Baseball

Ervin Santana just went and messed with everyone’s head in fantasy baseball.  After two very subpar outings in the beginning of the year, Santana went the distance today allowing just one run and fanning six, giving up just four hits. 

So what can you expect from Santana for the rest of the season?  In 2008, he was one of the better pitchers in the American League and in 2009 he was a exploding tire fire.  So now in 2010, he has been a little of both. 

Jerry Manuel needs to go.

Let me preface this by saying I will miss him dearly. His post-game sound bites are tremendously amusing. I feel this way because I am a Yankees fan who has to listen to Joe Girardi be his vague self everyday.

Manuel will be missed in that regard, but from a baseball standpoint he will not.

At around 8:30 last night I decided to move on to something else, as the Mets were heading into the 13th inning. I returned to that channel at around 10 PM and found the Mets were still playing in the 18th.

He was just the remedy the St. Louis Cardinals needed after the 20-inning marathon loss against the New York Mets on Saturday. 

It wasn’t certain what we’d get from the Cardinals and Mets on Sunday night. After all, they did just finish a 20-inning game the night before.

Of course, the players were going to be tired, relievers overworked from the night before and everyone else pretty much mentally exhausted from six hour and 53 minute marathon.

One big question was going to be about the availability of the relievers on both sides, as 19 Mets pitchers and 16 Cardinals pitchers were used in Saturday night’s game.

Chipper Jones is naturally right-handed. A switch-hitter, he learned to bat from the left side because he loved to emulate the Dodgers lineup as a child, and learned to take swings from the other side of the plate.

Jones has stated in the past that his left-handed swing takes a lot more work to keep steady than his right-handed swing. He has many more moving parts from the left side, and despite having better career numbers as a lefty, his swing is starting to slow and deteriorate.

Yesterday at Busch Stadium will be a day that will go down in baseball history. It was truly remarkable that a game in this era of baseball goes a full 18 innings without a run crossing home. 

However, the story of last night's game was not dictated by the hitting, pitching, running, or fielding; it was the managing. And you better believe that there were a lot of questionable moves.

Whenever a game goes that long, there will be a lot of strategical moves that need to be made. Everything from substitutions to sacrifice bunts, to who is going to pitch.

The beginning of every season, in every sport is always full of hope and optimism.

Although it is only a few weeks into the 2010 Major League Baseball season, it's not too early to take a look at the 2010 Midsummer Classic in Anaheim, California. All-Star week is filled with excitement and fun for MLB players and fans. Who will be representing their respective leagues in Anaheim?

American League

Starting Lineup

Pitcher: Zack Greinke-Kansas City Royals

Catcher: Joe Mauer-Minnesota Twins

First Base: Kevin Youkilis-Boston Red Sox

Second Base: Robinson Cano-New York Yankees

Who would have thought that the New York Mets pitching staff would be the strongest part of the team, while the hitting staff would be the weakest?

Saturday, April 17 against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Mets hitting staff was shut down until the top of the 19th inning when Jose Reyes scored a run on a sacrifice fly against a position player converted to pitcher during the game. All regular relievers were already used up in the Cardinals bullpen, and the only pitchers available were starters.

When was the last time a team cut their Opening Day cleanup hitter just 11 games into the season? Has that ever happened before?

If not, the New York Mets made history on Sunday.

Call it a panic move, call it a move out of desperation, or call it a move just to create some buzz, but the Mets have designated first baseman Mike Jacobs for assignment. In seven games, Jacobs hit .208 with one home run.