Opinion

So by now all you of you have heard or read of the terrible case of the Monday's Hanley Ramirez came down with during yesterday's game versus the Diamondbacks.

If not, read Dan's last post over at themarlinsblog.com . And appalled as I am that someone like Hanley would be perfectly fine with his public display of immaturity, I must say that I am not surprised.

By now, most baseball fans have seen the highlights of Hanley Ramirez lollygagging after a ball he literally booted down the left field line in Monday night's game between the Florida Marlins and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After Ramirez's snail-like retrieval of the baseball, during which he probably could have enjoyed a three-course meal, he was promptly benched by his manager, Fredi Gonzalez.

While last night's spectacle was as egregious as they come, it was only one glaring footnote in a growing trend around Major League Baseball.

The big story of the start of the baseball season would be the great starts by Tampa Bay, San Diego, Cincinnati and Washington.

The other big stories are off the field tales of Hall of Fame players napping and teens getting tasered.

The big debate is about parity. As of right now, there are fifteen teams that are .500 or better. That is great news for those who argue that parity does exist.

When GM Tony Reagins said his Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim would look to solve their problems internally, he meant it. Sort of.

On April 29, the Angels picked up infielder Kevin Frandsen off waivers from the Boston Red Sox.

Frandsen, 28, spent six years bouncing back and forth between the minors and major leagues after he was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2004. His longest stay in the bigs came with the Giants in 2007 when he batted .269 with five home runs and 31 RBI in 109 games.

The Celtics eliminated the Cavaliers in six games last week. Now, everyone speculates where LeBron James is going to play.

Basketball junkies encourage James to leave Cleveland for a chance to win a championship. Clevelanders warn their hometown star not to leave or else be vilified the way Art Modell was for moving the Browns to Baltimore.

If James leaves, Modell will be elated to know he will have a company for the most despised sports figure in Cleveland.

This begs one question to be asked.

As mentioned in Anthony Castrovince's blog, after Jason Donald was promoted to the Indians major league roster, Trevor Crowe texted him to let him know that he was part of the starting lineup against the Rays on the 18th.

And so the Jason Donald experiment begins.

Many were hoping that he'd get his time in the majors to show himself. After all, we need something good from that Cliff Lee trade; Marson and Carrasco have not done much. Three hours after his flight landed in Tampa Bay, he was ready to go against pitcher David Price.

With an "A-Bomb" grand slam from A-Rod on Friday night, the great Mariano Rivera giving up a grand slam himself on Sunday, and Marcus Thames sinking Papelbon and the Sox on Monday, it has been a week of highs and lows for the Yanks thus far.

But through it all, the Yankees are starting to see some major production out of their once struggling sluggers.

Mark Teixeira, also known as Mr. May, has been on fire this month. He has five homers to go with 21 RBI and his average now stands at .224--at the end of April it was a lowly .195.

Two All-Star outfielders playing on the top team currently in each league share something else in common. Both the Tampa Bay Rays Carl Crawford and Philadelphia Phillies Jayson Werth are in the final year of their contracts and could be amongst the biggest names in the 2011 free agent market.

Each player is off to a strong start in 2010, seemingly stating his case to other team's around Major League Baseball.

In the last two years, the Phillies closer role has been filled by "a veritable who's who of incompetent puppets," as said by Dr. Kelso from ABC's television show Scrubs .

Lyle Overbay is pressing.

If you feel inclined to add a pithy, "Yeah, DE-pressing" to the above, feel free and may the gods of '90's sitcoms be with you. But the fact remains: Overbay is looking for love in all the wrong places.

Take a look at what's going on with the Jays and it might explain his troubles. 

Alex Gonzalez and John Buck, picked up for their defense and handling of pitchers respectively, have torn the cover off the ball. No one could have predicted this without the aid of witchcraft.