When I read that Bowie Kuhn was voted into the Hall of Fame, I yawned. Fay Vincent reminds me why I should have been mad.
News
For Rodriguez and Yankees, It’s All but Over
“We have put it in writing and sent it to the Yankees,†Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras, said in a telephone interview.
That quote makes it seem that A-Rod’s departure from the Yankees is inevitable, and there is certainly no rush in NY today to get the lukewarm superstar to reconsider, but unless I misunderstand the Yankees and A-Rod have 10 days to figure things out. And, maybe, that letter lets Boras talk to other teams while also talking to the Yankees without forcing the Yankees to renounce the $20M the Rangers would owe them if A-Rod stayed under contract.
I haven’t see the mechanics of this addressed so far, but the “All but Over” construction in the hed seems to support this. Boras is a master of finding leverage and his problem here is that unless the Red Sox jump in right away it’s hard to generate much leverage to get the Yankees to bump up their offer.
On the other hand, the booming baseball economy could lead to a perennial also ran making an offer the maritally challenged A-Rod (Selena Roberts suggests elsewhere in today’s Times that Cynthia Rodriguez is behind the whole thing) can’t turn down.
I think the Texas money in the Yankees’ pocket makes it highly unlikely that A-Rod is going to find a good reason to go elsewhere, but the economics in the game are so crazy maybe he will. It certainly didn’t seem possible when the Rangers paid to dump him, did it?
Still Waking Up
I spent some time yesterday reading accounts of the final play in the Padres-Rockies playoff and talking to friends, trying to reconcile the various strands. For instance, mightn’t Brian Giles’ looping throw been an indication that he didn’t think Holliday would run with no outs? Certainly Holliday shouldn’t have.
David Pinto seems to have done the same thing and his explanation is similar to what I’d worked out.
Bonds passes Aaron as baseball’s home run king
On August 2 I linked to a baseballmusings.com chart showing the Mike Bacsik was the pitcher who threw to contact most this year, and noted the odd spell he seemed to have over Barry Bonds (who was 1-15 against Bacsik in his career at that point–that one hit a homer).
Since then Bacsik threw the pitch which Bonds hit to break the record. What are the odds of that?
The Official Site of The Philadelphia Phillies: Official Info: Press Release
The transaction deadline in Tout Wars is 5pm on Friday. The idea is to give players looking at Monday deadlines an idea of what the pros have done. And to give Nando DiFino material for his engaging ESPN.com column, Playing with the Pros.
How to determine when transactions have been made is an eternal struggle for fantasy leagues. In this case, the Phillies’ press release (linked here) is timed at 4:51 pm on Friday, nine minutes before the transaction deadline. Not one of the pros bid on Iguchi except for Major League Baseball Advanced Media employee Cory Schwartz. So, given our Vickery bidding system, his $22 bid on Iguchi becomes an uncontested $1 bid. Kudos to Cory.
If the Phillies’ press release was actually posted at 4:51, I doubt that the actual transaction was reported on the mlb.com or espn.com transaction lists, which we have used as the standard in the American Dream League. As Swatman of that league I check what’s on those two sites at noon each claims Monday and only players listed are eligible to be claimed.
But now I wonder if timestamped press releases on team’s individual sites should count? As long as the timestamp and the actual claim beat the deadline, I don’t see why not.
All the so-called news that’s fit to recap
I may well have recommended this site at some point, maybe even recently, but while reading it this morning I was reminded again what a great idea it was to collect all the trade rumors in one place. In part the idea works because Tim is a witty writer who does a nice job laying out the various discussions, chattering and possibilities. As we approach the July 31 trading deadline teams hoping not to be hurt by ML deals, and teams in the first waiver position hoping to be helped can stoke the fires all day (and night) long at this site.
Athletic Supporters
I haven’t seen anything new on this story, but this well-reasoned analysis and a comment indicating that Bradley and Bob Geren had words (at least), all seem to make more sense than the A’s original story.
Why would the A’s keep the story quiet? To keep Bradley’s trade value up, a move that seemed to pay off when they dealt him to Kansas City. But Bradley, who must be steamed (and who has been on the DL three times already this year), told the Royals he was hurt and the savvy Royals backed out of the deal.
For a Bradley owner who will lose him if he ends up in the NL this was a particularly cruel and troublesome turn of events.
The Cheater’s Guide to Baseball Blog
Francisco Rodriguez doctoring the ball
Sure, Derek Zumsteg is flogging his book about cheating in baseball, and I don’t have the video to see the more convincing evidence, but is it coincidence that in his first appearance after this brouhaha began K-Rod allowed a game-losing dinger? [thanks baseballmusings.com]Â
Steroids and Bowling
Must reading for those interested in sports and steroids.
Ryszard Kapuściński
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
One of his books is named after a war that started because of some soccer games, but this is not a sports story. He’s noted upon his death here simply because he is one of my favorite writers. The Soccer War is a good place to start, but The Emperor, Shah of Shahs and Imperium are all fantastic books, essential if you’re interested in the topics, well worth reading even if you don’t care.