Opinion

As a former bat boy for the Tampa Bay Rays, baseball has been a lifelong goal for Jesse Litsch.

Originally drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 37th round of the 2003 Amateur Draft, you can say that Litsch fell into the Toronto Blue Jays' lap.

Not signing with the Rockies was probably the best thing for this former South Florida Community College Panther.

Senator Robert Mendez, (D) New Jersey, is publicly lobbying Major League Baseball to boycott next years All Star Game, which is to be held in Arizona. In response to Senator Mendez's effort I have one word.  Why?

Immediately, I nearly need to recuse myself.

This is a Google-mapped, Wikipedia-searched, and late night-compiled piece. But I believe it's valid enough to be written and so here it is.

Personally, I have no stake, other than an unpaid phone bill. Chances are I would have stayed home and watched the games remotely. Yet there's still something that perturbs me. 

This article was originally published at The Daily Cub.  Visit TheDailyCub.com for more original Chicago Cubs coverage.

One week ago the Cubs were 13-13, coming off of a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks and looked to be back on track to get the most out of their team this season.

All was well in Wrigleyville.

Back in March this year, the feeling around Spring Training was one of cautious optimism. 

After coming off a humbling 75-87 season, the firing of J.P. Ricciardi and the trade of team icon Roy Halladay, the Blue Jays were clearly embarking to rebuild.

Fast forward to May 9, with a record of 19-14, the water cooler talk was all about our "great young arms", our "potent offense" and dare I say it—Wild Card! 

A lot of people today forget how the game was in the early 1990’s. The Cubs and Braves thanks to WGN and TBS respectively rivaled the Yankee’s in popularity. The Atlanta Braves held an advantage over the Cubs at the time because the Braves were the better team. In my home town every kid was a Braves fan, with a few Cubs fans scattered about.

When Milwaukee Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio lent his ear to general manager Doug Melvin on the need for more pitching help, he listened.

So Attanasio, who guards his pocketbook with his life, reluctantly spent—I'd say overspent—too much money on pitching in the offseason.

He forked out $67.35 million on left-handed starter Randy Wolf ($29.75 million) and reliever LaTroy Hawkins ($7.5 million).  That also includes the $30.1 million extension the Brewers gave ace Yovani Gallardo over five years.

And don't even talk about Jeff Suppan. 

The New York Mets finally made an overdue roster move late Monday night, when utility man Frank Catalanotto was designated for assignment to make room for Chris Carter.

Carter came over from the Boston Red Sox in the Billy Wagner trade, and introduced himself to Mets fans during spring training when he had arguably the strongest spring of any offensive player.

The Baltimore Orioles have been struggling over the last couple of years.

The O's do have a reasonable excuse for some of their down years: they are in the toughest division in Major League Baseball which includes teams like the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and the sometimes surprising Toronto Blue Jays. No team would want to compete in the American League East.

But is it good for the Orioles to be competing in the AL East?

It is, if the organization wants to develop their players over the years and keep the stars.

Well, with 32 games now in the books, we probably have enough of a window to figure out exactly what this team is slated to be for the 2010 season. Approximately 20 percent, or one fifth of the season has come and gone, and the big question to ask is, are the New York Mets a .500 baseball team, masquerading as a contender?

After all, they are 17-15, and struggling to keep pace with the Washington Nationals, much less the Philadelphia Phillies, in the National League East.