Baseball

The impact of the new Arizona immigration law on baseball is far-reaching and potentially could cause a problem between labor and management. Of course, this is only a mirror of the effect it will have on society, in general, in Arizona.

I’ve spent some time in Arizona on business trips in the past. It doesn’t take long to figure out that this is a serious and overt problem for the legal residents of the state.

You and I are starting an all-time Fantasy Baseball Hall of Fame team. We must select one Hall of Fame player at each starting position.

I get the first pick because this is my article, but you can have the second and third picks, after which we alternate selections.

My first pick is Sandy Koufax. I want to prevent you from scoring, and no one can stop a team from scoring better than Koufax, unless it is Pedro Martinez.

Now that you are thinking about the best of the best, I will tell you that my second baseman will be Bill Mazeroski.

If Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman purchased Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez at a department store, he would be frantically searching for his receipt right now. Sorry, no returns.

The Washington Nationals attempt at four-straight wins, and a tie for first place in the division, was stymied by Chris Volstad and the Florida Marlins lineup.

Combining for only five base runners on the night, the Nationals had no chance to match the seven runs the Marlins put up on the board, and fell to 13-11 in a 7-1 Saturday night.

Apart from Volstad imposing his 6' 8" self on the Nationals lineup, Washington fans found themselves disappointed as the Nationals club seemed to take a step backward on the night, allowing six earned runs and committing two errors.

With a number of key players getting off to slow starts this season (like half of my NFBC squad), we need to stay alert and active. It is still early, so you have lots of time to make your team better.

One option is to try to buy the slow-starting players at a low price from their owners if they get impatient, but you can also get some for nothing. By keeping one eye on the waiver wire, you can get some quality guys who will turn it around.

Here’s a look at the unheralded players who played well yesterday.

Gio Gonzalez, Oakland A’s
Gio gave up 2 runs on 3 hits with 8 Ks in 6-2/3 innings to improve to 3-1 with a 3.45 ERA.

The Mets beat writers all had posts about Daniel Murphy recovering from his strained knee ligament in Florida, then going to Triple-A Buffalo when he comes off the disabled list. The plan is for Muphy to play first base immediately just to get some at-bats.

Nick Markakis is finally warming up.  Javier Vazquez continues to struggle miserably.  Daisuke Matsuzaka’s season debut was not what people hoped.  Let’s take a look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Hitters:

I feel bad writing this after a win (the White Sox won today, 7-6 over the Yankees), but there is indeed no rest for the wicked, and this is a question that needs to be answered.

Let me get things started with this: I'm not an Ozzie "fan."

I think he is one of the more overrated managers in baseball, still riding high from can't-miss pitching and power hitting in 2005.

His blowups in the media are infamous, ranging from derogatory terms used to describe hometown sportswriters to his now-tired "blame me, fire me" routine.

Boston Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka , whom I consider to be trade bait for 20 cents on the dollar, made his season debut against the Baltimore Orioles and confirmed my harsh feelings towards him.