mlb-general
To some, including myself, baseball is the greatest sport that has ever been played. It is a game played by two opposing teams made of multiple players, but only nine players per team play at the same time. To be part of one of the thirty teams that get to play professional baseball, a player has to play the game extremely well.
There’s a ten-year-old boy out there right now, hitting ball after ball after ball off a tee in his backyard. As the sun goes down, he imagines himself at Yankees Stadium on a brisk October night, stepping up to the plate, a full count, bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, the Yanks down by one. He launches the game winning homerun and as he runs around the imaginary bases, with the imaginary crowd screaming in his ear, he wishes that one day his dream of playing in the major league, along side his heroes will come true.
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance William’s new book Game of Shadows has seemingly put to rest any debate of whether baseball superstar Barry Bonds ever knowingly took steroids. If only half of the details in the book are absolute fact, it is still some very damning stuff. Even the late, great attorney Johnnie Cochran would have a futile time building a defense for Bonds; no failed test, he’s naturally the best! The truth is now out, no matter how many denials we hear from Barry, and the aftermath remains. Does Barry Bonds belong in the baseball Hall of Fame? I’m here to tell you why he does.
by Matt Wells
Stealing homeruns. Fighting. Changing the outcomes of games. No, this isn’t the future of sports as we know it. Well, it shouldn’t be, anyway.
This is sports in the past decade. This is fans, paying money to enter a stadium to see a professional sporting event, acting like idiots. These are the fans that ruin the game, whether they change the outcome of a contest or they make a professional athlete fear for his life.
These outrageous behaviors are part of sports history….a very negative part of sports history.
by Matt Wells
In this day in age, it seems that it is very rare for BOTH teams involved in a two-team deal to come out “ahead.” Usually, there is a winner and a loser – one team is better off with the deal, and one team is left to rebuild after the deal, perhaps receiving minor leaguers or youngsters in the deal.
But, hey, who knows? One deal CAN make all the difference, and this was easily illustrated by a trade made before the 2005 baseball season. The two key players BOTH involved helped their team become better – again, this is something that is very rare. One player in the deal made a weak team become stronger; the other player helped his team win a World Series.
by Matt Wells
I write this article in anticipation of the retirement of Sammy Sosa, whether it’s within a week or whether he plays one or two more seasons. Sosa’s career has been well documented – from his start in Texas up to his decision not to sign with the Washington Nationals today (February 15, 2006).
There is no doubt that Sammy Sosa has had a long, successful career. Up to this point, he has 588 career homeruns, and up until a few years ago, he struck fear into the hearts of every opposing pitcher. This was someone who could hit the ball out of the park in a heartbeat.
by Matt Wells
Recently, I analyzed and summarized the moves made by the American League teams in the current free agency period. Some teams made the “winners” list; the rest were less fortunate.
Now, I analyze the moves made by the 16 National League teams. Once again, there will be winners, losers, and neutrals. Let’s see where your team ends up…
The Super Bowl is over. We still have the Pro Bowl, but who can really get into that? The end of the football season means that the baseball season is upon us. Those of you fantasy owners know that baseball is probably the toughest of all fantasy sports. The long season will often take a painful toll own fantasy owners. It becomes difficult to keep up with all of the little changes that teams make over the 6 month season. In order to be a winning manager, you must stay active all season, make quality free agent pickups and trades, and keep track of match-ups your players will face. However, none of this will mean anything if you can’t draft the right players in the beginning. Fortunately for you, that’s what I’m here for.
We’re a little over three months into the baseball’s free agency with not much more time to go. All 30 teams have made at least one move, which is expected in the business. Some, however made much better moves than others.
Without further ado, the winners, losers, and neutrals in 2005-06 free agency. All 30 teams will be analyzed, however (for length’s sake) the first part of my analysis will encompass the 14 American League teams only.
by Matt Wells
I can picture it now. You wake up early for work and open up the sports page of your newspaper. You’re in dire search of those boxscores from last night’s baseball games. While you’re at it, you take a look at the standings.
You see the 30 teams in their respective divisions, but something is bothering you. There are more teams in one league than the other! Something is wrong: 16 teams in the National League and 14 teams in the American League. Baseball is imbalanced. You wonder how something like this happened. I have two words for you: Bud Selig.