Fan News

Earlier this week, I wrote an article talking about the Mets outfield dilemma now that Carlos Beltran is playing rehab games for the St. Lucie Mets.  I concluded that the best-case scenario would be for the four outfielders to platoon.  I also joked that maybe Angel Pagan should take ground balls at second base, giving Jerry Manuel the ability to play all four outfielders at once.

While a no-hitter is always impressive, they are starting to become "routine" this year. With the All-Star break just around the corner there have already been four no-hitters (two perfect games) so far this season. If it weren't for the infamous call that cost Armando Galarraga his perfect game, 2010 would have five no-hitters and would be on its way towards the all-time record of seven in one season, which happened in 1990 and 1991.

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(6/25/2010)

Philadelphia, PA - This game was supposed to be Roy Halladay's return to Toronto—a chance for the Phillies to visit Rogers Stadium to make a statement with their new ace—but due to the G-20 summit, Halladay invited his former team to Philly and played host in a stellar seven innings of work to lead the Phillies in a 9-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park.

If the New Red machine needed servicing, vis-à-vis   an oil change, they got it at the right time.

Fresh (or shall I say stale) from a sweep at the hands of the lowly Seattle Mariners, the Reds borrowed the broom from the M's and took it to Oakland with them.

They swept the A's salvaging a split of the six game road trip.

A Difference Between Mickey and Joe DiMaggio

In one way, Mickey Mantle was the antithesis of Joe DiMaggio. The Jolter was such an aloof individual that rookies dared not to approach him, much less attempt to speak to him. Mickey Mantle used to rush over to greet new players with an outstretched hand.

"I'm Mickey Mantle," he would say, as if the young player didn't know. It was one of Mickey's nicest gestures.

When questioned about his rookie season, Mickey related that his first thrill as a Yankee was shaking hands with Joe DiMaggio.

Matt Kemp would have never imagined a better start to a baseball season.

At the 14-game mark of the 2010 campaign, the Los Angeles Dodgers' center fielder was a terror at the dish, batting .333 with seven home runs and 20 RBI. Calculated over the course of the season, that's a pace of 81 HR and 231 runs batted in.

Anyone with a shred of common sense knew that Kemp wouldn't maintain those types of numbers, but at the end of April when the Dodgers were 9-14 and in last place in the NL West, the blame game began—and most of the fingers were pointing toward Kemp.

Reputations precede you in pro sports. And they can enslave you.

It’s easy to spoil us—we who don’t play the game. We who merely watch and follow and pound out Tweets and blister athletes in 140 characters or less.

We got used to Magglio Ordonez, the Tigers right fielder. Every late winter/early spring, when the reports of how the Tigers were shaping up started to flitter in from Florida, we’d do a mental evaluation, position-by-position. When we came to Maggs, it was a simple evaluation.

Friday afternoon at Cellular Field in Chicago, Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano erupted after allowing the White Sox to score four runs in the first. Apparently, Big "Z" was upset with Derrek Lee's effort on Juan Pierre's leadoff double.

I am not sure whether Lee could have gotten to the ball or not, but with Zambrano and the team struggling as much they are, it is not the time to show a lack of effort.

Lee needs to step up and take some accountability for the Cubs' poor start. He is supposed to be their leader, but he is just not getting the job done.

Omar Minaya made a pretty good move by finding this random baseball player with an odd name and a knuckleball. The pitcher's name is R.A. Dickey and he has started off the season 6-0 with the Mets. He has been around the block for a while, but this season many feel like this guy came from nowhere. 

Nobody knows his true identity. 

Last year, he went 1-1 with the Twins in 35 games. This season's wins are equivalent to the amount has with Seattle and Minnesota the last two years. But Baseball Reference and all other websites have all of his stats wrong.

Entering the 2010 season, Scott Rolen was a career .283 hitter averaging 20 home runs and 81 RBIs per season. However, just as a fine wine becomes better with age, so has Rolen.