Fan News

The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan is reporting that, after flying out in the sixth inning against the White Sox Friday, Milton Bradley was involved in a verbal altercation with Cubs' manager Lou Piniella.

Bradley was replaced in right field by Ryan Freel in the bottom half of the inning, and was reportedly seen leaving US Cellular Field in street clothes before the ninth inning.

So not only is Bradley not hitting anything, or driving in any runs for his $10 million-plus salary, but now the inevitable has happened.

Please Milton, make it easier for Cubs fans and sportswriters to turn against you.

According to the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan, after flying out in the sixth inning on Friday against the White Sox, Bradley threw his helmet in the Cubs dugout and then went after the Gatorade cooler.  Manager Lou Piniella then went to talk to Bradley in the tunnel, where the two exchanged angry words.

So the Rockies, who have historically gone into a June Swoon and been completely out of the pennant race by now, have staged a surge that, had it occurred in August, would've been equal in improbability to The Great Hot Streak of 2007.

They've pulled themselves from the cellar to 37-35 and third in the National League West. 

This has been done with great pitching and superior defense, which were the strengths of the 2007 team (and their strong moral fiber, of course).

But can it be sustained?

It can be, if we keep succeeding in these areas:

Juan Pierre will head back to the bench when Manny Ramirez returns from his 50-game suspension, confirmed Joe Torre.

Prior to this season started, the Dodgers gave Pierre and his agent permission to talk to other teams in hopes of working out a trade, since Ramirez's re-signing with the Dodgers pushed Pierre to the backup role in left field.

Yesterday Torre said, "Yeah, I really didn't consider any other option," adding that Pierre will play about twice a week while giving one of the three regular outfielders a rest.

Bad luck spread through the Phillies pitching like the Swine Flu.

It started with Brad Lidge and worked it's way through the entire pitching staff. Lidge blew saves, Chan Ho Park failed, Brett Myers suffered a season ending injury, Clay Condrey went down, and now Antonio Bastardo is hurt.

Fortunately for the Phillies, the bats were alive and kicking. Led by Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia posted the best road record in baseball. Right now, the Phils' bats have been pretty quiet, but not terrible. 

<!--StartFragment-->

Most Pirate fans still have nightmarish flashbacks to Sid Bream racing around 3^rd base to meet a diving Mike LaValliere’s tag in the 1992 NLCS.

Questions of “what if” concerning that game have plagued the city of Pittsburgh ever since. What if Barry Bonds makes a half decent throw from left field? What if Jim Leyland doesn’t use Stan Belinda? What if, what if, what if…?

I've never been one for moral victories. You either win or you lose.

A rematch of teams that met in a championship setting the previous season does not constitute a "revenge game" nor series.

The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2008 World Series—they have the rings. No series win in June the following season will avenge that.

Now Boston has a problem like really no other in baseball which is that they really have too much pitching depth on their roster. This is obviously a good problem for Boston and today I will analyze who really deserves to be in their starting rotation. I will give a short synopsis of each pitcher and see if they deserve a spot in the rotation. I will also see if they deserve to be where they are today.

Josh Beckett and Jon Lester

Forgive my ignorance on the matter, as I'm not well-versed in MLB rules and regulations, but why in the world is a suspended player allowed to play in the minor leagues before making their post-suspension major league debut?

Now obviously I understand it is in the rules that a suspended MLB player can play up to 10 games in the MiLB system, but still do not receive a paycheck of any kind. Paycheck or no paycheck, how can something like this be allowed?

Thursday was the 10th anniversary of Jesse Orosco's record-setting relief appearance. This week's Flashback Friday revisits that game and Orosco's tenure in Orange and Black, which had Baltimore fans talking about the pitcher's "snapdragon" curveball.