No Super Bowl

The All-Star game ad sales are out, and thanks to the midsummer classic being in New York, the money is pretty big. Some spots are going for more than $500,000.

This article says NBC, which is carrying the 2009 Super Bowl, expects to earn about $3 million per add for next year's big game. That means an All-Star game spot is worth about one-sixth of a Super Bowl ad. That's not half bad. Not even close.

Not Sori

In the biggest non-story of the day, Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano will not play in the all-star game. No kidding.

Pitching the pits in Pittsburgh

The Pirates miss on an opportunity to sweep the Astros Wednesday, meaning they haven't won three straight games since winning six straight from May 6-12. That's not exactly surprising considering how horrendously their pitching staff has performed.

Pittsburgh's got the worst team ERA in MLB at 5.13. They've given up 926 hits in 816.1 innings -- also worst in the majors. Even with all those hits against them, Pirates pitchers simultaneously give up the most walks in baseball. No pitching equals no consistency.

John Van Benschoten becomes the latest Pittsburgh pitching victim, giving up four runs to Houston in 4.2 innings. Houston knocked out seven hits and drew six walks. He was optioned to Triple-A after the game.

Berkman steals two

Lance Berkman's two stolen bases not only helped the Astros sprint past the Pirates, 6-4, but they also ran his career high in steals to 14 for the year. Not only is that a career best, it's five more than Berkman's stolen in any full season in the majors. Four more and he doubles his career best of nine set back in 2004. He never stole more than seven bases over parts of five seasons in the minors.

Fantasy Impact: Berkman's not likely getting faster with age. He's just running more. Take this while it lasts, because it's unlikely that you drafted the Astros' slugger for his wheels. Who knows if Berkman can sustain the production for a complete season? He's looking like an MVP candidate, and if he can get to 20 steals that might put him over the top.

Eight is enough, somehow so is zero

Washington starter John Lannan finally ends his string of eight straight team losses (five of which he earned) with a 5-0 win over Arizona. Lannan worked six innings, and without recording a single strikeout he managed to not allow a single run. Zero strikeouts, one win. I'm assuming Lannan will take it. He beats Micah Owings, who pitched OK, giving up three runs in 5.2 innings.

Fantasy Impact: I don't like Lannan, but I do, if that makes sense. I wouldn't touch him as a fantasy option, only because I don't think he's capable of dominating any one stat category, but I think he's a pretty decent pitcher who has the bad luck of being on a bad team. I wouldn't touch Owings, either. He might be a better hitter than a pitcher, and he's not doing that very well lately, either.

Weather man

Along with the weather, Miguel Cabrera is warming up in Detroit. After hitting two homers Tuesday night, Cabrera hits a two-run walkoff bomb in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Tigers to an 8-6 win over Cleveland.

Fantasy Impact: Cabrera is just getting started. His .292 average is 18 points below his career mark. His 16 home runs have him on pace for a few short of the 34 he hit last year. There's a lot more to come.

Saving Octavio

After going 1-4 in save opportunities, Scott Linebrink appears to be out as the emergency closer for the White Sox. Linebrink blew his third save Tuesday night. Ozzie Guillen turned to Octavio Dotel Wednesday, and the veteran right hander does not disappoint. Dotel strikes out all three batters he faces, picking up his first save of the season and the 83rd of his career in a 7-6 win over Kansas City.

Update: CSN Chicago reports that Dotel will be closing games until Jenks returns after the All-Star break. Jenks is on the 15-day DL with bursitis near his non-throwing shoulder.

Lowe on a high

Derek Lowe is perfect through six innings against the Atlanta Braves. His counterpart, Tim Hudson, has only allowed a double to Dodgers' first baseman James Loney. The two pitchers have combined for 22 ground balls in 36 outs.

Update: Lowe gave up a single to Gregor Blanco to lead off the seventh inning but got out of the inning with a shutout in tact.

Early brilliance

"We've grown accustomed to early brilliance," Vin Scully just uttered to open the fourth of the Dodgers-Braves FSN Prime Ticket telecast from Los Angeles. For the past three nights, these two teams have been unable to put a run on the board against each other's starting pitcher for at least the first four innings.

Monday, Hiroki Kuroda lost a perfect game in the eighth, and Jorge Campillo kept the Dodgers off the board until the fifth. Tuesday, Chad Billingsley finally gave up three in the fifth while it took the Dodgers an inning longer to get to Jair Jurrjens. Tonight, Derek Lowe's established his sinker, getting eight groundball outs in through four innings. The Braves are scoreless through four again, with Tim Hudson sailing along with six groundouts now with one down in the bottom of the fourth.

Update: Hudson just got James Loney to ground out and Russell Martin to pop out to catcher Brian McCann. It's a double perfect game through four!

Update: After Lowe breezed through the top of the fifth with two more groundouts and a pop out, Hudson served up a leadoff double to Loney in the bottom half. We're down to one perfect game tonight.

MLB on the cheap

Perhaps in response to previous articles and posts addressing the downturn in attendance at MLB games, teams are taking a proactive approach to get fans back to the ballpark.

The Giants promotion of $25 gas cards for anyone who buys $75 tickets seems silly to me, but I like the Sox and A's giving tickets away for a buck or two -- especially when the Sox are giving them to kids. That could really help a family of four or five afford more than a few games a season.

The Cardinals sell a bunch of tickets to the first fans to show up at the ballpark on the day of a game at a very reasonable rate. They're called First-Pitch Tickets, and I think it's really a nice touch. Good business by the St. Louis National League ballclub.

Mulder leaves early

Mark Mulder faced three batters tonight in his first start since last September. Strike out, walk, walk, inning over -- for Mulder. The Associated Press says it was a left arm injury.

There will be those that say this is a classic case of a pitcher getting rushed back when he's not ready. I'd like to see some comments from Mulder before drawing any conclusions. It's hard to say he was rushed back when he was given two relief outings and pitched 34 innings in the minors before getting his first MLB start. He hadn't started a game for the Cardinals in almost 10 months.

Before Tuesday's game, Tony La Russa expressed a good deal of confidence in Mulder, at least more than he had in his other options.

"There's a spot open, and it's an opportunity for him to go out there and throw extended pitches," La Russa said. "I think it would be a really difficult assignment. But there isn't anybody he's bumping that gives us a better chance to win, even though it's really difficult for him."

If you take a hard look at the state of the Cardinals staff, however, you understand it is an overachieving unit held together at the back end with Scotch Tape and Band-Aids. The Cards needed Mulder before this start, but they held off. He could've climbed the hill weeks ago, but they were not going to push the limit.

Losing Harang

Reds pitcher Aaron Harang was sent back to Cincinnati after an abysmal start against the Cubs the night before. He'll have an MRI on his forearm.

Fantasy Impact: By now this doesn't mean so much. Harang's been a bust, with just three wins in 19 starts and a 4.76 ERA. If you drafted him high, you payed too big a price. Harang had a career-high seven walks on Tuesday in just 4.1 innings.

Fish school San Diego

Cody Ross extended his hitting streak to 13 games, Hanley Ramirez homered, and the Florida Marlins got past the Padres in San Diego, 5-2. The real story in this one is pitcher Scott Olsen, who gave up just one earned run over eight innings to pick up just his second win since June 7th.

Fantasy Impact: Olsen only has five wins against four losses. His ERA is a solid 3.77, but he's hardly more than a 5th starter in fantasy play.

Ross scuffled below .200 for almost two months, but has his average at .268 now. He's at the magic age of 27, a breakout year for many hitters. Ross actually hit .335 last year in limited at bats, so don't expect him to climb toward batting champion-type numbers, but he's got potential to be a solid to good contributor the rest of the way.

Ponson, Yanks handle Tampa again

Is this the beginning of Tampa's fall from first? The Rays fall to the Yankees in 10 innings, 2-1, as Bobby Abreu doubled home Derek Jeter for the walkoff win. The Rays drop back-to-back games to the Yankees, and now stand just two games ahead of the Red Sox in the A.L. East.

Sidney Ponson, in just his third start as a Yankee, has sandwiched two strong starts around a meltdown against Texas. Ponson went six innings, giving up five hits and one earned run. He earns a no-decision.

Fantasy Impact: If you can wait, it's probably too early to pick up Ponson. He's often sloppy, even when he wins, giving up too many base runners to feel comfortable about his effort. Then again, he is with the Yankees now, so if you're looking for wins, he's a decent option.

Beantown is boomtown

The Red Sox got eight in the seventh and four more in the eighth, running away from Minnesota, 18-5. Eight Red Sox had multi-hit games, led by leadoff man Jacoby Ellsbury with four. Ellsbury went 4-6 with two runs scored and an RBI, raising his batting average nine points to .278. Kevin Youkilis went 3-5 with a home runs, three runs and four RBI.

Fantasy Impact: You can safely assume Ellbury is back on his game after a late June slump. Youkilis is showing steady improvement each and every year at the plate. He is blossoming into a an elite corner infielder with 14 home runs and is on pace for close to 100 runs and RBI.

Yo, Yovani

Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo is attempting to do the improbable - pitch again this season. Tom Haudricourt has that in the second half of this piece.

“I would like to pitch before the end of the year,” Gallardo said. “That’s what I’m shooting for. If I’m not ready, it’s not worth taking the risk. But everything’s going good.

“I’m going to do everything possible to stay on the right track. I’m not counting on it but hopefully I can come back (in September). That’s my goal.”

That would be a remarkable turnaround. Considering ACL tears used to take a one-year recovery, Gallardo would be back in one-third of the time. Typical recovery time these days is six months.

Fantasy Impact: If Gallardo is back in September it likely only helps you for the final week or two of your season and the postseason. Playing him will be a risky move, considering he wouldn't have pitched in four months. Gallardo has displayed dominant stuff, however, so he could provide more than CC Sabathia does in terms of fantasy numbers. Stash him on your bench and hope for a shot in the arm for your staff come playoff time.

20-thousand moustaches

Don't be surprised if you see 20-thousand Don Mattinglys at Yankee Stadium tonight. The Yanks are attempting to earn moustachioed first baseman Jason Giambi some extra publicity in the MLB.com final vote, which allows fans to pick the last member of both the American League and National League All-Star rosters. Check out http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/yanks_try_hairbrained_scheme_t.html.

If you think the Yankees are unfairly pushing their player, they're not the only ones. The White Sox are sending out press releases on Jermaine Dye, who is also a final vote candidate. I've received at least two of them myself.

Seeing Giambi in a moustache makes me think of Don Mattingly every single time.

Off the Snyder

By now, I'm sure you've heard about the injury to Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder. Well, apparently it's not as bad as first diagnosed. The Arizona Republic is all over the story (bottom of page).

Catcher Chris Snyder also visited a specialist Monday and was told that his injury is healing properly. Snyder initially was diagnosed with a left testicular fracture, but he said tests showed it was not a fracture but rather "badly bruised." He hopes to return from the disabled list immediately after the All-Star break.

I'd feel funny being the reporter asking these questions, but he did his job. That said, I don't want either of those injuries.

For more on the "meat" of that link -- the Barry Bonds part -- here you go.

Bonds in the desert?

The Arizona Republic reports that the Diamondbacks are at least considering Barry Bonds as a potential addition to their outfield. Here's a couple of quotes from GM Josh Byrnes:

"He and maybe a couple of others are sort of sitting out there," Byrnes said. "I think it's a bit of assessing any player's readiness, then knocking somebody out of the lineup, dollars, etc.

"I don't want to talk about him specifically but, believe me, we've considered a lot of options. There is sort of no one obvious option right now, but there are a lot of considerations."

Adding Bonds is obviously a publicity risk, but with the way the D-backs have come back to earth, it makes sense for them to explore him as an option. Outfielder Eric Byrnes' season may be over due to his chronic hamstring problems, which has the D-Backs in need of doing something creative with their outfield.