There were signs...

I saw the famous Softball episode of the Simpsons again yesterday. "Homer at the Bat" is the name of the episode, and it features prominent MLBers of the time. I've seen it many, many times, and I found myself quoting most of the lines. What I found amazing was the use of performance enhancing drugs. This episode was made in 1992, yet it took MLB over 10 years to take action on the drug front. Ken Griffey's head gets massively bigger after consuming a large amount of Nerve tonic. No one thought head size was going to be an issue in the future? Jose Canseco has enough strength and endurance to carry out an entire house full of appliances? Yup that's natural. Glad to see Bud Selig has been on his game for the past 16 years.

8 Stupid Fantasy Picks in my League

OVERPICKED

Name / Avg. Draft Pick

Alfonso Soriano/Derek Jeter taken 9^th and 12^th

Bottom Line: Well at least this person was looking to reunite the Yankees former middle infield, too bad they over paid by about 3-4 rounds each

Carlos Pena / 49

Bottom Line: He's a career .250 hitter, to all those who drafted him realize that while last year was a huge year, and a break out year, he is not exactly young, and has proven to be inconsistent enough that he has never been a regular in BACK to BACK years, except with the 43-119 tigers

Jorge Posada / 93.1

Bottom Line: I picked him with my 6^th round pick after panicking on a run on catchers, I jumped the gun on this one

Andruw Jones / 109.3

Full Name: Andruw Rudolf Jones, his middle name is Rudolf…. does anything else need to be said

Bottom Line: You could have had Nate Mclouth with the 200 pick about 8 rounds later, I'd rather not touch anyone who's homerun total has fallen each of the last two years and has not hit over .280 since 2000

Francisco Liriano / 124

Bottom Line: I'm staying away from under proven guys coming off of major elbow surgery

Barry Zito / 224

Bottom Line: At least you don't feel as bad as the giant's management does at this point

UNDERPICKED

Name / Avg. Draft Pick

Cliff Lee / UD

Bottom Line: This one is just unfair to look at in retrospect, I just hope you dropped Barry Zito in time to get him

Ryan Braun / 13

Bottom Line: I grabbed Ryan Braun with the 39 pick, and after a slow start he is starting to prove that he never should of slid that low, even in an apparently strong position (wright, arod, lowell etc.), Of course two weeks ago you could have been saying that all you who had picked him at 13 were over valuing him

Most frustrating pick: http://www.rotoworld.com/Content/playernews.aspx?sport=MLB&filter_teams=ANA&filter_position=2B&filter_major_minor=MAJ

Just read it, and watch me weep (hit .500 while playing, .750 with 2 hr in minors (rehab))

My Coming Out Party

As the senior member of the staff, I feel you should also know something about me. A student at Fordham, thats in the Bronx, not Florida as many people think the first time I tell them, and a true Red Sox fan.

My first experience with them was in the wonderful Mo Vaughn MVP season that was 1995. Of course when the 6 year old version of me went to see them play, Vaughn was out after getting in a bar fight. It was also one of the hottest days ever (97 at first pitch, thank you baseball-reference.com) and the fan in the seat next to me liked the opposing Rangers and said I needed to drink beer to sit there. Luckily Wakefield went 6 and a third and the Sox won.

I could go on about remembering where I was for every Red Sox moment the last 13 years, but you don't care about that. So for now remember Bill Simmons is a great writer, the rest will unfold.

The Beginning of the End

This was something I never figured would happen… I made a blog. After telling myself I wouldn't do it for nearly two years I broke down and finally gave it a shot.

A little about myself, I am an 18 year old college student. Before I get into what college I go to or how I ended up there I would like to share a little story:

At the age of 7 I made my way up to Fenway Park with my dad. He was a huge Red sox fan, and thus I was decked out in Boston Attire. We were running a bit late for the game, and by the time we sat down it was the top of the second. Almost immediately Derek Jeter hit a ground rule double in the right field seats just a few rows above us. This not only gave the Yankees the lead, but gave them a life time fan. My dad's disappointment and attempted convincing simply made me even surer of my decision (apparently I had reached the rebellious stage a little early). From this day on I have pulled for the Yankees, through the great years, 1998, well any of the late 90's, to the lowest of lows, 2001 world series, 2004 alcs.

I do have to say that the most memorable play in my mind was Aaron Boone's home run of Wakefield in 2003. Despite the subsequent series.

As strange as it is, I know find myself back in Boston for college. I have just recently completed my freshman year at Boston College. At BC things have been quite surprising actually, as I have found a large quantity of Yankees fans, and even a noticeable amount of Phillies fans (now that's rough).

When I got to BC, the Yankees had mounted their comeback and came very close to taking the division from the Boston Red Sox. But when they fell to Cleveland 3-1, I was forced to leave my room (a quad, 1 sox fan, 1 other yanks fans, 1 phillies fan) proceeded to punch a concrete wall, and take a half hour walk outside. I didn't hear or feel the end of that night for awhile, despite arguing that the red sox fell behind the Indians 3-1 as well.

I leave you with a few final words:

Go Yankees! (and to make you jealous, I have gotten all but one of cliff lee's starts for my fantasy team)