Part II

Offensive MVP and LVP Fantasy Style

Milwaukee Brewers

MVP: Gabe Kapler .291 .310 .582 .892 4-13-12-32 2-10-1

Runner-Up: Mike Cameron .269 .367 .654 1.021 3-7-6-17 4-8-0

Comments: I am using the two as a group. This has been a bright spot for the Brewers to start the season. Together they remind me of John Lowenstein/Gary Roenicke without the 25-game suspension and the fact one of the Brewers is not a left-handed hitter… other than that… I am cool.

LVP: Ryan Braun .268 .304 .465 .768 5-23-13-59 7-28-1

Bottom-Up: Prince Fielder .257 .372 .431 .803 4-20-16-47 19-18-0

Comments: both players do not belong on this list but given where they went in drafts… Their numbers do not add up to their production.

Minnesota Twins

MVP: Justin Morneau .284 .358 .495 .853 6-25-14-54 12-17-0

Runner-Up: Carlos Gomez .271 .297 .374 .671 1-8-17-40 3-26-13

Comments: If Morneau played somewhere other than, a state recognized for lakes they have (I am on record here to say that Minnesota does not have 10,000 lakes. Maybe they more or less… but not 10,000 exactly) he would be an All-Star regularly.

LVP: Delmon Young .263 .306 .307 .613 0-9-15-35 7-21-6

Bottom-Up: Jason Kubel .245 .264 .396 .660 4-17-11-42 3-22-0

Comments: Both players came into this season as great sleepers in AL-only leagues… yet both have been big disappointments for Fantasy owners but Minnesota is a top their division as I write tonight. Go figure.

New York Yankees

MVP: Johnny Damon .295 .394 .527 .921 4-14-25-59 19-20-5

Runner-Up: Bobby Abreu .306 .363 .452 .815 4-21-15-56 11-24-2

Comments: Damon is quietly putting up good Fantasy numbers, while Abreu is the glue right now that is holding the lineup together.

LVP: Robinson Cano .154 .214 .256 .471 3-8-7-30 8-15-0

Bottom-Up: Derek Jeter .313 .339 .393 .732 0-16-15-44 3-8-0

Comments: Cano signed a huge deal and is pulling a Carl Pavano right now while Jeter has yet to go deep or steal a base.

New York Mets

MVP: David Wright .284 .406 .569 .975 6-26-17-62 23-18-4

Runner-Up: Ryan Church .318 .382 .491 .873 4-22-23-54 11-24-1

Comments: Wright is a beast at third; you did not need me to tell you that. Church has been solid all year.

LVP: Carlos Delgado .213 .306 .361 .668 4-16-16-39 14-21-0

Bottom-Up: Luis Castillo .239 .343 .261 .605 0-4-11-23 4-7-6

Comments: It is time for Delgado to Delgottogo.

Oakland Athletics

MVP: Emil Brown .271 .296 .398 .694 3-26-19-47 4-11-1

Runner-Up: Bobby Crosby .268 .336 .402 .737

Comments: What can Brown do for you? Lead the AL in RBI.

LVP: Travis Buck .154 .197 .277 .474 0-6-5-18 2-20-0

Bottom-Up: Mark Ellis .237 .322 .359 .681 2-11-5-47 17-15-3

Comments: What does Travis Buck and I have in common? We both suck at hitting the curve ball… However, he gets paid to hit.

Philadelphia Phillies

MVP: Chase Utley .357 .432 .762 1.193 13-26-28-96 13-20-3

Runner-Up: Pat Burrell .330 .459 .687 1.147 9-30-20-73 26-24-0

Comments: Without Chipper Jones in the NL, Utley is the MVP. How do you not like Utley? Pat’s bat is hotter than Fergie in a bikini. Check her out in the May 5th edition of In Touch Weekly.

LVP: Ryan Howard .167 .294 .351 .645 6-14-16-40 21-45-0

Bottom-Up: Shane Victorino .231 .296 .292 .588 0-2-7-19 6-8-2

Comments: Howard is hitting something around .400 when he actually hits a ball.

Pittsburgh Pirates

MVP: Nate McClouth .323 .411 .606 1.017 7-25-28-77 17-16-3

Runner-Up: Xavier Nady .347 .406 .542 .948 4-30-19-64 10-21-1

Comments: McClouth is by far the biggest surprise in Fantasy this season on the offensive side. Reminds me of Eric Brynes… but better!

LVP: Adam LaRoche .202 .275 .303 .578 2-8-7-30 10-32-0

Bottom-Up: Freddy Sanchez .222 .250 .282 .532 1-11-10-33 4-14-0

Comments: I have officially given up on LaRoche. Pittsburgh fans know what I mean.

San Diego Padres

MVP: Adrian Gonzalez .302 .355 .556 .911 8-23-19-70 10-27-0

Runner-Up: See Above

Comments: In a big home ballpark, Gonzalez is putting up some nice numbers. I have him in a league that I cannot even trade him in because my knuckle-headed friends would rather hold onto David Ortiz or Carlos Pena.

LVP: Khalil Greene .220 .273 .305 .578 1-11-6-36 8-24-0

Bottom-Up: Jim Edmonds .181 .266 .241 .507 1-6-6-20 9-23-2

Comments: Greene has been disappointing so far and Edmonds has been pointless so far.

San Francisco Giants

MVP: Aaron Rowand .337 .383 .531 .914 3-15-12-52 7-26-0

Runner-Up: Bengie Molina .296 .324 .480 .803 4-19-9-47 4-5-0

Comments: It is nice to have a catcher like Molina on your team… just make sure it is the right Molina brother.

LVP: Ray Durham .253 .330 .367 .697 1-7-9-29 8-15-4

Bottom-Up: John Bowker .250 .268 .426 .694 3-9-4-29 2-16-0

Comments: I was going to put Barry ****s on the list but his head did not fit on the page.

Seattle Mariners

MVP: Ichiro Suzuki .279 .329 .375 .704 2-9-21-51 10-10-12

Runner-Up: Raul Ibanez .302 .345 .484 .829 5-21-17-61 10-18-0

Comments: If April showers bring May flowers, what does Mayflowers bring? Pilgrims. NO! It brings more Ichiro hits.

LVP: Jose Vidro .192 .248 .298 .546 2-18-12-31 8-14-1

Bottom-Up: Kenji Johjima .184 .245 .218 .463 0-5-4-19 6-5-0

Comments: I am very frustrated with the play of Johjima. The image of Jeff Clement in his rear-view mirror is closer than he thinks.

St. Louis Cardinals

MVP: Albert Pujois .358 .518 .604 1.122 6-23-18-64 33-9-2

Runner-Up: Ryan Ludwick .308 .386 .615 1.002 4-15-16-48 10-24-1

Comments: What elbow problem? Shoot, I hope I did not jinx him.

LVP: Troy Glaus .232 .318 .366 .684 1-21-9-41 15-25-0

Bottom-Up: Chris Duncan .271 .402 .400 .802 2-6-12-28 16-16-1

Comments: Glaus vs. Rolen… advantage M.D.’s

Tampa Bay Rays

MVP: Eric Hinske .279 .392 .581 .974 6-15-14-50 16-14-2

Runner-Up: B J Upton .286 .379 .429 .808 3-21-18-45 17-26-4

Comments: If you drafted Hinske in your AL-only league, good job. If you drafted Hinske in your mixed league, you are a liar.

LVP: Evan Longoria .239 .345 .437 .782 3-11-10-31 11-19-2

Bottom-Up: Carlos Pena .215 .323 .421 .743 7-17-15-45 13-35-0

Comments: Longoria will eventually hit. I think he is over-matched at times and looks like he has no plan at the plate. He has had some great at-bats (see Roy Holladay) but they are few and far in-between.

Texas Rangers

MVP: Josh Hamilton .300 .347 .531 .878 6-33-16-69 11-19-0

Runner-Up: Milton Bradley .320 .412 .495 .907 3-12-13-48 16-13-0

Comments: Talk about getting a second chance in life and taking advantage of it… Hamilton and Bradley both have been solid in the middle of that lineup.

LVP: Hank Blalock .299 .365 .460 .824 3-7-9-40 8-9-0

Bottom-Up: Ben Broussard .159 .225 .268 .493 3-8-8-22 5-20-0

Comments: Maybe it is unfair for me to put Blalock on this list, but coming into this season, he insisted he was healthy and proved once again that we should never trust a player’s opinion of himself unless we are in the company of Rickey Henderson.

Toronto Blue Jays

MVP: Alex Rios .310 .379 .474 .853 3-15-20-55 14-25-8

Runner-Up: Vernon Wells .273 .341 .405 .746 4-22-17-49 12-15-1

Comments: I just traded for Wells. What do you think of this trade; Wells and Giambi for Cust and Jenks?

LVP: Frank Thomas .167 .306 .333 .639 3-11-7-20 11-13-0

Bottom-Up: Aaron Hill .264 .323 .388 .712 2-13-11-47 9-16-2

Comments: Why would you want “The Big Attitude” on your team?

Washington Nationals

MVP: Christian Guzman .309 .331 .463 .794 3-14-20-63 5-12-0

Runner-Up: Felipe Lopez .281 .349 .344 .693 1-12-12-33 10-14-4

Comments: I have nothing for this team. New ballpark, same crowds.

LVP: Ryan Zimmerman .217 .252 .333 .585 3-14-12-43 6-23-0

Bottom-Up: Austin Kearns .212 .331 .292 .623 2-12-12-33 16-19-1

Comments: If Zimmerman is the face of the franchise, I am calling Joan Rivers for a referral.

Nationals… last in your program and last in my blog.

When you start discussing the greatest baseball players ever, you get a mix bag of guys that people claim were the best ever. Lots would say George H. Ruth or Henry L. Gehrig. Many more will tell you Henry Aaron or Mickey Mantle, or maybe even Willie Mays. See you could go on and on for hours and yet the one name that hardly makes it in the discussing is Stanley Frank Musial. " Stan the Man " to everyone. Why doesn't his name come up? I'm glad you asked. Here is my opinion and I could be wrong.

One reason I think Stan is left out of these discussions is that he played in St. Louis. Had he played for the Redsox or Yankees in the 40's and 50's he would have been a rock star. Another reason I think this injustice follows him, is that he never seeks attention about how great his was, and he was great. Stan seems to be a humble man as well as a man who likes his privacy. I would of loved to see him play back in the day.

Born on November 21, 1920, Stan began his pro career in 1941 with the St.Louis Cardinals and stayed with that same organization until he retired in 1963. He was a 24 time All Star in his 22 seasons. Remember there were two All Star games played in the same season in 1942, '46-'49. He finished his career with 475 home runs, 1951 runs batted in, and a lifetime average of .331. Stan also has so many other accomplishments that helped him gain entrance into the Hall of Fame in 1969.

Here is where " Stan the Man " ranks all time in some categories among baseball greats. As of 3/30/07, here is where he stood.

1. Tied for sixth all time with 3026 games played.

2. Ranks 9th all time in at bats.

3. Ranks 8th all time in runs scored

4. From 1943-1960 Stan led the majors in runs scored. More than 148 than Ted Williams.

5. Ranks 4th all time with 3630 hits. True fact: Stan had exactly 1815 hits on the road and 1815 hits at home.

6. With 725 doubles, Stan is third on the all time list.

7. He is tied for 19th all time in triples with 177. Not many players will past him on this list. Currently only Steve Finley was in the top 100 coming into the 2007 season.

8. From 1943-1960 Stan led the majors in triples. Oh yeah doubles also.

9.  With all the power these days his 475 home runs has him ranked tied for 24th. But only 10 years ago, he was as high as 16th on this list. Do home runs really tell how good a player was or is?

10. He is third all time with 1377 extra base hits.

11. He is second only to Hank Aaron in total bases.

12. I love this one. Stan Musial drove in 1951 runs. Only Aaron, Ruth and Gehrig drove in more before the 2007 season. Yet his name is never called during role call for the greatest players.

13. Stan had 1599 base on balls in his career. That number is good for 11th all time.

14. Did I mention he hit .331 for his career. How about this run of batting averages from 1942- 1958: .315, .357, .347, .365, .312, .376, .338, .346, .355, .336, .337, .330, .319, .310, .357, and .337. Sweet huh? Bold indicates leading the league in hitting.

15. His career on base percentage comes in at .417 and his slugging is a modest .559 for his career.

16. He is a three time NL MVP. He was named by Sporting News as the NL best player 5 times. Had 6 seasons with 200 or more hits. Eleven straight seasons with 100 or more runs scored. It wasn't until his last that he had a season with more strikeouts than walks. Forty or more doubles 9 times. Seven seasons with at least 10 triples. And the hits just keep on coming.

17. I could go on all night about this man. I hope this starts to get his name mentioned more for the great accomplishments he had while playing. He certainly deserves it and has earned it as well. Let's start talking about him now before he is no longer with us.

18.  Musial  was part of three world championships in St. Louis and named All Star MVP of the 1955 mid summer classic.

19. He has the coolest nickname ever..... " The Man ". That's says it all.

20. So take your " Babe " , take your " Iron Horse " , try a little " Hammerin' Hank " , or maybe it's the " Say Hey Kid ". No? I guess it's " The MIck " or " Cy ", or " The Yankee Clipper ". My MVP of baseball is simply " The  Man "

Remember these numbers don't lie, they just don'ttell the whole story.