It’s the last day of the 2009 MLB regular season, a bittersweet moment if ever there was one.  The daily rollercoaster that we’ve all been on since the start of April is about to come to an end, but the playoffs look set to provide us with a host of exciting games. So much happens over the course of the season that it’s interesting to look back to opening night and consider how things have worked out for those involved.

The Sunday night opener saw the reigning World Series champions the Philadelphia Phillies taking on the Atlanta Braves in front of a joyous crowd at Citizens Bank Park.  Continue reading →

The end of September leads all eyes to focus on the potential postseason teams.  Excitement-filled nights in October await eight teams and only one will emerge from the marathon MLB season with their dreams fulfilled.

It’s a captivating story that leaves us all engrossed every year, but for many it seems a long way away.  While some managers are getting ready to lead their charges into the playoffs, others fear the axe or are packing their bags already.  Continue reading →

It seems like ages since we’ve had a week without apocalyptic stories of ‘cheating’ filling the sports pages of British newspapers.  From ‘bloodgate’ (rugby union), to ‘divegate’ (football) and now ‘crashgate’ (Formula One), all it takes is one or two incidents for a whole sport to be dragged through the mud. 

When someone gets caught, their first instinct is normally to deny any wrongdoing, then claim that what they did wasn’t all that bad because everyone else does it anyway, before dealing with the often ridiculous moral outrage by engaging in rounds of the old playground argument: ‘your sport’s worse than my sport when it comes to cheating’, ‘no, your sport’s much worse than mine’ etc. 

In baseball, we’ve seen all this played out with regard to the so-called ‘steroid era’.  Continue reading →

‘E’ numbers provoke much examination, scrutiny, comment and concern.  In Europe, such deliberations revolve around artificial food additives.  Companies are now proudly proclaiming the lack of artificial additives in their products, blind to the fact that their statements make loyal customers question why they weren’t so bold in saying the additives were there in the first place.

Yet in the U.S., concerns over ‘E’ numbers do not relate to food.  It’s far more important than that.  The ‘E’ stands for elimination in sporting competitions and MLB.com’s official standings make fans all too aware of their team’s fate.  Continue reading →

When September comes around, rosters expand from their twenty-five man limit.  Players come up from the Minor Leagues with dreams that a good impression over the final month could help them win a Major League spot for the following year.  Some of the youngsters getting a ‘cup of coffee’ will play a part in a postseason race down the stretch, but mostly their appearances will be granted by teams out of contention.

More often than not, playoff contenders look towards available veterans when they need some extra bodies for the final push.  Those players are normally available because they haven’t been playing well, but there will always be a team hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.  Continue reading →

Many smart people have devoted countless hours to analysing all aspects of baseball over the years.  They have challenged preconceptions and conceived wisdom, attempting to strip away the vagaries of luck to reach clear conclusions based on solid evidence.  I find much of it interesting and thought-provoking, but I’m afraid the Mets’ 2009 season has forced me to divert from their considered path for some answers.

Sorry: there is no other explanation that I can accept. Omar Minaya must have walked under a ladder outside Citi Field on Friday 13^th, before breaking a mirror while opening up an umbrella once he got inside their new ballpark.  He probably knocked over a salt shaker as well for good measure.  Continue reading →