Inside Pitch

Rays, Red Sox renew hostilities

The Rays and Red Sox open a series tonight in Tropicana Field, their first meeting since their June 5 brawl in Fenway Park. Coco Crisp will miss the series while serving his five-game suspension for instigating the fight by charging the mound. The Rays are baffled Crisp's seven-game ban got reduced to five and so am I. He charged the mound. How did his punishment get cut? Weird.

Incredibly, the Rays have reached the halfway point with a half-game lead over the Sox in the AL East. You keep hearing they're not for real, especially from Yankees fans. But they have to be. They're on pace to win 98 games. Yep, 98 games. I'm going to keep gloating all summer over my preview section pick of Joe Maddon for AL Manager of the Year. I only wish I had picked the Rays for the wild card too!

---Mike Harrington

(Photo: Jonny Gomes pounds on Coco Crisp during the June 5 brawl/Associated Press)

Bat boys out of a job?

If the bat boys at Dunn Tire Park ever formed a union, Jake the Diamond Dog would be out a job.

But they have not, so there was Jake on Sunday serving as the Bisons' bat dog on Dog Day at the park. Throughout the game, Jake mouth-delivered game balls to the mound, played frisbee with the umpires, and most importantly, served as Buffalo's bat dog. After each Buffalo at-bat, the 5-year-old canine who goes by Homer in his everyday life scurried from the dugout to the plate and retrieved the bat.

You have to wonder how the Bisons feel about Jake putting his teeth into their bats, given the superstitious nature of ballplayers. But the real worry might be what this magical touring dog means for the future of bat boys. Are we now one step closer to bat boy duties being outsourced to India?

(Photo: www.clippersbaseball.com)

--- David Briggs

Bad news for the Yanks

Bad news for the Yankees here at Dunn Tire Park. Alan Horne, the organization's top pitching prospect, just left the field two outs into Sunday's game because of injury. Something seemed wrong from the start, as Horne walked Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Tyner to lead off the game. He then retired Michael Aubrey and Todd Linden before walking Jordan Brown and allowing a two-run single to Andy Gonzalez. The 25-year-old right-hander was shaking his right arm between nearly every pitch. And finally, after the Gonzalez hit, Scranton manager Dave Miley, the pitching coach and trainer came out to check on Horne. The talk was short-lived, and Horne walked off the field.

Horne, who was 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA coming into Sunday, missed two months with a biceps injury earlier this year. We'll let you know if today's injury is related as soon as more info. comes across.

UPDATE: Horne is fine. At least physically. Here's what he said after the game.

“Nothing hurts. But my arm especially, and my whole body in general had no life and no drive to do anything ... I did all the physical tests – shoulder and elbow - and everything’s strong,” Horne said. “It’s not anything where I think I’ll be shut down. I have to figure out how to get that drive and aggressiveness back.”

(Photo: New York Daily News)

--- David Briggs

Wiiilmaaaaaaa

Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jar Jar and friends, who staged a few amusing in-game sword battles on Star Wars night Saturday, have been replaced by Fred Flinstone and Dino. Fred, clad in his trademark orange mumu, is making some questionable gyrations in the direction of another mascot (and, folks, it's not Wilma). But we'll leave that alone here on a beautiful Dog Day at Dunn Tire Park.

All right, back to the boys on the field. The hard-luck way the Bisons' season has unfolded, you would have figured they would be the team to throw a no-hitter and lose this year. But on Saturday night, while Herd manager Torey Lovullo said the "baseball gods took care of us," it was the first-place Los Angeles Angels who lost despite no-hitting the Dodgers. As many a player has uttered before, "That's baseball for you." What's more, the Angels' no-hitter over the Dodgers didn't even count, because Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo only combined to throw eight innings.  It was just the third eight inning no-hitter since 1961. Boston's Matt Young no-hit the Tribe in 1992, and the Yankees' Andy Hawkins did it against the White Sox in 1990. Hawkins no-no was officially recongized at the time, but was soon cleared from the books when a rule was passed in 1991 that said any no-hitter must be at least nine innings. 

One hit less here in Buffalo last night, and we would have seen the second no-hitter in Dunn Tire Park history. Instead, Matt Ginter (six innings) and Brian Slocum (three innings) combined for the Bisons' tenth no-hitter here. Still, great sign for Ginter, who has now thrown well in three straight starts.

Here's what Lovullo said about Ginter's recent turnaround: "I think it's his fastball command down in the zone. His secondary stuff is very effective and he knows how to pitch. He's got a great plan. What people don't realize is that during the game when he's not pitching, he's constantly talking, reading swings and addressing how he's going to attack a particular lineup. I think he had a lot of hard luck early, so it's great to see him on a nice little roll."

Anyway, here's the lineups for today's series finale against Scranton Wilkes-Barre:

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

Jason Tyner, CF

Michael Aubrey, DH

Todd Linden, RF

Jordan Brown, 1B

Andy Gonzalez, 3B

Jason Cooper, LF

Yamid Haad, C

Chris De La Cruz, 2B

John Halama, P

--- David Briggs

(Photo: smh.com.au)

Jeter overrated?

Derek Jeter is MLB's most overrated player. At least that's what a Sports Illustrated poll of anonymous major leaguers says. In Sunday's Inside Baseball column, I say that's ridiculous. Now 34 years old, Jeter is certainly not the defensive player he once was. But his bat has been a big reason the Yankees have had a pretty good June and he's still one of the game's best players.

So is Jeter really overrated? Who would you stick that label on?

---Mike Harrington

Fog, fog, go away

Well, the skies are sunny, the Buffalo skyline has reappeared and the diamond has emerged from a blinding haze, which is not a bad thing in a sport where pitchers hurl 90 mile per hour projectiles.

But the frustration has not left the Bisons clubhouse. Manager Torey Lovullo said there's a handful of games each year that he takes with him to the park the next day. Last night's game was one of them, and it's not because of how his team played. Lovullo's too classy to call out the umpires, but really, the men in blue could not have handled the fog any worse. By the seventh inning, most players said the conditions were genuinely dangerous. And yet the umps waited until the middle of an at-bat in the ninth inning after the conditions cost the Bisons a sure victory. Yes, the game would have been official if the umpires had called the game after the fifth. But the players couldn't see!

"It was ridiculous," said Tony Graffanino, the 12-year big league veteran recently signed by the Indians. "I've never seen anything like it. That game never should have gotten to that point."

"Definitely a bit frustrating," Lovullo said.

Mike Harrington, the good friend and Bisons historian he is, instantly reminded me of a third bizarre fog situation at Dunn Tire Park -- and one handled slightly more sensibly by the umps. We mentioned the game on May 10, 1992 against Indianapolis, which was suspended by fog in the sixth inning. But on April 30, 1989, the fog caused two delays in the eighth inning. And then, too, the Bisons lost a late lead. That Sunday afternoon against Indy, the Bisons headed into the ninth with a 1-0 lead before ex-Bison Junior Noboa homered -- his first since 1986 -- into the left-field screen to tie the game. Mike tells me that most fans couldn't see the ball leave the park until left-fielder Scott Little threw his hands up to indicate he had no ball to throw back. Indianapolis ultimately went on to score four more runs that inning to win, 5-2.

We'll see what happens tonight as Game 1 against Scranton Wilkes-Barre resumes with the score, 1-1, two outs in the bottom of the ninth and an 0-2 count on Chris Gimenez. The lineups are the same as last night. We'll update for Game 2 later.

All right, here's the Game 2 lineups:

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

Andy Gonzalez, 2B

Michael Aubrey, 1B

Todd Linden, RF

Chris Gimenez, C

Morgan Ensberg, 3B

Brad Snyder, CF

Ryan Mulhern, DH

Jason Cooper, LF

Matt Ginter, P

--- David Briggs

From the other side of the fog

For Yankee fans looking to follow their prospects during the Bisons' two-city series with Scranton, a good read is Chad Jennings' blog in the Scranton Times. He's in town for the Buffalo half of the series and foreshadowed Friday's fogout with this gem from his pregame notes: "Buffalo looks like Gotham City with impossibly low clouds covering to the top of buildings and making visibility next to nothing."

As for the suspension of Friday's bizarre game, the Bisons once again showed why they're such good business partners for fans. If you had a ticket to Friday's game -- even though you saw almost nine innings -- the Bisons are allowing you to trade it in for a seat to the July 6 or July 7 games against Syracuse. And fireworks were added to the postgame agenda for both of those nights because they were canceled Friday.

Don't think you'd get that kind of consideration from a big-league club, folks.

---Mike Harrington

The Bisons are no scrubs

Here's a couple good signs that the Bisons might not be having the greatest season: No Bisons made the Futures Game rosters announced last week. And no member of the Herd is among the top three at any position in International League All-Star Game fan voting. Josh Barfield has the third-most votes at third base and Rick Bauer is sixth among relievers, but neither are, well, here. 

A quick check of the standings confirms the Herd's struggles. Despite coming off a 5-3 road trip, the Bisons are still 37-44 and 13 1/2 games behind first-place Pawtucket. One might even be tempted to call some of the Bisons, "scrubs," but that would offend Tigers closer Todd Jones. To quickly go off topic, Jones took offense last week when Henry Schulman, the Giants beat writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, wrote that Ryan Raburn was "a .219-hitting scrub" after the .219-hitting scrub hit a game-winning home run. Jones responded by excorciating Schulman in a Sporting News column, even writing, "I'd much rather be a scrub than a guy who sits on the sideline and watches what happens, then writes about it." Jones went on to mention that he has "thick skin." Right. (Only kidding, by the way, about the Bisons being scrubs).

Anyway, a couple roster moves to report as the Bisons return home Friday night to open up a weekend set against Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Catcher Yamid Haad has cleared waivers and is back with the Bisons. The 30-year-old catcher was promoted to Cleveland on June 12, soon designated for assignment after seeing no action and then activated by Buffalo today. Haad hit .159 (10-for-63) with three RBI in 25 games with the Bisons earlier this year. He replaces Armando Camacaro, who was put on the DL today after hitting .077 in five games with the Herd ... You might also notice that third baseman Aaron Herr was missing. The 27-year-old was traded to the Reds earlier this week after the Indians signed Morgan Ensberg to take over everyday duties at third base. "We were all really pulling for Aaron," Bisons manager Torey Lovullo said Friday. "He played as hard as any guy I've managed. It's just that his playing time was going to be lean here."

The Yankees also made a couple moves in between games of their two-stadium doubleheader today. Kei Igawa, Scranton's scheduled Sunday starter here, and Sidney Ponson were called up to the big club while the Bombers optioned reliever Ross Ohlendorf to Scranton and placed Hideki Matsui on the DL.

Here's the Herd's lineup for a very foggy Friday night at the ballpark:

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

Andy Gonzalez, 2B

Michael Aubrey, DH

Jordan Brown, 1B

Chris Gimenez, C

Jason Cooper, RF

Morgan Ensberg, 3B

Brad Snyder, CF

Jason Tyner, LF

Dan Reichert, P

--- David Briggs

Past two-ballpark days

History -- both past and present -- might favor the Yankees but sleep favors the Mets in today's two-ballpark twinbill between the teams.

The Yankees are 4-0 in the two-ballpark days that were played in 2000 and 2003. It will be interesting to see how they fresh they are today after the debacle of waiting for 2 1/2 hours to watch a rainout get called Thursday in Pittsburgh.

Here's the box scores from the previous two-ballpark days:

July 8, 2000 at Shea: Yankees 4, Mets 2

July 8, 2000 at Yankee: Yankees 4, Mets 2 (the Clemens beans Piazza game)

June 28, 2003 at Yankee: Yankees 7, Mets 1

June 28, 2003 at Shea: Yankees 9, Mets 8

---Mike Harrington

Quality rain delay entertainment

PITTSBURGH -- It stopped raining for a bit, then it started pouring again here at soggy PNC Park. We had mass hysteria here in the press box a few minutes ago, especially from the New York writers, when they showed this video on the jumbotron. It's a takeoff on the Sopranos finale featuring the Pirate Parrot and some of the racing pierogis, complete with Journey soundtrack and the surprise ending. Great stuff.

---Mike Harrington

UPDATE: They banged the game at 10:30 p.m. after a wait of more than 2 1/2 hours. It will be made up July 10.

The Yankees didn't need this

PITTSBURGH -- Facing a two-stadium doubleheader in New York that starts in, oh, 18 hours, the Yankees are now dealing with the worst-case scenario: a rain delay. A raging thunderstorm is crushing PNC Park and delaying the Yanks-Pirates game. Thunder, lightning, wind, sideways rain. I should have paid admission to watch this. The game was called after a 2-1/2 hour delay, setting up a busy weekend as the Yankees head into a Subway Series involving games at both Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium.

---Mike Harrington

Girardi wasn't kidding

PITTSBURGH -- The Yankees skipper meant what he said when he insisted there would be no looking ahead tonight. The Yankees opened the first by going double-double-triple-double to take a 3-0 lead over the Pirates. Those hits, in order, were by Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu and A-Rod. Damon even tested his sore arch by stealing third.

I don't think I've ever seen that quartet of hits to start a game. Gotta believe the Elias Sports Bureau will check in on that topic at some point. You can follow the game here.

---Mike Harrington

Yanks don't want to look ahead

PITTSBURGH -- The Yankees sure hope tonight's series finale with the Pirates is a quick one. They've got a flight to catch to go home and a short night before Friday's day-night/two-stadium twinbill with the Mets. The opener is in the Bronx at 2:10 and the teams then hightail it over to Queens for an 8:10 game.

The teams also did this in 2000 and 2003 but Yankees skipper Joe Girardi wasn't around for either of those. And while the twinbill is the biggest media buzz here in PNC Park today, Girardi was full of one-game-at-a-time manager-speak when he met the media in the dugout for his daily pregame briefing.

"You want to play tonight's game and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow," he insisted. "We still have a chance to win this series (the teams have split two games). That's what we're concentrating on."

Here's the pitching matchups and TV assignments for the Yankees-Mets series this weekend:

Friday at Yankee (2:10, Ch. 67): Dan Giese (1-2) vs. Mike Pelfrey (4-6)

Friday at Shea (8:10, YES): Sidney Ponson (4-1 with Texas) vs. Pedro Martinez (2-1)

Saturday at Shea (3:55, Ch. 29): Andy Pettitte (8-5) vs. Johan Santana (7-6)

Sunday at Shea (1:10, TBS/YES): Darrell Rasner (4-5) vs. Oliver Perez (5-5)

Also today: Johnny Damon (arch) is back in the lineup leading off. "He came to me and said he was ready to go," Girardi said. "I didn't have to go find him to ask." ... Hideki Matsui (knee) could DH tomorrow but Girardi admitted a DL trip is possible if he doesn't. ... Mike Mussina (10-5) goes tonight, trying to tie Joe Saunders of the Angels for the AL victory lead. Paul Maholm (5-5) goes for Pittsburgh. When he last met the Yankees in spring training, comedian Billy Crystal was the leadoff hitter. ... Today is Derek Jeter's 34th birthday. Thirty-four! That means we're all getting old.

---Mike Harrington

Disaster in Cleveland, disaster in Buffalo

Hard to believe what's going on with both the Indians and the Bisons. The Indians grew ever closer to white-flagging the AL Central Wednesday night as they fell into last place -- last place! -- with a 4-1 loss to the Giants. Their pathetic offense got beat by 11-loss Barry Zito and this is the latest the Tribe has been in last place in a season since June of 1993. Nice.

Speaking of nice, another fine offensive performance from the Bisons as well Wednesday. They were one-hit for the second time this season in a 5-0 loss at Indianapolis. Worse yet, the Indians keep signing retreads for Buffalo. The latest are pitcher Juan Rincon and infielder Tony Graffinino, who isn't even in shape to play yet because of knee surgery. At least Rincon should be pitching for the Herd this weekend.

It's almost July. Why in the world is the Tribe signing independent league guys and 30-somethings for the Herd who aren't in game shape? One possibility is they know they're not coming back to Buffalo and don't seem to want to promote any prospects from Double-A Akron, which has become one of the hottest teams in the minors. Once 12-17, the Aeros are now 46-31. They're 17-7 in June, including a 10-game winning streak and a 16-1 stretch.

And the Bisons? They're well on their way to their first losing season since 1994. Their .246 team batting average is the worst in Triple-A and would be the worst in their modern era. Couple that with the Indians' worst-in-the-AL mark of .244 and you wonder just what kind of hitting instruction was going on this spring in Florida.

---Mike Harrington

Don't hit the GM

I think pitcher Shawn Chacon's baseball career ended Wednesday night in the players' dining room at Houston's Minute Maid Park. Maybe that's a sweeping generalization on my part but you generally don't find future employment when you grab the GM by the neck, jump on top of him and threaten to punch him out, as Chacon did to Astros GM Ed Wade. Reading the blow-by-blow in the Houston Chronicle, I don't know whether I should be laughing or whether I should feel bad for Chacon's need for anger management. Wow.

Thursday afternoon update: Chacon has been released. No surprise there. Richly deserved.

---Mike Harrington

Quite an impression

PITTSBURGH -- Sometimes you wonder if you just saw history but know it will take many years to find out. I was there in Cleveland on April 2, 1996 when Derek Jeter made his major-league debut and hit a home run in his first game. We know now that was day one of what is certain to end as a Hall of Fame career (Phil Rizzuto was still uttering "Holy Cow" in the broadcast booth that day).

Wednesday in PNC Park, Joba Chamberlain (left) got his first win as a starter in the Yankees' 10-0 drubbing of the Pirates. Chamberlain is 22. He has magnificent stuff. In 2020 -- 12 years and who knows how many wins from now -- I wonder if I'll be thinking about this night like I look back on that afternoon watching Jeter.

That's how good Chamberlain looked. So far, so good for the Yankees' decision. How good did Chamberlain look to you?

---Mike Harrington

(Photo: Associated Press)

A No. 3 starter with a No. 1 pick

The Bisons were shut down today by former No. 1 overall pick Bryan Bullington, so I couldn't help but think of former Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield and his 2002 draft.

Littlefield, a good guy on a personal level, was notorious for rarely giving a straight answer to reporters. One frustrated writer once told Littlefield that he wouldn't even be able to give him the right time of day. But after the Pirates took Bullington with the top pick in 2002, he was unusually blunt about the Ball State right-hander's big league prospects.

"We feel comfortable projecting him as a No. 3 starter," Littlefield told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at the time.

That draft didn't seem too strong at the time. But Littlefield was "comfortable" with a middle-of-the-rotation guy with the top pick? For a good baseball city tired of ten straight losing seasons, the comment did not sit well.

And yet impossibly, Littlefield oversold the guy. Arm injuries and lack of performance have kept Bullington from doing whatever it is that big league No. 3 starters do. Instead, he is 0-3 in six career appearances with Pittsburgh. And for now, the since-fired Littlefield can run down a pretty good-sized list of players he would have been better off taking -- B.J. Upton, Prince Fielder, Scott Kazmir, Cole Hamels, Jeff Francis, Jeff Francoeur, Joe Blanton, Matt Cain, Nick Swisher, Joe Saunders and James Loney to name a few.

Sure, Littlefield made some good moves (He did trade for for Jason Bay, Freddy Sanchez and Xavier Nady) during his time in Pittsburgh (2001-2007). But the Bullington draft seems to capture seven years of frustration for the fans of Pittsburgh. Add up enough of Littlefield's bad drafts, bad trades, (Matt Morris anyone?) and bad signings, and it's not hard to see why the Pirates may be on their way to a major-league record 16th straight losing season.

So to make a long story longer, all this brings us to Buffalo's 5-0 loss in Indianapolis today. Bullington, now 27, turned in his best outing of the season in one-hitting the Bisons over 6 1/3 innings. Who knows where Bullington's career will take him? He is now 4-6 with a 5.22 ERA with the Triple-A Indians this year. And Wednesday was the first time in more than a month that he lasted more than five innings. But for Bullington's sake, you hope he turns this thing around.

--- David Briggs

Pregame from PNC

PITTSBURGH -- First off, I promised last night to give you a look at the amazing press box vista at PNC Park and here it is (click it for an even bigger view). You can see the river, the Roberto Clemente Bridge and the downtown skyscrapers behind center and right field. Awesome. As for tonight's game between the Yankees and Pirates, there's plenty of news to catch up on. Here's a rundown:

1). Johnny Damon is still out with his sore left arch, which is tightly wrapped. But he took some swings in the cage and said he was in better spirits. He even said he could potentially pinch-hit tonight and hopes to play tomorrow. Hideki Matsui (knee) is also available as a pinch hitter. Justin Christian, who had two hits last night in his big-league debut, will again play left field tonight.

2). Manager Joe Giradi said several times last night that his team "stunk" in its 12-5 loss. First question to Girardi today was what he wanted to see his team do in response to that game. His answer: "Not stink."

3). Joba Chamberlain is on the mound tonight and there should be no restrictions on him. The target goal is for him to throw seven innings and Girardi said he longer feels he has to think differently with Chamberlain on the mound now that he's fully stretched out to the 100-pitch range.

"It seems like it's a normal start for us now that the kid gloves are off," Girardi said. "We expect him to go deep into games for us, use his pitches smart and attack the zone."

4). Jorge Posada was going through the cluhouse wearing a "Wang" T-shirt in honor of injured ace Chien-Ming Wang.

5). Girardi said Dan Giese will start Friday afternoon's game against the Mets in the Bronx and Sidney Ponson, the troubled righty just acquired from Texas will start Friday night's game in Shea Stadium.

6). Pirates outfielder Xavier Nady, who might be one of the more coveted OFs at the trade deadline, is out again with a sore shoulder.

---Mike Harrington

Amazing "catch" is a hoax

Those yucksters at Gatorade sure have YouTube, chat rooms, blogs and even "Good Morning America" humming because of this purported amazing catch by a ballgirl at a Fresno Grizzlies game in the Pacific Coast League.

Alas, it's a hoax. All for an ad. Read the true tale here. But enjoy the video anyway. Pretty cool.

---Mike Harrington

Yum alert: Primantis

PITTSBURGH -- Later today, we will definitely turn talk back to baseball and things like Joba Chamberlain's start against the Pirates, how Cito Gaston is suddenly turning around the Blue Jays' bats bats and whether Asdrubal Cabrera (who isn't talking to the media, by the way) will keep getting three hits a night for the Bisons.

But we briefly pause to discuss what you might say is the Anchor Bar of Pittsburgh, the place where all visitors must go even though the locals insist there are better sandwiches elsewhere (For the record, my chicken wing vote goes to Duff's or La Nova).

Yes, I just emerged well nourished from Primanti Brothers, home of some of the oddest sandwiches you'll see. How do I get away with this discussion on a baseball blog, you ask? They have a concession stand selling their stuff in PNC Park.

What's the deal with Primantis? You sit down and the menu is on the wall. You order a sandwich (I got great chili too but that's not what you come for). The sandwich is the thing and so are the french fries and cole slaw -- which are all included on the italian bread with the meat, tomato and cheese. There's a picture of my cheese steak here (click on it to blow it up and get a better view). It only sets you back $5.99. The menu said it's a "#2 best seller". So I asked the waitress if this was No. 2 and it seemed everybody around me was ordering it, what the heck was No. 1?

She gave me this look that said she wished she had a dollar for every time she's been asked that, rolled her eyes at me (I saw that) and said, "beer."

Ah. Fair enough. We now return to baseball.

---Mike Harrington

Joba must be an ace tonight

PITTSBURGH -- Regular readers of this space and the Sunday Inside Baseball column can correctly accuse me of waffling on Joba Chamberlain all season. I'm going to see him live and in person Wednesday night in PNC Park and this is the first time the Yankees really need him to pitch like an ace and not a converted reliever.

Chamberlain has pitched well in his five starts but has four straight no-decisions, partly a product of his pitch limits. He struck out nine Padres Sunday but couldn't get a win despite one earned run in 5 2/3 innings. After Darrell Rasner put himself perhaps one start away from Scranton again with Tuesday's 12-5 meltdown, the Yankees have lost three of four to NL Central weaklings Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

I talked to Chamberlain before Tuesday's game and he said the pitch counts didn't distract him, he simply kept firing and came out when he was told. It didn't sound very believeable, especially when he said he was happy to know he's going to be able to throw 100+ pitches now if he keeps getting hitters out.

Chamberlain said his goal is seven innings. We'll see. The Yankees could use it.

***

Couple leftovers from Tuesday's game: The Yankees had been 6-0 against the Pirates in interleague play, sweeping three-game sets in the Bronx in both 2005 and 2007. They were the last American League team to visit Pittsburgh in the interleague era and PNC became the 63rd different ballpark the Yankees have played in during their history.

---Mike Harrington

The scene at PNC

PITTSBURGH -- Cheese Chester just won the pierogy race at the end of the fifth here in PNC Park (isn't it spelled pierogi in Buffalo?) and the Pirate Parrot was running plenty of interference that could have prompted an inquiry. Seconds later, the Gateway Clipper ship drove by on the Allegheny River behind right field and let out several blasts of its foghorn with the sellout crowd wildly applauding each one. And there is an incredible purple sunset off in the distance behind left-center field.

I've been here several times and each one is more fun than the last (The '06 All-Star Game here was pure misery on a 95-degree night so tonight rates higher). If you haven't made the four-hour drive, you owe it to yourself to do it. And, most days, there are plenty of good seats available.

As for the game, the Yankees have been a mess so far as Darrell Rasner (5 IP, 10 H, 7 ER) has been knocked around and the New York offense has sputtered. The Bucs lead, 7-3, in the middle of the sixth.

---Mike Harrington

Damon out as Yanks open series

PITTSBURGH -- Greetings from PNC Park, which has to have the nicest vista in the bigs. From my perch in the press box atop the upper deck, you see the people streaming over the Roberto Clemente Bridge (which is closed to traffic in the three hours before the game) and have a great look at the gleaming buildings of downtown. I brought the digital camera with me but forgot it at the hotel (great). Gotta give you folks a look at this view tomorrow.

The Yankees are here to open a sold-out three-game series with the Pirates and it's their first trip to the Burgh since Bill Mazeroski's famous home run in Game Seven of the 1960 World Series at Forbes Field. That's so long ago that it's two Pittsburgh parks ago and, as the Pirates' PR staff points out, stamps were just 4 cents, a gallon of gas was only 31 cents and the average salary for a MLB rookie of $7,000 paled to today's $390,000.

(Speaking of gas, I filled up in Erie, Pa. and "only" paid $3.95 a gallon. Those NY taxes are a killer!)

The big news today is that Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon is not in tonight's lineup -- and might not play in this series -- because of a sore left arch. With Hideki Matsui (knee) still unable to play the outfield, the Yankees have called up Justin Christian from Scranton to make his major-league debut. He's starting tonight in left and batting eighth. Christian, 28, was batting .309 overall and .412 in June for the Baby Yanks. But that's a big step down from Damon, who is fifth in the AL in batting at .323 and leads the majors at .413 since May 20 (the day Alex Rodriguez returned from the DL).

Darrell Rasner (4-4, 3.64) is pitching for New York against Pittsburgh's Tom Gorzelanny (5-6, 6.59).

---Mike Harrington

Tribe pointing to Columbus

In Tuesday's paper, be sure to check out my report on the construction of new Huntington Park in Columbus, which will almost certainly host the Indians' Triple-A team next season. On the Web, we also have a 3 1/2-minute video report and a link to a live webcam of the construction site.

The Tribe is definitely saying sayonara to Buffalo. Two more signs Monday: They signed a four-year deal through 2012 to keep Double-A operations in Akron after extending Class A Kinston, N.C. a couple weeks ago. But Buffalo is a "wait-till-after-the-season" call. Uh-huh. And I love the trade of Aaron Herr to the Reds for a bag of balls (OK, for cash). Sign a washed-up Morgan Ensberg and give away Buffalo's leader in home runs and RBIs to the organization he came from. Thanks a lot.

Herr didn't seem all that interested in being here at times but that's a pretty tough move to take. The kind of thing you do when you don't care about the Triple-A city anymore because you know you're outta here. This whole season is a sad way for the Tribe to go after a terrific run.

---Mike Harrington

On the interleague calendar

As interleague play continues this week, there are several more intriguing rivalries taking place (as well as a few duds like Rockies-Royals). Here's a quick rundown:

1). Live in The News and on the blog -- I'll be in PNC Park starting Tuesday to cover the Yankees-Pirates three-game set. It's New York's first trip to Pittsburgh since the 1960 World Series and Game Seven hero Bill Mazeroski (rounding third base on his historic home run, left) is scheduled to throw a ceremonial first pitch. If any of you are making the four-hour trek, the pitching matchups for the series are Darrell Rasner vs. Tom Gorzelanny, Joba Chamberlain vs. Zach Duke and Mike Mussina vs. Paul Maholm.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did a big spread reminiscing about the '60 Series in Sunday's editions and there are several neat PDFs of old papers from the day included on the left side of the page (caution: a little slow loading).

2). Regional matchups -- Rays-Marlins and Rangers-Astros run Tuesday through Thursday. Running Friday-Saturday-Sunday are Yankees-Mets, Cubs-White Sox, Reds-Indians, Orioles-Nationals, Cardinals-Royals, Giants-Athletics and Angels-Dodgers. The Yankees and Mets will make up a May rainout with one of those two-stadium, day-night twinbills on Friday (2:05 at Yankee, 8:10 at Shea).

3). Big in the standings -- The Diamondbacks are in Fenway for three games starting Monday night and need to get things turned around quickly as the NL West closes in on them. Arizona was swept in three games over the weekend in Minnesota -- and fell to 19-29 outside its division.

4). World Series redux -- In addition to Yankees-Pirates (1927 and 1960), Cardinals-Royals (1985) and Giants-A's (1989), this week's slate also includes Cardinals-Tigers (1968 and 2006), White Sox-Dodgers (1959) and Braves-Blue Jays (1992).

---Mike Harrington

(Photo: Associated Press)

Enough already

I'm disappointed in a lot of you people. If I get one more e-mail that says Sunday's Inside Baseball column was racially motivated because Mets GM Omar Minaya is Latin, I feel like I'm just going to walk over to my window, open it up and scream like Peter Finch did in that famous scene in "Network".

You gotta be kidding me. First of all, I spent far more time talking about J.P. Ricciardi of the Blue Jays than Minaya. And secondly, what Minaya pulled with Willie Randolph was a total amateur hour routine -- and it has nothing to do with his race. Did any of you read any of the New York City papers that day? Were they all racially motivated too?

I expect more from all of you. Knock it off.

---Mike Harrington

Mets, Jays put Herd in tough spot

In Sunday's Inside Baseball column, I take a look at the managerial moves made by the Mets and Blue Jays -- and how the odd behavior in the teams' front offices has to give the Bisons reason to have doubts about forging a relationship with either next season.

Many teams will probably be interested in coming to Buffalo in 2009. But the only two that make geographic sense, would interest fans here and are available are the Mets and Jays (the Yankees, Red Sox and Pirates aren't available). The Nationals are certainly going to be interested as well but I think it's unlikely the Bisons would sign with them. No recognition here at all.

Still, with managers out and GMs Omar Minaya and J.P. Ricciardi both on shaky ground, the Bisons could face a situation where the people they sign with come September aren't the ones running the teams come October.

We've had this discussion before but with the big changes in New York and Toronto, it's worth pursuing again. So what does the Herd do now: Bite the bullet and sign with the Mets or Jays regardless of whatever happens in those front offices? Sign with the Nationals? Look elsewhere?

---MIke Harrington

Blast from Jays' past takes over

The Blue Jays haven't won a playoff game since 1993 so I guess they figured why not bring back the manager responsible for their last run of success? John Gibbons is out as manager and 64-year-old Cito Gaston -- who led Toronto to its 1992 and '93 World Series titles -- is in, at least on an interim basis. Kind of strange, however, that coaches Nick Leyva and Gene Tenace were also brought in from the outside (they used to be on Gaston's staff) and popular ex-Jay Ernie Whitt was among three coaches let go. A lot of people wondered if he was going to replace Gibbons.

The Jays are in Pittsburgh tonight and that's appropriate. They nearly met in the '92 Series before the Bucs lost to Atlanta and have never won anything since. The Jays had one more year of success. Starting in '94, these have been two of the sorriest franchises around.

Gibbons did a decent job over the years when he wasn't feuding with the likes of Shea Hillenbrand and Ted Lilly and the Jays were 20-10 in May. But they are just 4-12 in June and last in the AL East. Look for their fire sale to start soon, beginning with A.J. Burnett. And look for GM J.P. Ricciardi to follow Gibbons out the door as well. The sooner the better.

---Mike Harrington

End for Schilling?

Curt Schilling can't one-up me anymore. He's just a blogger like I am, at least for the rest of the this season. That's because he said on his weekly radio show in Boston this morning that he needs shoulder surgery and is done for the season -- and quite possibly for his career.

It looks like Schilling's last pitch came in Game Two of last year's World Series when he beat Colorado. But, of course, his lasting legacy is the "Bloody Sock Game" in the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees. Schilling has 216 wins and 3,116 strikeouts. He has the incredible postseason memories from 2001 with Arizona, as well as 2004 and 2007 (and don't forget his Game Five shutout of Toronto for the Phillies in the '93 World Series).

Does that make him a Hall of Famer? Plenty of people in Boston say it does. I say no. He's been a great pitcher. Just not a Hall of Fame one.

---Mike Harrington

Chicago, Chicago

Oh, what I would give to be in Wrigley Field this weekend. I've spent a few nights in the famous (or infamous) bleachers and a few more in the box seats. And with Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium getting more and more corporate by the day, I say the best buzz in the bigs is on the North Side of Chicago.

With the White Sox in town for a three-gamer beginning today (Sunday night's game is on ESPN), the fever in town has never been higher. It's the first time since 1977 that both teams are in first place in their divisions this late in the season and get this: People actually think we could be looking to the first Chicago-Chicago World Series since 1906!

The game is so big that the Chicago Tribune has a countdown clock running on its home page heading to the 1:20 CT first pitch. The White Sox, keep in mind, hate all this hype. Ozzie Guillen has carped about everything regarding Wrigley, from the dugouts to the clubhouse to having to park at the McDonald's across the street. GM Kenny Williams sounded off today, taking a shot at the Cubs' 100-year championship drought, when he said, "The unfortunate thing for me is it's a shame that a certain segment of Chicago refused to enjoy a baseball championship being brought to their city [by the Sox in 2005]. The only thing I can say [to the Cubs] is, 'Happy anniversary.'"

Ouch. I like both teams to make the playoffs. The World Series is another story of course. Let's enjoy the weekend first and not get carried away, people. There are some other good interleague series this weekend (Cards at Red Sox, Angels at Phillies and, yes, Marlins at A's) but none with the punch of Cubs-White Sox.

So in this Yankee- and Bosox-centric town, what do you think about Chicago-Chicago?

---Mike Harrington

Managerial merry-go-round

The Mets' sacking of Willie Randolph may have started the bloodshed in the manager's office. The Mariners have just fired John McLaren and replaced him with bench coach Jim Riggelman. And Toronto Star columnist Richard Griffin wrote this morning that the gig may just about be up for Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons.

UPDATE: Maybe the Jays should send GM J.P. Ricciardi on the same boat out of town with Gibbons. Ricciardi trashed Cincinnati's Adam Dunn on his weekly radio show last night when a caller suggested he acquire the Reds' slugger. Predictably, Dunn was fuming when shown those comments today.

Nice timing by J.P., too. The Reds come to Rogers Centre to open a three-game set Tuesday night. Think Dunn will be ready for that one?

---Mike Harrington

Joba the focus of Yanks' matinee

Need something to keep your eyes on at work? The Yankees and Padres start today at 1 on YES -- and Joba Chamberlain is on the mound, with few pitch restrictions for the first time. Especially with Chien-Ming Wang down, he needs to start getting into the 95-100 range with regularity to save the bullpen.

The Yankees own the game's longest current win streak at six straight. They're 5-2 in interleague play, have crawled within 5 1/2 games of the Red Sox in the AL East and are 3 1/2 behind the Rays -- boy, does that sound weird -- in the wild-card race.

---Mike Harrington

Yankees claim Ponson

In their first big move to try to make up for the loss of Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees have claimed troubled right-hander Sidney Ponson off waivers and assigned him to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Ponson was 4-1, 3.88 in nine starts for Texas but has always had off-the-field problems in his career, many alcohol-related. He made five appearances for the Yankees in 2006, going 0-1, 10.47. I'd say this move is quite a stretch.

Chad Jennings' Scranton-WB Yankees blog in the Scranton Times (a must for Yankee fans who want to follow the Baby Bombers) points out that it looks like Ponson is going to start in Scranton on Saturday, the same day Dan Giese is starting in Wang's spot for New York. So if Giese struggles and Ponson is pitching well in Triple-A, they could easily flip-flop.

The Yanks also claimed reliever Oneli Perez off waivers from the Indians and sent him to Double-A Trenton. Perez started the season in the White Sox chain and was designated for assignment off the Bisons' roster last week. He was 0-0 with two saves and a 7.11 ERA in seven games for the Herd.

---Mike Harrington

Pronk, Fausto having setbacks

The Indians were banking on Travis Hafner and Fausto Carmona to go out on rehab assignments with either the Bisons or Double-A Akron in the next few days. It looks like that's not going to happen anytime soon as Carmona felt soreness in his hip while throwing a simulated game Monday and Hafner was sent to Birmingham, Ala., for an appointment Wednesday with noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews.

The Indians insist surgery is not in Hafner's future but you've got to wonder as he has completely lost all the power from his swing and has been failing a battle with shoulder soreness all season. Given the Tribe's NHL-like record of truthfulness regarding its injuries this year, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the word come that Hafner is going under the knife.

---Mike Harrington

Openers in NY-P League

If you're giving up long-distance drives this summer to see big-league games, the folks in Batavia and Jamestown have some alternatives for you. New York-Penn League action started Tuesday night and the home opener for the Batavia Muckdogs (love that name) is tonight in Dwyer Stadium.

The Muckdogs, who nearly went kaput in the offseason, have a new GM in David Wellenzohn (a former Bisons front-office man) and are now being run by the neighboring Rochester Red Wings, who generously stepped in to help keep the team afloat operationally. They are a Cardinals affiliate.

The Jamestown Jammers are owned by Rich Baseball Operations and are a Marlins affiliate. They won their home opener over State College, 7-6, Tuesday night but have already been rained out for Wednesday.

---Mike Harrington

Turn back the clock to '97

While talking about some cool baseball blogs last week, I focused mostly on those that cover the Indians. But a must-read for any fan of the minors is a new addition this year to minorleaguebaseball.com. It's called the Got MILB? blog (Remember Got milk?). It's penned by veteran writer Lisa Winston, whom I consider to be the pre-eminent expert on the minors -- she was the longtime minors columnist for the late great USA Today Baseball Weekly before moving over to MILB.com.

You never know what you're going to find on Lisa's blog, which can be pretty irreverant at times and not always about baseball either. The most recent entry on her trip to the Florida State League All-Star Game is a hoot. Check out her blogroll on the right (OK, Inside Pitch is there). There's a Youtube of her daughter singing "Meet the Mets" as a 3-year-old. There's also her favorite musicians' MySpace pages (love the first two entries, which end with "Also, my daughter" and "Also, my husband.")

One of Lisa's all-time favorite minor-league teams (mine too) is the 1997 Bisons, the city's first championship team in 36 years. Managed by Brian Graham, just think of the names: Manto, Lovullo, Casey, Sexson, Ramirez, Colon, Hubbard, Candaele, Norman, Weathers. What a group. In this entry, she posted a picture taken with the team prior to Game Two of the American Association finals against the Iowa Cubs at then-North AmeriCare Park.

The picture is reprinted below. Click on it to blow it up more. We're still trying to figure out who everybody is but we think we've just about got it (all left-right). A few players who were in the trainers' room at the time are missing from the shot.

Front-front: Randy Curtis, Mike Busch and Ben Blomdahl (one knee)

Front: Marco Scutaro, Steve Soliz, Trenidad Hubbard, Lisa Winston, Russell Branyan, Jeff Sexton, Brian Graham, Travis Driskill, Blaise Ilsley (thumb in belt).

Noon update: I botched the back row and it should go like this: Torey Lovullo, Bruce Aven, Chan Perry, Richie Sexson, Robin Harriss, Sean Casey, David Weathers, Les Norman, Daryl Scott, Tony Dougherty.

Great stuff.

---Mike Harrington

 

Bisons welcome Ensberg's leadership

Clearing the notebook after the Bisons' doubleheader split against the Durham Bulls Tuesday night:

Manager Torey Lovullo called the Bisons' 8-1 victory in Game 2 of Tuesday night's doubleheader "the type of game we're looking for to push us in the right direction."

That the win came in Morgan Ensberg's Buffalo debut was a coincidence, of course. But Lovullo did not overlook the respect he's already seen Ensberg command in the clubhouse.

"His presence alone is impressive," Lovullo said. "He's going to help us."

Just last weekend, Jason Cooper was calling for the Bisons to be more accountable and stop playing only for themselves. So the addition of a big league veteran/clubhouse leader can't hurt.   

"[The players] are going to see a character guy," Lovullo said. "It's going to trickle down and these guys are going to see what it takes to be a big league player."

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Also, Tribe manager Eric Wedge warned against reading too much in to Ensberg's signing.

"It's just protection, with some of the injuries we've had," Wedge told MLB.com. "Sometimes you're one injury away from being naked. You want to make sure you have experience down there."

--- David Briggs

Surgery for Barfield

Poor Josh Barfield. All he's done this season was go back to Triple-A and play in 62 of 64 games with nary a peep of complaint. The results with the Bisons were clearly mixed at the plate (.255 BA, .297 OBP, 48Ks and just 13 walks) but Barfield finally got the call when the Tribe could no longer wait for Asdrubal Cabrera to even hit .190.

Barfield's time in the bigs is going to be short. He's going to be out 6-8 weeks after undergoing finger surgery Tuesday due to a check swing in just his second game in the big leagues last week.

What a run of injuries the Tribe is on. Barfield joins Jake Westbrook, Fausto Carmona, Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez. Plus, don't forget Adam Miller's season-ending hand surgery either.

---Mike Harrington

Will Ensberg replace Marte?

You have to wonder what the Tribe's signing of Morgan Ensberg Tuesday means for Andy Marte.

If Ensberg plays well in Buffalo, and the Indians stay in contention, might the Indians cut their losses and release Marte? Cleveland will have a hard time trying to justify having Marte on their roster during a pennant race. The guy's been a dead weight at the end of the bench. He has not had an at-bat since June 7. And he only has 46 at-bats all year, despite being on the 25-man roster all year. Ensberg, even with his recent struggles, would seem to give the Tribe a better late-inning bat.

Marte, who has no options left, might start to get more at-bats if the Tribe falls out of the divisional race. But for now, it's an odd situation: Manager Eric Wedge won't play him and General Mark Shapiro won't designate him for assignment.

Ensberg said "you try as best you can to anticipate where you put yourself in the best possible spot" when he was considering different offers over the last few days. Can anything be read between the lines?

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Brad Snyder, was bloodied, bruised, but not beaten.

The outfielder said he was "fine" and available Tuesday after a flukish pre-game accident scratched him from Monday night's lineup.

"It was kind of crazy, man," Snyder said Tuesday afternoon. "When I hit my head, I didn't know what happened."

What happened was Snyder smashed his head against a concrete overhang while sprinting through the clubhouse during the Bisons' batting practice Monday.

"You’re looking at him, going, 'Are you okay?'" Lovullo said. "And then you want to laugh about it, because it’s pretty funny."

                                                            ----------------------

Ensberg will take over full time at third base, Lovullo said, though Aaron Herr will remain on the roster. To clear room for Ensberg, the Bisons moved catcher Michael Valadez to Class A Lake County. Valadez did not appear in a game for the Bisons.

Ensberg will watch the first game and jump in there for Game 2, Lovullo said. The first game will pick up with one out in the bottom of the third inning and the Bisons trailing, 2-1. A seven inning game will follow. Anyway, here's the lineups for Game 1 against the Durham Bulls at Dunn Tire Park:

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

Jason Cooper, LF

Jordan Brown, 1B

Todd Linden, RF

Aaron Herr, 3B

Andy Gonzalez, 2B

Ryan Mulhern, DH

Jason Tyner, CF

Armando Camacaro, C

Bubbie Buzachero, P

UPDATE: And the lineups for Game 2:

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

Andy Gonzalez, 2B

Jordan Brown, 1B

Todd Linden, RF

Ryan Mulhern, DH

Morgan Ensberg, 3B

Brad Snyder, CF

Wyatt Torregas, C

Jason Tyner, L

Matt Ginter, P

--- David Briggs

Mets' midnight massacre

If you thought Mets GM Omar Minaya was one of the game's top executives, think again. He's a coward. Plain and simple. There is no other way to describe what Minaya did at 3:15 a.m. Eastern time today, when he fired manager Willie Randolph (right) and coaches Rick Peterson and Tom Nieto (see the official release here). It was clear in recent days that Randolph's gig was up with the big-money Mets struggling to get to .500. Hey, I could make the case Randolph should have been gone after the Mets' for-the-ages bellyup act last September.

But the Mets flew west to open a road trip, beating the Angels, and then Minaya & Co. send out an email two hours after the game ends announcing all this? That's just a disgrace to avoid undue media attention. Fools. You guys haven't heard of the Internet?

My good buddy and St. Bonaventure grad Mike Vaccaro had the sense -- like he always does -- to be where the action is and was in Anaheim. So he just used the New York Post Web site to rip the Mets to shreds today. Want a good morning belly laugh? You gotta check out his column.

One more thought: If I'm the Bisons, I run away from this group come September when it comes time to talk about who's going to be the parent of Dunn Tire Park in 2009. Meet the Mets? No way. See ya, Mets.

---Mike Harrington

(AP Photo: A grim Randolph during batting practice last week)

Dice-K vs. the IronPigs

The Bisons and Durham Bulls were suspended tonight after waiting out the rain for 1 hour, 50 minutes (Durham leads, 2-1, in the bottom of the third and the game will be resumed Tuesday at 5:30). Meanwhile, Boston Red Sox hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka waited even longer for his rehab assignment to start as Pawtucket is playing tonight at Lehigh Valley in a game that started more than two hours late. Dice-K hasn't pitched in nearly a month because of a shoulder strain.

Dice-K update: He allowed two runs in five innings -- and even bought his mates for the night a spread of steak and sushi. Nice guy.

---Mike Harrington

Lovullo: Bisons "should care together"

We'll see how the Bisons respond tonight following a couple of post-game meetings Sunday afternoon.

It seemed like the main topic of the sessions, one held by manager Torey Lovullo and the other by the players, was uniting the team.

"I think that they all care," Lovullo said after batting practice Monday. "It's now been addressed that they should care together."

During his playing career, Lovullo said he felt like meetings should "usually be up to the manager." But he was fine with the players' 20-minute session Sunday.

For his part, Lovullo could only recall calling one players-only meeting during his four years with the Bisons. That came courtesy of Lovullo and Jeff Manto after Game 4 of the International League Finals in 1998, when the Bisons were in danger of squandering a 2-0 lead over Durham. The Herd, of course, went on to take the Governors Cup.

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An interesting note from the Plain Dealer (scroll down past all the Browns chatter): The Tribe has apparently told Asdrubal Cabera to shed a few pounds. As Terry Pluto writes, "they believe he has to be careful because his stocky frame can add weight quickly."

                                                               --------------

The latest example of Buffalo's recent woes? Brad Snyder was a late scratch from the lineup tonight after he smacked his head on the top of the dugout. No word on his status, besides that he drew blood. More on that later.

On to the lineups for tonight's game against Durham in Dunn Tire Park:

Asdrubal Cabrera, SS

Jason Cooper, LF

Jordan Brown, 1B

Todd Linden, RF

Aaron Herr, 3B

Andy Gonzalez, 2B

Ryan Mulhern, DH

Jason Tyner, CF

Armando Camacaro, C

David Huff, P

--- David Briggs

Wang out 6 weeks

The Yankees have just announced that Chien-Ming Wang will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon and sprain of his right foot suffered running the bases Sunday at Houston.

That's a potentially devastating blow anyway but there was plenty of talk in the New York media Monday that Wang might be done for the season.

Looks like the Indians can raise their price for C.C. Sabathia if Yanks GM Brian Cashman picks up the phone looking for a deal to fortify his rotation.

---Mike Harrington

Nice tributes by the Herd

It's been a pretty brutal season for the Bisons on the field (nice of the players to decide they need a meeting 71 games into this mess). And it's been a tough last couple of weeks off the field too with the deaths of former Mayor Griffin and Tim Russert, who were South Buffalo guys just like GM Mike Buczkowski.

But you've got to give it up to the way the Bisons have handled ceremonies for Griffin and Russert. Griffin's initials (JDG) were painted on the field and both were feted with moments of silence and video tributes. Saturday night's tribute to Russert was particularly poignant as the team replayed Russert's Opening Day video where he gave a "Go Bisons" and said "Here are your 2008 Buffalo Bisons." The players took the field to big applause for Russert, just as they did in the opener on April 11. Nice touch.