St. Louis Cardinals expect Chris Carpenter to miss 4-8 weeks

CHICAGO -- The St. Louis Cardinals expect Chris Carpenter to miss four to eight weeks after an MRI on Thursday confirmed the right-hander has a tear of the left oblique muscle.

Carpenter

Carpenter received an injection and his condition will be re-evaluated next week.

"It just confirmed our initial read," general manager John Mozeliak said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "You certainly would have preferred it find nothing. But given his level of pain [Tuesday], this is what was expected."

Carpenter (1-0) had pitched 10 scoreless innings this season until injuring himself grounding out to third base to end the top of the fourth inning Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

He missed virtually all of the last two seasons with elbow and shoulder injuries. He was the NL Cy Young Award winner in 2005.

Mozeliak accompanied Carpenter back to St. Louis on Thursday.

"He said he felt better today, which is very encouraging," Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch.


Senna out of Gunners tie
St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols questions Home Run Derby announcement
Jorge Arangure Jr. takes a look at what to expect from Matt Holliday in Oakland.

St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols questions Home Run Derby announcement

ST. LOUIS -- Major League Baseball's announcement that Albert Pujols planned to participate in the Home Run Derby in St. Louis was news to the Cardinals slugger.

Pujols

"I know they're using my picture and everything to promote the All-Star Game, but I have never heard that," Pujols said after Thursday's 7-4 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Pujols will join former Cardinals great Ozzie Smith as official spokesmen for the All-Star FanFest, to be held July 10-14 in downtown St. Louis.

The Home Run Derby announcement was made Thursday.

"When is the All-Star Game, six months from now?" Pujols asked about the July 14 game, to be held at Busch Stadium. "If my elbow's not healthy, I'm not doing it."

The Home Run Derby is July 13 and will be televised live on ESPN.

MLB said more than 80,000 tickets for the All-Star FanFest had already been sold, about 7,000 ahead of last year's record-breaking attendance at the old Yankee Stadium.


Harry Kalas died from heart disease
St. Louis Cardinals expect Chris Carpenter to miss 4-8 weeks
Wozniacki beats Wozniak to win at Ponte Vedra
Ferrero beats Andreev to reach Casablanca final

Harry Kalas died from heart disease

WASHINGTON -- Autopsy results show that longtime Phillies TV and radio broadcaster Harry Kalas died from heart disease.

NFL.com Video

NFL Films takes a look back at the career of legendary broadcaster Harry Kalas.

A spokeswoman at the Washington, D.C., chief medical examiner's office said Kalas, who died Monday, had high blood pressure and suffered from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The disease, in which plaque buildup restricts blood flow in arteries, is a major cause of heart attacks and strokes.

Known for his signature "Outta here!" home run calls, Kalas died after collapsing in the broadcast booth before the Phillies' 9-8 victory over the Washington Nationals. He was 73.

Kalas is survived by his wife and three sons, including one -- Todd -- who is a broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Rays. A private funeral service and burial is planned for next week.

Meanwhile, Kalas fans will have a chance to pay their respects to the legendary Phillies broadcaster.

The Phillies and Kalas family announced that a public memorial for Kalas will be held Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. Fans will be welcome from 8 a.m. until 12:45 p.m., when all fans in attendance will be directed to their seats for an on-field tribute at 1 p.m.

Philadelphia hosts the San Diego Padres at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday.

The Phillies will wear a black, circular "HK" patch this season on the front of their jerseys, near the heart, the team announced.

The team also urged fans coming to Friday night's Phillies-Padres game to arrive early for a pre-game tribute to Kalas.

Jayson Stark: Voice of Philadelphia Phillies baseball goes quiet
Pires - Gunners remain the same
Top-seed Cornet ousted at Barcelona
Harry Kalas, Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster and NFL Films voice, dies at 73 in Washington


Jayson Stark: Voice of Philadelphia Phillies baseball goes quiet
Pires - Gunners remain the same
Top-seed Cornet ousted at Barcelona
Harry Kalas, Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster and NFL Films voice, dies at 73 in Washington

Jorge Arangure Jr. takes a look at what to expect from Matt Holliday in Oakland.

Getty ImagesHolliday may not be in Oakland next year, but while he is there, he needs to prove his career stats were not Rocky Mountain-inflated.


Jayson Stark: Voice of Philadelphia Phillies baseball goes quiet
Howard Bryant: Jason Giambi back in his comfort zone with Oakland A’s
Dinara Safina to supplant Serena at No. 1
Djokovic and Murray reach 3rd round at Monte Carlo

Jayson Stark: Voice of Philadelphia Phillies baseball goes quiet

PHILADELPHIA -- He was so much more than the voice of the Phillies. Harry Kalas was the Phillies.

He didn't just describe the games. His voice took hold of those games and made them his personal amphitheater.

The home runs weren't officially home runs until Harry Kalas told you they were outta here.

The long outs didn't make Philadelphia's hearts flutter unless the volume on every speaker suddenly quadrupled and Harry announced they've got … a … chance .

Strike three wasn't strike three until Harry The K gave it that little chuckle and reported some Phillies pitcher had just struck some poor, overmatched schmoe with a bat "right on outta there."

And when the impossible happened, when a Word Series title run erupted in front of his eyes, his town couldn't be totally sure this mind-warping event had actually happened until the great Harry Kalas' golden voice exploded with the words: "The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 world champions of baseball."

So here is what people like me, people who have lived most of our lives in Philadelphia, are wondering on this sad and tragic day:

How are we going to do this?

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Tom MihalekHarry Kalas threw out the first pitch before this year's Phillies season opener.

How are we going to go on in a world with no more "outta heres?"

How do we fill the unfillable void that will hang over us forever now as we try to contemplate life, and baseball, without Kalas?

Can't be done. Can it?

The games will go on. The sport will go on. Voices will crackle out of our TV speakers. That's the way it has to work. That's the way it has always worked.

But we don't have to pretend it will ever be the same, because when you've spent 6,000 nights, over four decades, listening to Harry Kalas put his inimitable stamp on a baseball game, it's way too simple to say baseball will never sound the same.

Baseball in Philadelphia will never be the same.

I'm one of the lucky ones. I got to know one of the special human beings on this planet. It was one of the great thrills of my career.

Once, I was just one of the fortunate hordes who had the pleasure of listening to Harry Kalas. Next thing I knew, I was working alongside him.

Back when I was a rookie beat reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer and something memorable would happen on the emerald field below me, I'd often find myself thinking: I wonder how Harry called that one?

His voice, his presence, was that powerful. Even when you were witnessing something live, with your very own eyes, you still felt as if you were missing something -- because you hadn't heard Harry describe it.

If it had been only me thinking those thoughts, I'd have gotten therapy and tried to get that little voice out of my head. But it wasn't just me. Ohhhhh no.

Those players down there were way more addicted to that voice than I was.

Back on May 10, 2002, Phillies center fielder Doug Glanville hit an inside-the-park home run, the only inside-the-parker of his career. You know what he remembers about it now? Kalas' call of that magic moment.

The second he crossed home plate, Glanville said, "I wanted to hear him announce it. That was every bit as important to me as running around the bases."

Wait. Hold on here. You mean this man had just done something very few human beings have ever done, and all he could think of was the sound of That Voice? How can that be, you ask? Because it was Harry. That's how.

"Harry had that special gift," Glanville said Monday. "Just with his words and the emotion in his voice, he could take you to that game and put you right in that moment. If I was trying to explain to somebody what it's like to hit an inside-the-park homer, I'd say, 'Just listen to Harry call it.'"

But it wasn't only Glanville. When something big -- especially something really, really big -- came along, Kalas' voice towered over the event like a thunderclap from the heavens.

Let me transport you back to April 18, 1987. It's a day I'll never forget. I got to see Mike Schmidt hit his 500th home run that day. But that's not the part I'll never forget.

The scene that is lodged in my brain forever was a scene that took place long after Schmidt's emotional home run trot. The interviews were over. The players were all dressed. The bus to the airport was almost ready to leave.

NFL.com Video

NFL Films takes a look back at the career of legendary broadcaster Harry Kalas.

Then Harry Kalas entered the room.

It just so happened that he and his broadcast buddies had brought with them a tape of Kalas' still-indelible call. And so, right then, right there, life in that room screeched to a halt. Everything stopped. The bus could wait.

All 25 players gathered around the tape recorder. The "play" button was pushed. And here came That Voice:

" There it isssss. Nummmmmber 500. The career 500th home run for Michael Jack Schmidt. And the Phillies have regained the lead in Pittsburgh, 8-6."

They listened to it once, and they roared so loudly the walls shook. So then they listened to it again. And again. And again. And again. Screaming just as loudly every time.

That's when it hit me: Even they didn't realize what had just happened here -- not until they'd heard Harry The K put it into words.

Well, you know what? At least those words live. Still.

I heard them all over the airwaves Monday. It's the one consolation on days like this. Because Kalas did what he did, because he uttered his special brand of poetry into a microphone, the words live on.

We need them now. We need to hear those words again. And again. And again. And again.

We need That Voice because it has been such a constant in all our lives for as long as most of us can remember. And not just at game time.

When I heard the sad news Monday, I called my daughter Hali -- one of the great Harry The K fans on earth. Through the tears, she told me she had just changed the ring tone on her cell phone -- to the sound of Harry Kalas calling the final pitch of the 2008 World Series.

Later, my wife, Lisa, tried calling our neighbors, Bob and Karen Scheur, because we knew they'd want to know. They weren't in. But their answering machine clicked on -- and there was Harry Kalas' voice informing us that Bob and Karen had just gone on a lonnnnnng drive, and they were outta here … so please leave a message at the sound of the beep.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Evan VucciA moment of silence in memory of Harry Kalas was observed before the Phillies' game with the Nationals on Monday in Washington.

"The funny thing is," Bob told me later, "that in November, Karen finally said, 'It's time to change the tape.' So we did. But as soon as we did, my friends would call and say, 'Hey, what happened to Harry?' So when it was time for pitchers and catchers, we changed it back. It's one of the rites of spring. Harry's back."

I could relate to that feeling -- totally. In fact, my last conversation with Harry came just a couple of weeks ago, in Florida. Pitchers and catchers had reported weeks earlier. The games had been going on for nearly a month. But for the first time ever, those games were going on without Harry.

He'd had some medical issues, described as nothing serious. So the Phillies were muddling along without him as best they could. And then, one day, I was walking down a ballpark hallway and there he was.

"It's a Harry The K sighting," I said. "Now we can finally get this season started."

He laughed. We shook hands. We talked a little baseball. He was ready to go. And now, so was I.

But I was only half kidding. It wasn't baseball season without Harry Kalas -- not for me. And not for millions like me.

So now what?

There will be a season. And in time, I'm sure, we'll be grateful there's a season.

But it will take some getting used to -- because, for millions of Philadelphians, Harry was what baseball sounded like.

If there's a rhythm to the heavens, if there's a script to every life, then we can take some solace in knowing there was an amazing finish to Harry Kalas' script.

In the final game he ever called, on Sunday in Denver, Matt Stairs gave him one final, dramatic, game-winning outta here .

Before the final home game Harry ever called -- on Wednesday, when the Phillies received their World Series rings -- he was handpicked by team president Dave Montgomery to throw out the first pitch.

And in the final postseason game he ever called, he got to tell all those people who loved him that the Phillies -- his Phillies -- were "2008 world champions of baseball."

That was their moment. But he made it his moment. And that's only fitting because, for the people of Philadelphia, Harry Kalas didn't just describe their moments. He made their moments real.


Senna out of Gunners tie
Harry Kalas, Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster and NFL Films voice, dies at 73 in Washington
Primera Division round-up
Howard Bryant: Jason Giambi back in his comfort zone with Oakland A’s


Senna out of Gunners tie
Harry Kalas, Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster and NFL Films voice, dies at 73 in Washington
Primera Division round-up
Howard Bryant: Jason Giambi back in his comfort zone with Oakland A’s

Harry Kalas, Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster and NFL Films voice, dies at 73 in Washington

WASHINGTON -- Longtime Philadelphia Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas, who punctuated innumerable home runs with his "Outta here!" call, died Monday after being found passed out in the broadcast booth before a game against the Washington Nationals. He was 73.

"We lost our voice today," team president David Montgomery said, his voice cracking. "He has loved our game and made just a tremendous contribution to our sport and certainly to our organization."

Kalas was discovered by the Phillies director of broadcasting about 12:30 p.m. and taken to a local hospital, Montgomery said.

Soundtrack to Kalas' career

Over time, Harry Kalas evolved into one of Philadelphia's beloved sports figures. Some of the more memorable notes in his illustrious broadcasting career:

•Six no-hitters
•Mike Schmidt's 500th home run on April 18, 1987
•Every one of Steve Carlton's starts from 1972-86
•Pete Rose's 3,631st career hit on Aug. 10, 1981 (which broke Stan Musial's NL record)
•First game at the Houston Astrodome, April 12, 1965
•First game at Veterans Stadium, April 10, 1971
•First game at Citizens Bank Park, April 12, 2004
•Was in his 43rd year as a MLB broadcaster
•Phillies broadcaster since 1971; member of original Astros broadcast team in 1965
•Inducted into the broadcaster's wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002
•Named Pennsylvania Sportscaster of the year 18 times  

Kalas had surgery earlier this year for an undisclosed ailment that the team characterized as minor. He looked somewhat drawn last week as the Phillies opened the season at home.

Kalas joined the Phillies in 1971. Before that, he was a member of the Houston Astros' broadcast team from 1965-70.

In 2002, he received the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award for his contributions to the game.

"Players come and go, but 'Outta here!' -- that's forever," said Scott Franzke, a Phillies radio broadcaster.

Kalas lent his sonorous voice to everything from puppies to soup. He did work for NFL Films, was the voice for Chunky Soup commercials and Animal Planet's annual tongue-in-cheek Super Bowl competitor, the Puppy Bowl.

Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman, a contemporary of Kalas' and a fellow Ford Frick Award winner, said Kalas' legacy will extend beyond the broadcast booth.

"I always find it interesting when a celebrity passes away and people are so quick to say, 'He was a great actor,' or, 'He was a great broadcaster.' Harry Kalas was a great person,'' Brennaman told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. "As much as we will remember Harry as a broadcaster, many of us will remember him even more as being a hell of a guy.''

Brennaman said he spoke to Kalas by phone late last week. The friends talked for 45 minutes, and among other things, they discussed the importance of eating right, getting enough sleep and dealing with the hectic lifestyle of a major league broadcaster at an advanced age.

"I considered Harry a very good friend, and I was concerned about his health. I talked to him about getting the proper amount of rest and the things that we need to think about at our ages,'' said Brennaman, 66. "I was very concerned about him, but he sounded good. When I found out about it today, I was shocked. It's very, very sad.''

Kalas joined the Phillies radio and TV broadcast team the year the club moved into its former home, Veterans Stadium, replacing fan favorite Bill Campbell.

He wasn't immediately embraced by Phillies fans, despite being paired with Richie Ashburn, a Hall of Famer as a player, and longtime announcer.

But Kalas evolved into a beloved sports figure in Philadelphia. He and Ashburn grew into a popular team, and shared the booth until Ashburn's death in 1997.

"Major League Baseball has lost one of the great voices of our generation," commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "Baseball announcers have a special bond with their audience, and Harry represented the best of baseball not only to the fans of the Phillies, but to fans everywhere."

Kalas fell in love with baseball at a young age, when his father took him to Comiskey Park to see the Chicago White Sox play the Washington Senators. It was a rainy night, and Kalas sat with his dad behind the Washington dugout.

"Because of the rains, the field was covered," he told The Associated Press. "There was no batting practice, so the players really didn't have anything to do. Mickey Vernon popped out of the dugout, saw this wide-eyed kid -- me -- picked me up, took me in the dugout, gave me a baseball, introduced me to his teammates, and thus began my love of baseball and the Washington Senators."

He maintained that enthusiasm for the game throughout his career.

The son of a Methodist minister, the Naperville, Ill., native graduated from the University of Iowa in 1959 with a degree in speech, radio and television. He was drafted into the Army soon after he graduated.

In 1961, he became sports director at Hawaii radio station KGU and also broadcast games for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League and the University of Hawaii.


Jayson Stark: Voice of Philadelphia Phillies baseball goes quiet
Howard Bryant: Jason Giambi back in his comfort zone with Oakland A’s
Diarra criticises Wenger

MRI of Brandon Webb of Arizona Diamondbacks shows discomfort is muscular

Webb

An MRI exam of Arizona right-hander Brandon Webb's shoulder showed his the source of his discomfort is muscular, not structural, opening the possibility that the Diamondbacks' ace could make his next scheduled start, Friday at San Francisco.

"It's down in the meaty part of the back of the arm," Webb said, according to the Arizona Republic. "When we get in there and do some therapy on it, it seems to loosen up and free me up, so that's encouraging."

Webb, whose 22 wins led the National League last season, experienced stiffness in his shoulder Monday in the fourth inning of Arizona's 9-8 Opening Day victory against the Rockies, in which he allowed six runs in four innings.

Yusmeiro Petit is taking Webb's spot in the rotation Saturday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers.


Serena Williams withdraws from Family Circle Cup

Howard Bryant: Jason Giambi back in his comfort zone with Oakland A's

There was much laughter and soft, wan smiles in the clubhouse of the Oakland Athletics. Reunions are like that, spurring big emotions, the impossible desire to put time in a bear hug and hold it in place. Reality eventually sets in and spoils the party, the bittersweet recognition of just how fast the time really goes.

Not so long ago, Eric Chavez walked into the A's clubhouse as the future. It was September 1998, the A's were on their way to losing 88 games that year, but help was on the way. One rookie, Miguel Tejada, had already arrived earlier that May. The next year, in June, Tim Hudson appeared. The year after, two more -- Mark Mulder and Barry Zito -- made their big league debuts. Jermaine Dye and Johnny Damon came in trades.

[+] Enlarge

Mark J. Rebilas/US PresswireJason Giambi, 38, returns to the A's after playing the last seven years for the Yankees.

All were to provide assistance to the established young star at the time, Jason Giambi, whose promise was so great that even Mark McGwire became expendable. Yet one by one, they all left to become famous, each never having it as good as they did when they were in Oakland, when they were together. Giambi was first, off to New York for seven years and $120 million after a 102-win season in 2001 and an MVP trophy the year before. Two years later, Tejada went to Baltimore for six years and $72 million after a 102-win season and that year's MVP. Hudson and Mulder were both traded after the 2004 season. Zito went to San Francisco for seven years and $126 million after the 2006 season.

Even Chavez, who stayed with the A's for six years and $66 million, would finally win a playoff round, in 2006, but would never again play with a group so talented. Another member of the 2001 band, Damon, reflected in the Yankee clubhouse. Damon left after that season for Boston, for four years and $32 million.

"That [2001 A's] team," Damon said, "was so freaking good it was scary."

Remembering the past is central in Oakland, for so much of it is germane to the present. The A's are turning back the clock. Chavez is now in his 11th full season in the big leagues. In the free-agent era, only McGwire has more service time with the A's. A few stalls from him, wearing No. 1, is Nomar Garciaparra, who when Chavez first came up was riding a bullet train destined for the Hall of Fame.

At the center of the return, as he was back then, is Giambi. He is reunited not only with Chavez and the A's, but also with Garciaparra, with whom he played on the California sandlots in the early 1980s. Giambi's hair is awash in gray. He's 38 now and ready to pilot the time capsule with most of the same ebullience that once made him a star. The only question is whether his body will cooperate with the grand design he has planned in his mind.

Reunions are hard, and rarely successful, for the very reasons that make them so attractive: to reanimate the good years, take them out of memory and make them real again. This desire, of course, is the very definition of nostalgia. At 41, Henry Aaron came back to Milwaukee for two seasons in 1975 and '76, hit .234 and .229, respectively, with a combined 22 home runs over 222 games. As a 43-year-old, Pete Rose returned to the Reds, hit .365 in 26 games to end the 1984 season, and then hit .264 and .219 respectively in the next two seasons. Willie Mays came back to New York to play for the Mets, hit .267 and .211 respectively in 1972 and '73, and then retired. Greg Maddux returned to the Cubs, gamely, won 16 games at the age of 38 in 2004, but pitched over an earned run more (4.02) than his career average of 3.16.

Rickey Henderson returned to the A's successfully three times, but there is only one Rickey Henderson.

Giambi is full of optimism, quickness of wit and good humor, just as always. He isn't, however, as young as he was in 2001, when he nearly won a second straight MVP with a .342-38-120 season and subsequently left the A's, but believes there is enough of the old player left to be a force in the Oakland lineup.

“

I feel good. I'm playing first base again. I'm healthy. I didn't come here for the swan song. I'm not ready for that yet.

”-- Jason Giambi

He is convinced that he is past the strategy of sacrificing average for power he employed during his final years in New York because he no longer swings in agony. He believes the things his body can no longer do he can compensate for with experience and -- most importantly -- the absence of pain.

Giambi hit .247, averaging 27 home runs and a shade under 100 RBIs over his final three seasons with the Yankees. The difference was in his batting average, where pitchers and managers realized his vulnerabilities.

"One big thing that got to me was the shift. The shift affected everything," he said, adding that it was Joe Maddon, the Tampa Bay manager, who when he was the bench coach with the Angels first began shifting against him. "The other thing was the pitchers. You saw the patterns: hard in, soft away … always hard inside late in the counts. When you can't turn on the ball, everybody knows it fast enough.

"I still wanted a good pitch to hit, and hit it hard, but in that situation, my job was to create runs, to hit home runs and drive in runs," he said. "You had the short porch in right [at Yankee Stadium], and in run-producing situations, you had to go for it."

In his first year in New York, in 2002, Giambi hit .314 with 41 home runs, 122 RBIs and 34 doubles. That was the last year he resembled the hitter he was in Oakland. He has not hit .300 since nor has he hit 30 doubles since that season.

For him, the proof doesn't lie in his words, he says, but in the craft itself. That means hitting. The combination of playing with a painful left knee and the inability to conquer the cavernous left center alley in Yankee Stadium turned Giambi into more of a one-dimensional hitter in New York. Giambi was candid in acknowledging the differences in being a Yankee Stadium hitter. In six full seasons in Oakland, Giambi hit 35 doubles or more four times, 40 doubles three times. He might be seven years older, but Giambi doesn't think physical limitations will prevent him from returning to being the kind of hitter he was in Oakland. In New York, Giambi became a boom-and-bust guy.

"The problem in New York is that once you hit a ball good that gets caught out in left center that would have been extra bases, you know it. When it starts happening a lot, you start thinking you can't go there anymore.

"Donny was the only one who could master left field as a left-handed hitter. The biggest reason is that when I get it out there, it is with a lot of air under it. Donny was a line-drive guy. The ball got down faster than they could get to it."

En Espaol 

Read Howard Bryant's story in Spanish on ESPNdeportes.com. 

"Donny" is, of course, Don Mattingly, who in a 14-year career with the Yankees hit 35 doubles eight times. During the three years between 1984 and '86, Mattingly hit 44, 48 and 53 doubles, respectively.

Mattingly said he thought the Giambi he coached was well-suited to return to being a higher-average, higher-slugging hitter because of the Oakland effect.

"What he needed to do was stay in the strike zone a little longer, get that bat flowing through just a little more," Mattingly said. "I never had to worry about the things he thinks about, because I didn't hit with that kind of power. I wasn't thinking about anything other than the gaps. He'll be fine."

Giambi admits he is transitioning as a hitter, but only in terms of his preparation. He says his diet has changed -- no more (or not as many) late-night runs to In-N-Out Burger, a Giambi weakness -- and he does more quickness drills and more overall work. But he does not believe he returned for a nostalgic finale with no production.

"Hopefully, my doubles will go up. That ball I rip over the first baseman's head is a single in New York, because of the dimensions and the foul territory," he said. "In Oakland, that's an extra-base hit. I feel good. I'm playing first base again. I'm healthy. I didn't come here for the swan song. I'm not ready for that yet."


Petrova beats 14-year-old Keys at Ponte Vedra

Howard Bryant: Jason Giambi back in his comfort zone with Oakland A's

There was much laughter and soft, wan smiles in the clubhouse of the Oakland Athletics. Reunions are like that, spurring big emotions, the impossible desire to put time in a bear hug and hold it in place. Reality eventually sets in and spoils the party, the bittersweet recognition of just how fast the time really goes.

Not so long ago, Eric Chavez walked into the A's clubhouse as the future. It was September 1998, the A's were on their way to losing 88 games that year, but help was on the way. One rookie, Miguel Tejada, had already arrived earlier that May. The next year, in June, Tim Hudson appeared. The year after, two more -- Mark Mulder and Barry Zito -- made their big league debuts. Jermaine Dye and Johnny Damon came in trades.

[+] Enlarge

Mark J. Rebilas/US PresswireJason Giambi, 38, returns to the A's after playing the last seven years for the Yankees.

All were to provide assistance to the established young star at the time, Jason Giambi, whose promise was so great that even Mark McGwire became expendable. Yet one by one, they all left to become famous, each never having it as good as they did when they were in Oakland, when they were together. Giambi was first, off to New York for seven years and $120 million after a 101-win season in 2001 and an MVP trophy the year before. The next year, Tejada went to Baltimore for six years and $72 million after a 102-win season and that year's MVP. Hudson and Mulder were both traded after the 2004 season. Zito went to San Francisco for seven years and $126 million after the 2006 season.

Even Chavez, who stayed with the A's for six years and $66 million, would finally win a playoff round, in 2006, but would never again play with a group so talented. Another member of the 2001 band, Damon, reflected in the Yankee clubhouse. Damon left after that season for Boston, for four years and $32 million.

"That [2001 A's] team," Damon said, "was so freaking good it was scary."

Remembering the past is central in Oakland, for so much of it is germane to the present. The A's are turning back the clock. Chavez is now in his 11th full season in the big leagues. In the free-agent era, only McGwire has more service time with the A's. A few stalls from him, wearing No. 1, is Nomar Garciaparra, who when Chavez first came up was riding a bullet train destined for the Hall of Fame.

At the center of the return, as he was back then, is Giambi. He is reunited not only with Chavez and the A's, but also with Garciaparra, with whom he played on the California sandlots in the early 1980s. Giambi's hair is awash in gray. He's 38 now and ready to pilot the time capsule with most of the same ebullience that once made him a star. The only question is whether his body will cooperate with the grand design he has planned in his mind.

Reunions are hard, and rarely successful, for the very reasons that make them so attractive: to reanimate the good years, take them out of memory and make them real again. This desire, of course, is the very definition of nostalgia. At 41, Henry Aaron came back to Milwaukee for two seasons in 1975 and '76, hit .234 and .229, respectively, with a combined 22 home runs over 222 games. As a 43-year-old, Pete Rose returned to the Reds, hit .365 in 26 games to end the 1984 season, and then hit .264 and .219 respectively in the next two seasons. Willie Mays came back to New York to play for the Mets, hit .267 and .211 respectively in 1972 and '73, and then retired. Greg Maddux returned to the Cubs, gamely, won 16 games at the age of 38 in 2004, but pitched over an earned run more (4.02) than his career average of 3.16.

Rickey Henderson returned to the A's successfully three times, but there is only one Rickey Henderson.

Giambi is full of optimism, quickness of wit and good humor, just as always. He isn't, however, as young as he was in 2001, when he nearly won a second straight MVP with a .342-38-120 season and subsequently left the A's, but believes there is enough of the old player left to be a force in the Oakland lineup.

“

I feel good. I'm playing first base again. I'm healthy. I didn't come here for the swan song. I'm not ready for that yet.

”-- Jason Giambi

He is convinced that he is past the strategy of sacrificing average for power he employed during his final years in New York because he no longer swings in agony. He believes the things his body can no longer do he can compensate for with experience and -- most importantly -- the absence of pain.

Giambi hit .247, averaging 27 home runs and a shade under 100 RBIs over his final three seasons with the Yankees. The difference was in his batting average, where pitchers and managers realized his vulnerabilities.

"One big thing that got to me was the shift. The shift affected everything," he said, adding that it was Joe Maddon, the Tampa Bay manager, who when he was the bench coach with the Angels first began shifting against him. "The other thing was the pitchers. You saw the patterns: hard in, soft away … always hard inside late in the counts. When you can't turn on the ball, everybody knows it fast enough.

"I still wanted a good pitch to hit, and hit it hard, but in that situation, my job was to create runs, to hit home runs and drive in runs," he said. "You had the short porch in right [at Yankee Stadium], and in run-producing situations, you had to go for it."

In his first year in New York, in 2002, Giambi hit .314 with 41 home runs, 122 RBIs and 34 doubles. That was the last year he resembled the hitter he was in Oakland. He has not hit .300 since nor has he hit 30 doubles since that season.

For him, the proof doesn't lie in his words, he says, but in the craft itself. That means hitting. The combination of playing with a painful left knee and the inability to conquer the cavernous left center alley in Yankee Stadium turned Giambi into more of a one-dimensional hitter in New York. Giambi was candid in acknowledging the differences in being a Yankee Stadium hitter. In six full seasons in Oakland, Giambi hit 35 doubles or more four times, 40 doubles three times. He might be seven years older, but Giambi doesn't think physical limitations will prevent him from returning to being the kind of hitter he was in Oakland. In New York, Giambi became a boom-and-bust guy.

"The problem in New York is that once you hit a ball good that gets caught out in left center that would have been extra bases, you know it. When it starts happening a lot, you start thinking you can't go there anymore.

"Donny was the only one who could master left field as a left-handed hitter. The biggest reason is that when I get it out there, it is with a lot of air under it. Donny was a line-drive guy. The ball got down faster than they could get to it."

En Espaol 

Read Howard Bryant's story in Spanish on ESPNdeportes.com. 

"Donny" is, of course, Don Mattingly, who in a 14-year career with the Yankees hit 35 doubles eight times. During the three years between 1984 and '86, Mattingly hit 44, 48 and 53 doubles, respectively.

Mattingly said he thought the Giambi he coached was well-suited to return to being a higher-average, higher-slugging hitter because of the Oakland effect.

"What he needed to do was stay in the strike zone a little longer, get that bat flowing through just a little more," Mattingly said. "I never had to worry about the things he thinks about, because I didn't hit with that kind of power. I wasn't thinking about anything other than the gaps. He'll be fine."

Giambi admits he is transitioning as a hitter, but only in terms of his preparation. He says his diet has changed -- no more (or not as many) late-night runs to In-N-Out Burger, a Giambi weakness -- and he does more quickness drills and more overall work. But he does not believe he returned for a nostalgic finale with no production.

"Hopefully, my doubles will go up. That ball I rip over the first baseman's head is a single in New York, because of the dimensions and the foul territory," he said. "In Oakland, that's an extra-base hit. I feel good. I'm playing first base again. I'm healthy. I didn't come here for the swan song. I'm not ready for that yet."

Report: Alex Rodriguez could be back with New York Yankees before April's out

Alex Rodriguez's progress in rehab after hip surgery is going so well that indications are he could rejoin the New York Yankees well ahead of the initial May 15 target date.

Rodriguez

Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long told the New York Post that Rodriguez has begun to hit and "feels 70 percent." Long speaks with the third baseman daily, the Post reported.

Citing an unnamed team official, the Post also said it's possible Rodriguez could be back on the field by late April if the Yankees were to support an earlier return.

The three-time AL MVP has been rehabbing and working out in Colorado and eventually will move his workouts to the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Fla. A firm date for the switch is not set, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said last week. April 13 would be the latest date, Cashman said.

"Everything is going well," Cashman said. "He's working extremely hard. Everything is going as planned."

The Yankees begin a three-game road series at Tampa Bay on April 13. New York will open the season Monday in Baltimore with Cody Ransom at third base and doesn't open at home until April 16.

Rodriguez had surgery in Vail, Colo., on March 9 and the Yankees don't expect the third baseman to rejoin the team until about May 15. Cashman added that he has indicated he hopes to be back sooner.

Rodriguez is also lifting weights, riding a stationary bike, working out in a pool and doing a range of motion drills.

Source: New York Mets will sign Gary Sheffield

The New York Mets announced Friday that they have reached agreement on a contract with outfielder Gary Sheffield, who is one home run shy of the 500 club.

Sheffield, a nine-time All-Star who was released Tuesday by the Detroit Tigers, held a private workout Thursday for several teams interested in signing him, including the Mets. Following the workout, the team had been working on determining whether it could find enough at-bats for Sheffield to justify signing him.

The Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies also had expressed interest in signing Sheffield.

"It is a good fit for Gary," Sheffield's agent, Rufus Williams, told Andrew Marchand of 1050 ESPN New York. "He has a lot of respect for the guys on the team, the front office and the ownership with the Mets. He will try to get to New York as quickly as possible."

A lifetime .292 hitter, Sheffield hit .291 with 34 homers and 123 RBIs with the New York Yankees in 2005, culminating a seven-year span in which he batted .307 and averaged 35 home runs and 110 RBIs.

Sheffield batted .247 and averaged 22 home runs and 66 RBIs in two seasons with the Tigers.

He was batting only .178 in spring training before his release.

Source: New York Mets will sign Gary Sheffield

The New York Mets announced Friday that they have reached agreement on a contract with outfielder Gary Sheffield, who is one home run shy of the 500 club.

Sheffield, a nine-time All-Star who was released Tuesday by the Detroit Tigers, held a private workout Thursday for several teams interested in signing him, including the Mets. Following the workout, the team had been working on determining whether it could find enough at-bats for Sheffield to justify signing him.

The Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies also had expressed interest in signing Sheffield.

"It is a good fit for Gary," Sheffield's agent, Rufus Williams, told Andrew Marchand of 1050 ESPN New York. "He has a lot of respect for the guys on the team, the front office and the ownership with the Mets. He will try to get to New York as quickly as possible."

A lifetime .292 hitter, Sheffield hit .291 with 34 homers and 123 RBIs with the New York Yankees in 2005, culminating a seven-year span in which he batted .307 and averaged 35 home runs and 110 RBIs.

Sheffield batted .247 and averaged 22 home runs and 66 RBIs in two seasons with the Tigers.

He was batting only .178 in spring training before his release.

Gary Sheffield holds private workout for New York Mets, others

Gary Sheffield held a private workout Thursday for several teams interested in acquiring the nine-time All-Star who was released Tuesday by the Detroit Tigers.

Sheffield

The New York Mets were among the teams at the workout in Tampa, and the Mets were determining if they could find enough at-bats to warrant negotiating with Sheffield, 1050 ESPN New York's Andrew Marchand reported.

Rufus Williams, Sheffield's agent, confirmed to Marchand that the Mets attended the workout and said Sheffield wants to make a decision "as soon as possible, but we don't want to make a decision so fast where we don't look at all opportunities."

Williams said Sheffield realizes most teams have their starters set, but that he was looking for the best chance to show a team he can extend his career.

The Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies are also reportedly interested in Sheffield. "We have to make sure that he has an opportunity to participate," Williams said.

Williams said Sheffield will make a decision when it "makes sense."

Sheffield, a lifetime .292 hitter, hit .291 with 34 homers and 123 RBIs with the New York Yankees in 2005, culminating a seven-year span in which he batted .307 and averaged 35 home runs and 110 RBIs.

Sheffield batted .247 and averaged 22 home runs and 66 RBIs in two seasons with the Tigers.

He was batting only .178 in spring training before his release.