Slumping Dodgers pick up Thome and Garland

A month ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers had the best record in MLB and no one could doubt they were the best team in baseball. They could hit, pitch and field. They had depth and were young and hungry.

A month later, and the Dodgers are limping in to the final stretch. They look wounded and are no longer the favorite team to win the World Series. They once were a balanced team. Now, they are no more than a team composed of average players.

That’s why the Dodgers picked up Jim Thome and Jon Garland off of waivers. While both players will not provide them with a savior, both players will provide the Dodgers with experienced role players who should energize the team for the playoffs.

Philadelphia Phillies are ready to repeat

The Philadelphia Phillies have made all the right moves since the beginning of the season. Whether it was signing Pedro Martinez or keeping their top prospects and trading for “only” Cliff Lee, the Phillies have found ways to shore up their weaknesses – something most MLB teams in 2009 have failed to do.

Now, rather than scrambling to complete their team and wondering if their weaknesses will haunt them, the Phillies are posed to win back-to-back division titles and another World Series.

Babying MLB pitchers

The New York Yankees pulled starter Joba Chamberlain from Sunday’s game after three innings and 35 pitches. Chamberlain was not pitching well. He had allowed two earn runs and four hits and only struck out one batter. However, the Yankees did not remove him from the game because of poor performance. It was a planned move to limit the 23-year-old’s workload.

Many teams have been following the same formula with pitchers. Whether it’s limiting their pitch count or not allowing them to pitch in consecutive games, teams across MLB have taken a microscope to the workload of their pitchers. And while it’s hard for me – a sports fan and writer with no medical background – to judge upper managements decisions, most pitcher limitations just don’t seem worth it – and seem counter productive to the ultimate goal: winning the World Series.

Theo Epstein has built another winning team

Since the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees swept the Boston Red Sox in consecutive series, the Red Sox have won 11 of 16 games. Their resurgence, though, has done little to change analysts’ minds that the Red Sox can compete for a World Series title.

Yet with all the ups and downs and disappointments on this Red Sox team, they still are tied for the fifth best record (73 – 53) in MLB. One has to believe the underachieving Sox have as good a chance as any team to play in the Fall Classic – especially with the talent General Manager Theo Epstein has put together.

Nolan Ryan transforms the Texas Rangers

For the past decade, the Texas Rangers have been known for their hitting. They attempt to slug their way to wins and pray their pitching staff gives them a chance. This strategy has not worked even though their offense has consistently ranked as one of the best in MLB. The Rangers have had only one winning season and no playoff appearances since 1999.

Thanks to newly hired Team President Nolan Ryan, all that has changed in 2009. The Rangers pitching staff has finally learned how to get batters out, and the Rangers are fighting for their first postseason appearance in nine seasons.

The fight for the worst record in MLB

The Washington Nationals can’t pitch. The Kansas City Royals can’t hit. Combine both teams, and you would have a team competing for the best record in MLB. For those cities, too bad it doesn’t work like that. Instead, both teams will spend the next month and a half competing for the worst record in MLB. Who will win? I’ll give you a hint: this team didn’t just spend more than half of the Pittsburgh Pirates entire team salary on an unproven, first round draft pick. You guessed it: the Royals.

Baseball Predictions: National League Style

Due to an unbalanced MLB schedule where teams play almost half their regular season games against their division foes, two-thirds of the NL playoff races are not over yet. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies rode hot streaks to large division leads, but now they will need to hold on to their prized possession better than Sylvester Stallone did in Cliffhanger. Four teams have hung around long enough to make the Dodgers and Phillies sweat a little.

While the Dodgers and Phillies have a cushion to relax on, the St. Louis Cardinals lost that luxury a while ago. Now, they are involved in a four-team battle for first in the NL Central.

Even with the races still up in the air with a third of the season remaining, I predict the playoff picture will not change much in the final two months of the season.

Baseball Predictions: American League Style

With approximately a third of the MLB season remaining, not a single division has been won. The once dominant Los Angeles Dodgers have seen their division lead whittled to six games. Bud Selig and baseball officials have had their wish of parity granted. Too bad it created a trade deadline about as exciting as a financial analyst. Every division has at least three teams within ten games of first place so no one was willing to trade away veterans or young players to make a run at the postseason.

Even with parity and the potential for some exciting division races, the same teams as always are poised to make it into the playoffs. Guess the trade deadline won’t be the only boring part of MLB’s season – thankfully we have the World Series to look forward to.

Say it’s not so David Ortiz

Deadline trades and David Ortiz’s lovable nature has let him off the hook for now. But the sports world is still shocked to hear that Ortiz allegedly used performance enhancing drugs. I use allegedly not because I’m a Boston Red Sox fan who prays he it’s all a misunderstanding, but because Ortiz is walking down the path that most PED users have – deny it and blame someone or something else.

It’s time for MLB and athletes to start owning up to their mistakes and their past. Everyone knows hundreds of MLB players used PEDs in the past – and probably still do use them. MLB and the MLB Players Association need to demand that players announce their past usage and release the names on the 2003 list now so this painstaking Steroid Era can end. It’s what’s best for the sport and the players.

Do steroid users deserve to be in baseball’s Hall of Fame?

Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice, and Joe Gordon are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Pete Rose is still out. And Hank Aaron believes steroid users should be admitted into the Hall of Fame but with an asterisk next to their name.

While there was little debate surrounding this year’s ceremonies, there will soon be some highly contentious year’s coming up. It’s only a matter of time before droves of highly qualified hall of fame candidates with performance enhancing drug records find themselves on voters’ lists. And how do the National Baseball Hall of Fame voters handle these athletes? Currently, they have decided to keep them far away from Cooperstown. But I think they should look at those athletes differently – as well as Pete Rose.

Three MLB teams that need to make a move; two that don’t

In a mere two games, Matt Holliday has proved what a mid-season acquisition can do for a team. He’s provided more offense than the St. Louis Cardinals could have predicted yet they only won one of those games.

MLB teams are scrambling in the final week before the trade deadline (July 31) to determine if they want to trade away their young talent for most likely a rent-a-player. A few of those general managers need to gulp down some Pepto-Bismol and make a move if they want to provide their teams with that needed boost for the playoffs while others need to take their foot off of the gas pedal and not gamble their future for a false hope.

The SF Giants are winning the NL way

The San Francisco Giants have two hitters on pace to hit over 20 home runs, one hitter with an .OPS over .900, and not a single batter who strikes fear in an opponent’s pitchers. Yet, after a 20 – 23 record to start the season, the Giants find themselves in sole possession of the National League Wild Card.

How did they did they rise up from the cellar? They did it the NL way: knee-buckling pitching, smooth fielding, and enough offense to snatch up wins.

Suit up. Albert Pujols is legendary.

In sports drafts, it’s typically easy to pick a great player in the first round – or in the first few picks. In the 2009 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Clippers didn’t think twice about taking Blake Griffin. And while the New York Islanders played coy in the 2009 NHL Draft about who they were going to draft, it was apparent to the rest of the world they were going to select John Tavares.

The later rounds – obviously – are a different story. They are rounds that can make a draft special for some teams – and a throw away for others. The St. Louis Cardinals and New England Patriots have made two of the best late round picks ever in Albert Pujols and Tom Brady, respectively.

But which pick was better? Brady or Pujols? After eight full seasons for each player, Pujols gets a slight nod due to his consistency.

Nine MLB players who stink in 2009

Baseball is a one of the few sports were playing below average can actually get you into the hall of fame. All hitters have to do is get a hit 30% of the time and get on base 40% of the time. Imagine if you had that success in your job? I can only imagine what your boss would say – probably something that ended with you receiving a pink slip.

Still, that doesn’t exempt some hitters from having terrible years. These nine Major League Baseball players have simply stunk in 2009.

Nine MLB players who have saved their team in 2009 (so far)

Like every Major League Baseball season, some players struggle in the early part of the season and some players come out hitting like it’s a contract year. The nine players below have dominated for their team while others have failed to live up to the hype – or had no hype or talent to live up to.

College Baseball (and softball): They are amazing

The Detroit Red Wings are on the verge of winning back-to-back Stanley Cup championships and giving a life to the down and out city like the New Orleans Saints did after Hurricane Katrina. Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard has become a superstar and a dominant force like Shaquille O’Neal in the NBA Playoffs. Not to mention, the Los Angeles Lakers will probably win their 15th NBA championship (only two behind my beloved Boston Celtics) this year.

But the playoff games that have caught my attention are not even played by pros – or even minor leaguers. They haven’t even been aired on an easy-to-find station. College softball and baseball players play them.

What happened in sports during the longest game in NCAA history?

The Texas Longhorns and the Boston College Eagles played the longest game in NCAA history on Saturday. The game lasted 25 innings and 7 hours and 3 minutes and finished on Sunday. Texas won 3 – 2.

While Texas reliever Austin Woods pitched 12 1/3 innings before allowing a hit (probably the best relief appearance in the history of baseball), the rest of the world kept playing sports (albeit ending much earlier).

Interleague Play benefits NL teams

American League teams typically lose a powerful hitter when they travel to National League parks. NL teams have to add a hitter to the lineup, typically a light hitting platoon player or a pinch hitter, when they travel to AL parks. But it is the AL team that loses more when they travel to an NL city.

Have a little faith in us

Who has taken performance-enhancing drugs?

• Albert Pujols – I don’t know.
• David Ortiz – I don’t know.
• Zack Greinke – I don’t know.

I have lost all trust and faith in Major League Baseball players after the media released reports this year that two great hitters (maybe two of the best hitters ever) used PEDs. And no amount of public relations, testing, or fake apologizes and explanations can rebuild that trust. I just don’t know whom to believe anymore.

What I would do with unsold Yankee seats

The New York Yankees spent $1.5 billion to build a new Yankee Stadium (I use new loosely there because it looks just like their old stadium). From what I hear, though, the stadium is posh – probably has bedays in the restroom (could someone confirm that for me?).

But, they can’t sell out the stadium or even fill it to the level of previous years. Even when their hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox, visited the stadium for the first time ever, the stadium was under 90% full.

So the question being asked is how do the Yankees sell the seats – or an easier question would be how do they give them away.