Posts from the Al East Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

When Jeff Francoeur was demoted to Double-A on Thursday night, he had some choice words about the decision, admitting to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "This has really put a damper on my relationship with the Atlanta Braves."

Of course, you'll have to take our word for it -- as J.C. Bradbury points out on Sabernomics, the AJC has since wiped their archives clean of the quote, replacing the orginal article with a different piece that contains soundbites from a much more calm Francoeur:

"I was upset [Thursday] night when I got home," Francoeur said. "[Friday] morning, when I woke up, it was anger that I was feeling. Then by the time I got here, I told myself, 'You know what? There's not a damn thing I can do about it now. So there's no reason to sit back and think about it.'

What's the story? Is the AJC trying to do Francoeur and/or the Braves a favor by burying his most controversial comments? I'm guessing that's not the exact intention -- if anything, the AJC, like any media outlet, has the most to gain by perpetuating controversy -- but as the paper of record in the Atlanta region, editing the story after the fact by removing the most juicy quotes denies readers late to the game from obtaining proper context.

As I see it, if "updating" an article requires wholesale edits, I'd prefer the original to stand as is and the update to be posted as a new article. That's obviously not possible in the print version where space is at a premium, but it's in everybody's best interest if the online policy is to provide the most comprehensive coverage as possible.

Throughout the history of mankind, people have looked to others to help them figure out how to get by and survive their lives. In some cultures, people turn to their elders for advice since they have a lot more experience, and have seen many different situations and how they've played out. In other places, people just do a whole bunch of hallucinogenic drugs hoping to have a vision that will solve whatever problem they're dealing with at the time.

In American culture, we have strippers. Yes, much like the oracles of ancient Greece, we Americans prefer our advice to come from naked women who are probably just really, really high. That's why Cynthia Rodriguez should talk to one of her soon to be ex-husband's former ladies if she ever thinks of forgiving Alex.

Cheating Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez had a two-night stand with an ex-Centerfolds stripper while in town to play the Red Sox in 2004, and Candice Houlihan says A-Rod's wife "did the right thing" by filing for divorce yesterday.

"A leopard doesn't change his spots," Houlihan, now a Reading hairdresser, told the Track. "Good for her, I think she's doing the smart thing. And she'll probably get tons of cash."

It always comes back to money with strippers, doesn't it?

Though Cynthia isn't the only one getting advice, as a gigolo in Manhattan named Hugo told A-Rod last night not to worry about losing his wife because he has over $100 million and can "get all the booty a man could dream of. Being married is for guys who can't get any."

Jason Giambi is probably a deserving All-Star -- certainly more deserving than others on his team -- but it's no crime for one overpaid Yankee to stay home for the game. Boo-effing-hoo, right? The Yankees already have like 82 people on the All-Star team.

Still, there is part of me that wants to support Giambi's candidacy. It's not just because of his ability, or his numbers -- it's because of that 'stache. It's beautiful. In one of the great political endorsements of this tumultuous campaign year, the American Mustache Institute agrees with me:

The American Mustache Institute officially offered their support for Giambi's All-Star candidacy today. "It doesn't take a mathematician to figure out that Jason Giambi's hitting prowess plus a fashionable mustache, equals a bona fide All-Star," said Aaron Perlut, Executive Director of The American Mustache Institute. "Giambi's significant first-half production as well as his powerful lip fur – indicating great intellect and good looks – make two very compelling reasons for his place on the American League All-Star roster."

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised at the Institute's willingness to label Giambi's mustache as "lip fur." When we will we throw off these old politics and declare a new way, a way in which a beautifully grown mustache can not be so easily derided with cruel names? I say vote Giambi, and vote mustache. Yes, we can.

The Alex Rodriguez divorce story was officially announced late last night, but after the Madonna fiasco and the Lenny Kravitz nonsense -- seriously, man, Lenny Kravitz -- it was a foregone conclusion. It felt like old news. The one tidbit left to examine is Cynthia Rodriguez's claim that the couple's prenup may or may not be "legal." From the divorce papers' summary bulletin:

20. ANTENUPTIAL AGREEMENT: On October 3, 2002, the parties executed a "document" titled "Antenuptial Agreement". A determination as to the validity or enforceability of the agreement requires additional investigation and discovery.

See what Cynthia's lawyer did there? Very clever. It's not a document, it's a "document." If you put it in quotes, it might not exist!

Unfortunately for Cynthia, the prenup is probably legal -- were it not, one guesses the lawyers would be far more condemning here -- and the astronomical amount of money she's likely to receive from her soon-to-be-former husband is thus nominally reduced. It's cool though, 'cause Lenny Kravitz totally banks. Love + Revolution -- marketing like that simply does not fail.

I'm not going to read The Wire's obituary again, but if you don't know who David Simon is, he's one-half of the creative duo that breathed life into the best television show of the past decade, The Sopranos (arguably) excepted. He's also been labeled by The Atlantic as "The Angriest Man in Television," a title one imagines Simon is honored by.

Simon is also a baseball fan, and in this conversation with Washington Times writer Thom Loverro, Simon has a few words for Bud Selig and Major League Baseball. Specifically, that they can "kiss [his] pale, white ass,"

But let me say this about the official side of Major League Baseball: They can kiss my pale, white ass. Seriously. Although that sequence reflected in no negative way on baseball itself -- a reporter was making up a story about a handicapped fan for his own benefit -- MLB considered our request to film on stadium property and use MLB logos and then denied the request. Unless our drama pretty much exalts baseball as the greatest game ever played by the greatest bunch of people ever to play a game, MLB will not allow the use of its logos or facilities in any act of storytelling. I find this cowardly and venal and offensive. A game that claims to be the national pastime should be confident enough and respectful enough of independent storytelling to allow itself to be seen within the context of ordinary American life.

Fortunately for the show, the sequence Simon is referring to suffered little for MLB's obstinance. I can understand the league's desire to not be a target in The Wire's dangerously precise purview, but to deny an innocuous request like that one seems really weird. Then again, weird is just another day in Bud Selig's office.

One of my fondest wishes as a sports fan is that there can one day be a series between the Red Sox and Yankees that doesn't coincide with the beating of a fan of one team or the other. Especially when the beating occurs on the Fourth of July in front of the man's children.

Making it all the better, the genius squad that led the beatdown didn't even have any reason to believe that William Nestor, driving his family home from a fireworks display in Falmouth, Massachusetts, was a baseball fan, let alone a Yankee fan. Nestor was beaten with an aluminum bat because his car had New York plates.

"They were yelling, 'Yankees! Yankees!' and 'F - - - New York' " Nestor, 29, said. "When they saw the plates, they came at me.

"I didn't even know the Yankees and Red Sox were playing" this weekend, added Nestor, who's not a particularly big baseball fan.

Nestor is okay, thankfully, and police have arrested one man and charged him with assault. They are looking for his partner in crime.

At some point it would be awfully nice of Hank Steinbrenner and John Henry to make some kind of joint statement decrying this kind of behavior. While making sure to point out that plenty of people on both sides are prone to acting like idiots, the owners could make it clear that neither the Yankee Universe nor Red Sox Nation they are so fond of welcomes citizens of that sort.

If you aren't familiar with Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star (and his own excellent blog), then you should really take some time to rectify that. He's the best baseball writer going and his dispatch from a Sunday in Tampa is the latest reason why.

After the game, the Rays invite kids to run the bases and while they are impersonating Carl Crawford, the team plays baseball cartoons on the big screen. One of the cartoons is a homemade job which pits the brave Rays against the evil machinations of Dr. Stat.

But, believe it or not, that's not the hilarious part. No, the hilarious part is this: The villain they were trying to catch was someone named "Dr. Stat." No, really. It seems that Dr. Stat - and I'm quoting from the cartoon now - wants to "use his knowledge of useless statistics to destroy the game."

Yes, I'm completely serious here - I saw the thing twice. This Dr. Stat them appears on the Superfriends monitor, and he asks them who was the highest paid umpire in 1888. The Rays, of course, don't know, and they make it clear to him that it is a stupid and pointless question. Dr. Stat then says, "Wrong answer," and he says as punishment he will point his stat ray direction at Tropicana Field in order to make it impossible for people to enjoy the games.

You can watch the cartoon here and it's well worth your time.

Scott Kazmir will start the first game of the Yankees-Rays series at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. I think it's a municipal law that anytime Kazmir and New York City are mentioned in close company, there must be a mention of Victor Zambrano sometime in the next 12 words. It seems the Yankees want to stay on the good side of John Law.

According to the Daily News, they are sending a scout to watch Zambrano throw this week as part of their search for pitching to replace the injured Chien-Ming Wang in the rotation. Desperation is obviously getting the best of the Yankees. Baseball appears to have figured out Darrell Rasner, Sidney Ponson is living on borrowed time and C.C. Sabathia ain't walking through that door.

Still, they may be better served by taping Carl Pavano up and rolling his sack of bones out there. Zambrano didn't make the Rockies out of spring training and went 0-6 with a 9.45 ERA in AAA before earning his release. And, as any Met fan will be happy to tell you, it's not as if he was a particularly good pitcher at any point.

What's the enduring lesson of this entire story? Teach your sons, righty or lefty, how to pitch because no matter how terrible they turn out, someone will give them a shot.

The story that will not die just gained another nine lives -- Alex Rodriguez's wife, Cynthia, is officially suing for divorce, according to both the Miami Herald and the far more reputable TMZ. (AOL! Woo!) You can probably guess the reasons for the divorce: A-Rod's "alleged" extramarital affairs, not least of which may or may not involve Madonna. Cynthia's lawyer scored the first blows:

Cynthia Rodriguez's lawyer tells TMZ, "A-Rod may be an All-Star baseball player, but he's flunked the All-Star team as far as marriage is concerned." Lilly says, "We're not gonna lose this case." He acknowledges a prenup exists but it's "too early" to decide if he'll challenge it. He says there will be a "huge settlement" in the case but "not hundreds of millions of dollars." Lilly says A-Rod's estate is "vast ... beyond what anyone knows."

Madonna will not be specifically named in the divorce papers. Lilly says infidelity is a "major cause" for the divorce, but not because of any one allegation. Rather, he says, there were a series of dalliances and "Madonna was the last straw." Lilly says Cynthia did not have an affair with Lenny Kravitz and that her relationship with him is "totally innocent and puristic."

So, to recap: A-Rod does have a prenup (phew!), but doesn't have a guarantee that he's not going to get taken for millions (doh!). Also, Cynthia says her relationship with relatively horrible pop singer Lenny Kravitz is "totally puristic." Right. So is writing about this story for money. So puristic, in fact, that I think I'll go take a cold shower.

Maybe the All-Star Game is a meaningless to the players and just an excuse for Bud Selig to admire himself for a week. That doesn't mean that the selections should be stupid. Today, the MLB 'Haus gives you All-Star Grievances.

Grievance: The lack of Devil Rays and overcompensation of Sawx and Yanks. I understand that the ASG is getting played in New York and that the Yankees and Red Sox have the two best records in all of baseball ... oh, what's that? I'm sorry. I haven't been watching ESPN all week while they tried to somehow play out the Rays before the All Star Break, so I had no idea they had the best record in baseball.

Grievance: Jason Varitek. Players are S-M-R-T. It's fairly annoying that the players -- and not the fans! -- can do things like let Varitek start for the All Star Game. Vegas Watch probably said it best.

Grievance: Joe Crede over Evan Longoria. Longoria has been in the bigs less time this season and his totals are just far and away better than Crede's. Which makes all of this (meaning his selection) pretty redonk. Also: MORE RAYS, please.