She's the sideline goddess, the fantasy of just about every male sports fan between the ages of 15 and 40 and she's pretty well-versed in the world of sports, too. She's Erin Andrews, and for years she's been peering into your eyes from the comfort of your television to let you know what the coaches said during that last television timeout.
And on Wednesday night the the evil Alex Cora of the New York Mets tried to do what your girlfriend has secretly been hoping would happen for years now. Andrews was in New York to cover the Mets-Dodgers game for ESPN when Cora fouled off a pitch into the stands. It was a seemingly harmless moment in the game but for one tiny detail. That foul ball hit Erin right on the chin.
Somebody call Tommy Lee Jones and tell him he can stop searching every warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in the Chicagoland area for missing White Sox pitcher Bartolo Colon has been found. Of course, had he started his search at a Waffle House it probably wouldn't have taken nearly as long to find him.
Colon is scheduled to start in Charlotte for the White Sox' Triple-A affiliate on Thursday but was nowhere to be found this week as the White Sox tried in vain to reach him. Where Colon was I'm not quite sure, but at least Ozzie Guillen was nice enough to explain why he was so hard to find for us.
The trade deadline is but a few weeks away and, as is normally the case, there are plenty of teams around the majors looking to make a deal, and just about all of them could use some pitching help for the stretch run. During the offseason, the pitcher most teams seemed to be after was San Diego's Jake Peavy, and the thought was that he'd command a pretty penny come the deadline, but of course his ankle injury has derailed those plans.
So if teams are looking for an ace-quality pitcher to add to their staff, they're going to have to look somewhere outside San Diego. Of course, it's not like these guys grow on trees, but after reading Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi's latest comments, any general manager worth his salt should be giving the Blue Jays a call or 30 in the next few days. They're listening to offers on Roy Halladay.
The All-Star Game will be played in St. Louis next week, but for a lot of baseball fans the game itself is secondary to some of the other events that take place during the break. The main attraction for many fans is the Home Run Derby, which will take place the Monday night before the game.
Today it was announced who the four sluggers representing the senior circuit will be and there's definitely a theme to the National League's "roster." All four participants are power-hitting first baseman from around the league. Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez and Ryan Howard will all put on what should be a rather entertaining show.
The American League will announce its participants later.
There have been plenty of moments in baseball involving steroids that stand out in our memories, but one that's always stuck in the back of my mind was Rafael Palmeiro sitting in front of Congress back in March 2005. There he was wagging his finger at Congress and saying "I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that."
Then five months later Palmeiro was being suspended 10 games by Major League Baseball for failing a steroid test. Of course Palmeiro then began backtracking and saying that he'd never "knowingly" taken any steroids in his life, and he wasn't changing his story on Friday as he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Texas Rangers were a popular darkhorse pick to win the AL West this season, and for a time they were leading the division. Unfortunately over the last few weeks they've seen their lead on the Angels disappear and are a game back going into Friday night's action. In fact, if you were so inclined, you could say that the Rangers' division lead has gone in the red.
Friday is the night that many a Dodgers fan has been waiting for. After serving his 50-game suspension, the home run-hitting, fertility drug-taking wonder that is Manny Ramirez will be back in the lineup as the Dodgers take on the Padres in San Diego. Now if you're wondering what to make of all this I invite you to give our latest BaseCast a listen as Prez and Fletch have already broken it down for you.
One question I have for tonight's game is how Manny will be treated by Padres fans. These are the same people who greeted Barry Bonds with giant syringes after all. Of course, while we know that Manny is bound to hear some boos while on the road, what kind of reaction will he get in Mannywood? Well, if Kevin Patra at the Los Angeles Times gets his way, Dodger fans will boo Ramirez.
When the St. Louis Cardinals traded for Mark DeRosa over the weekend, it was basically the unofficial start of teams swapping players before the July 31 trade deadline. Traditionally teams wait for one big domino to fall before they start wheeling and dealing, so it's no surprise that the Yankees and Pirates have now worked out a deal amongst themselves.
It hasn't been the greatest week for Cubs manager Lou Piniella. Not only is he feeling the heat of the Chicago media with the Cubs scuffling, but he's also gotten into an argument with Milton Bradley in which he called his right fielder a "piece of [expletive]." Regardless of whether the exchange should have ever left the clubhouse or not, it's not exactly the type of thing you want the world to know about.
All of this was done after a recent poll by Sports Illustrated in which Major League players were asked anonymously which manager in baseball they would least like to play for, and which one they'd most like to play for. Guess which one Sweet Lou emerged "victorious" in.
The White Sox and Cubs finished up their three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday with a 6-0 White Sox victory that came complete with another Carlos Zambrano meltdown to put the finishing touches on a very ugly weekend for the Cubs. Of course, never wanting to actually talk about what the real problems are with the team, when talking about the team's lackluster play as of late manager ,Lou Piniella started talking about how the Cubs are helping the economy.
He talked of the team playing in front of three sellout crowds during the week in Detroit and how they helped fill all the seats on the South Side of Chicago over the weekend. Well, you can't expect Lou to make a subtle dig at the White Sox attendance numbers without Ozzie Guillen getting in a response, can you?
She's the sideline goddess, the fantasy of just about every male sports fan between the ages of 15 and 40 and she's pretty well-versed in the world of sports, too. She's Erin Andrews, and for years she's been peering into your eyes from the comfort of your television to let you know what the coaches said during that last television timeout.
Somebody call 
The trade deadline is but a few weeks away and, as is normally the case, there are plenty of teams around the majors looking to make a deal, and just about all of them could use some pitching help for the stretch run. During the offseason, the pitcher most teams seemed to be after was San Diego's 
There have been plenty of moments in baseball involving steroids that stand out in our memories, but one that's always stuck in the back of my mind was 
The Texas Rangers were a popular darkhorse pick to win the AL West this season, and for a time they were leading the division. Unfortunately over the last few weeks they've seen their lead on the Angels disappear and are a game back going into Friday night's action. In fact, if you were so inclined, you could say that the Rangers' division lead has gone in the red.
Friday is the night that many a Dodgers fan has been waiting for. After serving his 50-game suspension, the home run-hitting, fertility drug-taking wonder that is 
When the St. Louis Cardinals traded for 
It hasn't been the greatest week for Cubs manager 
The White Sox and Cubs finished up their three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday with a 6-0 White Sox victory that came complete with another 
