. And he can say what he wants in defense or whatnot, but doing the chart, I mean, every ball that Barry hit, the ball was center cut, right down the middle, fastball. You know, I think maybe inside he was thinking he was going to get a little bit more publicity. Maybe, you know, publicity and some money out of it, appearances, stuff like that.”

Now, I liked Mike Bacsik. I thought he'd have a little more of a 5th starter career than he did, but still.... Its MIKE BACSIK.

Thats what he does. Thats why hes Mike Bacsik instead of Jamie Moyer. He never had any stuff. Weak pitcher +strong hitter = easy homer.

I'm pretty damn certain Barry wasn't the first guy to get a soft fastball grooved down the middle for an easy homer off Mike Bacsik.

Tim Redding can go to hell. He's the worst.

He'd be a killer pitcher in some fast pitch softball league.

Mike Bacsik just tweeted the following — “Well just got a call from Bill Ladson of washingtonnationals.com and Tim Redding said he believes I tried to give up homer#756. Good teammate”

pwn3d

That's a damn serious accusation. Redding needs more than that to back it up. Not cool at all.

How many twitter followers does Mike Bacsik have?

Does Cannonball Tim Redding tweet as well?

Who gives a ####? He was going to hit it eventually.

Mike Bacsik has a twitter page?

Edit: What Crispix said.

Yeah, that accusation is as serious as any accusation put forth against Pete Rose. Of course, there's nothing to be done about it by anybody, but not a good idea by Redding.

Nice to see we're highlighting catfights involving the lowest rung of baseball celebrity.

For everyone on my page that needs a denial; I didn't try to give up the homerun. I was crappy enough to do it without trying.
about 3 hours ago from web

If somebody would have asked me, what teammate will say you tried to give up a homerun? After laughing my answer would have been Tim Redding
about 4 hours ago from web

Seems like a cool guy.

This is an easy question to ask the man himself.

Bacsik, since his release/retirement, has been working for the DFW sports radio monolith, The Ticket. He worked there as an intern before his baseball career. He's now the producer of Norm Hitzges' show from 10 AM to noon. So, you could just call up the station, and he'll be the one screening you during that time.

I was at my mom's place just after the Cowboys lost in the playoffs, and Hitzges was talking about listener reactions to something Bacsik had said the day before. Apparently there was some extra-curricular attack on Favre after he celebrated the last touchdown? Anyway, Bacsik had apparently said he was more than okay with it. He went on to say:

1) He's okay with throwing at a batter.
2) He's okay with "headhunting", which he then defined (I was hoping he misused the term) as aiming for the head.
3) He's okay with both of these in retaliation for being "shown up", but not as retaliation for good play.

So he is completely in favor of beaning a guy in the head for mouthing off (he said this), but not hitting the guy after a homerun or hitting the HR hitter the next time up. If the HR hitter "takes 30 seconds to round the bases", then you can aim for the head. He also said that squaring around to bunt deserved getting hit every time after, "You want first? I'll give you first for the rest of the year, if you can make it down there." He also claimed (falsely) that Nolan Ryan was the exact same way.

Dude is well-spoken and intelligent for a typical athlete. The problem with that is that I've always assumed some of the "unwritten rules" stuff was confusing to me because it just wasn't being explained right. He explained it eloquently, it's just ####### stupid.

Mike Bacsik has a twitter page?

That'd be an effect of his job now, not his former one, amusingly enough.

*grumble*

Now I can't even hope Timmy Boy gets picked up by the Rangers, so I can get a legit jersey with my name on the back.

That's the thing about Tim Redding: He's not afraid to level baseless accusations against former teammates. Gotta respect that.

My memory of Tim Redding is of him getting ass raped on the mound as a Yankee.Amazed he is still playing ML ball...do the Mets count?

That's all right. I think Downing grooved one for Hank, just so Hank could get it over with.

As long as Jason Johnson doesn't come back, Redding has a place in the record books for now for having the worst winning percentage among active pitchers who have started 100 games. It's not as catchy as Bacsik's claim to fame.

I don't know about Bacsik, but Jake Peavy definitely grooved one for Bonds in Bonds' last MLB at bat. Bonds hit a laser, but it was to deep right-center in AT&T Park, and it stayed in the park and was caught. Judging by their reactions after the pitch (I was there), Bonds seemed to thank Peavy for doing that, and Peavy acknowledged him back.

I never want to speak ill of anybody

There's an easy solution there.

Famously, Denny McLain grooved one for Mantle, and Mantle realized what was happening.

Here is Mantle's description.

If anyone knows about crappy fastballs down the middle, it's Tim Redding.

#20: That Mantle story is a lot of fun, actually. Too bad it didn't turn out to be his last home run.

Didn't umpires tell pitchers in Yaz's last game "if he doesn't swing, it's not a strike"?

Mike Bacsik has a twitter page?

Lots of people do. Even Bill Plaschke does.

-- MWE

Mike Bacsik has a twitter page?



Lots of people do. Even Bill Plaschke does.

-- MWE

For some reason, Plaschke's tweets have been called "columns" for a while. :-)

Lots of people do. Even Bill Plaschke does.

If only all his writinghad a character limit.

@18:

Here's the story from MLB.com, with Peavy completely admitting that. The relevant section:

Bonds hit his 700th homer off Peavy near the end of the 2004 season and may have had the last at-bat of his career against him in the sixth inning this past Sept. 26 at San Francisco's AT&T;Park. Peavy served a fastball to Bonds and the lefty-swinging slugger nearly homered, driving the ball to the fence just to the right of center, where so many of his long balls had gone out.

When Bonds jogged back across the infield from first base to the Giants' third-base side dugout, he pointed at Peavy and thanked him for the gesture. Bonds left the game at that point to a standing ovation, nursing a severely bruised right toe. Peavy says now that it was the least he could do.

"Obviously, everyone in the ballpark knew that was going to be Barry's last at-bat," Peavy recalled. "Me and Barry being buddies, I wanted to take care of him in his old ballpark. I wanted to give him as good a send-off as he could have. That being said, I couldn't throw cookies up there all night because we had to win. But we were able to get a 9-2 lead, and I'm facing Barry knowing this was going to be his last at-bat.

"At that point, I knew we were going to win that game and he knew I was going to give him a good pitch to hit. He didn't have to guess what was coming: a fastball. He took a good shot at it and just missed it. We had a good little exchange there. We would've done that whether it had been on the field or not. But he wanted the fans to be a part of us paying our respect to each other."

And the Mantle/McLain story was one of the first things I thought of too. A little while back, I looked in to what people were saying about it at the time, if you're interested. People seemed to forgive it then pretty quickly - but then again, we were talking about Mantle. He was a tad more beloved than Barry.

Well, I was around then, everybody knew about it, it was a pretty big story, and nobody really cared. I would guess that partly it was because the difference between being the 3rd, or 4th or 5th best home run hitter of all time is not that big of a deal; partly because it made no difference in the standings; and mostly because it was Mantle, and by then, people just loved Mantle.

The next year they had Mickey Mantle, and I watched it on TV as they gave him that huge, long standing ovation.

tim redding was a dewsh-bag when he was with the astros too. no big news

man i miss barry lamar

You know, I think maybe inside he was thinking he was going to get a little bit more publicity. Maybe, you know, publicity and some money out of it, appearances, stuff like that.”

Jesus Christ. The lack of self-awareness here is stunning.

man i miss barry lamar

Here you go, Lisa.

Now I can't even hope Timmy Boy gets picked up by the Rangers, so I can get a legit jersey with my name on the back.

If I saw someone in a Rays jersey with that name on the back, I'd think it was the first piece in a tasteless joke about a 40 year-old incident and nod my approval. After that, I'd probably assume it was their last name. Only then would I consider the possibility that Tim Redding is still in MLB.

"Even Bill Plaschke does"

Bill Plaschke once showed me a video of him making love to my wife, and it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw

If I saw someone in a Rays jersey with that name on the back, I'd think it was the first piece in a tasteless joke about a 40 year-old incident and nod my approval. After that, I'd probably assume it was their last name. Only then would I consider the possibility that Tim Redding is still in MLB.

If it was a Royals jersey I'd probably think Tim Redding first.

Ok, I'll be in Redding's corner. If a teammate did what he alleges, I'd sure as #### call him out for it. I think it's shitty to take anything to the media, but there sure as hell would be a confrontation in the clubhouse.

Have the "Team Bacsik" and "Team Redding" shirts been printed yet? They would have to the most hipster clothing items in the history of knowing hipsterdom.

So what's the worst thing a player has said about a current teammate? A former teammate? A non teammate?

Ok, I'll be in Redding's corner. If a teammate did what he alleges, I'd sure as #### call him out for it. I think it's shitty to take anything to the media, but there sure as hell would be a confrontation in the clubhouse.

You know your position is untenable when the first person to take your side can't even really take your side.

So what's the worst thing a player has said about a current teammate? A former teammate? A non teammate?

Joe Table threatening to kill Omar Vizquel comes to mind. Mostly because it's so funny.

People seemed to forgive it then pretty quickly - but then again, we were talking about Mantle. He was a tad more beloved than Barry.

Well, that's only because he was white.

Don't forget TO calling Jeff Garcia a closeted homosexual.

Even given that there's nothing wrong with homosexuality, the zeitgeist of the sporting world (and particularly the NFL) would seem to indicate that TO's statement was wrong regardless of Garcia's orientation. If it's false, it's possibly career/future salary affecting, in addition to likely being seen as a grave insult in the locker room. If it's true, there's probably a reason the guy hasn't come out yet (see above), and outing him in the national media would be in the top 10 all-time dick moves.

I had almost managed to completely block out the image Tim Redding's ugly ####### face polluting the lovely new stadium last year.

I thought this, from the Mantle article, was amusing:

If McLain grooved one for Mantle - as he undoubtedly did - one teammate was able to understand and approve. He was Al Kaline

Would that someone did that for Al so he didn't end his career at 399 HR.

That's all right. I think Downing grooved one for Hank, just so Hank could get it over with.

No, he's said he grooved it so that every time they show the highlight, you'll see him.

I don't have a cite for that, I've just heard him say it.

Don't forget TO calling Jeff Garcia a closeted homosexual.

Even given that there's nothing wrong with homosexuality, the zeitgeist of the sporting world (and particularly the NFL) would seem to indicate that TO's statement was wrong regardless of Garcia's orientation. If it's false, it's possibly career/future salary affecting, in addition to likely being seen as a grave insult in the locker room. If it's true, there's probably a reason the guy hasn't come out yet (see above), and outing him in the national media would be in the top 10 all-time dick moves.

T.O. also used the words,"If it smells like a rat" in that interview. It's not like he said something non-judgmental like,"I hear he's hanging out with Greg Louganis."

Yeah, as a 49ers fan, I was kind of hoping Garcia would do exactly what he did, which was to ignore it. But he'd have been 100% justified in criticizing that statement on any number of grounds. This was, of course, back when TO was still basically what Chad Johnson (I refuse to use that other name, not least because he never actually changed it) is now. It wasn't until he left that he turned into the god-awful mess of a person he is these days.

He legally changed it to Ochocinco.

Ochocinco

There is no way in hell the NFL would have allowed him to put OCHOCINCO on his jersey unless he had legally changed his name.

I'm in the minority, but I love Chad Ochocinco, and I think the NFL has been a more fun place for his presence. He's not an obsessive psycho like Terrell Owens; he's just weird.

Yeah, as a 49ers fan, I was kind of hoping Garcia would do exactly what he did, which was to ignore it.

And then marry a very hot Playmate of the Year

If he legally changed it, which I had always thought he had until a few weeks ago, why the hell did he tell whatever TV guy (sorry, I'm drawing a blank, but this was discussed during a game) that he hadn't? I clearly remember the guy talking about asking him if his credit card statements come to Chad Ochocinco and being told no, basically CO saying that he just kind of fiated the new name.

I'm in the minority, but I love Chad Ochocinco, and I think the NFL has been a more fun place for his presence. He's not an obsessive psycho like Terrell Owens; he's just weird.

Oh, I love the stuff he does, too. I think he's great for the NFL, and I cannot figure out why they demonize him so. He's like Dennis Rodman without the legal troubles and palpable air of future violent suicidal tendencies. The NBA would have lapped up that Rodman. TO used to be like that, too. Growing up a 49er fan in Dallas, I had to put up with all the BS about the star, and I thought (and still think) that the first time he put that ball down in it was the funniest thing I had ever seen in sports. The second time was a little classless, but no more so than George Teague hitting him. We all know what happened with Rodman to push him over the edge, the thing with his daughter. I don't know what did it for TO, but I hope CO can avoid it.

So what's the worst thing a player has said about a current teammate? A former teammate? A non teammate?

Not the worst, but this thread reminded me of Charlie Weis implying that Pete Carroll lives with a grad student or something. Did anything come of that? Just bizarre.