BASEBALL

In MLB, Oakland Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon was suspended 50 games Wednesday, for testing positive for testosterone. Colon’s Oakland Athletics are just a half game out of the American League Wild Card race and Colon is a big reason for that.  Colon has had more wins this season than any since his Cy Young season.  The Athletics look to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2006.  The former Cy Young Award winner is the second key player to hurt his team’s chances at making a run for the playoffs. Last week, Melky Cabrera violated the league’s drug policy as the San Francisco Giants look to win the National League West Division.

And while one Cy Young Award winner has been banned from baseball, another has returned. Fifty year old, Roger Clemens has announced that he has agreed to join the Sugar Land Skeeters. The Skeeters are an Independent league baseball team and Clemens says he’s just “going to go out and have fun with this…” Some believe this is Clemens’ first step to coming back to play in the major leagues, where he last pitched at age 45 for the New York Yankees. And many believe Clemens is doing this for his Hall of Fame eligibility. Clemens now will have his timer set back, so his eligibility is even further down the road. In Clemens’ mind this would put his trial, where he was accused of taking steroids, a little further back in the voters’ minds.

Also in minor league baseball, Billy Hamilton broke the single season stolen base record with games to play. Hamilton has 147 steals in 121 games this season and broke Vince Coleman’s 30-year-old record of 145.  Hamilton is a Double-A prospect for the Cincinnati Reds and is regarded by many to be the Reds’ top prospect. Hamilton is more than just a base stealer; the shortstop is also batting .317 with a .417 on base percentage this year between multiple levels of the minors.

FOOTBALL

It has been reported that Maurice Jones-Drew is open to being traded away from the Jacksonville Jaguars. Currently, Jones-Drew is holding out, because he wants a better deal. Jones-Drew has rushed for at least 1,300 yards in three consecutive season and his salary isn’t close to the top 5 highest paid running backs in the NFL. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry last season, even with a subpar offensive line. Jones-Drew has a career total of 74 touchdowns and carried the ball a career-high 343 times last year alone.  The owner of the Jaguars, Shad Khan has said that Jones-Drew is a great player but his message to the star running back is “Train’s leaving the station. Run, get on it.”