On the heels of a World Series where both managers sported mustaches, we are now headed toward the first Super Bowl where both coaches have mustaches.

Which mustache will win?

The understated blond mustache of Mike Holmgren? Or the defiant snarl of Bill Cowher?

While the U.S. Senate was spending its time debating and then confirming former Phillies fantasy camp attendee Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court, there was also the matter of Ben Bernanke. He was confirmed today as well by the Senate (Much to the surprise of some senators who had forgotten) by a voice vote.

In this Christian Science Monitor article, Bernanke's childhood tabletop baseball game is described as well as his attendance at the famous Yankees-Red Sox playoff game of 1978. Bernanke was a Red Sox fan at the time. So if I'm Bucky Dent, I would expect that the Federal Resereve is going to have a special interest rate for him from now on.

"I'm sorry Mr. Dent, but we have to charge you 25% interest on your mortgage. Banking rules and all that. Oh and you can't buy a T-bill either."

The outgoing Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, received as a parting gift a baseball glove signed by the presidents of the 12 Federal Reserve banks.

Wow, can't wait to see how much that fetches on eBay.

Gabriel Schechter of the Baseball Hall of Fame has an interesting piece about the evolution of the closer.

Of Trevor Hoffman's 436 career saves to date, 78.9% of them have seen him pitch exactly one inning. Of Rollie Fingers 341 career saves, 23.8% were of the 1-inning variety. Only 27.3% of Bruce Sutter's saves were of the 1-inning variety.

Say pal, can you help a designated hitter who's down on his luck?

Ruben Sierra has landed on his feet with a minor-league contract and a spring training invite with the Minnesota Twins.

"I wanted to stay in the American League and I always liked this organization," Sierra said.

I'm sure NL teams were falling all over themselves to give Ruben a glove and a spot in the outfield.

Part of Nike's plan for world domination so we can further serve our swoosh-adorned masters, you can schedule a wake-up call from eight different athletes, including Alex Rodriguez. You can access it here.

You can also choose to be woken up by Maria Sharapova, Amare Stoudemire, Justin Gatlin, Kaitlin Sandeno, Monyca Byrne-Wickey (she's a surfer), Liu Xiang (hurdler), or Joan Benoit Samuelson. Oh, and you can give Nike your phone number.

Forever....

Mary Sanchez of the Kansas City Star writes about Buck O'Neil and his influence on the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The museum and Kansas State University are developing a curriculum for high schools in the area to use about the Negro Leagues and to sponsor field trips to the museum.

Did I ever get to go on a field trip that interesting in school? No. I got to go to the William S. Hart Museum once. I went to Catholic school and lived about two miles away from this place and never went there. We never got taken here or here.

OK, we did go here a few times. And even here.

I'm still trying to suppress the memory of my 8th grade class being taken to see a "special" showing of this this "classic".

Boston has filled its shortstop hole with Alex Gonzalez.

Not this one.

This one.

Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN.com tells the sports fans of America that buying a ticket doesn't give you license to be a jerk.

As someone who has spent much of my life attending sporting events at once the mellowest stadium on earth, Dodger Stadium, I can definitely tell you that the behavior of fans is plummeting faster than stock in Ford. (I couldn't find a cool chart for Livedoor.)

"People have a sense of, 'If I fork out that type of money, nobody should be able to tell me what to do,'" says Edward R. Hirt, an associate professor of psychology at Indiana University. "It's become, 'If I want to be a jerk, really boo, get on someone's case, I really have a right to do that.'"

But you don't. Cranking up the crudity just because you bought a sports ticket makes as much sense as putting a 10-spot in the collection plate, then berating the priest because you didn't like the homily.

"Hey, Father! You can call that a contemplative talk about the nature of piety! BOO! BOO! I've heard better homilies from a drunk on the corner! USA! USA! USA! USA! Barry sucks!"

Cuba finally announced its provisional 60-man roster (link in Spanish) for the WBC.

I'm hoping that Vicyohandry Odelín makes the team, so I can find out where he got his first name.

Sometime, somewhere Frank Robinson or one of his coaches must have shot at an albatross with a crossbow.

This appears in the Nationals.com mailbag.

With shortstop Royce Clayton talking to the Nationals, is there any chance that Cristian Guzman could lose his starting position after such a bad year? I would much rather see Clayton at shortstop.
-- Ed K., Harrisonburg, Va.

According to Clayton, manager Frank Robinson believes he could compete for the starting job at shortstop if he signs with the Nationals. I agree that Guzman needs some competition after such a bad year. However, if Guzman loses his starting job, the team would have a very expensive bench player. It would be tough to trade Guzman because of his contract. The way I see it, Guzman is here to stay. (Emphasis mine)

Replacing Cristian Guzman with Royce Clayton is an inspired choice!

I've also learned that MLB.com still uses montreal.expos.mlb.com as a domain name.

Arte Moreno was grilled again by the attorney hired by the city of Anaheim, Andrew Guilford.

Some excerpts:
Asked by Anaheim's attorney Andrew Guilford if he knew there was "an emotional curtain that seems to divide" Los Angeles and Orange counties, Moreno replied, "I did not."

Asked if he knows that now, he answered, "I guess so."

Ahh, the "emotional curtain". I think that's what Churchill originally meant to say at Fulton, Missouri.

Referring to Moreno's deposition in preparation for the trial, Guilford asked him: "Earlier, you said you considered that Anaheim relates to Los Angeles the same as the Bronx relates to New York. Do you understand that the Bronx is one of the five burroughs of New York?"

"I do now," Moreno replied, but added that he was using the connection in reference to a "metropolitan media" market.

Hmm, I think the writer of this article needs to get a dictionary and look up the spelling of "borough". Or maybe The Bronx is the William Burroughs of New York.

This whole incident has been a nightmare for me personally. I get lost on the way to Disneyland everytime now. I never know which county it's in or which city. I once ended up here thinking I was going to an Angels game.

The Japanese champs, the Chiba Lotte Marines have set up their training camp in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Most of the other Japanese teams train in Okinawa, so there won't be many chances to watch games if you are passing through Geelong.

Instead, you might wish to go to The National Wool Museum. I know a lot of people have been itching to see that.

Yeah, that headline is a grabber isn't. The Queensland Rams won the Claxton Shield, symbol of Australian baseball supremacy with an 8-7 win over the Victorian Aces. (Not that the story tells you that the final score was 8-7, but I tracked it down elsewhere.)

You can read more about the competition here and here.

Australia, winners of the silver medal in the Olympic tournament in Athens in 2004, will be in Group D of the World Baseball Classic with the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Italy.

If the Australian baseball story reads strangely to an American crowd, you can compare notes by reading these two accounts of a U.S.-Norway soccer friendly:

• Reuters account
• AP account

ESPN finally agreed to televise the World Baseball Classic. Some of the games will be shown on ESPN Deportes. Presumably the games from Tokyo will be shown in the wee hours of the morning. Here is the schedule of games, presumably with Eastern times listed.

Joe Morgan will be praying that Japan makes it to the final rounds so he can talk about how they do all the little things right. I'm waiting to see how Rick Sutcliffe will pronounce some of the players on the Dutch team such Jair Jurrjens. I've also noticed that former Tiger Andy Van Hekken is on the Dutch roster, which I suppose he qualifies for because he is from Holland, Michigan. If South African player Bradley Erasmus gets into a game, Harold Reynolds may become praised by his own folly.

Cuba still has not submitted a roster of players, however the Cuban baseball season is still going on.

Rich Lederer has a series of previews this week on the upcoming college baseball season.

He will focus on the five big conferences during the week, catchup with all the others on Saturday, and then have predictions on Sunday, so you can occupy yourself with placing bets on the season before the Super Bowl starts.

First conference up: the esteemed Pac-109. As for my alma mater, all I can say is "Thank God for Washington State."

Los Leones de Caracas won their third straight Venezuelan championship with a 5-1 win over Los Tigres de Aragua.

The series begins on February 2 in the Venezuelan cities of Valencia and Maracay. The other three competitors will be los Gigantes de Carolina (Puerto Rico), los Venados de Mazatlán (Mexico), and los Tigers de Licey (Dominican Republic).

The champion will be decided in a double round-robin tournament.

The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jim Salisbury reports that Mike Piazza will sign with San Diego. Piazza will compete with Doug Mirabelli for the starting job there.

Wow, I just wrote Mike Piazza and Doug Mirabelli would be in a competition for anything.

Update Ken Rosenthal has more details. Piazza's contract is believed to be for $2 million with an $8 million option for 2007.

Saint Louis University's basketball team has played 19 games this season and and has alteranted wins and losses all year also had a win and a loss to end last season, so for 21 straight games this has been this pattern:

WLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLWLW

Records on such a streak are hard to come by because, in my opinion, it's unusual.

According to the AP story by R.B. Fallstrom says that the longest stretches in baseball have been 16 games:

• The 1974 Phillies - Which started on June 3 with a win against Atlanta and continued through June 20 with a loss against the Mets. Then on June 21, the Phillies lost again to the Mets, breaking the spell. The 1974 Phillies finished 80-82. The streak started with six homes game, followed by six road games, and then four games at home.
  
• The 1981 Dodgers - They lost at Chicago on June 6 and then won the next day against the Cubs. This continued through June 11, for a total of four games. Then there was a strike for nearly two months. On August 10, the season restarted and the Dodgers were in Cincinnati and won. The next day, they lost. This kept up through August 21 (win at St. Louis). On August 22, the Dodgers won again. The Dodgers finished 63-47 and ended up winning the World Series.
  

The 1994 Indianapolis Colts had a 12-game from Week 4 through Week 16 (with a bye in Week 11) before winning the last game of the year. The Colts were 8-8 that year.

For the more math-inclined, you can check out Alan Reifman's Hot Hand in Sports site to see how unusual a 21-game stretch of alternating Ws and Ls is. According to the linked calculator on the site, the chances of going WL to get to 21 games is 1 in 352,716. (If I copied it correctly.)

The Billikens play at Rhode Island on February 1. And they will likely be underdogs in that game. But on February 5, the Billikens host Xavier, whom they already upset on the road, so the magic of the alternating Ws and Ls may come to an end.

I like it when the headline is a joke in itself.

In other news.

Schuerholz: Reitsma is not Kyle Farnsworth
Cashman: Farnsworth is not Tom Gordon
Gillick: Gordon is not Billy Wagner
Minaya: Wagner is not Braden Looper (oh wait that's a good thing)

Jocketty: Spivey is not Mark Grudzielanek
Towers: Mirabelli is not Ramon Hernandez
Stoneman: Carrasco is not Paul Byrd

Will Leitch of Deadspin gets profiled in the New York Times.

But the story says Leitch was covering the Cardinals for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1996. Leitch is listed as being 30. So he would have been on the Cardinals beat when he was 20. 20-year olds don't get assigned the Cardinals beat for the Post-Dispatch.

Clarification - Will Leitch has said the Times writer goofed and he was the beat writer for University of Illinois sports at the time when he worked in St. Louis.

Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks dedicated its baseball field in honor of Sparky Anderson. Anderson did not attend Cal Lutheran, but has lived in Thousand Oaks for nearly 40 years.

Cal Lutheran competes in Division III and has produced one major leaguer. Astros farmhand Jason Hirsh was the Texas League Pitcher of the Year in 2005. If you want to cover a Cal Lutheran sporting event as a member of the media, you don't need a credential. Of course, they don't charge admission for any event.

Apparently Arte Moreno thinks people can handle the truth. Actually, Moreno had a fairly light-hearted exchange with the City of Anaheim's lawyer, Andy Guilford.

Guilford also displayed a T-shirt available on the team website in October, with the team logo above what he said was the Los Angeles skyline. When Guilford asked whether he approved of the shirt, Moreno said with a chuckle, "I guess, if it's selling."

Said Guilford: "If you make money by violating [the lease], you'll do it, won't you? It's all about the money? Please don't be sarcastic. This case is very important to the people of Anaheim."

In other Anaheim sports team development, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim will become the Anaheim Ducks next year.

The Tampa Tribune has a report on the Devil Rays giving B.J. Upton some extra coaching on playing shortstop from Ozzie Smith. Upton made 53 errors last season at Durham and has Tampa Bay thinking of making him a third baseman.

53 errors isn't so bad. Honus Wagner made 60 at shortstop in 1905!

Peter Gammons is recording his first album. Soon Ken will have a random Peter Gammons song lyric generator.

After weeks of speculation and missteps, Coco Crisp has finally gone to Boston.

The final disposition of the big Boston-Cleveland-Philadelphia shuffle today.

New Red Sox:
Coco Crisp
David Riske
Josh Bard

New Indians:
Andy Marte
Kelly Shoppach
Guillermo Mota (who has apparently been miraculously healed)
Jason Michaels (Yea! I typed his name correctly!)
The Player to be Named Later

New Phillie:
Arthur Rhodes

I believe Guillermo Mota had to go through a similar process to this. Go for the gold, Guillermo!

Coco Crisp says he's at peace. I hope that helps him during his coming arbitration hearing.

The Royals have tweaked their uniforms for 2006. You can see them here.

The changes aren't big, but the Royals will no longer have sleeveless uniforms. I want a Paul Bako!

The powder blue unis of the 1970s aren't quite back yet though.

College baseball season is upon us and Baseball America and ESPN.com have capsules of the Top 25. Texas is the preseason #1 team. If the Longhorns win the national championships in football, basketball, and baseball in one year, the eyes of Texas are going to pretty darn hard to avoid.

Thinking about a Rose Bowl rematch in Omaha? Southern California is #17.

The topsy turvy tale of the alleged new stadium for the Nationals may be coming to end. The DC City Council and MLB have reached a tentative agreement on a lease. The question of who would pay for cost overruns was the holdup.

The owner of the Nationals is still to be determined. But it looks like the Nats will be MLB's vassal for a while longer.

The Nationals have added some heft to their lineup. Daryle Ward has been inked to a minor-league contract. They also added pitcher Valerio de los Santos.

Daryle Ward's OPS+ year by year: 128, 100, 99, 96, 92, 10, 101, 88.

Also, John Wetteland has been named the Nats bullpen coach. Wetteland was chosen over several other candidates because Bowden liked the way he could hold a phone in one hand and still be able to point to two different relievers at the same time.

Joke deleted due to lack of humor.

"Hey, Jacobs, trim those sideburns! I'm warning you!"

New Florida manager Joe Girardi has ordered his charges to arrive clean-shaven. I'm sure this will turn the Marlins into the Yankees in no time.

This MLB.com article discusses some of the more notable unsigned free agents, such as Piazza, Roger Clemens, Jeff Weaver, Sammy Sosa, and other.

But is Mike Piazza really unemployed? Does the Bureau of Labor Statistics count someone like Piazza as unemployed? If it does, what state does he count in? What about Sammy Sosa? Is he unemployed in the U.S. or in the Dominican Republic?

Here are the working definitions:
Who is counted as unemployed?

All members of the civilian noninstitutional population are eligible for inclusion in the labor force, and those 16 and over who have a job or are actively looking for one are so classified. All others--those who have no job and are not looking for one--are counted as "not in the labor force." Many who do not participate in the labor force are going to school or are retired. Family responsibilities keep others out of the labor force. Still others have a physical or mental disability which prevents them from participating in labor force activities.

Among the employed, Seattle has re-signed Gil Meche and Tampa Bay is closing in on a deal with Russell Branyan.

Barry Bonds has been in negotations with in ESPN to have a reality show based on his 2006 season. While such a concept doesn't require a joke to embellish it, not everyone finds it humorous.

ESPN's ombudsman George Solomon says the plan "boggles the mind" and compares it to NBC having a weekly reality show about Donald Rumsfeld. Remember that ESPN is still planning to have reporter Pedro Gomez follow Bonds around all season, reporting on nothing but Barry Bonds.

Next month, ESPN will be airing a similar show about Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight.

I want to know who on the Giants will be the Puck-like character who will get kicked out of the house. (And I'm not referring to "A Midsummer's Night Dream".)

Thanks to deadteddy for the pointer.

65 pitches will be the maximum for pitchers in the first round of the World Baseball Classic, according to rules adopted today.

The limit goes up to 80 pitches for the second round and 95 pitches for the semifinals and final.

There will also be a mercy rule in place. If a team is ahead by 15 after 5 or by 10 after 7, the game is over. Look for this rule to come into play when South Africa and China take the field.

In addition, everyone on the roster has to get into one game and each team has to designate six players to bring snacks to eat after the game. Each team is guaranteed a party at a Pizza Hut of their choosing when they are eliminated from the tournament.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY

An online sportsbook has posted odds on the WBC.

The U.S. and the Dominican Republic are both 6-5 favorites. China is 500-1. Australia and South Africa are 400-1.

J.R. House erstwhile Pirates farmhand and erstwhile University of West Viriginia quarterback has gone back to being a baseball
minor leaguer, this time for Houston.

But now, everybody, all at once:

"You're risking a patient's life!"

The new Houston team in MLS is going to be called Houston 1836 in honor of the city's founding.

So, here are the MLB equivalents:

AL East
New York 1624
Boston 1630
Toronto 1750
Baltimore 1729
Tampa Bay 1876 (using St. Pete)

AL Central
Chicago 1833
Cleveland 1796
Minnesota 1855 (using Minneapolis)
Detroit 1701
Kansas City 1839

AL West
Los Angeles 1781 of 1857
Oakland 1852
Texas 1875 (for Arlington)
Seattle 1865

NL East
Atlanta 1845
Philadelphia 1682
Florida 1896 (for Miami)
New York 1624
Washington 1790

NL Central
St. Louis 1764
Houston 1836
Chicago 1833
Cincinnati 1788
Pittsburgh 1758
Milwaukee 1833

NL West
San Diego 1769
Arizona 1870 (for Phoenix)
San Francisco 1776
Los Angeles 1781
Colorado 1858 (for Denver)

Your dates of founding may vary.

The New York Times profiles the restaurant El Nuevo Caridad on 191st St in Washington Heights, "el restaurante de los peloteros de Grandes Ligas", that advertises "un cuadrangular de sabor" (a homerun of flavor!).

The restaurant was packed last night watching the end of the Dominican League season. Licey won the best of 9 series over Las Aguilas Cibaeñas in seven games. Licey won the final game 7-2 thanks to a three run homer by Timo Perez.

Paul Konerko has turned down the captaincy of the Chicago White Sox.

"The way our team operates best, it seems to me, is everybody has an equal voice," Konerko said.

However, Konerko says he will take the job if Ozzie Guillen and Kenny Williams insist on it. He doesn't wear to a "C" on his uniform. Perhaps he will settle for wearing an "A".

Cuban president Fidel Castro confirmed (sort of) that Cuba will play in the WBC.

Unless, of course (translated from Spanish)
"that is if (the Americans) don't start in on messing around with not giving the visas, or if they go crazy."

And Castro is starting to spin his country's chances, just like a response a presidential campaign worker.
"We're not going to say that we're the best," Castro said.

"They have taken away a lot of the best pitchers offering them millions of dollars," he added, referring to Cuban players who left for big-paying jobs in the Major Leagues.

A man named Roosevelt Norris passed away in Chicago Monday evening. He was 105 years old.

He was a diehard Cubs fan, but never attended a game at Wrigley Field until last year.

But you say, a man that age would still have memories of the Cubs NL pennants and maybe even a vague memory of the 1908 World Series.

Sadly, Mr. Norris was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And then he moved to Yazoo City, Mississippi.

He moved to Chicago in ...

1946

Mr. Norris is survived by a total of 74 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Jim Allen of the Daily Yomiuri writes about rules changes in Japan designed to speed up the game.

The key changes:
At the first managers' meeting of the year, Nippon Professional Baseball's skippers agreed to begin each team's turn at bat within 2 minutes 15 seconds of the other team's final out. Managers will also strive to limit the time needed for pitching changes to 2 minutes 45 seconds.

Last year on a trip to Japan, I saw three games and wrote about on Baseballanalysts.com.

Game 1 lasted 3:28.
Game 2 lasted 4:20 and was a nine-inning game.
Game 3 lasted 3:59, but went 10 innings.

The fastest average time for any team in Japan last year was 3:10.

While it is admirable that Japanese baseball officials think they can speed up the game by making the hitters and pitchers get going faster, there is still one problem that can't be solved by a time limit. That problem is that Japanese pitchers throw a lot of pitches outside of the strike zone. There are usually lots of walks in each game. Or at least full counts.

Limiting the pitching changes to just 165 seconds will present some logistical challenges since most Japanese parks have bullpens underneath or outside the stadium. Most fans can't tell whose warming up or if someone is warming up. But it's a safe bet that unless the ace of the staff is pitching, someone will be warming up by the fifth inning. And because Japanese rosters are more like hockey rosters where you can activate and deactivate pitchers when they're healthy, managers always have bullpens that resemble late September games. And Japanese managers are obsessed with getting platoon advantages.

So if you're in Japan and plan on going to see a game (and you should), just prepare yourself for a long night. Don't worry, the stadiums have numerous vendors to ply you with food and drink throughout the night. Just remember that there are no paper towels in the bathrooms to dry your hands.

Allen also has an article with a Japanese perspective on the WBC. I liked this passage Japan, given its culture of arm abuse lobbied for zero pitch counts ...

According to this MLB.com report, the trade (herein after referred to as "The Crisp Deal"), is looking to break down this way:

Boston receives:
Coco Crisp
Josh Bard
David Riske

Cleveland receives:
Andy Marte
Kelly Shoppach
Guillermo Mota
Jason Michaels

Philadelphia receives:
Arthur Rhodes

If Mota doesn't pass his physical, Manny Delcarmen might end up in Cleveland.

UPDATE Mota flunked his physical, so the deal is up in the air.

UPDATE of the UPDATE ESPN.com is reporting that the trade is trying to be reworked by the principals. Manny Delcarmen could replace Mota. Or the Phillies could drop out and the Reds would jump in and send Austin Kearns to Cleveland. The Phillies would also prefer Rafael Betancourt to Arthur Rhodes. And I would prefer to live in stately Wayne Manor rather than a 1-bedroom apartment.

And the Boston Globe reports that Mota didn't "flunk" as much as just didn't meet Cleveland's standards. Similar to how Greg Vaughn wasn't considered healthy enough by the Yankees a few years back.
Link through Baseball Musings.

PANAMA! PANAMA!

The people of Panama are not happy that Mariano Rivera has declined to participate in the WBC for their country.

The link is to a Spanish story, so you will have to forgive me for my imperfect translation.

Rivera was named to the preliminary 56-man roster, but declined to play. Various reasons are given, from "I won't be in shape" to "nivel necesario" para enfrentar a las otras novenas, that is Rivera doesn't think that Panama is good enough to compete with the other teams in it group (Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Netherlands).

One writer tried to appeal to Rivera's national pride. The president of the Panamanian baseball federation, Franz Wever, might have said that Rivera wasn't sufficiently Panamanian, but has backed off that statement.

Wever might not be an overly popular person among some baseball players in Panama. Olmedo Saenz of the Dodgers said he won't play because of personality differences with Wever.

Panama's team will have at least three big leaguers on it: Bruce Chen, Carlos Lee, and Einar Diaz. Although I've heard that Panama might be trading Chen to another country since he's used to it. And I'm somewhat surprised with all the moving around of players to different countries, such as Italy's Mike Piazza and the Netherlands Mark Mulder, that Chen didn't end up on the Chinese squad.

Carlos Martinez who played seven seasons for the White Sox, Indians, and Angels, passed away at age 40 at his home in Venezuela.

We'd just go to Dr. Nick Riviera ("Hi! Everybody!") and get a medical excuse to go on workers' comp. But what does Jeff Bagwell do. He goes to Dr. James Andrews and he tells him he can't play anymore. And he still wants to go to work.

Whatever happened to good old-fashioned malingering? What's this country coming to?

Hey, I can use that line without any hint of irony or sarcasm regarding the Boston Red Sox GM situation.

Red Sox fans can now look back with fond memories of the Hoyer-Chernington Era.

The change, it didn't come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from Damon, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they are flown on the South Side

Kenji Johjima as he wants to be called in the U.S. had his introductory press conference today in Seattle. You can watch or listen to the whole thing if you are so inclined. Johjima makes a brief introduction in English, but answers all of his questions in Japanese. Bill Bavasi is asked a few questions. Then Johjima is asked a bunch of questions in Japanese.

Of course The Japan Times headlined their story "Jojima arrives in Seattle for rookie year".

To solve the problem of whether or not, the new Seattle catcher should have his last name spelled as Jojima or Johjima, I will spend all of my waking hours to learning the Hepburn romanization system. But this part of the website may be telling:
Oh for おお or おう (Hepburn ō). This is sometimes known as "passport Hepburn", as the Japanese Foreign Ministry has authorized (but not required) this usage in passports. (Note, you may need to tweak the settings in your browswer for some of the Japanese characters to display. In IE, try "View" and then "Encoding".)

I need to worry about more important things.

Jackie Robinson's daughter, Sharon, says that baseball should not retire Roberto Clemente's #21 throughout the sport. The advocacy group Hispanics Across America has championed the idea.

How in the world could Bud Selig, shrewd decisionmaker that he is, come to a resolution that wouldn't upset one side or the other?

Mariano Rivera remains the last #42 in the majors.

The players wearing #21 at the time being are Jason Johnson (he wore #21 in Detroit, but it's retired in Cleveland for Bob Lemon, he is listed as #16 on the Indians website), Choo Freeman, Chad Moeller, Mark Kotsay, Jon Lieber, Jason Ellison, and Jason Marquis. I was using the ESPN.com rosters because I could through them more quickly, but numbers are all subject to change as rosters change through the spring.

Interestingly, no Latino players are wearing #21 to honor Clemente now that I can find. In addition to Pittsburgh for Clemente and Cleveland for Lemon, the Braves have also retired #21 in honor of Warren Spahn. Arky Vaughan also wore #21 when he played in Pittsburgh.

Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, reprinted here in the Middletown Journal, about the list of candidates to become GM.

In addition to interim GM Brad Kullman, the other people under consideration are: Wayne Krivsky, Gary Hughes, Jack McKeon, and Michael Hill. Lou Piniella is not a candidate for the job because his contract buyout with Tampa Bay doesn't allow it.

The Cincinnati Post tosses the names of Kim Ng, Paul DePodesta and Jim Beattie into the mix.

1964 Cy Young Award winner Dean Chance is profiled by Bernard Fernandez at 15rounds.com.

Chance is now the president of one of the myriad boxing organizations, The Internatinal Boxing Association. The IBA runs a distant fourth to the other boxing groups: the WBA, the IBF, and the WBC (the World Boxing Council not the World Baseball Classic.)

Chance also gave his opinions about the Baseball Hall of Fame and who should be in it:
"I like (Bruce) Sutter, who made it, but the guy this year who I really thought should have gone in over anybody was Bert Blyleven," Chance says. "My goodness, look at his innings, his strikeouts, his shutouts.

"There's no comparison between Tony and (Hall of Famer Carl) Yastrzemski, and I like Yaz. But come on. If Tony had had Rod Carew's legs, he might have been the best hitter that ever lived. He probably would have broken every record that ever was."

Time to get a new DH for Team USA as Barry Bonds has decided not to play in the WBC.

And Lance Berkman is having minor knee surgery, so the other candidate to be DH might sit this one out.

This might open up a slot for Chipper Jones, who was likely to not make the cut at third base after Alex Rodriguez checked his birth certificate to see where he was born.

Players who are competing in the World Baseball Classic can report to spring training on February 1.

If you're not playing, then you have to wait until February 15 for pitchers and catchers or February 21 for players who mainly just stand around all day.

New Reds owner Bob Castellini has thrown his first body overboard: GM Dan O'Brien. Brad Kullman takes over on a temporary basis. Castellini has said he is very fond of Lou Piniella's work.

Grew up to be Scott Boras.

"Awwww"

And now you know the rest of the story.

Now, page two ...

If you only check the sports section, you may have missed the problems that have been going in Japan with the demise of Livedoor. Turns out that the brash CEO of the company, Takafumi Horie, decided he wanted to buy the then Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2004 (they merged with Orix last year and became the Orix Buffaloes.)

But Horie has played fast and loose with splitting his company's stock. When Horie tried to buy the Buffaloes as well as Fuji TV, Japanese authorities began a thorough examination of his finances. And it turns out that Livedoor is not worth much of anything. Last week massive selling of Livedoor stock caused the Tokyo Stock Exchange to close early because the computer systems couldn't handle all the sale. There are an estimated 289 million sell orders for this stock unfilled.

100 for 1 splits?!?!

Here is the relevant part of why this was shady.
Under old Tokyo Stock Exchange rules, a stock split did not take effect until stock certificates became available about 50 days after it was announced. The waiting period created a psychological impetus to buy. As of this month, splits take effect on the next trading day.

As a comparison, Microsoft has had nine splits since it started trading in 1987 and none have been bigger than 2-1. By my math, if you owned 10 shares of Microsoft in 1987, you'd have 1920 shares now. If you bought one share of Livedoor in July 2001, you would have had 30,000 shares by August 2004.

Livedoor is now a "Pink Sheet" stock and is listed at $2.00/share.

Update - Japanese authorities arrested Horie Monday for securities fraud.

Or at least Baltimore. Maury Brown writes about the reign of Peter Angelos in this interesting piece in The Hardball Times.

Maury Brown, unlike Murray Chass, does not seem to blame Baltimore's newest character, Anna Benson, for all the problems of the team.

Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun seems quite happy that Anna Benson is coming to Charm City.

Former Angels, Mariners and Orix Blue Wave pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa announced his retirement Monday.

Hasegawa pieced together a respectable record as a middle reliever and sometimes closer, especially in 1998 for the Angels and in 2003 for Seattle.

Hasegawa was one of the few players from Japan who felt comfortable enough with his English to give interviews to the American press and even wrote a book Meja rigu de oboeta boku no Eigo benkyoho (Gentosha, 2001) with his own method for learning English.

Jose Macias has signed a contract with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. I know that Cub fans will be flying to Sapporo by the thousands to root on their favorite utility infielder.

The chance to listen to a sports talk show hosted by James Carville and Luke Russert, son of Tim.

It's already got the seal of disapproval from Arianna Huffington.

I am taking this opportunity to announce that I am going to start a sports talk radio show with Janeane Garafolo and Kate O'Beirne.

Murray Chass has this column in the New York Times where he seems to really, really, really, really dislike Kris Benson's wife, Anna. (No pictures in this link.)

I find it hard that in New York City, Anna Benson was anything more than a minor distraction to the Mets.

Felipe Alou had contemplated batting Barry Bonds second in the upcoming season. But apparently, he didn't run this past Bonds first. Oddly, Bonds was in the Dominican Republic for a golf tournament (while Alou was in San Francisco) and Bonds has nixed the idea.

In Bonds' career, he has four sacrifices. The last one was in 1998.

The West beat the East 7-1 in the Cuban All-Star Game

Carlos Frias of the Palm Beach Post has this look at the personal problems that had overwhelmed Jeff Reardon and most likely contributed to his bizarre behavior and his robbery of a jewelry store.

From the Pacific Daily News of Agana, Guam.

It's a brief story about a local baseball game. Here is how it ended:
The Giants [down 8-6] had the bases loaded with one out in the ninth inning when Pete Aguon singled in a run. Jamie Antone was gunned down at home, preventing the would-be tying run, and then Orandly Merlei was thrown out trying to advance to third for the final out of the game.

Prensa Latina has a preview of Cuba's All-Star game and it's likely that a good chunk of these players will be going to Puerto Rico for the WBC.

Dayan Viciedo, who is just 16, is the story in Cuban baseball this year, it seems. He is batting .350 in 45 games with 6 home runs. Industriales is the leading team in Cuba.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News is reporting that the exclusive window for negotiations that the Fox network has with MLB is closing and the two sides aren't close on a deal.

I wonder if Bud Selig isn't also using this opportunity to try to get an MLB-owned network as the NFL and NBA have.

But more importantly could we live in a world without Scooter.

The Boston Herald is reporting that the Boston Red Sox are close to deals that would bring them Coco Crisp and Alex Gonzalez. That would be the former Marlin Alex Gonzalez and not the former Devil Ray Alex Gonzalez. Or in other words, the guy who broke the Yankees heart in the 2003 World Series and not the guy who broke the Cubs heart in the 2003 NLCS.

It's a multiteam deal to acquire Crisp, involving Cleveland and Philadelphia as well. Jason Michaels is believed to be ticketed to Cleveland to replace Crisp. Cleveland would receive Guillermo Mota and Andy Marte from Boston. Philadelphia would get either Arthur Rhodes or Rafael Betancourt from Cleveland.

Gonzalez is a free agent.

Discussion at Bronx Banter.

Jorge Sosa that is. After a great 2005 (13-3, 2.55 ERA, ERA+ 172), Sosa signed a 1-year deal worth $2.2 million.

According to this Spanish article in El Nuevo Herald, Mariano Rivera won't play for Panama in the WBC. The Panamanian Baseball Federation has tried to use a patriotic appeal, but Rivera says he's not interested in pitching for a team that has no chance to win.

Wayne Graczyk of the Japan Times lists the foreign players who are signed to play in Japan in 2006.

More importantly, he tries to tackle the question about why Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima has no "h" in his last name in Japan. Or, more accurately, like me, he gives up on the explanation.

The Mets and Orioles made a deal swapping Kris Benson for Jorge Julio and John Maine.

This a trade involving three players who are all obstensibly good, but don't have the numbers to show that they are.

Benson is the third straight Mets player to play Santa Claus at the team Christmas party to leave the team, following John Franco and Mike Cameron. GMs throughout baseball are asking the Mets to have David Wright play the role in 2006.

Oh, and if you still believe in Santa Claus, well, Benson was just playing one of Santa's helpers because Santa Claus can't visit everybody before Christmas.

The New York Daily News is reporting that both the Mets and the Red Sox are interested in free agent outfielder Jeff DaVanon.

I believe DaVanon is known as Plan G or possibly Plan K in terms of outfielders to put on your team. DaVanon has only two seasons with an OPS+ over 100 and his single season high in homers (12 in 2003) was helped out by going on a tear during the Angels three games against the Expos in San Juan (6 for 16 with 4 home runs.)

Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald wrote (in my opinion) a very good column about his view of Cuba being allowed to play in the WBC. Obviously, in Miami, concern about Cuba is a much bigger issue than for someone like me living in Southern California.

I don't know if there was any satisfactory solution to the issue of Cuba playing in the WBC. Either you reward one of the most repressive countries in the world with a spot on the world stage or you leave out one of the countries where baseball is one of the most important sports in the country.

Although the news is a couple days old, I thought I would pass on the news that the Padres claimed first baseman/left tackle Walter Young off of waivers from Baltimore.

With the acquisition of Chris Young earlier, the Padres now have two players named Young on their team and combined they are 13 feet, 3 inches high and weigh a combined (listed) 582 pounds.

I, for one, welcome our new San Diego overlords...

The latest update from the AP has some interesting quotes.

"The president wanted to see it resolved in a positive way," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "Our concerns were centered on making sure that no money was going to the Castro regime and that the World Baseball Classic would not be misused by the regime for spying. We believe the concerns have been addressed."

In other words, there will be no sign-stealing by the Cuban players. However, the CIA has already infiltrated the Cuban team and has learned that one finger means a fastball is coming and two fingers means a curve. The NSA has bugged the pitching mounds in some stadiums in Havana and has learned that if the pitcher touches his belt, he's going to make a pickoff throw.

Cuba's roster is not expected to include defectors, such as Jose Contreras, Orlando Hernandez and Livan Hernandez.

Did anyone seriously think they would play? Livan Hernandez has long expressed a desire to pitch for Puerto Rico. Danys Baez said he would never pick up a baseball for Cuba. These guys didn't leave their homes just for the money.

"Cuba will step up, of that I have no doubt," said Ramon Enriquez, who was among baseball fans discussing the news at Havana's Parque Central. "Those boys will play with that all-consuming courage."

I'm guessing that the last sentence is a translation from Spanish or else Mr. Enriquez speaks in very flowery language.

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican, called the Bush administration's reversal "lamentable and unfortunate," and said the Cuban players should defect once they reach Puerto Rico.

"I hope that the Cuban players will use this opportunity to escape totalitarianism and reach freedom in the U.S.," said Diaz-Balart, a Cuban-American.

That likely won't make the event popular in Cuba.

Update-This AP story in the San Jose Mercury-News has some of the details about what the Cubans had to agree to. They can bring 30 players and 15 support staff, such as coaches and trainers, along with 21 additional people including journalists and security personnel. The players will be given $100 per diems.

New Reds owner Robert Castellini gave a speech about how he intended to bring the Reds back to prominence.

During his speech, he said
Only three other teams have won more World Series than the Reds -- the Yankees, the Cardinals and the Red Sox.

Hmm, let's see the Reds have won five World Series: 1919, 1940, 1975, 1976, and 1990.

Let's check some other teams:
The Dodgers have won six: 1955, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981, 1988.

The Athletics have won nine: 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1989

Well, it was a nice thought anyway.

Yep, you thought he was retired. But Marvell Wynne has made his triumphant return to pro sports as the #1 draft pick of the MetroStars of the MLS.

Actually, this Marvell Wynne is a 19-year old defender who went to UCLA. He is the son of former big league outfielder Marvell Wynne. I wonder if the son is a lefty like his dad.

Will these incessant soccer posts ever cease?

It appears that the people of Japan are giving Hideki Matsui a break for not playing for Japan in the WBC. While the Japanese media like to blame the American government or George Steinbrenner, Matsui maintains it's his own decision.

Sam in DC pointed out this link to a Washington Post story about the lifetime passes to baseball games that the Iranian hostages received after being freed.

Looking back at the situation, I don't mind having to pay to get in.

The WBC has gotten a permit to allow Cuba to play in the WBC, so the event, warts and all, should start as scheduled.

With the possibility that the World Baseball Classic may be an international sporting event that never gets off the ground, it may be interesting to look back to check for parallels to the biggest international sporting event in the world, soccer's World Cup. For all the hubbub surrounding that event, the first World Cup, in 1930, was lucky to ever get started.

The World Cup was started mainly because the Olympic soccer tournament wasn't popular with many countries for a variety of reasons, but having a strictly amateur tournament wasn't going to be popular when the sport's best players were professionals. Uruguay had won the gold medal in 1924 in Paris and 1928 in Amsterdam and when FIFA (the international soccer federation) decided to hold its own international championship outside of the Olympics, Uruguay was given the nod to be the host for the first tournament in 1930. The announcement of this tournament in 1929 was not covered in the NY Times.

Continue reading...

Sorry, but Plaschke is not part of this effort.

When I learned about journalism at the John F. Kennedy High School's paper The Word, the best we could hope for was going to a writing contest and having to write about a mock wrestling match at Brea High.

Yep, Ozzie Guillen is becoming a U.S. citizen. Hugo Chavez's friend still managed to get naturalized and now you can have the rare opportunity of serving on a jury with Ozzie Guillen. And Guillen can talk to Chicago election officials and say, "We fixed election better back in Venezuela."

Hey la, hey la, Theo's back!

What Theo Epstein is going to be doing for the Red Sox is still to be determined. But I imagine part of his job will be taunting Brian Cashman about his rapidly receding hairline.

The White Sox are giving spring training invites to Ray Liotta and Lance Broadway, whom if they didn't have made-up names, should. When you get invited to spring training, do you get a formal invitation? Is it engraved? Do you have to RSVP? Do you have to say if you want the chicken or the fish?

Ben Grieve also got a minor-league deal with the Pale Hose.

The Red Sox, meanwhile have made up for the departure of Johnny Damon, by signing Willie Harris to a one-year, split contract.

"Willie is a player who enjoys Boston and the electricity" Harris's agent, Darryl Buford is quoted as saying. Harris is also known to like indoor plumbing as well.

Soul legend Wilson Pickett passed away today at the age of 64.

He did not wait until the midnight hour. I was not successful in my suit against Pickett for false advertising with the "Land of 1,000 dances" because by my count only six different dances are named.

Pickett is survived by a fiancee and four children.

A 39-year old "self-styled minister" (WARNING! DANGER! DANGER! when someone uses that description) was convicted of trying to extort Gary Sheffield by showing him a video of his wife having sex with R. Kelly.

Derrick Mosley, the man convicted, said he was just misunderstood and was only trying to offer DeLeon Richards-Sheffield "personal counseling." Mosley was already on probation for bank fraud.

Robert Castellini who made his fortune in the Cincinnati area selling produce, not pork, heads up the new ownership group for the Cincinnati Reds. Costellini's company has a deal to sell bagged produce with NASCAR labels on it for one thing.

Carl Linder, who had headed up the ownership group before, was named "CEO for life" last year and remains a minority partner.

The Castellini Company is privately held, but Dun & Bradstreet's estimates their sales last year to be around $69 million.

With a few days of testimony in and after a strong suggestion from Judge Peter Polos, the city of Anaheim and the Angels are going to go to mediation Friday in an attempt to resolve their dispute.

The Red Sox signed pitcher/musician Bronson Arroyo to a 3-year deal worth between $11.5-$12.5 million.

Arroyo signed the contract despite his agent telling him it was too low of an offer.

Bronson Arroyo also made his big league debut for Pittsburgh as a pinch hitter.

They've already visited Portland and San Antonio and now they have Charlotte, Las Vegas, and Hialeah on the list.

Each tour is capped off by Marlins president David Samson picking up the mayor of each city and shaking that person to see what loose change falls out. Whoever has the most money fall out gets the Marlins.

Update -- The city of Monterrey, Mexico is showing interest in the Marlins too, but there is only a Spanish language story about it.

Yes, Indiana has settled its daylight savings time problem. Eight counties will switch to Central Time (Starke, Pulaski, Daviess, Dubois, Knox, Martin, Perry and Pike) and the rest will be on Eastern time. And everybody will have to go on DST.

Here's how it used to be, or actually still is because the change won't happen until April 2, when DST kicks in.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's ruling (bet you didn't know that they were in charge of such matters did you?) will likely bring much grief to noted sports statistician Jeff Sagarin of Sagarin Ratings fame. Sagarin had been a passionate advocate of putting all of Indiana in the Central Time Zone.

Indiana will now be a slightly less confusing place to visit, although it still has the inherent problem of being Indiana.

Bubba Morton, former outfielder for the Tigers, Braves, and Angels, passed away in Seattle at age 74. Morton also played a season for the Toei Flyers.

Morton was the first African-American player signed by Detroit (although not the first in the majors) and also served as the baseball coach at the University of Washington for five seasons in the 1970s.

MLB.com has an article about attempts to allow the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control to give Cuba a permit to play in the WBC.

What I found even more interesting is toward the bottom of the story where Nicaragua is mentioned as the stand-in for Cuba if permission is not given to let Cuba play. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing Marvin Benard play again.

Also Jim Caple of ESPN.com thinks the U.S. should let Cuba play, mainly because Cuba isn't that good anymore.

All the teams in the WBC have their provisional rosters listed in this lengthy pdf document (17 pages) with the exception of the large island off the coast of Florida.

I have also learned that Shea Hillenbrand qualifies for the Dutch team as does Mark Mulder.

After saying he wouldn't do it, Mariano Rivera agreed to pitch for Panama in the WBC.

Panama's team will also feature two Carlos Lees (and they're brothers), Bruce Chen, Einar Diaz, Olmedo Saenz, Ramiro Mendoza and Jose Macias!. Panama is in the same group as Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, and the large island off the coast of Florida.

Update According to this New York Times story, Rivera's name was put on Panama's roster in case he changed his mind about playing.

Yusaku Iriki formerly of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, signed a one-year deal with the Mets. Iriki was 6-7 with a 3.35 ERA last year. He pitched in 28 games, starting 20.

So you've got to please yourself. Or so sayeth noted philosopher/song writer Ricky Nelson in his 1972 opus "Garden Party."

And so Alex Rodriguez has started to meet with reproach from people in the Dominican Republic (in English) or in Spanish.

Meanwhile, writers in the U.S., such as Greg Cote of the Miami Herald wonder why A-Rod spent so much time thinking about the issue.

I'm not sure why Rodriguez got so much grief agonizing about his decision when Manny Ramirez (who is a naturalized U.S. citizen) and Albert Pujols (who grew up in the U.S.) are playing for the Dominican Republic. But getting on Alex Rodriguez's case about just about anything has always been something of a cottage industry.

As you can see from this photo, Danny Graves is giving more than pitching tips during his tour of Vietnam.

But this photo shows that perhaps that a bit more batting instruction is needed. I don't think the guy in the photo is going to make contact with that stance.

Then again, if they get their batting tips from here then maybe the guy is just imitating what he reads.

Dennis Archer, a former mayor of Detroit, has been chosen by MLB and the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, to mediate the dispute. If the dispute is not settled in 15 days, it would then go to binding arbitration.

The head of the Commission, Dennis Tuohey is oddly optimistic. Interestingly, Tuohey, who is an attorney, is representing Rep. Bob Ney, who is being investigated in the Jack Abramoff case.

Going to play for the U.S. in the WBC after all.

Or as El Nuevo Herald writes: Clásico: Rodríguez jugará por EEUU

Someone needs to tell El Presidente that he shouldn't brag before the games are played.

In El Nuevo Herald the Spanish language version of the Miami Herald, Castro said, "No tenemos miedo a nada, con nosotros va a ser muy difícil en cualquier terreno competir... muy difícil... ni en pelota quieren competir con Cuba."

Which roughly translates to:
We aren't afraid of anybody. It will be difficult to compete with us anywhere. Very difficult. Nobody in baseball wants to compete with Cuba.

There are a lot of ellipses in the quotes because Castro's speech lasted around two hours.

If you run "Fidel Castro" through the Babelfish translator, you get "Fidel I castrate".

This story (again in Spanish, but the relevant parts can be understood) highlights the big league players on the Mexican team for the WBC.

Mexico already seems to have its three starting pitchers lined up for pool play: Oliver Perez will go in the first game against the U.S., then Esteban Loiaza will pitch against South Africa, and finally Rodrigo Lopez will pitch against Canada.

Here is a link to the complete roster.

Although this link is in Spanish, you should be able to make out fairly easily who is on Venezuela's WBC roster.

The preliminary 60-man roster has some great pitchers: Johan Santana, Carlos Zambrano, Francisco Rodriguez, Felix Hernandez, and Freddy Garcia to name a few. The catchers aren't bad with Ramon Hernandez and Victor Martinez. The outfield has Bob "El Comedulce" Abreu, Magglio Ordonez, and Miguel Cabrera.

Overall, I think Venezuela will be helped out the most by having Luis Salazar as its hitting coach.

With players and teams exchanging arbitration figures, a lot of players signed today to avoid arbitration. I will try my best to include the most important ones, but you never know who I missed.

• Runelvys Hernandez and Jeremy Affeldt are back with Kansas City.
  
• Horacio Ramirez (from Inglewood) and Oscar Villareal (from Mexico) settled with Atlanta.
  
• Seattle wrapped up the AL West by re-signing Willie Bloomquist.
  
• Cincinnati opted not to harangue Aaron Harang in an arbitration hearing.
  
• Detroit found three players who still wanted to play there in: Jeremy Bonderman, Carlos Pena, and Chris Spurling.
  
• The Orioles hauled in four players today: Bruce Chen, Erik Bedard, Todd Williams, and Corey Patterson.
  
• Claudio Vargas, Brandon Lyon, Johnny Estrada, Orlando Hudson, and Alex Cintron have made their peace with Arizona.
  
• Guillermo Mota correctly estimated his earning power and settled with Boston.
  
• Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez reached accords with the Los Angeles California Anaheim Los Angeles Angels.
  
• Ted Lilly will be staying in Toronto for a year.
  
• Brad Lidge and Dan Wheeler settled with Houston. Lidge will make $3.975 million in 2006.
  
• Nick Johnson signed with Washington and avoided hurting himself in the process.
  
• Juan Cruz and Adam Melhuse will be back in Oakland. Buy your playoff tickets now!
  
• The White Sox brought back Joe Crede.
  
• Jason Marquis signed a $5.15 million, one-year deal with the Mound City Men in Red.
  
• Brian Schneider signed a four-year deal with Washington that apparently was so surprising it didn't get put in the Nick Johnson link.
  
• Mark Texeira settled up with Texas.
  

And if Washington and Rafael whoops Alfonso Soriano go to arbitration, Soriano would get $12 million if he won and $10 million if he lost. Call me crazy, but I believe there is a number that is exactly halfway from $10 million and $12 million.

The figures submitted by the players and the teams.

A Vietnam War veterans group along with Danny Graves, the only major leaguer born in Vietnam, are making a 10-day goodwill tour of Vietnam to demonstrate baseball and dedicate a field.

This Vietnamese web site really needs a newer graphic for baseball stories.

I will go with Taiwan since that's what's in the URL. Chien-ming Wang's participation is still up in the air.

The Taiwanese do lead the world in cool nicknames. Jia-hsien "The Taiwan Plumber" Hsieh, Tai-Shan "The Jungle Prince" Chang, Cheng-ming "Cha Cha" Peng, Chun-chang "The Invincible Robotman" Yeh, and Chien-Ming "Fire Brother" Chang.

Sultan of Swat, Splendid Splinter, Mr. October, and now The Taiwan Plumber.

Puerto Rico released a 40-man roster that features two of the three Molina brothers: Yadier and Bengie, along with Pudge Rodriguez, Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, and the beloved Alex Cora.

Javier Lopez of Baltimore is on the roster as an infielder.

The Puerto Rican team seems to be short on pitchers with Javier Vazquez as the best starter.

The annual rite of avoiding arbitration continues:

• Houston re-signed Adam Everett.
  
• John Lackey re-signed with the Angels.
  
• Mark Hendrickson re-upped with Tampa Bay.
  
• Rod Barajas is back with Texas for another year.
  
• Lyle Overbay and Scott Downs signed new contracts with Toronto.
  

The initial roster for the USA for the WBC was named today. So far, no Alex Rodriguez. Team USA has until Tuesday to fill its allotment of 60 players. There are only six outfielders on the initial roster: Lance Berkman, Barry Bonds, Carl Crawford, Johnny Damon, Ken Griffey, and Vernon Wells.

Dontrelle Willis avoided arbitration with the Marlins by signing a one-year deal worth $4.35 million. Willis was 22-10 with a 2.63 ERA in 2005. It is the richest deal signed by a starting pitcher in his first year eligible for arbitration.

• Jeff Nelson signed a minor-league deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.
  
• Wily Mo Pena and Javier Valentin have re-signed with the Cincinnati Reds.
  
• Oliver Perez has re-signed with the Pirates for a year.

Tim Salmon is giving baseball one last shot this year with the Angels. Or perhaps anyone else who will give him a slot.

I decided not to use "Salmon facing upstream challenge in spring training" and "Salmon in the pink about his chances".

I just posted this link because it comes from a South African site and the South African entry in the WBC is still a bit of a mystery.

I also came across a story about the standing in Cuba's baseball league. It distinctly reads as if someone ran an English article through a translator. Or else a very odd lead: Havana´s flag team Industriales amasses most wins in the 45th Cuban National Baseball Series that enters its second half this week.

While minor league players aren't organized, minor league umpires are. And they are thinking of rejecting Minor League Baseball's latest contract offer, which would be an increase of $90 per month.

The Patriot-Ledger of Quincy, Massachusetts covers the story.

I tried out once to be an intramural slow pitch softball umpire at UC Berkeley. It did not go well.