bleargh

© mathewingram

There's a lot of talk about realignment in Major League Baseball. I'm not sure how I feel about it, honestly. I do know that if there are two baseball leagues, as there currently are, then both should have the same number of teams.
That's not the case now — the American baseball League has 14 teams, the National baseball League has 16. The DH exists only in the American baseball League; the National baseball League has far too much sense to adopt the tricked-up notion of an extra bat in the lineup.
A pitcher should also be a player. He should take batting practice and at least feel like he has a chance to make an offensive contribution to the game. There used to be a bunch of good-hitting pitchers in the game. The introduction of the DH has made it easier for pitchers to ignore hitting because at the minor-league level it's not a priority, in most cases.
Designated hitters aren't baseball players. And neither are pitchers who never have to step up to the plate.

© shgmom56

Step aside, Yankees-Red Sox and Giants-Dodgers, there is a new most-heated rivalry in baseball. The Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals are no longer just NL Central baseball rivals: They are officially blood enemies.
In closing out the Reds' 9-7 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday — completing Cincinnati's first three-game sweep over St. Louis since 2007 — Francisco Cordero hit Albert Pujols with an 0-2 fastball that rode a little far in. It was good purpose baseball pitch; and as Cordero said after the game, he wasn't trying to put Pujols on base, not since he represented the tying run

The Cardinals are second in the NL baseball in hit batters, and while they ranked 13th last season, they're usually in the top half of the league: 13th, 8th, 8th, 3rd, 2nd, 9th, 6th, 7th, 5th and 2nd, going back to 2001.
This new rivalry is turning out to be the best in baseball. Sure, Jason Varitek and Alex Rodriguez aren't going to dinner together, but the Yankees-Red Sox baseball rivalry has cooled down from its 2003-05 peak. Dodgers and Giants haven't been in a serious pennant race against each other since 2004.

© pvsbond

Former Yankees manager Joe Torre, who retired last year as manager for the Dodgers, has now taken on a new role in the baseball world as executive vice president for baseball operations. In this position he will oversee baseball game umpiring and have final authority on discipline for on-field issues.

Upon retiring Torre did not expect that his next job would be as intense as this job will sure be, but after considerable thought the 70 year old decided it was an opportunity he couldn't pass up. He believes he still has the energy to work, and he loves the game so much that he wanted to do something significant. In his new role as disciplinarian, Torre said he would try to ensure that on-field disputes like beanball incidents were handled quickly so that they did not carry over to future games.