Just 4 days after the Rays’ Elliot Johnson ran over Yankees’ catcher Francisco Cervelli during a play at the plate, we knew there was probably retaliation coming during their game this afternoon.

That retaliation came, but it was not the way it should have been done.  When one team does something to the other, you expect a player from the other team to get a fastball to the ribs and that’s the end of it.  But, for Yankees’ Shelly Duncan, he took it upon himself to retaliate in a more dangerous fashion.  Duncan hit a hard grounder that glanced off the glove of 3rd baseman Evan Longoria and just into left field.  He tried to stretch his single into a double, but the throw beat him by a good 10 ft, but that didn’t stop Duncan.  He slid into 2nd base, spikes high, and landed the spikes into the right leg of Akinori Iwamura, which brought right-fielder Jonny Gomes flying into the infield and bowled over Duncan, clearing both benches.

Going back to the play at home on Saturday, Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi  said “It’s just disheartening. It’s spring training, I just don’t understand,” yet I haven’t seen him come out against Duncan putting his spikes into the leg of Iwamura?  Girardi went on to say “I want you to play hard. I want you to hustle, but to me it’s not the time to do it.”  If Girardi thinks that spring training isn’t the place for “hard plays,” then he better come with a strong apology to the Iwamura, or make Shelly Duncan make that apology.  According to a quote from Duncan after the game, sounds as if he doesn’t think he did anything wrong

“That was sort of second nature,” he said. “I was taught from T-ball all the way up to have your teammate’s back. With that guy trying to hurt a teammate, I just acted how I acted.”

News flash to Shelly Duncan, since he’s been playing T-ball, he knows that “having your teammates back,” does not include going spikes high on someone, let alone already have it in your mind that you’re going to do that.  What is Duncan thinking?  He knows, as well as manager Joe Girardi, that if a catcher blocks the plate the runner has the same right to the baseline and the plate that the catcher does, so guess what, he’s going to run over.  Catchers are trained to block the plate to keep the run from scoring, runners are trained to try and knock the ball loose and get that run, it’s a part of baseball.  Not one time, in all my years of playing baseball, was I ever told by a coach to go spikes high on someone because your catcher got lit up.

If the Yankees weren’t the most hated team in baseball before, they might have just earned that now.

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ESPN’s baseball beat writer and author of The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History, was nice enough to give me a few minutes on MLB’s China trip, Spring Training ERA’s and a Francisco Liriano prediction.

Todd Kaufmann: Should fans or the media pay any attention to a pitcher’s ERA during spring training?  We always hear that pitchers are working on spotting different pitches, working on new pitches.  Is their ERA overrated when it comes to the Spring?

Jayson Stark: Spring-training stats are fun to look at. But ALL stats in spring training have dubious meaning. If Ichiro is 0 for spring training, if Cole Hamels has a 12 ERA, if Alejandro de Aza is third in the Grapefruit League in homers (after hitting zero last year), well . . . any more questions?

Todd Kaufmann: I had heard yesterday that there was no timetable on the return of Josh Beckett to the rotation.  Do you have the latest on his condition and is it possible he won’t be ready for Opening Day?

Jayson Stark: It’s just about impossible for Beckett to pitch opening day now. They don’t even know when he’ll throw again, and he hasn’t pitched in an “A” game all spring. And that opener is less than two weeks away. So even though they’re not ready to say that yet, I’m ready to say no chance.

Todd Kaufmann: What’s your take on the China trip for the Dodgers and Padres?  Is this an important trip for Major League Baseball?

Jayson Stark: China is the future. MLB is putting a big investment, with more than just dollars, into China. So absolutely, this is more than just your average 18-hour road trip.

Todd Kaufmann: Out of the pitchers coming off surgery this past offseason, who makes the biggest impact to their team?

Jayson Stark: I’ll go with Francisco Liriano. Wouldn’t shock me if he won the Cy Young. That’s how good he is. And he’s one of the few pitchers in recent history who DIDN’T rush back from Tommy John Surgery.

Todd Kaufmann: The Baltimore Sun had reported that the Orioles had interest in Astros’ utility man Mark Loretta.  Does this mean the Orioles are close to trading 2nd baseman Brian Roberts?

Jayson Stark: I don’t think it’s “close.” But I do think it’s just about inevitable. Should happen in the next two weeks, according to people I’ve talked to.

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The Detroit Tigers made the biggest splash of the off-season, landing both Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, not to mention Jacque Jones and Edgar Renteria, but will it be enough to overtake the Cleveland Indians for AL Central supremacy?

Let’s start with one of the players mentioned above, left-hander Dontrelle Willis.  For a young pitcher like Willis, you’d think he’d do nothing but get better as his career goes on, but for the past 2 seasons, he’s done nothing but get worse.  In 2005, he finished with a 22-10 record, 7 complete games and a 2.63 ERA.  In 2006, his record fell to 12-12 with 4 complete games and a 3.87 ERA, not bad horrible though.  The falloff continued last season, finishing with a 10-15 record, no complete games and a career worst 5.07 ERA.  In an interview I did with ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, he thinks Willis may get better with a good team and sold out stadiums night in and night out.  All do respect to a professional like Crasnick, I’m not sure I agree.  He goes from the NL East, not the strongest division in baseball, to arguably the best division in baseball in the AL Central.  He’ll face teams like the Cleveland Indians, Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox.  The Tigers will need him to be a whole lot better than his 5.07 ERA if they’re going to stay in front of Cleveland in 2008.

Willis will join another young starter in Justin Verlander in the Tigers rotation.  Verlander has shown consistancy in his numbers through the 2006 (17-9, 3.63 ERA) and 2007 (18-6, 3.66 ERA) seasons, even throwing his first no-hitter of his career last season at 24 years of age.  If Verlander continues to win 17,18 games per season, along with having the offensive power in the lineup to give him something to work with, he adds to the argument that this could be one of the best teams in baseball this season.

Edgar Renteria, I know a surprising pick for this article, brings much needed defense to the Tigers.  He comes off a career year in 2007 as far as batting average (.332) but had less than 500 at bats for only the 3rd time in his career (1996, 2001, 2007).  He can give the Tigers’ rotation confidence, knowing they have a solid defender behind them.  Renteria also brings a .331 batting average with runners in scoring position and .339 with runners on, not to mention hitting .290 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs.  If he can continue that trend, he’ll be giving Tiger pitchers plenty of runs to work with.

The one area that seemed to plague this team last season was their bullpen, that concern still exists going into 2008.  They’re not sure when they’ll get hard throwing right-hander Joel Zumaya as well as right-hander Fernando Rodney back from injury, not to mention having a soon to be 40 year old closer in Todd Jones.  Jones is the one player that the Tigers need to be their rock in the 9th inning, much more so than his 4.26 ERA in 2007, regardless of his 38 saves. 

Even though the Tigers have the offense that will put up runs, if their bullpen can’t be any better than 2007, it could be their undoing.

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Yes, you heard right.  Actor, and long time Yankee fan, Billy Crystal has signed a 1-day minor league contract and will play against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon.

I wasn’t going to give this the time of day to talk about, but I can’t help it.  At soon to be 60-years old, Crystal is not exactly in any shape to do anything but make a fool of himself out there.  Yes, I know there have been celebrities that have gone to spring training camp to promote one thing or the other (see: Garth Brooks), but is this really something the Yankees want to be put through?

I have a hard time believing that new manager Joe Girardi was all for this idea.  Yes, he did say “It’s kind of exciting.  Billy Crystal has done a lot for this organization. He’s always been a big part of it. It’s ownership’s and our way of rewarding him and saying, ‘Thanks for everything that you’ve done.”  If that doesn’t say ‘I’m just saying what they want me to say,’ I don’t know what does. 

Maybe the Yankees will have a little fun with this, yes it is only spring training, but can we leave this to professional baseball players.  Fans don’t come out to see a singer (Brooks) or an actor/comedian (Crystal) go up there and strike out 1 or 2 times and look horrible doing it.  I guess they will get a good laugh out of it though.

For those of you interested, Crystal turns 60 on Friday and will be wearing #60 during the Grapefruit League game tomorrow afternoon.  It will be a huge thrill for a fan like Crystal, I hope he makes the most of the entire day he has with the team.  Trust me when I say this, whoever is pitching for the Pirates, isn’t going to lob him a “eephus” ball for him to hit, they’re going to try and make him look very foolish, they may do just that.

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ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick stopped by Pro Sports Beat this afternoon and covered everything from Bartolo Colon to Dontrelle Willis to the Royals new manager Trey Hillman.

Todd Kaufmann: What’s your take on Boston signing Bartolo Colon?  Is he just an insurance policy with Schilling being out until possibly the All-Star break?

Jerry Crasnick: A lot of scouts and front office people were scared off by Colon’s medical reports, but he was worth a shot for the Red Sox. He doesn’t make any money unless he performs, and apparently he looked decent early in camp. Schilling is going to be out quite a while, so they needed to do something as a security blanket.

Todd Kaufmann: Dontrelle Willis struggled last year in the NL East.  Does he fare any better in a stronger AL Central division?

Jerry Crasnick: Dontrelle’s numbers took a serious nosedive in Florida the last couple of years, to the point where some people wondered if he was healthy. But the guy is such a competitor, you have to think he’ll be energized by pitching for a contending team in front of huge crowds in Detroit. The AL Central is no bargain for a pitcher, but that’s a big park, and the Tigers should give Willis plenty of runs to work with. Maybe it was just a case of him getting his mechanics ironed out.

Todd Kaufmann: There’s been a lot of talk about Tampa Bay being interested in bringing in Barry Bonds.  Is this something they have just kicked around internally or have they contacted Bonds’ agent?

Jerry Crasnick: The Bonds-to-Tampa Bay rumor went nowhere in a hurry. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rays kicked that one around internally, but there’s a big difference between spitballing ideas and actively pursuing a guy. I still don’t think Bonds will play this season. If the Mets aren’t interested in him with Moises Alou out, that says a lot.

Todd Kaufmann: With the injury to Jim Edmonds, have the Padres started discussions with any other teams about trading for a center fielder, or do they think they have enough internal candidates to fill the role until Edmonds is ready to return?

Jerry Crasnick: Right now the Padres are looking at Jody Gerut, Jeff Davanon and Rule 5 draft pick Callix Crabbe in center field as Edmonds recuperates. They’ve also talked about using Scott Hairston out there, but defense isn’t his strong point even in left field. Kevin Towers doesn’t seem concerned, but I would be if I were the Padres. They have two aging guys in center field and right, and Brian Giles is coming off knee surgery. 

Coco Crisp would make sense in a trade, but the Pads aren’t inclined to pick up any salary at this point. I think they might have been wise to sign a guy like Corey Patterson, who was on the market forever and went to Cincinnati on a minor league deal. I’m just not confident in the ability of Edmonds and Giles to stay healthy.

Todd Kaufmann: I think Trey Hillman could be exactly what the Royals’ franchise needs.  The guy that can finally get these players to respond and win ballgames.  Do you agree?

Jerry Crasnick: Trey Hillman is, indeed, a nice fit in KC. He’s very bright, organized and driven. Ultimately, it’s more about getting better players in there, and Dayton Moore has the franchise headed in the right direction. They’ll take a pounding playing in the AL Central, but the team is gradually getting better every year.

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Randy Johnson made his long awaited spring training debut on Monday afternoon, but it was an outing he’d like to soon forget.

The big left-hander gave up 4 runs on 4 hits in just 1 1/3 innings of work against the defending National League Champion Colorado Rockies.  There is some good news to his bad outing though, he felt no discomfort in his back, which he had surgery on last August.  There was something else that had been missing from The Big Unit…a smile. 

“I wasn’t too worried about too many things today,” he said. “Just let me go out there and have some fun, don’t fall on my face and don’t kill any hitters.”

Though there was a joking side to Johnson after the game, he knows he has a long way to go before he’s going to be in full game shape, but it’s something that would provide a huge boost to Arizona’s pitching rotation.  His next start is scheduled to be on Saturday against the Angels in Tempe.  So, he’ll go through his normal routine to get ready, he’ll fix what he did wrong in his first start, and he’ll come out more determined than ever. 

I think RJ still has something to give in this game and to the Arizona Diamondbacks, but if he suffers another injury this season, we may see the last of The Big Unit, and an end to an era.  Until that time, Johnson is still going to be one of the more fun pitchers to watch, regardless of which team you’re rooting for, you always want to see him rare back and fire a 100+ MPH fastball…without the burst of feathers.

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