The first inning homer was a 3-1 curveball that once connected with the bat, it was gone. Meeting Griffey at home plate was his 14 year old son, Trey, who had been sitting in the dugout waiting for that moment.

Ken Griffey Jr. is currently sitting in sixth on the all-time home run list, but it is expected that he will pass Sammy Sosa for soul possessionof that fifth spot. Sosa currently has 609 career home runs.

Not everything ended well on Griffey’s milestone day, the man that allegedly caught the home run ball is considering keeping the piece of history. The man that caught the ball, who is being referred to by the Marlins media staff as ‘Joe’, has refusedto meet with the media or Griffey himself. The ball that ‘Joe’ has is in fact the home run ball since umpires have been switching out balls in preparation for the home run.

The drama continued when 25-year old Justin Kimball, of Miami, said he was the one who originally caught the ball, but it was snatched from his hands before he could secure it.

“It corroborates it on video evidence that I caught the ball, and I have a bunch of people here saying I caught the ball,” said Kimball, pointing to scratches on his leg and arm. “I reached, I caught it, I brought it back and the guy just ripped it out of my hands.”

Even an usher close to the incident occurred agrees with Kimball, stating he was the one to catch Griffey’s home run.

It seems that Justin will never get to make a decision on what should happen to the ball since ‘Joe’ already has plans for it. And those plans don’t include giving it to the man who caught it, or even the man that hit that ball for his 600th home run.

Mariners GM, Bill Bavasi, is the main supporter of his club.

“That’s going to be a long time,” he said. “That’s going to be quite a while. Because we’re not giving in. It’s going to be real tough for us to give in. If we give in, it will be at the last minute, I’ll tell you that.”

Before the tirade began the media was instructed to report immeditly to the clubhouse to speak with the players. This may not seem like much; but on normal days the manager will speak first then the players, though all the players could be found infront of their lockers. Many media members said it seemed like the whole event was staged by the PR department.

The 45 second tirade contained 14 bleeps, making one every three seconds. Here is the interview in its entiretly.

John McLaren Tirade

 Seattle Times colunmist, Jerry Brewer, closes the incedient best:

No foul-mouthed rant can change that. McLaren tried his best to stir some passion. It’s too late, however. The Mariners are gone, lost, and they won’t come back until words defer to actions.

More on Lester’s historic night…

Boston would have their fair share of breaks on a chilly night at Fenway Park. In the fourth inning, Jacoby Ellsbury would dive for a Jose Guillen looper that at the time looked like end Lester’s No-No. Jon would have enough in the tank to strike out eight, and walk only two. One of his walks would be given up to Esteban German in the ninth.

After striking out the last batter in the nineth inning, Boston began its celebration. One of the first out of the dugout would be Red Sox manager, Terry Francona, who after Lester was diagnosed with Lymphoma would take on the role of a second father.

“It’s something I’ll remember for a long time,” said Lester. “He has been like a second dad to me. He cares a lot about his players. It’s not just about what you can do on the field.”

Jon’s No-Hitter follows that of teammate Clay Buchholz, making it the 18th in Red Sox history. Something other major league teams can not claim. The New York Mets have never had a No-Hitter by any of their pitchers, and they have been in existence since 1962.

When asked about how this accomplishment compares to his World Series win seven months ago, Lester was still in tremendous shock of what had just happened.

“I can’t tell you which one means more to me,” he answered. “They’re both up there. They both mean a heck of a lot to me. It’s something I’ll cherish for a long time.”

Congratulations Jon Lester, may your story continue to grow and inspire others. Boston still remains as dominant as ever.

Don’t hide Brandon. More pics to follow.

I really don’t know what to say about that?!

Nice car, but why are you in a parade?

So nice to give a kid directions to the ice cream store.

You really want me to take you seriously, or anyone else for that matter?

Wow, you have not changed much since your rookie year!

What is with pitchers and having really broad chests?

You see I love the All-Star Game just because you get to see guys that play on teams that hate each other working together just so they could have the advantage come October. That is even if  their team finishes last in their division.

Yes, I have started my voting for those who were wondering. However, while filling out the ballot I realized that several players that I intended on voting for were not on even though they are on the 25-man roster. Look at the Chicago White Sox, yeah I’m biased, because when you look at who their outfielders are Jerry Owens’ name is on the list. Hey, if you didn’t know he is sitting pretty in Triple AAA Charlotte right now.

While studying this ballot even further I had to ask where is Jacoby Ellsbury for the Red Sox. This is where I had to pick between outfielders as my one and only write in.

Hopefully, this years All-Star Game is more enjoyable then the ballot has been. After all, once the Yankees finish their season it will be bye-bye Yankee Stadium.

There is more of Rowand coming right up for your viewing pleasue…

I tip my hat to you too!

There is not much to say with this…

Lay it all out for me Rowand!

You do look good all dresseed up!

When the fence can’t come to you…go to the  fence.

They always say have it in moderation guys!

We know you wanted to be on the Wheaties box!

Some things are best not said…

The Forgotten Milestone

Not many people have heard, and quite frankly I have just realized myself, but there is a huge milestone getting ready to be reached by Ken Griffey Jr. The Reds slugger is three homeruns away from launching his 600th homerun. This is one man that can be counted on as being one of the clean players in the past several years, or the steroid era as it has been come to be called. Last year we watched Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds reach milestones with constant interruptions with every at bat, but why is it that this is different. Is it just because that Griffey is not under the steroid cloud and there should be no questions about how he achieved his 600 homeruns. If it had not been for the injuries during his career what milestone would he be reaching for or would it be that Ken Griffey Jr. would be receiving the media attention that he deserves.

First the Yankees Get Water Taken Away, Now Sweets

Earlier this week it was mentioned that the New York Yankees were informed that they could not have water bottles in the dugout, it seems like they lost another thing. In order for his team to have a healthier diet Yankees skipper Joe Girardi has banned candy and ice cream from the clubhouse. However, don’t think that this means that the Yanks can pig out on the road because Girardi is one step ahead of everyone. Girardi has requested that while the Yankees are one the road that the visiting clubhouse managers remove all sweets from the clubhouse before the team arrives. Considering that the LA Times has reported that the average weight of Yankees players is 217 pounds, which ranks them the fourth heaviest team in the bigs.

Thomas’ Minor League Offer

Everyone knows that Frank Thomas has gone back to Oakland to be their everyday DH, he was only on the market for two days, but what many don’t know is that he was given an offer to come back to Chicago. No, not by the White Sox because quite frankly I wouldn’t want him back. Actually his offer was to play with the Joliet Jackhammers minor league team. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The contract offer by the Jackhammers received mixed reviews. While some people felt it was disrespectful to do such a thing to a man that will be in the hall of fame, others wanted to know when he would be in the lineup. Of course it was all in good fun president/GM Kelly Sufka mentioned Thomas would receive some extra perks for his return to the Chicago area.

According to whitesox.com

The most prolific hitter in White Sox history, who still holds 12 franchise records with the bat, would also be afforded a few extra perks.

For starters, Thomas would be given an apartment in either Joliet or Plainfield, whereas most Joliet players stay with host families. Sufka added that Thomas would get two lockers, his own seat on the team bus and his own hotel room on the road and he would be flown to the team’s road game in Winnipeg.

Well it looks like Thomas won’t have that special homecoming after all.

Texting CAN Help in Baseball

With last night’s game postponed between the White Sox and Baltimore didn’t put a damper on Sox starter Mark Buehrle, who was scheduled to pitch. According to the White Sox, Buehrle texted manager Ozzie Guillen that he was ready to pitch the second game of today’s doubleheader. However, the wording of text was not what Ozzie wanted to read.

“He said, ‘I’m ready to go. I want to make sure you don’t overuse the bullpen,’” said Guillen, speaking to the media prior to Saturday’s first game. “That’s not his job. That’s my job. That’s why when he got here for the first time, I said, ‘No. Just worry about you. Don’t worry about my bullpen. I’ll take care of that.’”

Though Ozzie gave in to the southpaw after making sure that Mark got the okay from the medical staff as well as pitching coach Don Cooper. Unfortunately, Mark got a no decision from the Sox dramatic 6-5 win.

We all know that Gatorade is a major part of American sports, but has it ended up going to far. This week at U.S. Cellular Field the players were greeted by signs hanging up in their clubhouses informing them, “No Bottled Water on the Bench.”  Since when did water become banned by Major League Baseball?

We know that Major League baseball has had a problem with steroids, HGH, and other banned substances, but when did water join the list of banned substances. After all water does make up most of the human body and hydrates us better then the salty sports drinks.

NJ.com reported:

Gatorade is Major League Baseball’s “official sports drink.” So instructions were sent that no player could be seen drinking anything but Gatorade in the dugout. Not even Aquafina, which is the “official water” of MLB. Not even bottles of water with the labels removed.

White Sox clubhouse personnel said if players take bottled water onto the bench, all the bottled water will be removed from the clubhouse as punishment.

Since when does the clubhouse personnel have the authority to remove bottled water as a punishment. In case they don’t realize players can still go to the tap and turn the water on to hydrate themselves. It seems outrageous that sponsors have come down so hard to make it that players are seen using, or in this case drinking, their products. Jeter just to spite everyone just go stick your head under the faucet in the clubhouse to get a drink before they shut off the water, too!

Since know that bottled water is a banned substance in the major leagues are they going to start testing for that?

Everyone knows that this year marks the 100th anniversary since the Chicago Cubs last World Series Championship. However, there is a possibility that it should only be 90, yes 90 years not 100.  According to the newly-found sworn affidavit by 1919 White Sox Pitcher Eddie Cicotte the Cubs had given the “Black Sox” the inspiration to throw their own World Series a year after the Cubs did it. Even though there is no smoking gun to prove if that there was actually a fix that caused the Red Sox to win the World Series in ’18, but it does raise a lot of suspicions about that series.

According to Cicotte’s testimony the White Sox first thought of throwing the World Series on a train to New York where the team discussed the 1918 series, which they believed to be fixed. Though looking at the box scores of the World Series it is hard to imagine that a team that was heavily favored to beat the Red Sox as well as finished the season with a 84-45 record would fall easily to the Bo Sox.

Bleacher Report wrote:

The right-hand man of Charles Comiskey, Harry Grabiner, also wrote in his diary that he believes the Cubs were paid off in the 1918 fall classic.  Columnist Hugh Fullerton reported at the time that something seemed wrong. 

Fullerton blew the whistle on baseball’s gambling problem after the 1919 World Series.

Box scores from the 1918 World Series seem to back up Cicotte, Grabiner, and Fullerton’s assertions.

Fullerton’s accounts of the games between the Cubs and Red Sox indicate several baserunning mistakes, and defensive errors by a Cubs team that went 84-45, and was favored to defeat Babe Ruth’s Red Sox.

Cubs baserunners were picked off three times, twice in the decisive game six, and a two-base error by Cubs right fielder Max Flack allowed the Series-winning run to score in a 2-1 Red Sox win.

So as it seems Cubs nation has probably been suffering for 10 more years then they should have.

For the first time in more 11 years we are going to experience having two teams from one city played the teams in another city on the same day, however it is the first time in roughly 28 years that this occurrence has involved Chicago. With the Pope’s recent visit to Yankee Stadium the Yanks have been pushed on a road trip.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi commented on the road trip stating, “Who’s going to argue with the Pope?”

Each time that this scheduling event happens the teams will be playing their games at the same time. With the Cubs playing at 1:20 and the Sox taking on the Yankees at 7:11 it would be very possible for a fan of the Mets and White Sox, like myself, to see both games. It would have been amazing if not for school. Though this is the only night someone would be able to attend both games because like in New York, Chicago is better when both teams are not at home at the same time. After all, they are only a quick ride away on the L-train.