Baseball

I am fan of Josh Towers.

He has the bulldog attitude, the will to win, the courage to push through when his stats tell us something further from the truth.

Towers saw early success while attending Oxnard JC, located in Oxnard California.  The Baltimore Orioles saw the promise and drafted Towers in the 15th round of the 1996 amateur draft.

1998 through to 2000 was when Towers put together three tremendous campaigns, going 30-21, with a 3.54 ERA in 500 innings.

I just got done reading a book about the 1960 World Series. You know, the one where Bill Mazeroski downed the evil Yankees with a home run in the bottom of the 9th of Game 7? Well, it got me thinking.

The Pirates are terrible, and it kinda sucks.

Pitchers and catchers have reported to Spring Training and opening day is just around the corner!

In Arizona, Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee have the baseball world abuzz with anticipation of the impact they can make on the landscape of Seattle baseball.

Will they answer the call to arms with a team monopoly in the pursuit of the American League Cy Young Award?

If you're a New York Mets fan like I am, you've got to be thick-skinned.

It's hard enough when you see your entire 40-man roster fall apart at the seams due to injuries, but it's even more painful when you're forced to watch your division rivals face your crosstown rivals in the World Series.

Over the past six seasons, through three managers and what seems like one hundred general managers, the Mets have had an unbelievable stretch of roller coaster up-and-downs.

With free-agent outfielder Johnny Damon reportedly signing a one-year, $8 million contract with Detroit, it appears as if two former Yankees will be prowling the Tigers' outfield in 2010.

Earlier this offseason, Austin Jackson was traded to Detroit in a three-team deal that also sent pitcher Ian Kennedy to Arizona and outfielder Curtis Granderson to the Bronx.

Jackson, a highly-touted prospect, hit .300 with four homers, 65 RBIs, and 24 steals in 132 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last year.

Brit Annie Spares is not fond of many New York Yankees.

She has said on more than one occasion that she didn't like Joe DiMaggio, but she followed that up by telling anyone who would listen that she admired him more than any player she had ever seen.

Brit Annie recalls some anecdotes her mother told her about DiMaggio's great hitting streak in 1941.

Let's get it straight. I didn't like Joe DiMaggio. He was stand-offish, prideful, and, to use a modern term, too full of himself.

Unlike this time last year, the Atlanta Braves have an incredibly deep bullpen to count on throughout the year. This means that Bobby Cox will not have to overuse two or three guys and have them burnt out by September.

This season's bullpen will consist of new closer Billy Wagner, Japanese setup man Takashi Saito, the jovialant side arming Aussie Peter Moylan, lefty specialist Eric O'Flaherty, Kris Medlen, who could be used in several different roles, and several different pitchers fighting for the final two spots in.

My last article predicted the final records for the AL West teams. I came up with this:

LA 88-74
Seattle 87-75
Oakland 84-78
Texas 82-80

Obviously, I think it's going to be close.

The next thing I wanted to do was look at the starting rotations of each team, pitcher-by-pitcher, and grade them.

Without further ado, here's my look at Texas.

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After a few months of speculation the Detroit Tigers and Johnny Damon finally reached an agreement that brings the outfielder to Detroit.  Damon and the Tigers agreed to a one-year deal worth $8M.

So, where exactly does Damon fit in?  He’s clearly taking at-bats from someone, right?  Who’s out of the picture now?

He's baaaaack.

Johnny Damon (.282, 24 HR, 82 RBI), who spent the 1995-2000 season with the Kansas City Royals, is returning to the AL Central after signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers.

Damon, who turned 36 last November, was also rumored to be negotiating with the Atlanta Braves, but ultimately decided to sign with the Tigers, who offered him more money.