Low & Outside: AL Notes

Have you seen or heard John McLaren's postgame

tirade

following the Mariners' 5-4 loss to the Angels on Wednesday? We put

tirade

in italics because it was one of the more pathetic managerial outbursts in recent memory, despite the 13 beeped-out cuss words. Here's the PG-rated version:

"We're playing our asses off every day, and we got nothing to show for it. I'm tired of bleeping losing. I'm tired of getting bleeping beat, and so are those guys. We're going to change this bleeping thing around and get after it. And only we can do it. The fans are beeped off, and I'm beeped off. And the players are beeped off. And that's the way it is. There's no easy beeping way out of this. Can't feel sorry for ourselves. We got to beeping buckle it up and get after it. Tired of beep-beeped losing every beeping night, and we bust our beeps. It's got to be a total team beeping effort to turns this around. And that's it."

McLaren then walked off the podium and out to the room to accept his Razzie. Steven Seagal was a more believable actor.

Moving Joba out of the bullpen was a dumbo move, according to Yankees leftfielder Johnny Damon. Joba Chamberlain was promoted to a starter's role on Tuesday and promptly got shelled in 21/3 innings of work. Chamberlain had been lights out as a set-up reliever, so Damon couldn't understand the decision to shake up the pitching staff. "I just felt like our bullpen was our strength," Damon told the New York Daily News. "I think it still could be, but when you move a guy like that, everyone's trying to find a role." In April, team co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner was quoted as saying he wanted Chamberlain moved into the rotation sooner rather than later. Manager Joe Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman said that would occur in due time, but you have to wonder if they envisioned it happening so quickly. And now, so do some of the players.

The State Farm "Call Your Shot" sweepstakes involving David Ortiz that culminates with a winner calling "Big Papi's shot" at the Home Run Derby could wind up with Juan Pierre as its centerpiece. Well, maybe not that far a dropoff. But Ortiz's wrist injury is forcing Major League Baseball to look into alternatives with the all-star break five weeks away, according to a report in the New York Times. On Tuesday, the Red Sox' designated hitter was fitted with a cast he is expected to wear for three weeks. Red Sox doctors say they expect Ortiz to be able to play once the cast is removed, but MLB may not take the chance. The State Farm Web site, however, is still asking fans to enter the contest to "tell David Ortiz where to hit one at the derby." The winner earns a trip to New York and will stand at Yankee Stadium's home plate to call Ortiz's shot. Babe Ruth, meanwhile, is spinning like a Rotisserie chicken in Hawthorne, N.Y.

Twins shortstop Nick Punto was sent back to the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring. . . . When Orioles lefthander Adam Loewen returns from the disabled list, he will pitch in relief for the rest of the season.