When it comes to surprises, last week's revelation was like finding out Iran's elections were juiced for the incumbent. If you want shocking news, however, you've come to the right place.
We are ready to reveal all the players who failed baseball's 2003 drug test. The results were supposed to be kept confidential, but Alex Rodriguez's name was leaked to Sports Illustrated and Sosa was outed last week in the New York Times.
There are 102 names to go. This drip-drip-drip could go on for years, but we're not going to let it.
The Yankees shook up their starting rotation on Wednesday by announcing that Chien-Ming Wang will move into the starting rotation. Wang will start on Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium against the Rangers, pushing CC Sabathia back to Friday against the Rays and Phil Hughes into the bullpen.
The move comes after a pair of strong relief outings by Wang, who is recovering from a trip to the disabled list and three awful starts to begin the season. Joe Girardi told reporters that they chose to start Wang tomorrow instead of Friday because he wanted to get a right-hander between Sabathia and Andy Pettitte, who starts on Wednesday night.
NEW YORK -- Over the past few years, I have been to a lot of Yankees games. They keep it interesting, but there are a few things you come to count on. The YMCA. "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch. And horrendous defense by the home team. This last has become as much a constant as the first two. The Yankees, for the past several years, have been a terrible defensive team.
So imagine my own personal surprise Monday night when I learned that the Yankees, those same bumbling pinstripers who've spent the early part of the 21st century scraping the bottom of the statistical defensive rankings, had set a major-league record by going 18 games in a row without an error.
The Yankees? Setting a record for defense? That's like LeBron James setting some kind of handshake record. Or Lindsay Lohan setting a record for consecutive days sober. There are certain things the Yankees do well. Defense is not one of them. Something must be amiss. I went to Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night to investigate.
There are some pretty good two-start pitchers going in week seven of the fantasy baseball season. Chad Billingsley and Dan Haren lead the list of "Must Start" pitchers, while I'm not sure which option would be riskier between Dontrelle Willis and Tim Redding this week.
There are 47 two-start pitchers in all and you'll need to lock your lineup by 1:07 PM ET on Monday as that's first pitch between the White Sox and Blue Jays.
Must Start Dan Haren , Diamondbacks - Monday at FLA (R. Nolasco) and Saturday at OAK (J. Outman) Derek Lowe , Braves - Monday vs COL (J. Marquis) and Saturday vs TOR (S. Richmond) Jair Jurrjens , Braves - Tuesday vs COL (J. Hammel) and Sunday vs TOR (B. Tallet)
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the unthinkable happened to the Dodgers in Thursday.
Having Manny Ramirez suspended? No, that's not unthinkable.
Losing at home to the Nationals? Unthinkable.
The Dodgers went into the game 13-0 at home this year and 21-8 overall, the best record in the majors. The Nationals had the worst record in baseball, 7-18, and had lost their past 10 games at Dodger Stadium.
No single baseball play has gotten more coverage this season than Jacoby Ellsbury's steal of home against the Yankees in Fenway Park Sunday night -- and rightfully so, as stealing home is a really rare feat, especially these days. In the aftermath, it was particularly disgraceful to listen to Joe Morgan, on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, repeatedly try to blame the play on Jorge Posada, the Yankees' catcher, due to the fact that a left-handed hitter was at the plate.
As it turns out, Posada had actually warned Andy Pettitte, the Yankees' pitcher, that Ellsbury might try to swipe home.
It's not just that they were swept by the hated Red Sox in Fenway Park. It's that their all-world closer, Mariano Rivera, coughed up a two-run lead with two outs in the ninth inning en route a 5-4 11-inning loss Friday night. It's that $82.5 million free-agent addition A.J. Burnett was gifted a six-run lead Saturday afternoon and he blew it, only to be matched by the bullpen in a 16-11 loss. It's that to add insult to a number of injuries, Jacoby Ellsbury stole home -- on a straight steal no less -- against Andy Pettitte Sunday night to cap off the sweep.
In a town like New York where the pressure is always on, it's bad enough to get swept. It's much worse to have it happen because of blown saves, flat-out lousy pitching and a mental error by a veteran starting pitcher.
As we head into the third week of the fantasy baseball season we have 34 starting pitchers throwing twice. When setting your lineups, remember that tomorrow is Patriot's Day in Boston, so first pitch is at 11:05 AM Eastern Time.
Must Start Roy Halladay, Blue Jays - Tuesday vs TEX (B. McCarthy) and Sunday at CWS (J. Contreras) Derek Lowe, Braves - Monday at WAS (J. Zimmermann)and Saturday at CIN (B. Arroyo) C.C. Sabathia, Yankees - Tuesday vs OAK (B. Anderson) and Sunday at BOS (J. Beckett) Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers - Tuesday at HOU (R. Ortiz) and Sunday at COL (J. Marquis)
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Ichiro's hobbies include: Hitting baseballs, getting massages from manager Don Wakamatsu, and hitting more baseballs.
One nice way to put injury concerns to rest is by smashing a grand slam in your first game back. Ichiro, who missed the first week and a half due to fatigue and ulcer troubles, went 2-for-5 with the homer, four RBI and a stolen base against the Angels. But his stat line paled in comparison to another leadoff star.