Olney: Giles likely to veto Boston deal, wants to remain with Padres

Wrong team, Buster.

Brian Giles has indicated that he will block a waiver deal that would have sent him to the Boston Red Sox, and an hour before the deadline for making a deal between the Padres and Red Sox, it appeared he would remain with San Diego.

Giles, 37, was claimed on waivers by the Red Sox, and Boston and San Diego had 48 hours to make a deal. But the Red Sox are one of eight teams listed in the limited no-trade provision in his contract, and Giles has the right to veto any deal.

The Red Sox and Padres had been hopeful that a deal could be worked out—Boston wanted Giles because of the offensive depth he would provide, and San Diego could have saved at least $6 million if the All-Star right fielder had accepted the move.

At 12:25 p.m. ET Friday, there was still about an hour in which Giles had the opportunity to change his mind, but it did not appear that would happen.

Was Watching: Lombardi: Is Mike Mussina A Hall-Of-Famer?

Drumming up a moose call for the HOF...as Lombardi looks into Mussina’s “WasWatching Cooperstown Points” (WWCP).

This is an interesting list. It’s pretty clear that a “WWCP” of 35 or better means you’re a no-brainer for Cooperstown. And, if your “WWCP” is under 20, you’re not a Hall-of-Famer.

And, it seems that the pitchers who have a “WWCP” in the 20’s is where the great debates reside - with guys like Schilling, Glavine, Mussina and Smoltz.

Now, you know that Glavine is getting into Cooperstown because he has 300 wins. And, Schilling and Smoltz will probably get in because of their post-season heroics that sit on top of their career numbers.

However, Mussina does not have the post-season resume of Smoltz or Schilling. And, he does not have 300 wins like Glavine. And, that will probably work against him - when it comes to the Cooperstown vote. And, that’s a shame - because, based on the relative regular season pitching numbers, Mussina - to date - has been right there with Schilling, Glavine, and Smoltz.

If those three get into Cooperstown…Moose should be there with them…if there’s any justice in the selection process. However, we know that’s not always the case, is it?

Yahoo Sports: Passan: Owners to discuss blackout solution

America’s blackout beat reporter has some inspiring news from the higher-ups at MLB.

Baseball’s territorial blackouts, the scourge of so many frustrated television and streaming-video viewers, will be eliminated for the 2009 season if Major League Baseball’s executive council follows suggestions president Bob DuPuy plans on presenting next week.

At the owners’ meetings Wednesday, DuPuy said he will propose that if a team is not broadcasting in a geographic location for at least one season, it loses the right to black out games in that area. Gone would be the blackouts that prevent folks in Iowa and Las Vegas from seeing as many as six games each night and have caused viewing havoc throughout the country.

“I see no reason why there ought to be so many clubs able to black out in those territories,” DuPuy said. “That’s my intention. That’s my goal. I didn’t get any pushback. The whole thing is about making the game more popular and available.” [...]

Under DuPuy’s suggestion, Las Vegas could not be claimed as part of any of those teams’ territory unless a team’s slate of games was carried by at least one local broadcast operator. If not, that team’s games would be available in out-of-market packages such as Extra Innings and MLB.tv.

SI Vault: The 1988 Olympic Team

If anyone dares, DARES to put up articles from 1992, 1996, 2000 or 2004, I will come after you. This is my little annoying feature! MINE! MINE! ALL MINE!

Perhaps the biggest threat to the U.S.  pitchers in Seoul will be the U.S.  hitters. One slow June night during their tour of Japan , the pitchers ambushed third baseman Ed Sprague at the team hotel in Morioka, beating him, some say with straight faces, to within mere feet of his life. Sprague ‘s comrades in aluminum mounted a counterassault on the pitchers, wearing shower caps and kimonos. Since then the batsmen have given a gangland going-over to Abbott , who emerged from a shower one day to find eight guys in slicked-back hair and suits pouring out of his closets.

The Olympians go for the aggressive hit and the quick kill on the field as well. Switch-hitting second baseman Ty Griffin, the Chicago Cubs ‘ No. 1 pick, out of Georgia Tech , has set the tone from the leadoff spot. He has hit .500 with 28 RBIs, 14 steals and 9 homers in 28 games on the tour. Griffin made a name for himself in Indianapolis a year ago when he hit a ninth-inning, two-run homer to beat Cuba 6-4. It was the first Pan Am Games defeat for the Cubans in 20 years. “After that, I went back to Georgia Tech and wanted them to throw inside,” says the 6-foot, 180-pound Griffin. “I like to jerk the ball now.”

Whatever happened to the great Ty Griffin?

Wash. Post: Sheinen: Extra Effort Made to Speed Up Olympics Baseball (RR)

BEIJING, Aug. 7 The grizzled baseball lifer in Davey Johnson—and really, would anyone who knows him argue that there’s any other side to him?—bristles at the notion of the gold medal in the Olympic baseball competition being decided on some newfangled rule change designed to get extra-inning games finished in a timely manner and avoid bleeding into NBC’s coverage of real Olympic sports.

“Yes,” he said bluntly when asked if the rule change offends his baseball sensibilities. “It’s something we’ll all have to deal with.”

What rule could possibly be so offensive? This one: Starting in the 11th inning of a tie game—as decreed last month by baseball’s international governing body—each half-inning will begin with runners on first and second base, and the manager of the batting team can start the 11th at any point in his lineup.

The Real McCoy: A view from the outside

“Well, then thank pitchforks and pointy ears”

The long-time observer said, “I saw Homer Bailey three years ago and thought good things about him. Iee him now and there is no fire, no consistency and no sense of confidence. He used to have the hammer - a big, breaking curve. That’s gone. The last time he pitched he threw it for one strike. One.”

Another guy in the know, from out of town, said he couldn’t believe the abuse Adam Dunn gets. He hears it when he sits in the stands.

“Now that Ken Griffey Jr. is gone, if they let him go those same people are going to whine about it,” he said. “They better keep him. They need his power and they need him because they have so many young players.”

And another wrinkled his nose when Brandon Phillips was mentioned.

“Nice talent, but I can’t stand the guy. Don’t like his attitude. He does things to make the other team mad. And I couldn’t believe the stuff he said last week about wanting to be the face of the team, the captain, the leader. Very next game he didn’t run out a ground ball. Some leader.”

Ask 14: Jim Rice: The Bannister Family

It was interesting to watch Brian Bannister pitch the other night.  I faced his father Floyd Bannister a lot and had pretty good success.  Their makeup is essentially the same; Floyd molded his son in the same pattern.  The differences I noticed came in approach, not makeup. Today, pitching technique relies more on catcher, statistics, and the trend of pitching backward.  When I played, you always sat on a fastball in a 3-1 count.  Now, pitchers can outsmart a hitter by throwing a breaking ball in that situation.  Floyd was a finesse pitcher like his son.  Brian had, and still has, a great coach in his father.

And screw that Pitch fu/x, BABIPSHIT...just throw fastballs! 

MetsBlog: Cerrone and Berg: Interview with Giuseppe Franco (Video)

Shhh, Giuseppe Franco is from Union City, N.J. (a fractured hairline away from me) and doesn’t want anybody to know.

Last week on MetsBlog, I wrote a post about having seen the infamous Giuseppe Franco in front of his Beverly Hills salon, while on vacation in California the previous week.

The next day, Giuseppe e-mailed me saying he had seen my post, he was flattered and so we struck up a phone call.

He told me he would be in New York City and at Shea Stadium for last night’s game.

...I spotted Giuseppe with his wife and friends standing along the fence watching David Wright and Ryan Church, among others, swinging from home plate. 

Giuseppe had his hair spiked, was wearing all black, a ton of tattoos, and he never once removed his sunglasses and – even with Wright and Church only a few feet away – he was clearly the most popular person on the field.  In fact, he was approached by not only fans, but also coaches and players.

Thanks to Neil Best for the major toupe uhh, scoop.

Fanhouse: Nolan Ryan Says What We Are All Thinking Regarding Roger Clemens

Yea, but this is the same Nolan Ryan that told David Cone yesterday...that he wants all Ranger starters to go another inning or two per start next year. Wrestle with that, Hunter Hurley Harrison!

There’s no more simple way to put it than by saying that Nolan Ryan articulates very well what I think everyone believes is killing/did kill Roger Clemens’ reputation.

Nolan Ryan appeared today on Dan Patrick’s syndicated radio show and made it clear that he in no way supports the PED-denials of fellow Texan Roger Clemens (audio): “It’s just a shame that Roger has gotten caught up in this situation and he took the stance that he did and that so many things have come out ... that have cast a bad light on his career.

If you look at what happened with some of the other players (who used PEDs), they stepped up and said ‘hey, I did it, I knew it was wrong,’ and they asked for forgiveness and have gone on about their business. I think it’s just unfortunate Roger took the position that he did and that so much has come out about it.”

FOX Sports: Perry: Chemistry is crucial? That’s a crock

Not since Bergius & Bosch won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their study on high-pressure methods...have I seen such worthy chemistrial work! Bravo, Professor Perry...your knock-off Myntverket medal is on its way!

On the other side of things, there’s the fact that each season brings us a new round of teams — teams overflowing with board-certified “character guys” — that lose badly and regularly. So here’s the thing: if there’s any correlation between clubhouse chemistry and winning, then it’s either A) so weak as to be unidentifiable, or B) so weak as to be meaningless. Winning baseball is about scoring runs, pitching well, playing defense, staying healthy, and strategizing properly.

Getting along and being happy — while both good things — don’t have much to do with winning baseball games. Certainly, this isn’t to say chemistry is meaningless to all sports. You can make the case that winning basketball, for instance, requires good chemistry. Baseball, however, is different. The game at its most primitive elements is an individual and solitary one — hitter versus pitcher, fielders responsible for their own zones, base runners 90 feet apart from one another. There’s less orchestration to the sport, less symbiosis. Ergo, it matters less if you get along. It’s baseball — it’s not basketball, it’s not football, it’s not a cubicle farm, and it’s not any other thing in which getting along matters. These qualities make baseball wonderfully unique. These qualities also mean you can wind up hoisting the World Series trophy despite long having wanted to beat the snot out of the guy two lockers down.

Nonetheless, you’ll often hear players and analysts invoke chemistry. Again, though, when they do it’s usually because they’re not sure what else to say or they haven’t bothered to divine what’s really going on with a team. Of course, some within the game do understand what an overblown and mostly meaningless factor chemistry is.

THT: Brown: The Mussina renaissance

Jumping G. Horsefat!...Moose-rabbit-hat biz continues.

No matter how the rest of this season plays out, Mussina (with a little help of his defense) has made an outstanding comeback. Walking fewer hitters and throwing more ground balls than ever, he’s enjoying a late career renaissance that few thought was possible after a disastrous 2007 season.

With roughly nine starts remaining, Moose has positioned himself to win 20 games for the first time in his career. Should he reach that plateau, he will finish the season with 270 wins to his credit. Of the 20 eligible pitchers (since 1901) who have at least 270 wins and an ERA of 3.70 or less (Mussina’s currently owns a 3.69 career ERA), 17 are in the Hall of Fame. Only Tommy John, Jim Kaat and Blyleven are on the outside, looking in.

There will be plenty of time to debate Mussina’s Hall of Fame credentials. For now, raise a glass of wine (perhaps a 1991 vintage) and enjoy one of the more remarkable comebacks in baseball history.

MLB: Kent feeling Dodgers’ recent changes

Kent said the addition of veteran hitters Ramirez and Blake, joining him and Juan Pierre, balance out the lineup and present a greater challenge for opposing pitchers.

“It makes for a more formidable lineup at the top, at the middle and at the bottom,” he said. “We have a better chance to score when we can attack from different angles.”

He said he’s been particularly impressed with the progress of some of the club’s young hitters.

“You expect that of the kids with the opportunities they’ve had,” he said. “You look at Matt [Kemp], he’s swinging the bat well after being an easy out at the beginning of the year. He’s become more patient. Andre Ethier is a solid hitter. Instead of the two rookie third basemen, we’ve added Blake. And Russell [Martin] is holding his own and done a good job. Everybody has gained some experience and that’s what you hope will happen as you get close to the end of the season.”

Yep, Kemp was at .286 on Apr 12 and now he’s blistered his way up to .295.

Helium Watch: Minnesota Twins prospect Angel Morales

Scouting the under-the-radar, but very talented Twins prospect Angel Morales:

Morales has improved his OPS from .762 to 1.036. The difference comes solely from batting average and an increase in power production. The ISO-power, through 151 PAs this season, has jumped to .286. His high BABIP from 2007 has increased to an insane level this year at .471. This is not sustainable, but it still demonstrates Morales has an ability to hit the ball with authority....

...A lot of scouts questioned the worth of Morales’ bat just before the draft. However, I saw a hitter that had the components of a powerful swing. I said the same thing about Aaron Hicks. Issues need to be worked out, but the components are there for the player to work with. Combined with the overall athleticism Morales possesses, making the necessary adjustments should come easier for him.

Source: MLB investigating Manny’s departure

Skeeter Newsome Heavy Stuff, sez “More Manny!”

Do you wonder a little about Manny Ramirez’s unusual final days in Boston? The commissioner’s office apparently wonders as well. We found this tidbit in a Dan Shaughnessy column posted on Boston.com this afternoon very interesting:

Feeling a little duped, Red Sox Nation? Still wondering if this whole thing was on the level?

You are not alone. The commissioner’s office is investigating the circumstances of Manny’s final hours with the Red Sox. The Globe has learned (from a source with direct knowledge of the inquiry) that Bud Selig directed Major League Baseball executive vice president Rob Manfred to contact all parties for an explanation of how things unfolded around last week’s trading deadline. According to the source, Manfred has yet to report back to the commissioner.

Here’s why Selig’s office is looking into the matter:

The Red Sox had an option to retain Ramírez in 2009 for $20 million. They had the same option for 2010. Ramírez, who will turn 37 next season, wanted to be a free agent at the end of this season. His agent wanted the same thing. Boras inherited Ramírez’s old contract and stood to earn nothing until Manny signed a new one. It was in the interest of the player and the agent to have the options dropped.

Manny’s only leverage was withholding services and playing at half speed. So that’s what he did.

NYYFans: Allard: Joba Injury Just the Latest Bad Break for Yanks

And Melky has gone so sour...Det. George Francisco just downed a curdlin’ quart in his honor.

Mix in declining offense from Jeter and no offense at all from Melky and you get the picture: The team is fortunate to be 3 ½ games out in the wild card race.

The case of Melky Cabrera (.242/.298/.340 ) is particularly frustrating for the team. He got out of the gate quickly this year, and was hitting over .300 into May. But he is hitting just .226 in over 300 at bats since May 1. During that span he has only 14 extra-base hits. Think about the last time you saw Melky hit the ball hard. You can’t think back that far. It’s as if he’s using a wiffle ball bat.

Every game is crucial now for the Yanks, and if Girardi feels that Damon can handle centerfield, you’ll see a lot of him there with Nady in left.

Girardi told reporters: “It’s a day-to-day decision on our whole lineup. We’re going to put out the best team that we feel has a chance to win that night.” For four consecutive nights in Texas, that starting lineup did not include Melky.

(Johan) Santana not upset with lack of wins for Mets

The routine has become all too familiar for Johan Santana. Walk off the mound to a standing ovation at Shea, then stand at your locker an hour or so later, with that same empty feeling in your stomach, trying to explain how it all went wrong—again.

Santana, who was charged with two runs in seven-plus innings Thursday, left with a 3-1 lead in the eighth, only to watch the bullpen sabotage him. It was the sixth time in 24 starts that the Mets’ relievers have failed Santana, and five of those have come in the ninth inning. Santana is 2-0 with a 1.55 ERA in his last four starts at Shea.

“Today we won the game and that’s the most important thing,” said Santana, who remained at 9-7 with the no-decision. “I don’t blame it on anybody. I don’t feel sorry about things that didn’t happen. It’s reality. That’s the way it goes.”

Johan was 7-3 with a 3.20 ERA over 81.2 IP in his first 12 starts. He is 2-4 in his last 12 despite a 2.50 ERA over 79.1 IP.

ShysterBall: Whitey Confuses the Young

Calcaterra comes across this touching White Rat story. Haverhill Fever! Catch It!

Herzog retains close ties to the Kansas City area from his days as the Royals manager before coming to St. Louis. He was in Independence, Mo., recently when he came across what he described as the almost unheard of sight of two young boys playing catch.

On their own.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen two kids playing catch in 20 years, so I stopped the car and gave them each an autographed ball,” said Herzog, who told the surprised boys who he was and why he was stopping to admire their game of catch. “I said, ‘I’m so proud that you two kids are out there playing catch, because nobody does anything today unless it’s organized. I kind of shocked them a little bit, but I was just in awe of that because you don’t see it any more.”

The boys were shocked because they thought Whitey was an insane person when he explained who he was. I mean really, who under 30 is going to believe a guy telling them that he (a) made the Kansas City Royals into perennial contenders; and (b) won a World Series with a team that stole 200 bases and only hit 67 home runs?

From the SI Vault: The 1984 Olympic Team

Don’t go in the SI Vault. You might never come out.

A rainout, in fact, may be the best hope for the opposition. In Fenway Park last Friday, the Olympians walloped a Boston park league team 17-2. Clark smashed three taters, and gargantuan first baseman Mark McGwire of USC bounced a shot off the concrete wall above the centerfield fence. “That’s a major league dinger,” the Angels’ Reggie Jackson , who was waiting to play the Red Sox , told McGwire when he entered the dugout. “But you need to work on that trot. Take more time getting out of the box.”

More than 3,000 candidates, including a 12-year-old girl and a 43-year-old man, participated in 63 open one-day tryouts that began last fall, and from the masses Dedeaux and his staff have assembled a team that is impressive from top to bottom. The largest player is the 6’5”, 220-pound McGwire , whom Minnesota scouting director George Brophy compares to Dave Kingman . McGwire , 20, hit 31 homers for USC this season and was Oakland ‘s No. 1 draft pick. The smallest player on the team is 5’9”, 165-pound Oddibe McDowell , 21, a bubbly centerfielder and leadoff man who was Baseball America ‘s collegiate Player of the Year this season at Arizona State . He was the Rangers’ No. 1 pick last month, the sixth time in his amateur career he had been drafted.

For those that care, Kingman and McGwire have a 728 similarity score.

Ricciardi: Gaston to return as Jays manager

Central Imagery Tasking Office...open, for now.

“Cito’s definitely going to be back,” general manager J.P. Ricciardi said Thursday. “He’s done a good job. We’re six games over .500 since he took over. We’ve got a long way to go offensively, but he’s really laid the groundwork for some of the right stuff offensively. The guys like playing for him.”

The Blue Jays fired manager John Gibbons on June 20 and gave the job to Gaston for the rest of this season. When they made the move, Ricciardi said he would sit down with Gaston after the season to discuss his status for 2009.

Going into Thursday night’s game against Oakland, the Blue Jays were 23-17 since Gaston took over — the fourth-best record in baseball during that span. Toronto was in fourth place in the AL East at 58-56.

Gaston, 64, joined the Blue Jays as a batting coach in 1981 and became manager for the first time in 1989, replacing Jimy Williams. He led Toronto to consecutive World Series titles in 1992-93 but was fired at the end of the 1997 season.

Big League Stew: Brown: Mike Mussina talks New York, Orioles, economics

Cervus canadense is right, sir!

Q: The Onion has written a few satirical stories with you as a character.

MM: Who?

Q: The Onion, the satirical newspaper that writes fake joke stories? You don’t know the Onion?

MM: Nope.

...Q: How can some people say we’re not in a recession?

MM: I think the only reason they can say that is because the numbers haven’t moved the right percentage to officially be called a recession. But when the price of gas goes up 200 percent in four years, homes are going under and people are struggling, I don’t know how you can’t call it one now. OK, the world keeps spinning and I must [jumps down from bench] be going!

Phillies acquire reliever Eyre from Cubs

While driving from Chicago to his Florida home, Scott Eyre got the “fresh start” which he had sought.

That fresh start will come with the Phillies, who completed their search for an experienced second lefty reliever by acquiring Eyre from the Cubs for Minor League right-hander Brian Schlitter on Thursday.

“I asked how their bullpen was, and if they were just looking for guys, and they said, ‘No, we think you can still pitch,’” said Eyre, who will join the Phillies on Friday. “I said, ‘Great, I’m ready to go.’”

B.J. Upton Pays For Not Hustling On Ground Ball To Pitcher

Hustler’s Taboo: Warning Non-sexual Content (well...Joe Maddon is involved).

CF B.J. Upton may have saved the day for the Rays with a spectacular catch on a long fly ball Tuesday night against Cleveland, but not running out a ground ball later in the game got him benched Wednesday.

“You just can’t pick and choose when you’re going to put your effort out there,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “It has to be there all the time.”

Upton hit a ground ball back to pitcher Edward Mujica in the eighth inning of the Rays’ 8-4 victory. Assuming it would be an easy out, Upton didn’t sprint toward first. But Mujica bobbled the ball and had to go to a knee before throwing for the out.

The play might have been somewhat close.

“It happened; it’s over with,” Upton said after Tampa Bay’s 10-7 win Wednesday. “There’s no need to dwell on the negatives. There isn’t much I can say other than I guess I didn’t run it out. The positive is, my legs got a day of rest.”

Rays beef up bullpen, acquire Bradford from Orioles

Rays...No longer a Wannabe.

The first-place Tampa Bay Rays acquired reliever Chad Bradford from Baltimore on Thursday, bolstering their bullpen with a proven postseason pitcher.

The Rays claimed the submarining right-hander on waivers, then got him from the Orioles in a trade for a player to be named.

The 33-year-old Bradford is 3-3 with a 2.45 ERA this year. The durable reliever has made 47 appearances and thrown 40⅓ innings.

Bradford has a 0.00 ERA in 17 playoff games spanning 15⅓ innings — no active reliever has pitched more innings in the postseason without giving up a run.

Andy Pettitte likely to miss next start

Mussina and Pontoon™ and pray for Monsoon*

*stolen from bebop at RLYW

N.Y. Yankees Top 5 Pitching Prospects

The Yankees are on the verge of creating one of the more talented groups of young pitchers in the nation (of course, the recent struggles of Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain’s latest shoulder concerns could put a damper on the whole process). They have some very talented pitchers coming up through their system, and the Yanks could have a very strong rotation in 5 to 8 years.

Rank, Player, Age.

1. Jairo Heredia, 18…

BPro: Silver: Bonds Bingo

This Bonds deal is going on longer than Drew Danburry’s “I’m Pretty Sure This Is Someone Else’s Song But I Couldn’t Figure Out Whose So I’m Keeping It (Bop-Bop)” !

Ultimately, though, what has happened is that the 30 major league teams have conspired (not literally, I’d hope) to run down Barry Bonds’ clock. There are a number of decent fits, but no one great one, and if you’re only renting a player for the scope of 35 or 40 ballgames, the marginal contribution is going to be fairly small—not more than an extra win on the season for any of these clubs. If you were going to sign Bonds, the time to have done so would have been much earlier in the season.

Nevertheless, I would keep a watchful eye on the Mets. If Bonds ends up in anybody’s uniform, it’s likely to be that one, as Omar Minaya is an active GM who finds himself with few other alternatives and a lot of pressure to reach the playoffs. But the odds are overwhelming that Bonds isn’t going to be wearing anybody’s jersey, and that instead he’s going to be sitting on his couch come October.

American Idol David Cook takes batting practice with New York Mets

Refreshments were provided by the good folks at Jaerock Lee Industries.

American Idol winner David Cook took batting practice with the Mets today before their game against the San Diego Padres, and ripped a couple nice hits to right-center field while batting lefthanded under the watchful eye of David Wright.

Cook, 25, who also threw out the first pitch, has the exact same birthday as Wright—Dec. 20, 1982. He grew up playing Legion baseball in Blue Springs, Mo., and was a fan of the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs.

In fact, Cook was wearing a Chiefs baseball cap—signed by, of all people, former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly and former Devils defenseman Ken Daneyko—when he hit the field. The Mets promptly gave him a Mets hat.

``I am a Kansas City sports fan, but I’m a baseball fan, more than anything,’’ Cook said. ``To be able to come to Shea, with all the history and the fact there’s going to be a new stadium next season, is really cool.’’

N.Y. Observer: Megdal: Pedro Versus the ‘Rust’

And no...this has nothing to do with “The Big Ball Orchard in the South Bronx.”

Martinez sometimes appears incapable of getting major league hitters out, particularly early in games—witness his two home runs Wednesday, or the four runs on five hits he gave up to the Cardinals in the first inning on July 2. But he managed, in both games, to give up next-to-nothing over the remaining innings of his start.

Is he merely rusty, and the low innings total—he missed two months from April to June with a hamstring injury—will allow him to pitch more effectively from now until the end of the season? Or is his body betraying him, not only with various ailments, but for the first time, keeping him from the pinpoint command that made him a legend? Even Pedro doesn’t know what to expect from himself.

“No, I can’t really predict,” Martinez said. “Let’s be realistic. Right now, I can’t tell you—I’ve pitched, what, twice in a month? What I can tell you is that I felt great today. I haven’t pitched like I need to pitch. I will try to stay healthy, and keep making adjustments. I have two months to get better and keep the team in the fight. I will get better, and I think I can take care of it.”

That Guy who gave up number 756 fine with role in history

If you don’t know the name of the person who I am talking about, hand in your Baseball geek-card now.

Forbes: Minor Leagues, Major Profits

With the 20 most valuable minor league teams on the sidebar.

The Lehigh Valley IronPigs, who moved from Ottawa, Canada, to Allentown, Pa., prior to the 2008 season, were not part of this valuation because of insufficient data.

Once they get sufficient data, I’m sure they’ll be on this list. The IronPigs are 4th in the IL in attendance, just ahead of Indianpolis, which Forbes ranks #5 overall.

BTF should go to Sacramento:

the team will throw you an 80-person fajita party in the James Hardie Party Deck for $3,800.

That’s less than $50 a person. We have guys who lose that in 20 minutes playing poker.