MLB

The following is an elaborate spin-off of an essentially live blog entry I wrote in August as the New York Mets bullpen blew a lead for Johan Santana for the sixth time in the 2008 season.

Players with 0-3 years of major league service time signed contracts today. This is how it broke down for the Yankees:

Cody Ransom: $455,100
Joba Chamberlain: $433,000
Jose Veras: $432,975
Edwar Ramirez: $422,450
Brett Gardner $414,000
Ian Kennedy: $408,925
Phil Hughes: $407,650
David Robertson: $406,825
Jonathan Albaladejo: $403,075
Phil Coke: $403,300
Francisco Cervelli: $400,700
Wilkin De La Rosa: $400,000
Michael Dunn: $400,000
Christian Garcia: $400,000
Eric Hacker: $400,000

New York Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon barely hesitated long enough for the reporter's question to be completed before he tossed his answer forward.

When asked to name the most athletic player on the entire Yankee roster, Damon emphatically answered, "Cody Ransom."

After the reporter seemed slightly taken aback by his response, Damon added, "Have you been to YouTube yet?"

In a recent article titled Papelbon on Manny: It's Like Cancer, Jonathan Papelbon criticized former teammate Manny Ramirez on his attitude. In the article, Papelbon is quoted as saying “You have somebody like him, you know at any point in the ballgame, he can dictate the outcome of the game. And for him not to be on the same page as the rest of the team was a killer, man!

No one goes to a baseball game to learn anything. Well, at least not anything important.

That's not to say that arguing over the six Astros' pitchers to no-hit the Yankees, the catcher to catch the most games after the age of forty, and what exactly went into the original Cracker Jack recipe isn't a valuable addition to your library of baseball knowledge, but it won't exactly change your life either.

Well, unless you're a fan of the Yankees or Cracker Jack that is.

During 12 magical seasons as Yankee teammates, Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams reached six World Series and captured four titles.

In a combined 30 seasons in pinstripes, they have become as much a symbol of Yankee success as the immortal superstars that preceded them.

Jeter and Williams' friendship and fame even landed them a guest appearance on Seinfeld:

Not even a month ago, the Rangers and free agent pitcher Ben Sheets seemed to have ironed out a preliminary two-year contract.

Things quickly fell through when doctors performing Sheets’ physical determined that he needed to have surgery on his right elbow.

The contract was thrown out, Sheets went on to have the surgery, the Milwaukee Brewers were responsible for the bill (the last team Sheets played for,) and the Rangers went on to spring training with the pitching staff they have.

When Bill Reynolds of the Providence Journal learned that Manny Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers and that he was leaving his beloved Red Sox, his very next article began with the words, “The Circus Has Left Town.”

As the season draws closer and closer, let's take a look at some milestones that will likely be reached by some of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Let's start with Ryan Howard.

Howard will enter the 2009 season with 177 career home runs, which is good for 11th place on the list of all-time franchise leaders. With three home runs Howard will tie Willie Jones for 10th on the list. Jones played with the Phillies from 1947 to 1959.

I have a great idea that will never be implemented...ever. I want MLB closers to have professional wrestling entrances when they are called into the game. 

Imagine the fan fare as Enter Sandman blares through the new Yanks stadium and Mariano Rivera steps through a cloud of smoke.  Fireworks erupting around him and batters trembling. 

Furthermore, I want the closer's entrance to be secret. I want him to be warmed up in a private bullpen.  Then, as the middle reliever walks a batter, music fills the ballpark.