Clemens didn't pull his groin, he has a "fatigued" groin. Nice to know that in about 10 years, it'll be acceptable for me to play off an inability to perform as "fatigue."

The belly crawl and bomb with the rosin was classic. The only thing that ruined it all was that he was too calm in between stunts. He needed to stay crazy while going from obstacle to obstacle to really sell that performance.

Wow, I love the drawing of the huge plate in the dirt. Haven't seen that before.

that was pretty funny.

link to the Clemens artical

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2891392

He's young, he'll learn. That's only his second career ejection ;)

And the Jays' injury woes continue. I feel major sympathy for him...
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/s...e=MLBHeadlines

Blue Jays' Overbay out 4-to-6 weeks with broken hand
TORONTO -- Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay is expected to miss four to six weeks after breaking a bone in his right hand.
Overbay was injured when he was hit by a pitch from Chicago White Sox left-hander John Danks in the third inning of Sunday's game. Overbay stayed in the game to run, but was replaced at first base by Matt Stairs to start the fourth. "It's always going to hurt right off the bat, but I just knew," Overbay said. "It got worse as the day went on." White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was ejected by home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez for arguing that Overbay had swung at the pitch and should not have been given first base. "I'm not going to fault him for arguing that," Overbay said. Overbay, 30, is batting .256 with eight home runs and 27 RBI in 55 games this season. "It's frustrating because I was feeling better and feeling like I had a chance out there and getting some consistency," Overbay said. A seven-year veteran, this will be Overbay's first trip to the disabled list. Stairs is expected to get the bulk of the playing time at first base in Overbay's absence. Blue Jays right-hander Shaun Marcum also left Sunday's game after three innings with tightness in his back. "Even when I was warming up, it was a little bit stiff," Marcum said. "I thought it would get better as the day went on and it didn't." Marcum's injury isn't considered serious and he's expected to make his next start. Overbay is the ninth Toronto player on the disabled list, joining other regulars such as left-handed starter Gustavo Chacin, outfielder Reed Johnson, closer B.J. Ryan and catcher Gregg Zaun. Eleven Toronto players have spent time on the DL so far in 2007. "It's almost comical when you start thinking about all of the guys that have gone down," Overbay said. "I've never seen anything like this. Hopefully we can get through this and tread water and we'll be getting all of our guys back soon."

/tk

So the Tigers get a double shot of good news. Fernando Rodney is coming off the DL, and they released Jose Mesa. Now if they can just swing a trade for Eric Gagne and and maybe a solid 6th/7th inning guy, I'd feel much better.

Gary Sheffield has put his foot so far in his mouth that he's about to hit his gag reflex

Good god, I read that and was amazed that he said it.

Clemens' MRI shows he has scar tissue injury in right groin

Updated: June 4, 2007, 4:32 PM ET

CHICAGO -- Roger Clemens still hopes to make his 2007 Yankees debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday after an MRI exam showed he had a scar tissue injury in his right groin.

Clemens had originally planned to start Monday night at the Chicago White Sox. He scratched himself from the outing on Saturday because of what the Yankees said then was a fatigued groin, an injury that he first felt during a minor league outing May 28.

He had an MRI exam Monday in Tampa, Fla., and Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo and the scan showed Clemens had disrupted scar tissue.

Clemens played catch Monday in the outfield during a 2-hour, 50-minute workout at the Yankees minor league complex. Most of the workout and treatment took place indoors.

He didn't stop to talk with reporters when he departed.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner plans to throw a bullpen session in Tampa on Wednesday, Zillo said.

Has Bill Simmons done a column about karma and the Yankees yet? If not, I'm disappointed in him.

They had an article about how both the Yankees and Clemens could walk away from the contract because he is still on a minor league deal. I think what would work best is if he aggravates the groin injury in his start Saturday, misses the bulk of the rest of the season, and the Yankees still end up shelling out $26M between his salary and luxury tax.

Between this and Pettitte's back - which I haven't seen anything about, so maybe it's not a big deal - the Yankees could seriously go down the toilet REALLY quickly.

W L Pct GB
24 30 .444 12.5

I think they're already circling the bowl.

ESPN just had an amazing stat.

The yankees havent won a game without scoring 6 runs since may 6th and they scored 5.

I'm not ready to pronounce them dead yet. If for no other reason than the fact that I'm enjoying watching them slowly die.

This is from Gammons' blog:


This is Mike Lowell: On April 20, Courtney Butcher of Leicester, Mass., a freshman at the University of New Hampshire, called her father Jim to talk about the Monster Seats Jim had purchased for the family for our Sunday night game. Lowell was her favorite player. That night, right after talking to her father, Courtney and three friends were killed in an automobile accident. That Sunday night, Jim took his other children to the game. In the four home run inning, Lowell's shot went right to the Butcher family.

The next day, a friend of the family called Sarah Stevenson of the Red Sox, who relayed the message to Lowell, and he signed a uniform with these words: "Courtney, May God Be With You, Rest in Peace." He also sent word to Jim Butcher that he would homer for her. The wake was that Tuesday, April 24, and Lowell's uniform was draped over Courtney's coffin. That night he homered against the Blue Jays.

There are some sentences which you are never prepared to read.

Phillies just had 2 runners on 3rd base. I haven't seen that since I was in little league.

Marlins rookie Rick Vanden Hurk no-hitting Atlanta through 6 innings.

He lost the no-no and is now in danger of losing the game.

This is a great example of why I generally can't stand baseball writers.


hxxp://www.torontosun.com/Sports/Columnists/Elliott_Bob/2007/06/02/4228433.html

I only quoted about 1/3 of the article, but holy christ how does Eckstein compare to Jim Abbott or Curtis Pride?

lmfao.

Because he's the little engine that could!

New Tampa Bay jerseys and name change to be announced after the all-star break. Apparently "Devil" will be dropped and they're changing their colors to blue with yellow accents.

nothing like a uniform change to reverse years of mismanagment and futility.

So they are going to be the Tampa Bay Rays?...

Next thing they will be naming Johnny Ray their new manager...

This has been in the works since the new ownership group took over. In fact, I think they had already started marketing themselves as the Rays unofficially. I still remember when the Devil Rays name was chosen...the people who were upset with the use of the word "devil" in the name also pointed out that Ray backwards spells Yar, the devil's dog. :o

OH NOES! :eek:

I am loving baseball now.

So, Schilling hasn't allowed a hit or a walk in 6 innings...too bad someone on the Red Sox committed an error. Anyone know who is was? ESPN doesn't say.

Curt Schilling has always been one of my favorite non-Tiger player. Probably a lot of that is the fact that he's a geek, and that he wears his emotions and opinions on his sleeves.

Go Schilling!!!!!!!!!!!

(Watching it on MLB Extra Innings right now. I've never watched a no-hitter. Very exciting.)

Woo!

3 more outs!!!!!

One thought: What kind of idiot A's fans would be rooting for Schilling, when all they need is one run? It's one thing if it's not your team about to be no-hit, but it's another thing in a case like this. I'd be pissed if I were an A's player.

2 to go!!!!!!!!!!!!

Julio Lugo must be feeling like shit right about now...2 outs left.

1 to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And millions of trees cry out in horror, and are then silenced!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(

BASE HIT!

Oh well..at least he still has never cheated on his wife.

<3 Shannon Stewart

SON OF A!!!!!


GRRRRRR @ Shannon Stewart

ah well. The win is the important thing

I concur. At least Schilling pitched well and at least Boston got the win.

/tk

of course schill said the same thing.

Freaking White Sox suck. Absolutely suck. I have more confidence that TB could beat the Yankees than the Sox.

sadly as a White Sox fan, I agree. It hurts my heart. heh.

And I posted that before they turned a 1-run deficit into a 5-run blowout. Freaking ARod!

PAYBACK!!!!! Unbelievable win by the Pads to sweep the Bums.

Someone said that ESPN had the Pads #1 in their Power Rankings. I had to force myself to go to that horrid site just to see it because I didn't believe it. Sure enough, the Pads are #1. I then looked at the bottom (Texas) and think back to what is turning out to be one of the most lopsided trade in recent memory.

Giants/A's game just got wild.

Extra innings and Eliazar Alfonzo (backup C) got hurt. Giants now have Randy Winn at 3rd, Pedro Feliz at C and Noah Lowry in RF.

Ever since they were announced, I thought they should have been the Stingrays because Devil Rays just sounded stupid.

SI

There's some one-liner to be had here about him being a dick but my writers have gone home for the weekend...

SI

Still has nothing on the sad, sad little Royals game earlier this year where Jason LaRue (yes, career backup C) goes to 3B, Alex Gordon (rookie 3B) slides over to SS, and Tony Pena Jr (rookie SS) moves over to 2B. It was one of the most pathetic things I've ever seen in baseball :(

SI

Not a bad start for Roger and it finally seems like the Yankees as a team are getting on track. They've won 8 out of 10 and Abreu is up to .260 from .228 and Cano is up to .275 from .249. Those two starting to hit is huge. They still aren't at .500 yet and they've been beating up on the Pirates and White Sox so we'll see if they keep playing well against the D-backs and Mets next week.

If the Yanks can keep it up it should be an interesting wild card race. Detroit's biggest weakness is it's terrible bullpen and they need to address that with Zumaya possible gone for the year. The A's will stay in it because they always have great pitching. Don't know too much about the Mariners, but I'm surprised to see they're still in it. They seem to have some decent relievers, but bad starters-Jeff Weaver and his 14.00 ERA is pitching today. The Twins stayed at .500 without Mauer and now he's back. The White Sox are now the Yankees without any hope. They aren't even the best team in their own city anymore.

Could MLB please blackout a few more games I'd like to watch today?

Sorry, SI, that's a clusterf__k on at least a mild level, but none of those are distant stretches. LaRue used to play some 3B, and moving form 3B ot SS and SS to 2B isn't that much of a stretch.

It's a lot harder to go from the IF to catcher (Feliz), they have a career outfielder at the position that has the hardest hit balls coming at it, and wait a sec, isn't Lowry a pitcher?!?

Cards and Angels start at 4:15 PDT. There are going to be a ton of Angels, ex-Angels and red uniforms in effect.

I once watched a game where Fernando Valenzuela played 1st base.

You also have Santana pitching on the road, which may be worth watching just for the comedic factor.

Hudson drills Soriano with the first pitch of the game today. Both teams warned, could be an interesting game.

Dear Detroit,

Please figure out a way to keep all these fucking pigeons off the field.

Thanks.

no shit, it's insane.

Lilly hit Renteria tonight and is tossed. Why no warning here?

Could someone please write down these unwritten rules?

Thanks

renteria is a punk-ass chickenshit bitch. I've never seen a guy just punch someone in the face trying to steal second base. what a coward.

The initial call was a warning. I have no idea why he was tossed or what was going on there.

Soriano hits 3 homers in game 1. Hudson hits Soriano to lead off game 2 and both teams get warned. Then Lilly hits Renteria in game 3 and gets tossed after initially being warned.

WTF? Why wasn't Hudson tossed yesterday?

How in the hell is Renteria still in the game?

Could it have been because of Renteria's reaction? I was watching last night's game and Soriano just went to 1st base so Hudson got to stay. Tonight, Renteria went berserk. Maybe the umpire felt they had to make an example of Lilly to settle things down for the rest of the night. I have no clue.

on the mic'd playback, the ump told pinella that he "just knew" that lilly threw at renteria on purpose, because "I was waiting for it to happen"

I would be surprised if he isn't suspended or reprimanded, that's totally inappropriate reasoning for an umpire to use in that situation.

They had tape of the ump telling Lou he was tossed because "He threw at him on purpose. I knew he was going to throw at him, I was waiting for it".

If Lilly was throwing at him on purpose, what was Hudon doing yesterday? And lastly, HOW IS RENTERIA STILL IN THE GAME?

This whole thing is BS.


EDIT: changed to renteria

How'd he know he was going to throw at Renteria? I would have expected he would hit the first batter (because Soriano is the first batter for the Cubs). I guess I'm missing something.

M's are on a roll after sweeping the Padres. They've won 8 of their last 10 and are just 1.5 games out of the AL Wild Card and 4.5 back of the Angels in the West.

Venting: How the hell can the Phils sweep the Mets and then go lose to a AAA team? This is beyond frustrating.

Not to be a jerk, but the M's will have to win the West, because they have zero chance to win the WC. The second place team in the Central will get that honor (unless the Yankmees go insane).

How do you figure? The M's are only 1.5 back in the Wild Card right now, while they're 4.5 back in the West. I know you're a big Tiger fan and all, but right now the M's are playing damn well and are right on the Tigers' heels for a playoff spot.

There's a big difference: The M's (who I actually root for grudgingly) are a very average team talent-wise, especially offensively. The Tigers are the best offensive team in baseball, and also have one of the top 5 or so starting rotation (that is also about to get Kenny Rogers back in a week or so). The only weakness is the bullpen, and that can only improve, especially now that Rodney is back, and Zumaya should be back in a couple of months.

Again, I am beginning to have a soft-spot for the M's, but there is no way they can beat Detroit or Cleveland to the WC over the long haul. No chance.

I'm starting to think that Giambi's injury was the best thing that could have happened to the Yankees. I don't recall the exact timing of it, but they've been much better since he's been out. Which, of course, sucks royally!

This is an interesting article about the Giants game yesterday. It's about how Barry is no longer Barry and his team is realizing it:



Sunday, longtime teammate Rich Aurilia went through three stages of Bonds understanding - denial, grief and frustration - in split seconds, in the bottom of the ninth, with the game on the line.

And it was as confusing to witness as it was for Aurilia to experience.

The Giants trailed 2-0. There was one out. Aurilia was on first. Bonds was up, facing A's closer Alan Embree as the potential tying run.

When Embree skipped a breaking ball to the backstop, Aurilia immediately broke for second, which he would've made easily. Then he stopped halfway there. Then he retreated a couple of steps and gestured in Bonds' direction. Then he stopped again. Then he slowly trudged back to first.

Why didn't he move to second to eliminate the double play? Because the Old Bonds would've automatically been intentionally walked at that point, and the Old Giants never gave opponents an excuse to take the bat out of Bonds' hands.

"A lot of times in the past, you know, with him hitting, with the tying or winning run at the plate, I've been told to not go," Aurilia said.

But Aurilia conceded he should have gone to second. If Bonds isn't the Old Bonds anymore, the play is to go to second.

"I don't know if I was just living in the past right there or what," Aurilia said.

I got a graveyard chill down my spine when I heard those words spoken by a solid Giant in the Giants clubhouse relating an incident connected to the Bonds dissipation.



And then later in the article:

By the way, if you need further proof, A's Manager Bob Geren confirmed that he would not have walked Bonds if Aurilia had taken second base.

Why would he? That's what Aurilia realized in the last split-second - he was trying to set Bonds up to do something that Bonds might not be able to do anymore.

"In all reality, I was trying to do the right thing, but I don't know if I did," Aurilia said. "I should've just been on second."

It didn't affect the outcome of the game. It was only a tiny part of Sunday's swoon, which is part of the larger team-wide swoon, which is part of the Giants' overall fixation with fantasy.

But the Aurilia realization, and revelation, was one of the most fascinating events of this so-far turgid Giants season.


hxxp://www.mercurynews.com/giantsheadlines/ci_6112469?nclick_check=1



He's come this close that there's no way he won't break the record, but wouldn't it be amazing if he suffered a Dale Murphy-like drop off the cliff and didn't make it to 755? What a story that would be. But I just don't see it happening. He's got enough left - and he'll have a starting job always open - that he could accidentally connect 10 more times this year. But who knows?

I hope he breaks down completly and doesn't make it

I concur 100%.

/tk

That would be amaysing.

Although some sportswriter was positing that "everyone has a position on Bonds", I honestly don't care if he breaks the record. If he does, cool. If he doesn't, whatever. And that's coming from a pretty serious Giants fan.

But for those of you who hate Bonds, I was watching the game, and I noticed something you'll enjoy. Invariably on a wild pitch or passed ball, the batter twirls his finger around in the air to signal the runners to take the base. Not Barry though. He just stood around like a guy who's lost his car keys.

Maybe he is so accustomed to the guy on first not taking second for the reason mentioned in the article, that he wouldn't expect Aurilia to take the base?

Personally, I enjoy watching him drop catchable fly balls. That's probably the funniest thing about him. Usually, every guy will have one of those obvious muffs in his career - one of those balls you or I could catch with no problem - but Barry must do it 3-4 times a year, it seems. He had one not too long ago, maybe 2 weeks or so.

That's possible, I suppose. But if you were in his shoes, even if you were leaving it up to Aurilia to make the decision, don't you think you'd at least watch the play? Barry was just looking around the field, maybe seeing if Paris Hilton was in the crowd, but he definitely wasn't watching the ball or the play.

He was keeping an eye out for the crazed fan/sniper.

Hey Bobby!

I would agree that on paper (and considering who's in their minors and who is expected to return from injury) that Detroit is better than Seattle. I don't have a lot of confidence that the M's will end up in the playoffs. But the funny thing is that the better team doesn't always win more games. You can also argue that it's pretty amazing that the M's are doing as well as they are given how horrible Weaver and Ramirez were in the rotation and how bad Sexson's results have been up until recently.

I'm just happy that the M's are in contention this late in the season given how bad they've been for the previous 3 years.

Accidentally connect 10 times? I hope that is a joke.

Even if he was hitting .190 the Giants don't have anyone good enough to replace him.

Wacky Giants game tonight for Bonds-watchers. He blew two plays in the first (neither scored as an error, but they were hardly impossible plays). Homers in the fourth, and when the pitcher falls behind 3-0 to Bonds in the sixth, he gets the intentional pass.

MLB managers are gutless.

I'm saying he's got enough left and the Giants are going to continue playing him every day that he could walk into 10 more homers even if he suddenly lost most of his ability.

For example, see Sammy Sosa.

Now I just want Bonds to break the record to disappoint all of the sourpusses.

You hope he breaks down? I hope your mom breaks down. Boo ya!

nothing like rooting for a cheater

I like Bonds. Every blowhard reporter or "I hate Bonds LOL" type that gets pissed of at his success only makes me cheer for him more. I look forward to see the likes of Jay Mariotti, Skip Bayless, and the other useful idiots having their heads explode. :D

Putting aside my feelings for Barry Bonds, isn't it time we accept that anyone who has had a rooting interest in any baseball team over the last 20 years has rooted for a cheater or two? Or are we going to wait for Kirk Radomski's testimony to be leaked to do it? Hell, didn't Mota get a nice reception after his 50 game suspension?

Come on, now. Steroids in baseball were so rampant over the past two decades that singling out Bonds is just not a tactful thing to do.

I agree completely with your point, and would suggest that it's probably a lot more than 1 or 2 per favorite team, especially when you factor in players popping amphetamines ("greenies"), pitchers doctoring baseballs and hitters corking bats...

I just hope Bonds breaks the record soon so I don't have to hear about it as much. I don't like Bonds, but I'm indifferent about the homerun record. He can have it, but it doesn't change his place in history even though he doesn't realize it.

wow, amazing double play turned by the tigers and Verlander will be 3 outs away

2 outs to go

man, quick K, 1 out to go

0-2 on Hardy

Sweet.