chemistry will come when Penny tosses eight strong innings and leaves with the sound of the Dodger crowd in his ears, or when Hee Seop Choi hits a home run like he did on Wednesday night in Florida, a three-run game-winning jack. He knows that chemistry is easier to create than runs, easier to find than a 26-year-old with power, plate discipline and a low price.
The Dodgers are unquestionably a better team today than they were on Thursday, and they were better even before getting Steve Finley.
They have more ability to score, and they're at worst about the same in their ability to prevent runs. They'll be much better in 2005 because of it, too. This was a tremendous trade for the Dodgers, and might be the deal that pushed them into the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
(The Chemistry Set rejoices after Robin Ventura's 12th inning HR puts the Dodgers ahead 2-1, Sunday afternoon against San Diego.)
The Dodgers clubhouse was in a collective funk after hearing the news on Friday. If anyone thought general manager Paul DePodesta had made a mistake by upsetting what had been a remarkable team chemistry, no one was saying it. But there was no mistaking the popularity of the players who won't be around any longer.
"It's a shock," first baseman Shawn Green said. "You always hear a lot of rumors floating around, and nothing ever really happens, but something really happened today. We're getting a couple of quality players, but we obviously gave up some good guys, as well."
Pitcher Jose Lima, the man generally credited with orchestrating the Dodgers' newfound cohesiveness this season, said the entire team was down.
"If I'm usually a cheerleader 100 percent, now I have to be a cheerleader 200 percent," Lima said. "There are a lot of sad people here. It would be a little easier to take if we weren't in first place, but it's hard."
Sentiment aside, DePodesta might not be totally insane. Adding Brad Penny could mean taking Wilson Alvarez out of the starting rotation and moving the latter to a set up role. Hee Seop Choi , though appearing unimpressive to me back when the Derrek Lee deal went down, eeks out plenty of walks. And Paul Lo Duca, though one of the bettter offensive catchers in the game, doesn't have a history of hitting well down the stretch. Perhaps best of all, LA managed to dump Juan Encarnacion on the Marlins. LA's dealings are a funny combination of trades that might pay long term benefits (ie. adding Penny) as well as others clearly designed to improve the team right this minute (ie. making 38 year old Steve Finley the starting center fielder).
Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheenan is amongst those who don't share Joe Morgan's opinion that LA haven't improved the team.
With no big Johnson to show off, the hysterics over the Blue Crew's six-player trade with the Marlins reached a peak Saturday. I was, and remain, absolutely astounded over the reaction to what was an excellent deal for the Dodgers. They traded away two players who have already peaked ---- Guillermo Mota in '03, Paul Lo Duca in '01 ----who are rapidly becoming expensive, whose perceived value far outstrips their actual value, and whose in-season trends are downward. In exchange, they upgraded their rotation and acquired a young left-handed hitter with monster upside who is already a productive player.
The way in which Lo Duca has been held up as some kind of star is insane. He's been league-average catcher for two seasons, and he has a demonstrated capacity for collapse in the second half. Calling him an All-Star-—he made the team in 2003 as the #2 guy in the player voting, and this year as injury replacement-—clouds the fact that he's just an average player, an All-Star by the worst definition: guy having a good first half. If they played the game in November, he'd be sitting in Section 14 and paying for parking.
Paul DePodesta gets it, though. Chemistry is a three-game winning streak. Chemistry will come when Penny tosses eight strong innings and leaves with the sound of the Dodger crowd in his ears, or when Hee Seop Choi hits a home run like he did on Wednesday night in Florida, a three-run game-winning jack. He knows that chemistry is easier to create than runs, easier to find than a 26-year-old with power, plate discipline and a low price.
The Dodgers are unquestionably a better team today than they were on Thursday, and they were better even before getting Steve Finley.
They have more ability to score, and they're at worst about the same in their ability to prevent runs. They'll be much better in 2005 because of it, too. This was a tremendous trade for the Dodgers, and might be the deal that pushed them into the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
(The Chemistry Set rejoices after Robin Ventura's 12th inning HR puts the Dodgers ahead 2-1, Sunday afternoon against San Diego.)
Posted at 12:59 PM
Sat - July 31, 2004
Nomar In The Rear View Mirror
How's this for an uneventful last few hours before the
deadline? In parting with one of the organization's most beloved
players (Nomar Garciaparra, below), Boston has dramatically improved their
substandard defense, adding two former Gold Glove winners in Doug Mientkiewicz
and Orlando Cabrera.
The Cubs now have a shortstop who brings considerably more sizzle to the batting order than Alex Gonzalez or Rey Ordonez.
The Twins and Expos each get the prospects they coveted, and it is doubtful the latter could've gotten more for Cabrera, who is having a poor season and was unlikely to resign with Montreal.
To break it all down for you,
Chicago (NL) receives :
SS Nomar Garciaparra (from Boston)
OF Matt Murton (from Boston)
plus cash from Boston
Red Sox receive :
1B Doug Mientkiewicz (from Minnesota)
SS Orlando Cabrera (from Montreal)
Montreal receives :
SS Alex Gonzalez (from Chicago)
RHP Francis Beltran (from Chicago)
IF Brendan Harris (from Chicago)
Minnesota recieves :
LHP Justin Jones (from Chicago)
In addition to all of the above, Boston acquired OF Dave Roberts from the Dodgers in exhange for OF Henri Stanley. Roughly around the same time, LA sent C Koyie Hill , OF Reggie Abercrombie and LHP Bill Murphy to Arizona in exchange for CF Steve Finley and C Brett Mayne. Earlier in the day, C Charles Johnson vetoed a deal that would've sent him from Colorado to LA as the Dodgers' replacement for the just traded Paul Lo Duca.
The addition of Finley will almost certainly result in Milton Bradley being moved to right or left field.
The Yankees traded the erratic Jose Contreras to the White Sox for P Esteban Loiaza. Loiaza, who won 21 games for Chicago a year ago, is eligble for salary arbitration next year and will likely earn a big raise on his $4 million salary. Contreras, owed some $17 million + over the next two and a half seasons, will have a portion of his future paychecks covered by the Yankees.
The Cubs now have a shortstop who brings considerably more sizzle to the batting order than Alex Gonzalez or Rey Ordonez.
The Twins and Expos each get the prospects they coveted, and it is doubtful the latter could've gotten more for Cabrera, who is having a poor season and was unlikely to resign with Montreal.
To break it all down for you,
Chicago (NL) receives :
SS Nomar Garciaparra (from Boston)
OF Matt Murton (from Boston)
plus cash from Boston
Red Sox receive :
1B Doug Mientkiewicz (from Minnesota)
SS Orlando Cabrera (from Montreal)
Montreal receives :
SS Alex Gonzalez (from Chicago)
RHP Francis Beltran (from Chicago)
IF Brendan Harris (from Chicago)
Minnesota recieves :
LHP Justin Jones (from Chicago)
In addition to all of the above, Boston acquired OF Dave Roberts from the Dodgers in exhange for OF Henri Stanley. Roughly around the same time, LA sent C Koyie Hill , OF Reggie Abercrombie and LHP Bill Murphy to Arizona in exchange for CF Steve Finley and C Brett Mayne. Earlier in the day, C Charles Johnson vetoed a deal that would've sent him from Colorado to LA as the Dodgers' replacement for the just traded Paul Lo Duca.
The addition of Finley will almost certainly result in Milton Bradley being moved to right or left field.
The Yankees traded the erratic Jose Contreras to the White Sox for P Esteban Loiaza. Loiaza, who won 21 games for Chicago a year ago, is eligble for salary arbitration next year and will likely earn a big raise on his $4 million salary. Contreras, owed some $17 million + over the next two and a half seasons, will have a portion of his future paychecks covered by the Yankees.
Posted at 11:49 PM
Defamer Flexes Dubious Rock Criticism Chops
From yesterday's gossip-tastic entries
:
All four original members of the legendary So Cal band X will be signing copies of their new double Best of Anthology (X-Make The Music Go Bang) at Tower Records on Sunset. More newsworthy than all original members reuniting is the fact that they managed to put together two discs worth of material for their Best Of. Can you name an X song other than that one about LA? Let punk fan hate mail begin...now.
Let's see...."Adult Books", "Johnny Hit & Run Pauline", "Your Phone's Off The Hook (But I'm Not)", "The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss", "We're Desperate", "When Our Love Passed Out On The Couch"....and that's just what I can remember off the top of my head. There were more than a few good songs on the later albums, too. But tracking Mary-Kate Olson rehab stories is hard work, no wonder there's no time for less significant details.
All four original members of the legendary So Cal band X will be signing copies of their new double Best of Anthology (X-Make The Music Go Bang) at Tower Records on Sunset. More newsworthy than all original members reuniting is the fact that they managed to put together two discs worth of material for their Best Of. Can you name an X song other than that one about LA? Let punk fan hate mail begin...now.
Let's see...."Adult Books", "Johnny Hit & Run Pauline", "Your Phone's Off The Hook (But I'm Not)", "The World's A Mess, It's In My Kiss", "We're Desperate", "When Our Love Passed Out On The Couch"....and that's just what I can remember off the top of my head. There were more than a few good songs on the later albums, too. But tracking Mary-Kate Olson rehab stories is hard work, no wonder there's no time for less significant details.
Posted at 01:47 PM
Mets Trades In The Cold Light Of Day
The price paid for Benson & Zambrano should
not seem much higher at 7 games out of first than it would 5, but with last night's 3-1 loss to Atlanta firmly in
mind, let's hope the Mets new pitching acquisitions can swing a bat.
Given the relatively weak schedule the Mets face during the final two months, their chances of overtaking 3 other clubs and making up a 7 game deficit aren't astronomical, but perhaps too slim to justify last night's moves. We'd been led to believe that Scott Kazmir, if not untouchable, was considered a blue chip prospect. Victor Zambrano, by contrast, is an innings eater at best (not a small consideration given the burden carried by the Mets bullpen this) and painfully wild at worst. The former Devil Rays starter averaged 7 walks a game this year and was leading the AL in batters plunked. Even more disturbingly, he has a loose grip on basic math.
"In my new home, they're waiting for me," Zambrano said. "I'm just going to go and do my 200 percent I can do there. I'll be happy to go there."
Two months ago, I would've described Wigginton as expendable. But as David Wright comes to grip with major league pitching and Mike Piazza and Cliff Floyd continue to swing their bats like guys with one eye on retirement, Ty's offensive production isn't so easily replaced.
If the Mets manage to re-sign Benson (who won't come cheap) and the current team is healthy come April, Jim Duquette might have a legit contender if the situation at 1B and the bullpen can be addressed. But at 7 games out and several key figures limping around (Piazza, Floyd, Reyes), NY's bold moves might be too little, too late.
Given the relatively weak schedule the Mets face during the final two months, their chances of overtaking 3 other clubs and making up a 7 game deficit aren't astronomical, but perhaps too slim to justify last night's moves. We'd been led to believe that Scott Kazmir, if not untouchable, was considered a blue chip prospect. Victor Zambrano, by contrast, is an innings eater at best (not a small consideration given the burden carried by the Mets bullpen this) and painfully wild at worst. The former Devil Rays starter averaged 7 walks a game this year and was leading the AL in batters plunked. Even more disturbingly, he has a loose grip on basic math.
"In my new home, they're waiting for me," Zambrano said. "I'm just going to go and do my 200 percent I can do there. I'll be happy to go there."
Two months ago, I would've described Wigginton as expendable. But as David Wright comes to grip with major league pitching and Mike Piazza and Cliff Floyd continue to swing their bats like guys with one eye on retirement, Ty's offensive production isn't so easily replaced.
If the Mets manage to re-sign Benson (who won't come cheap) and the current team is healthy come April, Jim Duquette might have a legit contender if the situation at 1B and the bullpen can be addressed. But at 7 games out and several key figures limping around (Piazza, Floyd, Reyes), NY's bold moves might be too little, too late.
Posted at 01:27 PM
Fri - July 30, 2004
Mets Acquire Starters Slighty More Capable Than Erickson & Baldwin
The Mets made a dramatic upgrade in their 4th and 5th
starters , capturing arguably the two best pitchers available under 7
feet tall. Kris Benson was acquired from Pittsburgh in exchange for 3B/2B/1B Ty
Wigginton, P Matt Peterson and infielder Jose Bautista. The Mets traded for
Bautista earlier in the day in a swap for minor league catcher Justin Huber.
New York also received P Victor Zambrano (above) and prospect Bartolome Fortunato from Tampa Bay in exchange for the the highly touted Scott Kazmir and minor leaguer Jose Diaz.
Time will only tell if giving up on Kazmir (above) and Huber for a long shot at the NL East flag was a wise move, but it can't be denied that the Mets have shown greater ambition in their mid-season acquisitions that might've been expected from a 4th place club under .500.
In another huge trade, the Marlins sent P Brad Penny, 1B Hee Seop Choi and pitching prospect Bill Murphy to the Dodgers in exchange for P Guillermo Mota, C Paul Lo Duca and OF Juan Encarnacion.
What this means in relation to L.A.'s pursuit of Arizona's Randy Johnson and Steve Finley, remains to be seen, but it probably isn't an unrelated development.
San Diego have acquired 1B Brad Fulmer from Texas for a player to be named later. Fullmer was on the 15 day DL at the time of the deal.
New York also received P Victor Zambrano (above) and prospect Bartolome Fortunato from Tampa Bay in exchange for the the highly touted Scott Kazmir and minor leaguer Jose Diaz.
Time will only tell if giving up on Kazmir (above) and Huber for a long shot at the NL East flag was a wise move, but it can't be denied that the Mets have shown greater ambition in their mid-season acquisitions that might've been expected from a 4th place club under .500.
In another huge trade, the Marlins sent P Brad Penny, 1B Hee Seop Choi and pitching prospect Bill Murphy to the Dodgers in exchange for P Guillermo Mota, C Paul Lo Duca and OF Juan Encarnacion.
What this means in relation to L.A.'s pursuit of Arizona's Randy Johnson and Steve Finley, remains to be seen, but it probably isn't an unrelated development.
San Diego have acquired 1B Brad Fulmer from Texas for a player to be named later. Fullmer was on the 15 day DL at the time of the deal.
Posted at 08:34 PM
No Kidding - Another Way For Nets To Lower Payroll
Noting the recent dispersal of Kenyon Martin,
Rodney Rogers and Kerry Kittles, Nets G Jason Kidd isn't happy, writes the Newark
Star-Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro.
According to a team official, Jason Kidd returned from his Mexican vacation yesterday and immediately requested a meeting with management at Ratner's earliest convenience, at which time the Nets' captain is expected to demand a trade.
And to further illustrate the goals of the new ownership group, a close friend of Alonzo Mourning yesterday disclosed that the disabled center wants to attempt a comeback, but has been informed by the team that his services are no longer desired, as it would rather lop his salary off the cap after next season.
Team president Rod Thorn, who in an afternoon conference call with reporters sounded as though he had his soul ripped out by a savage tax collector, attempted to spin the Kittles trade into a positive move that will allow his depleted team to fill the gaping voids at other positions while saving the $9.8 million that remained on Kittles' contract.
"The purpose for us was very simple: We're obviously trying to restructure our team, and it's going to make it much easier after we make this deal," said Thorn, whose team received a second-round draft pick in the deal, which also included a $1.5 million payment to L.A.
"I feel very confident we'll end up with a strong two-guard position, but we have other needs we have to address, and if we stayed the way we were, we wouldn't be able to address them. That in a nutshell is why we did this trade."
Thorn, whose team picked up journeyman subs Rodney Buford and Jacque Vaughn yesterday, said last night that his conversation with Kidd about the Kittles deal was brief.
"I talked to someone who was with him," Thorn said. "I talked to Jason for about three seconds."
Presumably enough time for Kidd to slam down the phone.
According to a team official, Jason Kidd returned from his Mexican vacation yesterday and immediately requested a meeting with management at Ratner's earliest convenience, at which time the Nets' captain is expected to demand a trade.
And to further illustrate the goals of the new ownership group, a close friend of Alonzo Mourning yesterday disclosed that the disabled center wants to attempt a comeback, but has been informed by the team that his services are no longer desired, as it would rather lop his salary off the cap after next season.
Team president Rod Thorn, who in an afternoon conference call with reporters sounded as though he had his soul ripped out by a savage tax collector, attempted to spin the Kittles trade into a positive move that will allow his depleted team to fill the gaping voids at other positions while saving the $9.8 million that remained on Kittles' contract.
"The purpose for us was very simple: We're obviously trying to restructure our team, and it's going to make it much easier after we make this deal," said Thorn, whose team received a second-round draft pick in the deal, which also included a $1.5 million payment to L.A.
"I feel very confident we'll end up with a strong two-guard position, but we have other needs we have to address, and if we stayed the way we were, we wouldn't be able to address them. That in a nutshell is why we did this trade."
Thorn, whose team picked up journeyman subs Rodney Buford and Jacque Vaughn yesterday, said last night that his conversation with Kidd about the Kittles deal was brief.
"I talked to someone who was with him," Thorn said. "I talked to Jason for about three seconds."
Presumably enough time for Kidd to slam down the phone.
Posted at 06:32 PM
Tough Opening Weekend Predicted For Mel's Opus In Malasia
Defamer oughta chime in with the exact amount
forecast, but it won't be much. From the Guardian :
Malaysian censors have passed Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ uncut, but have stipulated that only Christians may see the movie.
Officials have granted access to all ages when the picture opens in a few weeks by awarding the religious epic a U rating, but steered clear of opening it up to the south-east Asian country's non-Christian groups.
Citing a concern for disparate sensibilities, film censorship board secretary Lukeman Saaid told Variety: "It's a deeply religious movie. We live in a multiracial country and we needed to show sensitivity toward other religions, particularly Islam."
(director Mel asks Jesus/Jim for more blood)
Christians account for 9% of the 24 million population, which includes Malays, Chinese, Indians and other ethnic groups, while about 66% are Muslims.
Malaysian censors have passed Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ uncut, but have stipulated that only Christians may see the movie.
Officials have granted access to all ages when the picture opens in a few weeks by awarding the religious epic a U rating, but steered clear of opening it up to the south-east Asian country's non-Christian groups.
Citing a concern for disparate sensibilities, film censorship board secretary Lukeman Saaid told Variety: "It's a deeply religious movie. We live in a multiracial country and we needed to show sensitivity toward other religions, particularly Islam."
(director Mel asks Jesus/Jim for more blood)
Christians account for 9% of the 24 million population, which includes Malays, Chinese, Indians and other ethnic groups, while about 66% are Muslims.
Posted at 05:24 PM
Deadline Looming, Marlins Looking To Upgrade
You'd think Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post
could stop by my grandmother's assisted living facility to make sure she's ok,
but he'd rather cover Florida's wheeling and dealing at the trading
deadline. Thanks for nothing, Joe.
Marlins manager Jack McKeon joked about persistent rumors swirling in the final days before Saturday's trading deadline.
"I should have made out a lineup card with all the guys we're supposed to get,'' he said. "I could have had (Jose) Contreras pitching, (Paul) Lo Duca catching, (Steve) Finley and (Larry) Walker in the outfield.''
One team source said if the Marlins won Wednesday, the front office planned to intensify efforts for a multi-team trade that would bring a reliever, an outfielder and possibly a catcher to Florida.
The Marlins defeated the Phillies that night, then completed a four-game sweep Thursday as the front office worked on a complex deal to bring Lo Duca from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Marlins have tried since spring training to get Lo Duca. A proposal floating around for at least a month had the Marlins offering Brad Penny and a prospect for Lo Duca and reliever Guillermo Mota. Reports late Thursday out of Los Angeles linked right-handers A.J. Burnett or Carl Pavano in a deal for the catcher.
It's unclear how the deal would work, but the Arizona Diamondbacks are believed to be included.
The Marlins, however, may be reluctant to trade any of their starters until late tonight, after they see how right-hander Josh Beckett's tender middle finger holds up in his first start since returning from the disabled list (blister).
Marlins manager Jack McKeon joked about persistent rumors swirling in the final days before Saturday's trading deadline.
"I should have made out a lineup card with all the guys we're supposed to get,'' he said. "I could have had (Jose) Contreras pitching, (Paul) Lo Duca catching, (Steve) Finley and (Larry) Walker in the outfield.''
One team source said if the Marlins won Wednesday, the front office planned to intensify efforts for a multi-team trade that would bring a reliever, an outfielder and possibly a catcher to Florida.
The Marlins defeated the Phillies that night, then completed a four-game sweep Thursday as the front office worked on a complex deal to bring Lo Duca from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Marlins have tried since spring training to get Lo Duca. A proposal floating around for at least a month had the Marlins offering Brad Penny and a prospect for Lo Duca and reliever Guillermo Mota. Reports late Thursday out of Los Angeles linked right-handers A.J. Burnett or Carl Pavano in a deal for the catcher.
It's unclear how the deal would work, but the Arizona Diamondbacks are believed to be included.
The Marlins, however, may be reluctant to trade any of their starters until late tonight, after they see how right-hander Josh Beckett's tender middle finger holds up in his first start since returning from the disabled list (blister).
Posted at 04:58 PM
"Thanks For Nothing, You Welsh Bitch"
When I first glanced at yesterday's NY Post
headline about Catherine Zeta-Jones' stalker on trial, I foolishly assumed that
the accused was some besotted/deluded male (ie. Tony Kornheiser). As if his family didn't have enough troubles,
the female nut in question is infatuated with Michael
Douglas.
I believe the Widow Cobain once professed to have a crush on the aging male star of "Falling Down", "Wall Street" and "Fatal Attraction". Alas, she is not the one who wrote to Barbara Walters (?), promising " "When we finish with this bitch/whore, she will not be this pretty face actress. You won't be able to recognize her in her cassket! [sic]". Though it does sort of scan like something Courtney would've penned.
I believe the Widow Cobain once professed to have a crush on the aging male star of "Falling Down", "Wall Street" and "Fatal Attraction". Alas, she is not the one who wrote to Barbara Walters (?), promising " "When we finish with this bitch/whore, she will not be this pretty face actress. You won't be able to recognize her in her cassket! [sic]". Though it does sort of scan like something Courtney would've penned.
Posted at 01:28 PM
Royals Flushed, Tony Pissed
It's been a long, sad year for the Kansas City
Royals and tempers are flaring writes the K.C. Star's Bob
Dutton.
Here it was, finally, in the 100th game of this endlessly disappointing season. Royals manager Tony Peña just snapped.
It came in the fourth inning of Thursday night's 2-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays when Ken Harvey jogged toward first on a pop-up.
Peña did something he never does. He showed up a player in front of everyone. Peña yanked Harvey from the game, bringing in Matt Stairs from right field to play first base and sending Ruben Mateo out to right.
(a swing and a miss by Matt Stairs entertains dozens at Tropicana Field)
“Either we're going to play the game right or people are going to be on the bench,” said Peña, his usual smile nowhere to be seen. “I ask my players to run the ball out. Whoever doesn't run the ball out, I'm going to take them out of the game.”
“Nothing in baseball gets to me more than for someone to hit the ball and not run,” he said. “You only have four times at bat, and I expect my players to go out and run the bases. That's it. Very simple.”
Peña said he spoke to Harvey about failing to run hard on a ball in Wednesday's game. The second violation, he suggested, was too much to ignore.
“He just didn't run a ball out today,” Peña said, “and he didn't run a ball out (Wednesday). I addressed that (Wednesday). If they keep doing it, I'm going to act.”
Harvey didn't argue the point.
“That's what he feels,” he said. “I didn't run the ball out, so he took me out. I ran halfway (on Wednesday). This time, I ran all of the way to the bag.
“He felt like I didn't run hard enough. I was the example.”
The Royals also made an example, of sorts, of Jimmy Gobble by optioning him to Class AAA Omaha, Neb. Gobble gave up eight runs and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings in Wednesday's 10-1 loss.
The Royals also announced yesterday to the surprise of no one, that Juan Gonzalez is officially done for the season.
Here it was, finally, in the 100th game of this endlessly disappointing season. Royals manager Tony Peña just snapped.
It came in the fourth inning of Thursday night's 2-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays when Ken Harvey jogged toward first on a pop-up.
Peña did something he never does. He showed up a player in front of everyone. Peña yanked Harvey from the game, bringing in Matt Stairs from right field to play first base and sending Ruben Mateo out to right.
(a swing and a miss by Matt Stairs entertains dozens at Tropicana Field)
“Either we're going to play the game right or people are going to be on the bench,” said Peña, his usual smile nowhere to be seen. “I ask my players to run the ball out. Whoever doesn't run the ball out, I'm going to take them out of the game.”
“Nothing in baseball gets to me more than for someone to hit the ball and not run,” he said. “You only have four times at bat, and I expect my players to go out and run the bases. That's it. Very simple.”
Peña said he spoke to Harvey about failing to run hard on a ball in Wednesday's game. The second violation, he suggested, was too much to ignore.
“He just didn't run a ball out today,” Peña said, “and he didn't run a ball out (Wednesday). I addressed that (Wednesday). If they keep doing it, I'm going to act.”
Harvey didn't argue the point.
“That's what he feels,” he said. “I didn't run the ball out, so he took me out. I ran halfway (on Wednesday). This time, I ran all of the way to the bag.
“He felt like I didn't run hard enough. I was the example.”
The Royals also made an example, of sorts, of Jimmy Gobble by optioning him to Class AAA Omaha, Neb. Gobble gave up eight runs and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings in Wednesday's 10-1 loss.
The Royals also announced yesterday to the surprise of no one, that Juan Gonzalez is officially done for the season.
Posted at 01:16 PM
Mets Zero In On Benson
6 games out of first and 3 teams to leapfrog, the
New York Mets consider themselves buyers, not sellers. The New York Times' Lee
Jenkins suggests the acquisition of Pirates P Kris Benson could happen
shortly.
The Mets have had extensive discussions with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the last two days in an intensified effort to acquire Kris Benson, who is one of the best starting pitchers on the market.
One baseball executive with knowledge of the situation said the Mets could send infielder Ty Wigginton and the Class AA pitcher Matt Peterson to Pittsburgh for Benson as soon as Friday. To complete the deal, the Pirates would probably demand one more player, who could come from another team, perhaps the Chicago White Sox.
The Mets are looking at three trade possibilities, and hoping at least one comes to fruition before the nonwaiver deadline Saturday. They have also spoken with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays about starting pitcher Victor Zambrano. Mets Manager Art Howe had a Devil Rays media guide on his desk at Olympic Stadium on Thursday.
Benson would be the ultimate prize for the Mets. The Minnesota Twins were believed to be the front-runners for Benson, but they apparently fell out of the running Thursday, opening the door for the Mets. One executive said that the Texas Rangers and the Anaheim Angels were still in the bidding for Benson, but that the Mets were now considered the favorites.
Although Benson is going to be a free agent in the winter, a person close to him said that he wants to play in New York and would be willing to sign a long-term contract during the season. Because the Mets are in fourth place in the National League East and barely resemble a playoff contender, General Manager Jim Duquette said Wednesday that he did not intend to trade for a player who would simply be a quick upgrade for the 2004 season, then depart.
The Mets have had extensive discussions with the Pittsburgh Pirates in the last two days in an intensified effort to acquire Kris Benson, who is one of the best starting pitchers on the market.
One baseball executive with knowledge of the situation said the Mets could send infielder Ty Wigginton and the Class AA pitcher Matt Peterson to Pittsburgh for Benson as soon as Friday. To complete the deal, the Pirates would probably demand one more player, who could come from another team, perhaps the Chicago White Sox.
The Mets are looking at three trade possibilities, and hoping at least one comes to fruition before the nonwaiver deadline Saturday. They have also spoken with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays about starting pitcher Victor Zambrano. Mets Manager Art Howe had a Devil Rays media guide on his desk at Olympic Stadium on Thursday.
Benson would be the ultimate prize for the Mets. The Minnesota Twins were believed to be the front-runners for Benson, but they apparently fell out of the running Thursday, opening the door for the Mets. One executive said that the Texas Rangers and the Anaheim Angels were still in the bidding for Benson, but that the Mets were now considered the favorites.
Although Benson is going to be a free agent in the winter, a person close to him said that he wants to play in New York and would be willing to sign a long-term contract during the season. Because the Mets are in fourth place in the National League East and barely resemble a playoff contender, General Manager Jim Duquette said Wednesday that he did not intend to trade for a player who would simply be a quick upgrade for the 2004 season, then depart.
Posted at 02:44 AM
Thu - July 29, 2004
Plaintiffs Aplenty In The Coconut Grove Of Hair Metal Fires
MTV.com reports that pretty much half of the
known population of the USA has been named in a lawsuit stemming from the inferno that killed over 100
persons of questionable musical tastes.
The girlfriend of late Great White guitarist Ty Longley, who died in February 2003 in the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, is one of more than 200 plaintiffs named in a major new civil lawsuit against the band, the club owners, town officials and other companies alleged to have been responsible for the blaze that killed 100 and injured more than 200. Longley's girlfriend was pregnant with their child at the time.
Eight lawyers filed the lawsuit on behalf of 146 people who were injured in the fire and the families of 80 who were killed. The suit names many defendants with deep pockets, some of whom had never been mentioned in connection with the fire, including insurance firm Lloyd's of London, engineered components and material company Leggett & Platt and CBS Broadcasting, whose affiliate Channel 12 had hired club co-owner Jeffrey Derderian as an investigative reporter.
Others, whose names resurfaced from previously filed suits, included companies that had sponsored, promoted or advertised the concert, such as Anheuser-Busch and their Rhode Island distributor McLaughlin & Moran; Clear Channel Communications and WHJY-FM. The suit alleges that the companies should have been aware that Great White typically used unlicensed pyro in small clubs and did nothing to prevent the band from doing so.
Also named in the suit: the manufacturers and vendors of the pyro equipment and the foam that caught fire; state and government officials assigned to inspect the club and promote fire safety; the bus company whose vehicle Great White rode to West Warwick; and the band's former manager, Daniel Biechele, who set off the fireworks.
Not named in the lawsuit : Taime Downes of Faster Pussycat, though this could be an oversight.
The girlfriend of late Great White guitarist Ty Longley, who died in February 2003 in the Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, Rhode Island, is one of more than 200 plaintiffs named in a major new civil lawsuit against the band, the club owners, town officials and other companies alleged to have been responsible for the blaze that killed 100 and injured more than 200. Longley's girlfriend was pregnant with their child at the time.
Eight lawyers filed the lawsuit on behalf of 146 people who were injured in the fire and the families of 80 who were killed. The suit names many defendants with deep pockets, some of whom had never been mentioned in connection with the fire, including insurance firm Lloyd's of London, engineered components and material company Leggett & Platt and CBS Broadcasting, whose affiliate Channel 12 had hired club co-owner Jeffrey Derderian as an investigative reporter.
Others, whose names resurfaced from previously filed suits, included companies that had sponsored, promoted or advertised the concert, such as Anheuser-Busch and their Rhode Island distributor McLaughlin & Moran; Clear Channel Communications and WHJY-FM. The suit alleges that the companies should have been aware that Great White typically used unlicensed pyro in small clubs and did nothing to prevent the band from doing so.
Also named in the suit: the manufacturers and vendors of the pyro equipment and the foam that caught fire; state and government officials assigned to inspect the club and promote fire safety; the bus company whose vehicle Great White rode to West Warwick; and the band's former manager, Daniel Biechele, who set off the fireworks.
Not named in the lawsuit : Taime Downes of Faster Pussycat, though this could be an oversight.
Posted at 05:45 PM
Valent Goes Cyclotic
The Mets won for just the 5th time in their last 16 games,
beating the Expos 10-1 in an matinee at Olympic Stadium. Eric Valent,
making his first start in left field for the resting Cliff Floyd, became the 8th
player in Mets history to hit for the cycle, hitting a 2 run homer off Sunny Kim
in the 5th and a triple off Roy Corcoran.
(Hidalgo, continuing to make Jim Duquette look like a genius ---- yes, the same genius that invested $1.2 million on Scott Erickson and James Baldwin).
Richard Hidalgo hit his 17 home run of the season, Mike Cameron staying hot with 2 homers and 3 RBI's. Most importantly, Al Leiter (7-3, 2.18 ERA) got through 6 full innings with a pitch count under 180.
Though the Mets' upcoming series with the division leading Braves might go some ways towards determining whether or not New York will have any meaningful baseball over the season's final two months (and by "meaningful" I mean games attended by more than 15,000 obsessives and/or drunks), a long festering dispute between Cablevision and Time-Warner Cable might have you relying on Gary Cohen.
(Hidalgo, continuing to make Jim Duquette look like a genius ---- yes, the same genius that invested $1.2 million on Scott Erickson and James Baldwin).
Richard Hidalgo hit his 17 home run of the season, Mike Cameron staying hot with 2 homers and 3 RBI's. Most importantly, Al Leiter (7-3, 2.18 ERA) got through 6 full innings with a pitch count under 180.
Though the Mets' upcoming series with the division leading Braves might go some ways towards determining whether or not New York will have any meaningful baseball over the season's final two months (and by "meaningful" I mean games attended by more than 15,000 obsessives and/or drunks), a long festering dispute between Cablevision and Time-Warner Cable might have you relying on Gary Cohen.
Posted at 05:00 PM
Clips Vote For Kerry, Nets Prepare For Mediocrity
The New Jersey Nets have traded guard Kerry Kittles to the
Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for a future 2nd round pick, cash and
a framed lithograph of Donald Sterling, Billy Crystal and Bob McAdoo.
After winning two Eastern Conference titles and pushing eventual World Champs Detroit to a 7th game in the Conference finals, the Nets have parted ways with Kenyon Martin and Kittles, with little to show for it in the near future, save for salary relief (and that lithograph). Given the seniority of Jason Kidd, it would seem that New Jersey's window of opportunity in the East was closing fast. The club's new ownership, however, thinks the windows have been blown out and boarded up. A nice message for season ticket holders at the Meadowlands (assuming there are any left for 2004-2005).
After winning two Eastern Conference titles and pushing eventual World Champs Detroit to a 7th game in the Conference finals, the Nets have parted ways with Kenyon Martin and Kittles, with little to show for it in the near future, save for salary relief (and that lithograph). Given the seniority of Jason Kidd, it would seem that New Jersey's window of opportunity in the East was closing fast. The club's new ownership, however, thinks the windows have been blown out and boarded up. A nice message for season ticket holders at the Meadowlands (assuming there are any left for 2004-2005).
Posted at 04:32 PM
Marlins, Contreras In The Mix On Unit Talks?
Mike Berardino of the Sun-Sentinel is reporting
that the Yankees, needing young
talent to make a trade for Arizona's Randy Johnson, are looking send P Jose
Contreras to the Florida Marlins.
With the Yankees lacking sufficient prospects to entice the Arizona Diamondbacks, Johnson's current employer, the Marlins could swap several prospects and come out with Yankees right-hander Jose Contreras and Arizona catcher Brent Mayne.
As the Marlins continued to crunch the numbers Wednesday in their complex bid for Rockies right fielder Larry Walker, they also spent significant time on the Contreras plan. The former Cuban defector, who has both started and relieved during his time in pinstripes, would serve as a power setup man for Marlins closer Armando Benitez.
He would also serve as insurance in case Benitez's inflamed right elbow becomes a larger problem. The Marlins scouted Contreras' last start, Sunday in Boston; he is 8-4 with a 5.36 ERA and is due to start again today in New York on short rest.
Double-A first baseman Jason Stokes would be the likely centerpiece of the Marlins' contribution, sources said, possibly along with Double-A lefty Bill Murphy, the Marlins' only representative at the recent Futures Game, and outfielder Abraham Nunez.
All three would go to Arizona along with a couple of Yankees prospects, possibly Triple-A catcher Dioner Navarro and Class A third baseman Eric Duncan.
With the Yankees lacking sufficient prospects to entice the Arizona Diamondbacks, Johnson's current employer, the Marlins could swap several prospects and come out with Yankees right-hander Jose Contreras and Arizona catcher Brent Mayne.
As the Marlins continued to crunch the numbers Wednesday in their complex bid for Rockies right fielder Larry Walker, they also spent significant time on the Contreras plan. The former Cuban defector, who has both started and relieved during his time in pinstripes, would serve as a power setup man for Marlins closer Armando Benitez.
He would also serve as insurance in case Benitez's inflamed right elbow becomes a larger problem. The Marlins scouted Contreras' last start, Sunday in Boston; he is 8-4 with a 5.36 ERA and is due to start again today in New York on short rest.
Double-A first baseman Jason Stokes would be the likely centerpiece of the Marlins' contribution, sources said, possibly along with Double-A lefty Bill Murphy, the Marlins' only representative at the recent Futures Game, and outfielder Abraham Nunez.
All three would go to Arizona along with a couple of Yankees prospects, possibly Triple-A catcher Dioner Navarro and Class A third baseman Eric Duncan.
Posted at 11:52 AM
Knicks Pursuit Of Dampier Continues With Kurt As Bait
Rebuffed in their earlier attempt to acquire
Golden State restricted free agent C Erick Dampier in a sign & trade deal,
the Knicks are prepared to offer F Kurt Thomas,
writes the NY Daily News' Frank Isola.
The Warriors were considering a sign-and-trade for Dampier that would have included the Knicks sending center Nazr Mohammed and forward/center Othella Harrington to Golden State. However, the Warriors last week acquired Portland center Dale Davis in a trade for Nick Van Exel.
The Atlanta Hawks are also interested in Dampier and they have enough salary-cap room to sign him out-right. The Warriors could still re-sign Dampier or move him in a sign-and-trade to one of several interested teams, including the Knicks, Pacers and Grizzlies.
(Kurt) Thomas has more trade value than any other Knick because he's a starting player with a reasonable contract. Harrington, who is entering the final year of his contract, is still included in the new proposal.
Dikembe Mutombo, who like Harrington is in the final year of his contract, has been included in the Knicks' latest proposal to Chicago for free agent Jamal Crawford. Knicks president Isiah Thomas is trying to acquire Crawford along with Eddie Robinson and Jerome Williams for Mutombo, Shandon Anderson and Moochie Norris.
The Bulls, however, are refusing to take back Norris, even though Thomas has agreed to pay the first year of Norris' contract. The third year of Norris' contract is not guaranteed, meaning Chicago would pay only next year's salary worth approximately $4.2 million.
The Warriors were considering a sign-and-trade for Dampier that would have included the Knicks sending center Nazr Mohammed and forward/center Othella Harrington to Golden State. However, the Warriors last week acquired Portland center Dale Davis in a trade for Nick Van Exel.
The Atlanta Hawks are also interested in Dampier and they have enough salary-cap room to sign him out-right. The Warriors could still re-sign Dampier or move him in a sign-and-trade to one of several interested teams, including the Knicks, Pacers and Grizzlies.
(Kurt) Thomas has more trade value than any other Knick because he's a starting player with a reasonable contract. Harrington, who is entering the final year of his contract, is still included in the new proposal.
Dikembe Mutombo, who like Harrington is in the final year of his contract, has been included in the Knicks' latest proposal to Chicago for free agent Jamal Crawford. Knicks president Isiah Thomas is trying to acquire Crawford along with Eddie Robinson and Jerome Williams for Mutombo, Shandon Anderson and Moochie Norris.
The Bulls, however, are refusing to take back Norris, even though Thomas has agreed to pay the first year of Norris' contract. The third year of Norris' contract is not guaranteed, meaning Chicago would pay only next year's salary worth approximately $4.2 million.
Posted at 10:54 AM
Reyes Hurt, Erickson Waived, Spencer Suspended...
...and the Mets lost to the Expos, 7-4 . With 6
games against lowly Montreal over the past 8 days, the Mets have lost 3 so far,
with the finale coming 1pm this afternoon. As damaging as dropping a pair of
two-game series' at home to the Braves and Marlins was to the Mets' fortunes,
the failure to make up any ground against a club with nothing to play for is
pretty damning.
2B Jose Reyes injured his right ankle while trying stretching a 3rd inning single into a double. I know the Mets hired a specialist to help the terminally banged-up Reyes learn to run in a way that would reduce strain on his fragile hamstrings, but did they have to give Chevy Chase the job?
Following Monday night's monumental meltdown, P Scott Erickson was designated for assignment. Hindsight being 20/20, perhaps Erickson and James Baldwin weren't the best choices to anchor the rotation. Todd Zeile's attempts at throwing knuckleballs during mop up duty the other night are receiving rave reviews from aficionado of garbage time pitching, but I'm sure Mark Grace has nothing to worry about.
Following his attempt to negotiate the highways of Port St. Lucie after having consumed "six or seven drinks" by his own count, the Mets have suspended OF Shane Spencer without pay.
2B Jose Reyes injured his right ankle while trying stretching a 3rd inning single into a double. I know the Mets hired a specialist to help the terminally banged-up Reyes learn to run in a way that would reduce strain on his fragile hamstrings, but did they have to give Chevy Chase the job?
Following Monday night's monumental meltdown, P Scott Erickson was designated for assignment. Hindsight being 20/20, perhaps Erickson and James Baldwin weren't the best choices to anchor the rotation. Todd Zeile's attempts at throwing knuckleballs during mop up duty the other night are receiving rave reviews from aficionado of garbage time pitching, but I'm sure Mark Grace has nothing to worry about.
Following his attempt to negotiate the highways of Port St. Lucie after having consumed "six or seven drinks" by his own count, the Mets have suspended OF Shane Spencer without pay.
Posted at 04:13 AM
Larry Bowa Brings 24 Men Together...
...in a shared dislike of Larry Bowa.
Though a fixture in this blog, much like Scott
Weiland, I hope no harm befalls Phillies manager Larry Bowa, because if he were
to lose his job, what else would I have to comment on? I hope Todd Zolecki of the Philadelphia Inquirer
agrees.
It feels like a funeral in the Phillies' clubhouse after a loss.
Players eat silently.
They walk through the room quietly.
Last night proved to be no different after a 5-2 loss to the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium. Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell crushed a 3-2 pitch off lefthander Rheal Cormier in the bottom of the eighth inning for a one-out, bases-empty home run to left field to take a one-run lead.
"No excuses," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said afterward. "As a manager, I'm not even playing and I'm embarrassed. They should be embarrassed. They should be embarrassed. Any more questions?"
Bowa shook his head, cursed, and said "embarrassing."
He then walked out of his office.
"Embarrassing," he repeated aloud to nobody in particular.
But Cormier (4-4) noted that the Phillies' clubhouse, during a 58-minute rain delay in the bottom of the eighth, was dead before the game had ended.
As if they had already lost.
As if they knew they wouldn't come back.
"You could look in that dugout, and you could tell," Cormier said. "I've seen it a lot of times. Just in general. It's a lot of stuff that takes place, and it's not positive. I feel that even though we're down a run or two, we should never be out of the game. There are a lot of times when you're walking off the field and you're down by one, you feel the game is over, and we still have one more inning to go. It's frustrating."
Cormier wouldn't say exactly where that negativity comes from.
"Just the whole thing," he said. "I really think the guys are really trying. It's not that we don't try. But sometimes when things don't go your way, it's not the end of the world. And you when we lose a few games it's like we've lost 12 in a row. It shouldn't be that way. We play every day. You know what? Tomorrow we might win. It's pins and needles in here. It makes it very tough."
"He's got his opinion," said Roberto Hernandez of Bowa, asked if he's embarrassed. "Everybody who wears this uniform wants to beat these guys, wants to win this game, and wants to win this division."
"To lose is not a good thing," Wolf said. "If you lose a game, especially an important game, you're not going to be doing juggling acts or making balloon animals. You're not going to be in a good mood. But again, I can't say what it's like in other places. This is the only place I know, but it's always been tough after losses."
(the security conscious Choi, warning Marlins batboy Clifford Loria about a low-flying aircraft).
I'm pretty certain Jeromy Burnitz was making balloon animals most of his final season at Shea. In any event, things didn't go much better on Wednesday night for the Phillies in Miami, dropping a rain delayed contest 6-3 to the Marlins. Hee Sop Choi hit a 2 run homer for the Fish in the 8th inning and Josias Manzanillo picked up his 3 win with an inning and a third's worth of one-hit pitching.
It feels like a funeral in the Phillies' clubhouse after a loss.
Players eat silently.
They walk through the room quietly.
Last night proved to be no different after a 5-2 loss to the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium. Marlins third baseman Mike Lowell crushed a 3-2 pitch off lefthander Rheal Cormier in the bottom of the eighth inning for a one-out, bases-empty home run to left field to take a one-run lead.
"No excuses," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said afterward. "As a manager, I'm not even playing and I'm embarrassed. They should be embarrassed. They should be embarrassed. Any more questions?"
Bowa shook his head, cursed, and said "embarrassing."
He then walked out of his office.
"Embarrassing," he repeated aloud to nobody in particular.
But Cormier (4-4) noted that the Phillies' clubhouse, during a 58-minute rain delay in the bottom of the eighth, was dead before the game had ended.
As if they had already lost.
As if they knew they wouldn't come back.
"You could look in that dugout, and you could tell," Cormier said. "I've seen it a lot of times. Just in general. It's a lot of stuff that takes place, and it's not positive. I feel that even though we're down a run or two, we should never be out of the game. There are a lot of times when you're walking off the field and you're down by one, you feel the game is over, and we still have one more inning to go. It's frustrating."
Cormier wouldn't say exactly where that negativity comes from.
"Just the whole thing," he said. "I really think the guys are really trying. It's not that we don't try. But sometimes when things don't go your way, it's not the end of the world. And you when we lose a few games it's like we've lost 12 in a row. It shouldn't be that way. We play every day. You know what? Tomorrow we might win. It's pins and needles in here. It makes it very tough."
"He's got his opinion," said Roberto Hernandez of Bowa, asked if he's embarrassed. "Everybody who wears this uniform wants to beat these guys, wants to win this game, and wants to win this division."
"To lose is not a good thing," Wolf said. "If you lose a game, especially an important game, you're not going to be doing juggling acts or making balloon animals. You're not going to be in a good mood. But again, I can't say what it's like in other places. This is the only place I know, but it's always been tough after losses."
(the security conscious Choi, warning Marlins batboy Clifford Loria about a low-flying aircraft).
I'm pretty certain Jeromy Burnitz was making balloon animals most of his final season at Shea. In any event, things didn't go much better on Wednesday night for the Phillies in Miami, dropping a rain delayed contest 6-3 to the Marlins. Hee Sop Choi hit a 2 run homer for the Fish in the 8th inning and Josias Manzanillo picked up his 3 win with an inning and a third's worth of one-hit pitching.
Posted at 03:49 AM
Wed - July 28, 2004
Democratic Nominee, Phony Sox Fan Says Moonie Paper
Tom Knott "Now, No Way" of the Washington Times
says when it comes to celebrity Red Sox fans, Senator John Kerry ranks somewhere behind Stephen
King,Phil Jupitus and Ben Affleck in the sincerity sweepstakes.
He recently merged Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz into "Manny Ortiz," which probably came as a shock to both families. You could argue Kerry deserved partial baseball credit.
Credible or not, Kerry is sticking to his story of being an honorary member of the Red Sox fan club.
"I've got to win New York, but I do want the Red Sox to win," he said.
Peter Gammons, the longtime baseball maven, recently accused Kerry of being a bad actor.
The anecdote was Kerry's one-time claim of being a Red Sox fan dating to his boyhood days in Groton, Mass., accompanied with the revelation that Eddie Yost was his favorite player.
The only problem with the claim is that Yost, the Senators' longtime "Walking Man," never played with the Red Sox.
The ball went through Bill Buckner's legs in the 1986 World Series because of the curse of Carlton Fisk.
If you look closely in the oft-shown clip of Fisk waving the ball fair, you can see Kerry throwing someone else's war medals onto the field.
That probably is the cause of Kerry's weak arm — all that wear and tear from throwing away someone else's war medals.
That apparently was Kerry's twin passions in those turbulent years: watching the Red Sox games and throwing away someone else's war medals.
The above isn't really that funny, but don't blame Tom. You'd find it tough finding the time to write an entertaining column if you had to sell $500 of flowers a day or face a brutal beating.
He recently merged Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz into "Manny Ortiz," which probably came as a shock to both families. You could argue Kerry deserved partial baseball credit.
Credible or not, Kerry is sticking to his story of being an honorary member of the Red Sox fan club.
"I've got to win New York, but I do want the Red Sox to win," he said.
Peter Gammons, the longtime baseball maven, recently accused Kerry of being a bad actor.
The anecdote was Kerry's one-time claim of being a Red Sox fan dating to his boyhood days in Groton, Mass., accompanied with the revelation that Eddie Yost was his favorite player.
The only problem with the claim is that Yost, the Senators' longtime "Walking Man," never played with the Red Sox.
The ball went through Bill Buckner's legs in the 1986 World Series because of the curse of Carlton Fisk.
If you look closely in the oft-shown clip of Fisk waving the ball fair, you can see Kerry throwing someone else's war medals onto the field.
That probably is the cause of Kerry's weak arm — all that wear and tear from throwing away someone else's war medals.
That apparently was Kerry's twin passions in those turbulent years: watching the Red Sox games and throwing away someone else's war medals.
The above isn't really that funny, but don't blame Tom. You'd find it tough finding the time to write an entertaining column if you had to sell $500 of flowers a day or face a brutal beating.
Posted at 06:18 PM
"Deep Throat" Swallowed By Grim Reaper
CNN reported today that former Nixon aide Fred
LaRue (no relation to SCTV staple Johnny LaRue), oft rumored to be informant
"Deep Throat" of Bob Woodward/Carl Bernstein fame, has passed away at the age of 75.
(just a cheap excuse to run a picture of Johnny LaRue)
(just a cheap excuse to run a picture of Johnny LaRue)
Posted at 05:43 PM
DWI (And I Don't Know Why) Pt. II
With additional apologies to Abbreviated Ceiling,
Mets OF Shane Spencer was in his third booze-related incident of
2004 over the weekend.
The NY Times' Lee Jenkins addressed speculation that veteran pitchers Al Leiter and Tom Glavine might be traded.
Despite their recent struggles, and their spot in fourth place in the National League East, the Mets still fashion themselves as buyers rather than sellers in the baseball market. One baseball executive with knowledge of the Mets' thinking said yesterday that Tom Glavine and Al Leiter, the Mets' two 38-year-old left-handed starters, could be traded only if they approach club officials and ask to be dealt.
Glavine and Leiter have no-trade clauses and have given no indication they want out. "I don't see myself going anywhere," Leiter said. "I could be naïve and stupid, but I think we'll be talking about making additions and not subtractions. And I don't think I'm naïve and I don't think I'm stupid."
(neither naive nor stupid, but looking a heck of a lot like Bernard Sumner, Tom Glavine).
Helped by a 3 run homer from Mike Cameron, Tom Glavine won his first decision since June 13, with the Mets beating Montreal 4-2 last night at the Olympic Mausoleum . Kaz Matsui, for those who like watching Glavine develop a facial twitch to go with all the glaring and staring, made his 21st error of the season.
For those of us waiting for Jim Duquette to pull the trigger on a deadline blockbuster, ESPN's Alan Schwartz suggests such hopes are delusional.
The Mets have gone 4-8 since the break, all of them against division rivals, leaving the team in fourth place, five games back.
HOST: And now, Vinny from Queens. Vinny, you're on ...
VINNY: Yo, love da show, guys. Yuh know what Duquette's gotta do? Get Kris Benson, man. And get anudda bat for behind Piazza. Five games? Fuhgeddaboudit!
Well, five games is a lot -- a lot more than most people realize. Since 1969, there have been 112 teams between 4-6½ games back on July 31, and just nine of them came back to win. That's 8 percent, or about a one in 12 shot. (Those clubs were far more likely to finish the season at least 10 games out than truly remain in the race.) Of the teams that did win, only the 1984 Royals jumped over three teams, which is what's facing the Mets.
Not to change the subject, but in this day and age, if you really did call up WFAN and introduce yourself as "Vinny From Queens", they'd be perfectly justified in hanging up.
The NY Times' Lee Jenkins addressed speculation that veteran pitchers Al Leiter and Tom Glavine might be traded.
Despite their recent struggles, and their spot in fourth place in the National League East, the Mets still fashion themselves as buyers rather than sellers in the baseball market. One baseball executive with knowledge of the Mets' thinking said yesterday that Tom Glavine and Al Leiter, the Mets' two 38-year-old left-handed starters, could be traded only if they approach club officials and ask to be dealt.
Glavine and Leiter have no-trade clauses and have given no indication they want out. "I don't see myself going anywhere," Leiter said. "I could be naïve and stupid, but I think we'll be talking about making additions and not subtractions. And I don't think I'm naïve and I don't think I'm stupid."
(neither naive nor stupid, but looking a heck of a lot like Bernard Sumner, Tom Glavine).
Helped by a 3 run homer from Mike Cameron, Tom Glavine won his first decision since June 13, with the Mets beating Montreal 4-2 last night at the Olympic Mausoleum . Kaz Matsui, for those who like watching Glavine develop a facial twitch to go with all the glaring and staring, made his 21st error of the season.
For those of us waiting for Jim Duquette to pull the trigger on a deadline blockbuster, ESPN's Alan Schwartz suggests such hopes are delusional.
The Mets have gone 4-8 since the break, all of them against division rivals, leaving the team in fourth place, five games back.
HOST: And now, Vinny from Queens. Vinny, you're on ...
VINNY: Yo, love da show, guys. Yuh know what Duquette's gotta do? Get Kris Benson, man. And get anudda bat for behind Piazza. Five games? Fuhgeddaboudit!
Well, five games is a lot -- a lot more than most people realize. Since 1969, there have been 112 teams between 4-6½ games back on July 31, and just nine of them came back to win. That's 8 percent, or about a one in 12 shot. (Those clubs were far more likely to finish the season at least 10 games out than truly remain in the race.) Of the teams that did win, only the 1984 Royals jumped over three teams, which is what's facing the Mets.
Not to change the subject, but in this day and age, if you really did call up WFAN and introduce yourself as "Vinny From Queens", they'd be perfectly justified in hanging up.
Posted at 05:18 PM
Unit In Pinstripes By The Weekend?
As this correspondent is visiting the Bronx this
weekend, what scarier sight could there be other than Randy Johnson taking the mound for the Yankees versus the
Orioles?
(answer : Bartolo Colon and David Wells ahead of you in line at the all-you-can-eat buffet)
The NY Post's George King fills us in :
The Yankees' belief that Randy Johnson holds the key to being traded from the Diamondbacks to The Bronx certainly has serious merit, because the Big Unit can veto any deal presented to him. However, the final decision doesn't rest in the Big Unit's left hand.
The Diamondbacks have to decide if letting Johnson go to get out from under the $21 million left on his contract is good business. With Saturday's trading deadline approaching, the Diamondbacks - who have financial problems - need to decide if dumping money for minor-league talent they aren't in love with is the best move.
Many believe the Diamondbacks are posturing when they say there is no match with the Yankees — and that by Saturday they will take a package that includes Triple-A catcher Dioner Navarro, second baseman Robinson Cano and perhaps Scott Proctor and Brad Halsey.
Others say the club will say it can't get market value for the 40-year-old Johnson and not move him until the offseason, when the public relations hit wouldn't be as bad.
As of yesterday afternoon, the Diamondbacks hadn't asked Johnson to waive his no-trade rights. But the team is aware the future Hall of Famer wants to land with a team having a good chance of winning the World Series if he splits Phoenix.
(on the bright side, there's no way Steinbrenner is turning a blind eye to that monstrosity of a haircut)
Anaheim's baseball people are reluctant to give up prospects Dallas McPherson and Casey Kotchman, but owner Arte Moreno isn't shy about taking on salary. However, the Angels started last night's action five games off the AL West lead. They also were three games out of the wild-card lead — but behind three clubs.
What may need to happen is for owners George Steinbrenner and Jerry Colangelo, not the best of friends, to get together soon to see if there is a deal to be struck. So far, according to a Yankee source, there has been "very limited dialogue" between the teams.
Johnson, who started Sunday, is slated to pitch Friday, and it so happens that the Yankees could be looking for a starter against the Orioles if Kevin Brown can't come off the DL.
The LA Times' Mike DiGiovanna has the Angels' angle on the Unit-watch.
"How much of a mortgage do you put on your property?" owner Artie Moreno said, alluding to the price in prospects the Angels would have to pay to obtain Johnson. "And not only are you mortgaging your minor league organization, Randy is signed for $16 million next year. That would take away some flexibility for us to do other things over a period of time."
Arizona is thought to want at least two of the Angels' top four prospects — third baseman Dallas McPherson, catcher Jeff Mathis, first baseman Casey Kotchman and pitcher Ervin Santana — for Johnson.
Moreno, who hopes to scale back the Angel payroll next season from its current $111 million, intimated that such a price might be too high, and he said the Angels definitely wouldn't part with two of their top prospects in a rent-a-player deal for a pitcher such as Pittsburgh's Kris Benson.
"That would bother me," Moreno said, when asked how he'd feel if the 40-year-old Johnson retired as an Angel after 2005 while Mathis, one of baseball's best catching prospects, began a long and fruitful career with the Diamondbacks. "One of the things I did with [General Manager] Bill Stoneman is make a commitment to the minor league system."
(answer : Bartolo Colon and David Wells ahead of you in line at the all-you-can-eat buffet)
The NY Post's George King fills us in :
The Yankees' belief that Randy Johnson holds the key to being traded from the Diamondbacks to The Bronx certainly has serious merit, because the Big Unit can veto any deal presented to him. However, the final decision doesn't rest in the Big Unit's left hand.
The Diamondbacks have to decide if letting Johnson go to get out from under the $21 million left on his contract is good business. With Saturday's trading deadline approaching, the Diamondbacks - who have financial problems - need to decide if dumping money for minor-league talent they aren't in love with is the best move.
Many believe the Diamondbacks are posturing when they say there is no match with the Yankees — and that by Saturday they will take a package that includes Triple-A catcher Dioner Navarro, second baseman Robinson Cano and perhaps Scott Proctor and Brad Halsey.
Others say the club will say it can't get market value for the 40-year-old Johnson and not move him until the offseason, when the public relations hit wouldn't be as bad.
As of yesterday afternoon, the Diamondbacks hadn't asked Johnson to waive his no-trade rights. But the team is aware the future Hall of Famer wants to land with a team having a good chance of winning the World Series if he splits Phoenix.
(on the bright side, there's no way Steinbrenner is turning a blind eye to that monstrosity of a haircut)
Anaheim's baseball people are reluctant to give up prospects Dallas McPherson and Casey Kotchman, but owner Arte Moreno isn't shy about taking on salary. However, the Angels started last night's action five games off the AL West lead. They also were three games out of the wild-card lead — but behind three clubs.
What may need to happen is for owners George Steinbrenner and Jerry Colangelo, not the best of friends, to get together soon to see if there is a deal to be struck. So far, according to a Yankee source, there has been "very limited dialogue" between the teams.
Johnson, who started Sunday, is slated to pitch Friday, and it so happens that the Yankees could be looking for a starter against the Orioles if Kevin Brown can't come off the DL.
The LA Times' Mike DiGiovanna has the Angels' angle on the Unit-watch.
"How much of a mortgage do you put on your property?" owner Artie Moreno said, alluding to the price in prospects the Angels would have to pay to obtain Johnson. "And not only are you mortgaging your minor league organization, Randy is signed for $16 million next year. That would take away some flexibility for us to do other things over a period of time."
Arizona is thought to want at least two of the Angels' top four prospects — third baseman Dallas McPherson, catcher Jeff Mathis, first baseman Casey Kotchman and pitcher Ervin Santana — for Johnson.
Moreno, who hopes to scale back the Angel payroll next season from its current $111 million, intimated that such a price might be too high, and he said the Angels definitely wouldn't part with two of their top prospects in a rent-a-player deal for a pitcher such as Pittsburgh's Kris Benson.
"That would bother me," Moreno said, when asked how he'd feel if the 40-year-old Johnson retired as an Angel after 2005 while Mathis, one of baseball's best catching prospects, began a long and fruitful career with the Diamondbacks. "One of the things I did with [General Manager] Bill Stoneman is make a commitment to the minor league system."
Posted at 04:53 PM
- Credits
- Parallelism
- 12XU
- Guardian Unlimited Football
- WFMU
- The Frogs
- Angry Samoans
- Drunks With Guns
- Brainbombs
- Hoops Hype
- The Eddie Kranepool Society
- Sports Frog
- Will Carroll
- Flushing Local
- The Shea Hot Corner
- Mets Minor League Report
- Yo La Tengo
- Mission Of Burma
- The Shrewdness Of Apes
- Popshots
- Agony Shorthand
- Stereolaffs
- Failed Pilot
Calendar
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
Categories
Archives
XML/RSS Feed
Comments powered by
Statistics
Total entries in this blog:
Published On: Aug 18, 2004 02:09 PM
Published On: Aug 18, 2004 02:09 PM