Opinion

un-her-ald-ded , adjective

appearing without fanfare, publicity, or acclaim; unexpected.

That is exactly the way to describe the hitting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays, who have transformed hitters' careers around and have put the Jays' close to an AL Wild Card berth. Not surprising for a guy who has already won a World Series ring (2001 with Arizona).

The Jays lead the MLB in many offensive rankings. First in home runs already with an astonishing total of 89, first in doubles, and first in slugging percentage. I can go on and on.

Baseball has taken many hits in recent years; Steroids,  HGH, and the strike of 94′ that, no doubt is in the back of everyone’s mind.

It is rare when the good in sports get the front page.

More often than not, it is a suspension, or a press conference, for a reason other than a former All-Star retiring after the end of a brilliant career.

Tonight, the New York Yankees will send their beleaguered starter Javy Vazquez to the mound against the hapless Baltimore Orioles.

This is a game the Yankees should win easily, considering the Orioles have been the bottom feeders of the AL East for the past decade and are the owners of baseball's worst record.

But for Javier Vazquez, this is not only a game he should pitch well in—it's also a must win.

After an uncharacteristically bad start to the season, the Boston Red Sox are back, making moves, and fighting to get to the top of the AL East.

Despite being a few games under .500 in April and early May, the offense is steamrolling through opponents’ pitching, and the Red Sox starting rotation is starting to become consistent, and reliable once again.

I wasn’t around for the first out, but I wouldn’t miss the last three for anything in the world.

In fact, I was prepared to put up with a digital, pitch-by-pitch re-enactment until the Phillies’ website went to live video of it for free.

Not bad for today’s “make you pay” society. The only thing it cost me was the long distance charges to call home and give my dad the play-by-play.

The chant was clear even on television, so it must have been deafening if you were one of the lucky 37,000 or so in the stands. During the middle innings of Saturday’s showdown with the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park, the now familiar wave of “Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck!” cascaded down from the bleachers.

And it was downright depressing.

This season has been one of many ups and downs for many teams in Major League Baseball. From winning streaks to losing streaks and from perfection to injuries, there are a multitude of story lines. Let's see what songs best represent different teams throughout the league. Keep in mind, this is according to the title of the song, not the lyrics.

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Paul Konerko has had his bags packed to head to the Los Angeles Angels on more than one occasion.

Now, however, it seems as though Konerko could actually be getting on the plane.

With Kendry Morales celebrating a walk-off grand slam by breaking his leg, the Angels could use another first baseman. 

With the White Sox "grinder"/Ozzie ball/don't score runs and have awful defense experiment putting the team in a battle for third place in the American League Central division, it could be time for the White Sox to look toward 2011...or maybe 2012.

It's June 1st and I have an alarming stat for Braves fans—this year's primary starting pitchers (Hanson, Hudson, Kawakami, Lowe and Medlen) are having a more successful year at the plate than the starting centerfielder, Nate McLouth. Through 51 games (nearly a third of the year!) the pitchers are hitting .184 and McClouth is hitting .179 with no signs of coming out of his slump.

Through the first month of the season, Jose Reyes’ struggles were very clear. Reyes hit only .238 with a .295 on base percentage. Reyes simply did not look like the player he had been in the past.

People wondered what had caused Reyes’ struggles. Was it his thyroid problem? His new spot batting third in the batting order? Or was it that Jose was washed up?