Baseball

The Aughts began with the San Francisco Giants on top of Major League Baseball, almost literally. They finished with the best record in baseball in 2000, came six agonizing outs away from the World Series in 2002, and made it back to the postseason in 2003.

They were strong contenders in 2001, 2004, and 2005 (although I'm being liberal with "strong" on that last one).

Then came the Darkness. Or maybe it was a Fog.

Los Gigantes slid into baseball obscurity, toiling in the cellar of the Show's weakest division.

Even though the end of the holiday season is approaching, that does not mean that teams cannot continue searching for some gifts! Here is a look at some key free agents left on the market, and where they may end up.

Matt Holliday, OF

Teams interested: St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Baltimore Orioles.

This morning, Joe over at River Avenue Blues pointed out a few things about the Yankees' left field situation. In short, he suggested that the Yankees will be signing someone to complement the outfield and not necessarily take Brett Gardner's starting spot.

The New York Yankees faced a risky off-season but Brian Cashman and the Yankees did well in keeping the franchise from breaking down. The Yankees lost two starting position players from a year ago but made smart moves to enhance confidence for 2010. The signings of Andy Pettitte and Nick Johnson, plus trades bringing in Javier Vazquez and Curtis Granderson made it easier to forget about Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon.

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There were 87 starting pitchers from the 1970s who pitched in at least 200 games. That is the highest number of any decade in the history of Major League Baseball, other than the 1980s and 2000s.

The 1970s is an interesting decade to write about, because it was chock-full of high-caliber pitchers.

The 2009 Kansas City Royals baseball season got underway with much fanfare, due in large part to completed renovations to Kauffman Stadium that made it suitable for well, royalty.

The stadium’s concourses and concessions were brought up to today’s standards, and there were so many new amenities that any Royals fan would have a hard time taking advantage of them in a single homestand.

About a month ago, I would have completely dismissed any type of Dan Uggla to the Atlanta Braves rumors as just that, rumors.

But, with the Braves still having a hole in left field (a position that many say Uggla could play) and the Marlins seemingly eager to trade their arbitration-eligible second baseman, you have to at least think about it.

Let's first examine what Uggla brings to the table.

For his career, the soon-to-be 30-year-old is a .257 hitter and has slugged at least 27 home runs in each of his first four big league seasons.

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night?

Maybe a bad dream interrupts your slumber. Maybe you're disturbed by a noise from outside. Or maybe the burrito you ate for dinner didn't quite agree with you after all.

Here's a list of 10 sleepers who got up to pee at some point in 2009, then went back to bed.

Bonus points to anyone who knows who's in this picture.

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As far as Royals fans go, I am one of the more optimistic.

I retained my family's season tickets while away at college so I wouldn't lose my childhood vantage point when the team finally returned to the postseason.

I attend upwards of 40 games a season since I moved back to the nation's bread basket in 2004.

I was so confident in General Manager Dayton Moore's abilities that I placed a bet with a buddy that Mike Jacobs would hit 30+ HR, and, given the spacious Kauffman Stadium outfield, Coco Crisp would have an OPS north of .790 with 30+ SB.*