It’s Open Season on Miggy (again)

Last year, it was a ‘to catch a predator’ style ambush on ESPN about his age. This year, it’s a story in the New York Times about an un-provable allegation that supposedly occurred eight years ago.

David Waldstein of the New York Times takes a shot at Miguel Tejada, passing along allegations that Miggy “help[ed] friends on opposing teams by tipping off pitches and by allowing balls they hit to get past him occasionally during games with lopsided scores” during his 2001 season in Oakland.

No hard evidence has ever been produced, and to this day Tejada, now an All-Star with the Houston Astros, denies his teammates’ accusations, which have only recently been uncovered. But Manager Art Howe… was forced to address the issue. He spoke first on Tejada’s behalf, trying to quell the outrage. Then Jason Giambi, the unequivocal leader and biggest star on the team, laid out the players’ concerns.

The ‘story’ continues on to describe the allegations and various responses, including this one from Miggy:

“I would never do that. I want to win. If my brother was on the other team, I would never help him.”

Barry Bloom of MLB.com, subbing for McTaggart this weekend at Astros.com, discussed the NYT article with Miggy, who had this to say:

“I’ve never tipped pitches. I love this game and that’s not the way I play it. I’m a proud player. I would never do such a thing. It’s tough to get a hit. And for me to tip pitches to anybody, that’s crazy. I play for my team.

***

What can I say? There’s so many comments made about me lately I don’t pay any attention to it. When they asked me about it I told them I never tipped pitches.”

All of which leads one to wonder why in the heck this story is appearing in the New York Times 8 years after the ‘acts’ allegedly took place… Admittedly “who the heck cares” is probably the incorrect attitude to have (after all it would piss me off to hear one of the Astros position players was tipping off pitches this season), but nevertheless that is where I find myself. By all accounts Miggy is the consummate teammate, he plays hard and he plays to win. I could give a crud about Jason Giamby or the ’01 Oakland A’s…

(h/t to Astros County for the link)

ETA: Bench steps up with a link to Deadspin’s take on the NYT article.

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El Caballo watching los caballos?

Phil Rogers at the Chicago Tribune makes an interesting statement about Carlos Lee in his MLB Power Rankings column this week.

Carlos Lee’s attention isn’t one of his best traits. A teammate was furious when he found Lee in the clubhouse during a recent game, checking horse racing results on his computer.

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Really (Pam)?

Greg Barr at the Houston Business Journal writes that the Astros will debut a reality television series beginning Thursday.

Though the harsh reality of the team’s disappointing season is just setting in, Houston Astros players are set to star in their own reality-based television series.

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[T]he 30-minute reality-style program will focus on the lifestyles of Astros players and their families, looking at their activities off the playing field.

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No one is immune

JdJO writes that McLane plans to evaluate the Astros from the top down during the offseason.

It’s a good start, but McLane seems to maintain some delusions about the poor performance of the team:

“There’s plenty of time when the season is over to address how we finished up. Let’s see what the real potential of this team is. We had much greater expectations, so you have to adjust. Part of it you have to look at it. You ever see a team that had as many injuries to key players?”

There is hope though, as McLane certainly didn’t give Cooper a vote of confidence when asked if he was pleased about his leadership this year:

“I don’t know that I can have evaluated or considered that. We’re going to review every part — from the players to the manager, to the farm system. We haven’t picked out any one part of it.

Roy’s comments last week certainly seemed to catch McLane’s attention:

“Roy had great frustration, and that’s part of a champion. He wants to win as much as anybody else. These are problems you need to solve internally rather than through the media.”

***

“I think the comments that Roy made, I think he was probably frustrated in not winning a very close game. Those comments need to be done internally with the coaches and manager and the general manager.”

And he is ‘concerned’:

“You’re always concerned. I think there is concern because we had great expectations.”

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On the trail of the real killer culprit

JdJO also blogs about a conversation that he had with McLane regarding the numerous hamstring injuries that Astros players have experienced this year.

“We’re sure going to look at everything. Look at how many hamstring strains, calf strains and other injuries we’ve had. Do we need to change our training routine? Do we need to see the energy drinks they take? We need to see what has caused all these injuries. Have you ever seen so many calf injuries? Look how many calf injuries.”

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Little League baseball honors #5

Jeff Bagwell was the 2009 recipient of the Bill Shae Distinguished Little League Graduate Award. From the Communications Division of Little League online:

The award was established in 1987 to serve a two-fold purpose. First, and most importantly, the award is presented to a former Little Leaguer in Major League Baseball who best exemplifies the spirit of Little League. Consideration for selection includes both the individual’s ability and accomplishments and that person’s status as a positive role model.

“For Mr. Bagwell, baseball has been a life-long ambition, and his drive to play the game at the highest level required personal commitment and fortitude that was learned while playing Little League,” [president and CEO of Little League Baseball and Softball Stephen] Keener said. “His transition from playing to teaching skills and mentoring young players has brought him full circle with the experiences and enthusiasm enjoyed during his Little League days. Jeff’s athletic prowess coupled with his desire to assist in the lives of children makes us are proud to honor him with this award.”

Bagwell on his recollections and fondness of Little League:

“I loved putting on my Little League uniform and going to play. As I got older, every time I put on my uniform it was exciting. When I talk to young players, I tell them, ‘If baseball is what you want to do, go practice, play hard, keep plugging away and don’t give up.’”

***

“When I was in Little League, I cried one time when I struck out and my dad benched me. That moment taught me about adversity and that things aren’t always going to go your way. When you’re a kid you just play, and that’s what I did, from Little League all the way up to the Majors. I got to be a better player as I got older, and things worked out for me.”

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Catching up with #7

David Crider of MaxPreps catches up with Craig Biggio, and discusses his new position as head coach at St. Thomas.

Biggio on his coaching style:

“I’m patient to a degree. But mental letdowns and not running out the ball make the hair stand up on my head. The one thing you can control is effort. I struck out over 1,000 times. I don’t think you have to run back to the dugout after a strikeout. I liked the kids’ willingness to learn.”

It’s no surprise that job security doesn’t seem to be an issue for Biggio:

“I don’t really care about the won-lost record,” he says. “The better the schedule (and it is loaded) the more (college and pro) looks for your players. If 42 scouts are watching Jameson (The Woodlands’ big-time pitcher, Jameson Taillon), they are seeing my kids, too).

As for his goals as head coach:

“My biggest goal is to teach these kids as much baseball as I can and hope they can play in college and, of course, win a state baseball championship (the school has won 20 titles). If we can get six or seven kids (each year into college baseball), that’s all I care about. I would be very happy.”

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All choked up

John Schumacher at the Sacramento Bee writes “[Shawn] Chacon’s parents grounded him – in a good way.”

While Chacon doesn’t like to look back at what happened last year when he tried to choke out Ed Wade, he did have take a couple of Cooper’esque shots at the Astros:

“I really don’t talk about it much. It’s somewhere in previous years I’d never really wanted to play. Not the city itself, just the organization itself. I’d never really heard good things about it. It didn’t work out too well … kind of started out positive, then the whole thing started snowballing. It’s unfortunate what happened. Like I’ve said before, I believe everything happens for a reason.”