Delmon Young should consider himself lucky... lucky that his suspension for throwing a bat at a minor league baseball umpire is only 50 games... lucky he didn't hurt the ump... lucky he will be allowed back in a kids game where he has a bright future.

In case you missed it, Young is a Tampa Bay prospect playing his AAA ball with Durham. On April 26 he was ejected in the first inning after taking a called third strike. He lingered in the batter's box, walked away, then turned & threw his bat end over end at the umpire, hitting him in the chest.

Something tells me there are probably some out there trying to find a way to justify his actions. "Are you proud of everything you did when you were young," they'll say when calling sportstalk shows.

No, I did a lot of stupid (some immature) things when I was young & in most cases I paid the appropriate price for each of them. The price Young is paying here is appropriate.

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This incident reminds me we are nearing the 10th anniversary of the infamous Roberto Alomar spitting incident. It was Oct. 1, 1996, that umpire John Hirschbeck called a strike on Alomar of the Baltimore Orioles. I remember the TV footage well. There was no doubt about it, the second baseman spit in the ump's face.

Alomar was only suspended five games, umpires threatened to strike with MLB's postseason looming... it seems so tame compared to throwing a bat!

Unfortunately for Alomar, he tried to justify his actions & it turned many fans against him. He said Hirshbeck had changed since the death his son, who had been suffering from a rare brain disease.

Eventually, this story took a turn which gives it an almost Hollywood-eque ending. Alomar & Hirschbeck became close friends... Alomar, along with brother Sandy, began collecting autographed jerseys for auctions to benefit Hirschbeck's charity... sometimes unfortunate things happen as part of a bigger plan for us.

Speaking at his retirement in 2005, Alomar said, "We are now great friends. We have done some things with charity. God put us maybe in this situation for something. But I think people who know me, people who have had the chance to be with me on the same team, know what kind of person I am. Anything I ever did wrong, I would confront it and now it is OK."

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Barry Bonds can rest easy at night: John Rocker has come to his defense!

"They’re basically just ganging up on him," Rocker said. "You can accuse him, and people who have never done steroids call themselves experts and say, ‘I know Barry did this, I know Barry did that.’ You can be as big and strong as you want, but you still have to hit them. You can walk into any gym in America and see these beefed-up, steroided-up guys and they’re not hitting 500 home runs."

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The chair of the U.S. House Committee on Government Reform has sent a letter to MLB & it's players union saying there is "congressional concern" over the chance the league's drug testing policy could revert back to rules in 2005. It seems if a new contract is not in place by Aug. 1, the union has the option of ending the current & stiffer policy when the collective bargaining agreement expires.

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The latest college bowl game has been announced. Birmingham will host the CUSA vs. Big East event Dec. 23 at Legion Field. Oh, this is also an ESPN-owned game, just like bowls in Hawaii, Las Vegas & Ft. Worth.

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Here's something that will make you realize you're getting old quickly: ESPN's Chris Berman turns 51 today. "He could ... go ... all ... the ... way!"

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If the CFL's Toronto Argonauts decide to drug test Ricky Williams, does that derail his chances of playing this year? Heck, he's SUSPENDED from the NFL so the bigger question is should Miami give him an ok to go play north of the border?

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