MLB

As Ken Rosenthal reports , the Braves are stocked deep in pitching, which is no surprise to any Braves follower.

What he mentions in the article that caught my eye was that he sees the Braves’ left-handed side of the bullpen as potentially the best in the game.

"The left side of the 'pen—Eric O'Flaherty, Jonny Venters, Billy Wagner—might be the best in the game," said Rosenthal.

The city of Chicago has seen its share of hard times. In 1871 they had a massive fire that lasted for days. It destroyed everything in it's wake. The city rebuilt though and once again became a prominent destination in the United States, both economically and competitively.

They have had sports teams struggle in mediocrity and succeed to the heights of their profession. Among their teams are the Bears, who have such a storied history in the NFL that it speaks for itself and the Bulls, who have won many NBA championships and were the sports dynasty of the 90's.

The beauty of watching a baseball game is that there is always the chance that you could see something that has never been done before, or that may never be done again.

What follows are what I feel are the 10 most shocking game day moments in baseball history. That is not to say that these are the 10 most impressive moments, but instead the 10 moments that made people say "wow, I can't believe that just happened".

There may be no better demonstration of someone being shocked than the expression on George Brett's face in the accompanying picture, but the pine tar incident is not No.

As we inch closer and closer to Major League Baseball's trade deadline at the end of July, the rumors will start flying fast and furious.

There have already been a few rumors shot down in the last few weeks, including one that was about to send an ace to a team that wouldn't have any way of picking up his remaining salary because of their financial trouble.

Why some of these rumors get started is beyond me, but that's what makes baseball, and the trade deadline, fun.

Once again the Minnesota Twins are in first place, and once again the Twins are in the top five in one particular category. As a matter of fact, the Twins have been in the top five in this category for the past five years.

No, it’s not home runs, runs scored, fielding percentage, or ERA. The category in which the Twins are perennial leaders is first pitch strike percentage.

Here is where the Twins have ranked in first pitch strike percentage over the last five years:

2010—61.8 percent (first)

The last time the New York Mets played the Cleveland Indians in Ohio, George W. Bush was in his second year of office, Emma Watson and Caroline Wozniacki weren’t even teenagers, and Sammy Sosa was still bla…no, whi…no. Never mind.

In fact, the last time the Mets played in Cleveland was the first time the Mets played in Cleveland. Heck, it was the first time they had played Cleveland.

Home run records holder and alleged steroid user Barry Bonds, earned a major win Friday when a federal appeals court ruled prosecutors could not use drug tests and doping calendars in the former All-Star's ongoing perjury case. 

Bonds' case went to the ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a lower court ruled the government could not directly tie blood and urine samples to the retired slugger. 

Complaining about CC Sabathia's sluggish start with the Yankees is kind of like Tom Brady complaining that Gisele Bundchen hogs the covers when they're in bed.

No one feels sorry for you. Get over yourself. And screw you for even bringing this up in mixed company.

Yankees fans are used to this apathetic mentality. New York's 40-23 mark entering Tuesday's action is tied for the best record in baseball, and as such, the fanbase would probably be wise to keep the griping to a minimum, lest a poor Orioles fan overhear any of the conversation and drive into a wall at 120 MPH.

The Yankees had an off-day yesterday and are getting ready for a big week as they have a World Series rematch against the Phillies coming up followed by the Subway Series this weekend.

If you are looking for a place to make a bet on one of these games online betting seems to be pretty popular these days.

Here are some notes:

Currently, the Mets sport a rotation of Johan Santana , Mike Pelfrey, Jonathon Niese, RA Dickey, and Hisanori Takahashi. Dickey and Takahashi did not start the season in the rotation, but after John Maine and Oliver Perez hit the DL, Dickey and Takahashi took over.