Interesting paragraph.

"SEATTLE: RHP Brandon Morrow's 3 1-3 innings of one-hit shutout relief in Monday night's 5-4 win over Texas has convinced manager Mike Hargrove that the rookie can fill the long relief role held last season by RHP Mark Lowe. "Now we know Morrow can go longer and still hold his strength," Hargrove said. Morrow's fastball was still at 95 mph at the end of his stint Monday. Lowe is on the 60-day DL recovering from right shoulder surgery."

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Aj_ytV58LmsB5XydBUAktd6FCLcF?slug=ap-baseballnotes&prov=ap &type=lgns

Sorry if the formating is jacked I am not so good with the HTML.

The worlds fastest man (running) Justin Gatlin has failed what appears to be the same test as Landis.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/trackandfield/news/story?id=2533757

It will be interesting to see how both cases play out.  How the respective jurisdictions punish...ect.  

+++++++++++So on another blog I frequent www.lookoutlanding.com we include random facts to meet the 300 character minimum.  So your random fact of the Dairy.

Bacteria that cause tooth decay, acne, tuberculosis, and leprosy can be cured with cashews.  www.hookedonfats.com++++++++++++

I caught a small part of Locke's show on KJR today in the car.  Sounds like after todays loss Hargrove had a 57 minute closed door meeting.  I have always wandered what those meetings accomplish.  I remember playing ball in high school the coach could yell scream and threaten to bench us, but these are professionals with guarenteed money.  How do you inspire the team if they don't already have internal drive?  

I recognize every player at the professional level must have some internal drive or they would not be at the level they are at now, but what inspires a Beltre or an Everett?

How does a manager inspire a winning attitude?

Any ideas or thoughts?  

I personally don't believe they can.  the best way for a manager to inspire winning is to put the best players in the best places to succeed and winning breeds winning.  Not closed door meetings.

Can anyone point me to a good summary of how the sport of cycling works?  Outside of the Tour de France and the top 5 or 10 cyclist I don't know much.  I see there are links to several team pages, news sites, and other blogs but until I have a base to build on they don't seem to make much sense?  Is each tour completely independent?  Is their a point system to crown a yearly winning rider?  Team?  I could go on for a while but I am sure someone has a great breakdown I could just read that will answer my questions.

Thanks

Felix had an article in the WSJ on Friday.  This is interesting because the journal typically only has an article or maybe two a week on sports.  I would link it but the journal charges for online articles.

The just of the article was comparing young hitters to young pitchers and how to predict success from each.  Nothing ground breaking just you standard BP stuff.  They compare Felix to 4 pitchers V. Blue,
B. Saberhagen, Fernado, and of course Doc. Gooden.  Worth a glance though as it is always nice to see the term "peripheral stats" used in a major publication.

"Right-handed pitcher Ryan Franklin has agreed to terms on a one-year, guaranteed $2.6 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, baseball sources told ESPN.com."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2281263

Looks like Gillig loves his old players.  Franklin will get lit up in the Phillies park.  Atleast this means there is no way he will be joining the M's again in the near future.

Another left handed bat changes teams.  This one without pop.

From ESPN.com

"The Cincinnati Reds reached a preliminary agreement Tuesday night to trade first baseman Sean Casey to the Pittsburgh Pirates for left-hander Dave Williams, a deal that addresses each team's biggest need."

btw this 300 character limit is really annoying.

Looks like Pat Gillick is set to become the Phillies next GM.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2210872

Does this open the door to a Howard or Thome trade to the Mariners?  While I don't have much interest in Thome, Howard is a very interesting player.   Given Gillick's experience with the Mariners there may be some minor leaguers he would take for Howard.  Vicente Padilla is another interesting player.  While I don't have any numbers I have always had the impression he was a ground ball pitcher.

Looks like David Wells wants to come west.  Should the Mariners show interest?

Here is the article.  I think west to Wells is California.

From Boston.com
"With a guaranteed $2.5 million in his contract for 2006, Red Sox lefthander David Wells intends to return for his 20th season in the major leagues, according to an industry source. But Wells, who turns 43 May 20 and plans to have knee surgery this winter, has conveyed to the Red Sox a desire to finish his career on the West Coast -- he has a home near San Diego -- and the Sox have indicated they will try to honor his request."

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2005/10/21/wells_requests_a_trade/