MLB

Let’s take a look at the NL East, where anyone, well, almost anyone can emerge as the winner. I’ll take a look at the teams in alphabetical order, saving the Nats for last, where they belong. The Marlins, Mets, Phillies, and Braves will all be contending this year, with question marks on every team. Who will emerge as the NL East champion?

Atlanta Braves

On most days, 287 big league victories and 3,701 K would get you a plaque in Cooperstown.

So why isn't Bert Blyleven getting his ticket punched?

It's a long-standing dilemma that the baseball writers tangle with on every ballot. Do they value career numbers bulked by longevity over actual dominance and superior individual performance, or vice versa?

Micah Owings was on the mound as he pitched his last game to audition for the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation. Owings pitched into the sixth, but was pulled out with the bases loaded. He gave up four runs (one earned), five K's, three walks, and six hits. A Jay Bruce three-run error in the fourth with two outs buried the Reds' hopes for good.

Nick Masset pitched up and down in two innings of work.

I watched last night's game against the Orioles and came away impressed by several things I saw.

Although Oliver Perez still wasn't throwing his best fastball, he certainly looked much better than he did his first couple of outings back from the WBC.

The first thing that I noticed was that Perez was throwing a lot of strikes and getting quite a few ground balls. I watched Perez in the WBC a couple of times and it seemed that keeping the ball down was a priority for him this spring—not that it worked that well for him in that tournament.

Thanks for checking out the third installment of "The Long Road of October". In case you haven't read them, check out Part One and Part Two to see how the Cubbies have progressed throughout the 2009 season thus far.

Through 82 games, I have the Cubs record at 47-35. How will the Cubs close out the first half? Will the team suffer throughout the dog days of summer? Lets find out!

DH Gary Sheffield was released by the Detroit Tigers Tuesday, a week before the regular season starts and with the well-traveled slugger only one home run shy of the magic number of 500. Sheff was coming off a rough spring training, in which he only hit .118. Of his eight hits, five of them were homers.

The question now is where he will end up.

Former Mets pitcher and current SNY broacaster, Ron Darling, sat down with the Good Day NY crew to talk about his new book called The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball, Pitching and Life on the Mound.

I personally love Ron Darling and the insight he brings to the Mets telecast. I think he's arguably one of the most articulate color guys in baseball and has the ability to explain pitchers' mechanics and mentality like few others on TV.

With baseball season right around the corner, it’s time to revisit the glory that is the Cardinals fan. We join Matt Sebek’s October, 2007 column in progress…

On Tuesday morning, 22 groups of collective baseball fan bases will have months to ponder the season that was 2007. For some fans, 2007 was a rebuilding process and a promising sign of things to come in 2008. For others, it was a complete disaster.

1. Ozzie Guillen Explosions