Boston Adds a Bat
The Red Sox have aquired a new left handed bat and insurance if 3B Mike Lowell needs to miss any time in the second half. This will be an upgrade over Jeff Bailey, Adam Bates and even Mark Kotsay (who can still play in the OF). Here is what Boston’s sports talk radio station WEEI, […]
2009 Yankees: (Almost as) easy as pie
It’s not just a new stadium for the Yankees this year. It’s a new team atmosphere. In recent years, the Yanks have acted more like ultra-serious businessmen than giddy schoolboys. But the corporate era is over with the club this season, thanks to spirited new teammates like A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia and Nick Swisher. This […]
Red Sox Trade Bait & Prospects
Sometimes you can improve your team by way of addition by subtraction. This year’s Red Sox are in this situation in 2009. We have a great bullpen and an excess of starting pitching and more real glaring needs except for a little more power off the bench. To get to that you need to either […]
Why the Braves will (not) make the playoffs
The Braves have made some good moves recently that we all know about. The starting pitching is above average, the relief pitching adequate, the offense is also adequate and the defense is excellent. It appears to a Braves fan that the Braves are in the best position to take first in the East. Under the […]
Nats Fans HAD High Hopes for 2009 Season
The Washington National fans entered this season with high hopes. Not with the typical hopes of baseball fans, that their team may be winning the pennant or even the World Series. No, Nationals fans were finally hopeful that their team had turned the corner and would be in the beginning of an upswing that would […]
Baltimore Orioles Midseason Report: Seeing Past the Ugliness
From the very beginning, the goal of the 2009 season for the Baltimore Orioles has been to be respectable on the field while continuing behind the scenes to develop the pieces needed to eventually lead the Orioles back to contention in the American League East. With the season now three months old and nearing the […]
June Reflections on the Blue Jays
When my partner in crime, Tom, penned his last epistle about our beloved azure corvidae, things were just going great in the Queen City. He mentioned how much he was enjoying the season thus far, and confided that he wasn’t sure how long the Jays could keep it up. The answer – not long. Almost […]
Pirates will remain sellers as deadline approaches
After suffering through 16 consecutive losing seasons, many Pirate fans wonder how any team’s management could be more inept; how any team’s ownership could be more stingy. And who could blame them? The streak of sub-.500 finishes will soon be historic. Image by Matt Bandi, MVN via Flickr The sudden and unexpected trade of All-Star […]
Despite Ailments, Streaking Mets Keep NL East Tight
Really? Come on. If this is a surprise then the last few years must be a bit fuzzy to the memory. What has become an annual drama-filled, slug-fest between the New York Mets and bitter rival Philadelphia Phillies has come to fruition once again this season as the two teams remain inseparable atop the National […]
Will The Baltimore Orioles Have To Trade Aubrey Huff?
Baltimore Orioles team president Andy MacPhail made the right call in his decisions to trade Erik Bedard and Miguel Tejada and to keep Brian Roberts. He could soon get another test as he must decide whether to keep or trade free agent-to be Aubrey Huff. There is no question that Huff is a valuable member […]
Matt Wieters Scheduled to Join the Baltimore Orioles on Friday
Image by Getty Images via Daylife The wait is over. In an interview with Gary Thorne and Buck Martinez during Tuesday night’s game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, Orioles President Andy MacPhail announced that top prospect Matt Wieters will be making his major league debut on Friday, May 29, when the Detroit […]
The Rays After 40 Games
The 2009 Tampa Bay Rays played their fortieth game of the season on Monday, May 18th and in so doing got themselves back to the .500 mark at 20-20. But at this point, things that went right in 2008 so far have not in 2009, and the Rays find themselves in fourth place in their […]
Phillies Fans It Is Not Time To Panic
If you have been watching the Phillies lately you may be wondering just where exactly DID the offense go? Or you may be wondering how it is possible that Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were a combined 0-22 with 12 strikeouts in their series with the Dodgers this past week. This is a very tough […]
The Blue Jays Are On Fire!
Hi from us at Bluebird Banter where, I can quite honestly say, I have never enjoyed baseball as much in my life. And I was there for the Jay’s World Series seasons. The great part of it this time is that we weren’t expected to be anywhere near this good. It really is good to […]
For the Nats, April was Forgettable
For the Washington Nationals, April 2009 was a month to forget. March was a bad sign of things to come. The club opened camp with the revelation that the future of the franchise, 19-year-old Esmailyn Gonzalez, was in fact 24-year-old Carlos Alverez Daniel Lugo. A resulting scandal broke out, the FBI got involved, and before […]
New Bullpen, New Ballpark, New York Mets
The boys who used to play in Shea finally figured it out it seems. Fix the back-end of your bullpen, shorten the games to accommodate an under-performing starting rotation and find yourself leading a mildly competitive National League East. Mix all of these factors, shaken, not stirred, in a margarita shaker, along with the Mets […]
Red Sox Reflections After 25 games
After 25 games, the Red Sox found themselves with an 11 game winning streak and neck and neck for first place, with the Blue Jays who have 2 more games in hand than the Sox (both are wins). During the first few weeks of the season, we have seen the injury bug hit SS Jed […]
O’s CF Jones Living Up to Potential
We all know that one month of success does not make a season, but early returns indicate that Baltimore Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones is indeed the real deal. When the Orioles traded ace starting pitcher Erik Bedard to the Seattle Mariners for a cast of players highlighted by Jones, there were many skeptics questioning whether […]
Reflections on the Blue Jays
So spring training is over, the season is underway, and the Jays have gotten off to a decent start – not that it has changed any of the seemingly unanimous consensus around the baseball world and T-dot media that the Jays are going absolutely nowhere. I traveled from my home in Washington DC to Toronto […]
Atlanta Braves Looking for Rebound Season in 2009
Following their worst season since Bobby Cox became the manager in 1990, all signs point to the Atlanta Braves returning to their typical spot near the top of the National League East in 2009. Rather than signing high profile free agents, the Braves have made strategic additions designed to solidify the weaknesses exposed during their […]
Marlins Must Prove That Talent Trumps Experience
Considering that only the Red Sox and Yankees have won as many World Series titles in the last 12 years, you might think the young and talented Florida Marlins would be considered a trendy sleeper pick for a playoff run this season. After all, the squad did win 84 games last year and were in […]
World Champions Reload, Reorganize, for Repeat
The start of this offseason brought about a bevy of unwelcomed, albeit unsurprising news to the 2008 World Champions. Left-handed reliever J.C. Romero, who had a 0.00 ERA in four World Series appearances, finally learned the fate of his appeal for violating the league’s steroid-abuse policy. Romero was sentenced to a 50-game suspension to begin […]
Orioles Sewing the Seeds for Future Success
After more than a decade of consistent losing, fans of the Baltimore Orioles are ready for the team to stop looking toward the future and instead start winning some baseball games. It is doubtful that the Orioles will be a contender in the tough American League East in 2009, but followers of the Birds can […]
NY Mets: A Look Back at 2008 & What to Expect in 2009
Coming off yet another regular season collapse in 2008 the New York Mets are looking to bounce back in 2009. Trying to shake the monkey that is Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard off their backs and finally live up to their potential and hype. Following their most recent regular season collapse the Mets took action […]
Rays Reflections
David Price and Andy Sonnanstine are exhibits A and B in a lesson about how valuable experience can be when making a major league roster or, more importantly, a starting rotation. Though I am a big fan of Andy’s, anyone can see that Price is likely a far more talented pitcher in every aspect of […]
Stadium Reflections: My Experience at Fenway Park
Image via Wikipedia Baseball Reflections reader may have noticed the stadium reviews that have been featured on the site recently. While it might be a good idea to review Fenway Park, it’s so well known that we considered it would just be better if there were a few personal perspectives on the stadium. My first, […]
Stadium Review: Rogers Centre Home of the Toronto Blue Jays
The Rogers Centre, formerly known and still frequently called the Sky Dome, is a staple of downtown Toronto. Even if one doesn’t make a trip to the stadium itself, it is very hard to miss the structure, especially since most visitors of downtown Toronto usually stop at the CN Tower, which looks straight down on […]
Reflections on the Blue Jays
Greetings from the Great White North and man is it ever white this year. I’m sure this is the worst winter in the last several years. I’m Rincewind and a great guy named Hugo and I run a blog called Bluebird Banter where we blather on and on about the Toronto Blue Jays. It is […]
Reflections on the Rays
In pre-season of 2008, I picked the Tampa Bay Rays to make some noise in the American League, to win 25 more games than they had the year before, to top the Seattle Mariners by 18 games, and to make a run at the wild card in the American League. And if you managed to […]
Red Sox Reflections
Here’s a few notes concerning recent Red Sox news… Boston signed 1B/3B Kevin Youkilis to a a four-year contract with a club option for a fifth year for around $41M (not including the 5th year option). In order to make room on the 40 man roster for some of the moves they’ve made this off […]
