Griffey hits No. 600 against Marlins

MIAMI (AP) Ken Griffey Jr . hit his 600th home run on Monday night, completing his long ascent and becoming the sixth player in history to reach that milestone. The Cincinnati outfielder homered off Florida lefty Mark Hendrickson in the first inning of the Reds' 9-4 victory against the Marlins. Griffey joined Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa. The 38-year-old homered with Jerry Hairston on third and one out. The left-handed swinger launched a 3-1 pitch 413 feet into the right-field seats. Griffey received a standing ovation from the crowd of 16,003 and responded by coming out of the Reds dugout and waving his helmet to the fans. The game was the last one of an eight-game road trip for the Reds, who will return home Tuesday night to play the St. Louis Cardinals. Controversy ensued in the stands following the home run. Justin Kimball, a 25-year-old from Miami, said he caught the home run ball, put it in a wool cap and then had the cap ripped from his hands. Kimball said someone ran off with the ball. Police said they had found the fan with the baseball and would look at video tape to see if Kimball's claims could be supported. However, the Florida Marlins announced Major League Baseball had authenticated the home run ball for a middle-aged male fan who would only give his first name as Joe. Paul Bako had his first career multihomer game three-run and two-run shots and Brandon Phillips added a solo homer in support of Edinson Volquez (9-2), who gave up three runs in six innings. Griffey ended the game 1-for-4 with a strikeout and an intentional walk. He exited in the middle of the eighth. Hairston left the game in the middle of the first after suffering a fractured left thumb when stealing second. Hendrickson (7-4) allowed six runs five earned and five hits in 2 1/3 innings. Mike Jacobs homered for the Marlins. Still, the game will be remembered for Griffey's historic homer. The slugger hasn't enjoyed many golden moments since the Reds got him from Seattle in 2000. This will rank as one of his best with Cincinnati and, possibly, one of his last, given that he's in the final year of his contract. It was a long time coming. Griffey, one of baseball's most prolific sluggers before injuries began to take their toll, started the season with 593 home runs. It took 216 at-bats to make history his previous homer came May 31. Griffey hit No. 597 on April 23 at Great American Ball Park, then went 90 at-bats the second-longest drought of his career before connecting again in San Diego on May 22. He went another 29 at-bats, and even got a day off during the week to work on his swing, before hitting No. 599. Griffey went 17 at-bats between that homer and No. 600. Like his 400th and 500th, this home run came on the road. Unlike Bonds and Sosa, Griffey has stayed clear of questions about whether he came by all of his homers legitimately. His name has never come up in baseball's steroids scandal. Unlike Sosa, he's never been caught using a doctored bat. Although Junior is linked numerically with Hammerin' Hank and the Babe, he has never been defined by the home run. His game is so well-rounded that he was voted an All-Century outfielder with Seattle before his 30th birthday. By then, his backward cap and light-up smile were the face of baseball. His statistics were setting the pace, too. When Griffey was traded to his hometown team before the 2000 season, he was significantly ahead of Aaron's record home run pace. It seemed like a sure bet that when his nine-year, $116.5 million contract was wrapping up this year, he'd be the next home run king, or close to it. Then, the city would have two of its own atop baseball's revered lists Pete Rose as the hits king, Junior as the home run king. It hasn't turned out that way. Griffey hit 40 homers in his first season with the Reds, when he became the youngest to reach 400 career. Then came a succession of major injuries torn hamstrings, torn patella tendon, separated shoulder, torn ankle that knocked him way off Aaron's pace. Nearly knocked him off the map, too. The one-time superstar got booed in his hometown and overlooked in conversation about the game's best players. It took him more than four years to get to homer No. 500 in 2004. It seemed he might never make it to 600. A year later, he was back in the swing. Griffey hit 35 homers in 2005, winning the comeback player award. He followed it with 27 homers in 2006. Last season, he played in 144 games his most since 2000 and hit 30 homers, leaving him seven shy of No. 600. The Reds erected a countdown board at Great American Ball Park, and featured him on the cover of the 2008 media guide. While he closed in on the prominent power number, Griffey gave it little thought. He's never spent much time thinking about his statistics. He preferred to wait and talk about No. 600 when he got it. Until then, his personal homer list would have to speak for itself. Griffey was the youngest player in the majors still only 19 on April 10, 1989, when he homered off the Chicago White Sox 's Eric King on the first pitch he saw at Seattle's Kingdome. Homer No. 36 was one of his most satisfying. It came one batter after his father, Ken Sr., homered off California's Kirk McCaskill on Sept. 14, 1990, an unprecedented father-and-son moment in the majors. Even now, Griffey says those two seasons he spent playing with his father in Seattle were the best times of his career. And he has suggested that he would like to finish his career back there.

Posada catches five innings in simulated game

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) Yankees catcher Jorge Posada caught five innings and went 0-for-5 with a walk in his first extended spring training game on Monday. The five-time All-Star has been sidelined since April 27 due to a sore throwing shoulder. Posada, batting .302 with one homer and 11 RBIs in 63 at-bats, hopes to rejoin the Yankees around June 3. I got a lot of innings behind the plate, that's all I wanted, Posada said. I wanted just to get ready to catch again. Posada played catch before entering the game, and threw the ball back to the pitcher, but is not expected to start throwing to the bases until later this week. Probably Thursday or so I'll start throwing again, Posada said. I feel good enough to throw right now, but I'm taking one step at a time. First of all, get my legs underneath me and then get ready to catch, throw and doing all that. In Monday's game against Philadelphia minor leaguers, Posada hit a hard one-hopper to first and walked batting left handed. He popped out to center, hit an opposite-field drive to right that was caught at the fence, struck out and hit a hard liner to center from the right side. Posada will play in another extended spring training game Tuesday.

Gallardo's season over?

HOUSTON (AP) Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo might need surgery after tearing a ligament in his right knee trying to avoid a collision near first base Thursday. We're going to put him on the DL and bring Dave Bush back, general manager Doug Melvin said Friday. When the swelling goes down, we'll re-evaluate him, but it appears we're going to miss him for an extended period of time. The injury came in Gallardo's third start since recovering from surgery on his left knee. Gallardo was injured in the fifth inning of Thursday's game against the Cubs when he rushed toward first base to cover a slow roller by Reed Johnson . As Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder went to apply a tag, Gallardo hurdled Johnson and landed awkwardly on his right leg. Gallardo was on the ground for a few minutes, but managed to walk it off and keep pitching, completing the inning and another before leaving. Manager Ned Yost said Gallardo's pitches remained in the 89-90 mph range after the injury and the only indication there was something wrong was him slightly favoring his leg. When Yost went to the mound to ask him about that, the managers recalls him saying he didn't realize he was doing it and insisted he was fine and in no pain. The doctor stated that going out there to pitch didn't do any further damage, Melvin said. It was torn at the time, and he was able to battle his way through it. Gallardo had an MRI on Friday morning that confirmed he had a torn ligament. Gallardo joined the team in mid-April after Feb. 19 surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee that he injured just before training camp opened. Yost said learning of Gallardo's injury was like being punched between the eyes. It's very, very painful, Yost said. You feel sick about it. He's one of the best pitchers we've got, one of the best pitchers, we think, in the league. It's very hard because it affects everything and everybody. Gallardo started three games this season and had allowed one run before Thursday night. He gave up three against the Cubs, but two came after the injury. The 22-year-old right-hander had a solid rookie year after his midseason call-up, going 9-5 with a 3.67 ERA down the stretch last season. Bush, who was sent to Triple-A Nashville on Sunday, made three starts before Gallardo returned from his left knee surgery, but was ineffective going 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA.

Baseball star Canseco loses home to foreclosure

Former U.S. baseball star Jose Canseco said on Thursday he had lost his California mansion to foreclosure -- one of the first celebrities to publicly admit being a statistic in the U.S. housing crisis.

Canseco, 43, one of the most flamboyant U.S. baseball players until his retirement from the major leagues in 2001, told the celebrity TV show "Inside Edition" that it did not make financial sense to keep his 7,300 square-foot (678.2 sq-metre) home in the Los Angeles suburb of Encino.

"Inside Edition" said it had foreclosure documents showing Canseco owed a bank more than $2.5 million on the house.

"I've been out of the game for about eight or nine years and obviously this issue with the foreclosure on my home," he told "Inside Edition".

"I do have a judgment on my home and it to me is very strange because it didn't make financial sense for me to keep paying a mortgage on a home that was basically owned by someone else," he said.

Canseco said the foreclosure was not a difficult issue emotionally. But he sympathized with the millions of other Americans who have already lost, or face losing their homes, because of soaring interest rates on sub-prime loans.

"I decided to just let it go, but in most cases and most families, they have nowhere else to go," he said.

It was not clear from the "Inside Edition" report where Canseco was now living.

U.S. home foreclosure filings jumped 23 percent in the first quarter of 2008 from the prior quarter and more than doubled from a year earlier, real estate data firm RealtyTrac reported this week.

Canseco was one of the first Major League Baseball players to admit using steroids in his tell-all 2005 book "Juiced." His personal life has also been controversial with two divorces and several run-ins with the law for violence.

Canseco said a good portion of the money he earned in his heyday went to pay for his divorces. "I had a couple of divorces that cost me $7 or $8 million," he said.

Baseball mourns Buzzie Bavasi2

Emil Joseph "Buzzie" Bavasi, the bold and often abrasive executive with three Major League franchises on both coasts and the patriarch of a family that continues to have an impact on big league baseball, has passed away at 93.

Bavasi died of natural causes following a brief illness in San Diego.

From the moment he became traveling secretary of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1939 until he bowed out as executive vice president of the California Angels following the 1984 season, Bavasi earned a reputation as an imaginative, media-savvy front-office maven.

Perhaps best remembered for building the Dodgers' first World Series championship team in 1955, the only title of the team's long tenure in Brooklyn, Bavasi was also behind the California Angels' first two division titles in 1979 and 1982.

His friends and admirers in and out of baseball are legion.

"All of baseball today mourns the passing of one of its giants, Buzzie Bavasi," Commissioner Bud Selig said. "Buzzie was one of the game's greatest front-office executives during a period that spanned parts of six different decades.

"He loved the game and he loved talking about it. Buzzie was a wonderful friend. He always gave me good advice and had an excellent perspective on the issues of the day. I will miss our long and frequent correspondence. My sympathies go out to his family and friends."

"I considered Buzzie to be a friend of mine and Gene's," said Jackie Autry, the widow of the late Angels owner and honorary president of the American League, "and a man I admired and respected for his vast baseball knowledge.

"His contribution to baseball will be sorely missed by all, and I know his wife, Evit, and his sons and grandchildren will miss this wonderful human being."

Mike Port, who succeeded Bavasi as Angels GM late in the 1984 season and now is MLB's vice president of umpiring, tied a bow around the baseball statesman's legacy, saying, "Eight National League pennants, four World Series titles, two American League Championship Series titles, more than two dozen of his former players who managed at the Major League level! That just scratches the surface of Buzzie's accomplishments in this game.

"He was just simply an outstanding baseball mind," Port added. "He could be your best friend or your best motivator. It was a privilege to have been mentored by him and to have worked for him."

"He was like a father to me," said Don Zimmer, the 77-year-old senior advisor for the Tampa Bay Rays who made his big league debut for Bavasi's Dodgers in the mid-'50s. "From the time I was 19 years old ... all my life, really. I can't describe how much he meant to me."

"Buzzie had a knack about him," said Ralph Branca, one of the mainstays of the Dodgers' post-World War II pitching staff. "He was good with the players, a very warm individual who worked his way up the ladder of the Dodgers' Minor League system."

New York-born and a graduate of Bronxville High School and DePauw University, Bavasi succeeded Branch Rickey as the Brooklyn Dodgers' general manager in 1951. He formally retired from the game in 1999, having served as a special advisor to Autry.

In between those benchmarks, he served as the San Diego Padres' charter president and spearheaded organizations that captured four World Series and nine pennants.

Bavasi's survivors include Evit, his wife of 68 years; and sons Bill, the general manager of the Seattle Mariners; and Peter, the general manager of the San Diego Padres before becoming founding president of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1977.

Other survivors are son Chris and his wife, Corinne; son Bob and his wife, Margaret; grandchildren Patrick, Cristina, Aimee, Amanda, Alexandra, Haley, Emily, Kyle and Katherine; and great-grandchildren Cooper, Lolly, Cole, Summer and Luke.

Bavasi respected the bottom line, both on the ledger and in the standings. He was always about substance; his fingerprints were all over the '55 club that ended the Dodgers' long run as Brooklyn's Bums. The season before, he had handed the managerial reins to an unknown, Walter Alston, and fleshed out the roster around core players Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campanella.

But Bavasi was also a staunch owner's man, known for irreverence.

A personification of "old school," he was one of the guardians of the reserve-clause brand of baseball.

He once said, "We operated by the Golden Rule. He who has the gold, rules."

Yet after free agency dawned in 1976, Bavasi adjusted to become one of its most fervent exploiters. With the Angels, and with The Cowboy's open saddlebags, he transformed a chronic loser into a division champ by corralling such free agents as Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, Don Baylor, Bobby Grich and Fred Lynn.

"He was a very good baseball man who thoroughly knew the game and contributed a great deal for both the organizations he worked for, as well as the game itself," Carew said. "The organizations he worked for always came first in his mind, and he always tried to do the right thing for each of them."

"Buzzie was one of those rare baseball icons," Grich said. "His energy and enthusiasm were always contagious. It was a cherished opportunity to have been around him."

A proud man who always walked with his chest held a little higher when his often-questioned moves were clicking, Bavasi was not averse to eating crow when it was deserved.

He alienated much of Southern California in 1979, not so much for his inability to re-sign free agent Nolan Ryan to a new Angels contract but for his parting words about the icon, who that season had gone 16-14: "We'll just have to find a couple of 8-7 pitchers to replace him."

After the durable Ryan notched his sixth no-hitter 11 years later, Bavasi sent him a message: "Nolan, some time ago I made it public that I made a mistake. You don't have to rub it in."

As the passing of Bavasi sank in on Thursday, voices from throughout the game joined the chorus of grateful remembrances and sad farewells.

"The Dodgers, and the baseball world, lost a true pioneer today," said Dodgers owner Frank McCourt. "Buzzie's contributions to the Dodgers are immeasurable. His passion for the game and loyalty to baseball was surpassed only by his devotion to family and a willingness to stand up for what he believed in."

"We were deeply saddened to learn of Buzzie's passing," said Jeff Idelson, president of the Hall of Fame. "His passion for and dedication to the game were unsurpassed, and I know he took great pride in seeing it prosper.

"He was an icon in Brooklyn as one of the architects of its only World Series title, and he took those winning ways west. He was a tremendous friend to the Hall of Fame on many levels, and I will personally miss our deep conversations about the game he loved so much."

"Our relationship was a very good one," said Jim Fregosi, the Angels' first iconic player, who was brought back by Bavasi to manage the team in 1978. "I enjoyed the opportunity to work for and with Buzzie. He was truly one of the genuine characters of our game."

Missouri playing catch-up to host NCAA baseball regional

Last year, the largest college baseball crowds in Missouri history came to see NCAA tournament regional action, and though the Tigers didn’t advance, the event provided a residual effect.

Interest in the program and attendance have increased. Coach Tim Jamison believed that part of the reason 3,847 showed up at Kauffman Stadium to see the Tigers play Kansas on Tuesday had something to do with new fans won over by the Tigers’ postseason play in Columbia last year.

“We had done some good things to elevate the program in the last five, six years,” Jamison said. “But until you get your local fans to buy in …We had been missing the crowds. Then we hosted (the regional), and a lot of people who showed up wanted to come back.”

Regionals on your campus can be that important.

The Tigers have work to do if they’re going to repeat as a host program this year. Although they’re ranked No. 14 nationally, Mizzou stands fourth in the Big 12, and the league has never had more than three teams serve as one of the 16 first-round hosts.

“Hopefully we can get back in it and put ourselves in a position to host,” Jamison said.

In NCAA play, four teams are assigned to each of the 16 first-round sites, with the winners emerging into the super regional round, played at eight sites. Those winners advance to the College World Series.

Last year, Missouri earned one of those first-round sites but lost to Louisville in the regional title game.

One problem for the Tigers this year is that they’re a combined 1-5 against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M, two of the teams ahead of them in the Big 12 race. The Tigers finish the regular season with a home series against second-place Nebraska.

Being in fourth-place may not be holding Missouri back as much as its RPI. Yes, the same Ratings Percentage Index that helps select the NCAA men’s basketball field is a tool used by the baseball committee to identify at-large teams and seed the 64-team baseball field.

After its 3-0 loss to the Jayhawks, Missouri fell to the mid-40s in the RPI.

“We have a lot of climbing to do,” Jamison said.

It’s not a subject that gets much dugout chatter, anywhere.

“We take a line from Tom Osborne,” Nebraska coach Mike Anderson said of the Cornhuskers’ legendary football coach and athletic director. “Winning isn’t talked about often. You take care of the things that contribute to winning.”

Since 2005, Nebraska twice has been host to regionals, advancing to the College World Series in 2005.

Lake Orion still rolling Baseball

The Dragons are 15-0 overall, ranked No. 1 by the state coaches association, No. 25 in USA Today and fresh off a quality win over No. 7 Royal Oak this week.

The Dragons have thwarted the competition with a mix of precision hitting and consistent pitching. Lake Orion is averaging nearly 13 runs a game this season.

"I think this is the highest scoring team in 10 years," head coach Andy Schramek said. "We have a multi-dimensional offensive team. We do have guys who can hit home runs up and down the lineup but we run a lot, steal a lot of bases. We hit a lot of doubles. We're patient. I think we've walked 30 more times than we've struck out this year."

No. 2 hitter Brandon Riggsbee and cleanup hitter Mike Musary, both seniors, have led a balanced attack at the plate.

Senior Connor Mielock, who will play at Oakland University, and senior Josh Deeg, who will play at Xavier, have provided a one-two punch on the mound. Mielock has done a fine job mixing his pitches this season, including a slider. Deeg, meanwhile, has thrived off a curveball and change-up. Both throw in the upper 80s. Both are 5-0.

And both will be important pieces the remainder of the season, which includes stiff competition against the likes of Novi, Midland, Grandville, Utica Eisenhower, Romeo and a shared tournament with Oxford.

Moving on: St. Clair Shores Lake Shore may have lost its University of Michigan-bound star pitcher Kevin VanGheluwe for the season, but the Shorians certainly haven't lost hope on their season.

Far from it.

VanGheluwe, a Mr. Baseball candidate, pitched his last game for Lake Shore on April 9 before undergoing season-ending surgery to remove two blood clots in his right arm.

Lake Shore was 7-0 with VanGheluwe. The Shorians have gone 7-0 without him.

Lake Shore has drawn from a pool of talented pitchers that includes Warren De La Salle transfer Dan Keith, a right-handed junior, left-handed junior Travis Brown, lefty senior Vinnie Plouffe and junior righty closer Cameron Walker.

Layton spoils Knights' mark

The Layton High baseball team had seemingly done it on Tuesday afternoon, when it took a lead over Northridge into the bottom of the seventh inning.
But the Lancers couldn't hold it, as the Knights rallied by scoring three runs for a win that kept them unbeaten in Region 1 and frustrated the Lancers to no end at the same time.
Losing in that fashion would be hard for most teams to recover from. But, on Thursday, Layton put the demons behind it, defeating Northridge 6-2 to become the first team to hand the Knights a league loss after 11 consecutive wins.
"That's a very good team over there," Lancers coach Robert Ferneau said. "We came out and played well. Defensively, we came out and didn't make mistakes. That was huge."
With the win, Layton only needs a win in its final two games of the regular season to lock up the region's third seed for the upcoming playoffs. The Lancers have already clinched a berth in the postseason, but they obviously want to improve their position in any way possible.
"That's the spot that we want," Ferneau said.
Gavin Green made that happen with a bat that started hot and stayed that way throughout. Green, who has signed to play baseball at Utah, hit a two-run homer in the first inning. He followed that up with two more base hits, one of which scored a run. All told, Green was 3-for-4 with three a performance that Layton had to have.
It was also a welcome game for Green, who was roughed up on Tuesday when he pitched.
"I wanted to get them back," Green said. "They hit two home runs off me, so I wanted to get one back. I just played well today. It was just one of those days."
Green's offense helped pitcher Bo Jensen settle down. And when he did, he calmly went on to throw a complete game in which he allowed one of the best offenses in the state to score just two runs.
Jensen's ability to control the game with his arm was vital. He also worked himself out of a bases loaded one out jam in the top of the sixth inning.
"That was a big-time performance by Bo," Ferneau said. "He was given a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and he delivered when we needed it."

* Gavin Green goes 3-for4 with a home run and three RBIs.
* Layton becomes the first Region 1 team to defeat Northridge, which had won 11 consecutive league games.
* With the loss, Northridge drops back into a first-place tie with Viewmont. The two teams face each other next week

Baseball notes

Colorado Rockies star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki tore a tendon in his left quadriceps and could be out until the all-star break, if not longer.

"Best case scenario is six weeks. The realistic one is a few months," agent Paul Cohen told the Associated Press. "We're hoping it's a couple months, but we won't know until they do further medical tests."

Tulowitzki, the runner-up for NL Rookie of the Year last season, was injured while charging a grounder in the first inning at San Francisco Tuesday night, and he underwent an MRI exam on Wednesday, which found a complete tear of the tendon near his hip.

Phil Hughes has a stress fracture in one of his ribs, and the New York Yankees' pitcher is expected to be sidelined for at least two months. Hughes had tests that revealed a stress fracture in the ninth rib on his right side. He will be shut down for four weeks and re-evaluated.

Yankees pitcher Angel Reyes was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for stanozolol metabolites under baseball's minor league drug program. The suspension will start at the beginning of class-A Staten Island's season in the New York-Penn League.

The Houston Astros will activate third baseman Ty Wigginton from the 15-day disabled list today when the team opens a three-game home series with Milwaukee. To make room for Wigginton on the roster, the Astros will option right-handed pitcher Jack Cassel to Triple-A Round Rock.

Baseball SCOREBOARD

Seattle at the New York Yankees (7:05 p.m.). Erik Bedard and the Mariners take on Chien-Ming Wang and the Yankees. Bedard (2-0, 2.04 ERA) won his first game back from the disabled list last Saturday, while Wang (5-0, 3.23) struck out nine in a 1-0 victory over Cleveland on Sunday.

- Ryan Braun, Brewers, homered and drove in three runs in a 4-3 win over the Cubs.

- Sidney Ponson, Rangers, pitched eight innings in a 2-1 victory over the Royals, earning his first win in exactly a year.

- Juan Pierre, Dodgers, went 2-for-3 with a two-run double in a 5-3 victory over the Marlins. He also was hit by a pitch, stole a base and scored a run.

- Matt Garza, Rays, allowed two runs and three hits over six innings in a 4-2 victory over the Orioles that kept the surprising Rays atop the AL East.

- A.J. Burnett, Blue Jays, scattered three hits over 7 2-3 innings in a 3-0 victory over the Red Sox. He struck out five and walked five.

Rockies star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has a torn tendon in his left quadriceps and could be out until the All-Star break. ... B.J. Upton left Tampa Bay's 4-2 victory over the Orioles with a strained left shoulder. Upton said he should be fine in a day or two.

Carlos Zambrano pitched 6 1-3 innings in the Cubs' 4-3 loss to Milwaukee, allowing one run and seven hits. He also helped himself with his 13th career homer - tying the team record held by Ferguson Jenkins.

The Dodgers completed their second consecutive series sweep by beating Florida 5-3. The Dodgers have won six in a row, their longest winning streak since taking seven straight to close the 2006 season.

The Athletics pounded out 20 hits in a 15-6 rout of the Angels, highlighted by an eight-run fifth inning. Everybody got in on the act, too, with five different A's driving in a pair of runs each and every player in the starting lineup getting a hit.

The Mariners' Richie Sexson hit the first pitch he saw from Masa Kobayashi for his 300th career homer in a 3-2, 11-inning loss to Cleveland. It was his sixth of the season and 100th since signing with Seattle as a free agent after the 2004 season. The first baseman reached the Seattle milestone in 463 games, quickest in team history.

Toronto starter A.J. Burnett improved to 4-0 against Boston by scattering three hits over 7 2-3 innings in a 3-0 victory. He's allowed one run in 16 innings over two starts at Fenway Park.

Slumping slugger Ryan Howard homered off Joe Thatcher leading off the eighth inning, pulling a 2-0 fastball into the right field seats and helping Philadelphia to a 3-2 win over the Padres. The 2006 NL MVP, who is batting just .184 with six homers and 14 RBIs, also had an RBI double.

Baseball coach gets 500th win

Few know more about the high school baseball coaching career of Manny Hermosillo than Eddie Johnson.

When Hermosillo became Montgomery's coach in 1984, Johnson was the Aztecs' first baseman.

When Hermosillo's team scored a 3-0 South Bay League win yesterday over visiting Mater Dei, Johnson was in the other dugout coaching the Crusaders.

It was more than just another victory for Hermosillo, who became the San Diego Section's fifth coach to reach 500 wins.

“I was here for Manny's first win and here today,” Johnson said. “It's two different feelings, obviously. But my relationship with the Hermosillo family runs deeper than baseball.”

The Hermosillo family was on hand en masse. Two generations and then some.

“This is special because I was able to get this with all of my family being here,” said Hermosillo, whose career record is 500-203. “My wife (Rosario) has been with me every game, and you can't get much better than that.”

Even plate umpire Jim O'Hanlon hugged Hermosillo during the postgame jubilation.

“We don't have an umpire out there who doesn't love working Manny's games,” said Bob Merchant, assignment secretary for the umpires. “He's a credit to the game.”

Montgomery players didn't miss a chance to deliver the traditional drenching of their coach with the team water jug.

“It is an honor to be a part of this celebration,” senior right fielder Brandon Meredith said. “Baseball has been such a big part of Coach Hermosillo's life. It's great that we could help him reach this milestone.”

Montgomery began the season 6-6, but the Aztecs have won 10 of 11 to take a firm grip on first place.

Hermosillo, who teaches social science, has a collection of game balls for milestone wins – 1, 100, 200, 300, 400 and now 500.

“Actually, I was curious about the first (win) so I looked it up before (yesterday's) game,” said Hermosillo, noting it was 5-4 over La Jolla the second game of his career.

“I remember when we got 300. It was in 2000, the year we won (the section Division II title). We all thought that was a big deal. And then when we got 400 this current group of seniors was in the ninth grade. I remember kidding around with them saying, 'You guys are going to take me to .500.' It's something you say but never think it's going to come. Now that it has, wow, 500, wow, that's a lot.”

Though proud of his coaching record, Hermosillo clearly puts more emotional stock in the love he has for his players, assistant coaches and family.

Immediately after yesterday's win, Hermosillo and his wife hosted a carne asada feast for the team.

Ump with broken jaw released from hospital

LOS ANGELES (AP) An umpire who took a 96 mph fastball to the right side of his jaw was released from a hospital, hours after briefly losing consciousness when the pitch slammed into his face mask. Plate umpire Kerwin Danley was carried off the field in the fourth inning after a pitch from Dodgers right-hander Brad Penny knocked the crew chief to the ground. The game was stopped for 18 minutes while Danley was put into an ambulance and driven out through the center-field gate. The crowd of 50,469 applauded as Danley was placed into the ambulance. With Colorado's Garrett Atkins at bat, catcher Russell Martin said he missed the pitch because of a miscommunication with Penny. Martin said he apologized to Danley a couple of times, But I don't know if he heard me. Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch said Danley lost consciousness briefly, but was conscious, coherent and breathing when he was placed into the ambulance. Dodgers medical personnel accompanied him to Good Samaritan Hospital, where officials said Sunday that Danley was treated in the emergency room and released.

Giants could be without starting pitcher

The San Francisco Giants could be without starting pitcher Kevin Correia for a month after the right-hander was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a left oblique strain.

Correia was injured while making his fifth start of the season against Cincinnati on Saturday. He faced only three batters and threw nine pitches before feeling pain in his left side. Trainer Dave Groeschner, pitching coach Dave Righetti and manager Bruce Bochy rushed to the mound and checked on the pitcher, who was removed from the game.

An MRI exam later revealed Correia (1-3, 4.50 ERA) suffered an oblique strain that could keep him sidelined up to a month.

"He's got a pretty good strain in there so it's going to be awhile,'' Bochy said. "They just seem like they take forever to get rid of. You have to get rid of it completely before you can resume playing. That's a blow because our starters have been doing so well and Kevin's been throwing the ball well.''

Left-hander Pat Misch was recalled from Triple-A Fresno to take Correia's roster spot. Misch, who was scheduled to start for Fresno on Sunday, will initially work out of the Giants bullpen and could also be used as the team's fifth starter.

White Sox recall RHP Wassermann

The Chicago White Sox recalled right-handed reliever Ehren Wassermann from Triple-A on Sunday to replace reliever Mike McDougal.

McDougal was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte on Saturday. The right-hander gave up a hit and a walk in 1-3 inning in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, a 5-1 loss to Baltimore.

McDougal has a 2.08 ERA this season, with seven walks and seven strikeouts in 8 2-3 innings. He had a 6.80 ERA in 54 appearances with Chicago last season.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said he wants the erratic McDougal to work on his fastball in the minors.

Wassermann hadn't allowed a run in eight appearances at Charlotte, picking up six saves and 10 strikeouts.

Baseball Calendar

May 14-15 - Owners' meeting, Milwaukee.

June 5-6 - Amateur draft, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

July 15 - All-Star game, New York.

July 27 - Hall of Fame inductions, Cooperstown, N.Y.

July 31 - Last day to trade a player without securing waivers.

Sept. 1 - Active rosters expand to 40 players.

October/November - Free agent filing period, first 15 days after World Series ends.

Nov. 3-6 - General managers' meetings, Dana Point, Calif.

Dec. 1 - Last day for teams to offer salary arbitration to their former players who became free agents.

Dec. 7 - Last day for free agents offered salary arbitration to accept the offers.

Dec. 8-11 - Winter meetings, Las Vegas.

Dec. 12 - Last day for teams to offer 2009 contracts to unsigned players.

The point in every baseball season

This is the point in every baseball season at which things begin to feel real. In the coming days, we'll see fewer guys wearing No. 75 on the mound. We'll see starting pitchers face four, even five innings worth of batters. We'll see veteran hitters play through the excruciating injuries -- sore earlobes, scratched cleats -- that have been cause for days off in spring training's early weeks. And, somewhere along the line, we'll start saying things like, "You know, if Zach Duke could just give the Pirates 15 wins, this team could very well win the division."

At times like this, it's useful to think about money. Not payrolls -- your own money. Because there's no better way to sort through the delusions of spring baseball and find teams that really might contend than by asking the simple question: "Would you bet on that?"

Now, I'm not condoning gambling, and I'm certainly not suggesting you hop on the next flight to Vegas and put the mortgage on any of these numbers. But I would say that the best way to pick darkhorse championship possibilities is by looking at the upcoming season's World Series odds and seeing which teams you think might be worth dropping a sawbuck on. Give it a shot (I pulled these odds off the Internet, by the way):

Rank. Team Odds
1. Boston Red Sox 7/2
2. New York Mets 4/1
3. New York Yankees 5/1
3. Detroit Tigers 5/1
5. Cleveland Indians 10/1
5. Los Angeles Angels 10/1
7. Chicago Cubs 12/1
8. Philadelphia Phillies 20/1
9. Arizona Diamondbacks 22/1
10. Chicago White Sox 25/1
10. Colorado Rockies 25/1
10. Los Angeles Dodgers 25/1
10. San Diego Padres 25/1
10. Seattle Mariners 25/1
15. Milwaukee Brewers 30/1
15. Atlanta Braves 30/1
15. Toronto Blue Jays 30/1
18. Minnesota Twins 40/1
18. St Louis Cardinals 40/1
20. Cincinnati Reds 50/1
21. Houston Astros 60/1
22. Oakland Athletics 65/1
23. Texas Rangers 100/1
23. San Francisco Giants 100/1
25. Baltimore Orioles 150/1
25. Florida Marlins 150/1
25. Tampa Bay Rays 150/1
28. Kansas City Royals 200/1
28. Pittsburgh Pirates 200/1
28. Washington Nationals 200/1

Obviously, teams like the Red Sox and Mets are the favorites, but picking the favorites is easy and hardly worth the 10 bucks. Try to find some teams that are undervalued, that can give the best return. I've got three in mind ...

Arizona. With or without Randy Johnson, this team has an imposing rotation. There isn't a better 1-2 punch in baseball than Brandon Webb and Dan Haren, and with those guys at the top of the playoff rotation, Arizona would be brutal to face in October. Getting to the playoffs might be a problem, though. The bullpen has been reshuffled, with Jose Valverde gone to Houston and Brandon Lyon taking over closing duties. The offense was plain bad last year, as their .321 on-base percentage ranked last in the N.L., and the West is a very tough division. But at 22/1, I'll take 'em.

Toronto. If you're going to pick the Blue Jays to even reach the postseason, you're essentially saying that the team can beat out either the Yankees or Red Sox in the East, the Indians or Tigers in the Central and the Mariners or Angels in the West. They can. They've got to stay healthy to do so, though, and that is a tall order for a team counting on David Eckstein, Scott Rolen and soon-to-be 40-year-old Frank Thomas. But if Alex Rios continues to ascend and Vernon Wells comes back after an awful year, the team's offense could finally catch up to its strength -- the little-known pitching staff, which was second in the A.L. last year with a 4.00 ERA. Youngsters Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum and Jesse Litsch give the team depth behind Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett, and the bullpen is stocked with great arms. The Jays at 30/1 sounds good to me.

San Francisco. What? The Giants? Well, yeah. There isn't much chance they'll actually win the World Series, but that's why they call them longshots. The Giants are listed at 100/1 and when you get a load of their decaying lineup, you can see why. But there are good vibes in post-Barry Bonds camp these days, and I expect that this team will play over its head for a while. They need to make the trade for Joe Crede at third, and they'll need a bounce-back year from Ray Durham. It'd be nice if they could inject some youth with outfielder Nate Schierholtz and infielder Kevin Frandsen, too. But the strength is the team's top-notch young pitchers -- even with Noah Lowry out for the first month -- who could put the Giants in a better position than most think.

Darkest days in the history of baseball

Sept. 29, 1920 - In an account published in The New York Times, Chicago White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte says that he and several teammates agreed to throw the 1919 World Series in exchange for cash, in a scheme hatched by a pair of professional gamblers. The eight players indicted in the "Black Sox" scandal were found innocent in court, but banned for life by baseball's first commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

June 12, 1981 - Major league players go on strike. A total of 712 games are cancelled before both sides reached agreement July 31 on a contract that would run through 1984.

Dec. 15, 1983 - Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspends Steve Howe, a star relief pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, for one year for cocaine use. Howe, who was suspended seven times by the end of his career, came to symbolize the rampant cocaine problem that plagued baseball in the 1980s.

Feb. 28, 1986 - Joaquin Andujar, Dale Berra, Enos Cabell, Keith Hernandez, Al Holland, Lee Lacy, Jeff Leonard, Dave Parker, Lonnie Smith, Lary Sorensen and Claudell Washington are all suspended for drug use, based on testimony from the 1985 trial of caterer Curtis Strong, who was convicted of selling cocaine to players. The suspensions - some for 60 days, others for a year - allowed the players to stay in the game if they donated to drug-prevention programs, performed community service and, in some cases, submitted to random drug testing.

Aug. 24, 1989 - Cincinnati Reds manager and former star player Pete Rose, baseball's career hit leader, is banned from the sport for life for betting on his own team. Rose steadfastly denies the gambling allegations until 2004, when he comes clean in his autobiography.

May 7, 1992 - Trainer Curtis Wenzlaff is arrested for steroids distribution. Wenzlaff later publicly admits helping Jose Canseco and 20 to 30 other major leaguers obtain steroids, but refuses to discuss another former client, Mark McGwire.

Aug. 12, 1994 - Players walk off the job in a protracted strike that results in the cancellation of the remainder of the season, including the 1994 World Series.

Aug. 22, 1998 - A jar of androstenedione is discovered in McGwire's locker, just as he and Sammy Sosa are chasing Roger Maris' single-season home run mark of 61. McGwire admits using the drug and goes on to hit a record 70 home runs. The precursor to steroids is not yet illegal in Major League Baseball.

May 28, 2002 - Ken Caminiti is quoted by Sports Illustrated as saying he used steroids during his MVP season in 1996 with the San Diego Padres, when he hit a career-high .326 with 40 home runs and 130 RBIs. He estimates half the players in the big leagues were using them.

Dec. 2, 2004 - The San Francisco Chronicle reports New York Yankee Jason Giambi testified to a federal grand jury on Dec. 11, 2003, that he had used steroids for at least three seasons and had injected himself with human growth hormone in 2003.

Feb. 6, 2005 - The New York Daily News reports Canseco says in his book, "Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big" that he injected McGwire with steroids and introduced several other sluggers to the drugs.

March 17, 2005 - At a hearing of the House Government Reform Committee, McGwire evades questions about steroid use as he testifies alongside Canseco, Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, who denies having used steroids. Lawmakers scold Commissioner Bud Selig and union leader Donald Fehr, saying baseball's penalties are too lenient. Some congressmen say legislation could be necessary.

Aug. 7, 2007 - San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run to break baseball's all-time record, held by Hank Aaron for more than three decades. Bonds' accomplishment is tainted by allegations that he had used performance-enhancing drugs for years.

Nov. 15, 2007 - Bonds is indicted on five felony counts of perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying when he testified he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. If convicted, legal experts say Bonds could spend up to 2 1/2 years in prison.

Dec. 7, 2007 - Bonds pleads not guilty to four counts of perjury and one of obstruction of justice.

Dec. 13, 2007 - A report prepared by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell details a troubling drug culture in baseball, and names 86 current and former players linked to performance-enhancing substances. Included are Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Miguel Tejada, Andy Pettitte and Eric Gagne.