"Never Heard of Him"NBA Draft Review

A few months back, I decided to test a theory. The theory was that you could determine how well an early entrant will do in the NBA Draft by taking a random group of people and asking them if they've heard of the player. (Theoretically, if this works, it could be turned into a consulting service for players considering entering the draft early.) Preferably, these people would come from all walks of life and all levels of college basketball familiarity. In reality, the people polled were all KankaManiacs. Here are the results of year one of this poll. After a few years of data collection, we can start to see if we can accurately predict how an early entrant will do in the draft.

One note: In this case, all people polled were Notre Dame alumni. As Notre Dame basketball is in the Big East, this will tend to skew the results for players from that conference.

For each of our pollster's names, a 1 indicates that that person has heard of the player. A 0 means they have never heard of the player.
For the Round, -1 indicates the player later withdrew from the draft. 0 means they remained draft eligible but went undrafted.

Player Year Position School	Dave	Ellen	Mike	Kanka	Total	Round	Pick	Over-all
Alex Acker Junior Guard Pepperdine	0	0	0	0	0	2	30	60
Hassan Adams Junior Guard Arizona	1	0	0	1	2	-1	0	0
Andray Blatche Senior Center South Kent (Ct.) Prep School	0	0	0	0	0	2	19	49
Kelenna Azubuike Junior Guard-Forward Kentucky	1	0	1	1	3	0	0	0
Andrew Bogut Sophomore Center Utah	1	0	1	1	3	1	1	1
Brandon Bowman Junior Forward Georgetown	1	0	1	1	3	-1	0	0
Dee Brown Junior Guard Illinois	1	0	1	1	3	-1	0	0
Ike Diogu Junior Forward Arizona State	1	0	0	0	1	1	9	9
Monta Ellis Senior Guard Lanier (Miss.) HS	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	40
Raymond Felton Junior Guard North Carolina	1	0	1	1	3	1	5	5
Torin Francis Junior Guard Notre Dame	1	1	1	1	4	-1	0	0
Francisco Garcia Junior Guard Louisville	1	1	1	1	4	1	23	23
Gerald Green Senior Guard Houston Gulf Shores Academy	1	0	0	0	1	1	18	18
Mike Hall Junior Forward George Washington	0	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0
Chris Hernandez Junior Guard Stanford	1	0	1	0	2	-1	0	0
Jarrett Jack Junior Guard Georgia Tech	1	0	0	1	2	1	22	22
Dwayne Jones Junior Center St. Joseph's	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
Linus Kleiza Sophomore Forward Missouri	0	0	0	0	0	1	27	27
Carl Krauser Junior Guard Pittsburgh	1	1	1	1	4	-1	0	0
Sean May Junior Center North Carolina	1	1	1	1	4	1	13	13
Rashad McCants Junior Guard-Forward North Carolina	1	1	1	1	4	1	14	14
Pops Mensah-Bonsu Junior Forward George Washington	1	0	0	0	1	-1	0	0
J.R. Morris Junior Forward Seton Hall	0	1	1	1	3	-1	0	0
T.J. Parker Junior Guard Northwestern	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0	0
Chris Paul Sophomore Guard Wake Forest	1	0	1	1	3	1	4	4
Kevin Pittsnogle Junior Center West Virginia	1	1	1	1	4	-1	0	0
Anthony Roberson Junior Guard Florida	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0
Nate Robinson Junior Guard Washington	1	0	1	1	3	1	21	21
Chris Rogers Junior Guard Arizona	0	0	1	0	1	-1	0	0
Chris Taft Sophomore Center Pittsburgh	1	0	1	1	3	2	12	42
Charlie Villanueva Sophomore Forward Connecticut	1	1	1	1	4	1	7	7
Von Wafer Sophomore Guard Florida State	0	0	0	0	0	2	9	39
Matt Walsh Junior Guard Florida	1	0	0	1	2	0	0	0
Martell Webster Senior Forward Seattle Prep (Wash.) HS	1	0	0	0	1	1	6	6
Deron Williams Junior Guard Illinois	1	0	1	1	3	1	3	3
Eric Williams Junior Center Wake Forest	1	0	1	0	2	-1	0	0
Marvin Williams Freshman Forward North Carolina	1	0	1	0	2	1	2	2
Shawne Williams Senior Forward Laurinburg (NC) Institute	0	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0
Louis Williams Senior Guard South Gwinnett (GA) HS	0	0	0	1	1	2	15	45
Kennedy Winston Junior Forward Alabama	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
Antoine Wright Junior Guard-Forward Texas A&M	0	0	0	0	0	1	15	15
Bracey Wright Junior Guard Indiana	1	0	1	1	3	2	17	47

For those of you who like pretty pictures, here's a chart of the overall pick of a drafted underclassmen versus the number of people who have heard of that player. Seniors are not included in the chart as they were not part of this poll. There's no Bell Curve to this chart, at least after one year, so I will let you draw your own conclusions. You can see that only two first rounders were unheard of (junior Antoine Wright of Texas A&M and sophomore Linus Kleiza of Missouri), while a majority of the second rounders were unheard of.



Finally, here's a breakdown of the average number of "Heard of Hims" for certain categories of players:

Category	Total Heard of Hims	Players	Average
Withdrawn	30	14	2.14
Undrafted	9	5	1.80
Round 1	38	16	2.38
Round 2	7	7	1
Drafted (Combined)	45	23	1.96

What does this tell us? Well, we knew quite a few of the players who withdrew, but there were a large number of Big East players on that list. On average, the first rounders were familiar to more than half of the pollsters. Logically, if you're considering leaving early, you would want a majority of people to have heard of you. I'm going to call the rest of the data inconclusive for now, largely because the numbers for the undrafted players were so much higher than the numbers of the round 2 draftees.

Conclusions? Well, as the baseball statheads like to say, this was too small of a sample set. This is only year 1, so we'll need more data under our belts before we can start making predictions. It is fairly safe to say, though, that you should make sure a majority of people have even heard of you before you consider leaving early to go pro.

Browns Position Preview #1: Quarterback and Offensive Line

(Editor's note: This is my debut as a member of the All-Sports Ohio Network. Link here.)

Quarterback

8 Trent Dilfer

	G	GS	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	TD	Int
2004 (Seattle)	5	2	58	25	43.1	333	1	3
Career (11 years)	110	96	2620	1440	55.2	17,031	95	105

When Trent Dilfer left Baltimore following the 2000 season, a year in which he helped them win the Super Bowl no less, everyone asked why the Ravens would give up on such a proven winner. Apparently, though, the decision to let Dilfer go wasn't made by current Browns GM Phil Savage (then with the Ravens). After four years as a backup in Seattle - a job that didn't give him much playing time due to the emergence of Matt Hasselbeck - Trent Dilfer is back in a starting role. The 1997 Pro Bowler is 53-43 in his 96 career starts.

12 Doug Johnson

	G	GS	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	TD	Int
2004 (Tennessee)	2	0	12	6	50.0	68	0	0
Career (5 years)	25	11	384	218	56.8	2600	13	18

The brunt of Doug Johnson's NFL experience came in the 2003 season, where he made eight starts filling in for the injured Michael Vick. That year, he had 1655 yards passing, 8 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Project that over 16 games, and that's not bad work for a backup. Last year, Johnson was the third stringer in Tennessee. Will the relative inexperience of the Browns' quarterbacks (only Dilfer and Johnson have seen NFL playing time), I predict that Johson will start the season as the second stringer. In time, though, don't be surprised if he gets bumped down the depth chart in favor of a progessing Charlie Frye.

9 Charlie Frye

	G	GS	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	TD	Int
2004 (U Akron)	11	11	346	220	63.6	2623	18	8
Career (U Akron)	46	44	1436	913	63.6	11,049	64	32

A hometown kid (Willard, OH), Charlie Frye is said to be the real deal. Considered by some to be the best all-around quarterback at the combine this past year, Frye had 429 career rushing yards to go along with his 11,049 passing yards. This was good enough to make him #11 in the NCAA in career total offense. The rushing total would have been higher, too, had he not been made into more of a pocket passer his senior year to impress the scouts. It make take some time (rumor has it that Johnson was signed because Frye and Josh Harris looked shaky in early camps), but Charlie Frye has a chance to become the next hometown favorite at quarterback for the Browns.

5 Josh Harris

	G	GS	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	TD	Int
2004 (Baltimore/Cleveland)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career (1 year)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Listed as an "athlete" in press releases of the Johnson signing, Josh Harris is just that. Harris had 7503 passing yards and 2473 rushing yards in his career at Bowling Green. In addition to quarterback, he played running back, kick returner, and punt returner as a freshman for the Falcons. Don't be surprised to see him add "reciever" to that list in the NFL. Interesting note: Josh is the son of Michael "ML" Harris, who spent 6 years with the Bengals.

Lang Campbell

	G	GS	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	TD	Int
2004 (William and Mary)	14	14	455	298	65.5	3988	30	5
Career (William and Mary)	?	?	1258	495	39.3	6494	54	12

This year's "who dat?" special at quarterback, Lang Campbell comes in as an undrafted free agent. In his senior season, Campbell led his team to 11 wins and was given the Payton Award, Division I-AA football's highest honor. (Note: Campbell's career attempts/completions come from ClevelandBrowns.com, and I'm not so sure that they're correct.)

Offensive Line

66 LJ Shelton LT

	G	GS
2004 (Arizona)	12	9
Career (6 years)	82	77

LJ Shelton was Arizona's first round pick in the 1999 draft, and he went on to be a 6-year starter for the Cardinals. After being waived by Arizona, Shelton was signed by the Browns to replace the departing Ross Verba. Shelton is yet another MAC alum on this team; he is a graduate of Eastern Michigan.

63 Joe Andruzzi LG

	G	GS
2004 (New England)	16	16
Career (8 years)	95	76

When the first move of the Savage/Crennel era was to go out and sign free agent Joe Andruzzi, it was a sign that this new regime wasn't going to take the offensive line lightly. Not only is he a proven winner (three Super Bowl rings in New England), but he is just the kind of veteran class act that a young team needs. The hard working Andruzzi is heavily involved in community efforts including firefighters, muscular distrophy, and brain cancer research.

50 Jeff Faine C

	G	GS
2004 (Cleveland)	13	13
Career (2 years)	22	22

Jeff Faine is yet another controversial Butch Davis first round pick. Davis' offensive line coach never really seemed to like Faine, and that seemed to affect Faine's performance on the field. He appeared to be too concerned with helping out the guards, and often would let a linebacker run right through the spot he had just vacated. Even his tenacity and impressive work ethic from college seemed to slip away. When this year's first set of workouts came around, the press complained that Faine looked too skinny, and blamed it on his health-conscious diet. Still, Crennel thinks Faine is the man, and although I may be a bit biased, I think the coach is making the right choice.

60 Cosey Coleman RG

	G	GS
2004 (Tampa Bay)	16	16
Career (5 years)	71	63

Cosey Coleman was sign number 2 that the new Browns staff wasn't going to take the offensive line lightly. Everyone said that Cleveland needed a major improvement at guard. Along with Andruzzi, this former four year starter for the Buccaneers provides that improvement.

72 Ryan Tucker RT

	G	GS
2004 (Cleveland)	7	7
Career (8 years)	96	68

A proven commodity when he came over from St. Louis in 2002, Ryan Tucker has been one of the lone bright spots of the "new Browns" offensive line. If Tucker can fully recover from last year's knee injury, Trent Dilfer et al. can spend their Saturday nights sleeping soundly, knowing that this line will do a fine job for them come Sunday afternoon.

70 Enoch DeMar G

	G	GS
2004 (Cleveland)	15	11
Career (2 years)	20	13

Enoch DeMar will be starting his third season with the Browns, after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2003. One of the line's super-subs in 2004, DeMar played in 15 games, starting 11 at left guard.

67 Melvin Fowler G/C

	G	GS
2004 (Cleveland)	15	3
Career (3 years)	30	14

Highly regarded by his former line coach ("Melvin Fowler is a better center than Jeff Faine"), Melvin Fowler was the center of the future when he was taken in the third round of the 2002 draft. That bright future dimmed a bit when Jeff Faine was selected in the first round the following year. Perhaps most famous for having his jersey worn by Flavor Flav on The Surreal Life, Fowler is a versatile guard/center who should see decent backup time in this coming season.

78 Phil Bogle G/T

	G	GS
2004 (San Diego)	0	0
Career (2 years)	15	13

A free agent signing at guard, Phil Bogle began his career in 2003 with San Diego. Injuries to the line that year allowed him to play in 15 games at right guard and right tackle, starting 13. Unfortunately for him, though, those injured players returned the next season, and following the first two games of 2004 (in which he was listed as inactive), he was released by the Chargers.

75 Javiar Collins T

	G	GS
2004 (Carolina/Cleveland)	0	0
Career (4 years)	11	4

Right tackle Javiar Collins spent time with Carolina and Cleveland in 2004, but did not see playing time with either team. His only game action came as a member of the Cowboys; in 2002 he played in 9 games and started 4 as injuries haunted the Dallas line.

68 Marcus Spears G/T

	G	GS
2004 (Houston)	16	3
Career (11 years)	104	21

I believe the term "wily" was invented for guys like Marcus Spears. He is to an offensive line what a veteran utility infielder is to a baseball team. In his 11 year career, Spears has played everywhere on the line except center. Most of his time has been spent as a backup; 16 of his 21 career starts came with Kansas City in 2001.

62 Craig Osika C

	G	GS
2004 (Cleveland)	0	0
Career (3 years)	1	0

You can tell that Craig Osika football plays for the love of the game. He's spent the past two years bouncing up and down from Cleveland's practice squad. His only game appearance came in 2003 on special teams. It doesn't sound like much, but it's something that a lot of people would love to do just once.

71 Jonathan Dunn T

	G	GS
Virginia Tech stats unavailable

The Browns' 7th round pick this year, Jonathan Dunn became a starter at right tackle for the Hokies mid-way through his sophomore year.

65 Kirk Chambers T

	G	GS
2004 (Cleveland)	6	0
Career (1 year)	6	0

Cleveland's 6th round pick in 2004, Kirk Chambers played 6 games in his rookie year, mostly on special teams.

79 Lewis Dawson

	G	GS
2004 (Cleveland)	0	0
Career (1 year)	0	0

An undrafted rookie from the Citadel, Lewis Dawson spent 2004 on the Browns' practice squad.

68 Sterling Harris T

	G	GS
2004 (Cleveland)	0	0
Career (1 year)	0	0

Cleveland signed right tackle Sterling Harris as an undrafted free agent out of SMU. An early foot injury turned out to be season-ending, as he was placed on the Injured Reserve on September 1 of last year.

73 Greg Randall T

	G	GS
2004 (none)	0	0
Career (4 years)	51	39

If it's an odd-numbered year, Greg Randall can expect to see good playing time. Randall started 16 games for New England in 2001 and for Houston in 2003. While with the Patriots in 2000 and 2002, he played in a combined 19 games with 7 starts. He was out of football last year after being released by St. Louis, but his track record shows that he should serve as at least a decent backup on any NFL team.

74 Clint Stickdorn T

	G	GS
2004 (U Cincinnati)	12	12
U Cincinnati career stats unavailable

Rounding out Cleveland's offensive line hopefuls is Clint Stickdorn, an undrafted free agent who played right tackle for the Cincinnati Bearcats.

The Weekend in Review"I can't think of a good subtitle" Edition

Miscellaneous Ramblings

• Hey, what do Ellen and David Wright now have in common? Matching bruises from the seats at Shea. Seriously, though, that was a great catch. It was the only way anyone could beat Casey Blake's tarp walk catch for top Web Gem that night.


• I got last-minute tickets to the Indians game Monday night, thanks to my cousin. It was a hard-fought 10-9 loss to the Red Sox. Between this game and one I went to last year (Jake Westbrook beat Curt Schilling 2-1), I've had my fill of Red Sox fans for a while. No offense, Pete.


• It really was quite a game. A six run fourth by Boston made the score 9-4, but the Tribe kept battling back. Back-to-back homers by Travis Hafner and Vic Martinez made the score 9-7 going into the ninth, and a Johnny Damon solo shot in the top of the night increased the lead to 10-7. That run proved to be the difference as the Indians were able to scrape together two runs - but no more - in the bottom of the ninth. A tough loss, but you have to love it when your starter gives up 9 runs (ok, you don't have to love that part) and a scrappy group of kids who are still "a year away" battle back to take the World Champions down to the final out. (OK, so next day's 9-2 loss wasn't great, but still.


• The bleachers started a "Get a haircut!" chant to honor Damon while he was in center. At the end of the inning, Damon turned, graciously removed his hat, and bowed to the bleachers. I'm sure there might have been a few words in there, too.


• Apparently, before the game, some Cleveland sportswriter or radio talk personality suggested the fans boo Manny Ramirez every time he came up to bat. So, each time it was Manny's turn in the lineup, he glared in the direction of the press box as he walked from the first base dugout to the right-handed batter's box. Unfortunately, as another Cleveland radio personality feared, the boos only served to fire up Manny. He's had two homers in the first two games of the series, and appeared to actually be trying on defense. On a personal note, I hope it was a writer who suggested the booing. If that was the case, then we should all congratulate Manny on learning how to read - as there were many rumors during his early days in Cleveland that he was illiterate.


• Ramirez staring into the press box reminds me of another story I've heard a few times. Hal Lebovitz is a respected Cleveland sportswriter and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame (as a writer). He loves to tell this story: One time, when the Red Sox were in town, Hal blasted Ted Williams for brushing off his teammates as they came to congratulate him at home plate after a home run. The very next day, Williams homers again. After he crosses home, he shakes the hands of every teammate standing there, and the bat boy. But he didn't stop there. He also surprised the opposing catcher and home plate umpire by shaking their hands as well! After doing this, Williams looked up to Lebovitz in the press box and pointed at him. Hal could easily read his lips: "How was that, you S.O.B.?!"

Transaction Wire

• Browns claim Nick Setta off waivers. Ooh, Ellen, I think this means you have to move here now! A serious look at Setta's chances isn't too promising. Browns place kicker Phil Dawson has been consistent year in and year out. (Unless you count the Jets game last year.) He has only missed three games due to injury in his career, all coming at the end of 2003. Can he make noise at punter, though? Last year, Butch Davis didn't want to spend money on a punter, so he went with the no-name Derrick Frost. That didn't turn out too well (go figure), so this offseason the new Browns regime signed veteran Kyle Richardson. As I see it, only an offseason injury to Richardson and a strong showing at punter by Setta will get him on the team. Yes, if they do agree to let him try punting, I can see him beating out Frost with a good preseason performance. Side note: I came across this news when I checked my site logs and found several people had hit KankaNation by Googling "Nick Setta Cleveland Browns." I Googled it myself, and that's how I found out about the signing.


• Torin Francis withdraws from the NBA draft on the last day possible. I know you all have your own opinions on him, so I'll leave it at that.


• Carl Krauser withdraws from the NBA draft. Apparently, "random 35 year old guy" is a huge need in that program. I wonder if I'll still have eligibility left in 12 years.


• Larry Brown isn't the only reason why the Cavs can't wait for the NBA Finals to finish. Reportedly, there's also a very strong chance that they will offer the GM position to Spurs Director of Basketball Operations Danny Ferry. Ferry says he wants to wait until the Cavs and Brown have contract details worked out before making his own decision. Brown would become team president, but it remains to be seen how much control he would have (or want to have) over personnel decisions. Ferry, who played for 10 years with Cleveland, has also said that he is happy in San Antonio and wouldn't mind keeping his current job.

Here's Looking at You

On the left, that's Tribe rookie sensation Grady Sizemore. On the right, next to a certain F-Bomb, that's Sarah Paulson. I think it would be best if I let you make your own comments about this one.


Well, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I haven't had much time to write lately. I'm working on a piece on potential World Baseball Classic lineups, which I may or may not deliver in installments. Look for that tomorrow or next week.

The Weekend in ReviewWait, did I actually do anything this weekend?

Miscellaneous Ramblings

First of all, I'd like to welcome a familiar face to the ever-growing list of links in the right sidebar. Dominic Yonto (Ellen loves him) has started a blog chronicling his ACE experiences.


• Chris Thomas reportedly has been doing well in pre-draft workouts. He's auditioned for 13 teams so far, including the Cavs - who haven't had a great point guard since the Mark Price/Terrell Brandon days. No word on Torin Francis, who has until June 21 to withdraw from the draft.


• Notre Dame has fallen to 16th in the (Sears) Director's Cup standings. Wish I could find a source, but I'm lazy.


• Three Irish are currently playing in the WNBA. Jacqueline Batteast has played two games for the Minnesota Lynx, totaling 2 rebounds in 11 minutes. She's missed both of the shots she's attempted. Detroit is the home of the other two WNBA-ers. Ruth Riley has started all 7 of her team's game, averaging 7.1 points, 4.86 rebounds, and 1.29 blocks per game. Niele Ivey has come off hte bench in all 7 games, averaging 1 point, 1 assist, and a rebound and a half in 11 minutes of work per night.


• Finally, UND.com is running a contest where you can pick the greatest game ever played in Notre Dame Stadium. You're invited to pick 15 games from a list of 45. The ballot includes four recent classics: Gary Godsey Beats Purdue! I, the Glenn Earl Hand of God Game, and Ty's two wins over Michigan. Click here to enter.

Transaction Wire

• Bears release Nick Setta. The move virtually coincided with the end of the NFL Europe season. Ellen, get on the phone right now. If you help the Giants land Setta, it would look great in your post-sports school career.


• Speaking of Ellen's post-sports school career, Georgetown names Bernard Muir Athletic Director. There's now an opening for Deputy Director of Athletics at Notre Dame. Has Jessi turned in her resume yet?


• Reds draft Notre Dame pitcher John Axford in the 42nd round. Speaking of 42, Axford is the 42nd player selected during manager Paul Manieri's 11-year reign at Notre Dame. Also speaking of 42, I'll bet Mike has made a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference by now. Axford had a 14-5 career record before a 2003 injurey required Tommy John surgery.


• In more ND baseball news, second baseman-turned-third baseman Brett Lilley was named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Thirty-four walks and 30 times hit-by-pitch led to a .502 on-base percentage. Shoot, Paris Hilton doesn't even let her boyfriend get on base that much.


• Megan Duffy has been named a finalist for the USA U-21 team that will play in the World University games. There are a total of 16 finalists, and that number will be cut to 12 after a training camp. The WUG will take place from August 10-19.


• Brewers trade Junior Spivey to the Nationals for Tomo Ohka. A great trade for everyone. The Brewers free up space for the second of their Big Three infield prospects, Ricky Weeks. Weeks, selected behind only Delmon Young in the 2003 draft, will play second between JJ Hardy, who started the season in the majors but has struggled, and Price Fielder, who was called up Monday to play DH as the Brewers tour the AL. Spivey gives the Nationals a solid replacement for the injured Jose Vidro as they are in the midst of a division race that's closer than Ellen and me at a busy night at The Backer. And Ohka will get his wish to be a full-time starter, after making a few bullpen appearances while with Washington.


• Devil Rays designate Alex Sanchez for assignment. A day after Manager Lou Piniella complained that Tampa Bay's ownership doesn't care about winning, the Rays... released a guy hitting .342. This comes months after he was released by Detroit after hitting .322 in 2004. How much of a clubhouse cancer was this guy? I mean, I've seen Manny Ramirez and Carlos Lee. Was Sanchez's defense really that bad? What's the story?


• The other day, Steve Phillips was on Baseball Tonight hypothesizing about several moves that would make contending teams better. Whether a guy who currently has a GM job should listen to a guy who's on TV because he can't get a GM job is a story for another day. But, he did mention one deal that concerned the Indians. Apparently, he thinks they're out of it (well, 10.5 games back in mid-June), because he felt that Bob Wickman would be a great, affordable pickup for Atlanta's bullpen. So, I got to thinking, who would Cleveland get for Wickman? They would need a closer, but certainly they'd go to one of their current guys - all who have been doing wonderfully this year - before asking for Danny Kolb. What they need is infield help. Ron Belliard is doing well, but since mid-2004, everyone's been waiting for the day he leaves the Tribe to seek more money elsewhere. Aaron Boone is great defensively, and his hitting is finally coming around, but Cleveland doesn't have a long-term answer at third base anywhere in its organization. A few "experts" think current shortstop Jhonny Peralta will outgrow (a polite word for "outeat," perhaps) short and eventually be moved to third. At age 23 and with 6 homers so far this year, he's shown that he should have just enough pop to play third for this team. Then who do you put at short? Brandon Phillips was supposed to be the shortstop of the future, and he can already field like it. However, he's struggled at the plate in the majors, and his subsequent pouting about his performance has led to poor hitting at AAA as well. So, Well, the Braves have a great infield, don't they? Surely, Wickman for Chipper Jones, Rafael Furcal, or Marcus Giles doesn't quite stack up, though. But, Atlanta does have a trio of young infielders on the roster right now. Twenty-six year old Pete Orr has played second, third, and the outfield, and is hitting .286 in 70 at-bats this season. Twenty-one year old Andy Marte has been slick with the glove filling in for Jones at third, but he's only hit .143 so far. Wilson Betemit, who made his Major League debut in 2001 at age 21, has played the three "regular" infield positions this year, and is hitting .309 in 44 games. If the Indians have to make this deal, I'd go with Betemit.

Well, there you have it. I'm off to find the name of the book I'm reading, so I can finally update the link over to the right.

Transaction Wire

• Phillies take Matt Edwards in the 16th round of the MLB Amateur Draft. Dr. Dye celebrates with a comment about Townie's mom. Wait, what? No! Not that Matt Edwards! This Matt Edwards played first base for Notre Dame, and was First Team All Big East for the second time this year (he also was 1st team in '03), leading the conference in RBI. More ND draft picks to come, I'm sure.


• Cavs plan to interview Kiki Vandeweghe for the GM position. Vandeweghe, currently the Nuggets' GM, would apparently be willing to accept working under Larry Brown. That is, of course, dependant on what the media thinks Brown's decision is as of this moment.


• Indians annouce Ryan Ludwick cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA. Great news, considering Juan Gonzalez' comeback lasted 4 pitches before he re-injured his hamstring.


• Indians fire Eddie Murray as hitting coach and promote organizational hitting instructor Derek Shelton to interim hitting coach. Well, the Tribe wasn't hitting, and someone had to take the blame. Eric Wedge decided that it had to be Murray. One interesting note on Murray: I've always been taught to use a lighter bat and choke up. Last year, in the midst of a good hitting season, Murray taught his pupils to move towards heavier bats for more pop. No word if he went with the lighter approach this year in the midst of the Indians' offensive woes.


• Indians name Robby Thompson interim bench coach. Robby, who had been in the Indians' front office, is the second most famous Robert Thompson in Giants' history.


• Royals trade Eli Marrero for a no-name A-baller. Marrero, a versatile C/1B/OF, was essentially released by the Royals shortly after Buddy Bell took over. A career .250 hitter, Eli hit .320 last year for Atlanta, but was hitting only .159 so far this year for Kansas City.


• Mets sign Danny Graves. Graves' numbers have been a major point of criticism, but he does often get the job done. His release was a part of an apparent salary dump/rehaul by the Reds, and an inappropriate gesture after a blown save was the excuse to hand him his walking papers. He will join a bullpen that features a closer that one "expert" said has AA-quality talent.


• Tigers trade Ugueth Urbina and Ramon Martinez for Placido Polanco. With a guy like Kyle Farnsworth and a closer like Troy Percival, the Tigers could afford to give up Urbina (especially when Urbina was disgruntled about not being a closer). The Phillies, who are 1.5 games back in their division compared to Detroit's 11, add depth to their bullpen with Urbina, and now have a great contingency plan for oft-injured closer Billy Wagner. Polanco is a solid infielder, and will most likely play every day second base, when not spelling Carlos Guillen or Brandon Inge at their respective positions. Now that Polanco's out of Philadelphia, Chase Utley will finally get a well-deserved chance to play second base every day. Many people looked at the Phillies and said that the best move would have been to release David Bell, move Polanco to third, and let Utley play second. But, I'll take a bullpen upgrade like Urbina any day, especially in a tight race like the NL East (where the last place Marlins are a mere 2.5 games back of the first place Nationals). Plus, you could always use Martinez, who looks like a poor (but not too poor) man's Polanco, to platoon with Bell at third, when not filling in for Utley or Jimmy Rollins. Overall, I'd say this is a really good trade for the Phillies. If the Tigers start to contend next year - and they are showing signs that they can - I'll say it's a good trade for them as well.

Finally, a story Cristin passed on to me about this year's graduation. Three of the most well-known people receiving honorary degrees this year were papal candidate Cardinal Arinze, underrated baseball legend Hank Aaron, and Maria from Sesame Street. The person who got the longest standing ovation from the students? You guessed it - Maria.

The Weekend in ReviewBaseball, Baseball, Baseball Edition

Dream Sequence

I don't remember dreams often. This one was definitely worth sharing, though. Actually,this was more like three smaller dreams rolled into one, as I drifted in and out of sleep last night.
It started with me at some kind of summer camp with some people from my high school. It wasn't just my friends, though - it was also some random people I hadn't even talked to since I graduated 6 years ago. Apparently, every single Notre Dame sport was holding walkon tryouts at this camp at the same time. So, of course I decided I was going to try out for baseball. While I was at it, I figured I might as well follow some of my camp roommates and try out for football as well. Then, I remembered that I couldn't play because I don't go to school any more. So, that was the end of that.
The next thing I know, I'm playing left field for the Giants in Chavez Ravine against the Dodgers. For some reason, I was the only guy available to play outfield, and they even had to move Barry Bonds (who was apparently healthy again) from left to right field to put me in. The inning ended, and the team headed back to the first base dugout. I'm thinking, "Man, Barry probably doesn't want to sit next to some nobody rookie like me." Since I'm coming from left field, I'm the last person back to the dugout - and of course the only seat left on the bench is right next to Barry. I sat down, kept my mouth shut, and looked straight ahead. He seemed to be OK with that, and one of the vets was even nice enough to move in between us so Barry didn't have to sit with the riff-raff.
The next thing I know, I'm apparently on the largest cruise ship in the world. This ship is even big enough to have its own small indoor softball field. Of course, the bones - who are on this ship along with some of the same random high school people - decide to start a game. Apparently, since this is such a nice ship, everyone has to play in a suit and tie. I get changed, but I'm running late and everyone's done and at the field before me. I take the elevator up to the softball floor, but accidentally go one floor too high and end up on the Presidential floor. Now, the Presidential floor is even nicer than the rest of the ship. Once I get off the elevator, the crew immediately has to change me into a tuxedo. Now, the Presidential floor is so named because it houses two special suites. I see two doors with a sign on each. The first reads: "Presidential Suite (Bill Clinton used to stay here)." The second, "Vice Presidential Suite (Al Gore used to stay here)." I thought it was nice, and kind of amusing that they mentioned Bill Clinton and Al Gore, just in case you didn't remember what the words "Presidential" and "Vice Presidential" meant. I couldn't figure out why the signs hadn't been changed recently, though. At this point, my infamous cousin shows up. In his true style, he convinces one of the crew to open the door to the Presidential Suite so we could look inside. Just as we get a quick glance, the guy who's staying in the suite - some random heavyset balding guy in his 60s with graying hair - shows up, and our mini-tour is over. After a minute or two in the room, the guy comes back out to use the bathtub. The bathtub, shared by the two suites, is in an open room with no door between the suites. Deciding that I don't really want to see this guy's hairy back, I move on. Remembering the softball game, I stop some random old lady in a ball gown and we start playing catch in the hallway. It was then I noticed that the ceiling on the Presidential floor was really low for it to be a place to play softball. At that moment, someone rushes in to tell me that the softball game was going on one floor below. In a rush, I decide to hurry down the spiral staircase. This takes a couple minutes, of course, because the softball floor is very tall - it has to be big enough to play softball, remember. In my haste, though I forget my glove. I get there to see Dave pitching and Steve Cronk in center field. Brian Cronk had been called to fill in my place in left field. (Again with left field, I don't know why.) The softball floor is very nice - wooden floors, a not-quite-regulation sized infield, overall a great place to play. Seeing me rush in, Steve looks relieved. He tells me he doesn't want to play any more (I get the impression that he never wanted to in the first place) and hands me his glove. (Note to Cronk, if you're reading this: this was a dream, I had no control over whether or not you were wearing the Eli Manning face while playing softball.) Still in my tux, I jam on the glove, take Steve's spot, and... my alarm goes off. Dah.

Baseball Recap

It was a big baseball weekend for me: the Ohio Valley Redcoats were in Lorain trying out a potential new hometown, I was invited to a Lake County Captains (Indians mid-level A) game, and ND baseball was playing in the Regional Tournament.

Ohio Valley Redcoats 4, Richmond Roosters 3: Sadly, I was only able to make it to one game of this three game set, but it was a good one. Highlights of the game: Ohio Valley's second baseman made a great backhand catch and went into a slide right as he hit the bullpen mound behind first base, causing him to flip a little, but he held on. The Richmond center fielder, who I described to Ellen as Julius on 'roids or Darrell Campbell still weighing 300 pounds but only being 5'9" (basically, this guy was short but very built) absolutely blasted the catcher on a play at the plate. The same center fielder also let two runs score when a line drive went right over his glove - that was the "oh yeah, this is still basically low-level ball" moment for me. The Richmond shortstop made a play where he was running to his left when the ball made a high bad hop. As a reaction, he stuck out his bare hand while still moving to his left, snagged the ball, and made the play at first. Later that same inning, the second baseman for Richmond almost made a similar play. He too got a bad hop, but was only able to knock it down with his bare hand. He tried to dive and throw to first all in one motion - an impressive move - but couldn't get the batter in time. The bottom of the 9th featured some great drama. Tied 3-3, Ohio Valley lead off with a double. Everyone knew the bunt was on, and Richmond had the "wheel play" on. In the wheel play, the third baseman charges, the shortstop covers third, and the second baseman covers second. Theoretically, if the player who fields the bunt has time, he should throw to first. This is what happened, but the runner at third was called safe by the lone base umpire - who was in great position for the call. Well, the Richmond manager came flying out of the first base dugout, and I could here him say some words that definitely weren't intended for an audience full of little leaguers. The second baseman, who wasn't in on the play, came over to "help," but the manager shoved him aside with one hand without even looking away from the umpire. The next thing I hear is " wheel play! " Classic. I think "wheel play!" is my new favorite curse word. Well, apparently it was the second baseman - who, remember, was 90 feet away from the play - who uttered the "wheel play" tirade, because he got the hook. That didn't make him any happier, and the center fielder (remember, a very built guy) had to come rushing in and spend the next 5 minutes wrestling the second baseman away from the action while the manager continued to argue. Well, when the dust settled, it was first and third. Two outs and a walk later, the bases were loaded. The Richmond pitcher started with 2 strikes to the Ohio Valley batter, and everyone was bracing for extra innings. Then came three straight balls. Oh, the drama! Two outs, bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, full count. What comes next? Ball four, game over! How's that for excitement on a Thursday evening?

Lake County Captains 6, Delmarva Shorebirds 2: On Saturday, I was invited by Cristin to take in a game in Lake County. Our seats were very nice - right behind 3rd base, about 15 rows up. Of course, at a stadium that small and that well built, there really aren't many bad seats. Our section was made up almost entirely of people from Cristin's church - we were bussed to the stadium after mass. Apparently, due to my baseball experience, my bare hands were the only thing keeping the entire section from massive injury from a foul ball. Fortunetly, nothing came our way, though. Now, Classic Stadium knows how to entertain its audience. One lucky Delmarva batter was named "White Castle Strike Out Batter of the Game." If he struck out at any point during the game, everyone got a free White Castle hamburger. I was excited for free food, but not so excited when I found out it was White Castle. Oh well, he didn't strike out, so it was a moot point. Miller Lite sponsored a contest. All this guy had to do was hit a tennis ball off a tee over the fence from 100 feet away. He did on the second try, and for it he took home a 6-pack of Miller Lite. Nice. The following inning was the Arby's Home Run Inning. If the Captains hit a home run, everyone gets free fries from Arby's. A Captain did, and everyone was ecstatic. I was slightly less ecstatic, though. You see, Lake County is east of Cleveland, an hour plus away from Lorain. So I'm thinking, "great, I won these free fries, but I'm not going to drive to an Arby's an hour away from home just to cash in my coupon." Fortunately, the coupon says "any Cleveland area Arby's," so I could be OK. Lord knows I love my curly fries. Now, I mentioned the Miller Lite contest. But not all the entertainment was geared for adults. Oh know, Classic Stadium knows its entire audience. During a Delmarva pitching change, the new pitcher got to warm up to a sing-a-long of the Spongebob Squarepants theme song playing on the video board. Of course, the kids weren't loud enough the first time around, so they were asked to sing it again. Good times. Oh yeah, there also was a baseball game going on, but apparently I was the only one paying attention to that.

Notre Dame plays in the Gainsville Regional: This was a double-elimination tournament with Florida, North Carolina, and Stetson. As the #3 seed in the regional, Notre Dame lost the first game to #2 North Carolina 5-1. They bounced back the next day in the losers' game, beating Stetson 7-4. North Carolina lost to Florida in the winners' game, which meant the Irish would again have to face the Tar Heels. Notre Dame pitcher Dan Kapala pitched a gem for 8 innings, and this time the Irish won 3-0. Now, they would have to knock off Florida twice to get to the Super-Regionals. Of course, to do this, the first game against Florida would have to take place mere minutes after the Irish win over UNC. Notre Dame plain ran out of gas, and Florida rolled to a 23-3 victory, end of story. It was an up and down year for the Irish, and their two final games truly showed that. Better luck next year, guys.

It looks like I'm going to be playing softball again this summer, and that'll severely reduce my writing time. So, until further notice, I'll accept any and all guest columns from you loyal KankaManiacs. I'll try to sneak in a Transaction Wire later this week, but I did want to pass on an interesting piece of news that most ND sources apparently haven't picked up yet: There is a good chance that the Gator Bowl will drop its alliance with the Big East, replacing them with the Big 10 or Big 12. However, it is expected that the Big East (and Notre Dame) will be able to replace the Gator Bowl with another of a similar payout.

Until next time, Go Irish.

KankaNation Movie ReviewThe Longest Yard, or as I like to call it, The Gary Godsey Movie

by Ellen Fitzgerald with some assistance from Dave Schmitt

Ok, so last Friday night Dave and I got all spiffed up for opening night of The Longest Yard to pay homage to member of the KankaNation Hall of Fame, Gary Godsey. Ok the second part of that is true, but not the first. We actually went to the cheap ($6), small, old theater by my house that also plays Indian films where, in the spirit of the degenerated venue we were going to, brought our own popcorn and soda. It was still a good time! So anyway, I actually have never seen the original film so I can’t make a comparison. (It was actually on the SPIKE channel the night before but I didn’t want to watch it because I didn’t want to know the story line.) I know that the Sports Guy trashed it, but Burt Reynolds said earlier that day on Live! With Regis and Kelly (unfortunately Regis did not ask Burt about working with ND alumn Gary Godsey which I thought he might) said that he thought it was funnier than the first. Regardless, I thought it was GREAT. It was funny, plus it had some great sports action scenes; plus, how can a movie about football, especially one that has Gary Godsey in it, be bad? The only part that I had a tough time with was believing that Adam Sandler was a pro quarterback. The huge numbers of sports related cameos was unbelievable. Totally out of control. I think there were more wrestlers (Stone Cold, Goldberg, and I believe WCW’s The Giant), former football players (Michael Irvin, BC scumbag alum Bill Romanowski), and ESPN and other media personalities in it than regular actors. Actually the only “real” actors that come to mine were Sandler, Reynolds, Chris Rock, Nelly (if you consider him an actor, although he was a very convincing running back. . .he made me want to call Charlie Weis and have him recruit him), and Courtney Cox. It was a virtual “Where’s Waldo” of sports stars. Actually Dave and I pretty much played “Where’s Gary” though out the football scenes. Every time we would see his number or him running by we would get all fired up. While I liked the entire movie, I think that my two favorite parts were:

Favorite Part #1
As Sandler is being led to the warden’s office in the prison, the guard with him tells him that he played college ball at Miami. In response to that Sandler says something to the effect of “I bet a lot of your teammates are locked up here then, huh.?”

Favorite Part #2
Sandler and Rock are lamenting the fact that they can’t get any of the convicts to join their team and decide to come up with a plan. Rock goes to Sandler, “Hey how did they get you to go to FSU?” Sandler responds, “Well, they recruited me.” After a silent moment, Rock says, “I’ll go get the strippers!”

I love how they really grasped football reality!

There was only one super cheesy, necessary in a sports movie line. Very typical. Sandler has an epiphany that he should throw the game and gets his ass off the bench and tells his team the stock “you were there for me, I’ll be there for you” line.

But besides that it was definitely worth the discounted price at the sketchy theater and even a full price at a real theater. I mean, would you want me to tell Gary next time we are in the Backer that you didn’t see it (after I show him my butt, of course)?

The Weekend in ReviewTransactions and Ramblings

• Remember all of those fahrvergnügen rip-off t-shirts like "farfrompuken"? Why didn't Yonto and former roommate Chris Heck ever get the idea to create "fütonboofen" shirts? Or, one more appropriate for me - "farfromboofen."


• The other night, I started tossing a "why I hate politics" rant around in my mind, but I got over it.


• Warning! Do not visit this site if you ever plan on getting anything accomplished at work ever! Every Day Should be Saturday recently started a series on pepidemiology - the study of "pep music." Included are links to FightMusic.com, where you can listen to most NCAA fight songs.


• Cubs trade LaTroy Hawkins for Jerome Williams and David Aardsma. THe Giants get a good reliever who can serve as a very solid closer until they get Armando Benitez back (and when he does come back, they'll have a deep bullpen to help them challenge for a playoff spot). Williams is a good enough starter to compensate for the North Siders' injury bud. Aardsma is famous for breaking Hank Aaron's record... (wait for it)... for being listed first alphabetically on a list of all-time MLB players.


• Royals name Buddy Bell manager. GM Allard Baird believe Bell is a good fit with the young ballclub because of his success at a young age as a player (MLB debut at 20; All-Star at 21). Bell was previously a manager for the Tigers and Rockies, and most recently was a member of a great braintrust in Cleveland. Bell served as bench coach for young manager Eric Wedge, while Mike Hargrove worked in the front office between his stints in Baltimore and Seattle.


• Cavs name Indiana "associate head coach" Mike Brown head coach, and reportedly will make Larry Brown team president. With that news, Indiana VP of basketball David Morway pulls out of the GM race. I like the thought of Mike Brown - a young, untested guy from a successful team - as the new coach. It was Larry Brown himself who leaked the news - alleg-ed-ly - that he's taking the Cavs' job. With that, Morway declined the GM position for fear that he won't have enough say in personnel decisions. Rumors now have that Washington director of player personnel Milt Newton or former Cavs forward Danny Ferry (currently working in the San Antonio front office, I believe) are the new frontrunners for General Manager.


• Danny Ferry story: when I was playing freshman basketball in high school, we had a kid who was starting to bald and was handed the #35 jersey. Combining those two things, he decided to accept his fate and started comparing himself to Danny Ferry, even emulating his playing style to an extent. I'd laugh, but I was the guy who, when asked to write a paper creating a new folk hero, chose John Crotty and dubbed him the "Left-Handed White Wonder."


• Indians recall Juan Gonzalez and designate Ryan Ludwick for assignment. What the Indians needed coming into 2005, besides bullpen help, was power from the right side of the plate. Ludwick was the original plan for that power, but the Indians staff couldn't pass up taking a low-risk chance on Gonzalez. Now, they're giving up on (assuming he's claimed off waivers) a 26-year-old power hitter who's only hitting .220 this season in limited playing time for a 35-year-old with 434 career homers. Plus, Gonzalez will have to play outfield, at least against righties, with lefty Travis Hafner anchored at DH. The outcome of this move remains to be seen.


• Congrats to the ND baseball team. Back-to-back wins in the Big East tourney against Pitt gave them another conference title, and now they're the #3 seed in the Florida regional. Winning a double elimination mini-tournament that starts with North Carolina and includes Florida and Stetson will put them in the super-regionals - one step away from the College World Series.


• Finally, I'm going to open up the rest of the week for guest columns. Wednesday night I'll be at mini-Kanka's 8th grade graduation, and Thursday and Friday I'll be supporting the Ohio Valley Redcoats. The Redcoats, whose "alumni" include Brendan Donnelly, are without a home this season. They are splitting spring training and home games between Lorain, Marietta, OH, and Lafayette, IN, in hopes that one will become a permanent home next year. Of course, there are certain east coasters who will be rooting for Marietta and Lafayette, because if minor league baseball comes to Lorain, I may never leave.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

• On Baseball Tonight a couple weeks ago, Peter Gammons that Robbie Alomar once said that John MacDonald was the best shortstop he ever played with. Two thoughts on this: 1. In past years, Gammons has called MacDonald the best defensive player in the AL, and I wouldn't argue too much. Johnny Mac plays every position like it's shortstop, with a great glove and a quick release. Truly fun to watch. But, he couldn't hit to save his life, and the past two years he was a victim of new manager Eric Wedge's reluctance to play his bench. Fortunately, with new life and increased playing time in Toronto, MacDonald is finally hitting - and fielding - well. 2.) The list of shortstops that Alomar has played with includes Omar Vizquel. Now, I'm not going to argue MacDonald vs. Vizquel, but as I said above, even Gammons has in the past alluded to the thought that MacDonald is the better fielder. But here's the thing. Alomar is the kind of guy who didn't have very thick skin and didn't get along with his teammates for a very long period of time (see the mullet picture incident with the Mets a few years back, and the theory that his production took a sharp decline after his first 3 years with each team he played). Omar is a nice guy, but he's not going to put on any airs if you're going to be a jerk (see his autobiography and the death threats from Jose Mesa). So, it's quite possible that there was a falling out there, and Alomar's assessment of MacDonald is part of a larger hissy-fit by Sandy Sr.'s younger son.


• Who played the better James Lipton, Will Ferrell or Will Sasso? Why has this never been debated anywhere? (Tangent: The random shot of George Plimpton sitting in the audience while the real Lipton was interviewing the cast of The Simpsons has got to be the best moment Bravo has ever experienced. The Bravo network, that is, not Katie Bravo.)


• Chances are you're reading this on Friday, the day The Longest Yard debuts. For all of you Gary Godsey fans out there, Godsey is playing the body double of this guy during the football scenes. Interestingly enough, this guy is by trade a stunt double, and in fact worked the football scenes in The Waterboy
  
• Why all of a sudden is Lloyd Carr doing Cialis and anti-drug commercials?


• Recently, I made up a chart of the best available KankaMatic free agents, in case I ever need anyone at any position. Well, as you know, my handwriting is terrible. So, I glance over the board one day and see the name Brian Cronk. Good Lord is that a Gammonsesque move by me! Wait, no - turns out it was Milwaukee outfielder Brady Clark.


• Votes in final NCAA football poll of the year will be made public.

Transaction Wire

• Bears sign Doug Brien and release Paul Edinger. Edinger basically asked for his walking papers to look for work elsewhere after the signing of Brien. Bad news for Nick Setta - the placekicker job now looks like it's Brien's to lose.


• Browns look for $2-$3million repayment from Kellen Winslow, Jr. for his idiocy. If Winslow's agents say one word during this whole ordeal, it may be time to send in the homeless people. (Wait, I don't think that story ever made the site itself, just the message board. Well, here it is: we were discussing ideas for ESPN6 programming. My one idea was to have homeless people waiting in the wings of every selfish athlete's (and agent's) interview. The key phrase would be "I gotta feed my family" - at that point, the homeless people would leap out and start beating the crap out of the guy.)


• Reds designate Danny Graves for assignment. This happened the morning after Graves made an "obscene gesture" to a fan after blowing a save. But, there may be more to the story than this. Even last year, when Graves was leading the league in saves, there were many complaints about his high ERA. Also, about a week before Graves' release, the Reds cut ties with second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez (who has since reported to AA) for being a clubhouse cancer. After high expectations, the Reds have struggled, and maybe they're looking to start over. They could have already been looking to get rid of Graves, and the gesture offered them just that excuse. He'll be back somewhere, though.


• Indians recall Jody Gerut. Angel Berroa who?


• Mariners acquire the 42 year old Pat Borders. When I see this, all I can think of is a sideburned, pimp-stached circa 1985 Peter Gammons raving about Borders, Terry Mulholland, and Julio Franco.

We're Halfway Halfway ThereA look at the first 40-ish games of the MLB season

My ballot if the All-Star Game was held today

Catcher

American League: Jason Varitek. Someone tell this guy that you're supposed to put up career numbers the year before you're due for a new contract. The Red Sox captain is earning his "C" with a .336 average and 9 homers.
National League: Ramon Hernandez edges out Paul LoDuca. Hernandez has the edge in homers, LoDuca in average, so it's a toss up. But it's nice to see Hernandez back to his 2003 form after a rough 2004.

First Base

American League: Mike Sweeney edges Mark Teixeira. Sweeney has a huge edge in average (.327 to .286), and is close in every other category except runs. Of course, if Sweeney didn't play for Kansas City, maybe those numbers would be even. Is it time to start the trade rumors again?
National League: Albert Pujols still can't catch a break. Derrek Lee has stole the show with a .351 average, 12 homers, and 39 RBI (and 8 steals). The experts have known for a while that Lee is a good all-around player, but I don't know if anyone expected this outburst.

Second Base

American League: Brian Roberts. Any doubt? Roberts burst onto the scene early this year, and now is hitting .376 with 11 HR. He had signs of being good, and with the trade of Baltimore's other second baseman, Jerry Hairston, he finally was given a chance to prove it. And my has he proved it so far.
National League: Two guys that you may have cast aside as washed up are ruling the position. Craig Biggio is back to being the Craig Biggio of old. But, Jeff Kent's performace for the Dodgers gets him the nod.

Third Base

American League: Alex Rodriguez. Crap, the tough transition is over. Moving on.
National League: Two more mini-comeback stories here. Many people thought Troy Glaus was done, or at best he would have to become a first baseman or DH. But he's having a fine season in the desert with 12 HR's. Meanwhile, Chipper Jones has returned to third and is flourishing. Jones is hitting .339. It's a toss-up, but I'll go with Glaus. With his health, he won't have as many chances to have any more all-star quality years as Jones will.

Shortstop

American League: Miguel Tejada. Now that he's settled in in Baltimore, he's back to his MVP form, and is outperforming most corner infielders. Tejada is hitting .328 with 11 homers and 40 RBI.
National League: Clint Barmes, but it's closer than you thing. Barmes came out like gangbusters this year, and he hasn't cooled off too much yet. Once above .400, he's now "only" hitting .341 with 7 homers. Barmes edges out brilliant glove man Cesar Izturis has seen his average rise to .346. Izturis definitely has a bright career ahead of him; I'll give Barmes his turn in the spotlight just in case this is the only one he gets.

Outfield

American League: Johnny Damon, perhaps the most un-fundamentally sound guy in the league, is hitting .362. Ichiro! is hitting .322 with 14 steals. Vlad Guerrero's .303 and 7 homers beats out Gary Sheffield's .315 and 6, just because Vlad is all-around fun to watch.
National League: Miguel Cabrera may not be the best defensive outfielder, but when you're hitting .375 with 9 homers, people will tend to make exceptions for you. Bobby Abreu may have officially taken over Brian Giles' position as most underrated guy in the majors. He's hitting .331 with 12 homers. Finally, here's a guy that will probably surpise you. Brewers center fielder Brady Clark is hitting .332 with 6 homers and 34 runs scored. Yeah, Milton Bradley is having a great year, again hitting for a high average (.323) and showing show pop for the first time (10 HR), but I like underdogs like Clark, especially when they're not prone to hissy-fits.

Designated Hitter

American League: Yeah, it is unfairly an AL-only position on the ballot. A very close race here nonetheless. I'll give this one to another great comeback story, Shea Hillenbrand. Cast off for being too much of a free swinger, Hillenbrand is once again hitting for a very high average - .343 (even without the walks, an average like that still gives you a pretty nice OBP). David Ortiz and his 10 HR and 30 RBI are likely to get quite a few votes. In a close third (in my book, at least) is on-base machine David Dellucci, who has flourished since moving to the leadoff spot earlier this season.

Starting Pitcher

American League: OK, I also know pitchers aren't on the ballot, but I thought I'd throw a few out there. Jon Garland is the talk of the South Side, starting 8-1 with an ERA of 2.57. Roy Halladay has returned to Cy Young form, going 7-2 with a 2.84 ERA. Finally, my Gammonsesque selection is Erik Bedard, a man I considered not mentioning here in case I ever wanted to pick him for my fantasy team. Bedard has started the season 5-1 with an ERA of 2.08.
National League: Dontrelle Willis and Josh Beckett have been the Marlins' 1-2 punch so far, combining for a record of 14-4. Willis has an invisible 1.55 ERA, which almost make's Beckett's 2.47 seem gaudy. Brett Myers and Jake Peavy are pacing the NL with 71 strikeouts each. Myers has an ERA of 1.88, while Peavy has started the year 4-0.

Relief Pitcher

American League: Baltimore has been very successful this year, and part of that was due to placing BJ Ryan in the closer's role. Ryan has 12 saves and an ERA of 1.50. Meanwhile, the AL's other very successful team has found a surprise closer in Dustin Hermanson, who has 10 saves and an ERA of 0.00. You can't do any better than that. Honorable mention goes to Scot Shields of Anaheim (LA?), who has been the Octavio Dotel to Frankie Rodriguez's Billy Wagner so far. With K-Rod's injury, Shields will be moving his 1.09 ERA into the closer's role.
National League: Danny Kolb! What? No! Of course, Kolb is still near the top when it comes to saves. But this year's all-stars are the very underrated Jason Isringhausen (12 saves, 0.63 ERA), and the surprise out of Washington, Chad Cordero (10 saves, 0.95 ERA). Very honorable mention goes to Brandon Lyon's 13 saves and Derrick Turnbow's 6 save performance in Milwaukee so far.

Indians Review

Catcher Victor Martinez is a notorious slow starter, but I don't know if this year's performance can be considered a "slow start" any more. Martinez is hitting "on the interstate," .191 with two homers. (Or, as it was put the other day, only one more than CC Sabathia.) He's bound to break out of this funk sooner or later.

First baseman Ben Broussard has been quietly solid once again. .270 with 3 homers and 18 RBI doesn't look like much, but it's exactly what we need out of this guy. And, you can't put a number on "clutch."

Second baseman Ron Belliard got off to a bit of a slow start. There was a time when it was either home run or bust. He's since broken out of that, and is now up to .280 with 6 homers, which ties him for the team lead.

A lot has been said about Aaron Boone's .159 average. But, I'll go out on a limb and say his defense has made up for it. Case in point: Last night, the Indians were holding on to a 1-0 lead when then Twins had runners on second and third with two outs. Boone stops a hot grounder and makes the play, saving two runs, and eventually the game, as the final was 2-1 Tribe.

A lot was made of the Indians' loss of their 1-2 hitters or "table setters." One of those table setters was Omar Vizquel. Omar is having a fine year in San Francisco. His replacement, Jhonny Peralta, meanwhile, got off to a slow start. He made errors in each of his first few games, and wasn't hitting worth anything. But he's since settled down. He's no Omar defensively, but he's solid. And he's now hitting .260 with 6 homers, a good sign of the kind of hitter he's going to be.

Like Boone at third, the outfield has been brilliant defensively. Coco Crisp, a converted secondbaseman (explaining his lack of arm strength), can flat out cover a lot of ground in center. Move him to left to make room for Grady Sizemore, and you're not going to see a lot of balls hitting the grass. Casey Blake, who had been asked during the offseason to move to first, then second, then left, then finally right, agreed unselfishly. You can tell right field is new for him, but he definitely has the arm for it, as teams are quickly learning. Crisp was hitting .283 before a thumb injury sidelined him for the coming 3 months. Sizemore is hitting .273 with 18 RBI, showing hints of the solid run producer he's turning into. Plus, you have to love his hustle. Blake has struggled at the plate after the position change, finally getting his average over the Mendoza line this past week. But, his patience at the plate has made him a staple at the top of the lineup.

The Pronk, DH Travis Hafner, got off to a slow start, then predictably got uberhot against the Angels. Hafner is up to .271 with 5 homers and 20 runs scored. His power to center field reminds me a little bit of another lefty farm boy the Indians used to have, but I won't make those comparisons just yet. You do have to love the way this guy hustles his butt off as he chugs around the bases, though.

If you turn to the bench, you'll only see more defense. Jody Gerut is back from injury, replacing Coco in the lineup. In 5 games back, he's hitting .429, and he's always a joy to watch in the field. If you watch the heady Alex Cora play second or short, you wonder why this guy would ever agree to be a backup instead of looking for a place to start. Of course, his .238 average could have something to do with that. Jose Hernandez has played wherever he's been asked to, and played well.

The starters have been up and down this year. I've seen a lot of great starts turn into 2-1 losses thanks to the struggling offense. I've also seen an ugly start or two, but that's expected with a young rotation. CC Sabathia was injured to start the year, but has been decent since he came back, 3-3 with an ERA of 3.48. Plus, did you see that home run? The big guy has a big stride, but otherwise he's got a great power stroke. Jake Westbrook has been up and down this year, but probably better than his 1-7 record and 5.80 suggests. He has had more than a few bad starts (in fact, it seems like half of them have been in the ugly category), but he's also lost his share of 2-1 games. This will happen when your ace (Sabathia) goes down and you have to move up to the #1 spot to face everyone else's ace. New acquisition Kevin Millwood has been another tough luck loser. His ERA is 3.31, pretty good for an AL starter, but his 1-4 record suggests otherwise. Clifford Lee, meanwhile, is back on track, with a record of 5-2 and an ERA of 3.69.

The bullpen has been nothing short of spectacular. It's a complete 180 from last year - they're now tops in the AL in bullpen ERA. Pirate fans are calling the Matt Lawton for Arthur Rhodes deal a steal, but no one in Cleveland is complaining about Rhodes' 0.87 ERA. Closer Bob Wickman, who always makes things "interesting," is one of only two relievers with an ERA over 3, and that high number is mostly due to one bad outing - his first of the year. Four guys have an ERA under 2, including Rhodes and Matt Miller, who actually had to be sent down to AAA to make room for Sabathia - at a time when Miller's ERA was 0. So yeah, it's basically a game of waiting for the hitting to catch up with the pen. But it is nice for Eric Wedge to know that he can his starter out in the 6th when he starts to tire, instead of leaving him in when runs are at an absolute premium for this team.

Googling Google

I may be letting gimmicks pull the train, but today I decided to forgo a normal column in favor of some Google-related fun.

GoogleWhack: The challenge of finding a pair of words that will return one - and only one - Google result.

rorriM elgooG: (Google Mirror). The site's backwards; the words you look for also get turned around. Not very useful, but amusing once or twice.

Google Video: Google's latest pet project. For now, they're only chronicling transcripts and screenshots of a few major TV channels, but eventually they also hope to add the recorded streaming video. Think of it as TiGoogleVo. (Wow, this really blows are NDTiVo project out of the water.)

GoogleFight: Like GoogleWar, but with Flash stickman graphics. Looks like Klondike still can't beat his booze habit.

Omnipelagos: As noticed by Klondike. May or may not use Google, but fun anyways. My booze connection.

TouchGraph GoogleBrowser: Draws a map of sites that Google feels are related. Try it with kankasports.blogspot.com, and you'll notice some familiar web friends.

Keyhole: You've seen it on the news. Technically, you've seen it if you've ever used Google Maps in "satellite" mode (it uses the same maps). But, if you sign up for a free 7 day trial, you can do all the zooming animations just like on the TV!

Google Cartography Applet: Kind of a combination of the last two links - it "maps" the streets around your area

Cleveland Cavs Head Coach and GM Search

Head Coach

Paul Silas

The Upside: Not much - he's already been fired. He was an overachieving winner as a player, and considered a player's coach at first.
The Downside: This "player's coach" got into well publicized arguments with Eric Snow (a misunderstanding, but Silas never showed much remorse afterwards) and Jeff McInnis (signs point to this being McInnis' fault). Nowadays, everyone is saying that Silas gave Dan Gilbert no choice but to fire him. Silas didn't agree with Jim Paxson (Jiri Welsch being Paxson's answer to Silas' constant asking for an outside shooter being the last straw), and definitely didn't agree with Gilbert's new team. Also, Silas was never much of an X's and O's guy, even though he was smart enough to swallow his pride and hire an assistant who was good at X's and O's - something that many coaches in many sports are to arrogantly stubborn to do.

Brendan Malone

The Upside: Malone, the Cavs interim coach at the end of the season, does have past head coaching experience with Toronto, and of course is familiar with the Cavaliers.
The Downside: Gilbert has already said that Malone won't be considered as a candidate.

Eric Musselman

The Upside: Musselman, whose father Bill used to coach the Cavs (here we go again...) is a native of the Cleveland area, and has former head coaching experience.
The Downside: I've always been a little wary about hiring a guy who has shown no signs of success elsewhere instead of giving someone new a try. Also, Musselman, a former Magic assistant, is rumored to be up for the Orlando job.

Flip Saunders

The Upside: Another native of the Cleveland area, Saunders was 411-326 with the Timberwolves.
The Downside: Some may consider him a "can't win the big one" type. His downfall in Minnesota, where he finished 1 game under .500 this year, I attribute more to the cancers - I mean players - than his coaching.

Mo Cheeks

The Upside: Cheeks got a bad rap in Portland thanks to players that aren't exactly angels, but he is an NBA-quality coach. Also a good guy (see the incident where he guided a stagefrightened 13 year old girl through the National Anthem by singing along, despite lack of vocal talent), Cheeks had a .538 winning percentage with the Blazers.
The Downside: You know what, I was a little skeptical at first. But, now that I've done a little research, I don't see much downside to this 4-time all star.

Bill Laimbeer

The Upside: Laimbeer has been named by the media as a possible candidate due to his and Gilbert's common Detroit ties. Hey, I'd gladly let a man who owes all he is to Notre Dame and the beer at CJ's be my next head coach.
The Downside: Anything about Laimbeer so far has been media speculation. Confusing many of the meatheads out there, Laimbeer says he's happy in the WNBA.

Dru Joyce II

The Upside: LeBron's high school coach, he could follow in the footsteps of Maverick Carter in a "LeBron hooks up his buddies big time" binge.
The Downside: He's only a high school coach - even if St Vincent-St Mary could probably beat a few D-I mid-majors in any given year.

LeBron James

The Upside: I'm surprised no one in the media has mentioned this yet - they seem to think that LeBron is spoiled and/or should be spoiled as much as possible. Besides, this wouldn't be the first time Cleveland had a player-coach.
The Downside: I'll make the token "ball-less Cleveland sports personality" move here and avoid saying bad things about LeBron for fear that he'll leave.

Lenny Wilkens

The Upside: Speaking of Cleveland player-coaches... Wilkens was perhaps the most popular and most successful coach in Cavaliers history.
The Downside: Lenny retired after a weak showing with the Knicks.

No One

A lockout is looming. I'm dreading the thought that years of LeBron's prime are being taken away from me - years I'll never have back. Oh... wait... nevermind.

General Manager

Jim Paxson

The Upside: An ND grad, he almost built a playoff team this year. He's also related to a successful GM.
The Downside: See above about the Jiri Welsch thing. Even before that, Paxson wasn't considered a good GM. The timing seemed bad, but as with Silas, this team needed to improve at this position if they ever wanted to step up to the next level.

David Morway

The Upside: The former agent and current senior VP of basketball operations in Indiana is said to have a great understanding of salary cap management. Plus, the Pacers are a pretty decent team right now.
The Downside: Some would say that being in the same position for 7 years without "moving up" to GM may be a bad sign. His ties (more or less) to Stephen Jackson and Ron Artest may or may not show that character (or lack thereof) isn't an issue - whether those decisions are his or not.

Rick Sund

The Upside: The current Seattle GM, whose contract is up at the end of this year, has turned the Sonics into a winning team again. Plus, he knows a thing or two about outside shooters and may or may not have the pull to bring Ray Allen with him.
The Downside: If you have a winning team, why leave it?

Ed Stefanski

The Upside: Stefanski, current GM of the Nets, only became GM after last year, so he may not be responsible for the massive firesale they had going into this year. A former scout, he's also said to be a great talent evaluator.
The Downside: I'm too lazy to do research, so maybe Stefanski did start the firesale.

Grant Innocenzi

The Upside: St Vincent-St Mary Athletic Director. See above.
The Downside: I don't care how many times you're on ESPN, and how much your tickets are - high school AD isn't NBA GM.

The Weekend in ReviewGood ol' Fashioned Ramblings Edition

• I recently saw Brett Favre in a Sensodyne commercial. Sensodyne, as you probably know, is a pain relieving toothpaste. Now, wait a minute, isn't this guy recovering from a huge painkiller addiction? Shouldn't his agent be advising him not to do these types of commercials?


• Have you ever seen less impressive Web Gems than those turned in by Derek Jeter or Ken Griffey, Jr.? OK, I take that back - partially. Griffey has made some nice at-the-wall catches in his time, but he's historically known for taking a loafing route to a ball and then unneccessarily diving just to make the highlight reel. (Mini-tangent: in the mid-90s, it was said that the reason why Griffey made so many more "great" diving catches than Kenny Lofton was because Lofton's speed got him easily to balls Griffey had to dive for.) But I have not seen one highlight of Jeter that has amazed me. That little jump-throw? OK, he's reasonably smart to use it to make up for his lack of arm strength, but I wouldn't call it an amazing play. Give me a guy who can stop on a dime, plant, and fire a seed any day. And, for once, give me a shortstop who makes the highlight reel for a jaw-dropping play, not for the uniform he wears.


• A random realization I came to today: Klondike works primarily with a programming language called C# - pronounced "C sharp." Now, while coding, do you think he ever has flashbacks of Larry Dwyer saying, "C# grr grr grr second position!"


• I had a whizzinator joke to go here, but it's probably old already.


• While we're on the subject of old news, I was also going to give a Dave Chappelle update. It appears that the combination of stress (living up to expectations?) and creative differences caused Dave to flee to South Africa for a week or so, but he did not check into a mental facility while there. Chappelle is now back in the states, but I couldn't find an update on the start of season 3. The season 2 DVD will still be released as scheduled, however.


• If someone ever asked you to explain what a herky-jerky baseball windup is, just point them to the Angels' bullpen (you can, of course, also include former Angel and current Red Ben Weber). Even starter Paul Byrd, while not herky-jerky, has a "full" windup, bringing his hands behind his back as he winds. This was very popular pre-1960, but otherwise unseen today. Do these unusual styles come from pitching coach Bud Black? Black pitched for the Indians while I was growing up, so I think I would have remembered (and tried to immitate) that. In all honesty, the Angels should just give up and sign Hideo Nomo.


• Congratulations to 1964 Heisman Trophy winner John Huarte, who will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, in a class that includes former Bowling Green (not a state) and West Virginia coach Don Nehlen and <> Mark May.


• While Huarte is being inducted, Alan Page will receive the National Football Foundation/College Hall of Fame Distinguished American award. This award is not handed out every year; Page is the 34th recipient since the award began in 1966. From UND.com:
  
  Established in 1966 and presented on special occasions when a truly deserving individual emerges, the award honors someone who has applied the character building attributes learned from amateur sport in their business and personal life, exhibiting superior leadership qualities in education, amateur athletics, business and in the community.
  
  Page, now a justice for the Minnesota Supreme Court, founded the Page Education Foundation, which encourages minorities to continue on to higher education.


• Finally, here's a nice blurb on the mini-resurrection of Aaron Heilman's career.

Transaction Wire

• Bears sign kicker Doug Brien. Bad news for Nick Setta - if Brien's signing doesn't end the open competition for Chicago's place kicker position, it only adds to the increasingly long list of Setta's competition for the spot. As a guess, I would say that puts them up to about 7 or 8 people who will be trying out for place kicker. Setta has not shown a strong leg on kickoffs in NFL Europe, and I'm wondering if that will cost him at all.


• Dolphins sign Abram Elam. Related story here.


• Mets option Victor Diaz to AAA. Klondike taking Diaz in the fantasy draft has been the Gammonsesque move of the year so far. If the former Alaskan doesn't start paying attention to turning in lineups, his offense is in for huge trouble.


• Cubs sign Enrique Wilson. Wow, when it comes to the Cubs signing random middle infielders, you just can't make some stuff up. The Transaction Oracle says that moves like this - and optioning promising SS Ronny Cedeno to make room for Wilson - have made Cubs fans frustrated with Dusty Baker. Mike (and Brittany), your thoughts?

A quick look at the 2005 Lorain Sports Hall of Fame Banquet

• Once again, the Master of Ceremonies was unfortunately Joe Tait. Now, why would it be unfortunate that the Cavs' radio announcer, a man with a very distinct and memorable way of calling a basketball game, be the master of ceremonies? Well, because MC of this banquet is his job every year, except when he's on the road with the Cavs during the playoffs. Ah, maybe next year....


• Tait was introduced by the mayor of Lorain. As he was introducing Tait, the mayor said a thing or two about a few of the inductees. For the one, a long-retired football line coach, the mayor said, "If he was still a coach, we wouldn't have a problem with all the violence in the city schools!" What a great thing to hear from your mayor.


• The keynote speaker was Brian Brennan, formerly a receiver for BC and the Browns. He retired in 1991, and my dad noticed that he isn't much bigger than me, but he still looked like he could beat everyone in the room (including the high school seniors up for scholarships) in a sprint.


• Now, Brian Brennan was one of my favorite athletes growing up, but it's surprising I still like him today. He started with a Slovak joke ("I asked so and so if I could tell ethnic jokes. He said, 'OK, but remember - I'm Slovak.' So I said, 'OK, I'll tell them Slow-ly.'") and it was all downhill from there. Sure, the speech was very good. But, as we soon found out, he only went to BC because Dan Devine's staff thought he was too small. No wonder the students tarred and feathered Devine's house. (And don't blame Joe Yonto - remember that he's the one that brought in a 6'0" 145 pounder named Theisman to play QB.) Apparently, "Notre Dame Bashing" is a required course of study at BC, as Brennan's 10-minute speech featured no less than 4 ND references. (A 'highlight': "Coach Marty Schottenheimer was a devout Catholic, and he used to make a player lead the Our Father before each game. One time, I [Brennan] was in the back with Bob Golic. Golic goes, 'I bet you five bucks that he doesn't know the words to the Our Father.' So I say, 'You're on.' Coach picks a guy, and he starts 'As I lay me down to sleep....' [laughter] So then Bob turns to me and says, 'Well, I guess I owe you five bucks.'")


• The speeches were decent. Olympic sailor and former Indiana U tackle Phil Trinter, absent due to a competition in Greece, turned in a professionally done acceptance video (a first to my knowledge, but then again this is only the third banquet I've been to). Then, we got to the aforementioned old line coach. He proceeded to ramble on for a full 20 minutes about anything and everything - my dad joked that he had one page of notes for every year they didn't vote him in to the hall of fame. He obviously had his hearing aid off, or else he would have heard the groans every time he paused - seemingly done - then started again. He did throw in Grantland Rice's Four Horseman quote at the end, so that was nice.


• The last speech went to the coach of the inductees for this year's team category. This year, the team was the 1967 Lorain St. Mary's (the forerunner to Lorain Catholic) Fighting Irish football team, and the coach was Tim Rose. Rose was my dad's gym teacher in high school, and I've heard stories about how much of a tough disciplinarian the guy is. It's obviously paid off for him, as he's the current defensive coordinator for Toledo, after stints as head coach at Miami U in the '80s and defensive coordinator at schools that include Minnesota and Boston College. And boy could this guy talk. All he did was list off the name, current hometown, and high school position of the former team members in attendance, but even then I wanted to get up and smack someone for the guy. Now there's a coach.

Well, that's all I got. Probably not as good as it was hyped, but oh well. Some time soon, look for a writeup on the Cavs' coaching search. Also, don't forget that baseball lineups are again due this Friday.

The Weekend in ReviewA few quick hits

Miscellaneous Ramblings

• Megan Duffy has been selected to try out for the US National Team that would compete this summer at the World University Games, and the Under-19 World Championships. Duffy is also expected to be a leading candidate for the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award that goes to the best senior 5'8" or shorter. This award went to Niele Ivey following Notre Dame's championship season.


• On the heels of Rickey Henderson being signed by an independent minor league team out of San Deigo, Harold Reynolds shared his favorite Rickey story on Monday night's "Baseball Tonight." Harold Reynolds won the AL stolen base championship with 60 in 1987. "HR" is the only person not named Rickey Henderson to own an AL SB title from the 80s (Rickey only played in 95 games that year, and still had 41 steals). Following the season, Reynolds, who had never really talked to Henderson before, got this phone call:
  "Hello?"
  "Reynolds!"
  "Yeah, who is this?"
  "Henderson!"
  "Oh, hey Rick."
  "60?! Rickey had 60 at the All Star Break!"
  


• Let me tell you something - I would not want to be Bob Wickman's manager. (Wickman, of course, is the Indians' closer.) One night, with a two run lead in the 9th and a runner on second, Wickman intentionally balked (yeah, you read that right) the runner to third. Why? So he couldn't tip pitches, of course. (In other words, the runner on second couldn't read the catcher's signs and relay them to the batter.) Of course, Wickman proceeded to walk that batter and let him steal second, but he won anyways. A few days later, Wickman had a one run lead with one out in the night. After giving up two singles, he got a popup for the second out. Then, he proceeded to pitch around and walk the lefty at the plate - moving the tying run to third and winning run to second! - just because he preferred to face the righty that followed. He got the job done, but his save opportunities have never been for the faint of heart.

Transaction Wire

• What would a mention of Rickey be without a mention of John Olerud? Sure enough, that guy who wears a helmet in the field signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox last week.


• Giants claim Tim Hasselbeck off waivers. Cue up the search hits for wife Elizabeth Hasselbeck. And really, with Hasselbeck, Eli Manning, and Jesse Palmer, could the Giants have more borderline celebrities at the QB position?


• LeBron has fired his agents, the Goodwin brothers. It is rumored that he will name high school friend Maverick Carter, currently a consultant with Nike, will become his new agent. It is also rumored that Def Jam Recordings and Russell Simmons will somehow sign a deal with James.


• After being "turned down" by Phil Jackson, the reported favorites for the Cavs coaching job are Eric Musselman, formerly of Golden State, and Flip Saunders. Both Musselman and Saunders are local products.


• Joe Torre, Brian Cashman, and Jason Giambi reportedly will meet to discuss sending Giambi to AAA Columbus. Speaking of Cashman, I sorely missed the Brian Cashman Face during last week's Kentucky Derby. It just needed to be there.

A look back at the Lorain Sports Hall of Fame Banquet later this week.