Fan News

Halfway through the 2009 season one can fairly say it has not played out the way most fans expected.

Manny Ramirez received a 50-game suspension for use of a banned substance, with steroid use believed to be involved, and the Dodgers remain in first place not only in the NL West, not only in the National League, but in all of baseball (as of June 28).

In addition to this, one of the Dodgers' best starters, Hiroki Kurdoda has missed significant time and has only pitched 36.2 innings.

It was summer, in the late 1950s. I was a young kid about to enter the "Sandblasters", an intermediate baseball league, just a step below Little League.

My old hand-me-down ball glove was feeling it's age, so I was saving my money for a new one. The fact that all my friends were sporting new gloves may have fueled my motives as well...

Finally the day arrived when I had enough cash to plunk down $8.95 at the Montgomery Wards store and buy my very own mitt. I didn't care that it was a Hawthorne, Wards' economy "house brand".

With 382 career starts for the Red Sox, Tim Wakefield now needs just one more to pass Roger Clemens for the most in club history. And the knuckleballer is just five wins from matching Clemens' Fenway Park record of 95.

Clemens, long the team leader in so many pitching categories, has slowly – and surprisingly – been encroached upon by his former teammate.

I finally had an opportunity to watch Tommy Hanson’s last start, which was against the New York Yankees on June 23. His line was not an overly impressive.

5.1 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 4 K

It's a different Giants team and a different Giants organization since Barry Bonds has been gone. No longer are the Giants a team full of aging veterans past their prime like Omar Vizquel and Dave Roberts (if Roberts ever had a prime that is. I'm still wondering when it was).

A message to Rockies fans: One series loss does not mean the team is in a downward spiral!

Yes, I will admit the two losses in a row were a surprise to me, but not troubling. Two losses in a row does not mean a team is beginning to struggle.

It means that the Rockies are, after all, human.

However, that is not to take anything away from the success that the Rockies are finding on the diamond.

This team has shown the world that they should be included when the conversation turns to the top teams in baseball.

Veteran third baseman Mark DeRosa, the subject of trade rumors for weeks, will be departing Cleveland for St. Louis, after less than a year with the Indians.

DeRosa was hitting .270 with 13 home runs and 50 RBI in 71 games. In exchange, the Indians will receive relief pitcher Chris Perez and a player to be named later, likely a highly-rated prospect. Perez has made 29 appearances this season, with a 4.18 ERA and 30 strikeouts

Saturday was June 27th. At the end of the day, the Chicago Cubs were tied for third place in the National League's Central division with the Cincinnati Reds, trailing the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals by three-and-a-half games.

Saturday also marked 179 days since Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry traded the most versatile, and arguably the most valuable, player from last season's team to the Cleveland Indians. Mark DeRosa was dealt to the Tribe for a couple of minor league pitchers.

Every season, there are free agents who are expected to be superstars for the team they sign with.

Then there are those free agents who are less publicized, but still are able to make a significant impact on their new team. Here are some of the top underrated free agent signings of 2009.

Orlando Hudson/Los Angeles Dodgers

In the state of today's economy in relation to baseball, many teams cannot afford to spend the endless dollars that the Yankees and other teams continue to throw at players.

However, in this decade and actually this century the Yankees have only won one World Series, which was the actual year 2000.