Fan News

On Mar. 5, 2009, 16 teams started a tournament of unique proportions. It wasn't 16 teams from the U.S. or from Europe; it was 16 teams from around the world.

When people think of a world sport, they think of soccer, or futbol to my European friends. They think of the World Cup. However this was not soccer or the World Cup, it was the American past-time of baseball.

I remember watching a Robin Williams stand-up on HBO referring to the World Cup.

"Everyone plays it. Not like the World Series, 'cause the French don't have a baseball team."

Who's your Tiger? I loved seeing those commercials on Fox Sports Detroit. That enthusiastic voice always made me grin and say that Mike Maroth was my Tiger.

I still wear the customized t-shirt from the MLB online shop that bears his name and number.

I was not very pleased in June 2007, when Maroth was sent to St. Louis for a player-to-be-named-later. For the rest of the '07 season, I didn't have a Tiger. I didn't know who to go with.

So, at the beginning of last season I held an open competition: Who Wants to be Dave's Tiger?

According to Alden Gonzalez of Yankees.com, FOX Sports is reporting that Melky Cabrera is once again being dangled as trade bait across the league.

As we discussed yesterday, the Marlins finally got the OK to start constructing a new stadium in Miami. The stadium for the new Miami Marlins should be complete by 2012, which means that Marlins fans only have to suffer the horrid humidity and pouring rain of South Florida in a football stadium that has business acting as a baseball stadium. Rejoice!

And rejoice, they have. And not just the fans either, but the players have been rather vocal about their excitement for the new stadium.

I stopped by ESPN.com for some reason or another today, only to see a big photo of Mark Teixeira on the its front page. Below was a caption and a link to an article. The headline:

"Reggie Jackson didn't just love New York. He was New York. He still is. Will Mark Teixeira be the one to live up to the legend?"

Pardon me, but can we take this back a step or two?

"Reggie Jackson didn't just love New York. He was New York."

Opening day is approaching, and with all the question marks in the Cards’ lineup, there is one thing that seems to be for certain. It’s the starting rotation. For the first time in a long while, the birds have their designated rotation intact, and healthy.

The results so far this spring have most of Cardinal Nation excited about the first pitch on Monday April 6.

Curt Schilling announced his retirement yesterday, which immediately begs the question of whether he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

No.

There, now that the suspense is gone, let me explain.

There are really only two arguments for Curt Schilling going to the Hall of Fame. These are, in the order of their importance:

Just two years removed from signing a 5 year/$50 million dollar deal with the Angels, Gary Matthews Jr. probably will start the season on the Angels' bench. Matthews has been a disappointment for the Angels, who are loaded with quality outfielders and suddenly have no room for the once prized acquisition.

Curt Schilling is a Hall-of-Famer.

Is he as worthy as Walter Johnson? 

As sure a thing as Tom Seaver? 

As deserving as Greg Maddux?

No.

However, not all "Hall-of-Famers" are created equal. 

Sport writers seem to stick to the claim about any Hall-of-Fame.

Even in a meaningless Spring Training game, the greatest rivalry in the history of sports provided an exciting match-up on Tuesday night. The New York Yankees edged their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, by a score of 7-1.