Baseball

As a new member of Bleacher Report, I thought I'd start off with something everyone can enjoy: Fantasy Baseball. Not too long from now we are all gonna be pulling our hair out wondering who to draft, who to start, why is this guy injured, why can't this guy hit a d#@$ ball—ah, the love of the game.

In this being Part One, I will talk about the top 10 starting prospects in the National League. Then in Part Two we'll talk about the American League, and Part Three will be sleeper starters to consider.

2008 Record: 68-94

Key Additions

Ryan Freel, Felix Pie, Cesar Izturis, Ty Wigginton, Rich Hill, Gregg Zaun

New York Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon barely hesitated long enough for the reporter's question to be completed before he tossed his answer forward.

When asked to name the most athletic player on the entire Yankee roster, Damon emphatically answered, "Cody Ransom."

After the reporter seemed slightly taken aback by his response, Damon added, "Have you been to YouTube yet?"

No one goes to a baseball game to learn anything. Well, at least not anything important.

That's not to say that arguing over the six Astros' pitchers to no-hit the Yankees, the catcher to catch the most games after the age of forty, and what exactly went into the original Cracker Jack recipe isn't a valuable addition to your library of baseball knowledge, but it won't exactly change your life either.

Well, unless you're a fan of the Yankees or Cracker Jack that is.

During 12 magical seasons as Yankee teammates, Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams reached six World Series and captured four titles.

In a combined 30 seasons in pinstripes, they have become as much a symbol of Yankee success as the immortal superstars that preceded them.

Jeter and Williams' friendship and fame even landed them a guest appearance on Seinfeld:

Not even a month ago, the Rangers and free agent pitcher Ben Sheets seemed to have ironed out a preliminary two-year contract.

Things quickly fell through when doctors performing Sheets’ physical determined that he needed to have surgery on his right elbow.

The contract was thrown out, Sheets went on to have the surgery, the Milwaukee Brewers were responsible for the bill (the last team Sheets played for,) and the Rangers went on to spring training with the pitching staff they have.

I am old school. I remember sitting in the bleachers in Ebbetts Field in the 1950s. My first game was, I think, the Dodgers against the Phillies in 1951. I was six. For the next six years, all I could think about was "The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant."

Broken hearted at age 12, I went into baseball hibernation until 1962. Baseball was back and The New York Mets were born and I was re-born.

In the final piece of this series of articles laying out the players that are going to make up the Texas Rangers’ 2009 season, I’m going to to finish up with the biggest piece of the puzzle for Texas.

Whenever you hear about the Texas Rangers in national media it always seems to be about the pitching, or really the lack there of. 

This season is going to be a huge part on how the team will develop into the next couple of seasons, and I’m going to breakdown this players and what to expect this season and in the future.

After a second straight mind-blowing upset at the hands of The Netherlands, the roster of the Dominican Republic returned home with their tails tucked between their legs.

The Dominican team held the weight on their shoulders of a nation as passionate about the game of baseball as any other in the world.

As more and more information surfaces regarding steroid use in the MLB, it has become clear that the problem went much deeper than we all thought. Remember, just a few summers ago, we were all touting A-Rod as the "clean" savior who would valiantly reclaim the title of Home Run King from the evil Bonds. 

Back then, I thought the steroid users were sparse and obvious; bulky guys who were smaller at the start of their career. Now, I find myself asking more and more, "Who wasn't on steroids?"