Baseball

The Major League baseball season is a marathon, and usually the teams that end up playing in October are the ones who deal best with the adversity that’s encountered throughout the course of a long season.

Fortunately for the Angels, Manager Mike Scioscia is one of the best in the game at finding ways to win, regardless of the hand he's dealt.  

The Florida Marlins have enjoyed a nice recovery thanks to Interleague play. Taking two of three against the Yankees and sweeping the Orioles have helped them climb back into NL East contention.  

There seems to be a battle for the team RBI lead. Hanley Ramirez currently has 47 thanks to two grand slams in the Baltimore series. Jorge Cantu is in second with 46, while Cody Ross and Dan Uggla are tied for third with 45. Emilio Bonifacio has 13 stolen bases, while Ramirez has 11. 

The MLB season is a war.

Whether it's injuries or a hitting slump, there are many minor battles that occur over the course of season. But during the Cubs' 6-5 win over the White Sox on Friday, Lou Piniella fired the first salvo in one of the most important battles the Cubs will face all year: the battle for the clubhouse.

This past week the Braves played a three-game series against the Yankees in Atlanta. As expected, the stands where split about 50-50. After all, New York has a large following.

The amount of visiting team fans is not my complaint. It's the unbelievable lack of respect that the fans showed during the games that upset me. 

It is important to point out that I do not wish to pin this on just Yankees fans. I know these people are all over and no team is exempt from a variety of disgraceful followers.

The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan is reporting that, after flying out in the sixth inning against the White Sox Friday, Milton Bradley was involved in a verbal altercation with Cubs' manager Lou Piniella.

Bradley was replaced in right field by Ryan Freel in the bottom half of the inning, and was reportedly seen leaving US Cellular Field in street clothes before the ninth inning.

So not only is Bradley not hitting anything, or driving in any runs for his $10 million-plus salary, but now the inevitable has happened.

Please Milton, make it easier for Cubs fans and sportswriters to turn against you.

According to the Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan, after flying out in the sixth inning on Friday against the White Sox, Bradley threw his helmet in the Cubs dugout and then went after the Gatorade cooler.  Manager Lou Piniella then went to talk to Bradley in the tunnel, where the two exchanged angry words.

So the Rockies, who have historically gone into a June Swoon and been completely out of the pennant race by now, have staged a surge that, had it occurred in August, would've been equal in improbability to The Great Hot Streak of 2007.

They've pulled themselves from the cellar to 37-35 and third in the National League West. 

This has been done with great pitching and superior defense, which were the strengths of the 2007 team (and their strong moral fiber, of course).

But can it be sustained?

It can be, if we keep succeeding in these areas:

Juan Pierre will head back to the bench when Manny Ramirez returns from his 50-game suspension, confirmed Joe Torre.

Prior to this season started, the Dodgers gave Pierre and his agent permission to talk to other teams in hopes of working out a trade, since Ramirez's re-signing with the Dodgers pushed Pierre to the backup role in left field.

Yesterday Torre said, "Yeah, I really didn't consider any other option," adding that Pierre will play about twice a week while giving one of the three regular outfielders a rest.

Bad luck spread through the Phillies pitching like the Swine Flu.

It started with Brad Lidge and worked it's way through the entire pitching staff. Lidge blew saves, Chan Ho Park failed, Brett Myers suffered a season ending injury, Clay Condrey went down, and now Antonio Bastardo is hurt.

Fortunately for the Phillies, the bats were alive and kicking. Led by Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia posted the best road record in baseball. Right now, the Phils' bats have been pretty quiet, but not terrible. 

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Most Pirate fans still have nightmarish flashbacks to Sid Bream racing around 3^rd base to meet a diving Mike LaValliere’s tag in the 1992 NLCS.

Questions of “what if” concerning that game have plagued the city of Pittsburgh ever since. What if Barry Bonds makes a half decent throw from left field? What if Jim Leyland doesn’t use Stan Belinda? What if, what if, what if…?