FanHouse Baseball Brunch

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

Cody Ross blames his mom.

"My dad was a really good athlete (Kenny Ross, who played safety at New Mexico in the late 1960s)," said Ross, the Marlins' right fielder. "My dad was all right[-handed]. My mom's a lefty, so maybe I got that gene from her."

Ross and St. Louis' Ryan Ludwick are the only two active position players who throw left and bat right. Just 14 such players in baseball history have gotten as many as 1,000 at-bats -- and that list now includes a Hall of Famer, Rickey Henderson.

"He kind of put us on the map," Ross said.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

In two days, major league teams will begin playing with different rules than they did for the first five months of the season.

Some clubs will have 25-man rosters. Some will have 28-man rosters. Some will have 32-man rosters.

Some will have extra relievers if the game goes to extra innings. Some won't.

Some will have a pinch-running specialist. Some won't.

That's what we get with expanded September rosters.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

Tossing an $8 beer on the head of an opposing outfielder, as happened at Wrigley Field last Wednesday -- that's a waste.

Spending $28 on a Jeff Samardzija t-shirt, which is what it still cost Thursday after Samardzija was sent back to Triple-A -- that's a waste.

Now Cubs fans have to hope the entire 2009 season isn't a waste.

One player didn't hesitate to use the term "underachieving" to describe the team's year, but others stop short of that.

"I'd like to save that for later on, if we don't get in [the postseason]," general manager Jim Hendry told FanHouse. "I'd like to think we've got a good run in us [and] we still get in."

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

The most significant trade of last winter barely caused a ripple at the time.

The same day the Mets signed Francisco Rodriguez and traded for J.J. Putz, and the day after the Yankees came to terms with C.C. Sabathia, the Tigers sent outfielder Matt Joyce to the Rays for right-hander Edwin Jackson.

Or don't you remember?

Eight months later, Jackson is second in the AL with a 2.62 ERA and leads the league with a .217 opponents' average. Ignore his 8-5 record; Detroit has scored three runs or fewer in 10 of his 22 starts, and more than five runs just twice.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

Yes, the Dodgers' solar system revolves around Manny Ramirez. He's their star on the field and their main attraction.

But they wouldn't have Ramirez, nor many of the players who carried the team in his absence, were it not for a farm system that has been remarkably productive.

"It's nice that management kept us all here," ace Chad Billingsley told FanHouse. "There's some teams that maybe just start trading guys away. And believing in us, that's a huge thing."

In the 2002-03 drafts, Los Angeles took Russell Martin, James Loney, Jonathan Broxton, Matt Kemp and Billingsley. Those five players made their big league debuts within an 11-month span, from July 2005 to June 2006.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

The most remarkable thing about this season as we hit the not-halfway halfway point of the All-Star break isn't Albert Pujols' RBI total. Or Zack Greinke's ERA. Or the PED suspension of one of the game's biggest stars.

It's the standings. And they not only reflect the season so far, they give us a clue as to the weeks head leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline.

The Phillies and Dodgers are the only first-place team with a lead of more than 2 1/2 games. And 21 of the 30 teams are within 7 1/2 games of a playoff spot: nine of 14 in the AL and 12 of 16 in the NL.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

A week ago Sunday night, Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save. Which should make us realize a few things about closers:

• The truly great ones are the those who can sustain it for a long time. Getting 40 saves a year for 12 years would still leave one short of 500.

• Even getting to the second tier isn't easy. Only 18 players have had as many as six 30-save seasons: Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith, Billy Wagner, Troy Percival, John Wetteland, Dennis Eckersley, John Franco, Jason Isringhausen, Robb Nen, Jeff Reardon, Todd Jones, Jose Mesa, Roberto Hernandez, Randy Myers, Rick Aguilera, Tom Henke and Todd Worrell.

In other words, the shelf life for a typical closer is a short one. They can burst onto the scene – and flame out quickly (right, Mr. Gagne?)

• But it also means that teams can find short-term solutions for the ninth inning any number of ways.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

"This concludes our test of the emergency attendance enhancement system. We now return to the regularly scheduled season."

Yes, the 13th season of interleague play wraps up Sunday, except for a Cubs-White Sox makeup game. We have survived six San Diego-Seattle games (that's more zeroes than an A-Rod paycheck).

We didn't learn much we didn't already know: the system has inherent flaws and the American League rules.

For the sixth straight year, the AL has had** the better record in interleague play – 129-108 going into today.

Take out Cleveland and Oakland, and the AL is 119-84.

"It probably is" as big a gap between leagues as in past years, one AL team official said, "until you get to the World Series. Then it doesn't matter."

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

Everyone knows the No. 1 prospect in Tuesday's draft (and if you don't, read this). But after Washington selects Stephen Strasburg, things get less precise.

"Anybody from [No.] 2 to 15 could be just as good as the other guy," an executive from an NL team with a high pick told FanHouse. "It's really a strange year because it is in the eye of the beholder."

For example, Arizona State right-hander Mike Leake has been discussed as high as No. 3 overall, to the Padres. But he's more likely to go in the middle of the first round, no lower than Arizona's picks at 16 and 17.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

When Willy Aybar's home run Thursday in Cleveland was upheld by a video review, it marked the sixth time in six days umpires made use of baseball's instant-replay rule.

So the natural question to ask Jimmie Lee Solomon, Major League Baseball's executive vice president of baseball operations, is why the flurry of trips to the secret chamber to watch replays? Are the umps more willing to consult the tape than in the past?

"These things come in bunches," Solomon told FanHouse.