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Metstradamus / The Musings and Prophecies …:
There's Some Grit In Them Furry Beasts — As if going to Pittsburgh for a one game rainout makeup isn't exciting enough, the Mets were also able to catch the phenomenon known as Anthrocon 2009, a convention where people can dress like animals. Boy, it was the club's lucky day ... let alone Kevin Burkhardt's lucky day.
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Brian Costa / New Jersey Online:
With three games, three cities in three days, New York Mets are a traveling circus … PITTSBURGH — Ryan Church walked into his hotel room around 9 p.m. Wednesday. In the span of nine hours, the Mets outfielder had left his hotel room in Milwaukee, taken a bus to Miller Park …
Adam Rubin / NY Daily News:
Mets hit Philly in hot pursuit of first place — PITTSBURGH - After twice being caught - and passed - by the Phillies in September, this time the Mets are the pursuers. And Fernando Tatis figures the Amazin's ought to be pretty loose this weekend, after rallying for a 9-8 …
Jayson Stark / ESPN:
It's so wrong to celebrate Manny's return — Widespread love for Ramirez upon his being back in Dodgers' lineup a puzzling thing — That dreadlocked bon vivant, Manny Ramirez, will rejoin us — and the Dodgers — this weekend after eight weeks of purgatory on Planet Manny. Whoop-de-doo.
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Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Sheets May Not Pitch This Year — ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports that three teams with “at least some level of interest” in starter Ben Sheets say he he won't be able to help a big league team this year. He's five months removed from flexor tendon surgery, an operation that kept Jason Jennings out for a year and a half.
Jim Street / MLB.com:
Branyan punctuates win with long blast — Slugger hits restaurant in center field at Yankee Stadium — NEW YORK — After going nearly two games without hitting a ball between the white lines at Yankee Stadium, Mariners first baseman Russell Branyan hit one where no else has gone.
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Dave Sheinin / Washington Post:
Boras's Next Assault on Draft Might Come From Far East — The Major League Rules is a sprawling, dense, little-known, 254-page document, periodically updated, that governs the business side of baseball. Among other things, it lays out, in painstaking legalese, the process and guidelines …
Associated Press:
Report: Rangers borrowed money from MLB — The Texas Rangers borrowed millions of dollars from Major League Baseball within the last week, according to a Yahoo! report. — Rangers spokesman John Blake told the website that the club would have no comment, and Rich Levin …
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Mark Zuckerman / Washington Times:
For Nats' Rizzo, it's about ‘character’ — Removal of Milledge, Dukes reflects effort to alter attitude — Manny Acta spoke earlier this season about “changing the culture” around the Washington Nationals' clubhouse, a veiled reference to what he believed was an aspect …
Sports Illustrated:
Star Cuban pitcher defects; Yankees interested? … A highly regarded Cuban pitching prospect has defected from the national team while playing in a tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands. His next stop could be in the major leagues, possibly with the New York Yankees.
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Associated Press
Associated Press:
Braves complete sweep of Phillies, 5-2 — ATLANTA (AP) — Matt Diaz drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning double and the Atlanta Braves beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Thursday night to complete their first home sweep of the Phillies in four years. — Diaz had his second straight three-hit …
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Morosi On Yankees, Qualls, Tigers — Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports has a few more rumors worth passing along: — The Yankees' bullpen has been performing well, but that's not stopping the team from keeping a close eye on D'Backs closer Chad Qualls. — If Brian Bruney doesn't start pitching …
Adam Rosenberg / MLB.com:
Hanson named NL's top rookie in June — Wins over Yankees, Red Sox among righty's highlights — ATLANTA — One month into his Major League career, right-hander Tommy Hanson has been as good as advertised. Braves fans have known about the 6-foot-6 phenom since he dominated opponents in the Minor Leagues.
Associated Press:
Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez making return on Friday against San Diego Padres — SAN DIEGO — Manny Ramirez will be back in big leagues on Friday night after a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy. His return should be nothing short of a spectacle.
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