It's time for baseball!

I listened to the pundits, analysts and commentators, who all have opinions of Bond’s so called  trial.

In my opinion, spending $55 million on a witch hunt is simply ridiculous to prove something we already know. We all know at some point in Bond’s career he took steroids, knowingly or unknowingly.

Of the four charges that were brought up against him, the jury could not agree on three of them, but some how managed to come up with OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE on the fourth.

I need to know. Just  what did he obstruct?

The Feds went after Balco based on some of Bond’s testimony and they got Balco. So what did he obstruct? Not a damn thing.

I suppose when the courts reconvene on this case, Bond’s lawyer will be asking the judge to throw it all out. I think, his lawyers should have a field day with this verdict when they next appear in court. I MAKE THE CALL.

Since 2002, no one in professional baseball has given the Cleveland Indians the time of day.

Here we are in 2011 and they are lights out in all of major league baseball.

They have a commanding 8-2 start, and everyone is wondering what is happening with the Indians.

Just ask manager Manny Acta, and he will be the first to let you know that he has a better lineup in place.

I say nay, nay. He simply has better hitting and pitching.

If the Indians remain healthy, they will be a force to reckon with in this baseball year. I MAKE THE CALL.

It's time for baseball!

The first pitch will be thrown out tomorrow and the boys of summer will be back to work.

Unlike the NFL and Possible NBA, baseball had no work stoppage problems.

This leaves me the opportunity to make my predictions for this season.

• Starting with the AL West. Oakland should take the West. Texas has no pitching power.
• In the AL Central, Chicago White Sox will prevail even though the Twins have better pitching and the best manager in the league.
• In the East, as usual it is between the Yankees and the Red Sox. Red Sox will be the wild card, Yankees wins the division.
• In the National League West, the Giants still have good pitching and will repeat.
• In the NL Central, it is a toss up between the Brewers and the Reds. I am going with the Brewers.
• Coming out of the NL East, the Phillies have 4 aces. How can you top that. The only hope for the Braves and the Reds will be the wild card and I give that to the Braves.

I MAKE THE PREDICTIONS.

2010 started out with Tiger Woods leading the sports world in the news and being the headline longer than 911.

Alabama went on to capture the college football championship, followed by New Orleans winning the Superbowl.

Everyone in the hockey world just about gave the Stanely Cup to the Washington Caps, but Chicago had something to say about it and took it from Philadelphia Flyers.

Phil Mickelson the only American to win a major in 2010 won the Masters while Graeme McDowell won the US Open, followed by the South African, Louis Oosthuizen winning the British Open, and Martin Kaymer taking the PGA Championship.

Spain won the World Cup and the San Francisco Giants won the World Series.

Duke won the NCAA Basketball Championship and Bobby Cox of the Atlanta Braves finally said farewell and rode off into the sunset.

A few coaches were fired and a few new ones were hired. Overall, the year in sports for 2010 was a good one. Stay tuned for bigger and better things in sports in 2011. I MAKE THE CALL.

Derek Jeter - by Keith Allison

The question is: Why did Derek Jeter turn down the Yankees’ $21 mil per year? It leaves me in quandry.

Jeter is 37 years old. Where else on the open market can he demand or get that kind of deal?

Maybe I am wrong , but I think that Jeter needs the Yankees more than they need him. He did not set the world on fire this past season and his stats show it. I know that he helped with the 5 championships and he is the locker room leader, but hey, at age 37, how much playing time will he have over the next 3 years?

He is not a young stud anymore.  Jeter, here is a piece of advice:  take the deal on the table, and when it is all said and done, ride off into the hall of fame wearing that Yankee uniform.

We all know that you earned it. Once a Yankee, always a Yankee in your case. I MAKE THE CALL.

Disappointed?. You better believe it. I really and truly thought that the Rangers were odds on favorite to win the world series.

I literally gave the Giants no chance, and they went ahead in did it with outstanding pitching and putting the lumber to the ball in every game of the series.

They were simply awesome and got their first world series win since 1954.

The Rangers who had the highest team batting average during the regular season, barely hit 190as a team.

What happened to the lumber is still a mystery to me. To say the least, the Giants pitching just had the Rangers number in this series. I MAKE THE CALL.

Is Cliff Lee for real, or are we living a dream?

If this is a dream, I am loving it and if it is for real I am living it.

The man is just from another planet on the mound. He threw a 2 hitter against the $206 million dollar team who really should be 3-0 verses the Rangers in this playoff series.

If the Rangers had held their own in game one, tonight’s game could have and should have been the last game of this series. Tonight the Yanks are sending Burnett to the mound. He has not pitched in little over 2 weeks. I certainly won’t rest my laurels on him tonight.

If by chance the Yanks pull off a win tonight, I guess they will be looking toward the big three to pull them through the rest of the series.   Hopefully, CC, Hughes and Pettitte will be up to the challenge, but I doubt it. The Rangers will take the series in 5. I MAkE THE CALL.

The Texas Rangers should have been up 2 games to none against the Yankees.

They squandered a 5 run lead on Friday, but managed to come back on Saturday to take 7 to 2 win and got a split at home prior to going to New York for Monday’s game.

If the Rangers had held on in Friday’s game and with the win yesterday, they would have had a commanding lead with their best pitcher on the mound for them on Monday.

So be it. They lost and now they will have an uphill battle in New York.

If they manage to win one of these games and come back to Texas with just one game behind the Yankees, they will have a legitimate shot of going to the World Series. I MAKE THE CALL.

Finally, the Rangers won a playoff series and they did it away from home. They came to St Pete and destroyed the Rays. Cliff Lee was at his best last night. He struckout 10 and walked none.

His curve ball was awesome and the Rays had no chance of even getting close to hitting Cliff’s curve balls. They had chances earlier when he was throwing fastballs, but they failed to capitalized on them.

The amazing thing about this game was that the Rangers beat the Rays at their own game.Stealing third 3rd base and putting their runners in definite scoring positions.

Now comes the hard part. The Rangers will now face the Yankees who has a record of winning 48 playoff series and 27 World Series Championships and are currently the defending champions.

Awesome task, but some team has to do it. Why not the Rangers. They have a chance to go to the World Series.

Hopefully, CJ Lewis can get out of the box quickly and hold on until Cliff gets back into the rotation. That is asking a lot because CC and Andy are throwing nothing but strikes in the post season. I still give the Rangers a chance, but a slim one. I MAKE THE CALL.

The Cincy Reds need only win 3 more games and they can clinch the central division.

San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants can’t seem to figure out who wants to take their division. In less than a week, the lead for that division has changed 4 times. Will one team get serious and stop playing with the fans’ baseball heads?

With the Padres and the Giants separated by only a half game, the Giants and the Braves are struggling to keep pace with each other for the wild card. Only a half game separated them for the lead in the wild card chase, and the Giants hold the edge.

The Braves could have put that to rest, but they somehow manage to let the Phillies dominate the Eastern Division in the last three weeks, and now they are trying for the wild card.

A month ago, one would have thought that the Braves had a lock on the division and the Cardinals were just about guaranteed a wild card. Did not happen, will not happen. The Giants will make the playoffs, the Braves won’t. I MAKE THE CALL.