Major League Baseball
NL notes: Pierre, Cabrera immortalized on rap track

By Larry Stone
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Marlins outfielder Juan Pierre may have a World Series ring, but now he has arrived. He and teammate Miguel Cabrera are mentioned in a song by hip-hop artist Trick Daddy, a South Florida native.

The song, "The Rubber Band Man remix," performed by T.I. and featuring Mack 10, Trick Daddy and Twista, was released in late March and has been getting steady airplay.

The lyric in the third verse goes: "I'm such a player they call me Juan Pierre. Been ballin' since my younger years like ya boy Cabrera."

A flattered Pierre told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel:

"I couldn't believe it. ... Music lasts forever. Twenty years from now you can tell somebody that's my name in it."

• Pirates players had a little fun with manager Lloyd McClendon after he was suspended two games for his nose-to-nose argument with Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.

Outfielder Craig Wilson presented McClendon with two books — "The Anger Workbook" and "Getting the Best of Your Anger."

• Perhaps remembering when Arthur Rhodes was required to remove his earring after a complaint by Omar Vizquel, Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella asked umpires to make San Francisco starter Jerome Williams remove his puka shell necklace against the Devil Rays this past week.

Sweet Lou should have done a little checking. Last August, when Reds manager Dave Miley made Williams remove the puka shells — given to him by his mother just before her death — he responded with a career-high nine strikeouts. This time, he took a shutout into the eighth inning, and allowed just one run against Tampa Bay.

"Every time that happens the kid turns it up a notch," Giants manager Felipe Alou told the San Francisco Chronicle.
 
• The Cubs have the hardest-throwing staff in the majors, and the orneriest. After hitting 71 batters last year, they've already hit a major-league-high 32 this year. Their propensity for throwing inside led to three bench-clearing incidents in the past two weeks.

• That was a stirring victory for the Brewers on Tuesday, when Ben Sheets nearly had a perfect game through nine innings, and Milwaukee beat Anaheim 1-0 in 17. But what a brutal game for Geoff Jenkins, who not only went 0 for 7 but tied a major-league record by striking out six times.

"Winning definitely makes the sting go away," Jenkins told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "It was definitely frustrating. There's nothing really to analyze. The beauty is we won the game."

Craig Counsell, who scored the game's only run on Scott Podsednik's two-out double, called Sheets' nine-inning, one-hit effort, "Probably the best-pitched game I've ever seen."

• The Braves lead the National League in errors, and Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa thinks he knows why — the rock-hard infield at Turner Field.

"It's terrible," Bowa told reporters.

Braves manager Bobby Cox defended the Braves' groundskeeper, Ed Mangam, pointing out they have been equally bad on the road as at home.

• The Marlins could have a very interesting team party. Josh Beckett dates broadcaster Leeann Tweeden, a former lingerie model, and Carl Pavano is going with actress Alyssa Milano. Backup catcher Matt Treanor has been engaged since March to Olympic beach volleyball star Misty May.

• Ex-Mariners pitcher Sterling Hitchcock, frustrated by a series of groin injuries, is contemplating retirement. The Padres shut him down Tuesday when he strained his groin while pitching for Class AAA Portland — Hitchcock's sixth groin injury since spring camp opened. He's also had a fractured rib.

• The Expos have replaced closer Rocky Biddle with Chad Cordero. It caps an amazing rise for Cordero, 22, who started last season pitching for Cal State Fullerton, then was the Expos' No. 1 draft pick in June. He was in the majors by late August.