"Dead"line far from dead

The only trade deadline in Major League Baseball that really matters came and went today.

Sure there are other MLB trade deadlines as the season goes on (I think there are 18 more!), but today's deadline is the only one in which trades can be made without having to put players through waivers.

For baseball fans, it's as close as it gets to Canada's unofficial national holiday, the NHL trade deadline.

Going into today's events, I paid more attention to the deadline than in previous years, mostly because this year big name players were likely to be (and were) dealt:

Victor Martinez - to the BoSox
Jake Peavy - to the ChiSox (what??? he just rejected a trade to them a few months ago!)
Jarrod Washburn - to the Tigers
Scott Rolen - to the Reds
Nick Johnson - to the Marlins

Throw in the bevy of MLB trades that were made the few days leading up to today and you have a VERY busy trade deadline.

For Jays fans, Roy Halladay still is in your rotation. Will he last through the offseason? My guess it no...but time will tell.

And Pirates fans? Your team traded it's entire roster over the last few days. Rumour has it that they are considering starting this guy in their next game.

MLB.com had (and still has) full live coverage that's been insightful, interesting and up-to-date.

The MLB trade deadline still doens't have the cache that the NHL's version holds, but ultimately, there were still loads of trades.

And who doesn't like trades????


BrockTalk

Bruce is loose in Steeltown

Yesterday the Tornoto Argonauts managed to find a taker for controversial wide receiver Arland Bruce III. They shipped Bruce to their provincial rival Hamilton Tiger Cats for a couple of players and draft picks.

Recently, Bruce was fined for celebrating a touchdown by impersonating Michael Jackson in a coffin (figure that one out!), he's been in a very public spat with his coach, he's called out his quarterback and generally, just tarnished the image of the Argos, the CFL and himself.

My question to Hamilton is "why on earth do you want this dude?"

Yes, he's a great talent, but for a team loaded with young, impressionable and inexperienced players, do you really want to bring in a guy who somehow manages to put an "I" in "team"?

Apparently they do.

In an interview yesterday, Hamilton qb Quinton Porter spoke about the Ti-Cats and how he and his teammates all have a blue-collar work ethic and subscribe to the "one for all and all for one" mantra. He said there are "no stars on the team" and that if Bruce doesn't fit in, he'd better find a way to.

Conversely, when Bruce was asked if he was going to change at all, now that he's heading to Hamilton for a fresh start he said, "Ya, I'm changing my number."

Enjoy the Bruce Show Hamilton!


BrockTalk

Favre finally retires...or does he?

Yesterday it was announced that the longest running soap opera, next to The Guiding Light, has come to an end.

39-year-old sure-fire NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre announced that he will not be joining the Minnesota Vikings and will remain retired.

Favre said that as he approaches 40, he doesn't think he has enough left in the tank to get through a full season.

The key words there? "FULL season."

Which leads us to an interesting little nugget of information that was reported on the NFL Network yesterday.

NFL Total Access host Rich Eisen was doing a final chat with reporter Scott Hanson, who was stationed outside the Favre 'bunker' in Mississippi, when Hanson dropped some info that left Eisen stunned.

Hanson reported that Favre had just told the NFL Network's Steve Mariucci (with whom Favre is very close) that despite remaining retired, he will "keep throwing, and keep working out."

Back in the studio, Eisen was stunned. Just when he (and the rest of us) thought that this whole Favre soap opera was finally, painfully, coming to a close...ole #4, ever so slightly, left the door open for a return.

In Eisen's words: "Why? WHY?"

Why would Favre keep throwing and working out if he planned to stay retired 4-ever?

Heck, Vinny Testeverde retired and unretired 15 times...so why not Favre? Can't you just see him announcing he's fit and ready to play about half way through this season?

My feeling is that we haven't seen the last of Brett Favre.

Maybe he'll finish his career where is ALLLLL began. Where he's known and loved. With the team we all associate him with:The Atlanta Falcons.

BrockTalk

WillingSLAM

Okay, first blog post and what am I going to do to mark the occasion?

I'm writing about a player you likely have not heard of, playing on a team that you likely don't care about, accomplishing something you SHOULD pay attention to:

1. Josh Willingham



2. Washington Nationals



3. 2 grand slams hit in one game

Click here to see the slams and read more.

Not only is this accomplishment rare...it's more rare than pitching a perfect game!

Last week White Sox hurler Mark Buehrle threw a perfect game...18th in MLB history. WillingSLAM's accomlishment, just the 13th in MLB history.

Although, WillingSLAM's accomplishment is still bettered by what Fernando Tatis did back in 1999: he hit two slams in ONE INNING off the same pitcher (Chan Ho Park)...now that is something else!

Regardless, show Josh WillingSLAM some love today.


BrockTalk