Hall of Shame? Palmeiro and Gonzalez highlight tainted group of Hall of Fame hopefulls

The Major League Baseball Hall of Fame ballot has come a long way since 2007 when superstars and all around good guys Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn were elected. As steroid allegations and confirmations have soiled this years list, voters will have till Dec. 31st to choose who they want to represent Major League Baseball in next year's induction ceremony into the Hall of Fame.
This year's ballot is talent deprived and filled with scandal. Once great players Rafael Palmeiro and Jaun Gonzalez are two of the more decorated players on the list, but both are surrounded by steroid use. Pamleiro testified in 2005 that he never used steroids, but was caught a few months later and was suspended 10 days. He is 12th on the career home run list and is one of four players to accumulate 500 home runs and 3,000 hits.
It has never been confirmed that Gonzalez used steroids, but in the 2005 book, Juiced, Jose Canseco claims that he used steroids alongside Gonzalez who has 434 career home runs and owns two MVP awards from his time with the Texas Rangers. His career was cut short due to injuries that lead many to believe that he used performance enhancing drugs.
Other names on the list surrounded by drug allegations are first timer Brett Boone and returner Mark McGwire who admitted to steroid use this summer.
Much of the ballot is filled by players who merely meet the requirements, but don't garner the attention that a Hall of Famer usually does. There is no automatic entry into the Hall of Fame no matter what statistics a player might carry with them, nor is there any official statistical criteria, but typical things voters look for when choosing are 500 home runs, 3,000 hits for hitters and 300 wins for pitchers. Taht mean that players on the list don’t deserve to be, but are by meeting the time requirement. However, a few names who remain untarnished by all this actually have a fairly good chance of beating out their rule-breaking peers based on merit.
Roberto Alomar and Edgar Martinez, and Jeff Bagwell were all outstanding players during their careers than spanned two decades and were able to avoid the drug scandal that wiped away baseball's credibility. Now, whether or not that will help their chances of induction, we won't see till the results are announced on January 5th.
Other notable names on the ballot are Kevin Brown, Tino Martinez, lee Smith, and Larry Walker.

Destiny Calls

It must just be the Giants' year. I'm not knocking the Rangers here because I have been pulling for them all postseason long, but there's no denying how well the Giants have been playing. The Giants weren't favored to win the division, then they did. The weren't favored to beat the Braves, then they did. They weren't favored to beat the Phillies, and then they did. And now they are beating the favored Texas Rangers 3 games to 1 in the World Series. The Giants have the kind of motivation to win that could turn someone like me into a fan(it really hasn't, but I'm going to pretend it has). I hold fast to my opinion that Barry Bonds is the worst person to play the game of baseball and that since the Giants traded for him, paid him, and hoisted him on their shoulders for being selfish, I can't stand their franchise. This season the Giants are playing to destroy those demons that they are Bond's team and I really respect that. They are letting rookies like Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner play crucial innings and getting great results as of that risk.
If the Giants win game 5 tonight they will emphatically put their stamp on the game as the best team this year. You can get lucky enough to win the first two series' of the playoffs, but then to go out and play so well and dominate the best team in the American league as easily as the Giants have, that takes something much more than luck. The Giants are clearly outlasting their opponents.
They aren't as skilled of a hitting club as Texas is, and their pitchers are comparable, but the Giants are holding together when the Rangers are falling apart. Aside from the game one shootout, both pitching staffs have been competitive enough to win any of the games, but the Giants just aren't letting the Rangers get the offensive edge. So far they have kept Josh Hamilton in check along with Vladimir Guerrero. Nelson Cruz was tops in the league in homers this postseason, but the Giants pitchers have quieted him too. The only meaningful hit for the Rangers came from Mitch Moreland who has been practically anonymous all year long.
If the Giants are to keep winning and close things out tonight they need to continue what they are doing. The Rangers aren't losing necessarily, the Giants are just winning. You can't discount what good teams are doing and this time I think it just is the Giants' year.

-Joey D

Youth Movement

I am going to do my best to not be biased tonight for game 4 and to just enjoy it for what it is. Tonight's game is sure to be a great time because it is bound to be a wild one. Neither of the starting pitchers have much experience both in the playoffs, and in the Major Leagues in general.
Giants starter Madison Bumgarner is a 21 year old rookie who was very impressive this season going 7-6 with a 3.00 ERA and 86 K's in 111 innings, but what he lacks in experience he makes up for with determination. He was left off the Giants' roster after spring training due to mechanical problems that left his velocity startling low. Teammate Jeremy Affeldt said Bumgarner s fearless and that is true. Bumgarner is taking a 1-0 record in the playoffs into tonight's start, but what many don't now is that he is historical. He became the second youngest pitcher to win a series clincher in the playoffs after he helped finish off the Atlanta Braves in the division series. He hasn't gotten down on himself for his early season woes, but instead trained hard with coaches and trainers in order to find his errors and improve upon them.
The Texas Rangers' hurler Tommy Hunter is another young pitcher who wasn't on his team's Major League roster to start the year, but was outstanding this season when the Rangers called him up. He went 13-4 with a 3.73 ERA, but has been disastrous so far in the playoffs. He is 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA in 7 1/3 innings across two starts.
I'm a rooting for the Rangers to pull even in the series and I'm looking forward to a high powered game full of lots of scoring(advantage Rangers), but I wouldn't be surprised if both starters buckle down and get their jobs

-Joey DeClercq

World Series Transition: Wilson's Show

The Texas Rangers are putting converted reliever C.J Wilson out on the mound for game two of the world series tonight in San Francisco. His opponent, Giants backup ace Matt Cain. Both sported similar numbers over the course of 162 games, Cain's line read 13-11, 3.14, 177, and wilson's was 15-8, 3.35, 170. What makes Wilson different than Cain is that he has never before pitched so much in one season. Last season Wilson pitched his career high in innings with 73.2, but jumped that number up 204 when he made the move to the starting rotation from the bullpen this year.
This kind of an adjustment can only lead to good things for the Rangers lefty, I believe. It is hard for most relievers to jump to the starting five and have so much success so soon. The increase in work usually means a tired arm by the end of the year, but the Rangers have so much confidence in Wilson's abilities that they made him their number two starter for this postseason.
Wilson should have no problem pitching under "must win" pressure following Cliff Lee's disastrous loss. According to ESPN.com, 20 of Wilson's 33 starts in the regular season came after a loss. He went 11-5 with a 3.27 ERA in those games. On Wednesday he told ESPN.com's Jeff Caplan, "Obviously tonight things didn’t go well for Cliff. But that was tonight, and tomorrow is tomorrow, I can’t 'unlose' tonight’s game. I can only win tomorrow’s game. That’s the only goal.”
Expect the pitchers kingdom that is AT&T Park in San Francisco to be an advantage to Wilson who is used to pitching in the warm dimensions of The Ballpark in Arlington in Texas. Jeff Caplan put it best when he wrote, "The big difference is Lee has lost for the first time. So now it is Wilson’s show."

World Series living on the West Coast

I should start out by apologizing to my friends who are avid Giants fans because of my complete doubt about San Francisco's chances in the World Series. Sorry. Now having said that, don't expect many more. I will be more careful where I place my faith next time around. The Giants proved a lot to me tonight. Not only did they shell one of the game's best playoff performers in Cliff Lee, but they also shattered any hope I had that this series would a low scoring affair. Neither bullpen held up in the late innings of the game and that is where one of the Giants' greatest strengths was.
It was supposed to be a game of epic proportions. Cliff Lee vs. Tim Lincecum, but after jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead I was certain that Texas had a hold on this one and that perhaps Cliff Lee was already building his W.S. MVP resume, but alas, the Giants fought back and fought hard. The game quickly turned into a romping as Lee wasn't even able to make it out of the 5th inning after giving up 6 earned runs. 2 of those runs came on a three run homer by Juan Uribe off Darren O' Day, but things didn't stop there. The Rangers then got to San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum making it an 8-4 game. After Texas reliever Mark Lowe gave up 3 more runs later in the game, the Giants' bullpen began unraveling as Ramon Ramirez gave up 2 runs n only 1/3 on an inning.
It was clearly a wild one, but when the dust settled, the Giants walked away with an 11-7 victory over the much favored Texas Rangers. I now have learned my lesson to bet so boldly against the Giants, but don't expect things to go swimmingly San Francisco, Texas isn't going to go away and if they somehow figure out a way to pitch more safely then then Giants could have a problem on their hands when the series goes to Arlington.

by Joey DeClercq

Who's on first? Pt. 1

As the 2010 season is coming to close(well, at least for the green and gold) there are several questions for next year. However, before I get into that(this is part 1 of a 2 part season wind down) I just want to recap what has been an absolutely phenomenal season for me and my hatred of all things New York and Boston related.

The acquisition of John Lackey, extension of Josh Beckett, progress of Clay Buchholz, and retaining of Jon lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka had many people in anticipation of this season's potentially historic Boston Red Sox starting rotation and a Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz led dominant Red Sox lineup. It was thought that the Sox had enough firepower and strong arms to topple the stronger Yankee lineup now with Curtis Granderson. The Tampa Bay Rays didn't have enough pitching to win but were sure to be a strong plus .500 third place.

Well, with just over a month to go till the layoffs, the Rays and Yanks are tied in an awesome first place battle and Tampa has the top Cy Young contender as well as two AL MVP candidates.

The Yankees have perennial MVP type sluggers Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira but, neither is having the season anyone thought. Javier Vazquez has been up, but mostly down and certainly not the fifth starter/ace that anyone thought he'd be and Andy Pettite has been out since mid july. Phil Hughes has been rocky for the last two months and AJ Burnett has been, well, I'm not sure what he's been but he's been it since game one. CC Sabathia has been truly been the workhorse that he always is but better. But why is this all-star cast headlining year two of the new Yankee Stadium not as good as advertised, but still winning?

How come Tampa Bay, though overcoming injuries to two rising young pitchers and without the power production of Zorilla(Ben Zobrist) still in a great spot to win the division?

The answer is simple really, but before I go any further I need a promise from the Boston Nation not to over react. The Red Sox as "stacked" as they seemed in spring have never really been that good this year. Jon Lester overcame is yearly early season struggles to emerge the best pitcher in the AL, but he hasn't been enough. As a matter of fact, Lester and the steady Clay Buchholz are two of the AL pitchers I would want on my staff if I were starting a franchise today. David Ortiz has quickly been labeled a late spring/early summer bloomer and Youk has been broken all year long. John Lackey has been the New England version of AJ Burnett, just not as bad. Not to mention the injury and inconsistency of Josh Beckett. The one early bright spot was Boston keystone man Dustin Pedroia. He was having a start amazingly rivaling that of the other MVP caliber second baseman Robinson Cano of the Yankees, but like every other Red Sox, he succumbed to injury as is currently on his second DL stint this year. Jacoby Ellsbury sings the same song. He is on his second DL stint and is possibly out for the rest of the year.

I hate to say I saw it coming, but come on! The Red Sox just haven't been any good and I never thought they would be this year. Ortiz just started too slow like he did in '09 and Youkilis has been like every other year, hurt too often to be a consistent threat. Yeah, he's got great numbers when he plays, but he's in and out of the lineup too much to produce to full capacity.

Basically, the East and Wild Card races will be either the Rays and then Yankees, or the other way around because of the Red Sox shortcomings.

-J. DeClercq

Up in Smoak?

On Friday, July 9th, the Texas rangers traded first base super prospect Justin Smoak to the division rival Seattle Mariners for ace left handed pitcher Cliff Lee. Lee was the subject of similar trade talks around this time last season and was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for prospects. He helped lead the Phillies to their division title, and the World Series. Lee has been a winner and has been a solid veteran starter when the game is on the line and is the owner of one A.L Cy Young Award.

Smoak made his major league debut for texas in late april and has been less than spectacular since then. He has hit .206 but has a solid 8 home runs and 34 RBI. He was supposed to be a huge building block after Texas Traded Mark Teixeira two seasons ago, but was all that Seattle wanted for Cliff Lee.

Most analysts and team representatives are saying how this will be a great change for both teams. Seattle's future and Texas' present playoff chances, but I don't agree. I think that for the future Smoak will be a solid middle of the order hitter whith a lot of power and a good glove, but Lee is a free agent after this season and is a worse pitcher in the second half of the season than the first. Not only that but the stadium the Rangers play in, The Ballpark in Arlington, is a proven hitters park. Lee will have his struggles adapting to a new team, new stadium, and new pressure since he is the most significant player acquisition the Rangers have made since the 90's.

Lee was rocked by offensively challenged Baltimore in his first start for his new team in his new park and I think this won't be the only time. The ballpark in Arlington is a place where pitchers struggle. The temperature is hot and makes it easier for the ball to travel thus creating Lee more prone to home runs. He has a great K/BB ratio, in fact he is on a record setting pace, but all that means is he lets people hit the ball. He throws strikes and I think that style of pitching could come back to bite him and perhaps prevent the Rangers from playoff greatness

-J.DeClercq

The right way

Ken Griffey Jr. Doubled in his first Major League at bat, he then Homered in his first at bat in his home ball park in Seattle. Since then, he never looked back. Griffey Jr. retired on thursday from the game of Baseball and left an impressive legacy behind. He spent the first 11 years of his career playing for the Seattle mariners and during that time was considered the player of the decade. From 1989-1999. In the

nineties he won 10 straight Gold Glove awards from 90-99, he won 7 Silver Slugger awards, 1 MVP award, and was voted to the All-star team 10 times! He also won the Home Run Derby 3 times during that span. He moved on to play for 2 more teams before reuniting with Seattle for a second and last time in 2009. He played for the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox, but he never had any year as good as the ones he had in Seattle the first time. One of his biggest accomplishments was hitting his 630th and final Home Run. He became the sixth member of the very elite 600 home run club and is considered as one of baseball's greatespower hitters ever.

What people don't know about Ken Griffey Jr. is not what he did when he played, it is how he did it. Not many people excel at something and be so humble about it. He played the game the right way. Griffey Jr. played hard and he played to win. He hustled and tried his best to make himself and his teammates better at the game they loved. During the steroid boom of the 80's and 90's, Griffey Jr. escaped allegations that he juiced because he was such a natural athlete and had a smooth and gifted swing, he didn't need to take performance enhancing drugs to hit the ball. Although Griffey Jr. never won a World Series title, he helped spark an incredible 1995 playoff run in Seattle.

Not many people know too much about his non-baseball life. Griffey Jr. had a troubled young life because of his relationship with his father. He felt that he got enough yelling form his coaches and teammates on the baseball field, and that he didn't need to receive the treatment he got at home. He suffered from depression, and even attempted suicide when he was 18 because of it.

Griffey Jr. didn't just change the way the game was played but he changed the way people saw it. He didn't play for money or fame, he played because he loved the game. He was a fun and energetic player who was often referred to as "the Kid" because of his light-hearted spirit. He is responsible for the Players wearing number 42 to honor Jackie Robinson on Jackie Robinson day and he was a fan favorite in Seattle. His time spent there these last two seasons were to pay tribute to the fans that supported him and his career.

Ken Griffey Jr. is my favorite baseball player of all-time and is one of the reasons baseball is such a huge part of my life. He is one of the greatest players of all-time and will truly leave his mark on the game because not only was he the best at it, but when he played, he played the game right and for the right reasons.

- by Joey D

Hurt so good

Longtime Oakland Athletic Eric Chavez has finally come to the realization that his career could be over. Saturday, Eric went on the 15-day disabled list and acknowledged that it could his final trip to the list and that his whole career may be done for. Chavez was hitting .234 with 1 home run and 10 RBI this year as the team's part time DH and first baseman. He is suffering from bulging discs in his neck and has had spasms in his back because of them.

The 32 year old is no stranger to the DL and spent most of the past three seasons going on and coming off of it due to back and forearm related injuries and has had five surgeries since 2007.

I am not one of Chavez's biggest fans regardless of his success or failure. He was one of the least clutch players I have ever seen and never came up with the big hit. Instead he quietly averaged 28 home runs and 94 runs batted in between 2000 and 2006 while earning 6 gold gloves during that span. Chavez was awarded a six-year 66 million dollar contract extension in 2004 despite his failures as a clutch player. Granted, he never had to be the prime producer or superstar on teams that featured stars such as Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, and Barry Zito, but Chavez accumulated horrid postseason stats. His .222 batting average, 3 home runs and 12 RBI in 27 career playoff games are nothing to get excited about considering the team he played on has never advanced past the AL championship series before.

It is safe to say that Chavez's glory days in Oakland are over. I'm not happy that a once great power hitter is having to end his career due to health issues, but I am happy that because of his injury he will stop taking roster space and manager Bob Geren no longer has to use the unproductive broken down slugger.

The A's have two huge prospects and superstars in the making waiting down in AAA Sacramento to get a chance to hit in the big leagues. First base prospect Chris Carter has shown major power in the minor leagues by slugging 39 home runs in single A in 2008 and 29 in AA and AAA combined last season.

The A's traded 1B/3B super-prospect Brett Wallace for another top hitting prospect this off-season. Michael Taylor is a big, powerful, and fast outfielder who has potential to hit for a very high average, good power, and steal some bases as well.

both have the opportunity soon to enter the A's starting lineup and provide some much needed pop into the heart of their batting order.

Another bright spot about Chavez's possible retirement is the fact that the A's will no longer have to pay him 11 million dollars after the season ends. They can instead use that money to sign both Carter and Taylor to long-term contracts and bring some star power to Oakland or Fremont or San Jose or Sacramento or Las Vegas depending on where the A's end up....

-by J.DeClercq

(Grand)Mother's Day Miracle

Flash back to Thursday April 22 when Dallas Braden of the Oakland A's took the mound against the reigning world champion New York Yankees. Braden who is 14-22 in his career with a 4.62 ERA has never beaten the Yankees before and has been up until this point a nobody pitcher. Not making many headlines, last season Braden put together a nice season before it was cut short due to injury but this day was about to change all of that. In the sixth inning of the A's 4-2 win and Braden's first against the Yankees, New York third baseman Alex Rodriguez was returning from third base back to first after a foul ball and the trip took him across the top of the pitching mound.

This rubbed the A's lefty the wrong way and according to him broke an unwritten code of baseball etiquette. A double play ended the inning and on Rodriguez's way back to his dugout Braden shouted something at him. Braden was making sure that Rodriguez knew exactly whose house he was in, Braden's words rang something to the tune of "Get the f*** of my mound". Seemingly no big deal just like A-rod would later admit, but not to Dallas Braden. The pitcher used this moment to get fired up as he threw his glove into the wall of the dugout after the inning and perhaps motivated his teammates.

After the game Rodriguez played it off as if he didn't know the rule and that he has done such an act countless times in his future HOF career and that it is not Braden's place as an unproven player to tell himself what to do. Braden on the other hand looked at it differently. He suggested that Rodriguez take a note of his captain and teammate Derek Jeter's book on classy play because someone of A-rod's status shouldn't be breaking such sacred rules.

Take a look at Friday May 7th when Dallas Braden, still a little licked off at A-rod, makes some comments hinting that further action must be taken to resolved the issue. Braden didn't specify whether the conflict would get physical, but he said "(A-rod has a) lack of respect for the game or those playing it.....he's just an individualistic player."

Today, May 9th, Mother's Day. Across baseball players are playing with pink bats and other pink apparel to celebrate their mother's and for breast cancer awareness. Braden was getting ready to take the mound against the top team in the MLB, the Tampa Bay Rays. Braden, grew up in Stockton, CA, had a troubled young life. His mother died while he still in high school and he ran with the wrong crowd. He would spend nights and days living with friends and visiting local colleges without his family knowing where he was or where he would be next but baseball kept him somewhat on the right track. He graduated high school and was drafted in the 24th round out of Texas Tech by the A's. He was basically raised by his grandmother and he sees her as his mother figure. She was the closest family he had and she never gave up on him and supported him completely.

It was only fitting that Braden would pitch in front of his home crowd and his grandmother on Mother's Day. Braden has had a solid start to the year posting a 3-2 record and solid ERA but nothing he has done before would match what he did today. Braden became the 19th pitcher in Major League history to throw a perfect game when he did today against the Tampa Bay Rays.

A perfect game is perhaps the greatest thing a pitcher can accomplish and for him to do it before his grandmother on Mother's Day only made it that much better. "It hasn't been a joyous day for me in a while," Braden said. He added, "with my grandma in the stands, it makes it a lot better."

Now back to A-rod....again. Rodriguez was asked about it when Braden had only gone six perfect so far and he deferred all questions to a later time. Rodriguez eventually opened up about it after it was official, "I've learned in my career that its always better to be remembered for some of the good things you do on the field, and good for him." Hopefully this will be the end of the A-rod vs. Braden incident because I am sick of hearing about Rodriguez.

Some including Braden's Grandmother Peggy Lindsay believe that this was Dallas' way of sticking it to A-rod who has made comments about Braden's on-field accomplishments. Well, Alex, this was a great one. Perhaps the greatest of all the individual feats a player could reach, so we'll let Dallas savor this and save the fight for another time.

-J. DeClercq

Bay Area back to normal?

At the end of last season when the A's once again finished last in the American League west with a record of 75-87 many saw them as a young team that was improving but wouldn't come near the top of the standings for a while, but three weeks into the season the A's find themselves atop the division with a 10-7 record and one of only five teams to reach double digit wins so far.

Much like the A's, the cross bay rival San Francisco Giants got off to a hot start in 2010 and after three weeks they are second in the National League west division. Their 8-7 record doesn't display how well the team has played thus far and how well they will continue to play as long as the team sticks to their strength.

That can be said about both clubs. The Giants and the A's both lack high scoring offenses and neither features a clear superstar hitter in their lineup but both are stacked with young pitching talent. The A's rank first in the A.L in team ERA and third in the majors in that category. They are tied for the A.L lead with 10 quality starts and are second in the A.L and third in the majors in strikeouts. The Giants are third in the majors in ERA and are only.03 runs ahead of the A's. They also rank second in the majors and N.L in quality starts. The Giants and the A's rank 12th and 17th in the MLB in runs scored so it is clear that both team's strengths are not scoring runs, but keeping the other team from scoring.

Despite hot starts from both staffs, could pitching be enough to keep these teams fighting for their division leads? In the last 10 games the A's are an even 5-5 and had lost three of their past four. The giants after starting 4-1 in the first week, are just 4-6 in their last ten and are only one game over .500.

The A's haven't won a division or made the playoffs since 2006 are were projected by many to finish last again but it looks like they may be wrong. The Giants have not been to the playoffs since 2003 but were picked by many to win their division this year after the team upgraded its offense and they kept 4 of their 5 starters from last season's dominating rotation.

-J. DeClercq

Week one wonders

Week one of the 2010 Major League Baseball season is over and there certainly were several surprises. It took till the end of the week for the only undefeated team to lose while Houston remains the only win-less team. Braves rookie Jason Heyward has had a great start, hitting 3 homers in the first week, but he is no surprise. There were seven days in the first week so I will give you seven of the weeks top surprises:

7. Martin Prado. Last year Ben Zobrist emerged as the super utility man and a huge surprise for Tampa Bay, but this year it could be Martin Prado. Prado who can play almost every position in the infield much like Zobrist, leads the MLB in BA after seven days with a .519 AVG.

6. Vladimir Guerrero. Guerrero, many thought would serve as a part time DH/RF for Texas this year, but his strong spring has carried into a great first week in which he hit for an A.L leading .464 with 1 homer and 3 runs batted in.

5. The Oakland Athletics. The A's were pick by many to finish toward the bottom of the strong and even A.L west, but through the first week of the season they were 4-2 and lost only once each to division rivals Seattle and Anaheim. Strong pitching and timely hitting has carried Oakland through the first week so it will be interesting to see what of those two holds up.

4. Nelson Cruz. A breakout star last season when he hit 33 home runs and stole 20 bases for Texas, but this year so far he has the second best BA in the league at .458 and he has hit an American League leading 5 home runs and 11 RBI's. After the first week Cruz is many people's pick for the A.L MVP award.

3. The San Francisco Giants. Through the first 5 games of the season the Giants were 4-1 and it took them till the last day of the week to lose their first game. Backed by strong pitching (second in the Majors behind Oakland with a 2.82 ERA) and solid hitting from their veterans like Edgar Renteria, the Giants are poised to make a big splash in the N.L west this year.

2. Jon Rauch. When Minnesota Twins star closer Joe Nathan went on the DL to start the season and eventually we found that he would not pitch all year nobody knew what would become of what was one of the Twins' strongest attributes. Jon Rauch stepped out of nowhere to claim the closer role and hasn't looked back. The 31 year old Rauch has 5 saves in 5 chances and an ERA of 1.80 with 3 strikeouts in 5 innings of work. Much like Ryan Franklin and David Aardsma were last year, we'll continue to look at Rauch as this years breakout closer.

1. The Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto plays in the toughest division in baseball with the reigning world champion Yankees and year to year contending Red Sox, but they are looking better than both those teams. To start the year there were many concerns about the pitching staff of the Blue Jays, but Toronto has ridden strong starting pitching ( the best in the division so far) and what seems to be a comeback year for Vernon Wells into a tie for first with the New York Yankees.

I doubt many of these stories will sustain themselves throughout the rest of the year, but they do give hope to those players and teams without huge payrolls or all-star track records.

-J. DeClercq

Can't win em' all

Opening Night 2010 was an awesome event! Rumors of rain were dispelled due to the sun breaking through the clouds come game time. The festivities began when Oakland A's great Bert Campaneras was presented with his award for being inducted into the bay Area Hall of Fame. Following Campy's ceremony, the A's presented their closer Andrew Bailey with his award for winning last season's Rookie of the Year award. Fireworks capped the award ceremony and as that was going on, fans looked towards center field where members of the Oakland Police Department were holding a huge, outstretched American Flag. Color Guard escorted a smaller flag on its pole to just behind second base and the Star Spangled Banner could be heard over the silence of the emotional spectators. More fireworks exploding as the line, "the bombs bursting in air" was sung. It truly was a great way to start the new season of major League baseball.

Ben Sheets was making his first start since the end of the 2008 season and showed some rust to start the game as the opponent Seattle Mariners struck first. With one out, Sheets issued a walk to Chone Figgins who stole second and advanced to third on catcher Kurt Suzuki's throwing error. Figgins then scored on Casey Kotchman's double. Seattle struck again the next inning on catcher Rob Johnson's solo home run to make the score 2-0 Seattle. Before the A's could even get anyone past first, the Mariners had scored again on Casey Kotchman's sacrifice fly to score Chone Figgins.

With the score at 3-0 in favor of Seattle, A's fans were growing restless to see their team score some runs. Finally in the sixth inning the A's put together some hits and a single by Ryan Sweeney, Rajai Davis was able to score their first run of the night. The A's would not be done scoring however. In the seventh inning, the A's got some men on base and Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez was removed from the game. Back to back singles by Cliff Pennington and Rajai Davis scored both Mark Ellis and Travis Buck to tie the game at 3 apiece.

The momentum had changed and it seemed like this year's Oakland A's were a group of fighters that couldn't be kept down. Seattle wasn't going to go down quietly though.

Before the A's could put up any go ahead runs, Seattle had already won the game . In the top of the ninth Seattle scored twice on Casey Kotchman's single to give Brad Ziegler his first loss of 2010.

It was a tough loss, but it could have been avoided. Perhaps if the A's hadn't left five runners on base, or grounded into four double plays, or committed four errors the score could have been much different. There was a silver lining Oakland despite the loss as leadoff man Rajai Davis went 2 for 4 with an RBI, run, and a stolen base and number nine hitter Cliff Pennington went 2 for 3 with an RBI as well. Sheets pitched 5 solid innings giving up just two earned runs while striking out 3, but it was his four walks and high pitch count that forced him from the game early. A's reliever Jerry Blevins pitched two shutout innings with 3 strikeouts as he helped solidify his big league spot.

This loss isn't the end of the world since there are 161 games left. It reassured me that even though the A's home run leader for three season wasn't on the team they could still score runs. As the season continues the A's defense should shore up and prevent another error riddled loss.

-J. DeClercq

2010 Bold Predictions

2009 was an interesting season in terms of Awards. The National League was almost no different than the previous season's results. Both Albert Pujols and Tim Lincecum took home the top prize for their respective positions for the second straight year. Pujols won the National League MVP and Lincecum won the Cy Young Award in 2009 with Florida Marlins rookie Outfielder Chris Coughlin taking the NL Rookie of the Year Award. Coughlin hit .321 on the year and led the Major Leagues in hits in the second half with 113.

In the American League three young stars seemed to come out of nowhere. Twins star catcher Joe Mauer became just the second catcher in 33 years to win the MVP award. Despite Mauer missing all of April, he hit .365 with 28 home runs and 98 runs batted in and also won his third career batting title. Kansas City Royals Pitcher Zack Greinke won his first Cy Young award for being the AL's top pitcher. Greinke throughout his young career has showed great promise but has had some bumps in his road to stardom. In 2006 Greinke missed 2 months with a social anxiety disorder and pitched through the minors to finish the year. He pitched out of the bullpen all of 2007 before getting another chance to start in 2008.

The AL Rookie of the Year was one nobody expected. The Oakland Athletics closer Andrew Bailey. Bailey spent the early part of his career as a struggling starter in the minor leagues before finally transitioning into a dominant reliever in AA the second half of the 2008 season. When the A's projected closer, Joey Devine, went down in early spring training in 2009, Bailey earned a spot on the major league roster.

Now onto 2010. There are several qualified candidates to take home the hardware this year so I'll get some of those out of they way. For the NL you can clearly rule out anyone on the Mets. Let's face it, they don't get caught by the injury bug, they get caught by an injury swarm. Even without any Mets players I went with an all NL East trophy case this season.

-NL Most Valuable Player: Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman has hit more home runs each year and hit for his highest average in 2009. His slugging percentage continues to climb so I think this is the 25 year old's big year.

-NL CY Young: Atlanta Braves young righty Tommy Hanson. Hanson was a top prospect coming into last season and was a mid-season call up. Hanson has been lights out in spring training and I think the 23 year old will put together a great year.

-NL Rookie of the Year: The top pick in 2009's MLB Amateur draft Stephen Strasburg was sent down to the minors, but it will not be long until the Washington Nationals call him up and he really shows his stuff.

Now on to the American League. My AL predictions won't necessarily be surprising because I have three big name players who I think will be difference makers for their teams this season.

-AL Most Valuable Player: New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod is always mentioned in the list of the leagues best players and is a constant MVP candidate and I think the cards are in his favor this year. Last year Rodriguez missed the first month of the season and still finished with 30 homers and 100 RBI so I can't wait to see what he'll do in a full healthy season in the league's best lineup, the league's most power friendly ballpark and the addition of Curtis Granderson. I wouldn't be surprised to see A-Rod hit 40 plus home runs with 120 plus runs batted in with a solid average and double digit stolen bases thrown in.

-AL Cy Young Award: This one was tough considering there are two young stars on opposite sides of the country who could have two huge seasons. I would have gone with Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox, but since he plays in Boston I won't. Seattle Mariners 23 year old(24 on April 8th) right-hander Felix Hernandez was 2009's Cy Young Runner up and has only improved since he came into the league. Since breaking into the league in 2005 at 18 years old, Hernandez has improved in almost every statistic imaginable. Last season Hernandez was second in earned run average, tied for first in wins, and third in innings pitched in the AL. He looks poised to continue his dominance in the American league.

-AL Rookie of the Year: Wade Davis of the Tampa Bay Rays has already won the 5th spot in the Rays' starting rotation. In 2009 he made six starts for Tampa Bay and struck out a batter per inning. The 24 year old threw his first shutout in a 10 strikeout game against Baltimore in just his third major league start last season and has been a top prospect for Tampa Bay for a while. It is just a matter of time before he is one of the most impressive starting pitchers of the Major Leagues.

-J. DeClercq