Play your cards right

 Arod has potentially dealt himself a body blow, depending on how Bud Selig sees the severity of playing or even sitting watching these high stakes poker games.


Alex says he will co-operate, because he is scared shitless of what this can mean, especialy after his self confessed PED involvement. While not being totally illegal, it is highly immoral.



What reaction is there out there in the baseball community ?


Does this make Arod someone that could have serious  gambling ties, or could he be in to the sharks, or worse, the mob ?  We all know he has multi millions so the gambling losses do not mean much, but it's potentially a target for extortion, blackmail, who knows ?

Here's a shot of ARod, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Ben Affleck playing some high stakes poker.

I know, they're dogs and they're playing poker, easy Homer....

I can  see the humour in all  this, I just hope MLB does too.

I give him 3-1 odds he gets a 5 game suspension, if there is enough oroof, and it's just to make sure all the other players hear the words from Selig's mouth.

"baseball and gambling do not mix "

Waivers

 Players are now popping up on waivers like prairie dogs, here and there, and all around. Some receive shock from from fans, some fans say, please someone make a deal for this loser. Generally it is performance based, but many times there is a cheaper alternative in the wings, and the heavy contracts would love to be dumped.


George King III of the The New York Post recently reported that AJ Burnett, Rafael Soriano and long time Yankee Jorge  Posada were placed on waivers. Gee, they all make lots of money, are struggling, andf have cheaper replacements waiting.  No suprtise to me, but this is what happens on a regular basis, testing the waters, see who you can lure in, who will block possible deals.

In 1992, the Blue Jays placed a waiver claim on David Cone of the Mets, a late night heist when seemingly no one was looking, or were supposing that some one is going to put in a claim, and didn't.

I mean some players are used to this, and some get very offended, and some get vocal, and who know,
Wonder if any come to tears, cause there's no crying in baseball......

Time for deals

Yunel Escobar

Last year, the Jays had come to the realisation that the Braves were frustrated with Yunel Escobar, ancd Alex Gonzalez had converted one half of baseball into a very marketable shortstop, 17 home runs, extra base hits, high enough average, reliable defense, and a player not prone to the hot doggery play.

Cito Gaston knew as well the kid had much more potential, given the right circumstances, a very special one.

Deals at this time of year are generally made for need and Atlanta had a need, a shortstop that could hit and make those routine play.  Run out ground balls.

Funny that a year into the deal, that woulld describe Escobar to a tee, and in fact, he's part of the young leadership group.

The Gonzalez deal was pure sell high, and deal for the guy with potential, but little results. Anthopolous saw an opening, deal Alex quickly before the batting average tumbled, and the lustre of the early home run success would run dry.
So this was more right place, right partner.


 So Jim, handicap where the potential deals are going to be made this deadline. Okay, let's give it a whirl.

Beltran, the most sought after, or the most hyped.
I think that the Mets want 2 things, salary relief, and ready to play prospects, like Chris Davis, Marty Perez.

BJ Upton, now this is a deal that Tampa wants prospects only, no one that is making any appreciable money, a controllable commodity. San Fran will lose out on Beltran, so will need to score a bat, too bad it will likely be Upton`s. But he might flourish with a change of scenery.

Aaron Hill, and I don`t think we will get much, but I think he moves , perhaps kenny Williams has soured on Gordon Beckham, Ozzie sure has, and US Cellular is a hitters paradise, so maybe the White Sox, and Jays get a single AAA prospect, but Kenny be careful, last year we got Escobar, this year, well, just be careful.

The usual collection of relivers will drift around to fill holes, a few back up catchers, but Beltran, and Upton will be names to expect.

Everyone expected Hunter Pence, or Wandy Rodriuguez, and James Shields, but none appear to be moving, but the Phils, Red Sox and Yankees all see the finishing line, and one of these teams will make a splash, bet on it.

Players from a time gone by

I started with Roberto Clemente, since he finished with 3000 hits exactly, after the 1971 season, he never saw 1972, his plane crashed delivering supplies to earthquake victims.

 I loved watching this perennial All Star play right field for the Pirates, win batting titles, knock in over 100 runs, and man could throw out runners.
The press in Pittsburgh insisted on calling him Bobby, and he would correct them constantly, and so was considered a malcontent, but he was fearless proud of his Cuban heritage.

Born to play the game, and he patrolled center field ( just ask John Fogerty ) like no one else in the majors, in either league.  I swear he played so shallow he could hear the second baseman whisper.  Has been given a bad rap because he fought the reserve clause at a time when players were not represented in a true fashion by a union with any teeth.  Marvin Miller sure changed that ( and when does he go to the Hall, thee most influential figure in the game from the late 60's for almost 2 decades.

 Dick Allen was a sullen, angry black player, never feeling like he got a fair shake from the establishment. He had tremendous talent, and on occasion was the most feared hitter in the National League.  But he frequently wore out welcomes, moving to Chicago to play for the White Sox, then onto Oakland and Texas, and played a season with the Dodgers.  Like I say, he had great ability to hit long home runs to all fields, and he could easily stretch a double into a single, he had that type of talent.
Sad he never fully realized his true potential.

 Let's Play Two, as Banks would utter, he was a player who never played a single playoff gamer, but has Hall of Fame numbers nevertheless, playing 1st base and other posts essentially for the South Siders of Chicago.
Another feared hitter from the late 50's through the 60's, and into the early 70's, he had the zeal for the game when it paid pennies.  Players complain about unscheduled double dips, Ernie wanted as many double headers as he could get.

Played in 3 World Series, Brock stole bases, but he could stroke the ball enough that he could have hit 30 homers a year, but like Ichiro, chose the path of base hits, steals, and runs created. Played a flawless outfield, making the glide to the ball look effortless, he did not get the press that Flood did in centre, but he range baby, he could take away hits that were sure doubles. Because he could run like the wind.

Joey Bats and Clemens Rats

Time to get caught up after the All Star Game, the Jeter 3000 hit, the Beltran Buzz, and here come the Yankees to town, with no Arod, no Cameron Diaz, no current controversy lingering.

Clemens vs The US Government declared a mistrial on evidence a first year law student should know was not admissible.  Maybe planned that way, so as to trip your self up, and reduce the potential long drawn on cost on taxpayers. In the 40' s, boxers took dives because they cleaned up betting on the other guy, and so did the Govt  get good odds on a mistrial ? . 

Jays roll into the 2nd half and clobber the Yanks, while losing Joey Bats19 to an ankle sprain, which most will tell you will cost him a weekend on the shelf.  No sweat, we banged out 23 hits, most of them off Barty Colon, who stunk worse than the Hudson River.  In fairness though to Colon, not many of those hits were truly monstrous. Mostly dinks and duck farts.

Into the 2nd half with tight division races, Arizona hanging with San Fran, Tigers and Tribe, Yankees-Red Sox, Cards and Brewers, Braves and Phils, and Angels- Rangers, with a few others still hope like Tampa, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and the Twinkies. Ultimately they will cut down the pretenders into August, 3 team races usually unravel like a poorly knitted sweater. Watch out for the Twins.

Here in Toronto, we headed into he break winning 3 in a row off Cleveland, then last nights combination laugher/ cliffhanger, thanks to Jo Jo Reyes, and Andruw Jones. Imagine, a 9-0 lead, and he gives back 7, and that with half the game still to play. Still nice to exhaust their bullpen in one evening.

Key hit of the night, E5 ( Encarnacion ) a 2 out base knock that gave us an 11-7 lead, a chance to breathe again, and momentum to re-accelerate our engines. 8 runs in the first not a record against the poinstrippers, 9 scored in 1934 by the Tigers, but a pasting nevertheless.

Clemens Rats

Clemens, number 1 Rat Fink, so far denied his chance to stand up and have his record washed clean, must hope a mistrial means HOF Voters think he is innocent.  Does the Pope wear a toupee ? Does a bear shit in the woods ?

This ain't over by a long shot.


I am sure that HBO are thrilled that when they begin showing the Jeter assault on 3000 hits like Hercules ascending Mount Olympus, there are no nightly trial tidbits to tarnish Yankee icons.  Maybe here's hoping Clemens elects to wear a Red Sox hat if he gets into the HOF.

Joey Bats19

I am currently following baseball's good boy @JoeyBats19 on twitter, and yes folks, I am also on Twitter, as well as blog world.

My twitter handle is @keon2214, but don't expect Shaq like ditties, and Darren Dreger trade updates, just rambling commentary, like the blog.



With E5 hitting, Snider banging, and Thames swinging, we can survive against the Yanks if we get contributions from everyone, and start taking more pitches to wear out their arms. That's what they do.

The Big Stretch

We reached the halfway mark in the season in Jay Land and the current record says we are 40 and 41, a game under the .500 mark, and with what has transpired so far, I'd say we are fortunate.

Cecil demoted early, Drabek demoted, Litsch DL'ed, Dotel, Rauch and Franky coughing games faster than Kevin Gregg, yikes.  Camp shaky, Jo JO went almost 2 months before a win, and Morrow's ERA is finally under 5. Ok, I am sure it gets better somehow. Carlos Villanueva a starter ?  Okay, enough bad news, please. Wait , Rickey has the lowest run support on the team, how about the AL East, how about the American League. Stop already.

Now onto the hitters, Adam Lind spent a month on the DL, Hill has 3 home runs, hitting .240, Arrencibia hitting .226, Rajah Davis lost his lead off assignment, and his batting stroke. Oh, did I mention we have not seen Travis Snider since, what Easter, maybe that is a stretch. Jose is still Jose, thank God, and Escobar has produced a better offense than expected, and Lind returned from back woes with a vengeance, but the offense has also been spotty.

Defense, check the errors at 3rd base, ooooooo that is almost more than I can handle, so the hell are we 40-41 ?

Wish I could tell you, but the game has twists and turns, lucky breaks, and unexpected help. Corey Patterson made an impact batting in the 2 hole, and young Eric Thames has recently injected some run tonic, but there are better time ahead.

Are we catching some breaks in the second half, maybe, in another month, we should see Brett Lawrie, maybe Adam Loewen, and if Travis regains his stroke, the top 6 hitters give the Jays a reason to be optimistic.

Entering July, it forecasts as a brutal month, as we start with the Phillies, the Red Sox, the Yanks and Texas, with the Trible, and re-surgent Mariners, so we are in pretty tough, so the next 25 games decide much of the season. In August , we get the lesser lights, so July must be a hold on tight month, win 13 , lose 12, and we are back at .500.  The trouble with that theory is that Boston , NY and perhaps Tampa will run away and hide as they are collectively 137 - 101 now, and the Sox & Yanks will be buyers at the deadline, so only getting deeper, better, more lethal.

What will the good folks at Rogers do ?

Refill the bird feeders !

15,632 attended another mid week affair, but big crowds will watch Halladay's ( interrupted ) return to Toronto, but attendance is not great, so dealing off a Rivera, a Camp, a Jason Frasor, a Jose Molina, maybe an Encarnacion is all we can expect.

It is a big stretch to say we are still in the hunt, but if we manage to gain 5 games on New York and Boston in July, and enter August with a head of steam then it could be interesting.

It's a pretty big stretch, but I had predicted 83 wins, so c'mon guys, gotta make me look good here.

In Court with Frank and Jamie

Trust LA to provide a gaudy and well publicized divorce proceeding, and Major League Baseball are the winners in this front row seat. Major League Baseball put the kibosh on the $3 billion Fox deal with Frankie, because Buddy Selig deemed it not in the best interest of baseball.

Oh my God, best interest of baseball, he killed it because he wanted Frank & Jamie to declare bankruptcy and guess what, he succeeded, they did. Thankfully, Frank has no more personal cash he's willing to spend to keep the thing afloat, and whatever that deal was, he had to deal with the ex-missus, who must be thrilled, all she wants is her pound of flesh, and then she will be of to the spa to share LA stories with all the other recently divorced women.

You are excused from reading any further if you do not give a damn about the Dodgers organization, but pray read on if this matters to you.

Dueling is not legal, but methinks it would have solved this a lot faster.

Jamie McC was very public with her opinions as to how hubby, sorry, ex hubby cavorted around in the past year, while Rome was burning, Frank was playing the role of big time man about town, living high on the hog, all the while he was dipping continually into Dodger coffers. Jamie constantly called him out, and gee, what did the media do, what the media always does, they ran everything, the strippers, the parties, the jets, the ..well the everything, whether true or not, and today it all comes crashing down in time for the 6 o'clock news on KTLA, the local Dodger station.

Someone drive over to Vin Scully's house and make sure he has not done anything rash.

Geez, when they played in Ebbets Field, all they were worried about was fans winning a few case of beer if a Dodger hot the Schaefer sign.

As the days go by, MLB will hand pick the next owner, and here is a list of who ain't on it.



1. Mark Cuban
2. Jack Nicholson ( an Angels fan )
3. George W. Bush
4. Enron
5. Ex Governor, Arnold...
6. Jay Leno, don't laugh..no seriously don't laugh.
7. George Lucas ( remember he gave us Jar Jar Binks )

It will likely get bought by someone the other owners want and trust to join the club, and we'll keep an eye open to see what happens.