National(s) Day Of Mourning

Did you hear that? It was the sound of all 68 of the Nationals' fans along with the 70 bajillion heartbroken Stephen Strasburg fans collectively yelling "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The 22-year-old rookie phenom underwent a second MRI which revealed he has a "significant tear" in his right elbow. The tear will most likely require Tommy John surgery, and then about 12 - 18 months of extensive rehab.

Way to Go, Albert Pujols!

Albert Pujols crushed his 400th career home run Thursday night at Nationals Park.

The St. Louis Cardinals All-Star first baseman launched an 0-1 fastball from over the right-field wall in the fourth inning of his team's extra innings loss to one of the crappiest teams in baseball: the sad, beat-down Washington Nationals.

And then, he twisted his ankle in the 10th inning trying to climb a rolled-up tarp while reaching for a foul ball near the first base dugout. Not the dumbest way ever to get hurt, but close.

Pujols, batting .321 with 34 homers and 93 RBI on the season, became the 47th big leaguer to hit the 400 Club milestone in all, but also the third-youngest behind Alex Roidriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. Stopping to admire his work before being mobbed by teammates at home plate, Prince Albert had this to say:

It's a special milestone, but I don't play for numbers.

Whatever. Way to go, buddy!

[Yahoo! News] | [FanHouse] | [Viva El Birdos]

Hank Aaron: "Bud Selig is My Hero"

We just wanted to relay that glorious quote in all of its ridiculousness.

[USA Today]

Jose Bautista is an Animal

Jose Bautista homered not once, but twice in his team's 3-2 win over the New York Yankees Monday night.

Count 'em: that's a big league-leading 40 bombs on the year for the Toronto Blue Jays slugger.

This game was pretty intense to begin with. In the sixth inning, both benches and bullpens cleared after Yankees rookie Ivan Nova, making his first ever big league start, fired a pitch just over the head of catcher Francisco Cervelli.

Get Well Soon, Stephen Strasburg

So much for kid gloves. Stephen Strasburg is headed to the disabled list for the second time this season.

The Washington Nationals $15.1 million investment was removed from Saturday's 8-1 win over the Philadephia Phillies upon wincing after throwing a changeup. He'll have a second MRI exam to see if something is terribly wrong, other than the strained tendon in his forearm that the team has reported.

The 22-year-old rookie phenom, who is 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts in just 68 innings, had made only three starts since coming off the DL with shoulder inflammation.

Sadly, for all you folks who waited for him to get called up to round out your fantasy rotation, he may be done for the season.

[USA Today]

Ichiro Who? What a Catch

In case you haven't seen this video, prepare to have your mind blown.

[Thanks, With Leather!]

So Long, Sweet Lou

Lou Piniella has officially retired.

He decided not to wait until the end of the season like he told us back in July, but instead at the end of Sunday's 16-5 walloping by the Atlanta Braves at Wrigley Field. The Chicago Cubs, now 21 games out in the National League Central, have dropped to sad 51-74 on the season.

The 66-year-old [former] Cubs manager is walking away from baseball to tend to his 90-year-old mother, who has been ill for much of the year:

"I'm going to enjoy today. At least, I'm going to try to enjoy it.

I didn't think my career would end this way. But my mom needs me home. She hasn't gotten any better since I've been here. She has had a couple other complications, and rather than continue to go home, come back, it's not fair to the team, it's not fair to the players. So the best thing is just to step down and go home and take care of my mother."

Blah Blah Steroids... What do YOU think?

Dearest BLB readers,

I just had to take a moment to ask your thoughts on Roger Clemens being indicted. Do you think he's delusional enough to believe that he never used anything? Do you think he'll go to prison? Do you think he deserves to go to prison if he's found guilty? What about that creepy Brian McNamee keeping all those DNA covered syringes? Do you think McNamee had planned to screw Clemens all along? Do you think Barry Bonds is next on the list to be indicted?

Under the Bleachers with Jeff Manship

We had the ridiculous pleasure of interviewing Minnesota Twins pitcher Jeff Manship recently. The 25-year-old righty was called up to the big leagues last Thursday when fellow reliever Jose Mijares hurt himself in an attempt to cover first base and landed on the disabled list. The Manship made his first appearance since July 19 Wednesday night against the Chicago White Sox, going 1.1 scoreless innings and earning the win.

Instead of inquiring about his pitching repertoire, what it's like to get the call-up, the difference in batters from AA to AAA to the majors, etc., we decided to get to know him a little better. Enjoy...

Roger Clemens is a Liar Liar Pants on Fire

Blah blah steroids.

Roger Clemens was indicted Thursday on a series of charges for lying to the United States Congress of all people about his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

People lie about their age, their weight, their whereabouts to their wives, but lying to Congress? That's a big no-no. A snippet from the 19-page indictment:

In truth and in fact, as Clemens well knew when he gave this testimony, Clemens knowingly received injections of anabolic steroids while he was an MLB player.

K-Rod Hurts Himself, Not Getting Paid

The New York Mets are withholding Francisco Rodriguez’s salary while he’s sidelined. Also, they're considering changing his contract to a non-guaranteed deal... mostly because he's a poor-decision-making, ticking time bomb.

The injured All-Star closer, who decked his future father-in-law at Citi Field last week, was placed on the disqualified list on Tuesday, nearly a week after he tore a ligament in the thumb of his pitching punching hand. Rodriguez underwent thumb surgery on Tuesday and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Reality check: K-Rod could be released without being paid most of his 2011 salary, which the player's association will no doubt dispute.

[MLB] | [Lo Hud Mets Blog] | [Citi Field of Dreams]

Canseco Goes Yard in Debut, Spaceman Returns

Before Monday night, the last time Jose Canseco had hit a home run was in a Chicago White Sox uniform on October 3, 2001 off Mike Mussina. The former Bash Brother ended his slump by going yard in his first at bat for the Laredo Broncos in their 16-8 win over the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings of the independent United Baseball League.

It's Bryce Harper Hype Time!

Scott Boras has a flair for the dramatic. Like last year's no. 1 draft choice Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and his agent waited until the final seconds of the day until he and his client inked a deal.

The catching phenom, who became the first JUCO player to be taken with the first pick, settled on a $9.9 million, five-year contract with the Washington Nationals just before Monday’s midnight deadline. That would be a record for a kid fresh out of the draft who isn't a pitcher or a free agent. Now he'll be able to buy an endless supply of eye black to smear all over most of his face!

The 17-year-old baseball-crushing backstop from the College of Southern Nevada will receive a $6.25 million signing bonus in five installments of $1.25 million through 2014.

Get Well Soon, Nelson Cruz's Hamstring

Nelson Cruz has been placed on the disabled list for the third time this season for the same pesky hamstring issue.

The Texas Rangers moved their right fielder to the 15-day DL on Monday prior to their game against the Tampa Bay Rays, retroactive to Sunday. On Saturday, Cruz left the game with a tight left hamstring and an MRI the following day revealed some inflammation, but thankfully no tears.

Despite missing 37 games so far, Cruz is batting .320 with 16 home runs and 64 RBI.

Speaking of Texas baseball, Jose Canseco has signed a short-term contract with the Independent League Laredo Broncos. The controversial former slugger will be coaching from the bench and serving as a designated hitter during two Broncos' homestands starting Monday. He'll also be available during the August 28-30 series against the Coastal Bend Thunder. Publicity stunt or no, he grosses us out.

[AP] | [ESPN] | [Lonestar Ball]

Happy Trails, Chipper Jones :(

It's not often that we throw a sad face into the title of a post, but upon hearing the news on Chipper Jones, we're super bummed out. Almost inconsolable... we definitely need a hug.

After injuring his knee on a sweet play at third base Tuesday night in the sixth inning of the Atlanta Braves' 4-2 win over the Houston Astros, Jones is out for the season.

K-Rod Kicked His Future Father-in-Law's Ass

At one point or another many of you may have pondered beating the living crap out of your father-in-law. But do you? Most likely not... your wife would probably be pretty pissed off.

Good news: you can now live out your dream vicariously through Francisco Rodriguez.

According the police, the New York Mets closer was arrested and charged with third-degree assault late Wednesday night after "a scuffle" with his girlfriend's dad at Citi Field. One reporter who witnessed the ordeal tried to ask what was up and K-Rod replied:

Get Well Soon, Chipper Jones

Oh Larry Wayne, it seems like every couple of months we're writing one of these posts asking you to please get well soon so we can watch you rock the Atlanta Braves hot corner.

Chipper Jones isn’t quite sure how badly he hurt his left knee Tuesday night while making a sweet play in the sixth inning of his team's 4-2 win over the Houston Astros. He explained the sensation post-game:

Benches Clear After Phillips Pops Off

A day after Brandon Phillips referred to the St. Louis Cardinals as a bunch of bitches, the dugouts and bullpens emptied in Cincinnati.

During the first inning of their Tuesday night game, the second baseman got into it with Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina in the batter's box. Phillips took off his helmet and Molina removed his mask as things got heated.

Both benches and bullpens cleared, and a shoving-match ensued as Tony La Russa and Dusty Baker yelled at each other among the players before they both were ejected.

Dear Astros Fan: Dump That Loser!

If I were seconds away from being nailed by a foul ball... I would gracefully catch it, obviously. But that is neither here nor there.

If your special ladyfriend was about to get beaned while enjoying a ballgame with you, you'd protect her, right? Right. You're a good boyfriend. You'd throw yourself in front of her beautiful arm and either catch the ball or take one for the team.

Not this guy.

The Big Unit: an Oldie But a Goodie

Don Wakamatsu Gets Canned

Don Wakamatsu has finally been fired.

The struggling Seattle Mariners let their manager go Monday after he managed to lead them to a god-awful 42-70 record more than halfway into the season -- marking the second-worst mark in the majors.

The Mariners, who were supposed to be pretty good this year, came into their game against the Oakland Athletics with their fifth manager in three years: Daren Brown. After managing the AAA Tacoma Rainiers for the last three seasons, Mr. Brown has taken over on an interim basis.

Ladies And Gentlemen, J.P. Arencibia

Holy crap. Babes Love Baseball may have just found themselves a new boyfriend. The Blue Jays pounded the Rays on Saturday night in a 17 - 11 homerun derby, and Tampa's right handed knuckleballer James Shields gave up 6 of the 8 Toronto homeruns before being pulled from the game.

More astounding than Joe Maddon leaving his starter in long enough to give up that many runs was the amazing performance by a fresh off the farm 24-year-old rookie catcher named J.P. Arencibia.

Arencibia swung at his very first major league pitch and drilled it over the left field wall for a two run shot. As if that wasn't impressive enough, he decided to follow up with a double, a single, and ANOTHER homerun. All on the first four pitches of his major league career. Show off.

A-Rod Finally Hits 600

We've been oh so tired, recovering from all the interviews we did at the Twins and Pins Charity Bowling Classic last week, so forgive us for ignoring you, our dear readers.

In the past week, we've let the trade deadline come and go, injuries have happened, and the sports news world was all abuzz because Alex Rodriguez was sitting at 599 homeruns for what seemed like an eternity. Well now, maybe baseball writers will finally have something better to talk about because he finally hit number 600.