Reflections on Opening Day.

Washington 3/30/08

The Washington Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman hit a Walk-Off homer to win a 3-2 game against the Atlanta Braves, this seemingly innocuous headline that'll be seen in every newspaper in the nation will harken to America that it's pastime has returned. But to me this has much more meaning than just being a score to a game.

A walk-off homer in the first game of a franchise in its new ballpark may not be a very significant. event, but the fact that Ryan Zimmerman hit it. The homer to win the game, against the perennial power in the NL East, in a new stadium, on opening day, by a franchise's premier player looks like an omen if i've ever seen one. Everything that goes around comes around. In the near future sometime the Nationals franchise will be vindicated and they'll be at the top of the league.

This harkens a new dawn for an ever failing franchise, with a bright future and hope for prominence.

thecardfan's Greatest Line-up Ever

1. R. Henderson (OF)
2. O. Smith (SS)
3. S. Musial (OF)
4. L. Gherig (1B)
5. M. Schmidt (3B)
6. T. Williams (OF)
7. R. Hornsby (2B)
8. J Bench (C)
9. B. Gibson (1968)(P)

Closer- D. Eckersley

All Time Great Lineup

1-Rickey Henderson- LF
2- Joe Morgan- 2B
3- George Herman "Babe" Ruth- RF
4- Willie Mays-CF
5- Mike Schmidt- 3B
6- Louis "Iron Man" Gehrig- 1B
7- Johnny Bench- C
8- Ozzie Smith- SS
9- Bob Gibson- P

CL- Mariano Rivera (c. 1999)

Rickey- Most SBs ever, most leadoff HR ever, high OBP lots of walks.
Morgan- great defense, lots of hitting, power for the position.
Ruth- Best power hitter ever, dominating force in the middle of the Line-up.
Willie Mays- 5 tool player, can play great Defense, drives runs in.
Schmidt- Arguably the best power hitter of the 70s and 80s. can drive in runs, very good at third.
Gehrig- Good defensive 1st baseman, hit behind Ruth, many RBIs good situational hitting.
Bench- Best overall catcher, can call games, play defense and hit.
Ozzie- best defensive SS ever, still got about 2800 hits.
Bob Gibson- 1968 season and the 1967 world series, in his era the most unstoppable pitcher in the game.

Rivera- unhitable, between 1996 and 2001 the most succescful reliever in ML history

Big Dan's ESPN Fantasy Team

Ok, so I just finished my ESPN fantasy draft, and I think my team came out pretty well. My team looks like this...
C. Kenji Johjima
1B. Todd Helton
2B. Brandon Phillips
3B. David Wright
SS. Carlos Guillen
2B/SS. Placido Polanco
1B/3B. Aubrey Huff
OF. Ichiro Suzuki, Nick Markakis, Torii Hunter, Chris Young, Mark Teahen
UTIL. Ty Wigginton
P. Justin Verlander, Chris Young, John Maine (118th pick...which I think was a steal), Matt Cain, Brad Penny, Jeff Francis, Chad Cordero, David Weathers, Mark BurhleBench. Xavier Nady, Matt Diaz, Gil Meche

Danthecardsfan Intro

Hey, it's Danthecardsfan. Althought my buddy already told you a bit about me, I thought I'd share some more. First of all, I am a huge Cardinals fan and have been since I started getting in to baseball despite my father's attempts at brainwashing me with Mets propoganda. I hate the DH, think the mound should be raised, and believe that small-ball is the way the game was meant to be played. Most of my entries will be about the Cardinals as well as some fantasy baseball, but I'll voice my opinions about all the other note-worthy events in the league as well. As it is now, I have a fantasy baseball draft coming up today, so I'll post about that in the near future. Thanks, Dan.

This is why I'm here

Hi I'm dan and I am the only Marlins fan in the world. I keep the faith, since 1997 all of the fire sales and one sided trades have turned people away from the franchise, but I believe in baseball in South Florida. 2 World Series Championships in 15 years is a great start to a franchise. The realities of a small market franchise is hard and if you look at it objectively Larry Beinfest is one of the best GMs in the MLB. He does the most he can with the money he gets. Dan Uggla is a rule fiver and we got Hanley Ramirez for the once fragile Josh Beckett (which i find is a great deal). 08 will be a tough year but I have hope for the future. My friend Dan from now on referred to as Big Dan, or thecardsfan. He is the consummate baseball fan and believes in the tradition of St. Louis baseball and their recent success. We together will give you insight into baseball from a fans perspective and how tough it is to rebuild a franchise