Baseball

There is a difference between being a great baseball talent, being a great player and having a great career.

Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk were great baseball talents. Munson and Fisk were great players. Fisk had a better career than Munson did. As Helen Gamble of The Practice might say, "I wonder why."

At .237, the Cincinnati Reds rank 25th in baseball (11th in the NL) in hitting. This has come as a bit of a shock through 38 games, as everyone seemed to think Joey Votto would head an offensive juggernaut.

If you're a fantasy player, you're probably well aware that the Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz is one of the only players in the game with no positional eligibility: he can only play designated hitter at a utility slot.

He's one of the few DHs so designated: others are designated third basemen (Edwin Encarnacion, Chris Davis), outfielders (Raul Ibanez, Kendrys Morales) or even catchers (Jesus Montero).

Initial reports on Michael Morse suggested that he would be able to return some time in June, while the slugger's own comments suggest that he'll be ready to go by June 1.

The Detroit Tigers continue to perform below expectations in 2012—they will undoubtedly become buyers at the MLB trade deadline. 

Sure, Justin Verlander put some life back in the clubhouse with his near no-hitter recently, but the team has to prove that they can ride that lightning. 

The Tigers were forecasted to be major contenders before the season began, but inconsistent play has begun to put serious doubt in the team's faithful fans. 

This past offseason Andy MacPhail left the Baltimore Orioles after spending over four seasons as the President of Baseball Operations, and upon his departure the feeling among Orioles fans was that he had failed miserably.

The Tigers came out of spring training in Lakeland confident of their hitting. Their lineup was rich with veteran bats and some young ones. The offense didn’t figure to be a problem.

But oh, what about that pitching!

I remember the Detroit Tigers vs. Chicago Cubs interleague baseball game in 1998 like it were yesterday.

It was June 25. And my friends and I had recently graduated high school at Southgate Anderson High School in suburban Detroit.

This was the second full season that Major League Baseball had implemented interleague play.

The St. Louis Cardinals have one of the most talented rosters in all of Major League Baseball.

Stars like Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman and Carlos Beltran fill the batting order and pitchers like Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter are the anchors of the rotation.

But, that doesn’t mean this team is perfect. Like all teams, there are some holes on the St. Louis roster.

The signing of Vladimir Guerrero comes as a low-risk/high-reward move for the Toronto Blue Jays.  He was signed to a one-year deal worth $1.3 million, which will be prorated based on his time with the club this season. 

At 37 years of age, it remains to be seen how much Vladdy has to offer.

He is probably Hall of Fame bound as he is a career .318 hitter with 449 home runs and 1,496 RBI.