THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
Editor's note: These excerpts are not edited for grammar or spelling.
Eric Young Jr. has been a stolen-base machine for Colorado's triple-A farm club in Colorado Springs this season. He has 48 steals in 57 attempts.
Young has only five homers in 320 at-bats in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but he showed some serious thump [in yesterday's Futures Game in St. Louis] by taking a Francisco Samuel fastball over the fence in right-center field in the third inning.
The Pirates reportedly are infatuated with Young, but can't interest Colorado in a deal for Freddy Sanchez because of his $8 million price tag in 2010.
It's hard to believe the MLB all-star break is upon us. . . . For some reason the lure of the game no longer exists for me. Is it my age, or has the steroid era dampened my enthusiasm for the game and its stars? Probably a little of both.
However, for me, the game of baseball, once filled with statistics that mattered and star players who gathered yearly to put on a "show" for baseball purists, no longer exists. Oh, sure, the All-Star Game now "counts," as the winner provides its league with home field advantage for the World Series. But that, too, is a joke. Why they allow an exhibition game to carry so much weight for its historic Fall Classic is mind-boggling.
I also wonder; do the names Pujols, Utley, Beltran, Teixeira, Longoria, and Bay bring as much excitement to today's young fans as did Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Williams, Musial and Clemente did for my generation? . . . I think not.
Winning can be a deodorant for those things that stink, and lost in the stellar home stand is Cole Hamels' continued struggles. Although Hamels pitched a great game Monday, he did so with a 10-run lead after one inning. Saturday's start against the Pirates was more indicative of his recent slump. Giving up five runs in the first two innings, Hamels never looked comfortable. Perhaps the time off will do Hamels good.
