Albert Pujols

Those concerns that Chipper Jones had about the feel of his right-handed swing seemed to evaporate when he deposited a Rich Hill fastball on top of the roof of a building located beyond the left-field wall at Roger Dean Stadium on Thursday afternoon. "Those are fun," Jones said with a smile. "That's what keeps you coming back. It's like making a birdie on the 18th hole after shooting [a round of] 99."

That's what keeps you coming back. It's like making a birdie on the 18th hole after shooting [a round of] 99.   -Chipper Jones

 

We need a Tank Butram (don't Google him, the name is fictitious) instead of an imported David Beckman. We need more exposure to the game like the women's pro soccer match in the wind and rain at Hobart Park soccer complex last Friday night. There was excitement again in Vero Beach in the month of March.  

In this strategy, a team uses a very large amount of its auction dollars on a few superstars and then fills in the rest of its lineup with a lot of $1 and $2 players. The idea is that the studs will pile up enough quality stats to allow the duds to fill in a little and put your team over the top. Unfortunately, this strategy rarely works, and it looks like it will only work in St. Louis this season due to such a weak division.  

Just when you thought the hot stove league was over, along comes a juicy rumor involving a mega-trade of superstars Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard . Never mind that the rumor has been overblown and that all parties have denied it. After all, Buster Olney 's report simply stated that the Phillies have had "internal discussions" about trading for Pujols.  

Today is March 17th, St. Patrick's Day , and many people across this world are celebrating the Luck of the Irish, enjoying corned beef and cabbage, and getting their drink on. This day also marks the 91st anniversary of the birth of the greatest natural baseball player who ever lived. A player so remarkable that the natural right handed hitter taught himself how to switch hit in the minors, and it only took him a couple weeks to get the hang of it.

There will never be a ballplayer as good as Willie Mays, but Reiser was every bit as good, and he might have been better. Pete Reiser might have been the best ballplayer I ever saw. He had more power that Willie. He could throw as good as Willie. Mays was fast, but Reiser was faster. Name whoever you want to, and Pete Reiser was faster. Willie Mays had everything. Pete Reiser had everything but luck.   -Leo Durocher

 

Offensively, the Cardinals have the lineup to put up runs with any team in baseball. Everybody knows how good Albert Pujols has been and now with Holliday protecting him in the lineup, the Cardinals have one of the best 3/4 hitting combinations in baseball. Throw in Ryan Ludwick and Yadier Molina and 3-6 is a very formidable group of hitters.  

I wrote a piece for The Faster Times about ESPN senior writer Buster Olney's ridiculous story about the possibility of the Philadelphia Phillies trading Ryan Howard to the St. Louis Cardinals for Albert Pujols. Olney's article is literally based on nothing more than an anonymous front office discussion in the Phillies front office. The speculation should have stayed there, instead of hitting the front page at ESPN.com, and becoming a breathless story on the Worldwide Leader.  

For both participants and spectators, the road to is a circuitous one. Competitors travel across the country and back, dodging crashes and controversy on a series of big ovals where high speeds can lead to white knuckles on the steering wheel. Fans traverse winding mountain highways with tunnels and overlooks, and the occasional stretch of roadside netting to protect against rock slides.

It is going to narrow it up   -Clint Bowyer

 

What rumor should we start next? William Penn for the Statue of Liberty? Schmidt's for Boston's Samuel Adams.  

In honor of some of wrestling's greatest tag teams, here are my fantasy first basemen rankings for 2010. This is the best of the best. The Road Warriors defined tag team wrestling and these seven first basemen represent the best fantasy first baseman in 2010. 1.