News-Record.com

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who looked foolish during a congressional hearing trying to explain baseball's lax policy on steriods, has proposed much stiffer penalties: 50 games for the first offense, 100 games for the second, lifetime ban for the third. And add amphetamines to the banned substance list.

The players' union is likely to balk, both at the extent of the penalties and the addition of amphetamines. Those were made famous, and public, as "greenies" in Jim Bouton's book "Ball Four." Even players who have publicly called for stiff penalties for steroid use have hedged when asked about banning amphetamines.

So what is Selig trying to do, knowing the proposal is not likely to be accepted? Remember, this is a man who once sold used cars. He could be trying to repair the baseball office's tattered image by shifting the burden to the union, making it the bad guy when it refuses. Or it could be a negotiating ploy, with the acceptable numbers more like 25 games for the first offense, 50 for the second and one season for the third, plus amphetamines would not be added.

Either way, skeptics will have a field day, and rightly so.

This baseball season has, for me, been all about trying to figure out how longtime dynasties now past their prime keep winning. First, the Braves and their underwhelming lineup take charge of the NL East. Uh, Marlins, you might want to wake up soon. Now, the Yankees have reeled off 10 straight wins. Go away, already!

As much as some of us enjoyed the Yanks' 11-19 start (11-23 going back to Game 4 of the ALCS) and Big Stein's latest eruption, we knew it couldn't last. The question is, after falling into a tie for last place in the AL East, is NY now poised to win yet another division title?

That, I'm not sure. Let's face it, they are getting very old, even moreso bringing Tino Martinez back and maybe soon, 42-year-old Roger Clemens (see Lupica's column on that possibility).

Regardless, they are winning. And they're doing it before Steinbrenner jumps the gun on the next Ken Phelps.

It's partly explained by the schedule: All 10 wins have come against the woeful A's and execrable Mariners.

Also, their slumping DH's, Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams, have had huge games of late. Tino has been tearing it up since his return.

They've overcome Kevin Brown's slide into irrelevance, Carl Pavano's surprisingly weak start to the season (and Jaret Wright's not-as-surprising poor start) and their aging bullpen. Clemens would solidify their pitching staff, no doubt.

But would they be willing to give up Robinson Cano, the former Greensboro Bat, to bring Clemens back from Houston? If Big Stein leaves things alone, Cano could prove to be just the remedy the Yanks need at second base. And a product of their own beleaguered farm system, no less. How's this for a major-league debut?: Cano started 11 of 17 from the plate. Read more about him in this New York Times story (subscription required).

Oh, and let's not forget ultimate utility man Tony Womack, the Guilford College alum who has held his own in left field.

These guys know how to win and will win plenty. Probably enough to pass the Orioles and Red Sox, who have serious pitching woes, in the standings. I'm not ready to proclaim the Yanks World Series favorites yet, however. That would have to be the Braves, of course.

Feeling sorry for the Yankees' Jason Giambi after he lost endorsement deals with Nike, Pepsi and Arm & Hammer in wake of reports that he used performance enhancing drugs?

Well, SportsInteraction.com wants to come to his rescue. According to a press release, it has extended an endorsement offer to Giambi's agent, Arn Tellem, for what it says is worth up to $3 million per year. The company believes Giambi "still has huge market value in the sports world. This is a classic story where a star hits rock bottom and someone comes to his side as he rises from the ashes."

OK, so we haven't read even 1/1,000th the stories on baseball's amateur draft, which began today, as we have on the NBA Draft, which is still three weeks away. But, while I'm as eager as the next guy to find out if the Bucks will take Andrew Bogut or UNC freshman Marvin Williams No. 1 on June 28, it's worth mentioning that baseball's draft is a lot different than basketball's two-round, made-for-TV event, but no less important to major-league teams.

It's especially important for clubs whose philosophy is to build through the draft and the farm system, rather than through free agency. That's what the Braves have done successfully the last 15 years to remain consistently strong. It's also important when you've loaded up on supplemental picks and have 6 selections in the first 54 picks, like the Red sox.

One problem that former Mets GM Steve Phillips mentioned on ESPN radio this weekend is that it's more of a crapshoot than other pro sports drafts. He said you'll have 30 teams with 30 completely different draft lists. A pitcher with what one team considers a "plus-plus" arm may not have nearly enough "upside" to another scouting department. Team A would take this guy top 3 rounds; team B has him projected 20-25th rounds.

The Philly Inquirer's Jim Salisbury has an interesting take on the importance/randomness of baseball's draft.

This year, shortstop Justin Upton of Chesapeake, Va., went No.1 to Arizona. Three years ago, his brother B.J. went second to Tampa Bay. Virginia 3B Ryan Zimmerman went 4th overall to Washington -- surprisingly the first ACC player to go -- and UNCG pitcher Chris Mason went in the 2nd round to Tampa Bay. And on and on it goes (follow the draft here) ...

After 60-plus games, has baseball weeded out all the pretenders yet? Texas dropped five in a row recently to fall 2.5 games behing the Angels in the AL West. The Diamondbacks have faded after leading the NL West. And the Braves and Marlins have dropped 4.5 games back in the East after leading the division. Are they pretenders? Injury-riddled Atlanta, sure. But Florida? We'll see.

The Orioles are still hanging on in the AL East, led by former Tar Heel Brian Roberts. Jury's still out.

The NL East begs another question: How can you go 12-1 on a homestand and not gain any ground on the team you're chasing? Well, that's easy. That team, the first-place Washington Nationals, went 12-1 at home during the same stretch. Too bad for the Phillies. Great news for old Senators fans, who haven't seen the hometown team lead its division this late in the season since the Senators in 1933. They also hadn't seen 1.05 million fans pass through the turnstiles since the '40s. For an entire season. These Nats still have over half their home schedule left to play.

Are the Nats for real? I'm starting to think so. And give GM Jim Bowden credit. He dumped useless OF Endy Chavez off to a division rival for Marlon Byrd, who is still young and has the potential to be a solid major-league outfielder. And the club was going to just cut pitcher Tomo Ohka after he disrespected manager Frank Robinson while being pulled from a game. But the Milwaukee Brewers were willing to offer underrated 2B Junior Spivey in return. Spivey homered yesterday, of course.

Now, will the Nats start eating away at the Braves' fan base in North Carolina? Probably not. But I did notice 850-AM, "The Buzz," in Raleigh was giving away weekend getaway-ticket packages to DC on the air. That's something.

And, is it just me, or did the Cubs trade the mini-Sammy Sosa to the Orioles? It's not just that his power numbers are down, he just looks a lot smaller. I'm not saying he's suddenly off the juice or anything; just an observation.

John Rocker, New York hardly knew ye. (But what they knew about you and your xenophobia, they didn't much like.) The Long Island Ducks released the 30-year-old Rocker today after he'd walked 28 in 18 innings -- reminding me of the wild year I covered him in Danville, Va.

Rocker, of course, made some offensive comments about 7-train passengers in NYC many years ago, when he still had a decent left arm.

OK, admitted, I forgot to wait until the Braves' inevitable midsummer hot streak (also known as the time of year the rest of the division beats up on itself, or in the case of the Phillies, the time of IMPLOSION) before writing off the Braves. I really didn't mean to, anyway. A few weeks back, I was simply saying a Braves slide was understandable with everybody hurt, whereas pitching-rich Florida had no excuse.

With that said, the Braves will look good in the division race -- and wild-card hunt -- when Hudson, Thomson and Hampton return to the starting rotation because: 1) They've broken in some R-Braves players who will provide nice depth when the injured return to form. 2) The Nats will likely falter at some point. They've won 25 or 26 1-run games and a ton of come-from-behind games. I don't see the success in close games as so much a strength as a statistical anomaly. The law of averages tends to even those close wins out with close losses. I'd feel a lot better about things if Jose Vidro made a quick return to the lineup.

By the way, Bruce, the Nationals just swept the Cubs -- in Chicago, not D.C.

No offense to Tim Kurkjian, but I'm not sure why he's so dazzled by these Richmond Braves. I like Kyle Davies' arm and toughness. But Wilson Betemit was supposed to be a breakthrough star 4-5 years ago. Is he a legit prospect or not? And Pete Orr? Come on.

And, how do you like these numbers?: 29-56. That's the R-Braves' record. Don't say it's terrible because half their team's in Atlanta. They were below .500 at the end of April, when they had many of these young studs that everyone's frothing at the mouth about.

When they win the World Series with this makeshift group, I'll give Bobby Cox his due. Until then, you guys can enjoy feasting on a bunch of shlub NL East teams that have demonstrated over the years they don't know what it takes to win a division like the Braves do.

I will say this: If the wild card's the thing for Atlanta, they don't have Arizona or the Dodgers to worry about. I went to see those clubs play last night at Chavez Ravine, and it was a comedy of errors and all-around bad baseball. Both (they're about 4 under .500) are fading fast. So the Cubs -- and Florida??? -- are the only team to worry about.

(This blog entry's dedicated to sometimes Wang Chung fan Joe Sirera.)

I've crossed off two more ballparks in my quest to visit all the major leagues have to offer while visiting friends in Santa Clarita, Calif., this weekend. A baseball traditionalist though I am, the nod goes to Anaheim's Angel Stadium over Dodgers Stadium. My apologies to Vin Scully, whose treasured radio voice is the best thing the Dodgers have going for them these days.

Really, this is a question of atmosphere, entertainment value and quality of the on-field product. And beer prices.

Dodgers Stadium has a view -- well, it's situated in a ravine, so not much of one, but better than the Angels' backdrop, which is Disneyland. They also have more history (even when just considering post-Brooklyn) -- I caught myself picturing Kirk Gibson's home run landing in the right-field seats. And, of course, there's Scully.

But the Dodgers are also pretty lousy and have a fairly tuned-out following. JD Drew's broken wrist -- he got hit by a pitch in the game we attended Sunday -- doesn't help a lineup that already features such luminaries as Oscar Robles, Antonio Perez, Olmedo Saenz, Jason Werth and Cody Ross. They lost 9-3 to Arizona this night. It was the 2nd-largest crowd in Dodger Stadium history, but, as usual, it arrived late. At least it didn't bolt early -- there were postgame fireworks.

The Angels had their 17th sellout of the year Monday night (thanks also to fireworks). But, unlike Dodgerland, where signs say "Think Blue" and fans act the part, the LA Angels of Anaheim had their place jumping. With the Angels down late, the Rally Monkey rallied the masses. I thought I was fed up with the gimmick by the end of the '02 World Series, but it's actually a pretty fun crowd-riler when those monkeys start dancing around on the big screen. A lot of stuffed monkeys being swung around in the crowd, too.

Whereas Dodgers-D'backs felt like a midseason Triple-A game, Angels-Twins felt like a playoff game. (The matchup very well could happen in October.) Vlad Guerrero, perhaps the best free-swinger in major-league history, blasted one home run halfway to Burbank. Joe Nathan got Darin Erstad to fly out to preserve a 7-5 Twins victory with a man on and Vlad on deck. Man, what I would've given to see that dramatic tet-a-tet with the game on the line.

They've really done a great job refurbishing and remodeling one of the old toilet-bowl stadiums of the '60s-70s. Dodgers Stadium has been spruced up, too, but I refuse to wash down a Dodger Dog with an $8 Sam Adams (12 ounces). I'd rather pay the almost-as-ridiculous $6.75 in Anaheim for that same beer.

One very Southern California thing about both parks: beachball-bopping in the bleachers. Maybe the thing that pushed the Angels over the top, besides the beer prices: Dodgers fans did several waves. Whenever dorks in the Angels crowd tried starting waves, neighboring sections declined. There was a baseball game going on, after all.

OK, I rarely encounter much argument to the notion that Chris Berman's baseball shtick has gotten really, really old and he needs to turn down the volume on ESPN. But I went from the usual cringefest to flat-out offended during tonight's Home Run Derby when he dropped a Mark "Al-" Texiera reference. The Rangers first baseman should sue for slander after having his name intentionally entangled with Al Jazeera, the increasingly disreputed Middle East TV network.

Am I overreacting here?

Meanwhile, Bobby Abreu of the Phillies was cranking balls out of Detroit's Comerica Park like he was batting in that silly little bandbox the Phils call home. A record 24 homers in the first round and 41 for the night to beat out hometown favorite Pudge Rodriguez in the finals. Maybe now the 5-tool Venezuelan will stop flying under the radar in the U.S. Then again, he was voted into the NL starting lineup for the first time, and I'm not sure the pre-All-Star game festivities get any better TV ratings than pro billiards.

So, we have two choices here: Johnny Damon was right that Curt Schilling as closer is a bad idea, or Schilling came back too soon from his ankle injury. As "bush league" Alex Rodriguez drilled one of his limp split-finger fastballs for a game-winning home run last night, I couldn't help but noticing Schill's splitter wasn't doing much splitting and his velocity was way down.

And it was hard not to notice that the Yanks -- dreadful for three months -- sense opportunity. They could be leading the AL East by the end of the weekend.

In any event, Schill and the Sox fans still have October '04 to warm their hearts. And I had a Fixx concert at Greene Street to put the ugly Fenway finish out of my mind. Anyone catch my subtle Fixx song-title reference in the headline? No? Figures. It was a great show but not a great turnout.

Colleague Rob Daniels has heard plenty of ranting from me on how Peter Angelos, the owner of his beloved Baltimore Orioles, only agreed to "allow" Washington to have a baseball team in exchange for the TV rights to the Nationals' games. Angelos is actually the Nats' ally in a legal battle with Comcast, the cable operator that refuses to let its subscribers see the Nationals. But, that said, the Nats have a terrible TV deal -- you pretty much need direcTV to see them in their own market -- by which they can't make any money and Angelos has total control.

My theory being that Angelos has set it up to a) ruin his unwanted neighbor's chances of survival or b) if they're popular, he'll profit from it to the benefit of his franchise, not DC's. You can watch all the Orioles baseball you want in Washington, by the way.

And, as I learned last night, you can watch the O's on Fox Sports South in the Raleigh TV market but not the Braves when they're on FSN South. Because of some twisted geographical logic, RDU is in the O's region, not the Braves' (or Nats, for that matter). Given that there are probably 10 Braves fans in the area for every one Orioles fan, I'd be irate about that arrangement if I were a tomahawk-chopper and letting Time-Warner Cable hear about it. TWC also doesn't offer Turner South in the Raleigh market, cutting down on televised Braves games even further.

I don't care for the Braves personally, but find it perfectly acceptable that TWC makes Braves games available on TBS, FSN South and Turner South in the Triad. Given their majority (or at least plurality) support throughout NC, I find it almost indefensible that the Orioles, not the Braves, hold sway in the Triangle.

For small-time, hopeless franchises like the Pittsburgh Pirates, thank goodness for the occasional feel-good rookie story like that of Zach Duke. And for those hapless teams trying to keep pace with the suddenly unbeatable Atlanta Braves, their occasional run-ins with tough lefty pitchers like Duke keep hope alive ... barely.

Duke carried a 24-inning shutout streak into today's game in Atlanta -- dating back to his major-league debut. He gave up a run, but he also dominated into the 9th inning of a 4-1 victory, as the Pirates avoided a 4-game sweep. Seeing that Duke was a 20th-round draft pick, one wonders if this 22-year-old is for real. He dominated in the minors, and his 4-0 start and sub-1.00 ERA demonstrates he might never go back.

Is he for real? If he is, how long before he's a Yankee?

"I don't think it's a fluke and I don't think it's something that's short term," Triple-A manager Trent Jewett insisted. "He has long-term abilities. His mechanics are good. You're not concerned with injury with him."

Here's the full story. Oh, and go here to read about today's performance.

Rafael Palmeiro's fall from grace this week -- well, that already came for the 2 or 3 people who actually read Jose Canseco's book and found him to be a credible author -- has created two basic storylines: 1) To what extent has this guy used steroids? (i.e. how much is he lying to cover himself?) And 2) What has he done to his Hall of Fame chances? How you answer that probably depends on how his steroid use registers on your "moral integrity meter," as a commenter at The Key Monk's blog suggests.

SI.com's Tom Verducci makes a key distinction between cheating (throwing spitballs, for example) and breaking the law (using illegal steroids, tax evasion, etc.). On my HofF ballot -- relax, I don't have one -- those who have committed crimes of this magnitude aren't eligible, making the moral-integrity quotient irrelevant.

When the Kansas City Royals got No. 1 overall draft pick Luke Hochevar signed late last week, you had to figure the Detroit Tigers' No. 6 pick, UNC lefty Andrew Miller, wouldn't be far behind. And he wasn't. For a nice $3.5 million bonus, Miller signed Friday with the Tigers.

Hochevar became the fourth No. 1 pick in the last 20 years to sign a MAJOR-league contract guaranteeing a quick ascent to K.C. Miller's contract guarantees he'll be pitching in Comerica Park this September ... and maybe in the playoffs?

Daniel Bard, Miller's UNC teammate, was one of only two first-rounders left unsigned. Bard, a righthander taken 28th by Boston, is reportedly in slow-going negotiations with the Red Sox.

The sad saga of former Greensboro Grasshopper Jeff Allison continues. The Florida Marlins' No. 1 pick in 2003, who pitched 17 games in Greensboro last summer in a failed comeback attempt, was hospitalized Wednesday after a drug overdose.

Allison's original fall from grace, which included addictions to OxyContin, a failed drug test for marijuana and a heroin overdose, received a lot of national attention. Apparently, he hasn't managed to put his life back together and is in fairly dire straits.