Sporting News staff reports
Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez shoved team traveling secretary Jack McCormick to the ground Saturday in an argument over tickets, the Providence Journal reports.
Ramirez had asked McCormick for 16 tickets for Saturday night's Red Sox-Astros game, which is a high number for a day-of-game request, the Journal reports. When McCormick told Ramirez he might not be able to fulfill the request, Ramirez shouted, "Just do your job!"
An argument followed, and Ramirez pushed McCormick to the ground. Later the two met behind closed doors and Ramirez apologized. McCormick accepted the apology. Manager Terry Francona said Sunday, "Sometimes things happen, and when they do, we choose to handle them internally. I'm satisfied with how we handled this." No disciplinary action is planned.
Manny Ramirez shoves traveling secretary....
New York, NY (Sports Network) - Major League Baseball announced a one-game suspension for umpire Brian Runge on Thursday for his actions in a June 24 contest between the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners.
Carlos Beltran began arguing balls and strikes with Runge in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Mets manager Jerry Manuel came out of the dugout to protest the umpire's strike zone as well.
MLB suspends umpire for bumping Mets manager....
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros have released Shawn Chacon, opting to cut the right-hander a day after he reportedly grabbed general manager Ed Wade by the neck and threw him to the ground.
The team requested waivers on Chacon on Thursday for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release. If he isn't claimed by another major league team by Monday, waivers will expire and his contract will be terminated without pay.
Astros release Chacon after altercation with GM....
By DAVE ANDERSON
When Jackie Robinson was on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1962, he requested that the voters among the Baseball Writers Association of America judge him only as a player. He didn’t want his social significance as the modern major leagues’ first black player to be considered. Vote for him — or don’t vote for him — on his merits as a player, as all the other Hall of Famers from Babe Ruth and Cy Young had been measured.
When he was elected, the words on his bronze plaque at Cooperstown reflected his wishes.
Those words began, “Leading N.L. Batter in 1949,” and followed with his fielding and stolen base statistics, and then “Most Valuable Player in 1949. Lifetime Batting Average .311,” before concluding with more fielding statistics.
Nice numbers. Hall of Fame numbers. But over his 10 seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Jackie Robinson was more than numbers. Much more. To baseball and to America. And on Wednesday, a new plaque with new words was unveiled by his widow, Rachel Robinson, and their daughter Sharon at a ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y.
A Fine Piece of Editing in Cooperstown....
Associated Press
Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon was suspended indefinitely by the team Wednesday for insubordination after reportedly grabbing general manager Ed Wade by the neck and throwing him to the ground.
Chacon (2-3, 5.04 ERA), upset after getting demoted to the bullpen over the weekend, told the Houston Chronicle this problem began when Wade approached him while eating and said he wanted to meet promptly in manager Cecil Cooper's office, the pitcher said.
"I said, 'You can tell me whatever you've got to tell me right here,' " said Chacon, adding that things went downhill from there.
"He started yelling and cussing," Chacon said of Wade, according to a story on the Chronicle's Web site. After responding to him calmly, Chacon said, Wade told him he needed to "look in the mirror." "So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground," Chacon said. "I jumped on top of him. Words were exchanged." He said players quickly separated them.
Chacon suspended for attacking Astros' GM....
Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Nick Markakis and Luke Scott drove in two runs each for Baltimore, as the Orioles bested the Chicago Cubs, 7-5, in the opener of a three-game interleague set at Wrigley Field.
Markakis was 2-for-5 with a run scored and Scott added a triple, single and a run scored. Brian Roberts was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a run batted in for Baltimore, which halted a two-game slide. George Sherrill got out of a bases-loaded jam with nobody out in the ninth with three straight strikeouts to earn his 26th save.
Jeremy Guthrie (4-7) tossed six effective innings, surrendering four runs on seven hits and a walk. Guthrie was mainly hurt by a three-run homer in the seventh and pitched well otherwise to earn the win. The hard-luck righthander has surrendered two earned runs or fewer in seven of his last 11 starts with only four wins to show for it.
Jim Edmonds connected for a three-run homer and Kosuke Fukudome was 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs scored. Aramis Ramirez added two hits, an RBI and a scored a run for Chicago, which ended both a three-game winning streak and the Cubs' 14-game winning streak at Wrigley Field, their longest such streak since June 4-July 10, 1936.
"These guys basically are ready to go," Cubs manager Lou Pinella said while addressing a letdown following the Cubs sweep of the White Sox. "The White Sox had nothing to do with this. Absolutely nothing. Baltimore came in here and played a good ballgame. Give them credit."
O's end Cubbies' 14-game home winning streak....
NEW YORK (AP) — Mets owner Fred Wilpon is praising Willie Randolph's performance as manager but agreed with general manager Omar Minaya's decision to replace him last week.
"I think Willie did a good job. I think that the results the last say 14 months were not up to what we thought it had to be," Wilpon said. "What Omar finally decided was that he had to make that change."
Randolph was fired on June 17 with the Mets at 34-35. New York has gone 3-2 under new manager Jerry Manuel.
"Obviously, we've been playing well in the last few games," Wilpon said.
Wilpon said Minaya made the initial decision to fire Randolph on Sunday, after a doubleheader split against Texas. After speaking with ownership, Minaya made the final call Monday.
Mets owner Fred Wilpon: `Willie did a good job'....
