Really......!!!???

The freaking Devil Rays!!??? Are you kidding me!? Who woulda thunk it? Definatly not me!

Here is how they rank on major offensive catagories:
Batting average- 11th with .263 team average
Hits- 18th with 749
Doubles- 29th with 134
Triples- 14th with 15
Home Runs- 11th with 90
RBI'S- 12th with 379
Stolen Bases- 1st with 94
Average offensive rank (these catagories listed here. Rank is out of all 30 MLB teams)- 12th

Now for the pitching rankings:
Team ERA- 4th with 3.67
Saves- 6th with 26
Strikeouts- 12th with 581
Walks- 10th with 269
Hits Allowed- 2nd with 683
Runs Allowed- 4th with 338
Average pitching rank (these catagories listed here. Rank is out of all 30 MLB teams)- 7th

Fielding rankings:
Fielding percentage- 13th with 98.5%
Double plays- 17th with 76 turned
Errors- 11th with 47 errors
Stolen bases allowed- 7th with 40

Probable Starting Line-up:
Ace: Scott Kazmir
Catcher: Dioner Navarro
First: Carlos Pena
Second: Akinori Iwamura
Shortstop: Josh Bartlett
Third: Evan Longoria
Left: Carl Crawford
Center: BJ Upton (Rocco Baldelli on 60 day DL)
Right: Gabe Gross (Normally BJ Upton)
DH: Johnny Gomes

As of 7-3-08 they have the best record in the league. I don't know what else to say but......

REALLY...!!!???

OUCH!!!!

http://sports.aol.com/mlb/inside-pitch/bizarre-injuries

check this out it is painful and funny.

The Chamberlain Expirement

So there has been some talk, mostly by Hank Steinbrenner, about putting Joba Chamberlain into the starting rotation. See this is the problem when you have people running sports teams that have no idea what goes into sports. Let us dissect this just a little bit. The Yankees are starting to be in panic mode. On Monday they were last in the division. Now I know that it is early in the season and there are a lot of games to go, but seriously, they are worried. The Red Sox are playing like they never had a seven month break since the World Series win. The Orioles, yes the Orioles, are in second place. Tampa Bay will be last so the worst that the Yankees could come in is next to last. Finally the Blue Jays just did the stupidest thing (letting Frank Thomas go) in recent years. Hank Steinbrenner thinks that the solution to all of the problems that the Yankees have is to put Joba Chamberlain into the starting rotation. This an ingenious idea IF you have about 2-3 months of not having a set-up man in your bullpen. Why does he need 2-3 months to get ready you might ask? He has pitched 2 seasons from the bullpen with one inning per game that he has pitched in. They ask starters to go 6-7 innings RIGHT NOW so they can get the game to Chamberlain then Rivera to win it. Take Chamberlain out of the equation, starters would need to pitch 8 solid innings then to get it to Rivera. Then ask Rivera to pitch probably 2/3 of the games. This does not compute.

Here is what would work though. If you are the Yankees, you get a hold of Roy Oswalt and the Houston Astros. Oswalt is reportadly willing to waive his no-trade clause due to the bad performance of the Astros hitters. Their inability to produce runs behind Oswalt may be the reason for the disgruntlement. Here is what the Yankees would give up to the Astros for their ace: Hideki Matsui (Astros need the help in the OF), and the number two Minor League pitcher. Insert Oswalt into that rotation in the two slot, take out Ian Kennedy and put him back in the Minors to replace that pitcher. Problem solved. If Oswalt is not happy with the run support that the Yankees can provide, he just needs to just quit whinning.

Next week...... the suprising Arizona Diamondbacks. Until then, be safe, and always remember... GO RED SOX!!

Sorry for the delay.....

Congratulations first and foremost to the Kansas Jayhawks and their (lucky) win in the National Championship game. Sorry, but I can't really give credit for the game to Kansas because all they did was benefit from one of the biggest chokes in NCAA history. I mean come on now.... shooting 20% from the stripe in the last two minutes when you shot 75% in the tournament? I think that just goes to show the youth and inexperience of the Memphis team. Don't get me wrong, I give a big pat on the back to Rose. Most likely he will win the Freshman POY. I also want to give credit to the officials who handed Kansas the chance to win the game. If they would have taken off the blindfolds and actually called the two fouls that happened before Chalmers hit the 3 to tie the game with 2.8 left, Memphis would have won like they should have. Let's take a look at this. Instead of Chalmers hitting the 3, Sherron Collins would have been at the line shooting 2 free-throws. Collins only shot 77% from the line for the season. He probably makes the first, misses the second. Memphis gets the rebound, game over. In my opinion, all refs should dress as bats instead of zebras because they are blind (most of the time). Now I am, in no way, a Memphis fan; I just like to see the team that deserved to win, win.

Enough about that. To end this post, I would like to refer you to a small, underlying prediction that I made about the New York Mets that came true this past week (please refer to previous post about Pedro Martinez injury). Sorry Mets fans... unless he can come back soon, say bye bye playoffs.

My MLB Season Predictions

So as you saw on my last column, I am a gigantic baseball fan. With that being the case, it is only appropriate for me to make my regular season, playoff, world series, and championship predictions. So after much conserdation and thinking, here now are the first annual Unknown Blogger MLB predictions.

AL East:
Ok so you can hate me if you want to, but I am going with the Red Sox. I am not picking them because I live and die with them, I am picking them because they have the best team. Not only do they return all starters from their championship team, but the upgrade in center field with the emergence of Jacoby Ellsbury (also my pick for AL ROY) and regturn the reigning AL ROY in Dustin Pedrioa. All I will say about their picthing are four last names: Beckett, Okajima, Buchholz, and Papelbon. World Series ace, un-hittable holder, no-hitter, Johnathan "Ice Man" Papelbon. Need I say more?

AL Central:
I have to go with the Detriot Tigers. I would have to say that their pitching is not as good as the Indians but they will win the Central thanks to the Florida Marlins. Miguel Cabrera will be the difference maker in this division and will put the Tigers in the playoffs as the AL Central winner.

AL West:
Seattle Mariners take the West in a race that will come down to the end of the season with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, or whatever they are called now, coming up five games back. This division will go back and forth between the two teams, but Seattle will outlast with their improved pitching having added Bedard.

AL Wild Card:
Cleveland Indians. Yeah right... like you would bet against them to MISS the playoffs?

NL East:
You know really I can't decide on this one. It will definately be between the Mets and the Phillies. Call it how you want to it WILL come down to the classic debate..... hitting (Phillies) or pitching (Mets). I will tell you what to watch for which WILL decide this division, Pedro Martinez. If he goes on the DL (again) for longer than 15 days, you can call it a season. Santana is good, possibly great, but he is not a one man show. He cannot and will not carry the pitching staff let alone the team if Martinez goes down. He tried it with the Twins and it didn't work. If I had to choose one team as of right now, it would be the Mets.

NL Central:
Hands down, Milwaukee Brewers. Don't bother asking what might, here's what WILL happen. Ben Sheets will shake off the injury last year and anchor the staff, Derrick Turnbow is back where he is the best in the bullpen being the setup man. Fielder will get his 45 and 120 and Braun will get at least 30 and 80 this year. Now with this being said I do have a warning. This team is young. Potential has never won a World Series, but with this team it will take them darn close.

NL West:
This section will be much different in two years if the genius that put the D-Backs together can keep them together. As of right now it is the Rockies division to lose. Look for Helton to get his swing back, Hawpe and Holliday to get theirs, and Manny Corpas to be ice again. Like I said, it is theirs to lose. Don't count out the Dodgers out. Joe Torre has been known for working miracles.

NL Wild Card:
Arizona Diamondbacks. One equation for you: Youth+Brandon Webb=Wild Card

World Series:
Boston Red Sox vs. New York Mets with the Red Sox repeating as Champs.

Opening Day

So I know that I am getting this to my faithful readers a day late, but hopefully it will be worth the wait.

You might be able to tell by the title of the post what this column is about. Yes that time of year is back. The time of getting out of work early to catch an afternoon game at Wrigley or getting a pair of tickets on top of the Green Monster. The time of A-Rod vs. V-Tek fights. Time for men and women alike to pay three times the normal price for alcohol that ends up giving you the same result of public embarassment. Time for sunburns and hot dogs. Botched calls and ever exciting game winning home run. Yes baseball is back ladies and gentlemen.

I am a fan of baseball and proud of it too. You might ask why I am a fan, but the answer if fairly simple. It's a pasion. The first thing after God and my family. I love the purity, the competition, the strategy, the challenge. How does the game have purity still with all the steriod this and HGH that? Mostly because only about 0.05% of the players were actually involved with that whole thing. Mostly because that whole part is over.

I am a fan of baseball and proud of it too. There is just something about the game that is so hard to put into words. Is it the that the entire concept of the sport has the possibility for any given member of the team to win the game on any given night? Yeah. That must be it. This column might not make much sense but it is very hard to put excitement, hope, and every other positive feeling into writing. I feel like a little kid the night before christmas.

I will end this by simply saying happy opening day. It should be a national holiday or something. I love this game, I love this time of year. The national past time is back. So until next time, stay safe, and always remember.....