Peavy: Victim of dirty photo, or dirty pitcher?

So, Major League Baseball will be watching Jake Peavy for dirty play … or dirty fingers … when the Padres staff ace pitches Friday night against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

We all know by now that Peavy was caught on Fox TV with dirty fingers (see photo above) during his start last Saturday against the Dodgers.

Peavy has laughed off the incident; Padres Manager Bud Black says it might just have been residue from the resin bag.

Black’s theory is interesting in that a white resin bag probably wouldn’t make someone’s fingers black.

Anyway, Peavy better hope he has a good start Friday against the Dodgers; a team against which he owns an incredible 10-1 lifetime record.

If he does well, Peavygate will most likely fade into the sunset. If not, there will be questions about everything he has accomplished thus far in his brilliant career.

Even though the Friday is only one start out of about 35 per season for Peavy, the lingering suspicions of Peavygate make it among the most critical starts of his career.

American League Least is no beast

Sure, you’re going to be hearing Yankees-Red Sox all summer on network television stations such as Fox and ESPN.

You know what?

They are both in the American League Least, the only division with just one team having a winning record at the All-Star break.

OK, so the team is the Boston Red Sox; but give us a break. Let’s not go on and on about the AL Least until the playoffs.

This is the first time since divisions were created in 1969 that the AL Least went into the All-Star break with only one team possessing a winning record.

At the 1976 and 1989 All-Star breaks, the division had one team over .500 and one at .500.

My, how times have changed in 2007.

It couldn’t have happened to a better division.

Let's hear less from ex-athletes on TV

Jeanne Zelasko deserves credit for standing up for what’s right.

During the pregame show on Fox-TV’s baseball Game of the Week, the topic of comments Curt Schilling from the Red Sox made recently about Barry Bonds arose.

Kevin Kennedy, being an ex-player, stood up for Bonds and said Schilling was way out of line for his comments (who cares if Schilling told the truth originally, before retracting his statement?)

Zelasko responded it’s a fact that Bonds took steroids … and let’s move on to another conversation.

Good for her!

It’s about time we hear more from “people who never played the game” such as Zelasko and Ken Rosenthal on Fox baseball, or football analysts such as Chris Mortensen (ESPN) and Adam Schechter (NFL Network.)

For most of us, it’s getting old hearing athletes … or ex-athletes … defend the poor behavior of other athletes.

What we need are more people like Zelasko, who will stand up to the excuse-making athletes covering for the shame of others.

Yankees-Red Sox: It's Getting Tired

Two years ago, Channel 4 San Diego announcer Matt Vasgersian described the Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees act as “tired.”
The Padres play-by-play voice had it right then … and he is certainly on the money more than ever now.
This weekend, the Yankees and Red Sox play their first series of the season. Pardon me while I yawn.
So what does this mean? How about ESPN, Friday night; Fox, Saturday afternoon; ESPN, Sunday night? Then next weekend, it’s Red-Sox Yankees again on Fox. Give me a break, national TV!
New Yorkers and East Coasters just don’t get it. Those of us in the most populated state in America (California) and others could give a darn about New York and the East Coast.
Want proof? The 2000 World Series featuring New York-New York recorded the lowest TV ratings in World Series history up to that time, according to Baseball Almanac.
During Game 5 of that Subway Series, 61% of the televisions in New York were tuned in to the game. Everybody else? The next 30 largest television markets, during that exact same viewing period, registered double-digit percentage losses compared to the New York City market for the Series.
What do we have this weekend with Yankees-Red Sox? How about a Yankees team that hasn’t won a World Series since beating another New York team seven years ago? How about a Boston team that finished third out of five teams in the AL East last year?
You can have Yankees-Red Sox. I’ll gladly take Cubs-Cardinals … or even Padres-Rockies … as a more than viable alternative this weekend!