Red Sox makes offer to righty Tazawa

Boston pushing to sign 22-year-old Japanese amateur
By Ian Browne / MLB.com
Junichi Tazawa throws his fastball in the upper 90s, topping out at 97 mph. (Danny Zhan/AP)





BOSTON -- The Red Sox, already the beneficiaries of significant success from Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima, are in the process of trying to land a third potential impact pitcher from Japan.
The Web site for Japanese newspaper Sankei Sports is reporting that the Boston Red Sox have made a $6 million contract offer to right-handed pitcher Junichi Tazawa.
The report indicated that the 22-year-old Tazawa met with Craig Shipley, the Red Sox's vice president of international scouting, for nearly two hours.
The Red Sox, as is their standard policy when it comes to free-agent negotiations, international or otherwise, chose not to comment on the report.
"Sorry we don't comment on any negotiation in process," Shipley wrote in an e-mail to MLB.com.
Two offseasons ago, Shipley was largely responsible for Boston's successful pursuit of Matsuzaka (fourth in the American League in the Cy Young Award race this season) and Okajima, who has been one of the best lefty setup men in the American League the last two years.
It's not known if the reported offer to Tazawa is for a Major League or Minor League contract.
Tazawa, who has attracted attention from several Major League teams, skipped the Japanese draft in order to sign with a Major League team. Because of this, he will not require a posting fee.
That would be a considerable savings from when Boston made a blind bid of $51.1 million to the Seibu Lions to win negotiating rights for Matsuzaka. The Red Sox then signed Matsuzaka to a six-year, $52 million contract, meaning the total acquisition cost for the gifted righty was $103.1 million.
But it's a much different situation in that Tazawa hasn't pitched in professional baseball, while Matsuzaka was a star for the Seibu Lions for eight seasons.
Though Tazawa is a bit of an unknown commodity because of his lack of pro experience, he has drawn interest from not just the Red Sox, but other teams as well.

The Tigers sent a scout to Japan to meet with Tazawa last week.
The Atlanta Braves, MLB.com reported three weeks ago, were "believed" to have offered Tazawa a contract. Reports have also suggested that the Mariners -- led by a Japanese superstar in outfielder Ichiro Suzuki -- are also in the running.
The Red Sox could be an attractive destination for Tazawa because of the presence of Matsuzaka and Okajima, who have made impressive transitions to the Major Leagues and the culture of the United States.
Tazawa spent 2008 pitching for the Nippon Oil team in Japan's Industrial League, which is for amateurs. His fastball is reportedly in the upper 90s, topping out at 97 mph.

Longoria named to Topps Rookie Team

Third baseman receives another honor for outstanding campaign

By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

Evan Longoria led all rookies with 27 home runs and a .531 slugging percentage. (Chris O'Meara/AP)

ST. PETERSBURG -- Evan Longoria continues to reap the spoils of a stellar rookie campaign by being named to the Topps 50th Annual Major League Rookie All-Star Team.

Longoria already won the American League Rookie of the Year Award and finished 11th in the AL Most Valuable Player Award voting.

The Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team began in 1959, with Willie McCovey being the first of 15 future Hall of Famers named to the squad (others are Johnny Bench, Rod Carew, Gary Carter, Carlton Fisk, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan, Eddie Murray, Tony Perez, Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken, Ryne Sandberg, Tom Seaver, Ozzie Smith and Billy Williams). The Rookie All-Stars will each have a trophy on their 2009 trading card in Topps Baseball, with Series One due out in early February.

Joining Longoria on this year's squad are: Joey Votto, Reds, first base; Alexei Ramirez, White Sox, second base; Mike Aviles, Royals, shortstop; outfielders Jay Bruce, Reds; Denard Span, Twins; and David Murphy, Rangers; Geovany Soto, Cubs, catcher; Brad Ziegler, A's, right-handed pitcher; and John Lannan, Nationals, left-handed pitcher.

The Major League Rookie All-Star Team is one of a number of awards programs managed by Topps to reward and encourage young ballplayers. Since 1959, Topps has annually bestowed honors on Minor Leaguers, baseball scouts and the Baseball Organization of the Year.

Longoria, 23, began the season at Triple-A Durham, but quickly found his way to the Major Leagues when the Rays selected him on April 12 and he joined the team in their 11th game. He played in the next 104 Rays games that followed (103 of those were starts), hitting mostly fifth and cleanup, until he suffered a fractured right wrist when hit by a pitch from Mariners closer J.J. Putz on Aug. 10 in Seattle. He did not return to the lineup until Sept. 13.

Despite missing 30 games due to the fractured wrist, Longoria led all Major League rookies with 27 home runs and a .531 slugging percentage. In addition, he led AL rookies with 85 RBIs, 60 extra-base hits and 238 total bases.

Among the highlights from Longoria's season were two game-winning home runs, the first coming May 9 against the Angels when he hit a walk-off two-run shot off Justin Speier to win it 2-0 and make a winner of James Shields, who threw a one-hitter. The other one came at Oakland when he hit a two-run homer off Chad Gaudin in the 13th inning to give the Rays a 7-5 lead, which they would hang onto for a 7-6 win.

On Sept. 18, Longoria hit three home runs in one game against the Twins, making him the second player in Rays history to accomplish the feat (Jonny Gomes hit three on July 30, 2005). By doing so, Longoria became the first rookie third baseman to hit three in one game since the Braves' Eddie Mathews in 1952.

Longoria played excellent defense throughout the season and finished the season with a .963 fielding percentage, which ranked him sixth among AL third basemen. And he played his first professional game at shortstop on June 29 against the Cubs.

The Topps Company was founded in 1938 as Topps Chewing Gum, and in 1950, added trading cards to its product line; baseball cards appeared in 1951.

November 20, 2008

Selig says all playoff games will last nine innings

Commissioner Bud Selig said after owners' meetings today that there will be a rule change making it clear that every postseason game will last at least nine innings.

"All postseason games, All-Star games and that, will be full-length affairs, and the rule will be so written," Selig said Thursday in an Associated Press report.

The change will also apply to tiebreaker games that decide division championships and wild-card spots, Selig said. "Any game that has significance for the postseason," he said. "It will be very clear now. Everybody will know exactly."

There was much confusion - for fans and players - in Game 5 of the World Series with the Rays and Phillies, which was suspended in the sixth inning for 46 hours due to weather. Baseball rules state a game is official once the trailing team records 15 outs, and so before the Rays tied it in the sixth, some thought the series-clinching game could have been decided in less than nine

Selig said after the game was delayed that he had planned all along for the playoff game to go nine. And soon, there could be a rule to make it clear to everyone.

-- JOE SMITH

Japanese Are Irked by U.S. Interest in Pitcher

By ALAN SCHWARZ and BRAD LEFTON
Published: November 19, 2008


As far as Junichi Tazawa is concerned, the most rebellious acts in his 22 years have been ignoring his homework and sneaking home after sunrise. But as the first high-profile Japanese baseball prospect to turn down his nation’s leagues to entertain offers from Major League Baseball teams, he has found himself straining relations between baseball entities on two continents, with accusations of talent raiding and defiance of decades-long understandings.


Many Japanese baseball officials are outraged that U.S. teams are courting Junichi Tazawa, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher.

Many Japanese baseball officials are outraged that United States teams are courting Tazawa, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, because they insist it is long-established practice for amateurs like him to be strictly off limits to major league clubs. Even some American general managers, including the Yankees’ Brian Cashman, agree.

Major League Baseball officials maintain that the letter of their protocol agreement with their Japanese counterparts, Nippon Professional Baseball, does not forbid either league from courting amateur talent from the other’s nation. When one Japanese representative characterized the rule as a gentlemen’s agreement during a meeting in New York, he was angrily rebutted by a Major League Baseball official, according to two attendees.

The Tazawa dispute extends beyond one pitching phenom and an interpretation of honor. The Japanese major leagues have already seen established stars leave for American clubs, and amateurs following Tazawa’s path away from those leagues could further hurt the leagues’ long-term viability.

But sports talent is an increasingly free-flowing market — notably demonstrated this summer when Brandon Jennings, one of the United States’ top high school basketball players, signed to play professionally in Italy for $1.2 million rather than play at a college in the United States.

“This was more than just a gentlemen’s agreement, but rather an implicit understanding that the major leagues would do no such thing,” Nippon Professional Baseball said in a news release on signing Japanese baseball amateurs. “That a handful of clubs from the majors is trying to break this gentlemen’s agreement is truly regrettable.”

Rob Manfred, Major League Baseball’s executive vice president for labor relations, responded in a recent interview, “I’m sure we will have ongoing conversation with them about how we might — might — be able to address their concerns.”

Regarding how some major league teams still believe that Tazawa should not be signed, Manfred added, “It’s not due to any lack of clarity — it’s just due to the fact that clubs have different views of the world.”

Tazawa’s talent snuck up on him as much as this controversy. After pitching for his high school team in the port city of Yokohama, he was not drafted by the 12 Japanese major league organizations. His only offer was to pitch for Japan Oil in the industrial league, a workers’ minor league unaffiliated with the Japanese majors. He has been there ever since.

In an interview this month in a cramped meeting room at the company dorm in Kawasaki, Tazawa said he casually watched Major League Baseball on television while growing up and admired trailblazers like the recently retired Hideo Nomo, who became a sensation pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995. But Tazawa said he never fantasized a similar career for himself.

“I never had an interest in the game over there,” Tazawa said in Japanese. “I guess that’s mostly because I never imagined I had the talent to consider such a thing.”

Tazawa improved in the industrial leagues and, at an amateur tournament in Taiwan last November, had his fastball clocked on the scoreboard as high as 97 miles an hour. “I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I thought the speed gun must be broken or something.”

Astonishment extended to the scouts in the stands, some of whom were from the United States. They expressed interest in Tazawa to Japan Oil’s manager, Hideaki Okubo, a 39-year-old recently retired professional who had watched many peers move midcareer to American baseball. Okubo encouraged Tazawa to consider the rare opportunity of signing directly with a Major League Baseball team, and later said in Japanese during an interview that Tazawa would be best served by “the toughness of an unfamiliar environment where his need for survival would be challenged more.”

Tazawa thrived this summer, posting a 10-1 record and a 1.02 earned run average for Japan Oil and striking out 95 batters in 88 1/3 innings. As interest from scouts affiliated with Major League Baseball escalated and Japan’s Oct. 30 draft of amateur players approached, Tazawa requested that all Japanese teams not select him. They acquiesced, smoothing his path to the United States’ free market.

Except the market is not entirely free. Officials of major league teams have a wide spectrum of views as to whether Tazawa should be signed.


Mets General Manager Omar Minaya said he considered Tazawa available but continued: “It’s a sensitive area. It’s fair to say that if we were to go out and get their college players, what would prevent them from coming after our college players?”


“I’m old school — there has been an understanding,” said Cashman, whose team has a formal cooperative relationship with the Yomiuri Giants, a team particularly upset with the Tazawa affair. “There’s been a reason that Japanese amateurs haven’t been signed in the past, so we consider him hands off.”

The protocol agreement between Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball does not address the signing of either nation’s amateur players. It does formalize how Japanese veterans may switch continents: on the open market after nine seasons in the Japan major leagues, or earlier if a player’s club chooses to auction off his rights through a procedure commonly known as posting.

Posting was established in 1998, and established stars like Daisuke Matsuzaka have generated as much as $51 million for their Japanese clubs. Losing top amateurs could hurt that pipeline.

The Yomiuri official Hidetoshi Kiyotake has said he fears for the viability of the Japanese majors should the major leagues descend on his nation’s amateur talent. In a recent issue of the Japanese magazine Weekly Baseball, he wrote that South Korea’s major league had been seriously harmed by 38 amateur players signing directly with major league clubs since 1994.

“Unless fans here stand up and proclaim, ‘protect Japanese baseball,’ we’re liable to fall into the same trap as South Korean baseball,” Kiyotake wrote.

Tazawa would not be the first modern Japanese amateur to sign with a United States club, but the first to do so against Nippon Professional Baseball’s wishes. Other players, like the current Atlanta Braves minor leaguer Ryohei Shimabukuro, signed after dropping out of high school but were not considered a top prospect by Japanese clubs. In 2003, pitcher Kaz Tadano was shunned by Japanese teams after he appeared in a pornographic film, and he signed with the Cleveland Indians.

Japanese teams have also approached American amateurs. In 2002, the Orix Blue Wave tried to sign the Cincinnati Reds’ first-round draft pick, third baseman Mark Schramek, while he was in a contract stalemate with Cincinnati.

As for formalizing any rule barring the signing of amateurs outright, some major league team officials think that could violate American antitrust or anti-discrimination laws. And if one team pursues a top player, others will surely follow.

“There’s a fine line between falling behind the competition because you’re quote being respectful, and competing like others will compete,” said Ned Colletti, general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. “We have to be wise in our decision-making at the moment of truth.”

Tazawa whetted scouts’ appetites again Monday, when he threw a five-hit shutout for Japan Oil in the national amateur tournament. It is believed that at least a half-dozen teams will actively pursue him, including the Boston Red Sox, the Braves and the Seattle Mariners, with offers that could reach $2 million to $5 million.

Fearful that Tazawa’s signing would encourage more Japanese amateurs to follow him, Nippon Professional Baseball recently passed a rule that requires any amateur who jumps to a major league team to sit out two or three years before being able to return to play in Japan.

“For them to go out and change the rules like that just blows me away,” Tazawa said. “I never imagined the response would be like this.”

Yet Tazawa has no intention of reconsidering his decision. Whether he blazes any trail for others, or if future rules are adapted for the changing global marketplace, he will find out with everyone else.

“I’m looking forward to signing with an American team and seeing what I can do,” he said. “The appeal of matching power against power is too great for me to pass up.”

Trio of Rays receive AL MVP Votes

11/18/08 3:30 PM EST

Trio of Rays receive AL MVP votes
Pena, Longoria and Bartlett each garner consideration for award
By Bill Chastain / MLB.com



ST. PETERSBURG -- No, the Rays did not have a winner Tuesday when Boston's Dustin Pedroia took home American League Most Valuable Player Award honors, but they did follow the team theme of the 2008 season by having three players named in the balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria and Jason Bartlett all received votes, putting the Rays in a tie with the Angels and Rangers for having the most players receiving votes.

The BBWAA is a professional association for baseball journalists writing for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying Web sites. The organization is responsible for voting on several awards annually, including Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young and Manager of the Year awards.

Pena, who is the emotional leader of the Rays, had a ninth-place finish with his highest vote being one for third-place en route to 44 total points. The ninth-place finish tied the Rays' all-time high, which Pena set in 2007, when he also finished ninth while receiving 64 points.

Longoria, who won the American League Rookie of the Year Award, finished 11th in the voting and had two sixth-place votes, finishing with 38 points.

Pena and Longoria finished ahead of AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, who finished 12th in the voting.

Bartlett, who solidified the Rays infield and was voted the Rays team MVP by the local BBWAA chapter, received one fifth-place vote to finish with six points.

Pedroia had an historic victory in winning the award, becoming the first AL second baseman to win it since Nellie Fox in 1959 and only the third player to be named MVP the year after being elected Rookie of the Year.

Pedroia received 16 first-place votes from the 28 ballots cast by two writers in each league city. He was listed second on six ballots, third on four and fourth on one for a total of 317 points, based on a tabulation system rewarding 14 points for first place, nine for second, eight for third on down to one for 10th.



Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, the 2006 winner, was the runner-up with 257 points. Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis finished third with 201 points.

Statistically, Pena, 30, did not have as good a season offensively as he did in 2007, when he won AL Comeback Player of the Year honors after hitting 46 home runs with 121 RBIs. But he served as the team leader of the AL champion Rays while winning Gold Glove honors at first base and he led the club with 31 home runs, 102 RBIs and 242 total bases despite missing 20 games with a broken left index finger.

Thirty-nine of Pena's 102 RBIs and 18 of his 31 home runs either gave the Rays the lead or tied the game. None of his homers was bigger than the one he hit Sept. 10 at Boston, where his three-run shot in the 14th inning to give the Rays a 4-2 lead and their first series victory at Fenway Park since 1999.

Pena also set a Major League record by drawing nine bases-loaded walks.

Longoria began the season at Triple-A Durham, but quickly found his way to the Major Leagues when the Rays selected him on April 12 and he joined the team in their 11th game. He played in the next 104 Rays games that followed (103 of those were starts), hitting mostly fifth and cleanup, until he suffered a fractured right wrist after being hit by a pitch from Mariners closer J.J. Putz on Aug. 10 in Seattle. He did not return to the lineup until Sept. 13.

Despite missing 30 games due to the fractured wrist, Longoria, 23, led all Major League rookies with 27 home runs and a .531 slugging percentage. In addition, he led AL rookies with 85 RBIs, 60 extra-base hits and 238 total bases.

Among the highlights from Longoria's season were two game-winning home runs, the first coming May 9, when he hit a walk-off two-run shot off Justin Speier to win it 2-0 against the Angels and make a winner of James Shields, who threw a one-hitter. The other came at Oakland when he hit a two-run homer off Chad Gaudin in the 13th inning to give the Rays a 7-5 lead; Tampa Bay held on for a 7-6 win.

On Sept. 18, Longoria hit three home runs in one game against the Twins, making him the second player in Rays history to accomplish the feat (Jonny Gomes hit three on July 30, 2005). By doing so, Longoria became the first rookie third baseman to hit three in one game since Eddie Mathews in 1952.

Bartlett, 29, who the Rays acquired in an offseason trade with the Twins prior to the 2008 season, gave the club a quality glove at shortstop, considerably improving the team's overall defense.

But Bartlett was not just a glove man. He led all AL shortstops in stolen bases with 20 and ranked fourth among them in batting with a .286 average. From Aug. 2 through the season's end, Bartlett hit .353 in 35 games to raise his average by 34 points.

Bartlett's value could best be seen when he wasn't in the lineup. The Rays went 7-9 when he was on the disabled list and just 19-18 when he did not start.

Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Tampa Bay Ray's mascot fires back!

November 18, 2008

Tampa Bay Rays' fired mascot speaks out

Performer Kelly Frank, the woman who perfected Raymond's trademark butt shimmy, said she does not know why she was fired Monday after five seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays.

"I'm just as confused as everyone else," she said. "I really didn't get an explanation."

Frank said she was praised as recently as three weeks ago, when her supervisors told her she out-enthused the Philadelphia Phillies mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, during the World Series.

But on Monday, she was told she would no longer be Raymond. Frank also worked on marketing projects, including the cowbell promotions at several Rays games. She maintained a Raymond blog, offering insider tips on costume changes.

Frank said she was reluctant to discuss what happened Monday.

"My severance package is kind of up in the air right now, so ..." she said.

Frank said she will continue her side business making mascots for professional sports teams, including the University of Florida Gators and the Denver Nuggetts.

Frank, a native of Sunrise, said she will likely remain in St. Petersburg for another month before she relocates, hopefully for another job.

Rick Vaughn, the team's spokesman, declined to comment.

"But be assured Raymond will live on," he wrote in an e-mail.

Cristina Silva, Times staff writer

Posted by tampabaycom at 10:58:05 AM on November 

Girl pitches in NPB Baseball!

Japanese girl makes her pitch for pro team

By ERIC TALMADGE,

 Associated Press Writer– 1 hr 9 mins ago

AP – Japanese high school student Eri Yoshida, 16, smiles as she poses for photographers after being drafted …

TOKYO – The knuckleball — the fluttering, hard-to-hit pitch that's rare in the major leagues — is propelling a 16-year-old girl to the pros inJapan.

Eri Yoshida was inspired to learn how to throw the knuckler after seeing a video of Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield. On Monday, she broke the gender barrier by being drafted for an independent league team as Japan's first female professional baseball player.

The high schooler was chosen by the Kobe 9 Cruise in the Japanese League, which starts its inaugural season in April.

The Cruise are a far cry from Tokyo's Yomiuri Giants. Making the squad is more like earning a tentative slot on a farm team than warming up in the bullpen for the Red Sox.

Even so, the 5-foot, 114-pound Yoshida has smashed the glass ceiling with her unorthodox, sidearm pitch in baseball-crazy Japan, where women normally are relegated to amateur, company-sponsored teams or to the sport of softball.

"I'm really happy I stuck with baseball," Yoshida said in a news conference after she was chosen with 32 other players in the new league's draft. "I want to pitch against men."

Yoshida is hoping to find enough success to one day challenge the likes of the long-established Central and Pacific leagues, home to the best and brightest Japanese players and increasingly a fertile ground for talent headed to the majors in the United States.

Yoshida said she wants to emulate Wakefield, who has built a successful major league career throwing a knuckleball, which is difficult to learn and even harder to throw with success.

Wakefield and Seattle's R.A. Dickey were the two most prominent pitchers who were primarily knucklers to appear in the major leagues last season.

Eddie Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox was the first highly successful knuckleballer and won 20 games three times in four seasons before he was kicked out of baseball following the 1920 season for his role in the Black Sox scandal.

Three Hall of Famers relied on the knuckler: Hoyt Wilhelm, Phil Niekro and Jesse Haines, and the pitch also was associated with Tom Candiotti, Charlie Hough, Joe Niekro, Steve Sparks and Wilbur Wood.

Yoshida started playing baseball when she was in the second grade, tagging along with her elder brother, now 19, and played first base on a boy's team in junior high school. She also joined her high school baseball club, but quit because the training was too tough. Then she joined a private club.

According to media reports, Yoshida was inspired to throw knuckleballs when her father, Isamu, showed her a video of Wakefield pitching. She thought that she could do it, too.

"She must be doing something right," said Dave DeFrietas, a scout in Japan for the Cleveland Indians. "She got signed. I hope it's because of the way she plays, and I wish her success."

Her manager agrees. "Her sidearm knuckleballs dip and sway, and could be an effective weapon for us," said Yoshihiro Nakata.

The news of Yoshida's signing — she was chosen in the seventh round — was met with some skepticism that the league might be trying to grab headlines by naming a woman. In that, they certainly succeeded — Yoshida's photo was all over the morning news Tuesday, and she was featured in a profile in the prestigious Asahi, a major national newspaper.

"I think her recruitment is in part for the publicity," said Toshihiko Kasuga, the director of the Women's Baseball Association of Japan. "It would be extremely hard for women to squarely compete against men in any sport."

But Kasuga said Yoshida's success could encourage other female players, whose population has surged since little league teams opened their doors to girls about 10 years ago.

Baseball history in the United States has occasional examples of women taking the field with men. While pitching for the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees, Virne Beatrice "Jackie" Mitchell Gilbert struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in succession. In the last couple of decades, at least three women have pitched in independent minor leagues.

___

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

Ruth's uniform fetches $270,000 at Louisville Slugger Museum auction

By Judith Egerton • jegerton@courier-journal.com • November 15, 2008

A 1938 Brooklyn Dodgers uniform, the last baseball road uniform worn by Babe Ruth, sold for $270,000. The uniform, which was purchased by and anonymous bidder, was among nearly 900 items of sports memorabilia up for auction today at the Louisville Slugger Museum on Main Street. Hunt Auctions, a Pennsylvania-based company that handled the auction, said the price paid for the famous slugger’s Spalding jersey and pants was a record for a coach’s uniform. “Babe Ruth proved once again he is larger then life,” said David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions. “The prices realized today for the Ruth uniform among others are an excellent indication of the resilience of the sports memorabilia market in the face of a difficult economy.” Ruth wore the uniform during one season as a first-base coach with the Dodgers. The jersey has Ruth’s name stitched inside near the manufacturer’s tag and shows very little wear. A 1939 World’s Fair patch also is sewn on the left sleeve. The anonymous buyer, who bid by telephone, will pay $310,500 when auction fees are included. Most of the memorabilia today related to baseball, but there were also collectibles connected to Louisville native and boxing great Muhammad Ali, including an autographed pair of red Everlast boxing gloves and a 1971 Ali-signed poster by Leroy Neiman featuring Ali versus Joe Frazier. A 1947 World Middleweight Championship belt worn by Rocky Graziano, which was expected to sell for up to $75,000 was withdrawn because of an ownership dispute. The auction included several items that once belonged to New York Yankee Thurmon Munson, who died in an airplane crash in 1979. A road jersey sold for $23,000, a clean non-scuffed autographed baseball went for $6,325 and a buyer paid $1,265 for the player’s rubber shower sandals. Not everyone spent as much as the undisclosed buyer of the Ruth uniform. A.J. Capelli, 59, a family physician in Kenosha, Wis., came to Louisville with an auction budget of $5,000. He was excited to be the winning bidder for the autographs of baseball players Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and Rogers Hornsby. “I’m interested in champions,” he said, “I got three autographs that I have always wanted. Isn’t that fun?” Capelli was last seen eyeing Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves and the Leroy Neiman poster. Reporter Judith Egerton can be reached at (502) 582-4503.

BJ Upton has surgery, will be ready for Spring Training

Tampa Bay Rays' B.J. Upton has surgery to repair labrum

As expected, Rays centerfielder B.J. Upton underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

The surgery was deemed successful, and Upton is expected to be "100 percent" sometime during spring training, according to Rick Vaughn, Rays vice president of communications. Executive VP Andrew Friedman said it's too early to give a timetable on Upton's return, but he said Upton should be in position to be in the Opening Day lineup.

The surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews in Alabama.

Upton is coming off a stellar postseason, in which he hit seven home runs and had 16 RBI. Upton had hit just nine homers in the regular season, but reluctantly revealed late in the year that he was playing with the labrum injury.

Upton made some mechanical adjustments and had said he was feeling better during the postseason, but acknowledged he'd likely need surgery to fix the problem.

Friedman said that the Rays are still going through tests and scans to see whether veteran RHP Troy Percival will indeed need surgeries on his back and knee, which the 39-year-old thought he might require in the offseason.

Joe Smith, Times Staff Writer

ShysterBall: It's Good to be Evan Longoria

Evan Longoria had an awesome rookie year, his stats where off the chart, and as a result he won the coveted rookie of the year award, for outstanding performance with the Tampa Bay Rays.  

During the postseason games he really was on top of his game. What a year the Rays had in 2008, I really enjoyed their poise and determination to win.  

The thrill of seeing them battle it out in the World Series against the Phillies was nerve racking. I was glued to my seat. Even though Jer (my son) and I had opposing views, he was for the Phillies, I was determined to stand with the Rays. 

I was heartbroken when they lost their bid for World Series Champions. However, they did show their mettle through out the year and left us with a taste of how a world class organization should  perform. 

The standouts were, Iwamora, Upton, Longoria, Pena, Garza, I mean what a lineup!. Maddon also was so stoic and calm during the heat of the moment, he has my respect.

All in all, I am a Ray's fan because they convinced me, and the world, that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything, true underdogs who come from behind and win!

ShysterBall: It's Good to be Evan Longoria

 

Baseball and the art of rasing a family.

As I mentioned last, Jer (my son) and I have really gotten the baseball bug. We collect cards, and talk about the general topics associated with baseball stuff. I have to admit, before we became passionate about baseball, we had less in common.

However, now that we are baseball buds, our relationship has deepened, and that's alright by me. Even though, we have our differences in opinion about who we like as a team. We still share the commonality of being brought together closer by that great magnet called baseball fever.

Once upon a time I was a fan of the Oakland A's, LaRussa's A's with Eckersley, McGuire, and Canseco. Now after along lapse of time, and 5 kids's with one on the way, I am very interested in the Rays as a MLB team.

The Ray's and my sons fav's the white Soxs, were for the most part fighting for the same spot in the postseason playoffs. Which in my house amounted to downright hostility form my 12 yr old against my Rays team. When the Rays one the Soxs and then won the the Red Sox, he was livid, and immediately became a Philly's fan, much to my chagrin.

The Louisville Slugger Files

As you might have guessed by the name of my blog and the picture that was selected, that's right, I live in Louisville, KY.

The home of the Louisville slugger museum, and the Minor League franchise, the Louisville Bats.

Although, I am relatively new at being a baseball fan, since I started playing catch with my son Jer (Jeremiah), and all the enthusiasm that a 12 yr old displays...It has infected me quite tremendously.

Therefore, I am grateful to my son ,and my other kids Moshe, Levi, Yishai, and Miriam ( under the age of 12 yrs) who have jumped on our baseball bandwagon. As a result, we have embraced the sport of baseball with a tremendous passion.I wonder if others families experience the same feelings? Anyway, we have, and we read about it; play catch, watch movies, collect baseball cards, buy merchandise and even dream about it.

My son Jer is an aficionado who is now playing baseball at his school and is learning how to hit homers and field ground balls for the first time. To say that I am proud of him is an understatement. I have my work cut out for me as I learn to coach him by batting fly balls, grounders and pitching to him. Its pretty cool. For one, it is like reliving my youth again and I really enjoy my sons progression in his skills. Most of all, I enjoy the we have something in common that we are both passionate about, that to me is the icing on the proverbial cake.