Opinion

Most people know the courageous story of Jackie Robinson. Anyone who does not should read no farther and google the life of a real American hero.

For those who do know about Jackie's life, you probably also know about Harold "Pee Wee" Reese. Pee Wee was the Dodgers captain, 10-time All Star, and winner of seven league championships while the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn.

Despite his Hall of Fame achievements, his accolades on the field will forever pale in comparison to his contribution to our fragile nation in 1947.

In the 2000 amateur draft, the Colorado Rockies selected UCLA first baseman Garrett Atkins in the fifth round.

With Todd Helton firmly entrenched at that position for the Rockies, Atkins converted to third base in AA in 2002 and continued there in AAA before being getting called up early in the 2005 season. He went on to finish fourth in the Rookie-of-the-Year voting that year after posting a .287/.347/.426 batting line with 13 HR and 87 RBI in 519 ABs.

It's about half-way to the All-Star game, and balloting started ridiculously early a couple of weeks ago. Here's who should be tabbed All-Stars.

I follow the rules (there must be one member from each team and 32 overall players), which is why there are some snubs, who should be All-Stars. An asterisk* denotes injury which usually relegates a player to snub.

When the Mariners lost their ninth of the last 10 games last night at the bat of Texas first baseman Chris Davis, I began to wonder.

Texas has another one of these guys? Big bats from the left-hand side, they don’t grow on trees, generally, but perhaps the growing season and crops available are different in Arlington.

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I was six years old at the time and an avid Atlanta Braves fan. Our family always focused on living the 10 Commandments, but Granny had an 11th commandment:

"Thou shalt not root against the Braves."

You never rooted against Granny's Braves, especially in her presence. If you did, you suffered the consequences.

I can remember one day sitting on my grandfather's knee watching a game and he asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I finally am writing about something I have believed since 2004: Pete Rose should not be allowed to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rose was one of the greatest baseball players to play the game. He was a pretty darn good manager, too. He had a 412-373 record for a .525 winning percentage.

He managed from 1984 to 1989, with his team finishing fifth for his first and last year and second for five years in a row.

Second.

Now listen to me—that is key to my argument.

The 1967 Kansas City Athletics finished the season with a record of 62-99, dead last in the American League. For most of their 13 years in Missouri, the Athletics had been little more than an additional farm team for the New York Yankees, trading their rising young stars to New York for aging veterans.

That's how Roger Maris became a Yankee; he was traded for Hank Baur, Don Larsen, and Marv Throneberry.

If you weren't already numb to it, I'm sure you are by now.  Baseball is sick of steroids and we all just want to move on.  But every time we think maybe it's safe to flip on SportsCenter or go to a game, there's a bombshell.

Another baseball stud used PIDs. This time it was Manny, and I don't know about you, but I didn't have any reaction. I had heard it all before...

1.  Breaking News! (Insert baseball star's name here) failed an MLB drug test.

About two years ago, my family moved into a new house.

I like the new house. It’s bigger, it’s nicer, and it’s in a better neighborhood. It’s an obvious upgrade in just about every physical way.

Friends of mine, who have been to both, would be hard-pressed to find even a single aspect of my new house that they liked better in the old one.

But after two years, there is an emotional attachment missing that I have been unable to develop.

Curious, I began thinking: What makes a house one’s home?