Major League Baseball

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Whether you're a fan of the American League or the National League, think the designated hitter is a necessity or an oddity, here is the place for all discussion about American baseball. From the post-season to the off-season and all the wheeling and dealing in between. Just be sure to keep it nice!

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain's arraignment on drunken-driving charges faces another delay. The 23-year-old former Nebraska standout was to appear in court on Monday, but his lawyer asked to have the hearing postponed. It's the second delay in the case. Chamberlain's arraignment was originally scheduled for Dec. 17. Chamberlain is charged with first-offense drunken driving and having an open alcohol container. He was pulled over Oct. 18 by the Nebraska State Patrol on the outskirts of Lincoln. Authorities say his blood-alcohol level was 0.134 percent; the legal limit in Nebraska is 0.08 percent.

From usatoday.com


....This is all striking me as kind of stupid. Given it's his first offense & the most likely punishment will be probation, perhaps his license being revoked, and a few classes? Doesn't it make more sense to get it over with before the season's about to start. If he's not expecting special treatment, he should be expecting to have to do the classes in Nebraska, so to me, it makes more sense to get the legal part over with now so this doesn't cut too much into spring training (and perhaps even the regular season, at this point).

I am a huge Yankees fan. I'm not necessarily shocked about the news about A-Rod. I'm more disappointed in him. He is tarnishing his legacy, his accomplishments and he is tarnishing his team. I'm annoyed that this was supposed to be confidential information about 104 players, and he is the only one being leaked. It's because he's a Yankee and he's Alex Rodriguez. I get that. But I also think they should release the other information if they are going to release the stuff about Alex.

He did an interview with Peter Gammons today for ESPN. I don't think it has aired yet? But apparently he claims to not know what he was actually injecting into himself? I don't believe that. Even if it is true, that is insanely irresponsible.

My new avatar is of Jorge Posada, the veteran Yankee catcher being interviewed about A-Rod. His expression kind of says it all: SRSLY?!

I do love Jorge: I hope he has recovered enough from his shoulder injury to catch, and if not, they should consider bringing Ivan Rodriguez back. Huh, didn't Pudge also take steroids in the past? Oy. Part of me wishes they were spending more time investigating people not paying their taxes instead of athletes taking drugs.

I'm excited for Spring Training though! I missed baseball season.



ETA: The interview is airing on Sports Center at 6PM EST. ESPN has a clip. I took a screencap.

I think it's probably true in an abstract sense that he didn't know what he was injecting himself with. As in he didn't know what the actual chemical was. But he knew enough to stay quiet about it so obviously, he knew it was something he shouldn't be taking in the first place.

I already talked to you about this, but I don't really think the reason ARod's name is the only one that has been leaked has anything to do with him being ARod or a Yankee, outside of the fact that he was probably the only name worth leaking. On those lists, most of the players have never seen a day of major league baseball, or have been called up for like a week, max. It's mostly going to be no names who were just trying to break into MLB by giving themselves a competitive edge... there's no point in mentioning them. It only gives them more attention than they earned playing. ARod, obviously, is a different case.

Double posting, but whatever. Al Leiter- who was on the Player's Union that negotiated the rules of the '03 Test- conducted an interview clarifying that it wasn't 104 people testing positive, but 104 positive tests, including retests of those who tested positive the first time around. This could essentially cut the number in half- ie. ARod had two positive tests, and you can assume that many of the others who tested positive will also have taken two... the initial showing up positive, and a second to confirm.

Yeah, I heard this during his interview with Mike Francesa. Definitely worth listening to the whole thing if you haven't already. You can listen to it on the WFAN website, I get their audio in my RSS feeds. Al is a terrific broadcaster ( he has been at YES for a while and joined the new MLB Network) and someone who I really respected as a player, too. Link to interview.

I got my copy of SI in the mail today, and the full article published there has their version of Selena Roberts questioning ARod in person. Apparently he just freaked out and had her thrown out of the gym he was working out at (UMiami, I think). I don't really know what to think about this mess at the moment.

On a totally different note, but sort of related to Al Leiter? Has anyone been watching the MLB Network? I'm excited to see some coverage of the World Baseball Classic.

LOS ANGELES—The Dodgers today received a letter from Scott Boras, the agent for Manny Ramirez, rejecting the offer that the club made yesterday. This rejection is the fourth by the agent in the club’s attempts to sign Manny. “We love Manny Ramirez,” said Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt, “And we want Manny back, but we feel we are negotiating against ourselves. When his agent finds those ‘serious offers’ from other clubs, we’ll be happy to re-start the negotiations. “Even with an economy that has substantially eroded since last November, out of respect for Manny and his talents, we actually improved our offer. “So now, we start from scratch.”

Woah. He turned down a $45 million dollar offer--does he actually think anything better is going to come in?