MLB: Righetti rescues Lincecum’s souvenir

“Gimme Dat, Gimme, Gimme Dat,
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, Dat Ding”

Tim Lincecum didn’t realize that he had recorded his 200th strikeout of the season Friday night until Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti informed him of that fact. Trouble was, catcher Bengie Molina didn’t realize it, either. That forced Righetti to scramble for a souvenir.

After Lincecum fanned Nick Hundley for No. 200 to end the seventh inning, Molina casually flipped the ball to a fan sitting behind the Giants’ dugout, as players frequently do. This alarmed Righetti, who figured that Lincecum should have the ball as a memento.

“So I grabbed the ball from the woman who was sitting there and said, ‘I’ll get you another one,’” Righetti said Saturday.

Many purists believe that groundouts or flyouts early in the count are preferable to strikeouts, which can inflate a hurler’s pitch count and prompt his removal from a game earlier than necessary. But strikeouts do have value, Righetti insisted. “If the ball’s not put in play, there’s less chance of the other team scoring. So they are important,” Righetti said. “People will want to say they’re not, but they are.”

Yankees sent dirt into space - now, Shea Stadium plate headed for orbit

When baseball worlds collide! All this and they still can’t find room for that crazed wheelchair-bound industrialist Sydney Stanton!?

The Yankees-Mets rivalry has really hit new heights.

Months after a Bomber-loving astronaut carried some dirt from Yankee Stadium into orbit, a Mets fan has upped the ante and will take a home plate from Shea into space this October.

The home plate from the 2007 season was given by the Mets to Mike Massimino to fuel his rivalry with fellow astronaut and Yankees fan Garrett Reisman of Morristown, N.J.

Reisman carried dirt from the Yankee Stadium pitcher’s mound on the shuttle Endeavour mission in March.

“We can do better than that, pal,” said Massimino, 46, of Franklin Square, L.I. “We’re flying a home plate from Shea.”

Flanagan: Seriously, a Tony Pena Jr. bobblehead night?

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Somewheresville...a lonely Joe Zdeb sits, zdispirited.

The idea of a Tony Pena Jr. bobblehead promotion seems more than a bit odd right now considering his limited role on the team.

But the Royals have little choice but to go ahead with the promotion, which is part of “Hispanic Heritage Night” on Sept. 6.

“The decision to have a Tony bobblehead Tony Pena Jr.promotion was made back in February and March,” Royals vice president of sales and marketing Mark Tilson told me. “When you think about the Royals situation back then, Tony was coming off a very good year and was regarded around the league as one of the top defensive shortstops in baseball.

“There was really no way of anticipating that he wouldn’t be the regular starter now. And when we plan these promotions and carry them out, it’s not really performance based.”

MLB: Noble: Counting down to Shea finale by unis

Unis, unis, unis! Plus some Bruce Boisclair love!

The games-to-go countdown sign on the outfield wall at Shea Stadium has created a lot of attention this season, especially for fans who associate uniform numbers with club history.

Twenty-nine home games remain on the Mets’ schedule, so No. 30 will be visible before their game against the Padres tonight. Linking uniform numbers to the countdown for the seven-game homestand:

No. 27: Todd Zeile could fill a reporter’s notebook in 15 minutes for 10 straight days. He had seen so much and had wonderful insights. No Mets player appreciated the city more than Zeile. If the ball he hit in Game 1 of the 2000 World Series had cleared the wall—or if Timo Perez had run properly—who knows? ... Dennis Cook was 146 percent Texan. ... If not for Craig Swan, this No. 27 would go Young for his 27 consecutive losses (1992-93). But Swannie wore 27 for 12 seasons, led the league in ERA in 1978 (2.43), had the best laugh this side of Jose Reyes and Al Jackson, and once was lifted off the ground—by one hand—by Frank Howard. Who can top that?

WSJ: Mantle Autographs Not Rare, But Collectors Don’t Care

“I consider the following my outstanding experience at Yankee Stadium...”

“He was one of the greatest ballplayers ever. He was the man. If you’re into baseball, Mickey Mantle was one of the first names you ever learned.”

According to Mr. Sandground of Beckett, an authentic baseball signed by Mr. Mantle on the “sweet spot” between the laces can sell for anywhere between $250 and $400, depending on the condition. A ball with a notation—where he wrote No. 7 or MVP, for example—can fetch even more. “Mantle was a bit of a loose cannon in his day,” he says. “He hit the town, was a bit of a drinker. I’ve seen some balls with notations that are a little blue in color, rude, funny.”

Signed...*Mickey Mantle

*The All-American Boy

LoHud Yankees Blog: The ’stache has met its demise

My friends, I have some sad news.

The ’stache is no more.

Sources have told the LoHud Yankees Blog that Jason Giambi has shaved his mustache. The Big G clearly needed to do something given that he has four extra-base hits and a .205 batting average since July 1.

Meanwhile, it’s supposed to be 106 in Texas tomorrow.

That’s not a typo.

That’s the real reason Giambi shaved off the moustache.

Capital Times: Former Diff’rent Strokes star Gary Coleman to bat leadoff for Mallards

The Mallards hope to move on the bat of one leadoff man.

It’s official: Former child acting star Gary Coleman will bat Friday night for the Madison Mallards.

Vern Stenman, the general manager of the summer college baseball team, persuaded Coleman to take a turn in the batter’s box for a 7:05 p.m. Northwoods League game against Eau Claire at Warner Park.

Coleman, 40, who starred as Arnold Jackson in the 1980s sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes,” is expected to sign a contract at 6:50 p.m. and throw out the first pitch. He will then bat in the bottom of the first inning as a pinch hitter.

The Mallards are well-known throughout the baseball world for their wacky promotions and their public pursuit of Coleman, who initially intended only to sign autographs as part of the team’s season-long series of celebrity promotional appearances.

Their quest for Coleman has been tracked by ESPN News, reportedly due to heavy interest from eccentric anchor Kenny Mayne.

NYT - Sandomir: Beneath the Hall, a Baseball Vault Full of Treasures (RR)

I’ve actually been down there and it was truly amazing. On one wall, boxes and boxes of baseballs sit on shelves. The Hall vault has six baseballs signed by every Hall of Famer. Swung a Ted Williams bat, too, and got chills.

The mobile shelves inside the collections storage room — where employees and visitors must wear white gloves — contain box after box of artifacts. Gray boxes with uniforms are stacked one atop another.

Clemente, Cobb and Clemens.

Gamble, Gehrig and Gehringer.

Vander Meer, Vaughan and Wagner (Honus, not Leon).

Shieber removes a Wagner box from a shelf and pulls away the tissue paper: it is Wagner’s jersey from his time in 1896 and 1897 with the minor league Paterson team in New Jersey. It has Paterson written in red letters, red piping on the collar and sleeves, and blue pinstripes.

More blue pinstripes adorned the item with the tag No. B-13-48A, the 13th item on the hall’s collections ledger of 1948: a Babe Ruth flannel home jersey, with thick blue pinstripes, but no interlocking NY.

“Our pinstripes were thinner,” Guidry said as he held up the textile relic so Bonnie could photograph him with it. “And ours was much more comfortable.”

PB Post: Fan has visited graves of 205 Baseball Hall of Famers

More fun than a staredown with Zandor Vorkov...it’s a neat look at SABR dude, Stew Thornley.

Thornley used to collect autographs, but that hobby took a turn for the worse when he was a sophomore at the University of Minnesota in 1978. He approached New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson after a game and asked him to sign a paddle from Delta Upsilon, a fraternity to which Munson belonged while a student at Kent State.

Munson apparently wasn’t in the mood to sign, the two exchanged words and, Thornley said, “He had me by the neck in a chokehold. (Yankees teammate) Fran Healy had to break it up.’’

“Neither one of us was on our best behavior,” Thornley said. “Something I’d rather forget.”

Thornley doesn’t hold a grudge. Munson, who isn’t in the Hall of Fame, died in a plane crash in 1979.

“I’ve been to his grave several times,” he said. “It’s very nice.”

Wax Heaven: Stan Musial’s final public appearance?

Not since I came across that Don West Appreciation site have I felt so dirty about the biz…

Last night after work I rushed to a card shop in my area to buy some supplies and had a conversation with a man who owns a company that books players to attend autograph sessions. In the past he has booked legendary players like Yogi Berra, Ernie Banks, and others Hall of Fame guys.

One of the names that came up was that of Stan “The Man” Musial. They had booked him just a few months back so I asked if there was any chance he’d come back to South Florida again. The owner’s response was that Stan was officially not doing any more in-store sessions and that the Nationals in Chicago will more than likely be his final public appearance “if he makes it that long”.

Nic Piecoro: D-Backs close to Clark deal

The Diamondbacks appear to be closing in on a trade with the San Diego Padres that will bring first baseman Tony Clark back to Arizona.

After significant discussions in recent days, a deal could be final as soon as today, according to a major league source, who said the Diamondbacks will give up a minor league prospect in the trade.

The minor leaguer the Diamondbacks will send is not known, although it is believed to be one of the organization’s pitching prospects in Double-A Mobile.

Aside from Cesar Valdez, I’m fine with giving up any other pitcher from the Mobile roster.

Baseball-All Stars go high tech to fight piracy

For this...they check the baseballs.

Major League Baseball plans to unveil a high-tech system on Tuesday for tracking baseballs that batters have slugged out of the field in a bid to crack down on piracy in sports memorabilia.

The system, to be launched at the All-Star game at New York’s Yankee Stadium, uses electronic hologram identifiers stamped on baseballs, said IBM, which developed the system.

After a player hits a home run, a security guard will approach the fan who catches the ball with a handheld computer. The guard will scan the electronic tag and enter details of the game, the name of the player who hit the ball and the identity of the fan who caught it.

That information is entered into a database that can be used to authenticate the ball, IBM said.

“If you ever see on eBay that some ball by a particular player is on sale, you can now go on the database and see that this ball is actually not a fake,” Larry Bowden, a vice president for IBM, said in a telephone interview.

Tuff Stuff: New film has Mr. Mint steaming mad

Alan “Mr Mint” Rosen is honest...and I’d bet all my 25 1962 Mickey Mantles on it!

Baseball card collecting is one of the dominant themes in the new motion picture, “Diminished Capacity,” but not everyone associated with the hobby is thrilled by how card dealers are portrayed in the film. In the movie, a Chicago journalist suffering from memory loss (played by Matthew Broderick) takes leave from his job and returns to his rural hometown, where he bonds with his Alzheimer’s-impaired uncle Rollie (played by Alan Alda) and his old flame (Virginia Madsen). The trio heads to a card show in the city, where Rollie hopes to sell a rare baseball card that has gained the attention of some collectors intent on scheming the old man out of a potential fortune.

The notion of dealers trying to pay as little as possible for valuable cards has been used before in the movies (as in the 1999 film “Blast From The Past”), but in this film, the primary no-good dealer character goes by the name “The Mint-Mint Man,” a parody of well-known vintage card dealer Alan “Mr Mint” Rosen. The Mint-Mint Man’s show display features a photo of him fanning out a wad of cash, similar to images Rosen has used for years to promote himself at shows.

...“They ripped off my persona, my character,” Rosen told the paper. “I have a corny act, like a pro wrestling character, that I spent many years and millions of dollars establishing, and they stole it from me.” Rosen said he contacted an attorney to see if there was a legal avenue to pursue, but his attorneys told him he didn’t have a case. “They portray the character as dishonest and that bothers me,” Rosen says. “I am 100 percent honest. I don’t take advantage of old men like the guy in the movie. I’m a huckster, but I’m also an honest guy.”

River Ave. Blues: Yankee Stadium: The pump don’t work ’cause the vandals took the handles

One time at a Knick game...I got hit in the back of the head by a well thrown Kraft single slice of cheese. (hold the Mayo jokes)

Shortly before the 8th inning tonight, a small piece of metal went flying past me and landed on the back of the Cubs’ fan sitting in front of me. “Can you pass that back here?” a voice behind me shouted.

When we examined the projectile, we saw it was a silver seat plaque with a black 13 on it from one of the Yankee Stadium seatbacks. As the people around me handed this erstwhile souvenir of a doomed stadium back to the person who worked to pry it off, my thoughts jumped back to Opening Day when the Yankees announced the arrests of two people attempting to steal parts of Yankee Stadium. For the sake of the people sitting behind me, I wondered if the security guards had noticed.

Approximately five minutes later, I wondered no longer. Three Yankee Stadium security guards and a cadre of New York City police officers converged on Row O in Section 8 of the Tier Reserve. The perps tried to flee. One of them darted across the aisle until either an undercover office or a Good Samaritan stopped the kid and handed him over to the cops. The accomplices were carted off, and as everyone left in handcuffs, I realized that these vandals would be in a lot of trouble over what amounted to a flimsy piece of metal.

N.Y. Times: Robinson: The Adventures of an Autograph Hunter (RR)

Alex Belth told me recently of his visit with the incomparable Ray Robinson and his amazing autograph collection. My Bill Voss siggy seems kinda weak now.

Every so often, there was an unanticipated contretemps. In another hotel lobby some weeks later, I asked Robert Moses Grove for his autograph. Then pitching for the Red Sox, Lefty Grove was one of the game’s incomparable southpaw pitchers — the Sandy Koufax of his time. He also possessed a volcanic temper.

At the moment I approached him, Grove was decked out in an egg-white Panama suit. Thrusting my autograph book into Grove’s hand, I turned to a page devoted to pictures of him. I asked politely if he would sign for me as I handed him my pen. He took the pen and signed Lefty Grove.

But as he returned the pen and book to me, he gazed down at his pants. A rivulet of dark, blue ink had dribbled down from his fly to his right knee.

Ashen-faced, Grove grabbed me, not so gently, by the back of the neck. In my panic, I thought he was about to fling me across the lobby at 100 miles per hour, a smidgen faster than his fearsome fastball. Instead, thank heaven, he thought better of it.

“I don’t ever want to see you again!” Grove said with a growl.

I made certain he never did.

Strange day ends with Bonds’ 756th HR ball in Cooperstown

Asterisk or not, the ball Barry Bonds launched for his record-breaking 756th home run won’t land in the Hall of Fame.

The Hall said Tuesday recent talks with fashion designer Marc Ecko, who bought the souvenir for more than $750,000 last September, had “unfortunately reached an impasse.”

“The owner’s previous commitment to unconditionally donate the baseball has changed to a loan. As a result, the Hall of Fame will not be able to accept the baseball,” the Hall said in a statement.

I can’t remember which side I argued passionately for, but I’m pretty sure “The Hall agrees to the asterisk and still doesn’t get the ball” wasn’t it.

NBC Sports: Floods steal Negro League star’s memories

His skin color cost Pennington a shot at the major leagues as a young man. He flourished instead in the Negro, Cuban, Mexican and Venezuelan leagues in the 1940s and, when baseball in America finally opened the door to blacks, in minor leagues across the country.

Six decades later, the water came and carried off nearly every bit of proof that Pennington was the equal of just about anybody who played anywhere he went.

Newspaper clippings, programs, autographed photos from Mickey Mantle, Sal Maglie and a dozen other big leaguers who assured him he would play alongside them someday, scrapbooks that gave his living room the look and feel of a baseball museum.

Nick Johnson out for season

Johnson: out for season

First baseman Nick Johnson will miss the rest of the season, the Washington Nationals confirmed today. Dr. Richard Berger of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., operated today on the Nationals’ clean-up hitter and repaired a small split tear in a ligament on the ulnar side of his wrist.

A team announcement about the procedure said that Johnson is expected to miss the remainder of the 2008 season.

I’ll get more reaction on this news once I head down to the clubhouse in a few minutes.

AP: Fan files injunction over Griffey ball

Hey “Joe"… Where you going with that ball in your hand?

The Florida Marlins fan who claims he was the first to catch Ken Griffey Jr.’s 600th home run ball said Wednesday that he hopes it winds up in the Cincinnati slugger’s possession.

Justin Kimball, 25, also wants a Miami-Dade court to prevent the fan who the Marlins say caught the ball on Monday night—a season-ticket holder identified only as “Joe”—from selling it until the ownership issue can be resolved…

In the court filing—which lists John Doe and “any party in control or possession of (the) Ken Griffey Jr. 600th home run baseball” as defendants— Kimball says “Joe” scratched his arms and legs to wrestle the ball away, and further asserts that the ball is a piece of “Americana.”

An Interview with Josh Wilker of Cardboard Gods

If you can’t get enough about baseball cards:

There are many sites about baseball cards on the internet. The most interesting one is Cardboard Gods where Josh Wilker takes cards from his youth to tell stories about his life. If you’re a fan of baseball, great writing and baseball cards from 1975-1981 then this is a must-read site.

Rush vocalist makes donation to Negro Leagues Museum

Close to 200 baseballs, all autographed by former Negro Leagues baseball players or backers, have been donated to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum by a somewhat surprising fan ... Rush singer/bassist Geddy Lee.

Really Repoz should write this intro, not me.

Upper Deck’s upcoming baseball card set gets a little hairy

Upper Deck strives to be a cut above the rest.

After acquiring locks of hair from a variety of famous personalities along with extremely rare cut signatures, Upper Deck is pleased to bring “Hair Cuts” cards to the market beginning with 2008 SP Legendary Cuts Baseball.

Ten cards that include a cut autograph and strand of the celebrity’s hair will be randomly inserted into the product. Each of these cards will be limited to only one and they will include personalities like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Geronimo, Andrew Jackson and the Sultan of Swat himself, Babe Ruth. Upper Deck has plans to insert more of these unique hair cards into its 2008 Piece of History Baseball release as well.

“We are consistently looking to push the envelope by creating innovative new card sets,” said Tim Muret, Upper Deck’s vice president of Sports Cards and Memorabilia. “When one of our vendors approached us with these items and we heard the stories behind them, it was a natural decision to meld what collecting was with what collecting is today. These one-of-a-kind pieces celebrate some of the most important historical figures of our time and we are excited about bringing collectors so much closer to them with this very special insert set.”

Calgary Sun: Vipers trade pitcher for 10 sticks in wacky deal

In a move certain to cause a few chuckles in baseball circles and beyond, the Calgary Vipers agreed Tuesday to ship right-handed hurler John Odom to the Laredo Broncos of the United League for 10 double-dipped Prairie Sticks maple bats.

The length and model of the lumber, manufactured by a Red Deer-based company, is listed right there in the Golden League transaction report.

This is the sort of trade that only happens once in a Blue Moon.

Daily Record: O’s woes hurt gate at sports museum

Declining attendance at Baltimore Orioles games doesn’t just affect the team — fewer fans can mean less foot traffic for surrounding businesses that rely on game-day crowds.

For the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards, that’s made it difficult to attract visitors to its building adjacent to the ballpark.

“We have not hit our numbers … particularly because Oriole Park has not been getting fans,” says Michael L. Gibbons, the museum’s executive director who noted that he did expect a boost when the Hilton Hotel next to the park opens in August.

“But we need to think outside of the box and attract different revenue outside of the gate and the Hilton,” Gibbons added.

Which is why the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum is going to piggyback with Geppi’s Entertainment Museum!

Yankees vs. Mets… in SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

Well, I was wrong. The Red Sox aren’t trying to one-up the Yankees.... the Mets are.

Now, the Mets don’t want to be outdone by the Yankees—so they have given the home plate from Shea Stadium to astronaut Mike Massimino, who will fly on the shuttle Atlantis to repair the Hubble Space Telescope later this year.  Massimino is trying to figure out how to pack home plate on Atlantis, which is complicated because it’s larger than the lockers in which the astronauts carry their personal items for the entire mission.

I’m still guessing that the Red Sox will join MLB’s space race. Hopefully during one of these missions someone will find that home run ball that Pujols hit off of Lidge during the NLCS a few years back.