Baseball

On WSCR "The Score" this morning, Cubs analyst Bob Brenly was asked about Alfonso Soriano's reaction to not running hard out of the box on a double in Monday's game.

To set the stage, Soriano admired what he thought would be a home run in the batter's box on a hit that should have been a triple.

When asked about it, Soriano said he hit the ball hard and that's all that matters.

On the Danny Mac Show, Brenly responded to Soriano's comment by calling him "selfish" and saying that he would have pulled the Cubs left fielder from the game.

The A's very good start has left them sitting pretty atop the AL West standings with a 9-5 record. That's got to have the A's feeling good about their chances.

Breaking down the first four series of the season, the A's are now 4-3 vs. the Seattle Mariners, 2-1 vs. the Los Angeles Angels, and 3-1 vs. the Baltimore Orioles. Not bad.

It is the reason why they play the game, with the ultimate goal to win the World Series, get the ring and hold the trophy. There have been 105 teams which declared themselves champions, not by a poll of writers voting them champions, but by beating every challenger on the diamond.

Many times teams theans were invincible, like the 1927 Yankees, who dominated the American League season, winning the league by a then-record 19 games.

"The so-called 'steroid era'—a reference that is resented by the many players who played in that era and never touched the substances—is clearly a thing of the past."—Bud Selig, Jan. 11, 2010

2010 is here, and the Yankees are on a roll!

The Bronx Bombers are 4 series into the season, winning all of them. There have been a lot of positives so far, but I want to focus in on one.

This may be the one that gets fans excited. We've been waiting for him to start swinging the bat, and lo and behold, here he is!

The mystery pinstriper is.......Brett Gardner!

Yankee fans have fallen in love with the speedy outfielder, and have waited patiently for him to start hitting.

Gardy is 10 for 30 with 4 RBI.

And 7 stolen bases.

I know that is a weird title for an article, but I didn't know what else to call it.

It is a subject most of us never think about or simply didn't know about them.

I am referring to the RBI that are left after a ball caroms off the wall with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th or extra innings walk offs in a tie-game or come from behind.

The main problem plaguing the New York Mets right now is not Omar Minaya, Jerry Manuel, or the pitching staff; it’s the complete lack of certainty.

Will Jerry Manuel still be around in two weeks? Your guess is as good as mine.

What will the Mets’ pitching staff look like next week? Who knows.

How long will Ike Davis be on the big league roster? A week? Two weeks?

After allowing just two walks all spring, it took Fausto Carmona two hitters to equal that number in his first start of 2010.

Collectively Cleveland sighed and exclaimed, "Oh boy, here we go again!"

He isn't fixed; he's still the same old rattled head case that can't throw strikes. This year is going to be even worse than we imagined. How could anyone put a single strand of hope into this enigma of a pitcher?

Carlos Quentin would eventually fly out and Paul Konerko would bring home the game's first run with a sacrifice fly. Remarkably, the damage was limited.

Conor Jackson has always intrigued me. He looks and sounds like a guy who should hit .320 with 30 home runs and be an All-Star every year.

Unfortunately, he is a guy who hits about .285 with 15 home runs every year. Which, if you consider it, isn’t all that bad.

But the issue now with Jackson isn’t his productivity on the field, it’s the fact that he can’t stay on the field. Jackson missed all but 30 games last year because of Valley Fever Virus.