Just some thoughts after the Mets finished up their series with the LA Dodgers.
 1. Home Sweet Home. The New York Mets finished a tremendous homestand at 9-1. That is quite the accomplishment no matter who you are playing. This is only the third time in the teams history that they have finished a ten game home stand with a 9-1 record.
2. 1st Place Yes, thats right, the New York Mets …

The Mets organization may not think Ike Davis is Major League ready just yet, but the young first baseman will see plenty of action in spring training. With the Mets resting most of their regulars in yesterdays spring opener, Davis got the start at first base against the Atlanta Braves.
There were some first day jitters as Davis misjudged a foul territory pop up. The first baseman did admit to feeling …

I’ve got very little love for the Atlanta Braves.  I’ll never be able to get past the abusive relationship they had with the early-’90s Pirates.  They are a team from the Deep South who didn’t have the good sense not to employ an unabashedly racist reliever (John Rocker).  And, let’s face it, the face of their franchise, Chipper Jones, falls somewhere between REO Speedwagon and offal on the likability scale.
That …

At the end of the award voting, I decided that since the Baseball Bloggers Alliance had come along so quickly, it might be nice to get an idea of who was actually in the group. To that end, I’m working through the roster and asking ten questions of each member. The first five are standard, while the last five are a little more personalized. Hopefully this will …

So, here we are. After two articles that ended up being much longer than I anticipated we are finally at the end. It’s time to me to defend my choices and explain why I voted for the five candidates that I did for the Baseball Blogger’s Alliance virtual Hall of Fame.
In the first blog in this series, I talked about my voting criteria and the players who belonged in the …

First Wagner, now Saito.

The NL Rookie of the Year award has been hotly debated throughout the summer, as Casey McGehee has been clamoring for recognition outside the Brew City.
How did he rank?

Be sure to check out more Brewers news and analysis from Jim Breen at Bernie’s Crew.

Originally posted at raisethejollyroger.com
NL Rookie of the Year is a ridiculously tough call this year. Especially as a Pirates fan/homer. Part of me wants to give Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones the recognition they deserve, especially when the chance to put a Pirate in the spotlight is rare. Another part wants to be objective, and knows there were other excellent candidates in J.A. Happ, Tommy Hanson, Randy Wells, Dexter Fowler, …

Originally posted at Marlin Maniac.
As part of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, my job is to spout my opinion on end-of-season awards and make sure we kick the crap out of the BBWAA (they deserve it). I figure with the Marlins season over, the playoffs in heat, and most importantly, my deadlines approaching, I’d get us started with these awards.
The National League Manager of the Year
Managers are extremely difficult to quantify. …

This Blogservations will have nothing but love for Ricky Nolasco, so expect a lot of charts. Let’s dive right on in.
Ricky Nolasco dominates the Braves, strikes out 16
Last night, Ricky set a club record for strikeouts in a regular season game with 16, including a spectacular nine strikeouts in a row from the third through the fifth inning. He also only walked two Braves during the start, going seven and …

I wasn’t going to write a Blogservations for last night’s game versus the Atlanta Braves, but Anibal Sanchez’s performance deserved some serious criticizing. Let’s dive into that catastrophe of a start.
More on Sanchez’s disastrous control in his start over at Marlin Maniac.