Opinion

Several years ago my ex-girlfriend (who at that time wasn’t sporting the “ex” prefix) asked me who I thought was the greatest ballplayer of all time.

Every time I hear that Ozzie Guillen has said something, nothing seems to surprise me. His moments of childhood seem to be full to the brim, especially know as we still look back onto his Wrigley Field comments.

Ozzie is still a kid, and very probably will always be. His childhood-like mentality in the clubhouse has somehow worked though, he won the Chicago White Sox a championship in the 2006 season. They also made the playoffs last year, winning the AL Central division.

Just a quick note.

David Ortiz's struggles early this season were well documented. He was swinging at bad pitches, consistently swinging off-balance and, above all, couldn't catch up to a fastball to save his life, let alone an inside fastball.

Last night's blast to right field off of Atlanta starter Jair Jurrjens should quiet any doubters left out there.

I hate the Quad-A stereotype, particularly with hitters.

If you didn't know that before, you should check out my Quad-A/GPP article from last year. It's one of my best.

A consequence of my hating the stereotype is my loving the players who are labeled with it. You can't help but root for them.

They've been unjustly declared unfit to the majors, and you hope someday they come up and stick it to whoever doubted them.

When the No. 1 pick of the MLB draft is selected, he is expected to be a star.

Some picks are met with more fanfare than others (Stephen Strasburg elicited much more buzz than Matt Bush) but all No. 1 draft picks are expected to, at the very least, be good contributors to their major league teams.

And usually, they are.

It's June 27, and the major league trade deadline is drawing near.

As always, there are many teams out there looking for offense. The Mets, Rays, Blue Jays, and others are looking for a quality bat to further their playoff chances.

The Twins released Luis Ayala on Monday after showing his disgust to Twins manager Ron Gardenhire about not being used in the setup role, never mind that role has belonged to Jose Mijares all season.

With the Marlins looking for help in getting someone for relief, Ayala is available if the team is interested.

The Major League baseball season is a marathon, and usually the teams that end up playing in October are the ones who deal best with the adversity that’s encountered throughout the course of a long season.

Fortunately for the Angels, Manager Mike Scioscia is one of the best in the game at finding ways to win, regardless of the hand he's dealt.  

The MLB season is a war.

Whether it's injuries or a hitting slump, there are many minor battles that occur over the course of season. But during the Cubs' 6-5 win over the White Sox on Friday, Lou Piniella fired the first salvo in one of the most important battles the Cubs will face all year: the battle for the clubhouse.

This past week the Braves played a three-game series against the Yankees in Atlanta. As expected, the stands where split about 50-50. After all, New York has a large following.

The amount of visiting team fans is not my complaint. It's the unbelievable lack of respect that the fans showed during the games that upset me. 

It is important to point out that I do not wish to pin this on just Yankees fans. I know these people are all over and no team is exempt from a variety of disgraceful followers.