ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Phillies weren’t happy with home-plate umpire Kerwin Danley over two apparent blown calls that proved costly.
Brett Myers was upset with Danley for seeming to call a check-swing third strike on the Rays’ Rocco Baldelli in the second inning, then waving Baldelli to first on a walk to set up a two-out run.
“One, he swung, and two, I thought the pitch was a strike,” Myers fumed afterward. “What the heck was that? He missed that one, but maybe he’ll get a chance to redeem himself.”
Danley then appeared to miss Jimmy Rollins being hit with a David Price pitch in the ninth inning. Rollins ended up popping out weakly in an inning in which the Phillies had the tying run at the plate.
“He missed it, but that’s baseball,” Rollins said. “He said he couldn’t hear it, which I guess I can understand with 46,000 people screaming in your ear. Sometimes the calls go your way, and sometimes they don’t.”
The Dodgers have offered Manny Ramirez a two-year deal worth $60 million to remain in Los Angeles.
But are the Dodgers serious about having Ramirez return or mollifying their fans?
According to a person familiar with the Dodgers’ thinking, the offer was designed to appease the team’s fan base rather than actually retain Ramirez, who saved the Dodgers’ season with two sizzling months in which he batted .396 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs in 53 games and continued to mash in the postseason, batting .520 with four homers and 10 RBIs in eight games.
According to the person, the Dodgers know the 36-year-old and his agent, Scott Boras, are looking for a long-term deal – at least four years – and will certainly reject the two-year offer.
By having the offer leak out, the Dodgers hope that fans who fell quickly in love with Ramirez would believe the organization was making an extreme, good-faith effort to sign him, and that Ramirez and Boras simply wanted too much to be retained.
As of yesterday, Larry Bowa hadn’t talked with Dodgers GM Ned Colletti. The Yankees are waiting on Bowa’s decision to stay in L.A. or opt out of the second year of his contract before turning in another direction to fill their third base coaching vacancy.
The Yankees have hired Bill Livesey as a pro scout. Livesey worked with the Yankees from 1977-95 as a minor league manager, area scout, national cross-checker and farm director. He served as the Yankees’ Vice President of Player Development and Scouting from 1992-95. He has since worked with the Tampa Bay, Toronto and New York Mets organizations.
“We are excited to have him, he is a very good talent evaluator,” said Billy Eppler, the Yankees’ head of professional scouting.