Rays Fans Will Eventually Come Back

With the 0-6 start, the departure of Manny Ramirez, and the injury to Evan Longoria, Rays fans stayed away in droves for the opening two victories against the Minnesota Twins. Coupling all that with the dumping of salary and the constant drumbeat from owner Stuart Sternberg that the fans don’t deserve their baseball team, I […]

Fearless forecast for 2011 flag chases

The first rule in making baseball predictions is to expect the unexpected. Don’t go with last year’s winners, popular favorites, or big-money ballclubs. Unless they deserve it, of course. Now that we’ve gotten past the obvious rules, there are the string of unknowns that can pop up anywhere during the course of a 162-game schedule, […]

Guaranteed 2011 AL East Predictions!

Led by a rejuvenated Manny Ramirez, Tampa Bay will lead the division at the all-star break.  On his return from the All-Star game in Phoenix, Manny will become rejuveniled and absent-mindedly enter Boston’s clubhouse when the Rays resume their season in Beantown on July 15th.  He’ll don a Red Sox uniform and shag balls in […]

Clearing The Bases: 3rd Base

Clearing The Bases                                                                                                                                          March 22, 2011 By George Kurtz Outside of Shortstop, Third Base may be the toughest position to judge come draft time.  There are a bunch of interesting players here but what order to put them in is the big question.  Traditionally 3B is a power position, so you would like a player […]

AL East Positional Analysis And Ranking: Left Field

I am in the midst of a series examining the relative strengths and weaknesses of each of the teams in the AL East, on a position-by-position basis. The players at each position are being ranked in relation to their peers within the division, with teams being assigned points based on where their player ranks in […]

Was The Vazquez Trade Worth It?

Ever since Javier Vazquez made a name for himself in 2004, after giving up a grand slam to Johnny Damon in the American League Championship series, Yankee fans have dreaded the sight of the right-hander on the mound. When the Yankees traded for Vazquez in the 2009 offseason, mixed feelings were going around. He was coming […]

If the Granderson trade never happened…

As CC Sabathia and the Yankees beat up on Justin Verlander and the Tigers Tuesday night, a very interesting battle occurred within the war. Austin Jackson, an outfielder who was developed in the Yankee system, hit a home run on the first pitch thrown by the Yankees ace CC Sabathia. The inning later, Curtis Granderson, […]

Evaluating the Yankees as They Prepare for the Stretch Run

With the trade deadline now behind us, baseball fans can now relax a little and stop checking the web for hourly updates on what deals their teams have cooking. Fans in Kansas City, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cleveland can safely focus on football now that they know which prospects their teams got back for their serviceable […]

Are the Yankees Ready for an Encore Performance?

New York City had not finished sweeping up the confetti from the latest parade down the Canyon of Heroes before the Yankees’ relieved fans asked the obvious question: can they repeat? It may have taken nine years to deliver championship number 27, but that doesn’t mean the team’s spoiled fans are satisfied. The difference in […]

How to Get Your Phillies Phix

Hardcore Phillies Phan? Looking to take your Phandom to a new level? Want to be the Phillies Guru at work? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions then the Maple Street Press 2010 Phillies Annual is a must have. The kind people at MSP provided me with a complimentary copy of their publication […]

Questions, Answers and Tigers…

I was recently asked to give my two cents about the upcoming Tigers season.  Being one to never turn down an opportunity to speak my mind (well, lets be honest it’s not like people have to ask, I just do it) here are some of my opinions, thoughts and quandries about the upcoming 2010 season… […]