MLB

It occurred between World Championships, which might be the reason it is not mentioned when discussing the last Yankees' dynasty.

But it was a performance that defined what the Yankees used to be.

It ranks with the heroics of Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Bucky Dent and Chris Chambliss—except the Yankees lost.

The Detroit Tigers are exactly two ninths of the way through the 2009 campaign. Detroit is in excellent position to make a run in the month of May and gain some breathing room between themselves and the rest of the Central Division.

The Tigers have had four separate three-game winning streaks, but have been unable to win four in a row this year. On Tuesday night Detroit will attempt to end that trend as Dontrelle Willis once again seeks his first victory as a member of the Tigers.

On Saturday the Phillies won a double-header in route to a series sweep, and a filly ran the Preakness in route to a sweep of the field. 

What’s the difference?

Nothing really, until you look at the failure of Chan Ho Park. 

When Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez tested positive for steroids last week, the only real surprise was that the news seemed to shock a good number of people in the baseball world.

Despite the hideous scar that the drug use of baseball stars, such as Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, and Barry Bonds, has inflicted on the face of baseball, the general public still tends to assume their innocence.

Last October the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies piled on top of their perfect closer in celebration of his forty eighth save in forty eight chances. 

Carlos Ruiz was the first to wrap his arms around perfection and then the rest of the team ensued. The pile on began a celebration that had been almost thirty years in the making. However, it brought out the flaws in a closer who went through a full season and postseason perfect. That closer was Brad Lidge.

If you are anything like me, you probably cringe whenever Rich Harden throws a baseball. While I will not pretend to be a pitching coach who knows the nuances of pitching mechanics, his delivery sure seems a bit unconventional.

The power he draws from his legs is exceptional, but his arm seems to lag behind the rest of his body. This possibly causes extra torque or pull on the arm, weakening the shoulder.

Billy Beane used too make great decisions and make trades that benefited the Oakland A's, but lately, Beane's genius has backfired on him, and it hasn't been pretty for the Oakland A's.

No one could make the argument that the hiring of Ken Macha was the beginning of the end for the A's run, but at least Macha had teams that made the playoffs and had a winning record.

You do not win with a mixture of inexperience, awful starting pitching and extremely old baseball players.  It just does not work.  Lucky for the White Sox, they have the possibility of a bright future, but the present is going to be hard to put in the past.

The story for Joe Mauer keeps getting better.

The two-time American League batting champ spent this last offseason recuperating from surgery to remove a kidney obstruction.

Mauer then missed all of spring training—and the first 22 games of the 2009 season—with an inflamed joint in his back that kept him on the disabled list.

No one could predict whether these injuries might add up to a lost season for Mauer.

Not to worry.

It's been all systems-go for Mauer thus far in 2009.