Alex Rodriguez donated a few million to the University of Miami and they have named a park after him -- Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field (that was the best they could do???). I feel for A-Rod, despite my belief that he is still telling a few white lies about his steroid use. Coincidently (or maybe not so much) Selena Roberts' book about A-Rod has had its publishing schedule moved up. The book will now be out on April 14th. The worst part of this whole mess in my opinion has been the holier-than-thou act that Bud Selig has been perpetrating. Does anyone truly believe that a list of 104 steroid users did the rounds of backrooms in baseball and that Selig never saw it? Not I.
Houston Chronicle Reports problems with Manager Cecil Cooper
This is interesting.
Cecil Cooper. He was some kind of uptight at the beginning of last season and struggled both with the on-the-field and clubhouse duties of a manager. He seemed so over his head at one point that Alyson Footer telephoned Phil Garner and said, ''You need to talk to Coop.'' He did things that lost the clubhouse, and there are players he may never get back in terms of respect. On the other hand, he was the manager filling out the lineup cards and calling the shots when the Astros had that 47-27 run between June 20 and September 11. He calmed down and got comfortable. This is his second time around, and things should be easier. But he's in the last year of his contract and it's telling that the Astros didn't extend him. This is a stupid decision. Even if the Astros don't think he'll be managing in 2010, they should have signed him for 2010 to remove his job security as an issue.Skip Schumaker's switch to second base
Tony LaRussa's latest genius plan to move outfielder Skip Schumaker to second base appears to have driven Dan of Viva El Birdos off the deep end.
1B Yadier Molina: There are few late-inning surprises I enjoy more than Yadi playing first base, because he plays it exactly like he catches: he gets his body in front of everything, and he doesn't dive after balls so much as getting into a crouch and sliding toward them. He'll provide an excellent competitive advantage when Motte is trying to pick a fastball hitter off of first base.Laying Down the Law
The guys at Drunk Jays Fans point out an article written by Keith Law that combats the idea that steroid users benefit significantly by their use. I particularly enjoyed this bit:
Marc (Manchester, NH): Keith, I know there is no analytical way to discern how many homers were added to Bonds' totals through PED's. But, is it reasonable to assume that given the spike in his HR totals at an advanced age, maybe 10-15 HR/year were added to his totals?Top Five Reasons to Sign Joe Crede
Keith Law: I wouldn't argue against someone saying he had 10-15 extra in 2001. Where the argument breaks down is in trying to explain that year as an outlier in a career that is in and of itself an outlier. Did he just get better stuff in that year? He was probably using the same stuff in 2002 that he did in 2001, right? Doesn't that tell you we should be looking for another explanation for the 2001 spike?
John channels John Cusack as he comes up with the top five reasons the Twins should sign third baseman Joe Crede. This is a great read if you're a High Fidelity fan or even just like reading about the Twins.
Screw Bud Selig
Once again the guys at Drunk Jays Fans have managed to put into words exactly the way I feel about Bud Selig.
It was fear of killing the golden goose that kept Selig, the owners, management, the media and the rest of the baseball world from digging deep into and asking hard questions about the drug culture pervaded the game. Now they want to punish players retroactively for something they once condoned?
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