I am a big proponent of the low risk signings with minimal commitment and non-roster invitations to Spring Training. The players involved are forced to audition their talent and do not get a free pass based on a glimmer or more of success in the past. For instance, the Mark Prior signings of the las...

Let me just say up front that I’m a fan of guys who get the most of our their ability. If you aren’t gifted with overwhelming tools and still find a way to succeed, unless you’re a complete jerk, I’m behind you. With that disclaimer out of the way, it should come as no surpri...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations. Tim Wakefield continues to be the best bargain in baseball. With his win last night he's now 6-6 on the season - which is the least impressive thing about his statistics. Consider that he's started 19 games and averaged be...

Don’t look now, but the New York Mess (er, Mets) are (drumroll, please) back to a game over .500. They got there at the expense of their number one National League East nemesis. And, they got there in spite of their own most arduous obstacle. Themselves. No one wants to go quite so far as to s...

When Pedro Martinez left the game in the 6th inning, he was all smiles with a 10-2 lead as Mets fans were giving him an ovation in Philly. A little over an hour later, the Phils were 1 swing away from handing the Amazins arguably their worst regular season loss in franchise history. But Jayson Werth...

The Mets and Phillies have already provided us with more than enough twists and turns and runners left on base and game-breaking home runs and late-inning drama for one series, and there’s still another game to play. If the Mets win tonight, they would get back over .500 for the first time in ...

So I had a barbecue chicken sandwich from Boston Market today. It was delicious. But near the end of the first half of the sandwich, I got one of those pieces of chicken cartilage that must have gotten in there mistakenly ... and I gagged some of it up. Trudged on after a delay to get hungry again, ...

Primarily due to the MLB Extra Innings package and my sheer love of the sport I am a true baseball junkie. I don’t care if it’s the generic Red Sox/Tigers matchup on ESPN or the local feed of a Reds/Nationals game; watching various games helps me connect better with players who would oth...

The Padres head to Philly for three starting Tuesday evening. Among other things, this means I got to pick the brains of Tom Goyne, proprietor of the estimable Balls, Sticks, & Stuff, about his team. (We did this last year, too, and had more fun than you can shake a ball, stick, or stuff at.) W...

So my brother calls me after the top of the seventh inning to inquire as to whether Carlos Beltran's at-bats were sponsored by Gorilla Glue. If they are, my guess is that nobody would know ... since the advertisement would be placed on the very spot on the shoulder of the jersey where Carlos keeps h...