Baseball

No sport uses the word "purity" as much as baseball. Fans are obsessed with the idea and hold its athletes to a higher standard than the NBA, or NFL. So when a player does something to hurt the integrity of the game—outrage ensues.

Pete Rose gambled on the Reds for four plus years as the player/manager of the Reds in the late 1980's. He directly affected the outcome of the game.

Dozens of players in the late 1980's to the mid 2000's used performance-enhancing drugs as a way to stay competitive. Not every player chose to use PED's and there stats and paychecks suffer because of it.

Blake DeWitt is, without a doubt, having no trouble smashing the ball this spring. DeWitt is hitting a strong .368, with 2 home runs, and 5 RBI while playing 14 games and having 38 at-bats.  There is only one small problem that he is having: fielding the ball.

His lack of fielding is quite a problem, considering he is playing second base, which is a position known to get a lot of ground balls and is expected to easily turn double plays. DeWitt has already committed three errors this spring and there are still two weeks until Opening Day.

The Yankees placed Chad Gaudin on waivers today, and I'm not sure that was the right course of action.

After this move, it looks like the bullpen will shape up as follows:

Atlanta Braves (Last Season: 86-76)

Will Bobby Cox’s last season as the Atlanta Braves manager be one worth remembering?

He’s been the one fixture in the Braves’ organization since their run in the 1990s. If the Braves don’t get to the playoffs this year, I would say that Cox’s final year with the team might be considered a failure no matter how close they get.

One thing they must have to make a decent run for the postseason is a decent rotation.

Battle of the Blogs is set to begin. For those of you that do not know what I am talking about, read my article about the baseball league I have started.

With the introduction of the term “Floating Alignment,” Major League Baseball has a new buzz word to keep fans and critics alike speculating about the progression of America’s Pastime.  

The days of waiting for a Dodgers ace may be over.

As much as Stephen Strasburg is dominating the headlines, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers deserves our attention. In Clayton's case, it won't make much difference if he receives it now or later, but he will receive it.

The Dodgers as an organization have groomed this 2006 first-round draft pick perfectly. Easing his way into the majors, Joe Torre saw fit to keep the work load strictly within his current ability.

What I’m Reading

• Where will Joe Torre be in 2011? Well, I can’t say for sure. Now, apparently, we won’t get an answer for a while.

As with everything in the world of the New York Mets the past few seasons, good Mets news comes along with some bad Mets news.

Today would be no different, as the pleasantly surprising news that Jose Reyes has been cleared to resume baseball activities, and may even be ready to play on opening day, was met with news that would also disappoint many Mets fans.

Last week Josh Thole was reassigned to the Mets' minor league camp, and today Ike Davis joined him there.  I expect that in the next week we will also see Fernando Martinez reassigned, and if Jose Reyes shows that he will be ready for Opening Day, Rueben Tejada will also be sent down.  The biggest variable is Jenrry Mejia -

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