Pardon for Pete would erode integrity

The NY Daily News was the first to report that after some behind the scenes lobbying from former greats, MLB commissioner Bud Selig is supposedly mulling over a pardon for Pete Rose.

What that would mean is that Rose, the all-time hits leader, would have a clear path to Cooperstown.

It's nearly impossible to argue against Rose's greatness, because of where he stands in the record books: the most hits, the sixth-most runs scored and the second-most doubles. But he also holds a unique place in baseball history for his actions off the field.

ESPN.com's Buster Onley writes, "during the past two decades, [Rose's] behavior has been appalling. He has been nothing less than a lowlife."

He's a lowlife who broke baseball's rules and trust, when he was caught gambling as a manager. And he proceeded to lie about it for long time. 

It's true, a reinstatement for Rose would not automatically mean the Hall of Fame would be rolling out the red carpet. He would have to be elected by the Veterans Committee, as his 15 years on the Baseball writers ballot has lapsed, and that's no sure thing.

But more than that, if Rose receives a forgiveness and enters the Hall, it's a slap in the face to baseball's integrity. An integrity that has come under a fires as the game continues to be mired in steroid's era.

Character needs to count for the Hall of Fame.

You cheat, you lie, you win? 

That's the message Selig and the of his cronies would send if Rose gets reinstated. That's one message baseball cannot afford to send.

Tiger-less Turnberry exposes game

The three previous Open Championships at Scotland's famed Turnberry course were arguably won by the greatest golfer at the time.

In 1977, Tom Watson out-dueled Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman stole the show in 1986 and Nick Price sunk a 50-foot eagle putt on the 71st hole in 1994 to win the Claret Jug. 

So where was the world's current No. 1 golfer when the leaders teed off for the final round? Well, Tiger Woods was home.

Woods, the 2-1 favorite, finished five-over (145) through 36 holes and on the wrong side of the cut line. Taking a closer look his stats they show the ugly truth: only 15 of 28 fairways hit and only 21 of 36 greens in regulation.

You don't win much golf, especially links golf, posting numbers like that. But that's been the M.O. on Tiger, and what many analysts fail to see.

Throughout his career when he's forced to hit his massive drive with pin-point precision, on courses like Turnberry, Woods tends to end up in the woods (or heather in this case). The enduring image from Tiger's Open Championship is him bent over fruitlessly look for his ball among the tall yellow grass on the 10th hole.

Tiger is the biggest name in the sport, and leaving the Open Championship early is a big surprise to most. If watch closely, and can see his struggles in foul weather and playing with deep roughs, this isn't a surprise at all.

Woods played a six-hole stretch at 7 over par, and that should expose his game. As good as Tiger plays most of time, there's still plenty of room for him to improve, especially on the links. I'm certainly not ready for Woods' coronation by analysts as the "Greatest Golfer ever".

As for cleaning up his act on the course, I'll let ESPN The Magazine's Rick Reilly take over.

The renaissance of Matt Cain

San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain has come out of the shadows this year and it's an overdue surprise.

Over the past two seasons Cain has been the cover boy for hard luck pitchers. Just look at the numbers, in '07 his 3.65 ERA earned him a 7-16 record (and a MLB Best-Worst FPS runner-up award). Last year, he posted a 3.76 ERA with 186 strikeouts but only went 8-14, while his teammate Tim Lincecum went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and won the NL Cy Young Award.

It's stunning, same team, same sour offense, completely different results.

This year things are turning around for Cain. Like Lincecum, he's got double-digit wins (10) and his ERA is a stellar 2.38 is a hair above his cohort's 2.33.

Watching Cain pitch a couple times on TV this year, it has felt like deja vu, when he got no discernible offensive support. But what is different is Cain's confidence on the mound. He's firing more strikes, has command of the zone and looks less sullen than ever before.

In 2007 and 2008, you could visible see that Cain felt the pressure to be perfect. When things weren't going his way, he would walk from the mound and sit in the dugout with his head buried in a towel. That's not happening anymore. Like Lincecum, Cain is staying loose and winning more.

It's been a renaissance of sorts.

Hopefully Cain's pre-All-Star injury, taking a line drive off his pitching arm, won't set him back at all. Because it's been fun to watch baseball's best young pitching tandem keep the Giants playoff hopes alive.

Manny-love returns to Chávez Ravine

Fanhouse columnist Jay Mariotti recently wrote a scathing column on the return of LA Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez to the majors.

Mariotti writes "Just to refresh your memory, Manny is a shamed steroid cheat. He used a female fertility drug that produced artificial testosterone, making him the latest in a pathetic line of high-profile players who have done performance-enhancers and contaminated an entire baseball era. He also is a petty quitter, having stopped running out groundballs in a hissy-fit ploy that forced the Red Sox to trade him to the Dodgers. So why were people cheering him when he returned last weekend after a 50-game suspension? And giving him long, robust standing ovations?... Because most of these goofs were Dodger fans."

That really says it all.

Dodger fans while passionate, are some of the most obnoxious people to watch baseball with. They boo shamelessly, bail on games early and lack sophistication.

That said the LA faithful really only care about one thing, championships. They would turn a blind-eye if they had a team of cheats as long as the Blue stood on top in October. 

That's why they welcome back a known-cheater back standing on both feet. Manny was a monster last year producing a .396 average with 17 homers in the final two months of the '08 season, followed by an amazing postseason. Dodger fans need Manny, just as much as the goofy outfielder needs LA.

There's one small consolation in our star worshipping culture, only helped by ESPN's daily Manny-minor league updates, that is Ramirez and fellow cheat Alex Rodriguez will be very absent from this week's All-Star festivities. 

Some pitchers can't buy a "W"

It happens to at least one or two good pitchers every year. Aces who get victimized by no run support, porous defense and bullpen implosions. Their fine work off the mound just slips through the cracks. 

Two such guys this MLB season are Arizona's Doug Davis and last year's AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee of Cleveland.

Davis has very little to show for his 3.13 ERA this year, just a 4-8 record.  And he has the misfortunes of playing for the D'Backs who take the cake for making errors (last in the majors) and hemorrhage runs in the late innings (26th in bullpen ERA). 

That's only part of the story. Earlier this season the Diamondbacks allowed only four runs in a three-game series against San Francisco. What happened? They dropped two out three. Arizona's offensive futility was in full force, scoring a merger two runs in 27 innings.

Davis only seems to get better as the pressure turns up (.188 BA against with runners in scoring position), and his only hope to salvage this season is to hope for a July trade.

In the American League, Cliff Lee is abused. Sure he started off the year with a couple rough starts, but the numbers now show he hasn't slipped much from the guy who came from relative obscurity to post a 22-3 record.

Lee and Davis both share a common bond. They have the dubious honor to be tied for the most starts of 7-plus innings with 2 earned runs or fewer to pick up an "L". Both have five.

What makes matter worse for Lee is that the Indians are averaging just 1.6 runs/game in his eight losses, and closer Kerry Wood has blown two leads of Lee's in the late innings.

It comes with the territory in baseball, but it's tough to watch. Davis and Lee are pitching much better than their records will show. It's too bad history won't remember that.