Baseball

Brett Gardner did everything he could have possibly done to help the New York Yankees sweep the Texas Rangers in their weekend series.

On Friday night, Gardner did not start the game. He came in as a pinch runner and immediately stole second base and then scored a run.

On Saturday. Gardner started in left field and went 3-4 hitting in the nine hole. He also scored two runs, drove in one run and stole another base.  All of his hits were infield hits where Gardner used his speed to get on base.

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

Brett Gardner, New York Yankees

Each year thousands of fans are dazzled by the one event that focuses on the most exciting aspect of baseball: Home Runs! And I thought it would be a fun idea to build my own Home Run Derby Dream Team, and take you, the readers, through an entire event.

It’s very easy, the setting is Wrigley Field (I’m a Cubs fan) and the rules are simple: 10 outs to each batter, the Top 4 batter move onto the second round, with the Top two batters advancing to the Finals.

There are two really, really scary plays in baseball. The first being when a batter hits a line drive at the pitchers head and the second being when a pitcher hits a batter in the head with a fastball.

The later happened when Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla drilled San Francisco Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand in the head in the fifth inning of their game Friday night. The pitch resulted in Rowand suffering a minor concussion and two small fractures in his left cheekbone.

Let's get it out there right up front—there is very little one can do to sugar-coat a San Francisco Giants loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers sealed by a Manny Ramirez pinch-hit, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Especially when you consider Major League Baseball's most tiresome clown conspired with a hanging slider from Sergio Romo (in a 1-2 count no less) to deliver the rubber match and series to his fellow Bums.

Nope, that's one of those moments you simply have to wear as a baseball fan.

Week Two of the season proved to be less than a happy week as a Rangers fan. It started out pretty well but quickly spiraled downhill and ended with a big thud.

Game Recaps

Apr. 12 @ Cleveland Indians W, 4-2

Rich Harden proved to be far more effective than in his first start as a Ranger, going six innings and allowing only two runs on five hits. 

While the Yankees and Rays have each gotten off to hot 9-3 starts to the season, the Red Sox, expected by many to be atop the division when the dust settles, have sputtered out of the gate.

Out West, the A's and Giants continue to win with great pitching, while none of the remaining seven teams in those divisions has a record better than .500.

No one wants to be that guy.

No one wants to be the person who claims that a team lost because of an umpire or an official. It comes across as a petty excuse for a team not getting the job done.

A great start can do wonders for a player.

For some, it is the fulfillment of hard work, whether it be a new workout regiment, a changed approach at the plate, or new found work ethic in the field.

For others, it is merely a flash in the pan, a one or two week hot streak where the player goes right back to being the man we expected as the season begins.

To start 2010, there are many players off to great starts. Some, like Utley, Pedroia, and Pujols are expected, as they are great, MVP-caliber players who are starting the season off right.