Jon Heyman of SI is telling Mike Francessa on WFAN that he's hearing Willie Randolph and Rick Peterson could be gone within a week and Jerry Manuel could replace him.  This is only a rumor at this point.  He said the Mets' higher-ups met and were discussing the situation.  He hasn't heard anything about Howard Johnson's job status.  He does think it could be as soon as this weekend.

There's something happenin' here.... what it is ain't exactly clear.

One person's sparse opinion on pitching.

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What, to a sports fan, makes a player a "true (enter the name of your favorite sports team here)"?   For example, what makes a player a "true Yankee"?  Doubts about his Yankee-ness have been laid at the feet of one Alex Rodriguez, otherwise known as "K-Rod" (for his penchant for not coming through in "clutch" situations) and "E-Rod" (for his penchant for making lots of errors).  Some say that because he doesn't come through in "clutch" situations, A-Rod is not a "true Yankee".  Derek Jeter, because he has come through in these situations, and for being part of four World Series champions, is a "true Yankee".   I used the Yankees as an example here but this got me wondering if this type of discussion goes on with fans of other sports teams.   Are there debates on what makes a player a "true Royal" or a "true Lion"?  

Should Aaron Heilman be a starter or a reliever?  Read these stat lines and decide:

Starting: 25 starts, 133.2 IP, 144 Hits, 22 HRs, 106 Ks, 66 BB, 5 W, 13 L, 5.93 ERA

Reliever: 88 G, 118.1 IP, 109 Hits, 6 HRs, 114 Ks, 43 BB, 3 W, 3 L, 3.20 ERA

(Stats as of 07-17-2006)

Please give your answer and an explanation why.  Thanks.

In one of his "Baseball Abstracts", Bill James writes about Robin Yount and his answer to a question posed by a beat-writer, "Who do you think should vote for the All-Star teams?".  Robin's answer was: "I don't know-- I'm not sure who the game is for."  Whenever I see anything involving the All-Star game, pertaining to who should be voted for and who should do the voting, I always ask the question "Who is the game for?"  Who, exactly, is the game honoring?  Is the game for the best players of the current year?  Is it to honor the players from the previous year? Is it to honor the great players that are still around?  Is it to honor your favorite players?  Is it all of these and more??

When you cast your All-Star votes, what criteria do you use? After reading the diary "Your Mets Need Your Vote!", I decided to change my comment for that into a separate diary.  Thanks for any and all comments.