It's Baseball Season

Last week we had the chance to talk about Jackie Robinson; and this week we’re talking about baseball some more. The season is three weeks old and there is already plenty of stuff to talk about.
Alex Rodriquez is off to a great start. He has is batting .371 with 12 homeruns and 31 RBI and has already hit several walk-off jacks. And the people in New York still like him. In fact, they won’t like him until he starts playing like that in the fall and wins them a World Series. April A-Rod is nothing without a similar great October A-Rod.
But you can’t talk about the Yankees without talking about the Red Sox, who swept them over the weekend in the three game series. But it must have been something in the air, because balls were flying out of the park the whole time including the four straight on Sunday by Boston. It may be really early but this series is always filled with passion. That’s a big key to a rivalry. Still wanting to destroy the other team when there is not a whole lot on the line.
Daisuke Matsuzaka has been the players drawing headlines for Boston this season, at least in terms of the number of Japanese reporters that one man can bring along. But Dice-K really hasn’t been all that dominant. With a record of 2-2 and 4.00 ERA he has looked shaking at times. He has all the tools to be an ace, but he has to start adjusting to batters faster than they adjust to him.
So much for St. Louis and Chicago being the trendy picks in the N.L. Central. Although they may rally late, they have pretty much been bad early. Bad pitching, bad hitting; just whole lot of bad everywhere. Both of these teams definitely have the ability to bounce back but it remains to be seen. The Cubs spend a whole bunch of money and they are still the Cubs and the Cardinals look set to continue the streak of reigning champions playing badly the next year. Look back at the latest winners, Diamondbacks, Angels, Marlins, Red Sox, White Sox and now the Cardinals; all have them underperformed the next year.
On the other side of Chicago, the White Sox are struggling as well but they did get a no-hitter from Mark Buehrle against the Rangers. In fact, he only came one Sammy Sosa walk away from a perfect game. But he did pick him off right after that. The struggling Sox needed the boost because they have won three out of the last four since.
Barry Bonds is inching ever close to Hank Aaron’s career homerun record of 755. He hit number 740 over the Diamondbacks Sunday. It seems like the only that’s going to stop him from here on out is a major injury. Aaron has said publicly that he will not attend the game where Bonds breaks the record. Whether you love or hate Bonds, Aaron, baseball or not, it’s sad that an occasion that should be happy one will be met with more controversy than joy.
Let’s hope the elbow injury that has sidelined Seattle’s Felix Hernandez will not be a long-term problem because he has been awesome so far. He has a pair of stunning wins along with only 1.56 ERA and striking out 18. At only 21, he the face of the franchise and the league’s brightest young hurler. Now if he can only turn into Johan Santana and not Mark Prior.
It’s summertime. So eat those hotdogs and cracker jacks, relax and watch some baseball.