Opinion

With the seats getting emptier at Sun Life Stadium in the wake of yet another Marlins late-season collapse, the surging Miami Dolphins snatching the local sports headlines, and the impending start of the NBA season with the Heat Elite of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh about to take the hardwood, the Marlins are in need of a revival.

Something that is commonly overlooked in baseball and other sports is the fans.  Yes, the players are the ones who are playing the games and winning them.  But the players aren't the only people who influence the outcome of the team.  Fans do too.  Especially in Philadelphia.

I'm not saying that the players don't make the team win or lose.  I'm just saying that the fans can influence the way that the players play, and that they deserve a lot more credit than they usually get.

The 2010 Cy Young conversation had been a fascinating debate. It had raised questions about how to determine if a pitcher is successful, and the value of certain statistics. 

But, unlike other years, the 2010 debate has recently become quite a silly argument as the season comes to a close.

During the 2010 Spring Training, the Atlanta Braves startlingly announced that rookie Jason Heyward would be the starting right fielder on Opening Day. This announcement set the baseball world on fire as not only did Heyward not have any major league experience prior to the 2010 season, but he was also only 20 years old.

OK, this assumes the Phillies will go to the World Series but here goes nothing.

If the Phillies are the top seed in the NL (which they would be if the season ended today), they would get the option of playing Game 1 on Wednesday vs Game 1 on Thursday. All other games would be the same regardless.

Who’s the hottest team in MLB right now?

The answer is the New York Yankees.

Anyone who tells you otherwise is a Yankee-hater, because you either bleed pinstripes or you burn them. It is that simple.

This past spring the Yankees held a competition for their fifth starter spot that included pitchers Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, among others. Hughes won the job.

We are in the home stretch of the long, arduous MLB season. The Minnesota Twins have wrapped up the AL Central, while five others (New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds) are all pretty much guaranteed spots.

That leaves the quartet of the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies jockeying for the final two postseason spots: the National League West Crown and the NL Wild Card.

In this audio feature we have audio of Angels first baseman Kendry Morales addressing his season ending ankle break. Angels manager Mike Scioscia also talked with AM830's Jason Brennan and LA Angels Insider.com's Eric Denton about the playing time of Mark Trumbo and Hank Conger.

The shortstop position is one that the Mariners have been trying to patch since Alex Rodriguez left Seattle following the 2000 season.

They used Carlos Guillen there in 2001, but his relationship with then-ace Freddy Garcia appeared to be damaging to the pitcher in the eyes of the front office, and he was sent packing to Detroit in 2003.