Bobby Murcer Receiving Medical Care

From the Associated Press news article found on Espn.com:

NEW YORK -- Yankees broadcaster Bobby Murcer is receiving medical care in Oklahoma after treatment for cancer forced him to curtail his schedule this month.

The 62-year-old former star outfielder had surgery in December 2006, four days after being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He returned to the broadcast booth last season. His March biopsy showed no cancer, and Murcer broadcast his first game of the season May 2.

Murcer is also recovering from shingles. His family released a statement Monday through the team saying he is getting help in his hometown of Oklahoma City and has shown "some measured improvement in recent days."

"Bobby remains hopeful that he will be able to resume his broadcasting work down the road but for now is appreciative of the thoughts and prayers of his fans and wants them to know that he is aware that he is in their hearts, as they are in his," the family said.

Murcer played 17 seasons in the majors with the Yankees, San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs from 1965-83. He batted .277 with 252 home runs. He has been a Yankees broadcaster for 23 seasons.

Negative on the No-No?

Angels pitcher Jered Weaver had a hand in the a no hitter yesterday, but also found himself on the losing side of the ball game. Here's an excerpt of the story from ESPN News Services:

LOS ANGELES (ESPN.com news services) -- Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo combined to no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night -- and it still wasn't good enough for the Los Angeles Angels.

The Dodgers became the fifth team in modern major league history to win a game in which they didn't get a hit, defeating the Angels 1-0. Weaver's error on a slow roller led to an unearned run by the Dodgers in the fifth.Weaver downplayed the fact the Angels lost without giving up a hit."Any loss, no matter what, is tough," he said. "I'm sure you guys are going to eat this up a lot more than I am. I don't call it a no-hitter for me. I only went six innings."

The Dodgers' Joe Torre thought it might've been his weirdest win as a manager."I'd really have to reach down, and I don't really remember too much, but that's about as bizarre as you can get," he said.With the Angels trailing in the interleague game at Dodger Stadium, Weaver was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning after throwing 97 pitches. Arredondo pitched the next two innings.

Why It Wasn't A No-No

According to MLB rules: An official no-hit game occurs when a pitcher (or pitchers) allows no hits during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings. In a no-hit game, a batter may reach base via a walk, an error, a hit by pitch, a passed ball or wild pitch on strike three, or catcher's interference.

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Chacon Throws a GM

According to the Associated Press, " Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon was suspended indefinitely by the team Wednesday for insubordination after reportedly grabbing general manager Ed Wade by the neck and throwing him to the ground."

Chacon had been upset with management after being demoted to the bullpen. According to the AP story on ESPN.com;

...this problem began when Wade saw him in the dining room before the game against Texas. Wade wanted to meet with Chacon in manager Cecil Cooper's office, the pitcher said.

"I sat down to eat and Ed Wade came to me and very sternly said, 'You need to come with me to the office,'" Chacon said. "I said, 'For what?' I said, 'I don't want to go to the office with you and Cooper.' And I said, 'You can tell me whatever you got to tell me right here.' He's like, 'Oh, you want me to tell you right here?' And I said, 'Yeah.' I'm not yelling. I'm calm."

Chacon said things went downhill from there.

"He started yelling and cussing," Chacon said of Wade, according to a story on the Chronicle's Web site. "I'm sitting there and I said to him very calmly, 'Ed, you need to stop yelling at me.' Then I stood up and said, 'You better stop yelling at me.' I stood up. He continued and was basically yelling."

Chacon said that after Wade told him he needed to "look in the mirror," it got worse.

"So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him," he said. "Words were exchanged."

Chacon said players quickly came and separated the two. He recalled outfielder Reggie Abercrombie pulling him away from Wade.

108 Red Stitches, River Avenue News Announce Partnership

Authors of baseball Blogs 108 Red Stitches and River Avenue News have reached an article sharing agreement today, allowing for the two blogs to cross promote each site, and share viewership and readers between each site.

108 Red Stitches founder, Chris Lima, is excited about the prospect of merging both sites' information and dedication to the sport, "While we understand that River Avenue News is a relatively new site, we feel that their commitment to journalism and their unbiased approach to covering the Yankees, allows for us to share articles between sites. Their goals and ideas fall in a similar place with ours, so we welcome them aboard as we try to extend the 108 Red Stitches network and grow our family".

You can read the River Avenue News site here.

Farnsworth Injures Hand; Doesn't Expect To Miss Time

From MLB.com writer, Willie Bans:

The Yankees right-handed reliever entered the game in the eighth inning and got the first two Reds hitters out, then gave up a solo home run to Ken Griffey Jr.

The next batter, Brandon Phillips, hit a grounder toward the mound, and Farnsworth tried to snatch it with his right hand. The ball deflected off his hand, and Phillips reached first base on Alex Rodriguez's throwing error.

Farnsworth was taken out of the game, and later received three stitches in the webbing between his pinky and ring fingers. He doesn't anticipate going on the disabled list, as he suffered the same injury earlier in his career. At that time, Farnsworth received four stitches, taped the fingers together and didn't miss an outing.

Let's Take the Vote Away From the Fans

So, everyone has probably heard the rumblings through the grapevine; "If the game matters so much, why are we leaving the outcome to chance?"

TRANSLATION: If we're going to be wasting our time in an All-Star game that determines who has home field advantage in the World Series, why are we letting some dweeb influence the outcome?

I agree with that statement, and I'm proposing that the fan's should not be allowed to select players for the All-Star Game.

Why should baseball's BIGGEST GAME, the game that could help determine the outcome of the World Series, be influenced by a computer dork who hates his job and sits at his desk all day, with his 20 different email accounts, voting over and over and over for some washed up short stop that shouldn't be even playing the game on a regular basis, let alone in an All-Star Game.

Yeah Omar Vizquel, I was talking about you.

There are millions of dollars riding on the outcome of this single game. If the series goes to a full seven games, obviously the team with home field advantage will generate millions of more dollars in hot dog, beer, merchandise, parking, ticket, pretzel, (and if the game was ever held in Vegas; prostitution) revenue.

You want to leave that up to the fans to decide? What kind of business model are you running on?

Why should owners and players let the fans have their one last shred of dignity? Fans are overcharged, overcrowded, overweight, and over the CDC's recommended daily limit concerning searching the internet for random useless baseball trivia.

Don't trust the fans. They'll ruin everything.

Wang Out; Yanks in Search for 19 Wins

Just when it looked like the Yankees were starting to come out of their funk, the baseball Gods send the boys in pinstripes reeling again. This time, Yankee starter Chien Ming Wang is headed to the disabled list after damaging his tendons a ligaments in his right foot.

Wang will be out for at least six weeks, while some are reporting that Wang could be shelved for the remainder of the 2008 season.

The Yanks are in need of a starter, now more than ever. After losing out on the Santana sweepstakes in the offseason, Cashman will almost certainly exhaust every option he has in a search to replace Wang.

Pickings are slim:

C.C. Sabathia: started off poorly, and will be a free agent at the end of the season. If Cleveland falls any farther out of the playoff race, they might be willing to deal their ace. Its a long shot for the Yankees, especially this early in the season. Cleveland knows that teams will be more desperate around the trading deadline, and would be more likely make to make a bonehead move.

Joe Blanton: A's pitcher is having a statistical nightmare of a season; he's 3-9 with a 4.23 era, but has a relatively low WHIP (1.36). Blanton is a tough cookie, he's thrown over 200 innings twice in the past three seasons (194 in 2006) and has started over 30 games when he's been on the roster for a full season. He might come cheaper than Sabathia, but do the Yanks really need another right hander?

Dan Giese: Yanks could promote from within the organization. Giese has done a pretty good job in long relief as Joba transitions into the starting role. Yanks would hope to catch lighting in a bottle with Giese, like they did with Joba a year ago.

What a Fine Game

Baseball is a great sport, it always has been. It's grown up with the country that adopted it; they've seen each other through thick and thin.

No, some might say, that both the country and the sport have become fat cats, arrogant brothers.

It's time for a change. Obama promises change for America, and I'm here to promise change for the game we love.

Starting with fines.

Not the typical fines for staying out late, throwing at a batter's head, or getting tossed for arguing balls and strikes. We're talking about performance based fines and compensation.

Bases loaded, bottom of the ninth, your team is up by three runs. The closers comes trotting out to throw water on the fire. He takes his warm up pitches, and you notice that the ball just isn't flying out of his hand, like normal.

The first pitch he throws towards home, lands 450 feet in the upper deck, for a walk off, game winning grand slam. The closer walks off the mound, only to find a clubhouse official waiting for him with an invoice totaling $25,000.

You're closer was docked for a poor performance.

On the other side of the field, after celebrating the walk of salami, the other team's clubhouse official is signing off on a check for $50,000. He hands it to the game's hero, who'll need it.

He was docked $10,000 the night before for his four errors.

Infielders Dominate First Round of Draft

MLB.com ran a great article highlighting the early stages of the 2008 First Year Player Draft;

Infielders dominate first round of Draft

Beckham, Alvarez, Hosmer, Matusz, Posey are first five picks

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Bend It Like Beckham took on a whole new meaning Thursday afternoon at The Milk House.

While a jet-setting soccer star made the phrase popular, Tampa Bay is hoping its newest charge will twist the phrase into baseball terms after selecting Tim Beckham with the top selection in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. The pro-Rays crowd at The Milk House erupted when Commissioner Bud Selig announced Beckham's name, welcoming the Georgia prep star with an ovation worthy of his soccer counterpart.

Beckham's selection marks the 23rd time that a prep player has been taken with the top selection and first since the D-backs grabbed Justin Upton with the top pick in 2005. He is also the third consecutive prep shortstop to be chosen with the top selection. San Diego picked Matt Bush, since converted to a pitcher, in 2004.

There were six rounds completed by the time the opening day wrapped up at 9 p.m. ET. The First-Year Player Draft will resume Friday morning beginning with the seventh round. Every one of the selections can be heard live on MLB.com beginning at 11:30 a.m. The Draft will continue until the 50th round or whenever each of the clubs has passed on its selection.

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