SportsRadioInterviews.com posted the skinny from Joe Girardi’s interview with Mike Francesca on WFAN today. Couple of intriguing thoughts swirling around in the manager’s well-bic’d noggin approaching game time – he’d be willing to throw Mariano for 45 pitches and isn’t ruling out bringing him in in the seventh inning.

From Sports Radio Interviews, on Mariano coming in the 7^th inning:

“Well yeah you are going to think about that. I mean you think about if you can get him to throw one pitch per batter we could start him too.

Mariano threw 39 pitches and got two innings worth of outs in Game 2, but as Tom Verducci pointed out on SI.com, that was a rare feat:

It was the most pitches he has thrown in a game in two years. Of the 74 times Rivera has pitched in the postseason since he became a closer, he has thrown more than 39 pitches only two times, and both were in potential clinchers: the epic 48-pitch outing in 2003 ALCS Game 7, and the 40 pitches in the Yankees’ ill-fated 2004 ALCS Game 4.

Frankly, for once, I’d like to see it come down to who’s coming up – like say, Utley, Howard, Werth in the top of the seventh? For example, Purist Bleed Pinstripes posted an interesting analysis on Facebook of why Mariano, the best reliever on the team, should have been brought in to face Hunter, Guerrero and Morales in Game 5 of the ALCS. And as an aside, Mo went 2+ in that 13-inning affair that was Game 2 of the ALCS. How great if Chase Utley slithers out of the dugout to face Rivera tonight prior to the beer being shut down? (You then see veins start to exponentially appear on Girardi’s well bic’d temples with every foul ball.)

Only a few hours till we’ll know which way this goes. Personally, I’m just trying to get the word out on this so that whatever he does we can hopefully second guess the guy tomorrow. Enjoy the game, keep it going Phillies!

At the time of me scribing this piece of inconsequence, incarcerated Boston Red Sox fan Randy Aaron Baker is preparing for his temporary release from Van Buren County Jail so that he can attend today Sox game against the Royals in Kansas City.

Randy Aaron Barker is serving a 10-day jail sentence for interference with official acts and violation of a protective order. He is also a big fan of the Boston Red Sox.

According to the Ottumwa Courier story, Barker’s attorney, Margaret E. King, Barker petitioned the court to allow him to attend the Red Sox game in Kansas City with his father and brother. They have had long-term plans to attend, King told Magistrate Judge Benny Waggoner.

Baker is set to return late tonight or tomorrow to the clink – whenever, right? What’s an “official act” anyway?

There’s a word in the quote that seems both appropriate, yet glaringly absurd. Petition. As in, some judge spent the time to hear a petition for a short time criminal to go to a baseball game – and a meaningless one at that. The lawyering time would have been better spent coming up with some sort of fining scale to be levied against people who buy tickets to Royals games in September.

Just goes to show you, for every Midwest magistrate being run roughshod by unbridled serial killers acting out of boredom, there’s lawmen who have too much time on their hands.

Baseball Fan Released From Jail To See Game (KCCI.com)

The San Francisco Giants and AT&T Park earned the dubious distinction of being labeled the merchants of the priciest brew in the league – $8.75 for a 20 oz. The numbers are according to Team Marketing Report’s Fan Cost Index research, who released their April report this week.

Before we give the Giants too much guff, I think we owe them a little deeper analysis on this. For one thing, Anchor Steam (a San Fran local sold at the park) is legit. And also, I don’t really buy this report.

First off, the beer figures have a footnote attached to them that reads: Team restructured seating categories or made retroactive changes to 2008 prices. Some of the 2008 numbers used do not match up with previously reported figures.

Anyone?

What I can tell you is that the Mets’ price figure that says you pay $5.00 for a 12 oz. is, well, a sick joke (because i’d love to get my hands on a $5 beer at a Mets game). I’ve been to Citi Field five times during the 2009 campaign, and I’ve purchased beer in every possible manner, minus the ritzy V.I.P. bar, which looks like a suite at The Palms resort and casino – I doubt this is where they are hiding the $5 special. I’d wager that Yankee stadium attendees would take similar offense to the assertion that they’re paying $6 for a 12 oz.

I’d say the average Mets beer at Citi floats you about $7. This includes the 16 oz. pounders of Bud and Bud Light, and the wide array of microbrews sold in 12 oz. cans. The 12 oz. domestics you can get up in the stands run $6. If that mumbo jumbo from above is supposed to translate to mean we’re looking at 2008 prices, then it bares noting that actually the prices at Citi Field are on average lower this year than at Shea in 2008 ($7.50 for those 12 oz. Buds). So don’t feel too bad for yourselves, Giants fans, because something is absent here with the numbers.

The Diamondbacks came in with the low number at $4.00 for their beer served in metric 14 oz. cups.

Check out the research, and weigh on your team’s prices. H/T to Joe “10 Cent Beer Night” Kukura at NBCbayarea.com for the report.

“Cowboy” Joe West, president of the World Umpire Association, worked his 4,000th major league game Thursday. Way to go, they gave him a Nationals game to celebrate.

He’s the 19th man to reach the milestone. And I love that the umpire milestone usurps (just sh#ts on, really) the 3,000 hit mlb player milestone.

Congrats, Joe. Here are some other reasons why CJW is really cool (c/o CowboyJoeWest.com)….

• Umpired first Major League game Sept. 13th, 1976 at the age of 23

• In 1981, became the youngest umpire to work in a National League Championship Series (28

• Designed and owns the United States, Canadian, and Japanese patents on the chest protector for the umpires known as the “West Vest.”

• Inducted into the South Atlantic League Hall of Fame in 2002…Quarterback of the Elon College football team, MVP in his senior year.

• avid golfer

• Was a nightly performer at Gilley’s in Pasadena, Texas in the early 1980′s where he worked with the Bayou City Beats and the Urban Cowboy.

In the Holiday hierarchy, I put Fourth of July at a strong #5 (after Halloween, Thanksgiving, New Years Eve and Bulletproof Saturday). It’s a very solid holiday. The three best things about Independence Day in reverse order…

3.) Coolers of Domestic Canned Brews

2.) Freedoms, F#ck yeah

1.) Copious amount of hot dogs, Double F#ck yeah

Fireworks are overrated. In honor of the official wiener holiday, I feel compelled to recognize the athletes that bring showmanship to that upper echelon of arrogance known as hot doggin’ here are your top five in no particular order:

Deion Sanders

Chad Johnson, Steve Smith, his former-teammate and brother in hot doggin’ Michael Irvin, they could all make a case for being the biggest NFL hotdog. In my opinion, Deion was the original and no one did it better.

Deion raises you the “Deion Sanders Hot Dog Express,” Chad.

Ricky Davis

Deion is a great example of why hot doggin’ is not necessarily detrimental to one’s performance. Ricky Davis, is not. He’s basically Wesley Snipes in White Men Can’t Jump playing against better guys. Also, Reggie Miller is my runner-up for basketball hot-doggin’.

Manny Ramirez

Not as much of a cautionary tale of hot doggin’ it as Davis, but pretty damn close. Manny invented and constantly toes the line between hot doggin’ and foolishness. Interested to see if he keeps it up when he makes it back from suspension jail purgatory.

Alexander Ovechkin

The guy scored 52 goals in his rookie season. Plus, Wale made him the first hockey player to be mentioned in a rap song (Do it for the capital, Wale Ovechkin). He can start breakdancing after goals if he wants, if you ask me.

Ronaldo

Kind of a darkhorse for the top five, Ronaldo is actually a hot dog tandem threat.

Hot dog showman on the pitch…

Nice eventual pass out of the box, Fancy Feet.

And hot dog…connoisseur, shovel, black hole. Double points for being a fatty fat fat.

Honorable Mention:

Kobayashi, just because the guy’s sport could be called hot-doggin’. He is probably gonna be like “dude, really?” once he realizes he didn’t make the top five. I personally find his performances to be cerebral at best.

Happy Fourth Everyone!

In a Baltimore Sun article published today where he awkwardly calls former-MLB characters like Bobby Bonilla and David Wells – Mister, Baltimore Oriole Hall-of-Famer Brady Anderson expressed his discontent with Sports Illustrated naming Orioles owner Peter Angelos as The Worst Owner in Baseball.

I find it laughable that someone who has achieved the type of success that enables one to purchase a Major League Baseball team can be casually dismissed by many as a “meddler.” I have never understood this complaint of meddling; he owns the team. Indeed, this idea runs counter to the way that just about every other business in the world is run. I am certain many people would find it odd if their bosses sat by passively and idly as they ran the business anyway they chose (Viewpoint: Angelos doesn’t deserve the bad rap).

Besides meddling, SI most scathingly cites Angelos firing of Davey Johnson (who Anderson says resigned) and the Orioles lack of a post-season appearance the last 11 years as reasons for appointing Angelos as the heaviest head that wears the crown.

Giving the player prospective, Anderson calls Angelos “a compassionate, loyal man who truly cares about the Orioles, the fans, and the people of Baltimore.” He talks about how Angelos would visit his ex-teammate Eric Davis in the hospital and watch Oriole away games with him while he was getting treated for colon cancer. He also hopes that someday the list will be rewritten and will name the best owners in baseball (which it actually does, those five owners have combined for 35 playoff appearance and 9 World Series titles) and we’ll find Angelos at the top of that list (err, .486 winning percentage? Slow down, Mr. 30 Stolen Base Man).


If it’ll make him feel better, blame Zach Greinke for Angelos’ dubious distinction. If not for the first half run by Kansas City this season, there is no doubt, no doubt that David Glass takes the title of Worst Owner. The stats from his tenure are truly offensive (.432 winning percentage, zero post season appearances, four 100 game losing seasons). Of course, the newly rejuvenated K.C. fans took issue with S.I. even having Glass on the short list – wow, you Royal fans have short memories.

Be an informed bettor. Find the latest in sports betting news at the BetUS Locker Room. Bet on any sport at BetUS.com.

For the social media junkies reading this, if you’re aspiring to get something linked on Fark (a veritable cavalcade of referral traffic) take note of the headline for this submission…

If Curtis Granderson had been at Little Bighorn, the results may have been a bit different (with video of “Play of the Year” candidate)

The real star of this clip is Grady Sizmore’s face. Talk about falling under a spell of doldrums upon seeing his would-be game-winning walk-off hyphen-inducing home run robbed by Granderson. Did he promise a terminal cancer kid he was going to hit a walk-off tonight?

According to MLB.com, Sizemore wasn’t available for comment, but Indians’ broadcaster Al Pawlowski’s call pretty much hit on the emotion:

“GONE!!! … No it’s not!”

The Greatest RBI Man of a Generation is a cheater.

Before today, it was assumed that Manny Ramirez was proof positive that you didn’t need PEDs, you could also just be simple minded with nothing else going on upstairs but hitting and become an ultra productive batsman.

Short of if Tiger Woods got caught juicing, I think this one hurts the most.

Even though there’s something like a few hundred million of us Worldwide, admittedly I’m pretty fortunate to be named Mike. For instance, it’s a handle that is rarely if ever misspelled. I can only remember once in recent times that someone botched it. I had ordered Chinese take-out and the lady wrote my name on the bill spelled Maik. She’s pretty destined not to progress beyond that field.

On the contrary, it’s gotta be rough to be named Sean, or Shaun, or Shawn – the people who meet you have a 33% chance of success at best, maybe 50% if you’re Irish. Then these two jokers come along and compound the problem…

Chone “Chown” Figgins

…and Shonn Greene, Running Back and this year’s third round draft pick of the New York Jets

One laughs in the face of phonetics, and the other completely exploits it.

Sean Connery, Shaun of the Dead, Shawn from Boy Meets World, and everyone else (except Sean Salisbury, douche), here’s a poll that aims to uphold your integrity…

Quick Poll: WHO HAS THE WORST NAME?

NOTE: Shawne Merriman , we’re cool right? Don’t hurt me.

Jacoby “The Jet” Ellsbury steals home, the Sox close out the sweep of the Yankees at home, and my roommate and I had the first simultaneous “Holy S#@t” yell of the young 2009 MLB season (in the friendly confines of our home).

It was Ellsbury’s first steal of home plate since College, and the first one for the Red Sox since Jose Offerman did so in August 1999. Still, that one was part of a double steal; the last straight steal of home (love that expression) for the Sox dates back to 1994 (Billy Hatcher)

In honor of Ellsbury and all you grifters out there, I give you 10 videos featuring Great Moments in Stealing Home. We’ve got another Pettitte failing, some video game footage, Jenny Finch as a teen, and of course the classic 1955 steal by Jackie Robinson. (Also, something that doesn’t technically qualify as stealing home. I’m a sucker for a well-executed clothesline, what can I say.) Enjoy!

Jennie Finch (age 16) steals home

Backyard Wrestling “Don’t Steal Home”

Tsuyoshi Shinjo stealing home plate

Delayed Steal to Home Plate (2007 Little League World Series Japan vs. Curacao)

Stealing home in MLB 2k6

Johnny C steals home as batter swings (Here I F@#%ing COME!)

Jackie Robinson Steals Home (Game One, 1955 World Series, Dodgers vs. Yankees)

Miracle Leap

Aaron Hill Stole Home!



And last, but not least…

Caroline Steals Home!

…OK, they wouldn’t let me embed this one. Please, go watch it. Just read the description:

“My daughter steals home during her softball game. She should have knocked the pitcher off the plate!”