The Blue Workhorse

Most MLB teams have played roughly 38-40% of their season, and with the season being a little past one-third of the way over, we have enough at bats and innings to decide on which players you can target to help your team win a fantasy title, or which players you might need to sell high, based on a track record of potential second half flop.

We will start the fantasy baseball reports with this installment noting some bigger names that you can possibly get at a discounted rate this summer:
Buy Low
Jimmy Rollins SS PHI

The Philly shortstop and former NL MVP has been off to a terrible start. With a current line of .217 AVG / 5 HR / 25 RBI / 10 SB / .584 OPS, Rollins and his putrid OPS have given fantasy owners fits. However, J-Ro has had two solid second halves each of the past two seasons, and one would think Rollins will bounce back. Even though his overall numbers might be mediocre, an owner might get top 5 production the rest of the way from Rollins.

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In this “B-Ray-ves Report,” we look at the Braves finally winning again with Chipper finally returning to the lineup and the (no longer Devil) Rays losing again despite Carlos Pena’s strange hitting streak:
Yesterday’s Scores:

Atlanta - 11
Pittsburgh - 1

Chicago (A) - 12
Tampa Bay - 2

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In this “B-Ray-ves Report,” we look at 22 scoreless innings for the Braves and the (no longer Devil) Rays passing out base on balls like free samples as both teams lost and dropped in the standings:
Yesterday’s Scores:

Pittsburgh - 10
Atlanta - 0

Chicago (A) - 8
Tampa Bay - 3

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In this “B-Ray-ves Report,” we look the pinch hit grand slam that got the Rays off the losing streak and the offensive struggles of the Braves that kept them on their losing streak:
Yesterday’s Scores:

Pittsburgh - 3
Atlanta - 0

Tampa Bay - 6
Chicago (A) - 5

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Earlier this year, we individually previewed each and every MLB team giving you a team’s record from the 2007 season, key additions and key losses in ‘08, projected starting lineups and pitching rotations, an overall outlook, fantasy impact players, and our prediction for this season.

So were we right?

Well, we got some things right like predicting Josh Hamilton’s huge season, but we also got some things way off like saying the Florida Marlins would be the laughing stock of the league.

What did we get right? What did we get wrong? This week we’ll start in the National League with the NL East:

Mets, Phils, or Braves: NL East Preview (March 6, 2008)

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[singlepic=198,320,240,,]C.C. Sabathia throws a pitch in what should have been a no-hitter Sunday against the Pirates. He also should be given the Cy Young Award and be considered for the MVP Award (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar).

C.C. Sabathia has been absolutely remarkable since being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers on July 7.

Not only has he become only the second midseason acquisition to go 9-0 (Doyle Alexander went 9-0 in 11 starts for the Detroit Tigers in 1987 after being traded from the Atlanta Braves for some prospect named John Smoltz), Sabathia has been a complete workhorse (and you know we love those). Sabathia already leads the National League with 6 complete games despite only 11 starts.

On Sunday afternoon, Sabathia tossed his third complete game shutout since joining the Brewers, striking out 11 Pirates batters, and allowing only one controversial hit to Andy LaRoche on a slow roller Sabathia mishandled, which can be seen about 12 seconds into this clip.

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The first step in planning your own sports vacation trip is deciding to go, but then after that you’ve got to try to figure out where you would like to go.

Washington D.C.? Chicago? Boston? Dallas? New York? Detroit? Los Angeles? There are several historic sports cities you could potentially choose.

Our goal through the usage of this 6 part “Planning Your Sports Vacation” series is to help you get the most out of your sports vacation!!

And choosing the right destination is the first step. While this may seem like the easiest choice in your trip planning, there are actually several things to consider.

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As I flipped the channel to FOX at about 8:00 pm, I had no idea that tonight would be one of the most intriguing All-Star Games in recent memory.

With the great opening ceremony linking the former greats with the present stars, I had a feeling this might be a special night and a special game.

The only thing that surprised me about the opening ceremony was the Steinbrenners brought the ceremonial game balls in a brown paper bag. C’mon guys, you’re the Steinbrenners, you can do better.

Before I get to the game:

5 quick reasons I hated the All-Star Game

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