Fan News

You can say all you want about how the World Baseball Classic is a waste of time.

You can say how only the Latin American countries and a select few others actually care who wins this thing.

You can say that it's basically exhibition matches.

Just don't tell any of that to the players on Team USA.

1. Chris Young

-We all know that Young has plus power and the ability to steal bases, but at the same time, Young has not yet scratched the surface of his vast potential. In 2008, Young struggled to get on base consistently (.315 OBP), hit for a high average (.248) and struck out far too many times (165 K), especially for a leadoff hitter.

Roric Harrison's mark on the game of baseball is, I'm afraid, totally safe. Barring something highly unusual, that is.

Harrison was the last American League pitcher to hit a home run in a game featuring two AL teams. He did it on October 3, 1972, while playing for the Baltimore Orioles in Cleveland. The dreadful Designated Hitter Rule arrived the next year.

It didn't look good. Team USA was down by two going into the bottom of the ninth inning. History, however, would not repeat itself for Team USA.

With the bases loaded and the U.S. squad down by one in the bottom of the ninth inning, Mets third baseman David Wright delivered a game-winning single into right field scoring Jimmy Rollins and Brian Roberts.

The victory for Team USA sends them into the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic and consequentially eliminates Team Puerto Rico.

It didn't look good for Team USA, but they came through in the clutch.

I usually try to stay away from these kinds of articles but, after reading several "Greatest Team Ever" or "Best Team Ever" articles, I decided to write my own. Now, I know this I have only been around for 19 years on God's good green Earth so I do have a bit of bias towards today's players. But, all biases will be put aside and I will judge players based on career and other information.

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Who ever said money can’t buy happiness obviously never talked to a Yankee fan.

The Sporting News, one of the premier sports publications of our times, turned 123 today. The event passed with no fanfare, and little notice.

This day in 1886, the venerable franchise was begun, starting off as nothing more than another in a series of baseball pages. There were many others, but none of them have lasted as The Sporting News has.

There are other sports publications nowadays as well, including the well-known Sports Illustrated.

My outfield preview will be different than the positional previews previously published. I will rank the top 50 outfielders in groups of 10, explaining the ranking of 1 to 2 members in each group. The focus will be on why my ranking deviates (higher or lower) from average draft position and/or another expert's ranking.

With the Astros signing Ivan Rodriguez this morning, it appears as though GM Ed Wade believes that the group he has assembled could be good enough to compete.

The 2008 sports scene in Seattle was something straight out of one of those bad horror movies like Hatchet, or the Saw Sequels.

The Seahawks missed the playoffs for the first time in recent memory, the Mariners were miserable, and we do not even have a basketball team to boo anymore because they currently reside in the 44th largest market in America, playing like my High School basketball team, who have not made the playoffs in 30 years.