Baseball

Apparently, MLB commissioner Bud Selig has reached his boiling point with Los Angeles Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt.

In a statement just released by Major League Baseball, Selig will appoint a representative to oversee the day-to-day business operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Here is the official statement from MLB on behalf of Selig:

If you look at baseball with a limited enough scope, the game is full of more surprises than the Cracker Jack stand at Yankee Stadium.

Through 15 short games, we really can’t learn much about anything. A great hitter could struggle during such a time, a weak bat could smack two home runs and a bad team can win two-thirds of their games.

The challenge becomes separating the lucky from the talented, the flukes from the real things.

The thought going into the season about Pirates third basemen Pedro Alvarez was his glove not his bat.

While his glove has came around and performed decently well, his bat has been terrible.

He is batting an abysmal .183 with only four RBI’s.

It seemingly is a paradox, but upon closer examination, it makes sense. Today's top players are among the best in baseball history, but today's teams are among the worst ever.

Albert Pujols, Evan Longoria, Alex Rodriguez, Joey Hamilton, Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulotwitski, Joey Votto, Ichiro Suzuki and Ryan Howard, in no particular order, can hold their own with the greatest hitters of all time.

The Phillies' starting pitching rotation has drawn many comparisons to the 1996 pitching staff of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves pitchers had a very strong season from their pitchers, but they lost in the World Series to the New York Yankees, four games to two. 

So how will the Phillies finish this season? 

When looking into Brett Gardner's problems, one stat really jumps out at you. Gardner, after batting .287 against righties last year, is only batting a .105 against them this year.

Through three starts (19 1/3 innings) in 2011, Seattle Mariners’ rookie Michael Pineda has certainly turned some heads. The 21-year-old boasts a 2.33 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 16/7 K/BB ratio, which includes a start at Texas.

This begs the question: How good is Michael Pineda?

After their second straight lackluster performance in a row, the Rockies offense had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs.

With a struggling Ryan Spilborghs coming to the plate (6-for-35 on the season), and Ramon Ramirez, a righty on the mound, it seemed like a no-brainer that Jim Tracy would call upon Jason Giambi to pinch-hit and take a shot at tying the game up.

Everyone has a bad day at the office.

Ian Stewart is no exception. 

The Rockies third baseman was optioned to AAA Colorado Springs on Tuesday in a move that was, unfortunately, a long time coming.

Rockies brass is steadfast in saying that this is not a demotion for Stewart. Instead, they encourage him to view it as an opportunity to improve. 

Is the thrill of the Majors already gone for the Cincinnati Reds’ young phenomenon Mike Leake?  Coming up, I’ll discuss this question and the ramifications for the Reds rotation.