Opinion

He looks like a 30 year old league softball player from the Midwest. He has that John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra look about him. The kind of guy millions of American guys can relate to. That is part of what makes him so popular.

He is Nicholas Thompson "Nick" Swisher, a 29 year old switch hitting first baseman/ outfielder for the New York Yankees.

Nick was born in Columbus, Ohio and was raised in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

It was William Faulkner who once wrote, “Memory believes before knowing remembers.”

It is with this thought in mind that I attempt to tackle an unpopular subject. That is, what an insult to the airwaves Chicago Cubs announcer Ron Santo continues to be.

Look, he may be a local icon, but to me, he is an all-out assault on the senses.

As the first month of baseball comes to a close, the Tigers look like the team who could win the Central Division.

At this point, though, anyone could win it. With Chicago and Kansas City both producing good records right now, either team could take over the top spot.

Kansas City will fall off, just like surprising teams early in the year often do.

The end of April will start my monthly installment of who I think are the Tigers' pitching and batting MVP's.

Pitching MVP: Armando Gallaraga

Don't look now, but Nick Markakis has a 16 game hit streak going. 

Tomorrow night Nick the Stick goes up against Roy "Doc" Halladay, against whom he is 7-30 lifetime, good for a not-so-good .233 average. On the season Markakis is hitting .381, good for a very good third best in the American League.

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We aren’t even a full month into the 2009 MLB season and we’ve already seen scandals, big innings, great games, and unexpected division leaders. Baseball’s recent purge of steroids has considerably lowered the league’s offensive output, as well as attendance.

However, the sport is still surviving and looks to bring fans yet another great year. Here are a few things worth noting so far this season:

1. Check the Standings

The 2009 baseball season has started off with a splash. Thus far many teams have had good starts to this season, such as the Marlins and Blue Jays who have had solid hitting and good quality pitching.

Then we have the New York Yankees. The most active team this offseason; thus far their big time acquisitions haven't been up to the caliber of the 26 time world champions.

Sabathia and Burnett have not been able to lead a predicted top five rotation in the league.

Questions about Wang and his injury, as well as Joba's future in bullpen does raise eyebrows.

Before this season began, we wondered what exactly National League Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum could do for an encore.

After two starts to begin the year that left people scratching their heads, The Franchise is back to what he looked like a year ago and everybody is enjoying the show.

His ERA may be almost one-and-a-half runs higher than it was through five starts a year ago and half the number of wins, take away the two dismal starts to begin the season and Lincecum has been everything a staff ace represents.

"Oh [expletive]."

That's what I'd be thinking if I were a sports agent right now—more specifically, an agent representing one of Major League Baseball's forthcoming crop of free agents.

The problem might be just the same in the other major American sports, but it's baseball season, so I'm talking small ball.

Last season, the Washington Nationals lost 102 games, and their accompanying statistics bore that out. They were 13th in runs per game, 15th in home runs, and dead last in slugging percentage.

This year, the Nationals are on track to lose 108 games, but this time, their statistics seem to make their bad start an aberration.

After 20 games, the team is scoring a league-average 4.5 runs per game, is sixth in the league with 22 home runs and a .270 team batting average, and tied for second with 87 walks.

After loading the bases in the fourth inning, Joba Chamberlain appeared one pitch away from a disastrous outing.

Chamberlain had already walked three batters, thrown just 43 percent of his pitches for strikes, and trailed 1-0.