Poor Cubs

I don’t have much to say tonight except it must be tough being a Cubs fan. Oh well, there’s always next year … or next century.

Dear TBS …

Dear TBS, before you flip the switch on Friday to broadcast Game Two of the American League Division Series between the Boston Red Sox and Anaheim Angels, please have a production meeting to cease and desist all this nonsense of trying to see Jonathan Papelbon’s eyes. It’s cliche and old. Yes, he gets that contrived look of intensity on his face and his eyes are locked on his target, but we do not need to get a close up every time. ESPN and Fox Sports do this same garbage whenever he closes a game they televise, and it’s annoying as hell. At the start of the bottom of the ninth of Wednesday, it was not as apparent. But it became pretty obvious that your cameramen were moving their positions just so we could see Papelbon’s eyes. Just stop.

MILB, the new major leagues

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, it’d be impossible not to recognize the major league talent being relegated to minor league duties. Just this week we saw Jeff Francoeur and Tom Gorzelanny get sent to the minors. In recent weeks struggling hitters and pitchers, as well as promising prospects have been yanked from their parent clubs and sentenced to a summer riding buses and playing in parks where they actually have on-field between-inning entertainment.

Four Bagger: Ramble On

Listen, Newspaperman can’t hang with the hip hop knowledge that TheJon, PoiDog and TheOz bring to TheBaseballStars. While they were listening to the supposed good stuff, I was eating up what MTV was serving: 3rdBass’ Pop Goes The Weasel, Metallica ‘s Enter Sandman, and Warren G and Nate Dogg in Regulate.

But I digress. I’ve come to understand the finer things in life, and I’m not talking about Tchaikovsky or anything like that. I’m talking Zeppelin, baby! Anyhow, as the header video states, it’s time to Ramble On and talk fantasy baseball.

Changing of the guard

Randy Johnson. Andruw Jones. Pedro Martinez. Gary Sheffield. There was a time when having these four guys on your fantasy team pretty much gave you a straight path to the finals. Now having them can lead you straight to the nut house.

Season opening tidbits

In less than a weeks time I’ve gone from feeling on top of the fantasy world (in my little bubble anyway), to pretty much feeling like crap about my team, particularly in the TheBaseballStars League. On draft day I felt like I crafted a gem, a squad that would be a force to be reckoned with. Now I’m just struggling to get a full team on the field.

Hey, look it’s Opening Day. Or is it?

So this is what the American Pastime is all about, eh? Waking up at 3 a.m. Pacific time to see the first official games of the Major League season? Call me a selfish baseball fan, but this still does not really mark the beginning of the season.

I can handle the truth … regardless of what it is

I am not sure what to think anymore.

After watching my boyhood idol Roger Clemens testify before Congress this morning, I’m as confused as ever.

If you ask Clemens, he flat out denies it. Not with a finger wag like Rafael Palmeiro did a few years ago, but with a deathly stare, one similar to the one we’ve seen him use on the mound all of these years.

Manny being Manny … or Rios or Markakis

My how far the mighty have fallen. I was working on my positional rankings this morning and realized how far Manny Ramirez has fallen off in terms of fantasy value. It used to be that he was an automatic top-five outfielder and almost a given to be chosen in the first round. But as I sat down to compile my rankings, I didn’t even notice he was missing until I got to No. 15, where I ended up placing him. Manny has been a fantasy superstar for years, producing 30-plus homeruns, 125-plus RBIs, offering a .320-plus batting average and usually 100 runs. But as he’s gotten older, he’s played less games each year, ultimately leaving fantasy owners in a state of disarray when they realize their superstar outfielder is producing like one from the middle of the pack. Suffice it to say that when I wrote Manny down as my No. 15, I had to stop and see who was ahead of him. Of course there was Soriano, Holiday and Sizemore. But there were also names like Granderson, Markakis and Rios. Based on name value alone, Manny likely will be drafted ahead of most off these guys in a standard draft. But when it comes down to it, he may be worth about as much, if not less, than the latter three names.

Threads of greatness

Shame on me for never not thinking about this before, but as I got dressed this morning I suddenly realized that three of my baseball jerseys are of players who are suspected of using performance enhancing drugs. I know Oz will love the McGwire jersey, as Big Mac punked him as a little kid. The Jon will love Bonds because he never mentions his name. The only other baseball player jersey sitting in my closet is David Ortiz (Thanks George Mitchell) … which I guess I’ll be wearing to this year’s fantasy draft. Afterall, got to represent my Red Sox.