By The Heckler
Baseball Big Mouth
baseball news  

Sitting back in the bleachers, a cool one in my hand, hurling a few heckles from the safety of my seat. Welcome to BaseballBigMouth.com. Grab the hotdog guy for me when he comes around, okay? And the nacho dude . . . and maybe a malt cup, too. But speakin’ of food . . .  

ROLY ROGER - Is it just your ol’buddy The Heckler, or does Roger Clemens look like he didn’t miss a meal over the winter, even more than normal? Pictures surfacing following his first comeback start — this one at Class-A Tampa last night, with a wrinkled and nearing-senility-stage George Steinbrenner in attendance — seem to indicate “The Rocket” might as well change his nickname to “The Éclair.” Either that, or “Boomer” — wait, doesn’t he eat — eer — play for the San Diego Padres now? Whatever. All I know for sure is that Clemens puffy face and bulging waistline looked a lot more impressive than his stuff: those spinning curveballs may have gotten some overwhelmed youngsters to buckle, Roger, but they’ll hardly make the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox or Minnesota Twins shake in their boots. Hurry up and get “ready” Rocket — and maybe hit the stationary bike for a spell — the real contenders in the AL eagerly await you.

PIERZYNSKI FOR MAYOR - Ya gotta love a teammate like the White Sox A.J. Pierzynski: he sits one game (the opener against the Cubs) and promptly goes and whines about it on the radio. That didn’t sit well with volatile manager Ozzie Guillen, who just-as-promptly called WSCR-AM host Mike North and launched into a tirade that eventually led to a meeting with Pierzynski, Guillen and manager Kenny Williams. Everyone seems to say things are great now — host North even brought Guillen some fudge to smooth things over — but it only confirms Pierzynski is a bonehead that is sure to wear out his welcome with yet another team. Let’s just hope for White Sox fans’ that Williams won’t get fleeced (in epic proportions) like the San Francisco Giants did when they acquired A.J. a few years back — and then promptly didn’t resign him after only one year. The price paid? Only some unknown pitchers named Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Boonser. Wonder whatever happened to those guys? And more importantly, I betcha Roger Clemens is wondering what happened to all that fudge!? 

LET RICKEY RUN - And finally, talk of a Rickey Henderson comeback is gaining some credence from Oakland A’s boss Billy Beane, who reportedly said he is willing to let Rickey play for the Athletics - for one game - come September, provided it wouldn’t be detrimental to the team. Even though such a move would push back Henderson’s sure-fire Hall-of-Fame ticket five years, Rickey is said to be very serious about ending his MLB career at the place where he started. The 48-year-old Henderson has supposedly been buoyed into launching such an endeavor by Roger Clemens comeback, as well as the continuing saga known as Julio Franco of the New York Mets. “I know I can play with Julio,” says Rick. You know what? Here’s one vote for saying, yep, he probably still could. Rickey Henderson is one of the greatest baseball players of all-time, says The Heckler. If he’s serious — and God knows, he can probably still run like the wind — why not at least give him a stint? “The players they put on the field nowadays, they couldn’t make it in my day. They’d get sent back to triple-A,” added the ever-quotable Henderson, who last played in the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003, now operating as a special instructor for the Mets. “I always want to be around the game,” he said. “That’s something that’s in my blood.” Let Rickey run, says this BaseballBigMouth.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 19th, 2007 at 3:04 pm and is filed under Baseball News and Views, Heckles All Around. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.