Baseball

Boston sports started off the decade in a bit of a rut. None of the Big Four teams had won a championship since 1987, and only the Patriots reaching a championship game in that time. Ten years and six championships and later, it's safe to say being a Boston sports fan this decade has been pret-tay, pret-tay, pret-tay good.

But with such success also came heartbreak.

The 2000s, at least first half of them, were a good decade for the Atlanta Braves.

With superstars plentiful throughout, making this list was difficult.

But, I was finally able to assemble a catcher, first baseman, second baseman, short stop, third baseman, three outfielders, five starters, a reliever, and a closer (with the year that each had their immaculate performance).

With eight players coming from just two seasons, it may look like I became lazy while making this.

But, I assure you, this article took a lot of time and I feel that these fifteen players had the best indiviual seasons

In the days before the arrival of Stephen Strasburg, there was already a pitching prospect considered good enough to be the team’s future No. 1 starter.

His name was Jordan Zimmermann.

The San Francisco Giants have had one of the strongest traditions of pitching in all of baseball throughout their franchise history. They have had countless Hall of Famers, league leaders and two Cy Young award winners.
When they were the New York Giants, they boasted such names as Carl Hubbell, Christy Mathewson, Red Ames, Joe McGinnity, and Rube Marquard. Since the Giants relocated to San Francisco in 1958, Juan Marichal, Vida Blue, Gaylord Perry, Rod Beck, and Mike Krukow have all taken the mound.

With Juan Uribe on the verge of getting a new contract from the San Francisco Giants, the pressure is on for one current Giants player.

Edgar Renteria.

The Chicago Cubs took another outfielder from the Texas Rangers today (Thursday) when the club signed Marlon Byrd to a three year 15 million dollar deal.

This time, things should be vastly different then the Bradley experiment.

In addition to the signing of Byrd, the Cubs also signed Byrd’s old hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo who is said to have a hand in convincing the club to grab Byrd before it’s too late.

Last year, I ran what I hoped to become a tradition here at Cubbie Nation, the current team captured in pictures.

The premise is pretty simple. Teams and seasons come and go, and for as much time as we give to being with them, there's something wrong about the notion that many of these guys are gone, if not altogether forgotten, by the time the playoffs have ended.

Multiple sources have reported that the Cubs have inked free agent center fielder Marlon Byrd to a three year, $15 million contract. The question now becomes, is he worth it?

While Byrd is a good player and was no doubt the best available free agent center fielder on the market, he fails to address a number of the Cubs needs.

During my childhood, when I was first learning about baseball, I can remember asking my father, “Who is a good pitcher?”  We lived near Washington D.C., and the hapless Senators offered little to root for, but my father answered, "Now Camilo Pascual, he’s a good pitcher.  But it’s hard on him, because Washington is never very good.”  I can vaguely remember him saying something about Pascual keeping a good ERA and pitching many good games, even though it was hard to win.

Finally, the mystery is over. 

Eight days ago it was reported that the Phillies had come to terms with a bullpen pitcher, believed to be either Danys Baez or Mike MacDougal. 

Now we have learned that the Phillies have agreed to a two-year deal with Baez, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki and SI.com's Jon Heyman. 

It's no shock, seeing that the Phillies have long held interest in Baez, back to his days with Tampa Bay. 

For a bullpen that was in flux for much of last year, it will give the Phillies some stability at the back end of the game.