Archives › Craig Calcaterra

2:25 P.M.:  Latest update: the Phillies are calling it a “sprained knee.”  Polanco says “I don’t think it’s too bad.”  Phillies say he’s day to day and suspect that he’ll miss 2-3 days.1:59 P.M.: The word from the Phillies on Polanco is “strained right knee.” Maybe I mentioned Cody Ransom too soon.  Bad news from…

MLB and Victoria’s Secret are teaming up to sell licensed clothing to young women under the “Pink” label.  As Maury describes: “The collection showcases VS PINK’s highly recognizable brand iconography with fun sayings like “I only kiss Padres fans” or “Love Love Love Twins”, and boasts cute zip-pocket tees, crystallized caps, baseball jerseys, as well…

My spring training trip ended with a flight back home yesterday afternoon.  The tale of the tape: Five games, one rainout; One meal with my mother-in-law; One meal with, and four pieces of new media from, Old Gator; A couple dozen awkward conversations with ballplayers who didn’t know me from Adam; A dozen or so…

Thinking of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry as the Cold War, this little episode doesn’t exactly rank up there with the formation of the Warsaw Pact or the Cuban Missile Crisis. As far as provocations go it’s somewhere between Lyndon Johnson sending the Marines to the Dominican Republic to fight communists in 1965 and the North…

Down in Fort Meyers, Mike Lowell will be getting a start against the Orioles this afternoon.  As will Adrian Beltre. How? Mike Lowell is starting at first base. It’s his first action at first since he played in the minors in 1998. Who knows how he feels about it, but whether this is to hone…

Remember that thing Tom Verducci wrote back in December about how the Phillies are turning into the Yankees?  I thought that probably overstated things, but there is at least one thing they have in common: Obstructed press box views in their spring training ballparks: I was able to position myself to where I could see…

Ken Rosenthal writes that, despite the fact that things have been quiet on the Joe Mauer front, negotiations are still progressing and that the lack of any public talk about it doesn’t mean that there’s an impasse or anything close to it, as some have suggested. There was some chatter in the press box at…

After the clubhouse I made it out to the field and scoped the scene: The Phillies take a much more casual approach to stretching than the circle-em-up Pirates do. At the risk of best-shape-of-his-life cliches, I really can’t impress upon you just how good Ryan Howard looks. He has absolutely transformed himself over the past couple…

Alex Speier of WEEI debunks the notion that GMs are younger and better-educated today than they used to be: . . .there is a belief that GMs are younger than ever before, drawn from a pool of graduates of elite, liberal arts colleges and universities where they learned to value the sort of interdisciplinary analysis…

I went into the Phillies clubhouse. Charlie Manuel was there. As was Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jayson Werth and all the other guys which make the Phillies perhaps the most recognizable team in baseball. Yes, even more so than the Yankees. Quick: describe Brett Gardner’s facial features. Now tell me if there’s any…

Mike Lupica’s latest column about A-Rod and the Dr. Galea investigation stands as proof that he’s never been involved in a federal investigation: Come on, there are more things fishy about all this than the old Fulton Fish Market. If the whole thing is so easily explained, if Rodriguez is “at ease” with the whole…

After  a stormy Thursday night and Friday, I woke up to a bright, clear and crisp Saturday morning. It would be my last day of baseball on this trip, and the fates smiled upon me, not only with the weather, but with a good game at a great spring training park. Phillies vs. Twins at…

You may now update all of your old “David Wright looks funny in that big batting helmet” jokes to Francsico Cervelli, who will be donning one in New York this season after suffering his second concussion earlier this week: Cervelli said he plans to wear the helmet at the plate all season, though he won’t…

You know the old line: spring training stats are meaningless. Giants fans had better hope so: Since signing a two-year, $23 million contract, Lincecum has been raked for seven runs (four earned) on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings. Both times Giants manager Bruce Bochy had to remove Lincecum from the game in mid-inning. Ignore…

Dave Shenin of the Washington Post doesn’t think so, and offers several reasons why what everyone things to be a foregone conclusion is not necessarily forgone. Among the reasons: Harper hasn’t “separated himself” from the pack like Strasburg did; He may not stick at catcher, thus diminishing his value; He’s a Boras client, thus inflating…

Darren Rovell reports on something new: Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill is opening near Fenway Park next week with a twist. It’s selling season tickets. For a one-time $500 fee, patrons will get a guaranteed table during Red Sox games. A same “ticket” for Patriots games costs $350 and $250 for Celtics games. Rovell…

I figured I’d have to jump through 50 hoops this morning in order to get my refund for last night’s rainout, but this email just popped into my box: Your credit card will automatically be credited the ticket price and convenience charges, and should post to your account within 7 to 10 business days.  Please…

As I’ve mentioned a couple of times, the Yankees denied my request for press credentials. I don’t have any problem with this. There are a metric crap-ton of writers who cover the Yankees, space, even in a big new park like Steinbrenner Field is limited, and if anyone in YankeeLand reads my stuff, they know…

This was an ugly, ugly game. Highlights, such as they were: As I sat down in the box I realized that the netting behind the backstop was lower than the already fairly low pressbox level.  During the course of the game three or four foul balls came in my general direction, each time banging loudly…

Jason Kendall sat for a deposition in his divorce case recently, and the subject of other players taking the ADD drug Adderall came up.  Kendall admitted to his own use — as much as 60 mg doses during the regular season, cutting back once the season was over — said that he believes Brian Giles…

I made my way down to the field as the Pirates came out to do their morning workouts, batting practice and the like.  Weirdest thing:  the team does all their stretching in a big circle with a couple of players leading the drills in the middle. Maybe other teams do this on some back field…

USA Today runs their fifth and final part of their panel-of-experts series this morning.  Today they cover a few of my favorite subjects: World Baseball Classic: The experts think they should change the scheduling of the WBC or pull the major leaguers out of the tournament altogether. Injuries are a big factor here, but I…

My original plan didn’t have me going down to Bradenton to visit Pirates’ camp, but when the Yankees decided not to offer me media credentials some time freed up, allowing me to catch the Pirates-Rays game yesterday afternoon.  I would like to thank the Yankees for their decision, because it meant that I got to…

“Sometimes I think you have to be careful what you say” – Ozzie Guillen, responding to Torii Hunter’s comments about black Latino baseball players being “imposters.”  I repeat: Ozzie Guillen is advising someone to be careful what they say. This is like Lindsay Lohan telling someone that they need to stop drinking so much or…

It’s a 1984 Detroit Tigers model, so I would be interested.  Whose is it? Lance Parrish? Larry Herndon? [swoons, bats eyes] Alan Trammell? How much would you pay for a piece of the Tigers’ 1984 World Series championship? Would you pay $5,000? That’s the asking price on eBay for the World Series ring of former…