David Ortiz

Six participants for the 2010 Home Run Derby were announced yesterday: David Ortiz (DH, Boston), Corey Hart (OF, Milwaukee), Matt Holliday (OF, St. Louis), Miguel Cabrera (1B, Detroit), Robinson Cano (2B, New York Yankees), and Vernon Wells (OF, Toronto).

All told, it's not a terrible lineup.  There will be two more participants announced before the Derby, but you've already got old-school power hitters in Cabrera and Ortiz and some new blood in Cano and Hart.

So, we're now more than halfway through the MiLB season.

And what an incredible season it has been for one of the up-and-coming leagues in American sports.

The fans may not have given the Red Sox much love when casting their ballots for the all-star game, but opposing players and managers- as well as Major League Baseball itself- certainly did as six Red Sox were chosen to play in the Mid-Summer Classic next week in Los Angeles.

And now Sox fans can help to make certain that another player gets to go along too, as a seventh player (1B Kevin Youkilis) is one of five non-selectees nominated in the MLB.com Final Vote.

The MLB All-Star Game is soon. Unfortunately, we don't always get to see the best players selected for it. In this slideshow, we'll take a look at the best position players in the National and American League. The following players SHOULD be the starters for the All-Star game...

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Another day, another big time prospect comes to the majors.  Today it is Carlos Santana of the Cleveland Indians who was perhaps the best hitting prospect left down in the farm.  I wont start gushing too much about him, you will have to read the article to see the rest.  There is some injury news on one of the best players in the game, and also some of the more interesting pitchers of the night. 

Ten days ago the Red Sox suffered a crushing loss to their arch (and division rival), the New York Yankees.  Losses happen, but this one stung more than most because Jonanthan Papelbon, the team's surefire closer over the last five seasons hardly looked like a guy who had been to All-Star games and enjoyed playoff success.

He gave up an astounding four runs in just two thirds of an inning.  For the first time in his career as a reliever he gave up two home runs in one inning and left Red Sox fans wondering if 2010 just wasn't their year.

The brooms were out in St. Petersburg tonight as the Boston Red Sox rocked the Rays 11-3. This was an impressive series as the Red Sox completed the first sweep of the Rays at Tropicana Field since 2002.

Completing the sweep was important and all, but now the Red Sox have climbed back into the AL East, sitting only 5.5 games behind the Rays and now six games over .500. 

Throughout the series the themes were run prevention and solid, quality pitching, the two themes this ball club is built on.

Is Mariano Rivera a future Hall of Famer?  How about Albert Pujols?  What about Joe Mauer?

Playing the Hall of Fame prediction game is always fun.  Bill James likes to analyze future Hall of Famers from a percentage standpoint.  I have never stuck around long enough to figure out how he says things like “Todd Helton has a 67 percent chance of making the Hall of Fame,” but he does it, and so there it is.

Laser show.

Turns out Dustin Pedroia was right. He was one of the last remaining riders on the David Ortiz Bandwagon just a few weeks ago when he promised a mob of local reporters that Ortiz would be fine, referring to his own tumultuous start as a rookie three years ago.

His slump was followed by a campaign that earned him Rookie of the Year honors and prompted him to term his propensity for whistling line drives a "laser show."

With the Red Sox and Yankees meeting again this week, here’s my rundown of the best moments of the past decade in baseball’s greatest rivalry.

There are any number of moments I could have picked.