Baseball's back

This is for all non-EC or peripheral-EC topics. We all know how much we love talking about 'The Man' but sometimes we have other interests.
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senior_service
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Post by senior_service »

If Colletti deals Kemp and we have to endure another season of Pierre playing regularly I'm going to shoot myself. Pierre is a nice guy and all, but he's just an awful player. Bad hit, bad glove.......great combination. An outfield of Ethier, Jones and Kemp could be very good. I'm not convinced that Jones is as great an outfielder as everyone says, but he's a helluva lot better than Pierre.
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Post by Who Shot Sam? »

senior_service wrote:If Colletti deals Kemp and we have to endure another season of Pierre playing regularly I'm going to shoot myself. Pierre is a nice guy and all, but he's just an awful player. Bad hit, bad glove.......great combination. An outfield of Ethier, Jones and Kemp could be very good. I'm not convinced that Jones is as great an outfielder as everyone says, but he's a helluva lot better than Pierre.
If they absolutely need to keep Pierre and decide to leave him on the bench for the odd start and a bit of speed, I'm fine with that. But I'd much rather see him dealt to the White Sox or some such team with a need for a CF. A bag of balls or a serviceable reliever in return would be fine. Jones should bounce back.

I still think the back end of the starting rotation is a little thin.
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Post by BlueChair »

From The New York Times:

As Baseball Braces for Report, Pettitte and Clemens Cited

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and DUFF WILSON
Published: December 14, 2007

A former trainer for Roger Clemens provided information about Clemens’s steroid use to investigators for former Senator George Mitchell, who will release a report Thursday on steroids in baseball, two lawyers familiar with the investigation said.

The trainer, Brian McNamee, also provided information about performance-enhancing drug use by pitcher Andy Pettitte and first baseman David Segui, the lawyers said. McNamee spoke to Mitchell’s investigators under pressure from federal prosecutors investigating the use of steroids in baseball.

Mitchell is to release his 304-page report, covering 20 months of investigation, Thursday afternoon. More than 50 players are named in the report, according to individuals who saw the report.

A seven-time Cy Young award winner, Clemens had previously been suspected of steroid usage, but denied it. This report would be the first confirmation that McNamee provided testimony about Clemens.

Clemens and Pettitte helped lead the New York Yankees to one of the most dominant World Series streaks in baseball. Pettitte pitched for the Yankees when they won three consecutive World Series titles from 1998 to 2000. In a conference call Wednesday to discuss his 2008 contract with the Yankees, Pettitte said that he was not working out with McNamee and did not know if McNamee had spoken to Mitchell’s investigators.

McNamee, 40, of Breezy Point, N.Y., worked as a strength coach for the Blue Jays and Yankees. He was also the personal trainer for Clemens and Pettite. McNamee, who holds a master’s degree in sports science from Long Island University, has also taught at St. John’s University.

Clemens was 10-13 with a 3.64 earned run average for Boston in 1996. McNamee was the strength coach in Toronto when Clemens went there. For Toronto the next two years, he was 21-7 with a 2.05 ERA and 20-6 with a 2.65 ERA. He won two Cy Yount Awards and led the league in wins, earned run average and strikeouts. Traded to New York, he declined to 14-10 with a 4.60 ERA in 1999. New York hired McNamee as assistant strength coach the next year. During one stretch, Clemens won 27 games against three losses for the Yankees.

Information and evidence from McNamee could raise questions about whether Clemens, who retired last season, should be elected to the Hall of Fame.

McNamee, 40, of Breezy Point, N.Y., worked as a strength coach for the Blue Jays and Yankees. He was also the personal trainer for Clemens and Pettite. McNamee, who holds a master’s degree in sports science from Long Island University, has also taught at St. John’s University.

More negative information about former Yankees is expected to be included in the Mitchell report, sources said.

Mitchell’s report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball will be highly critical of the commissioner’s office and the players’ union for tolerating the presence of drugs throughout years of abuse, a person who has read the closely guarded report said Wednesday.

Mitchell has been battling the union during his 20-month investigation, but sharp criticism of Commissioner Bud Selig, who hired Mitchell and is paying for his investigation, would be more unexpected and would seemingly prove Mitchell’s claim of independence in this endeavor.

Selig, the commissioner since 1992, and Donald Fehr, the executive director of the players’ association since 1986, have scheduled separate news conferences after Mitchell holds a briefing. The three sessions will take place within blocks of one another in Midtown Manhattan.

Three main sources provided information for the report, which will have substantial attachments: Kirk Radomski, a former Mets clubhouse attendant who pleaded guilty to steroid offenses in April and says he supplied players with performance-enhancing drugs from 1995 to 2005; the Signature Pharmacy investigation led by the Albany County district attorney; and one other source that the person did not make clear. The bulk of the names are believed to be from Radomski.

Over all, Mitchell has interviewed scores of former players and club executives. But the report will state that there is a lot of information the investigation did not uncover, the person said, making it unlikely that baseball’s steroids issue will be put to rest.

That person and one other person familiar with Mitchell’s findings said the report would name more than 50 active and former major league players who are linked to the use of performance-enhancing drugs. The person who read the report said among those named would be the winners of Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards.

The report is also expected to call for beefed-up testing, but it apparently does not address the use of amphetamines.

Baseball officials felt the report was harsh when they read it this week, the second person said. The sources were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about the report.

The players’ association is expecting to be attacked for doing what it says was nothing more than what it was supposed to do: advising players of the harm that could come from talking to Mitchell. Partly as a result of that advice, only one current major league player, Jason Giambi, is known to have cooperated with the investigation, and then only after Selig threatened to suspend him for tacitly acknowledging steroid use.

A former prosecutor and United States senator, Mitchell was appointed by Selig to conduct the investigation in March 2006.

Informed Wednesday that the Mitchell report would pointedly criticize the commissioner’s office, Fay Vincent, Selig’s predecessor, said, “Very interesting.â€
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Post by BlueChair »

http://www3.thestar.com/static/PDF/0712 ... report.pdf

The full report can be found here. Sounds like Canseco convinced Clemens to start taking steroids while both were with the Toronto Blue Jays.
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Post by Who Shot Sam? »

Pretty damning report. And just the tip of the iceberg.

As a Dodgers fan, it pains me to see Gagné's name in there, though I'm more disappointed than surprised. LoDuca comes across as a clubhouse pusher. Clemens is no great shock. What leaps out at me is how many of those named are/were mediocre or marginal players.
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Post by Boy With A Problem »

250 players had been disciplined for performance enhancing drugs prior to this report - most of whom were minor leaguers. It shouldn't be surprising that a lot of these guys are marginal players. I remember Manny Alexander's car was pulled over when he was with the Red Sox and syringes were found - the cat hit like two home runs that year.

4 of Clemons' 7 Cy Young awards are from Toronto and afterwards.

The whole era is tainted.
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Post by Boy With A Problem »

And Eric Gagne. His record is now a sham.
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Post by BlueChair »

You look at the photos, and it's clear that people like Clemens suddenly became hulk-like in appearance. I guess we were too busy rooting for them as players to really notice what was actually going on.

Bud Selig will deliver a press conference today at 4:30 EST.
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Post by Who Shot Sam? »

Well it is what it is. I'm not in favor of slapping asterisks all over the record books. Just make whatever changes you can to minimize the problem, then move on. Players association are a bunch of knobs. Do they have any concern whatsoever for the physical well-being of players, or is it all just about money?
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Post by Boy With A Problem »

It's about the money.

As to the asterisks - you have to let Barry Bonds numbers stand with as much validity as Clemons' Cy Young awards, McGwire, Sosa, Gagne etc.
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Post by oily slick »

well you guys were right about big hulkin' roger. there are some funny names on that list.
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Post by Boy With A Problem »

oily slick wrote:well you guys were right about big hulkin' roger. there are some funny names on that list.
He says he didn't do it.

Now he's going to help OJ find the real killers.
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by Boy With A Problem »

Red Sox - Yankees rivalry taken to a new level

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080505/sp_ ... q9p0kw.3QA
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

Boy With A Problem wrote:Red Sox - Yankees rivalry taken to a new level

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080505/sp_ ... q9p0kw.3QA
I saw that story in the Daily News when I was waiting in line at the deli this afternoon. Insane.
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by BlueChair »

Has anybody heard about this upcoming CD on Yep Roc? Sounds interesting
http://www.yeproc.com/artist_info.php?a ... cleId=5259

The Baseball Project

Baseball Project Calls Its Shot on CMJ.com
May 19, 2008, 1:38 pm

Who knew that indie rockers loved baseball so much? The Baseball Project, a new collaboration between R.E.M.'s Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck, Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate, Gutterball) and Linda Pitmon (Miracle 3) marries a love of America's favorite pastime with college rock for 13 tracks about the summer sport on Volume 1: Frozen Ropes And Dying Quails, due out July 8 via Yep Roc. Though they aren't donning stirrups or singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," this group sets tales from baseball lore to music and re-imagines many of the mythic and iconic people and events, both past and present.

On the track "Past Time" many indie rock kiddies might mistake the line "So long ago, so long/Pastime, are you past your prime?/The DiMaggios, Shoeless Joe, Minnie Minoso, Yo La Tengo" as a random call out to the Hoboken band. Not so. It's actually a tip of the hat to the inaugural 1962 Mets season where the phrase, Spanish for "I got it!," was used by centerfielder Richie Ashburn to signal to the shortstop Elio Chacon, who didn't speak much English, to back off the play to prevent a collision.

Unfortunately, there are no references to the buried curse-inflicting Boston Red Sox jersey in the new Yankee Stadium that was dug up or any shout-outs to the Chicago Cubs extending their streak of 100 years without a World Series ring.

- Matt Kiser, CMJ.com

Tracklist For Volume 1: Frozen Ropes And Dying Quails:
01. Past Time
02. Ted Fucking Williams
03. Gratitude (For Curt Flood)
04. Brook Man
05. Satchel Paige Said
06. Fernando
07. Long Before My Time
08. Jackie's Lament
09. Sometimes I Dream Of Willie Mays
10. The Death Of Big Ed Delahanty
11. Harvey Haddix
12. The Yankee Flipper
13. The Closer
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

Interesting. I know Joe Pernice is a huge Red Sox fan and wrote a song called "Moonshot Manny" a few years ago about Manny Ramirez. Anyone writing a song about Kirk Gibson's home run? That's my best moment as a Dodgers fan, though that massive 4 home run comeback against the Gnats a few years ago, capped of by Finley's dinger, was pretty special too.

I see Fernando in there - he was always one of my faves.
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by BlueChair »

I was hoping for a song about Dave Steib's no-hitter or Roberto Alomar spitting on the ump, but I guess Ted Fucking Williams will have to do :lol:

You can hear the record here, btw:
http://216.69.135.140/MP3Players/Baseba ... wimpy.html
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

BlueChair wrote:I was hoping for a song about Dave Steib's no-hitter or Roberto Alomar spitting on the ump, but I guess Ted Fucking Williams will have to do :lol:

You can hear the record here, btw:
http://216.69.135.140/MP3Players/Baseba ... wimpy.html
Joe Carter's homer? That has to be up there on the list for Toronto fans.
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by BlueChair »

Yeah, that's pretty much the moment for us. I remember watching that moment as a giddy 12 year old Blue Jays fan.
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by cosmos »

Why has Cito Gaston not managed since his stint with the Blue Jays? :?
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by Boy With A Problem »

Image
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

Boy With A Problem wrote:Image
I'll see your Cito Gaston and raise you...

Image
Image
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Re: Baseball's back

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Image
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Re: Baseball's back

Post by Who Shot Sam? »

Great 'tache. But this card takes the cake...

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Re: Baseball's back

Post by spooky girlfriend »

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/b ... ml?cnn=yes

Minor leaguer traded for 10 bats

McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- During three years in the low minors, John Odom never really made a name for himself.

That sure changed this week -- he's the guy who was traded for a bunch of bats.

"I don't really care," he said Friday. "It'll make a better story if I make it to the big leagues."

For now, Odom is headed to the Laredo Broncos of the United League. They got him Tuesday from the Calgary Vipers of the Golden Baseball League for a most unlikely price: 10 Prairie Sticks Maple Bats, double-dipped black, 34-inch, C243 style.

"They just wanted some bats, good bats -- maple bats," Broncos general manager Jose Melendez said.

According to the Prairie Sticks Web site, their maple bats retail for $69 each, discounted to $65.50 for purchases of six to 11 bats.

"It will be interesting to see what 10 bats gets us," Melendez said.

The Canadian team signed Odom about a month ago, but couldn't get the 26-year-old righty into the country. It seems Odom had a "minor" but unspecified criminal record that wasn't revealed to immigration officials before they scanned his passport, Vipers president Peter Young said.

Odom said the charge stemmed from a fight he was in at age 17. Although he thought it had been expunged from his record, it popped up during immigration.

Odom spent hundreds of dollars driving to the Canadian border and staying at a Montana hotel while the matter was sorted out. He then drove to Laredo after the trade.

Originally from Atlanta, Odom was drafted late by the San Francisco Giants in 2003. He pitched 38 games, all in Class A, from 2004-06, and was released by the organization this spring.

Laredo intends to activate Odom on Monday and have him make his first start Wednesday.

Odom said he was supposed to be traded for Laredo's best hitter. But when that player balked at moving to Calgary, the bats entered the deal.

Laredo offered cash for Odom, but Young said that was "an insult."

The bat trade wasn't the first time Calgary came up with some creative dealmaking. The Vipers once tried to acquire a pitcher for 1,500 blue seats when they were renovating their stadium, Young said.
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