MLB Commissioner Bud “Light” Seelig handed down suspensions to 13 players yesterday. Twelve of the thirteen accepted their suspensions for getting caught in the Biogenesis scandal without appeal, all except Alex Rodriguez. The Dirty Dozen got fifty-game suspensions, A-Roid got suspended for 211 games - the rest of this season and the 2014 season. Here is Fox Sports with the summary of the Dirty Dozen:
Of course, A-Roid is headed for an arbitrator, if only to try and reduce the length of his suspension. The arbitration hearing could be as early as September, of sometime in November or December. This, from the NY Daily News:
According to Mike Lupica of the NY Daily News, A-Roid blames everyone but himself:
Jayson Stark of ESPN says that, regardless of A-Roid, this is a great day for the game of baseball:
The NY Post gives us a look into who the arbitrator is:
Good article from Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports on Bud Seelig and how the people around him showed him the way:
My take: Alex Rodriguez had an opportunity to come clean yesterday, take responsibility for his actions, admit he has been lying since lying to Katie Couric in 2007, since promising to stay clean in 2009, and just move forward. He swung and missed at that chance. Instead, he chose to fight and to “respect the process”, not because he is innocent, but because he is looking to reduce the time of the suspension and not lose all that money the rest of this season and next. It is all about A-Roid and his money.
A-Roid has betrayed the game, the fans, his teammates, his peers, his employers, and even himself. He hasn’t learned SQUAT from his mistakes and will continue on his little merry-go-round of life in which he is the center of the universe. However, he will not be able to lie to anyone ever again. Nothing he says will ever be believed or accepted.
The Biogenesis scandal is not limited to only baseball. A very large number of athletes from the NBA, boxing, fighting, tennis, college sports, and even high school athletes were regular customers and clients. Have any of these entities reached out to curtail PED use in their sports?
Hopefully, this is the beginning of the end of the PED issues in baseball. The players and the commissioner need to work out a strict punishment for the offenders. One strike and you’re out sounds harsh, but maybe that is what the game needs, but with safeguards built in to protect the innocent. Hit them where it hurts . . . in their wallets. More and more, the MLB players and their union no longer support the cheaters and they want the game cleaned up, once and for all. Once MLB implements these punishments and players get the message, then, and only then, will we be able to control the problem at its roots. PED’s, steroids, etc. are in the hands of high school athletes as their over-zealous parents try to live their lives vicariously through their kids.
Manny Navarro of the Miami Herald takes a look at the problem in South Florida high schools:
This has to stop now.
Let’s go to the games. The Marlins take on the Pirates in Pittsburgh in a three-game series starting tonight. Jeff Locke takes the hill for the Pirates, while the Marlins will counter with Henderson Alvarez. Game time tonight is 7:05 pm. The expected pitching matchups for the rest of the series with the Pirates:
TOMORROW Tom Koehler vs Charlie Morton 7:05 pm
THURSDAY Jose Fernandez vs Gerrit Cole 12:35 pm
After the Pirate series, the Fish will head to Atlanta to take on the Braves in a three-game set over the weekend.
The Fish are still at the bottom of the list in runs scored in MLB, with 354 runs in their 110 games. Here are the rest of the bottom-dwellers:
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 43-67 354
White Sox 41-69 402
Nationals 54-58 415
Phillies 50-61 417
Astros 36-74 419
The Yankees are making a move to join the bottom-dwellers list, as they are now the sixth lowest-scoring team in the majors, just two runs behind the Astros with 421 runs in their 111 games (57-54).
In contrast, the Boston Red Sox lead the majors with 568 runs in 114 games. The Detroit Tigers have scored 561 runs in 110 games.
In the Major Leagues yesterday, first in the National League,
Braves 3 Nationals 2
Justin Upton hit a tie-breaking home run in the eighth inning as the Braves won their 11th game in a row. Freddie Freeman went 3-4 with two RBI. The Braves lead the NL East by 13 1/2 games over the second-place Nationals.
Dodgers 3 Cardinals 2
Andre Ethier, AJ Ellis, and pitcher Zack Greinke all drove in runs in the win, the 15th consecutive road win for the Dodgers. Greinke won his 100th game in the major leagues.
Giants 4 Brewers 2
Jeff Francoeur’s pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth inning was the key hit for the Giants.
Over in the American League,
Tigers 4 Indians 2
Alex Avila belted the game-winner, a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning against Indians closer Chris Perez.
White Sox 8 Yankees 1
The White Sox ended a 10-game losing streak. Jose Quintana gave up only the one run in 6 2/3 innings. Alex Rodriguez had a bloop single in his return. Andy Pettite was awful, giving up seven runs and 11 hits while not getting out of the third inning.
Astros 2 Red Sox 0
Brett Oberholtzer threw seven shutout innings in his second major league start.
Royals 13 Twins 0
Jeremy Guthrie pitched the complete game shutout. Eric Hosmer led the way with a home run and five RBI.
Rangers 5 Angels 2
Adrian Beltre homered and Elvis Andrus had a two-run triple.
Blue Jays 3 Mariners 1
The Jays scored their three runs in the eighth inning. Mark de Rosa’s pinch-hit single was the key blow.
Today in MLB, in the National League,
Braves @ Nationals 7:05 pm
Julio Teheran vs Gio Gonzalez
Cubs @ Phillies 7:05 pm
Edwin Jackson vs Kyle Kendrick
Marlins @ Pirates 7:05 pm
Henderson Alvarez vs Jeff Locke
Rockies @ Mets 7:10 pm
Tyler Chatwood vs Jennry Mejia
A’s @ Reds 7:10 pm
Dan Straily vs Mat Latos
Dodgers @ Cardinals 8:15 pm
Clayton Kershaw vs Joe Kelly
Rays @ Diamondbacks 9:40 pm
Jeremy Hellickson vs Wade Miley
Orioles @ Padres 10:10 pm
Bud Norris vs Edinson Volquez
Brewers @ Giants 10:15 pm
Wily Peralta vs Matt Cain
Over in the American League,
Tigers @ Indians 7:05 pm
Justin Verlander vs Justin Masterson
Red Sox @ Astros 8:10 pm
Steven Wright vs Jordan Lyles
Twins @ Royals 8:10 pm
Andrew Albers vs James Shields
Yankees @ White Sox 8:10 pm
Hiroki Kuroda vs Chris Sale
Rangers @ Angels 10:05 pm
Yu Darvish vs Garret Richards
Blue Jays @ Mariners 10:10 pm
Josh Johnson vs Felix Hernandez
Here are the latest trade rumors around the majors:
Here is ESPN chiming in with their gossip:
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Luis Castillo has the Marlins record for the longest consecutive-game hitting streak at 35 games. Of course, the all-time record belongs to Joe Dimaggio, who hit in 56 consecutive games back in 1941. Who has the longest hitting streak among active players? The answer comes later, alligator.
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
The University of Miami Hurricanes are practicing in preparation for this upcoming season. Here is today’s Miami Herald daily report:
Here is David Neal’s FIU story today in the Herald:
In Dolphin news, the Dolphins next preseason game is next Friday, in Jacksonville, against the Jaguars. Game time is 7:30 pm, and you can watch it on Channel 4 in South Florida.
Here is Armando Salguero’s daily Dolphin report from the Miami Herald:
The so-called pundits didn’t like how the Dolphins and QB Ryan Tannehill looked in their first preseason game:
SIDE NOTE: It is PRESEASON football, folks. Tannehill threw five passes. Don’t sweat it. No time to panic. Yet.
Here’s ESPN’s NFL Nation Blog, with news from all around the league:
We can all continue to sleep at night, knowing full well that Aaron Hernandez remains in jail, where he belongs.
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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Luis Castillo has the Marlins record for the longest consecutive-game hitting streak at 35 games. Of course, the all-time record belongs to Joe Dimaggio, who hit in 56 consecutive games back in 1941. Who has the longest hitting streak among active players? The answer comes later, alligator.
Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies hit in 38 straight games back in 2005-2006. By the way, the last player to hit in over 30 consecutive games was our old friend Dan Uggla, who had a 33-game hitting streak in 2011.
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” radio segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com.
IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ON MY RADIO SEGMENTS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS - jerry@descargadeportiva.com
Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
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