MLB

Breaking news from reports Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes  (via Twitter): Former MLB pitcher, Jose Lima has passed away. 

Jose Lima has reportedly died in his home in Los Angeles after suffering a massive heart attack. 

As of late, Houston Astros' ace pitcher, Roy Oswalt, has publicly made it clear that he wants out. It seems clear that Houston and Oswalt have no future of succeeding in the 2010 campaign. 

According to ESPN's Buster Olney, via twitter, that "Roy Oswalt wants to be traded to a contender, a la Roy Halladay"

Whenever I look at how well a baseball team might fare in the regular season and then play-offs, this is usually my thought process:

#1) Who is your ace? Must have that stud guy who the team can rally around.

#2) Who is the closer? If you can't finish games, don't tell me about how well you start.

#3) Do you have a big bopper? Need that guy that the other teams have to work around.

#4) Who are the second and third starters? Need some pitchers to keep things going after the ace.

#5) Got any table setters? Need some players on base for the big guy.

When the New York Mets traded for Johan Santana, he was supposed to be the staff ace. He was for his first two years on the team.

Santana is still one of the better pitchers in the league, but he has had some struggles recently. Many are hesitant to continue to call him an ace.

Since Santana joined the team, Mike Pelfrey's pitching has significantly improved. Surely, some of it has to do with Santana's mentoring. More of it has to do with Pelfrey coming into his own.

On May 1, 1920, the Major Leagues would witness the longest game in the history of the sport. The Brooklyn Robins battled the Boston Braves in a game that would eventually end in a 1-1 tie, due to the fact that it was getting dark out, and stadiums were not built with lights at the time.

Rogers Hornsby was the greatest of the great second baseman. It isn't even close.

Johnny Evers was a good second baseman for the Chicago Cubs during their glory days, which ended more than 100 years ago.

Comparing Rogers Hornsby to Johnny Evers is analogous to comparing Albert Pujols to Adam LaRoche.

Hornsby was the National League MVP in 1925 and again in 1929. He won the Triple Crown in 1922 and again in 1925.

In 1924, Hornsby batted .424, which is a mark that will never be approached.

It's official. After a 1-0 loss to the Oakland A's, the Giants should be in panic mode when it comes to upgrading the offense. Aaron Rowand isn't cutting it at leadoff (though this isn't exactly "surprising" news) and for whatever reason, Pablo Sandoval has suddenly transformed from budding-Vlad Guerrero to budding-Randall Simon.

Ryan Theriot has compiled 54 hits ranking him second among National League hitters and representing a great start to the season at the plate. This has led to a decent .307 batting average.

What is somewhat concerning is his lack of extra base hits. Of his 54 hits, only five are of the extra base variety. His Isolated Power Index (ISO) has him sitting at .034, worst in the N.L., and second worst in the majors behind (cough) Juan Pierre.

Expecting Theriot to match his career high 7 homers from last season is a bit too much to ask, as that's just not his game.

Right now "the New York Yankees" doesn’t have the same ring to it as it did in the start of the year. The Yankees have now lost five of their last seven games and have fallen to five games behind the Rays in the A.L. East.

The injury bug has been a real pest a majority of the season. But everyone kept talking about how important it was for other players to step up… and they were. Everyone was talking about how fantastic the starting pitching was for this club, and it certainly has been a big help.

Last night for the Chicago Cubs Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, one of the less heralded potential superstar prospects in baseball had another good night.

Andrew Cashner, the Cubs first round draft pick in 2008, dominated for seven innings as the Iowa Cubs won 1-0. Cashner was an elite closer in college, but the Cubs are trying to make him into a starter.

Trying?

Since being promoted to Triple-A, Cashner is putting up numbers that could easily be confused for those of super-prospect Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals.