Welcome to the first installment of a yet to be determined number of installments Satish and I will be putting together on fantasy rankings for the upcoming season. This piece, about the top ten third basemen, will be followed by Satish’s rankings of outfielders and starting pitching, while I will subsequently add relief pitchers, as well. Since most fantasy leagues use the standard fantasy categories of runs scored, home runs, RBI, stolen bases and batting [...]

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, righthander Chien-Ming Wang tossed six shutout innings to lead Chinese Taipei to a 4-1 victory over Australia. The 2013 World Baseball Classic is officially underway. As the tournament kicks off, the sentiment from most fans I run into is that they view the WBC as a “big pain in the ass”. Some fans resent the fact that their team’s top players have bolted their Spring Training camps in Arizona and Florida [...]

Yes. That title is for real. We have been so busy ridiculing the man for his cost-cutting style of management, that we are not taking the time to take a step back and see the big picture. You could sit and watch the thirty minute episodes of Bob Ross’ show, which featured him painting, and witness him scratching and poking away at that canvass, switching from brush to brush and color to color, and wonder [...]

“I am not asking for anyone to feel sorry for me. I am only asking that Topps and MLB not compound my punishment by deleting the truth of what I achieved.” “Please believe me, I have suffered very much for what I did, but I need to respond when what I did fair and square in baseball is taken away from me too. That is neither fair nor honest.” There is nitpicking, there is pettiness, [...]

Tucked away in the mountains of Tehachapi, Calif. rests a modest cottage. Living in that cottage are John and Jill Nelson. These are my parents. In any given room, you can find the typical conventions of any old west-style household. There are paintings of horses on every wall, candle holders made from welded horseshoes on the dining room table and small pieces from alfalfa-hay flakes scattered across the 70s-style brown carpet. If you look deep [...]

1986 was a great year. Sure, there was Doc and Darryl, Keith and Kid, Mookie and Mitchell, slow rollers and swagger. But for me, personally, it was also one of the best years of my life. I turned 21 that November. I was now ‘legal.’ I started my senior year in college, my entire life and all my dreams lay ahead of me. I got to meet and party with the members of Van Halen at [...]

Hall of Fame second basenan Rogers Hornsby was once asked what he does all winter. He replied, “I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” After champagne is poured in the locker room and the commissioner presents the World Series trophy to the winning manager, I start the countdown to Opening Day. There are a few ‘obstacles’ to get through. Perhaps an election. Thanksgiving. Christmas. New Years. And [...]

The business of baseball is a lot tougher to grasp than the dynamics of “on-the-field” play. As fans, we look at the end result of every decision made. Did he sign? Who did we trade? When was he drafted? Rarely do we get to see what happens behind closed doors. Recently, the injury of Alex Rodriguez has brought about questions regarding the insurance of a player’s contract. On top of that, the discussion of whether [...]

This morning, I’d like to comment a little on two stories from the weekend, neither of them Mets related because, well, they haven’t done anything. The first is Stan Musial’s funeral and the second Frank Thomas’ comments from the White Sox’s annual fan convention. In different ways, both speak to baseball’s history in a profound light. Both return us to a cleaner, simpler time. Let’s look at Musial first. Here was a three-time MVP and [...]