Baseball Diamond Journal

Major League Baseball’s report on the father-son assault of Kansas City Royals coach Tom Gamboa at Comiskey Park could suggest new protective policies near the dugouts and clubhouses at major-league parks. Kevin Hallinan, baseball’s director of security, expects his report to be completed early this week and sent to commissioner Bud Selig. Hallinan was at Comiskey Park on Friday and Saturday to meet with White Sox security and operations officials and review how the assault Thursday was handled. William Ligue Jr. of Alsip and his 15-year-old son have been charged with aggravated battery for attacking Gamboa on the field in the ninth inning. Royals players and Sox security came to Gamboa’s aid within five seconds, videos of the incident show. Ligue is being held on $200,000 bond and faces a maximum penalty of three to five years in prison if convicted. He is to appear again in court Oct. 11. His son is in the custody of juvenile authorities and has been charged with two counts of assault as a juvenile. Frank Thomas was upset enough at a report saying he wasn’t in the dugout while out of the lineup in Saturday’s game that he broke his self-imposed silence to the media. “That’s just wrong,’’ he said, adding he was in and out of the dugout throughout the game. Manager Jerry Manuel had no complaint about Thomas, saying players sometimes go in the clubhouse to watch videotapes of a pitcher or work in the batting cages, which are behind the dugout. “I don’t baby-sit the bench,’’ Manuel said. “My rule is if you’re not in the game, you should be around or right in the cage. I don’t get caught up in that because some guys go in and watch a pitcher on video. We have the technology to watch one pitch or a sequence. I know a lot of times Frank stands in the runway because the cages are there, and a lot of guys do that. If it was a problem, teammates should get on a player. But I’ve had to tell guys sometimes that I don’t like them hitting so much in there, that I’d like them to watch (the pitcher) here because conditions might be different.’’ With the teams locked up for postseason, there is no reason to expect anyone but the Yankees in the Fall Classic again this year. The pitching of the Yankees is too dominant to overcome and the offense has surges reminiscent of the 1929 Yankees. In the National League, the Cardinals appear to be the Cinderella team. With their adversity (losing Darryl Kile and announcer Jack Buck the same year), many fans will have them as a sentimental favorite to play against the Yankees.