Baseball Notes.

The Detroit Tigers have to be the surprise team in the Major Leagues this year. More people would have picked them to be 19-37 at this point of the year then the 37-19 that they are. A lot of the credit has to go to manager Jim Leyland, for my money the best manager in the game. They also have a great young pitching staff that is going to get better as the year goes on with Pudge Rodriguez guiding them along. They have played a soft schedule so far but the key to getting to the playoffs is beating up on the weaker teams on your schedule. They are going to give the White Sox a run right 'til the end.

Albert Pujols going on the DL is a shame. I was looking forward to seeing what kind of numbers he was going to put up this year. I think he had a legitimate shot at the all time RBI record. In my opinion, the RBI record is harder to get than the home run record especially if you are hitting a lot of home runs like he was. The reason is that your teammates have to be on base in front of you to drive them in. A solo shot is only 1 RBI. And when he has guys on base he is going to get walked a lot. Pujols is without question the best hitter in baseball but he is not the best player. I can't call a first baseman, even a great one like Pujols, the best player. I still say that honor goes to Alex Rodriguez. But if ARod has another bad playoff run I'm taking the title away from him.

Barry Bonds isn't hitting as many home runs as he was before because his knees are completely shot, not because of going off 'roids. To swing the bat effectively involves pivoting your hole body through the swing. It's similar to a golf swing which is why no golfers play with a bad knee. Barry just can't get through the ball the way he did two years ago which is why he is hitting a lot of balls to the warning track but not out. Grab a bat and try swinging without pivoting fully. It ain't easy.

The Houston Astros signing Roger Clemens to that ridiculous contract is insane. They say that Roger brings a winning attitude and is a great team player. So if Roger is such a great team player how come he negotiates a contract that allows him to leave the team or stay home whenever he is not pitching on a road trip? Because the only person Roger cares about is Roger that's why. The Astros won't make the playoffs this year and Clemens knows it. The reason he didn't sign with the Red Sox, Yankees or Rangers is because the American League has teams with better offenses and his ERA would be a lot higher in the AL and he wouldn't win as many games. He is a great pitcher but he is very overrated. To call him one of the three or four best pitchers of all time is laughable. If he'd spent half as much time in the gym as he did at the buffet table his last few years in Boston maybe I'd change my mind, but I don't have him as the best pitcher of the last twenty years. I would take Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, and Randy Johnson over Roger any time. He's racked up big numbers due to his longevity similar to the way Nolan Ryan did, another overrated Texan.