Jeff Conine Trades Glove For Running Shoes, Freestyle Stroke and Bicycle

If you've been wondering what former Major Leaguer Jeff Conine has been up to since retiring, then this post is for you! If you haven't, well I'm not sure how you ended up here but there are a variety of other topics for you to peruse. Pick one, and enjoy your stay.

After retiring in March, Conine decided to pursue something much less intense and a lot more relaxing. You know, something like a triathalon.

When Jeff Conine retired in March after a 17-year career in Major League Baseball, his athletic pursuits did not end.

They just took a different turn, which will lead Conine, 41, to the 2008 Ford Ironman World Championship triathlon on Oct. 11 in Hawaii.

"My goal is to cross the line in Kona under my own power," Conine said. "It's a lifetime achievement right there and I'll probably do some small [triathlons] after that, but that's going to be the feather and the cap right there."

In preparation for the Ironman's 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run, Conine competed in the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg last month and the Ford Ironman 70.3 Florida at Walt Disney World this past weekend.

Conine has always been a versatile athlete. It's what made him so successful as a Major League ballplayer. It's also why there's a good chance of him achieving his goal of crossing that finish line under his own power.

Barry Bonds' Agent Surprised By Lack Of Offers

Apparently, Barry Bonds and the players association feel strongly enough about the lack of interest in his skills that the issue of collusion has come up. It's been inferred that the San Francisco Giants front office may have made a concerted effort to keep Bonds from playing this season.

The players' association has expressed concern to the baseball commissioner's office over the lack of offers to Barry Bonds, asking for additional information about the offseason's free-agent market.

The union did not go as far as to file a collusion grievance on behalf of the 43-year-old outfielder, who remains unsigned since the San Francisco Giants decided not to make him an offer last year and he became a free agent.

"We've raised both general concerns and some player specific concerns," Michael Weiner, the union's general counsel, said Tuesday.

Weiner said the only player the union specifically brought up in its discussions with the commissioner's office was Bonds, who repeatedly has said he wants to play a 23rd major league season.

"I haven't received any offers on Barry since he became a free agent," said Bonds' agent, Jeff Borris.

Management has repeatedly said there has been no concerted effort against Bonds.

"The union notified us that it was investigating potential collusion regarding Barry Bonds and asked for information, and we told them that there was absolutely no collusion with respect to Barry Bonds or any other free agent," said Dan Halem, MLB senior vice president and general labor counsel. "We are aware of no facts which would support a collusion claim regarding Bonds or any other free agents."

Collusion? What about BALCO? Or that Bonds is a player that many feel has put together a tainted record? Certainly, those have nothing to do with it.

Actually, while I would love to believe that the other MLB franchises are freezing Bonds out because of his past actions, I'm also smart enough to realize that at the end of the day professional baseball is a business. Eventually, some team will come calling whether it's because of his power hitting, or because he will draw some fans to the stadium. Bonds will sign on the dotted line, and continue adding to his legacy, for better or worse.

High School Baseball Player Uses Duck For Batting Practice

When you're part of a team there are times when you will probably get dared to do something embarrassing, stupid or illegal. If your teammates are really creative, then the dare will probably be all three. However, at some point it's up to you to decide whether the ridicule you get for not doing the dare outweighs any punishment you might receive for successfully completing it. Obviously, for Derike Bennett any possible teasing was much worse than being arrested for animal cruelty.

A Jacksonville area high school baseball player was suspended because police said he took a dare that ended up in the baseball bat-beating death of a duck.

Derike Bennett, 18, a student at Baldwin Middle Senior High School, was charged with animal cruelty, WJXT-TV reported.

Witnesses said the teen killed a duck on school property by striking the animal with a bat after being dared by his teammates.

A duck? Come on kid. Who are you trying to emulate, David Ortiz? Just standing around, wildly swinging the bat, but doing so in a lazy fashion. If you're going to get arrested for animal cruelty because you took a swing at a feathered friend at least make it sporting. What about a Golden Eagle?



Now there's a challenge! But remember, if you miss there's a good chance it's going to carry your scrawny, bird killing ass back to its nest.

Dontrelle Willis Settles DUI Case

Dontrelle Willis, of crazy high leg kicking fame, entered a guilty plea in his DUI case that was reduced to reckless driving. The bigger part of the story is the police report description of Willis when the cops rolled up on him:

The former Marlins left-hander was arrested in December 2006 in Miami Beach. Police noticed Willis had double-parked his Bentley and had watery eyes, slurred speech and appeared confused.

At first, I would wonder if they hadn't mistaken him with Ricky Williams, but it was '06 and I'm pretty sure Ricky Ganja wasn't sporting a Bentley at that point. However, I would like to know where Dontrelle was headed after double parking his ride. He was probably either so confused that he thought he was home, or he was trying to track down a sandwich vendor for a post-drinking binge snack.

The Mitchell Report

The Mitchell Report was released today, and it provides a pretty good insight into steroid(HGH, etc.) use in Major League Baseball. I'm not going to go into it too much in this post because I'm still reading through it. If you want more expansive coverage, then head on over to Deadspin.

One thing I did want to address was the inclusion of Roger Clemens in the report. It appears that Clemens has utilized "steroids" quite frequently since at least 1998. How will this information affect his legacy?

Personally, I don't believe that it will affect it much.

This is based primarily on the fact that Clemens is a pitcher, and the belief that the public sees a pitcher using steroids differently than they see a hitter that uses steroids. And remember, that the court of public opinion is often the harshest of all.

I think that when the public hears about a pitcher using performance enhancers a majority of them justify it by tying the use to rehabilitation and not gaining a competitive advantage. I feel that many people hear about a pitcher like "The Rocket" using HGH, or injecting Winstrol, and they, in their own minds, see it as a way for him to keep his arm fresh. Not make it more powerful. They don't feel that Clemens is doing it to get a leg-up, but rather that he's trying to prolong his career.

On the other hand, when they hear about hitters like Giambi, Palmeiro, Sheffield or Bonds using a performance enhancer they instantly envision homeruns flying out of ballparks. They feel that the hitters are gaining a competitive advantage, and that they're tainting the game. They will vilify the hitters for the rest of their lives, while giving the pitchers a "free pass" of sorts. All because of their perception of how performancing enhancers relate to each position.

Josh Beckett, Victim Of New England Haters?

I'm not exactly sure how many members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America are from the New England area, but my guess is there aren't many. Or maybe the ones that are from the area have just grown as tired as the rest of us have with all of the love for New England sports teams. At least that's about the only explanation I can come up with for why C.C. Sabathia trounced Josh Beckett for the AL Cy Young Award.

I can understand it being a close race, but Sabathia received 19 of the 28 first place votes and 119 total points. Beckett received 8 first place votes and finished in second with 86 total points. Here's how they stack up statistically, and this includes Beckett's two wins over Sabathia in the playoffs.

Sabathia: 19-7 record, 3.27ERA, 34 games, 4CG, 1SHO, 241IP, 238H, 94R, 86ER, 20HR, 37BB, 209SO, 1.14WHIP

Beckett: 20-7 record, 3.27ERA, 30 games, 0CG, 0SHO, 200.2IP, 189H, 76R, 73ER, 17HR, 40BB, 194SO, 1.14WHIP

Looking at those stats, you can see how a voter could go either way. Apart from Beckett's two wins against Sabathia in the playoffs they both pitched great during the season. However, there's no way that Sabathia pitched so much better than Beckett that he deserved 11 more first place votes and 33 more total points. My theory is that some people have just grown tired of hearing about the achievements of New England sports teams over the past few months, and that Josh Beckett suffered backlash from it in the form of coming in second in the AL Cy Young Voting. Besides, after giving Pedroia AL ROY honors they probably couldn't contribute anymore to the New England lovefest.

The MLB Free-Agent Pool Could Get A Little Smaller

Eleven major league baseball players that are free-agents this season have been asked to speak with George Mitchell regarding his steroid investigation.

Up to 11 players from this year's free-agent class were asked to speak with George Mitchell as part of his investigation into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.

The union's general counsel, Michael Weiner, made the statement Wednesday to agents attending a meeting in New York.

The Boston Globe's Web site Thursday reported agents were told at the meeting that 11 current free-agent players are named in Mitchell's report.

It will be interesting to see if any of this information is put out to the public. Right now, it doesn't appear that any big names are involved, and those 11 represent less than 1/10 of the free-agents that will be available. However, it would probably only take one or two even marginally popular players to be included on the list for it to be released in some fashion.

Farewell Brad Lidge

Yesterday, the Houston Astros dealt once dominant closer Brad Lidge to the Philadelphia Phillies in a five player deal.

The Philadelphia Phillies became the first team to make a big move at the general managers' meetings, acquiring closer Brad Lidge from Houston along with infielder Eric Bruntlett on Wednesday night.

The Astros received speedy outfielder Michael Bourn, right-hander Geoff Geary and minor league third baseman Mike Costanzo.

Sadly, as much success as Lidge had in Houston, he totaled 123 saves in roughly four seasons as Houston's premier closer, he will likely always be remembered as the guy who gave up that monstrous homerun to Albert Pujols in Game 5 of the 2005 NLCS.

It's sad to see him go, but I often wondered if his struggles following the '05 season would have ceased were he on another team. I guess now we'll get an answer to that question.

You're also more than welcome to relive the moment in time that may have forever changed Lidge's career as an Astro. It never gets any easier to watch, eventhough Houston went on to win the NLCS.

Mayor Hickenlooper, Your Tea Bet Could Have Dire Consequences

As is the case with any major sporting event in the U.S., mayors of the opposing teams have made a bet involving food. So let's see what Denver and Boston have to offer.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper announced a friendly wager Tuesday on the Boston Red Sox/Colorado Rockies World Series matchup.

The first game in the best of seven series takes place Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Fenway Park.

"There is no doubt that the infamous curse has been broken here in Boston, and the Boston Red Sox will continue their legacy of triumph with the defeat of the Colorado Rockies," Menino said. If Boston wins the World Series, Hickenlooper will send these Colorado products to Boston to be served at a charity of Menino's choice:


100 Quiznos sandwiches
100 cups of Celestial Seasonings teas
100 servings of Great Western tortilla chips
100 servings on Epic Valley salsa
100 scoops Liks Rocky Road ice cream

If the unthinkable should occur and Colorado wins, Menino will send some of Boston's finest products to Denver to be served to a charity of Hickenlooper's choice:

100 cups Legal Seafoods New England clam chowder
100 cups Dunkin’ Donuts coffee
100 Dunkin’ Donuts Boston Crème doughnuts
100 "Curse Reversed” ice cream bars from Brigham’s Ice Cream
12 pints “Boston You’re My Home” ice cream from Brigham’s Ice Cream

Alright, chips, salsa, doughnuts, coffee, Quiznos, clam chowder, lots of ice cream and tea!

Wait a second, tea? What the hell?

First, doesn't Mayor Hickenlooper realize that Celestial Seasonings teas don't portray the "strongest" of images? With flavors like "Blueberry Breeze Green Tea" and "Sleepytime Extra Wellness" how can he expect his team not to get their asses kicked?

And second, has he forgotten about Boston's historical experience with tea? You know, like the time Bostonians destroyed 45 tons of it.

As of right now, I would have to say that Boston has an early edge. Hopefully for Mayor Hickenlooper's sake his tea bet won't doom his team.

I Hate To Say It Rockies' Fans But "I Told Ya So"

Last Thursday, I wrote about how the Rockies' decision to only sell World Series tickets online might not turn out to be the best idea. In fact, what I said was:

The other problem would be if the ticket servers crashed during what will probably be a huge traffic jam of sales. It wouldn't be the first time that something like that has occured during online ticket sales for a sporting event. Just ask Pittsburgh Panthers' fans about their '03 ticket fiasco. And that was for Panthers basketball tickets. This is for tickets for the Rockies, the hottest team in baseball right now, first World Series appearance.

Good luck Rockies' fans, I have a feeling you might need it.

Guess what? The online ticketing system crashed, and sales have been suspended.

The Colorado Rockies suspended World Series ticket sales Monday after overwhelming demand crashed their computer system.

"Right now we're shutting the system down," club spokesman Jay Alves announced outside Coors Field, drawing boos from fans. "We expect to be online at some point."

"We're as frustrated and disappointed as they are," Alves said.

Alves had said last week that the Rockies were prepared for any computer problems.

On Monday, there were 8.5 million attempts to connect with the computers in the first 90 minutes after sales started, he said, and only several hundred tickets had been sold before the system had to be shut down.

The Rockies put as many as 60,000 tickets up for sale online only, and team officials said their computers were ready to handle the expected crush. But two hours after tickets went on sale, many fans reported they could not get access to the ticket-sales Web site.

Officials with the Rockies and Major League Baseball did not immediately return calls.

Irvine, Calif.-based Paciolan Inc., which is running the computers for the Rockies' World Series ticket sales, said the crash affected the company's entire North American system.

To add to it, because tickets were only available online fans without internet access had to "withstand near-freezing temperatures outside the Denver Public Library" as they waited for it to open so they could use the public access computers.

Sounds like that decision worked out great! They must have consulted with the same guy who thought that DirecTV plan wouldn't piss off anyone.

Major League Baseball Sure Does Enjoy Screwing Its Consumers

I don't know how it has evolved to this, but "America's Pastime" has become more like "Screwing America Is Our Pastime".

In recent times, Major League Baseball has endured asteriks and andro, a weird DirecTV/MLB Channel liason and now it's like they're punishing fans of the Colorado Rockies that don't use the Internet.

The Colorado Rockies have changed their plans for selling World Series tickets, switching to online purchases only.

The team announced the new plan on Wednesday.

Tickets were to go on sale at Coors Field and Rockies' Dugout Stores in the Denver area on Monday using a lottery system for in-person transactions, as well as online.

Instead, all sales will be online, starting at 10 a.m. Monday.

Sure, Al Gore would really appreciate it if everyone used his invention, but according to the annual National Technology Scan survey "29% or 31 million homes in the United States have no Internet and those residents don’t intend to subscribe to any access for the next year. In addition, 44% of households aren’t interested in any Internet content".

I'm not sure how many of those 31 million without Internet access are Rockies' fans, but there has to be a few. And if they don't have access at work, then Major League Baseball has just put them in a difficult position.

The other problem would be if the ticket servers crashed during what will probably be a huge traffic jam of sales. It wouldn't be the first time that something like that has occured during online ticket sales for a sporting event. Just ask Pittsburgh Panthers' fans about their '03 ticket fiasco. And that was for Panthers basketball tickets. This is for tickets for the Rockies, the hottest team in baseball right now, first World Series appearance.

Good luck Rockies' fans, I have a feeling you might need it.

Zombie Nation, It's Not Just For PSU Football Fans Anymore!

In case you're not aware of the whole Penn State/Zombie Nation thing here's a video to get you up to speed.



Now, in searching for that I came across a number of other Penn State related zombie nation videos. Including this one which features a member of the Penn St. club baseball team, Mark Mihalik. I have a feeling that he survives on brains and Doug Mirabelli highlights.

Win A Tour With The Joe Buck T1000

All summer long, I've been seeing these MasterCard commercials pitching the prize of winning a week with your favorite team. Finally, after sitting through it for probably the millionth time, I headed to the MasterCard site to see what it was all about.

That was where I encountered a very scary, computerized version of Joe Buck. Seriously, I fully expected him to stand up out of his chair, attach a machine gun to his arm and start blasting away. Robert Patrick has nothing on him in terms of creepy.

-Skynet Would Like You To Click Here To Continue-

Buck told me that there were actually two different great prizes. One seemed to be the ongoing promotion of winning a week with my favorite team, and the other was a "behind the scenes" VIP tour of the World Series with Joe Buck. For some reason, the way he said "behind the scenes" made me think I might want someone like Chris Hansen set up doing surveillance nearby. Anyway, at the end of the intro Buck proclaims his love of doughnuts and wheels away in his chair. Though, I tend to think he actually hovered away like one of those mini-hunters.

After Joe Buck took off, I decided to check out the prizes a little more. The first was the "I Want To Be A ______" portion. That's where you pick which team you would want to be a part of, and going to that part of the website rewards you with an eerie voiceover by Buck talking about Yankees and Red Sox. Then he goes on to say something about pod bay doors, but I didn't pay much attention to that.

I went on to pick the Houston Astros, since that's my favorite MLB team. And what do ya know? Joe Buck wheels in holding an Astros' jersey telling me that when he thinks of the Astros he thinks of "big bats". Riiiight. Then he tells me it's because of the "Killer B's" and Carlos Lee. I'm guessing that these spots were filmed sometime around December back when Lee first signed and Houston's line-up didn't seem too awful. Even then I don't think anyone would associate Houston with power hitting. Oh yeah, Joe Buck also let me know that while I was putting together my fan clip of favorite Astros' moments that he would be eating some spaghetti. Seriously, spaghetti?

So I added some clips, then checked out the music selections. I was hoping for something weird, but there were three types of "music", classic, electronic and rock, and they each had a few variations. Silence was also an option, and I was just glad that none of them included Joe Buck singing. Just when I thought things couldn't get better I clicked through to "Step 4: Add Your Own Voice". This is where I was instructed to call a number, provide the pin number and told that Joe Buck would help me tell my Astros story in my own words.

I called the number, and robo-Joe Buck answered! Awesome! Then I had to think of something somewhat witty to say since I only got two chances. Plus, recording this in my cubicle made it somewhat more difficult. I recorded my first message, which sucked so I recorded a second, which didn't suck quite as bad. Robo-Joe told me that my video would be up within 48hrs, but we'll see about that.

Anyway, I moved on to the "Week Of Your Dreams" section where Robo-Joe filled me in on the different ways I could win. Which ended up really being only two ways, either registering on the website or buying stuff with my MasterCard. Joe then suggested some purchases such as gas, a baseball glove, flipdown shades(apparently chicks dig 'em!), and food(hotdog, fries, coke, ice cream and sunflower seeds). As if Robo-Joe's infatuation with food hadn't gone far enough, he took off for some nachos while I checked out the site. I always thought that robots ran on oil or some other type of power source, but according to this MLB/MasterCard site I was way off base.

Finally, I checked out the rules for both contests, which seem fairly standard. The "Week With" contest actually has 3 grand prizes available, valued at $57,500 each, and each one has three choices of how to spend the week. They include Home & Away, MLB All-Star Break and MLB Spring Training. The "I Would Be" contest is a little different in that people vote on the submissions and the top 11 are then judged, though it doesn't say by whom. There is no value listed since it will vary based on where the winner will be flying from, but it does include a "meet & greet with award winning sportscaster Joe Buck". However, I'm guessing that you have to bring your own spaghetti.

All in all, they seem like cool contests even if Robo-Joe's insatiable hunger and creepy mannerisms make viewing the website a bit awkward. Oh well, at least he didn't interrogate me about John Connor.

Update!: They actually put my clip on the website. I got a link, but it seems to just direct back to the main page. Here it is in case it starts working. Since it probably won't, here's the easiest way to find it.

1. Go to the website.
2. Click on "Gallery" at the top.
3. Look for the Astros video by "brian". It should be on the first page. Here's a screen capture to help you out.

Bo Might Not Know Diddley, But We Sure Do

Bo Diddley suffered a heart attack last Friday while undergoing a medical check-up, and he's currently in cardiac care. Diddley suffered a stroke this past May which impaired his speech and speech recognition.

For sportsfans, his series of commercials with Bo Jackson have to be among some of the most memorable. During the 90's, a number of people repeated the catchphrase "you don't know diddley", myself included.

Hopefully Mr. Diddley pulls through without any further complications. Get well soon, Bo!

The Hair Club For Baseball Suspensions

Things really aren't going your way when you receive a suspension because of the hair growth medicine you're taking. Which is exactly what happened to an American pitcher playing in a Japanese baseball league.

An American pitcher has become the first player to fail a drug test in Japanese baseball history.

Japanese baseball commissioner Yasuchika Negoro said Friday that Rick Guttormson tested positive for a banned substance and has been suspended for 20 days. Guttormson's team, the Softbank Hawks in Japan's Pacific League, were fined $63,000.

Japanese baseball officials said a postgame test July 13 revealed Finasteride in Guttormson's system. Finasteride was in a hair-growing agent the 30-year-old Guttormson had been taking for two years. It's banned because it can be used as a masking agent.

I wasn't able to find any pictures showing exactly how bald Guttormson is, but it doesn't sound like he was purposefully trying to mask his test results. It sounds like he was just the unfortunate victim of baseball's broad steroid/doping ban.

And while using the excuse "I didn't know" isn't always viable because the players are supposedly informed of what is legal and what isn't, there does seem to be an expansive gray area that legit players get caught in. Hopefully it's something that can be tweaked to make incidents like this non-existent.

"The Shark" Is Heading To The Smokies

Congratulations Tennessee Smokies, you just picked up Jeff "The Shark" Samardzija after his promotion to Double-A ball following his compilation of a 3-8 record with a 4.95 ERA.

Eventhough his opponents have been hitting .331 against him, everyone, even Daytona Cubs manager Judy Davis, sort of expected Samardzija to make the move to the next level sometime this season.

"I think they pretty much felt like next year he was going to be (at Double A) anyway so why not give him five or six starts there and let him get all the media stuff out of the way," Davis said in a cell phone interview late Wednesday night. "If he can go up there and have three or four good starts, that will be more important than what he did here."

I'm sure that his $10 million/5 year deal with the Cubs is also a strong factor in keeping him moving up the ranks.

Hopefully he has more success in Kodak than he had in Daytona Beach.

It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere - Craig Biggio Edition

Since it's Friday, and the end of the workweek for most people, we think that you should be provided with a post that takes the edge off so to speak. Because it's going to be random and hopefully humorous, that means that it won't always be sports related. It will also pop up at any time on Friday.

Really world obligations were overpowering today, hence the 5 o'clock post at 6:30. Oh well, better late than never right? This week's post is spurred on by the retirement announcement of one of baseball's classiest, most hustling playas. Craig Biggio. I'll touch more on this next week since I'm an Astros' fan,and haven't really given this enough focus.

For now enjoy Biggio's 3,000th hit.



Happy Friday!

Tragedy Strikes Minor League Baseball Game

I don't watch too much baseball, but anytime I see a shot into the dugout I'm always amazed when there aren't injuries. Unfortunately, a minor league manager wasn't so lucky over the weekend.

"Tulsa Drillers coach Mike Coolbaugh died after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box during a game.

The Texas League game was suspended in the ninth inning Sunday after the 35-year-old former major leaguer was hit by a foul ball off the bat of Tino Sanchez of the Arkansas Travelers. Coolbaugh was taken to Baptist Medical Center-North Little Rock, where he was pronounced dead."

It's sad to hear about something like this happening, though I am surprised that it doesn't occur more often. My condolences go out to Coolbaugh's family and teammates.

Pimpin' Wasn't Easy At This Year's MLB All-Star Game

It's no secret that prostitutes often converge on big cities during major events like conferences or sports contests. Hell, the Minnesota Vikings flew in pro's from Atlanta and Florida for a simple boat party, so you can only imagine how many working girls flock to cities for things like the Super Bowl, or one of the All-Star Games.

Though, it looks like this year it was a little more difficult to score some roadside action for those looking to do so while attending the MLB All-Star Game. City officials launched a crackdown nicknamed "Operation Strikeout"(I thought that was the modern rock band formed by Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite, but whatever) that targeted areas in San Francisco and Oakland known for pimpin' activity.

"More than 10 agencies teamed up during the sting -- which included officials conducting undercover operations, posing as prostitutes and engaging in Internet rings. The operation resulted in 131 arrests, including 46 in San Francisco and 40 in Oakland."

I've always thought that picking up a prostitute is one of the more dangerous things to do. You could get arrested, robbed and/or contract some type of disease. Awesome! And, if you were looking for a chick during the All-Star game it might not have been that different than what you had going on at home.

"Among those arrested were four girls under the age of 18. One of the minors arrested by the South San Francisco police department brought her 8-month-old baby with her to work."

What the hell? Can you imagine some poor guy's reaction when he pulls over, and the girl gets into the car with an 8-month old? Not to mention, she's underage. Yeah buddy, I think you may have a problem.

The Chicago Cubs Still Want You To Have Your Michael Barrett Memorabilia

When the Chicago Cubs traded Michael Barrett this past week they left themselves with an interesting dilemma. What to do with a couple thousand Michael Barrett bobbleheads and jerseys that were to be given away before the game on July 1.

Well, have no fear Barrett fans, the Cubs still plan to give the memorabilia away, though there's no word on whether a punching Zambrano bobblehead will accompany them.

"Fans hoping to collect a Barrett bobblehead on July 1, or a Barrett home jersey on Tuesday will be able to do so. The Cubs are not changing the promotions."

Sweet, so you can get a jersey and not have to worry about how long the player is going to stay with the team because he's already gone! It's almost like the Cubs have planned ahead for you. And you thought they only made decisions that ruined the future.