MLB Bullets Has Found Reason For Hope

I think there's at least two or three positive stories in today's bullets. And maybe I'm being overly-protective, but I'm showing you a picture of Tim Hudson on his feet and not writhing in pain on the ground.

• As you've probably heard by now, Tim Hudson suffered a horrific-looking injury when Eric Young Jr. stepped on his ankle and bent it in an unnatural way. If you haven't seen what happens and you want to, the video can be seen at the article linked above. Hudson is, of course, out for the year.
• Jeff Schultz thinks the Braves are going to miss Hudson as both a player and a team leader. Since he's a free agent at the end of the year, he may have thrown his last pitch for Atlanta.
• Ken Rosenthal thinks the Braves are going to have to scramble to find someone on the trade market to replace Hudson.
• David Schoenfield thinks the Braves can survive the loss of Hudson just fine.
• Young was pretty badly shaken by the injury. The Braves have assured him that it wasn't Young's fault and Hudson's wife thanked Young for "playing the game the right way."
• Mariners manager Eric Wedge had a minor stroke and will miss ten games. He's expected to make a full recovery, which is the good news.
• OK, I've put off Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez long enough. Braun says that he'll talk about the suspension when he's "legally allowed to say anything." That may be true, but as several people have pointed out, Braun's likely in no rush to get the gag order lifted.
• Scott Miller thinks the negative reaction of other players to Braun is a positive thing.
• Brewers owner Mark Attansio says he's sad, not angry, about Braun.
• Phillies coach Ryne Sandberg says that the penalty for a PED offense should be two or three years. I'm sure his feelings don't surprise anyone here.
• Former player Robert Fick has admitted to using PEDs, but only twice. He says he knows of others who used them and that no one thought it was a big deal back then.
• The whistleblower at the heart of the Biogenesis scandal says that there are many athletes in sports other than baseball who were customers of the clinic, but no other sport seems interested in investigating further at the moment. He doesn't know of any NFL or NHL players, however.
• Ken Rosenthal says that Alex Rodriguez's relationship with the Yankees and MLB is full of legal complications. There's no easy way out for anyone.
• Bob Nightengale says that ARod has played his last game for the Yankees.
• If Rodriguez didn't have enough to worry about, apparently he's a slumlord in Prince George County, Maryland. There's no evidence that ARod is actually aware that he is, however.
• Another player named in the Biogenesis scandal, Bartolo Colon, is unlikely to be suspended this season, writes Tim Kawakami. Colon has no incentive to cut a deal.
• George Brett said he'd be the Royals hitting coach for a month. He served as hitting coach for two months and now he's stepping down.
• Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star says Brett's heart just wasn't in it, which is why he stepped down. Being a major league hitting coach just wasn't for him.
• Ervin Santana is the "target" of trade rumors. Literally, in this video.
• Lance Berkman is considering retirement.
• Should the Orioles be worried about Chris Davis and Manny Machado's slow start to the second-half?
• The Orioles are interested in trading for one of the Astros starting pitchers.
• The Marlins won't trade Steve Cishek or Mike Dunn. But they will trade Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez?
• The Twins have disciplined and benched top prospect Miguel Sano for "unspecified violations of team rules."
• Theodore Roosevelt Lilly just designated the Dodgers for assignment.
• The Nationals are hoping their win over the Pirates yesterday can turn their disappointing season around.
• Felix Doubront has a lobster roll before every home start.
• The Mariano Rivera goodbye tour continues in Texas, where again, he met with stadium employees. Most interestingly, he says he never would have chosen "Enter Sandman" as a song to come into the game. He just kept it because the fans liked it so much.
• A rainout was good news for the streaking Rays.
• Both Domonic Brown and John Jaso were placed on the 7-day concussion disabled list.
• Dodger Stadium now serves frozen beer foam. It's not as cool as it sounds. But if you want to take three or four innings to drink your jumbo beer and you want it cold the whole time, it's likely a good idea.
• A team in the independent Frontier League tried to fine players and coaches who threw balls into the stands. Of course, as soon as news of it got out, they ended the policy. I'm a little sympathetic to them here. These independent league teams run on shoestring budgets and balls can be a big expense. But telling kids they can't have a ball is not the way to get families to come to your games.
• Finally, if you're not sick of it already, Sports Illustrated has an excellent oral history of the Pine Tar Game.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.