Steve Finley News

View full size photo>> It seems odd, but the most compelling Rays hot stove item has nothing to do with this off-season. Well, it has something to do with this year, just not as much as it does with next year, or the year after next.

No, that would have been that of Paul DePodesta, in 2005. As a Moneyball fan, I was sorry to see DePodesta go.

Steve Finley was miffed. It was 1988, and the young outfielder had excelled throughout spring training for the Double-A Charlotte Orioles.

It felt like a punch to the forehead from Mike Piazza and the 1993 Dodgers. A knee to the solar plexus from the Angels in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series.

Never put a baseball player on camera. It doesn't matter if they're active, retired, injured, broadcasting, running the bases, or just signing autographs.

Although Steve Finley had to be away from his family this Father's Day, he spent the day doing one of his absolute favorite things - prowling the outfield at a ballpark in upstate New York.

I practically begged the Rockies to take a chance with a high upside kid, ignoring potential contract demands.