MLB

MLB Preview: Giants and Rockies Do Battle

• Al Dannity

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

The San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies highlight a great weekend of Baseball in the National League. Giants need to perform on the road Never let it be said that I have an East Coast bias. There’s not doubt the best match-up this weekend is out in the NL West where the San Francisco Giants...

MLB

California Dreaming on an Interleague Baseball Weekend

• Frank Doyle

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Frank Doyle wonders if it was the return of interleague play that so bothered Lady Gaga in Queens last night. Lady Gaga is doing some media crossover this weekend. The singer attended the Padres at Mets game in Citi Field last night but the New York crowd, as only a New York crowd can do,...

MLB

Strasburg Mania Hits Washington

• Al Dannity

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Strasburg mania is here and it’s only going to get bigger as the phenom recorded 14 Ks and no walks in a stunning debut for the Washington Nationals. Al Dannity says it’s time to believe the hype. The Nationals are relevant For the brave few that have followed the Washington Nationals in recent years this...

MLB

Jim Joyce's Blown Call Makes Galarraga a True Winner

• Frank Doyle

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Frank Doyle looks back at the extraordinary events in Detroit last night, when a bad call in a ball game taught us about courage in adversity. Every now and again something happens in sports that transcends the game itself to remind you why we spend so much time watching sports, playing sports, or betting on...

MLB

Another Dry Summer for Chicago Baseball?

• Frank Doyle

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Frank Doyle hopes Chicago enjoys the hockey – the Windy City isn’t likely to find any joy from baseball this summer. The always volatile White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was in the news again this week, having blown his top with umpire Joe West when West called two balks on Chicago’s Mark Buehrle in their...

MLB

Mets, Yankees Best Interleague Series

• Frank Doyle

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Frank Doyle looks at how interleague baseball has become just another part of summer. Almost. It’s a measure of how highly baseball values history and tradition that interleague play is still widely regarded as something dangerously new-fangled, even though interleague play has been around for thirteen years. Thirteen years is a long time in the...

MLB

Twins at Yankees Weekend Preview

• Frank Doyle

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Frank Doyle looks forward to the Twins’ visit to the Bronx this weekend. Tampa Bay has the best record in the American League right now at 24-10 but the Yankees and Twins aren’t far behind at 22-12 each. How strange, then, that there seems a definite lack of confidence in either camp on the eve...

MLB

Dallas Braden Records the 19th Perfect Game in MLB History

• Al Dannity

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Oakland’s Dallas Braden may have lost more games than he’s won but on Sunday he was nothing short of perfect. Comfortably perfect Given the extraordinary rarity of perfect games it is remarkable how few tense moments there were during Dallas Braden’s remarkable performance against the Tampa Bay Rays. Last year Mark Buehrle needed a dramatic...

MLB

Yankees at Red Sox Preview

• Frank Doyle

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Frank Doyle wonders if a four game sweep of the Angels will give Boston just the boost it needs before You-Know-Who arrives at Fenway Park tonight. Boston has had an awful start to the season. Paul Testa is getting teased on the excellent Fire Brand blog for hitting the panic button after the Sox lost...

MLB

Mets at Phillies Weekend Preview

• Frank Doyle

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Frank Doyle is looking forward to some high class pitching in this season’s first series between the Mets and the Phillies. There has never been a more mixed up Major League franchise than the New York Mets. Founded in 1962 to replace the terrible void left in the city by the Dodgers and Giants’ western...

MLB

Is It Ever Wise to Defy the Baseball Gods?

• Frank Doyle

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Frank Doyle wants Roger Goodell to say it ain’t so – surely the NFL Commish wouldn’t be so foolish as to risk the awesome wrath of the baseball gods? The NFL may be the biggest sports organisation in America, but it’s always a mistake to push your luck. So it’s very surprising, therefore, that NFL...

MLB

Giants to Squeeze Home in the NL West

• Al Dannity

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

The NL West looks to be the most competitive division in all of Baseball and Al Dannity reckons it could go to the final day. Pick your poison The top of the National League’s West division is a bizarre cocktail of hitting, pitching, and balance. After accelerating through a re-building program the Giants are once...

MLB

Angels to Claim Another AL West Title

• Al Dannity

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

The Angels may be lacking Lackey but Al Dannity still backs Anaheim to rule the AL West in 2010. A tougher test These are not your 2009 Angels. Gone are John Lackey, Chone Figgins, and Vladimir Guerrero. The addition of Hideki Matusi won’t offset the loss defensively but the World Series MVP will assure Anaheim...

MLB

Cardinals to Rule the Roost in the NL Central

• Al Dannity

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Everyone’s first choice in Fantasy Baseball will help the Cardinals claim yet another divisional crown in 2010 Horribly lop-sided The NL Central race may seem more competitive than the NL East from afar but upon closer examination it becomes apparent that this is the most top heavy division in all of Baseball. In short the...

MLB

The Octopus Pitcher – can Pat Venditte Make It in the Major Leagues?

• Frank Doyle

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Frank Doyle wonders if the Yankees’ switch pitching prospect has what it takes to make it in Major League Baseball. Switch hitter? Yawn. Bats right, throws left? Zzz. Little person with a foot and half strike zone? Eddie Gaedel, St Louis Browns, one at bat against the Tigers in Sportsman’s Park, St Louis, on August...

MLB

Phillies to Power their way to a Fourth Straight NL East Crown

• Al Dannity

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

The Phillies will win the NL East but they won’t dominate it like they did the past two seasons according to Al Dannity. The case for a four-peat Philadelphia (-286) has built itself up as the dominant power in the NL East since 2007 and it has the tools required to continue that run in...

MLB

Minnesota to Overpower Pitching Strength of Sox in Central

• Al Dannity

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Al Dannity says you should trust the new-field advantage Minnesota holds in the AL Central this season. One edge goes another arrives Visiting teams to Minnesota (+125) will be glad to see the back of the Metrodome, at least initially. There isn’t a team in the American League that hasn’t got some bad memory of...

MLB

Yankees to Claim Another AL East Title

• Al Dannity

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

The AL East may be the toughest division in Baseball but it’s also the most predictable according to Al Dannity. An extra level of certainty Some divisions in MLB have likely contenders, others have red hot favorites, the American League East has two teams who we know will be playing October Baseball. Previewing or predicting...

MLB

No Change in AL but Baseball Writers have Strasburg-mania

• Al Dannity

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

The Boys of Summer are back and Al Dannity expects familiar faces to dominate the diamond in Major League Baseball this season. A familiar foursome The American League has a slight problem. Not a single game has been played yet we already know two of its playoff teams, are confident about the third, and have...

MLB

Chicago White Sox to Retire Frank Thomas' Number, Sign Johnny Damon?

• Ricky Rothstein

• Last Updated: October 4, 2017

Some big news out of the Windy City today as the Chicago White Sox appear busy on a number of fronts. First, shortly after Frank “The Big Hurt” Thomas announced he’d be retiring from Major League Baseball, the club he starred with for so many years — the White Sox — informed the media that...