Ankiel82811

Former Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox once said Rick Ankiel possesses the strongest and most accurate outfield arm he's seen in 50 years in baseball. It would be difficult to find a stronger endorsement than that.

I've only been watching baseball for half that long. And yes, my opinion matters far less than Cox's, but I'm going to go ahead and back the legendary skipper on this one. Rick Ankiel has the strongest and most accurate outfield arm I've ever seen. And the gap between him and the field seems to grow with each passing season.

Sure, I'll listen to your arguments for Ichiro, Jose Guillen, Larry Walker, Andre Dawson and maybe even Jeff Francoeur, but you'll never change my mind. Simply said, no 90 feet are guaranteed when the baseball ends up in Ankiel's left hand.

He proved that again on Sunday.

Watch Ankiel's cannon

The throw happened during the ninth inning of the Washington Nationals' 5-4, 14-inning loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday afternoon. With the score tied

Price14KNine innings and nine items to get you going. Ladies and gentleman of the Stew, take a sip of morning Juice.

1. David sets the Price at 14K: Aided by a stiff wind to center field that was adding unprecedented movement to his two-seam fastball, Tampa Bay Rays lefty David Price fanned a franchise-record 14 Toronto Blue Jays over seven scoreless innings.

"I've never had that much movement before so it was pretty cool," Price said. "The wind kept blowing and it was making my eyes watery all game. I knew it was blowing pretty good and I just kept throwing it."

And the Jays kept missing it.

But as much as Price benefited, the wind was not a detriment to Tampa's offense. Rookie Desmond Jennings hit a pair of home runs and knocked in three, while three other Rays drove in two in what amounted to a 12-0 victory.

2. Heating up: With the game-time temperature of 103 for a 7:05 p.m. local first pitch, two struggling Texas Rangers finally got hot. Josh Hamilton broke a 3-for-21 slide with a

AP110814030463Hurricane Irene has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but her repercussions will be felt by millions for days and possibly much longer.

At the very bottom of that list in importance is her effect on Major League Baseball's scheduling. Specifically, the bickering it has caused among Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter and several members of the New York Yankees, including general manager Brian Cashman, manager Joe Girardi and player rep Curtis Granderson.

The Yankees' frustration stems from the Orioles' decision to play one game, as scheduled, ahead of Irene on Friday night, and to schedule a doubleheader for Saturday, which was ultimately postponed. Then, in light of those postponements, the Orioles suggested the teams play doubleheaders both Sunday and Monday.

Not surprisingly, the Yankees scoffed at that idea with a big series against the Boston Red Sox beginning on Tuesday, accepting only a doubleheader Sunday and a single game on Monday. The extra game will now be made up

FanFall1

They say being a Chicago Cubs fan will make you want to pull your hair out frequently. Well, I'm sure one particular fan who attended a 5-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on Friday night would agree. It's just — after tumbling out of the stands attempting to snag a foul ball — he has a bit less hair to pull out.

The hair-losing experience took place during Casey McGehee's seventh-inning at-bat. McGehee pulled one foul off the screen protecting the Cubs third-base dugout. The ball then ricocheted back on the field, and eventually ended up in the hands of Brewers third base coach Ed Sedar, who tossed the ball toward fans seated on the front row a few feet from the camera well.

Sedar's toss seemed to be intended for a younger fan, but our fan reached out with his left hand, deflected the baseball away, lost his balance, and stumbled over the short wall and landed head first on the dirt.

And that's not all that landed on the dirt: {YSP:MORE}

FanFall2

A friendly Brewers fan asks the

nelson_cruz_naked_handsTired of slumping, Nelson Cruz decided it was time to take off the gloves and fight back another way.

Desperate times call for unusual thinking, and that's exactly the route Cruz took to help get himself righted for the Texas Rangers' series opener with the Los Angeles Angels.

Cruz entered play on Friday mired in a 4-for-27 funk, which prompted manager Ron Washington to drop him to seventh in the order for the first time this season. Washington hoped the move would help Cruz to relax and play looser. Though not a fan of the switch, Cruz took it in stride, and also used it as provocation to try something different in the batting cage.

And no, he didn't do something common like tweak his stance or change his leg kick. He didn't adjust his hand placement or start wiggling the bat menacingly. He removed his batting gloves.

That's it.

"Staying in the lineup is the only thing that matters," Cruz said. "I don't like the (demotion) but the only thing that I care about is to be in the lineup. I

122189960

Jose Bautista is already a strong contender for American League MVP based on his ability to launch home runs and get on base. Now he's also a leading contender for 2011's best temper tantrum after launching his helmet, bat and other dugout items on to the field following his ejection in Friday's 6-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

After striking out swinging in the sixth inning — his third strikeout in as many plate appearances — Bautista appeared to calmly walk back to the Blue Jays dugout. However, once in the dugout, Bautista slammed his bat against the metal wall in the dugout, creating a sound that echoed throughout Rogers' Centre.

That got attention of home plate umpire Bill Welke. Well, either that did or Bautista's yelling "Pay attention!" in Welke's direction got his attention. One of the two. Either way, Welke gave Bautista the heave-ho, which set off a barage of flying baseball equipment and other items that weren't tied down from Toronto's dugout.

Watch Bautista start

AP110826032622Nine innings and nine items to get you going. Ladies and gentleman of the Stew, take a sip of morning Juice.

1. Start of the season: According to a pitching metric known as Game Score, New York Mets starter Chris Capuano pitched not only the best game of his career, but the best game by any starter this season in a 6-0 win over the Atlanta Braves. Capuano's two-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts scored a 95, which tops no-hitters thrown by Justin Verlander and Ervin Santana.

2. "Complete Game" James: Make that a major league-leading 10 complete games for Tampa Bay Rays starter James Shields, who also picked up his 12th victory in their 6-1 defeat of the Toronto Blue Jays. Evan Longoria cracked a pair of home runs to help make sailing even smoother for Shields.

3. Piling up wins: Rick Porcello became the third Detroit Tigers starter to notch his 12th victory in their 8-1 dismantling of the Minnesota Twins. As Chris Lott noted on Twitter, by weekend's end they could also have a 20-game

larry_bernandez

He's a flame-throwing right-hander from parts unknown. He sports some very unique facial hair and a pair of glasses that remind us of a man known as "Wild Thing" Rick Vaughn. Altogether, he sort of looks like Judah Friedlander.

And, despite never appearing in a game for the Seattle Mariners, this man is arguably just as popular as Felix Hernandez and Ichiro in the Emerald City.

His name: Larry Bernandez.

We first met Bernandez during spring training when he attempted to the make an unscheduled start during an exhibition game. Manager Eric Wedge (then-manager, anyway) nipped that in the bud quickly, but Bernandez's popularity has since taken on a life of its own. Fans have come to Safeco Field donning wigs and glasses that resemble Bernandez. His t-shirt has taken over the Mariners clubhouse. He even has several twitter accounts and facebook pages in his honor (also this one).

And now comes the next logical step in the marketing of Seattle's newest sports legend. His very own