MLB

Despite sitting in 4th place in the American League East with a 37-35 record, the Tampa Bay Rays' season is not over just yet.

They have scored the most runs in the AL, and have an expected Win-Loss record of 42-30. Their expected W-L (based on runs scored and runs against) would put them in second place in their division, with the second best record in the AL.

This team is still stacked, and still improving. They are about as close as you can be to a complete offensive club. They hit, they run, and they hit for power.

Jacques Demers, as the irrepressible coach of the Detroit Red Wings, wasn’t happy.

In 1987, around the beginning of his tenure in Detroit, Demers had to make changes. His team was slumping and wasn't putting in the effort needed. He could not abide this.

So one blustery winter morning, he called practice at 7:30 a.m.

Desperate for something to change their offensive woes this year, Giants manager Bruce Bochy has made two interesting moves in the lineup within the last month.

First, after platooning him in the outfield the first couple of months of the season, on June 11, Bochy started giving outfielder Nate Schierholtz more consistent playing time in the outfield over Fred Lewis. Lewis was the starting left fielder last season, and in April, May and early June this year.

When Derek Jeter woke up in his Trump Plaza penthouse this morning, he officially (and unbelievably) began the 35th year of his insanely awesome life.

Two weeks ago today, the Mets endured one of the toughest regular season losses in franchise history when Luis Castillo dropped a pop-up with two outs, allowing the tying and winning runs to score in the ninth inning for the Yankees.

Everyone was wondering how the team, but more specifically, Castillo would respond.

Since that fateful night in the Bronx, the Mets are playing .500 baseball (6-6), but took 3-of-4 against the Cardinals to put themselves just half a game behind the first place Phillies.

Could a team needing to get out of the basement be any more obvious than the Washington Nationals? At 21-49 (as of June 25), the Nats look to be leading the races to the top pick in the 2010 entry draft. 

Maybe that isn't such a bad thing, considering the fortunes of Stephen Strasburg being taken first overall by the struggling franchise this summer. Agent Scott Boras is aiming for a six-year, $50 million contract for his prized possession. With the way Jim Bowden ruined this franchise with players like Paul Lo Duca and Dmitri Young, Strasburg is a steal.

There are whispers in San Francisco. From the fog banked hills to the sun drenched downtown streets—there are whispers. Barely audible mutterings, a once very familiar phrase coming back.

As you get closer to China Basin and AT&T Park, the whispers get a little louder, and the words begin to form in your ears...playoffs...

Around the league you will not hear these whispers. And for good reason—it's a little early to begin talking about the 2009 Giants reaching the postseason.

The Boston Red Sox recently completed a three game series against the Washington Nationals in the nation’s capital. The Sox took two out of three against the lowly Nationals in a relatively unremarkable series—with one exception.

Thanks to the droves of the fans of Red Sox Nation that follow the Sox all across the country, the Nationals recorded three consecutive days of their biggest crowds ever at Nationals Park.

Is it any surprise that the Toronto Blue Jays are the best defensive team in the majors this season?