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Baseball umpires blow instant replay call

2008-08-21T02:51:07Z

History has taught us that Major League umpires must be dragged kicking and screaming to help make changes in the game of baseball, and history is about to repeat itself this fall.

A series of blown calls and controversies have led baseball to the cusp of instant replay, a form of technology used by all three other major sports in this country. Commissioner Bud Selig and his bumbling cronies are fully aware that scrutiny of every called ball or strike would ruin the game, so they favor a limited use of replay that would judge home runs and fair or foul balls. You would think that the umpires, men who insist that they agonize at night over missed calls and make their best efforts to get it right every time, would embrace such an idea.

You would be wrong. That same group of umpires boycotted a conference call on Tuesday with baseball's management, a petty decision made�because of their concerns about�what World Umpires Association chief Lamell McMorris called "procedural issues". McMorris is concerned about how it will look if umpires are forced to leave the field to view replays or if they must consult replay officials in a booth somewhere in the park, worried that the process will become a�running joke and will be discredited if it's not absolutely seamless.

McMorris' concerns would be valid if he wasn't trying to defend�one of the�most bull-headed groups of men in professional sports. Major League umpires have earned their reputations as cantankerous�at best and downright bitter at worst, a stodgy group of aging dinosaurs who are more concerned about protecting themselves than the game that they arbitrate. This same crowd had their ranks cut to shreds when their former general counsel, Richie Phillips, suggested that they resign en masse�in a fight for enhanced benefits in 1999. Major League Baseball accepted the bulk of the resignations,�signaling a new era in which umpires would not be able to hold the players and owners hostage anymore.

Even Selig knew that this was his chance to take command, and he made the surviving umpires come�crawling back to cut a deal. Selig quickly abolished the exclusive American and National league crews,�creating one large pool to work both leagues. He�hired new blood that was trained differently in the minor leagues, men who were encouraged to get together on the field and sometimes overrule a call if they saw something�different than the original ruling. Just picture the A-Rod purse-slapping incident against Bronson Arroyo or Mark Bellhorn's three-run homer that almost wasn't in the 2004 ALCS -- both of those calls were initially blown until heads came together and discussions were had.

Veteran umpires feel that even suggesting a call�has been�missed�is some form of disrespect, and that's at the root of what�is going on right now. This is their one last grasp at total control of the game, even if they miss a crucial home run like Derek Jeter's pop-up to right that Richie Garcia bungled into a Jeffrey Maier-aided start of the�latest New York Yankees' dynasty in 1996. They�rebelled at the thought of Ques-Tec, the�camera-aided strike zone that was being used to grade their performance in 2004. They absolutely hate the overhead camera angle that FOX uses during its playoff coverage, an angle that exposes a plate umpire�for having a zone as wide as Andruw Jones. Umpires are against anything that will shed light on their mistakes -- replay might as well be the sun hitting a dark basement for the first time in years. The glow that will follow will make the game better and send the Draculas�in black on the bases back into their coffins where they belong.��

Henry right at home in Bengals' stripes

2008-08-19T20:24:11Z

Need any further proof that professional sports value production on the field over character away from it? See the Cincinnati Bengals signing troubled wide receiver Chris Henry on Tuesday and you'll get a free lesson in what happens when pressure to win and the value of the dollar overcome good judgment and old-fashioned values.

Henry was released in March after allegedly punching a college student and breaking his car window, just another day in the life for a guy who is no stranger to the legal system. Cincinnati had finally had enough and released Henry on the spot, with head coach Marvin Lewis saying as recently as July 22 that Henry would not return to the team under any circumstances.

Wait...check that. Henry wouldn't be welcomed back unless the Bengals' top two receivers got hurt, and that's exactly what has happened during this training camp. Chad Johnson suffered a shoulder injury in the team's last preseason game and T.J. Houshmandzadeh has missed both exhibition games with a hamstring injury, the type of nagging ailment that can stay with a player for a full season. Cincinnati decided to bring back Henry, something that the team's president, Mike Brown, said would not happen in March.

Did I mention that Henry can't even play until Week 5? That's because he's serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, his third such ban. Henry's actions alone, which caused a judge to once refer to him as a "one man crime wave", prompted commissioner Roger Goodell to begin his crusade to clean up the league and stop the players' off-field foolishness. Henry was one of the chief offenders, along with Pacman (I will never call him Adam) Jones, that drew Goodell's scorn and forced strong action. Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis had said as recently as July 22 that Henry would not be welcomed back to the team, but now he's going against his word and selling out his own credibility in the process.

But these are the Bengals, don't forget, a team that seems to wear stripes 24-7. Cincinnati had 10 players arrested over a 14-month span, a fact that should allow Henry and his five arrests during his first term with the team fit right back into the mix. Maybe the Bengals can exchange legal advice in the huddle. That's provided that anyone can get a word in edgewise over Johnson's mouthy ramblings. Carson Palmer lived�the good life while he was the quarterback at USC, and he must be thinking that this is his penance after helping Pete Carroll put the Trojans back on the map. That was Palmer's version of football heaven -- innovative offense (thank you, Norm Chow), speed to burn at the skill positions, overmatched defenses and some of the world's most beautiful�coeds to celebrate with�every Saturday night after a big win. Cincinnati must look like hell in comparison -- dying rust-belt city, stuck about as far away from L.A. or New York as you can be,�getting ready for a padded cell while�praying that�all of his teammates can make bail on Saturday night in time for a 1 p.m. Sunday kickoff. Bringing back Henry just moved�the Bengals onto the karma police radar, and they always tend to find their target.

An Olympic moment for everyone

2008-08-11T18:05:26Z

Even people who dismiss the Olympics as a corporate hype machine would be hard-pressed to cast doubt over the passion and the emotion present in the United States' victory in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay swimming event yesterday.

Jason Lezak's charge down the stretch and record anchor leg saved the gold for the U.S. and preserved Michael Phelps' quest for eight individual gold medals in Beijing, a record that nearly went down in flames on the second day of the games. There were plenty of NBC executives and sponsors biting their nails while France's Alain Bernard held the lead in the race with as few as five meters to go. All of their promotional campaigns and coverage geared toward Phelps was about to go up in smoke until Lezak set a world record with his split time over the 100-meter distance, catching Bernard with literally his final stroke.

Lance Armstrong used to give his teammates all of his prize money after he won the Tour de France, an event that he captured seven straight times. Armstrong was the one that they all suffered for, fetching water and food from the team cars, sheltering him during the flat stages from the wind and the rain, pacing him up the mountains with savage tempo riding that cracked the rest of the field. He was the man who had all the big corporate dollars in his back pocket, and he treated his domestiques well. Phelps, who reportedly will receive a seven-figure bonus from Speedo if he breaks Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals in a single games, should give some thought to handing Lezak a cut of the dough after a performance like that.

I was watching all of this in a bar after my baseball game last night with my boy Hevy, his girlfriend Krista and our coach. The three of them all admitted that they know zero about swimming, but their eyes were glued to the screen throughout the three-minute race that stands as the early highlight of these games. They were into it as much as anybody could have been, interested because there were Americans involved in a competition for nothing more than national pride (and some money from Speedo, Nike, Gatorade, etc.). The Olympics are one of the few things that can actually unite a nation that celebrates independence, cultural diversity and freedom of choice like the U.S. does, and the games are a time every two years where the masses tune in and watch athletes do battle in their name. Only moments of great triumph and tragedy (think Sept. 11) are able to unite this country because we as a society are usually too involved with our own lives to stop and take a look around.

So let's stop for a moment today and find out just a little bit more about Lezak, a grizzled veteran of international competitions who saved his best for when his team truly needed it. I've had swimmers tell me that they swim better in relays because they feel the pressure of not letting their teammates down, and Lezak's time of 46.06 was almost two seconds faster than his own American record over the same distance as an individual. It was a reminder that truly elite athletes are in some ways like thoroughbred horses, trained and driven by something unseen to chase down anything that's in front of them and possessing an almost unnatural ability to pull something out of themselves when challenged by an opponent who is faster or stronger. All the evidence of this that you need is that five teams broke the existing world record in the 4x100 final in Beijing, driven by improved technology (Speedo's LZR racer suit), years of training and the heat of the competition.

What made this event even more delicious was the presence of a natural villain, something that Americans need to truly care about something. Bernard's comments that France was going "to smash them (the Americans)" in the race and his subsequent choke job down the stretch added another layer of drama and spoke to our collective psyche. We talk about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in terms of winning and losing, of good and evil -- it's a good look into our mindset as a nation. Nobody is a winner while people are being killed on the battlefield, but that's what we need to believe in order to allow it to continue. We have to think that we're on the side of right and not necessarily the aggressors in such a conflict. We have to feel like we're saving somebody or trying to make somebody's life better.

Athletics are the same way for us -- we all disliked Bernard instantly when he made his statements, forgetting the fact that he and his teammates certainly didn't travel all the way to Beijing to lose the race. They trained for it just as hard and made just as many sacrifices, and it would have been foolish if any of them felt defeated before they even took the starting blocks just because Phelps was on the other team. Of course they expected to win. They just didn't. And even five people in a bar half a world away took some pride in that.

Friday thoughts for the smog-free

2008-08-08T20:16:50Z

Covering the Pawtucket Red Sox tonight and visiting one of Rhode Island's treasures -- the gem of a ballpark that is McCoy Stadium. Pretty excited for that, too much so to focus on just one thing for this post, so it's time for a little bit of a scattered collection from the last few days in sports. As always, be wary of reading these and take them with a grain of salt -- I take very little responsibility for what I say when I'm in one of these moods.

-- An American delegation attending the Olympics in Beijing shows just how far the power of commercialism has come in this country in 30 years. The United States boycotted the 1980 summer games in Moscow, passing on going to a place dominated by an intolerant government that oppressed its people and violated their rights. China is doing the same thing now, but the Chinese have something that the Russians didn't have -- 1.4 billion consumers ready to open their pocket books and wallets to accept the flood of American products that are making their way to China's shores every day. Beijing and its surrounding cities are flush with cash, an economy booming thanks to technological advances and a drive to be ahead of the curve. These Olympics should be remembered as the time where America officially sold out.

-- The day where Brett Favre is out of Sportscenter's A-block is finally in sight. Green Bay's trade of its icon to the New York Jets adds another chapter to what has turned into a very sad story. Favre and Packers management, including president Mark Murphy and general manager Ted Thompson, have been taking veiled swipes at each other throughout this entire process, one that degenerated into an ugly divorce and landed Favre on Broadway. It's hard to believe that Favre won't be running out onto Lambeau Field's frozen tundra again from the home locker room, and it's even more difficult to imagine how much acrimony existed between the two sides to force the situation to this point. There will be a whole lot of regrets both ways when the Packers and Jets both miss the playoffs.

-- Manny Ramirez�and his agent, scumbag Scott Boras, are being investigated by Major League Baseball on charges that they colluded to force a trade from the Boston�Red Sox, voiding the two options years on Ramirez's contract and making him a free agent at season's end. Let's review the situation -- 1) Boras would have received no�compensation on either one of Ramirez's $20 million options. 2) Boras gets to negotiate with all 32 teams and attempt to rob them blind like he did to Los Angeles in the Andruw Jones negotiations (two years, $36.2 million for a guy hitting .161 this year). 3) Ramirez, who complained of knee problems and sat out a pair of games against hard-throwing righthanders during his final days in Boston, is hitting .565 so far with the Dodgers. 4) Ramirez, who railed against Red Sox ownership, shoved down a traveling secretary and fought Kevin Youkilis in the Boston dugout, is acting like a saint so far in Los Angeles, making nice with Joe Torre and his new teammates. Yeah, Ramirez and Boras didn't do anything wrong...riiggghhhht. (Wink, wink).

McCarthy the true loser in Favre's Green Bay saga

2008-08-07T03:08:06Z

Mike McCarthy had the look of a man on his way to the gallows as he conducted his press conference Tuesday night in Green Bay.

The Packers' head coach had to tell the assembled media, frothing at the mouth in search of�fresh news on the Brett Favre soap opera, that No. 4 was on his way out of town for good. So started the end of The Favre Era in Green Bay, and the beginning of the end of The McCarthy Era as well.

No head coach in the National Football League escapes without being fired. Even the greatest men to ever roam the sidelines, men who will be enshrined in the league's Hall of Fame, have been handed a pink slip in the past. Bill Belichick, the current resident genius in New England? Fired by the Cleveland Browns after the 1995 season. Mike Shanahan, Denver's offensive mastermind? Fired by the Los Angeles (now Oakland) Raiders in 1989 after just 20 games and an 8-12 record. Jon Gruden, the fiery boss of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former Super Bowl champion? He left the Raiders to coach in Tampa and was under pressure late last season before being granted a contract extension until 2011. Another 4-12 season like the Bucs endured in 2006 would give Gruden a hard shove toward the door, if not straight out onto the street. Bill Parcells wasn't fired, but he�had nasty divorces with New England and Dallas before moving into the front office. Joe Gibbs wasn't canned�during his second tour in Washington only because of his prior good deeds -- three Super Bowl wins and a bust in Canton build up plenty of good will. Mike Holmgren's eight-year contract that he signed when he moved from Green Bay to Seattle in 1998 might have been the only thing that saved him after mediocre seasons from 1999-2002, a four-year stretch in which he went 31-33 and made the playoffs just once. The�prospect of the Seahawks eating the final four years of Holmgren's deal likely saved his bacon.

McCarthy is caught in a tug-of-war between the man that hired him, Packers general manager Ted Thompson, and the players in his own locker room. Green Bay decided to hand the starting quarterback job to Aaron Rodgers when Favre retired in March, a move that never would have been made if Favre didn't walk away from a team came within a couple plays of a Super Bowl appearance last season. Rodgers, a first-round pick by Thompson in 2005, has never taken a meaningful snap in a regular season or postseason game in Green Bay, but the Packers kept Rodgers in charge despite Favre's announced intention to return to the franchise. Favre will be traded in the coming days and Rodgers will deal with the chants of "We want Favre" and "Bring back Brett" throughout the season, not exactly the best way to settle into a job.

Green Bay's veterans will say all the right things before the season starts, talking about how Rodgers is their quarterback now and they're going to move forward. It's rubbish, and McCarthy will be left to pick up the pieces of a divided locker room if Rodgers struggles.�Proven Packers like starting corners Al Harris and Charles Woodson, starting offensive tackles Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher, wide receiver Donald Driver and defensive end Kabeer�Gbaja-Biamila have all been in the NFL to know one of the league's hard truths -- young quarterbacks rarely win games. Tom Brady is�the lone exception,�helping to drive New England to a Super Bowl title in�2001 after Drew Bledsoe was injured in Week 2.

Peyton�Manning? No. The Indianapolis Colts were horrible during his first few years in the league and Manning threw as many interceptions as he did touchdowns his first full season. Carson Palmer?�Cincinnati is still waiting for�the playoff success that was robbed from the club when Palmer injured his left knee against Pittsburgh. Ben Roethlisberger?�The image of him chasing Rodney Harrison after a crushing interception while the Steelers choked away another home AFC Championship Game still brings a smile to my face. Tony Romo? Still waiting on his first playoff victory.

McCarthy must hope that Rodgers does his best Brady impression, or they'll both be on their way out of Green Bay. Thompson handed McCarthy a contract extension through 2012 after his 13-3 season in 2007, a strong show of faith, but McCarthy has to know that his club is likely to take a step back in 2008 and can't say so publicly -- it would be career suicide to second-guess a boss with an ax to grind against Favre. McCarthy had to endorse Rodgers and started the clock on his own tenure with the Packers in the process. Thompson can't look like the fool here and won't tolerate anything but more playoff appearances with Rodgers under center. Green Bay's veterans know this and it's McCarthy who'll be left�with the locker room mutiny on his hands when his experienced players realize that their last best chance to win a title might have left town with Favre.

'Dream Team' will author fresh nightmare in Beijing

2008-08-05T20:20:13Z

The time has finally come to accept the fact that the United States doesn't play the world's best basketball anymore.

The Americans struggled in the final two games of their pre-Olympic tour, breaking away late to beat Russia and holding off Australia, but the damage has been done to their collective psyche and invincible reputation. Predictions that the U.S. will win the gold medal, long considered a definite as long as basketball's birthplace fielded a team, are laughable. The Americans will be lucky to even win a medal the way that they currently play the game.

Tuesday's game against Australia, an 87-76 U.S. win,�was particularly troubling. The Aussies rested their best player, Milwaukee�Bucks' center Andrew Bogut, and still gave the U.S. all it could handle. The Americans launched brick after brick from the outside over Australia's tightly-packed zone defense, played selfish basketball for�most of the game and couldn't get their�transition game going thanks to continued poor play by starting point guard Jason Kidd. It was, in short, a perfect example of everything that has plagued the U.S. during its recent international failures.

The people who are surprised by this turn of events simply haven't been paying attention. They're too caught�up in the big names and star power on the American roster, much in the same way that�just about every expert picked the Los Angeles Lakers to beat the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals. One quick glance at the Los Angeles roster, star-studded from top to�bottom with big names like Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, was all that analysts needed to take to dismiss Boston. The Celtics didn't care and won the series by playing defense and team basketball, something that Bryant, hailed as the missing piece that will push this version of The Dream Team over the top, and the rest of the U.S. roster know nothing about.

The sad thing about this is that the powers that be in American basketball made a sincere effort this time. They didn't throw together a team at the last minute and expect to win like they've done in the past (the sixth-place finish at the 2002 FIBA World Championships spring to mind). Still stinging from a disappointing bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Jerry Colangelo, the president of USA Basketball, demanded a three-year commitment from every potential player on this version of his showcase team and tried to mix in some role players (standout defender Tayshaun Prince, sweet-shooting guard Michael Redd)�to make the U.S. perform as a more cohesive unit.

It still hasn't worked because the NBA is so irreparably broken at this point and two weeks at a national team training camp isn't enough to�erase all the bad habits that have been ingrained in the games of Bryant,�LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and�Dwyane Wade. They know no other way than 1-on-1 basketball, a style that doesn't work against international opponents and their zone defenses. They don't know how to share the ball, make the extra pass and hit the open man for an easy shot. They can't shoot from the outside because they are so used to taking their man off the dribble and getting to the basket. They can't get their transition game going because none of these players will make the sacrifice of doing the dirty work in the paint and cleaning the glass at both ends -- they simply want to get out on the wings and get off to the races to add another dunk to the highlight reel. They're all style and very little substance, much like the NBA has become since the real Dream Team took Barcelona by storm in 1992 and rolled to Olympic gold. Don't be surprised when Beijing ends up another international embarrassment for a team�and a group of supporters that�are still blind to their own faults.�

Manny moves out, Bay rolls into Boston

2008-08-01T10:03:49Z

Goodbye and good riddance to Manny Ramirez on his way out to Los Angeles. He's Joe Torre's problem now after the Boston Red Sox cut a three-team deal to send the ~~team-killing douche bag~~ left fielder to the Dodgers just before Thursday's�trade deadline, a desperate move designed to purge Boston's decaying collective soul of a man who simply wanted no part of�Red Sox Nation anymore.

Ramirez is off to the Dodgers in a trade that involved Pittsburgh sending outfielder Jason Bay to Boston and the Pirates receiving a group of young players that included Los Angeles third baseman Andy LaRoche, Red Sox outfielder Brandon Moss and reliever Craig Hansen. Boston finally granted Manny his wish to move on after weeks of systematic attacks on the Red Sox organization which couldn't continue to be ignored, and it took three players and all $7 million left on Manny's salary this season to get him to go away.

Manny got what he really wanted out of this deal. He left Boston, a place where he was never comfortable, and will be a free agent at the end of the year. One of the terms of the deal was that his two club options for 2009 and 2010, both worth $20 million, were voided. Ramirez and his agent, scumbag Scott Boras, insist that Manny can get more than that on the open market. Based on some of the contracts that Boras clients have signed recently, they might be right -- that 2-year, $36.2 million stinker that went to Andruw Jones springs to mind. Yes, the same Andruw Jones who is hitting .167 and both striking out and changing pant sizes at a record rate. Boras' negotiating platform will focus on the same things that most Boston fans can't erase from their memories -- how great a player Ramirez WAS, how great a hitter Manny USED TO BE. They'll lean heavily on his career numbers and average seasons in an attempt to secure even more money, and some general manager will fall for it. Let the buyer beware in this case, because Manny's list of misdeeds was growing by the day during his last month in Boston.

Manny's final two weeks with the Red Sox were a series of public disgraces, starting on July 15 when he blasted ownership (namely principal owner John Henry) over the status of his club options. Ramirez contended that he was being jerked around by the club and being left in limbo because Boston would not pick up at least one of his $20 million bargaining chips. Henry and the rest of the front office had said all along that they would address the situation after the season, but that wasn't good enough for Ramirez. He proceeded to embark on a very public campaign against the team, insisting that "enough is enough" during one rant and claiming that the Red Sox "don't deserve a player like me" in another. Add in his usual on-field issues, like his floundering on Maicer Izturis' cue shot to left field in a July 18 loss against the Angels or the constant dogging it down the first base line on ground balls, and Boston was officially pissed off. The fact that the Red Sox had to seriously worry about Ramirez tanking if he didn't get his way is a horribly unprofessional way to conduct business, but Manny's decision to skip games against Seattle (and Felix Hernandez) and New York (and Joba Chamberlain) with a sore knee (later proven to be healthy through a pair of MRIs) was the final straw. Manny Being Manny had suddenly turned into Manny Not Playing, which assured Manny Was Not Producing. That being the lone reason he was still in Boston, Ramirez had nothing left to cling to.

This pattern of behavior has been allowed to fester since Manny's first year of this 8-year, $160-million albatross of a contract. He's asked to be traded every single year. He's never played as hard as someone like Dustin Pedroia or Kevin Youkilis, and his petulance had been tolerated to the point where he couldn't be controlled. Manny's decision to quit on his teammates�at the end of the 2006 season was the end of Ramirez being treated like the cuddly puppy that pees on the clubhouse carpet, someone so harmless and cute that he could be forgiven over and over. Men like Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell and Curt Schilling couldn't have been happy that Manny was sitting with a sore knee during the heat of a pennant race, and they must have been enraged when medical tests showed no serious injury. The organization,�and mostly This Manager, continued to insist that Manny was working hard and that there were no day-to-day problems. We'll find out over the next year or so how much covering up was done, and Pink Hat Nation will get a real taste of what it was like dealing with Manny's frustrating�inconsistencies.

Hansen's inclusion in�this deal is the most disappointing thing to come out of all of this controversy. He's the latest reminder that prospects sometimes remain exactly that, never realizing their potential and losing their value over time. Hansen was a throw-in in this trade, a small return for Boston's top pick in the 2005 draft. He'd been mentioned in previous trade talks that would have included Colorado's Todd Helton (with Manny Delcarmen), Anaheim's Mark Teixeira (with Youkilis), two packages for New York's Johan Santana (with combinations of Jacoby Ellsbury, Michael Bowden, Jed Lowrie, Jon Lester, Coco Crisp and Justin Masterson) and Houston's Roy Oswalt (a three-way trade with Atlanta that would have included Crisp and another prospect). Friends of mine in the media compare Hansen to Nuke LaLoosh from Bull Durham, a guy with a million-dollar arm and a five-cent head. Maybe a change of scenery is just what he needs, because it didn't look like it was ever going to work for him with the Red Sox.

For those of�you who weep today at the thought of Manny leaving, I counter with this -- he doesn't give a damn about you. He's spent just about all of the last two weeks, and parts of the last eight seasons, dropping his pants and urinating on the team that you claim to love. Allow yourselves to consider the future without Manny just for one second without crying and screaming that David Ortiz is going to forget how to hit and the�Red Sox offense will�go permanently cold. The same�foolishness came out of the same mouths when Nomar Garciaparra was traded and Pedro Martinez was allowed to sign with the New York Mets. Take a quick look at the disabled list and you're likely to find both of those names somewhere in the immediate vicinity. Glance out to left field tonight at Fenway and you'll see a player who actually wants to be here, a righthanded power hitter who will run out ground balls and who won't fake injuries to duck power righthanded pitchers. Manny wasn't that guy anymore.�Believe it and move on like the Red Sox have.

Teixeira trade boosts Angels, scalps Braves

2008-07-30T20:48:24Z

Mark Teixeira is on the move again, but this time he's doing much more than changing uniforms -- he's changing the perceptions of two franchises.

Teixeira's move from Atlanta to Anaheim (okay, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) signals the boldest decision that the Angels have made in their pursuit of an American League pennant and the end of the Braves' era as buyers at the trade deadline. Anaheim instantly upgrades its lineup with the switch-hitting first baseman, providing some added pop behind Vladimir Guerrero, and now has very few weaknesses at the plate to battle playoff-tested pitching.

Teixeira's greatest value to Anaheim will be his ability to pick up the slack when the free-swinging Guerrero inevitably struggles in the postseason. Opposing teams know that Guerrero will get himself out by swinging at sliders in the dirt and high fastballs, and that's why he's a career .183 hitter (11-for-60) in postseason play. Erase the grand slam that Guerrero hit against Mike Timlin in Game 3 of the 2004 ALDS and Guerrero has just three RBIs in 15 postseason games. He doesn't see meatballs and missed locations from the likes of Josh Beckett and�Curt Schilling. Guerrero's missing thunder in the middle of the order made the Angels very ordinary, with�an aging Garrett Anderson and a bunch of slap hitters (Chone Figgins, Howie Kendrick, Maicer Izturis, Kendry Morales) left to fend for themselves. Going first to third on a base hit can only do so much, and pitchers of that caliber will not beat themselves or allow three or four consecutive hits very often. Scoring runs became impossible for Anaheim. Teixeira goes a long way to changing all of that.

Atlanta traded a package of prospects to acquire Teixeira last season, but now the Braves have settled for Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek as consolation prizes in the Teixeira sweepstakes. With John Smoltz hurt (again), Chipper Jones on the DL (again) and Tim Hudson's�elbow being mentioned in the same sentence as Tommy John surgery, Atlanta is done for this season and, maybe, for the foreseeable future.

Not that the Braves wanted the Teixeira situation to end this way. The Rangers�offered him an eight-year extension believed to be worth $140 million just before the trade last season, a deal that Teixeira turned down, and Atlanta signed him to a one-year contract worth $12.5 million to avoid salary arbitration.�The decision was a risky one (think Juan Gonzalez and the eight-year, $138-million deal he turned down from Detroit a few�years ago or Latrell Sprewell's�decent into bankruptcy) but it looks like it's going to pay off for Teixeira,�who has overcome a slow start to get his power numbers headed back to where they usually are. He'll finish with well over 30 home runs and 100 RBIs, numbers that he has posted in each of the last four seasons. Throw in the fact that he plays Gold Glove defense and is only 28, and Teixeira will be one of the top three free agents in this year's class. He's sure to fetch something like a seven or eight year deal worth over $20 million annually, a contract that the Angels and billionaire owner Arte Moreno�might be able to provide. The Braves were simply priced out of the equation despite the fact that Teixeira played college baseball at Georgia Tech and chose to go there instead of signing with the Boston Red Sox after being selected in the ninth round of the 1998 draft.

This officially ends Atlanta's inclusion with the rest of the elite in the National League. The Braves have been bypassed by Philadelphia and New York in the NL East, both clubs able to outspend Atlanta for key free agents, and talent-rich Florida is loaded with prospects that will allow the Marlins to keep the pace. The Braves are caught somewhere in between, a team in transition whose payroll is in the middle of the pack and whose minor league system isn't quite ready to produce the type of talent that will allow Atlanta to turn things around quickly. The Braves gave away a talented young catcher (Jarrod Saltalamacchia), their No. 2 prospect (shortstop Elvis Andrus) and a pitcher who has made it to the big leagues already (Matt Harrison) along with two other minor leaguers for what essentially amounts to a first baseman who can't hit for power (Kotchman hit 11 home runs in 2007, his first full season, and 34 minor league homers in parts of six seasons) and a 24-year-old pitcher who is 11-19 in four minor league seasons. It's not exactly the type of turnaround that nets a general manager Major League Baseball's Executive of the Year honors.

Anaheim, on the other hand, finally was able to pull off a big trade by releasing one of its overrated prospects. The Angels have held on too tight to homegrown players in recent years,�a list that reads like a�Who's Who of minor league busts. If Brandon Wood was so special, he wouldn't be playing full seasons at Triple-A and striking out more than 125 times each year like he has in each of the last two seasons. Dallas McPherson's time came and went -- he lost the third baseman's job to Figgins in 2005 and 2006 before having back surgery�and missing all of 2007. McPherson was signed to a one-year deal by the Marlins and has hit 38 home runs in Triple-A�so far this year, but his asking price could have been a frontline starting pitcher way back in 2004 when he was blocked by Troy Glaus. Shortstop Erick Aybar is a career .251 hitter in parts of three seasons in the big leagues, taking the shine off a reputation that once had him included in a potential deal for Manny Ramirez. Anaheim has finally realized that having the best record in the league didn't necessarily mean it was ready to win in the playoffs, and the Angels have taken a giant step forward towards erasing their disappointing ends to the 2004, 2005 and 2007 seasons.�

Stern, NBA duck Donaghy disgrace

2008-07-29T20:36:57Z

David Stern is one of the most PR savvy commissioners that we have ever seen run a major sports league in this country, but his latest handling of the Tim Donaghy situation might shade his legacy in a negative light.

Stern announced Tuesday that the league would delay the release of an independent probe into NBA officials, an investigation prompted by Donaghy's guilty plea to rigging games and gambling heavily on their outcomes during his career. Lawrence Pedowitz, a former federal prosecutor, is conducting the interviews and finding the facts with all the relevant parties, attempting to determine just how deep the corruption ran while Donaghy fixed regular season and playoff games for gambles with ties to organized crime.

Stern insists that Donaghy is a "rogue official" and a "criminal" to hear him tell it, lawyer speak that's meant to destroy Donaghy's credibility before he utters a word in public. The league said Tuesday that Pedowitz needs more time to prepare his report, and multiple sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that Pedowitz is still hoping to speak to Donaghy now that the federal investigation into his case is over. If Stern has his way, no new information that Donaghy has will find its way into the report.

It's an open secret how poor the officiating is in the NBA, to the point where the cries of fixed games and tanked calls to extend playoff series and boost television revenues have become a sick joke. Donaghy's plea deal and jail term bring a hard edge into the discussion, an uneasiness that Stern can't dismiss with a smug comment and his forced smile. The fact that Pedowitz's report is being delayed can be taken two ways -- the league is attempting to cushion the blow by putting some time between Donaghy's disgrace and its own findings, or it's found much more than it wanted to and has to find a way to spin the results to the public.

The first scenario can be dealt with easily. NBA referees have a very difficult job, but it's not an excuse to blow calls and coddle superstars like they seem to do on a regular basis. What is and is not a foul is harder to define because of their poor interpretation of rules that have stood for almost 100 years. Traveling doesn't exist anymore, carrying the ball is common practice and contact in the paint is a coin flip on a call or non-call. Referees need to be reviewed based on their performance and the lower end of the curve has to be replaced regardless of age or experience, a decision that will give the players and fans more confidence that the game will not be decided by an errant whistle.

The second set of circumstances is much more troubling. Stern hasn't exactly been forthcoming about anything having to do with the Donaghy situation, choosing instead to blanket one man with all the blame. There's very little reason to think Stern would be honest if crooked referees were common, because the damage done to the league's credibility would be crushing. The extra time would give Stern and his cronies a chance to spin Pedowitz's findings their way, quietly dealing with other referees behind the scenes and covering up the fact that the NBA has had a serious problem on its hands that has gone unchecked for years. The scandal would be a permanent black mark on Stern's legacy, one that would erase any of the good that he's done through television deals, expanding the game into foreign markets and reigning in out of control salaries to keep more teams competitive. Donaghy would change into "truth-teller", and it's�Stern who would forever be known as the rogue.

Gammons damns Manny's grand plans

2008-07-29T01:17:11Z

God spoke today and condemned Manny Ramirez for his recent insubordination, all but sealing Boston's Village Idiot a ticket out of town by the end of this most recent firestorm.

God in this case would be Peter Gammons, so nicknamed by my boys Urs and Hevy because of his brilliant service to the game of baseball for the last five decades. Gammons, the Hall of Fame baseball writer for the Boston Globe and espn.com, crushed Ramirez in a scathing piece that was published on the main page for all to see. This was the type of insider stuff that you hear behind closed doors as a person who covers the team, the conspiracy theory about Manny covering his declining ability to hit a good fastball by conveniently being hurt and asking out of the line-up against righty flamethrowers Joba Chamberlain (twice), Felix Hernandez (twice), Edinson Volquez and Justin Verlander. Ramirez let some other poor soul like Brandon Moss or Coco Crisp go out and crush their own batting averages against arrays of filth that very few pitchers possess.

Ramirez said this weekend that he would agree to a trade if Boston was able to put one together, waving his 10-5 rights (10 years in the bigs, five years with the same team) to veto a deal and making himself a free agent at the end of the season. All of the bitching about the Red Sox not picking up the first of Ramirez's two $20 million options would cease and he would be someone else's headache for the rest of his career. Gammons implied that some of Manny's teammates might finally welcome the move, tiring of the circus act that results in added heat around their lockers and a distraction that they don't need playing in one of the league's biggest fishbowls.

The fact that Ramirez dogs it on ground balls, saunters after balls in the outfield, takes days off due to phantom injuries, demands trades every seasons, routinely shows up late to training camp and is frequently out of shape goes largely ignored by Pink Hat Nation. All we ever hear is about how great Ramirez's production is, about how he has made David Ortiz into the destructive force at the plate that he is. A quick newsflash to everyone -- this isn't 2002 anymore. Ramirez will be 37 in May and, as his own actions have shown, doesn't believe he can stand up to the elite's blistering heat at the plate anymore. He's cowering in the shadows while attempting to convince himself and his potential suitors that he's still worth one more huge contract.

I'm reminded of a line from Pulp Fiction while I watch all of this unfold, from no less a superstar than The Wolf himself. Harvey Keitel dominated the movie in all of five minutes thanks to his stage presence, and he dropped an absolute gem on Vincent Vega�at one point that applies perfectly to Ramirez -- 'Just because you are a character, it doesn't mean that you have character.' Manny being Manny might be cute and cuddly to some people. His peeing in a cup inside The Wall and high-fiving fans after catching flyballs might make some people laugh, and you think it's all part of the act.�The foolishness has�gotten in the way of the fact that Manny is a shell of a human being who has you all seeing something that's not there. Let's hope he's making some other fan base laugh next year.

Thursday's events lead to Friday's lessons

2008-07-25T22:49:18Z

Sports is usually my deal in this space, but some events last night inspired me to write something a little different today. This is going to be as educational for me to get down as it's going to be for the loyal readers of this blog (all 6 of you -- alright, maybe 2 of you).

Was out at McKinley's last night with my boy Pete, the usual Thursday night deal. Pete brought along this girl that he's been seeing a little bit, and I texted a different girl (just a friend -- didn't want to be the third wheel) to come along and meet us. Little did I know what would develop, but it opened my eyes to a few things and allowed me to come to some conclusions.

The girls got to talking over a couple of drinks and started to get to know one another. It was a casual conversation until the girl that met up with me started asking Pete The Relationship Questions -- Are you guys dating? Are you boyfriend and girlfriend? How long have you been together? Needless to say, since Pete and this girl have been keeping it casual, there were red faces and awkward silence all around. It just made me think about how much I hate the entire process of dating and all the mindless B.S. that ends up being talked about. With that in mind, I drew a few principal conclusions.

1. Avoid the labels discussion at all costs

No good can ever come from this, mainly because I haven't met a guy yet who gives a damn. All this topic can do is get us into trouble. If it looks like we don't care, we're getting our balls�chopped off. If we use the wrong term -- friend instead of girlfriend, for example, or girlfriend�when she doesn't think it's serious and we do -- we're getting our balls chopped off. If we haven't been pinned into this discussion yet, we're about to be the next time we're alone together -- and we're getting our balls chopped off. The only label that matters is fiance or wife -- the rest are all ringless details that can only get us into trouble.�

Pete and I were able to quickly change the subject, saving the night to that point, until another potential flashpoint came up. This being Rhode Island and all, you're bound to know people just about everywhere you go. You might have dated some of those people in the past, and running into them can be dealt with one of two ways. You can be mature about it, like my brother's boy KJ was, and have a civil conversation with the person. You man up, expect a little bit of an initial chill, and work through it like an adult. The girls that Pete and I were with seemed to have a little different approach, staring daggers across the room at a couple of guys and a few of the other ladies in attendance. This might have been the most unattractive thing I have ever seen, and it led to my next thought.

2. Drop the stupid grudges at the door

We don't care if the girl that our friend is dating might have stolen your boyfriend in third grade. That was a long time ago. Get over it. There's only so much emotional damage that it could have done.

Women are always talking about growing as people, maturing and finding themselves through their experiences, but they can't seem to put their relationships of the past completely behind them. They stalk and they stare and they talk bad about the girl who dares to date a guy that they might have liked 10 years ago, and they expect us to feel the same way that they feel. It's never going to happen. When we have a beef with a guy, we slug it out on the playground for five minutes and it's over. We might even have a beer with the kid if we see him in the bar. We put that stuff behind us. That's true growth and maturity.

Which leads into my final observation of the evening, and this came directly from my brother, Tom. He was just sitting at the bar, minding his own business, trying to get a drink, when a girl walked past him and told him he was cute. Tom wasn't out to crush the girl's feelings, but he wasn't exactly attracted to her. He wasn't going to say the same, giving the green light for a conversation that he didn't want. Instead, he diverted attention from himself by pointing to one of his friends next to him and said, "So is this guy right here." The girl walked away pissed off and confused, proceeding to badmouth Tom to her group of friends and anybody else who would listen for the next two hours.�It was pathetic to watch and brought me�to the last point of the night.�

3. Don't fish for compliments and act offended when you do not receive one

Just the idea of feeling that much need to be reassured is an immediate turn-off. Women will all say that confidence is something that draws them instantly to a man, yet they fail to practice what they preach. This girl was guilty of making two mistakes with her one statement, proving that she had no faith in herself by begging to be noticed and acting like a complete bitch after the whole situation amounted to nothing. The empty can rattles the most, and she made plenty of noise for the rest of the night.

All of these observations were made over a four hour span. It was easily the most educational experience that I've had in the past few months, and it taught one sure thing that I thought�knew before -- how glad I am to be single.

Favre's fall continues in Green Bay

2008-07-24T01:43:51Z

Another day, another new round of allegations dogging Brett Favre's road out of retirement.

Now comes word that Favre was in constant contact with Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress and several members of his staff shortly after announcing he wouldn't be returning to Green Bay next season,�a course of action that not even Wisconsin's sacred No. 4 can justify. It's just another chapter in what has become a very ugly public divorce between Favre and the place that he called home for almost two decades, and the fallout�will impact Favre, Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson and current Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers for the rest of their respective careers.

This all started well before Favre actually announced that he would forego the final three years of his contract and $39 million to tend to his estate in his native�Mississippi. Favre's relationship with Thompson and the organization had been eroding for the previous few years, with both sides�looking to move the team in different directions.�Thompson didn't want to piss off a legend, but he did allow some key free agents to leave Green Bay (Marco Rivera, Mike Wahle), failed to sign some of Favre's targets (Randy Moss chief among them) and made some choices in the draft that Favre wasn't all that thrilled with (Rogers, a back-up quarterback as long as Favre was around, was a pretty glaring one). Favre did what so many veteran players�tend to do -- take a short-sighted view of the future in an attempt to earn one more shot at a championship before riding off into the sunset, the kind of approach that leaves organizations in salary cap hell for the next five years�and�leaves fans upset that�their once great team is suddenly rebuilding.

This didn't all happen at once. Favre has outlasted all of the old gang in Green Bay. He looks at his receivers and doesn't see Antonio Freeman or Robert Brooks anymore. His tight ends don't include Mark Chmura and Keith Jackson. Edgar Bennett and�Dorsey Levens are long gone in the backfield. Frank Winters isn't snapping him the ball. Gilbert Brown, Reggie White and Vonnie Holliday aren't leading the defense. Desmond Howard isn't running back kicks. Being in the locker room before practice or grinding out those long hours in film sessions can't be the same, and it can't be anywhere near as fun. Favre has said that he still enjoys the games, but those lazy days in the weight room and sweat-filled training camps must be more agonizing than they should be for your average NFL quarterback pushing 40 years old.Thompson, meanwhile, has tried to plan for the future while balancing the present. NFL quarterbacks aren�t supposed to last for 275 straight starts like Favre has. They are endangered species hunted by man-eating defensive ends who can outrun wide receivers, let alone the fat offensive tackles that line up against them, and blitzing linebackers who ooze menace and spit nails when they make contact. Thompson figured that Favre would be out of the game, by will or by force, well before now and tried to reshape his team. He drafted Rogers late in the first round after the California product slipped out of what was sure to be a top-10 selection. Thompson rebuilt his offensive line, added new, explosive skill players (running back Ryan Grant and receivers Donald Driver and Greg Jennings comprise one of the league�s best collections of weapons) and steeled the defense by drafting Hawk to be the centerpiece. Green Bay was one Lawrence Tynes field goal away from the NFC Championship Game last season and, provided the quarterback situation is resolved, should be on the short list of the league�s top teams again this year. Favre�s return to Green Bay would all but guarantee it, but it looks less and less like that will happen.And so starts the real question in all of this. Should Green Bay thank Favre for being the face of its franchise for so many years by granting his wish and releasing him? The Packers would be giving up a player who threw the ball at a Pro Bowl level last season and would be dismissing one of the most precious commodities in all of football � a reliable quarterback. Very few teams have a man who will line up under center for every snap next season and run a capable offense. Favre is on the short list with Tom Brady, Carson Palmer, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees as players who have the experience and excellence to lead a team to victory every single week, and even a couple of those men (Brees and Palmer) struggled with mediocre teams last year.

Green Bay is also in a position where it probably won�t get full value for Favre if they try to trade him. His constant wavering about retirement, which started well before last season, makes him a risk. His age and disturbing habit of turning the ball over (witness his interception against the Giants in overtime last year that set up Tynes� kick) will turn some teams off. A quarterback of his caliber, were he 27 and not 37, would command multiple first round picks in any deal. Favre would be lucky to fetch one. It�s a no-win situation for both sides, but right now everyone is acting like a loser.

Shockey was never New York's saint

2008-07-22T04:00:41Z

Eli Manning must be the happiest man in New York Giants' blue and gray today after Jeremy Shockey was finally handed his ticket out of town.

Shockey was traded to the New Orleans Saints for second and fifth round draft picks in 2009, a good price for a player who had outlived his usefulness in East Rutherford. Shockey's bad attitude, disturbing injury history and constant squabbling with Manning in the Giants' huddle won't be missed by his teammates, and New York's offense might be even better with a true blocking tight end leading the way for bruising Brandon Jacobs.

Shockey has been a lot of sizzle and not much steak since his rookie season in 2002, a year in which he recorded career highs in catches (74), yards (894) and mentions on Page Six of the New York Post (138). He's never played all 16 games, bowing to a broken leg at the end of 2007 and missing seven games in 2003 after his productive rookie year. He wasn't needed while the Giants marched to their upset of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, as rookie David Boss started in his place and proved to be a much better fit. Boss blocked well, caught the balls that were thrown his way and kept his mouth shut, three things that were absent for parts or all of Shockey's tenure in New York.

It was Shockey's constant showing up of Manning on the field that was his greatest sin. Shockey constantly pouted back to the huddle when the ball didn't come his way, clapping his hands, stomping his feet and screaming at Manning like a 2-year-old having a bit of a tantrum because he hadn't slept enough the night before (in Shockey's case that last part might not have been far from the truth). He was a divisive force in that huddle, upsetting to quiet veterans like Amani Toomer, far from a man who�put team above himself. The Giants were able to upset the Patriots by doing just that -- winning ugly,�scoring just enough points and relying on a superb pass rush to get it done, 17-14.�

Manning's�development as a quarterback has been difficult enough because of his last name.�Following a superstar father (Archie) and Hall of Fame-bound older brother (Peyton)�is difficult enough, but trying to do it in the fishbowl that is New York City, fresh on the heels of a forced draft day trade with San Diego that netted the Chargers an absolute haul of talent (terrifying defensive end Shawne Merriman, solid center Nick Hardwick and starting quarterback Phillip Rivers) and trying to guide an organization led by a tyrant (Tom Coughlin) isn't the easiest thing for a kid who played college ball at Mississippi. Throw in that Manning has had to endure criticism from teammates, Shockey and�retired running back Tiki Barber chief among them, and it's no wonder that the Giants scuffled at times. It's also not a surprise that New York was able to pull things together when those two cancers were nowhere near the team. Shockey watched the Super Bowl on television like everyone else and Barber must have been sick while he viewed the game from an NBC studio, his quest to win a ring abandoned one year too early thanks to his nagging wife and his own desire to become rich and famous outside the game.

Shockey will reunite with his old offensive coordinator in New Orleans, teaming up with head coach Sean Payton in hopes that Shockey will be able to play good football one more time in his career. Shockey posted his career highs during his one year with Payton, who has presided over one of the NFL's best offenses during his two years in New Orleans. Shockey projects as an added piece to running back Reggie Bush and wide receiver�Marques Colston, but how will quarterback Drew Brees react? He's no kid, and he's certainly not going to sit back and listen to Shockey try to take over his huddle. That foolishness won't fly in The Big Easy, and Brees will want to send Shockey to the Lower Ninth Ward by the time training camp is over. The Giants did the closest thing possible and will be better off for it.

Can Shark survive rough Open conditions?

2008-07-18T20:14:06Z

I have to admit that somewhere in the back of my mind I'm rooting for Greg Norman to be in contention on Sunday at The Open Championship. The question I find myself asking, however, is why I want Norman to still be near the top of the leader board.

Do I want to see Norman, at age 53, teach the youngsters a thing or two about winning a major by sneaking in with a hobbled Tiger Woods watching from his Florida estate? Or am I secretly hoping to watch a car accident on Sunday, another Norman meltdown on the grand stage that's so grotesque you can't look away? Something tells me it's a little bit of both.

Norman sitting at even par through two rounds, the only player in the field not over par as of this writing, is a phenomenal story. The fact that he's been playing Senior Tour events for the last three years and hasn't contended in a major since 1999 is only part of it. Norman has diverted his attention away from golf in recent times, focusing on his vast business empire (worth an estimated $500 million) and enduring a bitter divorce battle with his ex-wife, Laura. Seems like his new marriage to Chris Evert (yes, that Chris Evert, the former tennis champion) has reinvigorated The Shark, as shown by his solid play through two very difficult weather days at Royal Birkdale. Norman fired a pair of 70s in 30-mph winds and rain that came down sideways, pelting the players and making the 50-degree temperatures seem much colder.

Camilo Villegas' 65 on Friday sends the message to the field that there is a low score to be had on this golf course, but the weather is supposed to be worse this weekend. Norman would likely claim The Claret Jug, his third,�with another matching pair of 70s and would add another win to what has been a storied career. Norman finished the world's top ranked player seven times from 1986-1997�and as the world No. 2 three times, winning almost 100 tournaments worldwide and 10 money titles on three different tours.�One more great moment from Norman would remind today's current crop of pros�and fans alike of just how fantastic a player he was and be golf's feel-good story of the year, eclipsing Woods' gutsy display at the U.S. Open.

The other side of this coin, however, is much more fascinating to me.�My first thought�if I see Norman's name atop the leader board on Sunday will be, 'I wonder how he's going to choke this one away.' Norman's failures�to close the deal in majors are much more memorable than his excellence, chief among them his meltdown at The Masters that cost him a green jacket�at the tail end of�his prime. The image of Norman wilting�to a final-round 78 in 1996�was so pathetic that even Nick Faldo, as focused a man as has ever played on the PGA Tour, couldn't help but give Norman a hug on the 18th green after wrapping up his own brilliant 67 and third Masters title. Faldo's excellence was blurred by how spectacular Norman's crash actually was, a round in which he took 15 more strokes than he needed during his�beautiful�opening-round 63. Perception becomes reality over time, and Norman's inability to put away major championships have left his image seared into my brain as one of a choker. It's human nature to take a sort of perverse pleasure in someone else's failings, a sort of�inner cruelty that almost everyone has�but only wants to let out at select times. Another lost Sunday for Norman would leave him wondering what might have been and a sickening smile on the faces of so many who are waiting for the other shoe to drop.��

All-Star mayhem in The Bronx

2008-07-16T08:07:00Z

I just couldn�t pass up the chance to chronicle the final game that will matter in Yankee Stadium�s history. New York�s starting rotation is so poor that there�s no way they can make a deep run in the postseason this year, leaving the All-Star game as the last highlight (I hope).

Anyway, fresh off my trip to upstate New York (and several brain cells lighter), let�s get back into the blogosphere.

Pregame � This is all going to be lumped together, mostly because I can�t stand pregame pomp and circumstance. Just a few notes:

-- Alex Rodriguez needs to get a clutch hit in a big game before he can wear those white cleats and be taken seriously. Only the game�s great players can wear those and not look like ~~pretentious assholes~~ morons.

-- Frank Robinson looks like he could grab a bat and pinch-hit in this game. Tony Gwynn looks like he could grab Frank Robinson and try to eat him.

-- Seeing Wade Boggs in a Yankees� hat reminds me what a selfish bastard he was his whole time in Boston, a man more obsessed with hitting singles and winning batting titles than hitting for power and helping the Red Sox win games with his production.

-- Nice try, New York, attempting to replicate Ted Williams� magical ride into Fenway Park during the 1999 All-Star game by wheeling in an ailing George Steinbrenner from center field. Not one current or former player went up to Steinbrenner�s cart to greet him, far from the group embrace that Williams received in 1999, and it�s probably a good thing � Dave Winfield might have tried to strangle his former Boss.

-- Did the Yankees� players get booed like this in Boston in 1999? Leave it to The Bronx to put the �ass� in �class�.

-- I can�t stand Joe Buck�s smarmy nature, but Tim McCarver is worse. Let the Derek Jeter taint waxing begin.

8:48 � McCarver doesn�t take long to make a fool of himself. He claims that Cliff Lee struck out the game�s first batter, Hanley Ramirez, with a cut fastball in on the hands. Lee�s pitch was right down the middle. Stay hot, Tim.

8:56 � Ben Sheets is filthy. Those two curveballs he threw to Josh Hamilton were borderline unfair. How good would this guy be if he could stay off my All-DL Team (more to come in a future column)?

8:59 � Was there any doubt that A-Rod would pop up with a runner in scoring position? Not in New England � inning over.

9:11 � Manny Ramirez just earned himself two weeks on the DL after swinging over the top of another disgusting Sheets curveball. No doubt some sort of back strain will be invented by Boston�s Village Idiot if This Manager does something that Manny doesn�t feel Manny agrees with.

9:24 � It doesn�t seem like Yogi Berra wants to be in the booth with Buck and McCarver very much. Always knew that Yogi was a much wiser man than he let on.

9:26 � Doesn�t FOX have a sound technician on this broadcast? Berra�s old voice is much lower than Buck�s squealing, and they keep drowning the old guy out. I�d love to hear more of what he�s saying, like that crack he just made about Sarah Jessica Parker not looking too bad. Classic stuff.

9:38 � As if Roy Halladay wasn�t dirty enough already, now Mariano Rivera is going to teach him the cutter? That clip from battling practice on Tuesday that FOX just showed should be frightening to the rest of American League. Halladay is tough enough to hit without the best closer in the history of baseball teaching him his famous out pitch.

9:40 � I don�t care that Albert Pujols was safe at second � Ichiro has an absolute cannon. Pujols should have know better than to try to stretch a single into a double with Ichiro less than 250 feet from the bag.

9:49 � Never knew that a fat tub like Carlos Zambrano could move that quickly. I guess Milton Bradley didn�t know anything about it either, because he just got picked off first base with a two-step lead.

9:54 � Ervin Santana�s 97-mph fastball wasn�t all that impressive to Matt Holliday. He just crushed a ball into the right field bleachers that could have broken someone�s hand. 1-0, NL.

10:01 � Here�s how brilliant Billy Beane is. My parents can�t understand how Danny Haren has been traded twice if he started the All-Star game for the AL last season and is back in the game with the NL this year. They don�t understand that Beane dealt Mark Mulder to St. Louis for Haren and watched Mulder�s shoulder explode. They also don�t see the glut of prospects that Beane stole from the Arizona Diamondbacks, including current Oakland A�s Dana Eveland, Carlos Gonzalez and Greg Smith. The lesson here is to never make a trade with Billy Beane and expect to get the better end of the deal, no matter how good the player he�s sending you looks.

10:10 � There�s no way that Jeter was going to be called out on strikes when Haren�s 2-2 fastball hit the outside corner. It was only justice that Jeter grounded back to the box on the next pitch, stranding two men instead of singling in the tying run from second. Still 1-0, NL.

10:15 � McCarver puts his foot in his mouth yet again, proclaiming Justin Duchscherer�s hanging curveball to Ramirez the worst pitch of the night. All Ramirez did was line a single to left field � Holliday crushed Santana�s fastball down the dick into the bleachers for the game�s lone run in the top of the fifth. Perhaps that might have been worse.

10:31 � Hamilton really is the total package. He just stole second on a play that wouldn�t have been close even if Los Angeles Dodgers� catcher Russell Martin had made a good throw. I think I already saw Hamilton on television today � I was watching �The Natural� on Bravo.

10:41 � Where�s Ronan Tynan to sing �God Bless America� during the seventh inning stretch? Major League Baseball has Josh Groban performing instead. Guess we only get Tynan�s 5-minute version of the song in the postseason when New York wants to freeze an opposing starting pitcher in the 42-degree chill of an October night in the Northeast. Besides, the NL is bringing in a reliever.

10:49 � Thrilled that This Manager spared Jason Varitek the indignity of looking foolish against Edinson Volquez and his electric array of stuff. Let Dioner Navarro look stupid hacking at that change-up. Varitek can stay on the bench and admire a guy who looks like someone he used to catch � Volquez is Pedro Martinez 2.0.

10:51 � Sure enough, that tailing fastball at 95-mph caught Volquez standing and watching. He had absolutely no chance.

10:53 � J.D. Drew just went deep against Volquez?! A two-run homer to tie the game at 2-2 after seven?! I haven�t had any beers tonight�this must really be happening! And Drew was cheered as he rounded the bases. Wow. Memo to Major League pitchers � do not throw Drew belt-high fastballs. They�re the only pitches he can hit.

10:57 � Dilemma time for This Manager: When to use Rivera? He�s only throwing one inning, and it�s a 2-2 game into the eighth. Jonathan Papelbon is in now, likely for only one inning. Do you pray for the AL to score in the eighth and have Rivera close in the ninth? Do you go to Rivera in the ninth and use him in the 10^th to close, a two-inning appearance? Do you gamble that it goes into the 10^th and hold him out through the ninth, risking a walk-off homer and leaving Rivera in the bullpen? Yikes. No way This Manager can get this one right.

10:59 � And the Yankee fans again show their idiocy, chanting �Mariano� and �Overrated� at Papelbon. If he fails, Rivera�s role in this game will be meaningless. They should STFU and pray that Papelbon can throw a scoreless inning.

11:02 � This is karma�one of the Yankees� old farmhands, Navarro, throws the ball into center field, allowing Miguel Tejada to steal second and race to third on the error. Tejada, who reached on a broken-bat single, scores easily on a sacrifice fly to center by San Diego�s Adrian Gonzalez, and the NL takes a 3-2 lead. Now Rivera is at the mercy of the AL offense and the NL bullpen if he wants to throw a relevant inning.

11:19 � And yet again, This Manager is bailed out by his players. Tampa Bay�s young star, Evan Longoria, bangs a hanging slider from the Mets� Billy Wagner into left for a ground-rule double that scores Cleveland�s Grady Sizemore from second. Wagner allowed Sizemore to steal second on the previous pitch, a stupid move that permitted the tying run to advance into scoring position. Now Rivera can throw the ninth and get the win if the AL can score in the bottom of the inning, saving This Manager from an awful postgame grilling.

11:23 � This Manager refuses to get it right!!! The AL offense threw him a life raft to get Rivera in the game, and now K-Rod comes in!? I hope someone from the AL�s sorry offense hits a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth and Rivera is left sitting. Then maybe This Manager will be nationally exposed for the fraud that he is.

11:27 � Brad Mills must have finally located his TASER and informed This Manager that Rivera was still out in the bullpen. The move is finally made with one out in the ninth, and Rivera will be forced to hold Washington�s Cristian Guzman at first to keep it a tie game. The real drama will come if this game goes into extra innings.

11:32 � Navarro atones for his earlier mistake, completing a strike �em out, throw �em out double play to end the ninth. If only the fat slob had done the same thing in the eighth, that would have been a save for Rivera. Something tells me that Papelbon will take all the blame, but it�s far from just his fault.

11:35 � Anybody else remember Ryan Dempster as a closer? I don�t like the NL�s chances here.

11:40 � Is this really Dempster? A filthy slider to strike out Texas� Ian Kinsler and 96-mph heat to fan Navarro? Yikes.

11:42 � There�s the Drew we all know and love�getting ahead 3-1 and striking out with the bat on his shoulder. That�s about right. On to the 10^th. Someone find Bud Selig and handcuff him to a lamppost somewhere outside the stadium so that he can�t declare the game a tie.

11:48 � Rivera is still the gold standard of closers, even at 38 years old. That cutter is lethal, sawing off Pittsburgh�s Nate McClouth on a pitch inside before darting over the backside of the plate on the next pitch for a called third strike.

11:51 � Back-to-back singles by Los Angeles� Russell Martin and Tejada have runners at first and third with one out and Rivera on the verge of giving up the go-ahead run. This is right out of a dream that I had last night, just after the one where the All-Star game got rained out this year.

11:53 � Damn it! Florida�s Dan Uggla grounds into a double play, unlikely for a guy who swings and misses so much. Uggla could have just struck out like he frequently does and kept the potential winning run at third, but no�Rivera is spared the embarrassment and still has a shot at a win.

11:57 � Is Uggla being paid off by the Yankees? I know Florida has no money, but no amount of cash should be enough to get an alleged All-Star to make two straight errors on ground balls by Texas� Michael Young and Chicago�s Carlos Quentin and gift Rivera and the AL a chance to win it. Now Colorado�s Aaron Cook has no choice but to walk Detroit�s Carlos Guillen and load the bases.

11:59 � Even if Sizemore gets a hit here, is there any chance Rivera isn�t the game�s MVP? Why let the fact that Sizemore scored the tying run and (potentially) drove in the winning run get in the way of the story? This is obviously a rhetorical question � I hate that this will happen.

12:01 � Uggla makes up for it a little bit by fielding Sizemore�s grounder and throwing to the plate for the inning�s first out. Longoria is up. See Sizemore�s scenario above and replace his name with Longoria�s, but change �scored the tying run� to �drove in the tying run�.

12:05 � Longoria bounces harmlessly to Guzman at third, creating another force at the plate, and Justin Morneau�s slow roller to short turns into a great play by Tejada. 3-3 into the 11^th, and Rivera is out of the decision and the MVP talk. Now I�m actually rooting for Drew to come up with some sort of walk-off hit, steal the MVP and allow Boston�s new baseball dynasty to be booed off the field.

12:08 � FOX is showing Selig in his luxury box, plotting to ruin another All-Star game. Quick note, Bud � this is New York, not Milwaukee. Call this one a tie and there will be a riot. That�s not an exaggeration.

12:16 � Kansas City�s Joakim Soria retires the NL in the 11^th and Kinsler singles to open the bottom of the inning. Drew is on deck with Navarro up. Please let Drew get to the plate with a chance to do damage. Please let it happen�

12:18 � This Manager gets it all wrong again. He abandons the bunt and Cook pitches out, hanging Kinsler out to dry while trying to steal second. Of course Navarro walks on five pitches and Drew singles to center. Had the bunt still been on, Drew�s hit would have scored Kinsler from second and ended the game.

12:22 � Young singles to center, and Navarro gets hosed at the plate by McLouth to save the game. Had This Manager saved a bench player to run for Navarro like he said he was going to do before the game, this one would be over. Instead of Guillen scoring easily, Navarro was a dead duck and this game will go on.

12:25 � Quentin grounds to third and we�re on to the 12^th tied at 3-3. Selig just broke into a cold sweat.

12:28 � Now the NL puts the first two men on in the 12^th thanks to a leadoff walk by St. Louis� Ryan Ludwick and a drag bunt by McClouth. Martin�s sacrifice puts a pair of runners in scoring position with one out, fine fundamental baseball that This Manager never mastered during his four-year stint in Philadelphia. No wonder why he was fired so quickly, and why his AL team couldn�t execute in the 11^th.

12:30 � Tejada draws a walk to load the bases and it�s Uggla�s chance to prove he belongs in this game after grounding into a double play in his previous at-bat and making two errors in the field.

12:32 � So much for that. Uggla swings at a pitch over his head, takes a fastball down the dick and gets his knees buckled by Soria�s disgusting curveball. Two outs and here comes Baltimore�s George Sherrill to try to finish the inning.

12:36 � Sherrill strikes out Gonzalez on three straight pitches, bailing out This Manager once again. Unbelievable. The AL will no doubt score here and allow This Manager to keep Tampa Bay�s Scott Kazmir, his final pitcher in the bullpen, out of the game like he promised he would. Then again, he also said he wouldn�t play Guillen�oops.

12:39 � Right on cue, Guillen doubles to left to lead off the 12^th. Unreal. Sizemore grounds to second (Uggla kicks the ball before recovering and throwing to first), moving Guillen to third, and Longoria is back in position to win the game�s MVP (see above at 12:01).

12:42 � Longoria hasn�t seen a two-seamer like that in the minors. Cook just dropped a pitch right on Longoria�s ankles for a swinging third strike and Morneau is being walked so that Cook can face Kinsler. We�re dangerously close to a 13^th inning and Selig is ready to start drinking some of those Miller products that built his park in Milwaukee.

12:45 � Kinsler grounds out to third and we head to the 13^th still tied at 3-3. Someone tranquilize Selig right now before he can do something damaging like flip a coin for home field advantage in the World Series.

12:52 � Kazmir is the lone AL pitcher left, and he threw 104 pitches on Sunday. The NL has Chicago�s Carlos Marmol, Philadelphia�s Brad Lidge and Arizona�s Brandon Webb (108 pitches on Sunday) left in the bullpen. Which manager organized his staff better here?

1:00 � There�s a hat trick that Uggla didn�t want and a record he didn�t want to set�his third error of the game after making just six during the regular season. You�ve got to wonder as a Marlins� fan what this will do to him defensively for the rest of the season � this is, if there are any Marlins� fans out there.

1:05 � Marmol strikes out Quentin to end the 13^th as the game soldiers on. I think Selig has awakened from his injection and is about to field a call from Tampa manager Joe Maddon when This Manager, Maddon�s division rival (or so the Rays think), puts in the Tampa ace against the wishes of his organization. That next series between the Red Sox and Rays should be fun.

1:10 � Sherrill gives up a couple of deep flys in the 14^th, but it�s a 1-2-3 inning and we�re even closer to Kazmir coming into this game. Selig�s phone is ringing and Maddon is screaming so loudly on the other end that Selig must be shaking off the effects of that shot by now.

1:12 � Here comes Webb to pitch the 14th, a sure sign that NL manager Clint Hurdle wants Lidge to close the game for the NL if it takes a lead in the top of one of these innings. This game officially just entered dangerous territory and will boil over when Kazmir starts the next inning, two pitchers on borrowed time squaring off in a game that is supposed to mean something but, in reality, still is a joke the way Selig and his cronies still allow the fans to pick the starters and every team to be represented regardless of a worthy candidate. But I digress...

1:26 � Kazmir easily works his way through the 15^th, but he�s clearly on borrowed time. This can�t last much longer thanks to This Manager�s brilliant usage of some of his staff � Lee (20 pitches), Joe Saunders (12), Halladay (9), Santana (20), Duchscherer (22), starters all, threw less pitches in this game than closers like Rivera (26), Soria (30) and Sherrill (25). Well done.

1:32 � Hurdle brings Lidge into the game, a bit of a surprise, and he allows the AL to put the winning run into scoring position on Morneau�s single and Navarro�s one-out hit. No way Drew can deliver this time, can he?

1:36 � Here comes the Lidge meltdown in a pressure spot. He walks Drew to load the bases. Somewhere Pujols, he of the 2004 bomb off Lidge in the NLCS, is smiling.

1:37 � Young flies to medium depth right field, allowing Morneau to tag and barely slide in safely with the winning run. Another year, another win for the AL, and yet another bail out for This Manager by his players.

1:46 � The Apocalypse has arrived!!!! Drew wins the MVP!!!!! Bury the old Yankees� dynasty. Bury it where it stands in a hole at West 161 St. This is the ghost of Ted Williams coming back to haunt New York. Add one more chapter to the reverse of The Curse and close the book on the old dump in The Bronx.