Cleveland Sports Forum

I strongly dislked Roger Clemens for most of his MLB career.

As he rounds the age of 50, and still wants to pitch and compete, I might dislike him less.

I've mentioned before that a kid I played ball with in Little League and later leagues ended up winning the Roy Hobbs Championship in an over 50 league within the past few seasons.

You’ll never guess which team has the AL’s best record since the All-Star break

Aaron Gleeman Aug 21, 2012, 10:47 AM EDT


Over in the National League the top records since the All-Star break belong to teams that have been strong all season: Cincinnati, Washington, Atlanta.

However, as Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times notes the American League’s top post-break record belongs to the team that had the league’s worst record going into the break.

Seattle went 36-51 in the first half, but the Mariners are now 23-13 in the second half and tied with the Rays for the AL’s top mark during that time. And the doubly amazing part is that they had a five-game losing streak within that, meaning the Mariners went 23-8 surrounding the five losses in a row.

They’re still in last place in the AL West at 59-64 overall, but thanks to the second Wild Card being added the Mariners are now at least on the fringes of contention. With just two more wins they’ll match their 2010 win total and eight more wins will match their 2011 win total.

Hamilton has two chances at history on MiLB.TV

Billy Hamilton will get two opportunities to break the Minor League stolen-base record Tuesday as Pensacola hosts Montgomery in a doubleheader at 7 p.m. ET on MiLB.TV.

First game of a double header, Billy Hamilton walked to leadoff the ball game. An errant pickoff attempt advance Hamilton to second base who promptly stole third.

A two out single in the third resulted in steals of second and third.

Hamilton is the new minor league all-time stolen base leader

On that second steal of third, Hamilton was off and running on the next three pitches of which each were fouled off. The fourth pitch was a ball resulting in the tie-breaking stolen base.

Gotta be a fun guy to watch.

By the way, Ryan Garko is hitting cleanup and dh'ing for Montgomery and Beau Mills is hitting cleanup and playing first base for Pensacola.

Not as much fun to watch as what you posted in that other thread.

Speaking of Beau Mills, Beau has homered in each of his last three ball games prior to this evening.

Aroldis Chapman nails down another save, as the Reds come from behind late again tonight!
Cozart homers off Papelbon.

Billy Hamilton is going to shatter that stolen base record. He needed 3 tonight in order to break the record. Well, he went 4-4. I think Pensacola has about 14 games left to their season. Game 2 is about to begin.

The Wahoos lost that ballgame 4-2. Montgomery score 1 in the 6th and 1 in the 7th. The Wahoos tied the game scoring twice in the bottom half of the 7th sending the game into overtime. Montgomery's 2 runs in the top of the 8th was enough to dump Pensacola.

Everybody is pulling together on that team JR. A different hero each evening. Kind of reminds me of the 90's Indians.

It's a fun team to watch!

All-Time Minor League Single-Season Stolen Base Leaders Aug. 21: Steals Nos. 144, 145, 146

Playing his 120th game of the year, Billy Hamilton raced past Vince Coleman and broke the single-season stolen base record that had stood since 1983.

Need two steals to tie the mark, the Reds' top prospect drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first inning, took second on a throwing error and stole third base as Kyle Lobstein's pitch in the dirt bounced away from catcher Mark Thomas.

In the third, Hamilton slapped a pitch to right field for a single before swiping second base to tie the record. The Pensacola grounds crew replaced second base as fans acknowledged Hamilton, stole third with a head-first slide moments later.

Hamilton did steal his 4th base. At least that's what the box scores indicate. I guess the charts were only interested in the tie breaker.

Well, this explains Bartolo's comeback:

Bartolo Colon suspended for drug violation

A’s starting pitcher Bartolo Colon has been suspended 50 games for a violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Colon, 39, reportedly tested positive for testosterone. He will miss the final 40 games of the regular season and 10 postseason games if the team makes it that far.

The A’s were 1/2 game behind the Orioles and Rays in the American League wild card race going into Wednesday’s game.

Colon is the second Bay Area player to get a 50-game suspension in the past week for elevated testosterone. Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera was suspended Aug. 15.

“It’s a shock,” A’s reliever Grant Balfour said. “He’s a guy that we’re definitely relying on right now. I guess you could say it’s bad timing any time, but especially now.”

Colon has enjoyed a resurgence this season, going 10-9 with a 3.43 ERA.

Like Cabrera, Colon issued an apology and accepted his penalty.

“I apologize to the fans, to my teammates and to the Oakland A’s,” he said in a statement released by the players’ association. “I accept responsibility for my actions and I will serve my suspension as required by the Joint Drug Program.”

The team released the following comment Wednesday morning:

“The Oakland Athletics are disappointed to learn of today’s suspension of pitcher Bartolo Colon. The organization fully supports Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program and its efforts to eliminate performance-enhancing substances from our game. Per the Basic Agreement, the A’s will have no further comment.”

Colon will lose the remaining $469,945 of his $2 million base salary this year. He also has earned $750,000 in performance bonuses based on starts and $150,000 based on innings, which is not impacted. Thursday’s start would have earned him another $250,000, and the suspension will cost him the chance to make $850,000 in additional bonuses based on innings.

Five players have been suspended this year under the big league drug program. Giants reliever Guillermo Mota was suspended 100 games in May following his second positive test, and Phillies infielder Freddy Galvis and free agent outfielder Marlon Byrd were suspended 50 games each in June.

This story includes information from The Associated Press.

Billy Hamilton breaks steals record

Updated: August 22, 2012, 6:21 PM ET

ESPN.com news services

PENSACOLA, Fla. --

Cincinnati Reds minor leaguer Billy Hamilton bolted to his record 146th stolen base of the season and kept running Tuesday night, swiping four in the first game of a Double-A doubleheader.

Hamilton added his 147th steal in the final inning of Pensacola's 4-2 loss to Montgomery. Hamilton stole 104 in the first half of the season with Class A Bakersfield, then was promoted to the Southern League.

Hamilton broke the record for steals by minor league teams affiliated with big league organizations set by Vince Coleman in 1983 with 145 for Macon in the Class A South Atlantic League.

The modern major league record was set by Rickey Henderson with 130 in 1982.

Hamilton single-handedly has more steals than any major league team; the Miami Marlins lead the majors with 121 steals this season.

Hamilton stole second base in the first inning, then swiped second and third in the third inning to eclipse Coleman's mark. Hamilton made a headfirst slide for the record-breaker and Pensacola manager Jim Riggleman, who was coaching third base, gave him a hearty handshake as the crowd rewarded the speedster with a standing ovation.

Hamilton's teammates came out of the dugout to applaud him. Ryan LaMarre, who was batting at the time for the Blue Wahoos, came down the third-base line to congratulate him.

The 21-year-old Hamilton has been caught stealing 33 times this season. He has forced many errors and balks while on the bases.

Hamilton has played 121 games this year. Coleman played 113 games during his record-setting season and was caught stealing 31 times.

At both minor league levels combined, Hamilton is batting .317 with a .417 on-base percentage.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.