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…

Nolan Reimold has struggled to come back from the Achilles’ tendon injury that cut his impressive rookie campaign short and required surgery in September, and now Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles are sending him back to Triple-A. As if a return to the minors wasn’t bad enough for a 26-year-old…

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.…

Released by the Royals last week, Juan Cruz won’t be finding a new home this season because he’s undergoing surgery today to remove a cyst from his shoulder. Kansas City gave up a second-round pick and $6 million to sign Cruz to a two-year deal last winter, which looked like a sound move considering his…

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…

With closer Bobby Jenks struggling Ozzie Guillen said before last night’s game that he’d go with matchups in the ninth inning, but Jenks ended up getting the save anyway after Guillen used southpaw Matt Thornton in the eighth inning versus left-handed hitters Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Thornton may have gotten the save chance had…

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…

Because I know you were all wondering about this: Sammy Sosa stunned fans last year when he turned up at the Latin Grammys with noticeably whiter skin. The home run legend claimed he’d mistakenly used a cosmetic cream with an unintended bleaching effect. But last weekend at club Liv at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach,…

As if Mike Sweeney accusing a reporter of lying and challenging teammates to fight him didn’t add enough drama to the ongoing Ken Griffey Jr. saga, after last night’s game Cliff Lee refused to speak to the media until Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune left the room. LaRue has covered the Mariners for…

As D.J. mentioned last night, Brad Lidge wasn’t happy with his throwing session yesterday, as he is still having stiffness issues with his elbow. The Phillies have seen enough, apparently, as Todd Zolecki reports that they’ve put him on a plane back to Philly to see a doctor. Due to last night’s rain, the Phillies…

Jason Marquis’ DL stint was a the result of “floating bodies” in his elbow. Apparently they’re still floating, because MLB.com’s Bill Ladson is reporting that Marquis will most likely have surgery to remove bone chips and spurs and will be down 8-10 weeks. This is good news for a Nats’ rotation that, in all honesty,…

After years of bouncing back and forth between Triple-A and the majors Tim Stauffer looked to be grabbing a permanent spot on the Padres’ pitching staff by posting a 0.39 ERA and 19/4 K/BB ratio in 23.1 innings. And now he’s out for a month following an emergency appendectomy. Stauffer was sleeping in a hotel…

Hank Blalock is (a) hitting 375/.435/.552 in Triple A; and (b) has the right to opt-out of his deal with the Rays and become a free agent if they don’t do something with him.  Yesterday, Scott Boras told Mark Topkin of the St. Pete Times that he’s poised to do just that: “I would imagine…

The protests against Arizona hosting the 2011 All-Star Game continue (although much more quietly this week), but the team is not at all worried: “I’ve had absolutely no indication that we’d lose the game. In fact, I’m confident that it will stay here. I think it’s a difficult precedent for any league to set, making…

“That’s just bull—-. That’s not really fair. That’s just not fair. It’s ridiculous. Absolutely crazy.” – Mets’ rightfielder Jeff Francoeur, reacting to Major League Baseball’s decision to move the Jays-Phillies series to Philadelphia, thereby giving the Phillies three extra home games. I sympathize with Jeffy on this one — and for all I’ve said about…

I’m probably risking a fine from the guild for not putting the word “dreaded” before “vote of confidence” in that headline, but in this case I don’t think it’s appropriate. Dayton Moore said that Trey Hillman is “exactly what our organization needs at this point in time.”  Dayton Moore has been demonstrably wrong in almost…

Mark DeRosa has numbness in the ring and pinky fingers of his left hand, preventing him from swinging the bat effectively.  “I feel like my bottom hand’s underwater. I don’t have much feeling in my bottom two fingers,” he says. This is bad enough as it is, but what makes it worse is that this…