Sammy Sosa Was On Roids, Who Knew?

Was anyone really surprised at the news that that Sammy Sosa popped positive for a performance enhancing drug in 2003? We really didn’t need Captain Obvious to tell us that Sosa was a Roid Head but it’s nice to know that there’s some hard evidence somewhere in the universe to back up this knowledge.

This just further validates the position that the whole era of McGwire, Bonds, Sosa eras should all be labeled with an asterisk as well as the records broken during that time.

MLB Notes & Quotes From Monday April 27th

“This club never gives in. I feel blessed to be a part of it.” – Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia. With the aid of two grand slam homeruns by Ibanez and Ryan Howard, Philadelphia rallied for a 13-11 win over the Washington Nationals.

“The night definitely belongs to Matt Harrison. They got four off him in the first two innings, and he settled down, kept the team in it, gave us a chance to come back.” – Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington. After giving up four runs early against Baltimore, Harrison retired 16 straight batters to help the Rangers come from behind to win 6-4.

“The guy throws like 100 miles an hour. You have to put it your mind to try and hit a mistake. I got a fastball up over the plate, and I didn’t miss it.” – Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox. Bay hit a three run homerun off Cleveland’s Kerry Wood in the 9th inning to lift the Red Sox to a 3-1 win.

“When he’s ahead in the count, he’s almost unhittable. Tonight was the Justin we expect to see every night.” - Detroit catcher Gerald Laird. Justin Verlander pitched seven scoreless innings against the Yankees allowing only 7 hits with no walks to give the Tigers a 4-2 win.

“It’s kind of funny. It seems that even when I’m struggling, I start feeling better and I look up at the schedule and we have a trip in here. It’s weird how that happens.” Lance Berkman, Houston Astros. Berkman hit his 20th homer at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, the most by any visiting player, and the Astros won their 10th consecutive game against the Reds on the road.

“There’s something going on out there. I got to find out. It’s only out there when we’re out there. It’s not out there when they’re out there.” – New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel. New York outfielders have already committed five errors this season. The Mets went on to beat the slumping Florida Marlins 7-1.

“You trust your defense. That’s why I throw that sinker no matter what time in the count, so they can hit it at somebody.” - Joel Pineiro, St Louis. With Monday’s 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves, Pineiro improved his record to 4-0.

“I felt like a fan, I was pretty fired up. Whenever you get an opportunity to watch the greatest closer to ever play the game pitch for your team, it’s exciting for us.” - Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers on watching closer Trevor Hoffman make his debut. The Brewers beat Pittsburgh 10-5.
“The ball was slipping out of my hand the whole night. I really struggled getting a consistent release with it. At the same time, it was putting a real crazy spin on the ball. I throw my fastball without seams and it was literally slipping the whole night. The closest thing I can compare it to is the way a knuckleball pitcher throws. You don’t walk six and have an outing like that, but the ball was just moving all over the place all night. I just stuck with it and battled through it.”

“That’s not how I like to pitch. It was weird conditions, it was misting out there the whole night. So my hand was wet and he ball just sits there and gets wet.” - Brian Bannister, Kansas City Royals. Bannister pitched 7 innings, allowing one hit, against Toronto in the rain on Monday night. The Royals won 7-1.

“Both times I said, ‘Jimmy, go talk to him. You could see he was just on the verge of keeping it together or not. Big moments in the game, so I just thought it was the right time to go out there.” – Tampa Bay Manager Joe Maddon. Maddon sent pitching coach Jim Hickey to the mound twice to calm down starter Jeff Niemann who worked his way out of both jams to help lead the Rays to a 7-1 win over Minnesota.

“I told him, ‘Run until they stop you.’ He did. I don’t think they ever stopped him. I think he’s still running if we go look for him right now.” - Ryan Spilborghs, Colorado Rockies. Spilborghs’ teammate Dexter Fowler stole five bases against San Diego Monday night. The Rockies won 12-7.

“Today was just nice, because I looked around in the seventh, eighth inning, and guys were smiling on the bench, having fun. It’s a feeling I don’t think we really had the whole year.” - Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks. Haren led the D-Backs past the Cubs 7-2 with a complete game performance.

“I just had a very productive out. That’s all.” - Bengie Molina, San Francisco. Molina hit a soft roller up the 3rd base side that scored teammate Edgar Renteria for the game winning run. The Giants beat the Dodgers 5-4.

MLB Notes And Quotes From April 12

“I didn’t take into account that I’d have to get above the fan to get the ball. I watched the replay and it looked like his glove was outstretched on top of mine. It all happened so fast.” - Trevor Crowe, Cleveland, on the possibility of fan interference when trying to rob New York’s Jorge Posada of a two-run homerun. The Yankees beat the Indians 7-3.

“He’s got a bright future. He reminds me of Santana a little bit, his body and his mannerisms, the way he throws. Santana’s got those broad shoulders like he’s got. He’s similar, he’s got a similar arm slot, similar delivery. He’s going to be good.” - Jack Cust, Oakland, on Toronto’s Ricky Romero who pitched 7 scoreless innings. The Blue Jays beat the A’s 1-0.

“I went in and told the guys that this was a great series here. Three well-played games. We scraped and we scratched. If we keep playing baseball like we played in this series, we’ll be fine. I was pleased with the effort and I told them so.” – Milwaukee manager Ken Macha after his team escaped being swept by the Mets with a 4-2 win on Sunday.

“I think it’s embarrassing. I think it’s unacceptable. I think our fans have every right to be mad like we are right now. We’re going to have a brand-new bullpen tomorrow, and if those guys who come in don’t get it done, we’re going to continue getting guys out of here.” – Washington manager Manny Acta on his bullpen after they blew their third consecutive game on Sunday, a 7-4 loss to the Florida Marlins.

“I always felt like that was one of the things I was better at, getting a timely hit, getting a big hit for the team and hopefully I can get back to that. We needed something like that to give us some momentum.” - Jeff Francoeur, Atlanta, after his three RBI performance against Pittsburgh on Sunday ended a 22-inning scoreless streak. The Braves beat the Pirates 11-1 on Sunday.

“They got me good. They got me real good and I was not ready for it. After a game like that I don’t care what they put in it. They can spit in it and I’ll take it.” - Raul Ibanez, Philadelphia, on his teammates giving him a shaving cream pie to the face after hitting the game winning homerun to down the San Diego Padres 5-4.

“That was the guy that I remember from last year.” – Jason Bay, Boston, on teammate Jon Lester’s seven shutout innings on Sunday. The Red Sox beat Baltimore 2-1.

“I just wanted to attack the hitters with whatever I was throwing out there and try to execute pitches. I found a rhythm and went after it.” - Gavin Floyd, Chicago White Sox, after striking out seven Tampa Bay batters and taking a shutout performance into the 7th inning.

“Anytime I can get in the box, I love it. I just like the opportunity.” – Cincinnati pitcher Micah Owings on hitting a two-run double against Houston. The Reds beat the Astros 4-2.

“Trying to get them to hit my pitches, and they weren’t able to do it. That’s what I try to do every time: Be efficient and get deep into a game, and right now it’s working out.” - Glen Perkins, Minnesota, after going eight innings, allowing only 1 run, against the LA Angels. The Twins won 3-1.

“It felt good. Hitting a home run was the last thing on my mind, facing a guy who’s got really good stuff. I was just thinking contact, get on base, and set the table for the guys behind me. It was cool … when it helps the team out, it’s always a good feeling.” - Michael Young, Texas, on completing a two-run rally against Kansas City with a 9th inning homerun.

“Sometimes you have to put blinders on when it comes to certain teams. I just wanted to pitch well. It’s nice to go out there and feel like I’m contributing after the last two starts.” - Randy Johnson, San Francisco, on taking a no-hitter into the 7th inning against his former team Arizona. The Giants beat the Diamondbacks 2-0.

“I’m pretty happy. I’m very enthusiastic and very happy about it, but from the team’s perspective, it’s one game.” - Rick Porcello, Detroit, After getting the first major league win of his career, an 8-2 win over Seattle.

“I felt pretty good about this club leaving spring training. I just felt we were going to score runs. But to get off to this kind of start is pretty good,” LA Dodgers manager Joe Torre after Sunday’s 14-2 win over the Rockies marked the team’s 10th win of the season and 8th in a row.

MLB Notes And Quotes From 4-13-09

“We talked about starting a pool or something of who would get there first in the dugout before the game. We probably would have if it had went one more day.” - Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox, on he and Jermaine Dye reaching 300 homeruns in back-to-back at bats. The White Sox beat Detroit 10-6.

“It’s definitely a different feeling in here. It’s like J.R. (manager John Russell) said, what you need to do as a team is put yourself in position to win, and that’s what we’ve been doing.” - Adam LaRoche, Pittsburgh, After the Pirates 7-0 win over Houston boosted their record above .500 to 4-3.

“I was aware, but I wasn’t really thinking about it. I was still trying to focus on making quality pitches, not so much how am I going to protect that, you know protect the no-hitter.” - Ted Lilly, Chicago Cubs, on taking a no hitter into the 6th inning and leading the Cubs to a 4-0 win over Colorado.

“We’re going to figure it out. I don’t know if it’s going to be tomorrow or it’s going to be June. I promise: We’re going to figure it out.” - Adam Dunn, Washington, After the Nationals dropped their 7th consecutive game, a 9-8 loss to Philadelphia.

“Dodger fans can’t expect this every day. The cycle is very hard. First of all, getting a hit is hard.” - Orlando Hudson, LA Dodgers, after hitting through the cycle and leading the Giants to an 11-1 victory over San Francisco.

“It’s one of those days. It was their day, an opportunity to celebrate what they did last season, and they had their way.” - Derek Jeter, NY Yankees, after getting beat 15-5 by Tampa Bay in a game where the Rays had 17 hits.

“Very cool. Maybe at the end of the season when I look back on this, I’ll have a greater sense of what happened here. But at the time, all I’m thinking is that it put us ahead.” - Jody Gerut, San Diego, after hitting a leadoff homerun in the first at bat, ever, at Citi Field. The Padres spoiled the Mets home debut with a 6-5 win.

“We got a lucky break Kinsler didn’t try to tag up, or else we’d still be playing.” - Gregg Zaun, Baltimore, on the Texas Ranger’s Ian Kinsler failure to tag up at second base on a line drive to the outfield. Kinsler’s out killed a 9th inning rally for Texas.

“I just tried to look for something in the strike zone—hopefully a fastball because he got behind the other hitters. I hit it in the perfect spot.” - Edwin Encarnacion, Cincinnati, on his grand slam that capped a 6 run rally for the Reds to beat Milwaukee 7-6.

“Mainly the first and third innings were the ones that had me worried the most, but luckily I got out of it.” - Zack Greinke, Kansas City, after his five innings of work extended his pitching streak to 25 scoreless innings. The Royals beat Cleveland 4-2 on Monday night.

“There’s a certain level for the game that you try to have, but sometimes in those situations you kind of want to stand there and watch it. You just try and do what you can to put the bat down and run around the bases the right way. It’s one of those where it’s hard not to watch sometimes.” - Travis Snider, Toronto, After hitting two homeruns to lead the Blue Jays past the Twins 8-6.

Despite playing their first seven games at home the Arizona Diamondbacks are only 2-7 on the season. Their latest loss was a 2-1 decision at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

Oakland’s Kurt Suzuki has hit safely in all of his 13 career games against the Boston Red Sox. The A’s beat Boston 8-2 on Monday night.

Baseball Notes And Quotes From 4-12-09

“Whether you’ve been in the game 10 years or it’s your first time, you feel a little nervous. This game meant a lot because you don’t want to fall too far back.” - Kerry Wood, Cleveland, After striking out the side in 13 pitches in the 9th inning for the Indians first win of the season. Cleveland beat Toronto 8-4 on Sunday.

“I was able to get guys out when I needed them, but I threw too many pitches. This is frustrating, because we start with a sweep at home and then get swept here.” - Kevin Millwood, Texas, After Sunday’s 6-4 loss to Detroit completed a sweep for the Tigers.

“I said before the game I was going to go eight or nine innings. I finished what I started out to do. That’s huge for me.” - Josh Johnson, Florida, after pitching a complete game against the NY Mets on Sunday. The Marlins beat the Mets 2-1.

“They knew I was throwing strikes. I was hitting my spots on the outside corner, but keeping them honest on the inside part of the plate. They couldn’t lean out over the plate.” - Aaron Harang, Cincinnati, After throwing a complete game shutout against Pittsburgh.

“We have to forget this ever happened.” - Scott Olsen, Washington, After Sunday’s 8-5 loss to Atlanta left the Nationals 0-6 on the season.

Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria went 3-for-5 from behind the plate on Sunday with a homerun. He now leads the majors with 5 homers.

“He was just asking me how I do it. He said, ‘I look up there in the first inning and I see a pitch 78 miles an hour. I don’t know how you get guys out.”’ – Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox, discussing his on the mound conversation with manager Ozzie Guillen. Chicago beat Minnesota 6-1 on Sunday.

“I blew the game. I didn’t give myself a chance by getting ahead of the hitters. When you don’t do that, you give them a chance. I don’t have any excuses. I stunk it up pretty bad and ended up costing Joba a win.” - Phil Coke, New York Yankees, after giving up the winning run to Kansas City in New York’s 6-4 loss on Sunday.

“I try not to think about it like that. I’m privileged that they thought that much of me to give me a four-year deal. That’s part of the job, to go out there and be professional about it, get your work done even when no one’s looking.” - Kyle Lohse, St. Louis, When asked about his new 4 year $41 million deal he got in September. After Sunday’s 3-0 win over Houston Lohse is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA.

“That’s a tough job to do, and he does it pretty good. Hitting a pinch-hit home run is pretty hard, especially when they know what kind of hitter he is.” - Phillies manager Charlie Manuel on pinch-hitter Matt Stairs’ game winning two run homerun in the 9th inning to beat Colorado 7-5.

“I’ve never hit anybody in the head, and it’s not really on my list of stuff to accomplish. But people can think what they want to think. I know Bobby Abreu. He knows I’m not trying to hit him in the head. Obviously, there’s been a lot of emotion in this series with them—not only facing us, but obviously the tragedy that all of them went through.” – Josh Beckett, Boston, after a wild pitch, over the head of Abreu, caused a bench clearing brawl. The Angels beat the Red Sox 5-4 on Sunday.

“A lot of people out there don’t have high expectations for us. It is a long season. We’ll temper the excitement. But I think it is good for us to get some confidence and really believe in ourselves.” - Chris Young, San Diego, after the Padres sweep of San Francisco moved their record to 5-2.

“You see the other guy throwing zeros and you want to do the same.” - Erik Bedard, Seattle, after winning a pitching duel against Oakland’s Trevor Cahill 1-0.

“They could have gotten the fourth out with an appeal at third base, but they didn’t do that before leaving the field. We had about six rules involved here.” - Umpire Charlie Reliford on Arizona’s failure to appeal a run scored by the Dodgers’ Andre Ethier in which he failed to tag up.

“What a great play. This kid, he’s a ballplayer— old-fashioned, hard-nosed ballplayer.” – Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella on Reed Johnson’s leaping catch over the wall that robbed Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder of a grand slam. The Cubs won 8-5.

Tragedy Strikes LA Angels

Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was spectacular Wednesday night in pitching six scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics. Just a few hours after the game his life was cut short when the vehicle he was driving in was struck by a suspected drunk driver. Two of Adenhart’s friends also perished in the accident.

The stupidity of people never ceases to amaze me. The drunk driver fled from the scene of the accident and then was captured about a half hour later. This idiot needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

MLB Notes And Quotes From 4-7-09

“Opening day, there’s a lot of emotions. No matter how long you’ve played the game, you still get jittery, you still get that nervous excitement.” – Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox, on Tuesday’s season opener where he hit a 3-run homerun in the eighth inning to lead Chicago past Kansas City 4-2.

“When you’re a Cy Young winner, there’s going to be a target on your back.Milwaukee was trying to get aggressive, and they’ve got a good power team. They probably wanted to do as many things as they could to me.” - Tim Lincecum, San Francisco, after struggling from the mound in the Giants 10-6 win over Milwaukee.

“He did not make it easy for us. On an opening day, he looked like his old self.” – Joe Madden, Tampa Bay Manager, on the Opening Day performance of Boston pitcher Josh Beckett.

“You always want to get off to a good start, but you can’t repeat until you play 162 games,” – Jamie Moyer, Philadelphia, after Tuesday’s 4-0 loss to Atlanta dropped the Phillies to 0-2.

“This is not what to expect during the year for anyone watching on the outside. This is more of a fluke, last year was more of habit. You won’t see this that much.”

“We’re too good of a ballclub with too good of an attitude for this to happen on a daily basis.” - Brandon Inge, Detriot, After Tuesday’s 5-4 loss to Toronto gave the Tigers an 0-2 start to the season.

“Nothing good, nothing good, from the start of the game it was an uphill climb for us. Then, it just got worse.” - Scott Olsen, Washington, after the Nationals were hammered 8-3 by Florida on Tuesday.

“(Ryan) Dempster did a nice job. He gave us six good innings. We just didn’t score any runs.” – Lou Piniella, Chicago Cubs manager, on the performance of his starting pitcher in the Cub’s 3-2 loss to Houston.

“It felt like we beat the White Sox. I was expecting champagne to be in the air when I got in the clubhouse, but it was only the first one of the season.” - Denard Span, Minnesota, on the Twins first win of the season, a 6-5 decision over Seattle.

“I wouldn’t want to pitch against us right now. Hopefully, we can have more nights like tonight.” - Kyle Lohse, St Louis, on the Cardinals offense after Tuesday’s 9-3 win over Pittsburgh. The Cardinals had 12 hits, including three 2-run homers, against the Pirates.

“I saw 97s. I saw 98s. You try to make him get the ball down, because you are not going to do much with your bat up in the zone. He’s a tough guy to get the bat on.” – Bob Melvin, Arizona Manager, on Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez. Colorado bead the Diamondbacks 3-0 on Tuesday night.

“You could just feel everybody kind of relax. We pushed that first run across and it was like, `OK, now we’re on the board. Now we can go. We’re not going to be shut out again.’
“Once we did that, I think everything started to take off.” - Jason Giambi, Oakland, on the A’s offensive performance Tuesday night. Oakland plated 6 runs on 16 hits in their 6-4 win over the L.A. Angels.

“All game I was falling behind in the count I have to make better pitches, especially in situations with runners on.” - Randy Wolf, L.A. Dodgers, on losing to his former San Diego teammates, 4-2, Tuesday night.

MLB Notes And Quotes From Opening Day

New York Mets Ace Johan Santana has now gone 18 consecutive starts without a loss and with their 2-1 win over Cincinnati on Monday the Mets Opening Day record now stands at an MLB best 31-17.

“There’s that quiet confidence about this team. Not many people share that with us, but that’s OK. We believe in each other. That’s how it felt before the game, during the game and after the game.” – Texas Rangers Opening Day pitcher, Kevin Millwood after the Rangers 9-1 victory over Cleveland.

“It was a heavyweight fight out there. It was blow after blow. Every time we scored, they scored, and we finally had the last say.” – Arizona first baseman Chad Tracy after the Diamondbacks beat Colorado 9-8 in a game that featured eight homeruns including the game winner off the bat of Tracy.

What can you buy for $341 million? If you are the Yankees that is the cost of an Opening Day loss after tying up $180 million in Mark Teixeira and $161 million in CC Sabathia. Teixeira went hitless and Sabathia didn’t make it through the fifth inning of the Yankees 10-5 loss to Baltimore.

“He’s the fastest guy I’ve ever seen in my life.” - Florida shortstop Hanley Ramirez on teammate Emilio Bonifacio who hit an in the park homerun in the Marlin’s 12-6 win over Washington. It was the first in the park on Opening Day since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski did it in 1968.

“That first one, he blew by me pretty easily. Then I kind of stayed back and it felt pretty good. Just try to get it out there, put it in play, and then you have a chance.” – Pittsburgh shortstop Jack Wilson after hitting a game winning three-run double in the 9th inning against St. Louis.

“That’s as good of a lineup that you’ll face—a little bit of everything. That’s a team to be reckoned with.” – San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy after suffering his first loss to the Dodgers since September of 2003.

Chicago Cubs hurler Carlos Zambrano went into the seventh inning and struck out six batters in leading the Cubs to a 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros. It broke a four year opening day losing streak for Zambrano.

“Both of them were pretty close. If it hits you in the head, it could do some damage. After the second one I said, ‘That’s enough.”’ – Toronto outfielder Josh Anderson on Detroit fans throwing baseball at him during the Tigers 12-5 loss to the Blue Jays.

Seattle Manager, Don Wakamatsu, is the leagues first Asian-American manager and scored his first career win Monday night in the final Opening Day game at the Metrodome. Ken Griffey Jr. hit a homerun in his first game back in a Mariners uniform to help lead Seattle to a 6-1 win over the Twins.

“Give the defense an A-plus, it was an honor just for me to be out there. Then the fans gave me a standing ‘O.’ It was special.” – Angels Opening Day pitcher Joe Saunders after a 3-0 decision over Oakland.

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Manny Being Manny Is A Tired Act

Manny Ramirez earned a ticket out of Boston by refusing to run out ground balls, refusing to come out of the dugout and at times taking breaks inside the Green Monster. Joe Torre watched from the opposing dugout as Manny and his Red Sox teammates became the new kings of the AL East as well as the Boys of October by making regular appearances in the Fall Classic. Now Ramirez has once again become a thorn in Torre’s side but in a different way.

Since arriving in L.A. Manny led the Dodgers to the post season and a first round upset of the Chicago Cubs. Since then he has been led astray by rogue manager Scott Boras. Boras and Ramirez have rejected four offers from the Dodgers to play the 2009 season and beyond. Frustration has built to the point where team owner Frank McCourt described the negotiations as a side show.

“It’s a side show, a smoke screen,” McCourt said. “Call it what you will.”

McCourt said that the Dodgers aren’t through negotiating with Manny but suggested that hasn’t forgotten the way negotiations have gone with Boras and that it could have a lingering effect on upcoming offers.

“Every day things are changing and we need to be mindful of that,” he said. “We’ve made four offers since November. And, you know what, the world isn’t anything like the way it was in November.”

According to McCourt the Dodgers are going to start from “scratch” on Monday but it is clear that the organization is tired of the antics and tired of him not being in camp. Manny doesn’t have the track record in L.A. that he had in Boston so the fans may not be as used to his antics nor may they be willing to accept them.

The Quest For A-Rod’s Cousin

Not since Joe Pesci starred in “My Cousin Vinny” has there been more buzz about someone’s cousin. Ever since Alex Rodriguez said that his “cousin” had injected him with steroids between 2001 and 2003 bloggers, writers and anyone who has a vendetta against the New York Yankees. Actually a few Yankee fans were interested in finding out who he is to see if he can score any juice that would help A-Rod get a post-season hit.

As it turns out Rodriguez’s cousin wasn’t really his cousin after all. I know, I know. A Major League Baseball steroid user isn’t telling the truth. I’m just as shocked as you are! The mysterious man in question is Yuri Sucart of Miami, Florida. Hiding under the “cousin” status Sucart was rat out by his wife on Thursday.

Who knows what motivated her to bring his name to light but what is known is that this is a story that needs to go away and go away rather quickly. Super Star cheats, MLB gets a black eye and wheel goes round and round. The Yankees should be embarrassed, A-Rod should be embarrassed and every fan of baseball fan should be embarrassed about what has happened to the sport.

Instead of taking any sort of disciplinary action this will get swept under the rug and only survive as long as media allows it to. It’ll be talked about for a while. It’ll provide fodder for heckling fans. Then eventually it’ll fall to the wayside as some other big name gets exposed. First Clemens and now A-Rod and we are left wondering who is next. Maybe Jose Canseco can tell us.

World Series Preview

I think you’d have to go back to the 2005 World Series featuring the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros to find a World Series with as little star power as what we find this year. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t in for a good series nor that there won’t be big plays by big time players.

The Tampa Bay Rays are in the series for the first time in the history of their franchise and the Phillies haven’t been since 1993 when Toronto’s Joe Carter ended it in game six with a walk-off homerun. Both teams are fundamentally sound and bring their own unique brand of play to Major League Baseball’s biggest stage.

Hitting
The Rays are ahead of Philadelphia in post-season batting average (.268/.259), slugging percentage (.508/.431) and runs scored (64/40). By looking at the stats you’d want to give the offensive advantage to Tampa Bay but the Phillies have Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Pat Burrell all of whom have a big bat and can change the game in one swing.
Advantage: Tampa Bay

Pitching
There isn’t much that separates these two staffs. Since the beginning of the playoffs the Phillies have the advantage in ERA (3.19/3.52) and the Rays have the edge in strikeouts (85/74) but the two teams are dead even in WHIP (WHIP stands for walks + hits divided by innings pitched) at 1.32. What is ironic is that pitching may have already settled the series. Tampa Bay’s Scott Kazmir was the winning pitcher of the All-Star Game that awarded home field advantage to the American League while the Phillies Brad Lidge was credited for the loss.
Advantage: Even

Defense
Both teams pride themselves on playing great defense. You could make the argument that Tampa’s defense was the reason that the Rays lost games 5 and 6 of the ALCS but you could also argue that it was Boston’s incredible knack for pulling out post season wins. Tampa Bay has given up more runs in the post-season than Philadelphia has (41/29) and that is the most telling stat of all.
Advantage: Philadelphia

Intangibles
We’ve waited all season for Tampa Bay to fold. At first we thought that they wouldn’t be able to hang around until the All-Star break. Then after the break we just knew that they would fold. When it was evident that they were bound for the post-season we thought it would be as the Wild Card and not a division champion. In their first time to ever make the playoffs we thought that the White Sox would get them and then everyone (including me) thought that Boston was going to win Game 7 of the ALCS. This is clearly a team of destiny and they aren’t going anywhere.
Prediction: Tampa Bay in 6

New Post Season Same Red Sox

It seems that the worst place an opposing team can have the Boston Red Sox is on the brink of elimination. Tampa Bay is learning that lesson the hard way. After dominating Boston in games two, three and four as well as the fist seven innings of game five and that’s when Boston came alive starting with a single by Dustin Pedroia, followed by a three-run homer by David Ortiz. Before the night was over Boston would sneak away with an 8-7 victory that would have the baseball world thinking, “Here we go again!”

The Red Sox are certainly no strangers to comebacks. In 2004, they became the only major league team to rally from a 3-0 postseason deficit by beating the New York Yankees in the ALCS and then last year, they overcame a 3-1 hole against Cleveland in the ALCS.

Now Tampa has two games at home to send the defending world champions packing but they had better do it in game six. If Boston pushes this series to a seventh game I don’t think there is a person outside the state of Florida who would pick the Rays.

5 ALCS Questions With Drays Bay

The MLB post season continues to march on and the Tampa Bay Rays are continuing their best season ever. After dispatching the Chicago White Sox in four games in the Division Series the Rays now turn to division rival Boston in the American League Championship Series. Back to share his insights and opinions on this series is RJ from the popular fan site DRays Bay. Welcome back, RJ!

1. Experience vs. Youth – The Rays won the season series 10-8 but in recent years MLB’s post season has belonged to the Red Sox. What kind of advantage does that 10-8 regular season edge give the Rays in this series?

RJ: I don't think it gives them any advantage. We're talking about such a small, concentrated sample size in a playoff series that sometimes the better team won't win a shortened series.

2. Hard Feelings – The is no doubt that these two teams don’t like each other but is there a chance we’ll see another Coco Crisp type incident?

RJ: Hopefully not. These two teams have played a few series since with no damage done. Interestingly the Baltimore Orioles got a little too happy about hitting Rays hitters in one of the final series of the season and were on the receiving end of a hit-by-pitch themselves, but nothing else came from that. How's that related? Well, it's not really, but my answer would be boring otherwise.

3. Before this year the Rays had never won more than 70 games in a season. Now they are just four wins away from the World Series! Could you be content if Tampa Bay’s run ended here?

RJ: Content? Yes, satisfied? No. This season has been incredible and nothing can derail it over the next few weeks. I'm not sure if I can handle an elimination game though.

4. Which aspect of Tampa Bay’s game (hitting, fielding, defense, base running) will we be talking about the most after this series, why?

RJ: Defense. The Rays actual pitching is above average, but not upper tier. Their offense is about the same, but their defense is perhaps the best in the league.

5. You correctly picked the Rays to defeat the White Sox in the ALDS so what are you predicting for the ALCS?

RJ: I predicted Rays in seven on DRB, but I could see it going to either team.

Follow the Tampa Bay Rays through the ALCS at DRays Bay!

That’s Right, I Said First Place Mariners

Don’t look now but the official Major League Baseball team of My Opinion on Sports is sitting at the top of the AL West standings. OK on second thought do look because we don’t know how long it will last but are loving it right now.

Going into tonight’s game against the Minnesota Twins the Mariners have a game and a half lead on both the Angels and A’s and two games on the Rangers.

The Mariners top spot is due to Adrian Beltre’s 10 RBI’s, Ichiro’s .290 batting average, total dominance by Felix Hernandez, and some help from Mother Nature. The realists in me wants to admit that this lead won’t last but the fan in me wants it to go on forever.

Los Angeles Angels Q&A

We’ve finally made it to the AL West and have the preview posted at My Opinion on Basedall. As with every other AL division we’ve brought in an expert to give more insight on the team that we’ve picked to win the division. I’d like to introduce you to Reverend Halofan. He runs the outstanding Angels blog Halos Heaven.

When is comes to the Angels the good Reverend is beaming with confidence and quite candid with his answers. Welcome to My Opinion on Sports Rev. and thanks for your time.

How much trouble is Gary Matthews Jr. in over this steroid scandal?

Reverend Halofan: Hopefully lots. His contract is awful and his production can be pretty much replicated by minor league CF Reggie Willits. But, like everything else in this steroidal decade, he will probably walk. His silence tells me his lawyer is already working to ensure there are no perjury charges... talk about thinking down the road.

Give us a quick rundown of the strengths and weaknesses of the pitching staff?

Reverend Halofan: Two Aces (Lackey and Weaver), Two guys who would be the Aces of at least 15 Major League staffs (Santana, Escobar), a former Cy Young Ace due back in late May (Colon), and a 26 year old Lefty who is good (Joe Saunders). The bullpen upgraded big, adding free agents Justin Speier and Darren Oliver. Scot Shields and Frankie Rodriguez need no introduction. If there is a weakness, it may be that the glut of talent pushes the best pitcher to AAA - don't laugh, it happened last season). Also, Weaver has some bicep tendonitis that could force Hector Carrasco to spot start in April.

Which player if would hurt the team the most if placed on the DL - Chone Figgins, Orlando Cabrera or Vladimir Guerrero?

Reverend Halofan: Vlad. Pretend it is 1996 and you are asking this question about the Chicago Bulls: Pippen, Rodman or Jordan. Nobody on Earth is picking Big-Nose or Panty-Hose. Guerrero is our Jordan.

Any weaknesses in the infield?

Reverend Halofan: Figgy's D is not stellar. I think Adam Kennedy had lost a step last season, so Howie Kendrick is not a downgrade. Orlando Cabrera at his worst is a league average shortstop and is the core chemistry guy who keeps the clubhouse loose and happy, so even if that isn't important you have a league average SS. I am more worried about the outfield with Garret Anderson aching, Juan Rivera out until July with a broken shin and Gary Matthews Junior existing at all.

We've got the Angels tabbed to win the West but if not L.A. then who?

Reverend Halofan: Iran or North Korea. The only way the Angels don't win the division this season is if one of them nukes Southern California during a home stand.

Are the Angels the right pick in the west? Voice your opinion on the forum!

Minnesota Twins Q&A

The AL Central Preview is up at My Opinion on Baseball and we’ve pegged the Minnesota Twins to win the division. That means once again we bring in an expert on our chosen team. I would like to introduce you to Jesse from the Minnesota Twins blog Twinkie Town.

Thanks for stopping by Jesse and welcome to the My Opinion on Sports Empire.

The Twins have a probable Cy Young winner in Johan Santana who gets a lot of publicity but tell us a little about the guys in the rotation behind him.

Jesse: The Twins picked up Carlos Silva's 2007 option which, after losing Liriano to injury, Radke to retirement, and finding only highly replaceable parts in Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson on the free agent market, doesn't seem like the bad idea I once thought it would be. For all the talent in pitchers like Matt Garza, Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins, there's something to be said for having a veteran in the rotation who can simply be relied on to give you innings and give your offense a chance. That's all the Twins need Silva to do. He has pinpoint control but strikes nobody out, so to bounce back from a disappointing 2006 he's going to need to get that nasty sinker back, and he's going to need to get back to being an extreme ground ball pitcher. Those two things alone should make him as effective as the Twins need him to be.

Behind him is Boof Bonser, who logged only 100 decent innings last season, but put up great numbers in September (4-1, 2.63 ERA). Bonser has a decent fastball, but it's his breaking ball that sets everything up. To take the next step this summer, cutting down on how many homers he allows would help a great deal, as would cutting down how many free passes he surrenders. Bonser is a good middle-of-the-rotation type of pitcher, and 200 innings isn't unrealistic.

Between Sidney Ponson and Ramon Ortiz, chances are that at least one of them will start the year in the rotation. Barring a miracle by pitching coach Rick Anderson (hey, they've happened before), they will be replaced by June (I'd like to think May). Anderson has had success in recent years with Silva (pre-2006) and Dennys Reyes among others, turning what had been marginal and mediocre players into effective pitchers. Ponson at least has a tendency to induce ground balls, which, to the most optimistic among us, gives a ray of hope that there could be a shred of effectiveness in his arm yet. I'm not holding my breath since, y'know, technically he can't throw a pitch in the United States right now.

Behind those folks are a plethora of talented arms. Scott Baker, J.D. Durbin, Matt Garza, Glen Perkins and Kevin Slowey are all legitimate big league starting candidates, and by the end of the season at least two of them should running out every five days. (Here's a link for a story I did, running down the young starting pitcher candidates:)

Rotation in April: Santana, Bonser, Silva, Ortiz, Garza
Rotation in September: Santana, Bonser, Garza, Baker, Perkins

Which is better as a whole the starters or the bullpen?

Jesse: The Bullpen, without a doubt. Minnesota has one of the strongest back-ends in all of baseball. Joe Nathan has saved 123 in three years, and blown only 10. K-Rod has blown 16, Rivera's blown 11 (last 2 years) and Billy Wagner's blown 12. There's no doubt that he's one of the premier closers in the game today.

Setting up in front of him are a trio of guys with a combination of heat and nasty stuff. Juan Rincon has been one of the league's most effective and consistent set-up men over the last four years, and carries a career K/9 of 8.74. Jesse Crain just signed a 3-year deal buying up his first two years of arbitration, and in his two plus years in the majors posts a sub-3.00 ERA. Finally, Pat Neshek emerged last year as a strikeout machine (53 K in 37 IP) with mechanics than can baffle hitters and fans alike.

Our lefty specialist is Dennys Reyes (50.2 IP, 49K, 0.89 ERA in '06), and the long relief guy is Matt Guerrier. The bullpen will likely add one of the stars from the farm system as well, with likely candidates being J.D. Durbin, Scott Baker and Rickey Barrett.

We’ve got the Twins pegged to win the Central but if not them then who?

Jesse: My money would be on Detroit to have another strong season. Cleveland and Chicago are still going to be tough opponents who will give anyone a run for their money, and Kansas City is actually improving, but if it isn't the Twins taking the AL Central in '07, the Tigers have to be the team to beat.

Will Torii Hunter put up MVP numbers this season?

Jesse: No, he never has and at this point in his career I'd be surprised if he did. The thing with Torii is that he's unbelievably steaky, and when he's hot he can carry a team just as well as Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau. But his foot needs to be healthy for him to be the defender we remember and a threat on the basepaths. Torii is my favorite Twin, and there's nothing more I'd like to see than for him to win the MVP, I just don't think it's realistic in 2007; a fellow blogger of mine on the Twins, SBG, said it best: Torii hasn't lived up to the expectations imposed upon him for what happened in the first half of 2002. My early prediction for Hunter this year: 157 Games, 27 HR, 92 RBI, 18 SB, .277/.332/.478.

Give us a quick rundown on new acquisitions and key players for the upcoming season.

Jesse: The biggest acquisitions for the Twins in the offseason were on players who were with us last year: picking up Hunter's 2007 option and resigning Rondell White. Hunter is central to the team's success for a number of reasons, while Rondell White is needed to lend stability to the LF and DH slots. Hopefully his 2007 is lightyears better than his 2006.

Otherwise, the signing of Jeff Cirillo is a typical Twins move. He's inexpensive, veteran, versatile and capable. Beyond the aforementioned signings of Ponson and Ortiz, the Twins were largely silent in the offseason, and there's nothing wrong with that...particularly when you consider what the market had to offer: crap at extortionist prices.

Drug Bust Will Shock the Sports World

An Orlando pharmaceutical company that allegedly sold steroids and other performance enhancers over the Internet was raided yesterday and it will have huge implications in the world of sports on the high school, college and professional levels.


The Albany, N.Y., Times Union and ABCNews.com are reporting that investigators in the year-old case uncovered evidence that testosterone and other performance-enhancing drugs may have been fraudulently prescribed over the Internet to current and former major league baseball and NFL players, college athletes, high school coaches, a former Mr. Olympia champion and another top contender in the bodybuilding competition.


Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares declined to name any consumers but former major league baseball pitcher Jason Grimsley is reported to be on the customer list.


A team doctor for the Pittsburg Steelers was also questioned by a New York investigator over allegedly using his personal credit card to purchase $150,000 in testosterone and human growth hormone in 2006.

The physician, Richard A. Rydze, told the investigator the drugs were for his private patients, the paper said, citing an unidentified person briefed on the interview.


I guarantee that there are a lot of athletes, trainers and coaches that are going to lose a lot of sleep over this. Major League Baseball has no one but themselves to blame for the drug problems that they are facing. The Barry Bonds situation has been a fiasco from the start and players like Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire were allowed to explain away their rapid body growth and continue on in baseball bliss.



This investigation was a year in the making and while right now the authorities are focusing more on the pushers than the users the users names will eventually come out and after that there may be a drastic change in the sports scene, on all levels.

UPDATE

Jose Canseco, Evander Holyfield and Gary Matthews Jr. have all been mentioned today in connection with this investigation.

Franchises Available – MLB Blogger Needed

I’m trying to expand the My Opinion on Sports Empire. Okay I realize that it one blog is not an empire but someday it could turn into one and you could be a vital part of that. Here’s the deal, while My Opinion on sports is a general sports blog I would like to start a league specific blog about Major League Baseball.

The problem is that while I have the desire to blog about MLB I really don’t have the time to keep up with another blog so I’m looking for someone to partner with. The advantage to partnering with me is that My Opinion on Sports is already an established blog which already gives us readership, the ability for syndication and connections to advertisers. Caution: While advertising revenue is a possibility your passion for Major League Baseball should be your motivation in order to avoid disappointment.

As the publisher of My Opinion on Baseball you will have the freedom to post as often as you would like and also set the direction of the blog.

If you are interested please contact me for complete details.

Roger Clemens is an Admitted Failure!

Roger Clemens was the keynote speaker for the St. John's winter baseball banquet on Wednesday and the seven-time Cy Young winner made a confession.

"I'm failing at retirement," he said. "Let's just face it. I'm failing miserably at it."

Roger Clemens wants to pitch again. He wants to pitch so badly that he went out on Monday and Tuesday just to pitch batting practice for Houston’s minor leaguers. The Rocket showed that he is still capable bringing the heat last season when he posted a 2.30 ERA in 19 starts.

We haven’t seen Clemens on the mound for the last time. He’ll appear in Boston, Houston or New York in late May or early June. It just depends which one gets off to the best start and is willing to pony up $25 million dollars for a guy who won’t travel with the team until the play-offs.

The Most Unlucky Man in Baseball

Sometimes Barry Bonds acts like a three year old! No, I’m not talking about the way he addresses the media or treats his own teammates at times. I’m talking about the way he just finds things laying around the club house and either rubs it on his body or swallows it without even knowing what it is.

It seems that Bonds is once again in the news for testing positive for a banned sustenance. As it turns out, according to Bonds, he found some pills in teammate Mark Sweeney’s locker and swallowed them. Unfortunately for Barry those pills were “greenies” also known as amphetamines.

Darn the luck! It seems as if Bond’s photo should be found next to the word gullible in the dictionary.

He unknowingly accepted and consumed designer steroids, for which his best friend is now in prison.

He unknowingly entered into a business arrangement with the founder of a laboratory that provided designer steroids to numbers of athletes.

And he unknowingly – so the story goes – secured a bottle of something from a teammate's locker and swallowed its contents.

It’s a good thing that he has the love and support of the San Francisco Giants organization who understand his knack of mistaking drugs for candy and drug dealers for honest businessmen. Oh wait! That contract hasn’t been signed yet.