It is amazing how one life could drastically change with hard work, a passion, and dedication. Three years ago, Bob Salomon was just a regular family man with a wife, two kids, and a full-time job as an officer for the state of New Jersey. While Salomon enters his 24^th year on the job, these days you can also find him at the center of a unique movement with the commitment to making a difference. As the co-creator and driving force behind the children’s book, “A Glove of Their Own,” Bob has watched numerous organizations and foundations use his book as a platform to spread the message of giving and helping children.

“A Glove of Their Own” is a story about paying it forward and children who play baseball simply for the love of the game. You’ll find no coaches, no concession stands, and sometimes just an old bat and ball. This is the way baseball was meant to be. It has the power to touch both the old and young, with the underlining theme of both kindness and “paying it forward”.

Salomon now collaborates with some of the biggest names in sports, as he has gained the trust of the hundreds that support him. Since its publication in 2008, “A Glove of Their Own” has received recognition and attention on a national level, with numerous accolades and supporters that include both former and current players alike. The endless list features names such as Yogi Berra, Joe Torre, Tommy John, Phil Niekro, Bud Harrelson, Roy White, Bernie Williams, Eric Chavez, and Nelson Cruz, among many others. Even companies such as Louisville Slugger, Modell’s, Rawlings, and Upper Deck have joined the cause.

Bob’s latest addition to the list of superstars is former New York Yankees great and current Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. Like the many others behind his movement, Bob and Don share many of the same values, beliefs, and overall determination that have helped form the basis for their success. With their respected efforts, these men have only one mindset towards the future, and that is to help children.

Mattingly currently orchestrates “Mattingly Charities,” which is a nonprofit fundraising organization that launched in January of 2011. Its main purpose is to serve under privileged children by supporting programs that promote baseball and softball participation. The former Yankee is also an avid supporter and contributor to the Boys’ Club of New York. When ordering “A Glove of Their Own,” $3 will be donated to Mattingly Charities when using the code “DON23” at AGloveOfTheirOwn.com.

“It is an honor to have Don Mattingly on board,” Salomon said. “He is an icon and a role model for many in professional sports. He is also a class act, whose off the field work is second to none. I grew up rooting for Don as a kid, so I am truly grateful to have him support me today.”

“A Glove of Their Own,’ captures the spirit and true meaning of giving back and sharing with kids less fortunate,” said Mattingly. “It is another reminder of why the game of baseball is so special.”

After the success of the first book, Bob hopes to reach even greater heights as he produces a second children’s book, while this time, using the sport of football. The story will portray the true gift of athletes, which is the impact they have on children. It will unite all sports and also showcase the message of never giving up.

The story promises to take you on a roller coaster of emotions as the game of football helps a father and son overcome and obstacle that simply defines the will to keep fighting. Salomon’s own love for the sport is beneficial, and with many big names sharing his beliefs, the sky is the limit for what this new project can achieve.

“The goal of the football book is to make all athletes come together to help kids,” Salomon said. “We want to tour throughout hospitals around the country with various sports figures and send the message out about not giving up. My dream is that the NFL and United Way will use the book to help promote this message and place a positive impact on children and the game of football.”

With the baseball book, the vision is almost parallel. Bob continues to reach out to all 30 Major League Baseball teams and hopes that one day, each team will use his story as a platform for the various outreach programs in the sport. His latest efforts have led him to an advisory board position with the Dave Clark Foundation, which helps children with disabilities.

“Bob Salomon is one of those people who you can just tell is extremely motivated to promote a great cause,” said Rich Lampmann, director of promotions and public relations at Modell’s Sporting Goods. “Bob shares the same feeling as countless Americans when it comes to the game of baseball. The memories of pick-up games in the yard, lot, or at the field stick with us for a lifetime. Bob and his team have taken this a step further and are not only promoting the game in and of itself, but also using the game as a means of spreading sportsmanship and teamwork for the greater good.”

It is amazing to step back and see the relationships that Salomon has made since the inception of “A Glove of Their Own.” Today, one of his valued friendships is the one he holds with former MLB player and current ESPN analyst Doug Glanville, who has served as a sounding board for Bob’s endeavors.

“I connected with Bob Salomon through a mutual passion and cause,” Glanville said. “We both shared the desire to help youth through sport. After one phone call that could have lasted 24 hours, we knew right away that we spoke the same language. His drive and passion through the phone was tangible. I was drawn to his selfless will to step aside and let the purpose lead the way. There was no ego, there was no filter. It was real and it was about children.”

All in all, it is clear that Bob Salomon, Don Mattingly, and the rest of Bob’s supporters, are all truly blessed and want to do right by the children.

“I hope you will join him,” Glanville added. “Because it is a runaway train and it will one day bring the humanity back to all of the sports we hold dear by employing our greatest resource – people.”

To join the movement and to learn more, please visit AGloveOfTheirOwn.com.

To contact Bob Salomon, feel free to e-mail him directly at AGloveOfTheirOwn@aol.com.

Texeira was honored along with Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, Mets ace R.A. Dickey, Mets infielder Daniel Murphy, Basketball Hall of Famer Chris Mullin and collegiate and NBA star Dikembe Mutombo at the 32nd annual dinner benefiting AHRC, a not-for-profit organization that supports programs enabling children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to lead richer, more productive lives, including programs of AHRC New York City.

Question: At what point does the off-season turn off and you start to get ready for the year?
Mark Teixeira: I do get antsy once February hits, so this is the last day I can relax.

Q: We understand that you work out at Bobby Valentine’s facility in Connecticut.  Has he changed the locks or anything?
MT: He didn’t change the locks, but it’s funny I had been hiting there for two years, I had bought a machine for the facility, so when I am around there I can use the pitching machine.  It’s been throwing great, and everything was fine, I was getting all my work in.  As soon as he gets the Red Sox job, I go in the next morning, the first ball out of the machine — right at my head.  I don’t know if it was a bad ball, I don’t know if the gears jammed, whatever happened we had to get a technician in there to fix it.

Q: Other than that, how has the offseason gone?
MT: It’s been great, you know, just recharging the batteries, and looking forward to a great season.  We basically have the same team back, got a couple of key additions on the pitching staff, which is going to be great, and so we’re excited.

Q: Were you surprised about the trade of Jesus Montero?
MT: Never surprised in baseball, this business, I’ve been traded twice, a lot of great players have been traded, and Montero might be really, really good.  He’s got a chance to be special.  But so does [Michael] Pineda, and I think that’s what we’re banking on. We’re banking on Pineda being a top tier starter and someone that can really be a force for a long time.

BBD: You only faced him in, I believe, three at bats, and you have a home run and, I think, a strikeout. From that small sample size, what do u remember
MT: Explosive fastball.  Really good slider.  He’s so big — any pitcher that is that big, that can throw that hard, his margin of error is going to be a lot bigger than everyone else’s.  He can not have his best stuff, but when you’re 6-7 and thrown 97, you’re going to get outs.

BBD: Curtis Granderson has said that Pineda didn’t seem intimidated by the Yankees lineup.  Do you see that in him?
MT: Yes, it’s mound presence and you see it with the best pitchers in baseball.  They have that presence on the mound. And as a young guy, to be able to go out there and have no fear and go after everybody — I think I hit a 3-1 fastball or 3-2 fastball.  I get a lot of sliders or changeups on 3-2.  He went right after me. I got lucky on that pitch, but it just shows his confidence that he’s going to go after people.

BBD: You tweeted that you lost 14 pounds in the offseason.  Why did you feel like you needed to?
MT: I didn’t feel like I needed to, but I’m always trying to get better.  I know that the older I get, the more important nutrition is, and any chance I get to make myself lighter, faster, more energy, its going to be better for my game.  It just kind of happened.  I started changing my diet a little bit, started drinking a lot of raw juice and it really helped.

BBD: C.C. Sabathia talked about eliminating Cap’n Crunch last year; did you do anything like that?
MT: I can’t say I eat a lot of Cap’n Crunch.  I’ve really eaten pretty well the last few years, but this year I think really fine-tuning. I’m always trying to find that little edge to help myself physically, mentally, energy-wise, and I think those little things can help me over a long season and hopefully a long career.

BBD: There has been talk of the Yankees picking up another bat in a trade with some of their surplus pitching.  What do you think of the Yankees lineup as it stands now?
MT: We basically have the lineup we had last year.  Rotating a DH wouldn’t be bad, but if you can pick up a guy who can come in and give some pop off the bench or be a DH every now and then, we’re  not going to say no to that because we can use all the help we can get.

BBD: One of the areas you said you would like to improve is getting on base. Do you and hitting coach Kevin Long have a plan in place for that?
MT: I do. One thing I really noticed is that my average with no men on base was really, really good, and with men on base it wasn’t.  When no one is on base, and they’re playing a big shift, I might lay down some bunts this year.  I’ve been so against it my entire career, but I may lay down a few bunts.  If I can beat the shift that way, that’s important.  And also, not trying to hook the ball so much left handed. So when you have a 1-2 pitch, instead of trying to drive the ball in the gap and drive in the runs, you know take that single to left.  It’s [harder] than it sounds, but one hit a week really adds up.

Thurman Munson plaque at Monument Park at old Yankee Stadium. Photo credit: The Guy With The Glasses

BBD: What does Thurman Munson and the Munson Award mean to you?
MT: A Yankee legend.  Someone who did the right things on and off the field, someone whose legacy has continued to grow, because of the great things he’s done in the community, with the foundation, his family and his wife Diana have done so many great things in the community, so the Munson name is very special to the Yankees.

BBD: How did you get started working with Harlem RBI?
MT: Harlem RBI is an organization I started working with two years ago.  I knew the great work they were doing with kids in Harlem, with education.  Education has always been very important to me, and so to be able to work with those kids, you know it serves over 1000 kids, was just a natural fit for me.

The Winter Issue and Convention Guide is available for FREE download here:

http://gothambaseball.com/GB006_WINTER2011.pdf

Gotham Baseball covers the past, present and future of New York baseball, and in this latest issue, which features a pair of aces; New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia and New York Mets southpaw Johan Santana. Gary Armida profiles Sabathia’s return in “The Big Man is Back”, while Healey opines that for the Mets, “The Ace is The Whole”.

Also in the issue:

The Catcher Says Bye – Yankees catcher Jorge Posada is retiring. Armida takes a look at his great career.

The Magic is Back? – Joseph M. Lara tries to make some sense of the current Mets by looking at the past Mets.

Reading By The Hot Stove – Jerry Milani reviews some of his top choices for offseason reading.

The issue also includes a comprehensive guide to the three-day event, which will once again feature some of the world’s top baseball instructors in a range of settings, including new Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, New York Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long, pitching guru Rick Peterson and softball star Jennie Finch.

Baseball Digest’s online editor Mark Healey, who is the founder of Gotham Baseball, will also be in attendance, manning BD affiliate Gotham Baseball’s booth with GB Co-Publisher Joseph M. Lara.

The Winter Issue and Convention Guide is available for FREE download here:

http://gothambaseball.com/GB006_WINTER2011.pdf

For more info visit the official site for the event or call 860.674.1500

New York Yankees at Boston, not suprisingly, accounts for two of those, on April 22 and July 8, from Fenway Park.  The Yankees have one other Sunday Night appearance, April 15 vs. the Angels.  The two-time defending American League Champion Texas Rangers host Chicago in the April 8 SNB opener.

The World Series Champion Cardinals also have three appearances (May 20 and July 15, in addition to Opening Night April 4).

ESPN’s first seven Sunday Night games will feature at least one playoff team and several of MLB’s biggest stars will be on display, including the Angels’ Pujols; the Yankees’ Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano; Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury; Texas’ Josh Hamilton; Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria; Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard and Chase Utley; St. Louis’ Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman; Dodgers slugger Matt Kemp; Atlanta’s Chipper Jones and Brian McCann; Chicago’s Paul Konerko; and Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman.

This season will also mark the debut of analyst Terry Francona, who joins play-by-play commentator Dan Shulman and analyst Orel Hershiser in the Sunday Night Baseball booth. Sunday Night games are also available via ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3 and ESPN Mobile TV.

ESPN Radio’s Sunday Night Baseball broadcast team will again be play-by-play commentator Jon Sciambi and analyst Chris Singleton.  ESPN Radio, entering its 15th season of MLB coverage, will also broadcast a game of the week each Saturday during the regular season, the State Farm Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, and every Division Series, League Championship Series and World Series game.

The Sunday Night Baseball schedule as selected to date follows (all telecasts begin at 8 p.m. ET).  Game selections for the remainder of the season will be made three weeks (June and July 1, 22 and 29) or two weeks (August and September) in advance.

ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball Schedule
Date     Teams (all telecasts at 8 p.m. ET)
April 8     Chicago White Sox at Texas
April 15     L.A. Angels at N.Y. Yankees
April 22     Yankees at Boston
April 29     Tampa Bay at Texas
May 6     Philadelphia at Washington
May 13     Angels at Texas
May 20     St. Louis at L.A. Dodgers
May 27     Washington at Atlanta
June 3-July 1     TBD
July 8     Yankees at Boston
July 15     St. Louis at Cincinnati
July 22-Sept 23     TBD

The event will take place January 19 – 21 and will once again feature some of the world’s top baseball instructors in a range of settings, from small break-outs to general lecture sessions. Last year, more than 1,000 coaches from across the country joined us at the World Baseball Coaches’ Convention.

New Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, New York Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long, pitching guru Rick Peterson and softball star Jennie Finch will be part of this year’s Presenters, which include baseball executives and coaches from all over the United States.

Baseball Digest’s online editor Mark Healey will be in attendance, manning BD affiliate Gotham Baseball’s booth with GB Co-Publisher Joseph M. Lara. Gotham Baseball is this year’s official magazine for the event.

For more info visit the official site for the event or call 860.674.1500

MLB Network surveyed all 30 Clubs, MLB.com and the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum for the best and brightest trivia minds in their organizations to represent them in Baseball IQ, and thirty-two participants will be matched up in a bracket-style tournament across 31 episodes. Two new episodes will air every Tuesday through Thursday at 9:00 p.m. ET from January 24 through February 23, leading up to the start of Spring Training.

“Baseball fans are passionate about the sport’s statistics and launching Baseball IQ is a way for us to expand our offseason programming lineup to let viewers test their baseball knowledge,” said MLB Network President and CEO Tony Petitti. “The premise of Baseball IQ is a natural extension of how fans talk about baseball at home or during a game by putting a current story, player or moment into historical context.”

Baseball IQ features participants from front office personnel, equipment managers, scoreboard operators and museum curators. When possible, Baseball IQ participants will be matched up in a bracket opposite their clubs’ rivals, pitting the St. Louis Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs, the Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim against the Texas Rangers. The winning player of each episode will win $5,000 for the organization’s charity they represent. The championship episode will award $25,000 for the winner’s charity and $15,000 to the runner-up’s charity.

The complete Baseball IQ bracket with participants scheduled to appear is below and more information, including rules, participant and charity information can be found here. Show information and programming updates will be posted to MLB Network’s Facebook page and Twitter feed via #BaseballIQ.

The greatness and prestige begins with Cornelius McGillicuddy, Sr, who after spending more than a decade as a player in the National League,  managed the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers for four seasons. With the advent of the American League in 1901, “Connie Mack” became manager, treasurer, and part owner of the new Philadelphia Athletics. He would go on to win – and lose – more games than any manager in major league history. Mack would also build, break down, and rebuild World Series-winning teams before settling into a nearly two-decade long routine of losing games and cashing dividend checks. A team that got off to a good start, but finished fourth, he once said, would be the best kind of team to have.

“A team like that will draw well enough during the first part of the season to show a profit for the year, and you don’t have to give the players raises when they don’t win.” – Connie Mack

Still, Mack won. From 1901-1914, the A’s won three World Series, six pennants, posted two second place finishes and had just one losing season. After getting swept 4-0 in the 1914 World Series, by the “Miracle” Boston Braves, an angry Mack dealt or sold away all of his best players. After a decade of losing, the franchise enjoyed another remarkable stretch from 1925-1933, including two World Series titles, three AL pennants and four second place finishes.

Sadly, the Mack club would never again rise to prominence after 1933, and would only post two seasons with winning records (1949-50) before the club was sold to Arnold Johnson in 1954 and he moved it to Kansas City.

The team’s shift from Philadelphia is long forgotten for most of today’s baseball fans, and predated the Dodgers and Giants shift from New York to the West Coast by three years. There have been no songs, books or poetry written to mourn the loss of the Philadelphia A’s, so we won’t attempt to do so here. However, despite all of the years that they occupied the second division of the AL, Connie Mack’s White Elephants also fielded some of the best nines ever to play the game.

Despite efforts to keep the club in the City of Brother Love, the Mack heirs finally sold the club to Arnold Johnson who would move the A’s to Kansas City to serve as a glorified farm team to the New York Yankees. It would be an insurance salesman named Charlie O’ Finley who would move the franchise to Oakland, change the A’s forever.

As defacto GM, O’Finley would build baseball’s last “real” dynasty. He would also open the door to a baseball future that would drive him from the game.  Finley finally got out in August of 1980, selling the club to Walter J. Haas, who controlled the Levi-Strauss empire. The club had finished 54-108 in 1979, so Finley had hired Billy Martin to run the whole operation. At first, the move was genius. Martin, the Oakland native, was 83-79 in his initial season, and followed it up by winning a share of the division title in the strike-shortened 1981 season. But the winning came with a price, because as the returning hero, Martin filled his front office and scouting department with cronies rather then the best people he could find. The result was chaos, and the new ownership group started giving more and more responsibility to young executive Sandy Alderson, a Dartmouth grad and ex-Marine.

When the bubble burst after a 68-94 season in 1982, Alderson would take over in 1983. It had been a three-year roller-coaster ride with Martin, who was also the club’s GM for the 1981 and 1982 seasons, but there was more to come.

Alderson would preside over four straight losing seasons while he rebuilt the A’s, finish at exactly .500 in 1987, and would win three pennants and one World Series during 1988-1990. Five losing seasons would follow before he gave way to his young assistant, who would become of the most talked about GMs in baseball history.

Billy Beane’s “Moneyball” fame has led to a change in the game of baseball we see being played today, surely, but for all of the praise, Hollywood treatment and near-Messiah status among the new baseball intelligencia, the pennants and World Series titles are non-existent. The franchise may eventually move to San Jose, a move that many feel would create the kind of revenue streams that would allow Beane to finally build a winner. But until that happens, to mention Beane in the same sentence as Connie Mack, Charlie Finley – or even Sandy Alderson – isn’t remotely fair.

And now, here are the All-Time Athletics:

Franchise Player – Rickey Henderson

“The only thing I wish I could figure out is how I got misunderstood regarding the type of person I really am and what I accomplished … Just because I believed in what I was doing on the field and dedicated myself to playing the game, does that mean I’m cocky? Does that mean I’m arrogant? People who played against me called me cocky, but my teammates didn’t.  I brought attention, fear.” — Rickey Henderson, Baseball Digest (Feb. 2003)

Let’s put a couple of things in perspective in regards to Rickey Henderson. Yes, he could be churlish and indifferent, a showboat whose “snatch catches” drove managers and teammates insane. But he was the best leadoff hitter in baseball history and a lethal weapon for nearly every one of the 3081 career games he played in. He was the last of Finley’s great players, signed as a high schooler from the Oakland streets, and made his debut in 1979. From 1979-1984, he stole over 100 bases three times, scored more than 100 runs four times, and did not have a an OBP lower than .398 in any of those seasons, save for his rookie year. He would return after a stint for the Yankees, where would score almost 300 runs in his first two seasons there, and arrived back in Oakland in time to help them win the 1989 World Series against the Giants. Of his 25 seasons, Henderson would play 14 of them in an Oakland uniform. He is the franchise leader in walks, runs scored and stolen bases. Only Bert Campaneris has more hits and games played in team history.

1B – Jimmy Foxx

Like Henderson, economics caused the exile of this homegrown HOFer to Boston in 1934, but before he left, “Double-X” proved he was the best first sacker in A’s history. He played 11 years for the Philadelphia A’s, in a town where the Phillies were an afterthought. From 1925-27, he would have three unremarkable cups of coffee with the big club, if you consider getting big-league at-bats at the ages of 17, 18, 19 unremarkable. As a 20-year old in 1928, he hit .328 with 13 Home runs and 79 RBIs with a .416 OBP in a little over 400 at-bats. The next year, he would hit at least 30 homers, drive in at least 130 runs and hit over .300 every year except 1931. Some of the seasons contained within that stretch are some of the most incredible years ever put together by a single player.

2B – Eddie Collins

As a GM, Eddie Collins helped delay the breaking of baseball’s color barrier in Boston. As a player with the 1919 “Black Sox”, he is best-known among today’s fans as they player who “ratted” out the eight men who would ultimately be banned for life by Judge Landis. But in 13 years as an Athletic, Collins would hit .337 with a .423 OBP. Though he made more than his fair share of errors, he also posted impressive fielding numbers during his career, and is considered more than just a passbale defensive player. Comparatively, when the Oakland A’s website decided to put together it’s All-Time “Oakland A’s” team, the best 2B they could come up with was Mark Ellis, who hit .265 with a .331 OBP in his A’s career.

3B – Sal Bando

Carney Lansford (10 seasons, .288/.343/.404 with 201 HRs and 548 RBIs) is a popular pick among many contemporary A’s fans, and if we cared about being contemporary, we might have picked him over Bando. But Bando (.259/.359/.418 with 212 HRs and 796 RBIs) was the captain of the team that won three straight World Series. Arguably, As far as the postseason goes, Bando’s numbers are remarkably similar to his career numbers, as are Lansford’s, with the former hitting more postseason home runs and the latter hiting for a higher average. Still, while Lansford was a very good player, and often underestimated, there are no ties in baseball, our pick is Bando.

SS- Bert Campenaris

“Dagoberto” is the all-time franchise leader in games played and hits. Bruce Markusen writes an excellent quick bio here. In an era where we judge players by their size and/or by the numbers that they post, “Campy” might not even get a chance to play at the minor league level, least of all the bigs. Traditional scouts would probably look at the 150-160 pound frame he carried throught his career as far too frail, but he stole a lot of bases, and scored a lot of runs and played on three straight World Series winners. Miguel Tejada will get some votes here as well, but like Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, Tejada’s Oakland career — while worth discussing — can’t truly be considered as “All-Time” player until evidence of PEDs can be truly measured. Outside of Tejada, Mike Bordick had some decent years in Oakland, and Chick Galloway did as well in Philadelphia from 1919-1927, but we’ll take Bert.

C- Mickey Cochrane

When people talk about the best catchers of all time, Yogi Berra, Roy Campenella and Johnny Bench are often the most mentioned, and rightfully so. All three are Hall of Famers, World Series champions and won multiple MVPs. Mickey Cochrane is as well known for being the player that Mutt Mantle named his son for as he is for winning the AL MVP in 1934 for Detroit in 1934. Yet when you look at his nine seasons in Philadelphia, wjere he hit .321/.412/.490 with an OPS of .902, he has to be in the conversation.  Terry Steinbach, despite a few good offensive years in Oakland, is just not the player Cochrane was.

LF- See Henderson, Rickey

CF- Dwayne Murphy

Unlike many of our picks here, Murphy did not play for a winner. His lone appearance in the postseason was 1981, and he subsequently played for losing teams thereafter. For his A’s career, spanning 10 seasons, he hit .247 with 153 homers, 563 RBIs and played a very good defensive CF as well. In 1984 he hit 33 homers with 88 RBI, his best season ever.

RF – Reggie Jackson

Most fans think of Reggie Jackson as “Mr. October” of the “Bronx is Burning” Yankees and his wars with Billy Martin. But Reggie was another of Charlie Finley’s HOFers who played nine seasons for the A’s before playing his five-year stints at New York and California. During those nine-years, he fought with hks teammates, won three World Series, including winning both the AL MVP and World Series MVP in 1973. That year, he hit .310 with six RBIs against the Mets, who should have selected him in the 1966 MLB draft, but according to rumors, declined to pick him because he was dating a white woman. Instead, Charlie Finley picked him, and a Hall of Fame career started. His A’s totals are 269 HRs and 776 RBIs over 10 seasons. His final season, fittingly, was played in Oakland, in which he still managed to hit 13 homers and 43 RBIs.

RHSP – Chief Bender

Tim Hudson has pitched longer for the Atlanta Braves now then he did for the Oakland A’s, and as much as we’d like to put him or Catfish Hunter into this spot, it’s hard to argue that anyone but Bender would be the top right-handed starter for any All-Time A’s club. His 38.1 WAR is higher than either Hudson or Hunter, and while Eddie Rommell and Rube Waddell’s WAR numbers are higher than Bender’s, he was a more valuable pitcher to the A’s during his career than Rommell. Waddell only pitched six years in an A’s uniform, and Bender — who was the right-handed complement to Eddie Plank — ranks only behind Plank and Lefty Grove in all-timer wins by an A’s pitcher.

LHSP – Lefty Grove

This is perhaps the hardest decision on the list; Eddie Plank or Lefty Grove? Plank is the franchise leader in WAR, post a 63.9 mark over 3860.2 innings and posting a 284-162 record with a 2.39 ERA. Grove (195-79, 2.88 ERA) is second all-time in WAR among A’s starters, a 59.6 mark over 2401 IP. Each won a pair of World Series with the A’s, and each was sent packing by Connie Mack once their prices went up. Ultimately, the decison comes down to this; Grove, in our opinion, was more dominant during his career. He didn’t pitch as long, but had better individual seasons against his peers than Plank.

Closer – Dennis Eckersley

“Eck”  is in the Hall of Fame because he revolutionized the closer position, aided and abetted of course by Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan. His ridiculous numbers are evidence alone. In 1989 he threw 57.7 innings, struck out 55, walked only 3.  The next year, he posts a 0.60 ERA over 73.3 innings, 72 strikeouts ant issues just 4 walks.  Sure, Rollie Fingers pitched more innings in his A’s career, and won three World Series with the “Swingin’ A’s” and gets major points for that, but Eck was more than just dominant, he was virtually unhittable for a few years.

Manager – Connie Mack

For of his faults, and he had many, Mack simply was better at his job than any other A’s manager. He beat Yankees teams that had Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, and he beat Red Sox teams that had dominated the AL for years. Had he been a tad more visionary, could have begun another dynasty that would have saved AL baseball in Philadelphia, but that reality doen’t obscure his accomplishments. Dick Williams was incredible, but couldn’t work for Finley. Perhaps if he had stayed, maybe the A’s win four straight titles instead of three. As impressive as La Russa’s run as A’s manager was, his teams should have won more. Losing to the 1988 Dodgers and the 1990 Reds while boasting the array of talent he had at his disposal hurts his case.

The Rangers’ bid is a desperation move for a team that won two straight American League pennants, but failed to capture their first World Championship. They lost Cliff Lee, one of the top five pitchers in all of baseball, to free agency after the 2010 season, and this year lost one of the top free agent prizes in fellow left-hander C.J. Wilson. The Rangers signed closer Joe Nathan earlier this month and plan to move current closer Neftali Feliz into the starting rotation. Texas’ plans for Feliz are not expected to change if they ink Darvish to a deal.

Texas’ bid also shows that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Baseball fans constantly hear owners bemoaning the fact that they are losing money, that there are haves and have-nots, that the Yankees are spending like crazy, and teams need to tighten their purse strings.  While the true small market teams (Pittsburgh, KC) tend not to spend money earned from the luxury tax, there are plenty of other teams, not just the Yankees, who are more than willing to open their checkbooks.

With bad feelings still lingering from the 1994 player’s strike, Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf infuriated most of his fellow owners when he signed then free agent Albert Belle to a five year, $55MM deal in November, 1996. At the time, the contract was the first to average more than $10MM per season.

Things have escalated since then; Alex Rodriguez signed not one, but two outrageous contracts in excess of $250MM. The first was with the Texas Rangers in December, 2000, and then A-Rod topped that with a new deal with the New York Yankees seven years later. Since 2000, more than 30 contracts have been signed in excess of $100MM in total. Boston used to consider itself a small market team, but it can no longer say that after the franchise doled out $142MM to free agent Carl Crawford last off-season and gave trade acquisition Adrian Gonzalez a $154MM extension.  One year earlier they shelled out $82.5MM for John Lackey, whose best days were behind him.

Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria cried poverty, but got a new stadium and suddenly had the cash to pay out over $191MM this off-season for free agents Heath Bell, Jose Reyes, and Mark Buehrle. Angels owner Arte Moreno did not land Crawford in 2010 as many expected him to, but perhaps he was waiting to reel in the biggest catch this off-season. Albert Pujols pulled in the second richest contract – $254MM - in baseball history when he signed with the Angels earlier this month. He was joined by Wilson, who bolted the Rangers for a five year deal in excess of $77MM.

There is still one more large payout to be handed out this winter, to free agent 1st baseman Prince Fielder. The Rangers are among those expected to court the Milwaukee Brewers’ standout. A team that was on the verge of bankruptcy a short time ago could very well join the nearly dozen teams with a $100MM or greater payroll. And as the salaries go up, so do the tickets, hot dogs, parking, and beer.

Considering that Matt Kemp, Matt Cain, Zack Greinke, James Loney, Howie Kendrick, Josh Hamilton, and Andre Ethier are among next year’s potential free agents, the “spend trend” will certainly continue.

Update – As a reader astutely pointed out, Matt Kemp recently signed a new mega deal. One must be careful when mixing cold medicine and writing.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

For information and reservations call 914.668.9580 or log onto www.bgcmvny.com.

Singleton is in his 10th season as a New York Yankees analyst for the YES Network alongside Michael Kay, and also handles play-by-play duties for the network.

“We are delighted to honor Ken Singleton at our 100th Anniversary Gala,” said Boys & Girls Club President Danny Sawh, and Executive Director Lowes Moore in a joint statement. “His outstanding career on the baseball diamond and in the broadcast booth have distinguished him as a true champion. The Boys & Girls Club of Mt. Vernon has been a bulwark against delinquency and a recreational outlet for youngsters for a century, and we hope today’s youngsters will follow in his giant footsteps.”

Raised in Mount Vernon, Singleton played both baseball and basketball in high school, and also played baseball in the Bronx Federation League at Macombs Dam Park, across the street from Yankee Stadium. After receiving a basketball scholarship to Hofstra University and playing baseball as well for one year, Singleton was drafted by the Mets in 1967.

Denzel Washington

In April 1972, he was traded to the Expos and, in 1974, was traded to the Orioles. His .438 on base percentage (in 1977), 118 walks (in 1975) and 35 switch-hit home runs (in 1979) are all still Orioles single season records.

Singleton is one of only six players in Major League Baseball history to hit 35 or more switch-hit homers in a season. During his career, Singleton was named to the American League All- Star Team in 1977, ’79 and ’81. He was named Most Valuable Oriole in 1975, ’77 and ’79.

Singleton received the Roberto Clemente Award from Major League Baseball — the highest off-the-field honor in baseball — in 1982. The award recognizes the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.

He retired after the 1984 season as a three-time All-Star with a 1983 World Championship ring.

Before joining YES, Singleton divided his time calling play-by-play and providing commentary on Yankees telecasts on the MSG Network. In 1998, he was part of MSG’s production team that won four New York Emmys for its Yankees coverage.

Singleton joined the MSG Network in 1997 from The Sports Network (TSN), where he served as analyst for the Montreal Expos from 1985 to 1996. From 1991-96, he also called play-by-play and served as analyst for CIQC Radio, the Expos’ flagship radio network. In 1996 and 1997, he was named by FOX Sports as a lead analyst for Saturday afternoon baseball broadcasts. In 1997 and 1998, he worked as an analyst for Major League Baseball International.

Diana Munson, Thurman’s widow, will attend her 32nd straight benefit, having been involved since its inception, raising nearly $10 million to assist children and adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Thurman Munson Awards are presented for success on the fields of play and philanthropic works off the field

The AHRC New York City Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that supports programs enabling children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to lead richer, more productive lives, including programs of AHRC New York City.  AHRC New York City is one of the largest organizations of its kind, serving 11,000 children and adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injuries and other disabilities.

photo courtesy Yogi Berra Museum

The  list of notable athletes to previously receive the Munson Award reads like a sports “Who’s Who,” and includes: Yankees – Yogi Berra, Don Mattingly, Mariano Rivera, Willie Randolph, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Robbie Cano, Bernie Williams, Bobby Murcer, Joe Torre, Joe Girardi and Nick Swisher; Mets – Tom Seaver, John Franco, Darryl Strawberry, Mike Piazza, Ron Darling, David Wright, Carlos Beltran,  Keith Hernandez, Rusty Staub and Gary Carter;  Basketball – Willis Reed, Oscar Robertson, Dave DeBusschere,  Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, “Dr. J”  Julius Erving, Sen. Bill Bradley, Mark Jackson, Charles Oakley, Allan Houston and John Starks.

The Legend Award has been presented periodically and its previous recipients have included: Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson (2001) in celebration of the 50th anniversary of “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”; former Mets ace relief pitcher and native New Yorker John Franco (2004) in recognition of his community service in his hometown; and former Yankee and Thurman teammate Lou Piniella (2010) upon the 30th Anniversary of the Munson Dinner.

Our featured bloggers that provided us with the in depth Report Card series that has just concluded are back to give everyone an in depth look at what the off season holds for the major league teams they cover.  A look at what each team needs, what each team has already gained and lost, and some of the youth in each team’s system will be examined in these articles.  You can find all of the author’s information at the bottom of the article.

For the New York Yankees, winning the World Series is the only palatable result. As such, their off season has become almost as anticipated as the season itself. The difference now seems to be that Brian Cashman has much more control than he did in the past and wild and wholesale changes don’t happen as much as they did in the early part of the second millennium. Cashman is more apt to hold on to his prospects than Yankee teams in the past and free agent hoards will be limited to one or two major purchases. In this piece, we’ll try to look at the overall picture of the Yankees’ off season considering who they already have on the roster, arbitration eligible players, free agents and if any impact is expected from their farm system. We’ll start with the free agents.

2011 Yankees now free agents: Bartolo Colon, Freddie Garcia, Eric Chavez, Jorge Posada, Andruw Jones and Luis Ayala. Former Number One pick, Andrew Brackman was left off the 40-man roster and was granted free agency. Damaso Marte will likely be non-tendered and thus become a free agent as well.

Of those free agents, the Yankees might maintain an interest in resigning Chavez, Jones, Ayala and perhaps Freddie Garcia. Jorge Posada has already announced that his days as a Yankee are over and his only decision remains on whether to retire or play one more season elsewhere. Bartolo Colon saved the Yankees in the first half of 2011 but faded in the second half and probably will not be in the Yankees’ plans. Andruw Jones was effective against left-handed pitching which is helpful with lefty-swinging regulars like Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner as every day outfielders. Eric Chavez faded badly in the second half but is a capable backup for Alex Rodriguez at third and Mark Teixeira at first. Luis Ayala had a terrific year in the bullpen for the Yankees and with Joba Chamberlain due to miss the first third of the 2012 season with Tommy John surgery, Ayala should get an offer to return.

Freddie Garcia’s status will depend on what off seasons moves the Yankees make for pitching. They appear to be players in the C.J. Wilson/Mark Buehrle sweepstakes and if they land one of those free agents, the need for Garcia will be mitigated.

Arbitration eligible players in 2012 include: Russell Martin, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Boone Logan, Brett Gardner and David Robertston. This writer expects that all of these players will remain with the Yankees in 2012. The Yankees were very pleased with Russell Martin behind the plate in 2011. It would be highly surprising if he wasn’t their starting catcher in 2012. Expect the Yankees to offer him a two or three year contract in the coming weeks.

Players under Yankee control in pre-arbitration situations: Ivan Nova, Cory Wade, Francisco Cervelli, Eduardo Nunez, Gustavo Molina, Colin Curtis and Kei Igawa. Nova, of course, will be a featured member of the Yankees’ rotation. Nunez had a brutal 2011 and could be trade bait for the Yankees. But they do need a backup infielder and Nunez is the best of the lot in their system. Molina and Curtis are minor league filler types who are doubtful to have any major league impact. Francisco Cervelli is an interesting case. He’s been the backup catcher the last two seasons. Two years ago he was brutal on offense and decent on defense. Last year, he was better offensively but brutal on defense. It would be highly surprising if Cervelli maintained his role heading into 2011 with the young options the Yankees have. We’ll get to those in a minute. Kei Igawa, of course, is the Japanese import that bombed in the majors and though he remains in the system with a major league contract, he is forever buried in the minors.

The Yankees are set in the infield and the outfield. The only wildcard is Cuban defector, Yeonis Cespedes. Cespedes has been scouted by the Yankees and seems to be an incredible talent that will soon lead to a bidding war for his services. It is possible for the Yankees to be a suitor for Cespedes and then would be in a situation where they could trade Nick Swisher. But if that doesn’t happen, expect to see a lot of the likes of Jeter, Rodriguez, Cano, Teixeira, Granderson, Gardner and Swisher.

The bullpen also appears pretty well set. Rivera might be pitching his last season and has remained brilliant. David Robertson has become a star. Rafael Soriano has an opt-out clause, but the odds of that happening are astronomical. Boone Logan is reliable and Cory Wade was  quite the steal and was terrific. Joba Chamberlain won’t be available to start the year and it’s doubtful the Yankees have any realistic expectation for a contribution from him this season. Another left-handed arm would be useful to support Logan.

The starting rotation can go one of three ways for the Yankees. Behind C.C. Sabathia (who avoided his opt-out situation with an extension), Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett, the Yankees could either sign one of the big fish on the market or go with youngsters like Adam Warren, David Phelps, Hector Noesi or long shots like Shaeffer Hall and D.J. Mitchell. Last spring, the excitement built for Dillin Betances, Manny Banuelos and Andrew Brackman (the new Killer B’s). Brackman is now gone and Betances and Banuelos could not throw strikes often enough to show they are close to being ready. The third option is to go to the second-level free agents like Freddie Garcia, Erik Bedard, Chris Capuano and others. This observer really believes they need a second lefty in the rotation.

If you happen to be a position player in the Yankees’ minor league system, good luck to you. There are no openings to be had. The aforementioned pitchers have at least a shot. The only other openings for the Yankees appear to be as a backup infielder, backup catcher and DH. Jesus Montero, the Yankees top prospect could handle two of those positions. He’s already shown he can hit big league pitching. The question remains if the Yankees see him as a catcher (which doesn’t appear to be the case). Montero could be a top Designated Hitter in the American League if the Yankees choose to go that way. They could then use Austin Romine as the backup catcher and Jesus Montero as the emergency third catcher.

The ideal situation for the Yankees would be to save a roster spot with Montero catching twice a week and the DH the other five days. But again, they lack faith in Montero as a catcher, so the question won’t be answered until Spring Training.

It sounds kind of boring, but the only real intrigue for the Yankees this off season is what they do about the starting rotation, if they can unload A.J. Burnett and if they are players in the Cespedes sweepstakes. Yeah, life is tough at the top.

William J. Tasker has written as the Flagrant Fan on his own site since 2003. A proud member of Yardbarker and the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, Tasker’s work has been featured often on Foxsports.com/MLB in that site’s Best of Yardbarker category. Tasker can be found daily on Twitter @FlagrantFan and irregularly on his FlagrantFan Facebook page. Tasker currently serves as the president of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance General Chapter.

These report cards were written by twenty nine talented individuals across the internet that keep a close eye on the team they cover.  It was the first of our “Featured Blogger” series.  The second part, an Off-Season Outlook, will be brought to you the remainder of this week.  The same writers will return in the Spring to provide a 2012 Season Preview about the teams.

This year’s Featured Bloggers are listed below along with their website and the link to their Report Card:

American League East
Baltimore Orioles - Austin Gisriel, Seamheads
Boston Red Sox – Michael Lynch, Seamheads
New York Yankees – William Tasker, The Flagrant Fan
Tampa Bay Rays – Yossi Feins, The Rays Rant
Toronto Blue Jays – Peter DeMarco, Some Thoughts On Baseball

American League Central
Chicago White Sox – Terry Keshner, Planet Back
Cleveland Indians – David Henderson, Tribe Cards
Detroit Tigers – Nick Waddell, Seamheads
Kansas City Royals – Todd Fertig, I-70 Baseball
Minnesota Twins – Von Hendry, Seamheads

American League West
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Bryan Grosnick, Roto Hardball
Oakland As – Jason Leary, Junk Ball
Seattle Mariners – Nick Waddell, Seamheads
Texas Rangers – Dan Edmonson, Chicken Fried Baseball

National League East
Atlanta Braves – Andrew Martin, Baseball Historian
Florida Marlins – Eddie Gilley, Eddie Gilley Blogspot
New York Mets – AC Wayne, Mets Public Record
Philadelphia Phillies – Matthew Buesing, Fire And Ice Sports
Washington Nationals – Aaron Somers , District On Deck

National League Central
Chicago Cubs – Robert Harris, Blue Batting Helmet
Cincinnati Reds – Gary Schatz, Full Of Schatz
Houston Astros – Michael Barr, Fan Graphs
Milwaukee Brewers – Paul Heinz, Paul Heinz.com
Pittsburgh Pirates – Ryan Sendek, Analysis Around The Horn
St. Louis Cardinals – Daniel Shoptaw , C70 At The Bat

National League West
Arizona Diamondbacks – Patrick Lagreid, Baseball On My Brain
Colorado Rockies – Michelle Hoag, Rockies Woman
Los Angeles Dodgers – Paul F Sullivan, Sully Baseball
San Diego Padres – Michael Metzger, Padres Trail
San Francisco Giants – Julian Levine, Giants Nirvana

Bill Ivie is the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com and the founder of i70baseball.com, an official Baseball Digest website covering the Cardinals and Royals.

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BaseballDigest.com aims to keep up that tradition.  This season, we bring you a Report Card on each team in Major League Baseball from writers that cover that team directly.  At the bottom of each write up, you will find the writer’s name, website, and any other pertinent information.  

The New York Yankees finished with the best record in the American League last season and it’s hard to imagine giving them a report card with less than straight A’s. But expectations in New York are not to just reach the playoffs each year, but to win the whole shebang from year to year. Anything less is a huge disappointment. Since a title every season is impossible, let’s be realistic and take this team apart and see how they really fared for 2011.

Starting Pitching – B-
Remember the panic in Yankee land last year over the failure to sign Cliff Lee combined with the retirement of Andy Pettitte? The Yankees were seen to be entering 2011 with huge question marks in their rotation. But somehow it all worked. C.C. Sabathia faded at the end of the season, but had another dominant year. Ivan Nova opened a lot of eyes, particularly after a brief minor league banishment and arguments can be made that he was their best pitcher down the stretch.

A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes were huge disappointments. The former has become the most hated Yankee in quite a while. Hughes entered the season with a mysterious loss of velocity and only mildly recovered late in the season. Fingers in the dike were provided by the unlikely duo of Freddie Garcia and Bartolo Colon. Garcia’s solid pitching lasted all season while Colon faded in the second half.

Overall, the Yankees finished third in the AL in runs allowed but below average in quality starts and pitches thrown per start. They finished only average as a rotation in average game score and just slightly above average in no decisions.

Relief Pitcing – A
The bullpen was one of the real strengths of the 2011 Yankees. Mariano Rivera continues to defy time and had another great season. David Robertson became the eighth inning guy and no one in the game was better. Robertson allows a lot of base runners, but never gave up runs. And his Houdini acts getting out of bases loaded jams became legendary.  Cory Wade was basically stolen from the Tampa Bay Rays in a waiver pick up and became a valuable bullpen option and Luis Ayala had a surprisingly effective season. The Yankees counted on Joba Chamberlain who ended up needing Tommy John surgery, but they didn’t miss him at all. Rafael Soriano, a last minute pickup by those over Brian Cashman’s head proved disappointing.

Soriano aside, the bullpen was fantastic. They were second in the American League in save percentage, first in inherited runners scoring and led the AL in holds.  And the bullpen accomplished all that by entering games with the highest leverage index in the American League.

BD Report Cards brought to you by Seamheads

Catching – C+
Russell Martin took over in 2011 from Jorge Posada as Posada had become an extreme defensive liability behind the plate. Martin finished in the middle of the pack of major league catchers as far as Fangraphs evaluation goes, but he was rated fourth in fielding among all major league catchers and was the second best catcher on the base paths.  As for his offense, he started hot, went completely cold and then finished okay. He hit into way too many double plays, but that seems to be a catcher staple.

Francisco Cervelli had a better offensive year as the Yankee back up but his defense regressed completely. The Yankees are stacked for catching talent in the minors and it’s hard to imagine Cervelli filling this role for long.

The Infield – A-
There is a lot of money invested in this infield and they earned it this past season. After a slow start, Derek Jeter finished strong in the second half. Robinson Cano has become one of the most feared hitters in baseball and Mark Teixeira, despite a falling batting average, still drives in a lot of runs and hits a lot of homers all while playing spectacular ball around the first base bag.

Alex Rodriguez had health problems all season, but when he was in there, played excellent defense and even with all his time missed, was one of the most valuable third basemen in baseball. The time he missed exposed Yankee problems on the bench. Eduardo Nunez and Eric Chavez started hot at the plate but faded terribly after that. Chavez was decent with the glove but Nunez was dreadful. Between the back ups and the lack of range shown by Jeter and Cano up the middle, a perfect A can’t be delivered here.

The Outfield – A
What’s not to like about the Yankee outfield? Nick Swisher is underrated in his offensive contributions and has become a good right fielder. Brett Gardner led all of baseball in defensive runs saved and stole over forty bases. He only needs to get on base more consistently to become one of the best outfielders in the league. And what can you say about Curtis Granderson? The guy had a MVP –type season and carried the team early and often. His defensive numbers were probably hurt a bit by how far Gardner ranges in left and seems, at least to the faulty naked eyes to be solid in center.

Andruw Jones is a shadow of his former self, but still turned around some fastballs and plays capable defense in the corners as a backup.

Designated Hitter – C-
The DH was reserved for Jorge Posada to cover the last year of his contract. He had a woeful start and never did hit left-handed pitchers well. But he finished strong down the stretch. The Yankees like to use the DH as a rest stop for their older players and did so with mixed results. This position in the lineup certainly wasn’t one of the Yankees’ strengths.

Team MVP
The team MVP has to go to Curtis Granderson. He blew the league away in runs scored despite a so-so batting average. His production via homers and other extra base hits added up to 7.0 fWAR and places him just above Robinson Cano for MVP honors. But Cano is really what makes this offense go, so it’s hard to separate the two.

Best Pitcher
C.C. Sabathia has few equals in baseball never mind on his own team. Ivan Nova would garner second place votes and Rivera and Robertson tie for third.

William J. Tasker has written as the Flagrant Fan on his own site since 2003. A proud member of Yardbarker and the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, Tasker’s work has been featured often on Foxsports.com/MLB in that site’s Best of Yardbarker category. Tasker can be found daily on Twitter @FlagrantFan and irregularly on his FlagrantFan Facebook page. Tasker currently serves as the president of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance General Chapter.

Hellickson threw 189 innings and finished 13-10, 2.95. He had a very good 1.153 WHIP and a 4.2 Wins Above Replacement (WAR). He allowed just 146 hits and averaged just one home run allowed per nine innings. Hellickson joined teammate Evan Longoria (2008) as the only Rays to win the ROY Award.

Kimbrel was a strikeout machine in his freshman year in the ATL. He led the league with 46 saves and averaged 14.8 strikeouts per nine innings. He also led the NL in games finished (64), while he compiled a 4-3, 2.10 mark and earned a place on the NL All-Star team. Kimbrel is the first Brave to win the award since Rafael Furcal took top rookie honors in 2000. Other franchise winners are David Justice (2000), Bob Horner (1978), and Earl Williams (1971).

It was the first time since Fernando Valenzuela (LAD) and Dave Righetti (NYY) were Rookie of the Year winners in 1981, that the league’s two awards went to pitchers in the same year.

Below is the complete results of this year’s vote.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

With two teams stacked with pitching and offense, the World Series has offered one of the most compelling match ups in recent years.  Aside from the lopsided 16-7 score of Game 3, the two teams remaining have combined for a total of 18 runs in the other 4 games of the series.  Much of this can be attributed to the great pitching that has kept both of these teams in the series.  There are a pair of players, one of each team, that emphasis the importance and evolution of pitching, and they’ve played for both teams during their careers.

Darren Oliver has held the middle innings together for the Texas Rangers all season long.  Oliver’s dominance in the middle innings was not an overnight discovery, and his career is a terrific example of how the Rangers have evolved over the years.  When Darren Oliver’s career began in Texas during the early 1990′s, he was inserted into the rotation and had moderate success. Like many of the Texas Rangers rotations during the 1990′s, Oliver filled the role as an adequate innings eater supporting an offensive juggernaut that had lineups that included Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez and Dean Palmer.  In his(and the franchise’s) first postseason appearance, he threw 8 innings of 3 run ball in an ALDS loss to the New York Yankees in 1996.

In a July 2004 article in Baseball Digest, Troy Renck of the Denver Post wrote about pitchers like Darren Oliver reviving their careers by adding to their pitching repertoire. Click here to check it out!

Within two years of the postseason appearance, Oliver’s ERA rose to 6.73 during the 1998 season and he was shipped off to the St. Louis Cardinals, which started an seven team(eight, if you include his second tour in Texas) odyssey that lasted a decade and included missing the entire 2005 season. Upon his return to the big leagues in 2006, Oliver became a full time reliever and immediately became a huge component to bullpens in New York and Anaheim.  After three seasons in the Angels bullpen, Oliver joined the Rangers for his third tour. His season ERA has remained below 3.00 during his first two years in Texas, and for the last four years straight.

Darren Oliver’s transformation from mid-rotation starter to bullpen ace has played a role in shedding the long held theory that pitchers can’t succeed in the Texas heat. Despite giving up a home run during Game 3, Oliver remains a key factor in the series. For a half-season Cliff Lee continued to dispel the theory of pitching in Texas as well, helping the Rangers in 2010 to their first World Series berth. Despite Lee’s departure for Philadelphia, C.J. Wilson anchors a new era of pitchers who are defying the Texas heat and pushing the Rangers to the brink of their first title. Derek Holland, Colby Lewis and Alexi Ogando rounded out the rotation with regular season ERAs that sank below 4.00.

The St. Louis Cardinals know all to well about the importance of the relief pitcher, especially with Tony LaRussa at the helm. Aside from his Game 5 bullpen issue involving reliever Jason Motte, LaRussa has mixed and matched his bullpen like he has for his entire career, arguably being the first manager to make a bullpen a focal point of his roster.  One such key component of LaRussa’s bullpen is a player who has been around nearly as long as LaRussa, 42 year old Arthur Rhodes.

Rhodes was a long time member of the Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners before becoming a journeyman reliever, logging time with 7 different teams over the last 8 years which included missing the entire 2007 season due to Tommy John surgery. Though he has spent 2 decades in the big leagues and reached the postseason four times before joining the St. Louis Cardinals, the 2011 World Series is a career first for the well traveled lefty.

In a June 2001 issue of Baseball Digest, Bob Finnigan of the Seattle Times wrote about pitchers like Arthur Rhodes dealing with injuries and playing through pain.  Click here to check it out!

His 2011 season may prove to be the most fascinating of his career. He began the season as a member of the Texas Rangers, and struggled mightily in July. He was put on waivers and passed through in mid-August. Just days later, the St. Louis Cardinals scooped up the veteran, who rebounded with a strong finish in August and September. He has seen action just twice, but has rose to the occasion for both batters he faced.  Tony LaRussa has used Rhodes primarily as a left handed specialist since he was acquired, and the choice has paid off nearly perfectly.

With Game 6 pushed back a day, there is little doubt that both Arthur Rhodes and Darren Oliver could see action as the Texas Rangers try to seal their first franchise championship against the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that looks to even the series and prove the pre-season critics wrong in the best way possible, by extending the season by one more game.

Michael Maher is a senior writer for BaseballDigest.com.  He can be reached at MinorLeagueSpotlight@Gmail.com. You can follow him on Twitter @BD_Maher and check out his blog.

Napoli’s tomahawk in Game 4 of the World Series would make any Atlanta Braves or Florida St. Seminoles fan proud. Bat crushed ball on the first pitch Napoli saw from Cardinals’ reliever Mitchell Boggs and turned a 1-0 cliffhanger in a 4-0, 6th inning lead that would hold up. Monday night saw another nail biter, with the teams tied at two apiece in the 8th inning. That’s when Napoli came to bat with the bases loaded against reliever Mike Rzepczynski. With the hometown fans chanting “Nap-oli”, the guy who looks like a slow pitch softball player, hit a rope up the alley in right-center for a 2-run double and a 4-2 Rangers’ lead. It was the eighth and ninth RBI of the series for the former 17th round draft pick (2000) out of Charles Flanagan High School in Pembrook Pines, Florida.

The Rangers at one time hated Mike Napoli. Now they can’t live without him. Click here to read Stephen Hawkins’ article about Texas’ new favorite teammate.

Napoli hasn’t just done it with his bat though. His defense, which was maligned at times in LA, was a key to a Game 5 victory. Having already thrown out Allen Craig attempting to steal second earlier in the game, Napoli repeated the feat in the top of the 9th inning. With Albert Pujols representing the tying run, Tony LaRussa made the decision to run Craig on a 3-2 count despite being down two. The move backfired as Pujols whiffed at Neftali Feliz’s pitch and Napoli fired a strike to Ian Kinsler to nail Craig for the double play.

The team that selected him probably wishes they had Napoli back since Wells produced a paltry .660 OPS for the Angels while their former player produced career highs in home runs (30), RBI (75), and OPS (1.046). Napoli also helped eliminate his former team from a chance at the post-season with a pair of back to back two-home run games against Los Angeles on the season’s final weekend.

He may not be thinking about it right now, but Napoli should be in for a fine payday this winter after he avoided arbitration prior to the season by signing a one year, $5.8MM deal.  Based on both his regular and post-seasons, Napoli will be looking for a good bump up and a multi-year deal, though he doesn’t have the power of free agency.  Napoli can point not only to his World Series production, but his ALDS numbers as well.  The six year veteran posted a .971 OPS with a home run and four RBI in Texas’ first round knock out of the Tampa Bay Rays. Though Napoli’s catching was limited to 61 regular season games, he was ranked in the upper echelon in the American League by a number of defensive metric gurus.

No matter how much he makes, you can bet the fans in Arlington, Texas will be singing out for Napoli.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

While rumors persist that the Rangers will throw a boatload of money at CC Sabathia, if the pitcher opts out of his current deal witht the New York Yankees, and the team already is loaded with hitters, they could go after Pujols. Texas’ principle owner Nolan Ryan surely had to be wishing Pujols was on his side as he watched the St. Louis Cardinals destroy his team in Game 3 of the World Series last night. Pujols had five hits, three home runs, and six RBI to help boost the Cards to a 16-7 win and a two games to one advantage over the Rangers.

Pujols is in the final year of an eight year, $116MM contract, with deferred money, that makes him only the 35th highest paid player in baseball. The Cardinals offered the 11 year veteran a nine year, $195MM deal last winter, but, to no surprise, Pujols turned it down. He is said to be looking for a deal similar to that of Alex Rodriguez (10 years, $275) and Joe Mauer (10 years, $230). But can the Cardinals pony up the money, and if not, who can?

The number of teams that can fulfill Pujols’ wishes are limited. The Yankees, always players for big time players, should not be involved. The Angels are always mentioned when it comes to high salaried players, everyone was sure that they would sign Carl Crawford last off-season, but the Angels haven’t been throwing money around lately for outside free agents. The Red Sox saw this season (Crawford, Lackey, Gonzalez) that big money moves doesn’t even translate to a playoff spot. Other teams you will surely hear mentioned are the SF Giants, Chicago Cubs, and Washington Nationals.

The Rangers 2011 salary was $91,885,265, the 13th highest total in all of baseball. The Rangers top priority will be to bring back their #1 starter, C.J. Wilson, who will be a free agent after the World Series. If Ryan is able to accomplish that feat, and unable to bring in Sabathia (there are no other top-line starting pitchers available via free agency), the Rangers should be able to add a Pujols type contract to their payroll.

The Rangers added Adrian Beltre to any already strong lineup last off-season and Texas scored the third highest total runs scored (855) in all of baseball, but imagine what they could do with Pujols? Even more protection for Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, and Beltre. It would also free them up to deal Mitch Moreland and prospects for pitching. The downside of signing Pujols would be that Michael Young could be the odd man out, just as he nearly was this season.

You Better Be Better, You Bet

Derek Holland needs to pitch the game of his life in Sunday night’s Game 4 of the World Series. It’s the pivotal game of the series with Texas either tying things up at two games apiece or the Cardinals just one game away from their 11th title. Holland has struggled in his three playoff starts, particularly his two ALCS appearances against the Detroit Tigers. Holland lasted just 7.1 innings in his two starts and allowed seven earned runs. He appeared in two World Series games last season and allowed three earned runs in one inning.

Pujols Makes History

Pujols’ three home run night was the second of this post-season, joining Nelson Cruz who had a hat trick in the ALCS. Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson are the only other players to hit three home runs in a single World Series game.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, last night was just the second time in WS history that players from both team had at least four hits in the same game. Pujols and Beltre were the first players since Enos Slaughter, Whitey Kurowski and Joe Garagiola of St. Louis had four hits for the victorious Cardinals in Game 4 of the ’46 Series, while Wally Moses had four for the Boston Red Sox.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

“We are proud to once again dedicate the 2011 Fall Classic to several extraordinary causes,” said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “As a social institution with important social responsibilities, Major League Baseball is privileged to have the opportunity to raise awareness for these essential issues and highlight the efforts of the heroes throughout our society. We are thrilled to use the global reach of the World Series to support these outstanding initiatives.”

Game One – Veterans and Military Families: Welcome Back Veterans
First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden will attend Game One of the 2011 World Series as part of Major League Baseball’s Welcome Back Veterans program (www.WelcomeBackVeterans.org) and the First Lady’s Joining Forces initiative (www.JoiningForces.gov). Prior to Game One, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden will join representatives from Major League Baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals including Hall of Famer and Army veteran Red Schoendienst at the St. Louis VA Medical Center for a military family appreciation event.

Additionally, there will be a special pre-game ceremony featuring Mrs. Obama, Dr. Biden, veterans and military families and a new Joining Forces and MLB Public Service Announcement (PSA) will premiere at the ballpark featuring Mrs. Obama as well as New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira and Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Johnny Damon, both of whom come from military families.

Welcome Back Veterans (www.WelcomeBackVeterans.org) has awarded more than $11 million in grants to non-profit agencies targeting veterans’ and their families’ greatest needs, focusing on treatment and research of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Game Two -Community Service: Roberto Clemente Legacy
The winner of the 2011 Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet will be announced and recognized on-field prior to Game Two. Bestowed annually, the award recognizes the Major League Baseball player who best represents the game of baseball through positive contributions on and off the field. The Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet is named for the 12-time All-Star and Baseball Hall of Famer who died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while attempting to deliver relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua, and pays tribute to Clemente’s achievements and character by recognizing current players who truly understand the value of helping others. MLB Network analyst and recipient of the 2000 Roberto Clemente Award Al Leiter will serve as emcee of the press conference announcing the winner at Busch Stadium.

MLB Goodwill Ambassador Vera Clemente, wife of the late Roberto Clemente, will join Players, Legends and MLB Executives at the Loyola Academy of St. Louis to speak to the young students about Roberto’s legacy and his dedication to giving back to others. They also will spend time with some of the young patients at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital and will present them with a Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment unit, featuring a Nintendo WiiTM, DVD player and flat-screen TV.

Game Three – Youth: Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities /Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Game Three will be dedicated to youth in underserved communities through MLB’s Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) program and the League’s partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Local young people from both programs will attend a “Wanna Play?” event and clinic at the Youth Field at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on the day of Game Three. “Wanna Play?” is a multi-faceted initiative dedicated to youth fitness, encouraging boys and girls ages 6 to 12 to increase their overall fitness and nutrition education through physical activity while learning the fundamental skills of baseball and softball through fun and engaging activities. Hundreds of children from local RBI programs and Boys & Girls Clubs will be participating in the event and clinic. MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds will emcee the event.

During an on-field presentation prior to Game Three, representatives of the 2011 RBI World Series championship teams (Softball Division, Junior Baseball Division and Senior Baseball Division) will be recognized. The RBI World Series is the international baseball and softball championship tournament of the RBI program, which is the Major League Baseball youth initiative designed to provide underserved youth with the opportunity to play baseball and softball, encourage academic success and teach the value of teamwork.

Additionally, Major League Baseball will recognize Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s President Roxanne Spillett and National Youth of the Year Nicholas Foley from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Breaking Barriers: In Sports, In Life Grand Prize Essay Winner Meggie Zahneis from West Chester Township, Ohio. In Game Three and throughout all of the 2011 World Series, a youth from a local Boys & Girls Club will deliver the game ball to the mound.

Game Four – Cancer Research: Stand Up To Cancer
Game Four of the 2011 World Series will highlight Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), as MLB will promote the importance of advancing the fight against cancer. In 2008, Major League Baseball became the founding donor to Stand Up To Cancer, which focuses on getting innovative therapies to patients faster. In support of Stand Up To Cancer, Major League Baseball will dedicate an in-game moment to the cause by asking fans to stand in unison in honor of someone they know affected by cancer.

Prior to the game, MLB, SU2C and representatives from the Texas Rangers will spend time with some of the young patients at the Medical City Children’s Hospital in Arlington and will present them with a Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment unit.

Since its launch, Stand Up To Cancer has grown significantly with support from players, fans and all 30 MLB Clubs. Major League Baseball has donated more than $30 million to the groundbreaking research organization since its inception.

Other Community Initiatives
Major League Baseball and TEAM Coalition have supported the designated driver programs at all MLB ballparks during the 2011 championship season with a special incentive: fans who registered as a designated driver were entered into a drawing to be the Club’s official “Designated Driver.” The “Designated Drivers” from the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers will each receive two tickets and will be honored during Games One and Three, respectively. A record-setting 450,000 fans registered as “Designated Drivers” during the 2011 championship season.

Major League Baseball and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) will incorporate a wide variety of environmentally-sensitive efforts that include: “MLB Green Teams” during all World Series games collecting refuse for recycling and supplementing existing recycling programs; raising public awareness to educate fans about how to become more environmentally sensitive via online materials and PSAs; prioritizing bio-based products and recycled content materials at events throughout the World Series; and addressing energy usage through efficiency measures and by investing in renewable energy offsets. Visit MLBCommunity.org for more information on each of these programs and all of MLB’s community initiatives.

Tigers’ starter Max Scherzer had given up a pair of early runs, but held a 3-2 lead entering the 7th inning, thanks to a Ryan Rayburn 3-run home run off of Rangers’ starter Derek Holland. That’s when Cruz played the hero for the first time, tying the game against Scherzer with a solo blast in the 7th inning. Then Cruz put his name in the record books when he became the first player in League Championship Series to hit a walk off grand slam. It came in the 11th inning after Ryan Perry had allowed three straight singles, and gave the Rangers a 7-3 victory. It was a home run that fit the moment; a majestic shot that simply had to stay fair, which it did.

The series resumes in Detroit this evening (Tuesday) with the Tigers sending Doug Fister up against the Rangers’ Colby Lewis. Fister took the loss in Game 1 of the ALDS, but escaped a number of jams in a five inning appearance to pick up the victory in the decisive fifth game against the New York Yankees. He’s 2-3 in six career starts against the Rangers, with a 4.38 ERA. Cruz could find himself continuing to have a hot hand since he’s 7-14 lifetime against Fister with a home run. Also of note is David Murphy’s 6-16 (.375) performance with a pair of home runs.

Though he won’t discuss it, Lewis has been bothered by a bad hip for much of the season. It didn’t stop him from pitching six innings of one hit ball in a Game 2 win against the Rays in the ALDS. Lewis hasn’t had much success against the Tigers though, posting a 7.48 ERA in five career starts and one relief appearance. He’s managed a 2-2 record despite having allowed 40 hits in just 27.2 innings pitched.

Alex Avila (3-9, 1 HR), Austin Jackson (6-15, 1 HR), Miguel Cabrera (5-12, 3 RBI), and Victor Martinez (5-11, 2 RBI) have all enjoyed enormous success against the 32-yr old right-hander. With Delmon Young bothered by a sore oblique, Don Kelly should get the start in left field. He had two hits in Game 2 after entering the ball game as a defensive replacement and hit the ball well in the ALDS.

Tigers Have Work Cut Out For Them

Only three teams have come back from a 2-0 deficit in the league championship series- the 1985 Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals, and the 2004 Boston Red Sox.

If the Tigers are to become the fourth team they need to start coming up with hits in the clutch. They were just 1-12 on Monday with runners in scoring position. They also need to a better job of getting on base. Ramon Santiago is the only player with more than two hits (5) in the series.

Rangers’ Pen Mightier Than The Sword

The key to Texas’ Game 2 victory was the tremendous job their bullpen turned in after manager Ron Washington pulled starter Derek Holland after just 2.2 innings. Scott Feldman, in particular, stood out with 4.1 scoreless innings of relief. Overall, the Rangers pen has allowed just five hits in 12.2 innings and has not allowed a run. They have also walked just three hitters and struck out 16.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Scherzer will take the hill in Game 2 with his team again down a game after rains affected the opener of the American League Championship Series on Saturday. The Texas Rangers edged Detroit 3-2 after a pair of rain delays limited the game’s starters, Verlander (4) and C.J. Wilson (4.2), to less than five innings.

Scherzer came to the Tigers prior to the 2010 season as part of a three team deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Yankees that sent Curtis Granderson to the Bronx and Edwin Jackson to the desert, and brought Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth from Arizona, and Austin Jackson and Phil Coke from New York. (The Yankees also sent Ian Kennedy to Arizona.)

The former 1st round pick (11th overall) out of the University of Missouri has had his ups and downs in his two years in Detroit. The possessor of a mid- to upper-90′s fastball, Scherzer also mixed in a biting slider and changeup to strike out better than eight batters per nine innings. Though his win-loss record improved from 12-11 in 2010 to 15-9 this season, Scherzer’s ERA went up nearly a full point to 4.43 and his WHIP (walks/hits per innings pitched) increased as well. The news wasn’t all bad though as Scherzer showed better control and reduced his walks per nine innings from 3.2 to 2.6 from the prior year.

Scherzer is one pitcher who has embraced advanced metrics to improve his own game. MichiganLive.com’s Steve Kornacki spoke with the Tigers’ pitcher about it last year.

If Scherzer was nervous in his post-season debut, he didn’t show it. Though he walked a pair of batters in the first inning, he retired the side in order the next three innings while the Tigers were in the process of building a 4-0 lead. Robinson Cano finally broke through with a single to left field on a 2-2 pitch in the 6th and Jorge Posada followed a Nick Swisher walk in the 7th to knock Scherzer out of the game.

Scherzer’s other post-season appearance came in the decisive Game 5 when he threw 1.1 innings and allowed a pair of singles, one of which came into score after Scherzer was out of the ball game. He hopes his success against Texas will continue on Monday. In six career starts against the Rangers, Scherzer is 3-0, 3.41 and has allowed just two home runs in 37 innings pitched.

Injuries Taking Toll on Tigers’ Offense

It it often said that pitching and defense wins championships and the Tigers will be trying to stick to that motto. Their offense had already taken a hit when Delmon Young, one of the heroes of the ALDS with three home runs, had to leave the finale with a strained oblique and was left off the ALCS roster. Now the Tigers are to without right fielder Magglio Ordonez for the remainder of the series with Texas.

Ordonez had to leave Saturday’s Game 1 when the ankle he broke last year proved to be too painful to play on. Ensuing tests showed that Ordonez had re-fractured the ankle and was done for the 2011 post-season. Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland has a few options to choose from as the series continues this afternoon after Sunday’s Game 2 was rained out. Ryan Rayburn, who has seen time at 2nd base this season, is likely to be in left field in place of Young for most of the series. Left-handed hitter Don Kelly, who surprised with his offense in the ALDS, is the top choice to replace Ordonez in right field. The drawback is that Kelly is just 4-21 against left-handed pitchers and Texas has three left-handed starters (C.J. Wilson, Derek Holland, and Matt Harrison).

Leyland could also choose to use third baseman and right-handed hitter Brandon Inge, who has 41 games of outfield experience, or left-handed rookie Andy Dirks, who has an .871 OPS against left-handed pitchers, but hasn’t played since September 28.

Sunny and Clear

Weather shouldn’t be a factor today at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX.  The game time temperature is forecast to be 77 degrees with no rain in the area.

Update 5:35 pm 10/10

Surprise, Surprise! Detroit held out announcing who would replace Magglio Ordonez, and for good reason. The player is none othre than Delmon Young, who was ruled out of the ALCS due to a strained oblique. Not only is Young now on the roster, but he started Game 2 in left field for Detroit.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.