Opinion

Friday night I was at the Dodgers-Marlins game and saw firsthand the farce that baseball umpiring is. I was compelled to shout at the sky to whoever may be listening in the heavens. Unfortunately stadium security was clearing out the remaining thousand or so fans remaining so I have to direct my rumblings towards the internet heavens.

Despite becoming a baseball fan sixteen years ago with the arrival of the Marlins to my South Florida neighborhood, I’m still somewhat of a novice when it comes to the rules and details of the sport.

Billy Beane is the only general manager that would allow personal feelings to get in the way of the team's success. The hiring of Bob Geren was the worst decision Beane has ever made and now, Beane does not have the fortitude do fix it.

Here's an easy thought for Beane: It's time to get rid of whatever personal feelings you have for Geren, and get rid of him. Then to save yourself call a press conference explaining why you had to fire Geren.

When the Phillies signed outfielder Raul Ibanez in December, Phillies fans questioned the decision.

Ibanez never received much publicity playing for a bad Seattle Mariners team on the West Coast, so to the common fan he was an unfamiliar face and name. He was 36, turning 37 in June.

He was a left-handed hitter, even though the Phillies already had lefties Ryan Howard and Chase Utley in the middle of their lineup. An even bigger reason the Philly faithful were skeptical of the signing was because it meant the team wouldn’t be resigning fan favorite Pat Burrell.

Originally written for AccentAdvocate.com.

Catching prospect Matthew Wieters turns 23 years old on May 21st.

On Friday, he hit hit his fourth home run for Triple-A Norfolk.

Wieters played for Georgia Tech, following in the footsteps of players like Nomar Garciaparra, Mark Teixeira, and fellow catcher Jason Varitek.

He was drafted fifth overall in the 2007 amateur draft by the Baltimore Orioles, and four other teams are out of their minds for passing him up. However, David Price was picked number one that year by the Tampa Bay Rays and I can't argue that.

The Mets have won three in a row and 11 of their last 13, and as a fan, it feels good. Because when you're winning, nobody talks about how many runners were left in scoring position. Or whether the starting pitcher was pulled too soon. Or whether the players have enough heart, passion, or desire.

The Mets have scored in the first inning in each of the last four games for a total of seven runs. They scored in the ninth to break a tie and beat the Giants Thursday, then after erasing a four-run deficit did the same thing last night.

Last week Howie Kendrick of the Angels hit an inside the park home run, or so he thought. That home run was taken away Friday and ruled an error on Kansas City right fielder Jose Guillen.

The MLB deserves credit for overruling the official scorer. It was a play that should have been made.

Guillen had a long way to go to get to the ball but got there in time and should have made the play.

Instead, Guillen dropped the ball and it rolled to wall. Kendrick crossed home plate standing up for the "home run."

Finally, the disaster in the five hole is over.

But, to my dismay, this problem has moved to the bullpen.

My utter joy for a rookie finally getting his shot, however, outweighs a future ineffective reliever (at least until Reyes blows a game up).

Anyway, the surprise to some fans may be the fact that a certain 22-year-old phenom isn't getting the call.

Instead, it is a 23-year-old reliever-turned-starter phenom named Kris Medlen.

Many may remember his great spring, but his season down at Gwinnett has been even better.

At the end of April, I asked several of our top Cubs writers to give me their overall impressions of the team after about one month. I want to thank the following writers for producing this analysis: Tab Bamford, Pat De Marco, Ricky Butts, Ryan Winn, Kane Simmons, Paul Swaney, Brian Livingston, and Jacob Nitzberg.

Alex Rodriguez's walk off home run in the 11th inning of Saturday's battle in the Bronx proves that he is always a threat despite what the numbers may say. That game-ender put an exclamation point on a 4-game win streak for the Yankees in which they have played some of their most consistent baseball all season. In the month of May, the Yankees were 1-5 without A-Rod. Since his return however, they have gone 6-2.