Opinion

Watching Cliff Lee pitch is one of those things as an opposing fan that drives you crazy. He doesn't have overwhelming stuff by any stretch of the imagination, the movement on his pitches isn't great, and he throws very hittable strikes.  All those factors seem like they should add up to easy on base opportunities for a good hitting team. 

But today, he completely confounded the Rockies batsmen, and made Citizens Bank Park look like a pitcher's haven instead of the bread box it is.

The Detroit Tigers ended their 2009 season with a devastating extra innings loss to the Minnesota Twins.  Some writers are dubbing the collapse the worst in baseball history, but let’s reflect on the past season.

In 2008, the Tigers finished in the cellar, looking up to the rest of the A.L. Central with no lock on first place entering the ’09 season.  Despite their woes last season, Detroit preserved and maintained the top position for the majority of the year.

In what was something that Mets’ fans were looking forward to hearing, Mike Francesa spent over an hour talking about the Mets with Jeff Wilpon, Dave Howard and Omar Minaya. I certainly feel like I spent 45 minutes of my life while learning nothing new.

That’s a lie. The Mets are going to have a Hall of Fame put in Citi Field. I just have one question. Is it going to to honor the Mets or the Brooklyn Dodgers?

One idea that I have seen in multiple places recently is to sign Ben Sheets to a one-year contract with incentives, and I couldn’t be more against that potential acquisition.

First of all, haven’t we learned anything about those who have been hurt? Maybe we should bring some healthy bodies into the fold. I would much rather the Mets pony up the dough for John Lackey, but that’s just me.

Dan Uggla, the big bat in the Marlins lineup, is bound to be dealt in the offseason due to his raise in salary via arbitration.  Dan Uggla is very valuable to a team as he can hit homers and drive in runs; for this reason, the Braves are in pursuit for his bat.

The Braves need a big bat in their lineup since, this year, between their three and four hitters Chipper Jones and Brian McCann, they only hit 39 HR. 

They say "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence," leaving one to believe that they have never played in Jeff Paolino's back yard.

Paolino is the Head Groundskeeper for the Lowell Spinners, Class-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, and was recently named the New York-Penn League Sports Turf Manager of the Year for his work at LeLacheur Park.

An avid baseball fan and criminal justice major, Paolino, in his second season as the Spinners head groundskeeper after three seasons as the assistant. 

The Angels and Red Sox starting rotations were statistically very similar throughout the season...how the starters perform over the next week will go a long way in determining who will advance to the '09 ALCS.

I have just placed my crystal ball on my desk...let's take a look at the likely matchups:

Game One: John Lackey and Jon Lester

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not trying to float my own boat.

This is an attempt to thank some of the people who have helped me, as well as a look back at some of my experiences.

So, here it is.

My 100th article.

Yeap...

I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to feel about this.

Is this the revelation that I have spent way too much time tapping away on this site as I perpetually did stat checking at baseball-reference.com?

Or is this the stamp of excellence?