Fan News

The "s" word, meaning slump, not steroids, is something that almost every ballplayer at every level has experienced in some form, but this one feels different.

He can't catch up to routine fastballs.

The Mets left last night for their west coast trip, which starts in San Francisco tonight. This will be a big test for them, as they are facing the Giants and Dodgers, both pretty much undefeated at home this season. 

Carlos Delgado and his lingering hip injury is the primary question mark entering the road trip. Delgado has missed several games the past two weeks and Jerry Manuel is openly pessimistic about the status of Delgado's return.

Raise your hand if you had Toronto, Texas, and Kansas City as your American League Division Leaders as of May 13th. 

Anyone?

That's what I thought.  We're on the same page, because neither did I. 

Granted, it's only May, and there is a lot of baseball left to be played.  Teams have roughly 125-plus games left on their 2009 schedules. 

But I am already looking ahead to October baseball (is there anything better?) 

The National League has most of the favorites on top.

You would think that Manny Ramirez was caught fighting pit bulls alongside Martha Stewart.

ESPN's Bill Simmons says that he is "confronting my worst nightmare." Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports believes that it is time to talk about "lifetime bans." Boston Globe writer Tony Massarotti says "everyone is guilty until proven innocent."

The sports radio and comment boards have been cesspools of racism. It's always easy to hate, especially someone who plays a game for a living and makes millions of dollars.

Corey Brock was nice enough to stop by The Swinging Friar for the third installment of "The Padres Report." He talked about the clubhouse atmosphere during the Padres' losing streak, if manager Bud Black could be on the hot seat, and when Padre fans could possibly see Kyle Blanks.

Dear Randy,

You were once the most imposing pitcher in baseball. Batters would cower in fear as you stood to face them on the mound. Because of your dominating presence, you were able to rack up wins and strikeouts in bundles. Heck, even a bird didn't stand a chance against you.

While I believe your quest for 300 wins is noble and would solidify your already solidified Hall of Fame potential, my favorite memories of you are being overtaken by more recent ones.

Not only can I name five very good reasons why the man above, the greatest baseball player to ever play the game, should be sitting in baseball's Hall of Fame.

Pete Rose is the face of America's "true" baseball player.

In his career Rose had more hits, and played more games, than any other player in history. Yet he is still to this day on the outside looking in at the one thing his career needs to be complete.

As I said above, there are plenty of reasons why this man should be in the Hall.

It has been nearly two weeks since Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts released her unauthorized biography, A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez, and the book is still at the center of controversy.

Roberts portrays the New York Yankees superstar as an insecure egomaniac that sources informed her began to use performance enhancing drugs as a teenager when he played shortstop at Miami’s Westminster Christian High School.