Touch 'Em All: Selig: New ballparks needed for Athletics, Rays

Bud Selig spoke up Thursday, reminding everyone that he is still somehow, someway the commissioner of baseball (yeah, we tried to forget, too). On Thursday, Selig told the world (or at least the gathering of Associated Press Sports Editors in New York) that the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays must have new ballparks.

There's no argument against the Rays' getting new digs - they play in a warehouse in St. Petersburg (so, maybe two changes are needed?)

As for the Bay Area dispute between the A's, who would like to build a ballpark in San Jose, and the San Francisco Giants, who won't give up their territorial rights there, the commish provided no timetable for a decision.

Asked whether there could be a solution that wouldn't anger one of the Bay Area teams, Selig responded: "Time will tell. I'm always hopeful."

(Seriously, you don't want to get this guy going. He's like Patton.)

"I'm an optimist, and I really believe that every problem has a solution to it," he said. "The question is just finding the right one, and so far I've been lucky on that score. And so I hope my string of luck will continue."

(Hmm. We know of some baseball fans that might disagree, Bud - recalling a canceled World Series in 1994, an All-Star Game finishing in a tie in 2002, and the Phillies' 2008 Game 5 title-clincher being played over three days.)

All-star Twitterazzi (and reigning Touch 'Em All MVP) Nyjer Morgan goes by other monikers besides his best-known, alter-ego Tony Plush: Mr. Eezzy Brezzy, Mr. Gotta B Startin Somthin, Antonio Picante.

So, when the Milwaukee speedster blew through a a stop sign from Brewers third-base coach Ed Sedar on Wednesday night to score the winning run in a 3-2 win over the Dodgers (despite evidently being out to everyone in the world except umpire Mike Dimuro), he wasn't talking about it after the game.

Reports are that teammates are texting that it wasn't actually Morgan who made the play - it was Tony Plush. (But nobody's yet heard from Mr. Eezzy Brezzy.)

Meanwhile, the play has Los Angeles skipper Don Mattingly calling for instant replay. "We should still be playing," he said after the game.

Don't worry, Donny Baseball - Selig's on it.

Despite making baseball history with a 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday to become the oldest pitcher to win a major-league game, 49-year-old Rockies lefty Jamie Moyer, the pride of Souderton, said he wasn't really up on the lore of game. Hearing that, the Hall of Fame has offered him an internship to study in Cooperstown.

This article contains information from the Associated Press.