Joe DiMaggio

Can anyone tell me when the 2008 Yankee's schedule will be released and tickets will be available to purchase? My fiancé's dream has always been to take his father to Yankee Stadium. I know that next year is going to be the last season for the old stadium and his father's health is fading very quickly. I would like to give them both a trip to New York to include attending a Yankee's game early next season for Christmas. When does the season usually start? Do you know when they will start selling tickets for the 2008 season?

Anyone going to the last games at Yankee and Shea? The 2008 schedule is still being drafted and not yet released, so this information could (but likely will not) change, but this little bit was disclosed today -- the last regular season games at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium. "Yankee Stadium is set to host its final regular-season game on Sept. 21, 2008, with New York playing Baltimore. Shea Stadium will hold its regular-season wrapup a week later, on Sept. 28 against Florida." Those are both Sundays. Make plans now! If both Noo Yawk teams blow off the 2008 postseason, these will be the last games in the olde yards. I expect the fireworks will be immense.

Thoughts on the 2010 Arizona Diamondbacks? Soon the Arizona Diamondbacks will probably be the fifth team in baseball to be officially taken out of 2010 playoff contention (their "elimination number" is 11). They currently have the second-worst record in the National League with 53-79 (.402), ahead of only the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Arizona Diamondbacks are historically an average team. Since starting in 1998, the franchise has a roughly even record of 1,023 wins and 1,053 losses. The Diamondbacks have made it to the playoffs 4 times, and won the World Series in 2001, after defeating the New York Yankees in 7 games. They've had winning seasons as recently as 2007 and 2008. Let's look at the facts about this season: First game of season: Defeated the San Diego Padres 6-3 in Phoenix (April 5) Worst Loss of Season: Beaten by the Milwaukee Brewers 3-17 (May 8) Longest losing streak of season: Lost 10 consecutive games to the Blue Jays, Rockies, Giants, and Dodgers (May 23-June 2) SP Edwin Jackson (4.66 ERA) threw a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg (June 25) MANAGERIAL CHANGES: Diamondbacks replace manager AJ Hinch with Kirk Gibson, and GM Josh Byrnes with Jerry DiPoto (July 1) Best Victory of Season: Defeated the Mets in New York 14-1 (August 1) TRADES: - The Diamondbacks traded minor leaguer Rey Navarro to the Kansas City Royals for P Carlos Rosa (4.44 ERA) - The Diamondbacks traded RP Billy Buckner (5.74 ERA) to the Detroit Tigers for SP Dontrelle Willis (4.04 ERA) - The Diamondbacks traded OF Conor Jackson (.277) to the Oakland Athletics for minor league pitcher Sam Demel - The Diamondbacks traded SP Edwin Jackson (4.66 ERA) to the Chicago White Sox for SP Dan Hudson (3.52 ERA) & minor league pitcher David Holmberg - The Diamondbacks traded SP Dan Haren (3.70 ERA) to the Los Angeles Angels for RP Rafael Rodriguez (5.51 ERA), SP Joe Saunders (4.29 ERA), plus minor league pitchers Patrick Corbin & Tyler Scaggs - The Diamondbacks traded C Chris Snyder (.232) & SS Pedro Ciriaco to the Pittsburgh Pirates for RF Ryan Church (.263), IF Bobby Crosby (.236), & P DJ Carrasco (4.39 ERA) - The Diamondbacks traded RP Chad Qualls (3.76 ERA) to the Tampa Bay Rays for a player to be named later So far the Diamondbacks have lost 10 of their 12 games against the Los Angeles Dodgers The Diamondbacks have lost 10 of their 16 games against the San Diego Padres The Diamondbacks have lost 8 of their 12 games against the San Francisco Giants The Diamondbacks have won 6 and lost 6 against the Colorado Rockies Best Diamondback batting average: SS Stephen Drew (.276 average) Most Diamondback home runs: 3B Mark Reynolds (31 home runs) Most Diamondback RBI: 1B Adam LaRoche (87 RBI) Most Diamondback wins: SP Ian Kennedy (8 wins, 9 losses) Best Diamondback ERA: SP Ian Kennedy (4.22 ERA) Most Diamondback saves: RP Aaron Heilman (6 saves)* * [Not counting former Diamondback RP Chad Qualls [12 saves]) Arizona Diamondbacks team batting average = .252 Arizona Diamondbacks team ERA: 5.01 Arizona Diamondbacks team fielding percentage = .981 What are your thoughts on the Arizona Diamondbacks? What do you have to say about the trades, about the season, the players, the management, next year, etc? http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ARI/ http://mlb.mlb.com/schedule/sortable.jsp?c_id=ari http://espn.go.com/mlb/statistics

Thoughts on the 2010 Tampa Bay Rays? Last night the Tampa Bay Rays became the fourth team to be eliminated in the 2010 post-season. The Rays were defeated in 5 games by the AL West Champions, the Texas Rangers. The Rays had finished this season as the AL East Champions, with the best record in the American League at 96-66 (.593). The Rays are historically a bad team, but recently have improved a great deal. Since starting in 1998, the franchise has a losing record of 922 wins and 1,181 losses. The Rays been to the playoffs twice and won the American League pennant in 2008 (after which they were beaten in the World Series by the Phillies in 5 games). After 10 consecutive losing seasons as the Devil Rays, the rebranded Tampa Bay Rays have had winning records for the past three seasons. Facts about this year: First game of season: Defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 (April 6) Worst Loss of season: Beaten by the New York Yankees 0-10 (April 10) Best Victories of season: Defeated the Chicago White Sox 12-0 (April 21) & Defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 13-1 (September 11) TRADES: - The Rays traded IF Akinori Iwamura (.270) to the Pittsburgh Pirates for RP Jesse Chavez (4.74 ERA) - The Rays traded RP Jesse Chavez (4.74 ERA) to the Atlanta Braves for RP Rafael Soriano (2.73 ERA) - The Rays traded P Mitch Talbot (4.79 ERA) to the Cleveland Indians for C Kelly Shoppach (.234) - The Rays traded a player to be named to the Arizona Diamondbacks for RP Chad Qualls (3.76 ERA) SEASON STATS: The Rays won 11 and lost 7 against the Baltimore Orioles The Rays won 11 and lost 7 against the Boston Red Sox The Rays won 10 and lost 8 against the New York Yankees The Rays won 10 and lost 8 against the Toronto Blue Jays Best Rays batting average: LF Carl Crawford (.307 average) Most Rays home runs: 1B Carlos Pena (28 home runs) Most Rays RBI: 3B Evan Longoria (104 RBI) Most Rays wins: SP David Price (19 wins-6 losses, tied for second most wins in AL) Best Rays ERA: SP David Price (2.72 ERA, 3rd best ERA in AL) Most Rays saves: RP Rafael Soriano (45 saves, most in AL) Tampa Bay Rays team batting average = .247 (the 2nd worst average in AL) Tampa Bay Rays team ERA: 3.78 Tampa Bay Rays fielding percentage = .986 What are your thoughts on the Tampa Bay Rays? What do you have to say about the season, the players, the management, next year, etc? http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TBD/ http://mlb.mlb.com/schedule/sortable.jsp?c_id=tb http://espn.go.com/mlb/statistics

Thoughts on the 2010 Toronto Blue Jays? Soon the Toronto Blue Jays could be the eleventh team in baseball to be officially taken out of 2010 playoff contention (their AL East "elimination number" is 8, their AL Wildcard is 11). The Blue Jays currently have a winning record of 72-68 (.514). The Toronto Blue Jays are historically an average team. Since starting in 1977, the franchise has a losing record of 2,661 wins and 2,700 losses. The Blue Jays have been to the playoffs 5 times, won 2 American League Pennants and 2 World Series (they defeated the Braves in 1992 and the Phillies in 1993). The Blue Jays finished last season with a losing record, but had winning records for 2006, 2007 and 2008. Let's look at the facts about this year: First game of season: Beaten by the Texas Rangers in Arlington 4-5 (April 5) First home game of season: Beaten by the Chicago White Sox 7-8 (April 12) Worst Loss of season: Beaten by the Boston Red Sox in Toronto 3-14 (July 9) Best Victory of season: Defeated the Red Sox in Boston 16-2 (August 20) TRADES: - The Blue Jays traded SP Roy Halladay (3.32 ERA) to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league players P Kyle Drabek, C Travis D'Arnaud & OF Michael Taylor - The Blue Jays traded RP Brandon League (3.81 ERA) to the Seattle Mariners for SP Brandon Morrow (4.09 ERA) - The Blue Jays traded a player to be named for SP Zach Jackson (5.49 ERA) - The Blue Jays traded cash to the San Francisco Giants for RP Merkin Valdez (5.24 ERA) - The Blue Jays traded cash to the Oakland Athletics for SP Dana Eveland (5.63) - The Blue Jays traded SP Dana Eveland (5.63) to the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor league pitcher Ronald Uviedo - The Blue Jays traded SS Alex Gonzales (.248) and two minor leaguers to the Atlanta Braves for SS Yunel Escobar (.292) and SP Jo-Jo Reyes (6.40 ERA) RETIREMENT: This will be the last year for World Series winning manager Cito Gaston with the Blue Jays. SEASON STATS: So far the Blue Jays have won all 12 games against the Baltimore Orioles The Blue Jays have lost 11 of 15 games against the Boston Red Sox The Blue Jays have won 8 of 15 games against the New York Yankees The Blue Jays have lost 8 of 15 games against the Tampa Bay Rays Best Blue Jay batting average: CF Vernon Wells (.270 average) Most Blue Jay home runs: RF Jose Bautista (44 home runs, most in MLB) Most Blue Jay RBI: RF Jose Bautista (106 RBI, 2nd most in MLB) Most Blue Jay wins: SP Shaun Marcum (12 wins, 7 losses) Best Blue Jay ERA: SP Ricky Romero (3.51 ERA) Most Blue Jay saves: RP Kevin Gregg (31 saves, 5th most in American League) Toronto Blue Jays team batting average = .249 Toronto Blue Jays team ERA: 4.16 Toronto Blue Jays team fielding percentage = .985 What are your thoughts on the Toronto Blue Jays? What do you have to say about the trades, about the season, the players, the management, next year, etc? http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TOR/ http://mlb.mlb.com/schedule/sortable.jsp?c_id=tor http://espn.go.com/mlb/statistics