Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
The most remarkable thing about this season as we hit the not-halfway halfway point of the All-Star break isn't Albert Pujols' RBI total. Or Zack Greinke's ERA. Or the PED suspension of one of the game's biggest stars.
It's the standings. And they not only reflect the season so far, they give us a clue as to the weeks head leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline.
The Phillies and Dodgers are the only first-place team with a lead of more than 2 1/2 games. And 21 of the 30 teams are within 7 1/2 games of a playoff spot: nine of 14 in the AL and 12 of 16 in the NL.
It wasn't the mellow Mary Jane that Ponson was partaking in, though. Nope, he tested positive for phentermine, a stimulant. Like Soto, he'll avoid punishment from Major League Baseball and face a two-year ban from international play.
The bad news: Geovany Sotofailed his drug test while competing in the World Baseball Classic. The good news: It wasn't for a performance-enhancing drug -- which, at this point, would probably precede his being drawn and quartered by the outraged general public. Instead, Soto tested positive for marijuana. I guess if pressed for a real classification, we'd have to say pot is a performance "dehancing" drug.
Soto will be forced to miss international play for the next two years, which isn't that huge of a punishment, really. He won't receive a punishment from Major League Baseball, and he has always tested clean in MLB-sanctioned testing. Still, he apologized and took responsibility for the positive test.
With baseball wiped off of the Olympic slate for the 2012 Olympics in London, MLB President Bob DuPuy and player's union chief Donald Fehr went before the IOC Moneay with International Baseball Federation president Henry Schiller to plead baseball's case for reinstatement to the games by 2016. Their presence at the meeting was undoubtedly to calm the IOC's concerns that Major League Baseball isn't supportive of the Olympics.
In fact, the Chicago Tribune's Phil Hersch is reporting some interesting concessions that MLB says they're willing to make to accommodate the Olympics. Among the more interesting is that they say they won't schedule major league games on the day(s) that the medal games are played and that they'll make a "representative number of the best players available" to play in the proposed five-day Olympic tournament.
PHOENIX -- Jake Peavy knows the questions are going to be there, and the only way to answer them is with long lines of zeroes.
So far, so good.
Peavy pitched on Friday night for the Padres, his first outing with his real employer since finishing off his moonlighting for Team USA. All he did was work six scoreless innings, striking out seven and walking none. The A's, who trotted out their honest-to-goodness opening day lineup, managed just two hits.
When the Venezuelan World Baseball Classic team played in Miami a few weeks ago, Magglio Ordonez was booed and taunted by fans. The overwhelming majority were Venezuelan-Americans who opposed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's political views. Ordonez had appeared in a commercial supporting Chavez's campaign to do away with presidential term limits.
Considering most professional athletes have endured their fair share of heckling over the years, one could easily draw the assumption that Ordonez just brushed the taunts aside and went about his business. For whatever reason, this wasn't exactly the case.
When Oliver Perez returned from a 19-day stint with Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, the Mets were none too happy at the current state of his game. With the season rapidly approaching, Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen accused Perez of being out of shape. In fact, he said Perez was overweight (no word on whether or not they'll start calling him Oliver "Miller" Perez).
Perez only made two starts for Mexico in the WBC, and even admitted the workout regimen was different than it would have been had he stayed with the Mets. Still, Perez denies that he's out of shape.
Say this about the just-completed World Baseball Classic: It created a lot of debate. Unfortunately, most of the debate was about how to fix it.
Since everyone else seems to have their ideas, I figured I'd share mine. The key is to follow a mantra that hitters have been using for ages: "Don't try to do too much."
Don't swing for the fences, Bud. You can't have a perfect event that is going to be embraced by everyone in China, South Africa and the U.S. Do the best you can with what you've got, and you'd be surprised how good it can be.
The tradition in baseball, for the past few decades, has been for each team to choose one defined closer at the back end of their bullpen. Heading into the 2009 season, there is one team who has already intentionally chosen to head into the season with two closers, and they are both right-handed.
You kind of have to feel sorry for Tommy Lasorda in this video, even as you're laughing at him. It seems that the 81-year old Dodgers legend was somewhat worn out before going on television to do an interview with Chicago Tribune Live, which coincidentally is taped in Chicago.
He literally looks like he's sleeping during the interview, and I keep waiting for him to answer a question with an "I don't wanna go to school today, mommy." Somebody get the man a cup of coffee, or at least a hat to keep the sun out of his eyes. (Hat tip to Deadspin)
Thursday 
The bad news: 
With baseball wiped off of the Olympic slate for the 2012 Olympics in London, MLB President 
PHOENIX -- 
When the Venezuelan World Baseball Classic team played in Miami a few weeks ago, 
When 
The tradition in baseball, for the past few decades, has been for each team to choose one defined closer at the back end of their bullpen. Heading into the 2009 season, there is one team who has already intentionally chosen to head into the season with two closers, and they are both right-handed. 
