Opinion

Look, it's hard enough to be a rookie in the majors. But to have to shoulder the burden of being the guy who brings interest in baseball back to the African-American community is taking this a bit too far.

Meanwhile, I do get it—Heyward is a very talented young black player coming along at a time when Major League Baseball is trying to encourage more African-American participation in baseball.

But there are other good, young black players in baseball that can help carry that mantle if it does indeed need to be carried.

With their first road trip of the season in the books, the Cubs have a 2-4 record.

The good news is that the Cubs could easily be 5-1 right now if a handful of innings had gone a little differently. The bad news is that the Cubs were denied that 5-1 record because of those innings.

I think it is safe to say that, although the team's first week of games had it's share of ups and downs, the poor play has outweighed the good, and is at the forefront of Cubs fans' minds.

The performance of the bullpen was a key concern for the Cubs coming into the season.

Opening Day in Pittsburgh - while warm & breezy, Pittsburgh is not high on the list of places I would hope to begin the season. Sadly I was not consulted by the schedule makers.

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi has both his critics and his advocates.

If Kelly Shoppach hadn't broken up CC Sabathia's no-hitter with two outs in the eighth inning of yesterday's game between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays, Girardi would have made a managerial move that could have converted many of his supporters.

He told ESPNNewYork's  Wallace Matthews, "Shoppach was [CC's] last hitter, no matter what." 

That translates to, "If CC had a no-hitter entering the ninth inning, I wouldn't have let him attempt to make history."

Nathan Beard has always had the dream of being a knuckleball pitcher.

As a youth growing up in Staples, MN, Beard began working on his knuckleball at a young age.

Watching Orioles baseball has become a recipe for disaster for most fans of this once proud franchise. 

Each and every year, fans are spoon-fed the same old weathered lines like, "They have a lineup that can compete with any team in baseball" or "they're getting younger and should be fun to watch."

Well, six games into the 2010 season and this team's lineup is far from competitive and anything but fun to watch.

So this is one fan shouting out to the Baltimore Orioles that enough is enough. This fan base deserves better.

Other than Carlos Marmol, who has yet to blow a save since he was proclaimed the closer late last season, this Cubs team offers little in the way of relief.

Sure, there is Sean Marshall, but he can't pitch every day. 

But the "cure" to the bullpen woes may not be solved by another Jason Frasor or Heath Bell rumor.

It may be eased if the team can figure out how to score more runs, so that every game is not a tightrope act.

Hey, the bullpen, except for the aforementioned Marshall and Marmol, has been bad.

The New York Yankees.  Lord of their realm, with fans who let you know it.

Talking to a Yankee fan is generally an exercise in futility, since they are programmed to utter two basic phrases:

Phrase one: “Twenty-seven rings, baby”, or a something along that vein.