Billy Williams is hospitalized briefly

[nyy26wc]

1) Billy Williams was hospitalized briefly to adjust a heart monitor and has already been sent home.

The Baseball Immortal played for the Cubs from 1959-74, before finishing his career with 2 years with the A's. Williams had a .853 career OPS, compared to his league average of .714, and 454 RCAA in 2488 games.

His 4 years with 40+ RCAA tie him for 2nd on the Cubs modern day list--

1    Hack Wilson               5   
T2   Billy Williams            4   
T2   Frank Chance              4   
T2   Sammy Sosa                4   
T2   Stan Hack                 4   
T2   Ron Santo                 4   
T7   Bill Nicholson            3   
T7   Ernie Banks               3   
T9   Kiki Cuyler               2   
T9   Rogers Hornsby            2   
T9   Ryne Sandberg             2   
T9   Riggs Stephenson          2   

2) The Phillies signed Ps Vicente Padilla ($425,000), Brad Baisley, Josh Hancock, Franklin Perez and Jeremy Wedel to 1 year contracts and sold INF Mike Coolbaugh to the Doosan Bears, in the Korean League.

In his first year as a starter, Padilla had a 3.28 ERA/11 RSAA in 32 starts and has a 3.60 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.26, and 14 RSAA in 115 games.

Coolbaugh had a .585 OPS/-8 RCAA in 39 games with the 2001 Brewers and 5 with the 2002 Cardinals.

3) The Dodgers signed P Masao Kida to a minor league contract.

Kida had a 6.42 ERA/-12 RSAA in 51 games with the 1999-2000 Tigers.

4) Umpire John Hirschbeck was suspended for 10 days for making inappropriate comments toward MLB officer Rob Manfred.

5) The Astros signed C John Buck, INF Tommy Whiteman, OF Henri Stanley and Ps Jeriome Robertson, Brad Lidge, Rodrigo Rosario and Greg Miller to 1 year contracts.

6) The Mets signed OF Jeff Duncan and Ps Jaime Cerda and Tyler Yates to 1 year contracts.

7) The Yankees released P Randy Keisler, to make room on the 40 man roster for Jon Lieber.

Keisler had a 7.19 ERA/-18 RSAA in 14 games with the 2000-01 Yankees. He missed the entire 2002 season, after shoulder surgery, and isn't ready to resume his career.

8) The Mariners signed OF Jamal Strong and Ps Ryan Anderson, Julio Mateo, Steve Kent, Bobby Madritsch and Matt Thornton to 1 year contracts.

Anderson was recently one of the highest rated prospects in baseball, before having injury problems.

9) Former P Bob Kammeyer died on January 27, at the age of 52.

Kammeyer had a 9.00 ERA/-13 RSAA in 8 games with the 1978-79 Yankees.

10) Pirates GM David Littlefield denied the report from the Chicago Tribune that the team is interested in Kenny Rogers. According to Littlefield, "We've acquired all the pitching that we'll likely have. That could change, but an outfielder is our need right now."

[pathogan]

...man, what a sweet swing...looking how far down Sandberg is on the Rcaa,sort of intereting