Baseball notebook: Yankees’ protest denied
Major League Baseball on Thursday denied the protest the New York Yankees filed this week after a loss to the Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees claimed there was no evidence of an injury when Boston starter Josh Beckett was pulled in the fifth inning Tuesday night. Reliever Manny Delcarmen was given all the time he needed to get ready, rather than the standard eight warmup pitches.
New York wound up losing, and Boston put Beckett on the disabled list the next day.
The protest was turned down by MLB president Bob DuPuy. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says he didn’t expect the team to win its argument. He says the protest centered on the way Beckett was removed and Delcarmen came in.
Canseco testimony set
Jose Canseco’s appearance before the grand jury investigating Roger Clemens is now scheduled for June 3.
Canseco will testify before the panel that will decide whether to indict Clemens for lying under oath to Congress.
The grand jury is reviewing Clemens’ testimony before a congressional committee in 2008, when the seven-time Cy Young Award winner denied using steroids or human growth hormone.
Northern exposure
The baseball players’ association has warned members with criminal convictions or arrests to contact the union before trying to enter Canada.
Doyle Pryor, a union assistant general counsel, sent a memo to agents titled “immigration problems for players entering Canada.” A copy of the memo was posted on bizofbaseball. com and later obtained by the Associated Press.
“Individuals who are not Canadian citizens may be detained at the border and, in certain cases may not be permitted to enter Canada at all, if they have any sort of past criminal record,” he wrote. “Recently, Canadian authorities have stepped up enforcement of these laws, resulting in several non-Canadian players traveling to Toronto with their teams being detained at the border because of a past criminal record.”
He warned that “even an arrest, conviction or suspended sentence many years ago for a minor crime, or a juvenile offense, can result in a border detention.”
Three upcoming series at the Blue Jays are specified, involving Baltimore (May 28-30), Tampa Bay (May 31-June 2) and the New York Yankees (June 4-6).
Hoffman eyes return
Trevor Hoffman is ready to pitch again for the Brewers following an extensive bullpen throwing session aimed at straightening out the struggling closer’s delivery.
Even if his next appearance isn’t in a save situation, the majors’ career leader with 596 saves won’t be unhappy. What he wants is to be able to pitch effectively again.
The 42-year-old Hoffman was told he wouldn’t pitch during the Milwaukee’s two-game series in Pittsburgh so that pitching coach Rick Peterson could help him correct the angle from which he releases his pitches.
Hoffman was encouraged by what he called a “little more intense of a throwing session” than normal with Peterson. Hoffman said it was evident watching his delivery that his arm angle is different from the past.