“People say just rest your voice and don’t talk, but that doesn’t do anything,” said Buck, who first revealed his ailment to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “This is a nerve issue. It’s not like I have polyps or a strained vocal cord. I’m waiting for one of the longest nerves in the body to recover. Nobody has said this is something that won’t come back, but they told me it could take 6, 9 or 12 months.”
...Buck will not work again until the N.F.L. regular ...
“dull, conscientious, dependable, and loyal” Oh, wait…that was said about Omar Bradley not Vizquel.
I know Vizquel is a really nice guy. I’m sure he’s awesome in the locker room. I don’t doubt that he offers solid mentoring to the young players. He definitely has the intangibles. However, coaches can be in the locker room. And they can also mentor. Using an active roster spot on an intangibles player is a luxury for a team. And, at some point, a sub-.500 team should realize they can’t ...
Ask Ethier if he should still be playing on a right knee that will require off-season surgery, and he says, “If you’re expecting me to do what I’ve done in the past, no, there’s no possible way I can do that right now. You can say tough it out and give it your best shot, but it’s not going to happen.
“It’s only going to get worse from this point. I’ve dealt with it all season long, but as the season goes on my body wears down. That’s just the way it is — I keep getting put in the lineup, so ...
Q: Outside of Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman, do you have a favorite all-time Padre?
A: “It has to be, just for a selfish reason, Ken Caminiti. In his usual stalking fashion, he came up to me his first year, when I was still on Channel 8 (as the sports anchor) and said, “I really appreciate the kind things you say about me on the air.” Here’s this tough warrior, a great leader and for him to thank me? That hasn’t happened with five ...
He was the best player on the team…until a powerful conspiracy turned everyone against him!
“I think that’s part of why I’ve kept a lot of things to myself,” he said. “But I (also) understand that’s part of the frustration, and I think in the future, I think we all, maybe, need to be a little more honest with what’s going on. But when I stub a toe, everybody gives their two cents on it, and a lot of times the truth gets clouded.”
“I understand that me being a guy that’s been around here for a ...
Discussion of expanding the baseball playoffs; Tiger Woods, schadenfreude, Peyton Manning, being the best; and most importantly, this week’s draft: Sports announcer cliches!
Michael Schur: Postgame interview question “What were you thinking when…”
Joe Posnanski: “He didn’t like what he saw out there” after quarterback calls timeout
Justin Verlander is baseball’s first 20-game winner this season.
It won’t go down as one of his best starts, and it did not come easy, but Verlander picked up his eighth straight victory Saturday as the Tigers beat the Twins, 6-4, at Target Field.
Making his 29th start, Verlander was the first pitcher to record 20 wins before the end of August since Curt Schilling did so in 2002 with the D-backs. Verlander is the fifth pitcher to reach the 20-win mark in August over the past 20 years, joining ...
I’m not taking any sides here, but I can at last provide reasoning for the Orioles’ reluctance to play a doubleheader today.
One, the Orioles were coming off an 11-day, and 10-game road trip, and they clearly didn’t want to arrive at the ballpark early today for a doubleheader after the long trip.
Two, it’s obviously been an emotional and taxing time for the organization with the death of Mike Flanagan, and I’m not sure they were too prepared or eager to spend 3/4 of the day at the ballpark. ...Read More...
Tigers manager Jim Leyland made some waves earlier this week when he said that pitchers shouldn’t win the MVP award. This was a very bold statement considering that one of his own starters, Justin Verlander, is quickly gaining momentum for MVP consideration in the American League.
Despite his opinion on the topic, Leyland told Chris Iott of MLive.com earlier today that he would support Verlander for MVP under the current system.
And others gems from the somewhat advanced squad leader.
Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling joined Sports Saturday to talk baseball in advance of the Red Sox’ doubleheader with the A’s.
The Cubs have an opening at general manager, and there has been speculation that Red Sox GM Theo Epstein could have interest. Schilling said it’s a definite possibility.
“That wouldn’t surprise me. It really wouldn’t surprise me,” he said. “I think the challenge, though, is that Red Sox ...
All the hype in 2001 was about Almonte, but 10 years later, Almonte’s baseball days are over. Meanwhile, two Oceanside players—the two smallest—are in the minor leagues.
Matthew Cerda, Oceanside’s 4-foot-10 catcher, grew almost a foot and became one of the best hitters to come out of Oceanside High School. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Chicago Cubs in 2008, and he’s now an infielder for Class A Daytona in the Florida State League, hitting .282.
Barbarians! This is the worst Hollywood ending since Ramón Novarro!
Turns out Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly wasn’t kidding when he talked about the kind of effort he expected from his players.
The rookie manager said Friday that the “philosophical differences” he had with the departed Dioner Navarro concerned the catcher’s work ethic — or lack thereof. Navarro, who was on a one-year, $1-million contract, was designated for assignment Tuesday.
This evening the St. Louis Cardinals will welcome back Willie McGee for his bobblehead night at Busch Stadium. McGee, famously shy and wonderfully talented, is being brought back to Busch by teammate Vince Coleman, and inevitably today there will be the usual grassroots outcry for the Cardinals to ...
Duane Kuiper remembers the moment he first called Brandon Belt the Baby Giraffe.
“First flyball in the outfield in Milwaukee,” Kuiper said. “He looked like he just fell out of the mama giraffe.”
Now, it’s become a thing. The nickname has caught on. A fan in the stands Wednesday night actually wore a giraffe hat. On Thursday, Belt’s fan mail included an ivy and moss giraffe topiary created by a Marin County florist. Belt is rolling with it. It’s nothing new.
Flaherty: (dronishly) “Early on, Michael, it looks like A.J. has his good stuff.”
Michael the K: (parmingly) “HE HAS ELECTRIC STUF...great stop by Martin on a ball in the dirt!”
As much as the Yankees’ brass was hoping their large investment could bounce back last night against the woeful Orioles at Camden Yards, even the decision makers have to agree with a talent evaluator who witnessed Burnett’s second straight brutal outing.
Re-fire Joe Morgan: Where Bad Sports Radio Journalism Comes To Die.
“I don’t see myself as a Larry King or somebody,” Morgan says. “When you do interviews, sometimes it turns to interrogations. I’m more of a conversationalist, not throwing hardball questions.
“I just wanted to do something different. I’m one of the fans, and I’m a person that interacts with some of the greatest sportsmen of our time.”
Morgan hopes to interview legends from all sports, including Basketball Hall of Famers Bill ...
Buh-buh-buh-booooo! End of the line for the Krooner?
Grizzlies manager Steve Decker, who played against Kroon in 1997, scoffs at the 38-year-old right-hander’s decision to quit.
“I’ll bet you money he doesn’t retire,” said Decker, poking a finger toward Kroon in the clubhouse before Friday’s game against Sacramento. “It will be his wife’s call.”
Kroon fired back, “I ain’t coming back,” then later added: “It would have to be a situation where I’d be in the big leagues. The last seven years, I ...
The greatest sports broadcaster ever, back for at least one more season.
Almost coincidentally, before the game Scully had stopped by a table in the press room to visit with a few reporters, which he does almost nightly. Naturally, he told several amusing stories, spent nearly 10 minutes chatting with the local scribes.
“If I do come back next year, this will be a big reason why,” Scully said. “I love these visits.”
Maybe we should have had an inkling of what was to come when he started to ...
United States District Court Judge Susan Illston, who presided over Bonds’s trial that ended in April, ruled after hearing arguments from prosecutors and Bonds’s lawyers on Thursday regarding the charge. ...
Bonds’s lawyers had argued that Bonds was improperly convicted for obstructing justice when he rambled for 75 seconds during his grand jury testimony, which was related to a federal investigation of performance-enhancing drug use among elite athletes. He also gave an evasive but not ...
Something about the Angels brought out the beast in the slumbering Rangers on Friday night.
Nelson Cruz and David Murphy took care of the heavy lifting, and Rangers southpaw Derek Holland outshone Dan Haren in an 11-7 setback that kicked off the weekend’s American League West showdown in front of 38,256 at Rangers Ballpark.
Cruz homered twice, doubled and singled, driving in six runs. Murphy knocked home four with one swing, launching his second career grand slam to end Haren’s night during a ...
Scott Sizemore and Josh Willingham each hit two-run homers during a six-run fourth inning that carried the Oakland Athletics to a 15-5 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday, denying Tim Wakefield’s bid for his 200th win.
...
Jemile Weeks and Cliff Pennington each had three hits, and Willingham drove in four runs for the Athletics, who won for the seventh time in nine road games after losing 30 of their previous 37 away from home.
To the important stuff:
OF Darnell McDonald - 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, ...
Jim Thome went hitless but was warmly welcomed in his Cleveland homecoming after nearly a decade away and the Indians stopped their slide in the AL Central with a 2-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.
Thome went 0 for 4 and struck out twice in his first game back with Cleveland since 2002, when he disappointed Cleveland fans by leaving as a free agent. The slugger waived a no-trade clause to return to Cleveland and a chance to help the Indians get back to the postseason. A ...
Chris Capuano pitched the game of his life, tossing a two-hitter and striking out a career-high 13 as the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 6-0 Friday night in their final matchup before taking a break because of Hurricane Irene.
...
Capuano (10-11) slowed down the NL wild-card leaders and handed them their second loss in nine games. He had Atlanta hitters taking terrible swings all game, didn’t walk any of them and faced just one batter over the minimum.
Dennis Riordan, a lawyer for Bonds, argued that Bonds was improperly convicted of obstructing justice when he simply rambled for 75 seconds and gave an evasive but not false statement to a question he eventually answered.
Prosecutors, who still have not decided whether to retry Bonds on the three deadlocked counts, argued that the conviction should stand. They said the jurors voted to convict him based on the entire evidence put forth at the trial.
I believe it was James Baldwinshares that wrote…“Sentimentality, is the mark of dishonesty, the inability to feel…the catcher’s mask of cruelty”
What are the Yankees going to do about Jorge Posada? This is a question that concerns me because I love Jorge, and I would love to see him close out his career in the Bronx.
But I’m baffled at the idea that people think that somehow this is a tough baseball decision. It isn’t, it’s a question of sentiment.
The days of simply playing ball with your friends is over. It’s a different world out there for the preteen athlete, with “Elite” and “Select” commonly turning up in the names of our youth sports teams and leagues. We’re having tryouts for 10-and-under traveling baseball teams, and we’ve got 10-and-under basketball teams traveling the country playing against other fourth-graders at God knows what cost to the parents’ bank accounts and the kids’ psyches. All in the name of … what? Trophies? ...
