Baseball

One of the best Clint Eastwood movies from his Western days was "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." Fantastic. Rent it if you have not seen it. In fact, get a bunch of Clint movies one rainy day and park yourself on the couch.

This movie title is going to be the same as this Yankee theme. It will be a bi-weekly segment on the most recent Yankee two week stretch of games.

Yesterday there were rumors flying that Mark Teixeira could be the next big name baseball player to be suspended due to performance enhancing drugs. Major League Baseball then made the announcement that it was not Teixeira, but Edinson Volquez of the Reds, that failed a drug test. 

A sigh of relief was taken by the New York Yankees organization and fans. 

In a surprise twist in the never-ending saga of Carlos Zambrano, the Cubs management has decided to send the eight-year veteran starter to the bullpen to make way for the 12-year-old Henry Rowengartner, who just came off the disabled list with a broken arm.

Rowengartner, or Rosenbagger/Gardenhoser as he likes to be called, played some outfield for the Pirates of the Little League, but has confidence he can make the switch to pitcher as new teammate Randy Wells has.

As most of you have read, Carlos Zambrano has reportedly been moved to the bullpen for the Chicago Cubs.

How one comes to the conclusion that Zambrano is the weakest link of a starting rotation featuring Carlos Silva and Tom Gorzelanny is a question no baseball follower can answer.

Zambrano has made six straight Opening Day starts for the Chicago Cubs and has been the proclaimed ace of this staff for the same amount of years, but the one negative tattooed on his positive stuff is his mental capacity to accept even the tiniest of irritations.

Good evening Bronx Baseball Daily readers. Some of you might have noticed our lack of updates this morning.

In one of the more bizarre moves you'll read about, the Cubs announced today that Opening Day starter Carlos Zambrano will be moved to the bullpen.

Zambrano, 1-2 with a 7.45 ERA so far in 2010, figures to be the primary set-up man for closer Carlos Marmol.

The Cubs' bullpen has been atrocious this season, and there is no question that a move had to be made. 

You can't fault manager Lou Piniella for trying to shake things up, but taking away a three-time all-star from your starting rotation is not the answer.

Bud Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball, wants to see a more competitive balance in baseball. He wants to see teams that lose start winning all of the sudden.

How should this be done?

Well, first get rid of the penny pinching owners of "small-market" teams (let's face it, there is no small market in professional sports) and get real owners in there.

The more realistic answers are the following:

Carlos Zambrano was one of the many names this offseason that was being passed around as possible trade bait.  Now it looks like he'll be making a move...internally.

According to the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan, Zambrano will be moving to the bullpen to accommodate the return of injured pitcher Ted Lilly.  Carlos Silva, the man who was seemingly destined for the pen when the time came, will continue to start.

On a day that has Michael McCaskey retiring and getting replaced by his younger brother George, and the day after the Bears schedule is released, the Blackhawks lose to the seventh-seed Nashville Predators, and LeBron James gushes about how awesome Chicago is, we have news that trumps all those stories. 

Cubs beat writer Paul Sullivan has reported via his Twitter page that three-time all-star starter Carlos Zambrano will be moving to the bullpen when Ted Lilly returns to the rotation this weekend.

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the Bill of Rights that protects a right to keep and bear arms. 

It provides: "A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

San Francisco Giants Manager Bruce Bochy is pushing the envelope on this constitutional right with his current starting pitching staff.