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Speaking of cheating in baseball ....
http://www.testycopyeditors.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7837
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Author:  Wabberjocky [ Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Speaking of cheating in baseball ....

The NBA and NFL, I believe, have cracked down on the practice of "stashing" players on injured reserve lists they deem too good to lose but not quite useful enough to have on the active roster at a given time. In the NBA, especially, phantom injuries among back-of-the-bench types became an open joke.

But this fraudulent practice appears alive and well in Major League Baseball:

Quote:
SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Eric Gagne will start the season on the disabled list for the Texas Rangers, a move the team is making to give the closer more time to come back from elbow and back operations.

The Rangers said Gagne hasn’t had any health setbacks. The 2003 NL Cy Young Award winner has pitched only 15 1-3 innings over the past two seasons.

“I feel pretty good, but I think this is going to help the team,” Gagne said after throwing 15 pitches in a minor league game Thursday. “We are here to have a successful season and make the playoffs.”



Eric Gagne has been hurt in recent years, but he pitched all spring without incident, and by his own admission, he's not injured right now. So how are the Rangers justified in treating him like an injured player? If they want him to build up arm strength, what's the shame or procedural harm in letting him work in Triple-A or in extended spring training?

It's too bad baseball doesn't have a real commissioner. Bowie Kuhn or Bart Giamatti would have been all over this like Mo Vaughn on a post-game buffet.

Author:  Crabby Editor [ Fri Mar 30, 2007 2:40 pm ]
Post subject: 

Wasn't Boston playing this game last spring with Wells?

Author:  Wabberjocky [ Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:16 pm ]
Post subject: 

Yep, they did.

Interestingly, the Cubs are NOT playing this game with Mark Prior. He's in the same situation as Gagne — hurt last year, healthier now, but not quite all the way back. They decided to do the right thing and not fret about Prior's professional self-esteem — they shipped his ass out to Triple-A.

Prior didn't take it well, giving a rambling interview about how "I'm just an employee, and they can do whatever they want to me."

Yes, and yes.

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