By Chad Jennings • cjennings@lohud.com • October 21, 2009

ANAHEIM - Even with CC Sabathia pitching on three days' rest. Even with Joe Girardi being questioned for his various pitching decisions in Game 3. Even with the Yankees trying to bounce back from their first loss of the postseason, the pregame chatter at Angel Stadium on Tuesday centered on the most unexpected of topics.

Is Mariano Rivera a cheater?

In the hours before Game 4 of the American League Championship Series, 11 seconds of video caused a buzz on the Internet and made Rivera the subject of a brief investigation by Major League Baseball.

The clip showed Rivera spitting toward the baseball during Monday's Game 3. In the clip - taken from the national broadcast of the game - Rivera is on the mound, holding the baseball near waist level, when he spits a long strand of saliva that appears to either hit the ball or travel to the right of the ball.

The angle of the shot - from Rivera's left and slightly behind him - makes it impossible to say whether Rivera is spitting on the ball or spitting on the ground.

An Angels fan Web site posted the video with the headline, "Mariano Rivera Spitball: Video Evidence?"

"I laughed about the whole thing," Rivera said. "What would I get mad for? I care about what the fans think about me, but if somebody has followed my career for all of those years, I would have to have a lot of spit to spit for a lot of years."

Major League Baseball looked at additional video and still photography and ruled Rivera did not spit on the baseball. Rivera said he was never contacted by the league office.

"If we find a different angle," Rivera said. "You will see that the spit is never on the ball."

While some Angels fans seemed outraged by the so-called controversy, the Angels' manager seemed completely unconcerned.

"This is the first I'm hearing about this," Mike Scioscia said during his pregame press conference. "I didn't even know that there was any indication that it's been looked at. Never. There are certainly some guys that might be suspect, never Mariano with anything that I've heard or been a part of. And I'd be shocked if there was anything to that."

When Rivera agreed to address the video during a brief session with reporters in the Yankees' dugout, he spent more time laughing than anything else. He offered to buy all of the reporters dinner if anyone had a video angle that actually showed him spitting on a baseball.

"I was on the bus on the way here," Rivera said. "My friend called me. He said, ‘Hey, stop cheating.' ‘What are you talking about?' ‘Everybody here is saying you spit on the ball.' ‘What?' But Major League Baseball cleared that. Somebody had nothing better to do, I guess."

There were several red flags that the "evidence" was not concrete.

1. Rivera was holding the ball roughly a foot and a half away from his mouth when he spit. He wasn't exactly keeping the action hidden from view.

2. The pitch Rivera threw immediately after spitting was his usual cutter, a hard-boring pitch that breaks in on left-handed batters. A spitball is designed to slide out of a pitcher's hand, creating irregular movement.

3. Rivera has pitched in more than 900 regular-season games and more than 80 postseason games.

"I kind of laughed," Girardi said. "Mo's been throwing one pitch for a long time. I happened to catch him. He was accused of throwing a spitter. The one thing about a spitter is it consistently does not go one way like Mo's ball consistently goes one way. So I kind of laughed at it.

"MLB has investigated, they have nothing about it. We just move on. To me it's a dead story. I caught Mo for four years and I know for sure he never did anything."

At one point while he was talking to reporters gathered in the Yankees' clubhouse, Rivera had to pause. He had put a piece of gum in his mouth when the interview started and the gum had filled his mouth with juice.

"Excuse me," he said. "I have to spit."

 

http://www.lohud.com/article/20091021/SPORTS01/910210356/-1/SPORTS/Rivera-%E2%80%88-%E2%80%98-I-would-have-to-have-a-lot-of-spit-to-spit-for-a-lot-of-years-

Clippers after deadline: Griffin's dazzling dunk October 18, 2009 | 11:19 pm

The Clippers were like excited kids who just came off the playground and had seen something incredible.

"His nickname is Amazin," DeAndre Jordan said. "His new nickname is Amazin."

Jordan shouted over to teammate Sebastian Telfair, saying: "Bassy! Bassy! Amazin, right?"

Telfair: "Amazin."

They were reacting to Clippers rookie Blake Griffin's spectacular flying dunk over Lakers center DJ Mbenga in the fourth quarter on Sunday at Staples Center. The praise was flying fast in the lockerroom.

Jordan made sure to clarify the nickname: "No G at the end."

And then Jordan hummed the theme to ESPN's SportsCenter, and said, "Amazin or that."

Someone asked Griffin if he was cool with the new nickname. "He doesn't have a choice," Marcus Camby said, jumping in before Griffin could respond.

Griffin, who had 13 points and 12 rebounds in the loss to the Lakers, was his typical understated self.

"It was a good pass, I just tried to go up and finish," Griffin said. "I don't keep track of a personal highlight film. Something like that was fun. Still gotta get better."

Said Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy: "Pretty spectacular. You know it's good when the Lakers bench reacts to it."

And, speaking of the Lakers, the kudos for Griffin came rolling in.

"He looks like he's really an active player, good athlete, runs the court well," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "You can see his improvement level's got a ways to go here as he adjusts to the game, but I think that's going to happen quickly. He made an outstanding dunk over DJ."

It was the first time Kobe Bryant had seen Griffin play, up close and personal. "He is very athletic, very athletic," Bryant said. "He handles the basketball well and has tremendous upside. ... It looks like he's got a world of talent."

And there's more to come. Just ask Telfair.

"Just showing everybody what he's going to be doing all season," Telfair said. "That's his nickname. Amazin. That's what we gave him, the first day he walked in."

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/10/clippers-nba-blake-griffin.html

Didn't see the dunk...watch it here and comment below:

Some details on the makeover of the Big A: Here is the LINK to pictures of the Big A and new story on it HERE. Enjoy.

all pics via ocregister.com.

On August 27, painters Sergio Valenzuela and Joseph Martinez traveled past the Angel Stadium lettering as they were hoisted by crane to the top of the 23-story, 210-ton sign.

Valenzuela uses an electronic heat sensor to read the temperature of the metal on the "Big A" at Angel Stadium. He said that it was o.k. to paint the sign as long as the temperature didn't top 120 degrees. Then it would be too hot for the paint to bond properly.

The "Big A" has received a new coat of bright red paint and will soon be upgraded with a new digital display board and modifications to its halo.

Before

Wednesday, Valenzuela was almost done painting the "Big A" sign after several weeks of painting with a roller and brush. He and fellow painter Joseph Martinez said they could not spray the sign because the paint would fly onto cars nearby.

Valenzuela and Martinez, using rollers and a brush on a pole, started at the very top of the "Big A" at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, restoring the red paint that had faded to a shade of pink.

In a sea of red, Martinez uses a small roller to repaint a ladder cage on the "Big A" at Anaheim Stadium. He and Valenzuela have spent the last three weeks painting the Orange County icon with just paint rollers and brushes.

How does everyone like it so far? If you don't remember what it looked like before here you go:

By MICHAEL LYSTER
Orange County Business Journal Staff

The "Big A" alongside the Orange (57) Freeway in the parking lot of Angel Stadium of Anaheim is getting a $1 million facelift, largely in preparation for Major League Baseball’s 2010 All-Star Game next summer in Anaheim.

This week, workers hoisted by a crane were applying a fresh coat of red paint to the faded 230-foot tall structure.

A full-color high-definition video display board—similar to the one in the parking lot of neighboring Honda Center—is set to be installed in the center of the Big A.

The guts of the Big A are being improved to support the weight of the new video board along with a complete electronic overhaul.

The overhaul is expected to be done by year’s end.

The new video display will serve as an electronic billboard for advertisers and stadium events. It’s set to be larger than the video board installed in late 2006 at Honda Center, home to hockey’s Anaheim Ducks.

Angels owner Arte Moreno is putting up the team’s money to renovate the Big A.

Moreno, who made a fortune in billboards before buying the team in 2003, has transformed much of Angel Stadium into prime advertising space.

The team hasn’t lined up advertisers yet for the Big A, spokesman Tim Mead said. Advertising rates haven’t been announced yet either, he said.

The Angels and the city of Anaheim are expecting a big boost from the All-Star Game in July.

Two years ago, when the All-Star Game was held in New York, it brought nearly $150 million in business to the city. Even in the midst of the downturn this year, the midseason classic brought an estimated $60 million to St. Louis.

"We’re looking to have a triple-digit number, if possible, given our proximity to the greater Los Angeles area," said Thomas Morton, convention center, sports and entertainment executive director for Anaheim.

And the stadium makeover:

Other stadium renovations being done during the remainder of this year and into the offseason include the installation of high-definition flat screens throughout the park to replace the old tube televisions. Most of those flat screens are on the concourse so fans can still follow the action when they aren't in their seats.

 

The sloped, painted, green batter's eye in center field will also get a new look this winter when it's covered with artificial turf.

mlbtraderumors.com:

Nick Carfado of the Boston Globe suspects the Red Sox may soon cut ties with right-hander Brad Penny.  As Carfado reports,

After [Wednesday's] game, the Sox brass, which included owner John Henry, general manager Theo Epstein, director of baseball operations Brian O'Halloran and Terry Francona met with Penny before Francona's post-game press conference. Penny then chatted briefly with Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick and left without speaking.

The Red Sox need a 40-man roster spot for newly acquired reliever Billy Wagner, and Tim Wakefield's fine performance Wednesday night -- seven innings, one run, three hits -- should have the club feeling confident about dumping a pitcher.  The 31-year-old Penny has a 5.61 ERA and 1.53 WHIP in 24 starts this season and has expressed a lack of interest in joining Boston's bullpen corps.  It's all specualtion and rumor at this point, but a release or DFAing does make some sense.  Keep in mind that he can no longer be traded.

What do you think...should we pick him up as a 5th starter if Boston dumps him...couldn't hurt right?