Thursday, May 1, 2008
This is the greatest time of year for all of you baseball fans out there who spend hours each night watching your hometown team on www.mlb.tv. College basketball season is over, the weather is starting to warm up and baseball season is fully underway. The Major League Baseball season is barely a month old, but there have been several surprises so far in 2008. Here’s a look at some of them.
The BAD
Detroit Tigers – On paper, the Tigers looked like they were going to walk into the World Series as the best team in baseball. But a 2-10 start, including a three-game sweep by the Royals to start the season, has the Tigers trying to figure out what’s going wrong. They are playing better of late but still sit in last place in the American League Central standings. The Tigers pitching staff, which added ace Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins in the off-season, has an ERA of 4.99, which ranks 28th out of 30 teams.
Barry Zito – After signing a seven year, $126-million contract before the 2007 season, Zito has turned into one of the worst pitchers in baseball. Zito is 0-5 with a 7.53 ERA this season and has been sent to the bullpen with a fastball that is barely hitting 84 miles per hour. Most of his contract was back-loaded so the Giants still owe Zito $116 million over the next five and a half years. That’s a large chunk of change for a Cy Young Award winner … but for a relief pitcher? General manager Billy Beane sure knows what he is doing in Oakland.
The GOOD
Tampa Bay Rays – For a franchise that has never had a winning season, a winning April may be the sign of things to come for the now just Tampa Bay ‘Rays’. The Devil is gone from the name and the Rays are playing like a team who might stay in the race for most of the season. After being bad for so many years, the Rays’ top draft picks are finally starting to make an impact on the big league club. Evan Longoria, BJ Upton, Carl Crawford and last year’s comeback player of the year Carlos Pena lead a young team that has fans including season ticket holder Dick Vitale excited about the upcoming summer of Rays baseball. And the team’s best pitcher, Scott Kazmir, comes off the disabled list to make his first start of the season on Sunday.
St. Louis Cardinals – After losing Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds and David Eckstein to trades and free agency, most thought the Cardinals would be one of the worst teams in the national league. But with the third best ERA in baseball, the Cardinals are perched atop the NL Central standings with a starting staff that nobody has heard of including Todd Wellemeyer, Braden Looper, Kyle Loshe and Joel Piniero, who make up four-fifths of the Cardinals starting rotation. But when you have Albert Pujols, the best player in baseball, you always have a chance to win no matter who you have on your team.
—Edited by Samuel Lamb
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