For real?

We're now four weeks into the baseball season. Granted, the sample sizes are still very small. Less than one-sixth of the season has been played. But:

The White Sox are still in first place.
The Marlins are still in first place.
The Rays are in first place.

The Rays are in first place.

Other than what's going on in the NL Central so far (although maybe it's just setting up for an implosion of record proportion), this is the baseball season I've always dreamed of.

Fantasy v. Reality

I'm with Mike.

For some reason this year, I am just not feelin' the fantasy baseball. I am continuing to go through the motions, so far... but even that is slacking off.

I think I might be done.

I am officially immersing myself into -

1. Actual MLB baseball (Go Marlins!!!)

2. College Baseball (I'll ignore that 10-run inning tonight from UM - goddamned Canes)

3. Soccer (Forza Roma!!!!)

Maybe I'll get some work done.

Maybe.

Two Weeks In and All is Well

Stunningly, we're two weeks into the baseball season and both the Marlins and White Sox are... I hope you're sitting down... in first place.

The Marlins have been carried by hot hitting, as have the White Sox to large degree. Although, one could argue that the White Sox' success has been largely aided by beating up on the reeling Tigers. Despite the Tigers pre-season expectations, they have begun the season as mere paper tigers... but that's been nice for the White Sox.

We'll see what the season really has in store for the Sox and Fish. My hopes aren't high yet. A lot of guys are playing over their heads. Time will tell.

On a completely unrelated note, check out this photo of MLB.tv Mosaic connected to a television. That's pretty sweet. I may have to set that up for myself.

Another Glorious Day in the Baseball Season

We're barely a week into the season and my two teams (the Marlins and the White Sox) are in first place. Yes, it's very early. But it's still a lot of fun. I had zero hopes for either team this year. So the fast starts have certainly been fun.

It was also fun to finally catch the new White Sox radio team of Ed Farmer (a holdover) and Steve Stone. I've heard the new Marlins team a number of times throughout the spring and regular season, but the White Sox team had been harder for me to catch (due to the Sox being on the road and other spring training vagaries).

Of course I've heard Farmer for years on Sox broadcasts and nearly anyone who's listened to or watched baseball has heard Steve Stone (of WGN and ESPN fame) call a game or two. But I'd never heard the two together before yesterday's home opener for the Sox. I was a little pessimistic about the team, as both are former pitchers and that can often lead to an overly technical description of the game.

But this call by Stone won me over (I'm recalling it to the best of my memory, but it's not exact): "This is the exact situation where you want to see Juan Uribe come to bat. He's so patient and disciplined as a hitter that it's just a joy to watch... and here's the pitch... Uribe swings for the fences. It looks like his jersey came untucked. And I'm not sure, but I think the force of that swing must have broken a few vertabrae."

It was a fun call of an at bat.

It's early to tell for sure, but the Sox radio team seems to be a nice mix of homers and realists. Not too over the top and not too balanced. I like that mix. Farmer and Stone seem to get along, so they should make the dog days and the blowouts move by a little faster than last year's team.

Man, I love baseball on the radio. Listening to part of the game in my backyard, laying on a hammock was nice... especially when Crede hit the tie-breaking grand slam.

Censoring PSAs

In honor of Jimmy Kimmel's Unnecessary Censorship segment, which I love, but don't catch often enough, we're starting something new here at HB: completely necessary censorship of public service announcements (PSAs).

Here's edition #1 (original here):

"On August 29, Hurricane Katrina unleashed the worst ******* disaster in our history. Thousands of AmeriCorps members immediately *********, helping the survivors of this ********.

AmeriCorps has special working agreements with the American Red Cross, FEMA, Habitat for Humanity and other ******* organizations that allow its members to support mass *******, collect and distribute needed *******, and reunite ********.

The response to this devastating ****** will be the largest volunteer mobilization in our nation’s history, and AmeriCorps will play a critical role in leading and coordinating that ********. But that’s nothing new for AmeriCorps because AmeriCorps responds every day to community ******* throughout the nation ******** kids, building ******** ******, cleaning up *******, and much more.

Get involved with AmeriCorps. Find the *********** that’s right for you by calling 800-942-2677 or visit americorps.gov. We need your ****."

Obviously, the above does not reflect my view, Wiggins' view, or anyone's view on Americorps or anything described above. It's all in good fun. And if you don't like that, go **** yourself.

Getting distracted...

I know baseball is here (finally!!!)... and I really could not be more excited. Yesterday was awesome (thanks, Eric!)...

But today - I have to focus elsewhere.

Roma is welcoming to the Capital - the hated Mancunians.

I'm relatively new to the Roma fever (it's only been a couple of years, and this year has been the first that I've been able to watch the team with much consistency)... but I can say with honesty, that I've never been more amped up for a sporting even than I am for this.

Just getting this far in the Champion's League is a big deal, and I know Roma has the talent and drive to make it all the way. That alone would get anyone going - but after last year and the famous 7-1 result against ManU in this same stage...

We need this. We need redemption. We need to put those idiot prem fanatics in their place, and put Italian football back in the spotlight. Hell - I'll steal from the Roma Offside again and say - we need...

Opening Day 2008!

It's like a time machine, man: Mike's posting about baseball again. What happened? He got married and like fell off the face of the Earth. Crazy stuff.

Anyways, here are a few of my thoughts about opening day:

• Yes, the poetic waxing about Yankee Stadium is already a little much (and it will surely only intensify as we approach the All-Star game and "The Ghosts Come Out in October at Yankee Stadium". But I thought it was pretty cool that yesterday's rainout ensured that a March game never took place at The Stadium. Today's opener will be in April, just like all the others before it. Bummer for the folks who thought they had tickets to the opener, but now don't have tickets for today's game.

• Steve Phillips was almost bearable on the Giants-Dodgers broadcast yesterday. Had it not been opening day, I would have turned it offl; Phillips is that bad. During one random rant, Phillips let this gem loose (I'm still not sure why he was talking about the Cubs or Fukudome): "He's like Ichiro, but won't hit for as much average, and a little like Hideki Matsui, but without as much power..." Umm... thanks, Steve? I think you described most everyone with that description - myself included. Without my parenthetical reference to Fukudome, I doubt many folks would have had a clue as to who you were talking about.

• I'm trying not to be a bitter White Sox fan here, but the Indians radio team was really jacked up yesterday. I can now better empathize with the folks who hate the Sox homer TV announcers. The Indians duo was ecstatic for every moment that was positive for the Indians and despondent each time the Sox did something reasonably well. They were even giving updates throughout the game on the Tigers. Apparently it's never to early to start the scoreboard watching.

• While everyone is talking about the Red Sox repeating this year, they're on pace to win 81 games. That's 15 fewer than last year. Yes, it's early. But the Red Sox started their season a week ago. And they haven't shown any signs of turning things around. If the Red Sox continue at this pace, they could find themselves looking up at the Rays in the standings.