Opinion

Forget the Alamo—remember the chinstrap ninjas!

You know, those guys who run the ultra-cool fantasy sports website who suggested you not blow an early draft pick on a closer? Who suggested, in true-to-form stealthy and deadly fashion, to grab your closers late—or even sniper them off the waiver wire?

So here we are, not even a half-month into the 2011 season, and who leads the MLB in saves? Huston Street? For real?

For years it was acceptable. For years, there when other clubs came to visit Coors Field, it was understandable that fans for the other teams outnumbered Rockies fans. After all, the Rockies were in the middle of an identity crisis for most of those years.

The Seattle Mariners haven't had the start some fans were hoping for: just four wins through 13 games, but there's no reason for worry.  They've had several inauspicious factors working against them early, and there are a couple of key elements that we'll see come out as the season develops.

Let's say there is a university going through a rough patch.

Previously, it was viewed as one of the best schools in the nation, and it pulled in billions of dollars in endowments. Teachers who succeeded there, would go onto academic fame and be set for the rest of their lives financially.

However, a teacher's strike in 1994 had ruined the university's reputation.

The public thought the strike showed that the university and its teachers only cared about the size of their bank accounts.

During the 2010 season, the Cleveland Indians defense was one of the worst in the major leagues.

A combination of injuries and poor play were the main reasons for the terrible infield defense. Add a poor defense to the fact that the majority of the Tribe rotation is made up of ground ball pitchers and you have a recipe for disaster.

Once the Indians' front office traded third baseman Jhonny Peralta, the position became a gaping hole that none of the Indian's options were able to fill successfully.

"They can't hit." "They're too old." "They're all inured." These phrases were all uttered toward the Phillies lineup leading up to the 2011 MLB season. Now, eleven games into the season, the Phillies have been proving these critics wrong. The Phillies are 8-3 and they have scored 66 runs. Also, they have hit a remarkable .318 AVG, and have a tremendous .386 OBP which leads the MLB.

The 2011 MLB season is barely a week old and trade rumors, needs and possibilities are already swirling around many teams. One thing is certain though, only eight of the league's 30 teams will make the playoffs, leaving plenty of sellers in the market.

Anyone who knows baseball will tell you that starting pitchers start games, batters put teams in position to win games but the bullpen finishes games and makes wins possible.

Spoiler alert!  The Red Sox will be on this list.

I was at the Jays 2008 home opener when we hosted Boston.  It was difficult to concentrate on the game with all the Sox fans screaming in broken English, yelling nonsense like "wicked pissah' and "hoobangah".

If that wasn't bad enough, as the Jays pulled away the drunker of the Sox fans started to pick fights in the stands.

Although in their defense, Canadian beer actually contains alcohol.

So without further ado, here is a list of the most hostile fans in baseball.

It's been a little over a day since Josh Hamilton was injured, and I've had time to think about how his absence in the lineup will affect the Rangers. There is no more "knee-jerk reaction" in this article.

Let's face it. Texas lost its reigning AL MVP after he carried them to the World Series.

Or did they?

After eight years of building a case against Barry Bonds and millions of dollars spent to prosecute baseball's all time home run king, the government finally got their guilty conviction today. Surprisingly though, the jury convicted Bonds of obstruction of justice, but could not reach a unanimous decision on perjury charges.

Wait a minute, I'm confused.