Baseball Analysis

A funny thing happened to the Philadelphia Phillies after the team followed a 12-1 homestand in early June with a miserable stretch of baseball that sunk them back under .500 and into a last-place tie. Even with may of its veterans slumping (Bobby Abreu, Kenny Lofton) or injured (Jim Thome, Randy Wolfe), the streakiest team in the National League has quietly gotten hot again. Read more »

Terry Francona has been in full ?Rain Man? mode, and Theo has been working the phones/crunching the numbers with the best of them. Our middle infield just got a nice boost with Tony Graffanino, and as long as Alex Cora sticks to keeping Manny and Ortiz cool with a peacock feather fan, things look productive enough. Read more »

Watching John Smoltz throttle the San Francisco Giants was like dancing back through time, experiencing a memory revival of yet another brilliant performance by the Braves? right-hander. The only peculiarity of notice was the irregular fit of his uniform. Age tends to rearrange things a little. Read more »

Buster Gunning brings us an exclusive and very intimate interview with longtime friend and Texas Rangers' pitcher Kenny Rogers to discuss life, love and Kenny?s recent outbursts. Read more »

Now that Todd Helton is living up to his potential, which playoff team is going to snag him from the Rockies? Read more »

Vladimir Guerrero headlines a very solid Angels roster and is quickly becoming one of the best overall players in baseball. Read more »

The Red Sox now face the team with the best record in baseball, the Chicago White Sox, what Damon and the crew do here will most likely influence what mid-season moves the Red Sox make. Read more »

The Rockies are still paying Mike Hampton to pitch for the Atlanta Braves and would still be paying Denny Neagle as well had Neagle been able to stay out of legal trouble, this along with many other excuses leave the Rockies at 97 games under 500 during the nearly six year tenure of General Manager Dan O?Dowd. Read more »

Vladimir Guerrero hit a grand slam in the 7th inning to give the Angels a 6-5 win over the New York Yankees. Also, for the second straight day Jason Giambi hit two home runs. Read more »

21st July, 2005 U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago The Red Sox and White Sox have been the AL's two best teams for much of the year and they finally do battle as Matt Clement faces Eric Buehrle. Read more »

Jason Giambi continued his resurgence on Wednesday by hitting two home runs as the Yankees defeated the Rangers in Texas. Read more »

Phase one in the Red Sox bid for another title - trade Bill Bulluer to Minnesota for LHP J.C. Romero. Read more »

Opposing teams haven?t pitched around Chris Shelton yet, but they may have to if he continues his red hot hitting. On the season Shelton is hitting .356, with 9 homeruns, 33 RBI?s, and 28 runs in just 144 at bats. To put those numbers in perspective Shelton has only failed to register a hit in 9 of the 42 games he played, with 5 of those coming before he became a regular starter. If he qualified, his .597 slugging percentage would be 4th in the league and his average would be 2nd. Read more »

In an era where male sports chauvinism has come under fire in every sports medium from golf to auto racing, baseball remains untouched. It?s the baseball code, you hit my guy, I hit yours. If things get testy, we?ll meet you at the mound with pipes and chains. This is baseball, a sport that tolerates a bench clearing brawl better than any other. Read more »

If you're looking for a hitter with a career OPS of .936 and 521 home runs, who has playoff experience and is craving that elusive ring before he retires, then you can have him. Read more »

20th July, 2005 SBC Park, San Francisco John Smoltz takes the mound for the Giants against Noah Lowry and the Giants in an afternoon rubber match. Read more »

Rich Harden came within one out of becoming the first Oakland pitcher in more than four years to record consecutive shutouts, combining with Huston Street on a four-hitter in a 3-1 victory over the Angels. Read more »

Although he is struggling this year, Randy Johnson is still the Yankees best pitcher, which helps to shed light on the Yankees pitching woes. Read more »

I am sitting here trying to figure out who has the tougher job right now, Boston manager Terry Francona or President George W. Bush. Both have very volatile jobs and receive a lot of criticism when they make a questionable move. Read more »

In the American League, almost every leading wild-card contender decided to extend their All-Star Snoozes --or at least daydreams--, with only Oakland and the Yanks deciding to take advantage of the situation. While in the National League, the only major change was St. Louis humbling the Astros in three straight, the Nationals continuing their downward slide, and a couple of new teams elbowing their way into my elite, much-admired Team Rankings Page. Read more »