S40, Midnight Blue

[cubfan33]

What we're seeing now is classic brinksmanship. The players will strike. The owners will let them. Both stare at each other like third graders, not wanting to blink, but I sense that all staring eyes are now burning and maybe even watering. The players will strike. The owners will let them. We see facts like less than thirty percent of Americans follow baseball reported as negatives, when a 15 share for American Idol is a blowout. (Yeah, I'm addicted too.) The players will strike. The owners will let them. The scary fact that revenue sharing needs twenty-three owners to agree on something is bad enough, but we have a group of (shock, horror!) eight owners in a strong "hawk" group that are looking for a hard salary cap. The players will strike. The owners will let them. Seligula hasn't even been in town for a week, off doing whatever it is he does while he strangles the game everyone that knows him says he loves. The players will strike. The owners will let them. Part of brinksmanship is knowing where the edge is. Stepping off means you lose. The players will strike. The owners will let them. I'm still leaning towards the idea that we will have a short strike - perhaps one week or less, but I'm not sure where the edge is and I'm less sure that the players or owners know where it is either.

Need another reason to hate the work stoppage? Ernie Harwell may never call another game in Detroit. That just isn't right.

There's lots of big names in tonight's report and I'm guessing the next couple days will see a healthy number of roster shenanigans. Some teams are talking about using options and injury assignments to keep some of their players fresh or at least still playing. Keep your eyes out for moves that could help or hurt your team. Watch moves like the one that the A's made yesterday, sending Aaron Harang down, knowing they didn't need a fifth starter for a while - or longer if there's a strike.

One move that definitely isn't shenanigans (and does someone please have a shorter word that conveys the same meaning?) is the loss of Austin Kearns, perhaps for the season, even one that goes the distance. Kearns apparently tore his hamstring while trying to beat out a single in the first game of the doubleheader. Kearns was in obvious pain and the way he pulled his leg to him makes me think the muscle tearing is significant. It will take an MRI to find out the full extent, so we should know more tomorrow, but the Reds seem to have a hamstring problem all over. Even with the injury, Kearns gets my theoretical vote for NL Rookie of the Year. The Reds should get Elmer Dessens back before DDD, but Bob Boone announced he will have him on a seventy pitch limit.

Some big boppers with small ouchies ... Gary Sheffield has a sore thumb due to a bruise and Cliff Floyd has a sore knee, also due to a bruise. Sheffield will likely rest the knees a couple more days, heading right into DDD, while Floyd will need to be pushed back out, perhaps only to DH, while the Red Sox cling to hopes in the shadow of DDD.

I'm not sure what an MRI will show that a negative X-ray didn't, but Paul Konerko will be held out while the ChiSox medical staff tries to figure out what's wrong with his foot. He's been playing in pain for a couple weeks and indicates he can probably play through it, but the Sox staff is worried it may be a stress fracture which could travel and cause all sorts of nastiness for the Sox best player. Why risk it?

Eric Milton threw BP yesterday and reportedly was throwing 210 mph. While I doubt that report - from a Twins coach - is accurate, all reports indicate that Milton looked very good and if we make it past DDD, Milton should be ready shortly, plenty of time to be sharp for the playoffs.

Ted Lilly was scheduled to throw an inning or two of BP today before the A's game. I have no good A's source so I'm not sure if this happened or how he did if it did happen, but it is a step in the right direction for Lilly. The A's seem to be handling this injury like almost everything else they do - very well.

Larry Walker returned to the lineup tonight, but he's not one hundred percent. Come to think of it, I'm not sure he ever is. Half of Walker on Planet Coors is better than most other players, but he's still not worth the money they're paying him. Of all teams, the Rockies need to have a four or even five man rotation of outfielders to get Walker some rest and Jack Cust a defensive replacement.

In one of the nastier video clips I've seen all year, Alex Cora had his head snapped back in a collision sliding into second and the Sandman came for him briefly. After being carted off, Cora was able to move all parts he should be able to and is reportedly doing much better today, though he will be held out to allow his head to clear.

I don't know much about Blue Jays pitching coach Gil Patterson other than he may be a candidate for the UTK Hall of Lame, but with as many injuries as the Jays staff has had, most recently with Luke Prokopec heading to the DL with a sore elbow, I wonder why a very smart team like the Jays doesn't make a move in the offseason to sign away a Don Gullett or a Leo Mazzone. I know neither is likely to move, but in a world where NFL and NBA head coaches make as much as some of the players, managers and coaches don't get much credit. Imagine what one of the big pitching gurus could do with Chris Carpenter or Roy Halladay, two young talented guys. The Jays could go after reclamation projects like the Reds and Braves have and get another advantage on many other teams. Better yet, why doesn't someone try and convince Mike Marshall to become a major league coach? I guess it could be any team that could do this, not just the Jays, but few other teams are proving they're smart enough.

Speaking of a reclamation project, Joe Kennedy needs to be rescued from the Devil Rays. So does Ryan Rupe, but Kennedy has a much higher upside despite his current dead arm. I think I should put up a poster of Kennedy, looking out with sad eyes, like the pictures of dogs at the pound that you see at Petco.

A setback for Norm Charlton's latest comeback as soreness in his repaired elbow will push his recovery back by at least a week. The Mariners still hope to be able to use him some in September in order to help shore up their pen down the stretch and rest some people if possible. It's weird to see that if the playoffs started today ... and if they strike and come back for playoffs, who knows how things will play out ... that the M's would be staying home.

I'll leave it to Lee Sinins to decry this move and make a better case of it than I can, but the Indians moving Danys Baez to the designated ninth inning end of game with a lead pitcher is simply bad. Why take a guy with the potential to be a good starter - something his team needs more of - and turn him into a "closer." You turn the failed starters like Eric Gagne or the fragile starters like John Smoltz and make them closers and I don't think Baez is fragile or failed ... yet.

Quick update on Kevin Orie. Despite being injured on the day that Rachael's feature on him came out, Orie has continued to hit well in Iowa. He cranked out his twentieth home run last night and, if we make it past DDD somehow, he's certainly earned a callup to the Cubs. Keep your eye out tomorrow for a feature on Jim Rushford. I introduced you to him earlier this season and my new piece, done for a newspaper here in Indy, lets you know how far he's come and how far he is from Milwaukee now. Until then, I'll be on Netshrine.com, getting some sleep before A-1 Home Improvement comes early tomorrow morning to start construction again, and trying to keep my cell phone charged.

Gary Huckaby be damned - I love my Volvo. No one expects a Volvo to have twin turbos.

[poorme]

just for accuracy, Ordonez is the best player on the white sox, not konerko.

[soxfan121]

210 mph?! What, did Eric Milton receive a tendon transplant from Sidd Finch?

[cubfan33]

I still take Konerko over Ordonez, but I realize i'm in the minority on that. If I owned a team, I'd try to get Konerko and play him at 3B and deal with his defensive shortcomings.