Touch 'Em All: Selig is committed to more use of replay

Posted: July 29, 2012

Commissioner Bud Selig has reiterated that Major League Baseball intends to extend the use of instant replay.

"We're now going to add it on trapped balls in the outfield and, as I call them, bullets [fair or foul] down the right- and left-field lines," Selig said Friday during an interview on ESPN Radio.

Although he's been saying such things since the all-star break, his latest comments indicate that he's not backing down - and that the game will never be the same. Consider this: Selig wants instant replay on trapped balls. That's only a few steps removed from using machines to call balls and strikes.

Twins' desperate move

The White Sox acquired 28-year-old lefthander Francisco Liriano from division rival Minnesota in exchange for infielder Eduardo Escobar (who's hitting .207 and has three RBIs) and minor-league pitcher Pedro Hernandez, according to several reports.

Liriano, who tossed a no-hitter against the White Sox on May 3, 2011, is 3-10 with a 5.31 ERA this season shuffling between the Twins' rotation and bullpen.

By the way, the White Sox lead the AL Central, the Twins are in last place.

Something's fishy

Rookie Mike Trout's season reminds us of another piscine-named youngster who made waves nearly two decades ago for the Angels: rightfielder Tim Salmon.

As a 24-year-old in 1993, Salmon hit .283 with 31 homers and 95 RBIs in 142 games. His efforts gained him AL rookie of the year honors.

In 78 games this year, Trout is batting .354 with 16 homers and 49 RBIs. The 20-year-old all-star from Millville also has 31 stolen bases and has scored 75 runs, both tops in the AL.

So we won't be surprised if sometime in the future the Angels bring up a kid named Roger Bass, or Francisco Barracuda, or even Ichiro Koi.

Palmeiro makes a Hall

Former slugger Rafael Palmeiro has joined the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. He hopes Cooperstown comes calling someday, but he's not going to grovel.

"My lobbying was done on the field," said an unrepentant Palmeiro. "That's it. . . . If that's not good enough, I'm not going to beg these writers who have the power of the vote."

Palmeiro, 47, played college ball at Mississippi State during the early 1980s and later became one of just four players in big-league history with 3,000 hits and 500 homers. But his stellar career was overshadowed by a positive test for an anabolic steroid in 2005.

He has said that the drug was in a vitamin vial given to him by an Orioles teammate, and he's sticking to that story.

But it appears Hall of Fame voters don't believe him. His name was on just 12.6 percent of the ballots this year, well below the 75 percent needed for induction.

This article contains information from Inquirer wire services.