Vogelsong tipped pitches?

This on the AP wire: someone called Ryan and told him the Cubs knew what was coming. This was either an act of good sportsmanship or something designed to mess with him even more. Considering that the Cubs have not left town, you have to wonder why anyone associated with the Cubs would give this information now and not in twenty-four hours. So I'm suspicious.

On the other hand, it does explain how he could be so good against the Phillies and so bad against the Cubs. Either way, Vogelsong is in the rotation for the distance as far as I'm concerned. If you get sick of 8-run first innings, point the finger at Josh Fogg. I don't give a damn how many games Fogg won and lost as a Pirate the last two years. He wasn't good last year. And he has shown us nothing so far in 2004. The Bucs may leave both guys in the rotation for another month, but any impatience with the starting pitching has to be directed at Fogg before Vogelsong.

Back to this AP story. What kind of quote is this:

"I've known Vogey since he was a Giant, he was one of my favorite guys ... but I don't know nothing about it," Baker said. "If I did, I wouldn't tell you. But, honestly, I don't know about tipping."

How can you tell someone you'd lie if your honest answer was yes, and then say honestly, my answer is no? Whatever. Maybe Baker is alluding to knowing something about something else - stealing signs, perhaps. This part is just as good:

Moises Alou, among several Cubs, said they prefer not to know what a pitcher is about to throw. Baker said it takes an experienced hitter -- he mentioned former major leaguers Reggie Smith and Joe Carter -- to be able to adjust to the information and react to it.

This is an important point that Alou makes. When I was taking exams in high school, I preferred not to know what the questions were going to be. I could never do as well on the exam if I knew the questions in advance. And since Baker never stacks his team with experienced hitters, we can be confident that Moises Alou and the other rookies would honestly prefer not to know the pitches in advance since they lack the experience to handle such information.

Assuming that something was going on - and I thought Vogelsong was just plain sucking - then it's not the "crime" so much as the cover-up that makes the Cubs look like a bunch of weasels.