From the last seven days (July 25-31), the following players changed teams (or organizations) because of trades, old players in italics, new players in bold.

Angels: No one
Astros: No one
Athletics: No one
Blue Jays: No one
Braves: Wilson Betemit, Jorge Sosa, Danys Baez, Willy Aybar
Brewers: Carlos Lee, Jorge De La Rosa, Nelson Cruz, Wilfrido Laureano, Tony Graffanino, Francisco Cordero, Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix, Julian Cordero, David Bell
Cardinals: Hector Luna, Rich Scalamandre, Ronnie Belliard, Jorge Sosa
Cubs: Todd Walker, Greg Maddux, Cesar Izturis, Jose Ceda
Devil Rays: Julio Lugo, Joel Guzman, Sergio Pedroza
Diamondbacks: No one
Dodgers: Odalis Perez, Blake Johnson, Julio Pimentel, Danys Baez, Willy Aybar, Cesar Izturis, Joel Guzman, Sergio Pedroza, Elmer Dessens, Wilson Betemit, Greg Maddux, Julio Lugo
Giants: Shairon Martis, Mike Stanton
Indians: Ben Broussard, Ronnie Belliard, Shin-Soo Choo, Hector Luna
Mariners: Shin-Soo Choo, Ben Broussard
Marlins: No one
Mets: Xavier Nady, Roberto Hernandez, Oliver Perez
Nationals: Mike Stanton, Shairon Martis
Orioles: No one
Padres: Jose Ceda, Todd Walker
Phillies: Bobby Abreu, Cory Lidle, Rheal Cormier, Sal Fasano, David Bell, Hector Made, Wilfrido Laureano, C.J. Henry, Matt Smith, Jesus Sanchez, Carlos Monastrios, Justin Germano
Pirates: Craig Wilson, Sean Casey, Kip Wells, Roberto Hernandez, Oliver Perez, Shawn Chacon, Xavier Nady, Jesse Chavez, Brian Rogers
Rangers: Francisco Cordero, Gerald Laird, Laynce Nix, Julian Cordero, Bryan Corey, Jesse Chavez, Joselo Diaz, Carlos Lee, Nelson Cruz, Luis Mendoz, Miguel Ojeda, Matt Stairs, Kip Wells
Red Sox: Luis Mendoza, Bryan Corey
Reds: Justin Germano, Zach Ward, Rheal Cormier, Kyle Lohse
Rockies: Miguel Ojeda, Ryan Shealy, Scott Dohmann, Jeremy Affeldt, Denny Bautista
Royals: Elmer Dessens, Tony Graffanino, Jeremy Affeldt, Denny Bautista, Matt Stairs, Odalis Perez, Julio Pimentel, Blake Johnson, Jorge De La Rosa, Ryan Shealy, Scott Dohmann, Jose Diaz
Tigers: Brian Rogers, Sean Casey
Twins: Kyle Lohse, Zach Ward
White Sox: No one
Yankees: Hector Made, C.J. Henry, Matt Smith, Jesus Sanchez, Carlos Monasterios, Sal Fasano, Bobby Abreu, Cory Lidle, Craig Wilson

Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utley extended his hitting streak to 32 games in the Phillies' 15-2 loss to the Marlins.

And, Boston must beat Cleveland tonight in the return of David Wells to hold on to the yellow jersey in the AL East. A loss gives the yellow jersey to the Yankees. But the Red Sox won on a 9th inning, 3-run homer by David Ortiz to maintain the yellow jersey. The Yankees hold on to the checkered jersey.

If the Red Sox lose, they may have to share the checkered jersey with the White Sox, who are playing the Royals tonight.

Finally, in the AL West, Oakland and Los Angeles play showdown game for the yellow jersey. Dan Haren takes on Ervin Santana. Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke tabbed the Angels as the team to beat in the AL this year on today's "Around the Horn" on ESPN.

Update - The checkered jersey of Team Croatia had its first trip through the washing machine. I can tell you this: These colors don't run

The Federal Communications Commission ordered a hearing to be held over Comcast's "reluctance" to air Washington Nationals games on its cable systems.

The unforeseen consequence of this for Nationals fans is that if the FCC rules against Comcast and orders more Nationals game to be shown in the DC market, then people in DC will actually have to watch the Nationals play.

Anonymity is the Nationals best marketing ploy right now.

The foundering Cardinals acquired Jorge Sosa from Atlanta for minor leaguer Rich Scalamandre.

Sosa was 3-10 with a 5.46 ERA.

The Rangers acquired Kip Wells from Pittsburgh for a minor leaguer.

And I had just bought a Kip Wells replica jersey.

The New York Mets picked up pitchers Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez from Pittsburgh in exchange for outfielder Xavier Nady.

The Mets will also be without Duaner Sanchez for an extended period (likely the rest of the year) after Sanchez suffered a separated shoulder in a taxicab accident in Miami.

And as Ken reported in the comments, the Mets then flipped Perez and Heath Bell to the Padres for Scott Linebrink.

Or maybe not as it seems that Linebrink is staying in San Diego.

I've been watching far too much of ESPNnews for my own good.

The Rockies, who are playoff contenders because they are listed under "NL West" in the standings, acquired Jeremy Affeldt and Denny Bautista from Kansas City in exchange for Ryan Shealy and Scott Dohmann.

Bautista will go to the minors.

According to this ESPN.com report the Dodgers acquired Greg Maddux from the Cubs in exchange for Cesar Izturis and Julio Lugo from the Devil Rays in exchange for Joel Guzman and Sergio Pedroza.

See Dodger Thoughts for further caterwauling.

The Ranges continued their midseason redesign and picked up Matt Stairs from the Royals in exchange for minor league pitcher Joselo Diaz.

This rudimentary story reports that the Pirates have traded Craig Wilson to the Yankees in exchange for Shawn Chacon.

The San Diego Padres, needing a third baseman, made a deal to acquire Todd Walker from the Cubs in exchange for minor league pitcher Jose Ceda.

Not that Todd Walker plays third base.

The revenue officer is a comin' and he's sending you to Boston.

The Rangers also acquired catcher Miguel Ojeda from the Rockies in a separate deal.

The Cardinals declared the Aaron Miles/Scott Spiezio experiment at second to be a noble failure and acquired Ronny Belliard from Cleveland in exchange for Hector Luna.

This happened yesterday.

The revamping of the Reds bullpen has continued as they acquired Kyle Lohse from the Twins in exchange for minor leaguer Zach Ward.

Lohse is 2-5 with a 7.07 ERA.

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, the Tigers will announce today that they acquired Sean Casey from the Pirates for a minor league pitcher to be determined. Who turned out to be Brian Rogers. Chris Shelton was sent down to Toledo.

Also, according to Rosenthal, Cincinnati will acquire Rheal Cormier from the Phillies in exchange for Justin Germano.

Carlos Zambrano was happy. Barry Bonds felt disrespected. And Sammy Sosa was just generally ticked off at everybody. And ultimately, the Cubs beat the Giants, 9-4 before a crowd of 39,422 at Wrigley Field.

The defending National League champions had lost their manager, Dusty Baker, to Chicago in the offseason and Felipe Alou was now in charge. Alou had Jim Brower starting. Baker started the often hot-tempered Zambrano.

The Cubs, perched in third in the NL Central behind Houston and St. Louis, went right to work on Brower. Center fielder Kenny Lofton led off with a single. Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek reached on a bunt single. And right fielder Sosa doubled home Lofton with Grudzielanek going to third. Left fielder Moises Alou doubled to score Grudzielanek and Sosa. Alou went to third on a ground out by first baseman Eric Karros, but was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a grounder by third baseman Aramis Ramirez. But shortstop Alex Gonzalez walked and catcher Damian Miller singled in Ramirez with the Cubs fourth run.

In the fifth, the Giants loaded the bases for Bonds. Catcher Yorvit Torrealba singled and second baseman Ray Durham and shorstop Rich Aurilia walked to load the bases. After center fielder Marquis Grissom flied out to shallow center, Zambrano got Bonds to line out back to the box to end the inning. Zambrano pumped his arms and shouted in jubilation as the inning ended. Meanwhile Bonds fumed and complained after the game that the 22-year old Zambrano was not showing him enough respect.

The Cubs added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Karros to score Grudzielanek, who had singled, stolen second and moved to third on an error by Torrealba.

The Giants finally scored in the sixth. First baseman Andres Galarraga singled and third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo homered.

In the bottom of the sixth, Jason Christensen came in to pitch for San Francisco. Gonzalez and Miller singled and Lofton walked to load the bases. Christiansen then threw a wild pitch to score Gonzalez and bring in Matt Herges. Grudzielanek grounded to Aurilia who threw out Miller at the plate. Apparently still upset about something, Christensen was tossed from the game by home plate umpire Sam Holbrook. Herges didn't seem to react well to the delay as he gave up a 3-run homer to Sosa to make it 9-2 Cubs.

The Giants scored twice more in the eighth. Jose Cruz scored left fielder Tom Hammonds (who had replaced Bonds) with a ground out and Zambrano would balk home Galarraga. Joe Borowski pitched the ninth for the Cubs.

Sosa's homer was his 13th in the month of July and 23rd overall. Sosa had missed half of May after being suspended for using a corked bat. Arizona first baseman Mark Grace would taunt Sosa on a trip to Wrigley in June by taking batting practice with a wine cork taped to his bat. Sosa was not amused.

The Giants would win the NL West easily in 2003. They finished with a 100-61 record and beat the Dodgers by 15 1/2 games. The Cubs were able to parlay a 19-8 September to vault over Houston and St. Louis for first place, although with just an 88-74 record.

Both teams would lose in the playoffs to eventual World Series champion Florida. The Giants lost in the Division Series in four games to the Marlins and the Cubs lost a seven-game NLCS that was out of Dickens or Tolstoy.

Bonds would win the MVP for the third straight time. He hit 45 home runs and had an OBP of .529 and OPS of 1.278 thanks to 148 walks, 61 of them intentional.

Kerry Wood of the Cubs led the league in strikeouts with 266. Mark Prior went 18-6 with a 2.11 ERA. And at no time has three years seemed so distant to Cubs fans of today.

Sources: Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.com, Chicago Tribune

On Friday, the Angels took over the yellow jersey in the AL West from the Athletics. But they wore it for just a day as Oakland reclaimed it with a win Saturday while the Halos lost.

Meanwhile, the checkerboard jersey of the wild card was in the Bronx for two days, but now it's back in Chicago. The Twins have dropped two straight to the Tigers and have fallen back in the peloton.

As for the NL, it's quiet. The only race right now is in the NL West and I hear that the DBacks are waiting for a time trial to make their move since they haven't done as well on hills since Jason Grimsley "retired." The Reds are making a few attempts to catch the Cardinals, but they seem half-hearted. The Mets are just doing tricks on their bike now in a vain attempt to get Mom to look at them.

The defending National League champion San Francisco Giants had two passed balls in the sixth and two errors in the ninth that led to four unearned runs as the Houston Astros beat the Giants, 6-1 before a crowd of 17,980 at Candlestick Park.

The Giants, under manager Roger Craig, were hot, having just swept first place Cincinnati over the weekend and sending the Reds into an eight-game losing streak that tightened the pack in the NL West. Craig started lefty Trevor Wilson on the mound. Houston, managed by Art Howe, started Danny Darwin at pitcher.

The game was scoreless until the sixth. Darwin appeared to have struck out against Wilson, but catcher Terry Kennedy let the pitch get away on a passed ball and Darwin reached first. Center fielder Eric Yelding attempted to sacrifice and the Giants tried to get Darwin at second, but the throw was late and two were on with no out. With second baseman Bill Doran up, Kennedy allowed another passed ball to move the runners up. Doran popped out to second, but third baseman Ken Caminiti hit a sacrifice fly to score Darwin.

The Giants tied the game in the seventh when pinch hitter Ernest Riles, batting for shortstop Jose Uribe, hit his fourth homer of the season.

In the ninth, the Giants disintegrated. Steve Bedrosian came in to relieve Wilson. Right fielder Glenn Wilson flied out to lead off the inning, but catcher Craig Biggio singled. Terry Puhl pinch hit for left fielder Mark Davidson and walked. First baseman Franklin Stubbs drew another walk to load the bases. Craig decided it was time to try a lefty in Mark Thurmond. Shortstop Rafael Ramirez hit a fly ball to right fielder Mike Kingery, who dropped it, allowing Biggio to score and the bases remained loaded. (Ramirez was still credited with a sacrifice fly.) Carl Nichols pinch hit for Darwin and singled to score Puhl and Stubbs. The runners moved up on a ground out by Yelding. Then Doran hit a grounder to third baseman Matt Williams, who couldn't handle it, and Ramirez and Nichols scored on the error. Caminiti popped out to end the misery and the Astros led 6-1. Dave Smith pitched the ninth for Houston.

The Giants were just 5 1/2 games out of first on this day, but that was around where they would stay all year. The Giants would finish third in the NL West, six games out of first with an 85-77. The Reds won the division, leading wire to wire, with a 91-71 record. The Reds would lose Game 1 of the NLCS to Pittsburgh, but then win the next three and win in six games. The Reds then shocked Oakland with a four game sweep in the World Series.

The Astros finished tied for fourth with San Diego at 77-85, 16 games out of first. Houston would be even worse in 1991 as would the Giants. The Reds would pick up Doran for the last month of the season, but he got hurt before the playoffs and missed the postseason. Seldom-used Billy Bates would take his place and get a pinch single and score the winning run in Game 2 of the World Series against Dennis Eckersley.

Williams, in his first season in the majors as a fulltime starter, led the NL in RBI with 122. But the rest of the Giants were able to keep up their torrid hitting from 1989 as Kevin Mitchell and Will Clark, still hit well, but not in a spectacular way. The Giants pitching also suffered, especially as 41-year old starter Rick Reuschel finally started to wear down and went from being "crafty and rotund" to "old and fat."

As for Houston, Darwin led the NL in ERA at 2.21 as he just eked out the necessary 162 innings to qualify (162 2/3 innings to be precise!). Mike Scott, who had gone 20-10 in 1989, was a meager 7-13 in 1990 and injuries drove him out of baseball early in the 1991 season.

Sources: Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.com, Houston Chronicle

The Cincinnati Reds got some good pitching in the first game and some big hitting in the second game as they swept a doubleheader at Crosley Field against the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0 and 9-2. A crowd of over 17,000 came to see the first place Reds stretch their lead in the NL to 11 1/2 games over Pittsburgh.

The Phillies, who were in the midst of one of their worst stretches of play, were managed by Doc Prothro. Prothro tried Hugh Mulcahy in the opener and Ike Pearson in the nightcap. Mulcahy would finish his career with a record of 45-89 and was nicknamed "Losing Pitcher." The Reds, under the direction of Bill McKechnie, started Junior Thompson in the opener and Whitey Moore in the nightcap.

Thompson, who started just 11 times in 1939, pitched a complete game four-hitter against the Phillies. Thompson also had an RBI double in the first game to score catcher Ernie Lombardi with the game's first run. First baseman Frank McCormick drove in another and another run scored on an error.

In the second game, the Phillies managed to briefly hold on to a lead when Cincinnati second baseman Bill Werber dropped a throw from catcher Willard Hershberger on a steal attempt and shortstop George Scharein was credited with a steal of home.

But in the fifth, Cincinnati broke through for five runs on just four hits. Then in the sixth and eighth innings, shortstop Billy Myers would hit two-run homers, scoring right fielder Nino Bongiovanni each time.

1939 would be a big year for Cincinnati as the Reds won their first pennant in 20 years. The Cardinals would get hot down the stretch, but the Reds had enough of a cushion that the cruised home with a 4 1/2 game edge and a 97-57 record. The Yankees would sweep the Reds in the World Series.

The Reds placed seven players on the NL All-Star team: Lombardi, McCormick, second baseman Lonny Frey, outfielder Ival Goodman, and pitchers Paul Derringer, Johnny Vander Meer, and Bucky Walters. Walters would win the NL MVP award with a 27-11 record and a 2.29 ERA. Walters tied with Claude Passeau for the league in strikeouts with 137. Derringer finished third in the voting and McCormick was fourth.

In a sign of the times for baseball in 1939, Stan Hack of Chicago and Lee Handley tied for the NL lead in stolen bases with 17. The Cubs led the league in steals with 61. But there wasn't much power either as league leader New York hit just 116 home runs and league leader Johnny Mize had just 28.

The Phillies did not fare as well in 1939. They finished in last place with a 45-106 record, 50 1/2 games behind the Reds. The team's star was outfielder Morrie Arnovich, who batted .324, but hit just five home runs. No Phillies player hit more than nine home runs. The lowest ERA of any pitcher with enough innings to qualify was Boom-Boom Beck at 4.73. Beck earned his nickname for giving up numerous line drives off the wall. Beck got his career extended as he avoided military service in World War II. And the Phillies did use a pitcher named Jennings Poindexter.

Prothro would manage the Phillies for three seasons and won just 138 games while losing 320 for a winning percentage of .301. The Phillies would lose over 100 games from 1938-1942. Then they lost 90 and 92 games in 1943 and 1944 before cratering to 108 losses in 1945.

Sources: New York Times, Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.com

The Giants have acquired Mike Stanton from the Washington Nationals in exchange for Class A pitcher Shairon Martis.

Martis is best known for throwing a no-hitter in the WBC for the Netherlands against Panama.

The AL West just got a little more interesting, as the Texas Rangers acquired Carlos Lee and Nelson Cruz for Francisco Cordero, Kevin Mench, and Laynce Nix.

Erik Siegrist thinks the Brewers got robbed.

The Pittsburgh Pirates pounded Craig Swan early and got a big defensive play from center fielder Marvell Wynne in the ninth to hold on for a 6-2 win over the New York Mets before a crowd of 12,233 at Shea Stadium.

The Mets at this point were managed by Frank Howard, who had taken over for George Bamberger on June 3. Pittsburgh was managed by Chuck Tanner and were finishing up a red-hot July where they would go 22-10 and take over first place in the NL East, despite being outscored on the season to that point. The Pirates started lefty Larry McWilliams.

Swan, who had led the NL in ERA in 1978, was bad from the outset. He walked Wynne to lead off the game. Wynne had been acquired out of the Mets minor league system on June 14 and put into the Pirates leadoff spot. Second baseman Johnny Ray singled Wynne to third. Third baseman Bill Madlock bounced into a 5-4-3 DP that let Wynne score. First baseman Jason Thompson singled and right fielder Dave Parker doubled Thompson to third. Left fielder Mike Easler hit another double to score Thompson and Parker to make it 3-0 Pirates.

In the second, McWiliams had a one-out single and Wynne doubled to right and McWilliams scored when Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez, acquired in a controversial trade from St. Louis on June 15, dropped a relay throw. Howard sent Swan to the showers and brought in lefty Carlos Diaz, who gave up another run on a single by Madlock.

The Mets scored a run in the third when third baseman Hubie Brooks singled in shortstop Jose Oquendo. But McWilliams struck out Hernandez and left fielder George Forster with a runner on third to end the inning. The Mets got another run in the fifth when Brooks hit into a double play that let pinch hitter Tucker Ashford score from third.

Pittsburgh stretched its lead to 6-2 in the seventh when Thompson singled to score Wynne who had singled and stolen second.

The Mets mounted a rally in the ninth. Right fielder Dave Kingman singled to lead off and McWilliams was replaced by Kent Tekulve. Second baseman Bob Bailor bounced to Ray, who booted the ball for an error to put runners on first and second. Danny Heep came up to pinch hit for catcher Junior Ortiz (part of the Wynne deal). Heep hit a deep drive to left-center that Wynne made a spectacular running catch on to retire Heep. Rusty Staub pinch hit for Oquendo and walked to load the bases. This brought up the pitcher's spot and Howard called on rookie Darryl Strawberry to pinch hit. Tanner countered with lefty reliever Rod Scurry, who got Strawberry to strike out and then center fielder Mookie Wilson to hit into a force play to end the game.

The Pirates lack of run scoring caught up with them and they finished second in the NL East with an 84-78 record, six games behind the Phillies. The Mets finished in last place at 68-94.

In 1984, the two franchises would see their fortunes reverse as the Pirates would fall to last place and the Mets, under new manager Davey Johnson, would move up to second.

Strawberry, a much heralded prospect out of Los Angeles, would be named Rookie of the Year in the NL in 1983 by hitting 26 home runs in 122 games. Strawberry took over for Kingman in right field in August and September. Kingman was released in the offseason.

The Mets rotation in 1983 included veterans Tom Seaver and Mike Torrez, but they would be replaced in 1984 by the likes of Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, and Sid Fernandez.

The Pirates meanwhile would lose Parker to free agency and his place in right would be taken by Doug Frobel.

Sources: New York Times, Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.com

Brooklyn used an almost unheard of 15 players in the game, but it was all for naught as the defending World Series champion Cincinnati routed first place Brooklyn, 8-3, before a crowd of about 12,000 at Ebbets Field.

Cincinnati manager Pat Moran started lefty Dutch Ruether. Brooklyn manager Wilbert Robinson countered with another southpaw, Rube Marquard.

The Reds used a walk, an error, and two hits to score three times in the first. Center fielder Edd Roush singled in one run and shortstop Larry Kopf doubled in the other two.

The Dodgers got on the board in the third with a single run that was a monument to wasted opportunities. Marquard led off with a single. Shortstop Ivy Olson followed with another single. Marquard tagged up and went third on a fly out by third baseman Jimmy Johnston. Right fielder Bernie Neis hit a grounder to Kopf who forced Olson at second, but second baseman Morrie Rath threw the relay away and Marquard scored and Neis went to second. Left fielder Zack Wheat then got an infield single, but Neis was out rounding third. So Brooklyn had three hits and an error and could only get one run.

Cincinnati scored again in the fourth when Kopf had his second double and scored on a single by right fielder Greasy Neale. Brooklyn countered with a run on the fifth when Neis tripled in Olson.

The first three Reds batters reached in the sixth on hits, with a run scoring, and Robinson took out Marquard and replaced him with Al Mamaux. Kopf was up and he popped up a bunt for the first out. Neale walked to load the bases. Moran pinch hit Ivey Wingo for catcher Nick Allen and Wingo came through with a 2-run single. Cincinnati led 7-2 after 5 1/2 innings.

The Reds scored their final run in the seventh when Roush had his third hit of the day to score third baseman Heinie Groh. Brooklyn scored once more in the eighth on a double by Wheat and an RBI single from first baseman Ed Konetchy.

Robinson would use four pitchers for Brooklyn in the game: Marquard, Mamaux, George Mohart, and Clarence Mitchell. This was a very high number for the era, especially since Brooklyn employed just nine pitchers all season and only seven of them started.

Brooklyn would hold on to its first place lead, winning the pennant with a 93-61 record. The Dodgers were 23-6 in September and October and beat out the GIants by seven games. The Reds finished in third at 10 1/2 games. Brooklyn would lose to Cleveland in the World Series in seven games, five games to two. Marquard would be embarrassed during that World Series when he was arrested for ticket scalping in Cleveland.

The Dodgers had only one player who led the NL in any major offensive category. Outfielder Hy Myers led in triples with 22. Rogers Hornsby won his first batting title, playing for the Cardinals, and he would dominate NL hitting categories in the 1920s. Wheat, the Dodgers best player, had the fourth highest batting average in the league at .328. Pitcher Burleigh Grimes went 22-13 with a 2.22 ERA in over 300 innings of work.

The Reds would not win the pennant again until 1939. The Dodgers would not win again until 1941. Starting in 1921, the National League would be dominated by the Giants and Cardinals, with occasional murmurs of protest from the Cubs and Pirates.

Sources: Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.com, New York Times

Thanks to the Yankees dramatic 8-7 win over Texas and the White Sox 7-4 loss to the Twins, the checkered jersey emblematic of wild card supremacy has passed over to the Men of The Bronx.

I may not be able to get in all the possible leader changes over the coming weekend as I will actually will try to be sociable this weekend.

Looks like any baseball game planned tonight on the moon Titan will be postponed by methane rain forecast to fall intermittently.

The game between the Rhea Realtors and the Titan Titans will likely have to be made up as a doubleheader later in the season or possibly moved to a neutral moon such as Ganymede.

The Indians and Mariners made a swap.

Going to Seattle is Ben Broussard and heading to Cleveland will be Shin-Shoo Choo.

The Mariners have DFA'd Carl Everett and brought up Chris Snelling as his replacement. Snelling is expected to be part of Seattle's DH platoon with Eduardo Perez.

And, in a move of greater news to the Bronx Banter folks, Kelly Stinnett had met Everett's fate and the Yankees new Jorge Posada caddy is the inimitable Sal Fasano, acquired in a trade for minor league infielder Hector Made.

With Snelling, the Mariners now have players from seven different countries: USA, Japan, Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Australia.

Discuss the status of Puerto Rico amongst yourselves and report back to me.

I noticed this in King Kaufman's Salon.com column. Kaufman wrote about the passing of mathematician Frederick Mosteller.

Mosteller had an obituary in the Washington Post.

Toward the end was this paragraph:

Among the works in his prolific output were several articles on magic tricks and bridge. One of Dr. Mosteller's early papers, the first known academic analysis of baseball, showed that even a strong team relies heavily on luck in a short, seven-game series. He wrote the piece after the Boston Red Sox, his favorite team, lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1946.

In 1946, St. Louis was 98-58 (winning a playoff against Brooklyn), while Boston finished 104-50. It was a World Series that featured Stan Musial and Ted Williams.

Musial batted .222 in the series. Williams, bothered by an injury, batted .200. Neither man homered.

Mosteller likely went through the streets of Boston after the series ended yelling, "Sample size! Sample size!"

I have decided that the currrent holder of the wild card position in the standings will get a checkerboard jersey:

(Picture cropped severely to remove my head and its seven chins.)

There could be changes today in the AL side as the White Sox lead the Yankees by a half game and the Twins by one game.

Harold says he's sorry in this New York Post report.

The yak had no comment.

In a homage to my favorite part of the Colbert Report, I present to you my "Dead to Me" and "On Notice" lists regarding baseball and other matters (although I will leave out politics so we doesn't get too heated.)

Continue reading...

Boston's Ted Lewis pitched a complete game 3-hitter as the Beaneaters took the rubber game of a 3-game set, 6-1, against Brooklyn before 1500 at Washington Park.

Lewis was the least renowned of manager Frank Selee's staff. Most of the big games were started by either Kid Nichols or Vic Willis, two men who would eventually make the Hall of Fame. Brooklyn, managed by future owner Charlie Ebbets, started Joe Yeager, who pitched as well as playing in the field.

The game story in the Boston Globe said that Lewis threw a two-hitter, but the boxscore showed three hits in the game for Brooklyn.

Boston scored twice in the second. Second baseman Bobby Lowe singled and scored on a double by catcher Marty Bergen. First baseman Dave Pickett singled to score Bergen.

Right fielder Hugh Duffy singled to lead off the third and then stole second and third bases and scored on Bergen's second RBI of the game to put Boston up 3-0. Brooklyn scored its only run in the bottom of the third. Catcher Jack Ryan reached on an error by Boston third baseman Jimmy Collins. After two outs and a walk, second baseman Bill Hallman grounded to Collins who threw wildly to first and Ryan scored.

Boston scored twice more in the fourth when Duffy doubled to score Lewis and shortstop Herman Long. Duffy was picked off second right after the play. Duffy doubled in Boston's final run in the sixth to score Long who had singled and stole two bases.

When the game was over, one of the two umpires, George Wood, found out that he had been fired. Wood claimed that Cincinnati owner John T. Brush had it in for him. The Reds were in first place at the time and Brush was an influential owner (he would eventually take own the New York Giants), so Wood probably wasn't making that up.

After the game, Boston headed to St. Louis for a four game set and they only took 11 players on the trip. Jack Stivetts was signed this day and would head off to join the team in St. Louis also. Boston's fourth pitcher, lefty Fred Klobedanz, was left back east by Selee because the manager thought he was too heavy. Klobedanz weighed a reported 182 lbs.

Boston wouldn't need much help in the series at St. Louis as the Browns were the worst team in the league, en route to a 39-111 record. Boston would three of the four games in St. Louis and would eventually catch Cincinnati (who would finish third) and win the NL with a 102-47 record, 6 games better than Baltimore. It would be Boston's second straight pennant and fifth overall under Selee's leadership.

Brooklyn would finish in tenth in the 12-team NL at 54-91, 46 games out of first. The next season, Brooklyn would improve by 47 games and win the pennant, thanks in part to the NL's syndicate ownership. Owners were allowed to own multiple teams and Brooklyn and Baltimore shared an ownership group and manager Ned Hanlon opted to move to Brooklyn and took the best players with him.

Sources: Retrosheet, Baseball-reference, Boston Globe

Ryan Madson of the Phillies tied Walter Johnson and a few other pitchers with four wild pitches in one inning, the third, against Arizona. That ties a regular season record.

Two Hall of Famers have had innings with four wild pitches: Johnson, in 1914, and Phil Niekro in 1979.

Rick Ankiel threw five wild pitches in an inning in a Division Series game against Atlanta in 2000.

In an quest to obtain a full complement of pitchers who are only ostensibly good, the Royals have acquired Jorge de la Rosa from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for utility infielder Tony Graffanino.

De La Rosa was 2-2 with an 8.60 ERA.

So I'm going to ride the yellow jersey metaphor for division leaders for the rest of the year until we drop dead of exhaustion.

But what about the team in the lead for the wild card?

What color jersey should I use?

I'm open to suggestions.

There will be more discussion of this at Dodger Thoughts, but for our non-L.A. readers, there is news of a trade between the Royals and Dodgers.

The Dodgers acquired erstwhile swingman Elmer Dessens in exchange for disgruntled lefthander Odalis Perez and minor leaguers Blake Johnson and Julio Pimentel.

ESPN "Baseball Tonight" analyst Harold Reynolds was apparently let go by the network according to the New York Post.

No reason was given, so speculate wildly, but avoid libelous statements.

I think Reynolds was fired because he insisted on bringing his pet yak into the studio. And the yak wasn't housebroken.

Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News also examines the odd and likely quite biased viewpoints of Steve Phillips.

The Boston Red Sox snapped a four-game losing streak as Roger Clemens fired a 2-hitter against the California Angels with a 7-1 win before a crowd of 50,688 at Anaheim Stadium.

The Red Sox were in first place thanks in part to Clemens outstanding season. He started the game with a 16-2 record and a 2.59 ERA. On April 29 at Fenway Park, Clemens set a major league record by striking out 20 Seattle batters in a 9-inning game. The Angels, managed by Gene Mauch, were also in first. Lefthander John Candelaria got the call.

Boston scored three times in the third inning. Shortstop Rey Quinones walked and center fielder Kevin Romine doubled him to third. Second baseman Marty Barrett walked to load the bases. Third baseman Wade Boggs scored Quinones with a sacrifice fly. First baseman Bill Buckner doubled in Romine and Barrett.

The Red Sox broke it open in the fifth. Barrett led off with a single and Boggs followed with a walk. After Buckner flew out to center, Barrett moved to third. Mauch took Candelaria out at this point and brought in Vern Ruhle. But the Red Sox kept on hitting. Left fielder Jim Rice singled to left to score Barrett. Designated hitter Don Baylor hit into a force play and right fielder Dwight Evans drew a walk to load the bases. Then catcher Rich Gedman unloaded with a grand slam to put the Red Sox ahead 8-0.

The Angels didn't get a hit off of Clemens until the fifth when designated hitter Reggie Jackson led off with a double. Jackson would score the Angels only run eventually on a sacrifice fly from left fielder Brian Downing.

Clemens went the whole way, striking out seven. The only other hit the Angels got was another double, this one by catcher Jerry Narron in the seventh.

After the game Mauch spoke to Gene Wojciechowski of the Los Angeles Times, "Their guy's good, I hope we get another crack at him before it's over."

Mauch would get his wish. The Red Sox won the AL East by 5 1/2 games over the Yankees and the Angels won the West by 5 games over the Rangers. The Angels faced Clemens in Game 1 of the ALCS and routed him, 8-1. In Game 4, the Angels would win an 11-inning thriller, 4-3, after scoring three runs in the ninth. But in Game 7, Clemens would finally get his first postseason win with an 8-1 win that sent the Red Sox to the World Series. I was told that Game 5 was exciting too.

In his 23-year career, Clemens is 29-9 against the Angels in the regular season and is 14-4 in Anaheim.

Clemens won the Cy Young and MVP award in the AL in 1986. He went 24-4 and had a league best 2.48 ERA. He finished seven strikeouts behind Mark Langston for the league lead with 238. Boggs would lead the AL in batting average at .357.

The Red Sox would go on to NOT win the World Series in 1986.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.com

The Angels beat Tampa Bay 8-4 in St. Petersburg, while the Athletics lost to Boston 7-3 at home.

So the Angels and Athletics are tied for first in the AL West at 51-48.

Kendry Morales was optioned to AAA Salt Lake City Monday by the Los Angeles Angels. 37-year outfielder Curtis Pride was called up from the minor.

Robb Quinlan and Howie Kendrick are expected to share first base chores for the Angels.

Jose Guillen that is. Carlos and Ozzie are fine as far as I know.

Guillen is having Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Thanks to Griddle correspondent Sam in our DC bureau.

The ill-fated 2006 season of Derek Lee continues as he has gone back on the DL with "post-traumatic inflammation of the wrist" according to MLB.com

Ryan Theriot will take his spot on the roster.

Any Dodgers, Rockies, or Athletics news I can jump on for anybody?

The Chicago White Sox pulled the trigger on another deal today picking up former All-Star reliever Mike MacDougal from Kansas City in exchange for minor league pitchers Tyler Lumsden and Daniel Cortes.

Sorry for stepping on to Alex and Cliff's turf, but King Kaufman's Salon.com column today (you have to watch a brief ad first) on the idiocy of the Yankees trading Alex Rodriguez is well worth reading because he just doesn't poke holes in ESPN's illustrious "Baseball Tonight" crew, he impales the talking heads with a pike staff.

That's right, future G.M.'s, listen and learn. The advice here is: Sell low.

John Kruk disagreed. That's how crazy the idea the Yanks "need" to trade A-Rod is -- an idea illustrated with video of Rodriguez this week becoming the youngest player ever to hit his 450th career home run. John Kruk is the voice of reason. That crazy.

----------------------------------------

Demonstrating the kind of oracular vision he demonstrated when trading for washed-up veterans Jeromy Burnitz, Roberto Alomar and Mo Vaughn as general manager of the New York Mets, [Steve] Phillips concluded, "His play won't come back, and he's not ever going to win over the fans in New York. I think it's time to move him before it's too late."

From the Pirates notebook in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Florida's current rotation is one of 10 in the past 50 years to have three rookies with eight or more victories, now that Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen and Ricky Nolasco each has that many. The 1993 Pirates were one of those with Steve Cooke, Blas Minor and Paul Wagner.

The last place and banged up Washington Senators managed to eke out a 5-4 win over the defending AL champion Philadelphia Athletics at the Senators home field, American League Park.

The Athletics, with Connie Mack in his third of 50 years on the job as manager of the team he owned, started Chief Bender on the mound. The Senators, managed by Tom Loftus, started Highball Wilson. Whether Wilson got this name because of his style of pitching or for a fondness for alcohol isn't known. Well, maybe it's known, I just didn't bother to find out. His real name was Howard. Bender, who was part Chippewa, was actually named Charles.

With regular first baseman Boileryard Clarke out with an injury, Loftus had to start pitcher Al Orth in his place. Orth batted third in this game. Orth was not a bad hitter, finishing with a .273 batting average in 14 seasons.

Wilson served up a steady of diet of offspeed pitches to Philadelphia and Wilson ran into a 3-0 deficit after four innings. Right fielder Socks Seybold had a big triple to score a couple of runs. Philadelphia got another run a throwing error where the ball ended up in the seats, although a spectator tried to throw it back on the field in the hopes that the umpire wouldn't notice. The umpire noticed.

Washington scored its first run in the fifth. Left fielder Kip Selbach singled and went to second on an error by Seybold. Center fielder Jimmy Ryan singled in Selbach.

In the sixth, Washington third baseman Bill Coughlin led off with a lineout to first, but second baseman Barry McCormick doubled. Catcher Malachi Kittridge walked. Wilson struck out, one of eight strikeouts for Bender on the game. Selbach followed with a triple after Seybold slipped while chasing his deep drive. Ryan then got a single when his line drive hit the umpire, James Hassett. There was only one umpire in this game and with a runner on base, Hassett was calling the action from the center of the field.

Washington tallied another run in the eighth. McCormick singled to get things started. Kittredge tried to sacrifice the runner over, but Philadelphia first baseman Harry Davis threw the ball into the outfield to put runners on second and third. McCormick scored one batter later on a fielder's choice when Davis threw late to the plate in an attempt to retire McCormick.

Philadelphia had a chance in the ninth. Seybold led off with a single. Left fielder Danny Hoffman lined a ball to McCormick at second that he couldn't handle, but he deflected it over to shortstop Rabbit Robinson for a force out. One out later, shortstop Monte Cross reached on an infield single. Catcher Ossee Schreckengost singled and Hoffman scored. That brought up Bender and Mack opted to let him hit and he grounded out to end the game.

On the same day of this game, AL president Ban Johnson and Cincinnati owner Gerry Herrmann were meeting behind closed doors, presumably to hammer out more of the details of the "peace accord" between the two leagues. The two leagues had agreed in January of 1903 to respect each other's contracts (and the reserve clause). One rule change the AL agreed to in 1903 was the foul strike rule. The NL made the first two foul balls strikes in 1901, but the AL didn't adopt the rule until 1903. The league batting average dropped from .275 to .255.

Philadelphia would not repeat its AL championship and finished in second place, 14 1/2 games behind Boston. Washington would finish in last place with a 43-94 record, 47 1/2 games out of first.

In 1904, the schedule would lengthen to 154 games. This would not be good news for the Senators. They turned in a 38-113 record in 1904 which included a 15-61 road record.

Sources: Washington Post, Baseball-reference.com, Retrosheet

The Padres have reclaimed first place in the NL West with a 6-5 win over the Giants in 12 innings at AT&T Park.

Terrmel Sledge homered in the ninth off of Armando Benitez to tie the game after the Giants had taken the lead with a 3-run eighth. Pinch hitter Eric Young had a sacrifice fly to score Mike Cameron with the game-winning run.

I was going to craft an interesting story, but it's too hot and I have stuff to do today.

But I got a chance to sit in the renovated bench seats in the first row of Dodger Stadium along the third base line. That's aisle 31B, row 1, seat 5 to be precise.

Before the game, Rafael Furcal wonders which rules he needs to obey:

At least somebody likes Kenny, it could be Kenny:

The Dodgers give their top pitching prospect a chance to throw out the first pitch:

Albert Pujols thinks to himself "I'm only at third? What did I do wrong this time? Did Jose Oquendo give me my Frequent On Base Points? I'm close to Premier status. If I get there, then Oquendo has to give me two bags of peanuts once I get to third."

Sorry this one is a little blurry, but it's interesting that in Antioch, California, Aaron Miles Day comes the day after Veterans Day. It's probably a cheap attempt by the people there to get an extra day off. I'm asking for Aaron Miles Day off this year at my job.

From this angle, what do I have more of? Chins, ears, red squares on my shirt, or white squares?

The St. Louis Cardinals jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and had little trouble disposing with the New York Giants, picking up a 6-1 win at home in Sportsman's Park.

For the Giants, it helped to have your name start with "Mc" this day. Manager John McGraw started pitcher Hugh McQuillan and catcher Hugh McMullen. Rogers Hornsby was the player/manager for the Cardinals. Hornsby took over the managerial duties after Branch Rickey decided to stay in the front office in 1925. Hornsby had lefthander Bill Sherdel on the mound.

The Cardinals got a run in the first without hitting the ball out of the infield. Left fielder Ray Blades led off with an infield single. One out later, Hornsby reached on a throwing error by third baseman Fred Lindstrom and first baseman Jim Bottomley reached on a throwing error by second baseman Frankie Frisch. Blades scored on that play.

St. Louis got three more runs in the third on consecutive run scoring doubles from right fielder Billy Southworth and third baseman Les Bell.

The Giants notched their lone run in the sixth when left fielder Irish Meusel doubled home Lindstrom. Other than that, Sherdel wasn't tested much.

Southworth singled in a run in the seventh and Bell drove in a run with a scoring fly ball in the same inning to make the final score, 6-1.

The Cardinals were tied for third on this day with Chicago, 3 1/2 games behind first place Cincinnati. Defending World Series champion Pittsburgh was in second.

However, the Cardinals would go 22-8 in August and led Cincinnati by a 1/2 game going into the last month of the season. Pittsburgh was a game back. The Cardinals played their last home game on September 1 and had to finish the season with 24 road games.

But in 1926, the other "western" teams in the NL were spending much of September on the road. The Cardinals would go 13-11 on their long road trip and that would be enough to edge out Cincinnati by two games. The Cardinals would stay out on the East Coast and open the World Series against New York at Yankee Stadium, where they would split the first two games. They finally returned home to St. Louis on October 5, but the Cardinals dropped 2 of 3 to the Yankees and had to return to Yankee Stadium for the final two. And the Cardinals became the second team to win a seven game series by winning the final two games on the road. The 1909 Pirates pulled off the feat at Detroit. The 1979 Pirates were the last team to do it. It's also happened in 1934, 1952, 1958, and 1968.

Although Hornsby managed the Cardinals to their first World Series win, he was far from universally loved. He didn't hit particularly well by his standards, hitting just .314 with 11 home runs. Catcher Bob O'Farrell won the MVP award, edging out Hughie Critz of Chicago. Under the rules of the time, Hornsby was ineligible for the award anyway.

More importantly, Hornsby alienated Rickey. For starters, Hornsby refused to make a late season stop for an exhibition game, depriving Rickey and the Cardinals of some cash. Rickey didn't care for that much. Hornsby was also openly dismissive of Rickey's advice. When the season ended, Rickey sent Hornsby to the Giants in exchange for Frisch and pitcher Jimmy Ring. The deal was complicated by the fact that Hornsby owned stock in the Cardinals. Because of this, baseball instituted a rule prohibiting players and managers from owning part of a club.

Sources: New York Times, Retrosheet, Baseball-Reference.com

Shamelessly stealing an idea from my brother Tom, I believe the San Francisco Giants should have to wear yellow jerseys tomorrow after taking over first place in the NL West with a 4-3 win over San Diego at home Saturday night.

Each of the five teams in the National League West has been in first place at some time between June 1 and today. Although I haven't verified it, I believe all the teams but the Dodgers have been in fifth in that same timespan.

The Red Sox put Tim Wakefield on the disabled list with a stress fracture in a rib. The move is retroactive to July 18.

To replace him the Red Sox have called up Kason Gabbard from Pawtucket.

Gabbard is the first major leaguer to have either of those names. His middle name is listed as "R."

The headline reads "Paperwork Done for Nationals Sale".

Apparently they can't seem to find a notary. And the Nationals don't have a photocopier either so there's only one copy. And I think it's low on toner.

Now, not a rant.

RIP Jack Warden.

This means that there is only one of the 12 actors from the film version of "12 Angry Men" still alive: Jack Klugman.

The Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox split a tense doubleheader before 26,162 fans at Fenway Park with the Tigers winning 4-3 in the first game and the Red Sox winning the second game 1-0. The split moved the defending World Champion Red Sox to within 1 1/2 games of the first place New York Yankees.

The Tigers, managed by Hughie Jennings, were in fifth place at the time although they were over .500. Jennings had righthander Willie Mitchell starting in the first game and lefty Bill James pitching the second. There were two Bill James in the majors at this time. This one was "Big Bill" as opposed to "Seattle Bill." Boston, managed by Bill Carrigan, had Ernie Shore and Dutch Leonard starting in both ends of the doubleheader. (There were two Dutch Leonards too, this one had the real name of Hubert.)

Detroit started out well. Third baseman Ossie Vitt led off with a single. Shortstop Donie Bush tried to sacrifice, but catcher Hick Cady tried for the force at second, but was too late and both men were safe. First baseman George Burns did sacrifice successfully. Center fielder Ty Cobb hit a grounder to second baseman Jack Barry who threw over to first baseman Del Gainer, who dropped the throw and two runs came around to score. Gainer got one of the runs back in the bottom of the first on an RBI single to score right fielder Harry Hooper.

Boston tied the game up in the second on a double by center fielder Tilly Walker and an error by Burns on a grounder hit by Boston shortsop Everett Scott.

Detroit reclaimed the lead in the sixth when Mitchell singled to score second baseman Ralph Young. This came against Carl Mays, who had relieved Shore in the fourth inning.

Rube Foster was pitching the ninth for Boston and gave up a single to Burns and then a triple to Cobb to make it 4-2.

The Red Sox mounted a rally in the ninth. Gainer had a one-out double and he scored on a single by Walker. Pinch hitter Bill Carrigan singled to move Walker to second, but Mitchell got Scott to fly out to center and Cady to pop out to second to end the game.

In the nightcap, the only scoring came in the second inning. Dick Hoblitzell, Boston's other first baseman walked and Walker followed with a single. Third baseman Larry Gardner bunted the runners over. Scott then grounded to Burns who tried to throw out Hoblitzell at the plate, but he was not in time and the game's only run scored. Such was the economy of the Boston Globe typesetters at the time, that they did not bother to print a line score for Detroit since they had all zeros.

Leonard held Detroit to just four hits, three of them singles. In the ninth, Cobb led off with a single and went all the way to third on a sacrifice by left fielder Bobby Veach. Leonard got right fielder Harry Heilmann to pop out to first and Young lined out to left to end the game.

The Yankees would start to slide in late July and into August and the Red Sox were able to catch them and ended up winning the AL by two games over Chicago. The Yankees fell all the way to fourth 11 games out. Detroit finished in third, four games out. The first six teams in the AL were at .500 or better. The seventh place team, Washington, was just one game under. This of course meant that the last place team, Philadelphia, had to be really bad. And they were, the A's were 36-117.

The Red Sox would win the World Series for the second straight year and for the third time in five seasons. Boston got past Brooklyn in five games. The Red Sox would win the World Series again in 1918 before having a bit of a drought.

Surprisingly, Boston still was able to win even though they had traded away one of its stars, center fielder Tris Speaker, to Cleveland before the season started in exchange for Sam Jones and Fred Thomas. Speaker would lead the AL in batting average, OBP, and slugging percentage in 1916. The only category of any note that a Boston player led in was shutouts. Babe Ruth had nine to lead the AL. Boston was sixth in the AL in runs scored, but they did allow the fewest.

Sources: Boston Globe, Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.com

Well you came and you left because you were tanking
So I sent you to Triple-A, oh Wandy.
Well you pitched to me and stopped the batters from taking
We don't need you today, oh Wandy.

AP story

And yes, I know the syllables are off a bit.

According to this report Dodgers third baseman Bill Mueller's knee problem cannot be solved by any known therapy.

But has he called David Wright yet?

And Chan Ho Park breathes a sigh of relief, as he knows that Fernando Tatis won't be able to hurt him from Baltimore.

Unless of course the Orioles and Padres meet in the World Series.

The California Angels lost ground in what turned out to be a pennant race that wasn't when the New York Yankees scored six times in the fifth and beat the Angels, 11-7 before a crowd of 20,479 at Anaheim Stadium.

The Yankees, managed by Buck Showalter, were sitting in first place in the AL East in baseball's new three division alignment. Showalter started lefthander Jimmy Key, who was 14-2. Marcel Lachemann, who had replaced Buck Rodgers earlier in the year, had the Angels in third place, but that was still only five games behind first place Texas. The Angels came into the game 12 under .500 (42-54). Lefty Chuck Finley got the start for California.

The Angels led three different times early in the game. In the second inning when catcher Chris Turner singled home first baseman J.T. Snow. The Yankees tied the game up in the third when left fielder Paul O'Neill singled in first baseman Don Mattingly. The Angels took the lead again in the bottom of the third when leftfielder Bo Jackson homered.

The Yankees tied the game in the fourth when shortstop Mike Gallego homered off of Finley. But the Angels went back ahead in the bottom of the fourth when third baseman Spike Owen singled in Turner who had gotten to second on an infield hit and throwing error by Gallego.

In the fifth, the Yankees offense exploded. With one out, right fielder Danny Tartabull walked. Designated hitter Jim Leyritz doubled to left and Tartabull came all the way around to score to tie the game at 3-3. O'Neill walked. Third baseman Randy Velarde was caught looking by Finley, who appeared to be getting out of the jam. But Gallego came up with a double to score Leyritz and send O'Neill to third. Second baseman Pat Kelly singled to score O'Neill and Gallego. Kelly stole second and scored when center fielder (and leadoff man) Bernie Williams singled. Williams stole second and then went to third on a single by Mattingly. Only then did Lachemann relieve Finley with Scott Lewis. Catcher Mike Stanley greeted Lewis with a double to score Williams before Tartabull made the last out. The Yankees now led 8-3.

The Angels tried to peck away in the fifth. Jackson singled and then scored on a double by second baseman Damion Easley. But Key retired the next two batters to get out of the inning.

Leyritz had a 2-run single in the seventh to score Williams and Mattingly. This drove Lewis out of the game and lefty Joe Magrane came in to relieve.

Xavier Hernandez relieved Key in the bottom of the seventh and gave up a homer to Snow to make it 10-5. The Angels scored another run in the eighth off of Hernandez when second baseman Harold Reynolds singled, went to second on a wild pitch and then on to third when Stanley threw the ball away trying to catch Reynolds. Center fielder Chad Curtis singled in Reynolds. Bob Wickman relieved and struck out center fielder Jim Edmonds and Jackson to end the inning.

Each team got a run in the ninth. Tartabull doubled home Stanley in the top of the inning and Reynolds had an RBI groundout in the bottom of the ninth. Wickman ended up with the save.

Although the Yankees would be in first when the last game was played, they didn't win the AL East. A players strike after August 10 led to the cancellation of the rest of the season and the cancellation of the playoffs. The Yankees AL best 70-43 record went for naught. The Angels finished in fourth at 47-68, although that was just 5 1/2 games behind first place Texas, which was 52-62.

Key, who was 18-6 for the Yankees in 1993, had another good year in 1994 with a 17-4 record. Key had a 3.27 ERA, easily the best among Yankee starters. The team leader in saves was Steve Howe with 15. O'Neill won the AL batting title with a .359 average. He also led the team in home runs with 21. Showalter was named Manager of the Year.

The Angels were a mixture of young players, like Edmonds, Snow, and Tim Salmon. And older or injured players like Reynolds, Owen, and Jackson. The latter was playing with an artificial hip. Finley was the best of a mediocre pitching staff with a 10-10 record and a 4.32 ERA. Joe Grahe led the team in saves with 13, but had an ERA of 6.65. One pitcher from that staff is still active, Russ Springer.

The only active playees from the 1994 Yankees team are Williams and Wickman. To be precise, Williams refers to Bernie, but Gerald Williams was on the 1994 team also.

The players would come back to play in 1995 in an abbreviated season. The Yankees ended up making the playoffs as a wildcard, while the Angels blew a big lead late in the year and lost a one-game playoff to Seattle.

Sources: Retrosheet, Baseball-reference.com, Los Angeles Times

Today, Toronto manager John Gibbons admitted that he challenged Hillenbrand to a fight.

"He had a chance yesterday to defend himself in front of his coaches and his teammates. He chose not to," Gibbons said.

Gibbons said someone was done in Toronto -- him or Hillenbrand.

"If the front office felt differently than he wins and I lose, and I would be one out of here," Gibbons said. "I mean it. It was either him or me."

Asked if Hillenbrand did it because he wanted out, Gibbons said: "I know he wanted to get out. That's no secret. To be honest I don't think he really wanted to be here for the last two years."

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	Final
Oneonta	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	6
Brooklyn	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Oneonta and Brooklyn played the longest game in New York-Penn League history at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn.

Story from Minorleaguebaseball.com.

Also story from AP.

Deik Scram of Oneonta had the go-ahead single in the 26th to score two runs. Scram had been 0 for 11 prior to that hit. Brooklyn was using an outfielder, Mark Wright, as the pitcher at the end of the game.

However, the Braves didn't add talent. All they did was pick up Bob Wickman from Cleveland. The Braves sent minor leaguer catcher Max Ramirez to Cleveland.

Fausto Carmona is likely to become Cleveland's new closer. Fausto's teammates like to call him "Goethe" for kicks.

The Cardinals and Braves game last night in St. Louis was delayed until 9:22 Central time as a severe storm hit the area blowing debris from the adjacent construction into the stadium.

Portable concession stands were flipped, and a 40-pound section sign crashed down. A 60-foot tear in the tarp covering the field allowed water to seep through to the field, further delaying the game even after the storm ended. At least five people were taken from the stadium in ambulances with various injuries. None appeared to be serious.

Water was shin-deep in the dugouts and neck-deep in nearby walkways. Fox Sports had set up a temporary studio but the wind destroyed it, turning over the desk and scattering the lights.

The storm has also knocked out power to over 400,000 people in Missouri and Illinois and may not be restored for a couple of days. Temperatures in the 100s are expected today in St. Louis today. The Cardinals are off today as they are headed to the West Coast. Where it's only going to be in the high 80s and low 90s.

Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun has more on the acrimonious departure of Shea Hillenbrand from the Blue Jays.

It had a lot to do with Hillenbrand writing: "This is a sinking ship" on the chalkboard where batting practice times are written.

The team was having a players-only meeting, called by Vernon Wells, when in stormed irate manager John Gibbons.

According to one unnamed Blue Jay: "The manager said: 'You're gone! I'll be gone before you ever play another game in this organization.'

--------------------

"He was a cancer in this clubhouse," another player said. "Shea's day went the way the lineup card went. If he was in the lineup, everything was fine. If he wasn't he'd sulk. Sometimes he wouldn't even come out to hit."

Harry Steinfeldt, a man who would live on in baseball lore as "the other guy", had a big 2-run triple in the eighth inning as the Chicago Cubs rallied to beat the New York Giants, 6-3, before a crowd of about 12,000 at the West Side Grounds in Chicago.

Steinfeldt was the third baseman for the Cubs for much of the time when the shorstop, second baseman, and first baseman were Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance. Tom Simon has a biography of Steinfeldt's life.

The first place Cubs, five up on the Giants, were managed by Chance, who had taken over for Frank Selee in 1905. Chance started what amounted to his #5 starter (or at least the pitcher with the fifth most starts), Jack Taylor. The Giants, led by the famous John McGraw, had Christy Mathewson on the hill.

Taylor got off to a bad start, hitting leadoff man and right fielder Roger Bresnahan with a pitch. (Bresnahan is better known as a catcher, but he played all over the diamond and pitched as well). Left fielder Spike Shannon hit into a force play. Center fielder Cy Seymour singled and first baseman Dan McGann walked to load the bases. Third baseman Art Devlin singled in Shannon and Seymour. Shortstop Bill Dahlen walked to load the bases and second baseman Sammy Strang hit a scoring fly ball and the Giants were up 3-0 before the Cubs got a chance at bat.

Chicago benefited from a hit batter to score its first run. Steinfeldt was hit by a Mathewson offering to lead off the inning. Tinker hit a grounder to Dahlen that he couldn't handle and two were on with no outs. Evers sacrificed and catcher Johnny Kling hit a scoring fly ball of his own to make it 3-1 New York.

Left fielder Jimmy Sheckard provided Chicago's next run. He drew a walk from Mathewson, stole second and came around to score on a single by Chance. Meanwhile, Taylor had shut down the Giants after the first.

In the top of the eighth, the Giants got runners to second and third with no outs, but failed to score. Two runners were thrown out at the plate on ground balls to the infield.

Center fielder Jimmy Slagle led off the bottom of the eighth with a single and Sheckard sacrificed. Right fielder Frank Schulte lined one back to the box that Mathewson was able to snare for the first out. Chance drew a walk to set the stage for Steinfeldt.

Steinfeldt got ahead in the count against Mathewson and drilled a 3-1 pitch from Mathewson up the gap in right-center. Seymour and Bresnahan desperately tried to cut the ball off, but it rolled all the way to the seats and Slagle and Chance scored while Steinfeldt chugged into third. Tinker and Evers followed with singles combined with an error by New York catcher Frank Bowerman to let two more runs come in to make the score 6-3. Taylor retired the Giants in the ninth for the win and the Cubs had stretched their lead to six games.

There wouldn't be many tough games for the Cubs in 1906. They won the National League pennant by 20 games over the Giants with an otherworldly 116-36 record, a .763 winning percentage. Last place Boston finished 66 1/2 games out of first, the worst mark of the 20th century. No other National League has ever come within five games of that total. (The 1909 Pirates won 110 games.) Only the 2001 Seattle Mariners matched that total and they played in 10 extra games.

The Cubs had a staff ERA of 1.75 in 1906 with Hall of Famer Mordecai Brown going 26-6 with a 1.04 ERA. Taylor pitched in just 17 games, but he had a 12-3 record with a 1.83 ERA. The Cubs lead the league in scoring with 705 runs and gave up just 381. From August 1 until the end of the season, the Cubs were 52-8. Steinfeldt led the league in hits with 176 and RBI with 83 (tied with Jim Nealon of Pittsburgh). Steinfeldt finished 12 points behind Honus Wagner in the batting race with a .327 mark.

The Giants had won the World Series in 1905, but they were no match for the Cubs this season. Mathewson had what was a subpar season for him with a 22-12 record and a 2.97 ERA. The league ERA was 2.62. Seymour, who had one of the greatest seasons of the decade with Cincinnati in 1905, had just been acquired a week before this game after falling into disfavor there as his numbers declined. Seymour played well for the Giants in 1906, but not well enough this season.

It would have been fitting if the team with the best winning percentage of the 20th Century wrapped up their season with a win in the World Series. But that didn't happen. The Cubs faced their crosstown rivals, the White Sox, a team dubbed "the Hitless Wonders" because of its .230 team batting average and seven home runs. But the White Sox took the series in six games. After getting just 11 hits in the first four games, the White Sox had 26 of them in the last two games. A fill-in third baseman, George Rohe, was the surprise hero for the White Sox with 7 hits in 21 at bats, including a double and two triples.

The Cubs would go on to win the pennant again in 1907, 1908, and 1910 and win the World Series over Detroit in 1907 and 1908, but lose to Philadelphia in 1910. The 1906-08 Cubs hold the major league record for most games won in a 3-year span, 322.

Sources: Chicago Tribune, Baseball-reference.com, Retrosheet, SABR Bioproject.

Tonight at Wrigley Field, Roger Clemens picked up career win number 343 as the Astros beat the Cubs, 4-2. The losing pitcher was Greg Maddux who remains "stalled" at 325 wins.

So two starters who came in to the game with a combined 667 wins is no mean feat, but it's not the highest total for any two starters.

I'm pretty sure the record was set in this game back on September 12, 1911 when Cy Young of Boston (with 508 wins) faced off against Christy Mathewson (with 283 wins). That's 791 combined wins.

The fact that Young and Mathewson were facing each other that day was not a big deal. The New York papers were more interested in the Giants maintaining their lead over the Cubs in the pennant race. Young didn't make it out of the third inning is one of his final appearances. There will be more about the Boston Rustlers (as they were called) of 1911 in a couple of weeks.

They were really bad. Really, really, really bad.

Toronto first baseman/DH Shea Hillenbrand let loose with a profanity-filled tirade that he thinks will get him traded. Hillenbrand was upset that no one from the Blue Jays organization congratulated Hillenbrand and his wife for adopting a child.

I sent the Hillenbrands a cradle made out of ebony that I shaped myself in my own garage.

I'm still waiting for a thank you.

Update As you probably know the Blue Jays designated Hillenbrand for assignment today after he refused to sit on the bench.

Sammy Sosa tells ESPN's Enrique Rojas that he return to baseball if he's given the right offer.

Sosa rejected the Washington Nationals in the offseason. So who else is going to spend waste flush down the toilet money and playing time on Sammy?

The Padres have released Vinny Castilla in order to bring up pitcher Mike Thompson.

Will the Padres still be able to win the NL West without Castilla's .579 OPS?

The linked story indicates that the Padres players are not happy with the move. Apparently Castilla provides more than his extraordinarily putrid stat line indicates. Maybe he springs for dinner after games frequently.

But with Castilla's production, the Veteran Presence® he provides should be able to light up PETCO Park.

The Red Sox have defeated the Royals the last two days at Fenway Park by scores of 1-0.

According to the AP story about the game, the last time the Red Sox won consecutive 1-0 games at Fenway was on June 22 and 23, 1916. Babe Ruth beat the Yankees on the 22nd and Ernie Shore beat the Athletics on the 23rd.

Eight weeks after the game ended on May 24, the Cubs have finally successfully appealed a scoring rule and got Greg Maddux's ERA dropped from 4.99 to 4.60.

A fifth inning play was changed from an infield hit for Hanley Ramirez of Florida to an error on Ronny Cedeno.

Meanwhile, the travesty of Jae Seo not getting a save for the Dodgers on June 23 against the Pirates has not been remedied.

Who will take up arms and fight the powers that be over this? We can storm the no longer impregnanble castle walls that surround baseball's official scorers! We can take over.

Or maybe I should get Bob Dylan to write a song about Jae Seo, something along the lines of "Hurricane." But maybe with a jazzier beat.

Chris Jaffe of Baseballthinkfactory.org ran a two-part series based on his presentation at the SABR convention in Seattle on evaluating managers. Remember it's two parts.

The Digital Chosunilbo checks back in on Korean WBC star Seung-Yeop Lee, who plays in Japan for the Yomiuri Giants.

Lee leads the Central League in a bunch of offensive categories, including home runs.

The Giants got off to a quick start, but are in the middle of a stretch where the team has lost 28 of 33 games a