- There's an interesting discussion at ESPN.com on the merits of Goose Gossage for the Hall of Fame. OK, so one of the participants is Phil Rogers. It's still interesting.
- Roger Clemens and his lawyers have hired a private investigator to try to discredit trainer Brian McNamee's claims about Clemens' steroid use. While they're at it, maybe they can help O. J. Simpson find the "real killer".
- Congress is getting involved in the steroid investigation; hearings are scheduled for next month. One of the Congresspeople blasted Bud Selig for his lack of leadership -- master of the obvious, methinks.
- MLBTR quotes Rick Wilton's "Baseball Injury Report" as saying that " the chance of a meaningful contribution from [Mark] Prior in '08 is close to zero." I tend to agree.
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Rick Morrissey strikes again, this time with a column about naming rights at Wrigley Field. I happen to agree with his premise -- which is basically, "Who cares what it's called, it'll still be baseball", but he makes two false claims:
Just remember that when you get all nostalgic over Wrigley Field, you are doing so over a ballpark named for a chewing gum company.
No, Rick. Wrigley Field wasn't named for the gum company. It was named to honor William Wrigley, first member of that family to own the team, after he died in 1932. Before that the park was known as Weeghman Park and then Cubs Park. Yes, I know -- the gum company bears Wrigley's name. But Morrissey's comment implies that the ballpark bears a corporate name, in a 1930's version of "naming rights". That's simply false. Second false claim:
When the Cubs began allowing Fox to scroll its ads on the bricks behind home plate at Wrigley a few years back, I wasn't outraged.Well, I wasn't outraged either, but the Cubs didn't "allow" Fox to scroll ads -- this was mandated under MLB's contract with Fox. All major league parks must carry Fox's (and ESPN's, too) green-screen ads during national telecasts.
- I was, at first, interested to see a link to a Q&A with Sam Fuld on the Cubs website; thought it might give us some insight into the kid who's a real feel-good story. Nope. Carrie Muskat asked him about whether he celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah and what color lights he puts on his Christmas tree. Booooooring.
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