Bullshiit Sunscreen ~ Engineered to stay put…in and out of the HOF.

Blue Jays broadcaster Jack Morris, who last week in Toronto said Clay Buchholz was throwing a spitball after watching video of the right-hander’s performance, said he sought out the Red Sox pitcher and spoke to him before Friday night’s game at Fenway Park.

“I told him I was sorry that I had taken attention away from what he was doing—that’s not what I was trying to do,” said Morris, who won 254 games in the big leagues. “I ...

Sounding more like Bats Battaglia than Joey Bats…

“I think it’s a cheap shot and uncalled for to say something like that without having some sort of evidence to back it up,” Bautista said Friday in the visitor’s clubhouse at Fenway Park. “Comments and articles like that is what sometimes makes us wonder what’s the true intention of somebody that’s in the media. It blows my mind that somebody would just go out there and do something like that, and write an article where you’re ...

Sufferin’ seeds of terror, I was hoping for…

“I’ve been thinking the last couple of days. I just felt like I should address the fans.

“I know there is a lot of mixed opinions on pitching, not pitching, all that kind of stuff. I know there are people who are disappointed about how I pitched the last two years. I know there are a lot of people who are very supportive. So, one, I just wanted to thank them for their support. And my heart goes out to all of the people who spend all of their ...

Ozzmosis: New L.A. tomorrow?

Guillen is an excellent manager. His teams consistently win more games than their talent level suggests they should (plus-19 in Pythagorean standings over his eight years with the White Sox). It’s easy to picture him getting a bump out of the Dodgers or Angels, should changes be made.

But will he get a chance?

Restoring his reputation will be a huge battle for Guillen. He might not be ready to get back in the dugout if the information I got Friday was correct.

...

What started off as a wonderful tradition and homage to breast cancer survivors everywhere, the use of pink bats on Mother’s Day, has turned into another ugly example of corporate greed. Hopefully sometime between now and Sunday, Major League Baseball and Louisville Slugger will realize there are few greater sins than monetizing disease, and fix that.

Baltimore outfielder Nick Markakis and Minnesota third baseman Trevor Plouffe, both of whose mothers are breast cancer survivors, received ...

BBTF Productions presents OMNICHATTER, a Primate joint. Starring Pete Kozma, Clay Buchholz’s arm, Justin Verlander, Yu Darvish, Manny Machado, Francisco Liriano (making his Pirates debut!), Andrelton Simmons, Angel Hernandez as “The Root Of All Evil” and many more!

Harold Reynolds: “This is what happens when the umps start calling the high strikes!”

Alex Cobb struck out 13 in fewer than five innings and Ryan Roberts and Ben Zobrist drove in two runs apiece to help the Tampa Bay Rays rally for a 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday night.

Cobb became the first pitcher in major league history to fan that many batters and fail to make it through the fifth. The right-hander left after throwing 117 pitches. He recorded 12 of 14 outs on strikeouts ...

Is that an Altuve in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

The Astros said that the fan who stood up and pretended to expose himself while inside Minute Maid Park’s exclusive Diamond Club is not a season ticket holder and that the team would work with “the proper authorities” to investigate.

Sitting in the section that became famous as the seats for former President George H.W. Bush and first lady Barbara Bush, a fan appearing to hold either a cigar or a hot dog weiner stood up ...

Ever since Michael Lewis’s Moneyball came out in 2003, there’s been this conception that baseball managers’ hunches and instincts don’t matter that much. But it seems to me that in your managing during last year’s postseason, you were definitely following a few hunches, weren’t you?

Sure. [Laughs] All the information you can get, it’s critical to your decision making. We have great advance scouts and an operations staff who really do a tremendous job of helping me. But at the ...

There are thousands of young men on minor-league baseball rosters working toward a spot in the majors. Most of them won’t make it. With this in mind, essayist Lucas Mann spent the 2010 season in Clinton, Iowa, watching the city’s Class A team, the LumberKings. In his new book, Class A: Baseball in the Middle of Everywhere (Pantheon), Mann writes about becoming intimate with the players, the fans, and the town, and explores the themes of nostalgia, failure, and hope.

The link is a question ...

Umpire Fieldin Culbreth, the crew chief in Thursday night’s game between the Angels and Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston, has received a two-game suspension and a fine for the misapplication of Rule 3.05(b) in the top of the seventh inning, Major League Baseball announced Friday afternoon.

The other members of Culbreth’s crew—Brian O’Nora, Bill Welke and Adrian Johnson—received fines stemming from the same sequence of events. Culbreth’s two-game suspension will be served at a date to be ...

And I was the shortstop for the New York Yankees! But like the rest of you I’ve outlived my usefulness! No one wants me around any more!

Father Time is finally throwing Jeter some serious chin music, snapping his ankle in October, and then taunting him back to practice before chipping it again. But Jeter is the Bernard Hopkins of baseball, swinging until he’s literally carted off. The Yankees surely hope he makes that decision before they have to.

“Jeter’s not a quitter!” you bark. ...Read More...

I thought this was sorta common knowledge…

Brilliant Reader Wendell has wandered through some baseball numbers and comes up with what seems a fascinating question, at least if you’re kind of a crazy baseball history buff.

From 1954-1957, Warren Spahn started 136 games—fourth-most in baseball. He pitched 1,081 innings—second only to Robin Roberts. He won 79 games, more than any pitcher over that time. Well, that was Warren Spahn, right? Hall of Famer. A workhorse. A constant force. He was a ...

Not to dump water on this…but he’s tied with Tim McCarver.

Jeter has long been known for his ability to rack up 200-hit seasons, the hallmark of any 3,000-hit campaign. Cano, with only two 200-hit seasons, and perhaps because of his status as an elite power hitter, has often been left out of the discussion of players who could reach 3,000.

But Cano isn’t far off Jeter’s pace. Jeter notched his 1,500th hit at age 29, in his ninth season. Cano hit the mark at age 30, also in his ninth year. It ...

The Cleveland Indians have the lowest average attendance in baseball. Lower, even, than the Miami Marlins, who most people would assume own that dishonor. In fact, Miami is only fifth worst.
Cleveland’s average of 14,205 makes places like Miami, Tampa Bay and Kansas City look somewhat decent. The Royals, in fact, are second worst in baseball and average 4,000 more per game than the Indians.

On Monday and Tuesday, the Indians drew 9,514 and 9,474 with the Oakland Athletics in town. This was ...

Plus he’d wait on line for an Ebinger’s black-out cake just like the rest of us!

Is former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers great Gil Hodges the best eligible position player not in the Hall of Fame? No, Barry Bonds is…or maybe Jeff Bagwell. But five years ago, the answer very well may have been “yes”.

Without all this newfangled steroid nonsense clouding the picture, Hodges’ case depicts perhaps the most lopsided argument in history regarding a player’s Hall of Fame merit. It seems ...

Next he’ll be spray painting “Aus der Traum!” on the ESPN studio wall!

“I love David. I love him to death. And I think a lot of what Dan has done in his life has been personally driven. But he didn’t ask a question that people aren’t asking themselves,” Schilling said. “And I keep going to back to, as a player, this is our fault. We did this. We let this happen. We had a chance to stop it and we didn’t. I think the way it was done was kind of cheesy. But there are people asking ...

More like a Hunter’s guide for big game…

15. DIAMONDBACKS: After an early run on pitchers, position players will be the strength of the middle of the first round. Count Arizona as one of several teams in this area who would love an unexpected shot at Meadows. Renfroe and California high school shortstop J.P. Crawford are better bets to be available.

PROJECTED PICK: HUNTER RENFROE.

30. RANGERS: Since 2006, Texas has used eight of its nine first-round picks on high schoolers. Most of the best ...

Maureen Oleskiewicz, a 28-year-old middle school teacher, died on Sunday after choking on a hot dog at Wrigley Field, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Oleskiewicz and her brother, Martin Oleskiewicz, were eating before the game started when she fell to the floor choking. CPR was administered, but she died after undergoing cardiac arrest.

Maureen Oleskiewicz, a 28-year-old middle school teacher, died on Sunday after choking on a hot dog at Wrigley Field.

Before Oleskiewicz passed away, ...

Washington Times, May 10, 1913:

The United States League will have its formal opening at Union League Park today, when the Brooklyn team meets the Washington team. There will be no admissions charged, Manager Carsey throwing open the gates to the fans and offering the first engagement between the clubs gratis.

The 1913 US League season lasted two days. New York and Newark folded up shop after 100 people showed up to their season opener, and the other six teams gave up after the second game.

“Yesterday, the guy came to see me and asked some questions about steroids, and when you see the writing, it basically focuses on the fact that I’m Dominican and that many Dominicans have been caught using steroids. And what about the Americans?” Ortiz said.

“If you’re from the Middle East, because there are some people there who put bombs and terrorize civilians, I have to see you like that, as well? If you are a white American, I have to call you a racist because white Americans were in the ...

Hey, take it easy…probably only Scott Radinsky and Jack McDowell ever discussed early Amphetamine Reptile sides.

The average pitcher is more likely to die in a car crash over his lifetime then get hit in the head by a line drive during his MLB career.

If this is where society is going, then we have a lot of other culprits to fix before we start imposing more safety legislation on baseball.

Let’s ban the X-games, where Snowmobiler Caleb Moore died in January, as a result of injuries he ...

As Alfred, Lord (The Human Eyeball) Tennyson once said about smile splits…“A smile abroad is often a scowl at home.”

Dwight Howard, meet Josh Hamilton.

“I’ve had people screaming at me when I’m at the plate, ‘Wipe that smile off your face,’‘’ said the Angels bust. “If I’m not smiling, you don’t want me out there. I want to play the game how I’ve grown up my whole life playing it, and that’s with a smile. You do your best when you’re relaxed.’‘

Hamilton gets any more relaxed and he really ...

[Angels’] Manager Mike Scoscia argued Astros skipper Bo Porter wasn’t allowed to make two pitching changes before the first reliever fired an official pitch.

However, since the Angels came back to win, 6-5, the protest is essentially a non-factor. [...] Rule 3.05(b) states: If the pitcher is replaced, the substitute pitcher shall pitch to the batter then at-bat, or any substitute batter, until such batter is put out or reaches first base, or until the offensive team is put out, unless the ...

15 games today, and I can’t come up with anything witty to say right now. Sorry. I’ll make sure to have something ready for Saturday.