Aaron Breslow 2nd baseman

Who will start at second base this season for the Tampa Bay Rays?  Ben Zobrist seems the most likely candidate after what he did in 2009. But the Rays do have other qualified candidates in Reid Brignac and Sean Rodriguez, who came over from the Angels in the Kazmir trade last summer. Zobrist would likely play most of the games at second base and occasionally play right field. Under that scenario, the winner of the Brignac-Rodriguez competition would relieve Zobrist of his backup duties at shortstop in addition to occasionally filling in at second base. I, Aaron Breslow, am looking forward to the outcome.

The Los Angeles Dodgers bolstered their second-base situation by agreeing to a two-year contract with versatile infielder Jamey Carroll, 35. By versatile, I mean he is a right-handed hitter that is expected to backup second and third base. His salary is expected to be $3.85 million plus incentives, however not yet confirmed. Carroll turned down potentially more money from the Oakland A’s “to play for what he considers to be two Hall of Famers–(manager) Joe Torre and (batting coach) Don Mattingly.”             Carroll is from Mattingly’s hometown, Evansville, Indiana.                           Carroll could emerge as the starting second baseman. At the least he will be the safety net for young left-handed hitting second baseman Blake DeWitt, who was described as the starter “as of today”. I, Aaron Breslow,  likes the new venture in the world of baseball.

A New York Times article says that the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder is slightly on the rise among Major League Baseball players. A diagnosis of ADD gives the only exemption from the MLB’s rule off no performance enhancing drugs. Aaron Breslow thinks the players have found a sneaky way to get around the no performance enhancement policy. To read the full article click on this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/sports/baseball/02baseball.html . DO you think it is sneaky, or that these players really are affected with ADD?

Even with all the missed and wrong calls made throughout the season and post-season, baseball GM’s did not vote to change the rules of instant replay. MLB commissioner is the only way that the instant-replay rule would be changed anytime soon, but he has made it very clear that he doesn’t see any reason to consider it right now. Instead, Commissioner Selig plans to look at and make possible revisions to Umpire evaluation, training, and structures to enhance their abilities. To read about what else was discussed at the baseball GM meeting go to www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jaRFf-Pfp96xTe0xjqQiDWYA1EmgD9BT0UEO0 . Aaron Breslow thinks that instant replay wouldn’t hurt the game, afterall, it has worked out for the NFL.

Aaron Matthew Breslow was just reading on MLB.com how the Yankees are hoping to pull off a sequel to the October 31, 2001 game 4 of the World Series against the Diamondbacks. That year, Derek Jeter hit a walk off home run in the 10th inning, when they was little hope that they would win and the Yankees ended up beating the Arizona Diamond backs for that game. To read the full article go to www.mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091030&content_id=7581350&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Aaron Breslow will be watching tomorrow to see if the Yankees have part two on Halloween 2009.

Aaron Breslow was curious to see how a text book defined a second baseman. Wiki books online says “The second baseman is an infielder who typically plays halfway to two-thirds of the way between first base and second base. The position is abbreviated as “2B” and is referenced as “4″ for the purposes of official scoring. The second baseman, along with the shortstop, is expected to have the best hands and cover the most range of any of the infielders, although the second baseman is not expected to have as strong an arm as the shortstop, as his throw to first is shorter.” And Wikipedia says “ A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base. Also called second bagger, the second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must be able to make the pivot on a double play. In addition, shortstops and second basemen are usually right-handed as this is preferential for turning a double play. Second base is also known as the keystone sack.” Clearly both sites are correct on the fact that the second baseman needs to be fast and efficient, it’s definitely one of my favorite positions to play in baseball.

Both the 1st baseman and 2nd baseman, such as myself, Aaron Breslow,  must have an understanding that when balls come directly behind the 1st base it is the 2nd baseman’s duty to catch them in most cases.  If a runner breaks, however, the infielder must be ready to get into position to throw after catching a pop fly ball.  But it’s equally important to be able to spot a bluff when it would actually be unnecessary to throw the ball.  This can be accomplished by a quick catch and run to the mound while holding on to the ball.