MLB

Have you ever experienced a dream so vivid, so real, that once awoken from you used everything you could think of to enter its surreal shadows again?

Or perhaps at such a place that you were completely at peace, perfect amid your surroundings like you actually were made for this world?

Those moments are few and broadcast with great care throughout one’s life journey. They are so rare indeed that by the time you find yourself within the ethereal grasp of one, anything past has been long forgotten, dismissed somewhere between a dream and a fantasy.

Did anyone say "Encore?" 

Well the Lakers did, and all they accomplished was a playoff birth for this years drive to another chance to play in the NBA finals.  There wasn't much of a celebration, because this is expected and it's just part of the checklist of things to do when you wear the gold & purple. 

This was not before the "Mamba" struck a deadly three pointer with 1:46 left in the game, that put the Lakers on top for good & sent the Spur fans to the exits. 

On every team, all 25 players are expected to perform. However, there are certain players that expected to perform at a higher level. Here are the top five essential players for the Cincinnati Reds.

5. Ramon Hernandez

Hernandez was a major pickup for the Reds during the offseason. He solidifies a position that has been a question mark for years.

If Hernandez can have a good 2009 season, the Reds will get better quickly. Hernandez is solid offensively and defensively, and he should help a talented young pitching staff as well.

I don't know if you know about this, I sure didn't, but there is a story about Brian Cashman and Jason Giambi in a soon to be released book about Roger Clemens. The book is called The Rocket That Fell to Earth and it's written by Jeff Pearlman. Here's more from the New York Times:

MLB Teams of Interest

by ChrisArena, sportsinsights.com

Just like our NBA Teams of Interest article, this article is going to examine some teams around Major League Baseball, searching for value opportunities in the sports betting marketplace.

In anticipation of the draft for The Hazean’s 2009 fantasy baseball challenge, I decided to dabble in some preseason projections.

The problem with that thought, though, is that I really do not spend as much time working on my fantasy baseball knowledge as I do football. So I brought in some fantasy baseball muscle to compile these projections.

Aaron McCoy, fantasy baseball connoisseur and a co-worker of mine, offered his fantasy baseball expertise for these rankings. I have to say they are pretty impressive and I might even use them to draft my team this weekend.

For a spring training game, yesterday's matchup with the Boston Red Sox was a darn good pitching matchup. Josh Beckett went for the visitors and allowed nothing over four innings. The good news for Cardinal fans is that Chris Carpenter did the same.

After a 2007 campaign in which the Braves saw their bullpen compile the NL's second-best ERA (3.58), 2008 was a year that saw some of the 'pen's best arms (Gonzalez carried over from last year, Moylan, and Soriano) miss significant time due to injuries.

Add to this the futile rotation, and the team's second-tier arms (Acosta, when he was healthy, Ohman, who is gone for 2009 due to free agency, Boyer, and Bennett) saw extreme amounts of time that hurt their ability down the stretch (or what can be called the "stretch" for a 90-loss team)

All 25 players on a Major League Baseball team are important. However, some stand out more than others. They are the ones who are essential to a team's success. Here are my top five essential players for the Tampa Bay Rays:

5. Pat Burrell

Burrell was the Rays' top free agent pick up this season. He was brought in to add power to an already impressive lineup.