Baseball Tonight

[Ando]

Bitch, moan, complain, praise, laud, crack - give your run down of the day's/night's events in and around The Major Leagues.

[Sevorin]

I advise seppuku 

 

I'm not surprised. Your post is completely spastic.

 

Take some good advice: Do not speak about hockey unless you consult someone sane.

[eviltimes]

No hockey fan is sane.

[Ando]

[Scone]

The pursuit of Clemens has seemed like a classic witch hunt. It was fueled by George Mitchell’s report on steroids in baseball, which collected evidence with the help of federal prosecutors using plea bargaining leverage. It should never have been allowed to get this far.

It was part of the long-running and hugely expensive federal investigation into steroid use in baseball included the prosecution of Barry Bonds, who was convicted on one of four counts last year, an obstruction of justice violation that resulted in a sentence of 30 days of house arrest that Bonds is appealing.

[Scone]

 

With record temperatures in the high 90s, it was tough to keep the family happy at last night's Nats v. Rays game.  We enjoyed watching ex-Nat and cheat Joel Peralta getting the loss for the Rays. Earlier in this series, the umpires found pine tar on Peralta's glove. He was ejected from the game and received a suspension of 8 days.

Maddon was furious after Tuesday's game, calling Johnson's actions "cowardly," "bush" and "bogus." Johnson knew about the pine tar because he had inside information on Peralta, who pitched for the Nationals in 2010.

Johnson: "Any time there's a rule violation, as far as I'm concerned, it's just a rule violation. My only comment to him is read the rulebook. It's simple."

Maddon: "I totally understand that. Davey's right. I'm incapable of reading the rulebook."

Johnson, on whether he has any intention of meeting with Maddon: "No, I don't know him that well, but I thought he was a weird wuss anyway."

 

[Ando]

Mets just got swept by Atlanta in their three game series (Santana fell apart today in the 5th in a 6-1 loss) but are on the way to DC.  Should be a good series.

[Ando]

The National League trounced The American League, 8-0, in last night's All Star Game (woot! woot!). Maybe it was Chipper's speech:

[Ando]

Highlights from last night -

[Scone]

Ozzie Guillen charged Harper with using too much pine tar on his bat, spewed a torrent of profanity at Harper during his at-bat in the fourth inning and afterward called Harper’s actions “unprofessional.” Guillen did not specify what caused his ire, but said it had “something” to do with how Harper pointed his bat at him before his second at-bat.

“First time, it’s going to stay between us,” Guillen said. “I could have said a lot of [stuff] about this kid. I’ve been praising this kid like everyday. The last three times they asked me about him, the only thing I said was he’s a great player. What he did [today] was unprofessional. I’m not going to tell you guys what he did because I’m not going to be talking about it on ESPN, Baseball Tonight, what happened again. I’ll just leave it like that. I’ll talk to his manager in a little while.”

The incident began after Harper’s first at-bat, a lineout to third base. Guillen complained to umpires that Harper had applied pine tar above the label of his bat, the limit for how high the sticky substance can be spread.

In his next at-bat, Harper, who finished 0 for 4, used a new bat. But Guillen did not like something about how Harper walked to the plate. Guillen began yelling at Harper from the dugout, even grabbing a bat and shaking it in the direction of Harper and the Nationals’ dugout. Nationals Manager Davey Johnson started yelling back at him.

“I was just telling [Harper] how cute he was,” Guillen said. “Something happened there the inning before and I didn’t like it and I was talking to the umpire about it.”

Said Johnson: “Ozzie had complained that the pine tar was too high up on Harper’s bat. So we changed it. Then he was still chirping about. It got on the umpire’s nerves. It got on my nerves. He was trying to intimidate my player, I guess. That’s not going to bother our player. He does what he has to do.”

Harper, as he did when Cole Hamels admitted to hitting him on purpose earlier this season, remained above the verbal fray. He did not specify what Guillen was saying to him – “he was just yelling,” Harper said. Mostly, he just complimented Guillen.

“He battles for his team, and that’s the type of manager Ozzie is,” Harper said. “He’s a great manager to play for. He’s going to battle for you, no matter what. That’s a manager you want to play for.”

Baseball’s rules prohibit pine tar from being spread above the label. The goo creates more friction and spin when the bat meets the ball, which allows the ball to travel further. The most famous incident involving the rule came when George Brett – Harper’s professed favorite player – was temporarily robbed of a home run.

“It’s such a fine line,” Johnson said. “They put the pine tar, it’s only supposed to be at the top of the label. Some guys, it might be over half an inch or something. There’s still a foot of the barrel to hit it with. If you hit it on the pine tar, it’s going to shatter everything. The replace the ball all the time, anyways. What’s the big deal?”

Guillen, in his first year with the Marlins, is known for his unapologetically controversial persona and explicit ranting. “Ozzie yells a lot,” one Nationals player said. “You don’t even pay attention.”

The incident seems like it ought to pass, but with volatile, veteran right-hander Carlos Zambrano starting for the Marlins on Monday night, that may not be a smart bet.

(from the Wash Post)

[Ando]

Jeez, will this ever end?

[Ando]

around the bigs...

[Ando]

Missed yesterday's Mets/Nats matchup. I'll be on it today...