mlb-general
by Matt Wells
With the days of free agency and money-chasing upon us, we expect players in all four of the major sports to eventually depart to different clubs. It seems inevitable nowadays.
However, don’t you think fans of the players’ former teams should forgive and forget if a player ends up going to a different team? Don’t you think the players should be forgiven for leaving if they were successful for their previous teams?
Well, tell that to baseball fans.
The imminent return of one of Baseball’s best hurlers is scheduled to take the mound sometime in June according to Jim Molony at MLB.Com. The Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Texas Rangers are holding their collective breath as to exactly when the future Hall of Famer will take the mound.
If MLB expects to continue to be referred to as America’s Pastime, it will need to do a far better job of recruiting right here at home, where there still remain a ton of great athletes from the black community. But they will not find them on Capitol Hill or in ivory towers, but rather in their very own backyards.
Today is April 29, 2006. A well awaited weekend for the gridiron rooks, and a chance to become a NFL fan for one day before the season starts. But, besides the draft, today marks a day in the baseball season that gives a glimmer of light foreshadowing the future. Whether it’s records, statistics, injuries, breakout or slump prone players, the end of April allows us to structure a hypothesis regarding seasonal outcomes. The 12-10 Yanks, the division leading Reds, or Cecil Jr. making a quick entrance, this last month has summed up many holes in baseball and has truly succeeded our prestigious times.
Yes! The weekend. No! The Giants picking who? After witnessing the Giants trade their 25th pick to Pittsburgh, and selecting some defensive chump at the 32nd pick, the world needs to inflict faith and hope into some other higher force. That force is the Colorado Rockies. Yes, those Coors Field comrades from the West, that believe it or not, have more than a snail’s chance to win that weakly impaired NL West.
by Matt Wells
Welcome to Major League Baseball in the 21st Century. For the past decade, free agency has made the possibility of a player staying with the same team for several years at a time virtually unthinkable. You can thank free agency, I mean that. Free agency has helped make the game more exciting, as fans now get to see players playing for teams that we never thought possible (Frank Thomas in Oakland??!!).
You can also thank those green bills we call “money.” It’s the money that has helped move free agency along. The days of Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, and Barry Larkin are gone. Players just don’t stay with the same teams throughout their careers anymore.
Welcome to the second week of the Major League Baseball Power Rankings. Remember, questions, comments, and complaints are always welcome. Feel free to talk some smack, but be prepared to have it sent back at you.
The flamboyant and egotistical nature that makes Barry Bonds one of the most talked about players in all of sports will no doubt be overshadowed by invaritable self destruction.
Ahhh, baseball in 06′. Nothing more can deliver a harder punch to the gut. I’m sorry you diehard, do or die fans, that are so attached to baseball that you won’t admit the obvious. This year, baseball has become lack luster, proving to be dull and unsatisfying., but we always have next year. The start of this year’s season has delivered such oblivion to not only sports, but to life, that it has fathered the truth that nothing is for sure. We have lost the faces of the past and are forced to witness baseball today, changing for the worst.
It has passed us bye. America’s pastime has reserved a seat for the future. New faces, new places, repetitious and extremely bothersome talks of Barry Bonds and his steroid accusations, are ingredients in the recipe for disaster. Going off the record, Bonds will forever be an ageless icon, no matter how many pills he pops. There are a few things that seem to be missing from this year’s season, in which, have gradually submerged themselves towards death.
How lucky we are. We have seen some of baseball’s most sacred records be challenged and broken in the last few years. It takes an athlete who is superior over his or her counterparts to break a record and maintain it for a long period of a time. People say records are meant to be broken, but when I hear that statement I assume it means all records are meant to be broken fairly.
by Matt Wells
He’s known as one of the greatest pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball. He’s tallied 341 wins against just 172 losses during his big-league career. 4,502 strikeouts of opposing batters doesn’t sound too shabby either. Yet, Roger Clemens, not quite retired yet, isn’t pitching for a major league team currently.
Now, the “Rocket” is certainly contemplating retirement. Clemens implied that he was retiring after Team USA was eliminated from the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Of course, we’ve heard “retirement” stories from other greats in the game – Michael Jordan, Brett Favre, etc.