tampabay.com: Tampa Bay Rays minor-league affiliate’s Ladies Night promotion causing a stir

The Tampa Bay Rays Hudson Valley (N.Y.) minor-league team has a promotion planned for Tuesday that has turned into a bit of a battle of the sexes.

The (aptly named) Renegades planned Tuesday’s promotion to honor women by keeping men outside the gates for the first five innings, dressing their male employees in ladies clothing and offering spa treatments.

The idea, hatched by Tyler Tumminia, a female executive with the ownership group, was to spotlight women in baseball (Yankees assistant general manager Jean Afterman will throw out the first pitch) and salute the purchasing power of female fans.

But then the naysayers started squawking, with Duchess County officials requesting the promotion be canceled due to human rights issues and a sponsor, the New York Lottery, asking out (though several others bought in just for the night).

“It’s gotten a bit overblown,” said team president Jeff Goldklang, who has no plans to cancel. “We’re a bit surprised. We were trying to have a little fun, create a unique kind of Ladies Night and poke a little fun at the political correctness that’s taken over.”

L.A. Times: Game (not) over for Gagne

“He might be the one to revive baseball in Quebec,” said Pierre-Luc Nappert, the Capitales’ director of media relations. “He has the power to do it.”

Gagne is in Quebec to revive his career. He is trying to work his way back from a partially torn rotator cuff, with four appearances so far and a fastball Laplante put at 84-87 mph. He should get stronger, and presumably better, and if so he could get a minor league contract in August, or a spring training invitation next year.

He is in baseball limbo here, not because of the Mitchell Report, but because of his shoulder. What was once a national outrage over baseball’s steroid era has evolved into a national fatigue.

If Ramirez hits, Dodgers fans cheer.

“Everybody makes mistakes,” Gagne said. “You keep going. You do what you do. What Manny does best is hit balls. Manny is an entertainer.

“That’s not just in L.A. It’s anywhere. If you’re a fan, you want to see your team win. You want to see characters. You want to see guys work hard. You want to see something special.”

There was no better entertainer in L.A. than Gagne, back in the day.

“That’s why I keep going to the ballpark,” he said. “I’m searching for that again.”

Gagne relives it every day. His 5-year-old son scampers about in a Dodgers cap. His 3-year-old daughter is named Bluu—yes, he said, for Dodger blue.

Kovacevic: Pirates’ Indian pitchers make pro debuts

MIAMI—Dinesh Patel and Rinku Singh, the Pirates’ Indian-born pitchers, made their professional debuts this afternoon for Bradenton of the rookie-level Gulf Coast League, each working an inning of relief against the New York Yankees’ affiliate.

Patel, the right-hander, pitched a scoreless inning with a strikeout, and needed just nine pitches, seven of which were strikes.

Singh, the left-hander, allowed a run on two hits with a strikeout and wild pitch. He needed 20 pitches.

Patel?  How am I gonna make a living on these deadbeats?

Singh, in his fractured English, described the experience on the duo’s blog: “I getting in bullpen and feeling nervous warming up out there. They calling your name, and I feeling little nervous. After first pitching, I feeling good. ??? I think next time I doing much better now I knowing how feeling on mound. I wish we winning game so I feeling happy on total.”

The Yankees won, 4-2.

“Same Rinku I feeling little nervous,” Patel wrote on the blog. “In bullpen, they saying my name and my heart going very fast. I think I doing good, but I sad we losing. It not matter if we doing good if team not winning.”

The box score is here.  Quite the lineup for the GCL Pirates!

DH Doumit
LF Milledge
1B Rodriguez, G
CF Freeman, W
3B Gonzalez, El
RF De La Cruz, M
C Marquez
SS Gonzalez, B
2B Ngoepe

Deep Left Field: Desparetely seeking David (Norman)

FOUND! Rare footage of Sam actually finding David.

We need David Norman back for eyes-own assessments of minor leaguers. Very few of my business trips take me to Danville or Myrtle Beach. Nonetheless, some notes of interest from the farm.

The Myrtle Beach Sun News confirms that three Pelicans have been promoted to AA-Mississippi. Top of the class is the Braves offensive version of Tommy Hanson. Jason Heyward is only 19 but was tearing up Carolina League pitching to the tune of 296/369/519. That .519 SLG% stands out considering his home park is notoriously pitcher friendly. Heyward projects to relieve Atlanta of our long Frenchified nightmare in RF come 2011. If he fares well in MS this year he could skip AAA-Gwinnett altogether. He’s that good.

Heyward is to Tommy Hanson as Freddie Freeman is to Kris Medlen. Overshadowed and rightly so, Freeman still projects to take over 1B in Atlanta about the same time Casey Kotchman goes free agent (2011.) Freeman posted a better than respectable 302/394/447, again in MB’s power-killing Coastal Field.

Pelican closer Thomas Palica gets the call to MS as well. The 21 year old was striking out a man an inning with decent K/BB rates, continuing his solid relief work from last year (in A-Rome.) With that said, he’s a minor league closer. Nothing projects until he’s striking out a man an inning in AAA, at the least.

Fanhouse: Cuban Pitcher Aroldis Chapman Defects

And pulling a Jose Osoria...he now ar Bob.

ESPN’s Jorge Arangure relays a report from a Cuban website that 21-year-old Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman walked out of the Cuban national team’s hotel room in Rotterdam, the Netherlands today and plans to defect to America to pitch in the major leagues in the near future. What happens next is all speculation at this point, but Arangure says Chapman is the best Cuban prospect since Jose Contreras and could command more than $30 million on the open market.

...Baseball America’s John Manuel relayed this quote from a scout in his story today about Chapman:

“There were rumors heading into Mexico that he wouldn’t be there because they were afraid he would defect, but he was there and was lights out. ... You’ve got honestly just one or two tweaks that could be made but he could go straight to the top of a big league rotation. He’s got a great body, definitely has high pockets, absolutely. He’s on top of the hitter, his release has extension, he’s got the ball coming out of there at 100 mph. He’s absolutely electric.”

Baseball America: Indians Prospect Faked Age, Identity

Major League Baseball has caught another high-profile prospect from the Dominican Republic misrepresenting his age and identity.

MLB’s latest catch is Indians shortstop Jose Osoria, who signed for $575,000 last year on July 2. Indians assistant general manager John Mirabelli confirmed that Osoria’s real name is Wally Bryan and that Bryan is 20 years old, three years older than he had presented himself. Bryan ranked as Cleveland’s No. 30 prospect entering the season.

“We still like his ability,” Mirabelli said. “We still like his talent. I’m not going to try to pretend there’s not a difference between 17 and 20. There certainly is in terms of projection, but the fact of the matter is he isn’t who he said he was.”

Bryan does look a lot older…

Scouting Mariners Draft Pick Dustin Ackley

Profiling the second pick of the 2009 draft…

Ackley does a good job of carrying his weight forward and moving his torso slightly in the opposite direction to create considerable torque.

He keeps his swing short — notice how the bat stays connected with the body as he strides forward — and uses a firm front leg as a base in which to turn on. His keeps his head still, making it easier for him to track the ball in from the pitcher’s hand.

Snell fans 17 for Indianapolis

Ian Snell found one good way to escape the “negativity:” Strike ‘em all out.

In a superb return to Class AAA Indianapolis yesterday, he fanned 17 batters over seven innings, including his first 13 outs of a 2-1 victory against visiting Toledo.

Couldn’t ask for anything more from the guy.  Replenishes some of his MLB value as a starter?

Q&A: Estes ‘not retired,’ still wants to play in bigs

Estes didn’t retire...he was geezernapped by the diabolical Colletti Gang!

If you’re not retired, how did it get reported that you were?

A: “They had to put me on some sort of list and they chose the retirement list. It was, obviously, my decision not to pitch in Triple-A anymore but I’m not retired, not suspended, not hurt.”

Even after the season started, you didn’t think it might get to this point?

A: “The relationship I had with the (Dodgers) general manager, Ned Colletti, was one that I thought I could, with my history with him from the Giants, that if I wasn’t called up by a certain point and if I felt I was throwing well I could call him and get my release. Basically, ‘Give me an opportunity to go pitch somewhere else in the big leagues.’ When I attempted to get my release, it was denied. He was not going to let me walk; he wanted something in return for me. If I signed somewhere else and pitched well for another team, it might make him look bad. He’s got people he’s got to answer to. But I kind of felt that the right thing to do, at this point in my career—I’m 36 years old and have done everything the Dodgers have asked me to do from spring training on—wasn’t to hold me hostage in a situation like this. With that said, he gave us the opportunity to go out and talk to other teams and see if there’s a trade that can be worked out. That’s where we’re at right now. ... This is the first time I’ve been in this situation and you learn a lot of things about people. You kind of live and learn. We screwed up by not getting the out in our contract. I didn’t realize how important that was going to be. And you can’t put a whole lot of stock in personal relationships. It is a big business, but you just hope that sometimes general managers or coaches or managers or owners, that they look at the humane side of things. But it doesn’t seem to work that way very often anymore. Is there a chance if I did get released that there wouldn’t be another club out there that had interest in me? Yeah, that’s a possibility. But I’ve seen a lot of teams looking for pitching, and I can’t imagine I wouldn’t get a better opportunity with another club.”

So what is the next step for you?

A: “All of the other 29 teams have received an e-mail as to my situation, which is I’m not pitching in Triple-A anymore. I’ve thrown my last pitch in Triple-A. If they have a need for me, then they need to speak with Ned Colletti and seek a trade. Ned said he wouldn’t ask for anything substantial. ... Being in this position does not allow me the best opportunity to get another job this year, just because teams aren’t going to be as willing to trade as they would be if I was just free on the market right now. I’m kind of in handcuffs right now, at the mercy of Ned Colletti and the Dodgers.”

Brewers Jeffress gets 100-game suspension

Right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, rated by many as the top pitching prospect in the Brewers’ farm system, has drawn a 100-game suspension for testing positive for a second time for a “substance of abuse.”

The penalty leaves Jeffress, 21, one positive test away from a lifetime ban under the Minor League Drug Treatment and Prevention program.

Substances are not revealed under the minor league drug program but Jeffress admitted in the past to testing positive for marijuana near the end of the 2007 season, while pitching for Class A West Virginia. He received a 50-game suspension at the time, which carried over to the 2008 season.

Alvarez, Lincoln to represent Pirates in Futures Game

The Pirates’ top hitting and pitching prospects, third baseman Pedro Alvarez and starter Brad Lincoln, were selected today for Major League Baseball’s All-Star Futures Game, July 12 in St. Louis

Bleacher Report: The Coolest Tricks in All of Sports

This one begins and ends with baseball with a lot of other in between (some cool stuff, I had never seen the Jason Williams elbow pass) but this needs to be viewed by every living person who has ever seen a baseball game just to see Josh Womack’s trick to lead things off.  The description does not do it the smallest amount of justice:

Another recent addition to the inter-webs, minor leaguer Josh Womack is creating a huge stir with his famous bat trick.

In the video (below, left), as you can see, Womack starts his swinging motion, snaps his wrists to fling the bat around, then catches it and finishes his swing.

I’m sure this isn’t exactly what the Mariners had in mind when they drafted him in the second round in 2002, but hey, more people have seen this video than have seen the Mariners play this season.

That is just...I don’t know what it is, but it’s something.

L.A. Times: T.J. Simers: Even he can’t stay mad at Manny

ESPN’s Colleen Dominguez reports Tuesday afternoon that Ramirez orders pasta. She does not follow him inside even though that’s why she’s here, because she needs to go to the empty stadium to do a report for ESPN.

“I didn’t see him order pasta,” she says later in explaining her exclusive, “but I feel comfortable with my sources.”

Dodgers’ PR guy Josh Rawitch cannot confirm Ramirez ordered pasta, “because I wasn’t there.” That doesn’t seem to matter to Dominguez.

The Times’ Dylan Hernandez appears disappointed, all his life wanting to come to Albuquerque and bang on the batting cage while Manny’s inside trying to hit a ball off a tee. Manny can hit a 94-mph fastball in front of 50,000 screaming fans, but for some reason Hernandez unnerves him while facing a tee.

A nation awaits more breaking Manny news, Dominguez confirming “it was spaghetti.” She also spots him carrying “six bottles of water.” Nothing gets by her.

ESPN News has plans to go live each time Manny bats, Manny explaining before the game, “people love me everywhere.”

Hard to argue, or for that matter feign Gary Matthews’ Jr.-like outrage, Manny more charismatic, more talented and more interesting than Matthews.

But this is L.A. Manny, a different guy from the one everyone talked about in Boston, L.A. Manny listening to some advice offered by Mota and then stepping forward to say, “Let’s go—let’s talk. What do you want to know?”

Rays Former #1 Pick In 2005, Wade Townsend Retires

Nothing is everything, everything is nothing…

Rays Prospects has the link from CBS Sports of the Rays #1 pick and #8 overall pick in the 2005 MLB draft, RHP Wade Townsend from Rice announcing his retirement. Townsend has battled injuries since signing with the Rays, having Tommy John surgery in the fall of 05. When he did play in the minors, he battled control problems and was moved from a starter to the bullpen in 2007. He play in AA Montgomery last year only to pitch just in 13 games and fall victim to labrum surgery.

Townsend was picked ahead of future Major League high caliber players such as Mike Pelfrey, Cameron Maybin Andrew McCutchen, and Jay Bruce. Those were the exact four picks to follow him in the draft, not to mention other stars such as Jacoby Ellsbury and Rays own Matt Garza. He was only one of two players not to reach the Majors in the top 16 picks in that 2005 draft.

AP: Fans overlook suspension to see star

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—J.J. Gutierrez, a 15-year-old baseball fan, didn’t mince words when asked about Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez.

“He’s a cheater,” Gutierrez said. “But I still want to see him play.”

Gutierrez and his father, Julian, were among a steady stream of fans who lined up four- and five-deep at the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes’ box office Monday to buy tickets for this week’s series against Nashville.

Fans began buying tickets Friday amid speculation Ramirez might be coming to Albuquerque. The club sold almost 7,000 tickets that day, compared to typical pre-game reserved sales in the hundreds for a midweek series in June.

“And then it got busy,” Traub said. “Friday was nuts. Friday was a vacation compared to what followed.”

Since Torre told reporters on Saturday evening that Ramirez had agreed to begin his minor-league assignment in Albuquerque, Traub said the Isotopes have sold about 20,000 tickets for this week’s four home games.

Traub had a message for fans planning to buy walk-up tickets.

“If you want to see Manny, you can see Manny,” he said. “But we’re telling people not to wait until the last minute. If they do, they’re going to be standing in line and they’ll miss his first two at-bats.”

Standard-Examiner: Departing Cruz likes current crop of Raptors

OGDEN—Henry Cruz’s return to Ogden didn’t turn out like he expected.

Cruz, who served as hitting coach of the Ogden Raptors two years ago, was prepared to perform the same role this season. Instead, Cruz will be heading to the Dominican Republic to become the director of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ baseball academy and scouting efforts there, where players from all over Latin America come for their shot at the big leagues—and often to escape poverty.

The Dodgers are the major league affiliate of the Raptors.

“The Dodgers have a need down in the Dominican for someone of Henry’s talents,” Ogden manager Damon Berryhill said. “He’s looking forward to doing it. He’ll be missed here, obviously. I was looking forward to working with Henry.”

Cruz’s work at the Dodgers’ Las Palmas baseball academy in the Dominican Republic can still impact the on-field product fans see at Lindquist Field. Eleven of the 29 players currently on the Raptors’ 29-man roster are from Latin American countries.

“All the Latin American players from Venezuela, Panama, all the international players, they’re all going to go through the Dominican Republic first and we’re going to be evaluating them, we’re going to be teaching them the Dodger way so when they come to the States they’ll be at the same level as the other guys,” Cruz said.

Cruz will also have scouting responsibilities as well as being the director of the complex and will consult with Dodgers assistant general manager over scouting Logan White on signings.

International players can sign with major league teams at the age of 16.

Pirates to promote Alvarez to Altoona

The Pirates will promote Alvarez, their top prospect, from Class A Lynchburg to Class AA Altoona in time for the Curve’s game tomorrow night in Erie.

Alvarez, 22, batted .247 for the Hillcats, whose first half ended yesterday. He also had 14 home runs and 55 RBIs, as well as 70 strikeouts in 243 at-bats.

I like Jerry Uht Park.

Seamheads: Tsuchiya: Shame on You Commissioner Selig!

Guardians of their potential...indeed!

3) And now we get to the truly shameful part. Away from the spotlight, the money, the glory of celebrity sports figures, is a whole generation of teenagers, who in their reckless and insecure youth, still look to us adults as their role models, ethical guides and quite frankly, guardians of their potential. Aside from the fact these drugs, when taken during the growing phase of a young body, can have life-long, debilitating health effects. Aside from the fact these sordid tales of “ends justifies the means” further prove cheaters win and nice guys finish last. Aside from the fact our kids are plenty smart enough to differentiate between double-speak and intelligent discourse. Aside from all that, the more chilling message we’re giving our future parents, spouses, neighbors and leaders is, justice comes from the inside of a well-padded wallet.

Bottom line: If you have enough money and/or power, you don’t have to play by a code of honor or respect anyone else’s for that matter.

...My final $0.02, for whatever worth it might hold. If we minor league fans go along with this charade. . . .if we rationalize buying tickets for this once-in-lifetime chance to watch an All-Star. . .if we ask for autographs on minor-league memorabilia. Well, we are just as guilty as the owners, players and commissioner of undermining “the integrity of our sport.” And we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves for the travesties to follow, in the bigger picture of life, as well as on the diamond. . . Your friend in baseball.

SOURCES: YANKEES SIGN DOMINICAN CATCHER GARY SANCHEZ FOR $2.5M (RR)

According to several connections in the Dominican Republic, the Yankees and catching prospect Gary Sanchez have agreed to a $2.5 million deal.

Sanchez, 16, isn’t eligible to sign until July 2, but the Yankees’ dogged pursuit of the right-handed hitter has resulted in him wanting to sign with the club.

According to a Yankees source, who didn’t confirm or deny the agreement or money, nothing is guaranteed until a contract is signed.

“He is a big kid with a big arm,” a Latin American talent evaluator for an NL team said of the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Sanchez. “I would like to have him, but $2.5 million is a lot of money. He has a thick body. He is a real good hitter, but he doesn’t hit like Jesus Montero.”

... The Yankees are also interested in shortstop Miguel Angel Sano.

“If he is 16, I have never seen a 16-year-old with that type of body,” the scout said of the 6-foot-3 Sano.

Thanks to Barnald, With That Type of Body.

Mike Rose teaching lessons learned to Lookouts

As a 32-year-old backup catcher for the Chattanooga Lookouts, Mike Rose has plenty of experiences to share with younger teammates.

Rose entered pro baseball as a long shot, getting picked by Florida in the 45th round of the 1996 draft, yet has competed on three big-league teams. He has enjoyed the excitement of his first promotion to the majors with Oakland in 2004, the thrill of a championship run with St. Louis in ’06 and his first big-league home run with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“It was in my last at-bat of the 2005 season,” Rose said. “It was in San Diego and Vin Scully called it. That was pretty cool.”

Another experience, though, he wishes had never happened.

On March 12, 2000, Rose was in spring training with the Houston Astros in Kissimmee, Fla., when he, four other minor leaguers and a player’s girlfriend were bound with tape and held at gunpoint inside a motel room. They sat helpless as two masked men scoured the room for valuable personal items before leaving.

The victims untied themselves, but when Rose called to check on another player in his room, one of the gunmen answered. Aaron Miles was returning to his room from dinner, and he was held at gunpoint for half an hour before grabbing the gun and struggling with the perpetrator.

Police then broke into Miles’ room and shot the burglar several times. The other gunman had fled earlier but was quickly caught.

Crash Davis has nothing on Mike Rose.

Diamond Notes: Shawn Estes retires

Shawn Estes, a former 19-game winner with the Giants, has apparently retired after 13 major league seasons. Estes, 36, went 3-4 with a 3.07 ERA pitching for Triple-A Albuquerque in his attempt to continue his career with the Dodgers.

True Blue L.A.: Baseball America Number One Prospect - Not all it’s cracked up to be?

Lot of misses in that group. The 1990’s are represented by many all - star seasons but the 2000 decade is sorely lacking in star power. Josh Beckett, Joe Mauer are so far the only above average players in the group with a couple of big zeros in Rauch, Baldelli, Francis, D Young, and maybe even Alex Gordon when you consider the lofty ranking.

I’d expect HOF inductions from Thomas, Manny, and Jeter. Tim Salmon, Jones, and Konerko had plenty of moments. Chavez was going great guns until the back killed his career.

Anyway, interesting list I came across on Baseball Reference.

The Baseball Analysts: Lederer: Q&A: Paul DePodesta

Important Things with Paul DePodesta.

Rich: How do rank attitude, hustle, and leadership when scouting players? And how do you go about valuing those characteristics?

Paul: It can be really difficult for me to warm up to a player who has a low motor, but that’s just my personal take and one that I often have to guard against when writing reports. I prefer guys who play with energy and appear to really enjoy being out there. The minor leagues can be a real grind - I can’t imagine enduring that playing schedule - so I worry about guys who don’t seem to have that passion. That said, that passion isn’t always illuminated by a player bouncing around the diamond, which is why I have to be careful.

Rich: Is “feel for the game” something that is at all quantifiable? Is it inherent in most players or can it be taught or gained over time?

Paul: I don’t have a good answer for that. Every player is unique, and sometimes we’ll find a player who has terrific instincts for one part of the game while really struggling with other aspects of the game. Some of that “feel” though can come from experience.

Rich: How does ability vs. signability come into play when lining up your draft board?

Paul: We try to line up our board without accounting for signability. When it comes time to make a decision, we have to factor in everything we know, but we don’t want signability to cloud our evaluations of a player’s ability.

Futility Infielder: An Unexpected Stop for the Ryan Express

Just a great, great old/new find by Jay Jaffe…

While making the Florida scene, Blight was forced to bat against a 20-year-old, heat-throwing Nolan Ryan, hardly a fair fight for a career .085 hitter. Ryan had gone a combined 17-4 with a 2.36 ERA and 307 strikeouts in 202 innings with two Mets farm teams in 1966, and had even gotten a cup of coffee in the majors, but he was limited to just four appearances in 1967 due to a elbow troubles and a six-month stint in the Army Reserve. While the details Blight recounts (such as facing Ryan in the ninth inning of a meaningless game) don’t square with the fact that Ryan’s sole official FSL appearance was a four-inning start, there’s no doubt that he speaks the truth about his harrowing experience:

...I saw absolutely nothing, other than Ryan’s arm coming toward me. I heard a faint whoosh, then a pop behind me that sounded like gunfire, followed by “Steeee-rike one!” from the umpire. My knees started shaking. My palms began to sweat profusely. I will never forgive Nolan for the next pitch. It was a slider or curve or something like that. It started out behind me, or so it seemed, and then broke hard over home plate for strike two. As the ball crossed the plate, I was flat on my back on a pile of dirt, in a needless effort to avoid being hit.

The notoriously contact-shy Blight understandably reached an epiphany at that point, surrendering his major league dreams for a different path, one that led him to settle in as a research professor at Brown’s Watson Institute and author a dozen books on U.S. foreign policy, most notably The Fog of War: Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, later turned into a documentary directed by Errol Morris. Blight’s expertise brought him face to face with the likes of Fidel Castro and North Vietnamese leaders, but quite understandably, nothing ever scared him as much as facing Ryan did.

Still clucking: San Diego Chicken now 35

GIANNOULAS FOR HOF! If only for the hilarious induction speech in which he awkwardly acknowledges Tommy Lasorda!

For 35 years, Ted Giannoulas has jumped and run - and flattened Barney - at ballparks across America, climbing into a feathered costume to go to work as the San Diego Chicken.

“It’s the one magic elixir that keeps me young,” he says.

Yet the bumps and bruises on Giannoulas, a native of London, Ont., don’t heal nearly as quickly as they used to. He is in the twilight of a long and lucrative career playing to audiences large and small, and acknowledged that this could be the San Diego Chicken’s final season.

The gigs aren’t there like they used to be. Nearly every team in the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB have their own licensed mascots - a trend inspired in part by the San Diego Chicken’s popularity so many years ago - and Giannoulas has cut back his schedule in recent years.

Down from a high of about 250 games each year in his heyday, Giannoulas said he’ll leave his San Diego home for just 50 appearances this summer.

“At the end of this season I’ll make a determination if I think I can go another season. I can’t say for certain. I’ll just see how my body feels, what my energy level might be going forward,” Giannoulas said. “The fun and energy is still at the ballpark. I still get a charge out of it.”

Being the San Diego Chicken - or the Famous Chicken, as he’s also called - might seem like an easy way to make a buck. In fact, Giannoulas expects to pull in six figures this summer (he won’t say how much).

But it’s a gruelling night of high-energy, slapstick comedy for the five-foot-four Giannoulas, whose suit gets so hot he jokes his “eggs come out hard-boiled.” And contrary to what many might believe, Giannoulas is the only one who’s ever worn it.

NECN: Candid Buchholz itching to pitch in Majors again

Wasted bullets?

NECN’s Mike Giardi caught up with Buchholz at McCoy Stadium for a candid interview in which Buchholz makes his intentions clear—he wants to be pitching in the big leagues as soon as possible.

“Until I got to the big leagues is whenever I faced the problems that arose, and I feel like I’m more equipped with everything that I have right now—as far the pitches, and the mental aspect and I’m physically healthy—to be up there and helping that team. And if not that team, I want to be in the big leagues and I do want to go somewhere where I’ll be able to play and pitch every fifth day.”

..."There’s nowhere to go, and it’s sort of a logjam up there (in Boston),” Buchholz said. “Whenever they come to a problem, they seem like they find a way to fix it without me being in the picture. It is what it is—it’s frustrating at times.”

...Masterson has proven himself capable of handling pressure situations, having pitched meaningful relief innings in the 2008 Playoffs. Buchholz, though, has battled murmurs that he was immature last season—a potential cause of his troubles on the hill.

“Everybody goes out and has a drink at the bar after they pitch, it’s just holding that to a minimum,” Buchholz said.

..."Everybody knows that this game doesn’t last forever, for a pitcher especially,” Buchholz said. “I feel like I don’t want to waste bullets here.”

Thanks to Brunell.

DiGiovanna: Howie Kendrick’s demotion is not a message

To be an anarchist in Salt Lake City is certainly no easy task, especially in 2009.

Howie Kendrick’s demotion to triple-A Salt Lake after Friday night’s game did not come with a produce-or-else edict for the rest of the Angels, Manager Mike Scioscia insisted.

“No message needed to be sent to the clubhouse,” Scioscia said. “These guys understand the expectations. This move was about trying to get Howie back on track.”

Still, when two young, underachieving players are demoted within four days—reliever Jose Arredondo was sent to Salt Lake on Tuesday—the message is clear that the status quo for a team that has suffered breakdowns in every phase of the game will not be accepted.

..."There have been scores of players who have come up to the big leagues and had success, but when you’re trying to make a footprint, it takes more than the first go-round,” Scioscia said.

“Rather than continue to grind it out here, Howie had to take a detour. He feels it will be beneficial to go down there, look in the mirror and find his game.”

L.A. Times: Jose Lima hopes his time will come again

On Friday, pitching in front of bleachers that were one-third empty, we found Jose Lima, the former All-Star known for creating wherever he goes a jocular, peppery, occasionally flaky and, to some, patently offensive way of being: Lima Time.

It has been 10 years since his best season, five since his memorable last playoff win with the Dodgers, three since he last pitched in the major leagues. But Lima, 36, hasn’t changed. Hoping against hope to make it back to the big leagues, he walks, talks and salsa-steps with the same ecstatic frenzy he’s always had.

He can also still hit the high notes. Before Saturday’s game, reprising a role he once had at Dodger Stadium, he sang the national anthem.

And Saturday’s pitcher? Yes, that was 40-year-old Hideki Irabu. In 1997, Irabu famously came to America from Japan, signing with the Yankees for $12.8 million. He was supposed to be the next big thing. But by 2002, after years of appearing unfazed by failure, the doughy Irabu and his 34-35 record were gone, never to be heard from by American baseball fans again. Until Saturday night.

How time changes things. Both men now make the league standard: roughly $2,000 a month. Instead of flying first-class charters and staying in five-star hotels, it’s now all about sitting cheek-to-jowl in coach, sleeping in Quality Inns and enduring five-hour bus rides to play rival Yuma.

Instead of throwing to the likes of catcher Jorge Posada, they throw to a guy whose best baseball days may well have come at Riverside Community College.

“We’re all here for the same thing,” Lima told me this week. “If you work hard and stay focused, no reason you can’t get picked up by some major league team.”

Fox Sports: Robothal: Sources: Acta out as Nats’ skip soon, Riggleman in

Manny Acta’s time as manager of the Washington Nationals is just about over, according to major-league sources.

Acta will be by replaced bench coach Jim Riggleman, as originally reported on FOX Saturday Baseball. The only question is when. It could be a matter of days.

NYT: Rosenheck: Backing Up an Agent’s Pitch (RR)

Dan R’s latest..Keeping Score for Stephen Strasburg.

But while ranking college pitchers is fairly straightforward, converting their statistics to major league equivalents is much more challenging. No two programs have the same schedule, and only a handful of players have gone straight from college to the majors, meaning there is little data against which to make a direct comparison.

To overcome these obstacles, analysts are forced to resort to the quantitative equivalent of duct tape and super glue to estimate the quality of college competition. Most statistical indicators say nothing about the overall level of play in a league: if both the pitchers and hitters at one level are better than those in another, their performances will cancel out. But a few figures avoid this effect, such as error rate (which measures the quality of the fielders) and the frequency of hit batsmen (which measures pitchers’ control). These numbers, taken together, can provide a quick approximation of a league’s strength. They suggest that Strasburg faced opposition roughly comparable to that of a middling Class A minor league squad.

Using those sketchy parameters, Boras’s assertion that Strasburg is a major league-ready talent is more than just a negotiating ploy. According to Clay Davenport of Baseball Prospectus, had Strasburg been pitching for Washington instead of San Diego State this year, he would have compiled a 3.54 E.R.A. (which would rank 18th among qualifiers in the National League) and struck out 9.3 batters per nine innings (good for ninth). By contrast, Prior’s college numbers were consistent with a 3.89 major league E.R.A., and Weaver’s with a 4.51.