Opinion

Disgraced New York Yankees playoff hero of yesteryear Jim Leyritz is determined to prove that he is innocent of a DUI manslaughter charge that stem from a December 2007 automobile crash in Fort Lauderdale that killed Fedia Ann Veitch, a mother of two children.

The news going into today's Cubs vs. Pirates game was the roster moves made before the game. The Cubs added another player to increasingly expanding disabled list and sent down Neal Cotts and Bobby Scales.

To fill the void, they called up lefty reliever Jason Waddell, whose AAA stats aren't that impressive, 0-1 5.40 ERA 12 SO in 16.2 innings, but he is really the only lefty decent enough to call up.

Feels like December...

Remember when Braves fans all over the internet were fuming over perceived "futility" from the Braves' front office?

It's starting again.

Calls for Wren to "get off of his lazy (intercoursing) (posterior)" and start making moves are starting to pop up on bulletin boards, comments sections, and blogs everywhere.

I, however, am here to say this: IT'S ONLY MAY 27!!!!

People seem to forget that the non-waiver trading deadline is still about sixty-five days away (give or take a few hours).

For the past few series', the New York Mets have been thriving on the success of their starting pitching, Gary Sheffield, and MLB's new video replay.

In recent games, the Mets have had three home runs reviewed. The first took place against the Red Sox in Boston when Omir Santos hit a fly ball just over the green monster to give the Mets a 3-2 ninth inning lead.

I don't need to tell anyone that the economy is in ruins right now. Teams all over professional sports are seeing their season ticket renewal numbers sliding south and their merchandise sales stagnant at best.

In baseball, the rumor mills are full of hot items about teams in small and middle markets looking to unload any contract of length or substance as early as the beginning of June (Jake Peavy) for the sake of saving their bottom line.

Fans just aren't spending the money this year.

"More Days in First Place. More Days in First Place. More Days in First Place."

That’s Boston’s sports radio WEEI mocking a robotic Dan Duquette after the 2001 season, when the ‘Duke’ proclaimed that the Red Sox spent ‘more days in first place’ than that the New York Yankees.

Carlos Zambrano has always been known as a player who wears his emotion on his sleeve, and today it cost him.

He was called on an extremely close play at the plate, where Nyjer Morgan slid in just before Zambrano was able to get the tag down, but Morgan barely got his hand in before Zambrano could tag him out.

Mark Carlson, the umpire on the call, actually made a tremendous call, because from first angle it looked like Morgan was blocked by Zambrano and he was out. But upon further review of the play, it shows that he slid his hand in before the tag could be made.

Carlos Zambrano was tossed from Wednesday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates after a very close call at home plate with one out in the top of the seventh inning.

Zambrano threw an 0-1 pitch in the dirt to Nate McLouth on the first base side (inside to the left-handed hitter) which Geovany Soto slid over to block. In doing so, the ball kicked back to the third base side behind home plate.

While Zambrano ran home to cover the plate, speedy Pirates outfielder Nyjer Morgan bolted in from third base in an attempt to score.

When Jack Zduriencik signed the veteran Russell Branyan this off season, he and the rest of the organization were probably expecting a solid defensive first baseman who could put up some decent power numbers in the middle of the order. It appears that what they got was a lot more.

Everyone already knew that Branyan had a great power upside, but he has performed well above expectations over the first two months of the season. Not only is he doing a bang-up job at first base, but he's near the top of the league in homers with a batting average above .300.

The recent call-up of Cubs' power-hitting prospect Jake Fox has fueled plenty of speculation about how he will fit Chicago's mold. With Derek Lee and Micah Hoffpauir occupying his comfort zone at first base, it would appear that Fox is a square peg squeezing into a round hole.

However, there is one area Fox may cover perfectly while he enjoys his time in the majors—go-to pinch hitter.