Scott Miller

SAN DIEGO -- When he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers a few weeks into spring training, his first words were, "I'm baaaack."

At 3 p.m. PDT Friday, Manny Ramirez walked into a news conference here and announced, "Showtime!"

Freed to enter a major-league ballpark following his 50-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs, Ramirez, penciled in to bat third for tonight's game against the Padres, apologized to fans and teammates for "not being there."

But it clearly is an uncomfortable Ramirez who is back, and it's clear that he's not providing any details on anything related to steroids.

"I'm not talking about my criminal record," he joked at one point during the 12-minute news conference.

Asked right out of the gate when he started using steroids and what his regimen was, Ramirez deflected the question.

"First I want to say God is good and good is God," Ramirez replied, with agent Scott Boras sitting to his right. "I'm happy to be here. I missed the game. I'm happy to play."

Asked what he would say to the fans, he was vague.

"I want to say I'm sorry to the fans and to my teammates," Ramirez said. "They are always there for me. I'd like to thank (Dodgers owner) Frank McCourt for his support."

He said the general reaction to him has "been great everywhere I go. People are there for me. They gave me support. It hasn't been that bad."

Asked what he was sorry for, Ramirez demurred.

"I'm not getting into that," he said. "If you want to talk about the game. ... Not being there for (teammates). Not being able to play the game. I'm a huge part of the Dodgers. ... When I say I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Asked specifically whether he was sorry for taking steroids, Ramirez said: "I already answered that question, sir."

Manager Joe Torre has Ramirez batting third and Andre Ethier fourth tonight.

Perhaps part of Ramirez's apology should be directly to Ethier.

"I think his batting average suffered because of (Manny's) absence," said Torre, who also attended Ramirez's "news" conference. "I think he put a lot of pressure on himself."

Ramirez made it clear he is happy to be back.

Did he learn anything? Sure, he said.

"What I learned is if you do the right thing, you never have to look back," he said. "That's what I learned."

It isn't often that a team in contention experiments on the fly. But it also isn't often that a club like the Seattle Mariners has an in-between situation like Brandon Morrow's.

The 24-year-old right-hander, transitioning from the bullpen to the rotation, made his third start on Wednesday night against San Diego, threw 87 pitches and continued to build his endurance.

Morrow has provoked fierce debate in Seattle since the Mariners picked him in the first round of the 2005 draft and then installed him as their set-up man to break him into the majors in 2007. When the Mariners fell to 61-101 last year and the back end of the bullpen became less important, many folks began to rightly view Morrow's arm as being wasted.

The Mariners, thinking along the same lines under new general manager Jack Zduriencik, were going to stretch him out and make him a starter this spring. But Morrow missed some time with forearm tightness and that, combined with a bullpen that wasn't taking shape at the time, caused the Mariners to put him back in the pen to open the season.

Flash forward two months, and David Aardsma has emerged as a solid closer (15 saves), Sean White and Mark Lowe have proven serviceable and the Mariners' bullpen ranks second in the American League with a 3.16 ERA.

What the Mariners need now are starters. And that's what Morrow has decided he'd like to be.

"We realize he's a young guy with a very talented arm who needs to develop his pitches," Zduriencik says. "You're not going to do that in the closer's role. We made the decision to get Brandon more innings."

With Erik Bedard out with a sore shoulder and, a couple of weeks ago, with Jarrod Washburn nursing a pulled muscle in his back, it made sense to begin breaking Morrow into the rotation. Currently, manager Don Wakamatsu and pitching coach Rick Adair are limiting Morrow to somewhere around 95 pitches. He threw 87 in Wednesday's no-decision against San Diego.

Chris Jakubauskus, who made eight starts earlier this season for the Mariners, effectively is tag-teaming with Morrow, taking the baton from him in each of his three starts this month.

"There's no question he has the ability," Zduriencik says of Morrow.

Now, the goal?

"At the end of the year we want to say, 'He has X amount of innings, and he's pitched enough for us that we know what he can do,'" Zduriencik says.

Complicating matters, Morrow has diabetes. That brings up questions of just what Morrow's endurance will be as a starter.

Those answers, though, will come later. What the Mariners know right now is they have a young man who throws 97 mph and has a whole lot of potential. They also know they have a handful of other young pitchers who are looking for a permanent niche: Jakubauskus, White, Garrett Olson, Shawn Kelly and Mark Lowe in particular.

"They're trying to figure out exactly what they are," says Zduriencik, who has done an exceptional job in hurrying along the Mariners' rebuilding efforts. "They're fitting into their roles very nicely right now.

"We have a lot of nice arms here. A lot of talented guys. In Brandon's case in particular, he just needs to pitch. And we're making an attempt to get him that opportunity."

Likes: Johan Santana vs. Chris Carpenter on Thursday. ... A new haircut and a home run for Detroit's Magglio Ordonez, within 24 hours of each other. It was a career high 40-game homerless drought for Ordonez, who is auctioning off his hair on eBay for charity. Great line by manager Jim Leyland, too: "If I had hair like that, I'd still be single." ... Excellent (and poignant) piece here at Athletics Nation on the A's 1989 World Series trophy and how it rings hollow today, particularly within the recent and poorly attended 1989 celebration and the Jose Canseco-Carney Lansford war of words. Ugly, ugly, ugly. ...

Dislikes: Sleep well, Farrah. I'll always remember you on the wall of my room as a grade schooler. Me and thousands of others.

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"I took my baby to the doctor
"With a fever, but nothing he found
"By the time this hit the street
"They said she had a breakdown
"Someone's always tryin'
"To start my baby cryin'
"Talkin', squealin', lyin'
"Sayin' you just wanna be starting something"

-- Michael Jackson, Wanna Be Starting Something

OK, now. Let's see. To write and post a blog. ...

How does this computer thing work again?

Forgive me if I seem a little tentative. See, I've been without my laptop for the past week or so. It was blasted by a foul ball while I was working in San Diego's Petco Park last Wednesday, sending it immediately to the disabled list and me scrambling.

Ah, the joys -- and hazards -- of making your living as a baseball writer.

San Diego catcher Nick Hundley was the culprit. He sliced a foul ball against Seattle that came rocketing straight back toward the press box at warp speed. I mean, it was screaming.

I saw the ball whistling straight at me, so I did what pretty much anybody from a working stiff to a fourth grader would do in the computer age: I immediately risked life and limb to protect the doggone laptop.

You were thinking, "Duck"?

Or, perhaps, "Try and catch it, dummy"?

No dice on either of those.

What I did was wrap my right arm in front of the laptop, positioning myself to block the ball from making a crash landing. The plan, devised in, oh, a split-second, was to knock the ball down with my hand.

Result?

It was sort of like Texas catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia attempting to corral Jason Jennings' sinker with the Giants' Nate Schierholz on third base and the score tied in the 11th inning in San Francisco on Saturday night. Wild pitch, Schierholz scored, game over.

The ball was sinking so quickly I didn't get my hand down in time. I missed. The baseball smashed into the back of the computer screen. Game over.

In this case, E-W didn't mean the magazine Entertainment Weekly. No, it was E-Writer. Though several colleagues sitting near me in the press box enthusiastically commented on what a good thing it was that I did miss, otherwise I may have a broken hand.

Instead, it was just the laptop screen.

Fortunately, the hard drive stuff was fine. And my friend Tim lent me a monitor, which, when plugged into my laptop, at least allowed me to see stuff on that screen.

The Dell technician came by the house on Tuesday and installed a new screen, and 15 minutes later, presto. I was portable again. I can actually bring my laptop with me to the ballpark and work there. What a thing.

I'm telling you, it was six harrowing days.

Meantime, two days after the, uh, incident, the Padres placed Hundley on the disabled list with a bruised wrist.

They couldn't have done that 48 hours earlier?

Likes: Glad to see Jim Tracy get another chance to manage. After the way things ended for him in Pittsburgh, you bet he's thrilled to get another opportunity in Colorado. ... Love to see the way Juan Pierre, one of the best and hardest-working guys around, has taken advantage of the absence of Manny Ramirez. ... Blueberries in the summer. There are few better things. ... Caught up with a rash of music-related DVDs lately and highly recommend Neil Young's Heart of Gold, the Jonathan Demme-directed concert video shot at the legendary Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. . ... Also enjoyed I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, the documentary tracking the band Wilco through the making of its classic disc, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Very interesting behind-the-scenes stuff regarding how a band writes songs, puts an album together and then deals with record companies.

Dislikes: The Manny Ramirez circus in Albuquerque. Good for the baseball fans in that city that they get to see a superstar in person. And when he returns to the Dodgers, I'm sure I'll be writing plenty about it. But though I considered flying to Albuquerque for Manny's games there this week, I'll be damned if I'm going to join the circus and feed the hype before I have to.

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"There's bourbon on the breath
of the singer you love so much
He takes all his words from the books
that you don't read anyway"

-- Wilco, Poor Places

But I heard this story that Tony Gwynn Jr. parked his vehicle at his parents' house before heading out to spring training this year, asked dad to start it to keep the battery charged, and when he returned home following his May 21 trade to San Diego his ride was ... dead.

"Oh, that was happening every year," Gwynn Jr. says, chuckling. "I leave my car with my parents because I don't like leaving it at my house when I'm gone, and I need somebody to start my car."

Good plan, right?

Go on, young Mr. Gwynn.

"They have enough cars as it is and they can't really put it in the garage, so they leave it outside by where the sprinkers are," Gwynn Jr. says. "And the sprinklers run over it all the time. And I come back every year and it never fails. My car doesn't start. My parents have forgotten to start it, or they can't find the keys, or something happens. All the time.

"But it's funny because I remember having to drive down to the ballpark (as a kid) plenty of times with my uncle to go down and start dad's car and make sure it was running, make sure it didn't go dead while he was on the road trip. Now the favor needs to be returned and. ..."

And, the engine is deader than Benjamin Franklin.

"This time it was that they weren't expecting me until September," Gwynn Jr. said, grinning. "But I appreciate them, though. They do a good job taking care of a lot of stuff."

So let the record show:

Tony Gwynn Sr. won eight batting titles, tying Honus Wagner for most ever in the National League.

But, apparently, he's 0-fer in keeping his son's car running during the seasons since Tony Jr. was drafted in 2003.

"What he didn't tell you was that he's got a gigantic gangsta speaker in the back of his trunk that sucks the life out of his battery," Gwynn Sr. says, laughing. "That's why it didn't start. We start it every week.

"Now, it did sit outside and get dirty. But to be honest, we didn't expect him back until September. I'd have had it cleaned and washed by then. But the truth of the matter is, he's got one of those big, ol' speakers that sucks the life out of the battery.

"Hey, I'll take the blame. That's what mom and dad are for. We have to take the hits, and that's fine.

"But when it didn't start, guess whose car he took? Dad's. And I said, 'Go for it.'"

Likes: Love the old-fashioned stirrups Arizona State was wearing during the Sun Devils' College World Series game against Texas on Monday.

Dislikes: Dontrelle Willis, struggling badly.

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"So baby, don't expect to see me
"With no double martini in any high-brow society news
"'Cause I got them steadily depressin', lowdown mind-messin'
"Workin' at the car wash blues"

-- Jim Croce, Workin' at the Car Wash Blues

So Sammy Sosa tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to the latest leak from Billboard's Hot 104 -- the anonymous list of players testing positive for PEDs during '03 that, in February, turned up Alex Rodriguez.

So maybe he was simply using the PED's "for batting practice -- just to put on a show for the fans. ... I like to make people happy and I do that in batting practice."

No, wait. That was what Sammy said in June, '03, after being caught using a corked bat during a Cubs-Tampa Bay game in what has turned out to be one of the most memorable moments Interleague Play has given us.

As years go, 2003 seems to be a particularly bad (and guilty) one for the man whose 66 home runs in 1998 never looked so small.

No telling what else will be uncovered about Sammy's Summer of '03. But I hope I'm on some deserted island when it happens, because the garbage just keeps rolling in with the tide where I'm at now.

Say it ain't So(sa)!

Truthfully, this falls into the "dog bites man" category of surprises. The summer of 1998 now looks like a failed romance with a girl so far out of your league that you feel stupid every time you look back. Mark McGwire doesn't want to talk about the past. And Sammy Sosa, with Monday's New York Times report, now is doomed by it.

Just another day at the ballpark.

A-Rod, Sosa ... drip, drip, drip.

Only 102 names left to be leaked.

Two springs ago, then-Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden looked me squarely in the eye during a conversation around the batting cage and uttered this declaration:

"Manny Acta one day will be a Hall of Fame manager."

He could not have been more earnest.

I did not write it because it was ludicrous on so many levels.

But with Acta pretty much reaching his expiration date as the Nationals' skipper, that statement is so apropos today in explaining a lot of things about how a Montreal Expos club turned into a disgrace by major-league baseball's stewardship has become an even bigger disgrace.

That Bowden could be so delusional to even say such a thing when the sample size of Acta's career was so miniscule (he had managed in the majors just one season at that point) helps explain many of the other decisions he passed off as sound during his time as GM.

That the Lerner family, owner of the Nationals, could allow a man with the gall to make such half-cocked assessments to remain in charge of running the show for four seasons helps explain why the Nationals currently are challenging the 1962 New York Mets for baseball ignominy.

Unless or until he gets another job, we'll never truly know how good -- or bad -- of a manager Acta is because evaluating his work with the mismatched cast of characters he was given to work with is impossible.

He was one of the hottest commodities on the managerial market when he was a third-base coach with the New York Mets. He was respected in the clubhouse. As a manager, he was always prepared. Surely, he's better than the ship that wound up taking him down.

But a Hall of Fame manager? Those were brazen words, even from Bowden. And, I thought, unfair to Acta. Here was a guy attempting to get his managerial feet on the ground with a club that was, at minimum, several years away from legitimately contending.

As things turned out, he had his hands full. He tried to leave his imprint, benching a Felipe Lopez here and a Ryan Church there when they didn't hustle. In each of the past two seasons, Acta ranked second among major-league managers in pinch-hitters used. But, as they say, you can't make chicken salad out of chicken ... .

The one thing that I thought did not reflect well on Acta was that his team often looked disinterested and arrogant. A coach with a major-league team asked me about it last year, then proceeded to rip the Nationals for the way they casually got on and off the field, often at little more than walking pace. This coach said it was one of the most unprofessional teams he had ever seen.

Acta probably could have ranted and raved more than he did, but given the cast of characters and reprobates he was handed, would it have mattered? I doubt it.

He did what he could with what little he had. In the end, he certainly did enough to warrant another crack at this managing gig.

I don't know that he's Hall of Fame material. But he's certainly better than a misguided organization made him look.

Likes: Excellent blog work from the Kansas City Star's Sam Mellinger, who, in following up Shin-Soo Choo's winning hit off of a seagull last Thursday in Cleveland's Progressive Field, dropped a note to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Mellinger writes of the response from Dan Shannon, PETA's assistant director of youth outreach and campaigns: "PETA is just glad the bird is OK. Talk about having to take one for the team. But if Shin-Soo Choo wants to make amends, he could drop by his local animal shelter for a few hours to make it up to the animal kingdom." Quips Mellinger: "So, to review: Maximum sentence for bouncing a game-winning single off a seagull: 2 hours community service." ... Eric Arnett, Milwaukee's first-round pick out of Indiana University, was very impressive during the few minutes I saw him in the television booth on Sunday before he sets out for rookie ball in Montana. Very well-spoken and clean-cut young man. He was even wearing a tie.

Dislikes: Hate to see Toronto's Roy Halladay suffer a groin strain in the midst of a sensational start to 2009 (10-1, 2.52 ERA). Right now he's only expected to have his next start pushed back a few days. I hope that optimistic report is true and he avoids the disabled list. It's a crime that he's never started an All-Star Game. I know it's early but, right now, he deserves this year's start.

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"Well, we got no class
"And we got no principals
"And we got no innocence
"We can't even think of a word that rhymes"

-- Alice Cooper, School's Out

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- After nearly eight months of rumors, Jake Peavy may be off the trade market this summer.

The Padres will place their ace right-hander on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with an ankle injury that could sideline him for as long as three months, well past the July 31 trade deadline. At the very least, he's not expected to return until after the July 15 All-Star Game.

Peavy, who was hurt while running the bases on May 22, was diagnosed with a strained tendon in his right foot. Technically, it's a strain of the posterior tibialis, a muscle that starts under the tibia and runs behind the ankle and attaches to the navicular, one of the main bones in the arch.

The Padres say there is some tearing in the muscle and tendon and that Peavy will wear a cast for two to four weeks. He is in a hard cast now and will be re-evaluated after two weeks, at which point he will either switch to a walking boot or, if the healing hasn't progressed far enough, he'll remain in a hard cast.

Best-case scenario is that Peavy can return in about a month, but there's no question the club is concerned it could be longer.

"It could be eight weeks, easy," Todd Hutcheson, San Diego's head athletic trainer, said Friday before the Padres opened a series against the Los Angeles Angels. "It could be 12 weeks if things don't come along as fast as we'd like them to.

"It's a little, tiny muscle, but it sure makes a difference in how his leg works.

"We've got to make sure we do the right thing."

Peavy first felt a twinge in the foot while rounding third on May 22 following a Tony Gwynn double when, thinking he could score, he instead made a quick stop.

"My ankle slid a little," Peavy said. "I didn't feel anything jarring. It was just a little uncomfortable."

Peavy didn't even mention anything to the training staff until the next day, when the pain continued and he thought he had injured his Achilles tendon. With heavy treatment, he made his next three starts. But the pain in his foot continued.

"I know it hurt and I wasn't 100 percent, but I thought I was good enough to be out there," Peavy said.

To a degree, it was: It has not bothered him when he's moving forward in his delivery to the plate.

"I can move forward, but it really bothers me if I have to run to my side or angle over to cover first," he said.

Though Peavy and the club both say the pitcher did not further damage his foot by attempting to pitch with the pain, the determination was finally made following an MRI exam on Friday that he could inflict further damage  if he continues to push it.

"It could get worse if he's not able to plant (the foot properly)," Hutcheson said. "If you can't stabilize the foot, then your mechanics are going to change, and if you change your mechanics you risk (an arm injury)."

The injury not only is a blow to the Padres, who were 28-31 and 11 games behind first-place Los Angeles in the National League West entering Friday night's game, on the field, but also in the trade market. The club remains roughly $5 million over its self-imposed $40 million budget and has been attempting to deal Peavy since November.

Ironically, this injury occurred on May 22, the day Peavy formally rejected the Padres' attempt to trade him to the Chicago White Sox.

Largely overlooked in the conversation over whether or not the Washington Nationals will be able to sign first-overall pick Stephen Strasburg is this:

The Nats currently are on pace to easily finish with the worst record in the majors. If they do, they will again pick No. 1 overall in next summer's draft.

If, at the same time, they fail to sign Strasburg, then they will get a compensatory pick in 2010 -- as they did this year (No. 10 overall pick), when they failed to sign their first-round choice from last year, pitcher Aaron Crow.

This happens, the Nats could wind up with both the Nos. 1 and 2 picks in the 2010 draft.

Of course, it would be small consolation. They would be skewered by the many in the media and by their rapidly diminishing fan base in the interim for failing to sign first-round picks in two consecutive years. And the failures would seriously slow the development of their major-league club, such as it is.

But if Strasburg's "advisor", Scott Boras, demands a Daisuke Matsuzaka-like $50 million deal and will not come down, all will not be lost if the Nats stand firm and refuse to pay.

Besides, after Strasburg sits out the year and cools his heels with some independent league team, the Nats could even pick him again next year with one of those first two picks. But Strasburg would have to consent.

Beginning with the start of the 10th inning of all games in Petco Park, second base becomes home plate.

You think I'm kidding? Ha! YOU try sitting through an 18-inning game, the kind of which randomly but regularly occur in the Padres' cavernous home park.

The Padres and Arizona played an 18-inning game Sunday, which ended with San Diego shortstop Josh Wilson "pitching" the 18th and surrendering a three-run homer to Mark Reynolds.

This after the Padres and Cincinnati played a 16-inning game on May 16.

Last year, the Padres and Reds played an 18-inning game. Also last year, the Padres and Colorado played a 22-inning game.

As for Sunday's 5-hour, 45-minute affair, the longest game in the majors this season both by innings and by time, the Padres scored five runs in the ninth to send the game into overtime.

And then four Arizona relievers held San Diego hitless from the 10th inning on, becoming, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the first group of relievers to throw nine consecutive no-hit innings in a game since July 29, 1995, when the Kansas City bullpen held Detroit hitless over the last nine innings of Detroit's 16-inning win.

So mark down Arizona's Jon Rauch, Esmerling Vasquez, Clay Zavada and Leo Rosales next to Kansas City's immortal Four Horsemen of Gregg Olson, Jeff Montgomery, Billy Brewer and Hipolito Pichardo.

Wilson, meanwhile, previously had made pitching appearances for Tampa Bay in 2007 and Arizona earlier this season. According to Elias, he is the first position player to "pitch" for three different clubs in the majors since John Cangelosi (1988 Pirates, 1995 Astros and 1997 Marlins).

The extra innings are stacking up in Petco, where fans are in serious need of rescue dogs once the ninth innings end scoreless and the game enters the Black Hole.

Likes: Fun watching Atlanta's Tommy Hanson in his debut Sunday. ... This fascinating story regarding novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby). ... Basic Pizza in San Diego. Great thin crust in the style of New Haven, Conn., pizza. The basic pie with mozzarella and basil is killer.

Dislikes: Aw, they started the final phase of the demolition of Tiger Stadium on Black Monday. Sniff, sniff.

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"Well you walk into a restaurant,
"Strung out from the road
"And you feel the eyes upon you
"As you're shakin' off the cold
"You pretend it doesn't bother you
"But you just want to explode
"Most times you can't hear 'em talk,
"Other times you can
"All the same old cliches,
"Is that a woman or a man?"
"And you always seem outnumbered,
"You don't dare make a stand"

-- Bob Seger, Turn the Page

While Randy Johnson basks in the afterglow of career win No. 300, the only pitcher in the majors older than the Big Unit heads to the mound in Dodger Stadium this evening in pursuit of career win No. 251.

No small feat, either, for Philadelphia's Jamie Moyer, 46, who appears close to getting back on track after a miserable beginning to the season, pitching reasonably well in his past three starts (1-2, 4.00 ERA).

And with the streaking Phillies reeling off a seven-game winning streak and opening up a four-game NL East lead over the New York Mets, there isn't quite the sense of urgency that there was earlier when it seemed as if the roof were caving in on the soft-tossing left-hander.

You don't pitch this long in the majors, though, without developing a philosophical side. And while he's confident that the wreckage of his first seven starts (8.15 ERA) is behind him, Moyer says he never reached panic time.

"It's happened to me before in my career and it's probably happened to everyone on the field," Moyer says. "Obviously, you want to minimize the struggles. For some, it's knocked them out of the game. For some, it's been a character-builder.

"You struggle for a reason. Sometimes it's unknown."

Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee has at least an idea as to why the struggles.

"Jamie likes to tinker a lot," Dubee says, smiling. "Some of the tinkering led to difficulties with his arm angle and with his arm slot.

"But (tinkering) is probably why Jamie Moyer has been around for 23 years. He's always looking for some kind of edge."

He also spent a lot of time looking at an unusual career souvenir at home in Bradenton, Fla., over the winter.

Remember those television shots and photos of Moyer carrying the dug-up pitching rubber around like a bagged hunting trophy in the immediate aftermath of the Phillies' World Series triumph last October?

Well, the pitching rubber -- which measures 18 inches long and some four-to-six inches deep -- is displayed on a shelf in the bedroom of he and wife Karen at home.

"It's pretty cool," he says. "I have it in the bedroom so I can look at it when I go to sleep and again when I wake up in the morning. It brings back a lot of good memories."

He has a second pitching rubber, dug up after his Seattle Mariners tied a major-league record with their 116th regular season victory back in 2001, on display at the house the family still owns in Seattle.

Likes: Saturday afternoon games. ... The days when pitchers were men and, doggone it, stayed on the mound -- like this old game from Monroe, Mich., in 1968. ... The opening sketch from Conan O'Brien's first Tonight Show on Monday, was classic. He "realized" he forgot to move from New York to Los Angeles, and when he couldn't catch a cab outside of his New York office building, he started running and ran all the way west to Los Angeles. Very funny. Letterman is still where it's at, though. ... New album from Jimmy Buffett on the way this fall, Buffet Hotel. That's always good news. ...

Dislikes: One day very soon, the Yankees are going to figure out a way to install each of their exalted players inside of a personalized, portable, plastic bubble so that they can move about without ever having to suffer the indignity of coming into contact with common, everyday street trash like you ... and the fans who actually, uh, support them. The latest evidence.

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"Thirteen's my lucky number
"To you it means stay inside
"Black cat done crossed my path
"No reason to run and hide
"You're looking through a cracked mirror
"No one really knows the reason why
"Your enemies are gettin' nearer
"Gonna hang down your head and cry"

-- Social Distortion, Bad Luck

And so it ends not with a bang, but with a whimper for Atlanta icon Tom Glavine.

Six scoreless innings in a minor-league injury-rehabilitation start Tuesday night, his velocity back up into the low-to-mid-80s and, poof. Released.

John Smoltz and now Glavine in the same year.

Thanks for the memories, fellas.

Business is cold, and the game moves on, and that's life.  What rudely interrupted Glavine's homecoming in Atlanta is the fact the Braves' offense remains sluggish and the rotation has come together very well. Probably better than they hoped, given the progress of rookie Kris Medlen and given the fact that phenom Tommy Hanson is waiting in the wings.

The Braves' staff ERA of 4.08 ranks tied for fifth in the National League. Jair Jurrjens, having an All-Star season, currently ranks sixth in the NL with a 2.59 ERA. Javier Vazquez ranks third in the NL with 86 strikeouts. Derek Lowe has six wins. Kenshin Kawakami looks like he can help. Medlen held Arizona to one run over six innings in Atlanta's 9-3 win Sunday.

This isn't to say that Atlanta's pitching is flawless. But it's been pretty darned good. And when Hanson arrives, it'll be better.

There simply is no longer room in Atlanta for a 43-year-old, rehabbing lefty who, by his own admission, is well past his peak. Especially given what the Braves really need, and now we'll see whether Nate McLouth, the speedy outfielder acquired from Pittsburgh can give it to them.

Sad, given that there is nobody more classy than Glavine in the game. But true.

If he wants to hang around, there are plenty of clubs looking for pitching. Philadelphia, the New York Mets (look out for the cab rides, Tommy!), the Chicago White Sox. ...

And if he doesn't, well, think about this: Now he and Greg Maddux will be in the same Hall of Fame class, eligible for induction together.

That would be pretty cool.

With Khalil Greene fighting to save his career in St. Louis, some of his ex-teammates say that the social-anxiety disorder that appears to be devouring him was evident only in very small doses when he played in San Diego.

"Maybe it was evident here and there but, in my opinion, no more than any other player," Padres starter Chris Young said Monday. "That doesn't mean it hasn't been eating him up inside."

Greene, batting .200 with seven errors, was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Cardinals on Friday with stress-related issues that have only worsened during his first year in St. Louis.

Joe Strauss, in Sunday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, writes "Greene's condition causes incessant anxiety based on a fear of failure that feeds his self-consciousness. Unable to channel his emotions, the resulting frustration makes him prone to physical and verbal outbursts in front of teammates. ... The self-punishment and the screams from within the dugout tunnel brought him only passing relief while jarring those around him."

"We all saw bits and pieces of that when he was here," Padres ace Jake Peavy said. "Khalil was a great teammate and is a great friend. He's as talented as anybody I've ever played with. The guy hit (27) home runs two years ago, and he's as good as any player I've ever seen play shortstop."

Greene, 29, always has been a streaky hitter but still knocked out four seasons ranging from fairly productive to exceptional with the Padres between 2004 and 2008. He peaked in '07, when he slammed 27 homers and collected 97 RBI. He also committed only 11 errors in 690 total chances that summer.

He never could get untracked in 2008, however, and the frustration boiled over when he suffered a broken left hand while slamming an equipment trunk in late July. He finished with the lowest batting average of his career, .213, and eight errors in 443 total chances.

"That thing that happened last year can happen to anybody in this game," Padres outfielder Brian Giles said of Greene's broken hand. "It happens. That's what makes this game so unique. It's a game of failure. And it's all about trying to control the mental side of failing."

Always exceptionally quiet, Greene, whose long, blonde hair reminded many of the surfer character Jeff Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, was a fan favorite early in his career in San Diego. By the time he was traded to St. Louis last winter, though, he seemed more misunderstood than anything.

"He's so quiet," Giles said. "You feel for him. Baseball is just a game. It's just a piece of your life. He's such a good guy. You hope he can find a way to deal with it and get back on the field.

"I feel for him. I'll probably give him a call. The guys that played here with him, we've got his back."

Said Young: "Khalil is a great guy and and I hate to see him going through this. Every player comes up the tunnel every now and then and lets off steam. I didn't see Khalil doing that more than anybody else.

"I've had some of my best conversations in baseball with him, just sitting in the sauna or clubhouse, about life in general. He's an extremely smart guy. I wish him the best."

Things went especially sour for Greene with the Padres when the club late last season attempted to dock him two months' salary for the time he missed in August and September because his injury was self-induced. The club has filed a grievance attempting to recoup up to $1.47 million in salary. A hearing is expected to be held sometime in August when the Cardinals and Padres play (so that officials from the Padres and Greene can attend).

"I just hope those guys over there support him and are good teammates," Peavy said of the Cardinals. "I think we all would love for him to get past this thing so that the game of baseball can get the Khalil that everyone knows back."

Likes: Hitting streaks. What a hoot it would be to see someone seriously chasing Joe DiMaggio's record 56-gamer. Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki jacked his up to 25 games Monday night. But you know what? They all seem to die right around the 30-game mark. ... The excitement Matt Wieters has brought to Baltimore. ... Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown rocks. ... Henry Poole Is Here is very quirky, very interesting and worth renting. ... The Girlfriend Experience? It's OK, but I wouldn't rush out to see it. Interesting concept. Could have been painful if it didn't get the job done in a Greg Maddux-like 77 minutes. ... Kemo Sabe, an Asian-Southwestern-fusion restaurant in San Diego's Hillcrest area. The blackened jerk chicken with plantains over the weekend was tremendous, as was my wife's Ahi tuna/calamari/salmon sampler dish.

Dislikes: Khalil Greene is a good dude, and I hope the Cardinals are patient and helpful with him and that the poor guy figures things out. ... Cleveland's Grady Sizemore and Texas' Josh Hamilton on the sidelines. The game is better when they're in the lineup. ... The Mets' J.J. Putz in the eighth inning. It seemed like a no-brainer. ...

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"Back in the days of shock and awe
"We came to liberate them all
"History was the cruel judge of overconfidence
"Back in the days of shock and awe"

-- Neil Young, Shock and Awe

Outside of two fantastic months in 2007, the Colorado Rockies have been as irrelevant as any team in the majors. Whether Friday's sacking of manager Clint Hurdle will change any of that, I don't know.

What I do know is this: Judging from past directional changes in Colorado, odds are, it won't.

Even counting their World Series season in '07, heading into Friday night's series opener with San Diego, the Rockies stood at 117 games under .500 since Dan O'Dowd became general manager in 2000.

They have finished with a losing record in seven of the past eight years and in nine of the last 11. They have finished either in last place or next-to-last in 13 of their 16 seasons. And at a major-league-worst 14 games back in the division right now, they're poised to add to it.

Even under new skipper Jim Tracy.

What got Hurdle gone is that, even measured against this historical sad-sack level of play, this year's Rockies are lagging. Take away the Dodgers, and the rest of the NL West stinks worse than the dumpster outside of a fish market. Yet the Rockies still can't help but belly up to the underachiever's bar.

Both Hurdle and O'Dowd entered '09 in the final year of their contracts, and if Troy Tulowitzki doesn't snap out of his slumber sometime soon, it might be O'Dowd's turn to say the next farewell. Tulowitzki, awarded a six-year, $31 million deal that takes him through 2013, has been awful.

One of the main questions asked all season in Colorado has been, "Is Tulo pressing?" and, whether the answer is "maybe a little" or "Hell, yeah!", there's no getting around the fact that his numbers directly relate to the Rockies' dive and Hurdle's axing: He has just three hits in 38 at-bats with runners in scoring position, and recently just snapped an 0-for-27 skid in those situations. Tulowitzki currently owns a .318 on-base percentage, a .393 slugging percentage, a .227 batting average and 34 whiffs.

He's not alone. Garrett Atkins (.195, three home runs), Ian Stewart (.187), Clint Barmes (.234), former closer Manny Corpas (6.65 ERA) ... the list of culprits is a long one.

And it extends upstairs to the owner's suite: In trading free-agent-to-be Matt Holliday over the winter, the Rockies were implicitly signing a non-compete clause. Again: The NL West reeks. It wasn't going to take that much to stay in contention this summer (especially when building the team last winter, before it was a given that the Dodgers would re-sign Manny Ramirez and bag Orlando Hudson). Clearly, winning is not at the top of the Monfort family's to-do list.

Two years ago, I wondered how the Rockies could justify extending the contracts of Hurdle and O'Dowd through 2009. Six months later, they capped the best season in their history by winning an incredible 21 of 22 games and storming into the World Series.

What that is now, though, is the exception to the norm. And an organization that has changed directions more often than Magellan over the past decade sets sail in a new one yet again.s

Likes: Clint Hurdle is a good man and I hate to see him go. After I ripped the Rockies in the '07 column linked to above, he confronted me a couple of months later and it was the beginning of an entertaining give-and-take, which I detailed in this column from October, 2007. We both share a passion for music and we even exchanged a few CDs after that. I'm listening to one he gave me, Neil Young's Chrome Dreams II, as I write this. In fact, when I last saw him earlier this month, I asked him what he thought of The Hold Steady's Stay Positive. It was after an interview as the Rockies were scuffling, and he misunderstood at first and said, "Oh, I'm staying positive." Knowing Hurdle, he still is today, too. Even as ex-manager of the Rockies.

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"You don't care who you aggravate
"You don't care who you alienate
"I'm tired of your heart of stone
"I just want to be left alone
"Lesson learned
"Bridge burned
"That's why
"I say so long, I'm gone, goodbye"

-- Stone Coyotes, So Long, I'm Gone, Goodbye

Maybe the Chicago Cubs are right and they've been hosed by a rash of bad umpire calls lately.

Or maybe they're dead wrong and totally delusional.

Whatever, one thing could not be more clear in the midst of the emotion:

The Cubs are going to have to get a grip, because there is no way they can win this battle.

While Carlos Zambrano's sensational meltdown against Pittsburgh on Wednesday will be grist for video highlights and high entertainment the rest of this season and beyond, it was the Cubs' third major incident with an umpire in the past four days.

One day after being called out on strikes by plate umpire Doug Eddings, Milton Bradley on Sunday told Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune that, following an April 16 run-in with umpire Larry Vanover that resulted in a one-game suspension for Bradley, Vanover's colleagues are out to get him.

Monday night, starting pitcher Ted Lilly was ejected for chirping at plate umpire Bob Davidson over balls and strikes calls from the dugout. Lilly wasn't even the starter that night -- he had pitched Sunday in San Diego. Lilly told reporters that he was run after telling Davidson to "concentrate" more.

Tuesday, Davidson accused Lilly of lying, telling The Tribune's Sullivan that "everything [Lilly] said was bull. Everything I read in the paper that he said was untrue. He never said one of those words. What he said to me, you couldn't print in the paper."

Wednesday came Zambrano's tirade against plate umpire Mark Carlson. Zambrano was just activated from the disabled list on Friday. Now he's certain to miss more time with a hefty suspension.

One thing manager Lou Piniella liked about the addition of Bradley was that he thought the outfielder might bring an edge to the club that at times was soft last year. But they can't keep going on like this.

Losers of eight of their past 10 games, clearly, the Cubs are frustrated. But right now, they have the look of a team that's totally out of control.

If this persists, say goodbye to the notion of any close call going in their favor. The umpires have the final word. Teams have to figure out a way to get along with them. It's just the way it is.

Likes: Zack Greinke just keeps on rolling in Kansas City. He's now gone 14 consecutive starts without allowing a home run. That's a good baseball city in need of a good story, and good for Greinke. ... Baltimore set to summon catcher Matt Wieters from the minors on Friday. The Orioles continue to sail north under president/GM Andy MacPhail, even if they are fifth in the AL East. In Wieters, Nick Markakis and growing star center fielder Adam Jones, and with some young pitching developing quickly in the minors, this is a team that's a year -- maybe two at the most -- away. ... Texting taking a toll on America's teenagers? Very interesting story in the New York Times the other day.

Dislikes: You get the DVD from Netflix, you set aside for a few days, you finally pop it in and sit down to watch it one night and ... it's cracked and unplayable. At least Netflix is terrific in quickly solving the problem, and it happens only very rarely. But you've still gotta come up with Plan B that night.

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

" If you want you can get to know me well
We get along so we shouldn't argue
And I don't know, said I don't know
All these feelings, cloud up my reasoning"

-- Matchbox 20, Argue

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Chicago White Sox had used 33 different lineups in their first 44 games heading into Tuesday night's contest against the Los Angeles Angels, and with outfielder Carlos Quentin headed back to Chicago for tests on his sore left foot Wednesday, manager Ozzie Guillen is going to have to keep juggling.

Quentin felt something pop in his left foot on Monday night. He will re-join the team in Kansas City on Friday, and the White Sox hope it's for active duty. But there remains a chance that Quentin, who has been bothered by plantar fasciitis for much of the season, will land on the disabled list.

"It's too early to say how it's going to be, how it will react," Guillen said. "We're (playing it) by ear."

Guillen said that part of the treatment prescribed by doctors is to place Quentin's foot in a cast for a couple of days until it calms down.

"It's hard to come to the field every day (asking) can you play or can you not play?" Guillen said of Quentin, who finished fifth in last year's American League Most Valuable Player voting after a season in which he slammed 36 homers and had 100 RBI. "I'd rather have him shut it down for good (until he's full speed).

"Carlos is the type of guy who wants to be on the field. He might try to play through soreness or pain just to be on the field. That doesn't work because the more pain you have, the more days you're going to lose."

The Sox seem to have passed that point already. Quentin, hitting just .229, has been playing with a sore left foot for quite awhile.

"I don't know the exact date, but it's gone on awhile, a good many days," White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker said. "He's limped into the batting cage several times.

"I don't think that's been his only issue, but it's been bothering him."

Quentin started off hot, tying a club record with seven home runs in Chicago's first 12 games. But he's batted only .193 with one homer and seven RBI over his past 26 games.

"He's a max-effort guy," Walker said. "Early on, he was swinging the bat great. He didn't have a lot of numbers, but he had home runs. But he's also had a lot of bad luck, and I don't say that lightly. Usually, when Carlos squares a ball up it's hit so hard that nobody can get to it."

Quentin missed five games between May 16 and 20. Now, he and the Sox, who have been shut out a major-league high six times, appear to be at another crossroads.

"I've got to sit down in Kansas City with him and Kenny (Williams, Sox general manager) and make sure he's honest with us," Guillen said.

Likes: This New York Times story from Saturday on the makers of the Zamboni. ... You know, I've gotta be honest here: There are far worse things than a Taylor Swift concert. Took my daughter and her friends Saturday night. I like that Swift writes her own lyrics and seems to have some actual talent and things to say, as opposed to, oh, I don't know ... Britney Spears, perhaps. ... Biking along the Pacific Coast Highway through Carlsbad, Leucadia and the funky beach areas. ... The grilled salmon with the rub that includes chili powder, cocoa and sugar we made for dinner on Memorial Day.

Dislikes: Oh no, Tigers radio broadcaster Dan Dickerson injured in a jogging accident Tuesday in Kansas City, badly enough that he wasn't in the booth? Get well soon, my friend. I hope it's not as bad as it sounds. ... Ugly play in Wrigley Field the other night, Pittsburgh closer Matt Capps taking that line drive off of his elbow. ...

Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day:

"If I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
"Well I’d buy you a green dress (but not a real green dress that’s cruel)
"And if I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
"Well I’d buy you some art (A Picasso or a Garfunkel)
"And if I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
"Well I’d buy you a monkey (haven’t you always wanted a monkey?!)
"And if I had a million dollars I’d buy your love"

-- Barenaked Ladies, If I Had $1,000,000