Sports Illustrated’s 2011 Baseball Preview featured an entire starting rotation of one team on the cover. But it wasn’t the starting rotation of the defending world champs. It was the starting rotation of the team the San Francisco Giants beat in the NLCS, the Philadelphia Phillies. Last year, the Phillies traded for Roy Halladay and during the middle of the season, traded for Roy Oswalt. And this year, they signed free agent Cliff Lee. Cole Hamels was now their fourth best starter and Joe Blanton […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – Hobbling Towards Opening Day
There are just six days until baseball starts. On March 31, at 10:00AM Eastern, the Detroit Tigers take on the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves take on the Washington Nationals. But the big game on the docket is the San Francisco Giants against their hated rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants have had a strong Cactus League season so far, with an 18-9 record which is tops for all teams in the spring (as of this writing). […]
Sweet Chin Muzak: Remembering The World Series
I’ll have a brand new column next week looking at 2011, but I felt this was a perfect time to remember what 2010 meant to me and my family as San Francisco Giants fans. I first started following baseball closely when I was just 8 years old. The year was 1984 and the Giants were terrible. Just awful. I did get to go to the 1984 All-Star game which was played at Candlestick Park. Now THAT was a windy day. […]
Sweet Chin Muzak: On Cliff Lee And Benjamins
The 2nd Sweet Chin Muzak column explores the signing of Cliff Lee by the Philadelphia Phillies and why he spurned offers from his former team, the Texas Rangers, as well as the powerhouse New York Yankees.