SB Nation User Blog: cmkelly29

Michael Jackson has died.

cmkelly29 — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:00:32 -0000

http://www.tmz.com/

We've just learned Michael Jackson has died. He was 50.

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived.

LaToya ran in the hospital sobbing, after Jackson was pronounced dead.

Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.

Story developing

Donald Fehr stepping down as MLBPA Leader

cmkelly29 — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:14:40 -0000

Don Fehr is stepping down as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, a position he's held since the mid-1980s, a source tells ESPN.

Fehr will be replaced by general counsel Michael Weiner, pending board approval, the source said. An announcement is expected to be made later on Monday afternoon.

Fehr, who will turn 61 in July, was voted in to lead the players' union in December 1985.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4278728

35-27

cmkelly29 — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:28:58 -0000

Dodgers 6, Rangers 3  Recap Box Score Play-By-Play Photos Conversation .subhead{ color: #666666; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Geneva,sans-serif; width: 100%; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; }

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
LAD (42-22)	1	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	6	10	1
TEX (35-27)	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	1

Final

W:	C. Billingsley (9-3)
L:	D. Holland (1-4)
SV:	J. Broxton (16)

Los Angeles Dodgers
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	#P	AVG	OBP
J Pierre LF	3	2	0	0	2	0	16	.343	.405
R Furcal SS	3	0	1	0	1	1	17	.248	.316
O Hudson 2B	4	1	1	0	0	1	15	.310	.388
C Blake 3B	4	2	2	4	0	0	24	.299	.363
A Ethier RF	5	0	1	0	0	2	15	.270	.364
M Kemp CF	4	0	1	0	1	1	24	.308	.373
J Loney 1B	4	1	1	1	1	2	33	.285	.347
R Martin DH	4	0	1	0	1	0	24	.244	.354
B Ausmus C	2	0	2	1	1	0	17	.317	.391
Totals	33	6	10	6	7	7	185
BATTING 2B: B Ausmus (2, D Holland); O Hudson (19, D Holland); C Blake (16, E Guardado) HR: C Blake (10, 3rd inning off D Holland 2 on, 2 Out) RBI: C Blake 4 (39), J Loney (43), B Ausmus (4) S: R Furcal, O Hudson SF: C Blake 2-out RBI: C Blake 3, B Ausmus GIDP: J Pierre Dodgers RISP: 4-17 (C Blake 1-2, M Kemp 0-2, B Ausmus 1-1, R Martin 0-2, A Ethier 1-3, O Hudson 0-2, J Loney 1-2, J Pierre 0-3) Team LOB: 11
BASERUNNING SB: A Ethier (4, 2nd base off D Holland/J Saltalamacchia); J Loney (5, 2nd base off D Holland/J Saltalamacchia); M Kemp (14, 2nd base off C Wilson/J Saltalamacchia)
FIELDING E: R Furcal (8, throw) DP: 1 (O Hudson-R Furcal-J Loney).

Los Angeles Dodgers
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
C Billingsley (W, 9-3)	7.0	5	3	2	1	3	1	97-63	2.72
R Troncoso (H, 6)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	7-6	1.51
J Broxton (S, 16)	1.0	1	0	0	0	3	0	13-10	1.41
Totals	9.0	6	3	2	1	7	1	117-79
PITCHING C Billingsley pitched to 1 batter in the 8th First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: C Billingsley 13/26; R Troncoso 2/2; J Broxton 3/4 Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: C Billingsley 15-10-16-22; R Troncoso 3-1-1-1; J Broxton 4-4-1-1 Ground Balls-Fly Balls: C Billingsley 13-5; R Troncoso 1-0; J Broxton 0-0 Game Scores: C Billingsley 59

Texas Rangers
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	#P	AVG	OBP
I Kinsler 2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	16	.260	.339
M Young 3B	3	1	1	0	1	1	14	.316	.359
H Blalock 1B	4	1	1	0	0	1	16	.251	.294
A Jones DH	4	1	2	1	0	1	10	.257	.371
N Cruz RF	4	0	1	1	0	2	18	.278	.343
D Murphy LF	3	0	0	0	0	0	12	.252	.340
M Byrd CF	3	0	0	0	0	1	13	.288	.310
J Saltalamacchia C	3	0	1	0	0	0	8	.251	.300
E Andrus SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	10	.262	.321
Totals	31	3	6	2	1	7	117
BATTING HR: A Jones (7, 4th inning off C Billingsley 0 on, 0 Out) RBI: N Cruz (43), A Jones (17) GIDP: D Murphy Rangers RISP: 1-4 (D Murphy 0-1, A Jones 1-1, N Cruz 0-2) Team LOB: 2
BASERUNNING CS: J Saltalamacchia (2, 2nd base by R Troncoso/B Ausmus)
FIELDING E: H Blalock (2, ground ball) DP: 1 (I Kinsler-E Andrus-H Blalock). Outfield Assist: N Cruz (M Kemp at 3rd base).

Texas Rangers
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
D Holland (L, 1-4)	5.0	5	4	4	4	2	1	89-48	6.63
D Mathis	1.0	0	0	0	2	1	0	31-15	5.14
E Guardado	0.2	3	2	2	1	1	0	26-17	5.82
D O'Day	1.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	21-14	0.95
C Wilson	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	18-11	3.12
Totals	9.0	10	6	6	7	7	1	185-105
PITCHING HBP: B Ausmus (By D Mathis) First-pitch strikes/Batters faced: D Holland 9/24; D Mathis 2/6; E Guardado 3/5; D O'Day 2/5; C Wilson 3/4 Called strikes-Swinging strikes-Foul balls-In Play strikes: D Holland 10-2-19-17; D Mathis 5-1-7-2; E Guardado 3-4-7-3; D O'Day 4-2-4-4; C Wilson 3-2-4-2 Ground Balls-Fly Balls: D Holland 7-6; D Mathis 0-2; E Guardado 0-0; D O'Day 2-1; C Wilson 0-1 Game Scores: D Holland 39

Scoring Summary
			LAD	TEX
	1st	C Blake hit sacrifice fly to right, J Pierre scored, R Furcal to third.	1	0
	1st	N Cruz grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, M Young scored, A Jones out at second, H Blalock to third, H Blalock scored, N Cruz to second on throwing error by shortstop R Furcal.	1	2
	3rd	C Blake homered to left center, J Pierre and O Hudson scored.	4	2
	4th	A Jones homered to left.	4	3
	7th	J Loney singled to right, C Blake scored, M Kemp to second, M Kemp thrown out at third attempting to advance on play.	5	3
	7th	B Ausmus singled to right, J Loney scored, R Martin to third.	6	3
· View complete Play-By-Play

Game Information

The ARod drama continues...

cmkelly29 — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:45:06 -0000

Details starting to emerge about the Selena Roberts book.

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez could return from a hip injury in as few as 10 days.

But he is already back in the headlines.

Rodriguez

More details from Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts' book "A-Rod" were released Wednesday by the New York Daily News. The book alleges Rodriguez did not stop using steroids when he came to the Yankees and he might have been using as far back as high school, the Daily News reports.

Roberts broke the story that A-Rod failed a steroid test in 2003. Yankees teammates, Roberts writes, nicknamed Rodriguez "B---h T--s" in 2005 because he put on 15 pounds in the offseason which included round pectorals, a condition called gynecomastia that can be caused by anabolic steroids.

Roberts' book, which will be released May 12, also details Rodriguez's relationship with Dominican trainer Angel Presinal, who is banned from major league clubhouses.

Jose Canseco, a former teammate of Rodriguez, said in the book he believes Rodriguez has been using steroids since high school.

"Was he on steroids in high school?" Canseco said in the book, the Daily News reported. "I think probably so. I worked out with him when he was 18. He could lift almost as much as I could."

Rodriguez put on 25 pounds of muscle between his sophomore and junior years. Former high school teammates told Roberts that A-Rod was using steroids back then and his coach knew it -- an allegation the coach, Rich Hoffman, denied.

Other things alleged in Roberts' book, according to the Daily News:

• A-Rod "pitch tipped" when he played for the Rangers by letting opponents at the plate know which pitch was coming in lopsided games. A-Rod expected players he helped would reciprocate when he was having an off night and needed to get his batting average up.

• A-Rod's off-the-field antics including his poker habit; his divorce from his wife, Cynthia; his relationship with Madonna and his other affairs are detailed.

• A-Rod was hated at Hooters, where he tipped the minimum 15 percent.

Rodriguez hit in a simulated game for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, facing minor leaguer pitchers Christian Garcia and Kai Liu, a left-hander from China the Yankees signed two years ago.

Rodriguez slid five times on a sliding mat for the second time, ran the bases and took 112 swings in regular batting practice.

The Yankees said Rodriguez will play in an extended spring training intrasquad game Thursday in Tampa, Fla.

Dr. Marc Philippon watched the three-time AL MVP's on-field workout Wednesday at the Yankees minor league complex and said Rodriguez could return to the majors ahead of his May 15 target date.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4114292

Josh Hamilton chat right now ESPN.com

cmkelly29 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:24:33 -0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=26052

He will be appearing on tonight's episode of "Homecoming"

Editor's note: "Homecoming" is a new signature ESPN program hosted by award-winning sportswriter Rick Reilly that challenges the old adage, "You can't go home again." Reilly will bring his unique style of storytelling to this one-on-one interview program to be shot in the hometown or "formative place" of an A-list athlete. In a warm setting made up of the athlete's friends, family and admirers, we will spend an hour exploring and celebrating how a remarkable athlete came to be. After all, home is where the heart is and heart is the intangible that separates a good athlete from a legend.

Mark Fidrych also passes away

cmkelly29 — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:08:53 -0000

Good lord, too much death around baseball right now.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4065778

Fidrych, 54, dies in apparent accident

Associated Press

BOSTON -- Former All-Star pitcher Mark "The Bird" Fidrych has been found dead in an apparent accident at his farm in Northborough, Massachusetts. He was 54.

Worcester County district attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. says a family friend found Fidrych about 2:30 p.m. Monday beneath a pickup truck. He appeared to be working on the truck, Early said.

The colorful right-hander was the American League rookie of the year in 1976 when he went 19-9 with a 2.34 earned run average. He spent all five of his major league seasons with the Detroit Tigers, compiling a 29-19 record and a 3.10 ERA.

His career was cut short by injuries.

Harry Kalas passes away

cmkelly29 — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:33:41 -0000

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4064793

WASHINGTON -- Longtime Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas has died at the age of 73, team president David Montgomery said Monday.

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Kalas, who had also filled a voiceover role for NFL Films since 1975, was taken to a hospital after passing out in the broadcast booth before Monday's game against the Washington Nationals.

Montgomery's voice was cracking as he said "we have lost our voice."

The 73-year-old Kalas, known for his distinctive "Outta here!" call on home runs, was found by the Phillies director of broadcasting at about 12:30 p.m., Montgomery said.

"He has loved our game and made just a tremendous contribution to our sport and certainly to our organization," Montgomery said.

Kalas had surgery earlier this year for an undisclosed ailment that the team characterized as minor. He looked somewhat drawn last week as the Phillies opened the season at home.

Kalas joined the Phillies in 1971, the year the club moved into their former home, Veterans Stadium, replacing fan favorite Bill Campbell. Before that, he was an original member of the Houston Astros' broadcast team from 1965-70. Kalas also broadcasted NFL games for Westwood One Radio Network.

He wasn't immediately embraced by Phillies fans, despite being paired with Richie Ashburn, a Hall of Famer as a player, and longtime announcer. But Kalas evolved into a beloved sports figure in Philadelphia. He and Ashburn grew into a popular team, and shared the booth until Ashburn's death in 1997.

In 2002, he received the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for his contributions to the game.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

OT: ShamWow Vince violently assaults prostitute!

cmkelly29 — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:01:27 -0000

http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/03/28/2009-03-28_shamwow_guy_vince_shlomi_charged_with_vi-2.html

It'll take more than a fancy, all-purpose towel to clean this up.

Last month, Vince Shlomi, familiar to most as the TV pitchman for the handy household dodads the ShamWow and Slap Chop, got himself into a very messy situation with a hooker at a hotel, according to a police report located by TheSmokingGun.com.

As detailed in the police affidavit, on February 7th Shlomi punched a prostitute several times in the face after she chomped down on his tongue and refused to let go.

The 44-year-old towel and food chopper salesman claimed he met Sasha Harris, 26, at a Miami nightclub, according to the police report. He then took her back to his hotel room at the ritzy Setai hotel, where he claims to have paid her $1,000 after she "propositioned him for straight sex."

But apparently the business transaction wasn't as neat and tidy as the products he promotes. When Shlomi went to kiss Harris, she "bit his tongue and would not let go," according to the affidavit.

The Bad Idea / Sweet 16 Thread!

cmkelly29 — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 14:16:03 -0000

So I was thinking about this the other night.

Who are the greatest Rangers to ever wear each jersey number, 0-99?

I'm sure a great deal of numbers have never been used, but let's go with it anyways.

There are obvious choices like #34, #19, #7, so on and so forth.

Managers also count! Who's more worthy of #2? Bobby V or Taylor T?

I think there should be debate on a few numbers here.

Go to work, kids.

NCAA Tourney, Day 2 Thread

cmkelly29 — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:36:51 -0000

12:15 pm	Stephen F. Austin #14	Syracuse #3	CBS - HD (Regional)
12:25 pm	Tennessee #9	Oklahoma St. #8	CBS - HD (Regional)
12:30 pm	Utah St. #11	Marquette #6	CBS - HD (Regional)
12:30 pm	North Dakota St. #14	Kansas #3	CBS
2:45 pm	Temple #11	Arizona St. #6	CBS (Regional)
2:55 pm	E. Tennessee St. #16	Pittsburgh #1	CBS - HD (Regional)
3:00 pm	Cornell #14	Missouri #3	CBS - HD (Regional)
3:00 pm	Dayton #11	West Virginia #6	CBS - HD (Regional)
7:10 pm	Arizona #12	Utah #5	CBS - HD (Regional)
7:10 pm	Morehead St. #16	Louisville #1
7:20 pm	USC #10	Boston College #7	CBS - HD (Regional)
7:25 pm	Portland St. #13	Xavier #4	CBS - HD (Regional)
9:40 pm	Siena #9	Ohio St. #8	CBS - HD (Regional)
9:40 pm	Cleveland St. #13	Wake Forest #4	CBS - HD (Regional)
9:50 pm	Robert Morris #15	Michigan St. #2	CBS - HD (Regional)
9:55 pm	Wisconsin #12	Florida St. #5	CBS - HD National