Dishin’ with Dutch: A B&C Interview with Darren Daulton

Remember when the Jupiter 2 was stranded on Gnarth-4 and those furry beasts were jumping on the roof with their gleepers hanging out?! Now that was funny!

What were your impressions of the Mark McGwire steroids confession?

I always thought the whole thing was pretty comical. I think it gives a real good pulse of the American people and what we perceive as this big military, industrial, world-wide, number-one country that presented itself in a manner that turned on one of their own and just really collapsed like a house of cards. I mean, if I was a foreign country and wanted to take over this country, I’d get a prescription for steroids and stand at the border and wave them, and then watch the American people fold.

I thought it was pretty comical, it seemed like there were 250 million victims out there, so that was the comical part. I think it was all just useless, but it did give us a pretty good read on what our society is like.

Do you have any comments on rumors that former teammates Dykstra and Dave Hollins used them?

No. Heck, no, I could care less, there are a lot more important things in the world, and again, this is useless information. What does it do? What has all of this done? Finding out whether or not a guy does steroids or not, I could never understand this. There are a lot of things that a lot of people do behind closed doors that they probably don’t want the public to know about. Whether you’re cheating on your wife, your husband, or you’re doing drugs, you don’t want your boss to know about something, you’re hiding something from somebody, or you’re watching porn and you’re masturbating. Whatever it is, everybody’s got one of these or they wouldn’t be here, but it seems like everybody gets to cast the first stone when somebody else is caught doing something, or allegedly caught. It makes them feel better, and again, this is kind of the pulse of the American ego, as long as we can point our finger at somebody, we’re okay, we feel better about ourselves.

I think it’s useless information. Out of all this, who cares? What’s it going to matter? It really doesn’t. You know what you’re going to find out, is that they’re just like you are.

The Columnists: Allen: ROGER MARIS IS STILL THE KING

As the lively Durante family prays that the Great American Reenactment reality show gets off the ground!

McGwire thinks this mea culpa clears the air. He thinks it will help his sinking Hall of Fame ship. I have news for the former Bash Brother of the A’s with admitted steroid-freak Jose Canseco. He’s a liar and a cheat.

He will be the Shoeless Joe Jackson of this era. He will never get into the Hall of Fame. He will go to his grave figuring he was wronged by the writers. He will talk about his 583 home runs and his mark of a homer every 10.6 at bats, the best in baseball history. Writers will talk about his cheating during his playing days, his refusal to come clean about it for almost 10 years after his retirement and his spin control in the way he finally announced.

As for Bonds, the Pinocchio of baseball, whose hat size and neck seemed to grow every time he was confronted with a steroid question and the subsequent denial, his comeuppance will come in 2012. He will be eligible for the Hall of fame that year. Despite his incredible feats on the field, he will have a tough time getting into the Hall of Fame as the poster boy, along with Roger Clemens, of immoral conduct in the steroids era.

Roger Maris has never been seriously considered for Hall of Fame honors.

Why not?

BP Unfiltered: Carroll: The Lincecum Lottery

While most fans wait on pitchers and catchers, people inside baseball (and the kind of obsessives here at BP) are waiting to see “the number.” What will Tim Lincecum and his representatives ask for in arbitration? Speculation has been rampant, ranging from $8m to $22m.

No real analysis in this one, but a fun little game anyway. Lincecum is, if not the best, then certainly the most-accoladed player to hit his first year of arbitration.

I’m betting $14 million, based on no reasons whatever.

Could Jim Edmonds be coming back to the St. Louis Cardinals?

Woo-eee...I dearly miss those Leonard Barra-type pratfalls!

Told that Edmonds wanted to come onto the stage after the show, La Russa summoned Edmonds from his seat.

Upon arriving to the stage as fans cheered, the 39-year-old Edmonds took the microphone from La Russa and told him he would play for free in 2010 if the Cardinals would have him.

Edmonds later recanted and said he would play for the minimum salary of $400,000. But he did seem sincere about his desire to return to baseball after not playing since the 2008 season, and the Cardinals would seem to be a fit for him given their inexperience and youth on the bench.

Edmonds said he was “challenging” La Russa to give him a shot. Kiddingly, La Russa told fans he wished he would have skipped Edmonds’ appearance on stage. At one point, Edmonds continued to talk as La Russa stood next to him with his hand reaching out for the microphone.

Edmonds kept talking, and La Russa finally bent over, put his hands on his knees and stared at the floor of the stage.

Amazin’ Avenue: The Amazin’ Avenue Annual 2010

Are they going to use The Francoeur Delusion cover?

After alluding to it twice already, it’s time to finally let the cat out of the bag. In addition to our regular contributions on Amazin’ Avenue, the crew here has been hard at work on the inaugural Amazin’ Avenue Annual, which will hopefully be the first of many season preview/review guides we do. The AAA will feature player comments, prospect profiles, and other analysis/commentary articles by Sam, James, Alex, and myself. It will also include guest columns from the following sexy and well-regarded baseball writers (note: parenthetical remarks are topics not actual titles).

* Tim Marchman (Forward)
* Ted Berg (Suggested Philosophical Changes For The Mets’ Organization)
* Justin Bopp (DiamondView Projections)
* Brian Borawski (Mets Business Report)
* Derek Carty (An Honest Appraisal Of The Mets’ Front Office)
* Matthew Cerrone (Mets Media Piece)
* Jason Fry and Greg Prince (Mets History Piece)
* Toby Hyde (Mets Minors Piece)
* Sky Kalkman (Most/Least Lucky Mets Seasons)
* Howard Megdal (Mets Poetic Couplets)
* Marc Normandin (Alternate Universe 2009 Season)
* Harry Pavlidis (PITCHf/x)
* Dave Studeman (10 Things I Learned About The Mets)

FOX Sports: Perry: Mauer is big catch of next free-agent class

So what follows are the top 20 free agents slated to hit the market after the upcoming season. In the event of contract extensions, retirements, serious injuries or statistical surprises, the rankings and names could change. But at this (outrageously early) juncture, here’s how the next round of free agents shakes out ...

4. Derek Jeter, SS
Opening Day 2011 Age: 37

By the time he ends his career, Jeter will likely stand as the second-greatest shortstop ever to play the game (but he won’t be overtaking Honus Wagner for top honors). As 2009 proved, he’s still playing at a high level. Still, at Jeter’s age, decline can set in quickly. No matter what happens in 2010, his next and probably final contract will be with the Yankees. How he fares in the upcoming season will determine the parameters. If recent history is any guide, though, Jeter will still be a force.

10. Adam Dunn, OF/DH
Opening Day 2011 Age: 31

First, the limitations: Dunn will need to be a DH, he’s going to strike out and he’s not going to challenge for a batting title. Now, the strengths: He’s an excellent power hitter (316 career bombs, .520 career SLG), he gets on base (.383 career OBP), and he doesn’t need a platoon partner. Dunn’s numbers with the Nationals last season prove he can produce outside of the hitter-friendly park in Cincy. The two most important things a hitter can do are hit for power and get on base, and Dunn does precisely that.

Thanks to Geo.

SI.com: Marchman: Random Stat of the Day

Since statistics are so important in baseball, it’s always good to be reminded that they shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

A correlation coefficient measures how closely related two numbers are, with +1 meaning a perfect linear relationship and -1 meaning the inverse. The following just shows how closely several factors correlated with team wins in 2009. This isn’t especially meaningful… it’s just interesting (particularly the difference between fielding percentage and UZR).

On-base average: 0.48
Opening Day payroll: 0.47
Fielding percentage: 0.39
Market size: 0.35
Unemployment rate as of November 2009: 0.33
Batting average with runners in scoring position: 0.24
UZR: 0.23
Random number: -0.17

Blair: Time for N.L. to adopt DH

Let’s hear it for Jeff Blair’s DH Globalisation Initiative!

So I’m going on the record right now as saying the DH not only ought to stay, the National League should be forced to adopt it. The genie is out of the bottle. It can’t be put back in so it’s time the NL adopted it too, so we can end this charade of its use/non-use in the World Series.

I know the DH is a hobbyhorse for traditionalists, but give me a second. As somebody who cut his teeth covering the National League, I too had the smugness inherent in believing that the DH was some kind of abomination. That changed, however, when then Montreal Expos manager Felipe Alou—whose sensibilities for the game, I soon learned, exceeded his considerable managerial acumen—dismissed the whole idea that having the pitcher bat was somehow a strategic wonder.

To paraphrase Alou: What strategy is there in sending up a guy who can’t handle the bat? (Something I think of every time the Blue Jays John McDonald comes to the plate.) Frankly, the value of a golden arm and the impact it has on a game ought not to be jeopardized while dropping a bunt. DH’s don’t lengthen games; pitchers who can’t throw strikes or umpires who let Derek Jeter step out of the batter’s box after every pitch or the idiots who produce Fox’s World Series telecasts lengthen games.

And know what? Sometimes a hitter’s just locked in and keeps fouling off good pitches. You don’t like it? Go watch hockey, I hear it needs fans.

Farino: Open Email Response To Paul Greco on Patrick DiCaprio’s Article

Ain’t Fantasy Baseball just the greatest!

Mr. Greco and Mr. DiCaprio,

A few of your readers contacted me about an article that Patrick wrote on your web site (Premium Section) titled “Are You Kidding”.  Although it was properly titled based on it’s ridiculous out-of-context content, it was also misleading and a false representation of me and my work at www.thecloserreport.com.

I thought we were over this whole issue of you guys feeling the need to constantly attack me, steal my partners, and bash my work, but apparently you still have issues you won’t let go of.  Understand that I and most of the known world do not care what you think of Todd Farino or anyone else for that matter.  I hardly care about this article or the author, but this was so beyond wrong what Patrick wrote that I had to write you and hope I can stop this for the better of the fantasy baseball industry.

Instead of writing petty stuff like pointing out disagreements with other sites and masking it by calling the writers 5th grade names or saying they are not “experts” in your esoteric way, I’d rather focus on my work and customers.  It’s one thing for you to pull content from another site and attack it, but it’s a completely different issue when you think you are so elevated and accredited in the industry that you have the right or reputation to go out and bash other sites for their content and hard work. Then even worse, have the gall to tell people they aren’t “experts”.  Who do you think you guys are?  Let’s solve one issue here and now.  To answer your question about my expertise here is my resume, experience,and reputation.

Calgarysun.com: Calgary’s McFarlane has no McGwire regrets

Calgary-born comic book creator Todd McFarlane has no regrets about paying $3 million for Mark McGwire’s 70th home-run baseball, despite the sport star’s admission this week to using steroids.

The mastermind behind Spawn comics and the head of Todd McFarlane Productions Inc. and McFarlane Toys purchased the 1998 season ball at an auction in January 1999.

In a telephone interview from his office in Tempe, Arizona, the avid sports fan yesterday (WED) said the prized ball might be a bit tainted by the steroid scandal, but he’s still happy to have it.

“Regardless about your emotional feelings about the subject, the 70 ball is still the second-highest home run total,” said McFarlane.

McGwire cheered by fans, evades steroid questions

Mark McGwire received a standing ovation from Cardinals fans Sunday in his first public appearance in St. Louis since admitting he used steroids.

His scheduled news conference, only minutes later, was much more combative.

The second session was shifted to an overcrowded hallway at the last minute, and McGwire evaded questions about the criticism he’s received from ex-players. He repeatedly emphasized that he was ready to talk about the game instead of performance-enhancing drugs.

“I hope you all can accept this,” McGwire said. “Let’s all move on from this. Baseball is great right now, baseball is better.”

Dressed in jeans, a sweater and running shoes, the 46-year-old McGwire walked on stage to “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses, the hard-rock song played before his at-bats with the Cardinals. The team’s new hitting coach was cheered by fans who secured seats as much as 3 1/2 hours earlier.

“I’ve learned a lot,” McGwire told fans. “Especially to kids out there, steroids are bad. I made a huge mistake in my life and it’s something I want you guys to learn from. Don’t ever, ever go down that road.”

Jessica and Sarah Schaaf were in the front row of a downtown hotel ballroom jammed with perhaps 1,000 fans, and wore T-shirts made for the occasion that said “Welcome back, Big Mac Land,” with a photograph of McGwire.

“He did wrong,” Jessica Schaaf said. “But we still love him.”

In which it is proved that being the Best, Most Loyal Fans in Baseball is not always a good thing.

Sickels: Colorado Rockies Top 20 Prospects for 2010

Damn, still no Colonel Christian.

1) Christian Friedrich, LHP, Grade B+: He was handled conservatively, and I think that’s great. Only worry I have is the elbow soreness, though it’s not supposed to be a big deal that keeps him from an A-. Both stats and scouting reports are very sharp.

2) Tyler Matzek, LHP, Grade B+: I want to see some innings before bumping him ahead of Friedrich. Got the same grade as Jacob Turner, for the same reasons.

3) Jhouhyls Chacin, RHP, Grade B+: Projects as a very good ground ball-getting inning-eater. Those are valuable commodities.

4) Rex Brothers, LHP, Grade B-: Borderline B. I like him. I like strikeouts. I like movement and velocity. But for some unknown reason I just couldn’t quite pull the trigger on the straight-B.

5) Esmil Rogers, RHP, Grade B-: I don’t think the Rockies get enough attention for their Latin American program. Here’s another live arm they found, though behind Chacin on the development track.

...This is a system that needs more attention than it gets. With Friedrich and Matzek, the Rockies have two of the premier left-handed starting prospects in the game. Brothers is a fireballing bullpen complement, and they have a bunch of live arms from the right side as well. The ranking of Nicasio is aggressive but he looks like a real sleeper to me and I wanted to highlight him. Also watch out for Deduno, who has first-class stuff and showed signs of harnessing it last year.

The hitting is weaker. Rosario could turn into a very good catcher but is a long way away. Young and McKenry will be ready much sooner. I like both of them a lot and I think both are underrated generally. God knows if any of the tools infielders will pan out. Arenado and Wheeler from the ‘09 draft are promising, but I want some higher level data from both of them.

Sullivan: Ten things learned at the 25th Cubs Convention

The 25th annual Cubs Convention winds down Sunday at the Chicago Hilton & Towers after a wild weekend of ranting, raving and Ricketts-watching.

Ghosts of DeRosa/Bradley remain

Jim Hendry has apologized so many times now for trading Mark DeRosa and signing Milton Bradley he’s threatening to have his name placed in the Guinness Book of World records for most mea culpas in one lifetime.

“I certainly was the one that did the majority of the work and the background and the offensive numbers before we signed Milton,” he said. “Obviously it was a shoot for the moon (decision)...Obviously it didn’t work out. It was totally my responsibility. It was a mistake in hindsight. I think we’ve rectified the mistake.”

At one point, WGN radio host Bob Sirott implored fans to stop harping on the failed Bradley experiment. “Milton Bradley is gone,” he said. “Let it go.”

As for why the Cubs didn’t re-sign DeRosa as a free agent, Hendry said they felt his days as a second baseman were over, pointing out that his new team, San Francisco, is using him in left field.

Cubs are all ears

The addition of a “Chief Hospitality Officer” by the Ricketts was an indication the organization will listen most intently to fan complaints and advice. Perhaps the most promising quote was delivered by team president Crane Kenney, who told fans: “We take our cues from you all."…

Thanks to Almo.

Keri: It Should Get Better, But It Won’t

The first casualty of a baseball labor war is innocence.

Rob, like me, wishes teams deployed more platoons. It isn’t just nerds like us who obsess over Rob Neyer Baseball (Rob is clearly a superior nerd, having an actual game — a really good one too — named after him) that want to see platoons make a comeback. Great managerial tacticians like Earl Weaver regularly deployed platoons, be they straight righty-lefty platoons like Gary Roenicke and John Lowenstein or offense-defense time-splits like the kind Weaver executed with uberfielder Mark Belanger and whatever other shortstop Weaver had on the roster who could hit better than .250. (If you’ve never read the classic book Weaver On Strategy…what’s wrong with you? Go buy it now). Even today, you’ve got a manager like Bobby Cox, who once deployed platoons all over the diamond (who can forget the beauty combo of Garth Iorg and Rance Mulliniks?) and now rarely get such chances to the glut of pitchers with today’s LaRussa-fied rosters.

Still, there’s hope. The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires December 11, 2011. MLB and the players union are enjoying one of their most peaceful periods in decades, making a 2012 labor stoppage look unlikely at this point. But there were will be negotiations, and concessions, as there always are. Expect a slight tweak to revenue sharing here (but no real effort to account for market size, i.e. by opening the possibility of a third or even fourth team in New York), a minor adjustment to PED policy there (with no corresponding move to acknowledge the hypocrisy and inconsistency of current measures against certain players and not others).

In an effort to throw the union a bone during these talks, it’s not hard to imagine MLB offering a 26th roster spot for the 2012 season.

Baseball Canada honours Justin Morneau on wall of fame at annual awards banquet

Justin Morneau’s addition to Baseball Canada’s Wall of Excellence alongside boyhood idol Larry Walker isn’t the only reason he was feeling good Saturday.

The Minnesota Twins first baseman from New Westminster, B.C., is expecting to soon receive medical clearance to resume full workouts. The stress fracture in his lower back that ended his 2009 season in September seems to have healed without issue, and an MRI in a couple of weeks should confirm that.

“It feels good for the most part, every day stuff I can’t feel it so that’s a good sign,” Morneau said Saturday. “I started working out back in December, slowly getting back into it. Not hitting yet but I wasn’t planning on hitting, either. Should be full workouts no restrictions probably in a couple of weeks, would be my guess.”

...
There was none of that bad feeling Saturday, as many of the country’s best baseball players gathered in Toronto for Baseball Canada’s annual awards banquet.

Morneau became the Wall of Excellence’s second member, joining Walker, one of his inspirations as a player growing up. The two are close friends now, making the honour even more special to him.

“It’s pretty amazing,” he said. “You associate baseball in Canada with Larry Walker, he’s set the bar for all of us, he’s the guy we all want to be and dream of being as good as.

“I don’t know if anyone will ever achieve that but being on the wall next to him is pretty exciting. I’m pretty honoured.”

Other award winners were: Milwaukee Brewers farmhand Adam Stern (World Cup team MVP); Darren Kolk (junior national team MVP); Minnesota Twins prospect Rene Tosoni (Stubby Clapp Award); Seattle Mariners outfielder Mike Saunders (Alumni Award); and Brewers pitcher John Axford and Chicago Cubs prospect Chris Robinson (Special Achievement Awards).

Is Fergie Jenkins unworthy of being a member of this Wall of Excellence?

Baseball Picture of the Day: Foul Line

32 days!

Today’s Image:

It’s an extreme closeup of a foul-line! (In Baltimore, if you must know).

Hey, it’s the weekend, cut me some slack!

Creative Commons:

Tomorrow: “Greatest Baseball City in the Country"… in Context, it makes more sense.

BtB: Newbie Hitters on the 2011 Hall of Fame Ballot, Graphically

BBTF Groupthink Approved!

We’re a few weeks removed from the 2010 Hall of Fame election, an election that went rather swimmingly, I must say. While the results of this past election is still fresh in our mind, I figure there’s no better time like the present to start making the case for some of the new hitters on the 2011 Hall of Fame ballot. The sooner we can start educating, the better for some of these players.

What’s that you say? You mean the vast majority of the BBWAA doesn’t subscribe to Beyond the Boxscore in their favorite RSS reader? Well, pooh. There goes my self-esteem. That also probably explains some of the latest results. Well, at least we can dust off the WAR graphs and begin to form some good, old-fashioned BBTF Groupthink Approved thoughts on who belongs in the Hall of Merit for next year.

...Jeff Bagwell is a no-brainer, at least I would think. If writers are looking for strikes against him, he doesn’t have 500 homers or 3000 hits, and he inexplicably made just four All-Star teams over his illustrious 15-year career. Bagwell has more career WAR than Johnny Mize (70.1), Eddie Murray (66.7), Willie McCovey (65.1) and Harmon Killebrew (61.2).

Why The Boston Red Sox Will Dominate In 2010 | Bleacher Report

1. LF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. C Victor Martinez
4. 1B Kevin Youkilis
5. RF JD Drew
6. DH David Ortiz
7. SS Marco Scutaro
8. 3B Adrian Beltre
9. CF Mike Cameron

I see the lineup being:
Ellsbury
Pedrioia
Martinez
Youk
Ortiz
Beltre
Drew
Cameron
Scutaro

Not a great lineup, but with health a pretty good one.

Delco Times: The Jack McCaffery HOF Ballot

Muy late, but it’s a corkyer.

Mark McGwire admits to using steroids during his great home run derby with Sammy Sosa in 1998. That’s neither news nor anything disturbing.

Surprise: Athletes take vitamins. So what if McGwire, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez or anyone hired to use his body for a living did something to grow stronger? Better to criticize the lazy worms who won’t work to grow stronger yet continue to cash checks.

As for Sosa, he was the real fraud, for he was later exposed to have illegally stuffed his bat with cork. He should be banned from baseball for life. But that, apparently, is a sentence reserved for one man, and one man only, Pete Rose.

For the record, this was my recently submitted Hall of Fame ballot, with the maximum of 10 names, in order of my preference: Rose (write-in), Bert Blyleven, Andre Dawson, McGwire, Lee Smith, Jack Morris, Alan Trammel, Barry Larkin, Don Mattingly and Tim Raines. Great players all —- accomplished, competitive, proud ... and illegal-equipment-free.

Rays are in no hurry to promote Beckham

The Babe Ruth Watch, I can see. Who would want to buy a Dewon Brazelton watch?

Remember the B.J. Upton Watch? The Delmon Young Watch? Heck, there was even a Dewon Brazelton Watch.

Troy Tulowitzki at head of class - BostonHerald.com

With all due respect to Evan Longoria, Justin Upton and Matt Wieters, the best young player in baseball right now is playing shortstop for the Colorado Rockies.

FanFest time of optimism for Royals, fans - KansasCity.com

Winter time for Royals fans is the happiest time of the year.

Alex Gordon says no more talk about his hip. Just baseball. Brian Bannister says he feels 100 percent and ready to become the reliable big-league starter so many look for. Mike Aviles smiles as he offers a strong handshake and says he’ll be ready to play by April.

David DeJesus says sure, the Royals haven’t added the bigger names of offseasons past, but, hey, they’ve got more depth than ever this year.

These words came at the team’s FanFest this weekend, as thousands of people wearing Royals gear packed a couple of ballrooms at the Overland Park Convention Center. The words lay out an optimism that belies a team coming off a 97-loss season.

Edit: Link fixed. Jim

What’s next, Mo? - STLtoday.com

The GM was peppered with questions about everything from the state of the minor-league system (depleted by trades, Mozeliak agreed) to whether Jim Edmonds could return as that bat on the bench (not in the plans, Mozeliak said):

— Asked if it was possible McGwire could get a pinch-hit at-bat, as Tony La Russa suggested in a recent interview, Mozeliak was blunt: “No chance.”

— Asked whether there was a spot for free-agent outfielder Rick Ankiel on the team, Mozeliak said the outfield was set and such a return was a “long shot.”

— Asked about third base, Mozeliak said rookie David Freese will get a crack at the starting job, and the team is not trawling for a free-agent third baseman.

The Pirates, on the other hand, go trawling for just about every position.

NYTimes: Sluggers and Bankers in the Strikeout Era

It seems fitting that in the same week that the mandarins of American finance were yanked to Capitol Hill to explain their roles in the global financial crisis, the baseball slugger Mark McGwire finally came clean about how he managed to crush so many monstrous home runs....

Thanks to steroids, we got the thrilling summer of 1998, when Mr. McGwire shattered the single-season home run mark. Thanks to pumped-up credit, we enjoyed household finances that seemed wonderfully solid as housing prices rose, only to set up a wave of foreclosures and joblessness....

We now know that much of what once seemed enviable economic progress in jobs and real estate was a mirage. It was the product of too much borrowing, based on a collective buy-in to two fantastical notions — that the Internet justified endless appreciation of stocks in the 1990s; and, later, that home prices could rise forever. We also now know that the home run bonanza that resuscitated national interest in baseball was the result of deception and shadow play....

“Everyone in the game has been hoping the lie could last as long as possible,” the artificially chiseled slugger Jose Canseco declared in “Juiced,” his 2005 book. “Directly or indirectly, nearly everyone in baseball was complicit.”

Which is another way of saying that complicity extends to those demanding the performance — the owners who wrote contracts for prolific home run hitters, the fans who bought the tickets, the networks that reaped the advertising. Just as Mr. Prince might argue that the carnage done to the American economy resulted not only from people like him, out on the dance floor, but also from the orchestra playing the music — the shareholders hungering for short-term boosts to stock prices and a society always aiming to beat the ultimate benchmark: reality.

We have met the enemy, and he is us.

A’S / Chavez doesn’t mind utility role

With Chavez’s recent track record, I doubt this will be a problem.

Kevin Kouzmanoff’s arrival in Oakland means that Eric Chavez, a six-time Gold Glove third baseman, essentially will become a utility player if he is healthy.

“I’ve always been open to playing anywhere,” Chavez said. “I’ve taken a lot of pride in being the best third baseman I can be, but I’ve never felt that third base is what I have to be.”

MLB.com - Offerman Punches Umpire, Ejected

Punch happens at :46, Offerman doesn’t connect well, but knocks one into the dirt.

Former Major League All-Star Jose Offerman threw a punch at an umpire during an argument in a Dominican Winter League game Saturday night, the second time in 2 1/2 years that he’s attacked someone on a baseball field.

Offerman, manager of the Licey Tigers, appeared to hit first base umpire Daniel Rayburn in the face or neck with his fist during a heated discussion in a game against the Cibao Giants. Rayburn fell to the ground.

Insert obligatory Hutcheson joke here.

NYT: Admission Doesn’t Guarantee Entry

The New York Times, whose reporters do not participate in the balloting, surveyed 35 Hall of Fame voters…

Twenty-six respondents said they had never voted for McGwire and did not expect to change their minds, although many reserved that right. Nine, or 26 percent, said they had voted for him, and all but Stone said they probably would continue to do so. Before McGwire’s confession, one who had left him off the ballot eventually voted for him.

Faith and Fear in Flushing: Prince: This Might Blow Fred Wilpon’s Mind

“I assure you that my retirement has nothing to do with my trade to your organization,” Robinson wrote Stoneham in a letter making it clear he wouldn’t be reporting to Spring Training in 1957. “From all I have heard from people who have worked with you it would have been a pleasure to have been in your organization. Again my thanks and continued success for you and the New York Giants.”

Doesn’t sound all that vitriolic, does it?

It was a little late for Jackie Robinson to start switching teams, but that doesn’t mean somebody didn’t imagine he might have followed through. Last year, Topps created a special set of “Cards That Never Were” in the style of their 1959 releases for a sports collector’s show. Jackie as a New York Giant, swinging in black and orange as if he hadn’t retired, was in the set. This caught the eagle eye of my baseball card maven friend, Joe, who tracked it down for me for my birthday…which was awfully nice of him. (And yes, I do know my share of baseball card mavens.)

Jackie Robinson, pictured as a New York Giant: I’ll be looking for a reproduction in a Rotunda near me.

Thanks to Novartis Gilmore.

MLB: Pirates, reliever Donnelly reach deal

The gold and black Donnelly.

The Pirates agreed to terms on a one-year Major League contract with free-agent right-handed reliever Brendan Donnelly on Saturday, a Major League source confirmed to MLB.com.

ESPN.com is reporting that the Major League deal—still pending a physical—gives Donnelly a base salary of $1.5 million, with incentives that could kick it up to nearly $3 million. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the signing.

The Pirates have gone to work recently in hopes of addressing holes in the bullpen. They signed D.J. Carrasco to a Minor League deal Saturday and are said to be closing in on acquiring Octavio Dotel.

After posting a 1.75 ERA in 24 games with the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate at the start of the 2009 season, Donnelly signed as a free agent with the Marlins in July and finished 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA and two saves.

Howie Spira, the Bronx gambler who dug up dirt on Dave Winfield, is down on his luck

Derek Jeter got parades up the Canyon of Heroes for helping the Yankees win five World Series titles since 1996. Howie Spira may have played a bigger role in the Yankees’ success, and what did he get?

Bupkis.

“George Steinbrenner ruined my health, my life and my reputation. My life is a living hell,” says Spira, a short, slight man with a gray pallor who favors dark, natty suits. “I have no friends, no life and no future. Everything is complete emptiness, loneliness and misery. Everyone hates me.”

Spira is looking for his own Dostoyevsky, a writer who can turn his grim existence into a book, maybe even turn his miserable biography into a movie. He’s met with plenty of writers and agents, but he says nobody wants to touch the project - nobody wants to cross the monolith that is the New York Yankees.

“They get scared of George and his sons,” Spira says. “Or they want the perks that come from hanging around the Yankees - the tickets and memorabilia and the mystique.”

...His health deteriorated rapidly after the FBI showed up at his home in the Bronx to execute a search warrant. He says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and can no longer work. He lives with his parents in the Bronx, relying on disability checks and Medicaid. He suffers from a variety of maladies and spends his days shuffling between pharmacies and doctor’s appointments.

“Will somebody please come forward and help me tell my story?” Spira asks. “I go through my own private hell every minute of every day and every night because of George Steinbrenner.”

Tell me about it.*

(smaller scale)