Best Baseball Stadiums

One hundred years after their first meeting at Fenway Park, the Red Sox host the Yankees today. This got me thinking about the greatest ballparks in the country. I've seen my share of baseball stadiums. I've seen the Phillies (The Vet & CBP), Red Sox, Cubs, Yankees (old Yankee Stadium), Mets (Shea), Orioles, Nationals (RFK & Nationals Park), Astros, Pirates and Indians all play at home. 

The top two were, not surprisingly, Fenway and Wrigley. 

At Fenway, I was lucky enough to have tickets to a game that Pedro Martinez was scheduled to pitch. However, he was recovering from an injury and it was a rainy day, so he sat out. Manny was being Manny and hit a couple home runs against the Alex Rodriguez-led Texas Rangers. 

I went on a tour and everything was simply amazing. We sat in the dugout and walked all around the field. Standing on the warning track of the Green Monster was an eye opening experience. Surrounded by history, this stadium is definitely one of the two bests. 

At Wrigley, I went to two games against the Colorado Rockies. This was a good Rockies team, featuring players like Juan Pierre, Larry Walker, and Todd Helton. 

The first game was night game where the Cubs won in dramatic fashion. I still have the newspaper hanging in my garage, "Rundown Feeling? Cubs Love It!" In a tie game in the bottom of the 9th, Chicago had a runner on 2nd and the batter singled. The sold out crowd erupted as it should've been an easy score. The base runner tripped rounding third and found himself in no-man's land. The hitter was caught in no-man's land as well, between first and second. As the hitter was in a rundown between first and second, the base runner sprinted home and arrived at the same time as the ball. Safe! Cubs Win!

The second game was a little different. It was about 117 degrees for an afternoon game. The Cubs got smoked, like 16-5. But it was a great atmosphere. Sammy Sosa hit 3 home runs, and it seemed impossible to see him step up to the plate and NOT do a little yard work. 

I also loved how everywhere surrounding the stadium was all about the Cubs, even though they weren't doing well (and haven't been for about 100 years). 

I'll post again about some other experiences at baseball parks around the country. 

Redskins Re-sign London Fletcher

The Washington Redskins re-signed the heart and soul of their defense, London Fletcher, in time for voluntary team meetings.

Most of the hype in Washington lately has been about Robert Griffin III, but without Fletcher, the Redskins couldn't be successful, even with Bart Starr at QB.

At age 36, the 5-10 middle linebacker had a career best 166 tackles in 2011. He is the Redskins' leader, statistically and emotionally.

He has played every game in his career, which began with the Rams in 1998. He has had over 100 tackles every year since 2000. Fletcher is the epitome of consistent.

The Redskins made some noise this off season by signing Pierre Garcon, trading up for the number two pick in the draft and losing $36 million for taking advantage of the uncapped season. Signing Fletcher is the move that had to be made. Without him, the Redskins have no defense.

Phillies Preview

The Philadelphia Phillies head into the 2012 season looking to capture
their sixth consecutive National League East title. Coming off one of the
franchise’s best regular season performances ever in 2011, anything short
of a World Series championship will be seen as a failure to the
organization and the city of Philadelphia.

Theme

The Phillies have to win this year. Philadelphia’s championship window is
closing, and closing quickly. The stars of the 2008 championship team are
aging and won’t be playing at a high level forever. As the players grow
older, they are becoming more injury prone. Stars Jimmy Rollins (33),
Chase Utley (33), and Ryan Howard (32) have faced big injury problems in
the last year.

Utley told Sports Illustrated, “I'm not going to be ready for opening day.
I don't really have a timeline on when I will be available. I will take
this process fairly slow because I think it's important to get everything
around my knees working correctly.”

Other staples in Philadelphia’s recent success, like Shane Victorino and
Carlos Ruiz, are over the age of 30. Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee are both
past the age of 30 as well.

It is do or die for Philadelphia now. The ruthless fans will put pressure
on management to find something new if a 2012 flag isn’t flying in center
field next to 1980 and 2008 in April 2013. That is bad news for Charlie
Manuel.

Strength

The Phillies greatest strength is their starting rotation. Halladay, Lee
and Cole Hamels are baseball’s “Big Three.” The three combined for 50 wins
last season. Throw in 25-year old Vance Worley (11-3, 3.01 ERA) and the
Phillies have arguably the best starting rotation in the league.

Weakness

The Phillies offense is their biggest weakness. Who knows when Utley and
Howard are going to be able to play? Freddy Galvis, 22-year old second
baseman, is going to start opening day with Michael Martinez injured as
well. Victorino only hit .279 a year ago. Hunter Pence is the team’s best
offensive weapon, and he will have to have a monster year (especially
while Utley and Howard are out) if the Fightin’ Phils want to have
success.

John Mayberry Jr. has been struggling in spring training. He is batting
.191 with 10 strikeouts. According to Matt Gelb of the Philly.com, we should worry about him no matter what happened in Clearwater,
Fla. Gelb wrote, “Even if Mayberry was hitting .600 with seven home runs
this spring, there would still be pause. The Phillies have no clue what to
expect from Mayberry.” If Mayberry can reach his full potential, it will
take a lot of pressure off of Pence and the starting rotation.

Prediction

The NL East is much improved this year, especially the Marlins. Miami and
Washington are no longer easy wins for the Phillies. However, Philadelphia
will win the division. The starting pitching is too strong. The four
starting pitchers mentioned above will combine for 65 wins (barring
injury).

The season is going to be a disappointment. It will be the same story as
the last couple of seasons. The Phillies 98 regular season wins will not
matter in October. That one, cold fall week will come where none of the
Philadelphia bats step up and they will lose games 3-1 or 2-0 and the ace
pitchers won’t be able to do anything about it.

Where will Manning land?

Peyton Manning, arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, should be selecting his new home soon. The likely destination right now appears to be either Tennessee, Denver or San Francisco. But what is the best fit for Peyton?

Tennessee is where Peyton played his college ball. He would be teamed with Chris Johnson, who would be his best running back since Edgerrin James. Kenny Brit is coming off a major injury, but would be a true #1 for Peyton if healthy.

Denver would be an interesting choice, partnering Manning with one of the most popular players in the league, Tim Tebow. The Broncos have a solid running game and a good defense. Peyton could see this as a place where the team is ready to win.

San Francisco makes the most sense to me. Frank Gore is a top running back. Vernon Davis is a top tight end. The receiving corps features the highly touted Michael Crabtree and new additions of Randy Moss and Mario Manningham. The 49ers also have an elite defense. Patrick Willis leads the unit with a Ray Lewis-type of intensity.

Whoever lands Peyton Manning will immediately become one of the favorites to play in the Superbowl. You cannot underestimate the impact that a great quarterback can have.

Redskins trade up to #2

The Redskins and Rams swapped first round picks in the 2012 draft, and the Redskins threw in this year's 2nd, and 1st's in 2013 and 2014. Thats a hefty price to move up 4 spots.

Undoubtedly, the Redskins made this move for RG3, Robert Griffin III QB Baylor and Heisman Trophy winner.

I think Griffin is worth the ransom Washington paid. Griffin is an accurate QB with a cannon, he possesses olympic speed, and he graduated early so we know he is smart. Imagine a smart Michael Vick.

Griffin also changes the culture in Washington. Free agency starts tomorrow. The Skins need to add another playmaker on offense. The top WR on the market is going to be Vincent Jackson. Why wouldn't he want to join the Redskins?

Mike Shanahan can turn any RB into a thousand-yard rusher. The Redskins franchised TE Fred Davis and Chris Cooley is back. Add Jackson to a receiving core of Santana Moss, Jabar Gaffney, and Leonard Hankerson (2nd year player who showed promise as a rookie before getting injured) and the Redskins have a legitimate offense.

Kyle Shanahan finally will have a QB capable of running his offense like he did in Houston with Matt Schaub. Rex Grossman wasn't smart enough to fully execute the offense. John Beck didn't have the physical tools. RG3 puts everything together.

Trading 3 1st round picks and a 2nd round pick is a monumental gamble. If Griffin is the franchise quarterback for 10 years and leads the Skins to a couple Superbowls, then it's a great trade. If he's a bust and is out of the NFL by 2016, then it's just another failure by the Redskins under Dan Snyder.

Monmouth Ends Regular Season on High Note

Wow, what a game last night! LIU Brooklyn came to West Long Branch already having clinched the #1 seed in the NEC tournament, but they wanted to win. They played their starters. They lost by 28 points.

The Hawks wanted to beat these guys. They were embarrassed by them earlier in the season at Brooklyn, and they got revenge.

I can't imagine a better way for the Senior class to end their Monmouth careers. Mike Myers Keitt was the game's leading scorer and had the exclamation point dunk to put the Hawks up 30 and nearly explode the roof off of the MAC. Will Campbell scored 14 points and Phill Wait had 6 points and 6 boards.

Freshman Andrew Nicholas, aka Red, is gonna be a stud. Against the best team in the conference, he looked like the most confident player on the court and scored 18 points. He also had a nice drive to the basket and one-handed slam late in the game.

After dominating the top seed in the conference, the Hawks have to feel great going into the tournament. They start up against Robert Morris Thursday in Pennsylvania. Last time the teams met, Monmouth had them beat, lost the lead, and lost in overtime. Velton Jones put RMU on his back and scored 35 points in that game.

Monmouth is the hottest team in the NEC, and have a chance to do something special in King Rice's first season as head coach.

Phillies Preview

Spring Training is almost here. Philadelphia has expected a championship from the Phillies every year since 2007, and this season is no different.

Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels. These three alone give fans a reason to expect 100 wins and a championship ring.

Ryan Howard's injury is going to effect the team, so they went out and got Jim Thome. He's a shell of his former self and can't be an everyday first baseman, but he could be a good bat off the bench.

The core players on the team, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Shane Victorino, are all now at least 31 years old.

The Phillies' championship window is slowly closing.

Fans hope that they have future superstars in young players like Vance Worley, Domonic Brown, and John Mayberry Jr. The jury is still out on these three.

The positive news is, Hunter Pence is just entering his prime. The future of the Phillies falls heavily on Pence being the superstar, and the above three developing into good players.

If the Phillies don't win the World Series this year, it may be a while before they are ready for another one. They will get around 100 wins, the 3 aces will combine for 50 wins, and the city will expect a championship.

It all comes down to that week in October and whether or not Utley, Howard and Pence are able to get it done with the bats. Even if Halladay throws a perfect game, you can't win without scoring.