Baseball

If actor John Houseman were alive today, I'm sure he'd modify his Smith Barney commercials to fit the Houston Astros: "The Houston Astros: they win ballgames the old fashioned way...they EARN them!"

A few weeks ago a reader named Clayton Elkins thought I was being far too pessimistic regarding the Astros' slow start and referenced a Jim Rome quote. Being in a sour mood and not having listened to Romey in a while, I became upset right away. Now, in retrospect, it appears Clayton was on to something.

August 10 was the highlight of the 1969 season for New York Yankees fans.

New York's other team, the beloved New York Mets, would not have its greatest moments until October.

The New York Yankees are the most successful franchise in all of sports. Playing in the Bronx, the Yankees garner attention and support from millions of fans all over the world. These fans represent every race and social class.

Over the years, numerous celebrity and famous people have been spotted wearing Yankee apparel or catching a game in Yankee Stadium. Even though there are many famous Yankee fans, these are the top 10 Yankee fans that continue to proudly represent the Bronx Bombers!

To most he is known as Ron Gardenhire. To his players he is simply, Gardy. He is what is commonly known as “a player’s manager”. However, this is not always a good thing.Most “player’s managers,” or “players coaches” in other sports, are not usually all that successful.

But there are exceptions.

Despite Craig Stammen's second consecutive strong start, the lights-out performance of the bullpen, and even Nyjer Morgan's clutch hitting, the Nationals lost 4-3 in a 13-inning thriller to the Dodgers.

The loss drops the club back to .500 and saw them squander a chance to beat one of the best pitchers in the National League, Clayton Kershaw.

It all came down to the bottom of the 13th inning.

Watching former Pirate Tom Gorzelanny pitch for the Chicago Cubs the other night against the New York Mets was heartbreaking. And that was in spite of the fact that he lost (two of the four runs scored against him in 5.2 innings were unearned).

Gorzelanny is a pitcher in the Ross Ohlendorf-mold: cerebral and skillful, but more prone than the average Pirate to injury. "Overwork" in 2007, his second year, clearly hurt him. So he has to be used judiciously and pitches fewer innings than his teammates.

One-tenth of the New York Yankee season is gone. The team is 12-5. One of the greatest surprises of the new season is Brett Gardner.

Having been given the starting job out of Spring Training in 2009, Gardner could not hold it. He was unable to show a consistent ability to hit major league pitching last year.

But this year, at least so far, Gardner has been fantastic.

In yesterday's win over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Gardner was once again starting in left field. But there was a major change in his place in the batting order.

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

According to Chad Jennings of the Journal News, Yankees designated hitter Nick Johnson has a stiff back and isn’t expected to play today, but after an off day on Monday should be back in the lineup Tuesday.

Despite the fact that that starting pitcher John Maine said he’s healthy enough to go during his next scheduled start on Tuesday, it might be a good idea for the Mets to call up R.A. Dickey anyways.

Here me out on this one, Dickey has been pitching well so far this season for Triple-A Buffalo. His stats: W-L: 2-1, 3.03 ERA, 4 GS, 1 CG, 29.2 IP, 5 BB, 16K.