It has been an eventful couple of days for the Yankees, who are in the midst of the final game of their series against the Padres. A couple of new signings and a couple of wins…and the usual stuff happening elsewhere.
Yankees: He’s baaaaack. Sir Sidney Ponson (no, really, he is knighted in Aruba) has signed a minor league deal with the Yankees following his release from the Rangers. He pitched for the Yanks in 2006 to a bad result, but he had been pitching better this year. He is a candidate to start one of the games of the twinbill against the Mets. For now, Dan Giese serves as your #5 starter. The Yankees also signed Oneli Perez and sent him to AA. He had to be put on the roster, so Albie was moved to the 60-day DL. He’s not going to pitch again this year because of a stress fracture in his elbow. Perez is unique in that he has 12 fingers. The Yanks have quite the collectable set, don’t they? Pat Venditte, who is an ambidextrous pitcher, and now Perez, the 12-fingered pitcher.
Mariners: The M’s are in the business of cleaning house. First, GM Bill Bavasi was fired. Now Manager John McLaren is headed off into the sunset. Jim Riggleman will serve as the interim manager.
Dodgers: Pitcher Hiroki Kuroda was placed on the 15-day DL.
A’s: Pitcher Santiago Casilla was activated from the 15-day DL. To make room for him, pitcher Kiko Calero was DFA’d.
Brewers: Pitcher David Riske was reinstated from the 15-day DL. Pitcher Julian Tavarez was DFA’d again…he had been signed after being granted his release from the Red Sox earlier this year.
Reds: Pitcher Homer Bailey was optioned to AAA, but he is scheduled to start against the Yankees in the second game of their upcoming series. It is likely he will be recalled for Saturday’s game and face Dan Giese, who is getting his first start for the Yankees. OF Norris Hopper was activated from the 15-day DL.
White Sox: The White Sox announced some draft pick signings: pitchers Aaron Poreda, Leroy Hunt, Nathan Jones, Johnnie Lowe, Kevin Skogley, Levi Maxwell, Thomas Mabee, Daniel Albritton and Ronald Morales, OF James Gallagher, SSs Sergio Miranda, Gregory Paiml and Dale Mollenhauer and 2B Oney Guillen.
Rockies: The Rockies also signed a couple of draft choices, pitcher Christian Friedrich (their #1) and 2B Maikol Gonzalez.
Mets: Now that Willie Randolph is fired, will he still be a coach in the All Star Game?
Angels: IF Erick Aybar was activated from the 15-day DL.
Cardinals: Pitcher Anthony Reyes was placed on the 15-day DL (retroactive to June 16).
Tigers: OF Clete Thomas was activated from the 15-day DL, making the Tigers option OF Brent Clevlen to AAA.
US Open: Tiger Woods’ win at the US Open became just a bit more incredible yesterday as it was announced that he knew that he had a couple of torn ligaments AND a stress fractured knee. Even if you didn’t want him to win, you have to admit that that is pretty incredible.
US WNT: The ladies took down Italy 2-0 very early this morning to advance to the championship match of the Peace Queen Cup. They will face Canada again. Abby Wambach provided all of the offense, giving her 98 career goals. Carli Lloyd played with a mask on to protect the broken nose that she suffered in their previous match against Brazil. Captain Christie Rampone did not play, so Kate Markgraf was the captain for the day. Some of the regulars got their first breathers of the tournament by either not starting or just not playing. Those would be Hope Solo (Nicole Barnhart started and played well in her first game back from surgery), Christie Rampone, Heather Mitts, Abby Wambach (at the very end), Natasha Kai, Shannon Boxx, and Lindsay Tarpley. This let some of the people who hadn’t gotten a chance to play some needed minutes. I managed to stay awake for the entire match, which was nice.
