The agent for Barry Bonds appears to be ratcheting up the rhetoric for a run at collusion allegations.

Today’s Grumble is all about bits and pieces of information, some useful, others useless. Think of it as me cleaning out the old mental file cabinet. But before I get started, I am delighted to bring you a special announcement from Sports Grumblings.

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OK – now on to cleaning out the mental file cabinet!

The drumbeat of collusion is getting louder! The agent for Barry Bonds, Jeff Borris, is putting the pressure on through the media, as can be seen in a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle. I get the feeling this is going to get ugly. I don’t buy the whole collusion argument for one second, but I do think Bonds is going to seek revenge through the courts if nobody offers him a job. It will end up being another black eye on the sport.

Baseball has had its share of freakish injuries, but the injury that put Brandon Inge on the DL this past week takes the cake. Inge tweaked a strained oblique muscle trying to stuff a pillow under his three year old son’s head.

Earlier this week, the Houston Astros released Shawn Chacon after he grabbed GM Ed Wade by the neck and threw him to the ground. Now it appears the Yankees are considering bringing Chacon back to New York to rejoin the team, and Derek Jeter has offered to vouch for Chacon’s character. So, the Yankees recently signed Sydney Ponson, who has a criminal record, and has been signed and released by numerous teams. They are looking to sign Shawn Chacon, who assaulted his boss at his most recent job, and has also been signed and released by numerous teams. Finally, the Yankees have a punk owner with a big mouth, and a win at all cost attitude in Hank Steinbrenner. From all this we can conclude that the Yankees are becoming baseball’s answer to the Oakland Raiders.

Did anybody notice the creampuff of a schedule the Yankees had in interleague play this season? The teams they played have a combined record that is 38 games below .500. Now you know why they are surging. By the All Star break they should be mired in mediocrity again.

Finally, with thanks to The Hardball Times for posting this story about how one bat manufacturer would like to “fix” the problem of shattering maple bats. Pardon me if I am being a bit harsh, but this has to be the stupidest, most self-serving idea I have read in a long time.

Now, on to today’s box scores!

In the first game of Friday’s doubleheader between the Mets and Yankees, Carlos Delgado went 3 for 5 with a pair of home runs and a double, and 9 RBI to lead the Mets to a 15-6 win. Delgado basically doubled his power totals for the month of June in one game. Prior to Friday, he had three home runs and 10 RBI for the month. This is just the beginning of what I suspect will be a great second half for Delgado. If you can get him in a trade, or if he is sitting on your waiver wire in a shallow league, go grab him and stash him, before he gets white hot.

Dustin Pedroia is heating up in a big way after an extended slump saw his batting average plummet from .316 all the way down to .260. Friday night he went 3 for 4 with a RBI and a run scored. But over his last 15 games he is batting .406 with 3 home runs, 6 RBI, and 12 runs scored. He’s brought his average all the way back to .295. Look for him to continue to hit well, and have a boffo second half.

The Detroit Tigers are finally starting to put together some consistent hitting and winning ball games. They are 16-8 in the month of June, at least partially due to Curtis Granderson finally finding his stroke. He is currently sporting a 15 game hitting streak during which he is batting .443 with a home run, 7 RBI, 13 runs scored, and a pair of stolen bases. Most importantly, his OBP in that period is an astonishing .469; exactly what the Tigers need from their leadoff hitter.

Not to be outdone, the Twins have a 10 game winning streak going, largely on the back of Jason Kubel, who is finally looking like he is having the breakout year predicted for him in each of the last two years. In June, Kubel is batting .324 with 5 home runs, 13 RBI and 19 runs scored. Kubel is another guy I really like for the second half.