I reported just after opening this site that baseball’s Players’ Association was going to investigate why no team had made an offer to Barry Bonds, and I gave a few suggestions. Well, ESPN.com reported today that the MLBPA has opened an investigation into the free-agent market, not only for Bonds, but for other players like Kenny Lofton, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and others. According to the report, such an investigation has been conducted previously.
It is unclear whether the investigation is nearing its end, but the author quoted Bonds’ agent who seems to be surprised his client hasn’t been contacted. The agent, Jeff Borris, was quoted in the article, “No team has made me an offer for any amount at any time since Barry became a free agent;” adding “Barry continues to work out,” but “I’m not optimistic that he will be in a major league uniform in 2008.”
Some of the other players unemployed right now are: pitchers Jose Mesa and David Wells; and catcher Mike Piazza. If the investigation suggests that something is amiss, it could file a grievance on the issue of collusion at the end of the investigation, and of course, the union would love nothing more than to give the owners another black eye and get another ruling like the multi-million collusion ruling that went against the owners several years ago.
I can save the union and the owners a lot of money to explain why these guys are out of baseball:
1. They are old and can’t perform at a high level anymore. There comes a time to all athletes when they can’t perform anymore or have suffered significant injuries that makes their return to the highest level of play questionable.
2. There are significant clouds over the players or they may be considered clubhouse cancers. In the case of Clemens, Bonds, and Sosa, the cloud of performance enhancing drug use hangs over them like shrouds. And Clemens’ lies about affairs, one possibly with an underaged girl makes him a double public relations nightmare. Wells and Piazza haven’t won many friends on the teams they played for over the years not to mention the lack of warm fuzzy relationship developed by Bonds and Clemens over time.
3. They are all expensive and expect top dollar. Perhaps they all might be playing somewhere, but they expect to be paid based on past performance and salary instead of being paid for the reduced role they would have on any team that signed them.
See, I’ve just cleared a lot of stuff up.

Ever since “Dollar” Bill Wirtz shuffled off this mortal coil at the beginning of the season, son Rocky Wirtz has been making steps to improve the club and hear the fractured relationship between the team and it’s fans.
The old man wasn’t even buried before Wirtz moved long time impediment to progress Bob Pulford out of the hockey operation. Then, the team had a great draft, grabbing Patrick Kane and brining up last year’s top pick Jonathon Toews. They signed former Cub president John McDonough who helped market the Cubs to 3 million in annual attendance and put home games on local television. They sent olive branches to their old stars: Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, and Tony Esposito all had tribute nights last spring. But there was still one piece missing…
The Hawks fired play-by-play announcer Dan Kelly, a fine announcer, but Hawk games haven’t been the same since the old man fired Pat Foley two seasons ago. Foley, a future Hall of Fame announcer, spoke the truth about the abysmal hockey too many times, and Wirtz had him fired after 25 years on the air as voice of the Hawks. While Foley can’t say anything because he is broadcasting the AHL Chicago Wolves playoff games, it appears likely that Foley will be back in the booth next season.
I am a Foley fan, and I’ve known him back to my Andy Frain days. Despite his fame, Foley has always been a down-to-Earth guy who always cracked me up at baseball games. Foley found former NHL town Winnepeg, the worst in the league, and I would kid him with his trademark long call telling him that he had won a trip to “Winnnnneeeeepeg” and he would retort, the loser got two trips.
Welcome Back Pat, we missed you.

I won’t make the easy jokes about black people and water, but some people have asked me why I’ve been silent on the Cedric Benson issue. For those who don’t live in the Chicago area, Benson, the number four pick in the 2005 NFL draft by the Bears, was arrested for driving a boat under the influence of alcohol and resisting arrest. It reportedly took several police officers and pepper spray to subdue the running back.
My friend Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times already got off the easy jokes on Benson, who averaged a far-less-than-stellar 3.4 yards per carry and while he was a horse in college, seems to be knocked over by a stiff wind in the pros. “Did the police get his 3.4 yards from the boat,” among other comments. Too many writers have said that this is the chance the Bears need to cut their losses and let the overpaid running back go, especially after breaking his leg last year in an injury that required metal bars and screws to repair.
I tried not to rush to judgment (which is more rushing than Benson has done in three years with the Bears – I couldn’t resist), because it is probably all too easy for a large black man to be considered “resisting arrest” and pepper strayed in Texas than other places, and in fact, a companion has said that Benson did not resist arrest, and Benson has said that he will challenge the charges.
Benson may have been boating drunk, and he should pay the price for it, but the Bears have been right in investigating the situation and waiting to make a final decision. That doesn’t mean that Benson hasn’t been a bust and may deserve to be released; but it should be because he hasn’t done it on the field, not pissed off some good ole’ boy in Texas.

You may consider it hypocritical for a writer of a web site that features a scroll of sports teams that he despises, to say that a fan hatred has gone too far, but SI.com reported this one this morning.
In Nashua, New Hampshire, a female Yankee fan is being held without bail after running her car over a Red Sox fan. Ivonne Hernandez stands accused today of second-degree murder for killing a man by running him down in her car after a Red-Yankees argument last Thursday night.
Reportedly, an argument broke out in a bar called Slade’s Food and Spirits, and escalated when Ms. Hernandez identified herself as a Yankee fan. The argument spilled outside (no pun intended) and a group that included Matthew Beaudoin and at least one person in the group started yelling “Yankees suck” when they saw a Yankees sticker on Ms. Hernandez’ car. The 43-year-old woman is supposed to have gunned her car, accelerating at high speed for 200 feet, never hitting her brakes toward a small group of people. The car struck Mr. Beaudoin, 29, and his friend, Maria Hughes, 21. Mr. Beaudoin died from massive head trauma Friday morning; Ms Hughes suffered only minor injuries.
Ms. Hernandez, from Nashua – a bastion of the Red Sox nation, was arrested at the scene; acknowledged that she had been drinking and refused to take a breath-alcohol test. She reportedly said that she wanted to scare the people. Well, she succeeded on that score, didn’t she?
Now, here in Chicago, we have taken Packer fans and duct taped them to highway signs, and the Cardinal-Cubs and White Sox Cubs series have playoff atmospheres and strongly partisan fans, but I haven’t seen anyone get killed yet. Leave it to the fans of the highest paid; biggest media franchises to take it to the next level.

As you know, I’m not like those sports radio geeks who want someone to be fired every day for reasons real or imagined. I’ve been fired (albeit not from a million dollar contract), and it’s traumatic. But it’s time for the White Sox to fire or demote hitting coach Greg Walker.
The Sox came into the weekend as the only team in the AL Central with an above .500 record, but they got swept by the Blue Jays over the weekend, extending a six game losing streak in which the team has scored a paltry 9 runs.
Again, I would be willing to give Walker a break, but last season, the Sox’ bats were anemic all season, and squandered opportunities last season until the bullpen exploded into a 90 loss travesty. This season’s slow start by the Tigers and Indians gave the Sox a chance to build a lead before those two powerhouses come around. Instead, the Sox are now 14-16, two games under .500 and 2 games behind Minnesota.
Greg Walker was an excellent first baseman for the White Sox; and he has been loyal to owner Jerry Reinsdorf, which means a lot to the man. But it is obvious that a new face is needed, and someone has to be held accountable. The team could fire Manager Ozzie Guillen, but I think that would be a bad move (despite his latest rants – more below). Walker admitted that the team took a bad approach in spring training last year, but the new approach has yielded the same results as the old approach, so he has to be sacrificed. Give Walker another role in the organization if you want, but a new voice needs to come from the hitting coach, before the season is lost.
Speaking of hitting, batters will do anything to break a hitting jinx: sleeping with their bat, talking to their bat, anything other than making love to the bat, but the Sox have gotten in trouble with some of the female reporters with by placing bats between two blow up sex dolls, with a sign reading “You’ve got to push.” This is a sexist statement, no doubt, but, to a certain extent, if one expects great intelligence and political correctness in the all-boys’ club that is a major league clubhouse; you’re in the wrong business. (It’s funny: the bats and dolls made the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times, which has a female beat writer, but no mention at all in the Chicago Tribune which has all men.) I just hope that this doesn’t get blown into a big deal; the team should quietly take it down, and everyone should take a breath and move on.
What’s a White Sox blog without talking about Ozzie? Mount Guillen blew up the other day, but at the media. He blamed the Chicago media for pumping up the Cubs while the Sox were chicken (bleep) despite winning a championship 3 years ago. Well, the only way the Sox are going to get respect in a town that loves to wallow in the sorrow of the Chicago Cubs, is to win, and in a “what’ve you done for me lately business, three years is a long time. The honeymoon is over; stop blaming other people for your team that can’t hit the wind in a tornado.

As more and more of Roger Clemens’ life becomes public, the worse it seems to be for him. It wasn’t enough that he is under investigation for lying to Congress (in a hearing that his defense team requested), last week, it was noted that Clemens had been in a long-term extra-marital relationship with country singer Mindy McCready and the ex-wife of golfer John Daly. The McCready story had creepier than usual implications: it was reported that Clemens’ relationship with McCready began when the singer was 15.
Trying to pour more water on the fire, but instead pouring gasoline, Clemens spoke with the Houston Chronicle yesterday, stating that he had made “mistakes” in his personal life, but did not specifically addressing allegations. ESPN.com reported that Clemens, a married father of four told the Chronicle in a statement, “Even though these articles contain many false accusations and mistakes, I need to say that I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry. I have apologized to my family and apologize to my fans. Like everyone, I have flaws. I have sometimes made choices which have not been right.” Yep, sleeping around for years with women other than your wife could be considered bad choices; they also could get you the Lorena Bobbitt treatment.
However, Clemens continues to proclaim his innocence regarding performance enhancing drugs. “I believe my personal life has nothing to do with the accusations of steroid and HGH use,” he said. “I have already made clear that I did not use them.”
Again, this just shows the size of this man’s ego. He believes that a formal apology is sufficient to cover up possible child molestation charges, on top of the strong implication that his over-40-year-old tremendous performance was “aided” by steroids and HGH. He says that “Now, I have been accused of having an improper relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Nothing could be further from the truth. This relationship has been twisted and distorted far beyond reality. It is just one of many, many accusations that are utterly false.” Being a “good ole’ boy from Texas, Clemens probably spoke to a Houston paper knowing that they would be sympathetic, and besides, sleeping with a 15-year-old country singer is probably high on the “Wish List” of many men in Texas. What will be interesting is the relationship with Clemens’ wife, who has already been disclosed of taking steroids herself. Will she be kicking “the Rocket” to the curb, or is infidelity a price she willingly pays to get the multi-million dollar checks?
Now, as I wrote on an earlier post, I believe that all of today’s players belong in the Hall of Fame, but if performance enhancing drugs are proved, that should be labeled on the Hall of Fame plaque. And, you can’t have a character clause for the Hall with Ty Cobb one of the original members. It could be said that Clemens’ ego and competitiveness helped to fuel his astonishing career, but his narcissism and sociopathic tendencies are his cross to bear for the rest of his life.

It is time for the Reverend Jeremiah Wright to go away. My friend Tom Watson and I have been conversing and we invite you to listen in:

TOM WATSON: BTW, I take it back, Reverend Wright is crazy.
I defended him when all we saw were the sound bites over and over. I actually think our “Chickens Have Come Home to Roost” is true, and certainly have often condemned anyone who had a holier than thou attitude about the US vs. other countries, in light of the treatment of Native Americans, slavery, Hiroshima, and the host of friends we have had around the world (the Shah, Saddam, Bin Laden, Noriega, Peron, Allende, ad nauseum). I even explained to someone while I was on the road in WY in early April that even the looniest comments, about AIDS, which aren’t true, need to be understood with Tuskegee in mind. They of course didn’t know what I was talking about.
When I saw him on Bill Moyers last Friday, he still seemed reasonable, although I winced a little when he called Obama a politician.
Then I saw the entire Press Club speech on C-Span while I was on the road Monday night, and have now seen sound bites of the NAACP speech. I give up. He is crazy.
He is tied for the “Best Friend I Wished I Never Had” award with Brian McNamee.

EVIL TONY: I agree. People don’t understand when I say that as an African-American, I am conflicted in the best of times, and ambivalent in the worst of times when it comes to the United States as a country and as a concept. While it is a great place, it’s history is horrendous, certainly to my people. But, almost all countries have blood on their hands and in their history.
(Mutual friend) Wendi and I have been talking about Wright and wish he would shut his damn mouth. But the deeper question is: why is he sabotaging his friend’s candidacy, and we have it: Obama is more like Wendi and I, and not like Wright, and since he isn’t like them, he isn’t the “one” they want. It’s deeper than whether he’s black enough or not; Obama accepts that there is enough blame to go around, and until blacks as a people, and the US as a nation own up to the sh## they have stirred up over the years, we can’t move forward. That is why the Bill Cosby sentiment is so controversial, looking in the mirror to find the culprit for many of your own problems.
It’s the black version of voting for Bush because “he isn’t smarter than me, and I’d like to have a beer with him.” Many want a black president, but want him to be Flava Flav, or Jesse Jackson, someone who they identify with instead of a Harvard educated man who is willing to tell the truth (within the rules of presidential politics), which is often not the confortable, old, “I’m a victim” dialog that black folk are used to.
The more I see, the more I think the Obama candidacy is doomed. Too many racists won’t vote for him; the right is labeling him a terrorist; Hillary is turning into a typical politician and neither she or certainly not that old bastard McCain won’t change the status quo in any meaningful way. Meanwhile, while everyone is thumping their chests as being the big boy on the planet, America slides into the ranks of second or even third-rate power like Slim Pickens riding the bomb at the end of Dr. Strangelove – heading for death whooping and hollering…