FanHouse JohnKruk

Even though he's getting up there, 45-year-old Randy Johnson is still an imposing figure on a baseball mound. Sure, he's not the same flame-throwing southpaw that nearly made John Kruk soil himself way back in 1993, but he's still bringing it. Johnson won 11 games for the Diamondbacks last season after missing most of 2007 thanks to back surgery, and he still managed to strike out 173 batters in 184 innings.

Now he's entering the 2009 season with the San Francisco Giants only five wins shy of 300 in his career, and though Johnson realizes he's creeping up on the end of his career, that doesn't mean it's going to come anytime soon. In fact, the Big Unit isn't ruling out pitching until he's 50 years old.

Veteran first baseman Sean Casey is retiring from baseball after 12 years in the major leagues. Casey played for the Red Sox in 2008, but is best known for his time with the Reds, where he earned the nickname "The Mayor" for his genial and friendly nature in the clubhouse and at first base with opposing baserunners.

Casey was never the prototypical slugging first baseman, but he made up for it with a solid glove and a career .302 batting average. He's almost certainly not going to be the only experienced free agent to be forced into early retirement because of a lack of interest this winter, but he is one of the first noteworthy names to hang 'em up.

The good news? Casey will take his considerable good guy talents to the brand new MLB Network, where he'll join Harold Reynolds and company in their so far successful attempts to make John Kruk and the rest of ESPN's Baseball Tonight crew obsolete.

For no particular reason at all, you begin to walk. You walk to the end of the road. When you get there, you keep going to the end of town. You walk and walk and walk. Sometimes people recognize you and wave, sometimes they don't. It's all the same to you.

As you walk and walk and walk, people begin to follow you. The real crowd picks up in D.C., as you pass through on Inauguration Day. You're not sure what to make of these people. They just walk with you. Every once in a while someone tries to talk, but you never respond and eventually they get the hint.

After a while, you get bored of just walking, and stop from time to time. You help a girl get her cat out of a tree in Kansas. You spend a short amount of time fighting crime in a tight-fitting spandex uniform while the papers scream about the "Bat Man." On another pass across the country, you play detective and solve a murder in Nashville. Just for the heck of it, you stop in a random library in what you are almost certain is Nevada and just read a book to a bunch of kids. They're disappointed when it's not about baseball.

One day in Western Pennsylvania, you find some batting cages. You go in and swing. You start lacing pitching machine balls all over the cages. A crowd bigger than any of the ones that follow you on your walks springs up. When you're done swinging, you walk out of the cage and sign autographs. Lots of autographs. You even think about returning to the league.

When you walk past a TV store later that night, you see Baseball Tonight is on. John Kruk and Steve Phillips are talking. You don't understand what they're babbling about at first, but then you realize that it's you. Somehow, word of your batting cage excursion became national news in less than ten hours. You feel a little sad. THIS was why you retired. THIS is why you've felt empty for so long.

And so, with nothing else to do, you just keep on walking.

THE END.

(Not sure how you got here? Start Choose Your Own Adventure: Manny Being Choosey in Free Agency from the beginning.)

The people at ESPN know what they're talking about. I'm pretty sure Peter Gammons knows more about baseball than anybody else in the world knows about anything else in the world. If you put his baseball knowledge end-to-end it would reach Jupiter. But as I get older I become more and more aware of what ESPN is doing with their sports coverage. I hear them regularly condescend on bloggers and then do exactly what bloggers do - report the news, and make sure to unnecessarily editorialize everything you can.

So when I use my "blog" here to equate Baseball Tonight's editorialized, non-news related commentary to chimps hurling dung at each other and then screaming at their food, please understand that I'm only doing it because of my place in life and the hopelessness of my chosen profession. Without ESPN I wouldn't have known about the last 25 years of my nation's home runs.

After the jump, today's Dugout watches Baseball Tonight, makes a sound like "blergh," and then runs to its computer to anonymously put them in their place.

LeBron James knows better than any of us: There is no way the Cleveland Indians can overcome the dynastic onslaught of the New York Yankees. I mean, even if we win all of the games they're still moving on in the playoffs, and everyone in Cleveland will have to go back to watching Drew Carey and dying in the burning river or whatever it is we do here.

I, for one, support our new ant overlords. More after the jump.

Earlier in the year, I was asked in a radio interview what I thought about Steve Phillips' proposal that the Giants sit Barry Bonds out for road games so he can break the home run record at home. I thought Phillips' suggestion was idiotic; the owners were growing tired of losing, while GM Brian Sabean's job was in question. To me, there was no way the Giants would choose to sit their best player for several games and increase their chances of losing, risking fan alienation, and people's jobs.

Well, Barry Bonds will have seven games at AT&T Park in San Francisco to hit three home runs and surpass Hank Aaron's all-time home run record. If Barry doesn't, the team will be back on the road for another six games. Which brings me to Phillips, who once again on Baseball Tonight, suggested that the Giants sit Bonds on the road if he doesn't hit three home runs in the next seven games:

This has to happen at home...he better get the three home runs at home, and if he doesn't, I think the Giants have to sit him on the road against both the Dodgers and the Padres. You think about everything that's going on -- this is about history right now. This is bigger than the game. This is bigger than this pennant race so far this year. It ultimately comes back to what are the clips, what are the sound clips, what are the video clips, you want for history's sake to look back on this. If you look at the worst-case scenario, if Barry Bonds has to break this on the road in Los Angeles against their biggest rivals, what will that be? That will be booing, that will be people throwing things on the field, that will be people possibly coming on the field. The worst-case scenario could be very very ugly here. I think ultimately, the fact here is they're playing the Dodgers and Padres, so it's not going to impact the integrity of the schedule for that division race. And I know the knee-jerk reaction for everyone to say you're crazy, you can't do it, but for baseball's sake, this is exactly what has to happened.

He was then challenged by John Kruk who was shocked that Phillips could just discount the Rockies and Diamondbacks from the race, making it less fair from them. Phillips continued:

Baseball unites all Americans -- OK, not really -- so maybe if there's one thing we can all agree on, liberal or conservative, red state or blue ... is that it's at least mildly entertaining watching President Bush face to face with Karl Ravech. Too bad John Kruk wasn't invited out.

(HT: Simon On Sports)

If you were dying to hear John Kruk and Steve Phillips' indecipherable mutterings on the All-Star Game live and on location this week, you will be sorely disappointed: the Baseball Tonight set has been banned from the All-Star Game by Major League Baseball.

The reason? ESPN went ahead and reported the All-Star rosters before TBS, who had exclusive rights and a show set up specifically for the breathless revelation that Prince Fielder would indeed be the starting first baseman. Now, the Baseball Tonight set will sit idly in the outfield, being utilized by photographers with hair presumably far more voluminous than Krukie's.

Leagues and organizations do this all the time -- one way of dictating news coverage is by carefully negoiating who/what organization receives access to your events. In a way, this is a routine way for Major League Baseball to control its product. But the fact that it involves ESPN -- making clear that the leagues, and not the networks, still maintain the head spot at the power-brokerage table -- sets a precedent here that many ESPN-bashers will love, and the pro leagues will certainly appreciate. Check the nametag, grandma: you're in MLB's world now.

Regular purveyors of the sports blogosphere are most likely already hip to this interview, but if you don't fall into that category, let me catch you up to speed.

Will Leitch, he of Deadspin fame, accepted an invite to interview new MLB.com employee Harold Reynolds on Friday. Today, he transcribed the interview on his site. HR talked with Will about a myriad of topics, including whether or not he's heard from some of his former ESPN colleagues.

Kurkjian and Peter (Gammons) have called, and I speak with them a lot. Ravech has tried to contact me a couple of times. The main people I worked with were Peter, Karl, Krukie and occasionally Kurkjian, and everybody's contacted me except for Kruk. I'm not gonna sit here and slam him, though.

I think what has happened with most of the people at ESPN is, because of the lawsuit, a lot of people are afraid to get in touch with me. It's not that they don't like me. I understand.

I don't know if I necessarily agree with Reynolds' assessment that people are afraid to talk to him because of the lawsuit. You know, I'm sure it's just John Kruk is busy creating rock operas and such. But anyways, come on fellas. Look at that picture of both of you. I feel the love. Someone make a move and pick up the phone. The world awaits.

Previously At FanHouse:
Harold Reynolds Is No Longer Unemployed
John Kruk Is With Leather

The excellent Padres blog Ducksnorts has put me onto yet another story that proves John Kruk is full of it. Of course, this is something Fire Joe Morgan pointed out a long time ago, and something Deadspin picked up on recently, so it probably comes as no surprise to many of you. What's the story? Apparently in his book titled I Ain't an Athlete, Lady, John Kruk says he was the last Padre to wear jersey no. 44.

In San Diego I was the last guy to wear number 44 before they retired it for Willie McCovey. He had played there for a couple of years. I was wearing it with the Padres, but when he was voted into the Hall Of Fame, they retired it. It was kind of exciting.

Sounds great and all, right? To anyone who hasn't been watching Padre baseball the last couple years. That's the same number that adorns the back of only the best pitcher in baseball -- Jake Peavy. Ducksnorts does some more research to scrounge up all the players who have worn jersey no. 44 since Kruk, and come to find out, it's quite an extensive list.

Before the time Kruk's book went to press, John Davis and Frank Seminara wore no. 44. Since the book was published in 1994, A.J. Sager, Sean Bergman, John Vander Wal, Carlos Reyes, Tom Davey, and presently, Jake Peavy, have all worn no. 44 for the Padres. What's more, is that there are claims Kruk has even made reference to no. 44 being retired this year on Baseball Tonight! Clearly that number hasn't been retired by the Padres. In all likelihood, it won't be until Jake Peavy's done playing. But nice try anyways, John.