In the long and cherished history of the Boston Red Sox, the team has managed to flourish with, and despite of, some of the most oddly reclusive players in the game of baseball. These stars of the diamond have often been compared to Greta Garbo, the famous actress and movie star. She made the mold for the term “Drama Queen” and lived in opulent seclusion.

Prior to 2010, Chone Figgins was viewed as a viable third-base option, bringing speed to a position that rarely brings any.  Of course, that was before he signed with the Mariners, who promptly moved him to second base and saw him struggle at the plate. 

However, from 2005-2010 (not including Figgins in ’10 since he played 2B), there were seven seasons where a third baseman posted 25 SB or more:

Tiger Woods has nothing on Harry Stamper. Nothing at all.

Could Tiger drive golf balls at oil-rig protesters with the same authority as the iconic hero of the movie “Armageddon?”

Could he take down a Texas-sized asteroid before it pulverized life as we know it on Planet Blue? Could he go that long in outer space without female companionship?

A year ago, I wrote a fantasy baseball draft strategy post to end all fantasy baseball draft strategy posts.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

Jimmy Rollins is an enigma.

Perhaps the greatest statistical achievement for a Major League pitcher to accomplish is that of the Triple Crown of pitching.

In the history of Major League Baseball, only 35 times has a pitcher led his respective league in wins, ERA and strikeouts.

In the American League, 10 pitchers have combined for 15 Triple Crown seasons. In the National League, it has been done 20 times by 15 pitchers.

Walter Johnson, Lefty Grove, Lefty Gomez, Roger Clemens, Christy Matthewson, Grover Alexander and Sandy Colfax are the only pitchers to accomplish the feat more than once.

Curtis Granderson's debut season with the New York Yankees can best be described as one filled with many peaks and valleys.  Judging by his strong second half and impressive postseason numbers, it wouldn't be surprising if Granderson has a 2011 similar to his breakout 2007 season with the Detroit Tigers.

His Yankee career couldn't have gotten off to a finer start.  In his first at bat of the season, he crushed a Josh Beckett pitch into the right-center field bleachers at Fenway Park. 

Do not take this the wrong way, I still do believe the Phillies will win the NL East. But I also have a feeling it won't be as easy as everyone thinks. 

Remember last season? In the preseason the Phillies were picked to easily win the division and make it to the World Series. But what actually happened was much different. They were second in the division behind the Braves for most of the season and only took first place in September. 

The 2010 season was a one for Gordon Beckham and White Sox fans alike. After a stellar rookie year, expectations for Beckham's sophomore year were through the roof.

After all, Beckham was moving to his natural position of second base, he was going to have a full season under his belt and a full spring training with the club; the sky was the limit for Beckham in 2010.

Last season, journeyman Jose Bautista took home the major league home run title with 54 balls mashed.

This came as something of a surprise to everyone in fantasy baseball. Nowhere did he appear on a list of fantasy sleepers, nor was he ranked on very many draft boards heading into last season’s draft.

Even Nostradamus missed out on this guy. So after a monster career 2010 campaign, where do we rank him in 2011?

I had the great pleasure of speaking with former Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson Saturday at the Strat-O-Matic 50th year anniversary. Before speaking with me, Peterson took the stage with Stats, Inc. founder John Dewan to talk statistics in front of hundreds of Strat-O-Matic fans. Of all the fascinating figures that these two men presented, one statistic particularly startled the crowd.