mlb-general
From Braden Looper’s infinity ERA after the Met’s opener to John Smoltz coming back from a terrible first outing to strike out 15, yet lose to an equal Pedro to the Red Sox World Series ring ceremony Monday, you couldn’t have hoped for much more out of the opening week of the MLB. Here are the power rankings after that first week.
The Yankees and Red Sox untangled themselves Wednesday like familiar heavy weight fighters finishing the first round of their latest title bout.
It seemed so sweet at the time. Both Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were on their “Magical Mystery Homerun Tour” each doing their best to revive America’s pastime from the dead. Revive is what they did, but no one knew how. Yet, some might have a clue today as to how they went about their business back in that magical summer of ’98. The game of baseball had seemed so innocent at the time. Everyone had been aware of McGwire power ability, and Sosa’s lovability. People were even aware of McGwire taking androstenedione – which at the time was not on the banned substances list for Major League Baseball. Yet, people had no clue what might have been in the lovable Sammy Sosa’s bat. Fans weren’t aware of baseball’s drug all of the players were all seemingly using, and they sure as hell weren’t aware of baseball players’ secret hangout place called BALCO.
A Briton shouldn’t really love baseball. In fact, why in the hell would you love a game that’s a little to close to a girl’s game we call Rounders?
Truth be told, if I hadn’t fallen in love with New York City during a trip to the place in the 80s, I probably wouldn’t have liked baseball. And if I hadn’t spend endless summer vacations inside watching WGN TV and the crazy Harry Caray, I probably wouldn’t have fallen in love with the game.
“Nothing will ever be as much fun as baseball.”–Mickey Mantle
Truer words were never spoken. When faced with having to use up 5 vacation days before the end of March, it was pretty clear what I needed to do. I could either go to Rio with my girlfriends or Tampa alone. (Or stay home and watch daytime television and capitalize on the fact you can have McDonald’s delivered in NYC.) I received more than a few weird looks when I told everyone at work I was taking off for Spring Training by myself. Or as my boss said, “The Yankees are going to sic a restraining order on you soon.”
Why did I venture to Legends Field solo? Because no one else I know would want to arrive at the stadium 4 hours before it started just to watch Yogi Berra drive around in a golf cart. Or would want to sit in the stadium long after the game was over just listening to “New York, New York” play on a loop. Or would recognize that the beauty of Spring Training is not the games themselves, but what they represent. They’re not just a pre-party for the impending best months of the year. I wasn’t just taking a vacation from TPS reports. I was taking a vacation from steroids, exhausted media-coverage of certain rivalries, running tallies of payrolls, and watching once-awe-inspiring players become shells of their former selves.
Remember where we left off in the first article where I offered the tips to build a great fantasy team cheap? You don’t? Terrific. If not then please refer to my previous article titled “Don’t Panic, Be Relieved!” to get the low down on pitching.
The purpose of this part two is to make sure you win the hitting categories 3-2 and 4-1 every week. Like I said before, and what has become common knowledge in the fantasy baseball world specifically…it’s a marathon to win these leagues and here is how to pull it off.
I know you’ve pictured it a million times in your head. It haunts you. In fact, you’ve even dreamt of it. You’re sitting in front of your computer screen waiting for your draft to begin. The blue glow of the computer screen is fixing your eyes like a bug zapper to a wayward mayfly.
Then it happens.
I’ve always considered the home run the most American part of baseball. With one swing of the bat, the hitter gets it all, and quickly too. He gets all four bases, all the adulation of the fans, all the credit for the one (or more) runs driven across the plate, and possibly, all the credit for a game, series or championship won.
As the snow finally melts and we move ever closer to another wonderful year of baseball, there remains an alarming number of players who are not given the proper respect, by fans and the media alike, outside of their home markets. For some of these players, it is the simple misfortune of playing for small-market teams which fail to generate sufficient interest in their star players. Still, others seem to have an uncanny knack for flying under the radar year after year.
Here is a breakdown of some of the more under appreciated players in the league and how they stack up against some of their more well-known counterparts.
The real boys of summer are emerging from winter hibernation all across America, pounding their fists into stiff baseball gloves and asking dad to take them to the batting cage. Soon they will dot fields that are not yet green, laughing easily amidst the clink of aluminum and the smack of leather, creating a genuine American symphony. This is the sound we should pipe into outer space to explain America to anyone who might be listening.
The sound that came from yesterday’s hearings on steroid use in baseball was quite different. That sound–voices of denial, self-importance, and sadness– was not about baseball, but a cacaphony of distortion. This act has been in the making for some time, since steroids first became part of baseball’s tapestry, as unbreakable records were broken and re-broken. It grew on the fuel of rumor and tell-all books, but it still needed the grandiosity of ponderous government types to reach it’s final, absurd culmination.