Baseball

The Sox had a wildly entertaining season opener filled with great pitching, excellent defensive plays, and a few long balls. The Sox won the game the way they are supposed to win this year: with great pitching and just enough offense.

However, I couldn't help being annoyed by what happened after Paul Konerko reached base.

On two separate occasions, Mark Kotsay stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. There was one out the first at-bat and no outs the second one. On both occasions, Mark beat a ball into the ground for a relatively easy double play attempt.

The New York Mets are a naturally occurring source of negativity.

You’d think they’d never won a World Series—something eight other expansion teams can claim, plus seven other clubs that have not exceeded the two championships won by the Mets.

Yet here we are at the beginning of another season, and the Mets are given little chance to finish third in the NL East, much less first.

Las Vegas has the Mets as an 18-to-1 underdog. Seems like pretty good odds compared to 100-to-1.

Update

The Rockies got some good news in regards to their bullpen on Tuesday—sort of.

Closer Huston Street visited Dr. James Andrews yesterday, and an MRI revealed no structural damage.

Usually when a player visits Andrews, the term Tommy John or rotator cuff surgery follows. The fact that this didn’t happen with Street is very good news for Rockies fans.

The Red Sox pulled quite a rabbit out of their financial hat on Monday, locking up pitcher Josh Beckett with a four-year, $68 million deal.

I must admit, I was very surprised to hear they worked out such an economical deal. When Boston inked former Angel John Lackey to a much more luxurious five-year, $82.5 million deal, it was easy to assume Beckett would be gone.

Opening day produced many thrills for fans Monday with two-homer performances by both Garrett Jones and Albert Pujols, a play of the year from Mark Buehrle, two routs by NL East contenders (Phillies and Braves), an inside-the-park homer, a no-no into the seventh and those were just the headlines.
If this is a preview of what is to come for the 2010 MLB season, it will be a year full of excitement as usual.

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It was a tale of two Opening Days for Chicago's two Major League Baseball teams.  One club impressed in every way possible, the other not so much.  All of it took place before the sun even went down.

The White Sox were the first team to show off their 2010 selves and their premiere couldn't have been more perfect.  A combination of solid pitching, hitting, and defense translated into an easy 6-0 win over the Cleveland Indians.  Every Sox fan in the stands at sold-out U.S. Cellular Field would tell you afterwards that they got their money's worth.

The 2009 Philadelphia Phillies team hit 10 home runs more than the year before and scored 21 more runs and had 26 more RBI.

The offense led the team to its second straight National League pennant. They fell short in six games to the New York Yankees, but heck, Chase Utley tied Reggie Jackson's record of five home runs in a single World Series.

You ain't seen nothing, yet.

Monday's 11-1 thrashing of the Washington Nationals on Opening Day was no mirage.

Sure the team will go into funks, but no more less than 10 runs scored in a week.

I've had a while to simmer down. 

Please congratulate me if I can somehow manage my way through this piece without jumping into one of Rahm Emanuel's profanity-laced tirades.

Dusty Baker is the sole reason why our Reds are losers.

The talent is there, perhaps not enough to make the playoffs this season—but enough to look respectable while trying.

This is what needs to be done:

Opening day and has come and gone, and while it’s clear guys like Jason Heyward will make a fantasy impact this season, it’s also important to keep an eye on the lesser-known sleeper candidates. With that in mind, I present to you the Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ 2010 All-Breakout Team!

Check out the 2009 All-Breakout Team , which featured Billy Butler and Matt Wieters.

On Monday, Mark Buehrle re-defined the phrase, "kick save, and a beauty," with his spectacular fielding play in the top-half of the fifth inning on the way to a win over the Cleveland Indians.

Buehrle was downright masterful in his seven innings on the bump for the Sox (still, the best pitcher in the Sox rotation was sitting on the bench,) and that dominance extended to the bats of the South Siders, as they struck for a total of six runs across four Cleveland pitchers.