Fan News

My, how things have changed in baseball with fan perception of players using performance-enhancing drugs. In a span of less than a decade, we have gone from running players out of the game completely to adapting to the situation.

Friday night’s return of Manny Ramirez from a 50-game suspension due to testing positive of banned substances was a sign of the times where a majority of baseball fans have collectively said, “I love the game and this is what it is, Play Ball!“

1. Bruce Bochy

Bochy has frustrated fans all season long with his in-game decisions. He also irritates fans with his starting lineups. Bochy is known as a manager who likes to pay veterans, and this is probably why youngsters like Nate Schierholtz did not get a lot of playing time in the beginning of the season. Bochy seems to always not know when to pull a starter or a reliever, and that has cost his team many games this year already. The Giants are winning in spite of Bochy's poor managing skills.

2. Barry Zito

In 1933 at the World's Fair in Chicago, an event was held at Comiskey Park. The best of the best from all across the American League and National League gathered for an unprecedented exhibition game...an All Star Game. 

The result was a sweeping success that it became part of the baseball season each year, scheduled for midsummer. 

The Midsummer Classic provided fans a unique opportunity to see the best and brightest from either league competing against one another, an opportunity that could only have taken place in the World Series. 

70 years ago, a man stood on the field at Yankee Stadium and told the world that he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth. That man was dying, but no one knew it.

He told them that he was the luckiest man on the face of the earth. He spoke about the great teammates and managers he played with, how blessed he felt for the family he had, and how good the game of baseball had been to him. 

That man was Lou Gehrig, and on July 4, 1939, the man more commonly known as "The Iron Horse," had to walk away from baseball. 

Well, maybe you've somehow been sleeping all of this 2009 season. Or maybe, you decided to forget about the Tigers this season after an abysmal 2008. Could it be a little of both?

If it's any of those reasons, or for any other excuse you just have missed out on the action of 2009 so far, I'll catch you up. You're in for a suprise.

Brandon Inge isn't just defense.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution's, David O' Brien is reporting that Atlanta may be close to making a deal. Frank Wren and Bobby Cox were holed up in an office for more than an hour on Thursday before the game, leading to rampant speculation about an imminent trade for the Braves.

According to O' Brien the Braves could get someone who is not a free agent next year for Vazquez.

At this time last season, Astros' first baseman Lance Berkman left many wondering if he could continue at his torrid pace when he led the NL Triple Crown categories heading into the All-Star break.

In what has turned out to be a tale of two seasons for Berkman, 2009 has been a struggle.  Flirting with the dreaded "Mendoza Line" for the better part of the season, Berkman (a career .300 hitter) has ignited the last ten games improving his average to a respectable .268.

Yes, I went for a tired old pun to start the article. The Bronx Bombers, the Evil Empire to those that are not supporters, are the dreaded baseball cap. But really, they and a few other teams are the ones who dread the cap, because it will infringe upon their ability to buy the players that other teams' farm systems have sculpted for years.

Here's how I came up with my cap concept:

Filed:July 3, 2009

Koyie Hill awaits the throw home, before tagging out Jeff Suppan at the plate. (Cubbie Nation)

Click here for the photo gallery from Friday's game

You know, I have a lot of respect for Pittsburgh Pirates fans. I really do. They have had nothing to be happy about for the past 17 years. The pitching has been awful, offense mediocre, and front-office moves questionable. And then, of course, the losing season after losing season.

But this year really might have been the one. There was a definite chance that this team could finish at .500, maybe a game or two over.