Opinion

Dear Dallas-Fort Worth Sports Fans,

Hey it's us, your first place Texas Rangers.  Yes, that's right, go check, we are in first place in the AL West. 

We have the fifth best record in the majors at 41-28.  We have won nine of our last ten games and our best player, Josh Hamilton, has found the swing that made him famous two years ago at the HR derby.

He's batting .337 with 16 HR and 52 RBI.  All three of those stats are at least in the top four of each category in the AL.

On this day 23 years ago, one of the greatest players in baseball history hung up his cleats one final time, announcing to the world that he had no more competitive pitches left in his arm.

Despite being a near unanimous first-choice Hall of Fame inductee and one of the all-time greats, Tom Seaver does not get the recognition he deserves.

His 311 wins only barely gets him a spot in the top 20 list of career victories and his total of 3,640 strikeouts is topped by five other pitchers, including one who has 2,000 more Ks to his name.

THE SUBJECT - Luis Valbuena, also known as Baby Louie.

Luis Valbuena came over to Cleveland in the three-way deal with with the Mets and Mariners that sent outfielder Franklin Gutierrez to Seattle and J.J. Putz to New York.

After spending 22 games in Triple-A Columbus, Valbuena made a quick debut with Cleveland and opened a lot of eyes as a potential second baseman for the club's long term future.

This year has been an eerie year in baseball in terms of stars. In the previous years, deserving players were clear cut and obvious stand-outs. This year, at a plethora of positions, it's not an easy decision. Here's who should be the 2010 All-Stars, following the 34 players per league (I included four extra players due to new rules regulating pitching and inevitable injuries) and (at least) one player per team rules resulting in some snubs.

American League

Residents of Denver take pride in the fact that they are one of only a few cities in the country that can boast four major sports teams. The pride is much larger when you consider the fact that Denver is considered a small to mid-market city.

Bob Geren's continued misuse of the Oakland A's bullpen is getting very tiresome. Another game for the A's where the decisions made by Geren were headscratching to say the least. 

Although, there was one decision that Geren made right was taking Gio Gonzalez out after pitching seven solid innings and bringing in Craig Breslow. This because Breslow has been the most consistent reliever out of the bullpen this year for the A's. Every other decision after that has cost the A's runs and the game. 

According to many reports, the Cincinnati Reds are on the verge of signing Gary Matthews, Jr. Matthews had a big year for the Texas Rangers way back in 2006. That year he put up .313/.371/.495/.866. The LA Angels then swooped in and signed Matthews for a huge deal.

Matthews' big year in 2006 skewed his career numbers, but the Angles ignored that and tried catching four years of lightning in a bottle. It didn't work out.

After three disappointing years, the Angels ended up getting the Mets to take him as insurance for Carlos Beltran.

A fistful of names in baseball this year are steadily producing, but not necessarily gaining the recognition that they deserve. Many of these performances that are flying under the radar are overshadowed by those of early Cy Young and MVP candidates.

By now, Ubaldo Jimenez, Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and others are household names this year.

After a slow and often frustrating start, the Sox have won 11 of their last 13 to climb back to the .500 mark. The previously struggling pitching staff has caught fire, allowing more than three runs only four times during that stretch.

The optimist would say that the pitching is finally performing to expectations and that the Sox are on their way to contention in the AL Central. Every player in their rotation has turned in some solid starts and with the emergence of Sergio Santos the bullpen looks solid.

If you read this article posted back in March, you know why it’s important to keep an eye on your league’s waiver wire as save opportunities get shuffled around major league bullpens.