Mike Leake isn't the First to Have Committed a Crime

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake made more headlines Monday by getting arrested than he did last season by becoming just the 13th pitcher since 1965 to skip the Minors and jump right to the big leagues.

Hhonestly, stealing $59.88 in shirts from Macy’s should overshadow anything the righty might bring to the bump…it’s just not a smart thing to do.  And c'mon, dude, six shirts?  You can't steal just one?!?

But it’s not like he’s the first cat to get caught up with the law and make a dumb mistake.

Here are ten others that made headlines by being an idiot OFF the field.

DICK WILLIAMS
According to reports, the then-future Hall of Famer was walking around his hotel naked and masturbating (alledgedly) while attending a fantasy camp in January 2000. He was arrested on an indecent-exposure charge and ending up pleading no contest. This happened within two months of the 2000 Veterans Committee Hall of Fame vote and some contend that that is what kept him out of Cooperstown until 2007.

JOSE CANSECO
I hate to say it, but it is getting harder and harder to not bring up Canseco’s name in connection to something anymore. Of course, with this list, it would be criminal to not include the “Godfather of Steroids” and the October 2008 incident where he was detained by immigration officials in San Diego after trying to bring fertility drugs in from Mexico.

JULIO MATEO
While in the San Francisco Giants farm system, the former reliever was arrested on suspicion of forgery in 2008 when police discovered counterfeit $100 bills in his hotel room. The best part was what officer Christopher Enyart wrote in a police report…”Before officers informed him of why we were there, Julio stated that he did not know anything about fake money”. Oops.

SHAWN CHACON
The hard throwing righty was pretty much banished from the game in 2008 when he choke slammed Houston Astros general manager Ed Wade to the ground. A year later, Chacon was arrested at a bowling alley in Colorado in connection with more than $50,000 in unpaid gambling debts in Las Vegas.

DEION SANDERS
“PrimeTime” is known for plenty and thankfully, for him, few people remember the time in 1996 when he and a buddy were arrested for trespassing on property owned by the Southwest Florida International Airport. Why were the two men there? To go fishing. "The only defense I have is that I'm sorry,” Sanders said at the time, “but they were biting."

KEVIN MITCHELL
Like Canseco, you could make a whole list of dumb things that the 1989 National League MVP has done in his lifetime. In 1999, he was arrested for punching his father in mouth for not paying rent. Just last year, Mitchell was arrested for alleged misdemeanor battery at the Bonita Golf Club in California. And according to the internets…dude is listed as one of California's top delinquent taxpayers…owing a cool $5,184,641.51.

JOSE OFFERMAN
In 2007, former Major Leaguer Offerman found himself playing independent ball for the Long Island Ducks. In August of that year, the two-time All-Star got hit by a pitch and instead of calmly jogging to first base he did what anyone would do…he charged the mound with his bat and struck both the pitcher and catcher. And let’s not forget that Offerman is the same guy who also went on to punch out an umpire!

KENNY ROGERS
One of the most overblown incidents in recent memory occurred in 2005 when Rogers shoved two cameramen…knocking one of the cameras to the ground. One of the reporters resumed recording the pitcher and again, was shoved by the four-time All-Star. For whatever reason, this resulted in a 20-game suspension (Rogers served 13 games) and mandatory anger management classes for “The Gambler”.

LUIS POLONIA
I’ve purposely tried to omit sex crimes from this list, but what Polonia did in 1989 is pretty much unavoidable and inexcusable. While in Milwaukee on a road trip, the then-New York Yankee brought a 15-year-old back to his hotel room and had sex with her. The amazing thing, to me, isn’t that the 26 year-old outfielder couldn’t tell that the teenager he hooked up with couldn’t drive, but that he went on to play eleven more years in the bigs and won two rings with the Yankees.

CAL RIPKEN, JR.
Okay, okay…the squeaky clean Ripken didn’t get in trouble, but his Number 8 was once involved in a crime. In late summer 2009, four men stole a statue of the “Iron Man’s” Number 8 form outside of Camden Yards. Thing is, the underaged drunks probably would have gotten away with it too, if they weren’t nabbed for being “disorderly” and keeping the Hall of Famer’s statue in the back of their pickup.

And I hate to go back to Offerman…but while searching the YouTubes for video, I found this piece that includes two yucksters trying desperately to out clever one another when talking about the bat incident.

Jamie Moyer to Start Throwing May 1

I'm not going to pretend to know how long it takes to come back from Tommy John surgery since I've not really read that much on the subject.

That said, I'm pretty sure that 48-year-old Jamie Moyer shouldn't be preparing to throw a ball around the yard.

Yet that's exactly what the pitcher says he is planning on doing:

Hope everyone is enjoying their spring. The baseball season has begun - for some it’s been exciting & others it's been a let down so far. Everyone should keep their hopes up, it's a long season. The ESPN gig has been exciting for me. A lot to learn in a new profession. Rehab is going well & I anticipate starting to throw May 1st. FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I'm a gigantic fan of Moyer's and I hope that he comes back and pitches into his fifties...I just hope his desire to return doesn't ruin his chances.

If you recall, Moyer had Tommy John surgery back in December after injuring his elbow pitching in the Dominican Winter League.

Jim Thome is Paul Bunyan...or is it the Other Way Around?

You're going to see plenty of “at first glance, one might confuse Jim Thome with Paul Bunyan” posts circulating around the ole interwebs thanks to the Minnesota Twins new commercial.

But let’s not kid ourselves…there’s really no comparison.

One is, according to a quick Google search “a larger-than-life folk hero who embodies frontier vitality…a symbol of might, the willingness to work hard and the resolve to overcome all obstacles” and the other dresses up in a Jim Thome shirt and walks his ox through the bowels of Target Field.

See what I did there?

Enjoy this 30-second slice of pure genius courtesy of The St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The Barry Zito Car Accident 911 Call

Remember that car crash that San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito got into last month on the eve of the new season?

Well, according to the one 911 callers...it apparently looked like something out of the God awful "Fast and the Furious" movies.,

That's right, if you listen to the 911 call audio (courtesy of Thirty Mile Zone) one of the cars involved in the now-mustached hurler's accident went "off the ground"!

Now, I'm not sure if that is awesome or not, but if a car goes airborne in an accident...nevermind, it's totally awesome!

Jim Leyland Wins 1500th Game

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland entered 2011 with 1493 victories and Friday night, he became the game’s 19th 1500 game winner.

Twenty five years and three days after his first victory and twelve years to the day after win number 1000.

“It was very nice,” Leyland told reporters following the game, “but it was more important to get a win for the team than me getting to 1500.”

With the win, the skipper now sits second among active managers…behind just St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa.

On the all-time list, 12 of the 18 managers ahead of Leyland are in the Hall of Fame.

The six that aren’t…LaRussa, Bobby Cox, Joe Torre, Gene Mauch, Lou Piniella and Ralph Houk. The first three are locks to get into Cooperstown and Leyland, well…you could do a lot worse.

Johnny Damon Makes History

When Johnny Damon hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning of Thursday night's Tampa Bay Rays-Minnesota Twins game, the 10,042 in attendance probably didn't know that they witnessed history.

How do you ask?

Well...check out this offering from Marc Tompin of the St. Petersburg Times:

Damon became the first major-leaguer to hit walkoff homers for five different teams, having also done the deed for the Royals, Red Sox, Yankees, and Tigers (twice).

I realize I didn't dig up the stat first...but when you bust that out this weekend and tell your friends...please say you saw it here.

Friday 5: Andre Dawson

Regardless how you feel about Andre Dawson’s Hall of Fame credentials, I’m pretty sure no one was actually upset when the eight-time All-Star finally made his way through the doors of Cooperstown after nine tries.

The 1987 National League Most Valuable Player played 21 seasons with the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox and, finally, his current employer, the Florida Marlins.

Thursday night, I was part of a media consortium that had a chance to catch up with the Hall of Famer…here’s the meatiest of what he told us.

MEDIA: Who do you consider baseball’s home run king?

DAWSON: Well, Barry (Bonds) did what he did (but) the record probably is tainted as a result of the steroid scandal. Hank Aaron was a guy that I idolized growing up because his journey to get to where he was and how he accomplished what he did. To me, he’ll always be the all-time home run king.

MEDIA: Should the steroid tainted players be allowed in the Hall?

DAWSON: I’m glad that the writers have really taken a stance on how they’re going to judge this. And from the look of things…it doesn’t look pretty. It’s hurt a lot of players who probably do a lot better throughout the voting process. They’ve been overlooked and pretty much cast aside and that was all a result of the era where the numbers really took off. Personally, I think that somewhere down the road they might be given better consideration, but they’re going to have to suffer the consequences and that’s probably going to be not being allowed in the Hall of Fame anytime soon.

MEDIA: What are your thoughts on wearing the Expos cap in the Hall of Fame versus a Cubs cap?

DAWSON: It wasn’t my choice or preference, but I respect the decision of the Hall and them being more concerned about the history of the game. I felt (playing in Chicago) is what put me in that particular status of being Hall-worthy and I respect their decision. But I will always, in my opinion, be looked at as a Cub.

MEDIA: Are there any plans that you know of to put Number 8 up on the foul poles at Wrigley Field?

DAWSON: You’d have to talk to the people in charge. (Laughs) I have no knowledge of that one.

MEDIA: If you had to pay to see a ballplayer…which one would you pay to see today?

DAWSON: I’ve always been a big fan of Albert Pujols for his character and the way he handles himself both on and off the field. There’s some talented players throughout baseball and some good young players in the game also. There’s a kid down in Florida who, barring injury, will do some phenomenal things named Mike Stanton. He can hit a baseball as far as anyone in the game and is only 21-years-old. I like him because of his make up…he’s young, has his head on the right place, is a student of the game and is what you’d want in a young ballplayer coming up.

Following the media “press conference”, Dawson and I talked more about the Hall of Fame, Ryne Sandberg’s public endorsement, and how he thinks he should’ve won two other MVP awards while playing in Montreal.

But, in all fairness to “The Hawk”, I didn’t really feel like I could just throw my recorder in his face and, while just shooting the bull, record him.

Lastly, a big thanks to Karen Tilly and her group over at Rockford MELD for making Thursday night’s event possible. Two years ago, I had the chance to talk with Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins, so…here’s to another great guest in the future!

Hell Yeah, Covelli. Hell. Yeah.

When Coco Crisp, then just 26, left Cleveland for Boston...I was one of the guys who thought that a new Red Sox legend was going to emerge. 

Unfortunately...I was wrong.

The speedster has been more flash than substance.  His actions of late have been suspect and, if you follow his Twitter feed...you've gotta wonder if the cat isn't just a little bit distracted.

Thursday night, the Oakland A's outfielder won me over.

Looking like someone right off the cover of Dan Epstein's great book Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s,  Crisp did his best Oscar Gamble impersonation and broke out the afro.

We'll all have to wait and see what Crisp will do with his hair next, but you know what my hope is.

Nothing.