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Hank Steinbrenner Is Still in Charge

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-11T14:13:00 00:00

Were you under the impression that Hank Steinbrenner wasn't calling the shots for the New York Yankees right now? Maybe you were thinking that Brian Cashman and Hank's brother Hal were the ones who made the decisions, and Hank was just the one who said stupid things in the media.

Well I've got some news for you. You're a know-nothing piece of crap and Hank Steinbrenner doesn't have the time to waste on your insignificant existence! He's in charge, damn it!

Sitting behind his desk at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Hank Steinbrenner yesterday spit on the notion he has taken a step back in running the Yankees

"There is one very important point here," Steinbrenner told The Post during an exclusive half-hour session. "The most important thing to remember is this: If you didn't get it from me or my brother [Hal], it doesn't mean [anything]. I don't care about some piss-ant employee. If you don't get it from me or Hal, it's meaningless. I have a lot of things [in Tampa] and Hal is in New York, which is good."

You hear that you little piss-ants!? Yeah, he's talking to you, Cashman. Hank is in charge round these parts, and he doesn't want to hear anyone say otherwise!

Also, in a delicious bit of irony, Hank goes on in his interview with the New York Post to say that he's going to shy away from the media this year. He says this after he holds an interview to reiterate that he's in charge, and then tells everybody what the team plans on doing this season and that he still feels the team should have gone after Johan Santana last winter.

Way to keep your mouth shut, Hank. That lasted a whole three, maybe even four seconds.

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Barry Bonds Gets Some Good News

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-11T13:45:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: MLB Gossip, MLB Police Blotter

We now interrupt our playoff programming to bring you an update on baseball's greatest villain: Barry Bonds.

In case you forgot about it, Barry Bonds is getting ready to go to court as part of that whole BALCO investigation we used to hear so much about. Bonds faces possible jail time if he's found guilty of perjury for lying to the grand jury during the investigation, but he did get some good news on Friday.

Tammy Thomas is a former bicyclist who was on trial for the same crime in the same BALCO investigation, and she won't have to serve any prison time even though she was found guilty.

In U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Judge Susan Illston sentenced Tammy Thomas to six months of home confinement on her four felony convictions for perjury and obstruction of justice.

Some experts said the decision was a hopeful sign for Bonds. He is scheduled to go on trial in Illston's court in March, accused of the same offenses as Thomas and facing the same prosecution team. He has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutors had asked for Judge Illston to sentence Thomas to 30 months in prison, but the judge said that would be incredibly unfair considering that Victor Conte -- the man who ran the BALCO lab -- only had to serve four months in prison.

Of course, as some legal experts point out, this doesn't necessarily mean that Bonds will be dealt the same fate. Thomas is essentially a nobody -- had you heard of her before reading this? -- while Bonds is a very well known athlete. Sentencing Bonds to jail time would send a very loud message to anybody thinking about lying to a grand jury in the near future.

We now return to our regular playoff programming.

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Jose Canseco Wants to Fight Again

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-09T14:05:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: MLB Gossip, MLB Rumors

It's been awhile since we discussed what Jose Canseco has been up to here, so I figured that today would be just as good as any to bring you all up to date. When we last heard from Jose, he was busy getting ready for his appearance on Fox's "Moment of Truth," where he would rid himself of whatever dignity he had left for some cold hard cash.

Of course, a big reason he's so low on dignity at the moment is because not too long before his television appearance, he had it knocked out of him by Vai Sikahema in a celebrity boxing match. Well, it looks like Jose isn't content with getting his butt kicked in the ring just once. According to a radio report from Philadelphia's WWIP 610AM, Jose wants to get in the ring one more time.

Jose Canseco is planning to fight again. According to WIP Radio, Canseco is looking for an opponent to fight him in the Philadelphia area this January. Canseco was knocked out by former Philadelphia Eagle Vai Sikahema in a celebrity fight on July 12th in Atlantic City. Jose, an admitted steroid user, hit 462 home runs in 17 seasons for the A's, Red Sox, Rangers and others.

Of course, we still don't know who Canseco would fight in this bout. I don't think he'll want anything to do with Vai Sikahema at this point, but there has to be some other random mediocre athlete out there in search of a paycheck. Maybe he can talk Mark McGwire into fighting him, and we can see which one of the Bash Brothers did the most steroids.

Your suggestions, as always, are welcome in the comments.

(Hat tip to SPORTSbyBROOKS)

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Why You Shouldn't Mock a White Sox Fan

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-09T13:53:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cubs, White Sox, MLB Fans, MLB Playoffs

While White Sox and Cubs fans argue constantly over which team is better, and why the other team sucks so much, we still interact with each other. We're friends, and like friends tend to do, we make fun of each other. We also place bets with one another on whose team will fare better.

That happened between one Cubs fan and a White Sox fan earlier this season, when two neighbors made a friendly bet before the two teams squared off for a three-game set at Wrigley back in June. The Cubs fan said that his Cubbies would sweep the Pale Hose, and the Sox fan told him he was nuts. They decided that the loser of the bet would by the other one dinner.

Well, the Cubs swept that series, and though the Cub fan got his dinner, it wasn't enough. That's why he snuck into the Sox fan's house and hid a broom in his kitchen doorway with a note attached that read "This is just a reminder of who the real team in Chicago is."

While Cubs fans are just kind of annoying with their smack talk and bravado, Sox fans are smarter. They're also more devious, and they know the right time to strike.

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Who Wants to Own Manny's Lincoln?

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-09T12:36:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Red Sox

If you wanted to, you could say that ever since Manny Ramirez joined the Los Angeles Dodgers he's been carrying the entire team. Or, if you want to use a metaphor that fits better in the context of this story, you could say he's been driving the entire team through the postseason. They cruised past the Cubs in the NLDS, and now they're hoping they can beat the Phillies to the finish line and get to the World Series.

If that happens, there's a good possibility that the Dodgers will be facing Manny's old team, the Boston Red Sox. The folks in Boston are aware of this as well, so right now they're doing everything in their power to rid themselves of any Manny memory.

The Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston is hoping to raise money by auctioning off a custom-built 1967 Lincoln Continental once owned by Manny Ramirez, the former Red Sox star who is now bashing balls for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ramirez donated the car to the hospital before he was traded this season. (Edit. note: Despicable!)

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Mike Scioscia Defends His Suicide Squeeze

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-09T12:14:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Angels, AL West

Looking back on game four of the ALDS between the Angels and Red Sox, there's one clear moment during the game that we can blame the Angels loss on. That would be the suicide squeeze Mike Scioscia called for from Erick Aybar in the 9th inning with Reggie Willits on third and one out. As we're all aware of by now, things didn't work out too well, and Scioscia has been catching plenty of heat for it.

Well, after a few days to reflect on the season and think about that game and his decision, Mike wants you all to know that he regrets nothing.

"If you're afraid of the downside of any situation, you're never going to achieve," Scioscia said. "I thought it was our best chance right there to get that run in and get this game to Frankie [Rodriguez] in the bottom of the ninth. . . . There was a very high probability that that ball was going to be put down to where Reggie walks home. That was the basis of my decision.

"It was an extremely high-percentage play given the count, the guy that was on base and the guy that was in the batter's box. And I'll tell you what, if it happens again, we're doing it again and Erick's getting that bunt down. I can guarantee you that."

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Travis Hafner May Need Shoulder Surgery

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-08T12:23:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Indians, AL Central, MLB Injuries, MLB Rumors

For a few years between 2004 and 2006, Travis Hafner was one of the most feared hitters in the American League. They were the only three years in his career in which he hit over .300 in a season, and he averaged 34 home runs and 111 RBI. Over the last two seasons, however, Pronk has been relatively useless to the Cleveland Indians.

Shoulder problems this season caused Hafner to spend the overwhelming majority of the season on the disabled list, and in the 57 games he did manage to play, he hit .197 with five homers and 24 runs driven in. Now, even after rehabbing the shoulder for a season, it looks like he's going to need surgery on it.

Indians general manager Mark Shapiro indicated Tuesday that Hafner could be headed for offseason surgery on the injured right shoulder that caused him to miss most of the 2008 season.

"Travis had an end-of-the-year physical and the strength in his shoulder was not what we'd hoped it would be. That's a little disappointing," said Shapiro. "The progress was not as great as we'd hoped to have seen. So right now, we're examining our alternatives with him."

Shapiro also says that should Hafner have the surgery, he has no doubt that Pronk will be 100% healthy come spring training. I'm not as confident in Hafner's health. I don't want to make accusations without concrete proof, but let's just say I don't think it's a coincidence that Hafner's slide in both numbers and health occurred after MLB and Congress started cracking down on steroids and HGH.

Besides, I don't think the Indians need Hafner anyway. The team actually performed pretty well during the second half of the season, and if they add a starting pitcher to their rotation this offseason and get some bullpen help, they'll be right back fighting for the AL Central next season. With or without Hafner.

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The Mystery of The Broken Pipe

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-08T11:57:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cubs, Dodgers, MLB Gossip, MLB Rumors

Is it just me, or are we spending way too much time talking about the Cubs on this blog lately? We're one day away from the start of the NLCS, and instead of talking about the Phililes and Dodgers, we're reporting on every little thing the Cubs do. This needs to change, and I promise you FanHouse readers I'm going to stop writing about the Cubs for the rest of the week. Right after this post.

You see, apparently after the Cubs were finished getting swept by the Dodgers on Saturday night, somebody on the team did some damage in the visitor's dugout. Now the Chicago Sun-Times' Rick Telander is on a one man mission to find the perpetrator(s).

Moments after the final out (Alfonso Soriano fanning on three pitches), one of the Cubs -- maybe two, maybe all 25 -- took something large and hard, like a shoe or bat or sledgehammer, and busted a fair-sized water pipe at the back of the visitors' dugout.

Water gushed out, and very quickly the floor of the area leading into the locker room was flooded.

Blah, blah, blah, poor sportsmanship, blah blah blah. Listen, is this really that hard to figure out? It was Carlos Zambrano, okay? I don't know if you've noticed, but he's a somewhat angry individual. We know it's Z because it obviously can't be a member of the Cubs offense.

As they showed us throughout the Dodgers series, they're fine when it comes to swinging the bat, but making contact is another story.

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Carlos Marmol Injured in a Car Accident

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-08T00:17:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cubs, MLB Injuries

Could this week get any better for the Chicago Cubs? I mean, they got the snot beat out of them by the Dodgers in the first round of the playoffs, getting swept for the second straight year. It was a devastating blow to Cubs fans all over, as I have a few friends who have slipped into catatonic states over it. It's even caused some to put their loyalty up for auction.

Of course, if whoring yourself out isn't your style, you could always just do what everybody else is and blame Kosuke Fukudome. It can't be that the Dodgers were just the better team, after all, there has to be something to blame. Whether it's a player, a goat, a black cat, or Steve Bartman. Well, I have some news for you Cubs fans out there that you might find a bit shocking. It's not a curse or any other stupid reason why you haven't won a title in one hundred years. There's something far more powerful at work here.

God hates you. Seriously. He hates you and your team with a passion. Don't believe me? Check this out.

Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol suffered minor injuries in a car accident early Tuesday in the Dominican Republic.

A truck hit a car carrying Marmol, a cousin and a friend in his hometown of Bonao near 2 a.m. The All-Star right-hander had just arrived in the Caribbean nation after the Cubs were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the playoffs.

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International Pastime: Japan Imposes Ban on Players Returning From U.S.

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-07T23:25:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: MLB Biz, MLB Rumors

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

You've probably noticed over the last few years there have been a lot more players in MLB with names that are hard to pronounce, or just sound dirty. Yes, Japan is quickly becoming the new Latin America as just about every team these days is adding a Japanese player to their roster.

It's hard to blame them for it, as guys like Ichiro Suzuki, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Matsui, and Akinori Iwamura are proving themselves to be pretty good players. It's also nice to have a Kosuke Fukudome around for a fan base to blame for everything.

Of course, on the flip side of this equation is Japan. Due to the amount of Japanese players crossing the Pacific for the honor of facing off against John Lannan and the Washington Nationals, it's leaving the Japanese league a little thin. Which is why they've decided to implement a new policy in hopes of keeping players from leaving the island.

An executive committee representing Japan's 12 professional baseball teams have agreed to introduce a ban on players returning to Japanese baseball after turning down rookie draft nominations in Japan and signing with overseas pro teams.

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Cubs Fan Selling Loyalty on eBay

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-07T13:27:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cubs, MLB Fans

As would be expected, Chicago Cubs fans haven't been the happiest people the last couple of days. You can't really blame them, as for the second straight year they had to watch their team have an excellent regular season only to be swept out of the first round of the playoffs. They've now lost nine straight postseason games, and they've now gone 100 years without a World Series title.

Of course, they wouldn't be so unhappy had the Cubs actually managed to put up a fight against the Dodgers instead of just rolling over. In fact, the Cubs played so horribly in the series that it's caused at least one fan to give up his loyalty to the team. He still needs a team to root for, though, and if you think your team could use another fan you can always buy his allegiance on eBay.

I hate to say it, but I think the time has come. What time, do you ask? Time to place another hex on the lowly Chicago Cubs. Granted, I've only suffered through 30 useless seasons of our "loveable" north-siders, but I've taken all I can take.

So, I have a proposition. In the interest of sparing my emotions from one more gut-wrenching season, I am auctioning off my loyalty to the Chicago Cubs. Now, since I realize that seems somewhat fatalistic, I will also make the provision that I will accept bids from ANYONE, even Cubs fans. That means that my loyalty will go to the highest bidder, even if that means I have to get my guts scooped out every year for the rest of my life (as a result of a winning Cubs bid).

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Galveston PD Launching Investigation Into Brandon Backe Arrest

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-07T12:49:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Astros, MLB Gossip, MLB Police Blotter, MLB Rumors

Yesterday Josh Alper told you about Brandon Backe being arrested at a wedding over the weekend. According to the police report, Brandon resisted arrest and confronted the officers and had to be subdued, along with quite a few other people in attendance at the wedding. Well, it's starting to look like the Galveston police department may have gone a little too far.

According to witness testimony, it was the police who were acting out of line, and now the Galveston police department is launching it's own internal investigation into the incident.

Witnesses said Monday that police needlessly beat, Tasered and pepper-sprayed wedding guests who were trying to comply with police commands during an incident in which officers arrested 10 people, including Backe, at an outdoor bar at the San Luis Hotel on Seawall Boulevard.

Daniel Cole O'Balle, 19, was injured during the incident and flown by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. Backe was charged with three counts of assault on a public servant and two counts of retaliation. He was released on $115,000 bond.

Galveston police spokesman Cpt. Walter Braun said the department's office of professional conduct was conducting an internal investigation, although no formal complaints of officer misconduct had been received. "This administration is taking a proactive step," Braun said.

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Ken Griffey Jr. Won't Be Retiring

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-07T12:00:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: White Sox, AL Central, MLB Gossip

Now that the season has ended for the White Sox it's time for the organization to start looking towards 2009. Sure, the team won the AL Central this season, but their series against the Tampa Bay Rays helped expose quite a few flaws that the team had, and some changes will need to be made if the team is going to get back to the playoffs again next year.

Of course, if you're going to bring in new players that means you have to get rid of the ones you have. Whether or not Ken Griffey Jr. is one of the players to go, or if he'll be back remains to be seen, but we can be pretty sure Junior isn't going to retire and make the decision easy.

''I'm not retiring. I have things to do,'' Griffey said, already at 611 home runs and turning 39 next month.

''I'd like to come back [to the White Sox],'' he said. ''It was a great ride. A lot of fun. I've had more ups than downs. The city, the fans, it's been great for me. This team fought all year. They were fun to be around. We'll see what happens.''

Well it's nice that you want to come back, Ken, but I can't say I want you back. Seeing Junior play just about everyday for two months helped me see just how far he has fallen from greatness. I knew he wasn't the same player anymore, but I had no idea how bad things had gotten.

The truth is, Griffey is exactly the kind of player on the White Sox roster they need to replace. They have enough concrete footed sluggers in their lineup, and really, Griffey isn't much of a slugger anymore anyway.

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Charlie Weis Is Looking for a New Kicker

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-06T13:20:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Notre Dame, NCAA FB Rumors

There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic in South Bend right now. After all, at this time last year the Fighting Irish were 0-5 and well on there way to the worst season in school history. This season they've already surpassed 2007's win total, and are 4-1 while seeming to get better every week. Jimmy Clausen improves with each game, having two consecutive career games, and wide receivers Michael Floyd and Golden Tate give the Golden Domers the ability to score from anywhere on the field.

If there has been a weakness for this Irish team, though, it's been the kicker. Through five games Irish kicker Brandon Walker has made only one of his seven field goal attempts, and he's seven for twenty dating back to last season. After two more misses on Saturday in Notre Dame's 28-21 win over Stanford, Charlie Weis has seen just about enough of Mr. Walker.

"We definitely have to explore Ryan [Burkhart] kicking field goals,'' Weis said Sunday. ''Because in Brandon's case, it's not obviously a case of being able to kick it high enough or far enough. When you're 1 out of 7 kicking field goals, it just doesn't cut it.

''I've heard worse suggestions than that,'' Weis said when asked if sitting Walker for a game or two was an option. ''I don't know the answer to that at this point. We're going to get after this Monday and Tuesday, and we're going to make a decision on what we're going to do.

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Could the Twins Trade Delmon Young?

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-06T12:52:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Twins, AL Central, MLB Rumors

The Minnesota Twins may have come up a run short of winning the AL Central this year, but it was still a pretty successful season for the team. After all, nobody expected them to be competitive this season after losing both Torii Hunter and Johan Santana, yet there they were challenging for another division title.

Another reason that the Twins were a surprise this year is that they played the majority of the season without right fielder Michael Cuddyer, and though Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau get most of the attention in the Twins lineup, Cuddyer has always been a dangerous presence. His absence turned out to be a bit of a blessing though as it allowed Denard Span to get playing time, and Span took advantage of it to emerge as the team's lead-off hitter of the future. Which is why it's entirely possible that Delmon Young will be traded this winter after only one season in Minnesota.

The Twins won't talk about it, but it's expected that Delmon Young, the left fielder they obtained from Tampa Bay before this past season, will be made available on the trade market.

Seeing as how Cuddyer signed a three-year $23 million extension before the season, it's unlikely the Twins will want to move him, so Young seems to be the most logical choice, Delmon didn't really produce as much as the Twins would have liked when they sent Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza to the Rays for him, yet he still has enough value to bring back a third baseman or shortstop for next season.

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Alfonso Soriano Has Some Odd Excuses

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-06T12:31:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cubs, MLB Gossip, MLB Playoffs

Ever since the Cubs were swept out of the NLDS by the Dodgers on Saturday night, I've heard quite a few different excuses for their postseason collapse. First and foremost, there's the idiotic ones about the team being cursed, which we all know is a bunch of crap. Then there are some who just think that the team collapsed under the weight of a 100-year title drought.

While some of the excuses are viable, and others are just plain dumb, there's one explanation for the Cubs failures that rules the roost of ridiculousness, and it comes from left fielder Alfonso Soriano.

"Yeah, it's tough," he said. "We tried, but it just didn't happen. We played all year like a very good team and we expected a little bit more, but it didn't happen.

"We're a very good team for [162] games, but we don't do nothing after that. That's the difference. We're not put together for [a short series]."

That could honestly be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard, and keep in mind that I have to listen to myself talk 24 hours a day.

The Cubs aren't built for a short series? That's funny, because I always thought that the most important part of a team in a short series was their starting rotation, and last I checked the Cubs had a pretty good one. Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden, and Ted Lilly seem like a rotation that's built for a short series to me.

I mean, isn't the entire regular season just a whole lot of short series packaged together? They did pretty well there, didn't they?

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Paging Kosuke Fukudome, You're Hated

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-04T12:50:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cubs, MLB Fans, MLB Playoffs

Life is not good for Kosuke Fukudome right now. The Cubs are down two games to none in their NLDS series against the Dodgers, he's hitless in eight postseason at bats, kids are getting in trouble at school for wearing his jersey, and those headbands fans used to wear around Wrigley are still being used, but by fans to hang themselves with.

To put it plainly, Kosuke's life just sucks right now. His manager made it pretty clear that he's not going to be playing again anytime soon, and now poor Kosuke is even getting heckled at O'Hare Airport when he's not even there.

Passengers at O'Hare Airport were surprised to hear his name being paged over the public address system in Terminal B on Friday morning.

But it turned out that it was all a joke.

"Paging Kosuke Fukudome, paging Kosuke Fukudome ... Please report to the Cincinnati Reds. You have been traded for a player to be named later."

Some of the passengers waiting for flights laughed, while others cringed.

See, now that's just cold. While Fukudome has struggled mightily for months now, it's pretty unfair for Cubs fans to unleash all their frustration on him. I mean, it's not like he's the only member of the team to disappear in October. The fact that the middle of the Cubs order has disappeared, the infield can't play defense anymore, and the pitching staff can't get anyone out when it counts isn't helping much either.

There's plenty of blame to go around Wrigleyville right now, Cubs fans, so spread the love.

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MLB Playoff Debates: Rays vs. White Sox

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-02T13:17:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Rays, White Sox, MLB Playoffs

Every four years, Major League Baseball's postseason intersects with a presidential election. This is one of those years. In the spirit of the season, we here at MLB FanHouse have divided the playoff teams up for a series of debates. Tom Fornelli and Eamonn Brennan discuss the ALDS between the Rays and White Sox.

Eamonn and I took a look at this series and broke it down into six key areas: Starting rotation, Bullpen, Defense, Lineup, Bench, and Manager. Then for good measure we throw in our five-star lock of the week predictions, because we're psychic mediums in our spare time.

All of the debating goodness after the jump.

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Carlos Quentin Eyes the ALCS

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-02T11:45:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: White Sox, MLB Gossip, MLB Injuries, MLB Playoffs

After losing their best hitter, Carlos Quentin, for just about all of September, the White Sox nearly missed the playoffs this season, and needed to win three straight games against three different teams to get to Tampa. The reason for this is because the White Sox offense lost any kind of consistency it had while Quentin has been relegated to the bench.

They're a team that relies heavily on the home run, and without Quentin in the lineup they've become more long ball dependent than ever before. While Carlos still lead the team with 36 homers this season, he's the one White Sox slugger who decides to throw some doubles, singles, and walks in his arsenal as well, and when Jermaine Dye and Jim Thome hit their moonshots, he's usually on base.

Of course, not having Quentin available for their series against the Tampa Bay Rays won't help their chances to get by the young upstarts, but should they pull it off, Carlos thinks he might be available for the ALCS.

But the subsiding pain has raised Quentin's confidence to the point where he thinks he could be ready should the Sox advance to the AL Championship Series.

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Dick Stockton Needs To Go

Tom Fornelli — 2008-10-02T10:16:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cubs, Dodgers, MLB Media Watch, MLB Playoffs

Okay, so I've spent a lot of time over the last two days watching playoff baseball on TBS, and while there are plenty of things I'm not too thrilled about with their coverage, for the most part it hasn't been half bad. The studio show with Ernie Johnson, Dennis Eckersley, and Cal Ripken is a bit unwatchable at times, but they're still getting the feel for each other, so there's a chance for it to get better.

A quick fix would be to replace Ripken with Charles Barkley, but I'm pretty sure that it would be impossible to get him away from whichever golf course/craps table he's frequenting at the moment. So I guess I'll just have to deal with Ripken and cross my fingers he gets better. The one thing I know I can't take much more of, though, is Mr. Dick Stockton.

How does this man continue to get work with networks? The man butchers names on a regular basis, and half the time I'm not even sure he knows where he is. Dick was working the Cubs and Dodgers game on Wednesday, and before the first pitch was even thrown he'd already made two mistakes.

When describing how historic a matchup it was to have the Dodgers and Cubs playing a postseason series, he said "to say this is a big series would be an understudy." I think he meant to say understatement, but with Dick Stockton, who knows for sure? Maybe he really meant that it would be a great series that TBS can move to the primetime slot when they don't have a Red Sox/Angels game to show.

A minute later he referred to Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster as Bryan Dempster. It's a tiny mistake, I know, but it's the kind of error Stockton makes on a regular basis. If TBS wants to make their baseball coverage better, the first move they should make is finding a replacment for Stockton.

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