* Another costly blown call: Umpire robs Giants of winning run. When an umpire becomes the center of attention, especially at a critical point, it makes for bad baseball. Ignoring this axiom, Phil Cuzzi turned the ninth inning at AT&T Park into his own Sunday afternoon special. You might remember Cuzzi from such follies as the 2009 American League playoffs. Well, the man in blue came back for more scene stealing — this time from the San Francisco Giants — and now another team must live with an umpire’s mistake. After spending part of the ninth arguing with the New York Mets, Cuzzi blew a call at the plate that cost the Giants victory in a game that New York eventually won 4-3 in 10 innings. [Big League Stew]
* Minor League Fan Tasered After Mildly Obnoxious Comments And Mild Resistance. So there you are with your lovely spot for a night at the ballpark with the Daytona Cubs and the Fort Myers Miracle. Some guy is probably a little bit overserved — because no one is this genuinely excited at a Class A game — so you keep the camera rolling. Then, the Taser comes out. [The Sporting Blog]
* James Gammon Dies, Managing Team of Crazy Misfits in the Sky (1940-2010). In Major League, there was a cast of characters so over the top and ridiculous, that only one man could get them to band together and win some games. That man was Lou Brown, who was played by James Gammon. Gammon died Friday, and he was a goddamn legend. [With Leather]
* Perfect match: Ron Artest to perform at Crazy Horse. So what does Ron do now that he’s won his first ring and has nothing but free time on his hands? Party. He already held the annual Ron Artest BBQ, and next up is a rap performance at the appropriately titled Crazy Horse in West Covina, Ca. [You Been Blinded]
* The San Diego Padres Can’t Get No Respect. Despite the fact that on July 19 the Padres have the best record in the National League 54-37, ESPN (for the third straight day) did not run a headline about San Diego in its list of top baseball stories of the day. Apparently the fact that the Dodgers were swept and a note about Roy Oswalt being sort of injured are more important than a team extending its division lead to four games by a sweep, and moving to the third-best record in baseball. [Rumors & Rants]
* Also: Mel Gibson claims in his recent taped rant that he’s now so poor that he has to sell his Lakers’ tickets. Oh no … TBS salutes the late George Steinbrenner with 10 Steinbrenner-related Seinfeld episodes, starting tonight … Cricket sex scandal!
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Contact Rick Chandler at rickchand@gmail.com. Join in the fun on Twitter.
