Big Teams Should Have a Buy Week

With Major League Baseball’s trade deadline coming up on July 31, some teams are trying to decide whether they are in contention for postseason play and looking to trade prospects for short-term help, or not in contention and willing to trade expensive players for prospects who may help in the long run.

Greg Couch of the Chicago Sun-Times has some advice for the Cubs: “Always be buyers.”

“There’s no reason for the Cubs ever to be sellers, during any season under any circumstances,” he added. “Big-market teams never should be sellers, never should be building for the future with prospects. The Yankees are never sellers.

“But with the Cubs, the idea is particularly insulting. You can’t seriously build for the future when you haven’t won in 97 years.”

Or since 1988. (Get the hint, McCourt?)

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Trivia time: On this date in 1975, what New York Met infielder became the first player in National League history to hit into four consecutive double plays in one game?

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What’s in a name: Driver Stanton Barrett, a Hollywood stuntman, told Jim Benton of the Knoxville News that the Busch race Saturday at Pikes Peak International Raceway is unique.

“This might be the only race in the series where it takes longer to say the race name than it does to run the whole 250 miles,” Barrett said.

The official name of the race is the ITT Industries Systems Division & Goulds Pump Salute To The Troops 250 Presented by Dodge.

“I can’t blame the speedway,” Barrett said. “Having a sponsor like that would be great for us and we’d call it anything they wanted to, but to get all of that on the side of the car, we’d need to race stretch limos.”

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Cold as ice: On the NHL’s new drug policy, David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote: “Among the banned substances will be whatever the players’ union was on while negotiating its way into the new collective bargaining agreement.”

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Hey-hey, goodbye: Andreas Kramp has won Germany’s first sauna-endurance championship in Dolle, the Magdeburger Volksstimme newspaper reported. He survived in 230-degree temperatures for 4 minutes 52 seconds.

Added Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “Even the losers were encouraged, saying at the very least they’ve picked up a little steam for next year’s event.”

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Looking back: On this date in 1957, Althea Gibson, with a victory in the national clay court singles championship, became the first African American player to win a major U.S. tennis title.

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Trivia answer: Joe Torre, who said of his dubious achievement: “What’s everyone blaming me for? Blame Felix [Millan]. I wouldn’t have hit into the double plays if he hadn’t hit singles.”

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Last word: Syndicated columnist Norman Chad asks that Greg LeMond not be forgotten:

“He’s a three-time winner of the Tour de France, but he’s faded into obscurity. If there were no Lance Armstrong, this guy would be America’s greatest cyclist. Instead, he gets all the respect of the best shortstop in Vermont.”