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Yankees end losing streak with big night from Arod

The AP story -

Barry Bonds’ 749th home run wasn’t nearly enough to overcome another big night from Alex Rodriguez.

Rodriguez went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and the New York Yankees beat the Giants 7-3 Friday night in their first meaningful game in San Francisco since winning Game 7 of the 1962 World Series.

Bonds got the longball, but A-Rod got the win in the matchup between two of baseball’s most feared sluggers.

“I’d take two more (Bonds homers) and two more wins,” Rodriguez said. “I’ll trade that. I’m a huge Barry fan. I love to see great talent be displayed. It’s a beautiful thing to watch. As long as we win the game, he can do whatever he wants.”

The talk before the game was of the two sluggers: Bonds as he closes in on Hank Aaron’s career record of 755 home runs and Rodriguez, the player many consider the biggest threat to hold the record after Bonds.

Bonds connected for his 15th home run of the season in the eighth inning off Scott Proctor, cutting New York’s lead to 6-3. But the Giants couldn’t get any closer, dropping their season-high eighth straight game.

“I don’t think we’re thinking that much about Barry trying to reach this milestone as trying to win a ballgame,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “That’s our focus right now. We need to stop this and we know it.”

Rodriguez helped the Yankees bounce back after they were swept in a three-game series in Colorado. His double started a three-run second inning and he also hit RBI singles in the fifth and ninth innings.

Kei Igawa, making his first start after seven weeks in the minors, was sharp early but was removed one out away from a potential win after walking Bonds with the bases loaded to cut New York’s lead to 5-2 in the fifth inning. Luis Vizcaino (4-1) came in and Bengie Molina hit a drive to left field that Hideki Matsui caught as he jumped into the fence, robbing the Giants of an extra-base hit.

Matsui’s catch was the turning point of the game.

Every team ahead of the Yanks in the wildcard lost tonight, so they’re 5.5 back and tied with Minnesota.

 

Royals Week in Review – 6/22/07

Something happened to the Kansas City Royals bats around June first. I don’t know what it is, but after losing seven in a row, the boys in blue have pretty much taken Pythag out behind the woodshed the last few weeks.

The following chart has two lines:

The RED line represents the Royals running pythagorean record based on runs scored and runs allowed as the season progresses.

The BLUE line is a rolling ten game snapshot of their pythagorean record.

Basically, the blue line spikes whenever the team has a particularly good stretch of games (e.g. putting 17 runs on the board in the space of five days), and drops when they struggle (the aforementioned seven game losing streak).

The Royals are currently riding their second wave of sustained success. It’s good to see the team bounce back after that disheartening stretch in May, but the real key to sustained improvement lies in the moves General Manager Dayton Moore makes between now and the trading deadline.

Addition by Subtraction
Whoever kicked Scott Elarton in the ankle is this month’s MVP if you ask me. 2-3 with a 9.17 ERA in eight starts? I watched him pitch against the Cardinals the other night and I’m pretty sure I could have taken him yard, his stuff was so bad.

Despite Joe Posnanski’s push for a four-man rotation, the Royals have signed John Thompson to take Elarton’s place in the rotation.

The Royals opted for Thomson after choosing to keep Zack Greinke and Joakim Soria in the bullpen. They also resisted any inclination to promote any of their three top pitching prospects: Billy Buckner, Luke Hochevar and Tyler Lumsden.

While I’d like to see Grienke get another shot at the rotation, I’m okay with this move right now, as Zack seems to have found a groove coming out of the bullpen.

Thompson is your standard issue fourth starter, with a career ERA of 4.69 with four different teams. As seems to be the case with many of Moore’s moves, he had some success in Atlanta, going 14-8 with a 3.72 ERA in 2004.

Sweeney Out
I’m done with jokes about Mike Sweeney’s ailing back and annual trips to the disabled list. He will leave as one of the most productive hitters in Royals history and one of the most frustrating. I think big Mike’s heart really was dedicated to making the Royals a better team, but his body could not shoulder the strain.

Thus, young Billy Ray will be getting another chance to taste the bright lights and lavish buffets of big league baseball. The Royals have officially taken the glove away from their top prospect, but plan to give him an opportunity to impress with the stick.

Butler will pinch-hit the next five games and then DH every day until Sweeney returns. KC considered other players but Butler was the only option who was on the 40-man roster that could be called up and then sent back to Minors without passing through waivers.

Now that Alex Gordon is hitting like the hype (333/361/507 since June 1st), the Royals young offense may be exciting to watch the next few months.

All Star Voting
Personally, I’d like to see John Buck named as the Royals representative at the upcoming All-Star game. He has been the team’s most productive hitter, looks like a bad-ass with his new hair do, and maybe it would force the team to stop making their All Star split time with Jason LaRue.

As it is, the Royals will probably have to settle for one of their pitchers milling around the bullpen in San Francisco, waiting for the chance to serve up a Barry Bonds homer in front of the home crowd.

If that’s the case, then Jim Leyland would have to give Gil Meche his top consideration. Despite last night’s wobbly start, Meche has been everything the Royals could have hoped for so far this year, and thanks to his contract, he is a name some people might have heard of.

I could see Leyland giving the nod to David Riske. He’s go an ERA under three and was nice enough to serve up that game winning homer to Ivan Rodriguez on April 8th.

 

Florida Panthers sign Nathan Horton

From the Palm Beach Post-

Right wing Nathan Horton, who only last February was rumored to want out of Florida, agreed to a six-year deal worth $24 million that, barring a trade, figures to make him a Panther through the 2012-13 season. The final three years of the deal feature a no-trade clause.

Horton made $1.1 million last season, when he finished second in team scoring with 31 goals, 31 assists and a plus-15 rating.

*****

Horton joins defenseman Bryan Allen in signing lengthy contracts this off-season. Allen, 26, signed a five-year, $14.5 million extension just last week. Martin has said he hopes to do similar deals with Stephen Weiss and Jay Bouwmeester.

Retaining Horton and Allen were vital if the Panthers were ever going to become a good Hockey team. It is equally vital that Weiss and Bouvmeester get signed. The team still needs a goaltender though. Eddie Belfour is old and the other goalies aren’t very good at all.

The NHL draft is tonight. Palm Beach Post Hockey blogger Brian Biggane writes-


With Jean-Sebastien Giguere re-signed to a four-year deal in Anaheim and Manny Fernandez apparently headed for Boston, Ducks backup Ilya Bryzgalov has emerged as the Panthers’ best trade option heading into NHL draft weekend.

Anaheim GM Brian Burke as much as said he’s willing to listen to offers. At the Giguere press conference, his comment was, “Ilya Bryzgalov has clearly established that he is capable of starting in the NHL. I expect him to ask me to find him a new home.”

Panthers GM Jacques Martin reiterated Thursday that he “expects” to re-sign Ed Belfour. While he could be sincere, that also could very easily be a case of not wanting to tip his hand.

What would Anaheim want in return? With the money the Ducks have tied up, and having dealt away their first pick in the Chris Pronger deal, they’d likely be satisfied to get a couple of second-round picks. The Panthers have three of them.

If the Panthers can acquire Bryzgalov for one or two of their 2nd round picks, I feel it is worth it. The big Russian would pardon the pun, fill the gap Florida has at goalie.

Update- Florida has completed a deal for a goalie.

Columbus, Ohio — The Panthers traded a 2008 first-round pick and two second-rounders to Nashville for starting goalie Tomas Vokoun hours before the start of the NHL draft Friday.

The Panthers will give up their 2008 first rounder, a second rounder this year (58th overall) and can decide whether the other second rounder will be from this year’s draft or next.

Vokoun, 30, was 27-12-4 with a 2.40 goals against average, .920 save percentage and five shutouts last season. He was 1-4 with a 2.96 GAA and .902 save percentage in the playoffs. Vokoun, an eight-year veteran, missed the final four games of the 2005-06 regular season and the postseason because of a blood condition.

Vokoun is excellent but he came at a big price. The Panthers have 3 2nd round picks in 2007, so trading two of them is not a big impact. Trading next year’s 1st round pick is.

Which leaves me wondering if Florida will now keep Eddie Belfour. The Eagle played well last season, but he’s over 40 years old. In addition to Eddie and Vokoun, the team has Alex Auld and Craig Anderson. I don’t care for Auld and have seen very little play of Anderson. However Craig’s stats from his time in Chicago are NOT impressive. Which of these goaltenders does Florida keep? As funny as it sounds, The Eagle may be the last one I’d keep if I was Florida management. The team needs to look long-term, and at most Belfour has a couple of years left.

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Sports Trades and the Law

A story yesterday morning about a trade of minor players between the Braves and Tigers got me thinking again about an issue that has crossed my mind from time to time: the ability of sports teams to “trade” players like commodities.

There aren’t many lines of work where you sign a contract with one company in one location and can be suddenly be shipped to another company, forced to move across the country–or even to Canada–and suffer the family disruption, tax implications, and other consequences at the whim of ownership. There have been instances where a player is traded three times in a single season.

Presumably, the argument is that players have agreed to those terms of employment as part of the collective bargaining process. Still, professional sports leagues operate as closed shops and there’s simply no way to earn a living in one’s chosen line of work without being subject to those rules, making their “voluntariness” dubious.

In the course of my research, I stumbled across the excellent Sports Law Blog but was unable to find the answer to this question by searching their archives. I emailed one of its contributors, Mississippi College of Law assistant professor Michael McCann, and got a very interesting and helpful response:

I have addressed this topic in a couple of my law review articles, including “The Reckless Pursuit of Dominion: A Situational Analysis of the NBA and Diminishing Player Autonomy,” which was published in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law last year. You have identified a legitimate criticism of how leagues operate, and one that, I believe, fans often miss when their minds fixate on the high salaries players earn. For similar reasons, I think people miss how prospective players in leagues have no sway over the terms and conditions that are bargained for by existing players. I wrote this:

    On one hand, the rookie wage scale has proven strikingly effective: Since its implementation, there has not been one draft-pick holdout. Moreover, and quite obviously, rookie NBA players still earn considerably high salaries when compared to the general population; $ 1.5 million for three years would likely satisfy most people’s needs and wants, although many of us would still prefer to choose our employers and location of employment – choices unavailable to rookie players.

    . . .

    Despite reflecting unequal bargaining power for all NBA players and an absence of any bargaining power for those players not yet in the NBA, collectively-bargained rules tend to receive automatic, almost reflexive endorsement by courts and much of the public. In essence, we tend to automatically conclude that if it was collectively-bargained, then it must represent the free will of the parties, so we should investigate no further. This opinion appears characteristic of the fundamental attribution error, a term used by psychologists to describe the tendency of humans to “look at any setting and make casual attributions [so that] certain key features of that setting – the observable actions of individuals – exert disproportionate influence over their evaluations.” Put more simply, we tend to focus on the easiest, most readily-understandable aspects of any relationship, such as two parties in negotiation and how they ultimately divide rights and obligations, while ignoring the more nuanced and less-observable aspects, such as the absence of certain parties in the negotiation and the situational pressures on all parties. For that reason, we prefer to see relationships as between dispositional or “rational” actors rather than between situational characters, even when this preference is uncorroborated.

    The fundamental attribution error may explain why collectively-bargained outcomes, which seem like decidedly explicit manifestations of the human disposition, enjoy broad deference, while we tend to miss that certain parties who are not involved in the bargaining may be more affected than any party to the bargaining. Indeed, premier amateur players, and particularly those on the cusp of entering the NBA, appear to have as much at stake in collectively-bargained rules for future players as do any existing NBA players.

    Along those lines, the fundamental attribution error may explain why we tend to overlook the situational influences on existing NBA players during collective-bargaining. Indeed, locked-out NBA players endure intense pressure to capitulate to league demands, particularly given the absence of viably-alternative basketball leagues. That is, the situation they encounter may distort their decision-making in ways that yield undesired “choices.” Nevertheless, because of the fundamental attribution error, external observers may be more affected by the simplicity of collectively-bargained rules than by either their instrumental components or consequential effects. As a result, the NBA enjoys wide latitude in asserting control over players, and in ways unappreciated by external observers.

As McCann notes, it’s unlikely anyone is going to feel sorry for the plight of professional athletes making multi-million dollar salaries. Still, the amateur draft, trade rules, and other limitations on player autonomy are quite unusual. Indeed, the only comparable labor situation that comes to mind is that of military personnel, especially in the days of conscription.

Fans have the expectation that players will display extraordinary loyalty to their teams, including extending taking a “home town discount” of millions of dollars when free agency (otherwise known as, “the right to work for whomever will hire you under whatever terms you can negotiate just like everyone else”) and “putting the needs of the team above personal goals.” Yet these same fans seem to have no problem with trading these players for better ones if the opportunity arises.

Crossposted at OTB

 

Florida Marlins pitcher Anibal Sanchez has season-ending surgery

He was demoted back to the minor leagues in May. From the Sun-Sentinel-

Nine and half months after throwing a no-hitter and getting a triumphant ride on his teammates’ shoulders, Anibal Sanchez must start over.

The Venezuelan right-hander learned Thursday he would miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.

Alabama-based orthopedic surgeon James Andrews operated on Sanchez, who will not resume throwing for 3-4 months. The hope is he will be ready for the start of spring training.

It’s the second major surgery for Sanchez, 23, in five seasons. He missed all of 2003 in the Red Sox minor league system after undergoing nerve-transposition surgery on his throwing elbow.

Sanchez went 2-1 with a 4.80 ERA in six starts this year. His final outing was May 2 in New York, and he was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque two days later.

As a Marlins rookie in 2006, he went 10-3 with a 2.83 ERA after a June promotion. He never threw more than 114 pitches and on Sept. 6 against Arizona became the fourth Marlins pitcher to throw a no-hitter.

23 years old and already needing to have his throwing arm operated on twice does not bode well for a long MLB career. Still because of his no-hitter, Anibal Sanchez has gotten himself a little bit of baseball immortality.

 

Denver Broncos Greg Eslinger Gettin’ Props

Denver Broncos backup center Greg Eslinger was named to the All-NFL Europa League team today. Ok, so I heard it over at Mile High Report.

Only time will tell but I think Eslinger is going to be a solid player in the NFL. Just remember where you heard it….

Eslinger was a four year starter at the University of Minnesota. After his senior season at Minnesota in 2005, Eslinger was named the winner of the Outland Trophy, given to the nation’s outstanding interior lineman, and the Rimington Trophy, given to the nation’s best center.

The Broncos selected him in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL draft.

As of now, Eslinger has to wait in the wings. After all, He is Tom Nalen’s relplacement. Big shoes to fill.

I also believe Eslinger will be a solid player. Although, I am going to go a step further. Remember, he has excelled every where he has been. Greg Eslinger will be a very good player in the NFL.

FYI for all you Greg Eslinger haters out there. It has been announced that the 2nd year Center, currently playing for the Cologne Centaurions has been named to the All-NFL Europa Team.

Who’s hatin’? Let’s get em!

In all seriousness, who can hate on that trophy case. Eslinger has more honors than most could dream of. I won’t like it when Tom Nalen retires. As, with all my favorite players.

Father time has to come calling. And, the back-up plan looks very good.

 

A’s Designate Milton Bradley for Assignment

According to ESPN, the A’s have designated OF Milton Bradley for assignment, which all but ends his career with Oakland.

The Oakland Athletics designated outfielder Milton Bradley for assignment Thursday, cutting ties with a player who was expected to play an important role on the team this season.

Bradley had been on the disabled list three times this year and was frustrated that the team waited two extra days to activate him this week because of uncertainty about third baseman Eric Chavez’s health.

Asked Tuesday how he was feeling, Bradley curtly responded, “I’m healthy and on the bench.” Bradley was activated from the DL the following day and went 0-for-3 with a walk.

The A’s have 10 days to trade or release Bradley. Because he has more than three years of major league service time, Bradley can refuse an assignment to the minor leagues.

“It’s an unfortunate situation,” said Bradley’s agent, Sam Levinson. “Milton is healthy and looking forward to helping some club win many games this season.”

I am sure Milton will land with another team as he is a quality ball player. A team like the Twins who need a real bat in LF would be great, although I am not sure many teams would want to put up with his poor clubhouse presence. Another suitor if he made it to the waiver wire could be the Pirates. Bradley would be a huge upgrade in CF over the current platoon of Duffy/Nady/Bautista.

It is a contract year for Bradley, and he would be playing to earn a great contract if he can catch on with a team (and behave himself) for the rest of this season.

 

Boston Bruins hire Claude Julien as coach

He will be the NHL franchise’s third coach in just one year.

Claude Julien was hired as coach of the Bruins on Thursday, less than a week after Boston fired Dave Lewis and two months after Julien was dismissed by the New Jersey Devils in the season’s waning days.

Julien is the Bruins’ third coach in a year. He was let go by the first-place Devils in April with three games left in the regular season and the team preparing for the playoffs.

Lewis led to the Bruins to a 35-41-6 record in his only season. He was dismissed Friday — more than two months after they missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year — and will be given another job in the franchise. Boston hasn’t won a playoff series since 1999.

*****

In his only season with New Jersey, Julien was 47-24-8. He also coached the Montreal Canadiens for three years, leading the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2004 — when they beat the Bruins in the conference quarterfinals — before he was fired midway through the 2005-06 season with a 19-16-6 record.

“He demands execution,” Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said. “He demands that his players do what he wants.”

*****

Julien is the 17th person to coach the Bruins in 30 years.

Julien has had some success with other teams. The Bruins on the other hand have been poor to mediocre since the cancelled 2004-05 season. Something tells me Julien will be looking for employment again in 2 to 3 years at most.

 

NHL Approves Rule Changes for 2007-2008 Season

While taking a short pause from trying to find Versus on their cable package, the National Hockey League’s Board of Governors has approved four minor rule changes for the upcoming 2007-2008 season.

Rule 24 — Gross Misconduct. The term “Gross Misconduct” was eliminated from the rule book. Any act that would have been assessed a Gross Misconduct penalty will receive a Game Misconduct penalty. Accumulated Game Misconduct penalties can lead to fines or suspension.

Nothing too important here and not effect on the game or the players, it just simplifies the rules slightly while maintaining the original intent of the rule.

Rule 25 — Penalty Shot. A player may be awarded a penalty shot if he is fouled on a clear breakaway outside his defensive zone (i.e., anywhere in the neutral zone or in the attacking zone). Previously, a penalty shot was awarded only when the player on a clear breakaway was fouled on the attacking side of the center line.

This could be slightly more interesting in expanding the area of the ice where the referee is allowed to award a penalty shot. That being said, even in the “new NHL” penalty shots are still quite rare (as are “clear” breakaways) and this change may give a team an extra penalty shot every 20 games or so. Even with the extra opportunity on occasion the overall success rate of penalty shots in the league sits at about 30%, so were really talking about maybe an extra goal or two a season.

Rule 56 — Interference. Referees were given discretion to assess a major penalty and a game misconduct when an injury results from an act of interference. Previously, only a minor penalty could be assessed for interference.

This rule just gives the referees more flexibility. However, running it through my mind, most actions that would result in an injury during an interference penalty already have their own penalties. The only exceptions I could think of were headbutts and kicks to the groin, but then again you’d probably get punched for that and that would be a fighting major.

Rule 76 — Face-offs. All face-offs must be conducted at one of the nine face-off dots painted on the rink. Previously, there had been instances, such as when a puck left the playing surface, which caused the face-off to occur on unmarked ice, parallel to the dot nearest the place where the puck departed.

This just takes some subjectivity of where the face-offs are conducted when the puck goes out of play. I will be interested to see how they determine between the attacking and neutral zone face-off circles when the puck goes out between them. I don’t expect this rule change to affect too much, but it could be a real interesting discussion if it occurs at a point with 2 seconds left and a team down by a goal.

 

Soccer Star Escapes Murder Attempt

Obafemi Martins a striker for Newcastle United and Nigeria appears to have narrowly escaped an attempt on his life in what appears to be a retaliation for missing a game for the Nigerian National Team.

The horror ordeal began when three masked gunmen surrounded Martins at a petrol station near his plush apartment in Lagos, Nigeria, late on Monday night. The player, who is now recovering in Italy, said: “I didn’t know their mission but they looked scary and mean. My nerves were completely dead when I saw the guns.” The terrified Magpies ace tried to reverse his car to get away but was blocked by another car parked behind him. Gunshots were fired at the windscreen and through the passenger window. Martins’ mate Remi Onipede was hit but the St James’ Park hero managed to run for cover before cops arrived. The gang did not steal the car and Martins now believes their motive could have been murder — as payback for him missing a recent international — rather than robbery. He said: “If you are attacked by armed robbers, they only threaten you and take whatever they want but these guys were only after my life.

Fortunately, no one was killed in this occurrence. Its amazing that some of these soccer (and Raider) fans can get so worked up over their team they fell some uncontrollable urge to commit random and non-random acts of violence against just about anyone.

 
 


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