Open: How Much Did Alex Rodriguez Deserve A Ring?

We are going to leave this as an open response question. With all of A-Rod’s previous steroid allegations and media uprisings over the past year or so, how much did Alex Rodriguez deserve his first ever World Championship?

The Craziest Baseball Rules From The Past

Can you believe that for 7 years, pitchers in Major League Baseball were allowed to throw underhand? You all heard about them, the craziest of craziest baseball rules from the past. Some still exist today, but only in places like the playground or during a “pick up” game on a hot summer day.  The article we found over at Jock And Balls seems to be just about the best article we have ever found about these crazy on-field routines. Here are just a few…

Disgusting!!!

10.  Pitchers Could Cover Balls With Just About Anything
Before 1920, pitchers could cover the ball with spit, Vaseline, road kill, Nickelodeon slime or whatever the hell else they wanted.  It apparently worked.  That Babe Ruth guy didn’t start hitting a billion home runs a year until they outlawed it.  We don’t actually know for a fact they used road kill, but that whole ‘Dead Ball Era’ thing would make more sense if they did.

CHEATERS!!!

6.  Hitters Had Flat Bats
For some reason that we can’t figure out, hitters used to have flat bats until 1893.  They really took their cricket influence seriously.  Why did they want to use paddle bats?  Maybe they wanted to spank the ball.  Sounds pretty lame to us.

My Personal Favorite

2.  Batters Could Call For The Type Of Pitch They Wanted
From 1867-1887, batters had the privilege of calling for a low pitch or a high pitch.  What was the point of pitching?  Did the pitcher also have to wipe the batter after they went to the bathroom?

Most of these rules are just way beyond unrealistic. This article made me realize just how far baseball in America has really come.

Head on over to Jocks And Balls to read the full countdown!

McNabb Article

The article posted this morning about Donovan McNabb was removed due to inaccuracy. The post was made by an unauthorized user. RBI Magazine strictly covers baseball and nothing but…Once again our apologies for the creating such a stir.

RBI Magazine

Jim Thome now a Dodger…Hall of Fame next?

When news circulated around the interwebs that the Chicago White Sox had sent out a memo stating that a number of their players were available to whoever wanted them…you kinda knew the night would end with a few guys getting dealt.

Such was the case for Jim Thome.

Brad Penny Signs With Giants

After going unclaimed on waivers, former Red Sox pitcher Brad Penny signed a minor league contract with the Giants, according to SI.com.

The team who would have claimed Penny would have been responsible to fulfill the remainder of his contract, but now the Giants will only have to pay Penny less than 100 grand.

Sounds like a deal to me, but then again I wish someone would pay me 100 grand.

Giants, Marlins Interested In Brad Penny

After being released from the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, and with just over a month of regular season baseball left in 2009, Brad Penny once again is waiting to be “claimed”. Last year at this time, it was the Yankees who claimed the righty, but only for the Red Sox to acquire him back to Boston a short time later. Now it looks as if he will be NL bound by the end of this weekend.

Multiple sources have confirmed this morning, that two National League teams, the Marlins and Giants, have expressed serious interest in claiming Penny. According to ESPN, Penny is still owed about $1 million in salary for the rest of this season, and he has $500,000 in bonuses as he reaches 160 innings, 170, 180 and then 190. Penny has thrown 131 2/3 innings this season, which means that if he were to accumulate 50 innings over eight starts, he would cost an additional $1.5 million.

If Penny decides to decline all wavier claims, he will be forced into free agency and lose all of his incentives under his current contract.

Other reports this morning also confirm that the Colorado Rockies will not continue to pursue Penny.

The Dodgers Want Pitchers

That’s right! The best team in baseball wants a few more arms. They even told MLB.com that they may “inquire” about Roy Halladay over the next two weeks. With the recent loss of Eric Milton, the Dodgers are in need to fill the fifth starting spot in their rotation, permanently.

Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports that the Dodgers also want a seventh-inning reliever to replace injured workhorse Ronald Belisario, who has provided such a valuable bridge to Ramon Troncoso and closer Jonathan Broxton.

With more strength from the pen and Manny back in the swing of things, the Dodgers should run away National League West,  Right?

In a midseason report, Dodger Thoughts at LA Times Blogs stated that “the Dodgers are good enough to win a World Series. But they might not. Fans and management are still insecure.”

All-Star Starters: Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay

Yahoo Sports – ST. LOUIS —Major League Baseball just announced the starting pitchers for Tuesday night’s All-Star Game and it’s a great matchup for anyone who loves watching dominant pitchers. This is Lincecum’s second All-Star appearance, but he’s still waiting to dress for his first game. Last season, he missed the game in New York after suffering from “dehydration.”

SI.com – Tim Lincecum plans to enjoy this trip to the All-Star game much more than his last one. The first thing he has to do is stay healthy so he can pitch.

Jacoby Ellsbury Makes First Ever Error

As Fenway Park met a milestone at last night’s game selling out the seats for the 500th time, another milestones came to an end.

In a game against the Florida Marlins, center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury dropped a fly ball in center field ending his streak of 232 games without an error. It was also his first ever error in his Major League Baseball career!

According to MassLive.com, in 2008, Ellsbury became the first rookie outfielder in major league history with a 1.000 fielding percentage, among those with enough chances to qualify for statistical ranking.

The line drive “shot” that was hit to the left-center gap, brushed the end of Ellsury’s glove and eventually rolled to the wall. At first, the scoring decision showed a double for Florida Marlins first basemen Jorge Cantu, but it was eventually changed to be recorded as an error.

Ellsbury made up for the error however, hitting his third homerun of the season shortly after.

JC Romero To Rejoin Phillies June 3rd

Phillies pitcher JC Romero, who was suspended 50 games for violating Major League Baseball’s drug poilicy is scheduled to rejoin the team on June 3rd.

Romero took an over the counter supplement called 6-OXO that contained a substance called androstenedione, which is on MLB’s blacklist of banned PEDs.

The supplement did not specify androstenedione on the label nor in the ingredients and Romero continues to plead his case about not knowing about the substance.

Despite all of the trouble, the Phillies need Romero back in the line-up as pitching has become a trouble area for the 2008 World Champions. The Phillies will need to make a roster move to add Romero back into the dugout.

Todd Zolecki of MLB.com quoted Romero on his return.

“Overall right now, I’d give myself a ‘B,’” Romero said, asked about how he is throwing in the Minors. “When I start getting guys out in the big leagues, then I will tell you what grade I give myself. I’m good. I’m healthy. I’m ready to go.”

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