as we may blog

Even if it means giving credit to Yankees fans:

Cheney, who visited both clubhouses after batting practice, watched part of the game from the box of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and part from a first-row seat next to the Yankees dugout, where he sat between New York Gov. George Pataki and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Cheney was booed when he was shown on the right-field videoboard during the seventh-inning stretch.

Apparently said booing occurred during the singing of "God Bless America,&quot no less! Hats off to the Yankees fans.

Vice President Dick Cheney (left) and Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter discuss ways to trick Tim McCarver into creaming his pants before Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox.

HOUSTON 7TH
  Francis Beltran pitches to Carlos Beltran
  Pitch 1: ball 1
  Pitch 2: ball 2
  Pitch 3: strike 1 (looking)
  Pitch 4: strike 2 (looking)
  Pitch 5: ball 3
  Pitch 6: in play
  C Beltran homered to right.

But!

Francis Beltran (2-1), despite giving up Carlos Beltran’s homer, was the winner. LaTroy Hawkins pitched the ninth and got Beltran to ground to first with runners on first and second for his 11th save in 14 opportunities.

Whatta game. Any kids watching tonight’s game and hoping to make the big leagues as a left fielder learned a lot of bad habits tonight. Assuming, of course, the V-chip on their TV didn’t block the carnage after Alou tossed the ball into the ivy and played dumb in the 4th.

David Weathers, the official pariah of Can’t Stop the Bleeding, put the tying and go-ahead runs on in the 7th to earn the L. The Cubs took advantage of the Cardinals not taking advantage of their insanely weak late June schedule, moving up a game on the division leaders who lost 3-0 to the mighty Pittsburgh Pirates (rhymes with "pilates").

Clemens vs. Clement tomorrow. Insert your favorite "delerium clemens" joke here.

Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry comments on the possibility of the Cubs making some moves before the July 31 trade deadline:

Beyond solidifying the bullpen, Hendry seems unlikely to make any major changes to either his starting rotation or position players. He put together a contending team to open the season and the Cubs have battled injuries to remain in striking distance of first-place St. Louis.

”I don’t know where you could get better bench players than we have,” Hendry said, ”and there is no reason to consider another starter if all of our starters are healthy. I also like the position players we have.”

The Sun-Times floats a number of terrible bullpen ideas for Hendry: Shigetoshi Hasegawa (5.45 ERA, .281 BAA), Shawn Chacon (7.59, .308), Terry Adams (4.21, .275) among them. It’s nice that they want to populate the team with more Mike Remlingers, but I think most Cubs fans would be happy to pass on marginal relievers who are under contract for 2005. But thanks for asking.

That bullpen help is on the way is somewhat of a given. I’d like to focus a bit on what has been a glaring need for the Cubs for years now: shortstop. (Aside: is finding a decent shortstop becoming the impossible task that finding a decent 3B was before Aramis?)

Injuries have clouded the picture for Hendry though. The team has yet to play a game this season with it’s full 25-man roster healthy. One figures that Hendry is counting on Alex Gonzalez – scheduled to come back sometime close to the trade deadline – to produce. Gonzalez is a known quantity, and he’s a better option at short than either Ramon Martinez or Rey "OMFG" Ordonez. Unfortunately, waiting for Gonzalez to get back is sort of like waiting for your Pinto to be repaired at the shop. Sure it’ll seem like a huge upgrade over your rental jalopy, but, you know, it’s still a Pinto. The risk of an explosion of Game Six proportions is still there.

Take a look at K-Gonz’s numbers, and the numbers of a couple shortstops generally thought to be available. It’s a pretty awful year to be looking for a shortstop:

Player                    AVG/OBP/SLG        Zone rating (2004)
Gonzalez (career)         243/303/394        .845
Orlando Cabrera (2004)    236/296/325        .824
Alex Cintron (2004)       244/290/339        .831
Rich Aurilia (2004)       241/304/333        .859
Julio Lugo (2004)         276/333/433        .849
Omar Vizquel (2004)       274/338/365        .849

So while there aren’t any SS whose numbers jump out, all of them are about as capable as Gonzalez. I think the most reasonable expectation would be either Omar Vizquel or (gulp) Rich Aurilia in a package deal with Eddie Guardado as a setup man. But it appears from Hendry’s comments that Cubs fans shouldn’t expect major changes in the middle infield the rest of the year. Hard to say right now whether that’s a Good Thing.

CNN calls these "mixed rulings" for some reason. From the New York Times:

The Supreme Court ruled today that people being held by the United States as enemy combatants can challenge their detention in American courts – the court’s most important statement in decades on the balance between personal liberties and national security.

…Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote that the campaign against terrorism notwithstanding, "a state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation’s citizens."

In the Guantánamo case, the court ruled, 6 to 3, that federal courts have the jurisdiction to consider challenges to the custody of foreigners. The finding repudiated a central argument of the administration.

"Aliens at the base, like American citizens, are entitled to invoke the federal courts’ authority," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority. "United States courts have traditionally been open to nonresident aliens."

Expect the "courts gone wild" complaint from the White House any day now.

A cursory scan of candidates’ websites should tell you all you need to know about Election 2004.

Number of times W’s face appears on his re-election website, georgewbush.com: 0
Number of times John Kerry’s face appears on georgewbush.com: 3

Number of times W’s face appears on johnkerry.com: 0
Number of times John Kerry’s face appears on johnkerry.com: 6

So either John Kerry is an extremely handsome man that is featured on all political candidates’ websites or one candidate is having a hell of a time formulating a message that doesn’t depend solely on defining his opponent in negative terms.