Trade, Charlie Manuel, The Revs

Well, the Iceman will be gone from my team Monday, but he had a big night last night adding a triple, a double, and a HR to his totals. Thanks for the memories Jason. I'd like to welcome Brian McCann, Pat the Bat Burrell, and David Wright back to my team. It's nice to have Wright back, he's a guy I was happy to had landed, and hopefully Burrell can be competent enough for me in LF, since I had to give up pretty much all of my depth to get Billy Wagner, and my latest maneuver. (Thank you Maracas and KK)

Before I leave baseball, Charlie Manuel needs to be fired. No, I am not one of those people who think because a team gets off to a bad start they should just fire the manager, but he is clearly not doing a great job in Philly. The latest last night on the botched pitching swap allowing Restovich to go in to the game later when he was supposed to have been already used was just a game managing mistake you can not make. Also the move of Myers to the pen, while brazen, is in my opinion, not a good idea. Why would you put your best starter in the bullpen when there is nothing wrong with his arm? Yeah Yeah I know they have Leiber there now, but it just doesn't make any sense why you would put a guy like Myers in the bullpen.

I'm glad to see Sanjaya go home last night. He had worn out his welcome, and it's good to know that I won't have to hear him anymore, and also that it gives Phil Stacey another week in the competition, he did well this week.

Rajon Rondo from the Celtics is the man. He and J Rich managed to help the Courts hang on for the win in my basketball roto league. I hope the Warriors do well in the playoffs!

The York Revolution well you just knew they would figure out a way to screw this up. Opening day at Sovereign Bank Stadium was scheduled for May 12th, and of course, the stadium will not be ready then. They have pushed it back now until June 15th..we'll see. Now I have driven by the stadium several times in the past 3 months and was wondering how in the world they were going to finish this in time, but they have to right? You can't miss opening day in your inaugural season, especially when people are skeptical about this anyway..they managed to do it. I'm excited about having a baseball team, but I certainly hope this isn't a sign for what is to come. You go from finding out Tike Redman is going to be center fielder, to finding out they have managed to drop the ball in a big way. R-E-V-O-L-U-T-I-O-N!

The Ice Man, Freaking Scams!!, Idol Fodder

Hello everyone I'd like you to meet the Ice Man. No, I am not talking about Mr. Finger Roll himself George Gervin, I am talking about Jason Bay. You may know Bay as the Pirates only All Star last year. Perhaps that he is a Left Fielder, or that he is from Canada. I simply like to refer to him as the Ice Man. Why is this? Because the guy has been eternally cold this season so far. You just keep waiting for him to do something, and then finally he will go 1 for 4 with a solo homerun.

Come on JB, this is not the All Star I thought I was getting! I am looking for some big things from you this year, let's get your head on straight here and start hitting would ya? Here I am tracking a Pirates day game again and wouldn't you know it, Bay is 0-2 with 2 walks. Twice walking with a guy on 3rd. Swing the bat big man! Don't just do it for me, (although that would be pretty cool) do it for all of your friends up north. You have a whole country counting on you..Larry Walker doesn't play anymore!

On to the scam thing..I just received an email that I can get a week free from Jillian Michaels work out and diet plan, what the heck, I'll take a look at it..we all could use some direction. The email title reads:

Join today and get this special
1-Week Free Trial!

You've got nothing to lose!

So I clicked on it to see what was up..and in the disclaimer it says:

*Your credit card will not be charged during your free trial period. However, valid credit card information is required.

If you're not 100% satisfied, simply call customer service to cancel your subscription before your free trial ends -- no charge. If you choose to remain a member, your service will continue uninterrupted and you will be enrolled under our standard membership agreement.

Jillian Michael's online program is just $4 a week, billed quarterly (every 13 weeks), with a five-week minimum commitment. Your credit card will be charged $52 at the beginning of each quarter. You may cancel at any time and receive a refund for the unused portion of your subscription, other than the five-week minimum commitment of $20, which is non-refundable.

Actually I stand to lose at least $20.00, so that is not a free week, and is not "nothing to lose". Scam as to be expected. At least we can still get music for free!!

Tonight on Idol is a tough one..I am picking Lakisha Jones and Phil Stacey in the bottom 2. Lakisha is a long shot, but I think Haley might have done enough to prevent her from being down there this week. I suspect if they pull 3 down it will be Jones, Scarnato, and Stacey. I say that Phil goes home tonight, but he has had surprising staying power, and he was wise to leave the hat on last night.

Diary of Opening Day from a Fantasy Perspective

The best part of baseball is that there are day games, and on opening day, there are lot's of them! Starting up the day was the Nationals vs Marlins tilt at 1:30. The anticipation begins..who will get my 1st hit of the year? Well, it's the 4th inning, and Hanley Ramirez whom I am playing against has 2 hits, a double, and 2 stolen bases while I am still searching for anything.

It's 3:00 and still nothing from anyone in the 2 games that are one, why was I excited about opening day again?

3:10 Johnny Estrada singles for the Van Buren Boys and finally I am off the snide. It's always tough to get that 1st one out of the way. (Unless you are Hanley Ramirez)

3:20 Rafael Soriano enters the 8th inning for the Braves with the score tied, here is a chance for him to shut down the Phillies, and hopefully get a win.

3:25 Soriano gets through the inning with ease. Now we need a run.

3:30 Braves go in order. No win for Raffy.

3:45 Madson enters, and Edgar takes him out. Game Over. No win for Madson but he is nice enough to pick up a hefty ERA for his brief appearance.

4:30 Rockies/Diamondbacks start, Aaron Cook makes my 1st Starting Pitching performance of the year. I leave for the day, thus ending my tracking. He ends up allowing 5 Runs in 6 Innings. Ouch.

So before I left Estrada, and D Lee had notched some singles for me. Madson and Soriano pitched a few relief innings with nothing but an inflated ERA to show for it. Not a good start for the Van Buren Boys.

Opening Day Sucks.

Play Ball!

Fantasy Baseball is upon us as Fantasy Basketball comes to a close. On Sunday we held the Keystone Ball and Stick League annual draft. It is a 12 team NL only league, so you have to get creative with your team. Here's how things panned out for me:

C- Johnny Estrada- (wanted to get McCann but couldn't pull the trigger early enough) I actually had the Indian ranked #3 on my catcher list, so I won't complain about this pick in rd 12.

1B- Derek Lee- I'm excited about this pick, as Lee should be a top 1B option with some speed. My 2nd rd pick would have been Carlos Lee had he been available, but the horse was gone. I'm happy with "settling" for Lee and for once have a solid option at 1st.

2B- Brandon Phillips- I had him for part of the year last year and Brandon was solid. One of the few 2nd sackers that can rack up steals, and RBI. I was looking at Ricky Weeks, but he was snared prior to my pick. I expect a nice year from Phillips.

3B- David Wright- My 1st rd pick #6 overall should be the top option at 3B this year and I liked him for his mixture of power and speed (20+ steals from a 3B is great). The fixture of my lineup should be better then ever in a stacked lineup and 2 years MLB experience under his belt.

SS- Rafael Furcal- I always end up with this guy. There are 5 big time base stealers from the SS position, and Furcie is one of them. I fell fortunate to have at least one of the 5 guys.

LF- Cliff Floyd?!?- I messed up. I thought Giles could play center, and he can't, so for the time being Floyd is my left fielder. Hopefully he is Cliff of 2005 and I would take those numbers. I will try and upgrade this spot since I have some depth at hitting in other spots.

CF- Eric Byrnes- I wanted a outfielder that could cover multiple spots, and steal me 20+ bases with some pop. The Crash Test Dummy is the answer and I am excited about his potential this year.

RF- Brian Giles/Shawn Green- Will play whoever is hotter, or whomever doesn't get traded to upgrade my LF spot. Giles is good for a cool 80, 80, 10. I'll take that.

UTIL- Scott Rolen- Love this pick. He may not stick on my team (see LF), but he is a big stick following Albert Pujols in the lineup. YAHTZEE!

BE- Mike Jacobs, Wilson Betemit, Kelly Johnson- A nice core of bench hitters, Wilson covers all of my middle infield spots, and Jacobs has big time power potential. I like my lineup for the most part.

Pitching-

SP- Tim Hudson- Didn't really want him, but hey 10th rd and no SP's yet..I'll take it.
SP- Brad Penny- Another solid starter taken late, Rd 11. A decent 1-2 punch considering how late I picked, but I wasn't able to land a front line pitcher, and it only gets worse..
SP- Matt Morris- No comment, this guy is awful.
SP- Aaron Cook- Hopefully, this guy pans out. He was pretty good in Colorado last year and has one heck of a sinker ball.
RP- Scott Linebrink and Rafael Soriano- Wanted to corner the market on holds, hopefully I did just that with these 2 guys. Should be good for 30+ holds a piece.
RP- Scott Eyre- 21st rd pick, and a solid holds guy to add to my 2 studs in that department.
RP- Solomon Torres- This guy is the man, and heck he is a closer. Not bad for a 13th rd pick, i could run him out if i was facing someone with no closers.

All in all I would say i get a B- for the draft because of the Floyd/Giles mess up. Things like that just can't happen when you have been doing this stuff for as long as I have.

I have another draft on Wednesday night, all player universe. Should be fun..of course drafting is always fun!