The USA Today reported on its web site on Friday that Major League Baseball approached the World Umpires Association to discuss the implementation of instant replay on "boundary calls" including home run calls on August 1. While there are a number of issues to iron out -- including whether replay calls would be initiated by an umpire's request or a manager's challenge -- two high-ranking officials in the WUA stated that baseball has begun negotiations to make replay a reality.
The other main issues under negotiation are what video feeds are to be used and whether calls would be made by an umpire stationed at the game or at a central command center similar to the NHL which uses a command center in their Toronto office. According to one of the officials, baseball approached the umpires prior to the season and were considering a command center in their New York office.
collection of baseball’s grand—and not-so grand—final acts. It celebrates the moments that became instant classics—like Carlton Fisk waving fair his home run in the 1975 World Series.
- Or what about one of the brand new 
It took until June 11 for Milton Bradley to have a blow-up worthy of national headlines since joining his sixth team in nine seasons. Before that, Bradley was quietly on the verge of his best season in the Majors. Bradley leads the American League in batting, hitting clean-up in the highest scoring offense in baseball. Behind Josh Hamilton in the lineup and the headlines, Bradley will have to make a rare appearance in the field to see playing time against the Mets. Most likely, the Rangers will make the accommodation to have his bat available -- Bradley is hitting .444 with five home runs and 11 RBI in his last eight games. Besides leading the AL in batting at .333, Bradley is also the league leader in on-base percentage (.454) and slugging percentage (.629). 
On May 28, Jose Guillen exploded on his team after they blew a game in the ninth and lost in 10 innings to the Minnesota Twins. After their 10th consecutive loss, Guillen said there were "too many babies" on his team and that he knew why the Royals organization had been losing for a while. Since then, the Royals' fortunes have not changed -- they extended their losing streak to 12 before finally winning and are 5-9 -- but Guillen has caught fire. In those 14 games, Guillen hit .407 with five doubles, five home runs and 14 RBI including a seven RBI game against the Yankees. Guillen heads into Arizona where he played part of his 2002 season with a seven-game hitting streak. On his ninth team in 12 seasons, Guillen has been named in a few stories referring to players who will be available near the trade deadline and if it were to happen, it would be the fourth time in his Major League career that Guillen was traded mid-season. Each trade saw Guillen go from one league to the other so Interleague Play is a prime opportunity for the Royals to showcase the American League leader in doubles (23).
Chicago Cubs outfielder Reed Johnson returns to play the team that drafted him in 1999 and cut him after the 2007 season. In the offseason, Johnson signed with the Cubs and has played in 52 games and started 41 of those with the possibility of Johnson seeing more playing time after Alfonso Soriano went on the disabled list. The 31-year-old Johnson was released from the Jays after hitting .236 with two home runs and 14 RBI in 79 games. In the 52 games with the Cubs, Johnson is hitting .267 with two homers and 27 RBI. He also knocked in the game winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning on Thursday when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to beat the Braves. The Cubs boast the best record in baseball but are just 14-16 on the road. It is expected that Johnson will get a warm reception in Toronto -- he was a fan favorite with the Blue Jays during his tenure with the club.
Another player heads back to where he started his career when Jorge Cantu returns to Tampa Bay as a member of the Florida Marlins along with former Rays Doug Waechter and Mark Hendrickson. Despite having his nine game hitting streak stopped by Marlins killer Jamie Moyer, Cantu comes into the weekend series with his former team hitting .425 with six home runs, 11 RBI and 10 runs scored in his last 10 games. He already has 14 home runs which is half of his career-high 28 home runs that Cantu hit in 2005 with Tampa Bay. Cantu has never played the Rays but is familiar with the friendly confines of Tropicana Field. In 158 games at Tropicana, Cantu hit .293 with 39 doubles, 23 home runs and 104 RBI. Both the Marlins and Rays have winning records marking the first time since 2004 that both teams in their Interleague rivalry had a winning record at the same time during their series. The Marlins lead the series 34 to 21 but the Rays come into this series having won the last two games over the Marlins.
The teams with the worst records in the American and National League square off when the Nationals travel to Seattle to play the Mariners. Only two players on the Mariners -- Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez -- and none on the Nationals have played in every game this season. Ibanez has been on some bad teams before. He played for the Mariners when they lost 99 games in 2004 and the Royals when they lost 100 games in 2002. Ibanez is hitting .264 with eight home runs and 40 RBI in 66 games and the Mariners are 24-42 this season. The Nationals are a perfect opportunity for the Mariners to start their turn-around. A week ago manager John McLaren went on an expletive-filled tirade about his team's performance and since then the Mariners have responded with a 3-3 record -- not quite good enough to dig them out of the basement of the AL West. The Mariners are on a pace to lose 103 games which would be the second time in the 36-year-old Ibanez's career he has played on a team that has lost over 100 games.
In four starts, Red Sox rookie Justin Masterson is 3-0 and has given up more than one run in only one of his starts. Masterson has gone at least six innings in every outing and has not been on the losing end of a decision. For Masterson, this will be his first Major League road start and first start in Interleague Play. In 24 1/3 innings, Masterson has a 2.59 ERA and a 1.068 WHIP with 18 strikeouts. The 23-year-old Masterson, Boston's second round pick in 2006, has made the most of his opportunities created by injuries to the Red Sox starting rotation. The more successful outings Masterson has, the harder it will be for manager Terry Francona to remove Francona from the starting rotation when Daisuke Matsuzaka and Curt Schilling eventually return. On Friday night, he faces off against hard luck Reds pitcher Aaron Harang who has pitched better than his 2-9 record in 14 starts indicates.
When Rich Harden takes the hill for the ninth time this season on Saturday, it will match the number of starts he made in 2006 and more than double his starts in 2007. For Harden, it is the first time he has made seven consecutive starts without spending time on the DL (a place he has already been once in 2008). There is good news in Harden's story -- he has pitched at least seven innings in his last five starts and is 3-0 with a 2.85 ERA. The team is 7-2 when Harden pitches and he has made six of nine quality starts including five in a row. At 26, if Harden can avoid the disabled list, he could become one of the best in the game. He has struck out 58 in 47 1/3 innings this season and is 34-18 in his career. The problem is Harden has only started 20 or more games in one of his six Major League seasons. Harden has been successful in Interleague Play with a 3-1 record in six starts including 1-0 in three starts against the Giants. On a lighter note, Harden enters the game with a one game hitting streak after getting his first Major League hit off of former teammate Tim Hudson when the Athletics played the Braves on May 17.
For the first time in his career, C.C. Sabathia is facing the possibility of having a losing record. In his previous seven seasons with the Indians, Sabathia posted a winning record in every single season but is 4-8 going into Sunday's game against the Padres. With the Indians five games under .500 and 6 1/2 games behind the White Sox, Sabathia has often been mentioned as a possibility to be moved near the trade deadline. Sunday's outing serves a dual-purpose with Sabathia pitching to help his team get back into the race and also give him an opportunity to showcase his talent for the Indians who might trade him if they cannot climb back into the race and for Sabathia who is in the middle of a contract year. He is coming off of his second complete game shutout of the season and is a respectable but unspectacular 10-6 with a 4.04 ERA in Interleague Play. The Padres send Greg Maddux to the mound against Sabathia who has also been mentioned as a trade deadline possibility which means a number of teams will be keeping one eye on this game.
With the Atlanta Braves coming to town, K-Rod should expect to see some action. The Braves are 7-24 on the road this season and have lost 21 consecutive one-run games on the road dating back to last August which ties a Major League record. With every save, Francisco Rodriguez's price tag in this upcoming offseason continues to rise. With 27 saves already, K-Rod is on a pace to save 65 which would shatter Bobby Thigpen's Major League record of 57. With 173 career saves, the 26-year-old closer is already second on the Angels' All-Time saves list (behind Troy Percival's 316). Rodriguez has converted his last 24 save opportunities and 33 of his last 34. The most impressive statistic has to be K-Rod's 537 strikeouts in 413 1/3 innings which works out to 11.69 strikeouts/9 innings, almost a full strikeout higher than Randy Johnson's 10.755. If the Braves go into the ninth inning trailing by one run, their futility in one-run road games is most likely going to continue.