Deadspin: Paul Lo Duca

President Bush Would Never Associate With Such Unsavory Characters

Leitch — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:30:33 EDT

The mainland Major League Baseball season kicks off Sunday night, with the Nationals opening their new stadium. President Bush is slated to throw out the first pitch. Usually, he throws it to the home team's starting catcher. Unfortunately for him, this year the home team starting catcher is all over the Mitchell Report.

So, as it turns out, the Nationals have removed Paul LoDuca from his duties, which was a surprise to him, and MLB.com. Poor guy, sure.

The White House said it played no role in determining who would catch the pitch. "Whatever the decision the Nationals make is up to them," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said by telephone Thursday. "In no way did we, or would we, raise any issues."

Lo Duca said after Thursday's final Grapefruit League game that he had no animosity about the situation. Lo Duca declined to speculate as to whether his role in the Mitchell report had anything to do with the decision.

By the way, boy, do we ever love that picture.

Nationals Replace LoDuca To Catch Bush's First Pitch [Think Progress]

Paul Lo Duca's Inspiring Idiocy

mjdeadspin — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 13:00:00 EDT

• I'm Sorry, Italians. Paul Lo Duca calls it a "good Italian temper," but I'm going to choose to think a little more highly of the Italian-American population, and call Lo Duca's display childish, dumb, and embarrassing. The idiot Mets catcher was thrown out of the game for arguing balls and strikes, but before leaving the field, proceeded to throw all of his catching equipment onto the field, because ... I don't know, because he's a jackass, I guess. Meanwhile, the Mets won back-to-back games for the first time since May, eeking this one out 1-0 on a David Wright RBI-double in the bottom of the 9th.

• Bud Black Is A Smooth Talker. Two games into the Padres/Red Sox series, three starters have turned in brilliant performances. The one who didn't, Tim Wakefield, was molested twice last night Khalil Greene home runs in a 6-1 Padres victory. Co-MVPs for the Padres: First, manager Bud Black, who talked umps into reversing two calls the Padres way ... one a base hit that Manny Ramirez pretended to catch (that devious bastard), and one a Josh Bard home run that clanged off the foul pole. And secondly, Chris Young, who gave up just one hit in seven innings, to go along with his 11 masterful Ks. Only two pitchers in baseball have a better ERA than Young right now, and one of them is teammate Jake Peavy, who will be on the mound for the Padres today against Boston's Josh Beckett.

• N-Holtz Saves The Day. Alex Rodriguez was again clutch ... but only for a few minutes. A-Rod tied the game up with a home run in the 9th, but was upstaged in the 13th with a game-winning RBI single from Nate Schierholtz, who is probably the better all-around talent. 6-5 Giants, in 13 innings.

• Only 746 Behind Hank Aaron. Dioner Navarro put his awe-inspiring power on display, crushing a 7th inning home run to give the Devil Rays the 4-3 win. That boosts Navarro's batting average on the year to .172, and lifts his HR total to 1.

Why We'd Sign With The Utah Jazz

Leitch — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 11:00:22 EDT

Last week, the New York Daily News uncovered a steroid ring that could end up affecting some of the biggest, most beloved names in our sport. Today, their rivals at the New York Post uncovered that baseball players cheat on their wives.

Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca becomes the 328,147th reason why, if we were an athlete, we would NEVER sign with a New York team, splashed all over the cover of the Post this morning after his wife accused him of adultery.

"She [Sonia] told him she would stick by him through everything except that - she couldn't tolerate adultery," said Sonia's mother, Consuelo Flores. "She thought she could trust him. She was just so distraught. She couldn't believe it."

Lo Duca's wife, the "Sonia" of the story, is a former Playboy model, a fact her mother learned while being interviewed by The New York Post. The sad thing is, Lo Duca didn't even sign in New York as a free agent; he was traded here. Somehow, we don't see the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel running this story.

Foul Bawl From Met Lo Duca's Sexy Wife [New York Post]