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ESPN:
Rod Beck dies at 38 — Rod Beck, who saved 286 games in a 13-year major league career, has died at the age of 38. — The cause of death is unknown at this time. — Beck, who played for the Giants, Cubs, Red Sox and Padres, was a three-time All-Star and saved a career-best 51 games with the Cubs in 1998.
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Awful Announcing, El Guapo's Ghost Rambles …, Lone Star Ball and The View From The Bleachers
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Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
Former All-Star Closer Rod Beck Dead at 38 — Rod Beck, the bushy Fu Manchu mustached former All-Star Closer that played 13 years in the major leagues was found dead yesterday in his northeast Phoenix home. He was 38. Police do not expect foul play, and the cause of death has not been released.
Discussion:
Blogging Baseball
Greg Beacham / Yahoo! Sports:Former reliever Rod Beck dead at 38
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Chad Gramling's Baseball Blog
Post / Washington Post:All-Star Relief Pitcher Rod Beck Is Found Dead
Discussion:
The House That Dewey Built
Tony Massarotti / Boston Herald:
Sox hold all the power: Buehrle move in their court — SAN DIEGO - The Red Sox [team stats] have the best record in the major leagues and one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, and the 2007 season is now nearly halfway complete. And if you are Theo Epstein, less than six weeks …
Discussion:
Over the Monster
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Scott Merkin / MLB.com:
Williams: 'Buehrle staying ... for now' — GM hints change is coming; lefty could still be traded — CHICAGO — The first three questions asked of Ken Williams during an hour-long session with the media prior to Sunday's series finale against the Cubs dealt with the same topic.
Associated Press:
Fed-up ChiSox GM to make changes — CHICAGO — White Sox general manager Ken Williams has seen enough poor play and decided it's time to make changes with his lethargic team. — Last week, Williams said he would hold off on making trades because there was a chance his underachieving club might show …
The Biz of Baseball:
Griffey Says: "I want to retire a Mariner" — Written by The Staff — Prior to Sunday afternoon's Mariners-Reds game, Fox Sports Northwest's Angie Mentink scored an exclusive one-on-one with former Seattle Mariner and current Cincinnati Red Ken Griffey, Jr.
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David Andriesen / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Mariners Notebook: Guardado, Hargrove talk, make peace — It was inevitable that Mike Hargrove and Eddie Guardado would cross paths over the weekend, and it happened quickly. — Hargrove, the Mariners manager, and Guardado, Hargrove's former closer now with Cincinnati, saw each other on the way into Safeco Field on Friday.
John Hickey / seattlepi.com Mariners blog:Griffey shows interest in coming to Seattle (some day)
Discussion:
Associated Press
Jason Beck / MLB.com:
Miller, Tigers cruise to shutout of Braves — Lefty tosses six-plus strong frames as Detroit finishes sweep — ATLANTA — A Tigers left-hander battles out for out with his Braves counterpart through five scoreless innings. The Tigers put him up for good with a sixth-inning outburst.
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Roar of the Tigers
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Charles Odum / Associated Press:
Tigers extend run, Braves shut out again — ATLANTA (AP) — Andrew Miller and the Detroit Tigers certainly enjoyed interleague play. — Miller threw six sharp innings and the Tigers beat the slumping Atlanta Braves 5-0 Sunday night for their seventh straight win — all on the road against National League teams.
Discussion:
Bless You Boys
MLB.com:
Nationals acquire right-hander Levale Speigner from Minnesota — The Washington Nationals today acquired right-handed pitcher Levale Speigner from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for outfielder Darnell McDonald. Following the transaction, the Nationals outrighted Speigner to Columbus of the Triple-A International League.
Discussion:
Nationals Farm Authority
Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pirates Notebook: Littlefield says team's basics are 'better' — ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Pirates have improved at the basics since last season, general manager Dave Littlefield said, but there remains work to do. — "I think it's better," he said yesterday of the team's fundamental play …
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Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:Inside the Pirates: Sweet-hitting catcher sought
Discussion:
Bucs Dugout, Pittsburgh Lumber Co., Where have you gone …, Chop-n-Change, MLB Trade Rumors and Bucco Blog
Bill Konigsberg / Associated Press:
Maine pitches Mets to sweep of A's — NEW YORK (AP) — A blooper to right, an inexperienced outfielder and Jose Reyes' speed became a messy combination for the Oakland Athletics. — Reyes led off the bottom of the first inning with a popup down the line that Jack Cust, normally a designated hitter, couldn't run down.
Ben Hubbard / Associated Press:
Pro baseball league kicks off in Israel with broadcast culture shock — PETAH TIKVA, Israel (AP) — Puzzled broadcasters calling the first professional baseball game in Israeli history struggled with rendering baseball lingo into the holy tongue of Hebrew. — After a valiant effort …
Discussion:
The Griddle
Associated Press:
Beavers repeat as College World Series champs — OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The first title was hard for Oregon State. The repeat seemed easy. — Oregon State ended one of the most dominant runs in the 61-year history of the College World Series with a 9-3 victory over North Carolina on Sunday night.
Discussion:
Baseball America
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Rodriguez's Numbers Climb, but the Yanks' Don't — Alex Rodriguez leads the major leagues in home runs, runs and runs batted in. His average in June is .440. He has reached base in 10 of 12 plate appearances this weekend, and he launched a 458-foot home run to center field to tie the score in the ninth inning Saturday.
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