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The AL West: a tradition of strong teams; a tradition of getting tossed out on their asses in the postseason.* (*except for 2002) Ted Bauer takes a walk down the coast to run down the possibilities for 2005. If you see him walking, give him a Clif bar and he’ll be just fine.
Even though Fox refuses to cover baseball until June, fans across the country are already preparing their alternate audio options so they can avoid the Charlie-Brown’s-schoolteacher whine that is Tim McCarver. Back on December 12, 1998 Derek Zumsteg offered up a better method than dot races and “hat tricks” to get excitement into baseball. Note the eerily prescient reference to Jose Canseco…
Admitting that Byung-Hyun Kim’s two-year, $10 million contract was “a mistake,” Red Sox GM Theo Epstein traded the troubled reliever to the Rockies on Wednesday for LHP Chris Narveson and C Charles Johnson. Epstein then released Johnson and sent Narveson to AAA Pawtucket. “We certainly made a mistake and I take responsibility for that,” […]
With the Cactus League wrapping up, three Rockies players found themselves tossed from a different game — the Phoenix Suns’ NBA tilt against the Denver Nuggets. Four Rockies, OF Matt Holliday and pitchers Shawn Chacon, Brian Fuentes and Javier Lopez, had been sitting immediately behind Suns owner Robert Sarver, who took exception to the ballplayers’ […]
Cancer couldn’t stop Andres Galarraga’s career, but his own high standards did on Tuesday, as the 19-year veteran retired as the Mets prepared to trim their roster for the regular season. Galarraga, a Gold Glover and five-time All-Star, was hitting just .235 this spring as a non-roster invitee.
Needing only one home run to make the […]
Now it’s over to the Biggest Division, where last year the Birds of Play smacked the livin’ bejeebers out of everyone. Since there were no hockey sticks to be had this past winter, where does that leave the crimson gang? And there are at least five more stories in the naked city. Michael Cox does his best to not say too many bad things about Pittsburgh. (He fails miserably.)
Two-fifths of the Yankees’ championship rotation looked like those days were long gone in their final spring starts Monday, as Roger Clemens and David Wells were pounded in their Grapefruit League games. Clemens gave up seven runs in six innings to the Tigers in only his third spring appearance, but Wells’ performance — allowing five […]
Turning his attention to the littlest division, Michael Cox declares it “all-offense, all the time.” Or “50 good-looking hitters (and three ugly ones).” Or “the land that pitching forgot.” Only one thing’s for sure: get crazy with those ThunderStix one more time and you’ll be using them as suppositories.
It’s the division with the only remaining curse in baseball. (Unless you count Bud Selig.) Ted Bauer runs down the middle of the NL, looking at injury-prone superstars, social-security-collecting aces, and enumerates the antagonists, protagonists, and, um, goats.
NEW YORK, NY — If the baseball writers who elect Hall of Famers voted today, Mark McGwire wouldn’t make it, according to an Associated Press poll published Friday. Barry Bonds, however, would probably be a first-ballot inductee.
Polling 155 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, 65 (42 percent) said they would vote […]
TUCSON, AZ — Thursday’s game between the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks was called after five innings when bees swarmed onto the field. Initially the bees swept through center field and converged on the mound, where Rockies pitcher Darren Oliver was standing. After several attempts to evade the bees, Oliver left the game.
The bees […]
NEW YORK, NY — Nielsen Media Research revealed the cable ratings for stations who carried last week’s steroid hearings on Friday. An average of 624,000 households viewed the proceedings on Fox News, while 526,000 tuned in on CNN and 166,000 turned to ESPN News for live coverage.
The ratings showed a decline for the news outlets’ […]
In his first set of 2005 picks ‘n’ pans, Michael Cox covers the eastern seaboard. He sees chaos in New York, order in Boston, and an owner in Baltimore who loves to pay for big-time hitters, but pitching…not so much.
ST. LOUIS, MO — Cardinals broadcaster Wayne Hagin apologized Wednesday for a statement he made over the weekend which implied that Todd Helton had done steroids. “I’ve spent the last couple of days thinking about what to do next: I can’t un-say the words or choose better ones now,” Hagin said. “But I can apologize: […]
BOSTON, MA — After announcing on Tuesday that the Red Sox will continue to play at Fenway Park for the long-term future, owners John Henry and Tom Werner additionally confirmed Wednesday that the team’s decision comes with no conditions. However, team officials did state that they hope to see the neighborhood improvements pledged by the […]
When you watched the news yesterday, did you find yourself wondering, “how in the world could the media possibly have made Barry Bonds so bitter?” Well, Michael Cox knows…or rather, knew back in August of 2001, when it wasn’t some BALCO investigation or ex-girlfriend’s tell-all book causing friction — it was just the reporters themselves. Please enjoy this previously published yet prescient piece.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ — After undergoing another round of surgery on his ailing knee, Barry Bonds said Tuesday that he’s going to rest and recuperate until at least the middle of this season — perhaps until 2006. Bonds returned to Scottsdale on crutches after the operation on his knee last week in San Francisco.
“Right now I’m […]
Cutting a swath up the middle of our great nation, Ted Bauer takes on the much-improved AL Central, in the process making more bold proclamations than a Congressman. The difference: Ted thought about his.
A bone scan Monday revealed that White Sox LHP Mark Buehrle has a broken bone in his left foot. The injury means a four-to-six-week recovery period, scuttling his planned opening day start.
Buehrle’s injury makes Freddy Garcia the Sox’ opening day starter, and opens up an opportunity in the rotation for Brandon McCarthy. “It’s definitely […]
Breaking a federal secrecy order, unnamed sources have detailed BALCO hearing testimony from Barry Bonds’ ex-girlfriend, in which she stated that Bonds knowingly used performance enhancing drugs. The testimony, in the ongoing conspiracy case against the laboratory, indicates that prosecutors are looking to implicate Bonds in the scandal.
Kimberly Bell, who is currently working on a […]
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