Reno And Albuquerque Raise Jacksonville And Birmingham's Bench Clearing Brawlness

((HT: KRNV-TV))

Yesterday, the HQ showed you what happens when two teams play each other for a week solid.

Jacksonville and Birmingham go after each other for 17 MINUTES SOLID!

Tonight, it was triple-A's turn at the brawling as Reno and the Isotopes went at it

Post by KRNV News 4.

KOLO-TV's Ben Ross has the overhead


According to Larry Brown Sports, there were ten ejections including Reno manager Phil Nevin- and this was in the second inning of the game. And this is the first time in a while that the HQ has seen anything drift in to the stands like that.

Here's the long version
((HT: MiLB.com))

Dodgers Cut Miguel Olivo After Ear-Biting Incident

((HT: ESPN))

The HQ had a feeling this wasn't going to end well...

Miguel Olivo and Alex Guerrero got into a bit of a kerfuffle in their Albuquerque dugout a few days ago- the result of a short-hop and a missed tag- and Olivo ended up biting a chunk of Guerrero's ear off in the mele. Guerrero was signed as a Cuban emigre for $28-million and was getting used to life in the United States and could now miss up to a month or more.

His agent, Leigh Steinberg, says his client will have to have plastic surgery over the incident and Olivo was released from the triple-A roster Thursday.

Here's how it all broke down in Salt Lake City
((HT: KSL-TV))

Jeff Francoeur: Re-Invented as a Relief Pitcher

((ht: sportingnews.com))

Yeah, sure, this is under the "He's still in baseball" category, but so what. We've covered San Diego Padres minor leaguer Jeff Francoeur since he was a kid playing baseball and football at Parkview (Lilburn, GA) High School.

And he's truly one of the nicest, most fun-loving guys you'll ever meet.

But he's struggled as a pro baseball player. Sure, he was Rookie of the Year in 2005 with the Atlanta Braves, but he's not done much since then. In fact he's been with 5 different MLB teams in the past 4 years.

That's why we found this video and story interesting.

It appears Frenchy may have found his calling. As a relief pitcher. Sure, it's only AAA Baseball for a crappy team in El Paso, Texas (the Chihuahuas) and it's only mop-up duty, but Jeff's not given up a run in his 4 appearances this season.

We know, it's a short sample. And according to The Sporting News, he's been holding back, hitting somewhere around 89 mph with his fastball. He can throw harder, but his manager doesn't want him to get hurt.

Anyway, here's video of Francoeur the reliever:

A Walk Off Grand Slam On The 4th Of July.

How's this for 4th of July fireworks, a game ending with a grand slam walk-off home run.

Kole Calhoun of the Salt Lake Bees provided the big blast.



"I really wasn’t trying to do too much, and I ended up hitting it well," Calhoun said after the game. "To have a grand slam on the Fourth of July is pretty special."

Yes it was.