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Much credit has been given to Yankees Manager Joe Girardi for his “inspiring and motivating” rant and subsequent ejection on Wednesday night.

Girardi was on a mission to not only light a fire under his team, but to also make opposing manager and “ejection extraordinaire” Bobby Cox proud of his tirade.

Trevor Hoffman has received immense praise for his work this year, and rightfully so. He has 16 saves in 17 chances this year with a 1.31 ERA, and he is very likely to make a return trip to the All-Star game next month.

But Hoffman would attribute much of his success to four players that usually go largely unnoticed to most fans. Without the great play of Seth McClung, Todd Coffey, Mitch Stetter, and Mark DeFelice, the Brewers' season would have a much different feel than it currently does.

After a memorable 2008 season that saw the Milwaukee Brewers make the Playoffs for the first time since 1982, expectations for the 2009 season were mixed.

Many people thought the Brewers wouldn't have enough pitching to make a return trip, while others thought their bats would carry them to the promised land for a second straight year.

The Brewers are about to begin a nine-game home stand that will see them try and regain first place after being overtaken by the St. Louis Cardinals.

I don’t care how comfortable Alfonso Soriano is in the leadoff spot—he has to be moved.

Soriano is a very dangerous leadoff hitter, but only when he makes contact with the ball, which nowadays is not very often. The Cubs' leadoff hitter needs to have a batting average near .291, which is Soriano’s current on-base percentage.

We're at the half-way point of the 2009 Major League Baseball season, and with all the statistics and numbers that baseball keeps, it's not too hard to point out how the Sox are at where they are...on top of the American Leauge!

This is my Red Sox mid-season report, and as the title says... it's all in the numbers!

This is a question that Mariners fans have been asking themselves and each other all season. So far, there really hasn't been a clear cut answer, but it's starting to look more and more like a yes.

As of now, the Seattle Mariners are sitting at 35-34, two-and-a-half games behind Texas and two behind LA.  On top of that, this upcoming series with San Diego presents an opportunity to gain even more ground, as our division rivals are facing much more challenging opponents.

The Minnesota Twins have spent most of June slowly gaining ground on the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central.

Early next month, the Twins could quickly gain ground on the rest of the Major League Baseball when it comes to high-profile international signings.

On this Father's Day weekend, all of our thoughts turn to our dads, the shapers of so much in our lives. The lucky ones will get to hug their dads and perhaps share a silly card.

Others like me, whose fathers have passed on, can only cling to the memories of Father's Days past.

For all of us, fathers have played an instrumental role in or lives, guiding us in our growing up years and instilling important values along the way. 

In the summer leading up to the 2007 Major League Baseball season, the Boston Red Sox put 50 million dollars on the table just to speak to a pitcher from Japan. Reports of a pitch known as the "gyro" ball infatuated every baseball fan from coast to coast.

The deal was completed and Daisuke "Dice-K" Matsuzaka was brought to the Red Sox with open arms from The Nation.

His first season went by looking very average and not close to worth the money.  He went 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA.

Derrek Lee hit two homers on the day today, bringing his season total to ten. Anyone who has read this blog at all knows that I am very anti-D-Lee. He had that one great year, and has basically been a good average guy with little power that ends up on the DL a lot. Matches his initials, isn’t that cute? 

He is having a pretty good season, but he hasn’t really been injured yet, and I still would not touch him.  If you have him, I would try to cash in on this time and see if you can trade him for someone a little more safe.