Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Jerry Koosman is going to jail


222 wins and now 210 losses.
A federal judge in Madison has sentenced a former New York Mets star pitcher to six months in prison for not paying his taxes.

Prosecutors say Jerry Koosman, a former all-star who helped the Mets win the 1969 World Series, didn't pay federal income taxes for 2002, 2003 and 2004, costing the government as much as $90,000.

According to IRS agents, the 66-year-old Koosman, of Osceola, told them he had researched tax laws and concluded they applied only to federal workers, corporate employees and District of Columbia residents.

Based on the strength of that defense, it sounds like he didn't have his best stuff working.

Can we get a third "former Met making himself look like a jackass in federal court" story today? Has anyone seen Doc Gooden?

(thanks to lar for the link)
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 4:56pm (11) Comments

Lenny Dykstra is the best


The latest from Lenny Dykstra's bankruptcy:

As for his business plan, Dykstra testified that Louis Vuitton has promised to commit $10 million to take a 49 percent stake in the relaunch of his Players Club Magazine, with plans to expand it in Europe. The Players Club is a publication meant to help professional athletes manage their finances.

"We give them hope," he testified, acknowledging the irony of his own situation.

Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 4:36pm (1) Comments

Is the Orioles future as bright as everyone says it is?


It seems like everyone -- myself included -- has come to rest in the same place with respect to the Orioles: bad team now, but a bright future, so Orioles fans should not despair.

Russ Smith of Splice Today isn't having any of it. He has his reasons. The least significant for purposes of baseball is certainly the most interesting. I won't reproduce it here because I want you to click through, but I'll defend the ballplayers by noting that since they've all been to Fenway Park, they've at least heard a Neil Diamond song. If a single Baltimore Oriole owns "Rust Never Sleeps," however, I'll eat my hat.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 2:44pm (17) Comments

Wright’s helmet on its way to Cooperstown


I refuse to join the parade of people making fun of David Wright's helmet. The guy is just getting over a serious beaning. He could wear the hollowed-out case to an upright pedal piano on his melon and I'd be cool with it.

And besides, unlike all of you haters, it's going to the Hall of Fame.

(thanks to Melissa D for the, um, heads up)
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 2:17pm (1) Comments

You now assume the risk of players “horsing around” at the ballpark


Following up on the discussion of fan injuries a couple of weeks ago comes a new ruling -- from New York -- holding that the fan's assumption of the risk at a ballpark extends to assuming the risk that they might get hit by a flying bat while a player is screwing around during warmups:

"Plaintiff asserts that the authority cited by movant supports the mere proposition that a spectator assumes only commonplace risks -- such as, the risk of a loose bat or ball reaching the stands during the game or batting practice -- associated with attending a baseball game. Plaintiff argues that, here, in contrast, it was not commonplace for the subject player to horse around with the subject bat during no organized batting activity, either during the game or practice beforehand . . . The contention that summary judgment should be denied because the subject player was 'horsing around' and not engaged in batting practice when the subject bat became loose implies that primary assumption of risk applies only during certain distinct times while attending a baseball game. This implication is false."

So basically, the Philly Pfanatic can juggle flaming chainsaws, and you're gonna just have to watch your ass, dudes.

(thanks to Jack Marshall for the heads up)
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 1:57pm (6) Comments

My Morning in Exile


It's ShysterDaughter's first day of kindergarten today. It's afternoon kindergarten, so I'm going to bust out of here soon to go be that dad who stands at the bus stop taking pictures and holding back tears as my kid rolls her eyes. I'll be back later this afternoon, however. In the meantime:

  • The Rays didn't cut salary. They "reallocated resources." Maybe this isn't a worrisome example of it, but it's always worth remembering that while thought can corrupt language, language can also corrupt thought.


  • The Braves stand to have six good starting pitchers to start next year. Of course, give Frank Wren an offseason to work with and they'll have three good pitchers and a couple of past-their-prime corner outfielders, but as of now, I still hope.


  • J.P. Ricciardi falls on his sword, but he may have been pushed.


  • Mariano Rivera should not win the Cy Young award. Yesterday the NBCers killed me for allegedly disrespecting the Sox, so I figured I'd go for equal time today.


  • Buster Posey isn't in San Francisco to "light a fire" under Bengie Molina. He's there to confirm that Molina is, in fact, expendable.


  • Huston, this problem isn't nearly as bad as it seems.


    • Off to put my little girl on the cheese wagon. [Sniffle] [Snork]
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 10:53am (22) Comments

    And That Happened


    Giants 4, Phillies 0: See a Penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck (8 IP, 5 H, 0 ER).

    Padres 7, Nationals 0: The Nats hit two first-inning singles off Kevin Correia, but then he set down 19 in a row. This awful stretch the Nats are in has likely stomped on whatever budding sentiment there was to give Jim Riggleman the full time gig.

    Tigers 4, Indians 2; White Sox 4, Twins 2: There's a thin line between a race and the lack of one. A bunch of Indians errors -- two on Jhonny Peralta on one play -- in the Tigers-Indians game and a rare, rare, rare Joe Nathan implosion in the Twins-White Sox game was the difference between a doable-sounding 2.5 game deficit and a depressing-sounding 4.5 game hole. The Nathan thing was just brutal. Two outs in the ninth, two strikes on the batter and a two run lead, and he can't lock it down.

    Cubs 2, Astros 0: Seeing Aaron Boone play in a real major league baseball game had to outweigh whatever doldrums an otherwise uninspiring loss to the Cubs caused.

    Mariners 3, Angels 0: Scott Kazmir strikes out eight and only gives up two runs -- one earned -- in six and third in his Angels debut. Unfortunately for him, Felix Hernandez Felix Hernandez gave up bupkis. Bill Hall had an RBI double, then stole third and scored himself when Mike Napoli threw the ball away.

    Rangers 6, Blue Jays 4: With the Angels loss and this win, the Rangers are only 3.5 back of Anaheim now. Interesting. It'd be more interesting if they hadn't just lost Michael Young for at least two weeks, but man, it would be neat to see that one come down to the wire.

    Marlins 8, Braves 7: This one hurt. The Braves were down 7-3 at one point, tied it in the ninth, and then loss on a WES HELMS home run. Wes frickin' Helms. Wes .234/.287/.423 in nearly 500 PAs for the Braves Helms. Ugh.

    Rays 8, Red Sox 5: The Rays led 5-1, the Sox came back, and then Pat Burrell and Evan Longoria put the Rays up to stay in the eighth against a Red Sox pen that was, for last night anyway, Papelbon and Wagner-free.

    Reds 5, Pirates 3: Another good start for Homer Bailey, who allowed three runs and struck out eight in six and a third innings. Another terrible performance by Pittsburgh, who has now lost seven straight. John Russell after the game: "We'll be all right. We play good at home. Turn the page." I was going to mock that, but he's actually right: the Pirates are 35-29 at home, which is rather surprising to me.

    Athletics 10, Royals 4: A's backup catcher Landon Powell hit a grand slam in the second inning that effectively put this one away. Brian Bannister left the game early with what is being called shoulder fatigue.

    Yankees 10, Orioles 2: Sabathia, as he tends to do, is getting stronger as the season comes to a close (7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 9K). A-Rod hit two, two-run singles and was 3-5 overall, collecting his 2,500th career hit along the way. Because he pitched a third of an inning before the Yankees exploded for seven in the ninth, Phil Hughes gets a "save." A save in a 10-2 game. Yeah, that makes sense.

    Cardinals 10, Brewers 3: Chris Carpenter makes it ten straight, though he didn't exactly cruise in this one. Skip Schumaker was 4 for 4 with two RBI. The Cards have a 10.5 game lead now.

    Rockies 5, Mets 2: Welcome Jason Giambi! One of the NL West's two pinch-hit only former superstars hits a two-run pinch hit single in the eighth which broke the tie and put Colorado in the lead to stay.

    Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 1: Chad Billingsley loses his third in a row. Doug Mientkiewicz made his return after being out since April. He had a pinch it single, so I guess that means that he and Thome will be battling for the pinch hitter slot? Does LA have a 28 man roster or something? UPDATE: OK, that was stupid. I had forgotten that we're past September 1. So yes, they have all the roster space they need. I hafta stop writing these things at 5:30 in the morning.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:52am (17) Comments