Top News:
Mark Gonzales / Chicago Tribune:
Any White Sox deal likely involves a pitcher — ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — If Mark Buehrle stays with the White Sox, at least one other pitcher likely will be traded. — That's the economic reality facing the Sox. They have 13 players under contract at about $82.575 million for 2008.
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Joe Cowley / Chicago Sun Times:
Buehrle deal: Now or never — ST. PETERSBURG, Fla — White Sox general manager Ken Williams continued to deny he has had any dialogue with pitcher Mark Buehrle about a contract extension. — Jeff Berry, Buehrle's agent, insisted the same thing about talking to Williams.
Fred Goodall / Associated Press:
Buehrle wins, wants to stay with ChiSox — ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Ozzie Guillen wants Mark Buehrle in his rotation, and the White Sox left-hander wants to stay in Chicago. — "I think everyone knows where my heart's at ... and how bad I want to stay here," Buehrle said Wednesday after beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5-3.
Joe Kieser / MLB.com:
Thomas launches No. 500 at Metrodome — Blue Jays slugger hits three-run shot vs. Silva in first frame — MINNEAPOLIS — Seventeen years ago, Frank Thomas belted his first career home run off Twins pitcher Gary Wayne in Minnesota. Thursday afternoon at the Metrodome, the pitcher was different, but the result was the same.
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Associated Press:
Big Hurt gets road ovation for hitting No. 500 — MINNEAPOLIS — Frank Thomas hit his 500th home run Thursday, routinely putting his head down as he rounded the bases while joining one of baseball's most elite clubs. — Thomas became the 21st major leaguer to reach the career mark …
Discussion:
FanHouse
Ken Rosenthal / Fox Sports:
Griffey Jr. at ease with his legacy — LIKE THIS STORY? — Sammy Sosa hit his 600th home run and a nation yawned. — Ken Griffey Jr. returned to Seattle and a city went nuts. — Different circumstances? Without question. But Griffey's Seattle lovefest also provided a glimpse of the near future.
Baltimore Sun:
Baseball fans bored with milestones … When Roger Clemens went for his 350th career victory on Wednesday night at Camden Yards, the ballpark was about two-thirds full and the excitement level for what could have been a rare piece of baseball history was not all that much greater …
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Tyler Kepner / New York Times:A New Low for Clemens and the Yankees
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Joe Lapointe / New York Times:
Young Hopes to Show Others How to Learn From Mistakes — When someone mentioned to Dmitri Young of the Washington Nationals that he had changed a lot of things about himself lately, his face turned serious and his answer was succinct. "Kind of had to," he said in a deep voice. "Either that or die."
Discussion:
Washington Times
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David O'Brien / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:Bats erupt for 22 hits as Smoltz wins ninth
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
Who Might Be Owning the Chicago Cubs? — The Chicago Cubs - one of MLB's crown jewels - will have a new owner in place before the start of next season. Here's a break down of who's in the hunt to own them. With the All-Star Game approaching quickly, eyes are starting focus on the sale …
Dave / U.S.S. Mariner:
Honor Where Honor Is Due … In the spirit of a surprising three game sweep of the best team in the American League (and yes, I know that they threw Gabbard and Tavarez at us, but we threw Weaver and Feierabend at them, so call it even), this post is for one thing - to give credit to the performances …
Discussion:
Evening Perambulations
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Patrick Brown / MLB.com:Well-deserved headache — Lopez delivers walk-off double as Seattle sweeps Boston
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Associated Press:
Michaels' 3-run HR lifts Indians by A's — CLEVELAND (AP) — Jason Michaels can find a lot of ways to win a ballgame. Playing long ball isn't usually one of them. — "I'm not a home run hitter," he said. — The Oakland Athletics might beg to differ.
Discussion:
Athletics Nation
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Leitch / Deadspin:
Propelled Forward And Into The Air: ESPN, Woody Paige Sued For Sexual Harassment — ESPN, Woody Paige Sued For Sexual Harassment — As if ESPN wasn't having enough troubles, word just broke: The network and Woody Paige are being sued by a former "Cold Pizza" makeup artist for sexual harassment.
D.J. Short / MetsBlog.com:
preGame: Mets vs. Cardinals (Game Four) — The Game... The Mets (43-33) look to take three out of four from the Cardinals (34-41) tonight at Shea Stadium, starting at 7:10 pm EDT. — The Lineup... Reyes SS — Lo Duca C — Beltran CF — Wright 3B — Delgado 1B — Green RF
Discussion:
Amazin' Avenue
Dan Fox / Baseball Prospectus:
Playing Favorites — "On the other hand, if Rod Carew asked me to check the ball, I didn't even glance at it. That ball was gone. If Rodney didn't like it, I didn't like it. That's one of the reasons we were such a good hitter." —The late Ron Luciano, former umpire, in his 1982 book The Umpire Strikes Back.
Discussion:
Dan Agonistes
Sports Illustrated:
Jon Heyman: Building the perfect title contender — I recently asked 14 baseball executives and experts to name the five players they'd choose to start their team, and the experts appeared to have so much fun with the exercise that I thought I'd try it myself. — Of course, I had a few advantages.
Roger Rubin / NY Daily News:
Revitalized Tom Mets' reign man — 1-hits Cards over six — There's a strange reverence in the Mets clubhouse on the days Tom Glavine pitches. Teammates respect that every time he takes the mound, it could be a step toward 300 wins and baseball immortality.
Discussion:
...gettingpaidtowatch
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