MLB to Expand Instant Replay in 2014 (About Damn Time)

The days are numbered for the arrogant umpires.

MLB Commissioner Bud Selig announced today that baseball will greatly expand instant replay starting in the 2014 season. Managers will be allowed to make up to three challenges per game, one for the first six innings and two after the sixth. The best part about it is that the review will not be made by the officiating crew at the stadium but rather by a crew at MLB headquarters in New York City who will render a final decision.

As for what plays will be reviewable, it's a gray area at this point. Atlanta Braves president John Schuerholz, a member of the replay committee, has said that 89% of incorrect calls made in the past will be reviewable but failed to provide a list.

This expanded instant replay still needs to be passed by 75% of the owners during the off season. The MLBPA and the umpires would also need to approve the changes.

Perhaps not the best replay system that can be put in place but it's still a significant upgrade from what they have now (just borderline home runs). While it's unclear what can be challenged, it's going to include numerous things which will make the game fairer and much less controversial.

Again, the system itself is not the best available. College Football appears to use instant replay the best ( and it pains me to admit that) with a replay official able to halt the game for a review at any time need be.

But I do get why baseball went to the challenge system instead. They're afraid that the replay official method will slow the game down too much. The challenge system, in the end, is a compromise.

Over time, I do hope that Baseball will move towards the College Football model regarding instant replay. But for the time being, it's a home run.

Ryan Braun, Ryan Gone

Baseball finally nails Ryan Braun.

Major League Baseball has suspended Brewer Ryan Braun without pay for the remainder of the 2013 season (65 games) and any possible postseason games this year. Braun will not contend with the suspension and accept his punishment.

Braun is one of several players being investigated for their connections to the Biogenesis of America. Braun also had beaten a positive drug test on appeal in 2012 which would've cost him a 50 game suspension.

The Truth is Now on baseball's side.

While doling out suspensions for any player that violates baseball's drug policy is significant news, getting Braun suspended, finally, was huge for baseball. Braun humiliated them last year with that beaten drug test and getting him suspended now removes that blemish left by Braun.

Of course Braun could've tried to fight this suspension but due to the fact that he didn't and took this deal says that the evidence collected against him was just too much to fight successfully. Braun probably saw that he was going to lose this case and instead of fighting it and have the suspension applied predominantly next season, he decided to accept his fate this year seeing how the Brewers aren't likely going to make the postseason anyway currently being last in the NL Central. This way he'll be available for all of 2014.

Now what about the rest of the players being investigated for their involvement with Biogenesis. This suspension tells me that more are on the way and that they could happen this year. It's important to note, however, that Braun is not fighting this suspension. Other players might fight just to stay on their team that could be contending for the a playoff spot.

I'm still not completely sold that teams need to trade for players to possibly replace those being investigated in this scandal. If the players involved exhaust the appeals process, it still might go into the off season to sort out. However, I would not be surprised now if teams start making those kind of moves.

Pagan Hits a Walk Off Inside-the-Park Home; Giants Win 6-5

It was a long day for the San Francisco Giants but they somehow survived it.

Angel Pagan just after his Walk Off Inside the Park Home Run vs. the Rockies. 5-25-13 (Photo by Ezra Shaw of Getty Images)

The Giants had to fight back from a 4-run deficit against the Colorado Rockies. They did this with 3 runs in the 6th inning and then a 4th run in the 7th. However, the 7th inning should've been more than a tie for the Giants.

With one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd, Brandon Crawford hit a ground ball to the 2nd baseman DJ LeMahieu. Brandon Belt sees the grounder and heads for home plate causing LeMahieu to throw home. Belt gets under Yorvit Torrealba's tag just in time. However, home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez called him out despite the fact that Belt's foot hit home plate just before the tag was applied.

Next batter Joaquin Arias pinch hits for the pitcher's spot and flies out to end the inning with the game still tied at 4-4.

The bottom of the 8th comes around with another officiating mistake. With Marco Scutaro on 1st and 1 out, Pablo Sandoval hits a single to left center and, perhaps feeling a bit greedy, Scutaro heads for 3rd base. The throw to 3rd is on time but Scutaro manages to avoid the tag and slide into 3rd safely... except for the fact that home plate umpire Marquez came over and called Scutaro out on a tag that clearly didn't happen.

Giants Manager Bruce Bochy goes out to argue about now the 2nd blown call by Marquez and is thrown out of the ball game. Buster Posey then pops out to 2nd to end the inning.

The game heads into extras where Troy Tulowitzki hit a home run to lead off the 10th inning to make it 5-4 for the Rockies. Now the bottom of the 10th comes with Rafael Betancourt coming in to close it out for Colorado.

However, Betancourt walks Brandon Crawford to start the inning and then Guillermo Quiroz pinch hits to just bunt Crawford over to 2nd. Angel Pagan then comes up clutch with a big hit that hits the bottom of the wall in right center. Crawford scores easily and Pagan, chugging along with 3rd base coach Tim Flannery waiving him in, manages to slide head first into home just before the tag.

No way to mess up that play at the plate, Marquez.

Giants win 6-5 in 10 innings on a walk off inside-the-park home run by Angel Pagan. They had to overcome the Rockies and sloppy officiating but the Giants win in one of the spectacular finishes you will see all season.

P.S. Seriously, baseball, you got to something about the umps. Better officiating and instant replay are needed more than ever. The right team somehow won today but that doesn't always happen, does it.

Hamilton Ascended to the LA Angels

I guess Albert Pujols and Mike Trout aren't enough for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

A huge deal hitting the baseball world as Josh Hamilton has agreed to become an Angel. The contract is 5 years worth $125 million and one AA chip from Hamilton. In 2012 Josh batted .285 with 43 Home Runs and 128 RBI's although it was that average that dipped as the season continued.

A big signing certainly as the spending of the LA teams continues to go through the roof. For a second off season in a row, the Angels sign a big time slugger to their team. Certainly the first one worked out so well.

The move to get Hamilton, however, doesn't necessarily make them a World Series contender. Batting is great for the regular season (except last year for the Angels) but it was pitching where they need the most improvement. They were ranked 8th in the AL with a 4.02 ERA last year in pitching while they 3rd in runs in the AL. The offense is already there, even with Torii Hunter leaving the team. Keeping Zach Greinke would've been a bigger deal for the Angels.

Sure, LAA got Tommy Hanson from the Braves who had a bad year in 2012 and he might work out but there is no way that I am making them a World Series favorite based on their hitting alone. History is not on their side.

P.S. As for the Rangers, irrelevance might be their fate in 2013.

Marlins Fire Ozzie Guillen After Troubled Year

When the beginning of a managerial tenure starts with the guy praising Fidel Castro in a part of the country that would take exception to that comment the most, you are not going to last long, especially when the team is that bad.

The Miami Marlins were looking to make a huge splash this year with a new look, new players, a new manager, and a new stadium. It was going to be a new era of baseball in Miami and put the city (possible the state) to the test on whether there can be baseball in South Florida. Needless to say, it didn't go so well this year.

The team looked awful for most of the season with the Marlins finishing last in NL East with a 69-93 record. The attendance numbers were not that bad with averaging 27400 per game which is definitely an improvement from the old stadium. However, according to an online article in The Palm Beach Post, Marlins Stadium's first year is the lowest first year attendance of new ballparks that have opened since 2001 (Joe Capozzi).

The easiest thing that the team can do? Fire Ozzie Guillen that had rubbed the Cuban American Community in South Florida the wrong way since the beginning. So they did just that. Changing managers is an easy thing to do and after the season they had no one is going to complain. However, this team needs improvements across the board. Changing the manager is a nice start but if they want to attract fans or see if a consistent successful team can even attract fans in Miami, they will have to do more than that.

Roger Clemens' Independent League Comeback

Jamie Moyer is old and managed to come back (sort of). Why not a PED using Roger Clemens?

Jut when you thought that Roger Clemens was done with baseball for life, he makes a career comeback that Brett Favre and Michael Jordon would envy. The last time that Clemens pitched was in 2007 for the Yankees. He then went off on a "I didn't take drugs" tangent and we haven't seen him since. Now, however, Roger has decided to come back and to prove that he is still worth something to a Major League Team, he signed an independent league contract with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Clemens pitched for them earlier today with Major League Scouts looking on and did pretty well going against players that weren't good enough to be on a minor league team. He pitched 3 1/3 innings striking out 2 and allowing one hit.

So why is Roger Clemens hoping to make a Major League comeback? Does he miss the game? Does he miss the spotlight? Does he like pitching for the Astros? (No, that can't be it) Or does he simply want to push back his eligibility voting for the Hall of Fame? Definitely the last one. With the way the Hall of Fame voting is going for the known PED users, Clemens has a better chance of getting in by delaying his eligibility by playing for a small while and pushing the clock back another 5 years. A smart move for a guy who said about getting in or not "It's not going to change my life either way." I must say that this seems to be a pretty big career move.

So will someone give Roger Clemens a chance in the Majors again? The Astros might. They have nothing to offer Houston so a 50 year old attraction might bring in the crowds. They are one of the worst teams in attendance that getting a feces throwing monkey would drive interest. The monkey seems to be busy though so Clemens is their best option available.

Lance Armstrong Stops Fighting Doping Allegations

There was never quite a story like Lance Armstrong. A man who had cancer that fought it and beat it then winning the Tour de France 7 times. The one blemish on that story was that occasionally there were outsiders saying that he was doping. The issue kept coming back and Lance Armstrong has always refuted time after time. This time however was one instance too far.

The US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) had been looking into Lance Armstrong and actually filed drug charges against him. Armstrong tried to fight these charges in a lawsuit saying that the USADA did not have jurisdiction but all attempts at that were thrown out by a judge. Armstrong decided against fighting through the USADA arbitration process and gave up. Armstrong is done fighting drug charges basically saying he has had enough. He once again declared his innocence, said the USADA was leading an "Unconstitutional Witch Hunt," and said he wanted to continue his work raising money for cancer research.

As a result of this, the USADA will now seek to strip Armstrong of his 7 Tour titles and will most likely be able to do so. They will also ban him from the sport for life.

So why give up now? It could be a number of things: he really is tired of fighting these accusations, he saw he wasn't going to win the case and just quit, he doesn't want to go broke fighting it, or he actually did cheat. I tend to think he did cheat but probably wouldn't swear on it. The sport of cycling is too corrupt and the recent winners of the Tour having their titles stripped away because of drug use makes me think that there can't be anyone that can win this thing 7 times in a row.

In the respect to cancer research, I hope that Lance Armstrong will be able to continue to help the cause. But in any other regard, he's still human.

P.S. I really don't care whether or not Lance took drugs because cycling is just so boring but why is everyone so eager to defend him? Where was this for Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds? The minute a baseball player's name is dropped in PED use, everyone assumes guilt immediately. Why not with Lance? Why must we hold Lance Armstrong as infallible?

Melk Gone Bad

The Giants this year have been in it but like the last few years, their bats have been lacking. One of the moves they made during the off season was a trade that brought Melky Cabrera to the team. Melky has certainly showed he was worth it having 159 hits which leads the majors and batting a .346 (2nd in the majors). He even made the All Star game where he named the All Star Game MVP. Just makes the fall from grace more tragic.

Melky Cabrera has tested positive for testosterone and has been suspended under MLB's drug policy for 50 games. That means Melky will miss the rest of the regular season considering that there is only 45 games left. If the Giants make the playoffs, he will miss up to five games in the postseason. If there is any games left over after all of that, it will carry over into next season. Melky is the first big player to be suspended since Ryan Braun's suspension which got overturned by appeal earlier this year.

"My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used," Melky said in a statement. "I accept my suspension under the Joint Drug Program and I will try to move on with my life. I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization and to the fans for letting them down."

Now this one hurts. The Giants already have problems scoring runs and one of there best hitters is out for the remainder of the year with the Dodgers just passing them today by a half game. Worst time for something like this. There is no doubt the blame goes to Melky for taking this drug but it hurts the Giants a lot heading down the stretch. Those Dodgers are playing well as of late and we might not be able to keep pace with them.

Despite this loss, you still cannot count out the Giants. Buster Posey is hitting well, Pablo just came back to the lineup, and Hunter Pence has to stop slumping soon... right? The Giants still have a shot for the playoffs but they are definitely not favorites and their lineup will have to start picking up the slack.

Zach Greinke Traded to Angels

How important is getting a divisional spot over settling for a Wild Card spot nowadays in baseball? Important enough to get Zack Greinke.

The Brewers pitcher has had a good season so far going 9-3 with a 3.44 ERA. The problem is that his talents are being wasted with the Brewers who are currently 14 games behind the Reds in the NL Central and are 10 games under .500. To make things worse, the team was on a 7 game losing streak entering today. So the idea for them was to the sell and Zack Greinke was their product. There were some perspective buyers but the team who got Greinke were the Angels. Looking at the Angels rotation to start the season, you would think they wouldn't need another starting pitcher. But it seems that CJ Wilson and Jared Weaver are the the only one's consistently showing up. So they traded for Zack Greinke giving the Brewers SS Jean Segura and 2 pitchers from Double-A.

The 2 Wild Card team format is no doubt at work here. The Angels are currently one of the Wild Card leaders but that would mean nothing if they lose that One-Game playoff which could easily happen to any team. Better for them to make a charge for the Division and get Zack Greinke to help you do it. The still have a very tough Rangers' team to get by and they are currently 5 games behind them entering today. Even with Greinke, I still favor Texas to take the AL West. The Angels might have to settle for a Wild Card spot anyway which means they might not make the actual playoffs and getting Zack Greinke would've meant nothing then, especially if he joins a new team during the off season.

A Giant of an All Star Game

Hope you guys got the chance to miss the All Star game. Still boring to me and hate the World Series implications. But if you did manage to see it, then you got to see Giants among the Stars. Melky Cabrera, Pablo Sandoval, and Matt Cain all had great nights in front of a national stage. Sandoval was 1 for 2 as he hit a bases loaded triple. Matt Cain had two shut out innings to start the game for the NL. Last, but certainly not least, Melky Cabrera went 2 for 3 and hit a 2 run HR in the 4th inning. Melky was actually named the All Star Game MVP as the NL won it, 8-0.

A Giant blowout for this year's All Star Game and some deserved attention to the San Francisco Giants. Hearing about this outcome almost made me regret missing it. Thank goodness mankind has invented sitcoms to fill the void for meaningless games. Though I hate the event, I'm glad that Melky and the Giants dominated the game. It's certainly something that will help with some momentum for their own team.

The break is almost over and the 2nd half of baseball is about to begin. You know what that means: TRADE DEADLINE SPECULATIONS!!! How is that more exciting to me than the All Star game? I need to reevaluate my life.

First Half Reflections of the MLB 2011 Season

Today was the last games in baseball before the All Star Break. This is the unofficial halfway point of the 2011 MLB season. So how are we doing? In the AL, the Red Sox are a game in front of the Yankees for control of the AL East but this might be due to the fact that the Yanks have played two games less than Boston. The Tigers have a half game lead over the Indians in the Central, and the Rangers have a one game lead over the Angels in the West. In the NL, the East has the biggest divisional gap right now with the Phillies having a 3.5 game lead over the Braves. The Cardinals and Brewers are neck and neck while the Pirates are a game behind them in the Central. Finally, the defending champs, themselves, the Giants have a 3 game lead over the D'Backs in the West.

As for early award contenders, Jair Jurrjens has become the dark horse Cy Young Winner that has taken over that race in the NL. He has the most NL wins with 12 and the best ERA in the league with 1.87. A little more split for pitcher of the year in the AL while CC Sabathia has more wins with 13 but Jared Weaver has a better ERA with 1.86. Last time I checked, that mattered more. As for MVP candidates, Jose Bautista and Adrian Gonzalez seem to be the main contenders as of now in the AL. The NL looks to me to be a bit more split between Prince Fielder, Lance Berkman, and Jose Reyes. Matt Kemp is also a good candidate to consider but is part of the Dodgers who are having a miserable year both on and off the field.

So what seems to be the trends going into the second half of the year? Despite the bad start, the Red Sox are contending with the Yanks for the AL East and the runner up will like be the Wild Card winner. The Cubs and the Twins have made me look like an idiot so far though the Twins could make a comeback. The Pirates have finally made themselves relevant again. And despite being one of the worst offensive teams in baseball and having quite a few injuries, the Giants are in front of the NL West race.

A nice first half with the division races still close and up for grabs.