Fan News

What do you think of when you read or hear "Every Four Years?" The Presidential elections?  The Olympics?  World Cup Soccer?

Nope, not if you are a fan of the San Diego Padres' infielder David Eckstein.

"Every Four Years" means David Eckstein wins a World Series.

The list of things that went right with the 2010 Seattle Mariners season starts and ends with Felix Hernandez.

King Felix should be the favorite for the Cy Young after a stellar season that includes a 2.31 ERA (second in baseball), a 1.06 WHIP (tied for fourth in baseball), and 227 strikeouts (second in baseball). 

Ichiro Suzuki is pretty good too, recording his 10th straight 200-hit season early last week.

After that, however, the Mariners roster is a collection of misfits, underachievers, over-the-hill veterans, and colossal busts. 

With all of the troubles with its parent club in 2010, the Pirates AA affiliate Altoona Curve and the High-A affiliate Bradenton Marauders recently completed very successful seasons.

In case you haven't noticed, or have been too turned off by the latest 100 loss season by the Pirates, most of the real talent in the organization are currently playing at one of these two levels.

All of the trades and all of the last three successful drafts will wind up paying off in the form of these talented young players. For once, the Pirates have "real" prospects.

It was a good run...right?

The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 4-3 in extra innings last night, a game that featured late inning dramatics from both sides.

The Yankees had a 3-2 lead going into the top of the ninth inning with Mariano Rivera on the hill.

Yet the resilient Sox would not go away. Ryan Kalish singled with one out, stole second, stole third, and scored on a Bill Hall single.

After all these years we still don’t know what makes an MVP in Major League Baseball. Is it the player with the best stats, the player that does the best on a playoff team or the player that is most indispensable to his team.

Well Cabrera has options one and three sewn up.

Some will still make the case for a Josh Hamilton, Robinson Cano, Jose Bautista, or even Paul Konerko, but none have Cabrera’s stats or are more important to their respective teams.

Sunday afternoon's game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Chicago White Sox may have had no bearing on the playoffs, but it was certainly historic in nature.

It only took six days for Joe Girardi to finally realize the Yankees needed to start winning games or they wouldn't be going to the playoffs.

Before autumn 2007, Charlie Manuel had about the same chance of ever being Manager of the Year as Michael Vick had of ever being the Eagles' starting QB, right?

Guess a lot has changed in three years.

But can the skipper of a team that was an overwhelming World Series favorite in the preseason actually win Manager of the Year?

In the last week of the season, you will see a lot of things happening that didn’t happen over the first 25 weeks. You will see teams who have already locked up playoff berths sit their starters to make sure they are fresh for the playoffs.

Starting rotations will be jumbled as aces will be bumped a day or two to position them for specific days of playoff action. Rookies will get more playing time and vets will sit as teams out of contention look to the future.

It took the Texas Rangers 11 years, but they are back in the playoffs.

With their 4-3 victory over the Oakland A’s on Saturday, the Rangers clinched their first division title since 1999 and now will have a chance to do something they have never done before—win the World Series.

Of course, the keys for the Rangers as they head to the postseason:

A. Health

B. The starting rotation

When I say health, I really mean Josh Hamilton.