God the year in baseball has been a wacky one. And oh yeah, It's just June! I still got more than 4 months of this stuff, predicting who will win, who will lose. I need Asprin. But many teams and players alike, not all of the stars, have risen beyond expectations and are looking at career years. Some will continue into stardom while the rest will crash and burn like my buddies on my coach the day after the Super Bowl and 10 bowls of nachos. But let's see if I can predict who and what teams will stay above the curve, shall we.

1) Chipper Jones, 3B, Atlanta Braves:  Jones has been on a tear. A tear like one on your underpants after an atomic wedgie. Oh yeah. He's batting .416, highest in the majors and is 6th in the National league in homers and 8th in RBI. Now many of you may think this is going to go away because he's never done thing. Uhh, big wrong! Remember last year? The dude hit a porcelain clean .337 and had 29 big shots. Every year since 2004 his average has gone up at least .18 points. He could easily hit above .350 this year no sweat. But hear is what I give him.  A line of .342, 32 homers, 109 RBIs and 201 hits. Boom.

2) Tampa Bay Rays: God, one of the most suprising and good-story teams, but I can't help but wait for the day the start to burn. But it won't happen suddenly. A game here or there, a small injury, but soon it will seem like they are 2 games, 5 games, then 10 games back and not in first, but in 3rd or maybe 4th, depending on the Jays. So far they are 35-25, a good 10 games over .500 and a game and a half behind the Sox. But remember, they are on a 3 game losing streak and the fire seems to be going out. Unless Joe Maddon can get these guys going, I see a almost predictable season of 85 wins and 77 losses.

3) Brandon Webb. So far, the best pitcher in baseball and almost a lock for the Cy Young. So far, the best record in baseball at 11-2. But many of those wins came from the early part of the season when the D-Backs were on a roll. Now, on a 3 game skid, they are slowing down. Webb is 2-2 in his last 4 starts when he was 9-0 in his previous starts. Yes, I do think he will still get the Cy Young because the NL is still a shallow pool even with Zambrano and Santana. I really think he'll have a 22-9 season with a 2.98 ERA and 207 K's.

4) Chase Utley: Why didn't any of us see this coming? Anyone? The signs have been there for years. His average has raised steadily in the past 4 years and now is his breakout year. The Phillies are in first, they look to go deep into October and he is Moses, taking them to the promised land. He already has 21 homeruns, 2nd in the NL and he has knocked in 53 guys. A season of .329, 42 homers, and 104 RBI's seems to be in order.

Now why are many of these guys in the NL? I think the NL is on the verge of becoming the sronger league, if not already so. The DH's in the AL have become old, (Ortiz, Hafner) and the NL has been biding there time in the draft. Teams like the Cubs and Phillies could easily beat aging teams like the Yankees and the Tigers, though I do think the Red Sox still own the league, either AL or NL. But players start hot every year and every team looks like they could make it to October. BUT TOO BAD! ONLY 2 TEAMS DO! The rest will be sitting home. Like me. Goodnight folks.

In today's sports world, we hear teams, mostly in major league baseball, pout and cry about how they can't win with a market as small as they have it. They don't have enough money to compete with the big guns, like the New Yorks, or the Bostons. But if you look at it, having a larger market doesn't translate into a winning team. Sure, having your team in a big market helps a lot but it in no way gives you an edge automaticly.

I'll use the biggest example, the New York Yankees. They, with the Mets, have the biggest market in all of baseball yet they are 8 games behind the Red Sox for the division crown and not moving up any faster. That's because years and years of buying the players they wanted got them alot of arrogance, so they depleted the farm system. I hate when people say they dislike the Yankees because they just win because they have the biggest market revenue and can buy all their players. That doesn't work out. The teams have to scout and develope to be good. Let's look at the Milwaukee Brewers. They have the second to last market size! Yet they're tied for the National League Central lead. They win by develepment. They brought up J.J.Hardy, Prince Fielder, Bill Hall, and Corey Hart. Those are all contributing players on the team. The Brew Crew didn't go out and cry about their market size, they made the best of a hard situation and took to the scouts to win. In the bottom 10 markets, 5 of those teams have winning record and lead the division, or are back by less than 5 games. That should be a point for all the teams, "cough, Pittsburg, "cough, that they can win just as easily as a larger market team with a little work and ingenutity. Here is the list of teams by market size.

1) New York, 2) Los Angeles, 3) Boston, 4) Aneheim, 5) Philedelphia, 6) Baltimore, 7) Seattle, 8)Chicago, 9) Atlanta, 10) Toronto,  11) Dallas(Rangers), 12) Miami(Marlins), 13)Detroit, 14) Houston, 15) Tampa, 16) Cleveland, 17)San Franciso, 18)Minnesota, 19)Cinncinatti, 20)Phoenix, 21)Oakland, 22)Denver, 23) St. Louis, 24) Pittsburg, 25) San Diego, 26) Milwaukee, 27)Kansas City.

Today's class of major league first basemen features some of the best hitters of today's era. There are some of the best homerun hitters that we have seen in a long time. Also, many of the players on this list are very classy, and do not fit the description of a Pacman Jones or Mike Vick. They are great on and off the field. And that is why making this list was so difficult. There are so many good power hitters and so many good contact hitter and hitter with good averages but no homeruns or power hitters with poor averages. So here is my list.

1) Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals: He may very well be the best first basemen that has played for the Cardinals in the past 30 or 40 years. And yes, I know I Mark McGuire played for the Cardinals. But Albert has all the hitters tools. Power, average, good walk habits, and the ability to hit to all fields. He has gotten a .315 batting average along with 20 homeruns while being in the worst power slump of his career. Pujols has lit up the scoreboards with a .550 slugging percentage and 103 hits, 2nd among all first basemen. But Albert hasn't just been great at hitting, he is a very solid fielder. He has a .992 fieding percentage and has made 7 errors while being bothered by a sore oblique muscle.

2) Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins: Mornuea is now silencing critics who thought he should't have been MVP last year. He has cracked 25 homeruns and gotten a .576 slugging percentage while knocking in a 3rd best in the league 76 RBI's. Justin has nicely gotten 98 hits, good for 4th in all first basemen. But like Pujols, he is a great defender, even better than Albert. Making only 2 errors, the Canadian Crusher has compiled a .997 fielding percentage, best among his position peers.

3) Prince Fielder, Milwalkee Brewers: The towering son of Cecil, Prince has made a name for himself playing for the Brew Crew. He has a N.L. best 30 homeruns and a .615 best among 1st basemen. He has shown why he was labled as one of Prospectus Magazine's best young prospects, at age 13! Fielder has a .282 batting average and has gotten 96 hits while driving in 72 RBI's. The only thing that drops Prince down in his fielding. He has made 10 errors and has a disapointing .987 fielding pentage. But if he keeps working, he will be the best first basemen for years to come.

4) Dmitri Young, Washington Nationals: One of the most unsung players in today's game, Young has become a major source of hitting for the deprived Nationals. He has a .339 average, tops on the N.L. That goes very smoothly with his .520 slugging percentage. Though he only has 9 homeruns, Dmitri is a porductive doubles hitter, coming into today with 25 doubles. He has gotten 101 hits while hitting in 52 runners. But like Fielder, Young isn't the greatest fielder. He has made 9 errors for a .984 fielding percentage.

5) Kevin Youkilis, Bosting Red Sox: He has really emerged this season as a very potent hitter in a vey potent lineup which enables him to see good pitches, and my oh my what he does with them. He has a .311 batting average and like Young, hits alot of doubles, with 28 of them. He has hit 9 homeruns and has gotten 98 hits. But the best thing is his fielding. In 75 games at first, he has made NO errors. Nada. Zilch. Nathan. None. He has a 1.000 fielding percentage! AMAZING!

And there you have it. Reminder- I did not forget Ryan Howard. He has a not so good .258 batting average and has struck out over 100 times. That is not good. If he breaks out of this slump I will edit this post.

Though many of you baseball fans might find a diving catch in the outfield or a diving stop at shortstop to win the game more exciting than a catcher blocking a ball in the dirt to save the game, the catchers duties are one of the most vital things to the game. They have to memorize signs, call pitches, throw runners out, block balls in the dirt and so on. Catchers have an enormous responsibility. That may be why today there is a lesser number of optimal catchers, making this list required much time spent on STATS.com/ But here are the top 5 catchers.

1)      Victor Martinez, Cleveland Indians: He is one of the most productive catchers in the league, leading all catchers with 103  hits, 16 homeruns and a .549 slugging percentage, while  compiling a nice .323 batting average, second for all catchers. He has been one of the biggest reasons that the Indians are now tied for 1st place in the A.L. central with the Tigers. With Travis Hafner slumping, Martinez has picked up the pace to become one of the best catchers we’ve seen in a while.

2)      Jorge Posada, New York Yankees: Posada has never had such a breakout season as this one, batting a catcher high and a personal best .330 average, and having been second in catchers in hits with 99 and slugging with .520 average. He ahs also notched 10 homeruns and 50 RBI’s to boot. He has also thrown out 27 runners this year, tied for 4th place in the league, 2nd in the A.L.

3)      Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Detroit Tigers: Though he can be easily overshadowed by bigger names like Magglio Ordonez, Pudge has been the driving force behind the Tiger success, both offensively and defensively. He has only allowed 1 past ball this year(which could be contested) and has thrown out 30 base stealers, 3rd in all of baseball. Add that to a .298 batting average and 91 hits, along with a .459 slugging, and you get a great catcher.

4)      Kenji Johjima, Seattle Mariners: One of the most unknown catcher today, Johjima has secretly put togetther a nifty line of .287, 77, and 9. He has only allowed 3 passed balls and has thrown out 21 runners while in his 2nd major league season. The Mariners are competing for the West because of Johjima.

5)      John Buck, Kansas City Royals: Yeah, I know what your thinking, “He’s on the Royals, he can’t be good.” But for all the bad the Royals have, Buck is one of the shining players in KC. 15 homeruns and 57 RBI’s give him a lot of potential power. He has become one of the leagues best catchers and will only get better.

From the North Side of Chicago or the hot ballpark in Atlanta, we all remember Greg Maddux as a pitching great, a man who wrote himself into the record books quietly, but not always that quickly. ( It took 18 years)

Greg Maddux was never a power pitcher, giving you the startling curve or the devastating changeup rather that the blazing fastball up and in. While others faded out after a couple of years of hard throwing, Maddux stayed in. He kept going, softly and soundly, and year after year got closer to the big win number 300. He got that in 2004 with the Chicago Cubs. But even after that, when he could have retired and made it to Cooperstown, he kept pushing. Even today, 3 years and 2 teams later he keeps going. He's got 340 and he is going and going. He is on pace to pass Tim Keefe for 9th all time this year at 342 and if he plays another season, he could pass Kid Nichols and Pud Galvin with 361 for 8th al time.This is a statement about a man who never accepted anything worse than the best. He will continue to work hard until he is in the sentences with the greats, like Walter Johnson and Warren Spahn. ( I don't think anyone shold be talked with in the same breath as Cy Young)

Over the course of his career, Greg Maddux has won an astounding 340, and counting, games. That puts him in place for 10th all time and 2 wins away form 9th. That alone should get him a pass to Cooperstown. All the legends ahead of him on the wins list are in the Hall of Fame and many behind him. So how can you not put him in? He pitched in only 35 less innings than Tom Seaver with 4726 innings. In his career he had an average ERA of 3.09 and over 3,000 strikeouts. During a span from 1992 until 1998 Greg Maddux had an ERA under 2.60 every season in that span and for a span of 12 seasons he had at least 150 K's. Though Maddux only had a 200 strikeout season onece in his 21 years playing baseball. Also, it did take him 18 years to get 300 wins, a little longer than most average pitchers, though most pitchers don't even get to number 300. A showing of his stamina he pitched over 200 innings in a 13 season span that lasted from 1998 until 2001. Let's look at the pros and cons.

PROS

• Pitched in over 4,000 innings.
• Had over 3,000 K's.
• Has never had a full season where he didn't win 10 games.
• Won 300 games.

CONS

• Never had a 200 strikeout season.
• It took 18 years to reach win number 300.
• Has only had two 20 win seasons, has played for 21 seasons.

So througout his storied career, Greg Maddux had never ceased to amaze us with his uncanny ability to get even the best hitters out. My grade for his career is a solid A and a first round vote to the Hall of Fame. ( And the season after he retires he can play in the Old Timers game)

Though he will always be remembered as a Brave by us elders, Tom Glavine would much more want to be remembered as a Hall of Famer. In today's edition of Hall of Famers, I'll debate the merits of an all time great pitcher, a master of the craft, Tom Glavine.

Since coming into the league a long, long 20 years ago, Tom Glavine has made a name for being one of the top masterminds of pitching. He has a variety of itches, each one is made to perfection and worked on until just right. Though he may not be remembered as the guy who struck out the greatest power hitters of the time on the big fastball, he will be remembered as the guy who got the best hitters out.

Let's go through the numbers. As of today, he is 3 wins away from 300 with 297 and will most likely, barring injury, win the remaining 3 and become a member of the 300-wins club. That is one of the most storied accomplishments of baseball alone. That will get him mentioned with the great pitchers of all time. He has been solid his whole career, having a career 3.50 ERA. Like I said, he might not be the best strike out pitcher, but Glavine does have over 2,500 K's and a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio for his lifetime. A testament to his stamina and endurance Glave has pitched over 4,200 innings. That means he had to get 12,600 batters out. Sick. In a span of 12 seasons, 1990 to 2002, Glavine had at least 100 K's and pitched at least 200 innings in 10 of the 12 seasons. Let's look at the pros and cons.

PROS

• 300 career wins
• 2,500 career strikeouts
• 56 complete games
• Never allowed more than 25 homeruns in a season

CONS

• Never led the league in strikeouts
• Hasn't had an under-3.00 ERA season since 2002
• Never had a 200 strikeout season
• In 17 seasons he has only had a 20 win season 5 times.

So all in all, Tom Glavines career will be forever remembered in our hearts and in the record books. For his career, I give him the grade of a B- and my hall of fame vote.

Starting this week, I will be taking a look at those still playing baseball and not golf and shuffleboard, and seeing who deserves to get a spot in the hallowed halls of the Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, NY. So why not start it off with a man who has just gotten 500 homers, Frank Thomas.

Since coming into the league 17 years ago, Frank Thomas has been a pitchers worst nightmare. He has hit in every ballpark from New York to New Madrid (AAA, it's in California). He had been the heart and soul for the White Sox and even now, playing with the Blue Jays, is a big figure in Major League Baseball. Over the course of his career, the Big Hurt has compiled an impressive overall batting average of .303, 501 (and counting) homeruns, and over 1,600 RBIs. A slugging percentage of .562, almost 1,600 walks, and a .422 on base percentage spells dominance at the plate for the big fella. He has gotten over 2,300 hits, though he has never gotten over 200 hits in a season. He never got the chance to win a World Series and never even took his team to the playoffs. Only in '92, '93, and '96 was he a full time fielding first baseman. Usually he was the DH. As a fielder, he was less than adaquate. He was sluggish in the field and never seemed to go all out when the time was needed for a key defensive stop. On the plus side though, he never made more than 15 errors a season. But some reports have him saying that he wasn't needed in the field because he was a hitting machine. And for all our purposes, that could be true, but it takes a serious blow to his HOF chances. I look for players who go all out, all the time on both sides of the equation. Let's look at the pros and cons before wrapping up.

PROS

• Never had less than 25 homeruns in a full season.
• Had over 100 walks from 1991 to 1998.
• Had a slugging percentage over .500 for 13 of his 17 seasons.
• 12 seasons of 130+  hits.

CONS

• Didn't play full time 1st basemen 14 out of 17 seasons.
• Never had a 200 hit season.
• Hasn't has a .300 batting average since 2000.
• Not the fastest car in the lot.

So in my review of Frank "Big Hurt" Thomas's career, he, in my opinion deserves a B+ and a spot in Cooperstown. Though I don't think that he is a first-ballot kind of player. I think that the first ballot Hall of Famers should be household legends, like Cal Ripken Jr., somthing that Frank Thomas is not. Great job Frank! :)

All the time people go down to the pharmacy, you know, pick up some painkillers. It'll be just one bottle to relieve the pain. That's fine. Then you get some more. Then after your third time your wife asks you where the hell you were. You lie and get some more. All over the country men and women are being addicted by the masses to painkillers. They seem like candy, just going to get a candy bar. Then like a drug (which they are) you get more and more until you are hooked on the line of death and despair. So I asked myself, why do we continue to allow these killers in our society? Why do we damage not only ourselves but our children, the people who live after us and will have to live on this earth the way we left it; full of drugs. Listen to this story about a little boy and his father that was on the New York Post........

"A local boy has died from  painkiller abuse. Thomas Miken,10, apparently had some pain in his back. His father had had the same kind of pain only two weeks before and brought home some painkillers. He used them in front of Thomas so Thomas got the idea that they were okay. He started to use the painkillers every day. He was hooked on the drugs and couldn't stop. Before he told his parents it was too late. A day after he confessed to his parents little Thomas had a stroke and died."

That is just one of the horrors that arise in our communities today. All this happened on my street. I saw Thomas a couple days before he died. He looked fine. This is why we must join together and ban all sales of these child-killers. These life-ruiners. These drugs. The are just as bad as smoking. They make you feel good but then your hooked. They damage your body so much that once you realize what's wrong, it's too late. If any of you haven't heard about the WWE wrestler Chris Benoit and his tragety he used steroids and painkillers before killing his wife and son. This is what happens. It ruins lives, families and whole communities.