Pepper

Let's get something straight, sports fans, the Phillies didn't lose last night because the umpire blew the call at first base. In fact, Howard missed the tag and from replays and recitations from the rule book, it appeared Michael Bourn was safe. No, the Phillies lost for a couple of legitimate reasons:

1. Jayson Werth is a horse's ass. The guy routinely gets picked off but last night was a classic. He gets picked off on an intentional walk. They should send his brain to the Hall of Fame for that one, but you know they won't find it. He killed yet another rally though everyone knows this team can't hit in the clutch anyway. Shane Victorino killed a few rallies last night, too. I've said it before: Werth is batting the ugliest .301 I've ever seen. For every hit he gets (almost always NOT when runners are in scoring position) he offsets the plus with his colossal stupidity on the base paths. The guy is plain dumb!

2. This team cannot bunt. Their best bunter is a pitcher they just acquired. Wilson Valdez couldn't get down a bunt in the eighth inning, but that was only the latest failure. By comparison, Houston won last night because they have multiple position players who can bunt.

Enough on last night's inexcusable loss.

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Roger Clemens was indicted for lying to the Congress of the United States not for using PED's, so in no way should he be viewed as the fall guy for the entire steroid era. Instead, he's just a dumb schmuck who got caught lying to an institution that has made an art of lying to everyone else. That alone should be sufficient reason to keep him out of the Hall of Fame.

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The news out of Pittsburgh that the Pirates made money in 2007 & 2008 despite losing badly on the field should come as no surprise; nor is it reason for concern even though they have continued to stink in 2009 and 2010, at least not for everyone exept real baseball fans in the Steel City. The Pirates' ownership determined that it could make money from a variety of sources not dependent on the standings including revenue sharing, television, dumping salaries, trading players eligible for arbitration, refusing to sign players who could help even if they cost market rates, etc.. That's the American way. Free enterprise. Screw you if you don't like how we run our business. We're happy.

Oh, and when they get ready to unload the franchise on someone else, they'll make an even bigger profit. Meanwhile, though I don't have the data available to me, I'll bet the owners didn't have to put up much of their own money to build PNC Park.

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Stephen Strasburg's second arm injury in less than a month has the coddlers vs. the old-schoolers out in droves. For every pitching coach, GM and manager who says bring him along slowly, there are those who say pitchers are too coddled these days. It's hard to imagine how Strasburg's particular miseries could reinforce either side but fear not, they will.