Seems like a high energy guy so far. He can play all over the field, which is a plus.

Took my family to the A's/Yankees game tonight for my stepsons birthday. I was actually proud of A's fans for showing up so strongly. I expected it to be a home away from home game for the Yankees (like when the Red Sox play there). It was fireworks night too, so we all had a great time. I need to get to games more often.

I keep saying the same thing.

"The Perfect Game Ghost" keeps haunting White Sox righty Philip Humber. He has yet to win a game since tossing that perfect game on April 21.

That's pretty extreme, but it seems to happen quite often after pitchers throw perfect or no-hit games. At least with Yankees, they're no good for a while afterwards...

Agreed, JG. The sadder thing about Humber is that he was just and probably always will be an above .500 pitcher at best. Great guy and solid Sox player - I like him but he's no Cy Young contender! And that is coming from a big White Sox fan.

Today on ESPN radio they asked the question; is it harder to pitch a perfect game (there have been 21) or harder to hit 4 homeruns in a game ( 16 times, recently by Josh Hamilton.

54% said, 4 homeruns.

I wonder how different the results would have been if there were more 4 home run games than perfect games? I think both accomplishments are rather tough, but I'd say 4 home runs is tougher.

Jared Weaver was injured in the 1st inning of the Angels/Yankees game. It was his first start since throwing his no-hitter against Minnesota.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nat...tbxU_story.html

Landed awkwardly on his foot or something.

Roy Halladay is also off to see a doctor about his shoulder.

Roy Halladay is out 6-8 weeks with a shoulder injury. Big blow for the Phillies!

Yep. Here's a numbers way to look at it. Halladay will likely miss 11 starts over eight weeks. Since he's been with the Phillies, they have won approximately 70-75% of the games he started, so we might assume that in those games with a healthy Halladay the Phillies could expect an 8-3 record.

With the replacement pitcher (Kyle Kendrick), assuming the return of Worley to the rotation, the Phillies win approximately half the starts. So if they win 5 of the 11 Halladayless games, the net result is 3 games, which is actually significant.

Klyd,

Maybe there is a legal loophole here somewhere. Because the Fillies are in last place, maybe they get some kind of dispensation?

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. No Howard, Utley, Halladay...you still move on.

It may be last place, but the rest of the field is in plain sight, and we all know how prone to choking the Mets are.

The NL East (which is baseball's best division) will come down to the Phillies and Marlins.

The AL East might have something to say about that claim right now . All the teams in the AL East and NL East are above .500.

*coughcoughEastcoastbiascoughcough*

Let me know when they start playing baseball on the west coast.

Them's fightin' words! I may have to do something drastic and remove you from my facebook friends list!

Actually, (I wish I could find a way to look up the stat) why is it that over the past decade or so, people always say the weakest teams are on the west coast, yet the wild card teams seem to come from out here more often than not? I think it's easy for most of the country to think of us as a joke, or completely forget about us because it's so late at night for everyone on the east coast when teams out here are still playing REAL baseball.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a Rangers vs. Giants world series rematch. Western divisions all the way baby!

Certainly the Rangers and Giants have been the best teams so far, and I do believe that there is an east coast bias generally with respect to national sports reporting, especially in baseball where the Yankees and Red Sox are overhyped.

This season though every team in both eastern divisions has a winning record. It won't end up that way, of course. But right now the level of talent and division records would suggest the best teams right now are in the East.

There are a lot of match ups in the WS that won't surprise me. I picked the Giants to win their division with SF getting a wild card, but SF and Lincecum have to get better. Keep the faith though, blibble.

Blasphemy! You kiss your Yankee fan wife with those Yankee-bashing lips??

Guilty as charged.

Beat 'em Bucs!

The Bucs are tough.

They're 3 games out.

Their pitching has been among the best in baseball. They have a few holes in the lineup, but I'm betting that for the first time in 20 years they'll be looking to add talent to the roster before the trading deadline, rather than dumping veteran talent to save money.

They seem to have stabilized overall. They beat the temas they should beat and they challenge the better teams.

They have more than held their own against the Phillies the past few years. That was an amazing rivalry in the 70s.

Are you able to find any Bucco fans in Texas?

Unfortunately, not a one. I'd wear my black Pirates cap more than I usually do, but from the looks I get people tend to think I'm in a gang.

I'm seeing more Pirate hats around Harrisburg than I'ever have since Bonds left in '92.

This is a cool map I came across, where someone compiled all the birthplaces of major leaguers. I can't guarantee its complete accuracy, but it's pretty interesting to look at!

http://www.everyoneelseisdoingit.com/maps/MLB_2012.html