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Commissioner Bud Selig has been named the first recipient of Taylor’s Award, presented by the Taylor Hooton Foundation to “an individual who has made a major impact on efforts to educate and protect American youth from the dangers of using performance-enhancing drugs.” Couple thoughts: 1. Great for Bud! You’ve come a long way, baby!  Ten…

Phillies’ closer Brad Lidge had an MRI on his wonky elbow today, and the results are pretty good news: only inflammation and no structural damage.  He’s day-to-day. I say “pretty good” because, as we noted earlier this week, inflammation is a symptom, not a diagnosis, and based on this news item we have no idea…

Today Bud Selig spoke for the first time about his thoughts on the new Arizona immigration law and the calls for baseball to move the 2011 All-Star Game from Chase Field. His response: Baseball hires a lot of minorities. Really, that was his answer: Asked about such demands at a news conference Thursday following an…

As the season goes on and teams get more desperate, the prospect of signing Jarrod Washburn to shore up the shaky rotation becomes less and less laughable.  But according to Jon Paul Morosi, don’t count on J-Wash (like that? I just came up with it!) coming to your hometown nine in 2010: When asked by…

Major League Baseball hasn’t yet seized the Texas Rangers, but according to Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal, Bud Selig has set yet another deadline.  It’s a secret though. Seriously. As Fisher notes, every other deadline that either Selig or Hicks or Greenberg or anyone else has set in this deal has been blown through,…

As per my usual Thursday afternoon routine, I’m going to be on the Paul and Tom Show at at HotStove.com at 2pm.  Today’s topics will include the whole Ken Griffey Jr. sleeping/media shunning affair, other pressing baseball topics of the day and, if form holds, a good bit about 1980s NWA wrestling. Space Mountain, baby.

The filming site of the movie “Field of Dreams” — cornfield ballpark and all — is up for sale: The movie site, located northeast of Dyersville, has been officially listed, according to owners Don and Becky Lansing. The listing encompasses the movie site, which includes the baseball diamond, a two-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath house, six outbuildings…

If I asked 100 of you that question, 97 would say Albert Pujols and three of you would say Derek Jeter, after which you’d tell me that the Yankees Rule!!11!!one!!! But what if it’s someone else?  Someone like . . . Chase Utley.  That’s defensive expert John Dewan’s, view of things.  Warning: it’s a statty…

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. Other men paint their portly naked torsos proclaiming themselves “Die Hard Cardinals Fan.” Best part: the words on his back are printed pretty clearly, which suggests that he has a wife or a girlfriend help him with this getup…

I missed this in the recaps, but file this under “wow, that wouldn’t have happened a year or two ago.” In the seventh inning of the Dodgers-Diamondbacks game, A.J. Hinch decided to intentionally walk Andre Ethier with two men on in order to load the bases for Manny Ramirez. And it wasn’t like they were…

As expected, Carlo Beltran began his running program on Monday and, according to Newsday, he’s apparently pain-free: “Thank God there’s no pain . . . It’s a learning process for me to start running again, so right now I’m thinking about how to make it perfect. Today was the first day I ran and didn’t…

David Ortiz struck out looking in the ninth inning of yesterday’s Sox-Jays game.  I’ve seen Ortiz roll his eyes and grumble about calls before, but he’s not known to be a whiner or anything.  He went absolutely nuts after strike three, however, and when you watch the video, you’ll agree that he had a case. …

The Mariners are talking to some reporters. MLB.com’s Jim Street, for instance, and he reports that, according to the team, Milton Bradley isn’t likely to rejoin the club until late next week. Bradley is on the restricted list so he’s not traveling with the Mariners.  Don Wakamatsu says, however, that “I think everything is going…

“I asked if I could start wearing his underwear. But he said no.” – Washington Nationals’ Craig Stammen on teammate Tyler Clippard’s MLB-leading seven wins. The rose goes in the front, big guy. (thanks to Wooden U. Lykteneau for the heads up)

From today’s Tacoma News-Tribune Mariners-Orioles game story by Larry LaRue: For the second day, none of the players would talk to The News Tribune in the wake of a players-only meeting that followed a report that Ken Griffey Jr. was napping in the clubhouse during a game last week. Are there any grownups working for…

Last week ESPN ran a slow-motion clip of Bengie Molina getting thrown out at the plate in a Giants-Marlins game as, bascially, the game’s only highlight on that night’s SportsCenter. What’s more, they slowed the clip down and set it to music meant to evoke “Chariots of Fire,” mocking Molina’s lack of speed.  As he…

Nationals 6, Mets 4: Roger Bernadina was 3 for 5 with two homers — including the game-winner — and had a sweet grab in right field. And did Rob Dibble really say — in dialect — “that boy’s good!” after his ninth inning homer?  Why yes, he did. Oy. Blue Jays 3, Red Sox 2:…

The State of Michigan has a bill winding its way through the legislature that would, if passed into law, allow video game manufacturers to use ballplayers’ names and images in video games without their consent, against their will and without any compensation. The bill is called “The Right of Publicity Act” (text here) and, as…

Actually, it’s probably more like his, I dunno, 900th batter, because you figure he’s gotten a lot of them more than once: Not only did Tim Wakefield get a spot a start on Wednesday, but he notched a milestone along the way. When he struck out Blue Jays center fielder Vernon on — what else?…

We’ve been hearing about this for more than a year, but Ken Burns’ addendum to his 1994 “Baseball” documentary, entitled “The Tenth Inning,” is going to air on PBS September 28th and 29th. The documentary will cover stuff that went down in the 1990s and 2000s such as steroids, the rise of the new Yankees’…

Charlie Manuel, when asked whether the Phillies were stealing signs: “Applesauce. We’re totally on the square, see. Now scram, before I get sore, get me?” Wait, forgot to run that through the Charlie Manuel-to-modern translator.  Let’s see . . . ah, there we are: “Keep crying. Absolutely not. Absolutely [bleeping] not. In no way were…

As an addendum to this morning’s story about Brian Cushing, the football writers have, after a re-vote, decided to allow Cushing to keep his Defensive Rookie of the Year award despite the fact that he had tested positive for a banned substance before the season started. Like I said this morning, the notion of going…

Not a good couple of days to be a Pirates fan. After being one-hit by Johnny Cueto before dozens of fans last night, Pittsburgh was shut out again this afternoon, this time by Homer Bailey — he of the 7.24 ERA entering play today — on four hits. And there was no mucking about here.…

UPDATE: You’re welcome, Tigers fans, for my little jinxing of Vazquez. It’s now 2-0 Tigers. Please leave the cash in an unmarked bag outside of the Bread Basket Deli at the corner of 10 1/2 Mile Road and Greenfield in Oak Park. I’ll be inside gettin’ my corned beef on. 2:25 P.M.:  Lowe has now…

U.C. Berkeley is renovating its football stadium in 2011, and the Golden Bears need a place to squat for a year. They could go to the Oakland Coliseum, which happens to be nearby and happens to host football already, or they could go to Candlestick Park which, while farther away, has a full-time football configuration…