Baseball

1.       Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

.327 average, 47 homers, 135 RBI, 124 runs

The National League West lacked a clear-cut favorite to win the division for most of its recent history.  That changed though in 2009 when the Dodgers were expected by almost everyone to win the division.  The addition of Manny Ramirez really put them up and above their competition.  The Dodgers did go on to win the NL West, but it was a lot closer than anyone had expected.  Teams such as the Giants and Rockies proved that they were capable of contending with the Dodgers last year.  The Dodgers had to use every ounce of their ability to come away with the NL West, and I feel that the race w

Welcome to the 11th edition of "Daily Random Sports Thoughts!"

For those not familiar, I pick a team, player, or any other topic in sports that I have five random thoughts about. I'm trying to get an article on here every day.

Today's lucky random sports topic is—Johnny Damon.

1) Congrats on finally signing with a team! It's a shame you didn't come back to the Yankees, with that great "lefty-pull" park, but congrats on becoming the newest Tiger!

Angel Guzman is a star-crossed young man.

Injuries have hampered the development of this talented right-handed Venezuelan hurler throughout his career.

Finally, in 2009, he overcame them, stepping brilliantly into the setup role in Chicago's bullpen.

He struck out 47 and walked just 23 in 61 innings, and he allowed the ninth-lowest line drive rate among Major League relievers, according to fangraphs.com.

Today was one of those Sedona Red lettered days that mark an Arizona Diamondbacks fan’s life. Today was the unofficial reporting day for all position players to report to Spring Training. I say “unofficial” because it’s not technically the day when players are required to report.

Since pitchers and catchers began reporting to the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, you could find other position players starting to roll into town to begin baseball workouts. The actual required deadline for players to be in camp is Tuesday March 2, 2010.

Contrary to popular belief, right fielder Kosuke Fukudome of the Chicago Cubs is not a bad hitter. Though just a .258 career hitter, Fukudome's on-base percentage in two Major League seasons is a more than respectable .367.

Popular belief has a funny way of creeping into Chicago's front office, however, and so GM Jim Hendry went out this winter and procured reinforcements.

Xavier Nady, 31, played in just seven games last year before a serious elbow injury claimed his season.

Depth is key to any team with legitimate playoff aspirations. The Phillies were able to win a world series with Matt Stairs having some key hits in there NLCS series against the Dodgers, and the Yankees benefited from having Brett Gardner running around the bases late in games last October.

One thing Bobby Cox has always managed to do with the Braves is maximize the potential of the Braves fringe starters and bench players.

Yesterday, I sat down in my favorite chair and turned on the television.

When I got to the MLB Network, they were showing the sixth game of the 1952 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

As I watched the end of the show and the last inning of the game, I thought back to an article I read on Bleacher Report a few days ago by a young man who wrote about turning 10 years old in 1995.

The scenes from the 1952 game brought thoughts of how much the game has changed and about how much of the game young fans might not know.

Every general manager makes mistakes. It doesn’t mean that they’re not good at what they do, it just means they’re human. Kenny Williams has made a mistake by not stepping up and doing what it takes to sign Johnny Damon .

This offseason Williams has shored up the bullpen, acquired veteran role players, and overall assembled a division champion quality team. However he’s neglected to fill a gaping hole at DH. It started by letting Thome go, and not wanting to bring him back because Ozzie didn’t feel he could get him meaningful at-bats—fine.

Newest starter to the Chicago White Sox rotation, Jake Peavy, turned down the opportunity to start Opening Day for the White Sox stating that this is "Mark's team," referring to starting pitcher Mark Buehrle.

''He didn't want anything to do with what he felt was getting in the way of the team, and he didn't want anything that he felt was remotely looked at as controversial or self-serving," White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said.

"He called me up two or three days after SoxFest and said, 'Dude, I don't want to start. This is (Mark) Buehrle's team.' "