Bush League Times

"Bush League" is a general term used to describe an action or thing as being amateur, inferior or crude. In a literal sense, it refers to a low quality minor league, not associated with the major league teams. We at Bush League Times are all of the above.

July 25, 2008

Friday Roundup

Posted By: Jay

Last night, the Peoria Chiefs and the Dayton Dragons got together and a WNBA game broke out.

It all began when Dayton manager Donnie Scott left the third base coaching box to complain to umpire Tyler Wilson when Brandon Menchaca was brushed back by a pitch. Already, Dayton had two batters hit in the inning, but the Chiefs were angry that Dayton's Angel Cabrera broke up a double play with a hard slide into second.

Peoria interim manager Carmello Martinez, filling in for Ryne Sandberg who is in Cooperstown for some Hall of Fame festivities, joined the conversation and shoved Scott. While both benches emptied, Cubs pitching prospect Julio Castillo attempted to fire a baseball into the Dayton dugout...and missed. The ball sailed into the stands and struck a fan who had to be taken to the hospital and treated for injuries. Castillo ended up in the pokey when it was all over and is charged with felonious assault and will be arraigned today. I would expect that Castillo's career is over, not so much for the arrest but for the fact that he was aiming for a dugout and completely missed. Seems like he has a slight problem with locating his pitches.

In other news, the Cubs called up Jeff Samardzija from Triple-A Iowa to take the roster spot of Kerry Wood who went on the DL with his blister issues. He will be available for today's game and there are rumors that he could be used to start Saturday's contest. After struggling in Double-A, Samardzija put up some decent numbers in Iowa posting a 4-1 record with a 3.13 ERA in six starts. The Cubs needed to make this move after trading Gallagher to Oakland as they were missing their token ugly guy.

The potential sale of the Cubs is heating up as three bidders advanced to the next round. The three are rumored to be Mark Cuban, the Ricketts family which founded the brokerage which is now known as TD Ameritrade and a group led by Sports Acquisition Holding Corp. that includes former baseball home run king Hank Aaron and former Rep. Jack Kemp. John Canning, chairman of private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, which had been treated as the front-runner, did not make the initial cut, according to sources, who said Tribune is not letting any bidder eliminated after the first round submit a new higher proposal in the second round.

Canning is a minority owner of the Brewers and close friends with Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig. I'm glad to see that the Cubs found a way to stick it to Selig and company.