MLB

From the starting rotation to the bullpen, the guys who throw with their arms for a living certainly mean a lot to a ball club.

Sure, offensive run production and run prevention (a.k.a. defense) are critical, too. But as someone once said, pitching is 90 percent of half of the game.

Fuzzy math aside, this just happens to be where the current Cubs appear to fall short, unfortunately.

This was an article I wasn't going to dare trying to include all 100+ years of A's history on, so I chose to just focus on the Oakland years. Ranking these moments was out of the question too, so I just listed them chronologically. Older A's fans who lived through the 1970's World Series runs, please correct me if I missed any significant moments there.

This is my third and final "Evergreen" assignment from bleacherreport.com as part of an agreement in becoming a featured columnist. I'm glad to have these assignments behind me so I can continue writing the articles I want to write.

It’s a tale of two teams, but three cities. And as Charles Dickens wrote, it’s a tale of the years they intertwined from the start, one enjoying a “season (or seasons) of light,” the other dreading a “season of darkness.”

The Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs always pop up on each other’s schedules at least twice, sometimes more, every year. But rarely do they begin a regular season against each other.

Over the past decade, the Red Sox have developed a reputation for getting the best value for their players, and sometimes resurrecting careers in the process. 

You probably wouldn't call a player that hit .307, drove in 72 runs, and stole 27 bases a failure, but that's what many fantasy baseball players were caling New York Mets' third baseman David Wright last year.

With the way Wright was viewed before last season—one of the game's true elite third baseman—those numbers just didn't cut it.

During the Padres 2009 season San Diegans had a difficult time deciphering between games played at the downtown Petco Park and riding the Mission Beach Roller Coaster, the “Giant Dipper”, one of two original oceanfront roller coasters still operating on the west coast.

After the first three series last season, the Pads found themselves tied with the Dodgers for 1st place at 7-3. However, as roller coaster enthusiasts well know, what goes up-must come down, and the Padres plummeted to a 25-25 record.

The Tigers were well on their way to the ALDS last year before a September collapse and an Alexi Casilla single ended their 2009 season and left them on the outside looking in, despite leading the AL Central race for much of the year.

Rarely does a player experience such extremes from one year to the next, but Phillies closer Brad Lidge has lived that way since coming to the team in a trade two years ago. 

Tim Wakefield made his sixth start of the spring yesterday against the Florida Marlins, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five Fish.

It was just the second time this spring he surrendered runs, as he improved to 3-1, 3.66.

Afterwards, he said he hasn’t been told anything about the ball club’s plans for him once the regular season opens, though he seems assured to start the year in the rotation due to Daisuke Matsuzaka’s continuing physical issues:

It may be just 10 days before Opening Day, but for starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka—who has been sidelined by a series of aches and pains for a large portion of spring training—it’s much more akin to March 1.

Dice-K took his first steps towards becoming a contributing member of the rotation yesterday with two innings of work against the Florida Marlins, allowing a run on two hits in his outing.

It was the first time he faced major league hitters in live action this spring.