Fan News

It's one of the most amazing stories of the 2010 baseball season. Omar Infante, a career utility player, has stepped in a starting role with the Atlanta Braves and is threatening to become one of the most unlikely batting title winners in baseball history.

On July 30th, the Braves All-Star second baseman, Martin Prado, broke his finger sliding into home plate.   Prado landed on the 15-day DL and Infante was inserted into the starting lineup at second base.

What makes a premier closer in Major League Baseball?

Let's start with a simple, but elusive attribute. Control. As entertaining as Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn was in the movie Major League, a guy that fails to pin point his pitches is murder on the nerves of fans. A Mr. Francisco Rodriguez comes to mind here.

Most closers only have two pitches. Having the ability to control where those pitches wind up is paramount to success.

The San Diego Padres are finally playing like we expected them to play this season. Going into Monday, The Friars have dropped ten straight games are holding a very slim one game lead. This might be the end of their magical run, but Cinderella has four more weeks to dance if they can regain their winning ways.

Meanwhile, the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds are pulling away in their respective division races. Watch these clubs to rest starters from time to time to keep them fresh for October.

The Toronto Blue Jays shut Brandon Morrow down after Friday’s start due to the number of innings he had thrown.  While his season didn’t end on the brightest note (3.0 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K), he leaves behind a stat line that shows off all the promise we’ve heard so much about:

10 Wins
146.1 Innings
4.49 ERA
1.38 WHIP
178 Strikeouts (10.95 K/9)
66 Walks (4.06 BB/9)
.348 BABIP

The Yankees have owned the Orioles this season, beating them in 10 of the 12 times the two teams have faced each other, but Baltimore has been a different team since hiring former Yankees manager Buck Showalter. So this week’s three game series will not be as easy as the head-to-head record would make it seem.

Here are some notes:

Over the course of his five seasons in the major leagues, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Jered Weaver has established himself as one of the better pitchers, not only in the American League, but in all of baseball. 2010 might be Weaver’s best season yet in the major leagues.

Of all the major team sports, baseball is, uniquely, a game of great matchups and showdowns. Mostly, it’s a game of individual showdowns within the construct of team ball.

While postseason baseball already brings us to the edge of our seats, there are certain pitcher versus batter showdowns that take us out of our seats altogether.

Another wacky week of baseball. The ever-annoying Nyjer Morgan decided to slam into the Marlins catcher one too many times.

After being thrown at, Morgan decided to charge the mound and MLB's second brawl of the season occurred.

More violent than Reds vs. Cardinals, Morgan got in a few head shots before getting knocked down by the entire Marlins team.

Aroldis Chapman of the Reds made his major league debut this week. He arrived in a blaze of glory, hitting 103 on the radar gun multiple times.

With news that Cardinals outfielder Colby Rasmus has requested a trade, a team with an already cloudy future did not get any clearer. 

Here are five reasons why Cardinal fans’ motto for the rest of the season should be “playoffs or bust.”

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At the end of Sunday’s play, the New York Yankees have a 2.5 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yanks and the Rays are most definitely going to the playoffs; the only question is which team wins the American League East. The two teams play each other for seven epic games in the next two weeks. However, the Yankees have a chance to pad their lead before they arrive in St. Petersburg for three games.