MLB

The New York Yankees have had two Hall of Fame catchers. 

Bill Dickey played during the 1930s and early 1940s. Yogi Berra replaced Dickey and played from the late 1940s until the early 1960s. 

Expert handicapper ESPN rates the Chicago Cubs a 2-1 favorite over the Pirates in PNC Park tonight.

But the Pirates' Charlie Morton can beat the Cubs' Ted Lilly. Because Morton already has. Last year, in Chicago.

It won't be easy, of course. Recent history suggests that Lilly will go about six innings against the Pirates, giving up about three runs, more likely than not for a quality start.

Basically, the Pirates figure to score against him, but not run up the total. He is aged 34, which is to say that he figures to decline with each passing year.

During his pregame session with the media, before the Oakland Athletics took on the Texas Rangers, manager Bob Geren revealed that Justin Duchscherer "had an MRI and it said there's just some inflation" in his left hip.

So it goes in the mental and physical siege known as the Major League Baseball season.

You'll forgive Geren if one conversation bleeds into another, even if it is only May and the 162-game slate is less than 20 percent complete. I mean, can you really blame his subconscious for transposing the American economic plight with that of his charges?

When Cole Hamels won the World Series MVP award at the tender age of 24, few doubted that he had a very promising career ahead of him. 

He was the toast of Philadelphia, the unquestioned staff ace, and the heir to Steve "Lefty" Carlton. 

The only problem was that reality intervened, and the last two years have been riddled with speed bumps for the young Hamels.

Tim Lincecum can’t seem to catch a break.

In his past two starts, Lincecum was the epitome of the stat “quality starts,” striking out 23 batters through 15.1 innings and only allowing five runs on eight hits. But because of his bullpen, the Freak failed to record a win in over a week.

For one game a week fans, the inability to close out games for Lincecum has created some murmurings that the San Francisco Giants bullpen could be in trouble.    

The past two games for the Arizona bullpen? 6 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. Yes, I know. It is an amazing feat. One might actually think that a corner has been turned, that things will improve.

This is, indeed, possible, but before there are parties and wagers about how the season is turning around (I doubt people are doing that yet, but still relax), take a deep breath and look at the reality. The bullpen just did that against the Astros, a pathetic excuse for a major league team at the moment.

Going into today's start against the Marlins, Barry Zito has been incredible. He is 4-0 with a 1.53 ERA and 0.88 WHIP in 35.1 IP. That is far from the Zito Giants fans were used to seeing from 2007 to the first half of 2009.

How did Barry Zito make this transition from "major" disappointment, to "rebounding" stud?

Here are five aspects that have contributed to Zito's success from the second half of 2009 to now.

(Information courtesy of Fangraphs.)

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It is the spring of 1976, before Mark Fidrych’s mercurial career took off, when “the bird” still meant something not so nice.

My friend Kris Donker and I are loitering in the expensive box seats next to the Tigers dugout at Tiger Stadium, prior to a weekend afternoon game. We take in the majesty of the ballpark, with Chicago White Sox players taking batting practice before us.

Unbeknownst to us, we are blocking the access to a swinging gate/door that leads directly to the field.

“Excuse me, fellas!”

Bottom of the ninth and two outs. There was a runner on first and a ghost runner on third, and Moose, the neighborhood meathead and opposing team's best hitter, was at the plate.

Filthy, drenched in sweat, and a tightly wound bundle of nerves, I stood on the mound (which was actually just a chalk line drawn on the ground)—the loneliest kid on earth.

Wayne Consalvi was more than likely in his Man Cave on Monday night, after a long day at work. He felt relaxed, he was home alone, and his wife now had a different last name.

He popped open a few beers and watched his beloved Philadelphia Phillies take on the St. Louis Cardinals.

The first beer was a congratulatory one for himself, the next pilsner, was a cheers for his son Steve.

By his own account Steve is, “a real good student, heading to Penn State,” he told the Philadelphia Inquirer.