Major League Baseball

So, rumor has it online sports betting used to be really sweet; I heard pinnaclesports was an excellent, reputable site until the US cracked down on this alleged integrity issue.  An article I read points to a 1999 study that over $380 billion is illegally wagered on betting.  Now, I am not an advocate of; well, if society does it.. then it must be right.  Because usually, I think people are pretty stupid, especially society.  However, this seems harmless to me because the money can be used in so many ways.  Think of all the tax money and money, in general, the state and the US can collect, insane.  Anyway, it appears sports betting is only allowed in several states where it was legal before a certain law was passed.

Continue reading "Centsports Is Sweet"

What are some of the Braves other needs before the season opener against the Phillies on April 5? Adding an outfield bat seems to be Wren's top priority, but who could it be?

Hopefully not Andruw Jones, who just hit the free agent market yesterday. I just don't think he's worth taking a shot on. After all, the Dodgers did agree to pay him the rest of his contract as long as he stopped hurting their team by taking up a roster spot.

Continue reading "What's left for the Braves?"

Yes, it's great for the Atlanta Braves that Derek Lowe is their rotation's new ace. He's better than what they have now — with the exception possibly being Jair Jurrjens, who might be really, really good one day but is still just 22 years old — and there aren't too many other options out there. Randy Wolf isn't that great, neither is Oliver Perez, and Ben Sheets is exactly what the Braves don't need, another starter who will spend more time on the DL then he will off of it.

Continue reading "Braves overbid for Lowe - but they had no choice"

  

Last night, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 to win the World Series in five games (4-1).  This is the second World Championship for the Phils…they previously won in 1980…28 years ago.  This will be remembered as one of the weirdest finishes in a Series with an unprecedented suspension of a game due to inclement weather.  The game was concluded 48 hours later…in hindsight…it was worth the wait! 

Continue reading "Finally"

s in the lineup.  One problem… there’s not four outfield positions in baseball.

Major League Baseball originally established the designated hitter in 1973 to cure then struggling American League offenses.  The ‘position’ has been in existence ever since.  Has it made a difference?  Of course.  The top five hitting teams in the majors this year are all in the American League.  A.L. teams have consistently had higher team batting averages ever since the DH’s inception.  But has it dramatically changed the game?  Probably not.  No true designated hitter has ever won the Most Valuable Player award, although David Ortiz recently came close.  And the position has prolonged the careers of Hall of Fame caliber athletes, allowing fans to see more of Bernie Williams, George Brett, Edgar Martinez and Paul Molitor.

Continue reading "A Case for the Designated Hitter"

Hello, my name is Christopher and I'm a Red Sox fan. Which makes what I'm about to say so difficult.

I could not have written this five years ago. In October 2003, we Sox faithful had once again suffered another devastating defeat to our arch-rival and overall evil-doers, the New York Yankees. This time, the blow came from the bat of Aaron Boone in the American League Championship Series. Game Seven, extra innings, another loss to the Yankees, could things get any worse? Numbness ensued. Another crushing loss meant yet another year of ribbing from Yankee fans everywhere who were, and had always been, our daddies. However, five years, two World Series titles and one Ruthian exorcism later, Red Sox fans can put all that behind them and openly talk about the past, for it is now the Yankees who haven't won in ages.

Continue reading "A Tribute to the Evil Emperor"

Unless, of course, Mario and I were the only two in the stands aware that Major League Baseball still keeps stats like complete games. Or do they?

With modern athletes in better shape than their predecessors, pitchers should have the stamina to go the distance. With the Marlins up 3-1 going into the ninth and the Diamondbacks still reeling from Nolasco's impressive performance, Gregg shut them down in order. That's like Gregg getting to go home with the girl that Nolasco bought drinks for all night long. From this fan's perspective, seeing a CG on the back of Nolasco's baseball card would have been much more impressive, and entertaining, than any S under Gregg's.

Continue reading "The Lost Art of the Complete Game ..."

After a shaky start to the season the Detroit Tigers seem to have finally come to life. After beating the Twins 11-9 yesterday the Tigers made it two straight with a 6-5 victory tonight.

Everyon

Continue reading "Tigers take two from Twins"

Over the past month or so I have taken the time to do some research on every team and break them down.  I pointed out their strengths and weaknesses, discussed which player or part of a team needs to have a big season to push that team to the next level and I made predictions on how every team in baseball would finish.  I talked about how each division would be won and why.  I took the time to look not just as each teams stars but the back end of their bullpen and their bench.  I know we are technically two games into the MLB season but with Opening Day being tomorrow (sorry Braves and Nationals) it is now time for me to tell you which teams will make the playoffs, who will win the awards, how the playoffs will shake up and which team, come October will be on top of the world.

Continue reading "My Baseball Predictions (My brother and dad's too)"

The American League East has been a two horse race for as long as I can remember but I think this year it becomes three-team battle.  The Toronto Blue Jays are as talented as most teams in the league and if they can stay healthy they can definitely contend.  The Rays and Orioles will again bring up the rear of this division but the top should be a fun and wild ride all year long, beginning with the Yankees-Blue Jays to open the season next week.

Continue reading "Part VI: AL East"

The AL Central is my favorite race in the league this year.  The Tigers and Indians are both stacked this season and I think it will very close all year.  I don’t expect either of these teams to have anymore than a 4 or 5 game lead.  The rest of this division is pretty weak which will help these two powerhouses build up the wins.  Let’s get to the breakdowns.

Continue reading "Part V: AL Central"

Moving away from the National League we will turn our attention to the much better American League.  We will start out west which a division that should be a great two horse race.  The Rangers are still struggling; the A’s are now re-building which leaves us with the Mariners and the Angels.  Let’s get to it.

Continue reading "Preview IV: AL West"

There's nothing quite like it. Cheap ticket prices, amazing warm weather, the smell of hot dogs & freshly cut grass on the baseball diamond in February and early March. It's that time of the year again with Spring Training rolling around and getting us all excited for the upcoming 2008 MLB season. It's also time to make some bold predictions for the long season ahead of us. Of course with injuries, the inevitability of a surprise team, and a little lack of better judgement, predicting the MLB season is incredibly difficult to do. However, after looking at all the new free agent pickups, new coaches, and using basic instinct, I've come up with my predictions for the 2008 season. Some of my predictions may sound crazy, but the baseball season usually plays out that way, I mean who predicted the Rockies to go that far last season? Enjoy, because it's sure to cause some argument.

Continue reading "Bold MLB 2008 Season Predictions ..."

Time to move on from the rough and tough NL East and we head into the middle of the country and into the weakest (and saddest) division in baseball.  It should be fun though, however bad the baseball might be.  This race is wide open with four or five teams that could honestly win this division.  The NL Central has many newcomers to the division and has some very important people spread throughout the six teams.  But I will discuss that later on.  First, the team-by-team breakdowns.

Continue reading "Part II: NL Central"

You know those old tales of good and evil where the devil tries to tempt a man on earth with great treasures and power in return for his soul? 

Remnants of that tale immediately came to mind once I heard that Sam Zell, the new owner of the Chicago Cubs and CEO of the Chicago Tribune, publicly stated that he will sell the naming rights of Wrigley Field.  I immediately thought of the outrage that this would stir among Cub fans and baseball purists.  Now, I am a die hard Cub fan and as tough as it has been not to show any real bias towards this controversy, hearing about this news really ticked me off. Selling the naming rights of Wrigley Field is just disrespectful to the loyal fans, the game itself, and the Chicago Cubs organization.  Sam Zell is a man that is already filthy rich and I understand that business is business and he wants to turn the Chicago Tribune back around, but this is not the way to do it. 

Continue reading "Selling your Soul: Zell plans to ..."

We are four and a half weeks away from first pitch of the new Major League Baseball and I have a lot to cover until Josh Beckett faces Joe Blanton in Japan.  This is the first of a seven part series of my MLB 2008 preview.  In the first six parts of the series I will discuss each division, break them down by team and give my predictions for the upcoming season.  The first division I will take a close look at in the NL East.  I see a tight three-team race here between the Mets, Phillies and Marlins.  Just kidding, of course the third team is the Braves.

Continue reading "First of a Seven Part Series-NL East Preview"

Withh all the things going on in Major League baseball maybe they should rename it the Hall of Shame. Baseball's Hall of Fame could be without some great players depending on how the voters vote after the Mitchell report came out and talk about steroid use as the main problem in the last ten years in baseball. Some of the game's biggest stars were implicated in the drug scandal. Names like Bonds, Petitte, Clemens were just a few of the names that surfaced. I wonder how many people have used it but never caught. Bet that would be a very intersting number.

Continue reading "Hall Of Fame Or Hall Of Shame"