MLB

Ernie Harwell passed away this week. Everyone remembered him for his class and his announcing.

Harwell was an announcer who was objective. He credited the opposing player if he hit well or pitched well.

Twins TV play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer mentioned a nice story about Harwell the other day. Harwell expressed his appreciation to Joe Mays for shutting out the Tigers.

“Play ground. By the swings. 3 o’clock. Be there or…”

No matter where you sat on the whole brewhaha involving A’s pitcher Dallas Braden and the man we love to hate, a.k.a. Alex Rodriguez, this is pretty much what one has to hear every time the young hurler opens his mouth.

Which is quite often.

Okay, it's only one game. I get that.

And, as Cubs fans, we tend to go overboard in our hype of Cubs' players, especially ones from our own farm system.

It is with this in mind that I cautiously state the following:

Retire his number now.

Look, just give Starlin Castro the Wayne Gretzky treatment and don't make him wait the traditional five years.

Put the kid in the Hall of Fame now.

When Barry Zito signed his $126 million deal with the Giants in December of 2006, everyone thought it was too much money. Zito was the third starter of the A's Three Aces, and the only one NOT to be traded away, with Tim Hudson going to the Braves and Mark Mulder to the Cardinals.

The consensus was a gross overpayment on San Francisco's part. When he didn't perform up to expectations, going 11-13 with the highest ERA of his career (4.53), critics deemed him a failure in contract negotiation by Giants brass. 

The old baseball adage is that pitching and defense wins championships. That being the case, the Minnesota Twins appear to be going in the right direction in 2010.

The starting pitching, led by Francisco Liriano, appears to be the strongest and deepest staff the Twins have had in ten seasons. Four of the starters have spent their entire major-league careers with the Twins. Liriano, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey have all been a part of the rotation since 2008.

The Chicago White Sox won the World Series in 2005 for the first time since 1917.

The 1917 White Sox won 100 games and defeated the New York Giants to become World Champions, but with the passage of time, the Pale Hose have become an afterthought.

A major reason is that many associated with baseball prefer that the 1919 World Series, which was fixed, be mentioned as little as possible. Bad memories should be repressed.

Many players on the 1917 World Champion White Sox were members of the 1919 American League Champion White Sox.