Opinion

In November 2007 Major League Baseball took preventive measure to protect first-and third-base coaches. Unfortunately it took the death of Mike Coolbaugh, first-base coach of the Double A Tulsa Drillers, to bring about this safety measure.

Another death, Ray Chapman, was the example used to bring about the rule requiring batting helmets. In August 1920 Chapman was hit in the head by a pitch thrown by Yankees pitcher Carl Mays. His death also lead to the rule requiring umpires to replace balls when ever they became dirty.

As of now, many see the Mets as a .500 team.  The Mets' biggest problem is pitching.  The team is very talented offensively, but only has two great pitchers.

Ace Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey are anchoring the Mets' rotation right now.  Everybody knew that Johan was going to be great, but Pelfrey has been a pleasant surprise.

No one really knew what to expect from Mike "Big Pelf" Pelfrey in 2010.  Pelfrey labeled himself as a talented kid with an unstable mental side of the game. 

All he needed was confidence and a better mindset. 

Just to prove how random, and therefore essentially worthless, wins are as a statistic, check out the numbers of two pitchers below.

Pitcher #1 - 4.86 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 35 strikeouts, 29 walks and 63 innings pitched in 11 starts.

Pitcher #2 - 4.66 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 32 strikeouts, 15 walks and 56 innings pitched in 10 starts.

As Chicago Cubs' starter Carlos Silva morphs into a Cy Young candidate so far early in the 2010 season, Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry is getting more than his share of credit for pulling off that trade.

That credit is completely unwarranted.

You don't get credit for signing the worst possible fit for your team in 2009 in Milton Bradley and ruining the season, and then receive accolades because the Seattle Mariners dumped their refuse on you and he turns out much better than expected, at least for now.

Coming into this season, critics and fans were well aware of the Tampa Bay Rays ability to score runs. With one of the best young line-ups in baseball, the Rays were predicted to fight for the AL East crown with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

Most people picked the Yankees and the Sox to finish ahead of the Rays because of one thing: starting pitching. After a sub-par year from both Matt Garza and James Shields in 2009, the Rays aces have gotten off to great year in 2010.

Lets take a closer look at James Shields, Matt Garza and the rest of the Tampa Bay rotation.

I realize that A-Rod is a great player and has hit a ton of home runs over his career. Rodriguez strikes fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers.

But he is in his mid 30's now, possibly the twilight of his prime, and he just hasn't had the same power stroke this year.

Should someone else bat fourth in the Yankee lineup? I say yes.

The question is, who can do a better job than A-Rod? Not Teixeira with his struggles right now. Possibly Swisher. But Nick seems inconsistent year in and year out.

By most measures, Bryce Harper is the pick of the 2010 draft class. He is a multi-tool offensive player that is also believed to be able to play several positions. There is a chance the Pittsburgh Pirates will be able to draft him. There is a larger chance that they won't.

Based on their 2009 records, the Pirates have the second overall draft pick in 2010, with the Washington Nationals coming in first. Washington is believed to prefer Harper, just as it selected Steve Strasburg with last year's first pick.

With the Phoenix Suns now eliminated from the NBA Playoffs, the Phoenix Coyotes now focusing on a bleak future in Arizona, and a general declining interest for the Arizona Cardinals and Arizona State football in their upcoming seasons, the attention for many Phoenix and Arizona sports fans has shifted to the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks.

And boy, it isn't pretty.

Dodgertown is not in a Galaxy far, far away.  It is a place in the minds and hearts of Dodger fans everywhere.

Had I not seen it in a United States Marine Corps ad campaign, I would have thought the line was writen for us, "The Few, The Proud, the Residents of Dodgertown USA".

Unbelievable? 

Amazin?

No. Just Same Ole Mets.

Just when you thought the Mets were going to pull themselves out of the cellar, they prove us wrong once again. The 2010 Mets are the greatest mirage in baseball. One minute they look like world beaters, the next like chumps.

Let me ask Mets nation: Is Jerry Manuel back on the hot seat?

The New York Mets were hotter than a fire cracker after an inspiring three game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies—a 5-1 home stand that saw them beat both Philadelphia and the New York Yankees.