If you're a Mets fan right now, you might be just a little nervous. If you look at the current situation, you see a shaky 3-7 team that isn't hitting, pitching, or winning like the way you thought they might. You see a team that is on the brink of spiraling into another season that could be as bad or worse than what you saw last year. 

Well, don't panic just yet. There will be better days to come. 

The Oriole Way

Peter Angelos, the Baltimore Orioles owner, has no idea what that means. It is a term every baseball fan in Charm City is well aware of, and a methodology that Angelos has seemed bent on destroying since he bought the ball club in 1993.

The Oriole Way had been very successful before he bought the club. For over three decades, from the 1960's to the 1980's, the Orioles had the highest winning percentage in all of sports, and the winningest team in all of baseball. They won six American League Pennants and three World Series over that time.

Much has been made of Milwaukee's lack of pitching and depth in the bullpen (it's Hoffman, Hawkins, then everyone else..), but there are some performances that should not go without praise in the early going this season.

Starting today, (April 18th) I will begin a bi-weekly series of stock up/down articles summarizing the Brewers' top performers in both the batters box and on the pitching mound, also including a rundown of players struggling as of late.

So, without much further ado, let's begin the way-too-early-to-mean-anything-by-September hasty generalizations!

I wanted to give my opinion on Joe Girardi wanting to pull CC Sabathia before the ninth inning of last Saturday's game at Tampa Bay.

Sabathia was cruising along with a no-hitter into the 8th inning, when with two outs Kelly Shoppach, a former teammate of CC's at Cleveland, singled to left.

Even before the ball landed, Girardi was out of the dugout to remove Sabathia.

It isn't easy being a Cubs fan.

Everyone who knows baseball knows that.

Everyone who can count to one hundred knows that.

The Cubs' misfortune isn't just unlucky, it's cruel.

It's like that sign that restaurants and bars love to hang on their walls which reads: "Free Beer Tomorrow." Most patrons understand the joke. Tomorrow never comes. Don't forget your wallet.

The Cubs have a similar sign that reads: "Wait 'Til Next Year."

The problem with the comparison? For other teams, next year finally did come. And for Cubs fans, it isn't funny.

Who are these guys?

     - Fan, Major League

Every Cleveland Indians fan can recite every line from Major League by heart and with a twinkle in their eye.

Mitch Talbot is the personification of the team assembled in the movie because, as this season opens, no one outside hardcore Indians fans knew who this guy was.

Dear Passionate Baseball Fans,

Okay. I'm going to say this point blank: Barry Bonds is the biggest cheater there ever was.

There you go.

Let's rewind.

Early in his career, Bonds was great. The skinny guy was ripping homers and stealing bases like crazy. He was one of the greatest in the game.

But has he came to San Francisco, he bulked up. As said in the book Game of Shadows, it prompted the question: "What the hell have you been doing?"

Steroids.

Drugs. Performance-enhancing drugs. That's what.

This past Tuesday, Toronto starter Ricky Romero took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox.  While the no-hit bid fell that inning, Romero ended the game with a career-high 12 strikeouts, allowing two runs on only one hit, an Alex Rios two-run home run. 

There was a collective sting felt around San Diego when franchise ace Jake Peavy was dealt to the Chicago White Sox last season. It stung even more when he returned from an ankle injury and made three starts for the White Sox, compiling a 3-0 record, 1.35 ERA, and a 0.85 WHIP in 20 innings of work.

Flash forward to 2010 and it has been a tough first two outings for Jake Peavy (8.44 ERA, 1.88 WHIP), allowing seven hits, three runs, and pair of walks to a suspect Cleveland lineup, followed by an eight-hit, seven-run beating by Toronto.

After a bleak 0-2 start, the Cincinnati Reds kicked it in gear and won five of their next six, before losing two straight to the Florida Marlins

At the 10-game mark in 2010 there are some things that need to be noted.

First: The seven-time Gold Glove winning third baseman, Scott Rolen leads the team with three errors. He is the only Reds player to have committed more than one miscue.