You might wonder why you see the occasional baseball fight during July or even August, but almost never in September. For a good reason why, ask Bill Lee. (Actually don’t, because you’ll probably get a two-hour lecture on pot. Or the evil of the DH. Or both.) Even though it happened in May of 1976, him separating his shoulder during a huge brawl between the Yankees and the Red Sox caused him to miss the majority of the season (and possibly ruined his career).

So the same reason last night’s fight between the Yankees and the Blue Jays was both so compelling and ridiculously stupid. Because they were throwing real punches - not just the usual preschool pushing of most big league fights - and big-name pitchers like Joba Chamberlain and C.C. Sabathia were right in the middle, just waiting for a Blue Jay with a grudge to rip up their multimillion dollar arms. A good rule of thumb: don’t get into fights with teams who are 13 games under .500 - they don’t really have much to lose. Read more…

So you’re 13 years old, you’re Alex Rodriguez’s nephew, you play for the same youth baseball team that A-Rod did, and you look pretty much exactly like him. Oh, and the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS just did a big story on you. Hey, no pressure kid. Meet Joe Dunand Jr., who seems to be in line for superstardom, or endless, expensive hours of therapy, in the near future (pick one).

As I mentioned in Speed Read on Thursday, I watched the son of former San Francisco Giant Terry Whitfield play in an early-round game of a district All-Star Little League tournament earlier this week. All that Eric Whitfield, 12, was able to accomplish in that game was four home runs in four at-bats — three of the drives completely clearing the creek that ran behind the outfield fence. But that’s a tricky age, where hormones and motor skills kick in at different paces; there’s no guarantee that, by age 16, Whitfield will be appreciably better than most of his teammates. And by all accounts, the biggest thing that Dunand, Jr. has going for him is that he looks like A-Rod. Read more…

Stephanie Stradley knows more about the Texans than most anyone I know. Including Richard Justice (obviously) and perhaps he’s jealous. Via FANHOUSE and Steph’s first-hand account, we find out that Justice has been referring to her — a blogger, no less! — on his radio show as a “Fatal Attraction” like stalker. Way to be, Dick.

MMA Mania tells us that Jon Koppenhaver will NOT lose his nickname: SO 6 weeks ago I filed a change of name request and today I had court to make my name officially WAR MACHINE. lol. F*ckin’ funny right? Didn’t really wanna have to do it but I am sure as hell not lose MY nickname.”

THE DAILY NEWS passes down the word that Patrick Ewing, Junya, will be the newest member of the Knicks. Aw, just like Dad. Now if he can fail to win anything meaningful, have his knees collapse and end up gawking at cheerleaders coaching, we can use the phrase “full circle”. Fun times.

MISTER MITTENS gloveslaps any Giants fans who think that David Carr is going to perform like this during the regular season. (Shameless, I know.)

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