Then you look at Kile�s life, and his baseball career. I�ve always said that the scrap heap often tends to be the best place to find the legends of tomorrow. Well, this is how it began for Darryl, he walked on to his JC team. If a movie comes out about his all-too short life, everyone who doesn�t know better will swear that the script was fabricated. When he got the call that he was drafted late in the 1989 draft, he hung up on the caller, for he swore it was a prank.

Just making it to the pros eventually led to making it to the majors. Still there were struggles, as DK had losing records his first two seasons in Houston. But developing his 12 to 6 hammer, he came up with his first breakthrough season in 1993, 15-8, with a 3.51 ERA and a 1.29 ratio, capped off with a September no-hitter v. the Mets. But then came more struggles, with a 25-29 record from 1994-96, with an ERA over four and a half. But good things come to those who keep on working, and DK finally put it all together with a 19-7 record in 1997, with a 2.57 ERA which placed him fifth in the Cy Young voting. Kile also logged an amazing 255 innings pitched. Not bad for a JC walk-on.

DK would parlay that career year in �97 to a huge free agent contract in that hell-hole for pitchers that is Colorado, where he would go 21-30 over two seasons with an ERA near six. Still, he was out there trying every fifth day, and won the admiration of the entire team. And finally, there was the trade to St. Louis, where through last week he was 41-24, including a 20 win season in 2000.

DK's oldest throws out the first pitch...

But Kile�s final legacy does not have to do with any numbers. It was the testimony heard all weekend from everyone Kile had touched in the game. Whether it was his current St. Louis teammates, Larry Walker, Don Baylor, Mike DeJean, Craig Biggio, or whoever, the affection for the individual was nothing short of overwhelming. Also speaking volumes was Jeff Bagwell�s reaction after delivering a game-winning pinch hit Saturday night. It�s little wonder that Kile�s passing has shaken up the core of the game like nothing else since the sudden passing of Yankee captain Thurman Munson in 1979, another day I�ll never forget. I will close by bringing out just one statistic, Darryl Kile made virtually every start from the beginning of 1996 to recording a win v. Anaheim this past week. As the grief wears off, fans and players alike will appreciate what Kile meant to the game even more. Thanks for the memories DK, we�ll miss you!!!!!

Now on to more trivial matters, and it doesn�t get much more trivial than Luis Castillo. Or players duking it out in the dugout. We're seeing it all these day, let's first start with Luis.

As you may recall, Luis kind of indicated last week that the hitting streak was more important to him than wins or losses. And as we found on Saturday night, he turned out to be even more obsessed than that. In case you missed it, Castillo was barely called out on a slow grounder in the eighth inning, apparently ending the streak. That was until the Marlins scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to bring up pinch-hitter Tim Raines Sr. in the pitchers spot, with Castillo on deck and the winning run on second base. A wild pitch brought the runner to third and the ensuing sac fly brought the winning run home while Luis glared blankly from the on-deck circle. What was even better was the sports highlight shows digging into the archives and showing the end of Paul Molitor�s 39-game streak in 1987, which also ended with a walk-off run as Molitor was on deck. On that occasion the winning run, Rick Manning slid across home plate where he was greeted first by Molitor (one of the games all-time class acts) himself.

Then came the aftermath, where opposing manager Luis Pujols (like Castillo, a fellow Dominican) indicated that he would had walked Castillo had Raines not been able to bring home the run. Could you have imagined Castillo then??? I could imagine the following hitter smashing a basehit up the middle, with Luis conveniently �forgetting� to advance to second (kind of like a circa-1908 Fred Merkle) � so he could get another shot in extra-innings. Do you think it�s time for manager Jeff Torborg to send his son out to give Luis another �attitude-adjustment�, as he did with Six-Finger Alfonseca during Spring Training.

The whole situation is unfortunate for three reasons. First off, it was a 35-game streak, one of the twelve longest streaks of all time. On five occasions the streak came down to the last at-bat, and the first four times Luis staved off match points, which just goes to show how tough it is to keep a streak this long. Also Luis survived rain-shortened outings on two occasions, and managed to get hits in limited at-bats. Secondly, it is the longest streak ever for a second basemen, the longest streak ever for a Latin player, and the longest streak since Molitor�s in 1987. Finally, the streak ended THE SAME DAY THE GAME LOST ONE OF IT�S OWN!!!!!! While virtually everyone else was talking about how the passing of Darryl Kile, and how that puts everything else in perspective, Luis is upset about the end of his hitting streak, The timing simply couldn�t be worse. But from a fantasy perspective Luis is still a valuable commodity. A +.300 average and a ton of stolen bases, which he is also obsessed with. And players who are obsessed with statistics are great from a fantasy realm.

As far as Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent are concerned, it just makes for great comedy, Bonds will continue to mash and who even cares about Kent, who I imagine will be trade bait at years end. Be sure to vote on my poll question on the KACSPORTS home page.

OTHER COSMIC LATTE

Cliff Floyd and Bartolo Colon are still the two hottest trade properties out there. Interesting was an interview with St. Louis GM Walt Jockity last Friday, before the Kile tragedy came down. During that interview Jock indicated that he is desperate for another starting pitcher. Obviously that need has now multiplied. For sensitivity purposes, do not expect any panic moves at this point, as the Cards have the luxury of being in baseball�s powderpuff division. I don�t think the Cincinnati�s and Pittsburgh�s of the world pose much of a threat. But as the trade deadline approaches, and the team starts to move away a little from the Kile loss, a Colon trade to the Cards would make sense.

Strike talk is on the backburner for this week, but will be front and center once again as the All-Star break rapidly approaches. Reportedly, players will be setting up a strike date the day after the Mid-Season classic � then baseball�s dive into disaster will begin in earnest.

The Reds outfield quandary did claim a victim temporarily in Austin Kearns as he was sent down following a 2-26 slump. But that lasted less than 24 hours after Ken Griffey did his hammy in again. Like I said before, Griffey would take care of that situation himself, hopefully Austin is now up for good. And actually all the Reds are slumping including Adam Dunn (0 for 15), and Aaron Boone - .217 for the season following years of .285 and .294, although AB does have 10 homers for the year and has managed to stay healthy. He could be a solid second half play.

Toby Hall returned from the minors with a bang, a three-hit night bringing his BA over .200. Monitor his situation, as he could be a second-half bargain of the magnitude that was expected in the first place during the pre-season. Other players making noise are as follows�

Freddy Garcia � Like I said last week, as good as any pitcher in any league right now. Talk about the kiss of death, nine hits, five walks, and ten earned runs in a three inning outing v. Oakland. The downside with Freddy is similar to that of Mike Mussina, who also gets pounded on occasion, as his manager gives him opportunities to get out of the mess. If you fortunate enough not to take my advice last week. Go ahead and take Freddy now that he has the bad performance out of the way, and other owners have been hung with the bad numbers.

Odalis Perez � It�s official, I have quit waiting for Odalis to come down to earth. His second one-hit complete game of the season gives him a 9-3 record, a 2.33 ERA, and a ridiculous .85 ratio. If you haven�t grabbed him and his 420 salary in CDM yet, then you�re way behind the eight-ball.

Russ Ortiz � The year I give up on this cat he is bound to finally have his career year, and win 20 games with an ERA under three and a ratio under one, while walking next to no one. I�m beginning to lose patience though. The ERA is decent (3.44) but the ratio (1.32) is a tad shaky. Russ has walked 44 (v. 65 K�s) in 99 innings, still way too much. Again, the year he gets it together he will be a key cog for many teams.

Javier Vazquez - Bombed for seven earnies in 4 2/3 IP in Pittsburgh this week, making him a dicey proposition for his two starts next week which will also be on the road (ATL v. Glavine, PHI). JV's splits for the year are 2.61 at home and 4.89 on the road. If you have him on your roster my gut says go with him in the coming week since he's at his best when least expected.

Kevin Mench � Not your highly regarded prospect but you can't ignore .305/7/22 in 95 AB�s for Texas.. A nice waiver-wire pick-up, and at least a short-term plug-in if you can still get it.

Bobby Keilty - As if J. Jones and Torii Hunter was not enough, Keilty is now laying claim to the Twins right field gig hitting .338 in 131 AB's with 27 runs, 5 homers and 26 RBI. Multiply that just by four (524 AB's) and you have 20+ bombs and triple figure runs/RBI. This is quite a bump from his 2001 AAA #'s of 58/12/50/.287 (341 AB's).

Darin Erstad � It is an even-numbered even, and sure enough Darin is on again, and has been a five-cat force in the last week, with eight runs, two homers, 11 RBI, three steals and a .378 BA in his last eight outings. Still only six homers on the year (v. 25 in 2000), but is on pace to get back to 100 RBI�s, along with going over 20 steals for what would be the fifth time in his career.

Jose Vidro - OK, Luis has had his fun - now meet the real All-Star second baseman. Only seven home runs, but more than halfway to triple-figures in both runs (51) and RBI (53) with a .331 BA to boot. Al Soriano without the steals or big-market glitz.

Luis Castillo - This stat is worth noting - Luis beat out 59 infiled hits in 2001 (in only 134 games), the most of any player single-season since 70 by Brett Butler in 1992. Another long hitting streak is not out of the question.

Tom Glavine - So he only has 73 K's in 124 innings pitched, so what. Tom's 11-3 with a 1.75 ERA and 1.05 ratio. My vote for the NL First-Half Cy Young gets deposited here.

Pedro Astacio - Only 7-3, but with a 2.92 ERA and 1.13 ratio, along with 80 K's in 101.2 IP. He's a little more than a #4 starter now.

Aaron Harang - Pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings before being pulled after throwing 111 pitches at Seattle, in what would become a tough-luck 1-0 loss for Oakland. Doesn't matter, 33 K's in 35.2 IP, a 2.02 ERA and a 1.23 ratio. The jury has reached a verdict as the A's pitching staff gets even stronger.

Byung-Hyun Kim - The dark side of BHK reared it's ugly head for the first time this season as he went homer, single, out, homer walk in a disastrous 1/3 inning stint in Houston. We are approaching the time of year where Kim historically loses his effectiveness.

Pedro Martinez - Gave up three homers in seven innings to Cleveland, but all-in-all not a bad night with 4 ER, 5 hits, 9 strikeouts and zero walks, and thanks to offensive support got the win. He gets the official OK for his two starts next week.

Randy Johnson - Also slated for two starts in Week 14, Unit took a no-hitter into the sixth in Houston and finished with eight shutout innings, three hits and three walks and seven K's. No problems here neither.

David Eckstein � At 660, becomes a possibility with Nomar Garciaparra�s wrist reportedly barking, along with Jimmy Rollins recent struggles. Only four home runs, but comes with 13 steals, 49 runs and 39 RBI. Multiply that by two and you have impressive numbers for a cheap price at a scarce position.

Eric Owens � Yet another intriguing Marlins player, with 18 steals on the season, on pass to easily surpass his career high of 33 in 1999. Another option if in need of bags.

Matt Morris � In a gutty performance, Morris took a no-hitter into the fifth before getting touched up for two runs in the fifth which turned out to be the difference in the game. Still the final numbers of 2 ER, 6 hits and 2 walks over 7 innings was not bad especially considering the circumstances that he was one of the Cards who was closest to Darryl Kile.

INJURY NEWS

Some are actually coming back this week, as Junior Spivey, Mariano Rivera, and Manny Ramirez were all activated. Ryan Klesko (wrist) also returned a few days earlier than originally planned. Players dinged up at the moment include Bartolo Colon (rib), Omar Vizquel (shoulder), Chipper Jones (back spasms d-t-d), Greg Vaughn (DL � shoulder), Larry Walker (chronic elbow out thru Thursday), Bret Boone (bruised knee, d-t-d), and Greg Maddux (calf). Rivera is being eased back into the Yanks closer�s role, coming in for seventh inning duty in his first appearance and promptly striking the side out, I think he�s ready.

In closer news, you can forget about Francisco Cordova in Texas, as he as landed on the DL. Hideki Irabu is back in the closers role for the moment, but don't get too comfortable with that. Incidentally, none other than Orel Hershiser is now the Rangers pitching coach, you think he can mellow out Rocker??? Also, a shaky month of June (three blown saves in six chances) has loosened Vladimir Nunez's grip on the Florida closing gig, as Jeff Torberg will be holding open auditions over the next few days, perhaps with pre-season favorite Braden Looper getting another chance.

THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE

You mean it's July already??? Yes, we reached the scheduled mathamatical half-way point this Sunday. This is also the final week before the All-Star game, which is already having an impact in the form of AL Manager Joe Torre - who is on record for saying that no one will be selected for the ASG who pitches on the previous Sunday. That appearantly leaves Barry Zito and Roy Halladay deciding between a second start on Sunday or an All-Star appearance. Other projected double duty pitchers include Aaron Harang, Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson, Javier Vazquez, Tom Glavine, and Pedro Astacio.

The plum schedules belong to Boston and Toronto, who thanks to a double-dip, play eight times this week. You can bet that Nomar and Ramirez will see at least one (and possibly two) games of rest, but this may be a good spot for the likes of Vernon Wells and ROY candidate Eric Hinske. All NL teams get seven games with the exception of COL and SD, who get six. The Rockies will be at home for the entire week while Houston is on the road. KC, MIN, OAK and SEA get seven in the AL while everyone else not mentioned gets six.

CDM's free agent list for the week follows, recommended buys are in bold...