First off, I would just like to wish everybody a very happy, secular, non-denominational day of spring and painted egg collecting.
But for most of us, the most special part of this day is the first night of baseball in America.
Tonight at 8pm (or probably 9pm because of ESPN’s commercials), the New York Yankees will take on the Boston Red Sox in what will be the first day of baseball for the 2010 season. As die-hard a hockey fan as I am, nothing feels like ...
Hours before the Yankees home opener, Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long is faced with the challenge of duplicating his offense's 2009 season. Key hitters Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui have both departed via free agency for new teams, and Melky Cabrera was traded to the Atlanta Braves.
Who will make up for that lost production?
The Yankees are hoping that former Yankee Nick Johnson, former Tiger Curtis Granderson, and Brett Gardner will be able fill those roles.
Johnson will start the year hitting number two between Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira. Granderson ...
Baseball fans have been repeatedly told that the New York Yankees are the greatest dynasty in sports history, but they are rarely told that since 1958, the Yankees' dominance with respect to winning the World Series, has decreased.
From 1921-1958, the Yankees won 24 pennants and 18 World Championships.
From 1960-2009, the Yankees have won 16 pennants and nine World Championships.
Yankees Supremacy
The greatest Yankees' dynasties were from 1927-1953. At the conclusion of the 1953 season, the Yankees had won 20 pennants and 16 ...
Give FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal credit—before reaching for the Chicago White Sox as his prediction to win the 2010 World Series, he prefaced it with (probably real) editor guidelines.
The first two essentially prohibited him from tabbing either the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox.
Fine, the powers-that-be wanted him to zig when everyone else zagged. Makes for more interesting headlines, spicier debate, blah, blah, blah.
That's all well and good except it's artificial, which doesn't sit well with me.
Rosenthal has to know what most baseball brains have recognized—the New York Yankees, ...
Working in a local supermarket, I have a front row seat for all the latest hollywood gossip and glamour. There are upsides and downsides to this.
For example: downside, I can name about twenty celebrities who have cellulite, and how many plastic surgeries Heidi Montag has had.
A clear upside: the Swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, or any magazine that has Kim Kardashian on the cover.
Speaking of Kim Kardashian, let's begin to make sense of all this. How does Reggie Bush cheat on one of the most beautiful women on the planet? ...
The New York Yankees captured their 27th world championship in 2009, winning their first World Series since 2000.
With the Red Sox and Rays both looking strong, will the Yankees have enough to fend them off in the AL East?
In the National League, the Phillies made their second consecutive World Series trip last season, but should face more competition in the NL East with the retooled Braves and Marlins each looking to make some noise.
So, how do they stack up on the day before Opening Night?
1. New York Yankees
The defending champs ...
After winning their first World Series in nearly a decade, the Yankees refused to stand pat and spent the off-season making wholesale changes to an increasingly-aging roster. As a result, they re-tooled for another AL East title and put themselves in position to challenge for back-to-back championships.
The Yankees said goodbye to players at both ends of the career spectrum - aging veterans near the end of their playing days and prospects whose big league careers are yet to begin. They brought in veteran ballplayers with big contracts who should still ...
Last October and November was a time that all Yankee fans will never forget.
The Yankees blew through the post season to their 27th world championship, and their first championship since 2000.
Just about everything seemed to go right for the Yankees last season. C.C. Sabathia lived up to the contract that he signed and A.J. Burnett stayed healthy and showed flashes of a dominant pitcher. Mark Teixiera was an MVP candidate in his first season in pinstripes, not just clubbing home runs, but by spectacular defensive play as well.
Derek Jeter proved ...
Now that the decade of the 2000s has just ended, I thought it would be a good time to make a list of the best relief pitchers from this decade.
Now keep in mind, this list is a list of the best careers, so far. It is not a list of the best right now. This needs to be kept in mind while reading this list; I’m talking about the best careers, not the best 2009 seasons.
Some argue that the position of relief pitcher is an unimportant position. I disagree.
Here’s ...
When the Yankees scored the go-ahead run in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, John Sterling boasted the team was on its way to win their fourth straight championship. This scene took place in the eighth inning.
It's hard to blame him. With Mariano Rivera pitching against the feeble part of the Diamondbacks order, Sterling would be a fool not to like his chances.
Funny thing took place though. The Diamondbacks found a way to get some bloop hits against a future Hall-of-Fame closer, and somehow and some way, the underdog team ...