Rumors for Major League Baseball
All Star Starting Lineups Released
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According to Craig Calcaterra of MSNBC, Ron Washington and Bruce Bochy have announced their Starting Lineups. Starting Pitcher for the NL Is Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Starting Pitcher for the AL is Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels. The starting lineups then go as follows:
American League
1. Curtis Granderson CF New York Yankees
2. Asdrubal Cabrera SS Cleveland Indians
3. Adrian Gonzalez 1B Boston Red Sox
4. Jose Bautista RF Toronto Blue Jays
5. Josh Hamilton LF Texas Rangers
6. Adrian Beltre 3B Texas Rangers
7. David Ortiz DH Boston Red Sox
8. Robinson Cano 2B New York Yankees
9. Alex Avila C Detroit Tigers
National League
1. Rickie Weeks 2B Milwaukee Brewers
2. Carlos Beltran DH New York Mets
3. Matt Kemp CF Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Prince Fielder 1B Milwaukee Brewers
5. Brian McCann C Atlanta Braves
6. Lance Berkman RF St. Louis Cardinals
7. Matt Holliday LF St. Louis Cardinals
8. Troy Tulowitzki SS Colorado Rockies
9. Scott Rolen 3B Cincinnati Reds
The All Star game will be on Fox starting at 8 pm est tomorrow.
Image By Ken Lund Under the Creative Commons License
2011 MLB All-Star Rosters revealed
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Major League Baseball has released the 2011 All-Stars for the 82nd Midsummer Classic to be held in Arizona’s Chase Field on July 12 (source: MLB.com):
American League
1B: Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox
2B: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
3B: Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees
SS: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees
OF: Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays
OF: Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees
OF: Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
DH: David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
C: Alex Avila, Detroit Tigers
National League
1B: Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers
2B: Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee Brewers
3B: Placido Polanco, Philadelphia Phillies
SS: Jose Reyes, New York Mets
OF: Lance Berkman, St. Louis Cardinals
OF: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
OF: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers
C: Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves
Nolan Ryan in favor of Astros joining AL
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Texas Rangers president and CEO wouldn’t mind sharing the state and the American League with their neighbors to the south – the Houston Astros. According to Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com, Ryan said he would be in favor of a realignment.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” Ryan said earlier this week. “I would be in favor of adding somebody, and I think it would be good if you had the Rangers and the Astros in a pennant race. I think it would add a lot of interest in the state and I think it would be good.”
Sources close to ESPN said that MLB and the players’ association have spoken about a scenario where there are two 15-team leagues where each league would compete for five playoff spots each. Two highly ranked executives believe the Astros would be the team to switch from the NL to the AL.
“If we can improve our situation, the Texas Rangers and I certainly would be open to it,” Ryan said. “It would make the rivalry in the state such a big deal, and I think the demographics in the state of Texas would help.”
The Rangers currently hold a 37-28 lead in their interleague series.
Image by Bukowsky18 under the Creative Commons License.
A song endorsed by Pete Rose?
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In about a month, the name Pete Rose will once again come up for debate. Should he be in? Or did Major League Baseball do the right thing and ban him for life? You can argue either way, but until the issue is resolved enjoy this snippit of song that was sent to me by Evergreen Records, “Love Oughta Be Perfect”, where Pete Rose is quoted saying, “Hi, this is Pete Rose and I approve of this message”
Love Oughta Be Perfect
Evergreen Records
By Brad Wolf featuring Pete Rose
Used with permission from Robert Lewis of Evergreen Records, Nashville, TN
Image by tenaciousme under the Creative Commons License
Realignment being discussed between union and MLB
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Four sources close to Buster Olney of ESPN say that Major League Baseball and the player’s union are discussing a realignment that will include two leagues of 15 teams.
One scenario eliminates the divisions, so the 15 teams of each league would vie for five playoff spots.
“I’d still say the odds of it happening are less than 50-50,” one source said.
The two leagues of 15 teams would require one team from the National League to switch to the American League. Two highly ranked executives believe that the Houston Astros would be a possible candidate to switch leagues.
“There are still a lot of details that would have to be discussed,” one source said.
Image by adecker31 under the Creative Commons License.
Mariano Rivera reaches 1000 appearances with the Yankees
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Not every baseball player gets to play in 1000 games throughout his career. And it’s even harder when you’re talking about a reliever. But today, Mariano Rivera became the first Major League pitcher to appear in 1000 games all for the same team.
The Panama native debuted in the Majors in 1995 with the Yankees at age 25. That season he appeared in 19 games, and started 10 of them, finishing with a 5-3 record with 5.51 ERA over 67 innings.
The next season, he appeared in 61 games, exclusively as a reliever and finished with a 8-3 record with a 2.09 ERA and five saves over 107.2 innings.
Fast forward to present time where Rivera has 572 saves in 1000 appearances, and has helped his team reach 15 post-season berths including five World Series titles.
In two seasons, Rivera has recorded 50 saves or more – 50 in 2001 and 53 in 2004. He has kept his ERA below 2.00 in eleven seasons and only two times during his 17-year career his ERA has been above 3.00. He has issued only 270 walks and has 1067 strike outs.
Rivera will probably hit the 600 saves mark later this year, and after his career is over he’ll be the all-time leader in saves.
He will also be remembered as the last active player to wear number 42 on his back. The guy who threw one of the nastiest cutters ever and the first person I think of every time I hear Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.
MLB could discipline players for alcohol-related arrests
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Multiple sources close to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports say that Major League Baseball and the players’ union planned on negotiating a policy that will discipline players involved for alcohol-related arrests. The sources say that the union and MLB do not plan to place a temporary policy before the December 11 expiration of the current collective-bargaining agreement.
This year alone Miguel Cabrera, Austin Kearns, Coco Crisp, Adam Kennedy, Derek Lowe and Shin-Soo Choo have been arrested for driving under the influence.
One source says the MLBPA is discussing a progressive punishment policy, but it would not commit to suspensions for first-time offenses until negotiations require it.
Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.
MLB suspends Roger McDowell for 2 weeks plus fine
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According to Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Braves’ pitching coach Roger McDowell has been suspended for two weeks without pay plus an undisclosed fine.
The punishment was the end result after he made homophobic slurs, threats and gestures to a group of fans in San Francisco last week.
In McDowell’s place, Dave Wallace has been taking over the pitching coach duties.
The suspension is retroactive to April 29 when the team placed McDowell on administrative leave. The pitching coach will also be required by MLB to take sensitivity training.
MLB to name Tom Schieffer as Dodgers trustee
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Major League Baseball has named Tom Schieffer as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Trustee. Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times was the first to report the likelihood of the announcement.
Schiffer joined an investment group (along with former President George W. Bush) to purchase the Texas Rangers Baseball Club in April 1989. He helped negotiate a deal to build the Ballpark in Arlington and he eventually became President of the Rangers in January 1991. He held that post until April 1999.
Major League Baseball took over the Dodgers on April 20 because of deep concerns over the team’s finances and operations.
Selig will not change Barry Bonds records
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All-time home run king and single season home run leader Barry Bonds will not have his records changed in the Major League Baseball history books, according to commissioner Bud Selig (via The Associate Press).
“In life there’s always got to be pragmatism,” Selig said during a meeting Thursday with The Associated Press Sports Editors. “I think that anybody who understands the sport understand exactly why.”
Bonds currently holds the career home run record with 762 and a single season mark of 73 home runs. He was convicted last week on a single count of obstruction of justice.
