Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 399 of 1503)

      Baker: Mariners can’t keep Cliff Lee

      June 24, 2010 /

      Despite their recent hot streak, Seattle Times columnist Geoff Baker writes that it’s too late for the Mariners to keep starter Cliff Lee.

      Recent play aside, Cliff Lee is likely to be shopped. The Mariners need to start filling holes for next year and beyond and the Lee trade is the best place to start since there is no way he will sign here beyond 2010. He’s in line for a $100-million contract, which he probably has a better shot at getting now than he did last off-season, and is not going to take the massive (try 50 percent) discount the M’s would need to get to keep him. Why would he give them that? He’s been here only two months. … We can dream and dream about a 1-2 punch in the post-season, but this lineup is not good enough to get the M’s there.

      Coming into the 2010 season, the Mariners believed that if they pitched well enough and played good defense that they could mask their deficiencies on offense. But seeing as how they’re 13 games back in the AL West and have scored the third fewest runs in baseball, that game plan is shot to hell. Not even Lee and Felix Hernandez can save them.

      Baker’s right: at some point, the M’s are going to have to go out and get a big popper for the middle of their lineup. What good is it to have Ichiro on base all the time if he has nobody behind him to knock him in? It’s hard to fault Jack Zduriencik for building the roster around pitching and defense based on the park they play in, but clearly the M’s don’t even have enough offense to be a .500 team.

      They need to get a bat in exchange for Lee – that should be Zdurienkcik’s main priority as the trade deadline approaches.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      Favre wants a shot at the Saints…IF he comes back next year, of course

      June 24, 2010 /

      In a shocking development, Brett Favre still hasn’t made up his mind about whether or not to return for another season. But in an interview Thursday morning with the Sun Herald, he did admit that he would like another shot at the defending Super Bowl champs.

      ‘‘I would love to go beat the Saints. I know I can still play at a high level. Last year was a great year, but it could have been better (winning NFC Championship).’’

      Favre of course won’t admit that he’s returning because wants to milk whatever attention people are still paying him for as long as humanly possible. He also hates practice, so the longer he can push off having to return to camp the better.

      But there’s little doubt that he’s going to return, or else there would have been more panic in Minnesota this offseason about the Vikings’ quarterback situation. Do you think Brad Childress would have anointed Tarvaris Jackson his starting quarterback in training camp like he did back in May if he knew Favre wasn’t coming back? There’s no way, especially considering the Vikings held on to Sage Rosenfels this offseason.

      Lord Favre is coming back.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      Should Big Ben address his teammates?

      June 24, 2010 /

      While talking to the NFL Network’s Rich Eisen during a televised interview on Wednesday, Steelers’ receiver Hines Ward said that Ben Roethlisberger should address his teammates in wake of what has transpired this offseason.

      “A lot of players really don’t know the situation, other than what we hear in the news or the media,” Ward explained. “I think when he addresses the whole team going into training camp, we can all put it behind us and move forward.”

      There was certainly nothing malicious in Ward’s statement. He wasn’t calling Big Ben out, nor was he suggesting that the Steelers haven’t embraced him upon his return to the practice field. What he is saying is that it would be a good idea if the team’s two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback addressed his teammates in order to put the situation behind him so they can move on as a team.

      And I happen to agree.

      Roethlisberger has ever right to keep his personal matters to himself and if he decides to do that, then he doesn’t deserve to be criticized. I wouldn’t want my dirty laundry to be aired out in front of a group of my peers, nor would anyone else. But Big Ben is already past that point.

      Thanks to the media, his teammates already have a grasp on what happened and they’ve already drawn their own conclusions. But if he were to briefly stand up in front of the team and reaffirm his commitment to them, the Steelers and to winning, it might go a long way in putting the situation to rest. He doesn’t have to share details or even apologize – he just needs to kill the very large elephant in the room so that big bastard doesn’t sit there all season.

      In general, people want to forgive and move on. I’m willing to bet that if Big Ben opens up to his teammates before training camp (or whenever) that he won’t have to say another word about the situation the rest of the season because it’ll be done. Again, he isn’t obligated to say anything. But given the importance of his position, his role with the team and how close professional athletes generally are, it might be in Roethlisberger’s best interest if he takes Ward’s suggestion to heart.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      2010 Wimbledon: Longest match in history suspended

      June 24, 2010 /

      John Isner and Nicolas Mahut recorded the longest match in tennis history in terms of number of games and duration at Wimbledon on Wednesday – and they’re not even done. The 10-hour match (163 games) was suspended at 59-59 due to darkness.

      From ESPN.com:

      “Nothing like this will ever happen again. Ever,” Isner said in a courtside TV interview.

      The first-round match had already been suspended because of fading light Tuesday night after the fourth set.

      They have been playing each other for exactly 10 hours — 7 hours, 6 minutes in the fifth set alone, enough to break the full-match record of 6:33, set at the 2004 French Open.

      Never before in the history of Wimbledon, which was first contested in 1877, had any match — singles or doubles, men or women — lasted more than 112 games, a mark set in 1969. Isner and Mahut have played more games than that in their fifth set, without a victor, although the American came close: He had four match points but Mahut saved each one.

      Here are some stats from the epic match: Isner has 98 aces, compared to Mahut’s 95. Both of those numbers eclipsed the previous high in a match at any tournament, which was 78. There have been 881 points scored, with 612 in the fifth set. Isner has 218 winners to Mahut’s 217, while Isner has only 44 unforced errors to Mahut’s 37.

      And again, they’re not even done yet. That’s crazy.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, Tennis

      TMZ: Johan Santana accused of sexual battery

      June 23, 2010 /

      According to TMZ.com, Mets’ ace Johan Santana was accused of sexual battery on a golf course in Ft. Myers, Florida last year.

      TMZ obtained a copy of the report filed with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on October 28, 2009 — one day after the alleged attack in Fort Myers. In the document, the accuser (referred to only as Jane Doe) claims she and Santana were walking on the golf course when he “began to kiss her and pull up her top, unclasping her bra.”

      The report continues: “Johan began to pull at [the accuser’s] skirt/skort and attempt [sic] to place his hands into her underwear.” According to the document the alleged victim “told Johan no multiple times but Johan persisted.”

      The report gets more graphic, when the accuser claims Santana penetrated her, grabbed and bruised her calf, and “ejaculated on her upper thigh.”

      The accuser claims she “cleaned her thigh with her underwear” — and then returned to a tennis court with Santana, and actually watched him play tennis with someone else.

      According to the report, a detective collected all of the accuser’s clothing as evidence.

      Here’s Santana’s response:

      “I’m aware of the situation,” Santana read from a prepared statement before the Mets-Tigers game at Citi Field. “What I can tell you is that police have investigated these claims last year, and I was never charged with anything, and the case is closed. Unfortunately at this time, that’s all I can say. And I have no further comments.”

      I’m surprised that no one has reported the story until now since it happened in October of 2009. But seeing as how the investigation is closed, I doubt he’ll face any punishment from MLB or the Mets – especially considering he was never charged with anything.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

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