Opinion

There is nothing worse than a strikeout.

A strikeout is not just another out, it is an out that is a completely wasted at-bat for the offensive team.

Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta certainly didn't get off to the start he and his club were hoping for. After years of rough April outings, there was hope things under Acta would change.

The standings may not indicate it, but I think they have. Acta's Tribe only won nine games, but they were lucky to even do that after being outscored by 27 runs in the month of April. The team is showing a lot more promise than most expected and it has been the pitching that has carried them to this point.

May is a new month, which means they are closer to the point where they historically heat up.

As the calendar officially flipped over to May this morning, it became impossible not to reflect on what the past 30 days has entailed for baseball’s reigning “World” Champions.

April had its questions, its uncertainties, and its collective breath-holding, but as the smoke cleared from Major League Baseball’s most volatile month, New York still finds itself where it feels it belongs.

Coming into the 2010 season, most Royals fans were wondering how much longer they'll have to wait until some of the organization's highly touted prospects will make their way to Kansas City.

The team has started the season with a 9-14 record, and is in a last-place tie with Chicago in the AL Central. And while the team's record may be discouraging to most Royals fans, this team could easily be five wins better if not for horrendous bullpen pitching through the first four weeks of the season.

The Baltimore Orioles.

You need another Tampa Bay Rays 2008 season for them to actually have a chance, especially in the AL East with the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, and the improving Blue Jays.

Their offense is pretty solid with Miguel Tejada, Nick Markakis, Matt Wieters, and Adam Jones.

But it's their pitching staff that's screwing them up.

Kevin Millwood was acquired this past offseason to be the No. 1 guy in the rotation along with Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Matusz.

Though so far, Matusz is the only one with a win in the starting rotation.

Sigh.

Winning six of seven series to start the season, the signing of the hometown hero to a long-term contract, and the opening of a new ballpark has many fans thinking World Series.

The first Twins' first World Championship occurred in 1987. For many fans, this team will always have a special place in our hearts.

This was the first professional team to win a title for the state of Minnesota.

As then-second baseman Steve Lombardozzi proclaimed after the Twins defeated the St.

Coming into Friday night's games, it appears that the Oakland A's may have come out of the starting gate with a small, although not decisive, lead in the division race.

That's in spite of the fact that the four teams of the American League West have very similar records. And the first month of the season is just closing.

There are two considerations that put Oakland a little ahead. One is how well they've done in the division itself. The other is how many tough games outside the division they've played.

Enough with watching these Giants snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and having to listen to some knucklehead impersonate a first-grade teacher and say, "There's no reason to panic. It's still early in the season."

Oh, we'll hang with the Giants through all 162 games. It's the folks who think anything short of accepting every loss gracefully is actually a show of pure panic.

If you were to ask me in mid-March who I thought would be the A's leader in RBIs through the first month of the season, I probably wouldn't have said Cliff Pennington. 

Well, Pennington, a former first-round pick, is off to a strong start for the A's this season. Through 24 games, Pennington has managed to hit .250/.337/.461 and has collected a team-leading 15 RBIs. 

While his batting average is nothing to excited about, his unexpected display of power, however, should make even the most pessimistic A's fan feel all giddy inside. 

The A's have had a promising start to the 2010 campaign. Some have left A's fans weeping saying "this looks all too familiar!" But there is room for optimism, and since I'm the optimism king of my Oakland A's, I feel it's my duty to keep fans uplifted.
At the beginning of the season I predicted a season winning percentage of no worse than .500 in 2010. I stand by that. The A's have the talent that goes far overlooked by the rest of the league. In fact, the A's could surprise everyone.