Opinion

The offense of the Chicago White Sox has come storming out of the gate in Cleveland, putting the team in a position to do something noteworthy Sunday afternoon.

Chicago exploded for 14 runs in the first four innings of their 15-10 slugfest with the Indians in the opener. On Saturday, five runs in the first two frames set the tone for an 8-3 victory. John Danks is scheduled to start Sunday's game with an opportunity to lead the White Sox to a series sweep of Cleveland.

March 31 was the start of the 2011 Major League Baseball season. The hot dog and beer vendors were all stocked up and ready to serve. The grass was freshly cut, and the freshly laid lime was a pearly white. Tens of thousands of extremely excited fans were all lined up at the turn-styles waiting to have their tickets scanned. 

But for me, my stomach was the only thing turning that day. 

On December 16, 2009, the Toronto Blue Jays traded away their ace, Roy Halladay, to the Philadelphia Phillies for $6 million and three prospects: pitching prospect Kyle Drabek, catching prospect Travis D'Arnaud and outfield prospect Michael Taylor, who was immediately traded to the Oakland Athletics for Brett Wallace, now the starting first baseman for the Houston Astros.

Having assembled this amazing pitching staff with Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton, the only remaining question for the Phillies is whether or not they could they muster any offense. The simple answer is yes.

After the unbelievable Opening Day ninth-inning comeback rally on Friday, the Phils offense picked up on Saturday where they left off.

When the San Francisco Giants won the 2010 World Series and were crowned kings of Major League Baseball, their fans were too ecstatic to pay much attention to what the outside world was saying. We were too busy enjoying the franchise's first title in over 50 years and The City's first ever of the baseball variety.

Eventually, however, the smiles and confetti subsided—that's when initial reports began trickling through that all was not right outside the Bay Area.

Two years ago, Tommy Hanson was the pride and joy of the Atlanta Braves. 

A 22nd-round selection from Riverside Community College in California, Hanson was a product of the Braves' booming farm system and exploded on the scene in 2009 as a 22-year-old rookie.

Seattle Mariners fans have been tormented over the past few years with incredibly disappointing seasons.  This is in part due to the unfairly high expectations that have been set by analysts.

Other factors include poor performance, inconsistent pitching, injuries, and bad management; but let's put those behind us and examine the successes of 2011.

Fausto Carmona and Carlos Carrasco have done a nice job giving the sparse crowds at Progressive Field their best impression of a pinball machine, getting lit up to the tune of 17 runs in 9.2 innings. While it's certainly disconcerting to see the No. 1 and No. 2 Tribe starters getting beat like a drum, it definitely shouldn't come as a surprise.

Although initially intrigued with seeing teams from the senior circuit play my Detroit Tigers—teams I wouldn’t normally see in Detroit—I was never a fan of interleague play. It seemed to me a gimmick in the aftermath of the 1994-95 strike to get fans to come to the park. 

The Willie Randolph and Jerry Manuel era is officially over and new manager Terry Collins has the Mets focused. 

If you haven’t read Collins’ letter to all New York Mets fans, you really should.