Baseball

Breaking news at this hour as FOXSports.com is reporting the Washington Nationals are set to announce the termination of manager Manny Acta's contract, potentially allowing bench coach Jim Riggleman to become head coach.

The reports are unconfirmed however, as team sources are stating Riggleman has not been told he is taking over the job, even going as far as mentioning that Acta has not been dismissed from his position on the team.

When tragedy strikes the world of sports, it always leaves an everlasting imprint in our lives.

No matter if we cheered the player, booed the player or hated the player, we always respected the player.

This slide show is so we never forget the guys we rooted for, the ones that could have been so great... but were stolen from us early in life. Never take for granted what you have, no matter how small or big it is, just be happy that we got to open our eyes today.

Here is a list of players that left our world tragically way before it was there time to go.

There was a time, not too long ago in fact, that every team in Major League Baseball could consider themselves a contender for a World Series crown.

It was a time of unbridled optimism for every fan of every team. A time where those fans could argue that this was the year that their team surprised everybody (or lived up to lofty expectations), without sounding the least bit ridiculous (except for Nationals fans, of course).

The Yankees were seconds away from losing the first game of the Subway Series and their fourth game in a row.

As Alex Rodriguez's threw down his bat in disgust after popping up a pitch from Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets' reliable closer, something unbelievable happened. 

The Mets' second baseman, Luis Castillo was attempting to settle under the pop up and as he was about to squeeze his glove on the ball, the ball dropped out of his glove, allowing Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira to score. 

According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Washington Nationals are going to fire their manager Manny Acta. Acta, in his second season with Washington, led the Nationals to 101 losses, and has the Nationals off to a shameful start this season.

According to Rosenthal, Acta could be fired as early as Monday.

Acta was hired by the Nationals on November 14, 2006, in his first major league managerial stint, replacing Frank Robinson. He did a passable job in 2007, leading the Nationals to a 73-89 record, and a fourth place finish, a step down from their 81-81 record of 2006.

In every sport, there’s at least one team that seems to “stack the deck,” meaning rack up all the talent so that no one else can have any and the stacked team wins championship after championship. Sometimes, the team has so much talent, that great players languish on the bench, and they could be starring someplace else. When I say “broken up,” I mean that the teams should get rid of some of their talent so other teams have a chance at having a good team. McMullen’s Musings takes a look at teams that should do just that.

The New York Mets are always slow out of the gates. This explains the reason for them being four games back in the NL East. 

If the Mets can out last late season injuries they will undoubtedly be my favorite to win the NL and most likely the World Series in 2009. 

There are many reasons why I believe the Mets will be holding the trophy at the end of the season.

When you take a look at this Mets team it has one big difference that it hasn't had in the past. That difference is pitching.