Scott's Baseball Blog March 2008 Archive

The Washington Nationals couldn't have scripted it much better. Open a new ballpark with a victory, and the face of the franchise delivering the winning blow. Ryan Zimmerman hit a solo ... Read More

The season is about to begin (or actually has, technically), so it's time to make a few predictions for the season to come: First, some predictions for individual awards: AL MVP: Victor ... Read More

It was a stunt – nobody could possibly say otherwise – but some history was made at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday night. The Dodgers announced a crowd of 115,300 ... Read More

Optimism seems to always reign on Opening Day. That even includes the Pittsburgh Pirates, who are one more poor season from a dubious achievement. The Pirates haven't had a winning season ... Read More

It was only an exhibition game, but the Yankees saw enough of Andrew Miller this week. Johnny Damon: whiff; Bobby Abreu: swing and a miss; Alex Rodriguez: 97 mph, strike three. "I ... Read More

Let the back-tracking begin in San Francisco. There looks to be some revisionist thinking going on this season in the Giants organization. The only team that actually embraced the (allegedly) tainted ... Read More

Guess the Tampa Bay Rays have to win sometime, right? So they'll take spring training. Doesn't mean much starting next week, but the Rays (17-6 entering Thursday) believe that winning in ... Read More

Seven consecutive losing seasons have infiltrated baseball's oldest franchise, and Dusty Baker was brought in to fix that. And the manager's track record indicates that this could already be his ... Read More

As the Major League season opens in Japan this week, the Kansas City Royals are preparing for the season with a manager who won a championship in Japan. Compared to the ... Read More

Brandon Moss was an unlikely hero for the Boston Red Sox, hitting a solo homer to tie Tuesday's season-opener in Japan in the ninth inning, and Manny Ramirez hit a ... Read More

The Washington Nationals finally have their ballpark. Now it's time to build a winner. President Bush will throw out the ceremonial first pitch in the season opener in Nationals Park on ... Read More

Brian Roberts is getting tired of the questions, tired of waiting. Is he getting traded or not? And what's taking so long? As the Orioles begin what could be a painful ... Read More

Milwaukee's Ryan Braun won National League Rookie of the Year in 2007. Many thought Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki deserved it. But both might have been also-rans if it wasn't for a ... Read More

Ozzie Guillen is one of a kind. The Chicago White Sox manager puts himself out there – always – and you can't be surprised by anything he says. He tells it ... Read More

Albert Pujols sent shockwaves through Missouri when he revealed he had a shredded ligament in his right (throwing) elbow, and he's been just dealing with it ever since. Luckily he's playing ... Read More

You have to wonder what the Cincinnati Reds were thinking. Josh Hamilton, one of the great stories in baseball last season, who was a No. 1 overall pick yet almost threw ... Read More

The Dodgers played two spring training games in China last week, splitting the squad and creating a need for a second manager while Joe Torre was gone. And it was ... Read More

On the outside looking in, it might look like a tedious year for Mr. "Moneyball," Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane. The best-selling baseball book by Michael Lewis that showed Beane’s ... Read More

Prince Fielder is the youngest player who has ever hit 50 home runs. You'd think that would make him stick with exactly what he was doing. But get this: The 260-pound ... Read More

The Francisco Liriano that dazzled everybody back in 2006 – he's back on the mound for the Minnesota Twins. But don't expect the same kind of pitches coming from the ... Read More

Look around Braves camp at Disney World and it must feel like 2002 all over again. Tom Glavine is back. So is catcher Javy Lopez. John Smoltz and Chipper Jones never ... Read More

How soon is too soon for a return from Tommy John ligament transplant surgery? Most pitchers who have had the procedure - which is surgery in which a ligament from another ... Read More

In case the Yankees wonder why the rest of baseball doesn't care too much for them, they offered ample evidence in a spring training game in St. Petersburg, Fla. Like ... Read More

It's only a minor concern in a very long season, but there has been some speculation in many corners about who should be the New York Mets' opening-day pitcher. In ... Read More

It's always best to forget about any spring-training trends right after they happen. Unless it's some kind of position battle or a young player trying to make an impression, spring ... Read More

This isn't the kind of streak that Mark Prior was looking to extend. For the last four years, Prior has started the season on the disabled list. He'll extend that to ... Read More

It's rare to see a team shopping one of their former starters so openly in spring training. But it's also clear that both Brandon Inge and the Detroit Tigers don't ... Read More

Take a step back and it seems implausible. How can a team with this kind of cash flow, this kind of fan base, in this kind of a city, not ... Read More

Injuries were a big factor for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in their AL West championship season last year. Bartolo Colon, Howie Kendrick, Chone Figgins and Juan Rivera all ... Read More

These days you hear a lot about young players' contracts being renewed, which is still a leftover from the “reserve clause” system of baseball before the 1970s. Players in the ... Read More

2008 is a bridge year in a lot of ways for the New York Yankees. It could have been a lot different. There were tons of questions and a roster that ... Read More

Micah Owings was scratched from his spring-training start on Monday with some minor soreness, which changed the plans of manager Bob Melvin. Melvin was planning to bat Owings at No. ... Read More

In the once-sleepy Polk County, Fla. – now a little more bustling as a commuter/retirement stop halfway between Orlando and Tampa – two major-league teams train, at least for one ... Read More

It's encore season in Denver, where the memories of a great October are still fresh. With a strong, young lineup and a couple of young potential aces in Jeff Francis and ... Read More

The targets etched on their backs, the tests will keep coming for the Boston Red Sox in the early going of the 2008 season. Of course, who better to defend than ... Read More