Nearly all in their 20s, the Rays' players out-pitched, out-hit, and out-maneuvered the powerful $133-million-dollar Red Sox. Read more »
Scott Essman - Baseball Analysis
Congratu-RAY-tions
Fernando Tatis Resurrected
Fernando Tatis hit 34 homers in 1998, but just a few seasons later he was out of baseball. Read more »
Slumps 'R Us
A record number of heretofore top baseball hitters (Ortiz, Beltran, Giambi, etc) are unthinkably slumping, and there's no clear indication as to why. Read more »
Does Joe Torre Bleed Blue?
Can Joe Torre bring the Dodgers' out of their 20-year slumber by turning young talent like James Loney, Jonathan Broxton, Chad Billingsley, Russell Martin, Andrew Ethier, and Matt Kemp into a successful core the way he did with Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera? Read more »
More Than Just Money For A-Rod?
At this stage of his career, with eleven full seasons in the AL, it would be difficult to imagine Alex Rodriguez in a National League uniform, forced to learn the pitchers all over again in a pitching-rich league. Read more »
NL Woes Continue
The NL boasts a bunch of All-Star game losses and also-rans or one-hit-wonders to show for their league. With the uncertainties of free agency and big spending, it is unclear when or even if the NL will regain its dominance. Read more »
Rockies' Mystique Deflated
For all of the Rockies' surge to tie for the Wild Card with 13 wins in their last 14, to coming from behind to beat the Padres in a one-game Wild Card playoff, to a sweep of the Phillies in the LDS and a sweep of the Diamondbacks in the LCS, they were sent a statement in Game 1: The Buck Stops in Boston. Read more »
Todd Helton - Reliable Rockie
In ten solid full seasons, all in Colorado, Todd Helton has never hit below .300 and has rarely been unable to play. But his team has never made the playoffs - until now with their incredible late-season run. Read more »
Playing From Behind Suits Boston
When you think about it, when the Boston Red Sox went down three games to one in the American League Championship Series to the Cleveland Indians, they had Cleveland right where they wanted them. Read more »
Manny's Own Laid Back Way, Even In October
If the Red Sox get back into the ALCS, it won't be because of Josh Beckett shutting the Indians down again or David Ortiz providing a clutch home run. The true backbone of the Boston team, as it has been for the last seven years, is Manny Ramirez. If Manny starts clicking, Boston will rebound and take the AL crown. Read more »
Confessions Of A Professional Yankee Hater
For a lifelong Mets' fan and Yankees' hater whose first home as a baby was a few miles from Shea Stadium, it's all about the year to which you refer when talking Yankees. 2007 was an up-and-down one for all Yankee haters but ultimately satisfying. Read more »
The Case For David Wright
Though he started slowly and had many naysayers questioning his true abilities, New York Mets' starting third baseman David Wright should be considered a strong National League Most Valuable Player candidate and is well on his way to becoming the greatest Met player ever at that position. Read more »
Lords Of Flatbush
Through its two hours, ?Ghosts of Flatbush? is just that: a story about perennial mainstays that have disappeared from the existence of an outerborough neighborhood for whom the Dodgers represented a touchstone in the rapidly changing world of the 20th century. Read more »
Better Late Than Never
Damion Easley is now 37 and has been knocking around baseball for 15 years at 2B and SS. A New York native, he's a career .251 hitter who has been on six teams. It has been that kind of career for Easley, now enjoying success in his waning years. Read more »
How To Fix The Yankees
It's said that money can't buy you love... in the case of the Yankees, it appears that money can't buy championships either. The great Yankee teams of the 1990s had an air of invincibility based on homegrown young talent. The new Yankees have a much different face. In each of the years of the new century since 2001, the team has tried to add a new piece to the puzzle in the vein of a high-priced free agent: Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Randy Johnson. All have come with big expectations in tow and none have brought a flag back to the Bronx. Read more »
Why A Mets Columnist Can't Help But Hate The Yankees
How perfect would it have been for the Mets themselves
to send former Met player and manager Torre to his
firing from the Yankees? A Yankee season without
postseason play, much less a sub-.500 season, is
unthinkable in this age of the $200 million payroll. Read more »
The Madness Of King George
George Steinbrenner can't stand the Mets. He really can't. The man can't bear the thought of that National League team doing ANYTHING to better him and his beloved Yankees. Just a few days ago, he announced a plan to completely rebuild Yankee Stadium, this coming less than three days after the Mets had announced their plan for a new ballpark to coincide with the 2012 Olympic bid by the city of New York. Read more »