MLB

The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed Manny Ramirez back into the starting lineup, at a sold-out Petco Park in San Diego.

Dodger fans made the trip south en masse, at times out-vocalizing the home town Padre fans, to welcome back their slugging outfielder from his 50-game banishment for violating baseball's PED rules.

In his first at bat, Manny drew a walk in the middle of a Dodger five-run outburst, which pretty much ended the game as soon as it started.

On Thursday, July 2, I went to the new Yankee Stadium for the first time. Overall, I was much more pleased than I originally thought. I had expected much different things from the stadium, and I will describe everything that I saw, and explain all of my opinions.

CINCINNATI—Some losses are easy to take. Some are harder than others. Then you have the true heart breakers. The final stage of losses are the ones that make you sick—literally, like head over the toilet sick.

Friday night's Cincinnati loss to St. Louis falls into the latter category.

Homer Bailey started for the Reds and had his best outing in the three years that the team has been shuffling him up and down between the big club and the minors.

A clear sign that your bullpen is pitching well is when, with two outs in the ninth inning with no one on base and two outs, the closer is summoned from the bullpen, just to get some work.

At the beginning of June, the Colorado Rockies were in the basement of the NL West, a comfortable place for them, sitting at 20 and 29, 13.5 games out of first.

At the end of June, the Rockies were only 7.5 games back of first, and only 1.5 games out of the NL wild card.

Many things were positive for the Rockies in the month, so let's take a look into some specific numbers that helped Colorado climb the mountain in the standings.

It’s funny how things have changed. A little over two months ago Mets skipper Jerry Manuel had all but officially denounced Ryan Church as an everyday player. There were rumblings that Church would eventually be traded. For the next month or so Church fell out of the limelight, rarely earning a start in right field.

The Mariners signed Guillermo Pimentel on Thursday, effectively stealing him from the Rangers.

It may have proved that the Mariners aren’t committed, at least not to the hell-or-high-water extent that the previous members of front office were committed to their own specialized recipe for success, to defense.

Actually, perhaps the proper characterization is that the team has actually acquired a philosophy and stopped hiding from the evolution of baseball scouting.

The 2010 schedule won't be officially announced until sometime in September, but the Associated Press has obtained at least a portion of the schedule, including the date of the first outdoor game in Minneapolis in twenty eight seasons.

Target Field is set to open on April 12, 2010 when the Minnesota Twins take on the Boston Red Sox. This was released:

Target Field has a target date.

In my humble opinion, baseball, more than any other sport, lends itself to historical analysis and the reliving of its greatest moments. Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier and the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" immediately come to mind.

Record breaking moments, amazing streaks, and heroic postseason plays are often times retold to the point they become legendary.