Baseball

At the end of the 2005 season, Johnny Damon's agent, Scott Boras, was seeking a seven-year contract valued at $84 million for his client. That amounted to an average annual salary of $12 million.

First, let me get this out of the way—congratulations to the New York Yankees and their fans on winning the World Series.  They were the best team and deserved to win.

Okay, now I can move on to why the rest of baseball needs to see what the Yankees accomplished in the last twelve months, and why they should be afraid—be very afraid.

When Ted Lilly opted for left shoulder surgery on Nov. 3, he may have put his Chicago Cubs in the market for a free agent starter.

One week later, an MLB.com story revealed that John Smoltz, who filed for free agency Nov. 5, hopes to pitch in 2010. For many Cubs fans, the gravity of that revelation should not be overlooked.

There are lots of worldly occurrences that make absolutely no sense to me. For instance, popular American culture is apparently obsessed with vampires at the moment.

Vampires? Really? Who signed off on this?

My faith in a benevolent Higher Power has me convinced there's a bunch of television executives somewhere laughing themselves silly at the gag. The phenomenon has to be a perverse bet between suits a la the Duke Brothers in Trading Places—"I'll bet you a dollar we can get the masses to go crazy about anything if we throw enough production behind it."

It has been reported most of the week that Detroit Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson could be had if the right offer were to cross general manger Dave Dombrowski's desk.

It has also been mentioned that two teams that would be interested in the services of Granderson would be the New York Yankees (of course) and the Chicago Cubs.

Introducing Mark McGwire Will Be Tricky

The Lowell Spinners, Class-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, are joining forces with FOX 25 personalities Kevin Lemanowicz and Ryan Asselta to spread cheer this holiday season as they search for a local elementary school to visit for a Holiday Party.

Building off the popular "Spread the Love" Tour, which visits one local elementary school, selected based on essays submitted by students detailing why their school should be selected, to make cards and gifts for the residents of the Bedford Veteran's Hospital.

Commissioner Bud Selig recently sat down with Bob Costas for an interview that aired on the MLB Network. Among the topics discussed was the possible inclusion of Pete Rose in the baseball Hall of Fame.

The topic of Rose and his possible admittance into the Hall has been one of baseball's most hotly debated issues since his lifetime suspension in 1989 by former commissioner Bart Giamatti.