MLB

Reds 4, Astros 3

On Saturday, April 4, the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Mets 9-3 in the second and final exhibition in Citi Field.  Not only this, but I received my first opportunity to check out the ballpark, which at about nine months ago I praised as the best of the two New York ballparks.  Was I correct? Let’s take a look, report card style.

Ballpark Exterior: A

"Vintage Lester dominates Orioles" read the headline after Sunday's 2-1 Red Sox victory over Baltimore.  While headlines are known for hyperbole, by definition, Jon Lester's third and best start of 2009 was vintage.

Chien-Ming Wang, a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees, has had an absolutely terrible start to the season.  In three starts this season, his record is 0-3 with an ERA of 34.50 and a 2/6 K/BB ratio.  Is this guy worth taking a chance on in your fantasy league?

Prior to the start of this season, Wang had been showing declining control.

2006: 2.1 BB/9

2007: 2.7 BB/9

2008: 3.3 BB/9

Chien-Ming Wang, a starting pitcher for the New York Yankees, has had an absolutely terrible start to the season.  In three starts this season, his record is 0-3 with an ERA of 34.50 and a 2/6 K/BB ratio.  Is this guy worth taking a chance on in your fantasy league?

Prior to the start of this season, Wang had been showing declining control.

2006: 2.1 BB/9

2007: 2.7 BB/9

2008: 3.3 BB/9

When researching and compiling a list such as this, parameters and requirements must be established.

Since the title itself is “Double Play Combinations” I went completely with defense. Had it been the best second basemen or the best shortstop, I would have taken into account their offensive numbers as well.

It was a daunting task to say the least. The first thing to be done was to find out who the best keystone players were.

Time has a way of stripping us of everything we love. It lures away our youth, diminishes our health, and steals our innocence. Sometimes, the latter of these is the hardest to take.

As Kevin Costner’s character Billy Chapel, of the Detroit Tigers, walked to the mound at Yankee Stadium during the ninth inning of the 1999 classic “For Love of the Gamem,” he stared at his baseball as if to ask for help.

Being 40 years of age and having played over 19 seasons, his youth was far from gone, his health was in question, and his innocence compromised.

In recent years Major League Baseball has seen new faces burst onto the scene and become annual members on the All-Star team. Players like David Wright and Joe Mauer have become fan favorites and household names as they've launched careers among the best in baseball.

Other players have seen their personal stars dimmer over the last few seasons. The 10 players whose careers used to shine among brightest in the baseball sky and have since gone the other way are included in the following slides.

Dear Commissioner Selig,

As you may have noticed, this Major League Baseball Season is off to a fantastic start.  Fans are attempting to go to the ballpark despite the horrific economy, the games are exciting, and coverage of the sport has never been higher. 

Yet several issues remain in the sport, and have caused several to outcry about these problems.  During the course of this letter, I will take  a look at some of these dilemmas, and will suggest ways to fix them.  Please take these with all seriousness.

Forget about those old fashioned procedures such as Tommy John elbow surgery, torn MCL's and ACL's in the knees and the labrum surgeries in the throwing shoulders.

The new surgery appears to be the repairing of the labrum in the hips, an injury that has received severe media coverage since Alex Rodriguez had his labrum repaired in March.