• A game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros between was rained out at the Houston Astrodome. Only members of both teams were able to make it to the stadium. The game was postponed when heavy rains and flooding prevented umpires, fans and stadium personnel from arriving at the dome. It was the first rainout in Astrodome history.

• Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley sold three of his star players. Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers were sent to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million apiece and Vida Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million. Three days later, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn will void the moves, saying they are “not in the best interests of baseball.”

And a year later, in an unpopular move, the New York Mets traded franchise pitcher Tom Seaver just moments before the trading line. The Mets sent Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds for four lesser players: infielder Doug Flynn, outfielders Steve Henderson and Dan Norman, and pitcher Pat Zachry.

Seaver will go on to win 75 games for the Reds in five and a half seasons. The same day, New York traded slugger Dave Kingman to the San Diego Padres for utility player Bobby Valentine and a minor league pitcher.

If you haven’t yet, make Baseball-Reference.com part of your daily reading rotation.

In the spirit of triumphant returns, let’s all welcome back former Angel/Royal/Blue Jay Willie Mays Aikens.

Aikens, whose case was often cited in the effort to overturn federal sentencing guidelines, was released at 6:55 a.m. ET. He was sentenced in 1994 to more than 20 years for crack cocaine distribution, bribery and gun charges under the mandatory sentencing guidelines then in place.

Is Aikens bitter? Hardly.

“I feel excited and blessed. It went by quick. I’m coming back to a new world.”

Twenty years in C-block went quick?

Who knew?

Unfortunately the injury bug done bit Hampton again today as he prepared to make his first start since Aug. 19, 2005.

During his warmup session in the Braves bullpen, after his 23rd toss, Hampton felt something in his left pectoral muscle. Officially it’s a strain and was bad enough to shelve Hampton for at least another 15 days.

Hampton has had other physical problems while trying to return after two elbow surgeries. He pitched only one inning in Mexico this winter before straining his hamstring when he slipped on the mound. He then strained his groin in the second inning of his second spring training game.

Hampton rebounded from the setbacks to post a 2.16 ERA in five spring starts. He entered the season as the Braves’ No. 4 starter, and his return to health has been mentioned often as a reason Atlanta is expected to contend for the NL East title.

Here’s a complete rundown of his injuries over the past five years:

• March 2003: Strained calf muscle
• 2005: On disabled list five times, including his last stint for Tommy John surgery
• March 2007: Torn oblique muscle
• Nov. 2007: Strained hamstring

At 35, it’s anyone’s guess if Hampton can make it back. I, for one, am hoping he can.

Nothing like letting a guy twist in the wind, eh?  I’ll give Alou a pass for not saying something right after the game or even throughout the winter following the Chicago Cubs’ loss to the Florida Marlins.  Surely, he was ticked off about what happened, and I’d imagine an athlete always thinks he or she could’ve made the play.  Approximately a year later, Alou said he didn’t blame the fan, but that’s a long way from “I wouldn’t have caught the ball.”  How about admitting that then?  Or at any other time over the last four - going on five - years since that fateful night?  How about Alou acknowledging that it was his petulant, childish hissy fit - jumping up and down, throwing his glove to the ground - and post-game comments (”Hopefully, he won’t have to regret it for the rest of his life”) that fueled so much outrage over the play and toward Bartman?

After the incident occurred, and in the hours and days that followed, I wondered what I would’ve done had I been in that situation.  Would I have had the presence of mind, the awareness to get out of the way and let “my guy” make the catch and get a crucial late-inning out in a hugely important playoff game?  I’d certainly like to think so.  But maybe my desire to get the foul ball I’ve never caught at a baseball game would’ve overtaken me and compelled me to go for it.  What I do know is this: I’m glad that wasn’t me.

ESPN.com’s Rob Neyer has a different take on the admission, thinking that Alou might be having a little bit of fun with all of this.  Sure, that’s possible.  But what exactly would the point of that be?  Is he lying (Neyer’s word, not mine) because he now feels bad about how Bartman was treated?  Would he be lying because he’s sick of fans taunting him by yelling “Bartman!” at him?  That just makes him a jerk and a liar.

Take, for example, this item from yesterday’s “Astros Media Information”:

NATIONAL BASEBALL CARD DAY: Major League Baseball in conjunction with Topps and Upper Deck, will celebrate the second annual National Baseball Card Day this Saturday, March 29…as part of the celebration, baseball card packs will be given away nationally to kids and collectors at Toys “R” Us stores and participating trading card hobby shops nationwide…to learn more information about National Baseball Card Day please visit mlb.com.

Man, I love minutiae.

Give this guy the All-Star Game gig!

(via Awful Announcing)

5:38 a.m.: Alarm… again. Is… this… dream? Night… mare?

5:45 a.m.: Red Sox-A’s game… at 6 a.m.? I can haz cawfee?

5:50 a.m.: Can’t… feel… face. What time is it? Did I just put… coffee grounds in my mug? Crap.

5:53 a.m.: Sleepy. Back to bed. Turn TV on. Don’t spill coffee on bed.

6:02 a.m.: Isn’t Joe Blanton on… one of… fantasy teams? Did… I… remember… start? Youkilis, too.

6:18 a.m.: Alarm… go off? What happen? Oh… Gary Thorne voice. Loud. A’s home run. Mark Ellis.

6:19 a.m.: “Sayonara.” How long… for Thorne… to think… that one?

6:20 a.m.: My… home run call… would be… “Banzai!” Heh. Sleep.

6:25 a.m.: Awake… ? Or sleepy? Did… Dice-K just throw behind Jack Cust? Is… this… dream?

6:28 a.m.: This… why DVR invented. これをねじで締めなさい, as Japanese say.

6:30 a.m.: Wake me up… before… go-go, Dice… K.

The Washington Nationals’ general manager signed first baseman Dmitri Young and second baseman Ronnie Belliard last season as presumed one-year stopgaps for the injured Nick Johnson and Cristian Guzman. And both acquisitions were good ones. Young revitalized his career after nearly destroying it in Detroit, hitting .320/.378/.491 with 14 home runs and 74 RBIs. For that effort, he was the Nats’ lone All-Star representative and was named the National League Comeback Player of the Year. Belliard didn’t win any awards for his efforts, but hitting .290/.332/.427 with 11 home runs and 58 RBIs (along with only six errors at second base), nicely outperformed the minor-league deal Bowden signed him to in Spring Training.

Though I’m sure the Nats were grateful to Young and Belliard making meaningful contributions to what turned out to be a fourth-place (73-89) team in the NL East, Bowden initially admitted that he signed both players with the idea that they could be dealt for prospects in mid-season. This is from the same guy who traded for Alfonso Soriano in his walk year of 2006 and ended up keeping him for the entire season, only to watch him sign with the Chicago Cubs. But Washington received compensatory draft picks from the Cubs, so you can’t say Bowden didn’t get anything in return.

Since that worked so well for him the previous season, Bowden decided to take a similar approach with Young and Belliard, declining to move either player when he had the opportunity. But he wasn’t going to just repeat himself, either. No, just keeping these two players wasn’t going to be enough. The Washington Nationals were going to make a commitment. A financial investment, more specifically. Young was signed for $10 million, while Belliard agreed to a $3.5 million deal. Both contracts were two-year agreements - reached before the July 31 trade deadline.

Oh, you might say, Bowden was trying to protect himself in case neither Johnson nor Guzman recovered from their injuries. Okay, fair enough - especially since Johnson is a notoriously slow healer. And even if Johnson came back, Young could move to the outfield. Or not. They don’t call him “Da Meat Hook” because he has the lithe physique of a swimmer. First base was made for guys built like D.Y.

But Guzman was likely to return from his left thumb injury and was signed through this season, while Felipe Lopez had one more year of arbitration with the Nats. Neither player was going anywhere.

So that brings us to the Nationals’ current roster dilemma. Too many healthy players, not enough open roster spots. And Lopez has already made it quite clear that he has no intention of giving up a starting position.

“Bench?” López said Tuesday following a 9-1 thumping of the Detroit Tigers. “No. I already said that. No. Hell, no.”

Belliard, meanwhile, says he’s fine with whatever the team decides. But he might have been fanning himself with his two-year contract while saying that. Belliard is also being paid like a bench player, a role in which he happens to perform quite well, while Guzman and Lopez will draw paychecks exceeding $4 million. Given that Lopez could become a free agent after the season, he’d seem to be an ideal trade candidate. At least he might be if he were playing for any other general manager besides Bowden. No, he’ll probably hang onto Lopez. Maybe he’ll work out a contract extension, as well.

Did I mention that Bowden also signed Bret Boone - who had been retired for two years - shortly before Spring Training began?