THE WARMUP
Cash in for Connors
There will be a last-minute substitution in Friday night’s Montreal Rendez-vous, the clash of tennis legends at the Bell Centre. Injured and out is Jimmy Connors; in his stead will be 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, who no doubt will bring plenty of his trademark checkerboard bandanas to throw to the crowd.
El Hombre history
The Los Angeles Angels will no longer refer to new star Albert Pujols as El Hombre in the team’s marketing campaign. Pujols thinks the term is disrespectful to Hall of Famer Stan (The Man) Musial. A team spokesman now tells the L.A. Times there were no plans to use it beyond billboards, anyway. “The Angels respect the game of baseball, the legacy of Stan Musial and the career of Albert Pujols too much to let a billboard graphic affect the media’s perception of the Angels’ opinion of these two great players,” a statement said.
El Magic?
Meanwhile, the NBA’S Orlando Magic will wear El Magic jerseys for three home games in tribute to the team’s Latino fan base. Of course, the jerseys and assorted paraphernalia already are available on the Magic’s website. But if they really want to pay respects to their Spanishspeaking fans, shouldn’t the jerseys say El Magia?
Aging sluggers
It’s almost sad to watch a generation of dominant baseball sluggers trying to hang on. Manny Ramirez has signed a minor-league deal with the Oakland Athletics and Miguel Tejada, American League MVP with Oakland in 2002, is practically begging. “Tell Billy (Oakland GM Billy Beane) to give me a call,” Tejada, 37, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I don’t want big money. I just want to play.” Tejada hasn’t hit more than 20 home runs in a season since 2006. Also still out there are Magglio Ordonez, 38, and former Expo Vladimir Guerrero, 37. Guerrero didn’t sign with Baltimore until Feb. 18 last year.
Ex-expo radio host
Diehard Expos fans will remember Tracy Jones, who patrolled the outfield and batted .333 in 53 games in 1988 after arriving in Cincinnati in a trade involving Herm Winningham and Randy St. Claire. Jones, 50, has been the afternoondrive radio host for WLW radio in Cincinnati since 2008. He got his start doing a Reds post-game show; he was infamous for asking callers after Friday night games how many drinks they’d had. Jones also claims he invented the highly overused expression “it is what it is” when he was 7, and often ends conversations with female callers by guessing their weight over the phone.
Baseball trade film
Lifelong friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, looking for a movie to do together, have settled on a baseballthemed project tentatively called The Trade, the story of New York Yankees Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson. In 1972, Kekich traded wife Suzanne, two kids and a terrier straight-up to Peterson for his wife Marilyn, two kids and a poodle. Imagine if that happened in this media age. Both players’ careers then floundered. Kekich and Marilyn didn’t last; Peterson and Susanne are still married.