Russ Adams designated for assignment

The Toronto Blue Jays called up outfielder/designated hitter David Delluci from Triple-A Las Vegas on Friday morning in New York. He is the left-handed bat manager Cito Gaston hopes might add balance to his lineup.

The move had been anticipated since Wednesday when Russ Adams was seen getting handshakes from teammates after Toronto closed out its nine-game home stand at the Rogers Centre. Adams, who hit .238 in eight games with the Blue Jays, was designated for assignment and must be traded, released or re-assigned within 10 days.

Thanks to Geo.

Blair: Jays may finally act on Wells and Rios

“As for Rios, he’s turned into a pompous, arrogant bum who adds little.”...Comment sections sure are fun.

Thing is, everybody’s pointed out how poorly Rios and Wells have played and how often they slump. It’s not like it’s just happened this season, you know? But this isn’t a baseball city: it’s a hockey city. It’s also a city without much success in any sport in recent years so, you know, there’s an element of ‘Yeah, whatever,’ at work here. We don’t have a gold standard for sports in Toronto; we have a bronze standard.

So, here you go Millar: Rios and Wells frequently suck – although it was everybody’s favourite Gritty Guy, John McDonald, who was caught off second base before Wells bounced out for the final out of yesterday’s 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies and there was nary a boo for Johnny Mac.

Anyhow, my sense is general manager J.P. Ricciardi’s all but at the bag of balls stage; that he’s decided any money saved in off-loading Rios or Wells is more important than what’s brought back in return, and that it would have been done by now had Travis Snider not been hurt. The Blue Jays are in danger of a serious revenue crunch that will impact their ability to do on-field business next year. Money’s not coming in, and Roy Halladay needs to be paid.

Fangraphs: One Win Curveballs

So far this year Roy Halladay, Adam Wainwright and Javier Vazquez have each provided a win’s worth of value with their curveballs alone. They have saved over ten runs with their curveballs. On the other end of the spectrum is Brad Penny, whose curveball has cost the Red Sox about a win (9.4 runs).

An awesome piece of work using PitchF/X data on curveballs.  The comments section includes further elaboration of the methods and assumptions.

NBC Sports/Gleeman - Daily Dose: McGowan’s career in danger?

Dustin McGowan emerged as one of the AL’s most promising young pitchers by winning 14 games with a 3.62 ERA and 169 strikeouts in 32 starts from mid-2007 to mid-2008, but began struggling following a 125-pitch outing last June and had season-ending shoulder surgery a month later. His recovery has gone poorly and general manager J.P. Ricciardi hinted Wednesday that his career is in jeopardy.

“He’s not where he should be from a rehab standpoint,” Ricciardi noted. “I don’t know if he’s never going to throw again, but right now he’s struggling.” Toronto’s pitching staff has been wrecked by all kinds of injuries during the past two years, but losing a young right-hander with a mid-90s fastball who missed plenty of bats and induced quite a few ground balls is perhaps the biggest long-term blow.

plus, And That Happened: Wednesday’s scores and recaps, the best re-cap page around…

Fake Umps Phenomenon Hits Nationals Park to Great Delight of Fans

If you’ve tuned into a Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre this year, chances are you’ve seen Tim Williams and Joe Farrell. If those two names aren’t ringing a bell—and there’s really no reason they should—how about a description.

Williams and Farrell, both Jays season-ticket holders, often take their seats in the first row behind home plate dressed from head to toe as umpires. Their impersonation of the men in blue doesn’t end there. For the entire game, Williams and Farrell mimic the calls of the umpires, raising their arms and bellowing out strike calls, sticking up their fingers to let fans behind them know the count and brushing one hand over the other emphatically to signal foul tips.

“There are 7 billion people on the planet. Do you know how many of them travel to another city to fake umpire a game? You’re looking at ‘em,” Williams tells FanHouse Friday night at Nationals Park.

For the first time this weekend Williams and Farrell, who have a bit of a cult following in Toronto, took their show onto American soil, traveling to Washington for a three-game series between their hometown Blue Jays and the Nationals.

If the fans at Nationals Park—even the stuffy ones sitting in the $325-a-game President’s Club seats—are any indication, that cult following could grow quickly.

During Friday night’s game, a 2-1 Nationals win in extra innings, Washington team president Stan Kasten approaches Williams and Farrell to shake their hands and compliment their work. Scores of fans rush up during every half-inning to get their picture taken with the faux men in blue, while others take delight in either cheering or heckling their calls.

NANANANANANANANA- FAKE UMPS! NANANANANANANANANA- FAKE UMPS! FAKE UMPS! FAKE UMPS!

MLB: Strained groin forces Halladay onto DL

Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay will be placed on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday, adding another arm to the club’s list of walking wounded. Halladay threw a bullpen session on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park, but still experienced discomfort in his strained right groin.

“I feel a lot better,” Halladay said. “It’s just that I feel a little bit of tightness.”

Halladay, 10-1 with a 2.51 ERA, exited his start on Friday after throwing just two pitches in the fourth inning against the Marlins. The right-hander will be eligible to be activated from the DL by June 28, and he hopes to be ready by then.

“Absolutely,” Halladay said of being ready at that time.

Toronto will need a replacement starter for Saturday’s game against the Washington Nationals. A possible candidate is left-hander Brett Cecil, whose next scheduled turn with Triple-A Las Vegas falls on that day.

Thanks to From Hearron!.

Halladay exits game with strained groin

Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay exited Friday night’s game against the Marlins with a strained right groin during the fourth inning. After throwing just two pitches to Florida’s Jeremy Hermida to open the frame, Halladay was met on the mound by head trainer George Poulis and manager Cito Gaston.

Halladay threw one warmup pitch in front of Gaston, who spoke briefly with the pitcher before sending him back to the clubhouse with Poulis at his side. Prior to leaving, Halladay appeared to have an issue with where his left foot was landing on the mound during his delivery.

Thankfully, everyone in Canada was watching the Stanley Cup, reducing panic.

Seattle Times: Baker: The difference between real journalists and “basement bloggers”

Funny this comes up, why just last night Belth, Berg, Salfino and I were discussing this very matter...but then I spilled greasy Beer Can Game Hen juices on my lap. And I forgot everything. Sorry.

And that’s where we’re at. This is not about journalists “protecting their turf’’ against bloggers. We have some excellent bloggers in Seattle, who write all kinds of interesting statistical analysis, some correct and some a little out there. But it’s a good blogoshpere. And still, there is a serious distrust of these bloggers by players and teams themselves because of the accountability factor. Anyone can take shots from a distance. But can you look someone in the eye? And that’s what it boils down to.

Local bloggers have tried to gain access to the Mariners clubhouse. I’m obviously not out of touch with the local blogosphere. I see where it is, where it’s going, and as local BBWAA chairperson, I’m not entirely opposed to limited access even though some of my bretheren are. But there would have to be limits. In no way would I ever open the floodgates and let everyone with a “dot.com’’ address into specialized “press’’ areas as some sports have contemplated. I’d like to see some kind of formal training involved. Some bloggers are highly passionate and dedicated and might be considered “journalists’’ had they ever obtained some type of formal training. Heck, in the right circumstance, I might even hold the journalism classes for them, my past experience as a college lecturer being of use in this case.

But there is a training that has to occur. You either learn it in school, or learn it on-the-job at a paper before going out in the field. Or from me. But you have to get some training before you head out there. That way, you don’t embarrass yourself nationally, as this blogger just did, or risk ruining a ballplayer’s reputation when you may not be right.

Again, can you look somebody in the eye? It’s as simple as that.

Greinke looks for bounce-back outing against Indians

“Last time,” he said, “I think was mainly a case of just me being stupid again. I thought (the Blue Jays) were struggling because I saw their win-loss record wasn’t that good. They were losing as much as us over the past couple of weeks, it seemed, whenever I checked the paper.

“I watched a game where the guy was just throwing away, and they were getting themselves out. So I thought, `This will be easy. That’s all I’m going to do today, too.’ And, obviously, I should pitch how I pitch and not change my approach.”

Don’t count on Fort Worth Paschal star following father’s path

Coming out of Fort Worth Southwest High School in 1978, Brian Milner had it all. He was a standout in football and baseball and earned a scholarship to play both sports at Arizona State.

But the Toronto Blue Jays used their seventh-round pick to take Milner, a catcher, and offered him a $150,000 signing bonus. Milner, of course, couldn’t refuse that type of money back then and gave up college to begin his professional baseball career.

...

Milner finds himself in a similar situation this year, as his son, Hoby, is projected as a fifth- to sixth-round talent in this year’s Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, which starts Tuesday. The Milners will be one of hundreds of families that face the same decision — go to school or start a professional career.

Hoby, who went to Fort Worth Paschal, is a left-handed pitcher who can also hit. Even with a wiry 6-foot-2, 160-pound frame, his fastball reaches the low 90s along with a curveball and changeup.

Beeston prepared to pay the price for success

Paul Beeston has essentially told Bud Selig to take his $5-million (U.S.) and shove it.

The baseball commissioner made a habit of cutting the Toronto Blue Jays a cheque for currency equalization in recent years, which was also a way of buying the Blue Jays’ support for various initiatives. It was one of those quid pro quo kinds of things – along with the favour of an All-Star Game – that Selig is famous for utilizing in order to keep owners in line.

But the Blue Jays will not likely “apply” for the money this year, sources say. That’s because one of the ways the Blue Jays “earned” their currency equalization in recent years was by being good lads during the amateur draft and not paying players over slot.

The commissioner’s office sets guidelines for signing bonuses at each choice. Several teams, including all of the clubs in the American League East other than the Blue Jays, have routinely flouted the “slotting” system in order to draft harder to sign players who in most cases have higher ceilings.

Sources say that Beeston, the Blue Jays interim president and chief executive officer, told the commissioner’s office the Blue Jays will not go over slot unless another team in front of them does. “If just one team goes over, we’ll go over,” Beeston reportedly told Selig.

philly.com: Phillies have bargaining chips in search for pitching

There’s a chance the Phils could get to the postseason with the pitching they have. But they can’t take the chance of coming up short, not with this ripened nucleus of players. And beyond the regular season, the Phils have to think of what their postseason rotation might look like. Having a strong 1-2 combo at the top of the rotation is crucial in the postseason, and the Phils have been weakened by the loss of Brett Myers.

So the Phils are hunting for another pitcher, and from the sound of it, they’re not just looking for an off-the-rack arm. They want someone that will make them better, an upgrade on what they have. Jake Peavy interests them, but he doesn’t want to leave San Diego. The Astros’ Roy Oswalt and the Blue Jays’ Roy Halladay would interest the Phils - if their teams were to make them available. Ditto for Erik Bedard, if the Mariners put up the “For Sale” sign.

Fanhouse: Alex Rios Apologizes for Profanity-Laced Tirade Posted on YouTube

FEELING GUILTY? GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST.

Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios had some harsh words for a fan who chided him as he left a charity gala dinner Thursday night. The exchange, which referenced Rios’ dreadful five-strikeout showing at the plate (platinum sombrero!), was predictably caught on video and posted to YouTube.

On Friday, it was Rios’ turn to apologize for the embarrassing incident.

“I just want to apologize for the situation that happened yesterday at the gala,” Rios said. “I just want to apologize to my fans, to the team, to my teammates, because it was something I should have never done. It was a bad reaction on my side.”

“That’s not the person that I am,” he said. “You shouldn’t act like that, even if there’s sites like that or people following you, trying to make you say bad things, you shouldn’t act like that.”

Rios admitted that his poor performance affected him and contributed to the blowup.

Ringolsby: Randy Johnson won’t be final 300-game winner

ballfan: Voice of reason.

Projecting a 300-game winner defies logic because the climb from No. 1 to No. 300 has no symmetry. What it requires is not only endurance but a late-career emergence.

It’s hard to look at today’s pitchers and finger a potential 300-game winner because there is nobody realistically close. Jamie Moyer is second among active pitchers in victories with 250, but he is also 46. Yankee left-hander Andy Pettitte is next at 220 wins, and he’s 37, admittedly going year-by-year in his decision-making on whether he wants to keep on pitching.

So who is a viable candidate to win 300? Try Roy Halladay of Toronto, who turned 32 on May 14, has 140-67 in his career, and had only 21 wins by his 25th birthday. Or Roy Oswalt of Houston who, at the age of 31, has 131 wins, and Mark Buehrle of the White Sox, who at the age of 30 has 128 wins.

...Halladay is on a Johnson-like pace. He had only won 21 games before he turned 25. He was 30 before he chalked up No. 100. He will, however, be past the midway mark to 300 wins by the end of this season, and has shown he has the No. 1 prerequisite to win 300 — durability. He is headed to his sixth 200-plus-inning season in the last eight years and has the ability to work late into games, which means he doesn’t have to rely so much on the bullpen to bail him out.

Halladay does still have a long journey ahead of him before he arrives at No. 300.

His route, however, is not unlike the one that the previous 300-game winners have taken, even if the Chicken Littles of the baseball world are convinced the day of the 300-game winner has fallen.

Globe and Mail: Happy birthday, former SkyDome. It was like at first sight

Truth is, what is now known as the Rogers Centre is not nearly as bad a place as its many persistent critics would maintain. It’s just a bit cold and a bit ordinary – outside of the retractable roof itself, which remains a remarkable piece of technology that’s never really been duplicated.

Take away the lid and what you have is a pretty standard, multiuse stadium of the type much in vogue during the 1970s, later to be replaced by sport-specific parks with design features mimicking the beloved ballyards of the past.

As the years have gone by, I’ve grown to appreciate SkyDome/Rogers Centre more.  That’s mostly because it’s one of the few truly unique ballparks in the game right now.  15 years ago it would have been crazy to think of a multi-purpose stadium as unique, but the old “cookie cutters” have simply been replaced with a new batch of them.

Halladay strikes out career-best 14 for Blue Jays

Halladay (9-1) gave up seven hits, none of them for extra bases. He threw 132 pitches for his 42nd career complete game, finishing with a flourish by striking out the side in the ninth.

Halladay is the first major leaguer to nine wins this season, and he moved to third in the American League with 82 strikeouts. Toronto’s bullpen blew a five-run lead in Halladay’s last start, while in his previous outing he threw seven shutout innings before the Blue Jays eventually lost.

The right-hander has gone at least seven innings in all 12 starts.

Toronto Star: The Richard Griffin Mailbag

AHA! So it’s not pure randomness after all...it’s stress, bat dragging, and twitchy swings (no Waldmaniacal’s theory of “hitting is contagious”?).

Q: Some venting for you Richard. What has been absolutely killing me in watching this losing streak is to see the enormous number of men this team continues to leave on base. I can’t even begin to comprehend the lack of hitting with men on base in key situations. I mean it’s everyone. Every single player kills rallies, to the point where they can’t even get a runner home from third with less than two outs. As a fan, this is actually worrying because this is becoming reminiscent of teams over the last few years - teams that just did not have a killer instinct. As a fan, am I to worry, or is this just a short-term dilemma?

A: Even Cito Gaston has pointed at this lack of clutch as his main bugaboo over the length of the losing streak. The Jays can get 8-13 hits per game and still only seem to manufacture 1-2 runs.

Certainly good pitchers approach hitters differently when nobody is on base and your team has a lead. Challenge the hitters with strikes and make them earn their way one base and earn their way back into the game. Since the Jays always seem to be trailing during the losing streak, the hitters are seeing more hittable pitches – that is until Jays runners reach scoring position. At that point, the savvy opposing pitchers begin to work the hitters and that’s when the Jays struggle.

The problem compounds itself when every hitter tries to carry the load himself. The extra stress and pressure adds extra tension through the hands, wrists and forearms, leading to twitchy swings and dragging the bat through the zone, leading to runners left in scoring position leading to the next guy feeling added pressure, etc. The opposite of this situation is also true. That was called April.

As for short-term or long-term, that all depends on when the first time they can put two games in a row of solid clutch-hitting together will be. It can be bloopers dropping in, or grounder sneaking through. But it just has to be hits on the score-sheet and runs on the scoreboard. That’s when it will change.

Reimold’s HR rallies Orioles past Jays 12-10 in 11

Nolan Reimold hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to cap a second surprising comeback by the Baltimore Orioles, who beat Toronto 12-10 Wednesday to extend the Blue Jays’ losing streak to nine games.

No comment.

Globe & Mail: Jays drop seventh straight

The once high-rolling Toronto offence was grounded again yesterday on a damp and muggy Memorial Day U.S. holiday as Baltimore handed the Blue Jays their seventh consecutive setback, a 4-1 verdict before 24,904.
...
The Blue Jays (27-21) banged out nine hits, but rarely did they occur in key situations as Toronto, which has just 11 runs during the seven-game slide, continued its habit of stranding base runners.

“Once again we get nine hits, we leave nine people on base,” Gaston said. “We’re just not hitting with runners in scoring position.”
...
“By now you guys should have your stories already written,” Gaston said as reporters shuffled into his office. “It’s the same story every day.”

Las Vegas Review Journal:  Sons’ success with Pirates thrilling for 51s pitching coach

When he was a teenager, Dave LaRoche spurned his two-sport scholarship to UNLV, then known as Nevada Southern, to pursue a professional baseball career with the California Angels.

“I went to school here for about two months, then went and signed,” said LaRoche, who went on to a successful 14-year career in the majors and also fathered two big leaguers in Pittsburgh Pirates infielders Andy and Adam LaRoche. “Looking back, it was my first time away from home, and I was homesick.”

Dave LaRoche, who coached at Double-A New Hampshire last season, was stunned and pleasantly surprised when he heard the news. Two of his sons would be playing on the same major league team—and starting in the same infield, no less, with Andy at third base and Adam at first.

“I was in shock,” he said. “I figured (Andy would) be traded, because he wasn’t playing (for the Dodgers) and his name came up a lot, but I never, ever expected (it would be to) the Pirates.”

Adam LaRoche, 29, who never had played on the same team with his younger brother, also was in shock and excited. But the celebration didn’t last long as Andy struggled through the rest of the season, hitting .152 in 49 games.

“It was a struggle last year for Adam to watch Andy struggle,” Dave LaRoche said. “Adam said him going through slumps was easy compared to watching Andy struggle. I said, ‘Now you know what it feels like being a parent.’

Brunt: Cito rules the roost

Chip7 points out this interesting look at Cito Gaston.

Gaston was a second choice, a compromise, a loyal organization man who had to be persuaded to take the job.

That may in part explain why it was so hard for some to take him seriously from the get-go, and to give him full credit as the Jays matured into postseason regulars and then into the best team in baseball. Even as those championships were celebrated, it wasn’t hard to find someone to detail what Gaston was doing wrong – or rather, what he wasn’t doing right, since his were nearly always perceived to be sins of omission. A pinch hitter not called upon, a base not stolen, a pitching change not made, a slumping player left untouched in the batting order…

“For a guy that did a pretty good job around here, I caught a lot of ####,” Gaston says. “There was a lot of people hanging around who haven’t done quite the job but don’t catch the #### at all.”

...He is managing, he explains, as he always has, according to the strengths and weaknesses of his roster, still aware of what it felt like to be a player. “I want to win really badly, and we want to play well, and if we win, we win,” he says. “But I’m not the type that is going to be hurting one of these guys to win. I’m not going to hurt a pitcher pitching too much to win, I’m not going to play a player when he can’t play to win. I’m always looking down the road. I will lose a game tonight to win three down the road, even if people in the media don’t see it that way.”

Globe & Mail: [Travis] Snider optioned to Triple-A

The Toronto Blue Jays have sent outfielder Travis Snider to Triple-A Las Vegas.

The move came Thursday night when the Boston Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Blue Jays with a 5-1 win. In 32 games, the rookie hit .242 with three homers and 12 RBIs.
...
“We want him to go down and play a little bit,” Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. “He’s not playing that much here. This kid’s going to be a big part of this organization.”

The Greatest Autographed Baseballs of All Time

But mind you, some signed baseballs are better than others.  Ones that have a real personal touch.  Ones that connect a player to a fan, a moment, or even … history.

Okay - these aren’t great like a baseball signed by the ‘27 Yankees, but they’re freaking hilarious.

Griffin: It’s just not the same without Manny

Brotherhood of Evil Mutants unite!

There used to be a genuine mystique in coming to Fenway Park and facing a Red Sox lineup that night after night boasted the tandem of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez. It made the Sox seem even tougher, especially for rookies such as Brett Cecil and Robert Ray, the Jays’ young starters in Games 2-3 of this early season showdown.

No more magic. Sure, this will never rank as just another ballpark and just another lineup, but neither will it ever be the same with Manny in L.A.

“It was the best three-four combination the game’s seen in a long time,” Jays first baseman Kevin Millar said. “It’s nothing against Jason Bay, but Manny obviously is Manny. I don’t know if there was a mystique, but it was a tough combination to defend.”

Bay, the talented Canadian, has taken Manny’s place in left field, hitting fifth behind Big Papi and Kevin Youkilis. Bay’s numbers are impressive, but his aura is not nearly as emphatic as Ramirez.

BPro: Laurila: Cito on the Jays: Pregame from Fenway

“usually walks score faster than a hit”...didn’t this once pop up on Wolfram’s Unsolved Problems list?

On if he is considering moving Wells out of the four-hole: “I don’t think so. When you do that, you have to have somebody to put in there, right? Come hell or high water, like I said early in the year, I’m going to try to keep my guys in the same spots. If you see me move one…I moved Barajas last night and I called him into the office and told him I was going to move him. I want these guys to come to the park every day knowing which position they’re going to hit in. You know, moving people around doesn’t amount to anything. You’re only a fourth-place hitter one time. And if you’re swinging bad, trust me, they’ll find you. You’re going to come up with guys on base no matter where you are in the lineup, and if you’re struggling, it seems to find you.”

On the high number of walks that Marco Scutaro has drawn this season: “To me, getting a walk is just like getting a hit, and usually walks score faster than a hit. Scutaro has done both; he’s done everything we’ve asked of him. He’s taken some bases on balls, he’s gotten some big hits, and he’s run the bases really great.”

Toronto Star: The Richard Griffin Mailbag

NickP, points out “lineup construction...the Griffin way.”

Q: Mr. Griffin, If you were a baseball manager, how would you construct a lineup? A number of years ago, I recall reading an essay from sabermetrician Bill James who said that the best way to construct a lineup is to bat your best hitter first, your second best hitter second, etc., as this is the only way to ensure that your best hitter hits more often than anyone else.

It seems like every manager is stuck on this notion of batting a speedy guy who steals bases first (even if they never steal), a guy who can move him along second, a player with combo power/speed third and your big power hitter fourth. It’s as if the manager is playing for a grand slam in the first inning. I was particularly struck by this in the Blue Jay/Yankee game on Tuesday, where Joe Girardi batted perhaps his WEAKEST hitter first (Brett Gardiner). I was thinking this because, for a while, it looked like Gardiner was going to be the only Yankee to get four plate appearances.

A: Bill James was hired as a consultant by the Red Sox several years ago and yet you didn’t see the Sox change their philosophy of constructing a batting order because of his presence. If your leadoff man is the only player to get four at-bats in a game, then you have bigger problems than just the batting order. The first hitter should be an on-base guy with speed, not necessarily a stolen base guy, but someone that can take pitches and force the pitcher to work for an out. The second hitter needs to be patient and selfless, because you may ask him to move the runner or take a pitch that he finds very hittable. The third hitter is your best hitter, ideally blessed with speed and power. The fourth hitter should be your top power guy, not always looking for walks but looking to expand the strike zone slightly to drive the ball and produce runs. The fifth hitter should hit from the opposite side than the cleanup man so they have to think twice about the reliever matchups late in the game. The ninth hitter, I would like to see as a second leadoff man, with some speed so that if he reaches base for the top of the order, he’s not clogging the basepaths.

WSJ: Guam—Baseball Diamond in the Rough

Going going . . . Guam?

Don’t bother looking for Guam baseball on your nightly sports report.

With foreign-born players flooding America’s major leagues and teams from Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Mexico beating our own professional all-stars during two versions of the World Baseball Classic, this Micronesian island remains virtually invisible on the international baseball scene. No Guamanian player is on any major-league roster, and teams from Guam don’t play at a high enough level for the World Classic.

It’s puzzling given Guam’s American ties—it is a U.S. territory, host to a Naval and an Air Force base—and its conditions ideal for baseball: perpetual summer and residents who crave the outdoors. Yet despite the fact that Guam has been playing baseball for more than a century, most locals instead choose to pursue outrigger-canoe racing, soccer, and diving in the crystal-clear Pacific waters, or relaxing at day-long barbecues.

Toth: Halladay: Nice guys finish first

While he might be nice, however, Halladay isn’t perfect.

He refused to pitch at the World Baseball Classic in Toronto last March, even though his participation would have been a huge help in promoting baseball in the city. But rather than rip Doc for his decision, the media quickly came to his defence by claiming the WBC would ruin Roy’s spring training routine.

Give me a break.

The fact is, Halladay has never come close to pitching in a playoff game and the incredible atmosphere during the Canada-USA tilt at the WBC would seem to be a much better preparation exercise than facing the Pirates on a Tuesday down in Dunedin.

Halladay is also well-known for talking to the media only when he sees fit and heading into his much-anticipated showdown with former Jays teammate A.J. Burnett, Doc decided to keep his thoughts to himself. During his Hall of Fame career, Carlton never talked to reporters and Clemens had a pick-and-choose media relations method. But while Carlton and Clemens were crucified for clamming up, Halladay once again seems to be above reproach.

Thanks to Here Comes Kusickness.

Bay Bridge Baseball: Steve Young takes some BP

I once saw Bobo Brazil take BP at Shea. I never realized that delivering maximo coco butts could lead to utter stiffness of the joints.

Steve Young showed up at the Coliseum tonight. He’s apparently pals with Blue Jays first baseman/DH Kevin Millar. Young shagged some flies and took some BP. I was impressed the way he went about his BP. He actually started by laying down a bunt, just like the real players. When he was done, he went and picked up the balls. He mixed in with a regular hitting group. He did manage to break a bat during BP.

“It was OK,” he said. “I didn’t strike out.”

ESPN: Alomar scores legal victory

Former All-Star second baseman Roberto Alomar scored a legal victory Wednesday when an ex-girlfriend withdrew a $15 million civil suit, alleging that he had insisted upon unprotected sex during their relationship despite his having AIDS.

Ilya Dall, 31, who got divorced in 2007 and has two children, filed the bombshell lawsuit last January, claiming that the retired big-leaguer tested HIV-positive in February 2006. Alomar has insisted he’s in good health and suggested Dall raised the accusations in a bid to “hurt” him. At the time, he characterized the lawsuit as “filled with lies.”

Alomar and Dall, a competitive arm wrestler and spa owner, broke up last October. Dall reportedly lives in a $5 million, Queens, N.Y., home purchased by a trust set up by Alomar.
...
“The complaint was withdrawn, which means the lawsuit was withdrawn with prejudice,” Charles Bach, who represents Alomar, told ESPN.com. “That speaks for itself. It is over.”