Fastball Fans

Investigators in baseball’s steroids probe have demanded to see the medical records of former Orioles Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Jason Grimsley, David Segui, Jerry Hairston, & Fernando Tatis.

In light of not having a subpoena by the courts, the medical records may not be that easy to get. MLB and the players’ union reached an agreement earlier this week that each player has the right to decide whether they feel comfortable releasing their medical records.

Mitchell expects interviews with active players to begin soon; however, it will be curious to see how far he gets.

Business is about to pick up…

Well, David Ortiz is highly skeptical about Barry Bonds and his use of performance enhancing drugs. He’s not even sure if steroids helped Barry Bonds.

Ortiz asserts:

“To hit the ball, the guy makes it look easy, but it ain’t. I don’t know how you can have that swing, consistently. I don’t know how steroids can do that,” Ortiz told the Boston Herald. “There are supposed to be guys using steroids in the game, and there’s nobody close to Barry Bonds. What’s that mean? He was using the best [stuff]? Know what I’m saying?”

“I don’t look at it like that. I look at it hitting-wise, because I don’t know what steroids can do to you as a baseball player. You’ve still got to swing the bat, man,” Ortiz said. “If I ever use steroids, and then I know what the difference can be and I’m using them, I’ll tell you, ‘Yeah, whatever,’ but I don’t know what the feelings are when you use the steroids. But I can tell you how it feels to pull yourself together to swing the bat.”

Then Ortiz says that he’s not sure he’s taken steroids himself.

“I tell you, I don’t know too much about steroids, but I started listening about steroids when they started to bring that [stuff] up, and I started realizing and getting to know a little bit about it,” Ortiz told the Herald. “You’ve got to be careful. … I used to buy a protein shake in my country. I don’t do that any more because they don’t have the approval for that here, so I know that, so I’m off of buying things at the GNC back in the Dominican. But it can happen anytime, it can happen. I don’t know. I don’t know if I drank something in my youth, not knowing it.”

I don’t know what Ortiz was thinking, but he’s got a point – steroids will not help you hit the ball; however, it will make you the ball further.

Steroids do aid in bodybuilding/weight training in which they do help the body recover quicker, thus aids in muscle recovery and makes them larger; therefore, it makes one stronger.

Why David would think Barry did not do steroids, I don’t know… I mean just look at Barry Bonds throughout the years.

Best of Baseball - April

I attend a lot of baseball games and blog about the sport; therefore, today I wanted to share a few images with you all!

Anyhow, let me know what you think and also take a look at my Webshots gallery for more images and stuff! If there’s anything you’d like, feel free to shoot me an email at mdguy2415@aol.com!

If you didn’t hear, Roger Clemens, the biggest mercenary in sports has decided to return to the Yankees…

The Yankees have no pitching, and I’m sure they’ll pay him a king’s ransom.

He’s with Andy Pettitte again, and I knew he was going to return to New York (as predicted…)

From ESPN:
NEW YORK — Roger Clemens returned to the New York Yankees, making a dramatic announcement to fans from the owner’s box during Sunday’s game against the Seattle Mariners.

At the end of the seventh-inning stretch, Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard told fans to turn their attention to the box, where Clemens was standing with a microphone. As the video scoreboard in right-center televised Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner made the announcement himself.

“It’s a privilege to be back,” he said.

Clemens agreed to a minor league contract and most likely will join the Yankees after several weeks getting into shape.

Clemens, who is close friends with Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, said Pettitte is going to be upset with him because he kept the news quiet. The two talked as recently as Saturday night and Clemens didn’t share the news.

“It’s time to go to work,” Clemens said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do, to get back up here.”

I saw this last night on ESPN SportsCenter and nearly dropped my jaw.

Super Bowl hero and golden boy, Tom Brady was caught walking down the street with a Yankees cap in New York City although he plays for the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS.

Anyhow, not that it is a big deal to me, but to the people up there – oh boy.

I’d figure Tom would have known better, but he doesn’t. You would have thought he would have known (he probably does about the Sox and Yanks) rivalry, but he must not care.

According to boston.com

“We know that Tom has an array of Red Sox caps from which to choose,�? said team spokesguy Dr. Charles Steinberg. “But we fully respect that he needed to wear a suitable disguise for his own health and protection. We don’t doubt that he’s a card-carrying member of Red Sox Nation.

For me, it’s just a hat; however, knowing Ian from Sox and Dawgs, my buddy in Marblehead, the girls from Babes Love Baseball and the rest of Red Sox, Brady wearing a Yankee cap is akin being Benedict Arnold. I’m sure he’s got a Sox cap or two, or three, perhaps many and um, I don;t exactly buy the excuse from his spokesperson.

If some paparazzi can find him, I’m sure an obsessive sports fan could too.

I don’t think Tom Brady cares, but New England sports fans are a completely different breed…

I don’t think he’ll be public enemy number one, but the shine on his otherwise great image has been dulled a little.

Even here from Maryland, you have to wonder what Tom Brady was thinking…

I still like him at least.

Clothes do make the athlete, lest have forgotten what happen last week in Baltimore in Baltimore with Gary Throne and Curt Schillings sock?

New England cares what their athletes wear and how they sport their goods.

The Fall Guy: Someone needed to be blamed for the woes with the Yankees and their pitching injuries – their strength and conditioning coach, Marty Miller. He was hired by the Yankees in the offseason as director of performance enhancement and had been with the club only a few months.

After the Phil Hughes injury, the hammer came down fast and hard on Miller.

Barry, Barry, Barry… Barry Bonds has moved a few steps closer to approaching Hank Aaron’s record. Bonds moved within 12 homers of Hank Aaron’s career record of 755, hitting a two-run shot to right field in the fourth inning off Rockies’ pitcher Jeff Francis.

In addition, his eighth-inning single gave him four RBIs on the night and 1,951 for his career, tying him with Stan Musial for fourth place on the all-time list. (AP)

The Baby Bull in Trouble: Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda was arrested after a California Highway Patrol officer pulled him over for speeding and discovered drugs in his car. He was stopped about 3 p.m. Tuesday after his 2001 Lexus was clocked going 83 mph in a 65 mph zone on Interstate 80 in Cordelia, about 40 miles northeast of San Francisco, the CHP said.

While approaching the vehicle, “the officer smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the car,” CHP Sgt. Wulf Corrington said Wednesday.

The CHP officer arrested Cepeda after finding a “usable” amount of a white-powder substance that likely was methamphetamine or cocaine, Corrington said. The officer also found marijuana and a syringe, he added.

The 69-year-old Cepeda was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled substance, along with possession of a hypodermic needle or syringe and possession of marijuana, both misdemeanors. (AP)

Mike Piazza on the Shelf: Oakland designated hitter Mike Piazza is expected to be sidelined four-to-six weeks with a strained right shoulder injured Wednesday night when he dove into third base in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid being tagged. In a collision with Red Sox third baseman, Mike Lowell, both men were heading to the bag at the same time and that’s where the injury happened.

John Lester: In his attempt to make a comeback in baseball, Jon Lester cut short his rehab start with the Pawtucket Red Sox on Wednesday night when he left after the third inning because of a cramp in his left forearm.

‘The Hits Keep Coming” internet radio show on Blog Talk Radio just had it’s eighth episode on the air tonight. Thanks to Anthony and Jason for helping make everything go smoothly, as well as the conversation and taking out part of their evening to talk about the sport we love.The first was live and streaming; whereas, the second hour was just recorded after we got off the air.

A special thanks to Holtzbrinck Publishers for providing us with Big Papi’s new book to give away on the air. I’d like to congratulate Sooze from Minnesota and Alex from Washington for correctly answering the trivia questions to win the books.

Website: http://blogtalkradio.com/oriolepost

First Hour:

• Ian with the news (NTSB findings on Cory Lidle crash, AL & NL Player, Pitcher and Rookies for April)
• The steroid situation with the former Mets employee
• Phillip Hughes hamstring injury and the firing of the Yankees Director of Performance Enhancement
• Who’s to blame for the Yankees poor start?
• Schilling and “Sockgate�?

Second Hour:

• Divisional roundups
• Thoughts about the month of April

Downloads:

Windows Media

ITunes

MP3

Bloggers Ian of Sox & Dawgs and Jason of My Baseball Bias and I produce an hour long baseball show every week called, “The Hits Keep Coming�? on Blog Talk Radio.

Every week at 7PM Eastern Time (6PM Central/ 5PM Mountain/ 4PM Western/Pacific) we chat, analyze and comment about the world of Major League Baseball.

If you’d like to call in, the phone number is 718-664-6564 or you can send us an instant message if you use AOL IM at hitskeepcoming20.

Join us at: http://blogtalkradio.com/oriolepost at 7PM Eastern Time tonight!

Hour One:

* News with Ian
* The Phil Hughes Injury
* The further drug probe, the steroid situation…
* The Death of Josh Hancock and how the Cardinals will fare…
* The struggles of the Yankees, Does Torre stay or does he go?
* Schilling and his Sock…

Hour Two:

* Thoughts of April so far…
* Divisional Roundups

Downloads:

• Windows Media
• MP3
• ITunes

The Cory Lidle Flight Investigation: According to the findings of the NTSB, National Transportation Safety Board members said they still didn’t know whether Lidle or his flight instructor Tyler Stanger was piloting the plane in the Oct. 11, 2006, crash.

Cory Lidle and his flight instructor did not realize their misjudgment of a U-turn until it was too late to avoid their fatal New York City plane crash, investigators said Tuesday.

The Biggest Mercenary in Sports: Randy Hendricks, the agent for free agent pitcher Roger Clemens reiterated Monday the seven-time Cy Young Award winner plans to decide what he’s going to do this year sometime in May.

Whatever. We all know he’s going to a contender and will choose between the Red ox, Yankees or Astros.

Yawn…

Dumb A**: Frank Martinez, 40, of the Bronx, also must spend 15 days in jail as part of his sentence for interfering with a professional sporting event.

What did he do?

In April, he shined a high-powered flashlight at a pair of Braves players, while they playing the Mets at Shea Stadium.

In addition to his jail sentence, he’s been banned from Shea Stadium for (ONLY) three years, (it should be life!).

Lou Gehrig

If you’re a big history buff, much less a baseball one, Lou Gehrig of the Yankees did not play against the Tigers at Briggs Stadium, ending at 2,130 his streak of consecutive games played.

Thus he never played again. Babe Dahlgren took his place at first.

Things are not good in Yankee-land, in fact it might have gotten worse.

Last night, another starting pitcher on the Yankees got hurt.

Only the pitcher was working on A NO-HITTER.

In only his second start, Phil Hughes was on his way to potentially becoming immortal in the eyes of Yankee fans and his name in the history books. However in the 7th inning, he pulled his hamstring.

Although the Yankees won handily, 10-1 over the Rangers, Phil Hughes will be out 4-6 weeks.

It’s another crazy incident in a wild 2 months for Yankee fans.

Not that I am the biggest Yankee fan, I’m hoping Mr. Hughes gets better – it looks like he’s a special talent, and should be great for seasons to come.

Life, is more often than that is about overcoming the hard times, rather than relishing it when the times are good.

Death is a part of life, but it does not make dealing with it any easier.

The St. Louis Cardinals faced that once with Darryl Kile.

They are facing it again with the loss of Josh Hancock.

I am the same age as Josh Hancock, and I often drive on the interstate everyday, but we take life for granted much way too much.

It is perhaps a tired cliché, but it’s true.

I really did not know much about Mr. Hancock, aside from he was just a reliever with the Cardinals and was a part of the World Series team last year.

Even though there are now reports of alleged drinking a few hours before his accident, and an accident a few days before he lost his life, Josh Hancock was a man who was in the prime of his career and just beginning life.

To me, he’s a young man who died sadly way too soon. Whether he made a mistake or not isn’t the issue, it’s the fact he’s in another place and at peace now.

I feel for the Cardinals organization, and the fans in the region, who have shown nothing but loyalty and unconditional love for their Redbirds.

Josh, from a fellow baseball fan, rest in a peace.

To the Cardinals and their fan base, I empathize with the loss and may you all rebound from it.

It looks like Joe Torre is the Yankees manager — for now.

Unless you have been under a rock, or just not aware, the Yankees are off to a 9-14 start and in last place in the American League East. The Boston Red Sox have taken 5 out of 6 games from the Yankees (and living in the Northeast, it means that world is off kilter in the Big Apple).

If you add the fact the Yankees have a $195 million payroll, All Stars and Future Hall-of-Famers up and down their lineup, one would expect the team to be better. Even with Alex Rodriguez’s hot start (they in fact would be even worse), the Yankees are in a big hole.

For a city and region that believes a World Series title is part of their divine right, the lackluster start is cause for concern & outright panic.

Here’s the problem: It’s obvious to me and everyone else who follows baseball – the Yankees have no pitching. From spring training on, it’s been the concern, and now on the first day of May, it’s a concern.

Pavano is out, as is Mussina. Chien-Ming Wang, a contender for the Cy Young award in 2006 came back this weekend, pitched a sub-par game and opened on a nail on this throwing hand.

Here are the stats of the starting pitching; it’s not pretty:

The Yankees have a 5.02 ERA, 27th among the 30 major league teams, ahead of only Florida (5.13), Texas (5.37) and Tampa Bay (6.01) - (ESPN)

Yikes.

But in the New York Media and amongst fans, Joe is getting the brunt of the criticism.

Why? Simply, New York City is a demanding place for anyone – especially, the man at the helm of the Yankees.

The poor Mets, even with their start and the classy Willie Randolph as manager, they are on the back page of the news.

For much of the baseball world, and edict from “the Boss�?, George Steinbrenner was going to be placed sometime between the weekend and Monday about the fate of Joe Torre, and if he’d be the manager, or canned.

Monday he spoke.

“The season is still very young, but up to now the results are clearly not acceptable to me or to Yankee fans,” … “However, Brian Cashman, our general manager, Joe Torre, our manager, and our players all believe that they will turn this around quickly.

“I believe in them. I am here to support them in any way to help them accomplish this turnaround. It is time to put excuses and talk away. It is time to see if people are ready to step up and accept their responsibilities. It is time for all of them to show me and the fans what they are made of.�?

“Let’s get going. Let’s go out and win and bring a world championship back to New York. That’s what I want.”

To be quite honest, the team is in a funk and I’m sure they’ll come back and turn it around, as they have too much talent not to do so. However, the pitching is the big concern and they need to get that in order.

However, to blame Joe Torre for the madness is asinine. We have seen the success he’s had with the Yankees, and although they have not won the title in a number of years, he has taken them to nine consecutive AL East titles.

Joe does not play on the field, and he does not swing a bat. He’s made some questionable decisions this season, but does he deserve to get fired?

Even, if he was fired, who could possibly step in and do the job? Maybe Don Mattingly, who I like, but is he ready?

Joe Girardi? A great manager and motivator, but would he be right for this team?

Granted, Joe has had great talent with his Yankee teams, a lot of credit needs to be given to him for managing the various egos in the organization and getting them to play for a common cause – a championship.

For everyone who is a Yankee fan, let’s take a deep breath and calm down. Things may right itself, but it may be a battle for the team to return to supremacy this season. Keep in mind the Yankees were in the same predicament 2 years ago and came back and won the division, though it took Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon to contribute in a big way (though both pitchers are not longer with the team at all).

I say things will be fine for the next week or two.

However, history has shown that George Steinbrenner can be an impatient and unpredictable man.

It remains to be seen what the fallout may be if the Yankees continue to struggle.