Category: MLB (Page 392 of 448)

Yankees’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez is hinting that he wants to stay in New York according to an article by the Lower Hudson Online. Rodriguez’s contract doesn’t expire until 2011, but he can opt out at the end of this season.

“This feels like home. It’s hard to believe that I played for another two organizations. So much has happened to me here – adversity, some success – that I feel like anything but New York feels weird for me now,” Rodriguez said.

It will be interesting to see if A-Rod’s return to the Bronx is going to be about timing. If the Yankees go on to win the World Series this year, the same fans that have booed him relentlessly in the past will certainly want his face on a plaque by the turn of next year. However, what if he barely hits .200 and the Yankees bow out in the first round again? Will another public outcry be enough to convince him to look for greener pastures? My prediction is that A-Rod is going to price himself out of a ton of markets anyway, and therefore will return to the Yankees regardless of how they finish this season.

What’s your prediction on A-Rod’s future? Will he return to the Yankees or will another team pony up for his services?

The people have spoken and they have said proudly, “We want an *!” Marc Ecko, the man who purchased Barry Bonds’ record-breaking 756th home run ball for $752,467, has officially decided to brand the piece of history with an asterisk. Ecko came to the decision after holding an online poll asking fans what he should do with the home run ball. The choices included donating the ball to the Baseball Hall of Fame unscathed, blasting it into outer space, or branding it with an asterisk.

The HOF will still accept the ball, however, even with the asterisk branded into one of its sides.

“This ball wouldn’t be coming to Cooperstown if Marc hadn’t bought it from the fan who caught it and then let the fans have their say,” Petroskey told The Associated Press. “We’re delighted to have the ball. It’s a historic piece of baseball history.”

I think Ecko and the fans that voted made their point loud and clear. The ball will forever be enshrined in the HOF with a big, black branded asterisk on it. It’s remarkable to think that no matter what Bonds says or does in protest of Ecko’s decision, there’s nothing he can do about it. At least in this particular instance, the ball will forever serve as a reminder to him and baseball fans that he cheated.

For all the second chances Milton Bradley has received and blown over the years, it’s hard to feel for the guy when he gets in yet another confrontation. However, his incident Sunday with umpire Mike Winters was bizarre and for once, Bradley might have been the victim.

Bradley will miss the rest of the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He was injured when his own manager spun him to the ground while trying to keep him from going after umpire Mike Winters during an eighth-inning confrontation in Sunday’s 7-3 loss to Colorado at Petco Park.

The commissioner’s office said Monday it is investigating whether the volatile Bradley was baited by Winters. The Padres said Winters directed profanities at Bradley right before the blowup.

I realize officiating in any sport is an extremely hard job, especially with today’s athletes being as immature and arrogant as they are. But part of being an official is to not factor in the outcome of a game. The general idea is to call balls and strikes, penalties, fouls and then get the hell out of the way. Yet, NBA official Joey Crawford got personal with Tim Duncan in a game last season and now Winters might have deliberately pushed Bradley’s buttons by allegedly calling him a, “piece of s***”. These types of incidents can’t happen and hopefully Bud the slug Selig doesn’t screw up another judgment call by allowing Winters to get away with making a situation personal with a player.

Barry Bonds’ career with the Giants is over. How do we know? Why, Bonds told us himself on his website, of course. What, you thought the slugger would let the Giants break the news at some press conference? In my latest column for Bullz-Eye.com, I discuss how Bonds broke the news the only way he knows how: selfishly, and with all eyes on him.

The San Francisco Giants have apparently decided to run a baseball team again, instead of the one-man freak show they’ve been operating for over a decade. On Friday, Giants owner Peter McGowan announced the team would not bring Barry Bonds back in 2008.

“Although I am disappointed, I’ve always said baseball is a business — and I respect their decision. However, I am saddened and upset that I was not given an earlier opportunity to properly say goodbye to you, my fans, and celebrate with the city throughout the season as I truly believe this was not a last minute decision by the Giants, but one that was made some time ago.”

In typical Bonds fashion, he announced the Giants decision on his own website first, so that he could of course break the news himself.

How quickly Bonds forgets that McGowan, although cowardly, and the Giants have given him everything he’s ever asked for the past 16 years, including his own trainers, multiple lockers, a big screen TV, a huge leather chair and essentially his own clubhouse. They’ve bowed to him like Rosie O’Donnell does cupcakes, yet he still had to upstage them by breaking the news first. That’s right Barry – it’s all about you. If McGowan had any stones, he would have let Bonds go years ago. Then he could have allowed GM Brian Sabean to actually develop young talent, instead of yearly being forced into surrounding Bonds with again veterans.

Leave San Fran gracefully, Barry. Yeah the Giants made a ton of money off you, but they also gave you everything. Now it’s time for them to make a team decision and move on. Why don’t you do that yourself?