Ballpark Travel

If you have spent any amount of time near me when ESPN is on, you will know by now that I am miserably bitter about the coverage that is given to the NFL and College Football. I mean really, how many times does ESPN have to showcase the New England Patriots loss to the Jets. I even heard them actually ask the question today if Matt Ryan was a better quarterback than Tom Brady moving forward on PTI . Seriously? Wait...seriously? Sadly, I will now concede that Football is king when it comes to sports in the United States. For those of us who remain interested in watching slow paced games that require unique skill sets, the baseball regular season is coming to a close and the playoffs are promising to be very entertaining theatre once again. With both Los Angeles franchises likely in, Boston, New York and Philadelphia, there are five large markets that will be represented this October, a pleasing sight for Major League Baseball. Another round of New York vs. Boston appears likely in the ...

So the Red Sox pulled off a trade to acquire one of baseball's better hitters in Victor Martinez at a position that has been under-producing over the past two seasons with Jason Varitek's decline as a hitter. They just made a waiver claim to fill their worst offensive position in Cristian Guzman at shortstop. For no fault of the front office, the Red Sox have lost five in a row and have been held scoreless in consecutive games. I still believe the Red Sox to be one of baseball's best teams, but they have been playing terrible baseball -- particularly on the offensive side of the ball. I have to point out that this is the first season that manager Terry Francona has had to juggle his players all over the diamond. There is so much depth to this roster, that there is a chance that the Red Sox offense has not gotten comfortable in their new setting. My reccommendation would be for Terry Francona to put the same lineup out there a couple of days in a row to see if they can get i...

There is something beautiful about watching Opening Day. Every single player, coach, fan, team employee is filled with optimism. On this date, every team is a contender, everyone can see first place just as easily as they can last. So while Baltimore could very well lose the next 18 times they play the Yankees, today they beat the highest paid pitcher in Major League History and are in first place in the AL East. Today, I was able to watch four games at one time on the new MLB . tv premium with picture in picture options. I am just so happy that it is finally back. For a baseball junkie, opening day is the fix from winter's forced abstinence. Welcome back summer, how I missed you.

To those who have taken an interest in my career in baseball, I wanted to send a brief update as to how things have been progressing in my seasonal position with the Atlanta Braves. March 26 th marked my second month of being a trainee with the Braves and I look back on these two months and I just cannot believe how much I have learned about myself and about the industry in this time. During my time at Ithaca College, I prepared and developed my own opinions about sports and spent a great deal of time thinking about the business of baseball and how teams are successful money makers. Since arriving, I have finally realized the importance of ticket sales. Everything does truly return to ticket sales. In a year where the economy is in flux, selling becomes even more of a priority and as a result I have been encouraged just about every day to develop ideas that could sell tickets. So far, I have only come up with ideas, but hopefully by the end of the season I will be able to show that I ...

1.) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 2.) Texas Rangers 3.) Oakland A's 4.) Seattle Mariners The Angels have looked great thus far in Spring Training, but there is reason to believe that they have gotten significantly worse this season after losing Mark Teixeira, which means that the rest of the division catches up after the Angels won the division 2008 by more than 20 games. The Angels remain the favorites because of all around depth, but the Rangers and A's have closed the gap significantly. The Rangers offense is young and improving every day. There is a good chance that this offense could be record setting assuming good health. The A's will have their offensive struggles, but like the Rangers offense, the A's pitching is also young and looking like a staff that is maturing with every start. When the A's and Rangers get together, it'll be fun seeing which gets the upperhand. The Mariners are going to be a little better in 2009, but it may not be until 2011 until ...

Overview: The Texas Rangers are another intriguing team from the AL West, much like the Oakland A's. As is always the question with the Rangers, will their starting pitching be adequate enough to push them into the playoffs. They have a fantastic looking offense and a bullpen that has FIVE pitchers with closers experience. They have incredible depth on their bench as well. Nobody has been talking about the Rangers, but I really think that this could be a team that is going to surprise a lot of people this year and contend in the AL West all season long. Starting Pitching: Kevin Millwood , Vincente Padilla, Matt Harrison, Brandon McCarthy and Jason Jennings are currently slotted in the Rangers starting rotation. That's not exactly the best news for Rangers fans because that rotation is definitley not getting better. Watching Edinson Volquez dominate the National League hurts too, but the Rangers do have a good amount of young pitchers, so if any of the last three starters...

Overview: The 2008 Seattle Mariners were one of the most disappointing teams in baseball history. Coming off a season in which they won 87 games and with a team payroll at $117 million, this was a team that was supposed to win, yet they finished a terrible 61-101. In the process of this historical failure, the Mariners dropped GM Bill Bavasi after numerous big number free agent signings that will haunt the club for years to come. Now under the leadership of GM Jack Zduriencik and manager Don Wakamatsu , the Mariners look to turn the page slowly on the mess that is the Seattle Mariners. They brought back Ken Griffey Jr. for marketing purposes, because even if this is Griffey from the late 1990's, this is still not a contender. 2009 will also see the Mariners giving some long looks to prospects Jeff Clement, Mike Karp , Wladimir Balentin and Matt Tuiasosopo . None of whom appear to have big impact potential this season. They do have Felix Herandez and Erik Bedard atop thei...