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Andruw Jones' career was not supposed to take this turn.

With the Atlanta Braves, Jones was a perennial All Star. During his 12-year stay with the team, he hit .263 with a .342 OBP and 368 home runs. In 2005, he finished second in the MVP voting, leading the league in home runs (51) and RBI (128).

While Jones was a formidable offensive weapon, he was better known as a star in the outfield. It seemed that Jones was a regular on SportsCenter with another incredible sliding or home-run robbing catch seemingly every night.

This is not a list of who I think belongs in the Hall of Fame. This is a list showing the way I think the BBWAA will vote.

I know some think that the “Crime Dog” should be admitted post haste. Maybe so, but not if voters conduct themselves according to their record instead of according to Hoyle.

A person has to be great if they want a first ballot nomination. It happens, but you have to be special like Stan Musial, Nolan Ryan or even Ricky Henderson. The Fred McGriff’s of the game do not usually make it for several years if at all.

Am I slamming McGriff?

Well, this was bound to happen. It was only a matter of time before the Arizona Diamondbacks started to turn on their new skipper and themselves.

Friday night, D-Backs starting pitcher Doug Davis had words for new manager A.J. Hinch after Davis was pulled in the seventh inning for a pinch hitter in a loss to the Atlanta Braves. Davis had only thrown 80 pitches, given up four hits, and given up three runs (two earned). Arizona was down by just one.

These last few weeks have been great ones for the New York Mets and their fans.  The Metropolitan's have won 10 of their last 12. 

Many say the team is on fire.  That is true, but individual Mets are on fire, too.  With that, as of now, the New York Mets are the "Blazin' Amazins."

In-tan-gi-ble (adj.)-

                            1. Incapable of being perceived by the senses

                            2. Incapable of being realized or defined

Everyone is well-aware of the season-long struggles of Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, whose numbers (.208-0-15), would be cause for grumblings even for a player such as Jason Varitek, who struggled heavily last season.

Picture this. 

It was a one-run game in the seventh inning.  The Reds had two on with two out and the pitcher due up.  Pinch hitter?  No...

Dusty Baker sent Aaron Harang to the plate.  Harang is considered the ace of the pitching staff.  He is a good-hearted, generous human being.  He is also one of the worst hitting pitchers in the league.

Harang grounded into a force play and the inning was over.

In last year's first series against the Colorado, the Pirates went 0-4, being outscored 28 runs to 9, or an "average" of 7.00 to 2.25. They followed part of that pattern last night, when they scored only one run. Since the starter was their ace Paul Maholm however, one run could have been all they needed.

There were quite a few nail biting moments, with two out in the third, Troy Tulowitzki hit a double, then advanced to third on an infield single, but Maholm got the third out.

Just a couple of short weeks ago, Cubs fans everywhere were gritting their collective teeth and wondering what was happening. The Cubs were taking a nosedive, and the season had hardly begun. This was an anomaly, because, as all true Cubs fans know, the time for failure with the Cubs is sometime in September.

But that is a story for another day.

I personally was disgusted with the Cubs failure to play good baseball. Then I woke up on Friday and glanced at their record. Guess what? The Cubbies have the same record as they did last year at this time.

The only running Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner was anticipating on Friday would occur during pregame warm-up activities.

Perhaps he would get the opportunity to pinch run for Alex Rodriguez or Hideki Matsui; the pair of damaged goods in New York’s struggling lineup.