Selig: Banned should be just that
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig wants to keep players on drug suspensions from going to the minor leagues before they return.
Manny Ramirez drew sellout crowds last month in the minors when he played two games at Triple-A Albuquerque and three at Class-A Inland Empire on his rehabilitation assignment before his return to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 3.
“I believe that should be changed…in the next labor negotiation,” Selig said Tuesday during a one-hour question-and-answer session with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. “Their logic was OK – look, guys get hurt, they can go out on rehab, and so on. But I think that’s something we need to change.” The current rules are in place through December 2011. “I’ll let them work that out. I don’t want to do our negotiating here,” Selig said. “But it’s 50 games and then go do what you got to do to get back into (shape).”
“We will respond appropriately to any bargaining proposals advanced by the commissioner,” said union general counsel Michael Weiner, who has been designated to succeed Donald Fehr as players’ association head.
• Selig denies collusion: Selig denies that teams conspired against free agents after the 2008 season.
As Weiner prepares to take over from Donald Fehr as head of the players’ association, several agents said they are pushing the union to file a collusion grievance against teams over their behavior during the free-agent market last winter.
“The investigation is ongoing but not complete because of things to review,” Weiner said before the All-Star Home Run Derby.
•No steroid committee: Baseball writers voted 30-25 against a proposal to form a committee for developing guidelines on evaluating players from the steroids era in Hall of Fame voting.
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Rick Telander made the proposal at a national meeting of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Current rules ask voters to consider a player’s “record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”
•Obama throws first pitch: President Barack Obama was true to his word: He didn’t bounce it.
From 60 feet and 6 inches away, Obama, wearing a White Sox jacket, wound up and bit his lip as he let go. The left-hander grimaced slightly, and gave a fist pump when Albert Pujols – a Gold Glove first baseman – made a neat grab with a specially made black mitt with “Obama #44” and an American flag on it.
• Mays cried after Obama elected: Baseball legend Willie Mays says he was so proud the night Barack Obama was elected president that he “cried for most of the night.”
The 78-year-old Hall of Fame center fielder spoke with reporters as he flew with Obama from Michigan to St. Louis for Tuesday night’s All-Star game.
Mays, who played much of his career with the San Francisco Giants, said he met Obama in Chicago on election night last November. He said he reminded Obama that he had dreamed about the day when someone of their race would be elected president.
•Phillies sign Martinez: Pedro Martinez has agreed to a $1 million, one-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, a person familiar with the negotiations told the AP.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner was in town for a physical, and the Phillies planned to hold a news conference today, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement hadn’t been made.