Opinion

Watching Nick Punto of the Twins bunt for a base hit with two outs to score a run in today’s Cub game exemplifies everything that is wrong with the Cubs and the way Cub GM Jim Hendry has constructed this team.

The New York Mets are one of the nicest looking teams in the majors. When they wear nice looking uniforms.

The Mets currently have five home uniform combinations, pinstripes with blue cap, pinstripes with black cap, solid whites with blue caps, solid white with black cap, and solid black with black cap.

Despite being named 'primary home uniform', the Mets only wear their best looking uniform on Sundays, and wear the solid whites (the 'first alternate uniform') every other day of the week.

Rockies fans rejoice!

Our team is one win short of tying a franchise record for consecutive wins in a row.

Remember that wonderful September that got the Rockies into the World Series two years ago? That was the last time the Rockies went on a run like this.

By beating the Mariners 5-3 last night, the Rockies have won 10 straight games since salvaging one game from the Astros in their four-game series.

A month ago, on May 8th, the Kansas City Royals were 18-11 and in first place in the AL Central.  They proceeded to lose the next six games and go into a month-long tailspin.  Goinginto Friday's game against the Reds, they had lost 23 of 30 games.  They have won the first two games of this series with effective pitching, hitting, and defense, all of which had been lacking over the previous month.

Brian Bruney laced into former Angels' closer Francisco Rodriguez for his actions when he finishes a game.

Brian called Rodriguez's machinations, in which he pounds his chest, points to the sky, and roars, a "tired act."

"I just don't like watching the guy pitch. I think it's embarrassing. I was taught to play the game a different way."

Brian Bruney is Right

Of course, Brian Bruney is right. The opposition feels bad enough when it loses. To rub it in is classless, and as the old-timers used to say, it is bush league.

Before I turned out the necessary Roy Halladay article (by necessary I mean that writing anything else before dealing with that would have been near sacrilege), I was working on another angle.

I was writing about a player who needs more things written about him before we forget.

His name is Jesse Litsch.

I was watching during his first start against the Baltimore Orioles. The big story was his father sitting in the stands; and he won the game for the Jays in convincing fashion, pitching the most innings ever by a Blue Jays first-time starter.

Clay Buchholz, Jeff Bialey, Chris Carter, Lars Anderson, Jonathan Van Every, Michael Bowden, Argenis Diaz, Junichi Tazawa, Josh Reddick, etc. etc. etc.
Everyone acknowledges that the Boston Red Sox farm system is by far one of the deepest in all of baseball. Some of the players have been in the system forever, others just getting their first sip of Red Sox minors coffee. These guys are the fututre of the Sox, and will show why Boston will contend for the next decade.

Earlier this week, Mets manager Jerry Manuel walked out mound to get Johan Santana.  Johan did not want to come out of the game.  He's a competitor and he was beating the Phillies.  I understand.

We learned after the game what he was saying to Manuel on the mound.  Johan has a saying, "I'm a man, I'm a man."

I don't know what Johan means by this; I'm sure it has meaning to him.

What I do know, is Luis Castillo is a man, and I'm proud to have him on my team.

There was a time, not too long ago in fact, that every team in Major League Baseball could consider themselves a contender for a World Series crown.

It was a time of unbridled optimism for every fan of every team. A time where those fans could argue that this was the year that their team surprised everybody (or lived up to lofty expectations), without sounding the least bit ridiculous (except for Nationals fans, of course).

The Yankees were seconds away from losing the first game of the Subway Series and their fourth game in a row.

As Alex Rodriguez's threw down his bat in disgust after popping up a pitch from Francisco Rodriguez, the Mets' reliable closer, something unbelievable happened. 

The Mets' second baseman, Luis Castillo was attempting to settle under the pop up and as he was about to squeeze his glove on the ball, the ball dropped out of his glove, allowing Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira to score.