Fan News

As soon as the World Series ends, all eyes will turn to Cliff Lee and the free agent class of 2010 to see where some of the games biggest stars will end up at the start of the 2011 baseball season.

In advance, we take a look now at the top 20 free agents for the coming offseason.

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Accountability and accuracy are the two of the most important aspects of a fantasy writer’s credibility.

With that in mind, and this being the final installment of By the Numbers for the 2010 season, we’ll be looking back at my pre-draft Target and Avoid series to see how well I did directing your draft selections.

The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers has always been a rivalry, a fierce and entertaining one at that, while the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees have come to form a partnership of hate, fighting for the American League East crown.

"And down the stretch they come."

Those words, made famous by horse racing announcer Dave Johnson, should be playing on  loudspeakers in baseball parks all across the country.

With the regular season coming to an end, there are some divisions still up for grabs, and wild cards still to be determined.

While we wait to see which teams will be playing in this "second season," let's take a look back at the greatest pennant-race performances of all-time.

It makes me chuckle.  Really, it does.  I sit back and listen to people, both fans and broadcasters whine and moan about instant replay in baseball. 

When the Arizona Diamondbacks drafted Barret Loux with the sixth overall pick in the 2010 MLB amateur Draft, many said the move was aimed at saving money: Loux was projected to go later in the first round, and was reportedly willing to sign for a smaller bonus than any other promising prospect Arizona could have had in the sixth slot.

There would only be one reason why I would sit down to watch a Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays game in the middle of September when both teams are completely out of it.

I wanted to watch the debut of top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek for the Blue Jays.

As I awoke to the splash of reality and the realization that Lee Mazzilli was not managing the Mets, flanked by Keith Hernandez as hitting coach and Ron Darling as pitching coach, I groaned and turned off my alarm.

Once the cobwebs cleared from my brain, so did the visions of Wally Backman coaching third, Tim Teufel coaching first, and Howard Johnson filling the role of bench coach.

Via Chad Jennings:

Making his first start in nine days, Phil Hughes was dominant for four innings. Perfect actually. He wouldn’t be perfect on this night. In fact, he wouldn’t even get his team a victory, thanks to Dan Johnson.

The Rays designated hitter who spent last season playing in Japan needed two swings to carry his team to their second win in three games against the Yankees.