Opinion

Whoops, I guess this is the danger of writing for public consumption—you run the risk of looking like an utter jackass. Even when you think you're taking the necessary precautions, every now and then, risk yanks your card.

Today is apparently 'every now and then.'

For years, the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers have had the biggest rivalry in baseball that doesn’t include the term “Red Sox vs. Yankees,”  with every game just as heated as the one on the east coast.

However, as both teams have struggled and as players have gone from team to team in the National League West, the rivalry has cooled in recent years.

The thing that had the battle going when both teams moved west was that almost all the players on each roster were homegrown and were taught to hate each other.

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when baseball observers conjectured that pitchers who attain 300 or more career victories will be fewer and fewer with each passing season.

The primary reasons given were the preference of five-man, rather than four-man, rotations, and the increasing frequency in which managers these days pull a starter in favor of a reliever in late innings.

This state of affairs may be so, but there has been a bumper crop of 300-win talents in the last half-dozen years.

Dear Roger Clemens:

I've had enough: I'm leaving you behind. It's time to say goodbye. You chose to go the route you did and drag everyone that loved watching you compete down with you.

In the words of Fleetwood Mac, "You can go your own way." 

You were once a paragon of athleticism and hard work. You symbolized what ability, hard work and arrogance could accomplish not only in baseball, but also in life. You were an artist on the mound that mixed perfect mechanics, a blazing fastball, splitter, fear and location into 300-plus wins.

Curt Schilling announced his retirement today after a 20 seasons in the Major Leagues spent with the Orioles, Astros, Phillies, Diamondbacks, and Red Sox.

Almost immediately, ESPN and sports-talk radio was flooded with analysis of Schilling's career. It was a day-long debate about Schilling's worthiness of future Hall of Fame enshrinement.

The general consensus around fantasy circles is that second base is a deep position. To a degree, I understand the sentiment—the top tiers of players are crowded with guys who stuff the stat sheet to the gills. However, when you look at the overall draftable players, the position is almost as thin as the catchers...

THE SECOND BASEMEN

After sitting out for the 2008 season, Curt Schilling decided it was best to hang up the spikes.

Schilling will forever be remembered as one the most clutch pitchers of his generation.

Although as recently as a few weeks ago he said he would like to pitch for the Cubs or Rays in 2009, to help them win a championship, he decided it was time for him to take a bow after an emotional 20-year ride in the show.

My dad and I talk sports almost every night.  We discuss all the topics of the day.  Who signed where, what was said, who won the big games, etc..  He even sends me text messages during the day so he can be the first to break sports news to me.  I do the same in return, sending him Chiefs scores when he's away from a TV or computer.  

The vast improvement of the Baltimore Orioles’ minor league system brings much hope for an organization trying to break a string of 11-straight losing seasons and return to contention in the cutthroat American League East.

However, two decisions made over the weekend signal a harsh reality of the present, and the need for more patience as the organization waits for its bumper crop of starting pitching to mature in the minor leagues.