By Pete Sabatini Before the start of the 2009 campaign, the NL East, much like the AL East, was projected to be at least a three horse race. As we get past all the opening days, some players shift on and off the DL, and a rhythm to the season starts to form, it appears [...]
From the monthly archives:
April 2009
By James Bailey Josh Beckett vs Matt Garza Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Rays April 30, 2009 The surging Sox head to Tampa Bay for a four-game set against the defending AL East champs. The Rays aren’t playing up to the part lately, though they looked good early in the month when they took [...]
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By James Bailey No one expected to see the Mariners sitting atop the AL West standings three weeks into the season. The worst team in the American League last year has responded well to new skipper Don Wakamatsu. The Angels, whom our pundits loved in our preseason picks, have battled human tragedy while missing their [...]
By Michael Cooper Change is good. A new haircut, a new car, a new shirt, a new pair of shoes – any of those things can help a person feel new, exciting, different or improved. No matter how small the detail, a little bit of change can make a world of difference. The American League [...]
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By James Bailey Josh Johnson vs Johan Santana Florida Marlins at New York Mets April 29, 2009 Two weeks ago these two treated us to one of the best pitchers’ duels of the season. Johnson’s Marlins squeaked out a 2-1 win, thanks to a dropped fly ball by Mets left fielder Daniel Murphy, which scored [...]
By Thom Henninger A little more than three weeks into the season, the American League Central is a jumbled mess of flawed teams. The pleasant surprise has been the Kansas City Royals, who are showing signs of making the AL Central a race between as many as four clubs. The only one currently not among [...]
By James Bailey Phil Hughes vs Edwin Jackson New York Yankees at Detroit Tigers April 28, 2009 Tonight’s duel features two pitchers who once ranked among the elite prospects in baseball. Both at least indirectly have some bearing on the AL East race. The Yankees need Hughes to patch up a suddenly leaky rotation, and [...]
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By Ron Thompson According to a published report, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen doesn’t want his team to promote 2008 first-round draft choice Gordon Beckham to the big league club this year. “This kid should play a full season down there,” Guillen said of Beckham. “If you see Beckham in the big league, we are [...]
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By James Bailey At the three-week mark we felt it was an appropriate time for a checkup on how the division races were shaping up. We’ll kick off our reviews with the AL East. The great debate prior to the season was which of the three best teams in baseball was going to finish out [...]
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By Bill Begley Welcome to a new weekly feature – 3 Up and 3 Down. Each week we’ll take a look at three players or teams on the rise – three up – and three players or teams struggling – three down. This is not necessarily the three most “hot” and three most “not” but [...]
