Opinion

Roger Clemens was, for many years, my favorite baseball player. I wore No. 21 for one year in Little League. I had his posters littering my bedroom walls and still have one in my office. I saved every article I could find about him so that I could read them later.

Clemens, as far as I could tell, was not only the best righthander in the game, but he was also the hardest worker. I enjoyed watching Roger Clemens compete, even when he was with the Yankees.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are in first place in the NL West and enjoy the best record in baseball.  So all is well in L.A., right? 

Hardly! 

Like any major league team, the Dodgers have a list of issues, problems, and contingencies to fix and plan for.   The Dodgers look to Ned Colletti (general manager) and Joe Torre (manager) to keep a competitive team on the field and on top of the standings. 

I’ve been thinking a lot about the rubber polygon at the apex of the baseball diamond known as home plate. The game of baseball simply revolves around this tiny stadium landmark.

It is treated with both respect and disdain. It is treated as both “unimportant” and as the ultimate goal.

The ball players address the plate as they approach when they take their turn to bat. It’s with reverence and a bit of trepidation with which they step up to the plate.

It has been said that the definition of stupid is doing the same wrong thing over and over again, and expecting a different outcome.

As cruel as it might sound, I believe the industry of baseball is stuck in this proverb. Continuing to use the same failed pitching mistakes continues to only lead a team into more and more losses. 

I believe New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel is a stupid person.

He obviously does not read my Bleacher Report articles.

After a great 11-1 start and subsequent seven game losing streak, the Florida Marlins are 17-15 and in second place in the National League East. They are a half game behind the first place New York Mets.

The Marlins lineup is a good mix of veterans (Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu, Cody Ross), players just coming into their primes (Hanley Ramirez, Alfredo Amezaga, Jeremy Hermida) and young players getting their first full time chance in the big leagues (Cameron Maybin, Emilio Bonifacio).

Major League Baseball is only 30 games into its season, but we already have seen interesting—and, in some cases, controversial—story lines pop up.

We all know the big headlines have been Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez being caught with performance-enhancing drugs.

But that isn't the only good—or bad, depending on your affiliation—news we have around the league.

The AL East, AL Central, and AL West have had some surprising divisional leaders up to this point.

So who is the big winner?

The Monday Night Baseball game on May 12 (in which the Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets) reminded me of a couple things.

Derek Lowe can pitch like an ace when needed, even if he doesn’t strike people out; he can get so many grounders it is ridiculous.

Jerry Manuel is a terrible manager. Pedro Feliciano is a lefty specialist, and Matt Diaz is a platoon player who destroys lefties. The bullpen gets the blame, but this one was on Manuel.

Over the past few years, we've learned a few things about how to handle steroid allegations in baseball.

For the sake of this argument, I'll go with my gut and assume all mentioned steroid allegations are true.

What Not To Do

Deny. Don't do it.

Baseball fans are smart and our intuition can go a long way. As a professional baseball player, your entire career has been documented by statistics and photographs.

The Pittsburgh Pirates' Barry Bonds appears pre-pubescent in comparison to the San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds.

Now that the Manny shock-waves have settled down, the latest buzz around Major League Baseball surrounds the closer for the White Sox. Bobby Jenks has freely admitted to throwing behind Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers, causing a surprisingly sharp debate on how Bud Selig and company should punish the closer.

Having watched the majority of the season series between the Sox and Rangers, I was not surprised at all by Jenks' message to the Rangers pitchers. Afterall, the Rangers pitchers had made it a point to pitch inside and hit a few Sox hitters in the process.

Michael Young has plenty to smile about as the Texas Rangers open a big homestand against the American League West, and for a change, it has nothing to do with offense.

My friends in the world of sports caution me constantly about expecting a playoff run from the Rangers, but I've always been a little reckless so I'm going to ignore their warnings for now.

What does a team have to display at this time of the season to be considered a true contender?