Mike's back to work, un-retired and ready to pound others.... well at least for one afternoon. Mike Tyson struck a photographer in the face today (yeah no need to worry about red eye when their closed shut!) and the Police quickly arrested him. No word on whether or not Oprah has lined up a meeting where he can hold hands and ask for forgiveness with this particular victim. 

Batter A- 30 years old

Batting Average- 260

RBI's- 66

Slugging %- 400 

Batter B- 24 years old

Batting Average- 317

RBI's- 117

Slugging %- 550

No-brainer right?! A younger player, with better numbers, still destined to hit his prime in 4 to 5 years...The problem is, that's what Toronto thought they were getting when they paid for player B, but instead they ended up with player A! Vernon Wells was destined to become one of the greatest hitters in the game; He could hit for average, hit for power and he played well above average defense. I haven't even touched his character, which is rumored to be second to none in the league. Batter A is not the problem though! His back-loaded contract is about to back-fire so hard that even the Giants are jealous (Check Mr. Barry Zito) ; His base salary is about to jump from 1.5 million (The last 8 million dollar installment of his 25 million dollar signing bonus was also dished out) to 12.5 and then skyrocket to 23 Million the year after!

OK no problem, someone will take a chance on him at the GM meeting this year right?! Absolutely not! The teams that can afford him really don't care to have him or need him for that matter (New York, Boston, and maybe the Mets) and the teams that would love to add him can't afford him! So the Blue Jays find themselves with quite the conundrum.They have found a way to hold themselves hostage and the next couple of years, unless Vernon can return to form, will have them locked in the basement.

Big contracts put a lot of pressure on some athletes and that's a huge part of the evaluation process any General Manager has to consider (unless your the rockies- Mike Hampton, Denny Neagle and yes Todd Helton). Some have crumbled, some have shun (C.C Sabbathia) and some hide how they handled it till sports illustrated lets us know (ARods cousin's "medicine" helped him get over those blondes in the background). Either way, Vernon should just know there is absolutely no pressure; NO ONE is watching. All the pressure is on Toronto, who have managed to tie there own hands behind their back; And don't bother screaming for help, no one is listening!

 

In a night that was supposed to allow us to turn back our clocks just one more time this fall, not just an hour but a decade... In a night where we could once again dream for a game 7 on the grandest of stages.... In a night where experience was supposed to translate into quite the pitching gem in a hitters ballpark with monster lineups....One man forgot to change the time! The New York Post indeed got it right with the diapers (or depens as Pedro would call them) but they just got the wrong body. Pedro looked his age (real age not Roger Clemen's roid years) tonight but I didn't want to believe it. He had one more gem left in him. He had one more magical outing that he forgot was in his back pocket. He had...well none of that. He had simply run out of time. Pedro dazzled during that short snippet in the World Baseball Classic but still no one would touch him.Why? It was not until July when Pedro got a call. He had pitched average at best in his 12 outings this year but he was just warming up right? No, it was not a warm up but merely a warn out pitcher. Tons of innings under a tired arm, tons of memories and quite frankly tons of circle changes that were possibly the best this game has ever seen. Pedro was once electric with his fastball and nasty when he dipped a 79 mph change with movement on point. But tonight Pedro's arm was screaming as he struggled to hit 86 on the gun and his change-up struggled to hit it's spots; Tonight, to the disappointment of Einsteins theory that time and space bend, we once again realized that we have the ability to change the hour but we haven't yet really found a way to change the time...

We all know it happens. We've heard the stories of never wishing your worst enemy the fate that those at the bottom of these piles are dealt.The ball comes loose and one brave soul or unlucky obliged player falls on  it.  We know who fell on it first but the ensuing seconds make it hard to watch for anyone that has ever heard an NFL films documentary. Piles of 250+ pound men (and that plus sign should be followed by an infinity sign for guys like Andre Smith) serve as curtain for all who watch, and the audience is only left to wait anxiously as they prepare backstage. What I mean by prepare backstage is: poke, bend, spit and punch each other behind this human curtain (where no eyes wander) to come up with one piece of leather that this poor soul is expected to hold on to. Saturday something happened that should not have been seen but nevertheless Youtube has us covered. Someone forgot to close the curtain and Brandon Spikes was exposed. The thing is, this was not a loose ball and there was no need to but Brandon took it upon himself to perform a solo. Florida is good; This in no way is a knock to their overall team. They have a streaky offense, with Percy leaving a void at the play-maker position, and a great great defense that will keep them in every single game. Now after watching this video I can confidently tell you that it is much easier to play defense when the running back is blind. Brandon, you are an amazing linebacker with first round talent; Was that necessary?! My last question is...Would you rather someone purposely stomp on your forearm with there cleats or would you rather have someone stick there fingers as far as they can into your eye sockets? Yeah, Ill take the Marcus Vick punishment as well! Look how low one move can stoop you Mr. Spikes. (from 25-29 second mark on the video)