Rawlings latest sponsor to give Vick the boot (AP/ESPN)

In another blow to Michael Vick’s wallet, the sporting goods maker Rawlngs has dropped the Atlanta Falcons quarterback from its stable of clients.

“Rawlings recognizes that Mr. Vick has not been convicted of the charges stemming from his recent indictment,” the St. Louis company said. “However, we have determined that ending our relationship with Mr. Vick at this time is necessary.”

Since last week, companies have been disassociating themselves from the star.  Upper Deck removed all autographed memorabilia from its online store and the player won’t appear in any trading card sets; athletic apparel maker Nike has suspended their endorsement deal; and Reebok has stopped the sale of his No. 7 jersey at the retail level.

Maybe he can join Pacman on the TNA wrestling circuit to pick up some paychecks.

Doping experts give investigators showing that Contador doped (AP/Y! Sports)

German authorities said Tuesday they have received documents from doping expert Werner Franke which he claims show Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was involved in doping, allegedly using HMG-Lepori as a testosterone booster and an asthma product called TGN.

It never ends…

(From time to time, we’ll post a short blog entry regarding a current topic or something else that catches our fancy. It might be something trivial or something that really makes us wonder what the hell is going on.)

It’s that time of year: the MLB non-waiver deadline trading extravaganza!

We here at The Buried Lead will attempt to post the latest and greatest acquisition and rumors that run across our desk in the next few hours, so there won’t be any other news posts unless it really, really is warranted.  This post will regularly updated, with a timestamp in parenthesis.

So without further ado, the fun begins after the jump…

More after the jump »

Gagne Beantown bound? (SI.com)

According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Texas Rangers have a deal in principle to send highly-coveted reliever Eric Gagne to the Boston Red Sox.  Prospects are assumed to the be the return for Gagne, who has 16 saves in 17 chances and a 2.16 ERA

News and notes while enjoying a lunch on this last day of July…

Robin Roberts: ‘I have breast cancer’ (ABC News) The former ESPNer announced on Good Morning, America that she has an early form of breast cancer.  We wish her all the best in her upcoming battle as she is one of our favorites.

Yankees deal for Dodgers’ Betemit (AP/ESPN) Buster Olney of ESPN reports that deal has been completed that would send Scott Proctor of the Yankees to the Dodgers for the versatile Wilson Betemit.

Celtics agree to Garnett deal (AP/SI.com) Yep, it’s finally consummated.

Don’t bother Pujols at Chuck E. Cheese (Gaslamp Ball) A family night at Chuck E. Cheese for St. Louis’ number one slugger. Pictures included.

Tony Stewart’s not a fan of ESPN (Awful Announcing)  NASCAR’s outspoken driver takes a shot at “The Teaser.”

Pacman won’t go to TNA afterall? (EpicCarnival)  It looks like the Titans won’t let Pacman get involved with TNA wrasslin’. So much for paying those legal bills, eh?

Leinart sacked in court; to pay $15K in monthly child support (TBL/TMZ) Arizona’s Matt Leinart to pay his baby-momma large sum in monthly payments.

NY baseball fan killed mother as team lost (Reuters)

A New York man has been charged with beating his mother to death with a barbell after losing his temper while watching a baseball game on television.

Michael Anthony, 25, was watching the New York Mets-Washington Nationals game on Saturday when he beat his mother to death while his father helplessly watched during the Mets loss.

Anthony shoved his father aside and then allegedly grabbed a 20-lb. barbell and proceeded to pound his mother Maria Fischman, 61, to death.

Red Sox pursuing Dye, Gagne (SI.com)

Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the Boston Red Sox are trying to chase down both Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox and Eric Gagne of the Texas Rangers.  According to Heyman, the Sox are said to be offering outfielder Wily Mo Pena, who has yet to reach his potential, and a reliever.

As for Gagne, the Red Sox face some competition from their arch-rival, the New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Brewers, who the reliever has on his pre-approved list (the Red Sox aren’t on that list as of now).  The Red Sox, per Heyman, are willing to give the pitcher concessions — including taking on the $5 million in performance incentives tied to closing — in order to facilitate a deal to Beantown.

Other notes after the jump:

More after the jump »

Lone candidate Brazil makes 2014 Cup bid (AP/Y! Sports)

Although Brazil isn’t assured of landing the 2014 World Cup, the country is the lone bidder to land the sports international showcase.

The bid, which contains 900-pages, was submitted to FIFA president Sepp Blatter Tuesday in Zurich, Switzerland.  The Brazilian delegation conducted a 30-minute presentation that highlighted what their plans for the Cup will be. The delegation included Brazilian soccer federation president Ricardo Teixeira, former Brazil player Romario and author Paulo Coelho.

FIFA’s executive committee will decide on Oct. 30 whether Brazil can host the event. The country will have a final opportunity to present its bid to the committee on the previous day.

“We are very anxious — or at least I am — perhaps even nervous because we are really looking forward to welcoming the World Cup in our country,” said Romario, who helped Brazil win the 1994 World Cup in the United States. “Football is not only the No. 1 sport but in Brazil, it goes even beyond that.

“We are ready to welcome an event of this magnitude and importance because we believe football was born in Brazil. May other countries forgive us but we feel that way.”

It would be a terrible shame if they lost to themselves.

T-Mobile fires Sinkewitz after refusing b-sample test (AP/USA Today)

German cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz, who tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone in June, was fired by his T-Mobile team on Tuesday after refusing to have his backup sample tested.

We’re sure we’ll be back tomorrow with more Tour de France-related fallout.  Why, it’ll be a tradition in the making…a tradition unlike any other.

Adu negotiates with Portugal’s Benfica (AP/SI.com)

While the MLS is still celebrating the arrival of David Beckham, they’ve lost one of their stars as Freddy Adu of Real Salt Lake is in Lisbon, Portugal to negotiate a deal with the club Benfica.

The MLS and Benfica have already agreed on a $2 million transfer fee for the 18-year-old attacking midfielder, who was captain of the U.S. team at the under-20 World Cup this year.

***UPDATED at 11:25 AM ET on 7.31***

Adu has officially signed with Benfica.

According to a broadcast report on St. Louis radio station 550 KTRS (which happens to be the team’s flagship station), the St. Louis Cardinals have landed right-handed reliever/starter Joel Pineiro from the Boston Red Sox for a player-to-be-named later.

More information later, including a post dedicated to the MLB trade deadline in the early afternoon that’ll coincide with ESPN’s deadline show.  Check it out later.

King: Remembering a true visionary (SI.com)

SI.com’s Peter King writes a fond remembrance of former Stanford Cardinal and San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh, who passed away Monday after a lengthy battle with leukemia.

King shares a foreward that the guru of the “West Coast Offense” composed for a book that King wrote in 1991.  Much of it still resonates today, as King points out:

“If there’s one thing that frustrates me a little bit about fans and media, it’s that they really don’t — and they can’t — grasp the mind-boggling and painstaking detail that goes into a football game. When things go wrong, they lash out. That’s their right, certainly. But I wish they could step back sometimes and look at a play that’s gone awry and say, ‘Why didn’t that work?’ They need to understand the detail.

“I remember going down to San Diego to play a preseason game when I was coaching the running backs for the Raiders in 1966. Before leaving the hotel, I was sitting in my room flipping around the TV dial and I stopped to watch Sid Gillman, the Chargers’ coach, on his show, running his game films. He was teaching the game to the viewers at home.

“It may sound funny, but it was fascinating watching something as simple as the slant pattern that day. Sid, whom I regarded as a brilliant coach in every phase, went into the minute details of the slant pattern, how it had to be coached and how it had to be run by the receiver. Then you watched the Chargers and discovered how well they ran it, and you knew it had to have been coached brilliantly for them to run it that well. Details. That’s when I knew how important every single detail was in football.

“That was a revelation to me. And the longer you’re in the game, the more you see how significant the details and teaching and education are. Everyone knows that the quarterback is the brain center of the football team, but few people know what that means and what it entails. Here, one of the game’s smartest quarterbacks, Boomer Esiason, brings you into his football life for a week and shows you. I don’t know that quarterback has ever laid open his life, in battle and in study, the way Esiason does here. The same is true about the other positions covered in this book.”

Rest in peace, Mr. Walsh and thanks for all the memories you provided this and all other football fans over the years.

You won’t be forgotten.

No end in sight for Browns rookie Quinn’s holdout (AP/ESPN)

Brady Quinn, the first-round draft pick from Notre Dame that tumbled through the first round that provided some comedy on ESPN airwaves, is still a holdout from Cleveland Browns training camp that entered its fourth day Monday.

And there’s no end in sight.

Browns general manager Phil Savage, who has signed all the club’s other draft picks including third-overall choice Joe Thomas, is pleased that quarterbacks Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson are getting the reps.  Savage described the stalemate to the AP in contract talks with Quinn’s agent Tom Condon as “in the same neighborhood, but not on the same street.”

Quinn is one of seven remaining unsigned first-round draft selections: JaMarcus Russell (Oakland); Calvin Johnson (Detroit); Levi Brown (Cardinals); Darrelle Revis (NY Jets); Dwayne Bowe (Kansas City); and Joe Beason (Carolina).

Coolbaugh, Sanchez lives collide (ESPN.com)

ESPN.com’s Elizabeth Merrill writes an interesting and poignant story on the life of former Major Leaguer Mike Coolbaugh and the impact his sudden death had upon the player who fouled off a pitch in his direction, Tulsa Driller Tino Sanchez.

The thing about playing baseball, Coolbaugh would tell friends, is that he always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dazzle enough to make a minor league all-star team, and he’d somehow end up with an injury. Toil away after practice, and he’d eventually get passed up by the next great young thing. But Coolbaugh was never bitter.

A month ago, the Tulsa Drillers were looking for a hitting coach, and the time, finally, seemed right. Mike turned to Mandy and said, “We can do this.”

Coolbaugh’s footprint on those minor leaguers left a mark that won’t soon be forgotten.
More after the jump »

Aaron’s silence on Bonds chase speaks for itself (AP/ESPN)

Reigning “Home Run King” Hank Aaron said the following to the Associated Press on Barry Bonds’ quest for the record he owns: “I am making a comment by not making a comment.”

The comment — if you want to call it that — was coaxed out of Aaron while the Hall of Famer was conducting an airport news conference about the World Children’s Baseball Fair, a charity he co-founded that will hold its annual series of clinics this week in Puerto Rico.  He co-founded the organization with Japanese League all-time home run leader Sadaharu Oh to promote goodwill throughout the world.

Way to stick to your convictions, Hank.

The morning after a very light schedule in baseball…

Miguel Batista pitches the Mariners to within three games of the AL West leaders; Carl Crawford comes off the bench late and proves to be the difference; the Tigers snap out of wins drought; the Fightin’s new second baseman makes an impact and the Twins begin the post-Luis Castillo-era with a victory.

BlueJays 4, D’Rays 5 (11 innings) — Carl Crawford, who scored the tying run as a pinch runner in the ninth inning, led off the bottom of the 11th with a homer to give the Tampa Bay Devil Rays a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Royals 1, Twins 3 — Scott Baker struck out seven in an eight-inning stint to help the Twins top the Royals 3-1.

Tigers 2, A’s 5 — Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco both had three hits and an RBI as the Detroit Tigers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Angels 0, M’s 2 — Behind a four-hit pitching performance by Miguel Batista, the Seattle Mariners shutout the division leading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2-0.  The win pulls the Mariners with three games of the Angels in the American League’s Western division.

Fightin’ Phils 4, Cubs 1 — Cole Hamels pitched eight impressive innings, Tadahito Iguchi hit his first homer with Philadelphia and the Phillies beat Ted Lilly and the Chicago Cubs 4-1 for their fourth consecutive win.

All boxscores provided by MLB.com.