Dontcha No!

Monday night Tampa's Matt Garza pitched the 5th no hitter in MLB this year. Of course this was really the 6th No-No of season if you count Detroit's Armando Galarraga's perfect game that wasn't. This seems to be a recurring theme. 2010 has already been declared "The Year of the Pitcher." MLB has basically seen 3* perfect games and we've yet to reach August!

Some are saying the value of a no hitter has diminished. Many are crediting the rising number of no hitters to the end of the steroid era.  Another hypothesis is that today's pitchers are better athletes that throw the ball harder.

First off, the value hasn't decreased. How many of us can say they've witnessed a no hitter in person, or even watched an entire 9 inning game of pitcher throwing one on TV. Yeah, we've seen ESPN cut away to the 9th inning when a pitcher has a chance to make history. I'm sure if anyone actually saw a no hitter in person, they've saved their ticket stub. I guess this year's no hitters have even been more valuable since the average attendance at all 5 have been around 21,000. That can be contributed to the fact 3 of the 5 occurred in Florida.

From 1990-91, their were a total of 11 no hitters. In 1990, there were 6! This is where the steroid era becomes a factor. Many say the steroid era started around 1992 and ended last year. There was also expansion which occurred MLB in 1993 with Colorado and Florida, and again in 1998 with Tampa and Arizona. This may have diluted the talent in the game and now people are saying the playing field is leveling out. But if steroids were a such a huge factor, it wasn't only the batters who were juicing, but also the pitchers. So you would think the pitchers were able to throw harder and be able to last longer into games.

Don't tell me the pitchers being more athletic is the reason for the rise of the no hitter. David Wells pitched a perfect game! And he did this admitting he was hung over!

The fact their have been 5 (6) no hitters so far this season is merely a coincidence. A no hitter involves a lot of luck. Find me the stat at the number of one hitters in the history of baseball. I highly doubt you'll find that stat because there are just way too many. If you look at every no hitter, every one had a number of great plays made by the defense to save the no-no. Recently, we remember Austin Jackson's remarkable play in center field that kept Galarraga's perfect intact. Who can forget last year in Mark Buehrle's perfect game the spectacular catch made by defensive substitution Dewayne Wise at the wall in center field? Even last night, Ben Zobrist made a couple of great plays in right field to save Garza's no hitter.

The point is, a no hitter is still a sacred, rare occurrence which can happen anytime, by any pitcher. And a no hitter is also a "team" accomplishment. Any pitcher that has ever thrown one will first thank his defense playing behind him. We've seen that 5, really 6 times so far this season. As baseball fans, we should feel lucky we've had the opportunity to experience this rarity so many times this year.

Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens, two of the greatest pitchers of our era, never threw no hitters. At the same time, Mark Buehrle has thrown two. Even Hideo Nomo threw 2 no hitters!

Even the once untouchable Ubaldo Jimenez who threw a no hitter earlier this season, has 7.59 ERA in July!

Here's a great stat:

On June 3, 1995, Pedro Martinez, pitching for the Montreal Expos, pitched a perfect game through 9 innings. Pedro never got credited with a no hitter because the game was scoreless after 9. He lost the no hitter in the tenth innning on a Bip Roberts double down the right field line. 40 days later, Pedro's brother, Ramon pitched a no hitter versus the Florida Marlins!

And while we're on the subject of no hitters, along with Joe Dimaggio's 56 game hit streak, Nolan Ryan's 7! career no hitters will never be matched. Sandy Koufax threw 4 career no hitters. The great Cy Young hurled 3.

List of MLB No Hitters

Hold The Champagne

It just wasn't going to happen in Philadelphia.

The baseball season will go at least one more game. Chase Utley was once again the spark for the Phillies as he set the tone in the bottom of the first inning with a 3 run homer off A.J. Burnett. Before that ball reached the leftfield stands, you just knew tonight would not be the night for the Yankees or A.J. Burnett.

Now it's Utley who's auditioning for the role of "Mr. November" over Alex Rodriquez. Utley went on to hit a solo shot in the 7th inning giving him a record tying 5 round trippers in a World Series.

Burnett had pitched lights out in Game 2, the Yankees' first win of the Series which greatly changed the momentum of the Series. But with the season Burnett had, you just had the feeling that he would not get 2 quality starts in a row on the game's biggest stage.

Joe Girardi could have started Chad Gaudin and used Game 5 as a throw away game. Going against Cliff Lee neither really stood a chance. But that's all hindsight now.

As much as Girardi has been criticized this postseason, what about Charlie Manuel. So far Girardi's decision to go with a 3 man rotation has been brilliant. All 13 of the Yankees postseason games, their starter had gone 6 or more innings. And the Yankees are 1 win away from a World Series title.

Why wouldn't Manuel give his best pitcher and, besides Utley, his best player a chance to start 3 games? Throwing Joe Blanton out in Game 4 was almost like giving that game away. Why not Lee in Game 4 and then a possible Game 7. If Manuel went with Lee in Game 4, Philadelphia could very easily be up 3-2 in this series.

Throwing Blanton in Game 5 would have made much more sense. You knew the Phillies were set to explode. With Burnett pitching, that means you have Jose Molina and Burnett batting 8 and 9 in the lineup, 2 for sure outs. Last night was a wasted start for Lee.

Even worse, Manuel was determined to leave his ace in for the entire game. The Phillies led 6-2 after 6 innings. They led 8-2 after 7 innings. And Manuel left Cliff Lee in the game! What does that tell you about Manuel's confidence in his bullpen. Like Game 1, you could see Lee start to wear out around the 100 pitch count. And as Lee stayed in to start the 8th, the Yankees's bats awoke and jumped on Lee for 3 runs in the 8th.

So Lee went 7+ and threw 112 pitches. Now, he definitely won't start a Game 7 and if the Phillies need him for relief, he'll have to come in off of only 2 days rest.

Burnett owned it after last night's horrible performance saying, "I let 25 people down. I let a whole city down."

But before it was all said and done, NY had runners on the corners with no one out and Derek Jeter representing the tying run in the 9th. Jeter is "Mister Clutch" and he really had a chance to pile on his legacy. That double play was huge! And it let the Phillies survive to live another day. Maybe that was the ideal time to bunt.

So the positives for the Yankees after last night's loss?

1. They most likely won't have to face Cliff Lee again.
2. They went to Philadelphia and won 2 of 3.
3. The Yankees were down 8-2 after 7. They could have easily rolled over and died. But like championship teams, they hung in there and battled. They got to Cliff Lee and they were in position to tie the game in the 9th.
4. If it goes 7, the next 2 games are at home.
5. In the last 3 games, Mariano Rivera has made 13 total pitches. So he'd probably be ready for a possible 9 out save in Game 6.
6. Ryan Howard has lost his swing.
7. Again, if there is a Game 7, Philadelphia really doesn't have pitcher. Cole Hamels wants the season over and has been nothing like his dominant self from last year. The Phillies are left to start rookie J.A. Happ on the road in Game 7 of the World Series.

Tomorrow night's Game 6 is a dream matchup for MLB. Phillies/Yankees in the Bronx. Pedro vs. Pettitte. Can it really get better than this?

One question I have. Does Girardi intentionally throw at Utley the way the Phillies did to A-Rod? Probably not. I don't think he would stoop to the Phillies' level?

Meet The Mess

Now that Johan Santana is done for the season, the 2009 NY Mets have marked the franchise as one of the most tough luck teams in baseball.

That's 6 one time all stars the Mets have sent to the DL this year:
Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Delgado, Putz, Santana.
Is K-Rod next?

Here is the Mets' opening day lineup from April 6:
SS Jose Reyes
LF Daniel Murphy
3B David Wright
1B Carlos Delgado
CF Carlos Beltran
RF Ryan Church
C Brian Schneider
2B Luis Castillo
P Johan Santana

The Mets edged the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1. Santana was solid getting the W and K-Rod closed the game with a perfect 9th.

All was good in Queens. They now had the bullpen relief that had spoiled there championship bids the last few years and they were moving into a new ballpark.

Inside the box score, the Mets had 9 hits, 7 BB and were 1-12 with RISP-accumulating a total of 2 runs!

Boy was there a storm a brewin.

And this was the lineup they sent out yesterday against Cliff Lee and the Phillies.

CF Angel Pagan
2B Luis Castillo
LF Gary Sheffield
3B Fernando Tatis
1B Daniel Murphy
C Omir Santos
RF Cory Sullivan
SS Anderson Hernandez
P Bobby Parnell

Yikes! Especially considering you're relying on Gary Sheffield and Luis Castillo as your iron horses.

Lee actually lowered his ERA after the game, but honestly, does that really count?

The Mets' infield has accumulated a total of 41 homeruns this year. Last year, Carlos Delgado alone hit 38.

How could it get any worse? Well, even the die hards are getting beat up, in their own stadium!

Something's Gotta Give

This is really gotten out of hand.

What has basically become a daily incident, MLB pitchers seem to be retaliating more than ever. Just this past week, we've seen Prince Fielder after the game try to barge into the Dodgers' clubhouse. Ozzie Guillen publicly announced that he would seek revenge after seeing 3 of his players hit by pitches last Saturday.

"If I see somebody hitting my players and I know it's on purpose, two guys are going down," Guillen said. "I don't care if I get suspended."

And now, last night the Tigers and Red Sox had a bench clearing brawl that saw Kevin Youkilis and Rick Porcello both ejected in the second inning. All this fueled from Monday night's game where Miguel Cabrera was hit hit in the top of the fourth inning and Youkilis immediately beamed in the bottom of the inning.

The teams didn't waste anytime drawing blood last night. Cabrera was hit in the top of the first inning. Porcello hit Youkilis in the back to lead off the bottom of the second. Benches cleared as Youkilis charged the mound throwing his helmet at Porcello before tackling the Detroit pitcher.

All that being said, it's only a matter of time before somebody is severely injured. Let's not forget that this is a baseball being thrown 90 mph.

Last night we saw Youkilis throw his helmet at the pitcher. How long until we see a batter use his weapon, a wooden bat! in retaliation.

Fielder tried to single handily bum rush the Dodgers' clubhouse. What next? A player lurking outside the stadium waiting for his target. Or even worse, a player tracking down the pitcher after the game at a restaurant/bar/club?

Let's not forget that pretty much all these teams are deeply involved in a pennant race. If your Detroit, why would you risk losing one of your top starting pitchers in only the second inning? The same for Boston. Why would Youkilis, one of the Red Sox best hitter, risk being ejected for nearly an entire game. Although it did work out in Boston's favor. Mike Lowell replaced Youkilis and homered twice.

The fines and suspensions are pretty weak. A pitcher is suspended 5 games. For a starter, that's one start. And a fine for a MLB player? Not really gonna hurt their bank account.

MLB has managers and pitchers who are notorious for head hunting. Joe Maddon of the Tampa Rays has made it clear that the Rays no longer want to be treated like the "little brother." Rays pitcher Matt Garza was fined a couple of weeks ago for hitting Mark Teixeira. And last year we saw James Shields plunk Coco Crisp to spark a Rays/Red Sox brawl.

Remember Dodgers' pitcher Guillermo Mota, who hit Fielder, running away from a storming Mike Piazza?

Just last week, the Texas Rangers released Vicente Padilla who was portrayed as a bad teammate with a poor attitude. Padilla is well known for head hunting. Earlier this season, Padilla hit Mark Teixeira twice in one game.

I guess it's safe to say that opposing pitchers don't like Teixeira.

MLB is going to have to address this problem that is continuing to snowball. They will have to impose stiffer penalties. Maybe they should begin by suspending players 15-20 games.

I get the fact that pitchers are trying to get batters to back off the plate. If you're going to try to brush back a batter, you don't need to throw at their face.

Most people say they should just let the players go after each other and finish it on the field. That would turn baseball to a violent sport with crowds showing up just to see a fight. We have the UFC for that.

I did some research on batters hit by pitch on baseball reference.com. Here a some things I found.

From 1916-1992, the average for a player hit by a pitch in a game never reached above .25%.

From 1995-2009, that average has never been below .30%. The highest was .39% in 2001!

From 1887-1911, pitchers were hitting a lot of batters. Why? I have no idea.

In the National League, from 1911-1994, with the exception of one Ron Hunt, no player was ever hit by a pitch more than 20 times in a season. From 1995-2008, 11 seasons there had been at least one player hit by a pitch at least 21 times in one year.

In the American League, from 1911-1993, with the exception of Don Baylor, only in 5 seasons had the league leader in HBP exceeded 20. From 1995-2008, 9 seasons there had been at least one player hit by a pitch at least 21 times in one year.

So what does all this tell us? One, that Ron Hunt and Don Baylor knew how to get hit by a pitch, just like Ernie "Coach" Pantusso from Cheers-"Just try to miss me!"

Two, pitchers hit a lot of batters before 1911.

Three, basically since 1994 we've seen more and more batters hit by pitches.

You can argue that in the early '90's batters began wearing more protective gear. The elbow pad, the knee bad, the shin pad-think Barry Bonds. He wore everything but a bullet proof vest. That's when more and more batters really began crowding the plate. Maybe MLB should start taking away some of that body armor and batters won't be so bold to crowd the plate.

How Sweep It Is!

So much for 8-0.

It's safe to say these two bitter rivals are going in opposite directions.

The NY Yankees completed a 4 game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 5-2 win at Yankee Stadium. It was the first time in 24 years the Yankees had swept Boston in a 4 game series. And what a series it was.

Boston went 31 consecutive innings without scoring a run! At the New Yankee Stadium! I mean, you would think by accident someone in the Boston lineup would hit a homerun. Imagine if Boston wouldn't have got those 2 meaningless runs in the 9th inninng on Thursday's game? You could tack on another 4 innings.

Sunday night's series finale was another epic pitcher's duel, this time featuring Jon Lester and Andy Pettitte.

The game was scoreless until A-Rod hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the 7th to put New York up 1-0. It was the second time in three nights that A-Rod hit a homerun to break a scoreless game. On the year, A-Rod has 5 homeruns in the seventh inning or later.

With the score 1-0, you'd think that would have been enough. But the Red Sox finally! got on the board in the top half of 8th. Newly acquired Victor Martinez hit a 2 run homer off Phil Coke put the Sox up 2-0 and perhaps give Boston a pulse.

Of course it was Phil Coke on the mound to break up Boston's scoreless streak. Why did Joe Girardi not go to Phil Hughes?

But when you're hot, you're hot. In the bottom of the eighth, young phenom sensation Daniel Bard easily retired the first two Yankees and looked like Boston would escape with a win. But then back to back curtain calls by Damon and Teixeira and the stadium was electric. The Yankees ended up scoring a total of 4 runs in the inning all coming after 2 outs and no one on.

And then it was Mariano Rivera in the ninth and the game was over. Rivera hasn't allowed a run in the last 21.1 innings. He's converted 100 of his last 104 save opportunities. Yeah, that's why he's "The Sandman." Good night.

The Yankees have won 7 in a row, the Red Sox have lost 6 in a row. The lead has quickly shot up to 6 1/2. And the Red Sox are tied for the Wild Card and have many roster questions.

For the series, NY outscored Boston 25-8.
Out hit Boston 41-25.
Boston batted .174 for the series!

And Boston's strength, their bullpen, allowed 14 runs in 15.1 innings-a 8.34 ERA.

The one bright spot for the Red Sox, the Yankees only scored 1 run off Beckett and Lester. So Boston can still be a lethal team to face in the playoffs.

I don't think I've ever seen a Yankees' team play so loose and have so much fun. You watch the dugout and see all the smiles and dancing. Robinson Cano has his high five jump. Nick Swisher seems to have a personal handshake for every player. And the pie in the face routine brought on by A.J Burnett is priceless. I don't recall every seeing a Yankees team acting like this with Joe Torre.

The Yankees are now 18-5 since the All Star Break. They're 31-10 in the last 41 games. And they have the best record in baseball at 69-42. Yeah, it was a great weekend.

Let's Get It On!

Yes, it is the dog days of summer and football is just around the corner. But for baseball fans, it certainly is Christmas in August. MLB has some great division races going on right now. And even better for baseball, pretty much every major market team is represented.

But of course nothing beats the rivalry of the Red Sox/Yankees which is restored with a 4 game series starting in the Bronx tonight.

We all know the Sox have owned the Yanks this year, with Boston winning all 8 meetings this season. That's all fine and dandy, but it's the Bronx Bombers who have a 2 1/2 lead on the Sox. Boston has outscored the Yankees 55-31 in those 8 meetings. There were two games that New York probably should have, could have won. Imagine if the Yankees had won 2 games against Boston. The Yankees would be up 6 1/2 games. If the teams had split the 8 games, the Yanks would have a 10 1/2! game lead on Boston.

One thing Joe Torre did right was knowing the importance winning games against opponents you're next to in the standings. Torre said it best by basically saying when you win one of these games, it's a two game shift in the standings.

So now don't think these games don't matter. But at the same time, New York has yet to beat Boston once and yet here they are in August ahead of the Red Sox.

Obviously a lot has changed since these two teams last met, which was June 11. For one, Jason Bay was considered the AL MVP and batting .277. That talked has died and Bay has gone back to his Pittsburgh Pirates' roots currently batting .252. Oh, and now the Red Sox are the latest franchise to have the dark steroid cloud hovering above.

The Yankees have all the confidence and momentum going into this series. Not only are they home, but they have their 4 studs set up to start all 4 games. Joba Chamberlain starts tonight. If the Yanks can win tonight, they can probably take 3 games this weekend.

Back in the middle of June, New York dropped 2 of 3 at home to the Washington Nationals. They lost the series finale 3-0. They scored 7 total runs in three games vs. the Nats. At home! In Coors Field East!

Since that loss, the Yankees have gone 28-13.

Remember Boston's epic meltdown against Baltimore back on June 30? The Red Sox blew a 10-1 lead! to the Orioles, losing 11-10. Since that horrific loss, Boston is 15-14.

Starting tonight, the Yankees can put a choke hold on the division and leave Boston to battle for the Wild card.

News And Notes

Geez! Enough of Plax, Favre, TO, etc. The whole flatulent story is pretty funny though.

Jeremy Maclin signed a 5 year deal with the Eagles. What does this signify? We should be able to tell if Chase Daniel made Maclin or vice versa. If it's the latter, the Philadelphia Eagles could be in for another solid year. This could even be one of the more talented offenses Donavon McNabb has been around. He'll have two young stud receivers in Maclin and Desean Jackson. And if Brian Westbrook's ankle can hold up, look out for Philly.

Cincinnati pitcher Edinson Volquez is out for the year and will need Tommy John surgery. Ouch. You never want to see a young dominant pitcher go down like that. Reportedly Volquez will be out for 12 months, so we might not see him at all next season. I'm sure a trip to Alabama and Dr. James Andrews is in his near future. If Dr. James Andrews is so great, how come when his name is mentioned it's never a good thing?

Remember the Texas Rangers traded Volquez to the Reds for Josh Hamilton.

One of the biggest surprises of the MLB season has to be the San Francisco Giants. Currently at 58-48, the Giants are 1/2 back of the Wild Card behind division rival Colorado. This time last year, the Giants were 47-64. They even made a move on this year's trade deadline by acquiring Freddy Sanchez from Pittsburgh's fire sale.

Sanchez had been a solid hitter with the Pirates, even winning a batting title. Now, he finally gets to experience playing meaningful baseball in September, and August for that matter.

The reason for San Fran's resurgence is the pitching staff. Tim Lincecum might go back to back for the Cy Young. And chances are, he'll win a bunch in his career.

Lincecum and fellow starter Matt Cain are 2 and 3 overall for ERA in the National League. Lincecum's ERA is 2.18 and Cain's is 2.25. Pretty solid.

Now imagine if Randy Johnson wasn't on the DL and Barry Zito was owning up to at least half of the $18.5 million annual salary?

At one time, Kansas City's Zack Greinke was 8-1 and the biggest story of the year. After last night's loss, Greinke is now 10-7 but still has the AL's lowest ERA at 2.36.

Another Sad Day For Baseball

I not quite sure where to start on this one. It is freakin huge! Overall, I'm not totally surprised. The most surprising aspect of this whole story, boy, Jose Canseco was actually right.

Major League Baseball is the overall biggest loser. In a way, they condone this and and play a major part of creating this "steroid era."

Think about it. MLB was destroyed with the 1994 strike which canceled the postseason. MLB turned their head as players were putting up superhuman numbers, but the ballparks were full and the money was coming in at a record pace.

MLB didn't test for steroids. Steroids weren't banned by the league even though they are illegal in the United States.

And now, they even failed to cover up their poster boy, savior of the steroid era in Alex Rodriquez.

I know, the players are as much to blame as the commissioner and MLB. But hey, if everyone else was juicing, why not, right? MLB wasn't testing. So the playing field was even.

What I don't understand is these players-Bonds, McGwire, Sosa, Clemens, A-Rod-were already great players and certain locks for the Hall of Fame with out PED's. All the PED's did for them was up their slugging percentage and blossom their homeruns, the latter what everyone pays money for.

Back to Canseco, he is considered the "Godfather" of steroids, ushering in the drug to the game and forever putting a cloud over this era. And lately, since Canseco went down, he's taken everyone down with him and of course profiting from this.

But hell, like I said before, the guy was actually right. And he claims that around 75% of MLB was juiced. That means about 18 of 25 players on every roster were using PED's. And rumor has it, Canseco has more juicy tales to come.

And so in 2003, MLB randomly and anonymously tested players and 104, about 5% tested positive, including A-Rod. That's like saying each roster had at least 3 guys juicing. How is A-Rod the only name which was leaked? Someone obviously had it out for him.

Think about it. Supposedly (I mean honestly, what the hell can we believe anymore) the tests were kept in Vegas with only a number on it. The names were kept separately in Southern California. That's a lot of work, sneaking around, whatever you will to put these two together.

So in all fairness, to A-Rod, the media, MLB it's fans and players who were clean, th the rest of these 103 players should be named and I believe they will be be revealed.

I'm not here to defend A-Rod. As everyone knows, I always lashed out on Barry Bonds. In fact, I was Barry Bonds fan back in his day with the Pirates. When he hit over .300, 30 homeruns and 100+ RBI's.

Like I said before, these players were already great hitters. All steroids did was help them hit the ball farther.

What separates A-Rod apart from Bonds, McGwire, Clemens, Sosa, Palmero. is the fact he confessed and apologized. That was the smartest thing for A-Rod to do, and to have Peter Gammons conduct the interview.

Also, these other guys were busted at the end of their careers. A-Rod has many years left to define his legacy. And since 2003, A-Rod claims to have been tested 8-10 times and blood tested for the World Baseball Classic.

Another big question from A-Rod's apology was his lashing out against Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts. A-Rod referred to Roberts as "this lady" and claims that she was stalking him. A-Rod than says she's been arrested for trespassing on his property and said he had a paper to prove it. Why did Peter Gammons not immediately ask to see the document?

If Roberts is coming out with a book on A-Rod and it seems she's been covering him for the last few years, I'm sure A-Rod knows exactly who she is and doesn't need to refer to her as "this lady."

What is the actual relationship between Roberts and A-Rod.

Like I said before, great ballplayers like A-Rod, Bonds, etc. never needed PED's to hit the ball or be the best, they already were.

A-Rod's numbers have been consistent throughout his entire career. In 1996, just his second season, A-Rod led MLB with a .358 average.

Lets look deeper into his numbers.
From 2001-03, the alleged steroid years for A-Rod:
161.7 games, .305 batting average, 52 homeruns, 131.7 RBI, .615 slugging %.

All other seasons:
149.2 games, .308 batting average, 39.2 homeruns, 119 RBI, .574 slugging %.

The batting average remained nearly the same, actually slightly better than his "Roid Years."

But what's another thing A-Rod, Sosa, Bonds and Palmero have in common-No Rings!

Of course Clemens picked up his two jumping on the ship for final 2 World Series Championships of the 90's dynasty.

And Big Mac got his only ring when he was just breaking in the league with Bash Brother Canseco.

Being a Yankees fan, I get a lot of "Your team's all on roids.", "Your team cheated." "Drugs are all over the Yankees' clubhouse.", etc.

Let's remember this. So far A-Rod was juicing with the Texas Rangers, supposedly not with the Yankees. Clemens started juicing with the Blue Jays. Giambi started with the A's, probably with Miguel Tejada.

So if you're gonna shout out the NY Yankees as juicers, you're a hypocrite. Whoever your team is, I'm sure their locker room was full of illegal drugs too.

So what does A-Rod do now? Have the best season of his career. That's the only way he can win back his fans, teammates, baseball and himself.

A-Rod has another 10 years to prove he's still one of the best. If he can't be in the Hall Of Fame, he really needs to start winning championships more than ever.

Yeah I feel cheated and am greatly upset about A-Rod. But I felt cheated befor this week.

Another look at the "Steroid Era."

By decade, here is the average number of total homeruns hit by overall MLB leader:

1970's - 43.5 homeruns
1980's - 41.9 homeruns
1990's - 52 homeruns
2000's - 54 homeruns

So yeah, steroids allowed players to hit more homeruns.

What else is amazing about this stat? In 1981, 4 players led the AL with 22 homeruns!

And Mike Schmidt was the most dominant homerun hitter of his era.

AL West Preview

AL West
This is basically a race between the Angeles and Mariners and will probably go down to the last week of the regular season. Also, you can never count out a team like Oakland. They always seem to get the most out of their players.

1. Los Angeles Angels
I have to go with the Angels because they won the Division last year and added Torii Hunter. Also, this a perfect Mike Sciosia team. You know, a scrappy small ball team with defense and some pop. The addition of John Garland will the help the rotation and looks like Kelvim Escobar could be out for quite some time. Their bullpen is solid with K-Rod closing games.

2. Seattle Mariners
When you have Ichiro Suzuki as your leadoff man, anything is possible. I just think guys like Raul Ibanez, Richie Sexson, Brad Wilkerson, and Adrian Beltre are too inconsistent. Yeah, they’ll all provide some power, but will either of them hit over .280? Obviously Erik Bedard was a huge acquisition. With Felix Hernandez behind Bedard, you’re looking at one of the best 1-2 starters in the league.

3. Oakland A’s
Just looking at this lineup makes you wonder how the A’s won’t finish in the cellar. Not one household name. But this is a team that will get players on base and win a lot of low scoring one run games. Why? How? Joe Blanton and Rich Harden lead a young and inexperienced starting rotation. But I think they’ll pitch well enough to keep them in games. Keith Foulke, Alan Embree and Huston Street comprise a very solid bullpen. Of course it’s another rebuilding year for Oakland (aren’t they all?), but Billy Beane’s teams always seem to compete.

4. Texas Rangers
The Rangers have a decent nucleus with Michael Young, Milton Bradley and Hank Blalock so they’ll score some runs. But the problem with Texas, like every other year, will again be their pitching. You can expect this team to be involved in a lot of 11-10 games.

AL Cental Preview

AL Central

If there were any questions before, the AL Central is now the toughest division in baseball. Having to play each team 19 times throughout the course of the year, the teams in this division will obviously beat each other up. This makes it tough to think the Wild Card will come from the AL Central. Kansas City still looks to be everyone’s punching bag.

1. Detroit Tigers
First off, they have the most lethal lineup in MLB (I know, they’re neck and neck with the Yankees). In fact, this lineup might be reminiscent of the Yanks’ Murders’ Row lineup in the 1920’s. They can kill you from top to bottom.
How can you not pick this team? They should flirt with 100 wins.
The only thing holding them back may be their pitching. We’ll have to see if Dontrelle Willis’ can make a smooth transaction to the American (This is where the real heavy hitters are) League. If the D-Train isn’t derailed, then the Tigers’ starting pitching poses a nice 1-2 punch with flame thrower Justin Verlander.

2. Cleveland Indians
Here’s a team that ran out of gas last year. They had Boston on the ropes up 3-1 on the hated Sox and blew the ALCS. Will this haunt the Indians or provide more motivation? This Cleveland team is very scrappy and find ways to get runners on base and move them around, you know, good, smart baseball. They’re flexible in the way they don’t rely on one player, unless you’re talking about Grady “All World” Sizemore. He’ll again be mentioned as a possible MVP candidate again.
*I’m giving the Indians the Wild Card on that alone.

3. Chicago White Sox
The Pale Hose really have a nice lineup and the additions of Nick Swisher and Orlando Cabrera could be pivotal. What does matter is the starting pitching. All kinds of potential with Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras and Javier Vasquez. But potential to pitch like 2005 again or tank like when the latter two wore Pinstripes?

4. Minnesota Twins
Considering the franchise players they moved in the off season, I think this team will surprise people and they’ll thorn in every opposing team. Remember, Francisco Liriano’s back, but will he be the same, and if he is, winning every fifth game doesn’t help. Joe Nathan is one of the best closers in the game and the Twins still have a little pop in their lineup with 2006 MVP Justin Morneau.


5. Kansas City Royals
OK, so they have two decent starters in Gil (the savior, all hail) Meche and Brian Bannister, but it’s not like these guys will shut down the opposition every night out. Because we all know the Royals lineup is a joke. Their big name and pick up in the off season, Jose Guillen? Jose Guillen! Yeah, that’s something to be excited about. I mean with his personality and all the baggage he brings to the clubhouse, he should be a great mentor for Alex Gordon. Speaking of “AG,” he should have a breakout season but what can you ask for a team whose star player is a sophomore who hopes build off a rather dismal rookie campaign. Ok, I’ll give you Billy Butler. And by the way, can anyone name the Royals’ new manager who has everyone along the Lewis and Clark trail panties in a bunch?

AL East Preview

AL East

For years, this division was considered the toughest. It still boasts the two best teams this century and now the Tampa Rays (Now, do we call real life devil rays just rays or sting rays? What a bunch of bull. Talk about people with some personal issues and a lot of time on their hands.), are slowly moving their way up on the food chain. The Rays could find themselves finishing third this year. I think they’re still too young, but hey, they’re not the Orioles.


1. New York Yankess
Of course I’m picking the Yankees. The whole lineup is back from last year’s team that nearly scored 1000 runs. I’ll guarantee you this, the Yankees won’t be under .500 at the end of May. They still have an All Star at every position and the only question may be First Base. Right now, you’re looking at Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and Jason Giambi platooning at the DH spot. For that to work, Giambi will have to play in the field more often the Yanks would like.
This is the first time in well over a decade the Yankees open the season with a new manager. Joe Girardi will be a players’ manager and will give the team a more loose and laid back feel.
As for the starting rotation, Chien-Ming Wang will go out and quietly win 17-20 games. Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina both have something to prove this year. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Moose Man finally gets his 20 wins. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy both showed flashes of brilliance last year, but these young guys will have to shoulder an entire season. The bullpen is set for now with Joba Chamberlain starting in the setup role and of course Mariano Rivera doing his thing.
The Yankees created another heated rival this Spring with Tampa Bay. We all know their history with Boston and last year’s A-Rod/Toronto fiasco, and the Yankees are hated more than ever in the East.

2. Boston Red Sox
They’ll still be near the top with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez being maybe the best 1-2 punch in all of sports. Also, Manny is in a contract year, that could be lethal. Their rotation reminds me a lot like the Yankees last year. You can probably stick a fork in Curt Schilling. Josh Beckett’s been injured this Spring and that may slow him down this year. So far, Dice K has been a .500 pitcher along with Tim Wakefield. Also, the Red Sox cut Doug Mirabelli so who catches for Wake? Jon Lester and Clay Bucholz came into the league strong last year, but how will they hold up for an entire season? The Red Sox have a lot of questions and are relying on too much young talent to repeat this year. Don’t have them as the Wild Card.

3. Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays added David Eckstein and Scott Rolen to a lineup that includes Alex Rios, Veron Wells and Frank Thomas. Roy Halladay will always be up for a Cy Young. They’ll need a solid year from both A.J. Burnett and Dustin McGowan. More good news, B.J. Ryan will be back and healthy. (Remember B.J. Ryan?)

4. Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays are still way too young to even be motioned as contenders. Everyone’s talking about 3B Evan Longoria (Don’t think he’s related to Eva), but he’ll start in the minors and will probably be called up to early. Scott Kazmir (the one the Mets let go) starts the season on the DL. Carl Crawford is one of the best all around players in MLB. Very similar style to Grady Sizemore.

5. Baltimore Orioles
Don’t even think I need to waste my time hear. Red Headed Step Child. The biggest news and question, have they traded Brian Roberts yet?