Baseball

Well friends, here we are at the end of the journey. This is the last installment of the Cooperstown’s Best series.

We have managed to make Top 10 lists on each of the other positions, and this is the end of the road.

It has been fun, exhausting, and educational. If you have read the entire series, I hope you have learned just one-third of what I have in researching and writing it.

Big news on the business side of the game today as Major League Baseball announced that two teams, the Yankees and a second unnamed franchise rumored to be the Red Sox, will deliver live games online within their home broadcast territories starting in July.

The following took place during the 2008 winter:

Once upon a time there lived a young boy. He wasn’t so young. In fact, he was 26. His name was Fernando Alexis Nieve, and he was a pitcher that had been buried in the Houston Astros’ organization for almost 10 seasons. He had glimpses of time in the big leagues, but nothing substantial.

Since being signed as an amateur free agent in 1999, Nieve had pitched just 25.1 innings at the big league level. His ERA was above six, and the future looked bleak.

But then something happened.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP): Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez was welcomed back to baseball with rousing cheers.

In the minor leagues, anyway.

Will the Mets light up victory cigars in 2009?

As I write this, I have just witnessed the New York Mets get two-hit by the St. Louis Cardinals in the second game of a four-game set at Citi Field to fall to 35-34 on the year, three losses back of the first-place Philadelphia Phillies.

Atlanta Braves and Oakland Athletics

Braves send Jeff Francoeur, Kris Medlen, Jo-Jo Reyes, and Kelly Johnson to the Athletics for Matt Holliday and Adam Kennedy

The A’s and Braves have made trades before. This deal gets the A’s three major league-ready young players for a pair of one-year veterans. The Braves are desperate to unload Jeff Francoeur (.246/.281/.336), and maybe the A’s philosophy of OBP being very important could help Francoeur fix his approach.

With only two and a half weeks until the All-Star break, it is safe to wonder where the Rays magic from last season has gone. 

Has it subsided for just the first half of the season? Will it come back, or were the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays a one-time thing?  Being 37-35 and fourth in the Al East leaves the question of whether this team can pull it back together.

One can only assume, but if we look at the clubs strengths and weaknesses it may just give us the answer to the question that we have all been wandering.

Since the Yankees are over .500, I’m feeling the pinstripe bandwagon right now. Let’s talk about someone who doesn’t get enough credit. That man is Derek Jeter.

A stadium. A coliseum that houses what is a major league franchise. To baseball fans, these may be known as "fields" or "ballparks" even. In baseball's illustrious history, these cathedrals have served as the ghost writer's of some of the greatest books (including record books) ever written.

Different in size, different in shape. Some luxurious, others barely sporting enough bleachers. Some famous, others not so much. Yet these buildings have changed the game in a dramatic way.

To be on this list, each stadium's individual history was looked at.

BY MICHAEL GANCI

EDITOR

The Mets were beaten by Joel Pineiro and the Cardinals tonight by the score of 3-0. Livan Hernandez pitched well once again, allowing just three runs in seven innings, but Pineiro was just better. He pitched to contact, and his sinker was working with perfection. The Mets just simply had nothing to answer him with.