Baseball

I was highly disappointed that the game wasn't on the YesNetwork. I was getting ready too. I had popcorn (microwave) and a big bottle of soda ready for my consumption. Either way, the game must be graded. I got a lot of info from Peter Abraham's website.

The New York Yankees lost an exhibition game to the Boston Red Sox by a score of 8-4.

A+—Brett Tomko

Bob Gibson was one of the nastiest, most dominant pitchers of his generation. Pedro Martinez was also one of the nastiest, most dominant pitchers of his generation.

The similarities don't stop there.

They're both right handed pitchers. They both were considered head hunters. They also both wore the number 45.

They also, arguably, both can lay claim to the greatest season by a pitcher ever (post-1900, of course). Bob Gibson in 1968. Pedro Martinez in 2000.

The case for Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson's 1968 season by the numbers:

It's been a long time since the Washington Nationals have been shown any real respect by the media, though to be fair, they really haven't deserved any.

Halfway through the team's inaugural season in Washington, the Nationals were atop the National League East with a 50-31 record.

This could quite possibly be the most fascinating time in Pittsburgh sports history.

The Steelers have just won their second Super Bowl in four years and the Penguins flirted with the Stanley Cup last season featuring the dynamic duo of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.

The Pitt Panthers men's basketball team drifted in and out of the No. 1 ranking while the university's football team saw a 9-3 resurgence and a trip to the Sun Bowl.

The one thing missing from this picture is Pittsburgh's oldest and most tradition-soaked team—the Pirates.

We continue our pick-by-pick coverage for the KFFL, K-FAD Expert League Draft.

To recap, the league is your standard roster (two catchers, five outfielders), 5x5 rotisserie, 12-team league. I get the chance to represent Fantasy Baseball Search to play against some of the toughest competitors and expert minds in the industry. After the first seven rounds, I felt very happy with the results of my draft.

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Recently, the story broke that in 2003, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroid use. Buzz about whether or not Rodriguez should be considered for the Hall of Fame emerged. Quickly, his carefully crafted image began to crumble and he had to apologize for lying about his usage and for lying about the length of time he used steroids.  

Until opening day, in celebration of the coming 2009 baseball season, we will be previewing all 30 teams over the next few weeks. 

With team-by-team divisional breakdowns, season projections, and playoff predictions, come October we'll all look back fondly and laugh wholeheartedly how wrong and how off-base our prognostications.

National League East—Philadelphia Phillies

In the interest of full disclosure, Justin Verlander and Gary Sheffield destroyed my fantasy team last year. Verlander was the second pitcher I drafted (after Aaron Harang—ouch), and all I needed from Sheff was one decent run at the end of the season to take my opening round playoff series. Swing and a miss on both counts.

Consequently, the residual bitterness may creep into this preview of the 2009 Detroit Tigers. Don't say I didn't warn you.

(Photo by Steven Senne / AP)

...but that was awesome.

I can't help but applaud the Red Sox' oft-moronic version of Michael Flatley for his comments about Manny Ramirez in his interview with the April edition of Esquire magazine:

It’s amazing what one week can do. Seven simple days and it seems like half of the Rockies' fan-base jumped off the bandwagon after a winless first week in Tucson.

The defeats can be looked at one of two ways: