Opinion

Brett Gardner is having a great season at the plate.

He currently ranks 8th in the American league in batting average at .333, and 2nd in stolen bases with 16, while being caught stealing only once.  His On Base percentage is good enough for 4th in the AL, at .411, and he ranks 2nd in runs, with 28.  He has also drawn 14 walks.

Gardner has done all this from the number 9 spot.

Baseball is America's pastime, and the Yankees are considered by many to be "America's Team."

With their history of success and a seemingly insurmountable mountain of hardware lining the organization's trophy cases, it is easy to see why this is the case.

But although they are, historically and statistically speaking, the "best" team, does that mean they are "America's" team? I propose that the Yankees personify many characteristics of America, the only problem is, they're all the wrong ones.

According to Webster's Dictionary, the word leader is someone who leads, guides, or is the first and/or principal performer of a group. In other words, it is someone who takes charge. When scanning through the pages of history, we see countless examples of people who have qualified under this definition and have achieved great success.

The Cleveland Indians aren't hitting very well.

According to Yahoo! Sports, the Indians are batting .245 as a team. While that's not the worst—the worst would be the Houston Astros .228 average—it's not something Indians hitting coach Jon Nunnally should be putting on his resume should he be let go.

While watching the game last night, and listening to the play-by-play from Tom Hamilton on the radio, Hamilton noted Grady Sizemore's swing had gotten longer in an effort to generate more power.

The Seattle Mariners have entered a world they may eventually wish they hadn't. In the wake of the Ken Griffey Jr. "sleeping in the clubhouse during a game article," the Mariner players have decided to boycott the newspaper in which the article appeared.

The Mariners are now refusing to talk to or grant any interviews to the Tacoma News Tribune.

Why, exactly? Because apparently, they feel the reporter who wrote the piece, veteran Mariners beat writer Larry LaRue, was irresponsible for publishing it.

In the words of my esteemed colleague, Jim Anchower , "Hola amigos. How's (stuff) shaking out? I know it's been a long time since I rapped at ya, but misery's been flying at me from all directions, and it's been a (dang) full-time job to just duck out of the way of all of it."

Well not really—four days.

But it's been a long time since I've stood on my anti-Dusty Baker soapbox (at least 10 days). 

Dear Mr. Deford,

Last week, you wrote an article for SI.com lamenting what you described as the "stultifying sluggishness" that is presently plaguing Major League Baseball.  The article bemoaned the "dreadful strategy" of hitters allowing themselves to see as many pitches as possible in order to tire out the pitcher. 

It's easy to root for a winning team, but what makes it even easier is when that winning team is made up of a bunch of likable guys.

The Phillies have a roster full of character players who truly enjoy the game. They play hard and they like each other. And as proven by their appearance in the previous two World Series, this team is good.

Here's a look at my 10 favorite Phillies on a squad with a lot of guys to like.

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Baseball is a sport that transcends time. It is one of the few activities in America that a Civil War veteran, if he was miraculously raised from the dead, would understand.

And the uniforms have changed a bit, but are still generally recognizable. The socks and stirrups get a little longer or shorter depending on the era, and the clothes are not as baggy now since they are made out of super-duper high tech sweat absorbent space age materials now, but the overall look is the same.

Some uniforms have stood the test of time. The Dodgers, with their classic script, comes to mind.

On Wednesday, Carrie Muskat wrote an article in which she said that "There are no deals pending, no scouts scouring other rosters to find help."

It wasn't a quote from Jim Hendry. It was just a line added into the article between quotes from the Cubs' general manager.

More specifically, it came immediately before the following quote from Hendry: