Opinion

"What kind of baseball do you play?" That question was addressed to George Castle by Cub manager Lou Piniella yesterday when Castle questioned his strategy in the eighth inning of a Cubs loss to the Washington Nationals.

The question asked was why with a man on second and nobody out and Mike Fontenot at the plate and the Cubs trailing by a run that Piniella didn't have him bunt him over to third.

Earlier this week, the Phillies gave first baseman Ryan Howard a contract extension through the year 2016.

This contract makes him the second highest-paid player in baseball and seems to ensure that he will be a member of the Philadelphia Phillies for the foreseeable future.

They locked up one of the franchise’s greatest players for years to come. This should be a good thing, right?

Not if you believe the statheads.

Here’s a look at some unheralded players who played well yesterday.

David Eckstein, San Diego Padres

Eckstein went 1-for-5 with a run and three RBI. He’s hitting .274 but isn’t much of a fantasy factor.

Chris Young, Arizona Diamondbacks (pictured)

Young continued his impressive 2010 campaign by going 2-for-4 with a HR (five) and five RBI. He’s hitting .298 with 21 RBI.

Dexter Fowler, Colorado Rockies

Like George Costanza, “I’m back, baby!!!” After six days in Las Vegas I am back home in New York.

I apologize for the lack o’ posts this week, but it was almost impossible for me to write while I was away.

Now that I am back, let’s take a look at what has been going on around the great game of baseball the last couple of days.

Ryan Howard gets paid

Just some thoughts after the Mets finished up their series with the LA Dodgers.

1. Home Sweet Home.

The New York Mets finished a tremendous homestand at 9-1. That is quite the accomplishment no matter who you are playing. This is only the third time in the teams history that they have finished a ten game home stand with a 9-1 record.

2. 1st Place

Yes, thats right, the New York Mets are in first place. They used the 9-1 homestand to go from last place to first place in the National League East . You have to love baseball. Anything can happen.

It was a picture-perfect fall day in Minneapolis.

I was back in town to resume my collegiate studies, the sun was shining on my face, and the Twins had charged back into the playoff race, coming up on the slumping Detroit Tigers.

Life was good.

Then "The Text" came.

The Twins were playing an afternoon game that particular day, and rookie phenom Francisco Liriano was pitching against Oakland. He had been battling forearm pain and was making his first start back after a rehab stint in the minors.

Could someone please fix the humidor?

The Rockies lost 12-11 on Wednesday after slamming their way back into a game in which they were down by six runs before they recorded a single out.

Greg Smith pitched all of one inning, giving up six earned runs on four hits and three walks. It was the exactly opposite of what the Rockies needed from him in the rubber match of the three-game series.

Robinson Cano still is on fire and is having his best season to date. Cano connected on his sixth home run of the season and is currently batting .390.

Of course he can’t continue at this pace, especially on the batting average front, but Cano has hit well over .300 multiple times in his career, so this is not coming out of nowhere. He might not quite reach the 25 home runs he did in 2009, but I do think he will be close.

As a Miami Dolphin last year, New York Jets linebacker Jason Taylor mentioned Jets fans taking the "cl" out of class when it comes to talking about them. Now, he has to find a way to win them back.

Maybe he can go say that about the Yankees, but this is not a good idea for a guy that is trying to make a new impression in this region.

So this baseball guy will say it for Taylor: Taylor's statement of "cl" can be applied to the Yankees.

This is not simply a reaction to the post by Bruce Levine, who is wrong more often than he is right. There seems to be legitimate buzz around the Cubs organization about bringing up young stud Starlin Castro.

But it doesn't necessarily mean the end of Ryan Theriot as a Cub, for they may simply move The Riot to second base and play Castro at short.

Regardless of what they do with Theriot, one thing for sure is that they won't bring up Castro to sit on the bench. He will not come up until manager Lou Piniella can guarantee him regular playing time.