Most of you know by now about the dustup on Bob Costas' little roundtable thingy on HBO a couple of nights ago. Buzz Bissinger of Friday Night Lights fame launched into a tirade against Will Leitch of Deadspin, and now folks are hashing out the implications.

I've actually been a little bit in Leitch's position once (though thankfully it wasn't on TV) and it isn't a lot of fun. What's happened is that the news industry as a whole has been put under an enormous amount of pressure to stay relevant in the internet age. The end result has been that a lot of friends of people like Buzz Bissinger have found their jobs and livelihoods at risk from a new source of competitors. This is a lot of what happened with Moneyball as well, folks saw that the jobs of scouts and “baseball men” were being threatened by stat geeks and they were unamused.

So it's only natural to see folks lash out at people they perceive to be threats to themselves or their friends. I wonder though if folks are trying to defend territory they had little hope of keeping in the first place. I mean at some point we need to stop being concerned about the effects new competitors have on the telegraph and horse and buggy industries and start looking at who achieves the task at hand the best.

The beat writer maintain's his necessity with access. While some might do better with some variation on the “Get quote from player. Get quote from manager. Write story around those qutes.” model of beat reporting, they still have access to things most of the masses do not. Many sports columnists however seem too willing to fall back on styled prose devoid of substance or insight. And as pretty as some of their writing might be, sports fans can't be blamed if they turn to someone who less artfully conveys ideas to them they didn't know about before. Because bloggers and other folks on the internet have a much wider variety of expertise than a room full of sports reporters, they often have the ability to see and explain things that the traditional sports media doesn't “get.” Predictably some in the sports writing industry have taken the stance that “if we don't know about it, it isn't worthwhile” and that I think hurts them.

I don't really have much else to say specifically about Bissinger's comments, other than if you really want to put down the blog uprising, learn to do what they do but do it better than they can. I think he'll find that to be very difficult. A thousand average intelligence people know more than one genius.

The Associated Press is reporting some bad news for Rockies and Yankees fans. According to the wire service, Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki suffered a torn tendon in his left quadriceps and could be out until the All-Star break if not longer, his agent said Thursday. In New York, it's being reported that Phil Hughes has a stress fracture in one of his ribs, and the New York Yankees' pitcher is expected to be sidelined until at least July. Ouch!

Imagine for a moment that Roy Halladay was caught doctoring (apropos non?) the baseball. Later, it turns out that he’s been doing for quite some time. Due to this, Aaron Hill–who is aghast at what Halladay did–suddenly stopped playing hard. He goes up to the plate and take three strikes. He stands at his position and only fields balls hit right at him and he may or may not throw the ball to first. He is so distressed that his team violated the rules of fair play that he feels it is only right to try to give back some of the wins that Halladay wrongfully purloined with his ball-doctoring.

When queried about this, he replies: “I'm not afraid to lose my job. I'm not afraid to do what's right … But I'm not going to trade my integrity to play with certain people here that I don't think stand for what we should stand for. It's almost laughable to a point where the fans are willing to sell their soul for a guy that scuffs the baseball.“

Do you think J.P. Ricciardi would applaud his stand and insist that John Gibbons continue to write him into the lineup every night? Is Aaron Hill’s desire to do what he perceives to be right and being unwilling to trade his integrity by playing hard supersede what is expected of him by both the game and the fans?

Do you think the fans would endorse such a stance at the box office? “Oh look at how honourable our team is for allowing Aaron Hill to deliberately try to hinder our team from winning games after what Roy Halladay did–let‘s buy seasons tickets for the next decade to show we appreciate his integrity.”

Of course not–rule one in any aspect of the game … you do everything in your power within the rules to win. To do otherwise is fraudulent and a betrayal of everything about which the sport is supposed to be. It is why Ed Cicotte and Joe Jackson will never again be eligible for the Hall of Fame.   

Then why is it O.K. for J.P. Ricciardi to do that? He stated “If I stood for anything while I'm here in Toronto, it's the fact that we tried to have good character people here and we tried to do this the right way with the right people, and we've got good people in that clubhouse. If I'm going to succeed or I'm going to fail, I'm going to fail with good people that I can trust.“

Dude, that’s not your job–it’s your job to succeed in putting the best club on the field that you can. Scott Rolen has feuded with two managers, Gregg Zaun was named in the Mitchell Report, A.J. Burnett was sent home for insubordination while in Florida, Rod Barajas reneged on a deal with you last year and Shea Hillenbrand has suffered from phallucranialitis throughout his career–so don’t hand me this good character, good people I can trust nonsense. You’ve held your nose and made decisions based on talent many times before.

This isn’t about you, or your standards, or your ethics–this is about winning and losing. If you’re not doing everything you can to win then you’re trying to lose. If the players are expected to give the proverbial 110% why don’t you hold yourself to the same standard?

Personally J.P., I think you’re shovelling us a load of steaming hot bovine manure here. Your words contradict your past actions. This isn’t a Boy Scout troop–it’s an enterprise where the sole criteria of success from your customers’ point-of-view are measured in wins and losses. You’re not assembling a group of clean cut young men to entertain your grandmother’s knitting club with their wholesome values and impeccable manners–you‘re supposed to be building a unit that is able to be the best among their peer group.

Without a doubt, your transparent attempts to justify not addressing a glaring team need with the most logical solution gives off a smell that causes folks to check the bottom of their shoes. You stated:

“It's hard for me to understand the mentality of the average fan that says that this guy is a cheater, that this guy has been on steroids, that this guy is the No. 1 guy that attracts all the lightning in the world in regards to all the things that supposedly this era has gone through with steroids, and fans just want to push that aside and have us accept this guy with open arms at 43 years old, who hasn't played since the end of last year, and we have no idea what shape he's in, and we're going to ask this guy to come here and actually just uplift our team with his personality or blend in with the people that we have here.”

Let me explain the mentality to you then–it’s called wanting your team to win. It’s wanting October baseball, it wants to see the word “Toronto” atop either the AL East or Wild Card standings.

Do you have any idea how ridiculous this sounds?  “… that supposedly this era has gone through with steroids”–supposedly? Well, if you wish to deal with suppositions then guess what? Barry Bonds has passed every steroid test MLB has administered. Do you suppose he must be clean then?

What about this gem? “fans just want to push that aside and have us accept this guy with open arms at 43 years old, who hasn't played since the end of last year, and we have no idea what shape he's in, and we're going to ask this guy to come here and actually just uplift our team with his personality or blend in with the people that we have here.” Um, last year, the New York Yankees did precisely that with a 44 year old pitcher. He won six games–which is how many games by which the Yankees won the wild card.

It’s called doing what it takes to win–no matter how illogical or irrational it sounds.

I don’t blame you J.P. I believe you have been given your marching orders regarding Bonds from your bosses and I’ve got a strong suspicion that they have received orders as well. If those suspicions are borne out, your remarks about your integrity are going to look awfully stupid in light of your possible participation in an illegal blacklisting of a major league player–especially if that blackballing cost the Jays a post season berth.

I discussed this issue in my weekly MSN Canada column and I would like to leave you with one final thought that was touched on in the linked article: For those of you who think I’m suffering from Chiropteran fecal-induced psychosis bear in mind that baseball colluded in a big way very recently.

Throughout the late 1990’s-early 2000’s MLB, the MLBPA and the media colluded against us–the fans. They told us almost to a man that the home run feats we witnessed were legitimate and untainted. As information is bearing out–everyone knew … the owners, the players, the press, and the union–everyone that steroids were rampant in the game. They all stood up and told us that it was overblown–only a few isolated bad apples were involved. The media trumpeted the owners’ and players’ line faithfully despite what was right in front of them.

If you think it wasn’t collusion, just Google Steve Wilstein. Read up on what happened in the aftermath of his discovery of Mark McGwire’s androstenedione. It took about five years after that for the story to really start breaking. Every time somebody tried to stand up between 1998-2003 they were taken to task–their integrity or grasp of reality questioned.

Collusion happens.     

Best Regards

John

Markakis has gone through a lot to reach the top  (wcamlin/flickr)

There's a game live on MASN, between the Rays and Orioles.

Dennis Markakis was on the phone a moment ago during the fourth inning (and his son Nick's plate appearance) with Jim Palmer and the play-by-play man and he talked about the way he felt each time he saw his son up at the plate and also mentioned the moment when he realized his son had what it took to be a major leaguer in the future.

It happened in high school at age 16, when his best friend, Taylor Randahl, died.  He had a game the same day of the wake and asked to be excused for the first of a doubleheader, but when he came to the ballpark, the first inning was already almost finished and his team was losing 3-0.

He decided to take the ball and threw a shutout the rest of the way.  His dad then saw that he had what it takes to control his emotion and make the most out of every situation.  (He was also a pitcher at Young Harris College, going 12-0 with 1 save and a 1.68 ERA in 15 games and led all junior college pitchers with 160 strikeouts in 2003)

He has a Randahl tattoo on his right arm and is still close to his family.

From the Baltimore Sun:

It was also interesting to hear his dad discuss how he was small for his age a few years back and that he was a late-bloomer.

The right fielder now handles the #3 hitter duties in the Baltimore lineup and has a career line that looks like this (3 seasons - including 2008 stats): .295/.363/.467, with 71 doubles, 5 triples, 43 home runs, 26 stolen bases and 8 caught stealing.  He now has a 139 OPS+, a stat that has risen every year he has been a major leaguer.

To think that he is only 24 years old…

**You can read a goo piece on the young athlete at Outside Pitch**

Smoltz will now help the Braves out of the bullpen  (Bill Richardson/BDD)

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, John Smoltz will get back to the bullpen for the remainder of the season, in order to protect his seemingly fragile throwing shoulder.

The soon-to-be 41-year-old has 154 saves in four seasons (2001-2004) and presents the following career splits as a starter and reliever:

Starter: 3.33 ERA, .237/.295/.360
Reliever: 2.35 ERA, .213/.252/.315

His power arm is not only greatly effective as a starter, but he can really let it go when he is trusted to go one inning at a time out of the bullpen.  He had 36 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched before he got his shoulder problem this season, good for a 12 K/9, 4 more than he recorded last season, although the sample is still small for 2008.  Coupled that with a BB/9 that still won't go over 3 and is usually around 2 and you've got yourself a pitcher that still dominates at an age when most pitcher are already retired.

He still throws his heater at 93-93 mph, but has been relying a bit more on the curve ball and splitter to begin the season, throwing his change-up only 5% of the time compared to 7% in the past.

With 40% of all offerings being fastballs, that's the lowest he has used that pitch and a huge drop from 55% three years ago.  His mid-80s slider has taken up most of the slack during that time.

It's been a tough series so far for the center fielder, Vernon Wells 
(Bill Richardson/BDD)

Anybody been watching this series from Fenway Park?  Wow.

As a Blue Jays fan, I want to scream obscenities all day long, but as a baseball fan, I'm getting a heavy dose of fantastic baseball.

While both teams are struggling to get a simple hit for the past week, the pitching has been dominant:

Roy Halladay - 8.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K and 15 ground outs/5 fly outs.
Jon Lester - 8 IP, 1 H, 4 BB, 6 K and 15 ground outs/3 fly outs
Dustin McGowan - 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K and 10 ground outs/7 fly outs
Daisuke Matsuzaka - 7 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K and 8 ground outs/9 fly outs

Halladay has four complete games this season, with 3 of those ending as a loss for “The Doc”.

But what has been spectacular is the way the games have ended both times:

Tuesday, with David Ortiz on second base, Kevin Youkilis hits a sharp liner that fell for a hit in front of a running Vernon Wells in center field, but he bobbled the ball and couldn't make a play at home against a running Ortiz.  While there is no way to say how it would have ended, Wells said there was at least a play possible.  The game ended 1-0 and with a steaming Halladay.

I must also note the great catch by Dustin Pedroia on a deviated liner by Vernon Wells in the top of the ninth inning, with Scott Rolen on second after a two-out double.

Yesterday, the Red Sox threatened again in the bottom of the ninth and pinch-runner Jed Lowrie was caught at the plate (from second base) by a great throw by Vernon Wells and an equally great block of the plate by Rod Barajas, after Brandon Moss singled to center field..

Believe it or not, with a man on second again, the next batter lined at the exact same fielder (Wells) and another throw was made toward home with Manny Ramirez given the go-ahead to score.  The throw was strong and on target, but a fraction of second too late.

Vernon Wells now has two assists (and two errors), behind B.J. Upton of the Rays, who leads the majors with four assists from the outfield.

If you have the time, go watch these endings on MLB.TV, they are worth it.

After a week and a half of “being away from the game”, that was all I needed to get pumped up again.

Dustin Pedroia has been a thorn in the Jays side for the last two days
(Bill Richardson/BDD)

Clement will be back in Seattle…maybe for good! 
(baseballplayerphotos/flickr)

Atlanta    

Kelly Johnson - Back injury, day-to-day.
    
Boston    

Daisuke Matsuzaka - Missed 6 games (flu).
Bryan Corey - Assigned to Pawtucket (AAA).
    
Chicago White Sox    

Paul Konerko - Right hand injury, day-to-day.
    
Colorado    

Troy Tulowitzki - Quadricep injury, day-to-day.
Jeff Baker - Right finger injury, day-to-day.
Jayson Nix - Outrighted to Colorado Springs (AAA).
Omar Quintanilla - Recalled from Colorado Springs (AAA).
Jonathan Herrera - Recalled from Colorado Springs (AAA).
Kip Wells - Hand injury, 15-day DL.
Jason Grilli - Acquired from the Detroit Tigers.
    
Detroit    

Zach Simons - Acquired from the Colorado Rockies.
    
Houston    

Jack Cassel - Optioned to Round Rock (AAA).
    
Los Angeles Anaheim    

Matthew Brown -Recalled from Salt Lake (AAA).
Bobby Wilson - Optioned to Salt Lake (AAA).
    
Minnesota    

Brian Buscher - Optioned to Rochester (AAA).
    
NY Yankees    

Sean Henn - Designated for assignment by the New York Yankees.
Chad Moeller - Refused outright assignment and signed a one-year contract.
Chris Britton - Recalled from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA).
Chris Stewart - Optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (AAA).
Alex Rodriguez - Quadricep injury, 15-day DL.
    
Pittsburgh    

Matt Morris - Announcement his retirement.
    
Seattle    

Greg Norton - Designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners.
Wladimir Balentien - Recalled from Tacoma (AAA).
Jeff Clement - Recalled from Tacoma (AAA).
Brad Wilkerson - Designated for assignment by the Seattle Mariners.

Mike DiGiovanna at the Los Angeles Times notes that the Angels aren't getting much production out of the designated hitter spot so far. Garret Anderson, Gary Matthews Jr., Vladimir Guerrero, Juan Rivera, and Torii Hunter have combined to hit .177/.266/.257 through the first month of the season.

I'm assuming this will work itself out one way or another (everything does, if you think about it). The Angels could always trade for Micah Owings or whatever.

Anyway, the weird part to me is that Matthews is logging so much time at DH. Did the Angels seriously believe he was worth $50 million for 5 years on the strength of his bat alone? Dude was signed to play center field, but after a year of seeing him out there, the team from Anaheim went and signed Hunter to play the position. Matthews' defensive value, I'm sure you'll agree, is somewhat diminished when he doesn't play the field.

Nothing against Matthews. It's not his fault the Angels overpaid him in the first place, and who among us can blame him for taking the money? But paying a 33-year-old with a career .260/.333/.417 line $9 million for his bat seems a bit silly to me. (Although not quite as silly as spending $33 million for the next 3 years of his services, but I digress.)

I don't really have a point here. I'm just wondering out loud, again, why teams do stupid things and then claim that they're losing money. There's a difference between “losing” and “giving away.” That some teams can't seem to tell the difference should give you a clue as to where the problem lies.

Why did the Phillies wear green caps during last night's home game against the San Diego Padres? The
Phillies’ team colors are red and blue; green has nothing to do with them. The green was a symbol for environmentalism as the
Phightin’s became the first Major League Baseball team to join the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership program.

To cite the
Philadelphia Business Journal:

To offset the carbon footprint
created by the team's utility power usage at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies
said Wednesday they have bought 20 million kilowatt-hours of Green-e certified
renewable energy certificates.

According to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the deal represents the largest single purchase of 100
percent renewable energy in professional sports and is equivalent to the
planting of 100,000 trees.

[…]

Among the other Phillies' green
initiatives, the team is working with Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., the
food and beverage provider at Citizens Bank Park, on recycling of frying oil to
be used as bio-diesel fuel; recycling glass, plastic and cardboard generated
from game day preparation and sales; using carry-out trays that are 100 percent
post-consumer fiber; providing biodegradable serviceware and cups; using
plastics that are easier to recycle and compostable products; reducing amount
of condiment packaging waste by providing dispensers instead of individual
packets; and using locally grown produce and organic foods.

Within Citizens Bank Park, the team
is reusing rain run-off water for landscaping and field irrigation, converting
to more energy-efficient LED lighting and using environmental-friendly cleaning
products.

Traditionally, the Phillies organization tended to be
stubborn, unwilling to blaze trails in any way, and, in fact, were among the
least accepting of African American ballplayers after Jackie Robinson broke the
color barrier in 1947.

As a resident of southeast Pennsylvania and a Phillies fan,
it’s great to see the team finally taking the invitation to lead the pack
rather than follow. Now maybe the Phillies can get rid of the ugly Lukoil
banners around the stadium.

Image credit to the Associated Press and Yahoo! Images.

• Carlos Gomez went 3-for-4 with a double, stolen base, and 2 runs scored, and Nick Blackburn tossed 7 solid innings as the Twins squeaked by the White Sox, 4-3. Brian Anderson had 3 hits, and Carlos Quentin homered for Chicago.
• Rick Ankiel went 3-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBI, and Aaron Miles singled, doubled, drove in 2 runs, and scored 2 runs as the Cardinals downed the Reds, 5-2. Ryan Freel had 3 hits for Cincinnati.
• Aaron Rowand and Jose Castillo hit solo home runs, and the Giants were able to overcome 3 errors on defense to get by the Rockies, 3-2.
• Placido Polanco blasted 2 home runs, and Jeremy Bonderman allowed just 2 runs on 5 hits over 7 2/3 innings as the Tigers beat the Yankees, 6-2.
• Grady Sizemore doubled, homered, walked twice, and scored 2 runs, and Franklin Gutierrez had 2 hits and drove in 3 runs to give Cliff Lee all the support he would need to defeat the Mariners, 8-3. Recent callup Wladimir Balentien went 2-for-4 with a 3-run homer for Seattle.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched 2-hit ball through 7 innings, and Jason Varitek delivered the game winning RBI single in the bottom of the 9th to lead the Red Sox to their second walk-off win in as many days, 2-1. Dustin McGowan gave up just one run on 5 hits in 7 1/3 innings but didn't figure in the decision for Toronto.
• Josh Hamilton hit a grand slam, and 4 of his teammates also went deep Wednesday night as the Rangers slugged out an 11-9 win over the Royals. David DeJesus homered and drove in 3 for Kansas City.
• Casey Kotchmann went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI, and Ervin Santana did not allow an earned run over 6 2/3 innings as the Angels downed the A's, 6-1.
• Nate McLouth and Xavier Nady combined to go 6-for-7 with 4 walks, 3 doubles, 6 RBI, and 5 runs scored, and despite allowing 5 walks, Tom Gorzelanny allowed just one hit in 5 shutout innings as the Pirates crushed the Mets, 13-1.
• Miguel Montero went 3-for-4, Micah Owings (yes, the pitcher) hit a pinch-hit 2 run homer to tie the game in the 6th inning, and Chris Young drove in the game winner just a few moments later as the Diamondbacks rallied to an 8-7 win over the Astros. Brad Ausmus had 3 hits, and Carlos Lee hit a 3-run home run for Houston.
• Shawn Hill tossed 8 brilliant innings, allowing just one run on 4 hits, and Felipe Lopez had 2 hits and drove in 2 runs including the game winner in the 12th inning that gave the Nationals a 3-2 win over the Braves. Jair Jurrjens was lights out as well tonight, giving up just one run on 2 hits over 7 innings for Atlanta.
• Tad Iguchi went 4-for-5, and Kevin Kouzmanoff and Adrian Gonzalez each belted home runs as the Padres beat the Phillies, 4-2. Geoff Jenkins had 3 hits, and Chase Utley hit his 11th home run of the month for Philadelphia.
• Andy Sonnanstine yielded just one run over 8 innings, and Eric Hinske reached base 4 times, homered, and drove in 2 as the Rays exploded for a 8-1 win over the Orioles.
• Rafael Furcal went 5-for-6 with a stolen base and 3 runs scored, Matt Kemp went 3-for-5 with a home run, walk, 3 RBI, 2 stolen bases, and 2 runs scored, and James Loney and Blake DeWitt each hit 3-run triples as the Dodgers slammed the Marlins, 13-1. Chad Billingsley pitched 7 strong innings for Los Angeles, giving up just one run on 4 hits while striking out 8.
• Geovany Soto hit 2 3-run home runs, Mark DeRosa reached base 5 times, scored 3 runs, and drove in 2, and Ronny Cedeno and Aramis Ramirez each added 3 RBI apiece as the Cubs slaughtered the Brewers, 19-5. Ryan Braun had 2 hits and 3 RBI for Milwaukee.

Wednesday's Scoreboard