Every story about anything involving Barry Bonds seems to always have a twist. Such is the case with the way the 756th home run ball arrived at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on Tuesday.
Fashion designer and owner of the ball, Mark Ecko, was told never mind by the Hall early on Tuesday after Ecko agreed to loan -- not unconditionally donate -- the ball to baseball's Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame issued a statement that they would "not be able to accept the baseball" because "the owner's previous commitment to unconditionally donate the baseball has changed to a loan."
Ecko was surprised by the Hall's stance and said he was unaware of the Hall's stance even after being in contact with the Hall of Fame that morning. After both sides weighed in, it looked like the ball -- branded with a dye-cut asterisk by Ecko -- would not be on public display at the Hall of Fame.
Near the end of the day, a driver walked up the steps of the Hall and handed the ball and a letter from Ecko over to Hall of Fame staff. The letter stated the ball was being unconditionally donated to the Hall by Ecko. Once the museum documents the ball into its' collection, the infamous ball will be on display in Cooperstown.
Ecko purchased the ball during an online auction for $752,467 and launched an Internet poll for fans to decide what he should do with it. The winning suggestion was to brand the baseball with an asterisk, a move that led Bonds to call Ecko an "idiot" and declare he would boycott the Hall if the ball were ever displayed there.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are trying to keep from dropping below .500 and will have to do so without the services of Eric Byrnes and Chris Snyder who both landed on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday. Right-handed pitcher Connor Robertson and catcher Robby Hammock were recalled from Triple-A Tuscon to replace the injured Byrnes and Snyder.
While the Byrnes-to-DL move was expected, Snyder's trip was a little unexpected. Snyder suffered a testicular fracture after he was struck by a foul ball off of the bat of Corey Hart against Milwaukee on Monday night. Byrnes strained his left hamstring in the same game. It is tough to predict how long both players will miss -- typically hamstrings can be tricky and there is not much to go on to forecast how much time a player needs to recover from a testicle injury.
Reliever Connor Robertson made his Arizona debut on Tuesday night in relief of Randy Johnson. Robertson gave up one run on two hits in three innings of work in their 8-6 loss to the Diamondbacks. The 26-year-old Robertson previously played for the Oakland Athletics in 2007 where he gave up four runs in two innings of work.
Hammock started the season with the Major League club but struggled -- he was 4-for-22 in 10 games -- and was sent down for seasoning. With Tuscon, Hammock hit .315 with four homers and 16 RBI in 28 games.
Tampa Bay Rays closer Troy Percival went on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday -- one day after suffering an injury to his left hamstring backing up third base in their 5-4 win over the Red Sox. The Rays recalled starting pitcher Mitch Talbot from Triple-A Durham to take Percival's place.
Percival argued with manager Joe Maddon after Maddon decided to remove him from the game with two outs in the ninth following the injury. Despite Maddon's attempt to prevent more serious injury to their closer who already missed 12 games with the same injury, Percival was shelved for the second time this season.
Talbot will be used in long relief and will the entire bullpen will shift their current roles. Grant Balfour was used to close out their 3-1 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday night.
Houston Astros catcher Humberto Quintero suffered a concussion during Tuesday night's game with the Dodgers when shortstop Luis Maza's bat hit Quintero on the top of his helmet. Immediately following the game, Quintero was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Catcher J.R. Towles was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to take Quintero's place.
Quintero was on the ground for nearly four minutes following the unfortunate incident and was taken to a local hospital for testing. The loss of Quintero gives prospect Towles a shot to impress the Astros' brass. Towles made the squad out of Spring Training but hit just .145 with four home runs and 14 RBI in 42 games before being sent down to Round Rock where he seems to have found his stroke. At Round Rock, Towles hit .288 with five homers and 11 RBI in 18 games.
The Diamondbacks are doing everything they can to give away the NL West but the Dodgers continue to be snake-bitten. Despite their 39-44 record, Los Angeles trails Arizona by just two and a half games.
While there was good news on Nomar Garciaparra's rehab assignment and Hiroki Kuroda returns to the starting rotation today, the Dodgers received more bad news on the never-ending saga of Rafael Furcal's back injury. Furcal was forced to leave his rehab assignment and return to Los Angeles for further evaluation after discomfort followed his first Minor League game.
Furcal -- out since May 6 -- has been one of the toughest holes for the Dodgers to fill. The team is 21-30 without the services of Furcal who provided a huge spark at the top of the lineup hitting .366 with five homers, 16 RBI and 34 runs scored in 32 games. The loss of Furcal was further complicated when his replacement at the top of the lineup, Juan Pierre, joined Furcal on the DL over the weekend.
With a roster spot available due to the demotion of Brett Myers and the absence of reliever Clay Condrey who is with his wife in Texas while she has a baby, the Philadelphia Phillies recalled 24-year-old left-handed reliever R.J. Swindle from Triple-A Lehigh Valleyto fill the empty roster spot.
Swindle is one of the few highlights coming out of Lehigh Valley this season. He is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in 18 games for the 34-53 IronPigs who are 21 games out of the division lead in the International North.
How long Swindle will stay at the Major League level will depend on manager Charlie Manuel's decision on who will take Myers' spot in the starting rotation on Wednesday. Should Manuel tap one of Swindle's teammates to fill the spot, Swindle's first Major League stint will be a short one. Manuel could decide to move reliever Chad Durbin who has pitched well in long relief into the starting rotation which would create a more permanent bullpen spot for Swindle. Durbin is 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA in 43 2/3 innings during 31 appearances this season.
No matter who replaces Myers, it will mark the first time this season the Phillies use a pitcher outside of their original five-man rotation. The Phillies are the only team in the Majors to use just five starters this season.