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Opinion

Opinion

The Florida Marlins: Reflection on This Season and Looking Ahead

The Florida Marlins won't be playing baseball after the first Sunday of October, but they shouldn't chalk this up to a loss season.

No one expected these youngsters to end up with a winning record but that is what they have done. This can be an 88-wins season for the fish, if they run the table.

Looking ahead, the team should continue to build on what they have accomplished this year.

 

What They Have: Great One-Two Punch

The Oakland A's Light at the End of the Tunnel: Run, Rajai, Run

"Everyone I know, everywhere I go/People need some reason to believe/I don't know about anyone but me." —Jackson Browne

If the Oakland Athletics' season were compressed into a single game, this would be point that is often affectionately referred to as garbage time. 

Kuip and Foss would be at least three-deep into the Dibs, with the latter undoubtedly regaling the audience with old war stories from his playing days in the '70s, anything to distract viewers from the tedium on the field. 

Marlins Get New Life Again

The Marlins played flat in their series against the Nationals over the weekend at Land Shark Stadium. Even in their one victory on Saturday night.

They went on the road to play the Cardinals, which was a tough task since the Cards play well at Busch Stadium.

They needed to win a series over there to keep their playoff hopes alive.

They did just that Wednesday afternoon at St. Louis by achieving a 5-2 victory.

With Brett Gardner off the DL, Melky Cabrera Should Head to the Bench

On September 7, Brett Gardner was activated from the disabled list, after spending nearly a month and a half there. Since then, Gardner has appeared in a majority of games, but it is evident Girardi views Melky Cabrera as the Yankees' starting center fielder.

Now, there are very few ways to quantify the influence a manager has. One sure thing a manager can do to help his team is to have his best options on the field more frequently than lesser options. Is Melky Cabrera the Yankees' best option in center field, with Gardner on the bench?

 

Ichiro's 2004 Season or Todd Helton's 2000 Season, Which One Was Better?

In a comment I read recently, someone attempted to explain the reason why Ichiro hits a lot of home runs. Basically, the premise of the argument was that Ichiro felt that if he tried to hit home runs, his batting average would suffer.

Well it's comparison time now because I found a player who has the same career high in average as Ichiro and did exactly what Ichiro said he could not do.

In 2004, Ichiro had his best season in the Major Leagues; it was the year he set the record for most hits in a season.

Here's a look at the numbers for Ichiro:

SF Giants' Bengie Molina Moved to Fifth in Order: What Took So Long?

With the exception of the last three contests, the San Francisco Giants have failed all year long to sustain quality offense from one game to the next.

But during two of the three latest offensive outbursts (seven runs, nine runs, ten runs), catcher Bengie Molina has hit in the fifth spot in the order. Prior to the drop in the order, Molina hadn't hit anywhere but cleanup for the Giants since 2007 when Barry Bonds was still with the team.

The sarcastic comment to make as a Giants fan is: "It's about goddamn time!!"

Tiger Fans Should Be More Confident About Division Lead

I anticipate a lot of hand-wringing by Tiger fans over the next couple days. There is going to be a lot of talk about how they could essentially blow their current lead over the Twins by the end of the weekend and fumble their shot at the postseason. I'd like to offer up some facts that will attempt to show just how unlikely that is.

For The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Two Closers Means No Closer

Going into the 2009 postseason without knowing exactly whom your closer will be seems to be a new trend in baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies are just one of the teams on board with this trend. It seems as if Brett Myers, Ryan Madson, and Brad Lidge are going to draw straws to see who is going to close in Game One of the NLDS.

Why Bryce Harper Is Not the Answer to the Nationals' Woes

The Washington Nationals are 19 games away from securing the top pick in baseball’s amateur draft for the second straight season.

 

You can decide if congratulations or condolences are in order.

 

All-Time Latino 9's in Major League Baseball

For Latinos living in the United States it is fiesta time.

This week it just started the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Poll

Best of the American League
Tampa Bay
19%
Boston
19%
Chicago
7%
Minnesota
10%
Los Angeles
17%
Texas
27%
Total votes: 270

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