Scott Barry Has Pulled This Stunt Before

I don't know when, but sometime during the year, Scott Barry was called up from the minor leagues to umpire MLB games. In the last 5 days, he has succeeded in being on the "hate list" of not just one NL East team, but 2 NL East teams. On August 19, 2010, when playing the Atlanta Braves, the Nationals had their own encounter with Scott Barry. From MLB.com's official write up of the incident.

Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman and manager Jim Riggleman were ejected during the team's 3-2 loss to the Braves on Wednesday night.

The incident occurred in the eighth inning with the game tied at 2. After he struck out swinging to end the top of the eighth, Zimmerman threw his bat and helmet in disgust. He didn't say anything, but home-plate umpire Scott Barry ejected Zimmerman.

It marked the first time in his career that Zimmerman was tossed from a game. Riggleman then argued with Barry for about a minute before being tossed out himself.

[...]

According to Riggleman and Zimmerman, Barry believed the bat and helmet tossing from Zimmerman was directed at the umpire, but that wasn't the case. Zimmerman said he was simply frustrated at himself for striking out.

Let's see, player mad himself....lets frustration with self out externally....ejected by Scott Barry........Where have we seen this story before?

I mentioned above that Scott Barry was a minor league call up earlier in the year. Call me totally nutty, but I have a feeling that he is going to end up back in the minors in no time if this lunacy keeps up.

(Hat tip to The Fightins and Fightins commenter Phils Phan)

Dallas Cowboys Cut Nick Folk; Sign Kicker Cut For Familiar Reason

If ever there was a hilarious irony of ironies, it is this one. Honestly when I first found out about this threw a tweet of Mort's, I thought he was kidding, joking, and/or being sarcastic. But apparently not. The Dallas have cut Nick Folk, after missing what would have been a definite game-clinching kick against the New Orleans Saints. To replace him, the Dallas Cowboys have signed Shaun Suisham, the Redskins kikcer who was cut after missing a definite game-clinching kick against the New Orleans Saints. From Dallas News

The club signed Shaun Suisham, who kicked in six games with the Cowboys from 2005-06, according to a source, on Monday not long after he finished an audition at Valley Ranch with four other kickers.

To make room for Suisham on the 53-man roster, the Cowboys cut Nick Folk.

Folk had made just 18 of 28 field goal attempts this year and had a miss in his last six games, including a 24-yarder Saturday at New Orleans.

Suisham's time in Washington came to a close two weeks ago after a missed 23-yard attempt against the Saints. He made 18-of-21 kicks on the season, however is three misses cost the Redskins' two wins.

And now he gets to return to FedEx Field Sunday with the Cowboys able to inch closer to a playoff spot with a victory against the Redskins.

The Cowboys worked out five kickers Monday, including Suisham and Steven Hauschka, at Valley Ranch, but Folk and David Buehler did not take part in the competition.

Oh. My. Gosh.

This is a joke, right? Please tell me it is. And if it's not, well, it certainly has me on the ground laughing my fat ass off. The Plastic Fucker cuts a horrible kicker who misses clutch field goals and in return signs a horrible kicker who misses clutch field goals. Incredible idiocy. And to think that another kicker they worked out, Hauschka, was also cut for the same reason, although he just did not have the opportunity to shank one against the New Orleans Saints. Damn the fact the Ravens never played them.

I think at this rate, the Cowboys would be better off just giving the job to David Buehler. He may be as bad or even worse than Folk and Suisham, but hey, he has the best name ever for a kicker, and when you are as bad as most Dallas Cowboys kickers have been this decade, that is honestly the most redeeming quality the Cowboys have had in a kicker in quite some time.

Eagles Sign Jeff Garcia

I'm shocked. Despite the way that Eagles management treated Jeff Garcia after his playoff run a few years ago, he has amazingly enough re-signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. From CSN Philly

Donovan McNabb is injured at Carolina. Minutes later, the Eagles knock out Panthers backup Josh McCown, who suffers a knee injury. A day later, Carolina signs A.J. Feeley, who played two separate stints with the Eagles before being released a week before this season’s opener.

So the Eagles decide to bring back Jeff Garcia, who in 2006 led them to an unforgettable run to the playoffs. Garcia agreed to a one-year deal Monday evening.

Really.

“It was either Jeff or A.J. A.J. ended up going to Carolina, and signed with them. That’s a long-term deal for him, and Jeff’s going to come on board with us for who knows how long,” head coach Andy Reid said Monday on his weekly radio show on 610 WIP-AM. “It’s a unique situation because Michael [Vick] is suspended for a week and Donovan’s banged up. We don’t know how long Donovan’s going to be. At the same time, we need a second quarterback in there, if needed, for this weekend.”

And go figure this out. McNabb also injured his ribs in 2004 against Carolina in the NFC Championship (and again a cheap shot).

You really can't make this stuff up.

And wait??? If McNabb can't go, the Eagles are actually going to go with Kevin Kolb over Jeff Garcia? Seriously? I understand Garcia just re-signed with the Eagles, but he probably knows the Eagles offense just as well, if not even better, than Kolb. It's the offense he had success with in San Francisco and his playoff run in Philadelphia.

And despite the fact that the Panthers knocked McNabb out with a cheap shot, it appears that the Eagles have gotten the last laugh in the end. After all, the Eagles have Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Garcia, and the Panthers end up with pathetic A.J. Feeley. Like I mentioned at the AA Live Blog, the only way any of this makes sense is if Jeff Garcia is completely desparate for any job period, and the Panthers want to set the all-time NFL record for most interceptions for a season...

Jake Peavy Traded To The White Sox Again

The trade deadline has ended with a bang and, aside from the Sawx getting a local V-Mart near them, the biggest deal of the day has been saved for last. I feel like we are back in May or something as once again the San Diego Padres have dealt Jake Peavy and once again, they have dealt him to the White Sox. Only this time, it appears as if Jake Peavy will approve that trade. From Jon Heyman's Twitter feed.
Well then! Certainly an odd move to say the least, and a complete 180 on Peavy's part, but I guess that is what an injury and a sucky team can do to you. At this point, I would think that Peavy would just want to get on a playoff team and with the Padres all but out of it and the White Sox looking good right about now, I guess you can't really blame him for changing his mind.

Update: It appears that in return the Padres are getting "left-handers Aaron Poreda and Clayton Richard and right-handers Dexter Carter and Adam Russell" according to MLB.com

Sheldon Brown Wants Out Of Philadelphia

A cornerback wanting out of Philadelphia.....this fiasco sounds vaguely familiar, doesn't it? This time it is Sheldon Brown and he is not exactly happy. From Russakoff Rules

Sheldon Brown has demanded that the Eagles trade him.

According to ESPN, when the Philadelphia cornerback was told that management would not renegotiate his contract, Brown told the Eagles he wanted a trade.

Brown has four years remaining on a six-year, $30 million contract he signed in November of 2004. Anthony Gargano of WIP reports that Brown got $4 million up front in a signing bonus and receives $2 million a year through 2010. Then the extension balloons to $4 million in 2011 and $8 million in 2012. The final $12 million is not guaranteed.

It didn't take Nostradamus to realize Sheldon Brown was going to be unhappy in Philly, especially after Joselio Hansen's 5-year, $21 million deal.

Russakoff hits this one right on the head, I think, as it is pretty obvious that considering the monster money that Joselio Hanson got this off-season, Sheldon Brown has every right to be upset and angry. Hanson has been coming along nicely, although I do not believe that he is as good as Sheldon Brown is. If push comes to shove, I would prefer to see Brown stay in Philly, but if he is going to decide to pull a T.O. and Lito Sheppard and be miserable and cause lots of locker room trouble, then it might be best that the Eagles listen to him and trade him, something that would be quite new for the Eagles.

Update: The Eagles have released a statement on this situation.

"It's very unfortunate and counterproductive that Sheldon has chosen to go public with his feelings about his situation. After thorough evaluation by himself and discussions with his family and agents, he chose to accept an extension of his rookie contract early that provided his family financial security for the rest of his life. It removed any concerns about health or performance that all other players in his draft class had to worry about. He has four years remaining on that contract and, after taking the signing bonus and his first two years of salary into account, we feel that Sheldon is being paid fairly. Focusing only on a player's salary for a given year is not a valid analysis.

"There have been league MVP's, Super Bowl champion quarterbacks, and perennial Pro Bowlers who have been in a similar situation. All of their teams have required them to wait until their contract expired or there was only one year remaining before any adjustment took place. It is only in the most extraordinary, in fact, less than a handful of circumstances in the last 10 years that any players two new years into a contract with four years left have been adjusted. We don't think this qualifies as an extraordinary circumstance.

"Sheldon's comments under the circumstances actually serve to devalue him in a trade if we were willing to consider it, which we are not."

I love that last line. If that does not say "fuck you, Sheldon Brown" then I don't know what does. Then again, that may not be the best way to go about mending fences and creating a happy and healthy team.