MLB Columns

Tom Hicks' financial woes will hamper Texas Rangers' progress
"Ever since Tom Hicks bought the Rangers in the summer of '98, dubious readers have called, e-mailed, whispered and wailed. He doesn't have any money, they'd say. He's broke. Can't you tell from his other businesses? Don't you get it? No, I'd say. I don't. Granted, I was never a candidate for The Wharton School, but the reason the charges never carried much weight was simple enough: Players keep cashing checks, don't they? And not at your local grocer, either. But the issue became critical in the last couple of days after we got a tip that the Rangers had, indeed, missed payroll. We were still getting to the bottom of the story when a caller to Kevin Kennedy's national radio show told ..."
Forgive Manny, but don't forget
"How time flies. Manny Ramirez rejoins the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday and it seems like only yesterday he was saying he was sorry for his 50-game drug suspension.Sort of. Or was he sorry that he was caught? It's hard to remember which. Anyway, he's back, just like the Terminator. He's returned, with only slightly less fanfare than General MacArthur to the Philippines. And about the fans, as the prodigal son prepares to man the post again in left field - have they forgiven and forgotten? Are you kidding? The only reason Ramirez won't get a standing ovation in Dodger Stadium Friday night is because his team is playing in San Diego, to open a long road trip. The L.A.-Manny love fest will have ..."
Lakers' Kupchak goes bold, not willing to simply sit on title throne
"Mitch Kupchak, we had you all wrong. So much for conservative and cool. By agreeing in principle with the highly flammable but highly gifted attention magnet that is Ron Artest on Thursday, Kupchak and the Lakers proved they were not only willing to take a risk to repeat as NBA champions next year, but excited aboutit. Which is what they should be - bold and excited, not conservative and complacent, sitting back and assuming they could do it all again next year without making any structural improvements while the rest of the league took aim at them. The second a team wins an NBA championship, they become a target for everyone else. In the three weeks that have passed since the Lakers beat ..."
CC, Bombers earn an 'F' versus M's
"APPARENTLY deciding that no game should be played without a rain delay, the Yankees staged one last night without the presence of a single drop of precipitation. At 7:05, some bad weather was expected -- certainly it turned out not to be CC Sabathia's usual cutter on the hands of Franklin Gutierrez, who burned him for a home run -- so it was decided to delay the start time 36 minutes for showers that never materialized. It was drier than a Pirates' postseason drought and the Yankees still wouldn't start the contest. Perhaps they knew something about the inevitability of their first loss in eight games, 8-4 to the Mariners at the Stadium, because the Yankees proceeded to play a terrible ..."
Players, fans don't care about steroids so ... welcome back, Manny!
"Thanks to Manny Ramirez, I have seen the light. When Ramirez becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame, he gets my vote. Same with all the other 'roid boys. No longer will I try to hijack the game of baseball from its rightful owners - the fans and players. Ramirez has provided the final proof that nobody cares if a player has more needles stuck in his butt than a porcupine. If the fans don't care, and the players don't care, who am I to care? What am I? A knucklehead? Ramirez returns to the Dodgers on Friday in San Diego, and it could get brutal out there at Petco. Who knows what might happen when those Padres' fans get all hopped up on microbrew and fish tacos? "You may have a few ..."
Slugger and Team Joined at the Hip
"THE Yankees have three games next week on the Metrodome rockpile, already deemed one too many for Alex Rodriguez and his surgically repaired hip to responsibly endure. It's also one more game than the Yankees can afford. "It's not easy, but it is important," Joe Girardi said about this test of managerial self-control. "We have capable hitters to pick him up." Those capable hitters picked up the Yankees in A-Rod's absence and had dumped them off at 13-15 when he returned, then went 4-9 in June while he was doing a 4-for-42. Since Rodriguez took two days off in Florida 10 and 11 days ago and started a .435 tear, those same guys are now 7-0. As Rodriguez goes, the Yankees go. Any suggestion ..."
Pirates outfield lacking offensively
"No matter which way Pirates management cranks its curious kaleidoscope, there is still only one element clearly evident at the center of every conceivable picture of this star-crossed franchise. Andrew McCutchen was in center field last night, leading off in manager John Russell's so-called lineup, just as he has for every game since arriving in Pittsburgh June 4, ending nearly four years of snowballing promise if not persistently tantalizing empirical evidence. From the moment Bob Nutting took over the chairman's seat from Kevin McClatchy in January 2007, to the moment he hired Frank Coonelly as team president that September, to the moment Coonelly brought in Neal Huntington as its ..."
HBO take on Ted Williams simply Splendid
"The Kid came back to life last night at Fenway Park the way kids always do when they haven't been kids for a long time. He came back in fading memories and grainy, black-and-white images. It will be seven years this Sunday since Ted Williams passed away, but if you ever saw him swing a bat, he's still alive because that was something you never could forget. It was like the first time you saw a lion. You didn't know quite what to make of it, but you knew it was to be respected. Certainly that's how it felt for a young boy falling in love with baseball and a team that, in those days, never won a thing. It was a team whose only asset all too often was that four times a game you'd get to see - ..."
Charity begins at home plate
"Going to Fenway Park for Red Sox-Mariners Saturday? Bring a box of tissue. Bring your checkbook, too. Boston's ancient baseball theater will be one of 15 major league parks honoring the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech ("I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth'') and raising funds to support ALS research. It's called "4ALS Awareness'' Nice going, MLB. In 1939, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis took Gehrig off the field after 2,130 consecutive games and now baseball is joining the fight against the deadly disease. "We're involved with a whole series of charities,'' explained commissioner Bud Selig. "We get asked a lot. But I've had inquiries about ALS from a ..."
Bonifacio often confounding, but he can be electrifying
"Well, it was all on display in the opening three innings Wednesday, good and bad, pro and con, the reason the Marlins Get your Marlins Tickets now! should end this Emilio Bonifacio experiment right now and the proof they should keep the laboratory open for him all season. He swung at bad pitches. And his speed helped force a Washington error. His leaky judgment cost a run. And his baseball instincts created a run. He popped up balls that make him no money. And he slapped a single through the infield. His manager questioned his thinking in the dugout. And after this 5-3 Marlins win, in his office, manager Fredi Gonzalez talked of the run Bonifacio created by saying, "The guy's a winner." ..."
It's time to retire Bert Blyleven's No. 28 Minnesota Twins jersey
"Jesse Crain wore jersey No. 28 for the Twins. But now that the relief pitcher has been dispatched to the minor league Rochester Red Wings, it would seem a perfect opportunity for the Twins to retire that number, which was prominently worn by Bert Blyleven during his 11 seasons pitching for Minnesota. Retiring Blyleven's No. 28 could help remind voters that Bert belongs in baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Other retired Twins jerseys are those of hall of famers Harmon Killebrew (No. 3), Rod Carew (No. 29) and Kirby Puckett (No. 34), as well as Tony Oliva (No. 6), Kent Hrbek (No. 14) and Tom Kelly (No. 10). Happy birthday: Killebrew turned 73 on Monday. Crain, by the way, in ..."
Bottom line: Twins have gotten better
"Kauffman Stadium might be the perfect place to play a getaway day game, as the Twins learned Wednesday. The field was a sun-baked beauty, cooled by a soft breeze. Twins fans, continuingly craving outdoor baseball, cheered loudly when Michael Cuddyer hit a home run to start the scoring. Traffic on the way to the airport was light. And there was this: On a getaway day game at Kauffman, you get to play the Kansas City Royals, one of the better Major League Baseball teams in the entire Kansas City metro area. The older version of the Lansing Lugnuts didn't put up much fight Wednesday, as the Twins won 5-1 to take the series and finish 6-3 on their Aging Midwest Cities Tour of St. Louis, ..."
Twins need help beyond the farm
"A year ago, the Twins caught fire when second baseman Alexi Casilla and Denard Span came up from Class AAA Rochester and filled the holes needed to spark the team to a great finish. Back home from Rochester, N.Y., where he spent time scouting the farm team recently, Twins General Manager Bill Smith saw some players who might help the Twins in an emergency. But it didn't appear that there were players available to give the Twins the same help that Span and Casilla did. Smith singled out third baseman Danny Valencia and second baseman Steve Tolleson. He said that pitcher Anthony Swarzak, who was called up to fill in for Glen Perkins and won games against the Brewers and Cubs before being ..."
What's behind Rollins' prolonged slump?
"Jim Fregosi used to complain that I refused to absorb all the wisdom he tried to impart, whether it was about baseball, journalism, or 401(k)s. But the ex-Phillies manager did teach me one valuable lesson during my four years as a beat writer: A baseball season is 162 games long for a reason. Good teams invariably end up with good records, bad teams with bad. And, unless some underlying variable is at work, veteran players almost always come close to their career norms. They don't fall off statistical cliffs for no apparent reason. Which brings us to the strange, sad case of Jimmy Rollins and His Missing Bat. According to Fregosi's theory, either the slumping Phils shortstop will have an ..."
Eric Wedge likely to remain Cleveland Indians manager because options are few
"Nearly midseason, and Cleveland is held hostage. Down and down the Tribe goes. Where it stops, nobody knows. Given the expectations for the season, manager Eric Wedge would not make it to the All-Star break in some organizations. But he will with the Indians, who think stagnation is the same as stability. Given that Wedge has guided the team to only one playoff berth in seven years, he might not last the season in most organizations. But after all the beat-downs lately, all the games when it gets late early, all the other games when the bullpen implodes, he will probably last the season. Given the stubbornness and loyalty of his boss, partner and apologist, Mark Shapiro, he might be ..."
Believe it or not, Phillies doing fine
"YOU SEE BAD things arising. You see trouble on the way. You see the Phillies as a team still hung over from the intoxication of last year's championship, unable to hold teams down early or hold onto leads late. You walk away from the television set muttering "This never happened last year." I see a lot of memory loss out there. The Phillies were 39-35 heading into last night's game against Atlanta. A year ago, with better weather and a tighter schedule, they were 44-39. Five more wins, four more losses, and the similarity does not end there. You see a team that can't seal the deal like they did last year, a team that seems to lose all the close games. But here are the numbers on that. In ..."
Marlins have fine chance to win their first NL East crown
"Here we are again, at 41-39, which is precisely where the Florida Marlins stood at this point last summer. Running a close second in the NL East, just like a year ago. Beating up on the wobbly Washington Nationals, per usual. Take them for granted if you think this is the high-water mark for the 2009 season, but it's a mistake. There are prime-time teams further from first place today than Florida is, big spenders like the Yankees and the Cubs, division rivals like the Mets and the Braves, even one of last year's World Series teams, the Tampa Bay Rays. And after what I've seen the last couple of days, the Marlins might just be in line for some kind of miracle at the season's midpoint. Take ..."
As Phil Hughes dominates in relief, Joe Girardi should give him Yankees' set-up role
"In the spirit of youth must be served, the Yankees Wednesday night sent rookie Ramiro Peña back to Scranton so he can start playing every day again. At the same time, there is a growing consensus around Yankeeland that Joe Girardi would do well to further serve youth by entrusting Phil Hughes with the more important eighth innings. For now, Girardi appears to be holding firm in his assertion that Brian Bruney is his eighth-inning man - although he could've fooled us last night when he decided to bring in Alfredo Aceves and, after one batter, Phil Coke, to pitch the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners. The idea, Girardi explained, was to have Aceves pitch only to the righty-hitting ..."
Cardinals' player development is paying off
"The Cardinals are getting a nice payoff this season from their commitment to player development. As exasperating as this season has been, where would this team be without all the capable work from promoted players? How could this team have stayed in contention with so many key injuries and so many "established" players struggling? The Cards have used 15 rookies this season, including nine that made their major league debuts. That absurd number included a journeyman (Joe Thurston) and players plucked from other organizations (Brian Barden, Daivd Freese). Let's add up the contributions from top rookies developed by this organization: COLBY RASMUS: Remarkably, he has been the team's best ..."
Should the Braves trade Yunel Escobar?
"Yunel Escobar is, shall we say, a different sort of Brave. He has blond highlights in his hair. He doesn't always pay attention. He has a temper and is given to the sulks. He has yet to respond to the gentle urgings of Bobby Cox, which have become less gentle over time. According to Buster Olney of ESPN.com, the Braves "are willing to trade Escobar for a good hitter right now." (Link requires registration.) But I don't think they will. Nor do I believe they should. Because Yunel Escobar is a different sort of Brave in another way: He can really hit. And he can really play. The Braves have become so skilled at siphoning off higher-maintenance types that they have lesser tolerance for one ..."
Cleveland Indians GM Mark Shapiro says fan base is 'traumatized?' Then what's the bullpen?
"An ESPN column quotes Indians general manager Mark Shapiro as saying the fan base is "traumatized" and that "everything we do now is compared to what we accomplished (in the '90s)." Two things: First, I think there's a small percentage of fans who can't get past the fact that it's not 1995 anymore. But are you kidding me? Most people don't have to go back that far to put their disappointment over 2009 in context. Shapiro doesn't agree, but all they have to do is go back to 2007 and remember their team one win from the World Series to find fault with what's happened since. The Indians are 31-46 for crying out loud. It's not as if they're 46-31 and not drawing because people are convinced ..."
D-Train derailed but still battling to make it back
"BASEBALL WAS concerned about steroids, concerned about losing America's youth, concerned about perceptions that it was indifferent to issues of diversity in a country growing more diverse by the minute. To all these toxins floating about the game in the spring of 2005, Dontrelle Willis was the antidote. Four years later, he's trying to cure himself. The two-time All-Star, a product of Encinal High in Alameda, surely wanted to be in Oakland this week with his Detroit Tigers teammates. Instead, for the second time this season, he is on the disabled list. The Tigers say Willis is battling an anxiety disorder. Willis says he needs to make the right adjustments with his idiosyncratic and ..."
Pennant fever eludes the Pirates
"There was no indication whatsoever yesterday that Ian Snell was considering demoting himself to Class AA Altoona to see if he could strike out all 27 hitters, so the atmosphere around the Pirates remained fairly stable, except, of course, for the advancing collective psychosis. With the first 2009 arrival of the Chicago Cubs to the North Side, perhaps it was the somewhat foggy memory of Lou Piniella's team winning more games than anyone in the National League last year, but it was otherwise fairly inexplicable that some otherwise relatively sane people were talking like a pennant race had come to town. "This is a good opportunity in these three games to make up some ground on them," ..."
Stop me if you've heard this one:'Pen needs help
"Last summer, the Twins deduced that they needed one more quality righthander in their bullpen. Then they blew a chance to secure a 2008 playoff spot, searched for relief help all winter, prayed that a cast of thousands would produce a quality setup man all spring, and spent the first half of the season holding open tryouts during the eighth inning, and after all that ... This summer, the Twins deduced that they needed one more quality righthander in their bullpen. This does not qualify as progress. Tuesday night, the Twins finally fielded their optimal American League lineup, featuring Joe Crede, Nick Punto and Carlos Gomez, with Delmon Young sitting on the bench. Even with all of their ..."
Hampton starting to look like a sound investment
"When pitchers need a shot of confidence, they'll sometimes go out and watch batting practice. That's when they're reminded how tough baseball is. Even with a pitcher throwing the ball down the middle of the plate, the hitters get no more than three, four or five hits for every 10 at-bats. Mike Hampton was in a place like that at the end of May. He'd won two of his nine starts for the Astros, and his ERA was 5.62. Since then it's been a turn-back-the-clock stretch including Tuesday night's six innings and one run allowed against the Padres. The Astros had gambled he still had something in the tank last winter even though Hampton had made just four starts during a hellish four-year period in ..."
Luck changes with scenery for Hawkins
"When the Yankees released him last July, LaTroy Hawkins didn't waste time feeling sorry for himself. Instead, he went to work trying to put his career back together. Instead of going home to Dallas to catch his breath or reflect on what had happened, he flew to Fort Wayne, Ind . That's where he hooked up with his agent, Matt Kinzer. Actually, Kinzer is more than an agent. He's a former major league pitcher and scout, and through the years has become the person who knows Hawkins as well as anyone. "Matt watches me like a hawk," Hawkins said. "He knows everything I do. Even when I have a good outing, he'll call or text me if he saw something. His mentality for pitching and the way he can ..."
Cool solution for hot corner - Greg Dobbs
"Before I suggest a low-maintenance replacement for the high-stress position usually occupied by Adrian Beltre, please meet Charles "Piano Legs" Hickman. OK, you can't meet Hickman, as he has been dead for 75 years. But his struggles should be a warning of the hazards that await any novice attempting to follow in his footsteps. In 1900, with the New York Giants, Hickman committed 86 errors. Actually, Piano Legs committed 87 - one in the outfield, and the other 86 at third base. It remains the single-season record for defensive ineptitude and explains why putting any old player at third base (or any young player, for that matter) might not be such a good idea. The ball will find you at ..."
Bucs failing in chemistry
"Nyjer Morgan has the gift. It isn't a baseball gift, although he is in many ways a gifted player. No, this is something more important than baseball. Morgan is blessed as a person, not a player; one of those rare people who draws others to him, a Pied Piper in knickers, so to speak. He is an original, a one of a kind who can warm you with his smile, captivate you with his words. He loves people, and people love him. If he'd been a salesman with a case filled with Twinkies, we'd all be eating Twinkies for dinner. Everything he does - and the way he does everything - is unique. He uses the nickname "Tony Blush" as an alter ego. It's just a little thing, yet it spoke to what Nyjer Morgan is. ..."
Fair or not, Chicago Cubs' failures are Jim Hendry's fault
"If you think Milton Bradley is having a rough year so far, how about Jim Hendry? The Cubs' general manager is responsible for signing the .238-hitting, currently benched Bradley to a three-year, $30 million contract before the season. He is responsible for signing "leadoff" hitter Alfonso Soriano, who is in the third year of an eight-year, $136 million contract. He's responsible for giving Kosuke Fukudome a four-year, $48 million deal in December 2007. Soriano and Fukudome have responded with batting averages of .232 and .260, respectively, this season. Meanwhile, the manager Hendry hired is under fire for not having enough fire, and his ace pitcher is under fire for having a raging fire ..."
So far, Mariners are the most improved team in MLB
"The chic question to ask in spring training this year was this: Who's going to be the next Tampa Bay Rays? In other words, which team was going to emerge from the depths of despair and mount a playoff run. Tampa Bay last year won 97 games and the American League pennant one season after losing 96 (and two seasons after losing 101, and three seasons after losing 95, and four seasons after losing 91, and five seasons after losing 99...well, you get the picture; the Rays had never come close to a winning season in their franchise history, a fact that greatly aided their turnaround by virtue of all those high draft picks finally coalescing). Predictions came from all fronts, from here and ..."
Manny's return could help Rockies
"Manny Ramirez returns Friday. That's when the Rockies need to make up ground. I know it doesn't make any sense that the Dodgers will be worse with their best player back. But hear me out. Ramirez isn't returning after missing a few days with a strained hamstring or sore knee. He will have missed 50 games for cheating - a lengthy, humiliating absence that's foreign to him. When Ramirez rejoins the lineup Friday, it might as well be March 1. That's how far he will be behind. "It's not like he's going to hit five home runs in the first 10 games," Dodgers third-base coach Larry Bowa said. "It's going to take him a few weeks to get going." Even people close to Ramirez don't dispute this logic, ..."
Rockies' late late show provides plenty of drama, must-see TV
"The national pastime lasted well past my bedtime Monday night. But I stayed awake for every pitch and was glued to the TV - well, not literally, because that could be painful, like sticking your tongue to a frozen pole, which I've done. For the record, I devoured an entire $4.79 bag of Lay's barbecue chips. Regular-season baseball games on television are usually as riveting as "Iron Chef America." ("He threw a four-seamer" ranks right up there with "Oh, he's making a souffle.") Nevertheless, the Rockies-Dodgers game was enthralling, entrancing, engrossing, en . . . en . . . en-marvelous. I even enjoyed the 42 commercials featuring Dealin' Doug selling cars in a Swami costume. The game ..."
Unlike home run king Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr.'s career lacks juicy details
"Ken Griffey Jr. says there are some similarities between himself and Barry Bonds. "We're both the sons of very good players who turned out to be pretty good baseball players," Griffey said. They are both sluggers who mounted an assault on Hank Aaron's home run record. And that is where the comparisons end. Griffey, who is fifth on the all-time home run list (he entered Tuesday night with 620), has been stymied by injuries during his 20-year career. Bonds actually surpassed Aaron's record, hitting 762 home runs. But Bonds is a pariah in the sport, haunted by the specter of steroids, while Griffey, who has returned to Seattle to end his career where it started, has escaped the scourge of ..."
D-Backs as cartoon characters
"What do frustrated Diamondbacks fans draw upon when times are toughest? An envelope! That's all cartoonist Rick Kirkman could find during the fifth inning of Arizona's dismal 12-8 loss to the Angels on Sunday. While most in the announced crowd of 25,684 at Chase Field expressed themselves with lusty booing, Kirkman sketched. The result was an impromptu strip of potential future Diamondbacks fan promotions from a "Bobble-Mitt Night" to "Free Home Plates." You know, so fans can "Steal home like the pros." Hey, it's what he does. An avid Diamondbacks fan who attends several games a year, Kirkman collaborates with Jerry Scott to produce the popular comic strip "Baby Blues" that appears in ..."
Don Wakamatsu's approach is already working magic with Mariners
"David Aardsma says there are three types of managers. There are the in-your-face managers, the screamers who believe in tough, team discipline. There are the managers who say nothing, who write out the lineup card, make the in-game decisions and leave the players alone. And then there are the - well, let's call them Socratic skippers - the managers who ask questions, and more questions, looking for specific answers, testing the knowledge of the players they are quizzing. Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu is from the Socratic school. "With Wak, the first question is a yes-or-no question," Aardsma said Tuesday, "and the second question, the difficult question, is the why question. A lot of ..."
With Brian Bruney struggling, time for Joe Girardi to let Phil Hughes pitch 8th inning
"Phil Hughes has been searching for an identity for most of this season with the Yankees. When Chien-Ming Wang went on the DL back in April, Hughes replaced him in the starting rotation and filled in admirably. When Wang came off the DL and returned to the starting rotation (rather shakily, mind you), Hughes accepted a role in the bullpen that was largely undefined. Joe Girardi said he could use Hughes in any variety of ways - long relief, short relief. Hughes said he didn't mind. Recently Hughes has shown a propensity for the short work, the dirty stuff that gets the Yankees out of a jam - a one- or two-inning bridge to Mariano Rivera. On Sunday he pitched 1-1/3 scoreless innings in a ..."
We'll see if Rollins gets the message
"If being benched for one game is a short jolt of shock-therapy motivation - the baseball equivalent of a brief text message reading, Pck it Up:-) - then being removed from the lineup for four straight games is an old-fashioned, longhand epistle on the seriousness of the situation. The Phillies don't merely want Jimmy Rollins to begin visiting the bases more frequently. They don't just think it would help steady a team that scores runs either in bunches or not at all. They desperately need Rollins to shake off his batting funk and become, if not a prototypical leadoff hitter, then at least a good imitation of the player whose intangible spark often outweighs an underwhelming on-base ..."
At start of Mariano Rivera's Yankee career, Gene Michael almost traded him
"All these years later, Gene Michael still laughs when he thinks about how Mariano Rivera became the greatest one-pitch pitcher in baseball history. "He had a hell of a changeup when he was young, and he had a true slider to go with his fastball," Michael said Monday. "He could have been a starter - hell, he could have been an infielder, he's such a great athlete. But I think it worked out pretty well for him as a reliever." Along the way, Rivera developed his legendary cutter, the late-breaking pitch that he could throw, unlike other pitchers, at his fastball speed of 95 mph. The velocity isn't quite what it used to be but, at 39, Rivera still leaves hitters shaking their heads, as he ..."
Is Mark DeRosa the St. Louis Cardinals' Shaq?
"In the heart of this city where they are always accustomed to getting what they want, the street vendors and caricature artists who line the bustling streets of Time Square have already created drawings that depict LeBron James in a Knicks jersey. You will see soon enough how this is a Cardinals story, so bear with me. Presumptuous Knicks fans have thought for a while that it was a foregone conclusion that James would be leaving Cleveland as a free agent after next season. They couldn't imagine a circumstance where a smaller Midwest city with a serious inferiority complex to the Big Apple (hmmm, now does that sound familiar?) would ever have a chance to hold onto its superstar once New ..."
Giants don't have what it takes to hang onto wild card
"Though the Giants have been at or near the top of the NL wild-card race lately, I still doubt that they'll be in the postseason. Here are my reasons: Injuries: The Giants have been remarkably injury-free so far this season, with no major players being injured for a long period. Contrast this with the New York Mets, who lost stars Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado to injuries last month. Reyes (torn hamstring) is out indefinitely and Delgado (torn lambrum and a bone spur in his right hip) is out at least until August. The baseball schedule is a demanding one, with very few days off. It's unlikely the Giants can avoid a major injury and, with their lack of depth, they could be in trouble if they ..."
Brewers must make a deal this season
"First impressions, second thoughts and the third degree: "We're a buyer, not a seller," says Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, an assessment you'd expect since Milwaukee continues to stake a claim for first place in the National League Central and its fans continue to defy economic trends with a turnstile spike usually reserved for defending World Series champions. … But the Brewers are on a much different shopping trip than they were a year ago when CC Sabathia was the blue-light special. They're not fortifying; they have intense needs. They're not tip-toeing down one particular aisle; general manager Doug Melvin is pushing his cart through heavy traffic and space in the bargain area is at a ..."
Logos say a lot about teams
"MANNY RAMIREZ started his rehab, reluctantly, in Albuquerque. Reluctantly, perhaps, because he thought they told him he would be joining a team called the I's-a-dopes, and Manny, being Manny, felt disrespected.They talked softly because Ramirez totes a big stick. They patiently explained that the team was called the Isotopes, and that an isotope is any of two or more species of atoms of a chemical element with the same atomic number and position in the periodic table and nearly identical chemical behavior but with differing atomic mass.Manny was OK with that, especially when they told him the air was thin and the fences cozy and the pitching mediocre. And yo, testosterone-breath, the team ..."
Trade Talk Will Surely Heat Up
"The possibility that Carlos Beltran will miss a sizable amount of time, if not the rest of the season, puts even more pressure on Mets GM Omar Minaya to swing a trade to bring his depleted team a bat. Washington's Nick Johnson and Adam Dunn, and Aubrey Huff of the Orioles have been linked most often to the Mets after Mark DeRosa's weekend trade to the Cardinals. Manager Jerry Manuel, who said Sunday he would push for a trade if the Mets fell below .500, stood by that yesterday, before their loss to Milwaukee dropped them to 37-38. But he said he had made no calls yet to Minaya. "I don't say, 'Hey, go get me this guy, get me that guy,' " Manuel said. "I focus on the guys I have here.""
DeRosa trade smells like a fire sale
"It's reached the point with the Indians that they trade Mark DeRosa and it feels like they traded Mark McGwire. The St. Louis Cardinals must have thought the same thing. They put DeRosa in the fourth spot in the lineup in his first game. Behind Albert Pujols. Gotta protect Pujols, after all. On one level, the DeRosa trade makes sense. He's 34, he's going to be a free agent and the Indians are going nowhere. Except that the Indians say that the relief pitcher they got for DeRosa - Chris Perez - was acquired to help this year. So they evidently think that they can still go somewhere this year. The likeliest place seems to be Hale Farm, on the train. It's not right or fair to make too much of ..."
Not ususal suspect: Offense undermining Texas Rangers
"The Rangers lost their grip on first place in the American League West over the weekend. They lost their grip on the bat long ago. If I must concede to the Rangers naysayers who contended that this team would be anything but a true contender by the time the All-Star break arrived, I will ask one question. Did you really think their lousy offense would be the problem? Monday night wasn't quite as bad as Sunday, but still it ended in a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, who stretched their division lead to 2 ½ games. Back-to-back home runs from David Murphy and Marlon Byrd in the third inning supplied the only Texas fireworks. Otherwise, a fairly lifeless Ballpark crowd of - get this - ..."
Brewers setting standard
"The front office for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the last few years has had to deal with a question related to another team in its division. The question is some variation of this one: Why can't you be more like the Milwaukee Brewers? Fans and media in Pittsburgh have wanted to know why Milwaukee, a market two-thirds the size of Pittsburgh, has a team payroll of $80 million, while the Pirates' payroll is $28 million less, at $52 million. Frank Coonelly, the president of the Pirates, said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that his team was spending all it could to improve the product on the field. Coonelly said the Brewers could spend more on payroll because attendance in ..."
Dealing Dan now holds aces
"Sitting in an airport, waiting for my flight back home, I mulled the state of the Rockies and arrived at the following conclusions: • Dan O'Dowd takes a lot of heat, but the general manager's deal that sent Matt Holliday to Oakland and brought Huston Street, Carlos Gonzalez and Greg Smith (someday, maybe) to the Mile High City is starting to look like a masterstroke. • Holliday, with a big push out the door by agent Scott Boras, was never going to stay with the Rockies. Now Holliday is in limbo, playing in a lousy ballpark for a lousy team that looks like it has already quit. Hopefully, Holliday gets traded to a contender in July. And I do think he'll get a decent (but not great) ..."
For Mariners, filling Adrian Beltre's shoes will take some feat
"Onto the list of Mariners who have to step up during the lengthy absence of Adrian Beltre, Miguel Batista added one intriguing name: Don Wakamatsu. "Honestly, it's going to show how good this manager is," Batista said. "He's going to have to manage his brains out. There's going to be a lot of small moves to try to compensate." So far this year, Wakamatsu has not only pushed most of the right buttons, he has shown a keen understanding of when to pat backs and when to kick butts. Just witness the soaring heights achieved by Felix Hernandez since Wakamatsu called him out a month ago. If there was a Manager of the Half-Year award for the American League, Wakamatsu would be fighting it out with ..."
Manny's being Manny, yet that seems to suit Dodgers fans just fine
"Manny Ramirez is big-leaguing the minor leagues. The suspended Dodgers star might not need a fancy chair or his own chef, but he's sure not giving much of his time to fans or his new teammates. If you were Man-Ram, wouldn't you be working overtime to overhaul your image? Wouldn't you be signing autographs until your fingers cramped? John Wooden, 98, only recently slowed in the autograph signing department, but I've seen him sign for two hours until every last person waiting received his trademark signature and a warm hello. What's wrong with Ramirez? Sure, he's signed a few autographs here and there, cameras capturing each stroke of the pen. But if you were Manny, wouldn't you spend ..."
Amazin's feeling the heat during slide
"Faster and faster the Mets keep swirling downward, heading toward oblivion. The latest missile to the solar plexus, aside from the fourth straight loss in Milwaukee on Monday night, is news that Carlos Beltran is seeking a second opinion on his tender right knee, and conceivably might need surgery. If so, say goodbye to this $140 million abomination, if you haven't already. No one blames Mets' fans for feeling like they're in purgatory. Everyone's hurt - the medical staff seemingly has botched every injury - the new ballpark is too big, the seats are too expensive, the remaining players are (maybe) a notch above Class AAA caliber. No wonder Citi Field was so dreary over the weekend, when ..."
Not usual suspect: Offense undermining Texas Rangers
"The Rangers lost their grip on first place in the American League West over the weekend. They lost their grip on the bat long ago. If I must concede to the Rangers naysayers who contended that this team would be anything but a true contender by the time the All-Star break arrived, I will ask one question. Did you really think their lousy offense would be the problem? Monday night wasn't quite as bad as Sunday, but still it ended in a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, who stretched their division lead to 2 ½ games. Back-to-back home runs from David Murphy and Marlon Byrd in the third inning supplied the only Texas fireworks. Otherwise, a fairly lifeless Ballpark crowd of - get this - ..."
Perfect time for Cubs to waive bye-bye to Carlos Zambrano
"As Lou Piniella was saying on Friday, enough's enough. Get Carlos Zambrano out of here, even if the Cubs have to give him away. He's not the guy you want as the ace of a curse-busting team, and at this point, it's wishful thinking that he'll ever mature into that guy. Proving that I did not attend Kellogg, Wharton or even the Acme School of Business, I offer this proposition for Jim Hendry: First thing Monday morning, put Zambrano on waivers. If anyone claims him and the $62.75 million left on his contract, which runs through 2012, immediately trade him for whatever is being offered, from a bag of balls to a 32-year-old minor-leaguer. Because Hendry gave Zambrano a full no-trade clause in ..."
Once a future star, Darren Dreifort is left with scars
"His attendance at Friday's enshrinement in Lubbock, Texas, Dreifort notes without hint of irony or pathos, depends on "whether I can walk, or how well I'm getting around." He's recovering from surgery. This probably will come as no surprise to anyone who closely followed the star-crossed professional career of the former Dodgers right-hander. A seemingly can't-miss prospect, he wound up spending as much time rehabbing injuries as he did dueling batters during 11 major league seasons. A hip procedure last Wednesday in Beverly Hills was his 22nd surgery -- his 20th since he left Wichita State after being the second player taken in the 1993 amateur draft behind only a slugging high school ..."
Phils showing less cool and more fire
"Along with a numbing series of baseball games, the Phillies may have lost something they needed to lose on this road trip.Their cool.Every long baseball season has significant mile markers. Sometimes they're obvious as they happen, sometimes they seem clear only in retrospect. At the end of this season, whatever happens in the Phillies' unfamiliar quest to defend a championship, the events of the last few days will stand out.Charlie Manuel finally locked the clubhouse doors and addressed his team in an effort to fan away the psychic fog that had engulfed these Phillies.Cole Hamels and Chase Utley lost their Cali-cool with a couple of umpires.Jimmy Rollins was sent into dugout exile by the ..."
Mozeliak goes for contending and retooling
"Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak proved willing to sacrifice future assets to make the present less tense. "I get beat up a lot - and the organization gets beat up - for not making these short-term decisions," Mozeliak observed Sunday. But acquiring gritty infielder/outfielder Mark DeRosa could actually pay long-term dividends without undermining the organizational reconstruction. Contending and retooling are NOT mutually exclusive concepts. Let's walk through the particulars: -- Although DeRosa could become a free agent after this season, he seems open to making this a longer-term relationship. DeRosa always enjoyed playing against the Cardinals, and he feels a good vibe in ..."
Feeling uneasy the rule vs. NL
"Adios, farewell, and good riddance to National League rules. The Red Sox won't see another double switch until 2010. Or, perhaps, October. "I just feel so embarrassed when I do something wrong out there,'' designated hitter by trade David Ortiz said yesterday following a busy day at first base that ended with the Red Sox dropping a 2-1 decision to the Atlanta Braves. "You've got a guy pitching his [tail] off out there and you just feel bad. Nothing happened [as a result of Ortiz's mistakes], but you feel like, 'What the [heck] am I doing?' '' Something suggests he wasn't alone. In the end, the Red Sox emerge from baseball's answer to reverse-sweater night with an 11-7 record in interleague ..."
Latest Dodgers defeat leads to Manny questions
"Uninspired play leads some to wonder if slugger's upcoming return becoming distraction for club. After inspired play in many of the 47 games without their suspended superstar, the Dodgers appear to be running on fumes. Their 4-2 defeat on Sunday to the Seattle Mariners gave the Dodgers back-to-back series defeats to a pair of mediocre American League clubs that are gasping for breath above the .500 mark. Losing two out of three to the White Sox at Chicago was one thing, but over the weekend, the club with the best home record in the National League let two of three get away to the Mariners at Dodger Stadium. Despite having the best record in baseball at 48-28, the Dodgers have lost four of ..."
Chien-Ming Wang's first win sweeps away some lingering doubts for Yankees
"It was after Chien-Ming Wang's last start in Atlanta - a dreadful 4-0 loss that prompted the Yankees to "kick themselves in the pants" according to Nick Swisher - that the Bombers got their bats back on track. But Wang still was winless entering Sunday night's Subway Series finale, and didn't get the benefit of continued potency from a lineup that had scored 14 runs in the first two games. What did remain the same was the solid starting pitching, as Wang followed up masterpieces by CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett with his best start of the season. And thanks to Mariano Rivera coming in for a four-out save, the 500th of his illustrious career, the Yankees got the 4-2 victory and Wang got his ..."
Sinking Mets and Omar Minaya without farm aid
"Under repeated questioning, Jerry Manuel finally admitted the obvious Sunday, that if his injury-depleted Mets continue to backslide over the next several days, then yes, he'd like to see GM Omar Minaya make a trade for some help. "It would be dishonest if I said no," Manuel said. And that was before the Yankees finished off a sweep with a 4-2 victory Sunday night that may well have brought the manager one game closer to that cry for help. But the problem is the Mets have so few desirable prospects at the upper levels of their farm system that Minaya is dealing from a position of weakness in trying to make any type of trade. Of course, he has only himself to blame for that, as the lack ..."
Rivera redefines gold standard for relief
"The gold standard for relief pitching has been escalating for some time, but Mariano Rivera still has it both covered and defined. With his 500th career save, Rivera has moved into a neighborhood so exclusive that there is only one other occupant. That would be Trevor Hoffman of the Milwaukee Brewers, whose revival has been so thorough this season that it seems 600 saves would not be out of the question for him. But let's consider one milestone at a time. The 500 saves denote something much more than personal success. In Rivera's case, those saves were core reasons for the success of the New York Yankees. Rivera was the closer for the last three Yankees World Series championship teams, and ..."
Indians tradition: Summer garage sale
"The Indians are becoming accomplished in maximizing the trade value of their assets during failed seasons. That's the organizational upside and downside all in one unembraceable bottom line. Better that lack of opportunity leaves Mark Shapiro less gifted in this means of roster building. Last year it was early July with C.C. Sabathia as the family heirloom in an estate sale. This time around it's the more modestly priced Mark DeRosa hung on a garage rack in late June. "I don't think it's the way anybody envisioned it happening," closer Kerry Wood said Sunday when asked if he thought the DeRosa trade was the first public notice of a second consecutive White (Flag) Sale at Progressive ..."
Can Reds be bold?
"The Reds chances of trading for Matt Holliday are slim and none, and slim just left for the church festival. That's assuming Cincinnati would be interested in paying the price for the big-hitting outfielder (dubious) and that the New York Mets would not be. That's borderline insanity. Holliday would cost the Reds precious prospects and some $7 million in salary for the rest of the year. The chances of him remaining a Red next year wouldn't be good. There aren't a lot of reasons even to contemplate it. Except this one: It's a bold move. Without boldness, the Reds will never catch the Cubs, Cards and Brewers. Maybe it's not realistic for the Reds to consider Holliday. It's not Holliday, per ..."
Mariners have long-term decision to make on Adrian Beltre
"When free agent Adrian Beltre signed a five-year, $64 million deal with Seattle in December 2004, it signaled a radical change in the Mariners' philosophy. The team and then-general manager Bill Bavasi were giving a signal to Seattle that they were going to be players in the marketplace. The Mariners spent another $50 million on Richie Sexson that winter, telling fans they understood they no longer could merely open the gates at Safeco Field and expect 35,000 grateful patrons to pour through the turnstiles. They had lost 99 games in 2004. Lou Piniella was gone. His successor, Bob Melvin, had been fired. GM Pat Gillick was history. A new approach was needed. The Mariners expected Beltre to ..."
Penny has earned his keep
"Suddenly, Brad Penny looks like a heck of a lot more than just bait. In fact, he looks more like a very big fish. "We didn't sign him to trade him,'' Red Sox manager Terry Francona said yesterday of Penny, who will take the mound this afternoon when the Red Sox and Braves conclude a three-game series at Turner Field. "We signed him to win. He's worked hard. I only think it's going to continue to get better.'' Penny's recent history in Atlanta aside - he is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in his last six starts here and has an 8.35 ERA in his last four starts against the Braves overall - his value to the Red Sox is indeed growing. Daisuke Matsuzaka is on the disabled list. A 42-year-old John Smoltz is ..."
You could start Mauer with a fastball strike, but then...
"Before I graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota 33 years ago, I pitched professionally for seven years in the organizations of the Twins, Washington Senators and Texas Rangers. More than a month of that insignificant baseball career was spent in the major leagues with the Twins, pitching for Billy Martin in 1969. So sometimes these days, I perch in the press box at the Metrodome and wonder, when Joe Mauer comes to bat, "How would I pitch to this guy?" I also sometimes ponder the same, before Twins games, when standing immediately behind the batting cage and watching Mauer practice his strokes. That swing. It is a beautiful sight to behold. I once asked Sam ..."
Padres' Gonzalez outwalks Pujols
"The Cardinals' Albert Pujols almost universally is deemed the most feared hitter in the National League, if not all of baseball. But despite his whopping lead in intentional walks - he's on a record-setting pace - Pujols, strangely, does not lead the National League in total walks. Pujols, who has 24 intentional walks, probably will break the major-league record for intentional walks issued to a righthanded hitter. Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs had 37 in 2001. San Francisco's Barry Bonds, a lefthanded hitter, has set the bar well beyond reach with a staggering 120 walks in 2004, a couple of years after dangerous Jeff Kent, who used to hit behind Bonds, had moved on to Houston. But the ..."
Scott Podsednik deserves hero's role for a day
"There's nothing wrong with Gordon Beckham getting a turn in the starring role. He looks the part. He is experienced in it beyond his years. He has maybe 15 seasons to enjoy it in Chicago or, if the White Sox ever let him get away, around the big leagues. But the Sox player who really deserved it during a long Saturday afternoon at U.S. Cellular Field was Scott Podsednik, who at 33 should lease by the month. Beckham's first-pitch, bottom-of-the-ninth single off Jose Ascanio delivered the winning run in the White Sox's 8-7 victory that evened the City Series at two games apiece and ended another Cubs winning streak before it could get started. But the at-bat of the day was an inning earlier ..."
Braves' solid-gold arms are undone by dime-store bats
"If pitching is 75 percent - or 90 percent; estimates vary - of baseball, why are the Braves further under .500 than they've been all season? Because the other 25 (or 10) percent of their team is worth about 10 cents. Without meaning to say it, Brian McCann said it perfectly: "We've got to start playing better baseball." Then he checked himself. "Not better baseball - we've got to swing the bats better." The Braves swing the bats just fine. It's the hitting part that bumfuzzles them. They've scored one run in two games against the Red Sox, who have managed only five but have already won this loud and steamy series. Jair Jurrjens was rather good Friday night but wound up the loser. Javier ..."
Don Fehr's career tainted by steroids
"It's a familiar story in this jaded age of baseball: Superstar performer puts up staggering statistics, only to have his legacy tainted in the waning days of his career by the specter of steroids. The superstar in this case happens to be Donald Fehr, the long-time executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, who this week announced his pending retirement. Thus ends, with a whimper rather than a bang, one of the most productive careers in the history of organized labor. Faced in 1983 with the daunting task of following legendary union founder Marvin Miller - technically, Fehr followed the brief tenure of Kenneth Moffett, who was the MLBPA's Phil Bengston to Miller's ..."
Nothing corny about Casey Blake's Dodgers stint
"I was telling Manny Ramirez the other day I was going to do a nice story on the Dodgers' best mid-season acquisition a year ago, Manny laughing because he knew I was talking about Casey Blake. In so many ways, as Manny would agree, there's no argument. But it's such a difficult column to compose, almost nothing negative to say about Blake, so obviously I don't know where to begin. He looks like the double for the Most Interesting Man in the World, but he's from Iowa, the world one big cornfield as far as he's concerned. That's right, he's a hick, "a wild night in L.A. so far," he says, "the drive home after the game," Blake making the hay-wagon jump from Indianola, Iowa, to Hollywood, ..."
Holliday's free-agency pickle
"With the economy and his numbers down, Matt Holliday's big free- agent gamble is beginning to look like a mistake. You never know-one of the usual big spenders could still shower Holliday with mad money this winter, but his performance so far in Oakland makes it just as likely, maybe more likely, that no one will offer him as much as he turned down from the Rockies in the spring of 2008. In just one of the ironic twists here, Holliday told The Post the other day that he would consider a free-agent bid from the Rockies, remembering the good times he had here. This made more dubious the belated claim that he had turned down the Rockies' offer last year because he was uncertain of the ..."
Mets just a flawed fraud
"Enough about the Mets. Enough about their talent. About their potential. About their grit. They are a mediocre team with a few shimmers of bling, and everyone acts like the playoffs are their manifest destiny. This point was driven home last week when I read John Kruk's assessment of the Rockies' staying power on ESPN.com. He doesn't believe they can sustain their success. That's fine. It's an opinion many share. But where he lost me - and I happen to like Kruk - is with his conviction about the National League East. To him, it's obvious the Phillies and Mets will make the playoffs, one as the division winner, the other as the wild card. Can't have a qualm about the Phillies. They are ..."
Sorry, Joe, no one will hit .400 again
"The Splendid Splinter is splendidly splintered. There were reports several years ago of Ted Williams' frozen head rolling off a table, or something, at a cryonics lab in Arizona. So the chances of Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived, someday being reanimated shattered when his head hit the floor and cracked like a cheap Christmas tree ornament. Furthermore, now that his creepy son, John Henry, also is dead, Ted's DNA no longer is for sale. That DNA would have been an infinitely better investment for the small-market Twins than, say, Tony Batista. But now it's a moot point. No matter, even if Williams were brought back by scientists and infused with youth, he could not hit .400 ..."
Firing Wedge not answer
"Why do so many Indians fans and virtually everyone in Medialand with access to a computer or a microphone want to fire Eric Wedge? Simple: His team can't lose games fast enough; he has not won a World Series in his six-plus years as manager; he was responsible for running off Brandon Phillips in 2006; his shifting of players from position to position drives people nuts; he didn't play Matt LaPorta every day when he was called up from the minors; and he reveals as little to the public (through the press) as he can get away with. Oh, and I forgot the three primary reasons to fire Wedge: • It's time for the Tribe to go in a different direction. • The club needs a fresh voice in the clubhouse, ..."
Jerry Manuel's subs are bridges to nowhere as Mets are blanked by Yankees
"It took the Yankees three times around the lineup to solve the journeyman refugee from the Washington Nationals that is Tim Redding, with a vicious sixth-inning assault of four straight hard hits capped by Jorge Posada's three-run homer. After that, the only suspense left in this embarrassing mismatch of a Subway Series was whether the Yankees' A.J. Burnett was going to pitch the second no-hitter of his career. Heaven knows, the ingredients were all there Saturday night for Burnett to toss a collective pie in the Mets' faces, what with the latest makeshift lineup of soft hitters Jerry Manuel was forced to sprinkle around David Wright and Gary Sheffield. As it was, Alex Cora broke up ..."
Starting pitching will finish Texas Rangers in September
"The Rangers don't deserve your faith. Or your hope. Or your optimism. They've done nothing over the last decade to earn it. One day, perhaps. Not now. And the butt-kicking the raggedy San Diego Padres delivered Saturday night certainly won't make you feel any better about this team, which has lost 10 of its last 14 games, especially since the loss knocked the Rangers out of first place for the first time since May 6. They trail the Angels by one-half game in the AL West. That said, we can talk about the Rangers' pitiful offensive performance this month - they delivered another putrid effort against the Padres - but history says the Rangers will eventually hit and score runs. It won't ..."
Is McCutchen the nest Clemente?
"It was just one of 162 informal media gatherings in the manager's office three hours or so before John Russell's Pittsburgh Pirates were to play a game. This time the opponent was the Cleveland Indians, but that is only for the record for they were not the subject of conversation. Instead, as it is much of the time these days, it was the Pirates' newest wunderkind, Andrew McCutchen, and you couldn't help but notice the exuberance that grew in Russell's voice as he spoke. Every other sentence or two the word "exciting" rolled from between smiling lips. Hearing this and watching McCutchen perform, running so fast and so softly across the spacious PNC centerfield that he seemingly didn't bend ..."
The Nats won't touch the Mets' record-breaking losing season
"The 1962 New York Mets are safe. Their record 40-win, 120-loss season won't be threatened by the Nationals this year. I know, I know, some of you are going to be horribly disappointed, as ripping on the Nats has become such a fun thing for many casual fans for whom the word "research" reminds them of a class they tanked in high school. But, barring a clubhouse-wide outbreak of the green apple quickstep, this year's Washington squad will finish north of the dreaded .250 winning percentage. Don't get me wrong, here, the Nationals are far from "turning the corner," but a number of kinks have been, at least, partially smoothed out. Starting pitching looks extremely promising, and the bullpen's ..."
5 things we've learned about the Mets
"Every so often the Mets put their deficits on open-air display, and the only remaining mystery is how they're still breathing in the East. Talk about transparency. The Mets have an ace and a closer and not much else in the way of pitching, they can't score runs and their key players have been placed indefinitely on the disabled list, as if it were a gulag. This weekend's Subway Series has sold plenty of tickets, but has otherwise embarrassed the Mets in every way. They managed just one hit, Alex Cora's single, in a 5-0 rout against the Yankees and now have been outscored, 29-1 (with 31 strikeouts) in their last three games against the cross-town rivals. It's reached the point where senior ..."
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