MySports Today

The Detroit Tigers released slugger Gary Sheffield on Tuesday.  Sheffield was hitting only .178 in 18 games for the Tigers during Spring Training.  Sheffield has 499 career home runs, 1 shy of the amazing 500 home run mark.  Sheffield will likely reach that 500 plateau at some point during the 2009 MLB schedule, but he will not do so in a Tigers uniform.  The Tigers are still obligated to pay Sheffield $14 million for the season.  Any team can now sign Sheffield for the MLB minimum $400,000 salary, and the defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies have already placed a call into Sheffield’s handlers to see if there is a fit for Sheffield in the City of Brotherly Love…

Ryan Moats said Monday that he accepts the apology from office Robert Powell. Moats was stopped by the Dallas office in a hospital parking lot while his mother-in-law was dying inside. Moats was stopped when his SUV rolled through a red light, Powell pulled his gun on Moats and threatened him with jail. Powell who is on paid leave pending an investigation, issued a statement Friday.
“I wish to publicly and sincerely apologize to the Moats family, my colleagues in the Dallas Police Department, and to all those who have been rightfully angered by my actions on March 18, 2009. After stopping Mr. Moats’ vehicle, I showed poor judgment and insensitivity to Mr. Moats and his family by my words and actions,” Powell’s statement said.

Johan Santana looks ready to start the regular season.  The Mets defeated the Nationals 4-1 on Friday night.  Johan Santana went 7 strong innings – the 1st Met to pitch past the 6th inning this spring.  Santana needed only 75 pitches and allowed only 4 baserunners all on hits.  He gave up 1 run and had 6 strikeouts – 3 of which came when he struck out the side in an inning.

This is great news for the Mets.  After a slow start for Santana this spring, he appears healthy and ready to shoulder the load for the Mets rotation in 2009.  The Mets will need 110% from Santana if they expect to dethrone the defending World Series Champion and 2-time defending NL East Division-winning Philadelphia Phillies.

Plaxico Burress is trying very hard to not go to jail after shooting himself in the leg. His attorney has been working with the Manhattan DA for months now trying to get the charges against Burress resolved. The goal is to avoid a long drawn out trial so he could return for the 2009 season. Burress has a pre trial hearing set for Tuesday, but so far there is no plea deal set.

Burress accidentally shot himself in a club back in Nov at a Manhattan night club. He was arraigned on Dec 1 on two counts of second degree criminal possession of a loaded weapon, both are felonies. Burress hired noted criminal attorney Benjamin Brafman. Its reported that the NY DA has been under a lot of pressure to prosecute Burress to the fullest extent of the law.

The New York Mets defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 9-5 on Thursday behind a big 7-run 7th inning and a solid pitching outing by John Maine.  Maine pitched 5 innings giving up only 1 unearned run on 6 hits.  While Maine did have 5 strikeouts, he also had 3 walks.  But overall, it was a good outing for the Mets #2 right-handed starter.

As for the Mets bats, the team racked up 13 hits and scored 7 runs in the 7th inning to pull off the come-from-behind victory.  Mets regulars Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and Jose Valentin each had 2 hits.  Reyes even had 3 RBI’s.  The Mets should continue to have one of the most productive offenses in the National League this season, so let’s hope the bats continue to stay hot once the season starts.

It’s great to see John Maine pitch an efficient 5 innings at this point in the spring.  Let’s hope he can finish off strong and be ready to carry over the momentum into the 2009 MLB schedule.

The New York Yankees have a fancy new billion dollar stadium. They also have spent more then any other team on players in the off season at over $400 million. Now if any Yankees fans want to go to the home opener which is the first game at the new stadium its going to cost you. I logged on to the web site today to check out what it would cost you to get two good seats to the April 16th game. For the low price of $2,625 and a nice big service charge you to could sit behind home plate. Yes that is two thousand a ticket face value. I just think its great how much heat tickets brokers get for prices that are set by an open market and here we have team charging this much. I guess times are tough and they need to pay the bills. What a great way to take care of the NY fans.

The MLB has suspended San Francisco Giants pitcher Kelvin Pichardo after testing positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs. Pichardo, a 23-year-old right hander has never appeared in a major league game was 2-4 with a 2.48 ERA in 48 appearances last seasons at the Double A Connecticut eastern league. He will start his suspension at the start of the season and will lose one-third of his $65,000 salary on the minor league side. If brought up to the majors he is set to receive $400,000. Pichardo is not the first player to be suspended this year J.C. Romero and Sergio Mitre were also handed 50 game bans after testing positive.

Curt Schilling announced today that he will be retiring. The 42-year-old super star last pitched in 2007 with some amazing stats. He has a career record of 216-146, with 3,116 strikeouts. In the postseason, he went 10-2 with a  2.23 ERA in 19 starts in 23 years with major league baseball. He has played for three World Series teams, two with the Red Sox and one with the Diamondbacks in 2001. Boston will always remember him for coming to Boston to help break the 86 year World Series drought and his famous bloody sock.

Schilling said on his blog “To say I’ve been blessed would be like calling Refrigerator Perry “a bit overweight.” The things I was allowed to experience, the people I was able to call friends, teammates, mentors, coaches and opponents, the travel, all of it, are far more than anything I ever thought possible in my lifetime.

Four World Series, three World Championships. That there are men with plaques in Cooperstown who never experienced one — and I was able to be on three teams over seven years that won it all — is another “beyond my wildest dreams” set of memories I’ll take with me.”

Kevin Garnett has been out for 13 games with a knee injury, but was back on Friday night. Garnett scored 10 points before sitting out the fourth, this was a precaution so he could rest his knee. The Celtics still won the game 80-77, the Celtics have now won four of its last five against the Spurs following an 18-game losing streak. Another big game for Rajon Rondo who had 16 points and 12 assists, this his third straight double-digit game. Tony Paker helped the spurs with 25 points.