Mlb: So, Yankee Stadium Takes This No Moving During “God Bless America"-Thing Rather Seriously

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very patriotic; I love my country. This action, however, is more than a little over the top.

Remember a little more than a year ago when George Steinbrenner, inflated with patriotic fervor, imposed a laughable rule that instructed security officials to ban anyone from “excessive movement” during the 7th inning rendition of “God Bless America.” Granted, most New Yorkers seemingly abide by it, but sometimes the system must be tested by one man’s agnosticism and patriotic indifference. Oh, and he had to piss.

Meet Bradford Campeau-Laurion, a 29-year-old man from Astoria, Queens, and a director of web production for a “major website” who made the unfortunate decision to blatantly disregard “God Bless America” and hit the head. He was dealt with swiftly and aggressively by Steinbrenner’s Red, White, And Blue Muscle. I left a message with Yankees media relations for their comments on this, but it’s probably safe to assume that they’ll only react to this if Brad here makes a colossal stink over it.

Zambrano feels fine, expects to rebound from irritating month—ChicagoSports.com

Irritating? Irritation is going to the express line with a gallon of milk and having to wait for the guy with a severe math problem. When your ERA sits at 7.42 in your month of starts in a pennant race, I’d say describing the situation as “irritating” just doesn’t cut it. So in a desire for accuracy I ask, what word best describes Zambrano’s last month?

PAVANO AVAILABLE TO OTHER TEAMS AFTER ONE START - New York Post

Now, if I wanted to be snarky I’d probably mention that this article reminded me I really need to get rid of some old underwear that I’ve held onto in the hope they’d miraculously return to their original condition. But I’m not feeling particularly snarky today, so I’ll just post the quote without really commenting.

Could “The Idle” be moving?

Carl “American Idle” Pavano is scheduled to start tomorrow night against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium - unless another team wants him.

The Post has learned Pavano was put on waivers within the last 24 hours and available to be claimed and then traded if the Yankees New York Yankees find a match.

Pavano, who returned to the big leagues last Saturday in Baltimore after being out since April of last year because Tommy John surgery on the right elbow, is in the final season of a four-year, $40 million deal.

Replay central resembles NASA’s Mission Control

Ground control to Major Tom (Hallion).

Baseball’s replay central is an 18-by-24 foot room on the fifth floor of a former baking factory in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District that’s crammed with so many computers and television screens that it looks like NASA’s Mission Control.

Five monitors stretch across the top of the wall, and beneath are eight, 46-inch screens split into two rows. Each television can show one picture, or be split into nine, 16, 25 or 100 angles at once.

In the third row are two white Macintosh computers with 19-inch screens, each adjacent to a 26-inch TV. And, finally, below that are dozens of buttons on a router panel. Some are blue, some green, some red, some yellow. This is where the technicians and supervisors will sit.

Can you hear me, Major Tom (Hallion)?
Can you hear me, Major Tom (Hallion)?

WEEI.com: Bradford: Beckett’s Go-To Guy

Josh Beckett’s Zen Master ... Dr. James Andrews.

The Red Sox’ doctors and trainers had done their due diligence, seemingly identifying the source of the problem without taking an MRI. Although for Beckett, the ultimate peace of mind had come with the phone calls to Andrews.

Beckett’s first call to the Birmingham, Ala.-based doctor came last Friday
after experiencing a setback following a throwing session. Since then the communication has continued via cell phone, stretching to the latest round of analysis Wednesday.

“He’s hesitant to tell me exactly what he thinks it is because he hasn’t seen it,” Beckett said. “Over the phone he gives me some reassurance, but he’s like, ‘It doesn’t sound like this, but I can rule that out until I see it.’

“I’ve (referred) to him on everything I’ve ever had with my shoulder or elbow. I’ve had other doctors check me out for physicals and things like that, but when it comes to, ‘I need this done,’ or ‘I need an MRI because I’m hurt or injured,’ I’m going to see Dr. Andrews.”

Denver Post: Giants rally to drop Rox 4-1

Poison to others’ dreams, the Rockies began Wednesday with a chance to move five games back of the division lead for the first time in four months. Two pitches and one of baseball’s brightest stars prevented it.

The Rockies fell 4-1 to the San Francisco Giants at raucous AT&T Park, nudged six games behind Arizona in the National League West.
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Lincecum (15-3) surrendered just five hits, while reaching at least 10 strikeouts for the seventh time this season… And yet for all of Lincecum’s mastery, Livan Hernandez was poised to turn him into a loser, factually speaking. Hernandez, who has laid an egg since joining the Rockies, strung together Faberges for six innings.
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Bengie Molina crushed an 86-mph fastball into the left-center field seats. Unnerved, Hernandez grooved a fastball to rookie Pablo Sandoval… Sandoval kept his hands back and drove the ball just inside the left-field foul pole.

The scoreboard panels in the upper deck inspired hope. Lincecum had thrown 118 pitches after seven innings. There was a realistic thought that he might not return. Lincecum finished with a season-high 132 pitches, leaving Jack Taschner and Brian Wilson to vanquish the Rockies’ last breaths.

MN Star-Tribune: Span’s throw bails out Twins

The Twins avoided getting swept by the American League’s worst team and pulled within one game of the first-place White Sox in the AL Central, after Chicago lost 11-3 to Baltimore.

“I’m glad we got a victory and can get out of here, man,” Span said. “I don’t like this place.”
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The Twins, who open a four-game series in Oakland tonight, were 1-4 in Seattle and trailed 4-3 when Raul Ibanez smashed a home run off Perkins with two outs in the seventh… But the Twins scored three runs in the eighth, giving Perkins (12-3) the victory, as he improved to 10-1 in his past 13 starts.

MLB.com: Garza, Pena lead Rays to win vs. Jays

The Rays reached a franchise-first 80 wins on Wednesday night courtesy of Matt Garza’s right arm and one piece of very timely hitting from Carlos Pena. When the dust finally settled, Tampa Bay snapped a two-game home losing skid with a series-evening 1-0 win over Toronto in front of a crowd of 12,678 at Tropicana Field.
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The Rays first baseman broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning, blasting David Purcey’s first pitch of the frame over the right-field fence. The rookie Purcey notched a career-high 11 strikeouts, but was outdueled by Garza, who had previously beaten Toronto’s ace Roy Halladay twice this season.

NY Times: Yanks’ Playoff Hopes Are Going, Going… (RR)

The sound of Dustin Pedroia’s grand slam exploded like a gunshot Wednesday night, tearing the guts of even the most naïve believers in the 2008 Yankees. It was the eighth inning of a game the Yankees were already losing, and now the Boston Red Sox were piling on.

It was like the opening scene of a documentary, many years from now, capturing the thud of finality to something once so special. The question for the Yankees is what starts next: a glorious renaissance or a painful fall from grace?
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There was no need to witness the final details of the Yankees’ 11-3 loss, the one that very likely doomed their postseason chances.

The Yankees had considered it a necessity to win this series, but now they cannot. They have lost the first two games, with a matinee to come Thursday, and they fell to seven games behind the Red Sox in the American League wild-card standings.
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“There is going to be a lot going on this off-season,” [Hank Steinbrenner] said. “I promise you that.”

MLB.com: Brewers’ brooms doused in finale

An RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Aaron Miles produced the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Cardinals posted a 5-3 comeback victory over the Brewers on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium. St. Louis wound up scoring four runs in the eighth and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Brewers.
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The Cardinals moved back within 3 1/2 games of Milwaukee in the National League Wild Card chase with the victory.

ESPN: Shoppach’s HR, 3 RBIs push streaking Indians past Tigers

Kelly Shoppach homered and drove in three runs and Shin-Soo Choo also went deep to lift the Cleveland Indians to their 10th straight win, 9-7 over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. Cleveland’s team record is 13 consecutive wins, accomplished twice, the last time in 1951.
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The Indians have won 10 straight, their longest winning streak since 2002. Their longest streak of the last 50 years was 11 straight in 1982.

MLB.com: Phils lose game, ground in NL East

The Phillies missed a chance on Wednesday to extend their lead in the National League East. Instead they fell back into second place.

The Phils’ 6-3 loss to the Mets in front of a sold-out Citizens Bank Park crowd dropped them a half-game behind the Mets and snapped their winning streak at five games.
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After watching the Mets’ bullpen collapse on Tuesday night, the Phils had relief problems of their own on Wednesday. Rudy Seanez and Brad Lidge combined to give up four runs in the eighth inning, including Carlos Delgado’s second home run of the night and a base hit by Brian Schneider that scored two runs.

ESPN: Redding leads Nats, sending Dodgers to 6th straight loss

And on cue, the Dodgers counter the D’backs!

Tim Redding outpitched Greg Maddux to send the Los Angeles Dodgers to a season-high sixth consecutive loss, 5-4 Wednesday night against the Washington Nationals.

The Dodgers have lost eight straight road games for the first time since June 2005. The offense has been the main culprit, scoring 10 runs in the past six games.

MLB.com: Braves sign veteran Dessens

MLB is always a better place when it has a guy with such an old-school name as “Elmer” playing, I think.

The Braves have agreed to terms with Elmer Dessens on a Major League contract for the remainder of the 2008 season. The 37-year-old right-hander, who spent this year pitching in Mexico, is expected to join the Braves later this week.

Dessens, who has gone 48-61 with a 4.50 ERA in 11 Major League seasons, went to the Mexican League after being released by the Pirates on March 27. In 20 games (19 starts) with the Mexico City Red Devils, he was 10-2 with a 4.03 ERA.

Boras fires back

Scott Boras phoned from California to give this quote: “The Pirates violated Major League Baseball rules and have issued a nearly 600-word statement, made their actions look to be my fault. I think it’s time for the Pirates and Mr. Coonelly to come clean with the fans of Pittsburgh and let everyone know about their dealings with Mr. Alvarez.”

Yinzers rise up to defend Boras? Blaaahhaahhahhaaaaa!!!

Arizona Republic: Padres rally to sweep D-Backs

We’re still a few hours away from the probable counter-loss by the Dodgers to the Nationals.

The Diamondbacks came into Petco Park for a series with their top three starters set to face one of baseball’s worst teams. They left on Wednesday afternoon with three losses.

Trailing by four, the Padres rallied for three runs in the seventh inning against starter Randy Johnson then scored twice more against reliever Chad Qualls to come away with a 5-4 victory over the Diamondbacks before an announced crowd of 24,563.
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The Diamondbacks scored all of their runs in the sixth inning. They went down in order in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, with Padres closer Trevor Hoffman striking out the side in the ninth.

SI: A Lot of Guys Got Hosed in the Minors.  They Should Sue.

WARNING: This is a Rick Reilly column, short and predictably shallow, but it’s interesting, so I’m posting it anyway.

You think the steroids issue is dead, but it isn’t. These guys live with the fallout every day. Their dreams died in big league clubhouse johns. I’m telling you: lawsuit. Stanford labor law professor emeritus William Gould IV says the idea “is very interesting” but that they’d need to prove three things to win:

1) A correlation between steroid use and better performance. (Please.)

2) That baseball turned a blind eye to steroid use. (Exhibit A: baseball¹s own Mitchell Report. It blames Bud Selig and players association COO Gene Orza for allowing steroids to spread like crabgrass. Mitchell said there was a “code of silence” in baseball. You think? Oriole David Segui told his GM that he wanted to go to Florida to pick up juice, and the GM never reported it. A Twins visiting clubhouse attendant found a used syringe and told manager Tom Kelly, who never reported it. The thing has more conspiracies than an Oliver Stone movie.)

3) “Nonstatutory labor exemption considerations,” Gould IV says. That’s just so complicated it makes our head ache, but a good shark would gobble it right up.

Deadspin: So, Yankee Stadium Takes This No Moving During “God Bless America"-Thing Rather Seriously

Yankee Stadium’s Patriotism Police nabbed somebody.

Yahoo: Cubs Sweep Pirates

The Cubs are now 33 games over .500.  Last time that happened?  1945. 

Pirates put Pedro Alvarez on restricted list

The Pirates should have known that a deal with the devil would turn out badly.

The Pirates today put first-round draft pick Pedro Alvarez on the restricted list for refusing to sign his contract.

Agent Scott Boras is demanding the Pirate renegotiate Alvarez’s contract—and increase the team-record $6 million signing bonus. Boras contends the contract was submitted to MLB after the midnight Aug. 15 deadline.

Pirates president Frank Coonelly said Major League Baseball has assured the Pirates the contract is valid and was sent to the commissioner’s office on time. MLB that night received the contract of Eric Hosmer, another Boras client, after Alvarez’s contract was submitted.

Ten finalists named for HOF consideration

If this is a repost, I apologize but I didn’t see it under the HOF newsbeat.

Ten former major league players, whose careers began in 1942 or earlier, will be considered for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009 by the Veterans Committee, with results of a December 7 vote to be announced December 8 at baseball’s Winter Meetings, it was announced today.

Bill Dahlen fans rejoice.

Chicago Tribune: Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti resigns

Jay Mariotti, the opinionated and polarizing sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, told the Chicago Tribune he resigned on Tuesday after 17 years with the paper.

WHOO WHOOOOOO

Mariotti, whose public battles with fellow staffers, team owners, and rival columnists are legendary, didn’t disclose any specific plans except to say he will continue doing his regular stint on ESPN’s “Around the Horn.’’

He said that he “is talking with a lot of Web sites’’ and added that the future of his business “sadly is not in newspapers.’’

If only we can fool him into thinking the future of the business isn’t on ESPN, then we can rid ourselves of Mariotti FOREVERRRRR.

Fuentes on bereavement list; Register called up : All Things Rockies

Don’t forget to update your roster.

The Rockies will be a bit short-handed. Closer Brian Fuentes left the team to tend to a non-baseball related issue and was placed on the bereavement list. A player must stay on the list for a minimum of three days and a maximum of seven.

SportingNews.com - Your expert source for MLB Baseball stats, scores, standings, blogs and fantasy n

Brought to you by the same people who gave you the Titanic.

A New Jersey inventor says he has come up with a way to take that aluminum “ping” out of youth baseball and the broken bat out of the national pastime, while making the game a little safer with every swing.

It’s the unbreakable wooden bat, at least one that is guaranteed for a year.

Flushing University: Good Things Happen in Threes

The Mets have already taken the first step toward such a plan, taking advantage of Thursday’s off-day to skip Maine’s former spot in the rotation. The schedule is extremely kind to the Mets between September 3 and September 12, with three off days that will allow Manuel to skip Niese entirely and to minimize appearances from the fourth starter Pedro Martinez.

By simply using the three of them with the standard four days’ rest, Manuel can pitch Santana, Pelfrey and Perez ten times in a 12-game stretch between now and the 12th. Failure to do so on the manager’s part should be a fireable offense.

Surviving Grady: A Diary of Unhealthy Red Sox Obsession

One guy I couldn’t stand was Roy White.

Denton: For me, picking the biggest d-bag ever to wear a Yankees uni is like trying to pick the hottest Victoria’s Secret model: there are too many choices, each with their own distinct qualities. Not to mention, there’s just too much history of hate-able Yankees. It’s like trying to compare the Celtics teams of the Russell era against the Bird era. You just can’t. So I’ve gone the route Dickens would have, and identified the most-hated Yankees of the past, present and future.

A-Rod comes up short, Wakefield comes up big as Yanks’ playoff hopes take a hit

Attendance: 55,058 (95.8% full)

The Yanks-Sox Rivalry died in New York City today as a game not only failed to sell out, but left over 1,500 seats empty. It was the 7th time such a thing happened this season despite claims by the Yankees that basically every game in The Final Season of Historic Yankee Stadium (C) was either sold out or borderline sold-out. The Yanks-Sox Rivalry is survived in New York City by it’s brother, the Yankees-Mets rivalry, and by several cousins, including the Jets-Patriots rivalry, the Giants-Eagles rivalry and, of course, the Knicks-Fanbase rivalry. In lieu of flowers, Hank Steinbrenner asks that you send Free Agent pitchers, especially of the Left-Handed variety.

Okay, back to seriousness: this really caught my eye:

• Tim Wakefield tied Cy Young for the most decisions by a pitcher in Red Sox history with No. 304. Wakefield is now 162-142 lifetime.

Anytime you tie Cy Young in anything, you deserve props.

SF Gate: Jenkins on the pitch count (Part Two): Let them learn to pitch and learn to finish

Hey kids, the long-awaited “Part 2” of Bruce Jenkins’ potentially award-winning article on the demise of the complete article, er, game.

One of the most respected pitchers of the 1980s, Jack Morris, said, “I’m not even sure I could pitch today. I’d probably want to be a reliever. As a starter, you have no chance of controlling your destiny. You can have a great game and not be able to finish it. I trust me more than I trust a reliever.”

Morris then climbed to the top of his lean-to and drank six four packs of Old Style.

B-ref Blog: Baseball’s 250,000th Homer

almost there

Any dibs on who will hit and when? 

Dayton Daily News: McCoy - The Big A’s: Alonso, Arroyo

The Reds certainly could use some heavy weaponry, even though they performed a major accomplishment Tuesday night by beating the Houston Astros, 2-1. This one was won because pitcher Bronson Arroyo cranked up a dandy, a five-hitter and the first complete game this year by a Reds pitcher — the Reds being the last team without a complete game.
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Arroyo picked up a clue from home plate umpire Dana DeMuth when he batted in the third inning and DeMuth called him out on what Arroyo thought was a low pitch.

“He rang me up on balls I thought were really low,” said Arroyo. “So I went to the mound and test him out. He called those strikes, too, so I said, ‘Beautiful,’ and tried to stay way, way low with my pitches, down at the bottom of the zone, right at the knees. And those got me all those ground balls.”
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After his gem, Arroyo was more concerned about his hair and said as he came out of the showers, “These people don’t realize you can’t wash your hair with Pert-Plus. Your hair will fall out.”