JAYS’ BAUTISTA NOT BOTHERED BY AMOUNT OF DRUG TESTS

Hell, I was once a sponsor for a tab-popping, nonpareil arm dotted friend of mine…and I was tired of the constant testing.

Bautista addressed his claim that he’s been tested by the league an above-average amount of times the past couple of years before talking about his team’s chances this upcoming season.

Bautista, who will be featured on the cover of the upcoming MLB 12 The Show, commented at a banquet in the Dominican Republic recently that he had been tested 16 times for performance enhancers over the past two years.

“(16) is an approximate number, and it’s hard to keep tabs,” Bautista said on TSN 1050. “It has increased in the last two years compared to before but I’m not complaining whatsoever. It’s a question that I was asked so I gave an honest answer. It’s not in my interest to make it seem like I’m getting picked on.”

The increase in drug tests is something that Bautista, who has led the league in home runs the past two years, said hasn’t and won’t change the way he goes about preparing and playing the game.

“I don’t mind it; it’s something that is not going to affect my focus and I’m not going to allow it to affect how I play my game,” Bautista said. “They are entitled to do whatever they want and test you as many times as they want. If I get picked to be tested a million times, that’s fine with me.”

Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins talks about career at baseball banquet

Mixbag of Fergie for ya.

Even when there was a large crowd at Wrigley, Jenkins could hear the bullpen phone ring when he was pitching.

“From the mound to the bullpen along the left-field wall, with 35,000 people screaming, I could actually hear that phone ring,” said Jenkins, who had a 284-226 career record.

For Jenkins, that distinct sound meant it was time to bear down.

“When it rings, ‘The bullpen is not coming into my game,’ ” Jenkins said. “You step it up a notch.”

...On whether Fargo’s Roger Maris should be in the Hall of Fame: “I think before long, Roger will get that opportunity. It’s probably too long, too late, because he did what he did lots of years ago,” Jenkins said. “He should have been put in the Hall of Fame a long time ago. It’s too bad.”

On whether players who have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs should get into the Hall of Fame: “Personally, I would put none of them in,” Jenkins said. “You have to play honest. It should be an equal plane for everybody.”

Grantland: How Basketball-Reference Got Every Box Score

Not baseball…but Pfander’s keepers is pretty darn neat.

Last week, Justin Kubatko made an announcement that, on the first reading, didn’t make much sense. Kubatko, of Basketball-Reference.com, wrote that the site now had the box scores for every game in NBA history — from Wilt’s 100-point game, to when Havlicek stole the ball, to everything in between. Visitors to the site could search for every game from 1946-47 to the present day through its database.

The question that beckoned was: “How?”

“A few years ago, someone had pointed us in the direction of this guy named Dick Pfander, who lives in Michigan,” Kubatko said. “They said, ‘You’ve got to get in touch with him. He’s undertaking a personal project going through old microfilm and making scans of every box score in NBA history.’ Of course, we were intrigued by that.”

Dick Pfander is a 77-year-old Department of Defense retiree who splits his time between Michigan and a doublewide near Winter Haven, Florida. He started collecting box scores while in grammar school in the late 1940s, he says. After a friend’s father finished with his copies of the Sunday New York Times, he would pass along the sports section to Pfander. “I read the articles,” Pfander said. “But what I really liked, were the box scores.” The hobby continued into high school. When a teammate learned of Pfander’s interest in statistics, he asked his grandmother, who lived in Minneapolis, to start sending box scores from the local papers. The Minneapolis Lakers were the dominant team of the time, and with her help, Pfander began extending his collection past the local papers and large national outlets.

Cuban explains losing out on Dodgers

VAYA AL INFIERNO, JOHN KENNEDY!!!

“It just didn’t work out. I wanted to buy a baseball team; they were selling a media rights deal,” Cuban said, alluding to the fact that the Dodgers’ TV rights are up for sale and obviously a big part of the purchase price.

He then elaborated: “The economics got so out of control because the Dodgers’ TV deal’s up for bid and so there’s a lot of groups coming in going, ‘This TV deal’s worth so much money that we’re gonna pay whatever it takes to get the Dodgers.’ And so they’re buying the TV rights deal first and the team second,” Mark said.

It’s a bit of a head-scratcher to come at it from this angle, because buying a baseball team is a huge package deal. Every team has TV rights. If they didn’t, revenues would be a lot lower. Basically, Cuban’s bid was far too low and he thinks the other bids are too high.

Ron Washington gets 2-year extension

Well, I’ll let an American League pitcher hit with the bases loaded…

Kevin Goldstein: Los Angeles Dodgers Top 11 Prospects

System In 20 Words Or Less: There is depth here, but there’s also a disturbing lack of future impact talents.

Four-Star Prospects
1. Zach Lee, RHP
Three-Star Prospects
2. Nathan Eovaldi, RHP
3. Allen Webster, RHP
4. Chris Reed, LHP
5. Garrett Gould, RHP
6. Chris Withrow, RHP
7. Alfredo Silverio, OF
8. Joc Pederson, OF
9. Alex Castellanos, OF/2B
10. Angel Sanchez, RHP
11. Shawn Tolleson, RHP

Nine More:
12. James Baldwin, OF: He’s an ultra-athletic outfielder with power, speed, and a disturbing number of strikeouts.
13. Tim Federowicz, C: He has big league-ready defense (and plus at that) but a backup’s bat.
14. Ethan Martin, RHP: The former first-round pick will try starting again but remains in the deep weeds in terms of command and control.
15. Josh Lindblom, RHP: He’s a big league-ready reliever, but his ceiling ends in 7th or 8th inning.
16. Aaron Miller, LHP: This power lefty lost his 2011 season due to non-arm injuries; he could move up the list with healthy season.
17. Gorman Erickson, C: He’s an intriguing backstop with on-base skills and a bit of pop, but his defense needs work.
18. Scott Van Slyke, 1B: He can hit but is an older, first-base only prospect that needs to keep doing it.
19. Kyle Russell, OF: He possesses huge raw power, excellent right field defense, and all sorts of contact issues.
20. Steve Ames, RHP: The scouting reports are not as impressive as the numbers, but evaluators see a big league future as middle reliever.

Skip Schumaker’s new baseball card features the rally squirrel … but not Skip Schumaker

Squirrel Bait: Choose Your Poison!

Well, that’s not completely true. The bottom of Skip Schumaker’s pants leg is actually quite visible in the 2012 Topps Series 1 baseball card set that’s launching on Wednesday.

...Now that l’il critter has somehow become big enough to push Schumaker almost completely off his own baseball card. According to Topps, it’s the first time in company history that a player’s card has not featured the player’s face.

The company also says that it hasn’t given Schumaker a sneak peek at this latest piece of memorabilia, so one can only guess what he thinks of playing second fiddle to the squirrel on his own baseball card. But he can take solace in the fact that some of the cards will feature Schumaker’s face. According to Beckett, the squirrel will only appear on the “short-print” variation of the card, making the squirrel version a valuable find for collectors out there.

Sickels: Career Prospect Retrospective: Pat Burrell

Pat Burrell announced his retirement today after a 13-year major league career.

Let’s take a look at what he was like as a prospect.

Pat Burrell was the first-overall pick in the 1998 draft. A star slugger at the University of Miami, Burrell hit .432 with 17 homers for the Hurricanes, although he was limited to 113 at-bats by a back injury. He was considered a top slugging prospect but his pure hitting skills were fairly respected as well, and he wasn’t expected to need long in the minors. The Phillies moved him from third base (his college position) over to first base in pro ball, partly because he wasn’t much of a fielder and partly because they already had Scott Rolen.

...His best season was at age 25 in 2002, when he hit .282/.376/.544 with 37 homers, 116 RBI, 145 OPS+, and a career-best 4.9 WAR. Overall, Burrell finished at 21.9 WAR with a career line of .253/.361/.472, 116 OPS+, with 292 career homers in 1640 games.

Most Similar Players to Burrell by Sim Score: Jeromy Burnitz, Matt Stairs, Jay Buhner, Greg Vaughn, Danny Tartabull, Roy Sievers, Troy Glaus, Jeff Burroughs, David Justice, and Tim Salmon. This group makes sense: productive sluggers with low batting averages. Burrell’s 21.9 WAR puts him in company with Joe Carter (22.2), Steve Kemp (22.1), Tito Francona (21.7), and Jeff Burroughs (21.6).

It is interesting that Jeff Burroughs shows up as a good comp for Burrell, given that Burroughs was also a first-overall pick (1969).

As for the Bagwell/Karros comp, Bagwell hit .297/.408/.540, OPS+149, 83.9 WAR, while Karros hit .268/.325/.454, OPS+107, 20.7 WAR. Obviously Burrell was closer to Karros, if slightly better.

Thanks to Sy..

Yankees and Bill Hall in Serious Talks

Skids in the Hall. It’s a Fact!

Ken Rosenthal from FOX Sports says that the New York Yankees are in serious talks with utility man Bill Hall. Hall, 32, works out in the off season with New York Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long.

Hall played last season with the Houston Astros and San Francisco Giants. He had somewhat of a career revival in 2010 when he played with the Boston Red Sox, and played left field, right field, second base and third base to fill in for various injuries and holes.

He could be a good addition to an aging Yankees team. He will be able to spell Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Robison Cano when they need days off, and as a right handed bat, can play the outfield to give Brett Gardner or Curtis Granderson a rest.

MLB: Schlueter: Sabathia, Halladay pave road to 300 wins

Somebody said that it couldn’t be Edgar Albert Guesstimate.

When the most recent cluster of 300-game winners emerged in the first decade of the 21st century (Clemens in 2003, Maddux in ‘04, Glavine in ‘07 and Johnson in ‘09), each individual accomplishment was accompanied by truckloads of words prognosticating that baseball was witnessing the last pitchers to ever reach these heights; any number of variables—fewer starts per season, fewer innings per start, greater reliance on bullpens, the most recent offensive explosion—were cited to support this assertion. But such predictions are nothing new.

...For the 13 liveball-era 300-game winners, the roadmaps that retroactively detail the road to 300 wins are as varied as the personalities that drove the men to the milestone. There are great, young starts (Seaver and Maddux), explosions in baseball’s middle age (Grove or Spahn), the steady paces (Sutton, Glavine), and even the illogical bursts as the shadows lengthened (Niekro and Johnson).

The distance between where Sabathia and Halladay sit idling today and a 300th win remains daunting, and both pitchers will need to maintain their win rates, retain their healthiness, and hope for a fair amount of good fortune if they hope to join the club. But against the backdrop of the men who have crossed that rare finish line, these two current pitchers have at least already paved a road that gives them a chance.

Sabathia’s 176 wins through his age-30 season top the career totals of any of the 13 liveball era 300-game winners through that age-season. Halladay’s 188 wins through his age-34 season would rank him ninth among the 13 at that age.

RLYW: Too-Early Marcel 2012 Season Forecast

Crikey, such excitement in the NL West!

This is current through Francisco Cordero signing with Toronto, and assumes Prince Fielder at 1B and Miguel Cabrera playing a terrible version of 3B for Detroit in 70% of their games, and DHing in 25% of them.

NYBD: Silva: Pete Rose Received Two Write-In Votes This Past HOF Election

Last night, I was joined by Marco Maturo, a member of the BBWAA who spent 40 years covering sports for Gannett, which included 7 years on the Mets beat in the late seventies/early eighties.

When submitting his Hall of Fame ballot this year, Maturo wrote-in Pete Rose.  Jack O’Connell, Secretary-Treasurer of the BBWAA, told Maturo that Rose received 2 write-in votes this past election. In 1992, what would have been Rose’s first year of eligibility, he received 41 votes. “He’s been getting about 20 write-ins over the period,” Maturo said.

...Maturo agrees. “If you cut to the chase, Old Petey boy, let me tell you he should be in the Hall. Especially to the extent that the Hall is meant to reflect baseball excellence. And it’s also meant to reflect moral excellence- the American variety. You remember Charlie Hustle? His work ethic, his dedication, he made the most of less-than-world-class athletic ability. This guy was a definite Hall of Famer. He gave so much to the game, to the fans. It’s a shame that he’s not in there.”

...“A lot of people, I think, want the Hall to be a place for ‘dashboard Jesus’ types.” Maturo added that he thinks “baseball needs him (Rose) maybe more than he needs personal rehabilitation. Who better to promote the game of baseball than a Pete Rose for what he did for it?”

Maturo also voted for Barry Larkin and Jeff Bagwell on this last ballot. I couldn’t let him go without getting his perspective on next year’s controversial election that includes steroid era candidates such as Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, and Mike Piazza.

“That’s a tough one. If Rose is not in there I couldn’t vote for them either. I think they deserve some time in purgatory as well as Pete did, right?”

Which now moves the ongoing list to 32 Will Vote for Bonds/Clemens - 48 Won’t Vote - 35 Don’t Know.

Lansing Lugnuts to add ‘craft beer garden’ to Cooley Law School Stadium

Cooley High Life, if you will.

The Lansing Lugnuts will debut a new “craft beer garden” at Cooley Law School Stadium this coming baseball season.

Craft beer is a currently a popular fad among beer connoisseurs, according to Lugnuts Assistant General Manager Nick Grueser.

“It’s basically like a lot of your little microbrews that are around town,” Grueser said. “They’re not the big Budweisers of the world that are mass producing all over the place.”

He said certain specifications are required of craft beer manufacturers.

“They have to sell less than two million barrels of beer a year,” Grueser explained. “They have to be independent; they can’t have more than 25 percent controlled by a larger beer company. And they have to be a traditional beer, like they have to be an ale or a lager.”

A’s owner Wolff addresses Manny, stadium

For now, Wolff has no choice but to believe that the A’s can compete this year, despite so much roster turnover. And he would be just fine if more of it came in the form of Manny Ramirez.

Ramirez, who will turn 40 in May and would have to serve a 50-game suspension at the start of the season after having his suspension reduced from 100 games, has been pegged as a potential designated hitter for Oakland. Despite the history he brings, Wolff believes “he should be viewed on a basis of talent.”

“If he serves his penalty, the idea of serving a penalty is that you’re free to go back and do something,” he said. “I think it would be fun. I hear he’s in great shape. I don’t know if we’re in the running for him, but it wouldn’t bother me to have him on the team. In fact, just the opposite.

“My theory in life, which may not apply to baseball, is that we all make mistakes, and if we serve a penalty, there’s no reason we shouldn’t have the opportunity to do the right thing after that.”

“How can you not be romantic about baseball?”

Denny McLain’s message to Brandon Inge: Get over it

“Denny McLain at the Mouth Organ”...Out now on RICO Records!

Denny McLain held up an autographed photo of Brandon Inge and showed it to his audience.

“This was Brandon Inge’s last photo before he began whining about his playing time,” McLain announced.

The former Tigers pitcher drew laughter from 300 guests who attended the Madonna University baseball team’s fundraiser Saturday. Inge lost his shot to start last week when the Tigers signed Prince Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million contract; he will play first base and Miguel Cabrera will move to third.

...McLain held the Inge photo up and tossed it to the floor.

“It’s the first time he’s hit something in two years,” McLain said, to more laughter.

“This is a wonderful deal,” McLain added of the Fielder signing. “You can never be upset about getting a guy that drives in 100 runs and you are a backup to the best hitter in baseball. Now you’ve got (Fielder) and Cabrera, and it doesn’t matter who you put in front or in back of them, they are going to be better hitters because of these two. I suspect Miggy won’t be Brooks Robinson at third base, but neither was Brandon Inge.

“I’d rather have a guy who bats over .300 and drives in 100 runs who boots a few balls or doesn’t get to some than a guy who hits .190 and is not contributing offensively in a major way. I would make that trade every day.”

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 1-30-2012

San Francisco Call, January 30, 1912:

If Joe Cohn can obtain the release of Ralph Frink from the Mavericks, as the state penitentiary squad is known, the Spokane manager will give the jail bird a contract with the Indians in the Northwestern league. Cohn wants Frink because he is a good pitcher.
...

While in Chehalis and after the season closed, he tried to rob a store while drunk, and the trick landed him in the penitentiary.

GIMME ALL YOUR FLAVIN, OR I’LL SHOOT YOU IN THE HOYVIN-GLAVIN!

Bobby Valentine not surprised by Montero trade

Special Valentine’s Surprise encourages you to celebrate all the sweet blabbering that is Valentine’s Day!

Seeing the Yankees trade their young catcher, Jesus Montero, didn’t come as a surprise to new Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine.

“I thought that was kind of in their plans,” Valentine said on Sunday at Rippowam Middle School in his hometown of Stamford, Conn. “He helped their plans come to fruition by the way he played that last month of the season. I didn’t really ever think he was going to be their catcher of the future but maybe.”

...While Valentine said the trade didn’t surprise him, he did not elaborate on why. The Yankees also traded away reliever Hector Noesi in the deal and received a minor league pitcher.

“I don’t know,” Valentine said when asked if he thought Montero was going to be used as a trade chip in the future. “I don’t know what the Yankees are doing, I think Brian (Cashman) is a real smart guy, one of the great managers in the game of baseball, and I don’t know what his plan was.”

Megdal: John Franco gets his due from Mets; now how about John Stearns?

Including the Stearns, “Three Fingers of Scotch” card!

Stearns played a decade in New York, from 1975-84, and was a lifelong Met, except for one unfortunate appearance for the 1974 Phillies. He was even acquired for another Met Hall of Famer, Tug McGraw. His four All Star appearances were usually the bright spot for Mets fans in an otherwise Met-free series of games, and he was a justifiable choice for the team.

Stearns was tremendous defensively, throwing out 37 percent of would-be base-stealers in his career. He added a propensity for the stolen base, exceedingly rare for a catcher, reaching double figures in steals four times, with a high of 25. He had some pop, and at a time when the Mets didn’t have a ton to cheer about, and his football-style of play made him a favorite, along with Lee Mazzilli.

For a team looking to honor its entire past, what could be more fitting than to admit John Stearns into the Hall of Fame? In a season like the upcoming one, showing appreciation for a Met who played on weak teams would be a useful example.

Brewers’ formula may change without Fielder

To Nyjer Morgan, that means manufacturing runs instead of swinging for the fences.

“It’s probably going to be a little more speedy this year,’’ Morgan said. “You can see that we’re going to have to rely on trying to steal bags and stuff like that, and not worrying about trying to hit those gaps all the time. You can see what they brought in, and understand we still have a great team here and still got a great chance of doing what we’ve got to do.’‘

...And while the Brewers will miss Fielder’s big bat, they don’t seem overly concerned about replacing his leadership. In that respect, Corey Hart said veterans Craig Counsell, LaTroy Hawkins and Mark Kotsay will be missed more.

“It’s more of what he can do on the field for you than what he does in the clubhouse,’’ Hart said. “I think losing Counsell and `Hawk’ and Kotsay, those guys are more fixtures in kind of the leadership role. Prince is more leading by production.’‘

Thanks to Cupo.

Wakefield mulls future while waiting on Sox

WAKE ME, SHAKE ME
Don’t let me sleep too long!

Tim Wakefield told Florida Today that while he would consider retiring, his preference is to pitch in 2012 for the Red Sox.

“I just saw that [Yankees catcher Jorge Posada] retired, you know it’s something that my wife and I need to talk about,” told the paper last week. “I’d probably need to talk about it with my kids, too. Ultimately, I would like to obviously play for the Boston Red Sox for one more year and see where it goes.”

...From the article:

“There have been a number of clubs who have called, who have an interest in signing me but I’m kind of just weighing my options right now,” he said, obviously waiting and hoping that Boston will make an offer. “I think I can be a valuable asset to them as an insurance policy, you know a fifth or sixth starter or if something doesn’t pan out for some of the guys they have already penciled in to the rotation. You know that’s kind of been my job these last two years; I don’t have a problem doing that.”

Wakefield didn’t say whether he would sign with a team other than Boston, but he didn’t rule it out, either.

“Hopefully, it doesn’t come down to the last hour,” he said. “But I’m not closing any doors.”

MLB: Peter Gammons: Heyward hopes hard work is rewarded

The shoulder injury restricted Heyward’s swing. He couldn’t extend properly. He couldn’t go down and away against left-handed pitchers, thus in 104 at-bats against them last season, he batted .192 with two homers, seven RBIs and a .308 slugging percentage. Healthy, as a rookie, Heyward had batted .249 with a .356 on-base percentage and a .755 on-base plus slugging percentage against left-handers.

Because he couldn’t extend or generate his normal bat speed, Heyward got into the habit of starting too quickly and jumping, hence the overall drop from a .393 OBP as a rookie—which justified the buildup about his extraordinary plate discipline—to a .319 OBP in 2011.

Rangers scheduled to meet with Roy Oswalt on Monday

Righthander Roy Oswalt is scheduled to meet with the Rangers on Monday if he remains on the free-agent market that long.

Boston, St. Louis and Houston are also involved in the Oswalt sweepstakes. The Rangers have not made an offer, a person familiar with the situation said.

Tommy Lasorda: Since I’m in Boston I have to talk about Ted Williams

This has everything except a “Joe Batters” Accardo appearance! Oh, wait…

As I said Ted’s name he looked at me and motioned for me to call him in his room after the dinner.  I did so and came up to visit with him.  While we were talking he told me that he has always been a huge fan of Frank Sinatra since I knew him well.

“Why don’t you tell him yourself,” I said.

I looked at my watch and it was 3:00 a.m. in Toronto, but I knew Frank was at home in Palm Springs and certainly wasn’t sleeping at midnight.  I picked up the phone and called Frank.

“Francis,” I said.  “I have someone who wants to say hello to you.”

I gave the phone to Ted and he went on and on to Frank about what a huge fan he was, how much he admired him and how I always spoke so highly of him. As it turns out, frank was telling Ted the same thing.  Talk about the mutual admiration society; I had the greatest singer of all time talking to the greatest hitter of all time, and everybody was happy.

Both Frank and Ted were truly amazing men.  I am so fortunate to have been friends with both of them.  As an Italian, or just a music lover, Frank was more than just an entertainer; he was special.  He had more than a great voice; he had stage presence that made you feel like he was singing just to you.

As a baseball lover, Ted was best hitter who ever lived.  He hit for power, and he hit for average.  And believe it or not, he hit .406 in 1941 and didn’t win the MVP.  Of course 1941 was also the year DiMaggio hit in 56 straight games.  Joe of course was a hero too for baseball fans and Italians….

Twins say they’re set in the outfield

All that…and a “shut the front door” sighting!

Revere played so well in center in relief of Span last year, using his exceptional speed to make all kinds of gravity-defying catches, that the Twins could have moved Span to right. He thrived there as a rookie in 2008 when Michael Cuddyer was hurt. Willingham, the team’s highest-profile and highest-paid free agent signing, has rarely played right — only 19 complete games out of 799 in the majors.

But Span, long groomed to inherit the position from Torii Hunter, is not moving. Gardenhire made that clear this weekend at the team’s annual fan festival.

“He’s going to lead off and be my center fielder. That’s my expectation,” Gardenhire said. “If somebody were to tell me that he’s not able to do that, then we’d have to ad lib. But if Denard comes in healthy, then he’s my center fielder.”

...When told he had appeared in 35 games in right with the Washington Nationals in 2009, Willingham’s eyes widened.

“Thirty-five games? Shut the front door. Really? I had no idea,” Willingham said. “Hopefully this spring I’ll just get a lot of reps out there and get comfortable. That’s the goal. Playing on the opposite end of the field, it’s different the way the balls come off the bat, so it’ll just take a little bit of time to get used to.”

N.Y. Times: Rosenheck: For Tigers, Defensive Issues That Are Hard To Outslug

What’s scarier: Miguel Cabrera at third base or right field?

Cabrera does have one legitimate defensive tool: his arm. According to the Hardball Times Web site, during his last season as a full-time outfielder, 2005, he threw out 40 percent more runners than an average left fielder would have, given his opportunities. And when the ball was hit to him, runners tried to advance 9 percent less frequently than average — the best “intimidation” ratio in baseball. At first base, Cabrera’s only defensive strength is squandered.

If Cabrera can still throw the way he used to, the best spot for him could well be right field. He would surely let plenty of balls drop — perhaps 15 runs’ worth. But opposing hitters could not intentionally hit the ball his way, as they could if he were at third. Moreover, he could plausibly gain five runs back with his arm. If so, he would be just as valuable over all in right field as he is at first base.

Cowley: Amid White Sox’ empty optimism, Paul Konerko can’t help telling it like it is

As Dwayne Henry Rollins once said…“My optimism wears heavy cleats and is loud.”

But rather than cater to the organization with the usual player-speak, Konerko said the fan base had every reason to be fed up with what has gone on with the Sox in recent seasons.

‘‘I would say it won’t matter [what we tell them] until July or into August,’’ Konerko said when asked if there was anything to say to Sox fans at this point. ‘‘You get what you earn, and we haven’t earned anything with our fans over the last couple of years.

‘‘Truth be told, there was that little glimmer at the end of ’08 where we got hot, the Twins got kind of cold and .  .  . we found ourselves in the playoffs. But the honest truth is since ’05, we’ve kind of slowly but surely just kind of given back everything we earned steadily. We’re kind of at this spot now where it’s like, ‘Here we are, back at square one again.’  ’’

...That’s the beauty of Konerko, who is entering his 14th season with the Sox: He’s not looking to bend over backward and say the right thing if he doesn’t believe it.

‘‘It’s our job to go out and put that in play, earn it back slowly,’’ Konerko said. “I mean, we hope people come out to watch the game .  .  . but most of the fans and everyone within reason — there can be some that are totally irrational — we’ve earned [their disappointment]. Sometimes you have to look in the mirror as a unit or a group and say, ‘Hey, man, we haven’t been doing what we should have been doing,’ and now it’s about trying to get it back piece by piece.’’

Ryan Howard’s contract looks good to Amaro

Hell…Brill’s Content and Talk looked good to me at one point. So there’s that.

“I’m kind of happy,” Amaro said. “Really happy because if I would’ve had to put eight or nine years on Howard’s deal right now, that would be a little disconcerting. Right now we have Howard for the next five years. I kind of like that rather than giving an eight-, nine- or 10-year deal.”

...Amaro has been criticized for Howard’s contract - it’s worth $25 million per season compared to $24 million for Pujols and $23.7 million for Fielder - and that was before the first baseman tore his Achilles’ tendon making the final out in the team’s NLDS loss to St. Louis.

“He’s still, say what you want about Ryan Howard and how he stacks up against those guys, but there’s not too many people who over the last several years that have had this kind of production and he’s right there with those guys,” Amaro said.

...The numbers are comparable, though Howard ranks third in all but home runs. Amaro, however, said he doesn’t see the Big Piece on the downside of his career.

“I think that Ryan’s the kind of guy - this is one of the reasons we signed him to two long-term deals - even when we signed him to a multi-year deal he got himself in better shape than he’s ever gotten himself into,” Amaro said. “There’s always a fear that guys get complacent. That’s not what we’re going to get out of Ryan. I know Ryan. Ryan’s desire to be successful remains very high. I know there was no one more upset with the way things ended the last couple of years than he is. I think he’s going to be as productive a player as he has been in the past and even more so at times.”

NY Times:“Baseball’s Identity Fraud Problem May Be More Prevalent”

When Sandy Alderson traveled to the Dominican Republic in 2010 to investigate identity fraud for the commissioner’s office, he went armed with a message. Alderson had previously served as the chief executive of the San Diego Padres, and related his experiences.

“I had personally been burned on a number of occasions by identity fraud,” said Alderson, now the general manager of the Mets. “One has to ask if one is prepared to make the same investment again. If you get burned too often, you may decide to go elsewhere. I think that hit home with them.”

Since Ozzie Virgil made his debut for the New York Giants in 1956, the Dominican Republic, with a population of less than 10 million, has produced 542 major leaguers, according to Baseball-Reference.com. That figure includes 68 All-Stars, including Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Jose Reyes and Robinson Cano. ...

The Indians placed [Fausto Carmona] on the restricted list Thursday, so they do not have to pay his $7 million salary or use a 40-man roster spot for him until he reports. Carmona is free on bail but cannot leave the country until his case is settled. ...

[T]he Miami Marlins’ reliever formerly known as Leo Nunez… stands to make $6 million this season, but like Carmona, he is on the restricted list and unable to leave the country.

Few in baseball were surprised that two well-established players had misrepresented themselves. The fear is that the problem could be much more widespread. One agent said more than a dozen players could soon lose their contracts because of age and identity issues.

“These are like time bombs,” Mark Newman, the Yankees’ senior vice president for baseball operations, said by telephone from the Dominican Republic while scouting there last week. “But people are absolutely getting the message. Major League Baseball, the consulate and the major league clubs are all committed to this, and it will get better.”

Roger Clemens returns to the mound

Obviously an Adobe Creative Sweets Photoshop of Rick Reuschel was used.

Phillies’ all-star Rollins tells kids to play without fear

Hell, the Red Sox started doing this in 1990…and have won two WS because of it!

Rollins was touched by an ESPN documentary about the plight of the Ugandan team and tweeted about it. He later was contacted by a humanitarian group called “Right to Play,” which organized a trip by that same Canadian LL World Series team to Uganda.

Rollins was joined on the trip by, among others, free-agent first baseman Derrek Lee and former major leaguer Gregg Zaun. He described the experience as, “Awesome.”

“If this facility was over there,” Rollins said, referring to Gomes’ academy, “those kids, the way they learn, the fearlessness with which they play, I think they’d be better than (American) kids at this age, because their mentality is, ‘I’m going to make a mistake and it’s OK to be wrong.’ We grow up with, you have to be perfect before you do it.

“With the way (Ugandan youngsters) think and that learning curve, they’ll actually end up better faster. Now, the talent level is equal. It’s just the way that they go about learning, with the fearlessness that will give them an edge, from what I saw. They don’t get a chance to practice. It’s just strap up, play catch and then go play a scrimmage game. That’s what they do.”