ifilus's Blog

ESPN.com is reporting that the New Jersey Nets and Milwaukee Bucks are on the verge of a trade that will send Richard Jefferson to the Bucks for forwards Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons.

ESPN, citing NBA front-office sources, said the deal had been agreed to and submitted for league approval in advance of tonight's NBA draft.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- The Milwaukee Brewers selected Joe Scott, 87, in the opening round of the MLB Draft Thursday. Scott, who also plays first base, spent two decades in "black baseball" with the Chicago American Giants, New York Black Yankees, Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Memphis Red Sox.

Brewers manager Ned Yost refused to confirm exactly how the club plans to use their versatile new player.

"If 'Scotty' can play third, maybe we'll platoon him with 'Hally' and 'Branny', " Yost suggested. "We'll just take it day to day. It's a long season."

Bill Hall immediately renewed his request to be traded.

For Scott, this moment had been decades in the making. He'd always hoped Major League Baseball would embrace him, but he never thought the embrace would happen more than 50 years after he'd ended his playing career.

"It has been a great day," Scott said.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080606&c
ontent_id=2852599&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Not really as "miraculous" as Pip prematurely proclaimed:

Houston - As it turns out, Brewers right-hander Yovani Gallardo did not escape serious injury Thursday in a collision at first base in Chicago.

Far from it.

An examination in Milwaukee this morning revealed Gallardo suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in that collision with Chicago's Reed Johnson near first base in the fifth inning. He was placed on the 15-day DL and right-hander Dave Bush was recalled from Class AAA Nashville to replace him.

No decision will be made on surgery until the swelling subsides in Gallardo's knee. But he in all likelihood will miss most if not all the rest of the season, a severe blow to the Brewers' chances in 2008.

Kudos to the Brewers' medical staff for misdiagnosing an easily detected ACL injury! And to the always brilliant Ned Yost for allowing Gallardo to continue pitching for an additional inning and 2/3 -- after the injury occurred!

Brett Favre retired? Maybe not

League sources say his representative has put out feelers that the former Green Bay Packers superstar, who has not yet turned his retirement papers into the league, may want to keep playing.

By Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
10:22 AM PDT, April 3, 2008

Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, who announced his retirement last month after 17 seasons, could be weighing a comeback with another team.

According to NFL sources, Favre's agent has quietly inquired with teams about their interest in trading for the three-time NFL most valuable player.




Favre, 38, has yet to give written notice of his retirement to the league or the players' union, although that's neither required nor irrevocable. It's also not uncommon for players to delay in doing so, particularly if they are not in immediate need of their pension money.

Reached today, agent James "Bus" Cook said he was not aware of Favre's interest in resuming his career.

"That's news to me," Cook said. "I don't think that has anything to do with anything. He's retired, period, point blank."

Favre's rights still belong to the Packers, who could trade him to another team.

The league sources said Favre's decision to retire was partially influenced by his frustration that the Packers didn't make a more aggressive attempt to sign Randy Moss. The team twice had a chance to do so, first in spring 2007 -- before New England acquired the All-Pro receiver from Oakland -- and again this off-season.

Favre retired a day after the Patriots re-signed Moss to a three-year, $27-million deal. Cook, who, along with agent Tim Dipiero, handles contracts for Moss, denied any link between the receiver and Favre's decision to retire.

"As far as Randy's deal with New England, there were never any negotiations with Green Bay," he said. "As far as I know, Brett retired because he was tired and burned out."

TUESDAY, April 1, 2008, 5 p.m.
Report: Crean close to deal with Indiana

ESPN.com is reporting that Marquette men's basketball coach Tom Crean is on the verge of becoming Indiana University's new coach.

According to the report, Indiana is awaiting a letter of agreement from Crean, and a tentative news conference has been scheduled for Wednesday.

Over the past 15 years, former Brewers' pitcher Lary Alan Sorensen, 52, has been convicted of five alcohol-related driving offenses. Last Saturday he was arrested for his sixth, found unconscious behind the wheel of his car with a blood alcohol content of an astonishing .48 (a level that's above the lethal dose for 50 percent of the population.) His license has been suspended 10 times and revoked five times. He received another dozen tickets, six of them for speeding, and has 20 points on his record.

Lary's full record (in Michigan):

8/23/92: Troy; operated while impaired, license suspended till 12/18/92
3/6/93: Novi, operated under the influence of liquor, license suspended, restricted
3/21/95: Livonia, speeding, 75/55
11/26/95: Plymouth, violation of restricted license
2/15/96: Sec. State, reexamined, license suspended through 4/15/96
8/15/96: Romulus, speeding 70/65
2/4/97: Sec. State, paid reinstatement fee, suspension ends
7/24/97: Troy, speeding, 45/35, failed to pay
9/23/98: Sec. State, license suspended for failure to pay
2/22/99: Sec. State, paid ticket, license reinstated
3/11/99: Livonia, speeding, 50/45
6/17/99: Detroit, speeding, 60/55, failed to pay
9/8/99: Sec. State, license suspended for failure to pay
10/17/99: Warren, operating under the influence of liquor and unlawful bodily alcohol content; fought ticket until found guilty 2/27/02; six points; license revoked for at least one year as a result of three or more substance-abuse convictions within 10 years.
10/18/99: Sec. State, paid Detroit ticket, that suspension ends
11/27/99: Mt. Clemens, operating under the influence of liquor; fought ticket until found guilty on 2/27/02; six points; license revoked until at least April 2007.
2/13/00: Plymouth, disobey stop sign, failed to pay
5/11/00: Sec. State, license suspended for failure to pay
11/28/00: Taylor, speeding, 50/45, failed to pay
11/28/00: Taylor, no proof of insurance, failed to pay
2/15/01: Sec. State, license suspended for failure to pay Taylor tickets
10/9/01: Farmington, drove while license suspended, two points
10/9/01: Farmington, no proof of insurance
10/24/01: Sec. State, paid Plymouth ticket, that suspension ends
11/11/01: Plymouth, failed to display valid license, license suspended one month
11/19/01: Sec. State, paid Taylor tickets, that suspension ends
12/2/01: Sec. State, license suspended for one year
2/22/02: Sec. State, paid reinstatement fee, suspension ends
3/7/02: Sec. State, additional one-month suspension for 10/17/99 OUIL/UBAL
4/26/03: Mt. Clemens, operating under the influence of liquor and unlawful bodily alcohol content; six points; license revoked until at least September 2008.
9/7/03: Sec. State, administrative hearing, additional five-year revocation imposed.
10/30/04: Mt. Clemens, operating while intoxicated; license revoked through 2010.
3/22/05: Mt. Clemens, found guilty of driving while intoxicated third offense, sentenced to 23 months in prison; paroled five months early in June 2006.
2/2/08: Roseville, found unconscious behind wheel of car; blood alcohol content is .48; now in jail awaiting return to prison possibly until December 2009.



http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2008
0207/SPORTS0104/802070359/&imw=Y

Looks like Doug Melvin wants to corner the market on washed-up over the hill juicers.

First he signs Guillermo Mota, then Eric Gagne, and now Mike Cameron -- who must sit out the first 25 games next year, suspended for failing a second drug test .

Who's next...Sammy Sosa?

The Cincinnati Reds have reached preliminary agreement on a four-year, $46 million contract with closer Francisco Cordero, a baseball source confirmed to ESPN.com.

The Brewers, according to Doug Melvin, offered $42 million, then stopped negotiating.

They lost their closer over a lousy $1 million per season!  What a joke! (Especially since the club earned a record-setting profit last year and already raised ticket prices for next season.)

"I still have confidence Derrick Turnbow can compile a number of saves," said Melvin.

LOL!

Yet, they  continue to market themselves as legitimate contenders.

Ned Yost: Punk’d!

By Bernie Miklasz 09/27/2007 1:55 am

 

Watching Wednesday’s Cardinals-Brewers game, I half expected Ashton Kutcher and the crew from MTV to hop over the railing at the Milwaukee dugout to tell Ned Yost that it was all a setup by Tony La Russa, and that he should laugh at the joke, calm down and keep his focus on managing the Brew Crew to a victory.

Instead, Yost went vigilante, and what ensued was a baseball version of the MTV show, Punk’d. Stunned, we watched Yost lose his marbles, lose the game, and probably lose a chance to win the NL Central division title.

It came down to this: with the Brewers trailing only 3-2 in the 8th, Yost brought a nondescript, disposable reliever into the game to pop STL’s Albert Pujols with a pitch in obvious retaliation for the Cardinals’ earlier plunking of Prince Fielder.

Fielder getting hit was most likely a carryover from prior hostilities in the first two games of the series - including Milwaukee pitcher Jeff Suppan buzzing Pujols’ jawline with a possibly errant fastball.

When Brad Thompson responded 24 hours later by targeting Prince, Yost went looney tunes. That Yost could lapse into such horrible judgement with so much at stake for his franchise is beyond belief. The first-place Cubs had already lost at Florida, and with a win, the Brewers would have moved within one game of the lead with four games remaining.

At that point, 100 percent of Yost’s focus should have been on defeating the battered Cardinals and shaving a game off the Cubs’ lead. Instead, Yost called for the hit on Pujols.

Laughably, Yost denied it later. OK, Ned, if you didn’t order the HBP on Albert, then why did you have another RHP warming up, well in advance, ready to enter the game the second your designated hit man got tossed? Answer: Yost had to have a reliever ready, because the ump had issued a warning to both dugouts earlier, meaning that any drilling would result in immediate ejection of the offending pitcher and manager.

As soon as the pitch struck Pujols on the back, the home-plate umpire ejected Yost and the no-name pitcher. And Pujols trotted to first base to start a four-run padding that put Milwaukee away. (Final score 7-3). Yost blew a gasket and Milwaukee blew a critical opportunity to leap closer to the Cubs. Instead, the Brewers remained two behind, with time running out.

As John Rooney said on the Cardinals’ KTRS broadcast: “This is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen a manager do.”

Remarkably, this was Yost’s third ejection by an umpire in the last four games. His team is scrapping to stay alive, and Yost’s way of demonstrating leadership is to keep getting expelled from games? Is this guy cracking under pressure, or what?

I can’t believe Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, who has dramatically increased payroll over the last three years, will keep Yost as manager if the Brewers go down. At one stage Yost had an 8.5-game lead in the division, but the stress has consumed him. In early August, Yost snapped at one of the Brewers’ young players, then was confronted and shown up by two veteran Brewers in the dugout. Yost’s credibility has continued to deteriorate.

La Russa, no angel, is an expert at gamesmanship and he took Yost to school by raising the ante in this little game of macho posturing. It began Monday, the day after Yost embarrassed himself by getting bounced in a 7-4 loss to Atlanta. The Brewers fumbled a 4-1 lead in that one and Yost blamed the umpires for the loss. Said crew chief Ed Montague: “He should look in the mirror.”

Instead of being content to beat up on the Cardinals Monday night, the inexplicably confrontational Yost continually yapped at umpires throughout Monday’s 13-5 Brewers’ win until getting the heave-ho by an ump. The Brewers were up 12-2 at the time of Yost’s ejection.

In managerial circles it’s considered poor protocol to take on the umpires for gratuitous reasons when your team has a huge lead. Yost went there anyway, and that pushed La Russa into his famous “Don Tony” mode. And no one messes with Don Tony. The Brewers got a sample when right fielder Corey Hart was nailed by a pitch in the back. That led to Suppan’s near shave of The Mang. Next, Fielder wore the bullseye as Don Tony clearly baited his hot-headed rival. (Didn’t these guys used to be pals?)

Instead of worrying about his team’s fate, Yost stroked his own ego and insisted on throwing the last rock at La Russa. And in doing so, Yost undermined his team’s chances of winning a must-have game.

It’s incomprehensible, but Cubs manager Lou Piniella must appreciate how La Russa, his old boyhood chum, did such a psychological number on Yost. When it comes to mind games, Don Tony usually prevails. Not always - Dusty Baker got the best of La Russa in Sept. 2003 - but most of the time.

When the mind games resumed Wednesday night, Yost lost his. Mind, that is. Ashton Kutcher and MTV weren’t there, but Yost was Punk’d by La Russa.

Hey Matt:

So you beaned a guy in the face two weeks ago... BFD! It happens. It's not like you killed the guy, or even maimed him for life. Batters are hit all the time and the pitchers that hit them don't curl up in an emotional heap and suck their thumbs. (Or fail to record another out, or even field an easy grounder.)

If you are that soft you have no business in the major leagues -- especially on a team that claims to be in a pennant race.

Get over it, Matt! Man-up and act like a professional -- and do the job you're very well paid to do. Or else don a pretty little pinafore, return your salary, and retire to the loony bin.

(Hey Pip: Why not do a feature on how Matt Wise typifies the Yost era's lack of toughness?)

GO BREWERS!

(AP) Mike Coolbaugh, a former Milwaukee Brewers infielder (2001), died after being struck by a foul ball during a game at Dickey-Stephens Park on Sunday night, officials confirmed.

Coolbaugh, the first base coach of the Tulsa Drillers, was hit in the side of the head during the top of ninth inning with Drillers player Tino Sanchez at bat. He collapsed to the ground and laid motionless as medical personnel and team members came to his side. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on the field.

Coolbaugh, 35, was transported to Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock. He was pronounced dead a short time later, according to Sgt. Terry Kuykendall, spokesman for the North Little Rock Police Department.

According to the Tulsa Drillers Web site, Coolbaugh joined the Drillers on July 3. He is survived by a pregnant wife and two small children.

How long will Brewers ownership (and Brewers fans) accept the fact that Ned Yost is nothing more than a stubborn, clueless and arrogant buffoon? He has never led a winning club in his entire career and cannot fathom the concept of a true pennant race and will therefore continue to mismanage this talented team as if it were mired in last place...until it actually is.

Shame.