Opinion

Ending a horrid 3-6 road trip, the New York Yankees are glad to be back home.

Home or not though, starting with a 4-game series against the second-place Tampa Bay Rays, the next two weeks will challenge the Yankees in every possible way.

The Philadelphia Phillies have made another late-season surge in order to pass the Atlanta Braves in the National League East standings, stretching their own lead to three games.

The Phillies are preparing for another deep playoff run, but first they need to fend off the Braves for the division crown. It’s a big series as Atlanta comes to Citizens Bank Park for three games, hoping to cut into the lead and in a best case scenario make it all even once more.

In sports, the ability to win on enemy turf often distinguishes the contenders from the pretenders.

That’s proven to be true during the 2010 MLB season, particularly in regards to the marathon-style NL East race.

The Phillies, who begun the season just 22-30 away from home, have now won 17 of their last 20 on the road. The 2010 season will mark the seventh straight season in which the Phillies have had a winning record when needing room service. Simply remarkable.

In most years, the Pittsburgh Pirates would be fortunate to have one breakthrough pitcher. This year, they may have found two. And neither of them were Pirates at the beginning of the year.

Neither James McDonald nor Brian Burres were highly regarded by their former teams. McDonald was traded to Pittsburgh with an outfield prospect (Andrew Lambo) for all of reliever Octavio Dotel in July.

The Mariners need a utility infielder that can play both second and third base and at a minimal price. Dustin Ackley will likely make his debut in mid-June in order to avoid becoming a Super Two player, and until then, somebody will have to hold his place at second base.

When young children hear the words "New York Mets", most think of David Wright, the face of the Mets franchise.  I've heard rumors pertaining to David Wright possibly being traded this coming offseason.  If the Mets were smart, they wouldn't dare trade Wright, and I'll discuss why.

Charlie Morton has a fastball. He also has what's been colorfully described as "filthy" stuff, pitches with strange spins and angles that are likely to confuse batters, due to body motions basically peculiar to him. So why isn't he a winning pitcher?

One example came in the final game of the Mets series. He had gotten through three scoreless innings, and was struggling in the fourth. Lucas Duda, of all people, hit a two-run double.

This Sunday afternoon, the Phillies and the Eagles are both playing at about the same time (Eagles at 1pm and Phillies at 1:35pm). So if you have to choose one game to watch, which team would you watch?

I think it should be the Phillies. I am hoping this weekend the city of Philadelphia finally makes the right choice. We should be a baseball town, not a football town. We want to paint the town red, not green.

Why should you watch the Phillies rather than the Eagles?

Angels catching prospect Hank Conger had a tremendous first start on Sept 15th. Not only did the rookie come through with a big two-RBI opposite field single (his first MLB hit) in the first inning, but he caught a gem.

I figured since no one has decided to defend the Captain, then it was only fitting that I would step up to the plate and do it myself.

It has been three days now since Derek Jeter picked up the nickname, "Cheater Jeter," or "Jeter the Cheater." Either way you slice it, majority of those people either hate the New York Yankees or Jeter. He could hit a home run and people still would find a way to criticize him and his teammates.