WELL SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!!

A couple of other unexpectedly surprising news items this week that did not include the Tampa Bay Rays:

The "MLBPA says teams acted in concert against Bonds" story is located at
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3647779
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NEW YORK -- The baseball players' union says it has found evidence teams acted in concert against signing Barry Bonds but it reached an agreement with the commissioner's office to delay the filing of any grievance.

The union expressed concern in May about the lack of offers to the home run king. Filing a grievance would trigger proceedings before arbitrator Shyam Das.

Weiner said the section that had been violated was Article XX (e) of the collective bargaining agreement, which states, in part: "Players shall not act in concert with other players and clubs shall not act in concert with other clubs." Weiner would not say how long the agreement runs to allow the union to file a grievance.

"I am convinced based on MLB's actions in 2008 that they will never let him wear a major league uniform ever again," he said.

The players' association won three collusion grievances in which owners were found to have conspired against free agents following the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons. Management agreed in 1990 to settle those cases for $280 million and also agreed to a provision that future collusion would be subject to triple damages.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
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Apparently this will come as a surprise to many of the bobble-heads in the media and pablum-swilling fans, but this is actually a surprise coming from a union that Bonds very openly and publicly distanced himself from prior to concluding his all-time HR record chase. The union certainly would have a "grievance" with Bonds himself based on that action. So in a sense, they have less incentive today to carry water for Bonds, except to the extent that this type of collusion could affect other players down the road if the owners pattern of behavior went unchallenged.

MLB teams could all paying into a fund to compensate Bonds for lost salary (maybe $10M per season) for 1-3 seasons multiplied by potential treble damages.

OUCH!!!
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The "Canseco regrets writing 'Juiced,' naming names" story is located at
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3655031

Updated: October 21, 2008, 1:09 PM ET

Jose Canseco Regrets Tell-All Book

Jose Canseco, whose book "Juiced," which focused attention on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball and led to congressional hearings on the subject, now says he never should have written the book and named names of alleged steroid users.

During the A&E Network's one-hour documentary, "Jose Canseco: The Last Shot," Canseco said he "regrets mentioning players [as steroid users]. I never realized this was going to blow up and hurt so many people."

During the program, the 44-year-old Canseco said he "wanted revenge" on Major League Baseball because he believed he had been forced out of the game. The book was his means of getting even, and he named names "to show I was telling the truth" about steroids in baseball, he said.

"If I could meet with Mark McGwire and these players, I definitely would apologize to them," Canseco said, according to the New York Daily News. "They were my friends. I admired them. I respected them."

The Philadelphia Daily News reported Tuesday that Canseco, still seeking steady work, has agreed to fight Danny Bonaduce in January as part of a Celebrity Boxing Federation bout. In July, Canseco was knocked out by former Philadelphia Eagles return man Vai Sikahema in Atlantic City, N.J.
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The surprise is Canseco's admission that he wrote the book with "revenge" as one of his main motives. He seemed so sincere and altruistic at the time. I can't believe that I fell for his line. I feel so dirty and used.

Jose, good luck to you in:
- getting any of the players you named to accept your apology
- getting your dignity back (what's left of it) if you get knocked out by Danny Bonaduce

I'm on the record as hoping that Bonaduce knocks him out. COLD!!
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This fight is going to be drug-tested right??

Aw hell, who cares? Make it a fight to the death and we can waive the drug testing, what do you say?

Maybe we can thin the herd a little bit, huh?

LET'S GET READY TO RUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLE!!!!!