From Rotoworld:

Angels GM Tony Reagins acknowledged speaking to the Twins on Monday night, but he said it was about an outfielder and no further talks were scheduled.

The Twins might have been asking about Juan Rivera or Reggie Willits. "We haven't had any discussions about adding starting pitching," Reagins said Tuesday. "The rumors are out there, I know that, but it's rumor. I've been watching ESPN, seeing things that are being reported, and you just wonder where it comes from sometimes." ESPN is still guessing that the Angels will be involved with Santana after losing out on Miguel Cabrera, but neither the Angels nor Twins have done anything to back it up.

Okay, has anybody seen this absolutely bizarre sequence of events?  Milton Bradley was jawing with the first base ump about something.  He eventually loses it and flips out, then gets tossed by the ump.  Bradley freaks and starts going after the ump as his first base coach tries to hold him back.  He shoves his coach out of the way and Buddy Black runs out onto the field to try and restrain him.

Here's where it gets hilarious.

While attempting to restrain Bradley, he accidentally shoves him to the ground, injuring Bradley's knee.  Bradley had to be helped off the field.

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/09/13/marlins-entertain-76-000-empty-seats-and-375-fans-for-trop ical-c/

Makes you appreciate what we have.  It was so empty that one fan was tossed from the stadium for arguing with the umpire, and the ump could hear him (seriously).  It was so empty that when Byung-Hyun Kim struck out, his f-bomb could be heard clearly on the television broadcast.  Here's a picture of the 76,000 empty seats:

http://images.sportsline.com/u/ap/photos/MDS106091216_1024x768.jpg

I realize this has been talked about a little bit already here, but Ervin Santana will be getting the Friday morning start against Josh Beckett in Fenway Park.  Talk about throwing a guy into the fire.  The match up preview thing on the Angels website is particularly, uh, inspiring:

"Scouting Report:
Angels: Santana has shown quality stuff and improved command in five appearances at Triple-A Salt Lake following his July 18 demotion, striking out 32 hitters while walking only 10 in 32 1/3 innings. He's 2-1 in the hitter-friendly PCL with a 5.01 ERA, and opponents have hit .305 against him. Santana lost his only start against the Red Sox this year, giving up seven runs -- five earned -- in four innings at Fenway Park. He is 1-2 in his career against the Red Sox with a 7.47 ERA and 0-2 at Fenway with a 12.38 ERA.

Red Sox: Beckett put together a masterful outing in his last start, taking a four-hit shutout into the ninth inning. He wound up losing the shutout but still earned his Major League-leading 15th win of the season. Beckett has fanned at least six batters in six of his last seven starts, bringing his strikeout total to 140. Beckett is 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA in three career starts against the Angels."

Look, we are completely rolling right now.  Our division lead has been growing, slowly, but I think the Angels have a real opportunity this month to put a lot of ground between themselves and Seattle/Oakland.  Just look at the Angels' schedule for the rest of June:

@ STL (3)
@ CIN (3)
@ LAD (3)
vs HOU (3)
vs PIT (3)
vs KC (3)

Every one of those teams except the Dodgers is at LEAST 5 games under .500.  And, except for the Royals, they are all national league teams.  Here's to hoping the boys keep it going and cap off a strong month.

A buddy just sent this to me and I had to pass it along.  Some of these are epic.

THE BEST OF SHEFF

September '92 on his days in Milwaukee: "The Brewers brought out the hate in me. I was a crazy man. . . . I hated everything about the place. If the official scorer gave me an error I didn't think was an error, I'd say, 'OK, here's a real error,' and I'd throw the next ball into the stands on purpose.' "

On his hatred of Milwaukee: "Everything you asked for in Milwaukee you didn't get--Ask for good weather, you don't get it. Ask for a good playing surface, you don't get it. Ask for a first-class organization, you don't get it."

On his having two kids with two women by age 17: "That was part of my plan. I didn't want to be the typical athlete who's single all his career. I wanted the all-American family, and I did it the wrong way."

On carrying a gun (he also took one to school in eighth and ninth grade): "It ain't changed because I got in the league. It just made me get more of them."

Sheff, a born-again Christian, on teammate Shawn Green missing a game with the Dodgers because of Yom Kippur during a crucial pennant stretch: "Religion is an important thing as long as you worship the right God."

July '05 after punching a fan in the right-field stands at Fenway: "What did I do to be a villain?" Sheffield listened patiently as someone recounted the reasoning. "Well, I mean you can't look at it that way. I didn't initiate it. It's a situation where I showed restraint, and I moved on from there."

May '89 on Milwaukee pitchers who won't throw at opposing batters even though opposing pitchers kept throwing at him: "Only two, three pitchers have helped me out. The rest have been girls. They won't throw at anybody if you paid them. I've been thrown at in every park I've played in."

In June 2005 On whether he would participate in next year's World Baseball Classic: "My season is when I get paid. I'm not doing that...I'm not sacrificing my body or taking a chance on an injury for something that's made up. This isn't the Olympics. That's a big difference. This is something you made up."

On the '04 Red Sox: "They're a walking disaster. They act like they're tough, how they care so much about winning, but it's all a front. They're just a bunch of characters."

On his non-reaction to getting intentionally beaned by Boston's Curtis Leskanic in 2004: "I know Leskanic. His brother did my pool."

Explaining that a hitting slump in 2007 was mental: "I could have bad mechanics and get hits. I don't worry about that, because I'm not really a mechanically-sound guy. It's more between my ears."

June '05 after being rumored in a trade to the Mets for Mike Cameron: "It don't make a difference who it is. If I didn't choose to go there, things are gonna have to change about my whole situation, contract, years, everything. Other than that, you might as well not bother trading for me, cause you're gonna have a very unhappy player. You gonna inconvenience me, I'm gonna inconvenience every situation there is. I mean, the only reason I'm playing is 'cause I wanna play for the Yankees."

January '02 to the Associated Press: "Barry told me what I have to do to finish my career as a Hall of Famer. I want to end my career with the Atlanta Braves and be a Hall of Famer with the Atlanta Braves."

On "Game of Shadows," which spells out Bonds' alleged use of steroids: "I don't even know what the book says. I never read it."

From a 2006 interview with Newsday on who on the Yankees would look out for A-Rod now that he (Sheff) was gone: "Nobody. You all got to get ready. You all got to get ready. There's nobody."

In response to the Hartford Courant asking him in 2004 about whether winning an MVP award would mean anything to him: "No."

On his childhood: "I was hyper as a kid. My parents sent me to the hospital to get checked out. I was probably ADD (attention-deficit disorder). Still am."

On life in general: "Most people figured I'd be in jail. I've been proving people wrong my whole life."

Did anybody else catch this?  Donnelly the Red Sawk struck out Jose Guillen the Mariner on three pitches, and then proceeded to "adjust his cup" in Guillen's direction.  Basically he stared Jose down after the third strike and grabbed his crotch.  Guillen didn't take too kindly to this and the two exchanged some words and had to be separated.  

Donkey went on to hit the very next batter and get ejected from the game.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2677627

And, for some reason, the Angels are not expected to make a run at him (per ESPN).  

DO IT, STONEY!  This would make up for the GMJ signing in my eyes.

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http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6191380

...and thank god it ain't the Angels.  Dodgers reportedly signed Pierre to a 5 year, $45 million deal.  $9 million annually to Juan Pierre = ouch.  This could be the worst FA market ever.

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