Archives › Craig Calcaterra

When I started this gig I was so smitten with my personal freedom and the lack of any expectation to maintain a professional appearance that I grew out a big ugly beard. After a month or two the concept of rebelling got old so I shaved it off. Johnny Damon is going through the same…

The Denver Post is reporting that Colorado Rockies President Keli McGregor was found dead in his hotel room this morning. The specific cause of death is not known yet, but police are saying that it was natural causes. McGregor is likely more well-known nationally for playing tight end for the Broncos, Colts and Seahawks, but…

ESPN 710′s Shannon Drayer reports that Cliff Lee’s suspension for throwing a pitch over the head of Arizona’s Chris Snyder during a spring training game has been dropped by Major League Baseball. Lee’s defense, in a nutshell, was that he had been struggling with his command early in spring training anyway, and that he really…

UPDATE: Gordon Edes of ESPN is reporting that Cameron’s strain is actually a tear — akin to a sports hernia, he says — and that it may require surgery. If so, he’d miss a good month and as much as six weeks. Edes reminds us that both Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton suffered similar injuries…

That according to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times.  And he’ll be returning tomorrow, in all likelihood. Fernando Rodney has been 4 for 4 in save opportunities since assuming the closer role (the only appearance in which he gave up any runs was mopup duty in a 10-1 loss to the Twins on April 8th).…

At least one Philly fan — Corey Seidman at Phillies Nation — fears the Feesh more. After an extensive breakdown of the two challengers’ rotations which he thinks to be more or less equal, he offers something short and pithy to make it clear where he comes down on the matter: We’ll discuss hitting another…

Cliff Lee’s march back to the Mariners’ rotation continues today as he is set to throw a simulated game (a what?).  Assuming it all goes well, he’ll be off to Tacoma or someplace like it for a rehab start. The Mariners are penciling him in for a May 2nd start against the Rangers, but we’re…

Maybe “press box” is the wrong term, but SportsBusiness Daily’s Eric Fisher reports on what sounds like a cool little initiative: The Indians have created the Tribe Social Deck at Progressive Field, one of the first major efforts under a new social media strategy being pursued by the club. The 10-seat section in the ballpark…

Brad Bergesen turned a lot of heads with a nice little run when he came up last year, but then he took a comebacker at the end of July and didn’t pitch again all season. Then, this winter, he injured his shoulder while filming a television commercial. After three horrendous starts this season — he’s…

I catch a lot of hell for ripping the Mets, but I like to at least think that I have a reason for it when I do it. Compare this to Joel Sherman who — and I am not making this up — anchors this morning’s column accusing the Mets of “mismanaging” Ike Davis’ career…

Mets 6, Cubs 1: A pitchers’ duel until the 7th when the Mets unloaded on the Cubs’ bullpen, courtesy of an Angel Pagan homer, a Jason Bay double, an Ike Davis single and a Sean Marshall wild pitch. The Pagan at bat was hilarious. Jose Reyes was on first base, getting a few throws over,…

Old lefties are like zombies or something: you just can’t kill them. Take Ron Villone for example. He’s played for 12 teams in 15 seasons and aside from a little stretch which coincided with him doing things that got him named in the Mitchell Report, he’s never been much better than average. But he throws…

The Indians are going to activate Russell Branyan from the 15-day DL before tomorrow’s game in Minnesota and will install him at first base. That means Matt LaPorta will head to left and rookie Michael Brantley will head down I-71 to beautiful Columbus, Ohio.  Don’t forget to stop at Grandpa’s Cheese Barn at Exit 186,…

1. Yankees: The only critical thing I can say is that for the past few years the Yankees have gotten off to slow starts and everyone with half a brain has said “don’t panic, it’s early.” I suppose that’s a two-way street and that we shouldn’t become overly optimistic before the break of May. But…

As I type this the Red Sox are down 8-2 to the Rays, and are about to lose their fifth straight game and their sixth out of seven. In ATH this morning I wrote that we’d see a bunch of “what’s wrong with the Red Sox” articles today, but I didn’t see any. With this…

This comparison between the Peantus’ baseball team and the Kansas City Royals is pure genius. I especially recommend the conversation between Jason Kendall and Kyle Farnsworth. The only bit of comparative dissonance: Charlie Brown inspires sympathy whereas Trey Hillman does not. A hearty round of applause for Jeff Zimmerman at Royals Review for seeing the…

Everyone I know who has ever lived in Boston tells me that Patriots Day is their favorite day in the city. They get the day off work and school, the Marathon is run and best of all the Red Sox play a game at 11 in the morning. Sadly for Sox fans, however, they were…

Given his release from the Dodgers even though he accepted a minor league assignment it’s no surprise that Eric Gagne has decided to retire. For about three years there — 2002 to 2004 — Gagne was the best closer in baseball, going 152 for 158 in save opportunities, including a perfect 55 for 55 in…

Nick Collias MLB Trade Rumors has a must-read story up this morning about a protest which took place outside the hotel in which MLB Dominican baseball czar, Sandy Alderson, was staying last week. The purpose: opposing the implementation of an amateur draft in the Dominican Republic, which is high on Bud Selig’s list for the…

Mike Cameron was in the original lineup for this morning’s Red Sox-Rays game — remember: 11:05 A.M. start due to the Patriots’ Day thing they do in Boston! — but was scratched a few minutes after he arrived in the clubhouse and replaced in centerfield by Bill Hall. The thinking right now is that Cameron…

This happened back on April 9th, but it’s just now coming to light. I’m assuming that, like all major news stories, it was held up out of an abundance of caution so that the critical details could be verified: In the bottom of the 12th inning Friday, with Eli Whiteside at the plate and Sandoval…

Astros manager Brad Mills is being non-committal about whether Jeff Keppinger has taken the second base job from Kaz Matsui, but it certainly seems like Matsui is now the backup. Mills was asked if Matsui is now the utility guy: “I don’t want to label it that way yet. We’re still just a dozen games…

We suspected as much yesterday, but word on the street is that in light of Mike Jacobs being designated for assignment, Mets’ first base prospect Ike Davis will be called up this week. Are they rushing Davis? Doesn’t seem like it. He only a handful of at bats under his belt, but so far in…

Braves 4, Rockies 3: Heymaker. The Braves trailed 3-2 with two-down in the bottom of the ninth. Heyward comes to the plate with the bases juiced and hits a two-run single to left field and that’s the ballgame. He had earlier walked with the bases loaded, giving him three RBI on the day. Martin Prado…

I had missed this because, let’s face it, it’s easy to miss stuff that happens with the Marlins, but apparently there is no longer an out-of-town scoreboard in whatever the hell the Marlins are calling their ballpark these days. No more starting lineups either. In their place: advertisements for the MLB Network and a picture…