On Deck: Hello, Mr. Blanton

Dear Joe Blanton,

Hello there and welcome to your new home, the city of Philadelphia. It's a wonderful place to live, and I can't tell you how excited we are to have you as the newest member of the Philadelphia Phillies. I hope you enjoyed your flight to New York with your new teammates and got to know them pretty well, they'll be looking to you for support tonight.

Now, I don't want to put any added pressure on you, as I'm sure pitching on a new team is stressful enough, but tonight's game is rather important. You see, Joe, tonight we're playing our division rivals the New York Mets. They don't like us much. Something about us making up seven games in the standings last September and winning the division...

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On Deck: Chasing The Cubs

Since the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs are the two teams in the NL Central making all the moves, most people have begun writing off the St. Louis Cardinals as division contenders. It's pretty hard to blame anyone for feeling this way. After all, in recent weeks the Brewers have added an ace to their starting rotation in CC Sabathia, and just yesterday they added some infield depth when they picked up Ray Durham from the Giants.

I don't expect the Durham trade to be Milwaukee's last play, either.

Meanwhile, the Cubs have added Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin to their pitching staff, and there's talk they're thinking of adding someone like A.J. Burnett to the rotation, and Brian Fuentes or Huston Street to the bullpen...

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On Deck: Your Move, Philadelphia

So in the last 48 hours the Milwaukee Brewers have added CC Sabathia to their rotation, and the Chicago Cubs picked up Rich Harden to add to theirs. All the Phillies have managed to do in during that span was lose two games in the standings.

The Phillies have now lost four in a row, and unfortunately for them their losing streak directly coincides with a four-game win streak by the New York Mets. Now both the Mets and Marlins sit only a game and a half behind the Phillies. So the pressure is on the Phillies to add an arm of their own to the rotation.

If you look around the National League right now, things aren't set up too well for Philadelphia...

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On Deck: The Mets Are Still Alive

I understand why Mets fans are upset with their team, after all, the sting of last season's collapse in the final weeks is still pretty fresh in their memories. Then there's the fact they have a $138 million payroll, and the team has been hovering around .500 during 2008. What I don't get is that when you talk to a Mets fan about the team, they talk about the team as if they're dead and buried.

You guys do realize you're only 3.5 games out of first place, don't you? There are still 74 games left in your season, which is plenty of time to make up such a small deficit. This is something you should be well aware of after watching the Phillies overcome a larger gap in an even shorter amount of time...

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On Deck: The White Sox Are at It Again

I've been a White Sox fan my entire life, and through my years of watching the team, I've generally always had a good feel for what kind of team they are. Usually by the time July rolls around, I know exactly what I'm dealing with. Sometimes they're a good team, but I have no expectations for them to win their division. Sometimes I think they're going to win the division, but not do anything else. Thankfully, it's a rarity that I realize the team sucks some years, and I should be happy if they get 75 wins.

Back in 2005 I was telling anyone that would listen that the Sox were going to win the World Series as early as May. Nobody believed me, nor should they have. I mean, they hadn't won a championship in 88 years at that point, so my proclamations were generally met with blank stares or a pat on the head and a "Sure they are, Tom. Sure they are."

This year, though, this year I have no idea what this team is capable of...

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On Deck: Remembering Pedro

Remember not too long ago when Pedro Martinez was the most dominant pitcher in baseball? His rise started way back in 1997, in his last season in Montreal, but where he really took off was in Beantown.

The seven seasons Pedro spent pitching for the Red Sox in Boston were pretty amazing. He went 117-37 while there, and aside from his 3.90 ERA in 2004, he never had an ERA over 2.89. Think about that for a second, and while you're doing that make sure you remind yourself that Pedro only missed a significant amount of time once in his time in Boston, making only 18 starts in 2001 (and going 7-3 with a 2.39 ERA in those starts).

How many other pitchers have been dominant over that length of time? Bob Gibson from 1963-70? Sandy Koufax? Sandy had some good seasons while with the Dodgers, but I would only say he dominated in his final four years there...

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On Deck: Joba Scratches His Nose

You know, throughout the course of baseball history, there have been plenty of relief pitchers who made the transition to being a starter. Hell, before the specialty roles we've all come to know and love (I heart LOOGYs) started, the bullpen was just a place for managers to park starting pitchers who couldn't cut it.

They didn't want to use them, so they put them somewhere as far away as possible.

Anyway, I'm getting off track, what I was getting at was the fact that the move from bullpen to starter happens all the time nowadays. Just look in Chicago where Ryan Dempster has gone from being the Cubs closer last season to being their #2 starter this season. Boston's Jonathan Papelbon was a starter who became a closer then tried starting again only to return to closing and thrusting his pelvis in any given direction at any given time.

So why is Joba Chamberlain's move from the back of the Yankees bullpen to the rotation such a big deal?

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On Deck: Away With You, Interleague Play!

I don't know about most of you, but I know that I've grown tired of interleague play in baseball. When MLB implemented it, I loved it and I supported the move as a way to try and bring fans back to the game after the player's strike in 1994.

It's kind of like when you're in a new relationship with a girl and everytime you're hanging up the phone after talking to her you get into that "No I love you more!" debate. It's kind of cute and charming at first, but frankly, after a few months of it you're screaming at her "OKAY I GET IT! YOU LOVE ME MORE! SHUT THE [expletive] UP ABOUT IT ALREADY!"

I've reached that point with interleague play, and I'm ready to get back to some real baseball...

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On Deck: Break Up the Twins

I tried to put an end to it yesterday by mentioning it in the On Deck, but apparently the On Deck Curse is only effective when I lead the post with it. So today, now that the Minnesota Twins have climbed within a half-game of the White Sox and won their last eight games, the Twinkies are getting the star treatment.

As I've already explained in recent days, I have no idea how the Twins are winning so much this season, yet here they are. Earlier this month the Twins were three games under .500 and 6.5 games behind the White Sox, and I thought their record then was a lot more indicative of the type of team they had.

It was only a matter of time before the suddenly resurgent Tigers and maybe even the Indians passed them by, and the Twins became merely a footnote in the 2008 season. All they've done since then is win, win, and win some more...

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On Deck: Royals Consider Switching Leagues

Remember earlier this season when the Diamondbacks started out the season something ridiculous like 20-1, Chase Utley had around 14 home runs in the first week of April, and everyone was saying that the National League had finally caught up to, and passed, the American League as the class of baseball?

You aren't hearing much about that anymore now that interleague play has started are you? That's because the AL is kicking the NL's butt so far this season. Only three teams in the American League have a losing record against the senior circuit right now (Toronto, Cleveland, Cincinnati) while only four National League teams (New York, Atlanta, Colorado, Cincinnati) have a winning record against the AL.

The biggest kick in the stomach for the National League? The Royals are 11-3 against them so far this season. The same Royals team that's 24-40 against it's own league. All of which means that if the Royals haven't contacted Bud Selig and asked about switching leagues yet, they should seriously consider it.

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On Deck: The Battle for Texas

Generally when baseball has their "rivalry" matchups during interleague play, they schedule them for the weekend. That's not the case in Texas, as the Astros and Rangers prepare to begin a three-game set tonight at Minute Maid Park. I'm not sure the reasoning behind this, but I'm just going to guess that there's probably a big high school football scrimmage on Friday night, and the Astros are worried that it will hurt attendance numbers.

Of course, it could also just be that neither the Astros or Rangers have done much the last few seasons. The Astros haven't come anywhere near the success they achieved in 2005 when they won the National League, and the Rangers have only had one winning season (89-73 in 2004, which was good enough for third place!) since we entered the new millenium.

Yet tonight the Rangers are poised to go a whopping two games over .500 for the first time since September 22, 2006. Will history be made tonight in Houston?

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On Deck: Chicago's Civil War

You know how when you're watching a game on television, whether it's football, baseball, or anything, and the game is being played by two rival teams that the announcer tells you to "throw their records out the window!" You know what I'm talking about? I hate that. That's one of the stupidest things that announcers can say.

Why should we throw the records out the window? I mean, if one of the teams is 12-1 and the other is 2-10 I don't care how long they've been rivals, I'm pretty sure that 12-1 team is going to steamroll the other one. So no, I will not throw that record out the window.

Now this afternoon, for the first time ever, the White Sox and Cubs will be meeting head-to-head in the regular season while both are currently holding down first place in their division. Still, the two teams are moving in opposite directions right now. The White Sox just scored 37 runs in a three-game sweep of the Pirates, and the Cubs are limping home after losing three in a row for the first time this season down in Tampa.

Of course, when these two teams meet, it doesn't matter who is playing well and who isn't. In fact, you can throw their records right out the window (son of a...)!

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On Deck: Joba's Getting Comfortable

When Hank Steinbrenner came out earlier this season and basically demanded that Joba Chamberlain stopped being used out of the bullpen, and placed into the starting rotation, his general manager and manager kind of just ignored him. Hank was just doing anything in his power to try to be like his dad, and after dealing with George for all those years, Brian Cashman had become pretty adept at tuning his boss out.

Besides, the Yankees starters were just off to a rough start to the 2008 season, and things would turn around soon enough. Only they never did, as Phil Hughes struggled, Ian Kennedy got sent down, and Mike Mussina looked like a shell of a shell of his former self. So eventually Cashman and Joe Girardi had to cave, and move Joba into the starting rotation (and now that Chien-Ming Wang is out they're lucky they did).

His first start didn't go very well, but in the two starts since, Joba has improved each time out. This afternoon he'll be making his fourth start of the season, but will he finally pick up his first victory as a starter?

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On Deck: The Jerry Manuel Era Begins

Now that Willie Randolph has finally be freed by the evil, classless, New York Mets, his replacement Jerry Manuel gets his first shot at pissing off Mets fans everywhere tonight. Will Jerry make it through 7AM Wednesday morning, or will he be dispatched in the middle of the night?

I mean, the Mets actually won last night, and they still fired Willie in the middle of the night. What would have happened had they lost? Would he have been publicly flogged in Times Square?

Besides, is Jerry Manuel really going to be any better? I had the "honor" of watching him manage my White Sox for five years, and although he won the manager of the year award in 2000, the rest of his tenure was basically known for being extremely boring. Though, maybe that's what Omar Minaya wants.

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On Deck: Here Come the Tigers

It's been a very odd year for the Detroit Tigers. After getting off to a horrible start this season, there have been times when they seem to be getting their act together and then suddenly they're horrible again in the blink of an eye. As Joe Morgan would probably say if you asked him about it, "I'm friends with Gary Sheffield." "They're consistently inconsistent."

Still, after sweeping the division-leading Chicago White Sox last week, I asked the question if this was the start of the Tigers turnaround. Was it a sign of things to come?

Well, the Tigers didn't stop there as they followed that sweep with another one against the Dodgers this weekend, and they've now won six in a row to creep back into the race.

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On Deck: Return of the Peavy

As much of a disappointment as the 2008 season has been for the San Diego Padres, looking at the big picture, things aren't nearly as bad as they seem. They've won five of their last six games, and even though they're still nine games under .500, they play in the NL West so they're still alive.

The Diamondbacks have plummeted back to earth after starting out so hot this season, and the Friars find themselves only 6.5 games out of first place. If San Diego's offense could ever manage to consistently score some runs, the Padres could find themselves right back in the thick of things.

Of course, it's entirely possible they could do it without their offense as they get their ace back on the mound this afternoon. Will Jake Peavy's return be the spark the Pads need?

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On Deck: Aces Wild

Looking around today's schedule there just isn't a better matchup than the one in Los Angeles this afternoon, whether you're looking at it based on the strength of the two teams playing, or at the starting pitching matchups. The Angels and Rays will finish their three-game set in Anaheim with the rubber game this afternoon.

Neither of today's starters were available to their team to start the season, but ever since John Lackey and Scott Kazmir have rejoined their teams rotations they've both been the dominant aces their squads need to contend.

Today they square off against each other for the first time.

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On Deck: All Ur Baseball R Belong 2 Chicago

It's been a pretty crazy couple of weeks to be a sports fan in Chicago, what with Cedric Benson's never-ending quest to drive every type of vehicle ever created while drunk (next week: Cedric attempts to ride a unicycle while drinking an entire bottle of Grey Goose!), and of course, the fiasco that has been the Bulls off-season (no wonder Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley are spending so much time talking about how much better a player the other one is).

Thankfully for Chicagoans, there's baseball. It's not often in June that Chicago can call itself the home of two first place teams, but that's exactly what's happening right now as the Cubs have the best record in baseball and the White Sox are currently riding a seven-game win streak to move 6.5 games in front of the Twins in the AL Central.

Will anything be able to stop the runaway train that is Chicago baseball right now, or are we destined for an all-Chicago World Series?

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On Deck: The Rays Are Sick With Rage

It's pretty much a consensus that Tropicana Field is far and away the worst "baseball stadium" in the big leagues, but don't tell that to the Rays. They love the place, as they've gone 24-10 there this season. The road, on the other hand, has not been so kind.

Outside of the Trop, the Rays are only 13-16 and they find themselves in the midst of a nine-game road trip that has not been kind. After being swept by the Red Sox to start it off, they won two in Texas before losing yesterday. To make matters worse, the frustration is starting to show. The Rays are just an angry team.

After getting into a brawl with the Red Sox on Thursday, they were fighting themselves yesterday as Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro had a disagreement about, hell, I don't know, the best Doritos flavor?


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On Deck: Homer's Back

You can't blame the Reds for trying to strike while the iron is hot, especially given the way that Jay Bruce has lit the world up since making his debut with the big league ball club last week, and they'll hope that success carries over to the pitcher's mound as well. Today the Reds will be handing the ball to Homer Bailey as they just called him up from Louisville and they're hoping he'll do a lot better in his second tour of duty.

Bailey was supposed to be Edinson Volquez when the Reds brought him up last season, and though he showed some signs of why the Reds are so high on him, his first season in the Majors wasn't that great.

He'll look to get his career started this afternoon against one of the most potent offenses in all of baseball.

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