Keown: What the MLB committee will find

The committee members need to see the industry of youth baseball for what it has become: A business enterprise designed to exclude those without the means and mobility to participate. Over the past 15 to 20 years, the proliferation of pay-for-play teams in youth baseball—and the parallel proliferation of parents willing to pay for them and coaches willing to cash their checks—has had more of an impact on African-American participation than anything another sport has to offer.

It’s become ...

Great Moments in Triple-A: Buffalo beats Syracuse 27-9

Was gonna say that ten-run seventh was the problem, but losing 17-9 ain’t exactly great.

Eight RBI for Luis Jimenez. Lots of fun stuff from players who have hung around major league rosters on-and-off.  Minor League Baseball: it’s FAN-tastic.

Other fun stuff in the box score:

Every player in the lineup for both teams had a hit.
*Josh Thole was the only player for Buffalo who did not score.
*Mauro Gomez was the only player for Buffalo without an RBI.
*Moises Sierra was 6-6 with 5 ...

Bess: Why A Jumbotron At Wrigley Field Is A Super-Sized Mistake

Madlock to Spurlock…Don’t Super Size Me!

Jumbotron? Just Say ‘No!’

The main problem is not the rooftop owners, or at least it shouldn’t be. It’s great to have fans watching games from the rooftops across the street—a historic practice to which the Cubs have never objected—but outrageous that rooftop owners veto improvements to Wrigley on the basis of projected “lost revenues.” These “revenues” must be understood for what they are: a theft of the Cubs’ product, to not one ...

McCoy: What’s wrong with Votto? ‘NOTHING’

Baker tracer alert!

The thing about Votto is that he still is on base more than half the time he goes to the plate, a .521 on-base average with 22 walks. It is difficult to hit when pitchers nibble at the plate, refusing to offer tantalizing pitches to hit.

“That’s what I used to do,” said manager Dusty Baker. “We’d get 18 hits and I’d get none, then we’d get six hits and I’d have four.”

ABOUT VOTTO’S batting average, Baker said, “I’m not really worried. It’s only ...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-19-2013

Milwaukee Journal, April 19, 1913:

[Baseball and football] Coach Dennis Grady of Northwestern university today applauded the efforts of Miss Irene Blanchard, dean of women, to stop tango dancing and turkey trotting.

“The exertion an athlete puts in in one evening dancing the new dances is equivalent to the energy he expends in a hard afternoon’s practice on the football field,” said Grady. “It saps his energy.”

1913 was not Lima Time, apparently.

Lemke: Berardino’s face insured in Indians’ contract

Priddy boy makes good.

While it was likely done more for the publicity than in a serious vein, when Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck acquired John Berardino from the St. Louis Browns in the 1948 pre-season, Berardino’s contract called for Veeck to pay for a $100,000 insurance policy protecting the player in the event of significant facial injury as a result of playing baseball.

Berardino had played for St. Louis in the 1947 season, then been traded to the Washington Senators for Gerry ...

4-19-2013 OMNICHATTER

The Red Sox return home for their first game at Fenway since the Marathon Bombings. Meanwhile, Strasburg faces Harvey, the Dodgers and Orioles have the day’s Interleague game and the 13-2 Braves head to Pittsburgh.

Oh, and let us again remind everyone that Mat Latos has a cat named Cat Latos.

Former Major Leaguer Matt Lawton of Gulfport jailed with no bond

Former professional baseball player Matt Lawton of Gulfport is held with no bond in a pending court case involving an apparent family matter.

Lawton, 41, was arrested April 11 and remained in custody Thursday morning at the Harrison County jail.

He is held for an appearance in Harrison County Chancery Court in Gulfport. The case is sealed. The complaint was filed in a court division that handles family disputes, child support and child custody issues.

Lawton has a daughter and son, both ...

Walder: Rex Ryan rants against Baltimore Orioles over season opener

Rex, brothers!

The Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens can’t open the season at home because the Orioles play a game on September 5, when the season opener is scheduled to be played, and the two teams share a parking lot. While there was talk of the Orioles potentially moving their game to another time, Ryan proposed something more ridiculous—moving its location—during a rant against the Baltimore baseball team.

“Well who really cares, you’ve got 81 at home, maybe you could have done ...

Mitch Williams: Matt Harvey looks like NL Cy Young material

“It is all over his face.” (psst…don’t tell Murray Chass)

When I look at players who have been surprises, the one that jumps out at me the most. I can’t really even say it is that big of a surprise. What Matt Harvey is doing for the Mets is phenomenal! I say it’s not that big of a surprise because of what I saw out of him last year. I said he is the closest thing I’ve seen to Roger Clemens come along. Not just his stuff. But more importantly the way he carries himself on the mound. That ...

Jeter makes unscheduled doctor’s visit in Tampa

Update: From Andy McCullough ‏...“Derek Jeter has a small crack in the area of the previous injury, per a CT scan. Cashman says he won’t be back until after All-Star Break.”

Reports are coming out that Derek Jeter did not make his work out today, and is instead making an unscheduled doctor’s visit in Tampa. This is not looking good. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News asked Girardi about this:

Mark Feinsand    

Asked if something happened during Wednesday’s workout that prompted ...

Reddit: I am Jose Canseco, famed steroid user and former MLB player. Ask me anything.

Q: How meaningful was it when Jim Carrey screamed “I’m Jose Canseco!” in Liar Liar?

He could have screamed many other names when he thought of playing baseball with his kid.

A: hes a big fan of mine plus we had a threesome together

Castrovince: Lester, Buchholz Re-emerge With Guidance From Farrell, Nieves

This was the best hope among Red Sox fans regarding the team’s fortunes in 2013: that 2012 would be an outlier for the starting rotation; that the return of John Farrell would mean the return of performance from Lester and Buchholz to their former peak; and that any projections that included any influence of 2012 would be assessing the rotation too negatively. While it’s less than one month, it’s fun to see that hope be fulfilled to date.

Justice: Changing skippers won’t solve Angels’ woes

“You Ought To Say Me A Prayer”

There may be dumber ideas than firing Mike Scioscia, but I can’t think of any. I understand why it’s a topic of conversation, and Scioscia does, too. When a team begins a season with high expectations and then falls on its face out of the gate, someone has to be held accountable.

That someone usually is the skipper. Never mind the circumstances or personnel. Never mind fairness. Competent managers get fired every season. It usually happens when management has ...

Mets prospect Travis d’Arnaud has fracture in left foot

Jeez…Travis Bickle spent more time playing a Sport than Travis d’Arnaud.

Mets prospect Travis d’Arnaud has a non-displaced fracture in the first metatarsal of his left foot and is currently in a walking boot, Mets reporters (including Marc Carig) were told Thursday in Colorado. The highly-touted catcher is heading back to New York to be further examined.

D’Arnaud, 24, missed the last few months of the season with a torn PCL in his knee last season, holding him to only 67 games.

In those 67 ...

White Pitcher: “Obama Gonna Take Our Guns Away, Man”

“Today’s day and age has gotten so crazy. Shoot man, Obama wants to take our guns from us and everything. You got all this stuff going on; it’s just a little bit insane for me, man. I’m not sure how to take it.”

MLB: Bryce Harper tallies four hits despite suffering from flu

Four for five, despite being on an IV drip right up until the first pitch and vomiting in the 2nd inning.  Yeah, he’s a gamer.

[M]ake no mistake about it: Bryce Harper was still sick.

The 20-year-old phenom went 4-for-5 with a double and an RBI and recorded three hits off Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco in the Nationals’ 6-1 win over the Marlins after sitting out the previous game due to a stomach flu that kept him up all night.

But Harper deemed himself well enough to play after a pregame IV, ...

Davidi on Jays: The trade that almost was

In some ways the remade Toronto Blue Jays owe the visiting Chicago White Sox a debt of gratitude, since it was their exploration of trade possibilities for Jake Peavy back in October that helped set the stage for Alex Anthopoulos to pull off November’s blockbuster with the Miami Marlins.

A few weeks before that franchise-altering deal went down, the general manager was close to acquiring the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner from the South Siders, whose $22-million club option for 2013 was due ...

Padres CEO Tom Garfinkel Compared Zack Greinke to Rain Man, Quickly Apologized [Audio]

Zack doesn’t even like Wapner!

Padres CEO and Team President Tom Garfinkel spoke with season ticket holders last Friday, less than 48 hours after the Zack Greinke/ Carlos Quentin incident that resulted in Greinke breaking his collarbone. Yahoo Sports obtained audio of Garfinkel’s talk. Garfinkel was of the belief that Greinke was throwing at Quentin intentionally, and explained-away it being a 2-1 game and a 3-2 count by comparing Zack Greinke to Raymond Babbitt.

“Zack Greinke is a ...

Brewers re-sign former reliever Francisco Rodriguez

As a possible alternative should they seek to add an experienced relief pitcher to their roster at some point, the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday re-signed Francisco Rodriguez to a minor-league deal.

The deal is a no-risk move by the Brewers, who have 30 days to summon Rodriguez, 31, to the majors or grant his release. Rodriguez, who pitched the last 1 1/2 seasons for the Brewers, was not offered a job as a free agent over the off-season and has been in his native Venezuela. He did pitch for ...

Brisbee: Pedro Alvarez: the most confusing hitter in baseball

Wait…I thought it was Matt Kemp.

As of the end of April 17: .089/.180/.089 in 50 plate appearances. He’s without an extra-base hit, obviously. He has four hits in 45 at-bats. He’s struck out in over a third of his plate appearances. If Alvarez is the most perplexing hitter in baseball, this wasn’t a perplexing start. It was simply awful. I went through the game logs, and just started tallying the plate appearances up. So instead of a narrative, you’re going to get a list of factoids.

  • ...

Lohse pitching well

it’s ridiculously early but kyle lohse has been great. he throws strikes and he works fast. yes he makes funny faces while pitching and most brewer fans figure his performance is going to tank any moment but for right ‘now’ doug melvin has to feel good.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 4-18-2013

Pittsburgh Press, April 18, 1913:

George Sisler, the twirler who refused to report to the Pirates and who is now on the local team’s ineligible list, twirled a wonderful game for Michigan university [sic] yesterday, beating the Alma college nine 4 to 1, allowing his opponents one hit. In addition to twirling like a big leaguer, Sisler also pounded out two hits, one of which was a triple.

Mark my words: This Sisler kid is going to be a great big leaguer someday.

Rybarczyk: Can Mantle’s 565-foot homer be matched?

Up Chuck Stobbs? Rumination syndrome at play here.

Wednesday marks the 60th anniversary of one of the most famous home runs in major-league history—one hit by Mickey Mantle off Chuck Stobbs at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. Yankees publicist Red Patterson claimed the home run went 565 feet.

Is a 565-foot home run feasible in today’s game? Let’s look at that from two angles.

...Let’s run through five ballparks just to show you how difficult a feat this would now be.

At Yankee ...

Schram: Washington’s sorry monument to Jackie Robinson

Even the Frank Howard monument makes more sense.

So today we’ll educate ourselves by taking a guided tour of Washington’s monument to Jackie Robinson. You never heard of it? Probably not. After all, it doesn’t tower above the capital skyline like George Washington’s, nor sit and gaze down at us like Abe Lincoln’s. Washington’s monument to Jackie Robinson stands just 131 pages tall, a monument originally made of paper and microfilm. It is the FBI’s file on Jack Roosevelt Robinson. ...

Tigers 2, Mariners 1: Pitchers’ duel ends in 14th, masterful Scherzer strikes out 12

AL SO/9 is now up to 7.6. Ho-hum…K’s are becoming the HR’s of the 90’s.

The Detroit Tigers needed 14 innings, 19 strikeouts, eight pitchers and ended the game by throwing out a runner at the plate, all in order to beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1. The two teams combined for 40 strikeouts (Mariners 19, Tigers 21), the second-highest single game total of all time.

Neither starting pitcher was eligible for a decision, but Max Scherzer and Felix Hernandez deserved better. Scherzer and Hernandez ...

4-18-2013 OMNICHATTER

Games start 1:10 with the Giants at Brewers, and the final game of the day starts at 7:10 when Miami is at Cincy. Among the pitchers today: Cain, Gallardo, Verlander, Lester, Wainwright, Price, Sale, Dickey and Hamels.

Newhan: Matt Kemp: Has a Superstar Ever Been This Lost at the Plate?

Dunno…but I do remember Mantle (after his last HR) finishing his career going 1 for 20.

—Yes, it has only been two weeks, but I don’t recall ever seeing a verifiable superstar looking as lost at the plate as Matt Kemp. The Dodger center fielder can not hit a breaking pitch, seems equally unsteady in the field, and is the equivalent of the Thin Man after his shoulder surgery, reducing his home run strength to that dreaded cliche of “warning track power.”

  —Unless the Angels prove they can ...

The Washington Informer: The Real Reason Blacks Got to Play Major League Baseball

‘twas I, informed on…

Ironically, in the years before Robinson’s breakthrough, a committee was formed to help baseball overcome its “Negro problem” then. The late Queen Mother Audley Moore of Harlem, then 84-years-old told this writer for a 1982 documentary, for The Black Scholars Radio series, that in her early years, she had tried to be a “good Negro” and that she was involved in just such an effort.

“I worked hard at it. And this was what I did as a Negro,” she said. “I’ll give you an ...

Triple A fan throws peanuts at Brandon Inge

Brandon Inge is trying to make his way back to the majors with the Pirates by playing at Triple-A and last night he almost got into a fight with a Toledo Mud Hens fan throwing peanuts at him.