Rattler Radio

Simple routines were a source of comfort to Gehrig. Each spring, he would hand two dollars to Doc Painter, the team's trainer, and Painter would buy him forty packs of chewing gum. Each morning, when Painter arrived in the clubhouse, he would remove one piece of gum from a pack -- two if the Ynkees had a doubleheader that day -- and place the gum atop Gehrig's locker.

Gehrig liked to smooth the dirt around first base with his toe cleats before each pitch. He liked to spit on the palms of his hands between swings. When he drew a walk, he didn't drop his bat at home plate but tossed it gently in the direction of the dugout to make it easier for the batboy to retrieve. He believed in eating a big breakfast and getting a lot of fiber in his diet. He took a laxative called Agarol every night before bed. He seldom drank but smoked more than he cared to admit. He put himself through no elaborate pre-game rituals and required no long post-game rubdowns. Only the gum was an obsession. He wouldn't chew more than one stick a game, wouldn't accept a stick from anyone but Painter, and insisted on paying for it himself.

1972
A plane carrying Roberto Clemente to Nicaragua on a mercy mission for earthquake victims crashes into the Atlantic Ocean. Clemente, who batted .317 in 18 seasons with the Pirates, is presumed dead at age 38.

The Roberto Clemente Award is given annually to a player who demonstrates the values Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others. Each club nominates a player in September. The winner is selected from 30 nominees during the World Series.

Mulder meets with Agent Arthur Dales' brother (also named Arthur!) and is told a tale of a talented negro baseball player from Roswell, New Mexico in the 1940's who may have been an alien that ran away from his colony because of his love for the game.

Mulder: I'm reading the box scores, Scully. You'd like it. It's like the Pythagorean Theorem for jocks. It distills all the chaos and action of any game in the history of all baseball games into one tiny, perfect, rectangular sequence of numbers. I can look at this box and I can recreate exactly what happened on some sunny summer day back in 1947. It's like the numbers talk to me, they comfort me. They tell me that even though lots of things can change some things do remain the same. It's . . .

Scully: Boring.

Catcher: "Hey, Ex. I heard the Yankees have been calling you."

Josh Exley: "I'm fine playing here in the Cactus leagues. It's nice and quiet." [The next pitch bounces off a much-abused cactus]

Umpire: "Ball!" [to Moose] "Leave the cactus alone, son!"

Catcher: "Gee, I don't know, Ex. The Yanks could use those 60 home runs a year. Well, now that, uh, Jackie Robinson's up there in the Bigs, people are saying you're going to be next. The first black Negro man of colour in the American League. Shoot, Ex, you'll be famous, man."

Josh Exley: "I don't want to be no famous man. Just want to be a man."**

Officer: [answering phone] "Macon police department. Can I help you?"

Officer Dales: "Yeah, my name's Arthur Dales. I'm with the Roswell Police Department. I'm doing a background check on a gentleman I believe is from your area. His name is Josh Exley."

Officer: "You want information on a Josh Exley?" [He hands the phone to another man]

Bounty Hunter: "Yeah, name rings a bell. Yeah, I got a Josh Exley. A six-year-old coloured boy disappeared oh, maybe five years ago. Now do you got a read on this Josh Exley's whereabouts?"

Officer Dales: "Six years old?"**

Grey Alien: "This is ridiculous. You're supposed to be a big, bad policeman." [Officer Dales gasps in panic] "Now, hold up, Arthur. Now, before you go fainting again, listen to me. It's me, Arthur. It's Ex."

Officer Dales: "This is an interesting dream. Wake up. Come on, Artie."

Grey Alien: "Man, you ain't dreaming. This is what I really look like. This is the real me."

Officer Dales: "Ex? It's really you under there, Ex?" [He begins touching the alien face, poking around the lip and nose. Josh Exley puts up with it for a moment, then reaches over and sticks his finger up Officer Dales nose] "Ow!"

Grey Alien: "I ain't under anything, Arthur, and I'm trying not to be insulted by your reaction to my true face. Look, would it be easier if I looked like this?" [He morphs into a beautiful woman and climbs onto Officer Dales lap] "Would this be easier for you to handle?"

Officer Dales: "Mmm... No. Somehow, that's even weirder."**

Josh Exley: "See, there's something you got to understand about my race. We don't have a word for laughter. We don't laugh. I don't know if you noticed in between all that fainting you was doing, but we have very tiny mouths, so no smiling even."

Officer Dales: "Wow."

Josh Exley: "But I tell you, when I saw that baseball game being played this laughter just... it just rose up out of me. You know, the sound the ball makes when it hits the bat?"

Officer Dales: "Yeah."

Josh Exley: "It was like music to me. You know, the smell of the grass, 11 men — first unnecessary thing I ever done in my life and I fell in love. I didn't know the unnecessary could feel so good. You know, the game was meaningless but it seemed to mean everything to me. It was... useless, but perfect."**

The sale of the Swing of the Quad-Cities moved one step closer to reality Thursday.

Main Street Baseball, the Florida-based company headed by Dave Heller and Bob Herrefeldt, announced it has signed an asset purchase agreement with Seventh Inning Stretch, which has operated the club under the leadership of Kevin Krause since 1998.

The agreement allows the proposed sale to begin to work its way through baseball’s approval process.

The sale price is undisclosed, but Krause said it is within the range of recent Midwest League transactions, putting it in the $7 million neighborhood.

“This brings a sense of finality to our agreement,” Krause said.

“Operating our club has been a passion of mine for almost a decade, and my hope is that things go well for them moving forward. We all hope the approval process will move quickly.”

Baseball’s approval process can take anywhere from 3-to-6 months to complete. Heller is hopeful that his ownership of a Class A club in Columbus, Ga., and Herrefeldt’s history of working as the vice president of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats can expedite the process.

“We’ve been through it before and honestly, we’re excited to get going. We love the potential we see in the Quad-Cities,” Heller said.

“I love that ballpark and the setting. It is unequaled. We are going to make changes, and our hope is that the fan experience at games in the future will be unequaled as well.”

Heller said specifics will be unveiled in upcoming weeks, but said his primary objective is “bring the fans closer to the action” and increase value for both fans and sponsors of the team.

...envision to enthusiastically supply value-added catalysts for change in order that we may conveniently leverage existing scalable data while maintaining the highest standards.

Our mission is to assertively foster excellent deliverables such that we may continue to synergistically pursue quality products because that is what the customer expects.

"Comment 1: Another out of town owner. Do we all remember our experience with Mr. Holtzman? Comment 2: I wonder how much the new ammenities that the new owner says are 'necessary' will cost us? "

1943
Happy New Year to a couple of Babes. The Phillies send the much-traveled Babe Dahlgren to Pittsburgh for catcher Babe Phelps and cash.

1907
The Spalding Commission reports that baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839. The Commission is convinced by the testimony of Abner Graves, who claimed to be a childhood companion of Doubleday's. Grave's story is later "verified" when an old, rotting ball is found among his personal effects: The ball is now in the Hall of Fame. The Commission ignores the fact that Doubleday did not graduate from West Point until 1842.

If this were a list of the most popular Cubs of all time rather than the greatest Cubs of all time, there isn't much doubt that Jody Davis would rank even higher. Why was Jody Davis so popular? Was it because the Cubs had struggled to find a catcher since Randy Hundley got old? Was it because Jody had overcome many obstacles to become an All-Star catcher? Maybe it was because of his blue-collar hard-working attitude? Or perhaps it was just because his name could be sung to "The Ballard of Davy Crockett"? Whatever the reason, to this day, almost twenty years since he last wore a Cub uniform, Jody Davis remains one of the most popular Cubs ever.

In the game in Pittsburgh that clinched the NL East for the Cubs in 1984, Rick Sutcliffe was throwing a two-hitter going into the ninth and Pirate centerfielder Joe Orsulak had gotten both hits off of Sutcliffe. With two outs and Orsulak coming to bat, Davis walked out to the mound, aware of the history that was about to be made. Davis told Sutcliffe that he wanted to catch the game-winning ball. Sutcliffe just rolled his eyes at the Davis' expectation that Sutcliffe could just strike out a batter who was 2 for 3 with a triple off of him that night. Davis went back behind the plate and Sutcliffe, despite his doubts, proceeded to strike out Orsulak. Jody Davis was a player who believed in the Cubs.

Emiliano Fruto has been one of the best relief pitchers in the Venezuelan Winter League this season.

Pitching for the Cardenales de Lara, the right-hander is 2-1 with five saves and a 2.61 ERA over 19 appearances. He has struck out 26 over 20 2/3 innings and has not yielded a hit over his last six outings.
...
The Columbia native is currently on the Nationals' 40-man roster, but it's unknown whether he will make the team out of Spring Training. At just 22, Fruto could benefit from spending some additional time in the Minor Leagues.

"Now that all the major free agents are signed, we're looking for the trade market," [Mariner president Chuck] Armstrong said. "But you've got to trade something to get something."

2001
The Mets acquire OF Gary Matthews Jr. from the Pirates in exchange for cash considerations.

1969
The New York Times reports that Curt Flood will sue baseball and challenge the reserve clause.

In an act that Flood felt was "impersonal," the Cardinals traded him, Tim McCarver, Byron Browne, and Joe Hoerner to the Phillies on October 7, 1969, for slugger Dick Allen, Cookie Rojas, and Jerry Johnson. Flood balked at his trade to Philadelphia, which had a poor team and played its games in an old stadium, before usually belligerent fans in 1969. Flood fought the reserve clause. He first asked Commissioner Kuhn to declare him a free agent, and was denied. He filed suit on January 16, 1970, stating that baseball had violated the nation's anti-trust laws.

Ironically, even though he lost the lawsuit, the reserve clause was struck down in 1975 when arbitrator Peter Seitz ruled that since pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally played for one season without a contract, they could become free agents. This decision essentially dismantled the reserve clause and opened the door to widespread free agency.

It's rare when a baseball trade becomes part of a sitcom, but the swap between the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees midway through the 1988 season sure did.

During an episode of the "Seinfield" in 1996, Frank Costanza asks George Steinbrenner: "What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for?! He had 30 home runs and over 100 RBIs last year. He's got a rocket for an arm. You don't know what the hell you're doin'!"

Then-Mariners general manager Dick Balderson certainly knew what he was doing when he acquired Buhner from the Yankees for left-handed hitter Ken Phelps and two Minor League pitchers.

Phelps spent the remainder of that season and part of the next for the Yankees, hitting 17 home runs and driving in 51 runs in 292 at-bats. Buhner spent the remainder of that season, and the next 13, becoming one of the Mariners' most popular and productive players.

He hit 307 home runs and drove in 951 runs for Seattle, and provided clubhouse leadership that helped the franchise reach unprecedented heights from 1995, when the Mariners captured their first American League West championship, through 2001.
...
When teammates needed a pat on the back, he was there with a soft hand. When someone needed a kick in the pants, he was there with a hard boot.

"Jay was very productive, obviously," former Mariners manager Lou Piniella said, "but he was a leader in the clubhouse. Having someone like Jay around makes it easy for the manager, it really does. When you have a bit of a problem that you don't want to correct yourself, you just go over and whisper in his ear and he would take care of it."

Though the Mariners never have retired a uniform number, Buhner's No. 19 remains off-limits to any other player. As a tribute to his impact on the franchise, the Mariners inducted him into their Hall of Fame on Aug. 24, 2004, joining former first baseman Alvin Davis and broadcaster Dave Niehaus in the exclusive club.

It's been nearly two decades since Dave Bresnahan pulled The Great Potato Caper. And while the stunt may have contributed to the premature end of his baseball career, his spud-throwing session remains as one of the most talked-about events in Minor League history.

Bresnahan was a light-hitting backup catcher in 1987, playing out the year for a mediocre Williamsport team in the Double-A Eastern League. And when he and his teammates decided to have some fun at the expense of the Reading Phillies during the final weekend of the season, one of the most imaginative pranks in baseball history drew the expected guffaws.
...
It's understandable that people have had a hard time forgetting what Bresnahan did on a late August night in 1987. His actions at Bowman Field seemed to come straight from the pages of comedy script and to this day, talk of what he did still draws laughter. But there was nothing funny about the fallout after Bresnahan smuggled a potato onto the field and hurled it into left field in an attempt to fool the umpires, the fans and the Reading Phillies.

"I was the backup catcher and when you're sitting in the bullpen, you have to do something to break the boredom," he said. "So we had a lot of discussions from baseball to politics. We talked about all kinds of tricks people had done, whether they were in college or high school. We talked about bringing a potato or a roll of tape onto the field.
...
When Reading's Rick Lundblade reached third base with two outs in the fifth inning of the opener, Bresnahan put his plan into action. He informed home plate umpire Scott Potter that something was wrong with his glove and that he would need to get a new one from the dugout. The move would serve as the signal to his teammates that the plan was about to be enacted.

Stashed in his spare glove was the potato that would change his life. When Bresnahan trotted back onto the field, spud in tow, he called for the requisite low, outside pitch, one which the batter would take. During the pitch, he moved the potato from his glove hand to his throwing hand and upon catching the ball, sprang up and hurled the potato over the Swain's head and into left field.

Lundblade broke for the plate but upon reaching home, Bresnahan smiled, produced the ball and tagged him for the third out of the inning. He quickly rolled the ball back to the mound and headed for the dugout as he and his teammates enjoyed a good laugh.

"I started to run to the dugout and I hear the third-base umpire yelling that it's a 'bleeping' potato," Bresnahan said. "My roommate had a close friend who had an umpire for a close friend and we had called him about a week before to see how he would rule. He said he felt they'd just send the runner back to third and kick me out of the game.
...
Williamsport manager Orlando Gomez yanked Bresnahan immediately and eventually fined him $50. Potter called the runner safe and the inning continued. The Bills went on to win the game, but that wasn't the end of the story. Gomez was so incensed at what had taken place he helped orchestrate Bresnahan's release from Cleveland the following day.

"[Gomez] thought I did it to make him look bad," Bresnahan said. "But that was not the case. I still don't think he looks upon me positively, but he doesn't get it. He wanted to fight me. Jeff Scott, Cleveland's Minor League director at the time, saw great humor in it but they had to make an example that they couldn't have players pulling stunts. And I was just the backup catcher.

"I think the overreaction they had to it is what got all the attention. They got rid of me when other guys get second and third and fourth chances. I think it was unfair to get released. I guess if I was hitting .340 instead of .140 it would have been different."

Lundblade, meanwhile, enjoys nearly as much notoriety as Bresnahan.

Now a lawyer in Oregon, the Stanford graduate says the incident is a hot topic of conversation several times a year after folks come across his name on the Internet.

"It seems like not a year goes by without someone telling me about the potato incident," Lundblade said. "It's a story that has never died, and I suspect it never will. It was a fun moment in retrospect. Richie
Ashburn was the color guy for the Phillies and the following day he was talking about it.

"And he says 'The funny thing is, the Lundblade kid actually went to Stanford. The Stanford guy couldn't distinguish between the potato and the baseball.'"

ELKHORN-Baseball is America's game, but is it right for Elkhorn?

Walworth County supervisors are asking themselves that question, weighing the pros and cons of a Chicago company's plan to bring a youth baseball and other sports complex to the county.
...
Intersport wants to build on 250 acres of county-owned land north of the law enforcement center and judicial center on County NN. The land now is rented to a farmer for corn and soybeans.

Supervisors are determining how that land could best be used-agriculture, residential development or a sports complex that company officials say would inject millions of dollars into the local economy.
...
Intersport estimates a $40.1 million building investment over five years, which would include 16 baseball diamonds, four soccer fields, three full-court basketball gymnasiums, 98 player cabins and a minor league baseball field.

It predicts an economic impact of $6.3 million to $7.7 million in the first year of operations and up to $150 million when all phases are completed.

No amount of money, it seemed, could keep Dallas Stars goalie Ed Belfour out of jail. Belfour first offered Dallas police officers $100,000, then $1 billion, if they would not jail him in connection with a scuffle March 8 at a hotel, according to the Forth Worth Star-Telegram.

An arrest-warrant affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram describes Belfour, who helped the Stars win the Stanley Cup last season, as intoxicated and combative, spitting in one officer’s face following his arrest. Police had to spray Belfour with Mace, but he continued to resist them, kicking two officers in the chest as they tried to restrain him.

They report stated that later in the police cruiser Belfour began begging officers not to take him to jail by offering them $100,000, then progressively higher amounts until reaching $1 billion.

1983
Free-agent OF Warren Cromartie signs a reported 3-year, $2.5 million contract to play for Japan's Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. The 30-year-old Cromartie, who hit .278 for the Expos last season, is the best American player to jump to Japan while still in his prime.

Rich Gossage is hoping that his eighth year on the Hall of Fame ballot will be sprinkled with some magic. Each year since the Baseball Writers Association of America has had the opportunity to vote for him, Gossage, one of the top relief pitchers in history, has been less and less optimistic about his chances.

"I've felt the best this year, though, about the possibility of going in," Gossage said from his home in Colorado Springs. "I don't know if that's because of the feedback I'm getting from the writers who are calling me or what. The funny thing is, I always hear the good things. Nobody ever calls to tell me why they didn't vote for me. I guess they never would, but I never even hear it through the grapevine."
...
The Goose's baseball career line over 23 seasons is a road map of baseball stops around world: Chicago (White Sox), Pittsburgh, New York (Yankees), San Diego, Chicago (Cubs), San Francisco, Yankees again, Fukuoka, Japan, Arlington, Tex., Oakland and Seattle.

Gossage finished 124-107 with 1,502 strikeouts -- nearly one an inning -- and a 3.01 ERA. His 310 saves are 16th on the all-time list, but he never had more than 33 saves in a single season -- reaching that mark in 1980 with the Yankees.
...
...[W]hen it comes to closers, Gossage doesn't want to be compared to [Dennis] Eckersley or any other in the recent era, such as the Yankees' Mariano Rivera or the Padres' Trevor Hoffman, who took over the all-time saves lead in 2006.

"We're not even in the same league," said Gossage, who is 54 years old now. "Whether I belong in the Hall or not, I don't even know. I really don't. I guess what I based my hopes on, the reason that I thought I had a good shot, was that Rollie Fingers is in. I don't know what I did that Fingers didn't do. Is there something that I'm missing? I'm even more baffled because he's in the Hall."

Fingers, who was inducted in 1992, had 341 saves and threw 1,701 innings in 17 seasons. Gossage had 31 less saves in 1,809 innings.
...
Gossage's star has been rising among that privileged class. In 2006, when Sutter was elected, Gossage's name was penned on 64.2 percent of the ballots, up from 55.2 percent in 2005 and a big rise from the scant 40.7 percent he garnered in 2004. A former player needs to be named on 75 percent of the ballots cast to be elected and has 15 years of eligibility.

"Don't even compare me with Dennis Eckersley or Mariano Rivera. I'd love to have been used like them."

With a new starting pitcher (Jarrod Washburn) and catcher (Kenji Johjima) in tow, Seattle entered 2006 with the hopes of climbing out of the cellar in the American League West.

That didn't happen, though the Mariners contended for the division title up until August and showed a nine-game improvement from 2005, and did so with a roster that relied on several young players like pitcher Felix Hernandez, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and second baseman Jose Lopez.

The Mariners feasted on the National League West in Interleague Play, going 18-8, but struggled mightily against their AL West brethren, going 19-38 against the A's, Angels and Rangers, including an 0-11 divisional road trip that saw them go from 5 1/2 games back to 14 by the time the trip was over.
...
The Mariners' bullpen proved to be one of the best in the league, especially at the back end where setup man Rafael Soriano (1-2, 2.25 ERA) and J.J. Putz (36 saves) gave the Mariners a strong 1-2 combination in the eighth and ninth innings.

January
First-year pitching coach Rafael Chaves talked with MLB.com about his thoughts on the pitching staff and getting the chance to work in the Major Leagues.

...[P]itcher Felix Hernandez proved to be a hit with fans during the team's annual FanFest event at Safeco Field.

May
Seattle starter Joel Pineiro was named the American League's Player of the Week for winning consecutive starts against Cleveland and Minnesota. Pineiro didn't walk a batter in 17 combined innings over those two starts.

August
Hernandez tossed his first complete-game shutout on Aug. 28 as the Mariners defeated the Angels, 2-0. Hernandez got 16 ground-ball outs in a game that took just one hour and 51 minutes to play.

September
Pitcher Cha Seung Baek -- in his audition for a rotation spot in 2007 -- held the Rangers to four hits over seven innings in a 7-2 victory over Texas on Sept. 8. Baek was backed by home runs by Johjima and Sexson.

2001
The Mets obtain slugging 1B Mo Vaughn from the Angels in exchange for their #2 starter Kevin Appier. Vaughn did not play a game in 2001 due to injuries.

1984
Free-agent pitcher Ed Whitson, 14–8 for the Padres, begins a nightmarish association with the Yankees by signing a 5-year, $4.4 million contract.

Ed Whitson was a Yankee for all of 2 seasons, but is best remembered for his fight with then-manager Billy Martin. On September 22, 1985, while at a hotel bar in Baltimore, Maryland, he broke Martin's arm after a headed argument that spread to other parts of the hotel. Whitson's Yankee tenure was also memorable for constantly being heckled and booed during home games. This took place because he was a high price free agent signing that under-performed in the eyes of Yankee fans and the New York media. Also, the loyal Yankee fans sided with Martin over the brawl, and even blamed him for Martin's firing at season's end. Matter of fact, towards the end of Whitson's time in the big apple, he would only pitch road games because of the relentless jeering by his home fans.

Some great teams win with offensive firepower, while others win with overpowering pitching. Some teams have the benefit of a superstar’s presence in the lineup, individually lifting his team to the top. The Appleton Foxes of 1978 had none of these factors on their side. What they did rely on was quickness and speed - running their way onto the list of the top 100 great minor league teams behind one of the smallest players to play the game.

1990
The Senior Professional Baseball Association folds in the middle of its 2nd season when the Fort Myers Sun Sox franchise collapses due to a financial dispute among club owners.

The Senior Professional Baseball Association was a winter baseball league based in Florida for players age 35 and over (with a minimum age of 32 for catchers). The league began play in 1989 and had eight teams in two divisions and a 72 game schedule. Pitchers Rollie Fingers, Fergie Jenkins (both future Hall of Famers), and Vida Blue, outfielder Dave Kingman, and manager Earl Weaver were the league's marquee names, and former big league outfielder Curt Flood was the circuit's first Commissioner. At age 54, Ed Rakow was the league's oldest player. Former strikeout king J.R. Richard was drafted by the league but cut in preseason.

1934
Matsutaro Shoriki, head of Yomiuri Newspapers, announces the official formation of Japan's first professional team, the Tokyo-based Yomiuri Giants. The team is made up of players signed to compete against the American all-star team. Professional league play, with six teams, does not begin until 1936.

1919
Although it will not be officially announced until January, the Yankees buy Babe Ruth from financially pressed Harry Frazee, paying $125,000 (one-fourth cash, plus $25,000 a year at six percent) plus guaranteeing a $300,000 loan with Fenway Park as collateral.

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!

Hark, the herald angels sing.

Those wooden bats always made your hands sting.

A candy-cane day that smells like peppermint.

Hank Aaron, thanks for 755 homers you sent.

Reaching into a fireplace stocking for the mystery inside.

It was always that way with a Cracker Jack box, you sighed.

Pretty paper, pretty ribbons.

Another fantasy draft and someone says, "Jay Gibbons."

The holiday season is all about tradition.

So is baseball, soon to undertake another mission.

To every daughter or son, to every Dad or Mom,

Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth, from MLB.com.

"Oh, absolutely," said White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, when asked if Baines was one of the best clutch hitters he ever witnessed. "When the game was on the line, Harold was awesome."

"Personally, I've never seen a more clutch player," added White Sox general manager Ken Williams. "There may have been guys who have hit more home runs, whether it was against left-handed pitchers or right-handed pitchers, or guys who have driven in more runs or played more games. But I'm talking for my money, there never has been a more clutch player than Harold Baines. Not during my time."
...
A candidate must get 75 percent of the vote to gain election. Results of the 2007 BBWAA Hall of Fame election will be announced on Jan. 9, and the induction ceremony will take place on July 29 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Along with Baines' tremendous RBI total [1,628], placing him 23rd all-time, the left-handed slugger finished with a .289 average, 384 home runs, 488 doubles, 1,299 runs scored, 1,062 walks against just 1,441 strikeouts and a most impressive 2,830 games played. Baines also checks in at 2,866 career hits, which ranks 39th, but also leaves him 134 short of what has been considered the magic number for enshrinement.

This particular number bothers Reinsdorf more so than Baines. The White Sox chairman, who counts Baines as one of his favorite people, feels somewhat personally responsible for Baines coming up short of 3,000.

"What really has bothered me for a long time is that if we hadn't traded him, he would have his 3,000 hits, and he would be a lock for the Hall of Fame," said Reinsdorf, who oversaw Baines' trade to Texas on July 29, 1989, and to Baltimore on July 29, 1997.

"We traded him twice -- and into bad situations where he was a platoon player.

"If he stayed with us, he would have gone over 3,000 hits. If he doesn't get in, it would really bug me. I talk to him about it, and he just shrugs it off."

"I was fortunate to play for 22 years," Baines added. "If I happen to get elected in my lifetime, I would be very grateful. If not, I still had a great career."

CHICAGO -- Brandon McCarthy basically woke up to a phone call some time around 10 or 10:30 Saturday morning.

But the talented young right-hander still had to feel as if he was part of some weird dream when he heard the news coming from White Sox general manager Ken Williams on the other end of the phone.

Williams informed McCarthy, 23, that he had been traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for top pitching prospects John Danks, Nick Masset and Jake Rasner. A similar form of this trade was rumored as close to taking place back in November, but Jon Garland was the White Sox starter involved instead of McCarthy.

Saturday's deal had talks going back as far as one year, according to Williams, with scouts and even a video crew sent out to watch the Rangers' young arms in action. Ultimately, the deal had less to do with getting rid of McCarthy as it did with the White Sox return on their investment.

"When you are dealing with prospects like we are, these are just good baseball deals," Williams said. "It has nothing to do with money or, in this particular case, with one club losing confidence. I have the utmost confidence in Brandon McCarthy.

"I had so much confidence in Brandon that I ended up trading Freddy [Garcia] to put him at the front of the line to challenge for the fifth spot. The whole makeup of our club made Brandon expendable, as we believe there are other equal options for the fifth spot. But we also get stronger for the future."

Christmas came a day early for the Milwaukee Brewers and Jeff Suppan.

The Brewers reached agreement Sunday with free-agent right-hander on a four-year deal plus a club option for a fifth season. Terms of the deal were not announced but a source confirmed that it is worth $42 million, including a $2 million buyout of the 2011 option.

To me that is the best the Brewers have had since I can remember (course, alcohol has killed most of my memory). This also gives the Brewers a fantastic fifth starter in Villanueva should anything happen. I can see this rotation giving the Brewers 5 guys with 10+ wins, and three guys who are capable of 15+ wins.

Wow. I didn't think it was going to happen. Say what you want about payroll flexibility, but at least Suppan does improve the '07 club.

1989
Billy Martin, former infielder and 5-time manager of the Yankees, dies in a car accident in Johnson City, New York at the age of 61. Martin will be buried in Gates of Heaven cemetery in Valhalla, New York in a plot near Babe Ruth's. George Steinbrenner, who fired Martin four times (he resigned the 5th time) purchases the plot.

On a cool, clear day in the fall of 1928, after the World Series, Gehrig drove to the Bronx to visit a frien who worked year-round at Yankee Stadium, as a groundskeeper. Gehrig and the groundskeeper were chatting in the locker room when Sam Dana approached. Dana, one of Gehrig's former teammates on Columbia's football squad, was playing that winter for the New York Yankees of the National Football League.

Gehrig was a big star now, a World Series hero, and Dana wondered if he'd taken on airs. He wondered if Gehrig would remember him. He said hello, and Gehrig greeted him warmly.

"He hadn't changed a bit," Dana recalled. "I introduced him to all the fellas, and he greeted them all in his own shy way."

Dana waited until Gehrig had shaken hands with each member of the football team and then started to say goodbye. But Gehrig was in no rush to get home.

"I'll beat you at punting," he said, picking up a football from the locker room and challenging his old teammate to a kicking contest.

Dana and Gehrig walked onto the field. Dana was in his uniform. Gehrig wore a sport coat, slacks, and a pair of oxfords.

Dana was no punter, but he thought he had a chance, given that Gehrig probably hadn't kicked in a while.

"Oh, he won," Dana said. "There was no comparison. Lou kicked it fifty or sixty yards in his street clothes."

I ranked Wladimir Balentien 100th on my personal prospect list, but don’t let that skew your judgment for him. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a long-shot to be an all-star in the majors, but if you wanted to pick a dark horse to root for, you could do worse than this guy. Blessed with prodigious power and a cannon for an arm, Balentien profiles as a prototypical rightfielder if everything falls right for him. Now the downsides. With his power, Balentien doesn’t have to hit the ball square to get it out of the ballpark, yet he swings at everything as if he’s powering the entire Seattle Sailing Club each time he comes to bat. And it shows in his numbers, driving his strikeout totals to 300 in the last two seasons and a dip in batting average to .230 in the Texas League this summer. If he can learn to be more selective while maintaining his power and modest batting eye (70 walks), he could force himself into Seattle’s big league plans by 2008.

This promises to be a different kind of holiday season for Seattle's Greg Dobbs, as he and his wife, Heidi, are expecting their first child on Jan. 13. Dobbs thinks that the blessed event could come sooner than later.

"It could come any day," Dobbs said from his Southern California home last week. "We're in a holding pattern."

Dobbs -- who hit .370 in 23 games and was the team's top pinch-hitter -- shared some of his most unforgettable holiday memories and his New Year's resolution with MLB.com.

MLB.com: What are your fondest childhood memories in regards to Christmas?

Greg Dobbs: When I was really small, I thought I heard Santa's reindeer on our roof at Christmas. I got all excited and went and told my brother. We sat and tried to listen for him. Then the next morning, all the gifts were there, a few of the cookies were missing and half the glass of milk was gone.
...
MLB.com: What's the best Christmas present you've ever received?

Dobbs: I would say the coolest present I ever received came the year my dad went to Germany for a month for work. He went and bought an LGB train set that was made in Germany and brought it home. I didn't even want a train set, but the fact that he was miles away made it cool. To this day, it still runs.

Ownership groups like Mandalay Baseball Properties, Ripken Baseball and Ryan-Sanders Baseball also continue to add teams to their portfolio--in both affiliated and independent minor league baseball.

According to Minor League Baseball, 19 ownership groups currently own multiple franchises. Between them, the groups own 54 of the 150 available minor league franchises, and they own many of the flagship franchises around the minors, from Round Rock and Corpus Christi (Ryan-Sanders) to Frisco and Dayton (Mandalay).

Greater resources and financial backing allow ownership groups to turn profits by presenting the ideals that have made minor league baseball a hit over the years--cozy ballparks and creative promotions--but on a much grander scale.

The Dayton Dragons, Mandalay's flagship franchise in the Midwest League and one of the most successful teams in the minors, have an 18-person game day staff. At its annual mascot training sessions--how many minor league franchises have ever had anything like that?--Mandalay brings in the iconic Phillie Phanatic to teach employees the joys of entertaining spectators. Instead of lining the outfield walls of their ballparks in Dayton and Frisco with traditional billboards, Mandalay displays advertisements on massive LED screens.

"Our whole approach is that the entertainment has to be fresh and we have to reinvest in the franchises to keep the people coming back," said Mandalay Baseball Properties president Howard Nuchow, who served as an executive with the NBA's New Jersey Nets for seven years before leaving to join the company created by former Sony executives Peter Guber and Paul Schaeffer, along with businessmen Hank and Ken Stickney. "It's all about entertaining fans."

Mandalay has turned entertaining into an art form. The group purchased the Rockford Reds in 1999 and moved the team to Dayton the following season after identifying the city as a promising market without professional baseball. Their forecasts proved accurate: Dayton has sold out every game for seven straight seasons and has a 5,000-person waiting list for tickets. Frisco, a Texas League franchise that moved from Shreveport in 2003, drew 580,480 fans in 2006--ninth-best among domestic minor league teams.

Justin Thomas, lhp, Mariners. Thomas has the ability to throw strikes with three pitches that dance: an 88-92 mph fastball with cutting action, a nifty slider and a fading changeup. All can grade out as plus offerings at times. He reached high Class A and won 14 games in his first pro season, then added 13 scoreless innings in the California League playoffs.

Minor Leagues - D
Losing went down through the minors, with .456 winning percentage; lost San Antonio and Inland Empire affiliations for West Tenn and High Desert.

Talent Level - D
Kenji Johjima was only rookie to make an impact, and he wasn't exactly homegrown; among the worst group of prospects in the minor leagues.

Player Procurement - C
Unloaded veterans like Jamie Moyer, but didn't get any difference-makers in exchange; draft crop looks like it could provide significant boost in arms.