I'm not going to read The Wire's obituary again, but if you don't know who David Simon is, he's one-half of the creative duo that breathed life into the best television show of the past decade, The Sopranos (arguably) excepted. He's also been labeled by The Atlantic as "The Angriest Man in Television," a title one imagines Simon is honored by.
But let me say this about the official side of Major League Baseball: They can kiss my pale, white ass. Seriously. Although that sequence reflected in no negative way on baseball itself -- a reporter was making up a story about a handicapped fan for his own benefit -- MLB considered our request to film on stadium property and use MLB logos and then denied the request. Unless our drama pretty much exalts baseball as the greatest game ever played by the greatest bunch of people ever to play a game, MLB will not allow the use of its logos or facilities in any act of storytelling. I find this cowardly and venal and offensive. A game that claims to be the national pastime should be confident enough and respectful enough of independent storytelling to allow itself to be seen within the context of ordinary American life.
Fortunately for the show, the sequence Simon is referring to suffered little for MLB's obstinance. I can understand the league's desire to not be a target in The Wire's dangerously precise purview, but to deny an innocuous request like that one seems really weird. Then again, weird is just another day in Bud Selig's office.
If the Orioles didn't have to play on Sunday, they'd be one of the best teams in the majors. No, seriously: as pointed out by Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, the Orioles are 1-12 on Sunday this year -- their 40-27 record the rest of the week is good for a .598 winning percentage. If they played that well all week long, they'd have the third-best record in the league, trailing only the Rays and Cubs.
Since fans attending Sunday games have been screwed all season long, the Orioles have decided to hold a promotion to help convince fans to turn out. If the O's win this Sunday, every fan in attendance will be given a voucher good for any other game this year. From the team's press release:
"The circumstances surrounding the team's Sunday struggles are highly unusual and inexplicable. We believe the situation calls for added assistance from our loyal fans to help the team deliver another Sunday victory. And if the Birds win on Sunday, anyone who does help us break this hex will be rewarded with a complimentary ticket to a future game of his or her choice."
Maybe it's me, but this seems backwards. Given the team's struggles, shouldn't the fans get another ticket if the O's lose? Maybe the team doesn't want to risk having the home crowd cheer against the O's -- that happens enough when the Red Sox come to town -- but this should about rewarding the fans who stick with the team even through the hard times.
Jay Gibbons is suddenly a sad story. I don't know why, exactly; he's always seemed like kind of a jerk, and he cheated, and those things typically result in one being vilified forever. (*Cough* Roger Clemens *cough*.) But here Gibbons is today, the subject of a semi-empathetic story in the Baltimore Sun about how much he wants to get back to the majors. It starts out just moderately sad. Then we learn the horrifying truth:
"It's a league of misfortune," said Everett, who had a 14-season career in the majors that includes a World Series ring and dustups with umpires, managers and the media. "A lot of times mistakes are made by whomever, whether it is the club on judgment or the player. If you are one of those players that they made a mistake on you, you are going to hope someone else sees you."
Ah! Carl Everett! Where did you come from, man? Have you been here the whole time? No kidding.
Poor Jay Gibbons: He just wanted to keep playing baseball. Now he's stuck in the Land of Misfit Dinosaur Theorists.
Anyone who tells you that they knew the Orioles would be two games over .500 near the halfway point of the season is either a cockeyed optimist or a liar. Back in March no one was predicting success, they were pointing to Andy MacPhail's trades as reason to be hopeful about the years following 2008 but not in 2008.
It's worked out much better than expected. The Orioles are in the mix and rather than dealing vets for more prospects, there's some call for them doing the opposite so they can maximize their chances at October baseball.
"We are the future," Kevin Millar said. "If we make the playoffs and win the World Series, the future is now."
Not a surprising sentiment from a 36-year old but hardly reason enough for the Orioles to sacrifice the future for the present. Making a splashy deal for a big ticket item isn't in Baltimore's best interests. It's important that McPhail look at the big picture and realize that the Orioles have been a bit lucky, four games up on their Pythagorean record, and not get pie-eyed.
That doesn't mean they should sell off their remaining veterans either. Stay the course and use this season as a building block with fans toward the future. Make small deals for a competent shortstop or a little pitching help if they come your way but don't bet the farm on a playoff run that remains a serious longshot.
Baseball is full of quirky stats. For instance, did you know that Ken Griffey Jr. is one of three active players whose fathers have also homered at Yankee Stadium? Jerry Hairston Jr. and Gary Matthews Jr. complete the trio. Another one that caught my eye this morning is that the Orioles have lost 11 straight Sunday games.
They've lost at home and on the road and against teams from both the American and National Leagues. Beyond overdoing it on Saturday night, letting your mind linger on the pastor's homily or a Gremlin-like aversion to sunlight, there's no rhyme or reason to this. This isn't college where you have certain starters for certain days of the week, after all. It's the same group of players who take the field every other day of the week.
The Sunday futility is really hurting the team. The Orioles are 1-11 overall on Sundays this season and 37-25 on the other six days of the week. Just one more win a month on Sunday and the Orioles are four games out of first instead of seven, a pretty good spot for a team not expected to challenge for anything this season. It doesn't explain anything about the team's ability, no more than winning six straight Tuesdays does, it's just weird and something to ponder when the O's take the field at Nationals Park this weekend.
If there wasn't some sort of bet involved, I would probably believe that Kevin Millarwanted to make a plate appearance sporting platinum blonde hair and with Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice, Baby" blaring in the background. The fact that he did so because he lost a bet is just a hefty spoonful of gravy. From Bromoblog:
Kevin Millar came plate for his first at bat tonight with Platinum Blond hair and accompanied by "Ice Ice Baby." Our source reports that this odd appearance is due to a wager on the NBA finals made with former Red Sox teammate Jason Varitek. We are trying to confirm this, and will hopefully have pictures and video up later tonight.
God bless Bromoblog for following through on the promise.
I, for one, most certainly owned as much Vanilla Ice "music" as I could get my hands on back in the day. He did, after all, rule my middle school dances. Well, him and one of our English teachers convincing us it was funny to yell "Freebird!" every 20 minutes. It was not.
Jay Gibbons, everybody's favorite admitted HGH user and alleged victim of collusion, is finally going to play some baseball again. But don't go looking for him on television. You'll have to drive out to beautiful Islip, NY to find Gibbons with his new team: the Atlantic League's Long Island Ducks.
"I'm looking forward to getting back and playing ball again," said Gibbons, who will likely start working out with the Ducks in the next couple of days. "It's been 10 weeks, so hopefully I can get out on the field some time this week."
Boy, what a drop off for a 30-year-old outfielder who could probably still play some ball. Yeah, he's had some injuries lately ... and he may not be that good. But even so, there's not a major league team willing to give him a job in AAA? The fact that he has to go all the way to an unaffiliated Independent team while so many others mentioned in the Mitchell report have jobs in the majors means that it's not collusion. But it's just weird.
On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.
Florida Marlins (36-31) at Tampa Bay Rays (39-28) - 6:10 PM ET
All right, so I'm having a conversation today with a buddy of mine and we're discussing the fact that it's June 14th, and both the Marlins and Rays are still relevant in the conversation of baseball. I'm sure that neither of these teams are content with just being in the hunt in mid-June. But the question is, are either of these teams capable of being in the race all the way through? Could both teams be there at the end? Regardless of what your feeling is on this, it will be fun to see a Florida interleague game with some juice ... even though both the Marlins and the Rays have more intenserivalries out there.
P.S. If I had to choose one team there at the end, my money's on the Rays. But that's if you put a gun to my head.
There's been a lot of discussion about possible collusion by major league teams to keep Barry Bonds from continuing his career. For all his foibles, the man can still rake and it's surprising that no team is willing to hold their nose long enough to benefit from his 1000 or so OPS. Buster Olney writes at ESPN.com that other players tainted by the Mitchell Report can't seem to find work either. He mentions Nook Logan and Jay Gibbons, late of the Orioles, as two players who aren't getting sniffs. He also includes a copy of a letter that Gibbons has written to all 30 major league teams.
All I need is a chance -- any chance -- anywhere. I am more than willing to begin the process of proving that I can and will be a productive major league player by playing in the minor leagues.
As you know, I have played seven seasons in the big leagues and have hit 20-plus homeruns in three seasons and have hit .277 in three seasons (2003, 2005 and 2006). At 31 years old, I have NO DOUBT that my best baseball is ahead of me.
I have some doubts about that. I'd never tell a man to give up his dream of playing in the big leagues but Gibbons doesn't have a ton of great baseball ahead of him. The only interesting thing about Gibbons's career is that he hit .277 in three separate seasons.
While this video of Manny Ramirez's 500th home run shot from behind the Boston Red Sox dugout is pretty cool in and of itself, it takes on a special significance when some drunk guy does a somersault on top of the Red Sox dugout.
If only Manny could have seen it from inside the dugout, because you just know he would have joined him up there had he known. (Via Deadspin)
I'm not going to read The Wire's obituary again, but if you don't know who David Simon is, he's one-half of the creative duo that breathed life into the best television show of the past decade, The Sopranos (arguably) excepted. He's also been labeled by The Atlantic as "The Angriest Man in Television," a title one imagines Simon is honored by. 
If the Orioles didn't have to play on Sunday, they'd be one of the best teams in the majors. No, seriously: as pointed out by 
Anyone who tells you that they knew the Orioles would be two games over .500 near the halfway point of the season is either a cockeyed optimist or a liar. Back in March no one was predicting success, they were pointing to 
Baseball is full of quirky stats. For instance, did you know that 
There's been a lot of discussion about possible collusion by major league teams to keep 
