Danny Knobler

Here at CBSSports.com, we're never sure quite what to make of the All-Star final vote.

On the one hand, it's a blatant attempt to get people to go to another website, namely mlb.com . On the other, it's a cute way to limit the talk of All-Star snubs, because the fans get to pick one last player and right one wrong.

Mostly, we haven't paid it much attention, which is why we were so surprised to hear that one of the contenders this year is a guy named Brantorino.

Search as we can through baseball-reference.com , and we can't find a single guy by that name playing baseball right now. Can't find anyone on the baseball cube , either.

It turns out this is yet another marketing ploy, but one that intrigues us. It turns out that the Tigers and Phillies got together on this one, with the Tigers encouraging their fans to vote not only for their own third baseman, Brandon Inge, but also for the Phillies' center fielder, Shane Victorino.

Thus, Brantorino, which has the advantage of sounding a little like Gran Torino, the Clint Eastwood movie set in suburban Detroit.

Other than that? Well, there's really not much connection between the Phillies and the Tigers, or between Inge and Victorino, for that matter.

But the Phillies and Tigers were a little concerned when they saw the Rangers and Giants seeming to pair up to push Ian Kinsler and Pablo Sandoval (which only began as a "If you get your employees to vote Pablo, we'll get ours to vote Ian" deal), and by Angels and Dodgers coming up with a "Vote SoCal" campaign for Chone Figgins and James Loney.

Thus, Brantorino, which only came together Wednesday morning, but has already resulted in press releases asking businesses in Pennsylvania and Michigan to allow their employees enough computer time to vote for both Victorino and Inge.

It's not bad, although it's not the best final vote campaign we've ever heard of.

That honor still rests with the White Sox, who got A.J. Pierzynski to the 2006 All-Star Game by urging fans to "Punch A.J." Perfect, since Pierzynski is the player so many fans (and opponents and teammates) love to hate.

NEW YORK -- Mark Teixeira got booed more in Baltimore.

Johnny Damon gets booed more at Fenway Park.

Luis Castillo got booed more Tuesday night. So did Guillermo Mota.

We could tell you that Manny Ramirez got booed Tuesday night at Citi Field, in his first true post-suspension road game, and we wouldn’t be lying. But it sure would be misleading, because if this was as hostile as it gets for Manny, he’s got nothing to worry about.

Maybe fans don’t care as much about steroids as we think they do. Maybe they simply like Manny more than we think they do.

That’s his explanation, of course.

"The fans have been great to me, especially in LA,” he said. "What can I say, I’m just blessed everywhere I go. People like me, the way I play, the way I do things.”

We’d like to argue with him. We’d like to tell him people are outraged by his cheating, and by his refusal to talk about it.

Maybe somewhere, they are, but obviously not in New York. And if not in New York, then where?

Sure, Manny would get booed in Boston, but that has nothing (or very little, anyway) to do with steroids.

He’ll get booed, at least a little, at every stop.

"Even without the suspension, that’s the kind of reaction he’s gotten,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "Last year, after he joined us, he got the same reaction.”

But really, the reaction wasn’t much. Even when Ramirez was tossed out of the game by home-plate umpire John Hirschbeck (“I was coming out in the fifth anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal.”), the New York fans didn’t get too worked up.

Imagine the hooting if Teixeira gets tossed from a game at Camden Yards.

For Manny? Nothing.

So this is the lesson:

Fans hate guys who don’t decide to play for the hometown team (even when the hometown team is barely making an attempt to sign them).

They hate guys who leave the hometown team to sign elsewhere (even when that other team is offering much more money).

They hate guys who play for the hometown team and don’t play well.

Manny? It’s not love, but it’s sure not hatred.

UPDATE, Wednesday 10:23 a.m.: This morning's New York Times includes a photo of Manny walking off the field after his ejection. The caption in the paper (but not on the web) says "Manny Ramirez left the field to jeers . . . " But look at the picture. From what I can tell, maybe four people are jeering, one is cheering and two are taking his picture with their cellphone cameras. Look at those faces. Does that look like hatred to you?

NEW YORK -- The Mets say they don't know when Carlos Beltran will be back. They say they don't know when Jose Reyes will be back.

They have some idea when Carlos Delgado will be back, but they say he likely won't make it back before mid-August, and in any case shouldn't be back before Beltran and Delgado.

Oh, and the Mets say that we really shouldn't expect any problem-solving trades anytime soon.

So here's what the Mets have to offer: hope.

"We're battling," general manager Omar Minaya said. "We hope as guys get back, we're in contention."

He never said how he expects that to happen.

As for manager Jerry Manuel, at least he has stopped saying publicly that his remaining players aren't good enough (they're not, but it doesn't really help when a manager says they're not).

"We might have to play good with this group for a longer time than we anticipated," Manuel said. "That's my responsibility. I've got to find a way for this group to mesh and play good baseball."

He's hoping.

NEW YORK -- Scouts searching for starting pitching can set up shop in Seattle next week.

The Mariners announced today that Erik Bedard will return from the disabled list to start Tuesday at Safeco Field against the Orioles. Bedard will then start on July 12, the day before the All-Star break, at home against the Rangers.

Bedard, who hasn't pitched since June 7 because of shoulder soreness, is 5-2 with a 2.47 ERA, making him the best starting pitcher potentially available on this month's trade market. While the Mariners are only 3 1/2 games out of first place, they'll still entertain trade offers for him and for fellow starter Jarrod Washburn.

"People always ask whether we're going to be a buyer or a seller," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "I'd like to be a little of both."

The Mariners had originally talked of starting Bedard during this weekend's series in Boston. Instead, Bedard will throw a simulated game on Friday at Fenway Park, to prepare for Tuesday's start against the Orioles.

When Mariano Rivera entered Tuesday night's game with an 8-5 lead, in search of his 501st career save, the fine Newsday baseball columnist Ken Davidoff remarked (via Twitter) that he could never remember Rivera blowing a three-run lead.

Well, it has happened, but what's amazing is how rarely it has happened.

According to research through the play index at baseball-reference.com , only twice in his entire career has Rivera taken a three-run lead to the ninth inning and been charged with a blown save. One other time, he couldn't hold a three-run 10th-inning lead.

Even more amazing: It has never happened at Yankee Stadium. Not the current one. Not the last one.

The three times:

1. Aug. 2, 1996 at Kansas City. Rivera wasn't even the Yankee closer yet, but John Wetteland was on the disabled list. After Dwight Gooden pitched nine scoreless innings (as did the Royals' Kevin Appier), the Yankees scored three times in the top of the 10th. Rivera gave up four in the bottom of the 10th, losing on a two-run Keith Lockhart double.

2. July 14, 2002 at Cleveland. Handed a 7-4 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth, Rivera allowed six, losing on a Bill Selby blown save. Every closer has to have one blow-up at Jacobs (now Progressive) Field, right?

3. Sept. 28, 2007 at Baltimore. The Yankees led 9-6 going to the ninth. A two-out, three-run Jay Payton triple tied the game, and the O's won it off Edwar Ramirez in the 10th.

And that's it. Not only that, but as Ken points out to me, the blown save in Baltimore came two days after the Yankees had clinched the wild card. So really, in the time since he became the actual closer, only once in a meaningful game has he come in with a 3-run lead and exited with a blown save.

Incredible.

Admittedly, a three-run ninth-inning blown save is fairly rare for any closer. In fact, those who aren't impressed by closers will tell you that any big-league pitcher should be able to get three outs without giving up three runs.

But just this year, six closers have had blown saves in games where they began the ninth with a three-run lead (Matt Lindstrom, Kerry Wood, Brian Fuentes, Brian Wilson, B.J. Ryan and Joel Hanrahan).

Also, Trevor Hoffman, baseball's all-time saves leader (and the only other closer with 500 saves), has had eight blown saves when he went to the ninth with a three-run lead.

So it's not automatic. Except with Rivera.

Fourteen years later, the memories are a little fuzzy.

But Joe Klein can still recall the conversation he had with Gene Michael in late July 1995. Klein was the Tigers' general manager then, and Michael was the Yankees GM. Michael wanted David Wells from the Tigers, and Klein proposed a deal for Mariano Rivera, then a rookie starter with the Yanks.

"I told Stick, 'Let's just make this easy, and do it even up,' " said Klein, who now runs the independent Atlantic League.

Klein said Michael was intrigued, but didn't say yes right away. He asked Klein to get back to him before trading Wells elsewhere.

"I told him I couldn't do that, but that I wouldn't make any more calls right away, and I'd give him some time," Klein said.

Michael told the New York Daily News that the way he remembered it, Rivera was in the minor leagues at the time, and his velocity jumped from the low 90s to 95-96 mph. That can't be exactly right, because Rivera was in the Yankees' big-league rotation at the time Wells was dealt.

In any case, Michael didn't call back, and Klein traded Wells to the Reds for C.J. Nitkowski, Mark Lewis and Dave Tuttle.

And, of course, Rivera remained with the Yankees, became a closer, and went on to 500 saves.

"We would have [made the trade]," Klein said. "Tiger fans, I'm telling you, we would have done it."

But would they have made Rivera a reliever?

"I'd like to think we'd have thought of it," Klein said. "But he could have been a Hall of Famer as a starter, too. Who knows?"

One way to look at interleague play is to check the overall record, which once again shows the American League with a significant (137-114) edge.

Another way is to check the rivalries.

If you look at the 13 six-game, head-to-head, home-and-home series that baseball sets up for the major markets, the AL has the advantage in most of them. In fact, the only NL teams that won a home-and-home season series this year were the Giants (5-1 vs. the A's), Cardinals (5-1 vs. the Royals) and the Reds (4-2 vs. the Indians).

One season series ended tied (Dodgers and Angels), while nine went to the AL team (including 5-1 margins for the Yankees against the Mets, the Twins against the Brewers and the Rangers against the Astros). There could be a 10th AL winner, if the White Sox win their makeup game against the Cubs (the Sox currently hold a 3-2 edge in the series).

Does it mean anything? Only what we knew already, which is that even though NL teams have won two of the last three World Series, the AL remains the better league.

NEW YORK -- A few weeks back, Randy Johnson got his 300th win, and we all knew what it meant.

Sunday night, Mariano Rivera got his 500th save, and we really have no idea what it means.

We know Rivera has been a great closer, very likely the best closer there has ever been. We know he was a huge part of the Yankees' four World Series championships in five years from 1996-2000, very possibly the biggest part. We know that when the Yankees won their three straight World Series, from 1998-2000, Rivera went 18-for-18 in postseason save chances.

Jim Leyland has always told people that Rivera should have been considered the most valuable player for all of baseball for those five years, because no player on any team was more important, and no player on any team was harder to match or harder to replace.

Does 500 saves put Rivera on a different level? Not really, even though he's just the second pitcher ever with 500.

The only other pitcher with 500 saves is Trevor Hoffman, who has 571. It's hard to say who the next with 500 will be, because the next few active pitchers on the save list (Billy Wagner with 385, Troy Percival with 358, Jason Isringhausen with 293) are very unlikely to get there.

But we don't debate 500 the way we debated 300, or the way we debate 500 home runs or 3,000 hits. At this point, we're still not sure what 500 means.

We could tell from Sunday's celebration that it meant a fair amount to the Yankees, but a lot of that was because of what Rivera has meant to the Yankees.

We couldn't tell for sure how much it meant to Rivera himself. He even joked that his first career RBI, on a bases-loaded walk by Francisco Rodriguez, meant more.

"It's my first RBI," he said. "It's my 500th save."

For the record, Rivera has issued only three bases-loaded walks in his career, none since 2005.

For the record, Sunday's four-out save gave Rivera 110 saves of more than one inning (plus another 27 in the postseason).

"It had to be like that," he said. "It can't be an easy one pitch. It had to be four outs. But I've always said that it doesn't matter how you do it, the most important thing is that you win."

For Rivera, the most important thing isn't 500 saves. The most important thing is that he was the best at what he does.

He never finished higher than ninth in the most valuable player voting, but Leyland may well have been right. For a lot of years, he might have been the most valuable player in baseball.

And we do know what that means.

NEW YORK -- John Maine isn't going to rejoin the Mets rotation next week.

Maine felt more pain in his right shoulder while playing catch this week, and the Mets have shut him down for at least another week. Maine was to have made a second rehabilitation start Saturday for Class A Brooklyn.

"I had to say something, I couldn't go out and pitch like that," said Maine, who described the condition as a pinched nerve.

Maine described the problem as "nothing big, nothing serious, nothing like a surgery thing," but he also said it was painful just to play catch. Asked the best-case scenario for a return to the Mets, Maine said: "Probably after the All-Star break."

The Mets' other disabled starter, Oliver Perez, is still scheduled to make a rehab start Sunday for Brooklyn.

NEW YORK -- Yes, that was a 96 mph fastball from Francisco Rodriguez today.

Two of them, actually, both on the stadium radar gun and on the readings used by MLB.com gameday.

"I don't remember the last time I did that," K-Rod said.

Truth be told, Rodriguez's velocity has been up considerably this year. He hasn't regularly hit 96, but 94s and even 95s have become common again. They weren't last year, when scouts who watched Rodriguez noted his drop in velocity and wondered whether he was worth the risk of a long-term contract -- despite his record-setting save total.

"I feel healthier and stronger," said Rodriguez, who battled ankle trouble last season. "Last year was weird. I was having success. At the same time, I wasn't 100 percent. This year, I feel stronger. I feel healthier."

Rodriguez is 19 for 21 in saves for the Mets, including one today in the Mets' 3-2 win over the Cardinals. Today's was a little rockier than normal, with two-out walks to Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick and then a long Yadier Molina fly ball for the final out.

"Anybody have a heart attack out there?" Rodriguez asked jokingly. "If so, send me the bills."

Next up for K-Rod and the Mets: The second Subway Series. In the first one, K-Rod was on the mound for Luis Castillo's dropped popup (resulting in his first blown save), and also had his war of words with Yankees reliever Brian Bruney.

Rodriguez had no interest in reigniting the Bruney battle ("That's in the past"), but he did say he's looking forward to the series.

"Obviously, the adrenaline is going to be 300 percent higher," he said.

What's 300 percent higher than 96 mph?

In his first start after the Brewers sent him to the minor leagues, Manny Parra was throwing 84-87 mph and was so unimpressive that one person watching said, "They announced Manny Parra, but it sure didn't look like him."

But Parra rebounded well Tuesday night, going seven innings and allowing just one run for Nashville against an Albuquerque team that featured that other Manny (who, by the way, struck out and grounded out against Parra). The Brewers were encouraged enough that they now think Parra could rejoin their rotation within the next few weeks.

Brewers people hope Parra could follow the same path as Ricky Nolasco, the Marlins opening day starter who seemed to be helped by his two Triple-A starts. Nolasco, who had a 9.07 ERA when he was sent down, has a 2.50 ERA in three starts since returning, including a win at Fenway Park.

The Brewers have made it this far into the season using only five starting pitchers. That will change when Parra's spot comes up on Saturday (the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that Seth McClung is the leading candidate for that spot). The Brewers will also need to fill Dave Bush's spot, with Bush now on the disabled list.

*****

While many people in baseball believe that the Nationals should give Mike Rizzo the full-time job as general manager, the team has continued to look at other options, and some people are saying that the Nats owners want "a big name." The Nationals contacted Gerry Hunsicker, the former Astros GM who now works for Tampa Bay, but it appears that he doesn't want the job.

One name that has circulated: Jed Hoyer, who now works as Theo Epstein's assistant in Boston.

Meanwhile, other teams are wondering how much freedom Rizzo has to make trades. The Nationals have spoken to many teams about Nick Johnson, and to a few about Adam Dunn.

*****

While the Rockies' slow start cost manager Clint Hurdle his job, their strong rebound is good news for general manager Dan O'Dowd, whose job now seems much more secure.

The Rockies' rebound has a few other effects, notably allowing other teams to believe that they could make the same sort of move back into the race. The Rockies themselves are no longer seen as a July seller, although sources said they're still trying to move Garrett Atkins.

The problem is that Atkins has a .206 batting average and has also regressed defensively.

"He can't play first base," one scout said. "And he can't play third base, either."

*****

Without Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, the Mets lineup is awful, and they know it. Asked Tuesday night if we should expect more games like Tuesday's (a two-hit Joel Pineiro shutout) or like Monday's (a scrappy 6-4 win), manager Jerry Manuel answered honestly: "That's a good question."

The Mets expect to get all of their injured players back at some point this season, but they can't say exactly when on any of them. While they say there's a chance Beltran (bruised knee) could miss just two weeks, GM Omar Minaya said the All-Star break could be a safer bet.

"If you told me right now we'd have him to start the second half, I'd sign up for that," Minaya said.

*****

Good line from 2,501-win man Tony La Russa, when asked what qualities make a good manager.

"Outstanding players," said La Russa, a fine manager who has also been blessed with many outstanding players.

*****

Among all the impressive Albert Pujols stats, how about this one: In six plate appearances this year with the bases loaded, Pujols is 5 for 5 with three home runs and a sacrifice fly. In those six plate appearances, he has 16 RBIs (out of a possible 24).

For his career, Pujols is a .411 hitter with the bases loaded.

NEW YORK -- With 2,500 career wins, Tony La Russa has gone where no other manager in the last half-century has gone.

But La Russa strongly believes other managers could have reached 2,500, as well. Two managers, in particular.

Tom Kelly and Jim Leyland.

"Two of my best friends," La Russa said today. "I feel, after a ton of conversations, that we did our job a lot the same way. There's no doubt -- zero doubt -- in my mind that if either one of those guys had been with the three teams I was with, they'd have 2,500. Maybe 2,600. There's no doubt in my mind.

"I think they're both outstanding. Tom Kelly's 2 for 2 in World Series."

Leyland and La Russa have worked together twice. Leyland was La Russa's third-base coach with the White Sox in the early 1980s, then worked as a Cardinals scout after leaving the Rockies at the end of the 1999 season.

Kelly and La Russa have never worked together, but they developed a friendship while managing against each other in the American League West, when Kelly managed the Twins and La Russa the A's.

Leyland has 1,364 wins in 18 seasons. Kelly retired in 2001 with 1,140 wins.

As for La Russa, he'll be 65 in October but has no thoughts of retirement.

"I plan to go, go, go," he said. "I'll either go, go, go in this job, or go, go, go out of this job."

The day after I wrote a column wondering how good the Red Sox would have been had they signed Mark Teixeira (as they badly wanted to), a Red Sox official told me the same subject had come up in a casual conversation in their office.

Sox fans, apparently, don't agree with me or with their own front office. And they let me know.

From Desa: "This is the best you can come up with after my Sox go 7-0 up on the Yankees? Making up stories about what might have been? Sure, signing Teixeira would have been nice at the right price but the core of the Sox is the farm system, not the free-agent market."

Good points, except that the Sox also tried very hard to sign Teixeira, and considered him the one player they most wanted on last winter's market.

From Steve: "I doubt they miss him, sure his numbers are great. But by all accounts he is not a good clubhouse team member. Look at the NYY dynasty, they were gamers and won 4 championships the went after big name clubhouse cancers. Nothing since. Red Sox are similiar to the that dynasty, not the prettiest but play well as a TEAM. You generally can't buy a title in sports. So I doubt Tex is being missed as much as you say. Arrogant pains are never missed."

Funny how it works in Boston (and most everywhere else). Had Teixeira signed with the Red Sox, he'd have been a perfect fit on a perfect team. But he signed with the Yankees, so he's an arrogant pain.

From Andy: "In 8 years, Teixiera will be bloated, old and over-paid. Just like Giambi was last year. Once again, the Yankees are undone by their gluttony and greed -- and once again they prove why they so well represent everything that is wrong with our country."

And David Ortiz is in top form as he reaches the end of his contract.

There was more on Teixeira, too, this time on the column I wrote after the first game of last weekend's Subway Series.

From Rick: "I hate the Yankees or Bankees, however, Teixeira is killing the ball and they have been good. Nice article, you are right, Tex waddles around the bases and the drop by Castillo is meaningless."

How many players would have run as hard as Teixeira did on the dropped popup? I still say fewer than half. One scout told me yesterday he thinks it's not even close to half, and that almost a week later he's still talking about what Teixeira did. That's a sad commentary on modern baseball, but a great compliment for Teixeira.

Mets fans, by the way, didn't like the column detailing all the crazy losses this year:

From Anahid: "The fans can forget the losses - apparently you cannot. I've followed the Mets since my Dad took me to my first game in 1962. Are we having a tough year - you bet! Are we overcoming it - yes! With as many injuries as we have had, we shouldn't be anywhere near 4 over 500.Why can't you celebrate the fact that we are overcoming adversity, instead of trying to put us down?"

So true Mets fans can forget the losses? Fine, but that means the 40,000 who show up at Citi Field every night ready to boo at the first hint of a mistake must be untrue Mets fans.

Oh, and guess what? Phillies fans aren't happy, either, after yesterday's column on the Phils' struggles to win at home.

From James: "Hey Danny,why aren't they winning? -- They're in first place in the NL East ahead of your New York Chokers. They have the best road record in the game. How bout a positive Phils article once and a while? Your bias is sickening, and you will eat your words just like last October. See you then, Mr. New York."

James, meet Anahid. Anahid, meet James.

And finally, from Rick: "I'm a Phillie fan transplanted to Raleigh, NC. But, if it were my guess, knowing the fan mentality in Phil., the teams all of them are wrapped too tight when they play in town and don't play as loose relaxed as they need, which is essential for high level performance in any field. Also, in the case of the world champion Phillies, lack of focus, due to non-baseball commitments. What do you think?"

I think that when you moved to North Carolina, you gained some perspective. I also think that since the Phillies have annually had good home records, this year's record is harder to explain. And that probably means that by the end of the season, the Phils will have won more at home than they've lost.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies' biggest need is obvious.

Their rotation has the third-highest ERA in baseball (5.38, ahead of only Cleveland and Baltimore). Their starters have pitched the third-fewest innings in baseball. With Brett Myers on the disabled list and very possibly out for the year, the rotation features top starter Cole Hamels and a bunch of fourth and fifth starters -- if that.

So why, in separate conversations this week, did manager Charlie Manuel and general manager Ruben Amaro both suggest that the Phillies could end up trading for bullpen help rather than a starter?

Simple. The market for starting pitching is bad. While the Phillies continue to scout every starter who is or could be available, they're struggling to find someone who would be a significant upgrade.

"If I had my druthers, we'd add a top-of-the-rotation starter," Amaro said. "That's very difficult. We may very well have to rely on the kids."

The Phils have youngsters J.A. Happ and Antonio Bastardo in their rotation now, along with Hamels, Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer.

With Jake Peavy and Erik Bedard on the disabled list, and with Roy Oswalt unlikely to be dealt, the best starters on the market are Jarrod Washburn and Brad Penny. There's a chance the Rockies could make Jason Marquis available, but he doesn't excite the Phillies, either. Same goes for Pittsburgh's Zack Duke and Paul Maholm, who also could be dealt.

"What we want to do and what we can do may be different things," Amaro said.

What they can do may be to add depth to a bullpen that already features Ryan Madson, J.C. Romero and Brad Lidge (once he returns from the DL in the next couple of weeks).

"If we can't get a starter, we could upgrade our bullpen and get better," Manuel said. "Getting better is what counts."

Obviously, Manuel would prefer a starter. But not just any starter.

"I'm talking about a horse," he said. "I'm not talking about a guy who would just fill out a rotation."

Those horses aren't available. Or they aren't healthy.

So the Phillies are left with two choices: Wait and hope someone else emerges, or look elsewhere, maybe in the relief market.
As Manuel said, getting better is what counts.

The matchup Jeff Weaver has been waiting for could be on for Saturday.

According to Doug Padilla 's report in the Los Angeles Daily News, the Dodgers have told Weaver that he'll be starting this Saturday against the Angels. The Angels starter that night is Jered Weaver, which means the Weavers would finally get the family bragging rights game they've wanted.

"That's the one thing that hasn't happened," Jeff Weaver said when I saw him a couple weeks back in Chicago. "When I was with Seattle, we were set up for it, but then [the Angels] put [Ervin] Santana back in the rotation, so it didn't happen."

Jered Weaver faced Jeff's Dodgers on May 22 at Dodger Stadium, getting no decision in a 3-1 Angel win. Jeff admits that as he watched that night, he wanted his brother to pitch well while the Dodgers won. Jeff Weaver had started for the Dodgers two nights earlier against the Mets, so he missed the Angels series.

So how will the Weaver family react?

"I don't think my dad would like it," Jeff Weaver said. "I don't think he'd even go to the game. It'd be cool, but it'd be tough for the family."
According to Padilla, brothers have faced each other as starting pitchers 20 times in baseball history, most recently in 2002 when Alan Benes of the Cubs faced Andy Benes of the Padres. Nine of the 20 matchups featured Phil and Joe Niekro.