Ryan Howard

I’m sorry folks, I think I jinxed this one. With former Phillie Jim Thome at the plate in the ninth inning with the Phillies up by five runs, I said to my dad and brother, “I wouldn’t mind if he hit a home run right here. We would still be up by three and I don’t see us losing this game.

"Plus, I kinda want Thome to have more homers than that lying steroid user Rafael Palmeiro.”

So far 2010 has been filled with drama.

Teams go from boiling hot to freezing cold in an instant. Stars have been struggling more than ever.

Who would have thought Memorial Day weekend would leave so many marks this season?

Here are three 2010 Memorial Day Weekend shockers:

What's the problem with giving a huge extension to a player before their contract year?  The Philadelphia Phillies are finding out.

With baseball a full two months in the books, teams are starting to make their runs toward the All-Star break.

With so much parity in MLB, teams with nearly identical records are separated by a few spots, sometimes more.

There are still many teams in realistic contention for their division title, but I will narrow it down to five teams right now that we could see playing in late October.

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Moving into interleague play, the Philadelphia Phillies are off to a hot start toward a third consecutive World Series appearance. Is it too soon to start rating the Phillies' players' performance? Perhaps, but I'd like to try anyway.

Ladies and Gentlemen, your early-season 2010 Philadalphia Phillies MVPs.

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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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The Phils were desperate for one of two things before they left San Francisco: a win or a day off. They got both—just in time to settle down for a nine inning nap.

After last night’s 9-1 slaughter by the Mets, Charlie took the podium. Usually he recites the team stats, but last night he shifted his hat with a nervous smile and said, “Hey, does anyone have the phone number for Pedro Martinez?”

The professional black baseball player is disappearing like the ozone layer, and there is much discussion about how to prevent Jason Heyward, Derrick Lee, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins from going the way of the dinosaur.

USA Today reported that the number of African-Americans on MLB rosters dropped to 9.5 percent, down from 10.2 percent in 2009. In 1975, that figure was 27 percent.

As an African-American lover of the sport do I wish more blacks would infiltrate the game in the same fashion as the NBA or NFL? Yes.

Earlier this week, the Phillies gave first baseman Ryan Howard a contract extension through the year 2016.

This contract makes him the second highest-paid player in baseball and seems to ensure that he will be a member of the Philadelphia Phillies for the foreseeable future.

They locked up one of the franchise’s greatest players for years to come. This should be a good thing, right?

Not if you believe the statheads.

On Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies announced that they had signed first basemen Ryan Howard to a $125 million, five-year contract extension. The deal includes a sixth year club option, that could potentially keep him in Philadelphia until 2017. 

Ryan Howard will be paid $20 million in 2012 and 2013, $25 million from 2014 to 2016, and the club option is for $23 million with a $10 million buyout. 

That, my friends, is a lot of money.