Opinion

Thank God. Those were two words that I uttered when I first heard that Ken Macha would not be back with the Brewers for a third season.

That euphoria lasted all of five minutes because then I was to find out who was going to replace him.

It took a little while to find out who the candidates even were. Two prominent mentions were Bob Brenly (gag!) and Bobby Valentine. I did not want either of them anywhere near the Brewers. Then there was talk of Joey Cora, who wouldn't have been all bad.

Jake Fox has been battling many others for a backup job with the Baltimore Orioles this spring.

His primary competition is incumbent backup catcher Craig Tatum, who was very solid for the Birds last year, both at the plate and behind it.

This spring, however, Fox is blowing Tatum (and the rest of the team) away, with a .356 batting average and a major league spring training-leading seven home runs in 45 at-bats. Two such swings were hit in yesterday's contest against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I live in New York City. Well, Brooklyn to be exact. I've been a Mets fan my whole life and would consider myself fairly knowledgeable. I admit, I'm one of those guys who prefers the feel of a newspaper in my hands to the cold, lifeless feel of a computer when it comes to getting my news.

I read two newspapers each day: a New York Post, and a Daily News.

What is the big deal with Derek Jeter batting second? Why are the media and some Yankee fans up in arms over this?

How many games has Jeter batted second in his Yankee career? Care to take a guess? Out of his 2,295 games as a Yankee, he's batted second 1,270 times.

What is the goal of a leadoff hitter? To get on base, see a lot of pitches and steal bases.

The Milwaukee Brewers enter the 2011 season with high hopes and expectations of contending in the National League Central.

The Brewers have gone all in this year. They held onto first baseman Prince Fielder, who will be a free agent after the season, and made a splash with offseason acquisitions such as Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum and Takashi Saito.

                                   2011 SF Giants Season Preview

You want controversy? I'll give you controversy. Jackie Robinson was better than Derek Jeter.

Every American knows why Robinson played in the major leagues for only 10 years. Meanwhile, Jeter is starting his 17th season with the New York Yankees.

The San Francisco Giants have been dominating their Cactus League opponents throughout the start of spring training.

Excited and ready to gear up for back-to-back World Series championships, the Giants seem to be heading down the right road. Veterans and rookies alike are playing great baseball, and Giants fans should be starting to get the itch that only comes when it's time for baseball to begin.

I headed down to Scottsdale, Arizona last weekend to take a look at the Giants for myself, and they looked to be in great shape. Here's how I rate their performances thus far.

There are essentially two schools of thought on the Washington Nationals' signing of Jayson Werth. he first school absolutely hates the deal and points to Werth's age, health history, and small number of productive seasons. The other school sees the signing as a must in order for the Nats to establish themselves as offseason contenders.

It's gone on for weeks now. What was a four-man competition that was supposed to be cut down by March 14 has now swelled to five men and is no closer to a conclusion.

Mets manager Terry Collins trots a different second baseman out every game, gives him two or three at-bats and then replaces him with another candidate for one or two at-bats.

On and on we go, and where it stops, nobody knows—not even Collins himself.