Baseball

Justin Upton has the all the makings of the next great baseball star. He plays right field for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He's only 22 years old, but plays the game like a 30-year-old.

Upton, my early pick for 2010 National League Most Valuable Player, has baseball in his genes. His brother, B.J., currently plays for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Upton brothers were both first-round picks (B.J. 2nd overall in 2002, and Justin 1st overall in 2005).  And since his major league debut in 2007, Justin has appeared to overshadow his older brother.

For anybody who has ever thought through the process to becoming a Major League general manager, Step One is usually "Win a fantasy league."

Although it is considered "fake" and "not real" and "a waste of time" by many, fantasy baseball has its strong points in terms of strategy, team-building, and the mastering of witty team names, and message board zings.

Every year as a Phillies fan, I’ve grown accustomed to saying “wait until next year.”

Next year we’ll pick up a big-name player in free agency. We’ll overtake the Braves or Mets in the division race. We’ll get a couple of good breaks, stay healthy all season, and win it all.

Guess what?

It happened.

The greatest time of the year is upon us. As the weather warms up, so does that spot in our heart for baseball. Spring training is underway!

30 MLB teams now play their preseason games knowing that in under two weeks, it finally counts again.

So if your favorite team's dreams were crushed last season, you once again have reason to hope. Embrace this chance because, come October, you may just have to wait another year.

The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan wrote an article about how the Cubs' roster may change if they don't win this year. While I usually find Sully's columns to be less than noteworthy, he has hit the nail on the head with this one.

2010 Top 50 Twins Prospects | No. 6 | Angel Morales

I am an "Old School" guy, and proud of it most of the time. In fact, I go so far back, I can recall when rainbows were still in black and white, and televisions were run by gas.

When it comes to selecting All-Anything teams, I always catch it from some (usually young) brainiac who tells me that I can't compare Pete Rose to Ty Cobb or Chase Utley to Nap LaJoie.

Then I am presented with comparisons beginning with lower case letters followed by all caps:  wRC, wOBA, tRA, etc., ad nauseam.

It was a portent of things to come.

Near the end of spring training, Jerry Koosman, who figured to be one of the New York Mets' starters in 1968, pitched six shutout innings against the San Francisco Giants at their Phoenix training facility.

The 23-year-old rookie from Minnesota faced only 20 batters, allowed a pair of harmless singles, struck out out three Giants, and allowed no walks.

Mets On the West Coast

The Mets began the 1968 season in San Francisco a week later.

When it comes to spring training and statistics I am a non-believer. I am obsessed with watching the games, but it is more to get a feel for the players involved and it hardly ever matters to me who won, who lost, or if the players do really well or really poorly. Sure, part of me cringes a little bit if someone has a horrible day, but in the end I realize it is spring and this doesn’t really count (this lead was stolen from example A ).

Is it me, or are the Seattle Mariners either doing something or have something going on that makes headlines everyday?

I woke up this morning and there they were again. I guess if you notice a team’s news and notes on a regular basis, it means they are relevant—and the Mariners will certainly be relevant in 2010.

Since the Mariners had a couple of relevant stories going on, I decided to include them  in one post.

Cliff Lee has an abdominal strain