The most successful General Manager in the recent history of the Chicago Cubs is joining the rest of us on the unemployment line. The Cubs fired Jim Hendry this morning after a rollercoaster nine-year run, putting him out of his misery after his $100 million plus roster compiled a 54-70 record this season. Hendry says […]

For most people, the NL Cy Young race probably starts and ends with Roy Halladay in 2011. That’s fine: Halladay’s 2011 season is more or less a continuation of his excellent 2010 year that earned him the NL Cy in his first year in the Senior Circuit. In Los Angeles, though, Clayton Kershaw is quietly […]

James Paxton took a rough road to professional baseball. Drafted 37th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2009, Paxton was one of the few college juniors that did not sign, and he went back to the University of Kentucky (my alma mater, BTW). Well, he tried to go back. The NCAA launched an investigation […]

A week ago, it looked like we were all in for two stellar division races in both the AL West and the NL West.  The Angels were hot on the heels of the Texas Rangers and the Giants and Diamondbacks were neck and neck.  For once it looked like us West Coasters were going to […]

After signing Jeff “Frenchy” Francoeur as a free agent last December to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million (with a mutual option of $4 million for 2012), the Royals decided they like what they’ve seen by signing Francoeur to a two-year extension on Thursday.  The financial terms are undisclosed, but it’s believed that Francoeur will see […]

When the Arizona Diamondbacks met the Philadelphia Phillies last night, it was a potential playoff match-up between two division leaders, but much like their records indicate, it wasn’t much of a fight. Cliff Lee twirled seven innings of three-hit ball as the Phillies (79-42) jumped all over Joe Saunders and the Diamondbacks (69-54) 9-2. Hunter […]

The roundtable is back as our editing staff sits down and discusses the biggest stories in baseball from the past week.  Three questions that cover everything from potential Hall of Famers to current division races to your favorite play to watch on the ballpark.  Here’s this week’s roundtable… Strike 1: The biggest question with Jim […]

Managers quitting, superstars slacking, young studs demoted, a twitter controversy, front office staff calling out players, players calling out front office staff and empty seats that are almost as big of a joke as a Lake County Fielders game.   On top of all that, the Florida Marlins sit in the cellar of the NL East, 23 games behind the […]

Randall Delgado of the Braves had a no hitter through six innings last night. He had faced the minimum of 18 batters, walking one and having him erased on a double play. That all went to hell when Cody Ross led off the seventh inning with a game-tying solo home run. Delgado was immediately pulled […]

With Jim Thome’s 600th home run on Monday night, the ensuing Hall of Fame debate about the slugger was more or less inevitable. Most people, myself included, see a guy with 600 home runs and a long, long run as an elite big league power hitter and assume that that makes for a slam dunk […]

The winner of the AL Central could do something that I can’t remember seeing in awhile: make the playoffs with a negative run differential. Right now, the Tigers are up two games on the Indians and are at -17 on the season. Cleveland is at +2, and the third place White Sox, who are 3.5 […]

Jim Thome has been hitting home runs for nearly as long as I’ve been watching baseball. To be exact, he’s been hitting them since October 4, 1991, when he hit a two-run shot off of Steve Farr in the top of the ninth inning to give the Indians a 3-2 win over the Yankees. Since […]

Rarely in life does a grown man earning nearly $20 million a year to play a game closely resemble someone we’ve all had in our lives at some point. Professional athletes are supposed to be better than the common man. They’re supposed to be heroes, idols, rare talents with whom we’d never come into contact […]

There has always been something sexy about the 30/30 hitter. Back in the day, when you hit 30 homers and stole 30 bases, you were a rare breed of power and speed. Before the 1980’s rolled along, there were only ten 30/30 seasons in history, five of which were by Bobby Bonds. Hank Aaron had […]