Thanks to everyone who has visited and I hope you continue to do so at my new locale.

Cheers.

-Via Baseball Musings, I learned of the existence of the Gyroball. It’s a new pitch that was invented by two Japanese scientists and their supercomputer. It supposedly works like this:

To throw a gyroball, a pitcher holds the side of the ball with a fastball grip. The pitcher’s hips and throwing shoulder must be in near-perfect sync, something the book refers to as “double-spin mechanics.” As the pitcher rotates his shoulder, he snaps his wrist and pulls down his fingers rather than flipping them over the ball, as happens with curveballs. The rotation is side over side. When the pitcher lets go, he must pronate his wrist, or turn it so the palm faces third base. It’s like a right-hander throwing a screwball, only instead of the ball last touching the middle finger, it spins off the index finger.

Will Carroll has been promoting this new pitch as a way to force good mechanics. It’s Interesting, to say the least.

-From the Daily News, we learn the Damon’s shoulder has been bothering him a bit.

Damon’s shoulder – his throwing shoulder – started bothering him several days ago and he discussed the injury with Yankee GM Brian Cashman Sunday after pinch-hitting in Team USA’s victory over Japan and Damon said Cashman thought “it was a good idea” if Damon took a break from throwing.

Damon has never had much of an arm to begin with, add in his age and that cavernous center field at Yankee Stadium and Yankee fans could be looking at four, long years.

-Chuck over at Ivy Chat quotes John Rogers Jr., CEO Ariel Capital and the Tribune’s fifth-largest shareholder. John thinks selling the Cubs would be the right thing to do.

I agree.

-The Trbune says Bonds is baseball’s big headache. You think? The article does have its good points, though. It mentions how dismissive of the Bonds seteroid allegations Giants fans are and how despite everything, Bonds still puts buts in the seats.

-The Todd Walker situation is beginning to be a seriously irritating case of He said, They said. Both Hendry and Baker reacted to Walker’s comments over the past few days. Neither of them were pleased.

“It bothers me because that’s one thing I pride myself on,” Baker said. “This is the second time since I’ve been here that a player has accused ‘somebody.’

Baker was referring to Sosa’s complaint in the summer of ’04 that Baker failed to show him any “respect” when he moved him down in the batting order, although Sosa had reportedly called Baker to let him know he was OK with the decision.

“I clearly wouldn’t think Todd Walker would have any reason to tell you I’ve never not told him the truth,” Hendry said. “Whether I’m right or wrong, which, obviously, in this business you’re wrong a lot, I’ve spent 27 years of my life telling players what I felt was the truth at that time. My decisions don’t always work out, but they are never done with any deception to the player.”

I also found this little tidbit interesting (and annoying):

Hendry, who according to a source had Walker traded twice in the off-season only to have the deals fall through at the last minute

It was no secret that they were trying to get Walker out of town, but I don’t remember hearing about them being so close to doing so. I wrote yesterday that I thought he was most likely going to stay, but comments like the one above and the fact that Tood just wont shut up make me wary.

-Jerry Crasnick of ESPN has a nice little fluff piece on Juan Pierre and the Angels’ Chone Figgins. It is just that – a fluff piece, but nonetheless I found it a very nice read and once again we are reminded of Pierre’s (and Figgins) great work ethic. My favorite part of the article is probably this:

There was a time when Pierre would instinctively pick up the tab. But now that Figgins has signed a three-year, $10.5 million extension with the Angels, he’ll be called upon to assume a greater share of the burden.

-I just finished writing about the Walker soap opera, take a break, and find another article. This one, though, paints a prettier picture.

After the Cubs lost 10-6 to the Colorado Rockies on Monday, Baker confirmed that he and Walker talked during the day.

“We got it straight,” Baker said. “OK. He told me the same thing (about not meaning to rip the Cubs). You’ve got to accept what a man says.”

-According to Dusty, Prior could pitch a simulated game on Thursday.

-There’s no “Fun” in fundamentals. At least not if you’re the Cubs, as they continue to struggle making the plays you usually master in Little League. The latest blunder was from Glendon, who as he did several times last year failed to cover first base in the Cubs 10-6 win over the Rockies yesterday.

–The Cubs acquired Clint Brannon as the PTBNL in the Leicester deal. The Cub Reporter has more details.

-Jim thinks it has been a real good spring training for the Cubs.

“I think it’s been a real good camp,” Hendry said. “Obviously, we would liked not to have had the snag with Woody and maybe set him back a week or 10 days. We’re looking forward to Prior getting out there hopefully this week.

About the second base situation:

“I think Jerry Hairston has come in like I heard he was in the winter — he’s lighter; I think he’s faster, quicker,” Hendry said. “He seems to be much improved defensively from when he was first here last year.

“Obviously, Walk’s going to get his hits. Neifi’s role can go every which way. He knows he’s going to get his time and his opportunities. He’s glad to be here and part of it and trusts Dusty enough to put him in the right spots.”

Well, yea, if you put up a .274/.298/.383 line and your manager still plays you every day over much more deserving players, you’d trust him too. But I digress.

Jim on all the Walker trade talks:

“I’ve had just the normal phone calls lately of guys checking in, ‘What are you looking for, what have you got extra?’æ” he said. “I’ve probably talked to 10 GMs since I’ve been out here, and it’ll probably pick up a little more. I think most guys do it the way I do. You play about 10 games and get a little better handle on it.”

I’ve already started mentally preparing myself in the event that Todd is traded and we have to see more Neifi and Hairston at second (though admittedly, we could survive with Hairston), but as we get closer to the beginning of the regular season I’m liking Todd’s chances of staying with the club.

-Lastly, Walker went on WSCR-AM 670 on Sunday and said that Dusty had told him he’d be the opening day starter. This was news to Baker.

“I don’t recall saying that,” Baker said. “I’ve got to talk to `Walk’ about that. I don’t even know who’s pitching for [the Reds] on Opening Day.”

Walker later clarified things somewhat.

Walker said Baker told him over the winter: “I was his guy, whatever that means.” But Walker added that Baker told him things could change.

“So I’m trying to make sure it doesn’t,” Walker said. “If I did say something to that effect, I certainly meant that we had a conversation in the off-season and he said, `If you’re there, you’re my guy.’

That’s pretty much all the noteworthy Cubs news today.

• Aramis Ramirez was pulled after his first at bat in yesterday’s game because of an infection in the fingernail of his right ring finger. The Cubs hope to have him back in 2-3 days.

  “It’s swollen up, and he couldn’t grip the bat,” team trainer Mark O’Neal said. “We put him on some pretty strong antibiotics and have got him soaking it overnight. We knew it was sore. He as able to take BP (batting practice), but gearing it up at game speed, you could see him flinching a little bit that first at-bat.”

• Third base prospect Scott Moore got spiked in the hand later in the game and went to the hospital for stiches. As far as I know there’s no word yet on how much time he’ll miss.
• Jerry Hairston’s CT scan proved normal and he hopes to be able to practice today and play Wednesday. Thank goodness for that, because as I said in my last post, less Jerry means more Neifi.
• The baseball world is still mourning the loss of Kirby Puckett, yet Phil Rogers takes a step away from the all the eulogies and has an interesting article in today’s Tribune. It tells of Puckett’s beginnings in the projects and how he failed in making things better for those who followed him.
• It seems Neifi still thinks he can be a starter. In this article by Paul Sullivan Neifi makes a case for himself.
  

  “I do care about starting,” he said. “But I started out [as a backup] last year and look at what happened. Let’s see what happens.

  “If they need someone ready to play, they don’t know how [Cedeno] is going to be in the big leagues for a whole year.

  “Ronny is a really good shortstop, but sometimes you need a veteran in the middle. So let’s see what happens. I’m not mad. I’m excited to be here.”

  There’s also this tidbit thrown in by Sullivan:

  Perez, a switch-hitter, batted .274 last year with 54 RBIs

  I love it how they always forget to mention his .298 OBP and 22 GDPs.

• Also by Sullivan is this, an article titled “Dusty weary of speculation about Prior”. Well, so am I. So why don’t they just come out and be upfront for once about Prior’s current health status?

  He threw the ball well [Sunday],” manager Dusty Baker said. “He’s progressing. He’s been progressing the whole time. One of these years, this will no longer be an issue.”

  My question is as follows: Why is this an issue now? If Prior is indeed healhy there’s really no need to be handling him with kid gloves is there?

  This organization is so damn frustrating sometimes.

Puckett’s reputation suffered in the years following his Hall of Fame induction, as we learned he was far from a perfect man. But he was a baseball legend who delighted fans throughout his career with his play on the field and his ever-present smile.

May he rest in peace.

More – from ESPN

After getting plunked in the head by Kevin Correia in yesterdays’ game, the prognosis on Hairston seems to be pretty good.

“He was completely conscious when we got out there,” O’Neal said. “We came in and evaluated him here in the clubhouse. Both of our docs were in here and looked at him. “He had literally no symptoms whatsoever of head injuries when he left here. We’re anticipating good results.

No Hairston in the lineup means more Neifi in the lineup, so here’s hoping Hairston recovers quickly.

That’s all noteworthy Cub news for today (though it’s only 7 50 am right now). Before I go I’d like to ask any potential readers a question: What do you think of this theme? It pretty much defines simple, but gosh darn it, I like it.

Really, it seems that these days Cub fans are overreacting to every little piece of news out of frustration, but dusty be damned, there’s no way that any of these guys other than Grissom see any playing time in ’06.

While this would mean that Murton would be relieved to platoon duties (something I don’t want to see), Wilson could be a decent acquisition for the Cubs. Yes, Wilson is injury prone, having played in 150 games just twice in a 8-year career. Yes, his numbers over the last couple of years were boosted by playing in Coors. Yes, he strikes out way too much. But he’s still just 30 years old, is good for 25-30 home runs if he manages to play for most of the season and while he is no longer a threat to steal 20-30 bases he still has decent speed.

He’s also above average defensively (fieldig percentage in 05 was higher than Pierre/Patterson/Burnitz/Jones).

The post I linked to at the top says that the rumor originated from a baseball scout so take it for what it’s worth. I’ll save further opinions after this deal is reported as done or dead.

This was posted at OH by someone with “sources” so take it as you will. I’ll save my reactions to this until it is sure this deal is legit or not.

Because it’s a slow news day…

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada, New York Mets starter Pedro Martinez, New York Yankees reliever Octavio Dotel and Tampa Bay Devil Rays shortstop Julio Lugo reportedly were named in suit filed by Salvador Delgado, who is representing convenience store owners who say they unknowingly sold defective phone cards — known as “Grandes Ligas” — that were advertised by the players

The spanish TV networks covered this stroy a few days ago and I found it somewhat amusing. Basically, a $2 phone card was supposed to provide a 70 minute call to the Dominican Republic, but only allowed 10.

Ortiz’s agent, Diego Bentz, told The Boston Globe that his client, Tejada and Martinez were lured into the deal by Dotel.

“They were trying to do a favor and it just snowballed,” Bentz said.

While I hate when people start with the blame game, I really do doubt that any of these players knew about this “phone scam”. Most likely they were just lending their names to these companies as a favor and didn’t know about what was really going on.

What this have to do with the Cubs you might ask? Well, nothing, really. Like I said, it’s a slow news day.

Also, it’s a little bit late but Happy Holidays everyone!