From the monthly archives:
By Elizabeth Finn There are several events during the twelve-month baseball season that I anticipate with Christmas-like excitement: opening day, pitchers and catchers reporting, my fantasy baseball league’s draft. Unabashedly geeky, I watch all available television coverage and soak up each nugget of insider information, eager to extend baseball just a little bit longer. One [...]
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By James Bailey My man-crush on Steve Finley dates back to 1988, when I first saw him play for the Rochester Red Wings as a lean 23-year-old. He earned International League Rookie of the Year honors that season, hitting .314 with five homers in 120 games. He was the only .300 hitter in the league [...]
By James Bailey The near-unanimous consensus among observers is that Albert Pujols already has his third NL MVP award sewn up. The Cardinals all-world first baseman is hitting .317 with 40 homers, 99 runs scored, and 107 RBIs. He leads the NL with 127 runs created and has his club in first place in the [...]
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By James Bailey It’s been six years since the National League has crowned a pitcher as its Rookie of the Year (Dontrelle Willis, 2003), but that streak will likely end this year. The top contenders for the award with six weeks to play are all moundsmen. None of the three leading candidates began the season [...]
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By Thom Henninger Matt Kemp has seen most of his 2009 plate appearances from the No. 7 spot in the Dodgers lineup. One might expect him to be batting higher in the order, considering he ranks second on the team to Andre Ethier in runs, home runs, extra-base hits, total bases and RBIs.
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By James Bailey If Alexei Ramirez had timed his arrival differently, he might have picked up some Rookie of the Year hardware. Unfortunately for the White Sox infielder, he broke in last year, when Evan Longoria ran away with AL Rookie honors. Ramirez finished at .290 with 21 homers and 77 RBIs. It’s a safe [...]
By James Bailey More than a couple of eyebrows were raised when Orioles manager Dave Trembley announced in spring training that he was slotting center fielder Adam Jones in as his No. 2 hitter. Jones, 23, generated a .311 on-base percentage in his first full season last year and profiled as a better fit lower [...]
