The Feed

The Feed Radio Program Tonight 10:30 PM

Tonight on The Feed Radio Program I’m happy to welcome two great guests who will join me to discuss the world of sports both here and across the Pacific in Japan. The show will start at 10:30 PM Eastern Time and you can give us a call at (646) 716-7961. You can listen to the show live via BlogTalkRadio by clicking here. You can also download it via that site or through the link at your right.

Our first guest will be Don Landrigan of With Malice and, like me, Epic Carnival. Don is an Australian living in Japan who follows sports in each of those countries as well as here in the United States. That gives him a unique viewpoint which he shares daily on his website and which we’re excited to have him share with us tomorrow night. Among other things Don and I will discuss whether or not Japanese sports have to deal with difficult situations like the ones Michael Vick, Tim Donaghy and Barry Bonds have created for their respective sports.

And Jon Pyle of Pyle of List will also be joining us. Jon is based in California and his excellent blog has made a name for itself with interviews and features that take us deeper inside the sports world and the people that bring that world to us. Jon and I will discuss the baseball trading deadline and his beloved USC Trojans during tomorrow night’s broadcast.

The Ballad Of The Player Named Later

Another trading deadline has come and gone and once again the player to be named later has been sent packing. Whoever he turns out to be, he can take heart in the fact that he’s always wanted by someone, even if it means moving his family, finding a new house, forwarding his mail and the assorted other unpleasantness associated with changing your address. But it isn’t easy being a player named later. You're just sitting there enjoying an afternoon showing of “No Reservations” before dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen with a comely co-ed when, wham, you get a call on your cellphone and find out that you are the Player Named Later and need to be in Modesto by Friday. I don’t envy their life.

But sometimes it can work out for the best. Players to be named later tend to be minor-league chum, though they need not be, who aren’t named at the time of the deal because teams are trying to beat a deadline or fill an immediate need. Team A will submit a list of a few names and within six months Team B will select one and complete the transaction. When they do, it's up to that chosen player to become a footnote to history or one of the boldfaced names that make it.

The fraternity of PNLs will get larger after deals today that saw the Red Sox sent Joel Piniero to St. Louis and when the Astros dealt Morgan Ensberg to San Diego. It will be a shock at first when their names are announced but hopefully they will take a look at the history of the players named later. It’s a proud group and one that's always happy to welcome another member.

Betemit A Bomber

Buster Olney of ESPN is reporting that the Yankees have agreed to deal Scott Proctor to the Dodgers for infielder Wilson Betemit. This trade has been brewing for quite a long time. Before the Braves sent Betemit to L.A. last season Brian Cashman was interested in making this exact trade. 12 months later and he finally has his man.

Proctor has pitched 54 and a third innings this season, fourth most in the American League, and racked up 102 innings in 2006. The workload has contributed to a decreased effectiveness and while the Yankees may still have needs in the bullpen they've likely gotten the best out of Proctor. Betemit is no great shakes, .231 with 10 homers this year, but he can back up around the infield and should see some time at first base. He's an upgrade from the Chris Basak/Kevin Thompson class of players that have seen time at the end of the bench this season for the Bombers.

You might wonder if trading a reliever means the Yankees are close to sealing a deal for Eric Gagne but that seems unlikely. Ken Rosenthal of Fox is reporting that he'll either be heading to Flushing, Fenway or Milwaukee if he goes anywhere at all. Staying put looks like the best bet. I'm hoping that dealing Proctor doesn't mean that Kyle Farnsworth will remain with the Yankees. They've gotten Betemit to help out the big league club and I think they should get whoever might be on the table for Farnsworth. Joba Chamberlain is a better option going forward than either Proctor or Farnsworth and the team doesn't need a whiny malcontent in the bullpen even if Farnsworth can still dial up impressive velocity.

The Red Sox did make one trade so far today although it's not really a wave-maker. They dealt the designated for assignment Joel Piniero to St. Louis for a player to be named later. Hard to see how much difference that makes for either team but then no one thought Jeff Weaver would be the biggest acquisition by last year's World Champion.

Nuts For Brazil

If you're a betting man and if they have betting lines on hosting the 2014 World Cup you'd be wise to put a bundle on Brazil. Sure they have some issues with poverty, crime and substandard stadia but they have one big thing in their favor. FIFA has said they intend to hold the tournament in South America and Brazil is the only country bidding to play host. 

The actual presentation of the bid had little of the flair that the country's known for. Instead of a conga line led by a thong-clad beachcomber snaking through the meeting and delivering the documents, the soccer federation opted for a more Germanic approach.

With little pomp and fanfare, lone candidate Brazil submitted its bid Tuesday to host the 2014 World Cup. The Brazil delegation showcased its plans in a 30-minute presentation before handing over a 900-page bid document to FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The delegation included Brazilian soccer federation president Ricardo Teixeira, former Brazil player Romario and author Paulo Coelho.

Bid organizers refused to publicly reveal details, including budget estimates.

FIFA can still reject Brazil's bid which would open the floor to countries outside of South America, including the United States. Something tells me that if the Brazil delegation had tabbed Gisele Bundchen, Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio instead of Teixeira, Romario and Coelho questions about the bid would have fallen by the wayside. When faced with the fitness of those three foxes who is going to care about the fitness of the country's infrastructure?

2007 - A Milestone Year

There's a chance that by the end of today's games Alex Rodriguez will have 500 home runs, Tom Glavine will have 300 wins and Barry Bonds will be tied with, or ahead of, Hank Aaron on the all-time home run list. That would be quite a memorable day in the history of baseball and perhaps the greatest concentration of individual milestones in the history of sports. No sport venerates numbers the way that baseball does so three iconic numbers coming up on the same day is something to savor.

Bonds is the biggie because it's the record rather than just a notch in the belt of a long career, but Bruce Bochy isn't confirming or denying his presence in the lineup tonight. I'd guess that he'll play against Brad Penny tonight after an off-day Monday but might rest on Wednesday against the lefty Mark Hendrickson. In front of a Dodger crowd predisposed toward booing Giants, though, they might just let Bonds languish on the bench.

It would be quite fitting for A-Rod to hit #500 on the same day that Bonds ties or breaks the record. He'll be the youngest man to joing the 500 club and he's already being touted as the guy who can cleanse the all-time record after Bonds takes it away from Henry Aaron. A-Rod isn't exactly a beloved character but the reasons people hate him - his personality, his contract - are much better for the game than the reasons they hate Bonds and no one is arguing that he's built his career on anything but talent and hard work.

Glavine's 300th win will be special because it will likely be the last time we see someone hit that number for a long while. Randy Johnson is close at 284 but he may not have 16 starts, let alone wins, left in his body. Mike Mussina and Pedro Martinez are the only 200-game winners under the age of 40 but Pedro is coming back from a serious injury and Mussina may struggle to get to 250 wins (he has 244 right now).

There must be something about 2007 that draws these things together. It was just over a month ago, after all, that Craig Biggio and Frank Thomas combined to give baseball it's first-ever 3,000 hit/500 home run double-dip. It would seem impossible to top June 28th's confluence of events but if all three players reached the next step in their careers tonight it surely would trump the achievements of Biggio and the Big Hurt. But if just A-Rod and Glavine came through the two dates would have nearly the same significance. That would put June 28 and July 31, 2007 on equal footing with these other memorable dates in baseball history.

• August 4, 1984 - Tom Seaver wins his 300th game for the White Sox against the Yankees and Rod Carew singles off Frank Viola for his 3,000th hit. The only time those two milestones have been reached on the same day.
• May 1, 1991 - Rickey Henderson becomes the "greatest of all time" when he breaks Lou Brock's career steals record but loses a little of his self-proclaimed luster when Nolan Ryan throws career no-hitter number seven later the same day.
• June 29, 1990 - Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela both throw no-hitters for the A's and Dodgers, respectively.
• April 22, 1898 - Ted Breitenstein no-hits the Pirates as a member of the Reds and Jay Hughes of the Orioles does the same to the ol' Boston Beaneaters.

Swap Meet

By striking first with the Mark Teixeira deal, the Atlanta Braves sent two messages to the rest of baseball. They told their competitors in the National League that they feel they're good enough to win this season, prospects be damned, and their message for the league as a whole was that Teixeira was head and shoulders above anyone else available in a trade. That doesn't mean there won't be other deals but it does mean that something very unexpected would have to happen to top yesterday's deal for pennant impact.

The Braves may not be done. There were reports out of Kansas City last night that they had acquired closer Octavio Dotel in exchange for starting pitcher Kyle Davies but the deal seems to have hit a snag and Dotel remains a Royal. For the time being anyway. The Braves remain a possibility as do the Mariners, Dodgers and Indians.

Atlanta's deal may have also affected the Mets as they pulled the trigger on a trade for Minnesota second baseman Luis Castillo. They gave up two low-level prospects for the high-average/no-power Castillo. It's hard to see just how much Castillo improves the team, especially in light of the Teixeira move by Atlanta. He's a good fielder and fast but Ruben Gotay was providing similar production even before Jose Valentin went down with an injury. If they don't pick up a righty bat to match with Shawn Green and provide insurance for Moises Alou, there will be a large burden on a Pedro Martinez comeback, he makes a minor league start tomorrow night, and the ageless El Duque to keep the Amazins in front of their Southern rivals.

There's nothing much going on for the Yankees. The Scott Proctor-for-Wilson Betemit rumors continue and they are in on Eric Gagne talks but nothing seems imminent in either case. The Red Sox are also hot on Gagne's trail but Gagne has a no-trade clause for Boston and is unlikely to waive it to go somewhere he can't close because he'd forego bonus money. The Jermaine Dye trade that was reported as close yesterday is still on the table but that probably wouldn't force Brian Cashman's hand in an answer deal. The next six hours should be interesting as deals come together, fall apart and get bandied about by GMs, fans and the media. We'll see what happens when the dust settles but the Teixeira deal will probably still be the one we're talking about when the day ends.

Welcome Back To The Pennant Race

In 2003 the Mariners finished three games behind Oakland in the West and two games out of the Wild Card. Since then they've been below .500 each year and meaningful series have been in short supply in the Pacific Northwest. Ichiro Suzuki and Willie Bloomquist are the only guys that have remained in  Seattle for that entire stretch so it was fitting that one of them played the key role in a 2-0 win against the Angels that cut L.A.'s lead to three in the West. Ichiro collected three hits, scored one run and drove in the other one to support Miguel Batista's seven shutout innings and J.J. Putz's customary ninth-inning domination. Bloomquist may not have played but I'm sure he was leading the chatter in the dugout like nobody's business.

• Good news for the Phillies: They beat the Cubs 4-1. Bad news for the Phillies: Shane Victorino and Michael Bourn both left the game with injuries. Good news: Cole Hamels gave up three hits and struck out eight in eight innings for his 12th win. Bad news: The Phillie injury list now reads like the aftermath of Gallipoli, a tough spot to be in with Mark Teixeira and Octavio Dotel heading to Atlanta. Good news: Tadahito Iguchi hit his first home run as a Phillie. News which may be good or bad: The Phillies traded for Kyle Lohse of Cincinnati, a starting pitcher for a team that needs one. 6-12 with a 4.58 ERA, Lohse has given up 16 homers and isn't coming to a forgiving ballpark in Citizens Bank Park.
• Thursday can't come soon enough for the Tigers. They played their 15th game in 14 days last night, all but three of them away from home, and they looked awfully tired while getting swept by the Angels last weekend. When you're tired there's nothing like a bodacious tata to put some pep in your step, a formula that the Tigers utilized to snap their four-game losing streak. Jordan Tata allowed two runs over seven innings in his first big league start, the kind of bodacious performance the team needed to beat the A's 5-2. And if you don't believe that the Tigers like Tata, check out the reward he received from a job well done.
• The end of the Luis Castillo era could have cast a pall over the Metrodome but the Twins are hardier souls than that. Joe Mauer drove in three runs and Scott Baker pitched a gem to start the A.L.C. period with a 3-1 win over the Royals. Such bravery in the face of unhappiness is to be commended.
• There were more scouts than fans in the Tampa crowd last night for the 11-inning affair that the Rays won 5-4 on a Carl Crawford home run. According to the AP, scouts from "the Yankees, Mets, White Sox, Seattle, Texas, Cleveland, St. Louis, Arizona and Houston" were present. You gotta do what you can to get those attendance numbers up and I applaud the Rays marketing department for their clever two scouts for the price of one promotion. 

(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

The Future Of Cooperstown

Earlier today at Epic Carnival I wrote a post about how quiet it might get around Cooperstown over the next few summers. Yes, Goose Gossage looks like he'll finally get in after years of near-misses and Rickey Henderson seems to be retired for good which makes him a go for 2009 but then you have three extremely solid candidates in Barry Larkin, Roberto Alomar and Jeff Bagwell who might not be the slam dunks they appear to be. And that's about it, unless there's a sea change in the way voters regard Mark McGwire (and Raffy Palmeiro) or any of the non-Goose holdovers who haven't picked up his level of support in their years on the ballot. 

Drew Silverman of The Evening Bulletin is looking beyond the coming soon candidates, though, and fixing his gaze on the coming in a while candidates. We agree that there are several absolutes playing in the big leagues although Silverman is a little more certain about the futures of Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa than I am given what happened with McGwire. Those absolutes include Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey, Manny Ramirez, Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez among position players. On the mound there's no way Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz aren't getting their tickets punched. Silverman then runs through a bunch of other candidates, his take on some of them was very interesting and I thought I'd share his thoughts and mine as well.

The Feed Radio Program

This week on The Feed Radio Program I’m happy to welcome two great guests who will join me to discuss the world of sports both here and across the Pacific in Japan. The show will start at 10:30 PM Eastern Time and you can give us a call at (646) 716-7961. You can listen to the show live via BlogTalkRadio by clicking here. You can also download it via that site or through the link at your right.

Our first guest will be Don Landrigan of With Malice and, like me, Epic Carnival. Don is an Australian living in Japan who follows sports in each of those countries as well as here in the United States. That gives him a unique viewpoint which he shares daily on his website and which we’re excited to have him share with us tomorrow night. Among other things Don and I will discuss whether or not Japanese sports have to deal with difficult situations like the ones Michael Vick, Tim Donaghy and Barry Bonds have created for their respective sports.

And Jon Pyle of Pyle of List will also be joining us. Jon is based in California and his excellent blog has made a name for itself with interviews and features that take us deeper inside the sports world and the people that bring that world to us. Jon and I will discuss the baseball trading deadline and his beloved USC Trojans during tomorrow night’s broadcast.

Is It Really Happening?

The NBA may be on the verge of stealing baseball's thunder on the cusp of the latter sport's trade deadline. It's a familiar song, Kevin Garnett to the Celtics, but that doesn't make it any less of a blockbuster.

The rumors started late yesterday that a deal was back on the table and they've only gotten louder over the last 12 hours. It seems that the draft day acquisition of Ray Allen made Garnett willing to reconsider a move to Boston and if contract issues can be sorted out the deal looks like it will happen. Garnett can opt out of his deal after next season but the Boston Herald reports that the forward will instead extend his deal with Boston. They are reporting that the T-Wolves will receive Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a first-round pick in return. The Boston Globe, however, is reporting that the package will include two first-rounders and that the contract snags still need to be worked out.

It looks like a good deal for Minnesota. Jefferson, Randy Foye and Corey Brewer are all good, young players who should mesh well in the starting lineup while Green and Gomes will join Craig Smith to form an effective second unit. They still have Ricky Davis to carry some of the scoring load and those extra first-round picks would goose the rebuilding effort by adding players of youth or, through trade, experience. The trade will also allow the franchise to look forward after so many years of rumors about K.G. and little positive movement.

As for the Celtics, it's go for broke time. That's not a bad strategy in the Eastern Conference but the contracts of Garnett, Allen and Paul Pierce will have them hard against the cap for the next few years without much experienced depth to help them in their quest for glory. Rajon Rondo showed signs of being a good point guard and the rookies Gabe Pruitt and Glen Davis have their charms but 2008-09 will be all about their big three.

For the NBA this deal would be a big winner. It would take some attention off of Tim Donaghy and put it back on the positive things about the league, namely its great players and the possible return to contention of one of its landmark teams. It would be a temporary salve but one that would remind everyone that the NBA will go on regardless of the ref scandal. That couldn't come too soon for David Stern and his reeling league.