Benjamin Grimm

Is goat kosher?

I had goat once at an Indian restaurant. I did see it on a menu once in Puerto Rico, but didn't order it. (I wasn't in a goaty mood that day, I guess.)

] Dan Haren traded from Oakland to Arizona, Valverde shipped to Houston By JANIE McCAULEY, AP Sports Writer December 14, 2007 The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired All-Star pitcher Dan Haren from Oakland and traded major league saves leader Jose Valverde to Houston in separate swaps involving 12 players Friday. Oakland also sent right-hander Connor Robertson to Arizona and received six players: left-handers Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland and Greg Smith; infielder Chris Carter; and outfielders Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez. The NL West champion Diamondbacks got reliever Chad Qualls, infielder Chris Burke and right-hander Juan Gutierrez from the Astros. Haren, who was 15-9 with a 3.07 ERA this year, became the first elite starter to switch teams this offseason -- which could set off a flurry of moves by other teams in search of pitching. The Minnesota Twins are listening to trade offers for two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana, who can become a free agent after next season. Baltimore is thought to be shopping lefty Erik Bedard. Haren joins a Diamondbacks rotation that includes 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb. Arizona also hopes to get Randy Johnson back from injury next year. "We had a significant amount of interest in Dan, as you would expect," Athletics general manager Billy Beane said on a conference call. "As I said from the start of this winter, the way we went forward was going to be, first and foremost, on the health of the club, and how much interest there was in a guy like Dan and what was going to be the return if we did decide to trade him." With new general manager Ed Wade, the Astros have been one of baseball's busiest teams this fall. They traded five players to Baltimore on Wednesday for star shortstop Miguel Tejada, 10 days after signing free-agent second baseman Kaz Matsui to a $16.5 million, three-year contract. Valverde, who had 47 saves in 54 chances this year, takes over as Houston's closer from inconsistent Brad Lidge, a 2005 All-Star who was traded to Philadelphia on Nov. 7 in a five-player deal that sent speedy outfielder Michael Bourn to the Astros. Haren quickly emerged as the ace of the A's staff this season following the departure of Barry Zito to the San Francisco Giants. The right-hander set career bests for wins, strikeouts (192) and ERA. His ERA was the third-lowest in the American League. But the A's missed the playoffs after reaching the AL championship series the previous year. Oakland (76-86) had its streak of winning seasons end at eight, and went 9-17 in September for its worst final month since going 8-20 in 1985. Beane is always open-minded about his low-budget franchise and had said he would listen to offers for Haren, Joe Blanton or other pitchers such as closer Huston Street. In 2004, Beane traded Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder in a three-day span -- and Haren came to the A's from St. Louis in the Mulder deal.

Official statement from the New York Mets regarding the Mitchell Report: ]"The Mets support Major League Baseball's ongoing efforts to eliminate the use of illegal performance enhancing substances. We fully cooperated in the Mitchell investigation and commend the Senator for his efforts in issuing his report."

Today's top three UMDB lookups (so far): Lenny Dykstra Mark Carreon Todd Hundley

="George Mitchell"]Todd Pratt Todd Pratt played as a catcher from 1992 to 2006 for four teams in Major League Baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies (8 seasons), Chicago Cubs (1 season), New York Mets (5 seasons), and Atlanta Braves (1 season). Radomski became acquainted with Pratt after he joined the Mets in 1997. According to Radomski, Pratt informed him that he had previously bought Deca-Durabolin from another source. Sometime in 2000 or 2001, while he was still with the Mets, Pratt asked to buy anabolic steroids. Radomski made one or two sales of small amounts of steroids to Pratt. Radomski also recalled having a few discussions with Pratt regarding their use. In order to provide Pratt with information about these allegations and to give him an opportunity to respond, I asked him to meet with me. He did not respond to my request.

="George Mitchell"]Mo Vaughn Mo Vaughn played as an infielder and designated hitter with three teams in Major League Baseball between 1991 and 2003, the Boston Red Sox (8 seasons), Anaheim Angels (2 seasons), and New York Mets (2 seasons). While with the Red Sox in 1995, he was voted the American League Most Valuable Player. He played in three All-Star games. Radomski said that Glenallen Hill referred Vaughn to him. A former major league player has confirmed that Hill and Vaughn had a conversation in early 2001 in which Radomski�s name was mentioned. Radomski recalled that Vaughn had an ankle injury and called him for advice.401 Radomski told Vaughn that human growth hormone would help his ankle heal faster. Radomski said that thereafter he sold human growth hormone to Vaughn. Radomski also provided Vaughn with a program for the use of the human growth hormone. Radomski said that he delivered the substances to Vaughn personally. Radomski produced three checks deposited into Radomski�s accounts and drawn on Vaughn�s checking account: two checks for $3,200 each, and one check for $2,200. All of the checks are included in the Appendix. One is shown below. Radomski said that the two checks in the amount of $3,200 were each for two kits of human growth hormone. He stated that the check in the amount of $2,200 might have been for one-and-a-half kits of human growth hormone. Radomski said that he did not sell Vaughn steroids because Vaughn was "afraid of the big needles." Radomski could not explain why Vaughn was buying human growth hormone twice within an eighteen-day span (two of the checks are dated June 1 and June 19, 2001, respectively), but he thought that Vaughn either left his performance enhancing substances behind when he traveled or allowed the earlier shipment to spoil. Radomski also said that on many occasions he received payments well after supplying the drugs. Vaughn�s name, with an address and telephone number, is listed in the address book seized from Radomski�s residence by federal agents. In order to provide Vaughn with information about these allegations and to give him an opportunity to respond, I asked him to meet with me; he never agreed to an interview.

="George Mitchell"] Matt Franco Matt Franco played as an infielder with three teams in Major League Baseball between 1995 and 2003, the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Braves. Although Radomski stopped working for the Mets after the 1994 season, he continued to socialize with Mets players and personnel. Radomski said he met Franco when he played for the Mets and that he came to know Franco �very well.� Radomski said that he sold Franco steroids on one occasion in 2000 after Franco called him to place the order. This call occurred, according to Radomski, after Radomski ran into Franco at an event. Franco agreed to an interview by telephone with my investigative staff. During that interview, Franco denied ever purchasing or using any performance enhancing substance. Franco also denied that he ever met, knew, or talked with Radomski, asserting that he had never even heard of Radomski before the publicity over Radomski�s guilty plea.

="George Mitchell"] Mark Carreon Mark Carreon played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1987 to1996, with the New York Mets, Detroit Tigers, San Francisco Giants, and Cleveland Indians. Radomski worked for the Mets when Carreon played for the club. Radomski said that he provided Carreon with Dianabol pills toward the end of his tenure with the Giants(Carreon was with San Francisco from 1994 through the middle of the 1996 season). He believes that Carreon paid by check. According to Radomski, Carreon told him that the "ball was jumping off his bat" and that he could hit farther because of the anabolic steroids he used.In order to provide Carreon with information about these allegations and to give him an opportunity to respond, I asked him to meet with me. He did not respond to my request.

="George Mitchell"] Josias Manzanillo Josias Manzanillo pitched for eight teams in Major League Baseball between1991 and 2004, the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, New York Yankees,Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and Florida Marlins.Radomski stated that when he was working for the Mets in 1994, Manzanilloasked Radomski to inject him with the steroid Deca-Durabolin that Manzanillo provided.Radomski did so in the Mets clubhouse. Radomski said that this was the only instance in whichhe actually observed a major league player using steroids. In order to provide Manzanillo with information about these allegations and togive him an opportunity to respond, I asked him to meet with me. His lawyer proposedarranging an interview, but we were unable to do so before the completion of the investigation.His lawyer provided the following proffer of what Manzanillo would say if he was interviewed: Manzanillo claimed that a Mets clubhouse attendant nicknamed "Murdock"approached him repeatedly in the early 1990s and encouraged him to buy steroids. (Radomski�snickname when he worked in the Mets clubhouse was "Murdock.") The clubhouse attendantreportedly told Manzanillo that if he used steroids he would gain velocity on his fastball.Manzanillo ultimately paid for one cycle of steroids from "Murdock" for approximately $200-$250. After paying for the steroids, Manzanillo�s lawyer said, he "chickened out or thoughtbetter of it" and never actually took possession of the steroids. Through his lawyer, Manzanillodenied ever using performance enhancing substances. Radomski said that he did not sell any steroids to Manzanillo and that his onlysubstance-related involvement with Manzanillo was when he injected him with steroids in theclubhouse. Radomski stated that he remembered the event clearly because it was the only timehe ever injected a player with steroids. In 2001, Manzanillo was playing with the Pittsburgh Pirates. According torecords produced by the Commissioner�s Office, on September 7, 2001, Jose Cervantes wasdetained by a resident security agent at the Angels� stadium in Anaheim. Cervantes reportedlywas found in possession of various prescription medications; he admitted that he brought drugsacross the Mexican border and sold them to a number of major league players (but not steroids orhuman growth hormone). Cervantes provided the investigators with the names of those playersto whom he had sold drugs; he also provided them with his cell phone and allowed them toretrieve the telephone numbers of those players. Cervantes said that he provided antiinflammatorymedications to Manzanillo, and Manzanillo�s name and telephone number wereamong those listed. Through his lawyer, Manzanillo said that he "knew nothing about such anincident" or why his name was in Cervantes�s cell phone directory.

="George Mitchell"]Todd Hundley Todd Hundley played as a catcher with three teams in Major League Baseball from 1990 until 2003 (the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago Cubs). He was with the Mets from 1990 to 1998. He played in All-Star games in 1996 and 1997. Radomski has known Hundley since 1988, when Radomski worked for the Mets and Hundley played in the Mets� minor league system.380 Radomski stated that, beginning in 1996, he sold Deca-Durabolin and testosterone to Hundley on three or four occasions. At the beginning of that year, Radomski told Hundley that if he used steroids, he would hit 40 home runs. Hundley hit 41 home runs in 1996, having never hit more than 16 in any prior year. After the season, Radomski said, Hundley took him out to dinner. Chris Donnels played with Hundley in 2000 when they were both with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Donnels admitted to my investigative staff that Radomski supplied him with performance enhancing substances. Donnels recalled having extensive discussions with Hundley about his performance enhancing substance use and about Radomski while they were teammates. Hundley�s name, with two addresses and three telephone numbers, is listed in the address book seized by federal agents from Radomski�s residence. In order to provide Hundley with information about these allegations and to give him an opportunity to respond, I asked him to meet with me; he declined.

bmfc1 wrote: Second--this confirmation makes me very happy, despite the embarrassment the game will face that one the "poster boys" took the stuff. Embarrassment to the game doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I think it's often well-deserved and I kind of like when it happens.

smg58 wrote: The Phillies will find him hard to replace. Even though I live in the Philadelphia market, I pay very little attention to the Phillies. I do know that they've known for a while that they weren't likely to keep Rowand. I haven't picked up on what their plan might be for replacing him.

That's not what I'm doing. My point is that Jackie Robinson was, to the Yankees, a prominent player for a crosstown rival.

Edgy DC wrote: No, he played for the White Sox. But Roy Lee Jackson did play for the Jackson Mets. So did Jackson Todd

Plausible conjecture.

Maybe the disturbing experience involved exposure to some kind of disease?

If that's true, it's pretty outrageous.

Very strange, huh?

The Mets, as heirs to the Brooklyn Dodgers (and the New York Giants too) would be the team to name a ballpark after Jackie Robinson. It would make no sense at all for the Yankees to do it. It would be like the Mets naming a ballpark after Derek Jeter.

The two Mets I'm most suspicious of are Hundley and Dykstra.

I think the worst part is the "whispers" that Steve has been hearing for years. Of course, those can probably be easily treated with medication.

If I remember correctly, Gary Carter's Ivory Soap commercial from around 1985 showed Carter in an actual Mets uniform, but he was surrounded by "generic" Mets wearing non-official Mets jerseys. I seem to recall that the extras all had the blue and orange reversed in their Mets script. I wonder what the reason was for that?

I'm glad, at least, for whatever it's worth, that Boswell speaks well of Schneider. Maybe there's more to him than we know, and he'll be a pleasant surprise. (I can hope, can't I?)

Yeah! I'm glad Tony pinched his nostrils!