Fan News

I can feel the excitement already.  This weekend the New York Mets come to town to renew what has become a heated rivalry in the past few years with the Philadelphia Phillies.  The rivalry may not have the storied past of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry yet, but in recent years you can find fans just as passionate about it. 

He looks like a 30 year old league softball player from the Midwest. He has that John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra look about him. The kind of guy millions of American guys can relate to. That is part of what makes him so popular.

He is Nicholas Thompson "Nick" Swisher, a 29 year old switch hitting first baseman/ outfielder for the New York Yankees.

Nick was born in Columbus, Ohio and was raised in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

The San Francisco Giants will finish off their six-game homestand this weekend with three games against the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies are in last place in the NL West with an 8-12 record and are beginning a five-game road trip out West.

The Giants are 10-10 and are only three games behind the Dodgers.

The Giants are playing very well at home this season and have an 8-3 record at AT&T Park. The Rockies have a 4-7 road record.

It was William Faulkner who once wrote, “Memory believes before knowing remembers.”

It is with this thought in mind that I attempt to tackle an unpopular subject. That is, what an insult to the airwaves Chicago Cubs announcer Ron Santo continues to be.

Look, he may be a local icon, but to me, he is an all-out assault on the senses.

As the first month of baseball comes to a close, the Tigers look like the team who could win the Central Division.

At this point, though, anyone could win it. With Chicago and Kansas City both producing good records right now, either team could take over the top spot.

Kansas City will fall off, just like surprising teams early in the year often do.

The end of April will start my monthly installment of who I think are the Tigers' pitching and batting MVP's.

Pitching MVP: Armando Gallaraga

Right now, I am sitting in the Editing Suite for my college, and my group members and I are working on a documentary on farming.

Even on an off day, and while working on something that has nothing to do with it, I am still thinking about the Mets—and with a big weekend series with the Phillies coming up, all of the rage of the past couple of seasons has risen from the depths of me.

So I got myself thinking: Who do Mets fans dislike the most when it comes to the Philly Players?

2008 was a good year for older athletes. Kurt Warner shocked the NFL by nearly leading the Cardinals to the Superbowl at age thirty-eight.

Carlos Delgado, at thirty six, managed to out-homer his age by two. At the age of forty-five Jamie Moyer went 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA to help the Phillies win a tight NL East race and go on to win the World Series.

All these accomplishments pale in comparison to the legacy of Satchel Paige.

Boston Red Sox veteran John Smoltz, still recovering from June shoulder surgery, will avoid batting practice (again) this Thursday.

In fact, he’ll likely sit out of all baseball-related activities for the next week or so, according to manager Terry Francona.

God bless the Yankees and their decision to slash premium seat prices. Now, a family of four can enjoy premium seats for another Chien Ming Wang shelling at just under the blue-book value of a 1999 Pontiac Grand Am.

The first month of the baseball season is in the books with the Seattle Mariners among the league's biggest surprises, sitting atop the AL West with a 13-9 mark.

It's a record that seemed highly unlikely given the M's 101-loss campaign in 2008, the complete overhaul of the team, and the fact that their April schedule included matchups with the Angels, Rays, White Sox, and Twins.

Are the Mariners a better team than most of us suspected?

Or are they doing this with smoke and mirrors, only to level off once we get into the dog days of the season?