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Pastimes : Major League Baseball (MLB) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (5972)	1/21/2008 8:13:56 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29242

Clemens...Does anyone think Clemens is innocent? In my mind it is about 95%-5%, guilt vs. innocence. That 5% chance of innocence is extremely remote. Pettite admitted that McNamee injected him. Clemens chose not to admit and has gotten himself into the most protracted legal mess he's seen. He's probably going to be proven as a liar eventually. He's lost so much credibility with the public. If I'm the Yankees, maybe I consider filing a suit later on to recover money from fraud. I'd be surprised if Clemens' contract didn't have a clause to protect the organization from illegal conduct while under contract to NY Yankees. Here was an article at ESPN, for those who might want to see some of the points. sports.espn.go.com The problem with Clemens situation is that his illegal conduct became worse as he lied about it. If he's under oath at some point, he'll be in danger of criminal prosecution for perjury. You know he's lying when he will, I think, later on refuse to testify under oath. It will be as patent a signal as one can find that he isn't credible.

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (5972)	1/24/2008 10:23:50 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 29242

Report: Canseco sought money from Ordonez to keep name _____________________________________________________________ by The Associated Press Thursday January 24, 2008, 7:14 AM NEW YORK (AP) -- Jose Canseco offered to keep Magglio Ordonez "clear" in his upcoming book if the Detroit Tigers outfielder invested in a movie project promoted by Canseco, The New York Times reported Wednesday night. The newspaper cited "a person in baseball with knowledge of the situation" in a report on its Web site and said four people in baseball, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Major League Baseball referred the matter to the FBI. Ordonez decided not to go forward with a complaint, so the FBI didn't open a formal investigation, the newspaper said. Ordonez spoke to Tigers president Dave Dombrowski, who contacted MLB. "I didn't want to press charges against him," Ordonez was quoted as saying. "I don't want any problems. He is probably desperate for money. I don't understand why he is trying to put people down." Ordonez, teammates with Canseco on the 2001 Chicago White Sox, said Canseco didn't specifically ask him for cash. "One of Jose's friends was leaving me messages," Ordonez was quoted as saying. "I told Dombrowski because I didn't know why he was calling me." Canseco told the paper that neither he nor any associate asked Ordonez for money in exchange for avoiding mention in "Vindicated," which is scheduled for publication March 31. "Absolutely not," Canseco was quoted as saying. Canseco said he unsuccessfully attempted to reach Ordonez. Canseco refused to say whether he would implicate Ordonez with performance-enhancing drug use in the book. Scott Boras, Ordonez's agent, filed a complaint with the FBI after Canseco spoke with a Boras employee and said Ordonez would be "clear" if the outfielder invested in the movie project, the newspaper said. Last year, Canseco was reportedly trying to put together a movie based on "Juiced," his 2005 book that implicated Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi, among others, in the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Ordonez was not implicated in the Mitchell Report on drugs in baseball or in Canseco's first book.

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (5972)	3/13/2008 8:26:37 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29242

Zell should use own money, not taxes, to rebuild Wrigley: Hinz ______________________________________________________________ Editorial Crain's Chicago Business March 12, 2008 As the richest person in Illinois, Tribune Co. boss Sam Zell surely knows the value of a buck. He didn’t build a net worth of $6 billion — that figure from the March 5 issue of Forbes — by throwing away money or meekly watching while someone plucks his pocket. So, on behalf of the hardworking (and much less rich) taxpayers of Chicago, here’s a message that Mr. Zell surely can appreciate: Use your own money to rebuild Wrigley Field, and quit trying to grab ours. Here’s what’s going on. (Give us your thoughts using our new comments feature to the right. Read on further and take our poll.) As any Cubs fan can tell you, Wrigley has its charms. But modern conveniences and state-of-the-art construction are not among them. The Friendly Confines need to be rebuilt for the next century of operation, if only to keep the place from literally falling apart. But who should pay? If you or I opened a grocery or clothing store, we wouldn’t expect the government to pony up construction costs, using as a revenue source the sales taxes the store eventually would generate. But different rules oft apply in the wacky world of sports stadia. Mr. Zell is trying to use those rules to pass much of the cost of renovating his stadium on to taxpayers. Specifically under discussion is a plan to have the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority buy Wrigley from Tribune and issue perhaps $350 million in bonds to rebuild the ballpark. Former Gov. James Thompson, the authority’s chairman, is developing the plan at the request of incumbent Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who likes to take in a ballgame when he’s not too busy following the Tony Rezko trial. Some of the costs of retiring those bonds would be borne by the team, which would pay rent. Insiders say much of the rest would come from sales taxes. The city, state and other governments would continue to get what they get today from sales taxes on beer, sportswear and other items at Wrigley and on team-owned property nearby. But all or part of any increase in tax revenue from today’s level would go to the authority, which would use it to pay off the bonds. Mr. Thompson says the city, fans and team would benefit by having wider walkways, modern concession areas and improved revenue from skyboxes that could be used to lure better ballplayers. I’m sure he’s right. Winning would be nice. So would not having to duck falling chunks of concrete. On the other hand, any new improvement by any business benefits us all, to some degree. But government usually doesn’t pay for it. Mr. Thompson argues that stadia are an exception. Indeed, cities often pay the bill on grounds that keeping teams in town is in the public interest. Big Jim specifically notes that the White Sox stadium was built and is owned by the authority, that Soldier Field got lots of public dough, and that public infrastructure money was spent around the United Center. He’s right about Soldier Field. The McCaskey clan, mere millionaires, made off like bandits. But the public almost always pays for new streets and roads, as at the United Center on the West Side, where the public cost reportedly was just a million or two. And the Sox? They got far more, but the team literally was in the process of moving to St. Petersburg, Fla., when the stadium deal got put together here. The Cubs don’t have such leverage. They’re not going anywhere, and everyone knows it. Tribune or whoever buys the team — it’s for sale — is not about to destroy a consistently profitable franchise that routinely sells 3 million tickets a year by sticking it in a suburban parking lot. Mr. Zell is a lot smarter than that. His team reportedly also wants a few other things that would trouble some of us Lakeview residents, like more night games. That will set off quite a battle, too, unless fans can be persuaded to watch more baseball and drink less beer. But public financing is today’s topic. Lest I be accused of trying to browbeat a billionaire, here’s my offer: Sam, you get to spend your own money on Wrigley Field. And if you rename it Zell Stadium, I promise not to write a word in protest.

To: Glenn Petersen who wrote (5972)	3/23/2008 1:51:41 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 29242

Tigers expecting plenty of trade offers _______________________________________________________________ by Danny Knobler Columnist Booth Newspapers March 23, 2008 CLEARWATER, Fla. - There is one piece of information which both Detroit Tigers president Dave Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland agree on -- Dombrowski's phone will ring more often in the next few days with trade offers concerning a relief pitcher. To Leyland, that pretty much means a deal is going to happen. To Dombrowski, that pretty much means his phone is going to ring more often -- and not much else. "I think there's a strong possibility something could happen in these final few days,'' Leyland said. "I think that's a strong possibility. I don't know that anything will happen, it's just my gut telling me something's going to happen, somehow, some way.'' Dombrowski doesn't exactly see it that way. He's not saying Leyland won't ultimately be right, but he doesn't see much evidence of anything happening in the immediate future. "At the end of the spring, you always have more serious conversations,'' Dombrowski said. "Now, would I describe them as more serious? Not really. As your talks are more frequent, they do get to be more serious. When (Leyland) says that, I'm not sure where he says that from.'' Well, that's just it. Leyland admits he's not coming from anywhere. "I'm not saying we have a trade in place because we don't. Not by any means. Don't get me wrong,'' Leyland said. "My gut says there will be some pretty heavy and strong conversations. Whether something is done or not, I don't know.'' There has been a lot of talk about possible trades involving Brandon Inge and Marcus Thames but it appears that if the Tigers pull the trigger on a deal, it will involve the acquisition of a relief pitcher. Inge and Thames could be part of that trade, but it's not likely. "I like our ballclub. Would you like to upgrade one spot in the bullpen? You might, sure. If you can't do that, that's no problem,'' Leyland said. While the Tigers don't have to set their roster officially until 3 p.m. Sunday, any deal would likely take place before Wednesday. That's because that's when most players -- who are out of options back to the minor leagues -- have to be put on waivers. Those are the players who are the most talked about in terms of trades because clubs want to get something for them before they lose them on waivers for nothing. Dombrowski made it clear that he's not going to acquire just any pitcher. "We have plenty of chances to get arms,'' Dombrowski said. "I had somebody call me in the parking lot (as he pulled in to the stadium). He called and offered a pitcher. We didn't (take him).'' While the Tigers are looking for a setup man because of the injuries to Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya, they probably won't get that guy even if they do engineer a trade. The reason is because the good ones will cost more than the Tigers are willing to pay and the others that are being offered aren't any better than what the Tigers have now. "We all know we're looking to upgrade our bullpen however we can but that's not to say we're just looking to get somebody,'' Dombrowski said. "We have people here who we think will do a solid job for us. You're still looking at that all the time.'' As for Leyland gut feeling the Tigers will trade for a reliever in the next couple of days? "Anything can happen,'' Dombrowski said. "Things can happen at this time of the year that you're not necessarily anticipating. Jim's going on his gut reaction; I don't like going on my gut when it comes to those things as much as he would because it just a different way of dealing with it.''