Last night Roy Halladay tossed a perfecto against the so calles “free swinging” Florida Marlins. Lets just say they weren’t “free swinging” at all. Six of them went down on called third strikes, thats a pretty high rate for one game. This was Doc’s first no-no of his career, some of you may remember back when he was going for his first career win, he lost his no hitter with two outs in the ninth. Halladay was perfect in every sense of the word, he worked the strikezone to well, perfection. The homeplate umpire had a big strike zone last night, and Roy worked the corners beautifully. He made hitters swing at pitches that weren’t even close to being strikes, he pitched inside to outside, up to down. Mr. Halladay pitched a gem last night, and he is truly the best there is in the game right now.

Now to a controversial story… Don’t get worried Yankees fans this is a good controversy to have. Francisco Cervelli has earned a starting spot at catcher, even when Jorge Posada comes back. Cervelli has been hitting like crazy, he has a whopping .330 batting average, with 19 RBI, all from the bottom 3 in the line up. I also believe Francisco is less of a liability behind homeplate than Posada (he isn’t getting any younger). The Yanks wont want to lose Jorge’s bat, so DH him. Your probably saying to yourself “now this is all fine and dandy, but what happens when Nick Johnson comes back?” Well i say, forget him, not the best signing New York has ever had, maybe trade him? Cervelli needs to be a starter, or something is terribly wrong with this organization.

Fantasy leagues turn the casual fan, into one that’s constantly checking scores, and getting updates. They teach you the game in a different way, a homerun is 4 points in my league. Each player, has to select 20 players to be on their team for baseball. That’s a lot, you have to do your research, and you’ll also need a little bit of luck. My advice to those of you who haven’t tried this wonderful game is, SIGN UP NOW.

Now what will the 2010′s bring? So far it seems as though pitching is back ontop. Already a no hitter by Ubaldo Jiminez, and a perfect game by Dallas Braden, and were only 2 months into the season. So many promising youngsters already playing in the majors, or in the minors. Jiminez has a .99 era, yeah i said it a .99 earned run average through 9 starts, thats insane. Phil Hughes is 5-1, with a 2.72 era in 9 starts. Those are just two future aces, and i haven’t even mentioned the phenom that is Stephen Strasburg, who is tearing up the minor leagues, and is expected to make his first major league start for Washington sometime in the next two weeks.

I’m sure the hitters will have a say throughout the decade too, Joe Mauer, Evan Longoria, Robinson Cano, and Jason Heyward to name a few, but i have a diomand in the rough guy, a player the casual fan has never heard of, Bryce Harper. Harper is only 17 years old and playing in a junior league, after already being claimed by the Nationals. The young out fielder hit for the cycle last week, then followed it up hitting 4 home runs, a double, and a triple. Thats pretty good for a kid thats supposed to be a junior in high school. The Nationals are going to be scary good in a few years, if their prospects live up to the hype.

If all of this doesn’t get you excited about baseball, then nothing ever will. People complain the sport is too boring, well then don’t let the door hit you on the way out. This is a game of inches, an inch that could decide a stolen base, a home run, a strike or a ball. This is a game of the mind, deciding which pitch to throw, and where to throw it, and the players are getting paid the money to get the “inch” to go their way, and to make the correct choice of pitches to throw, and which ones to hit. Major League Baseball has a very bright future, and personally, i couldn’t be anymore excited.

1. St. Louis Rams – Ndamukong Suh DT Nebraska
2. Detroit Lions – Gerald McCoy DT Oklahoma
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Eric Berry S Tennessee
4. Washington Redskins – Russell Okung OT Oklahoma St.
5. Kansas City Chiefs – Rolando McClain LB Alabama
6. Seattle Seahawks – Anthony Davis OT Rutgers
7. Cleveland Browns –Joe Haden CB Florida
8. Oakland Raiders – Sam Bradford QB Oklahoma
9. Buffalo Bills – Jimmy Clausen QB Notre Dame
10. Jacksonville Jaguars – Derrick Morgan DE Georgia Tech
11. Denver Broncos – Dez Bryant WR Oklahoma St
12. Miami Dolphins – Taylor Mays S USC
13. San Francisco 49ers – Bruce Campbell OT Maryland
14. Seattle Seahawks – Earl Thomas S Texas
15. New York Giants – Brandon Spikes LB Florida
16. Tennessee Titans – Sergio Kindle LB Texas
17. San Francisco 49ers – Jason Pierre-Paul DE South Florida
18. Pittsburgh Steelers – Terrence Cody DT Alabama
19. Atlanta Falcons – Carlos Dunlap DE Florida
20. Houston Texans – Brian Price DT UCLA
21. Cincinnati Bengals – Jermaine Greshem TE Oklahoma
22. New England Patriots – Sean Weatherspoon LB Missouri
23. Green Bay Packers – Bryan Bulaga OT Iowa
24. Philadelphia Eagles – Jared Odrick DT Penn St.
25. Baltimore Ravens – Patrick Robinson CB Florida St.
26. Arizona Cardinals –Arthur Jones DE Syracuse
27. Dallas Cowboys – Chad Jones S LSU
28. San Diego Chargers – CJ Spiller RB Clemson
29. New York Jets – Golden Tate WR Notre Dame
30. Minnesota Vikings – Jerry Hughes LB TCU
31. Indianapolis Colts – Javhid Best RB California
32. New Orleans Saints – Dan Williams DT Tennessee

October, 2006 Stephen Jackson, a guard for the Indiana Pacers said he fired shots at 2 men outside of a strip club as an act of self defense. Two days later Jackson was found guilty of criminal recklessness, a felony. Commissioner David Stern suspended Jackson for the first seven games of the 2006-2007 season. This wasn’t the first time that Jackson had been in trouble, in 2004 he was involved in a brawl that included him going into the stands and punching a fan during a game in Detroit against the Pistons.

November, 2008 Plaxico Burress, a wide receiver for the New York Giants was involved in a kind of weird altercation at a bar in Manhatten. Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg, which is what made this story so weird. The gun that had accidentally went off did not have a license, so Plaxico was in deep trouble. In September, 2009 Burress was sentenced to 2 years in prison for reckless endangerment, and weapon possession. This story is sad in the fact that just 10 months earlier he had caught the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl to cap off maybe the best upset in the game’s glorious history.

January, 2010 Gilbert Arenas, a point guard for the Washington Wizards brought a gun into the locker room, and allegedly pointed it at a teammate. Arenas said it was just a bad prank and no one was in danger, because the gun was not loaded. There aren’t supposed to be guns in the locker room, loaded or not. NBA commissioner David Stern didn’t take the “prank” so lightly, he suspended Arenas indefinitely and it is unknown if and when he will be allowed back.

The main Problem is that athletes are getting in trouble with the law, and it may make fans and fellow players nervous to be around these star players. In my opinion If an athlete is seen in public, a fan should at least be able to ask for an autograph. Now these people have to worry about their safety as they may be approaching an armed person. When going to a simple professional sporting event people have to worry about their well being which depresses me to a point. I think the commissioners are definitely doing a good job making examples out of these players, but the problem has yet to be solved as it seems that every year we find out a star athlete has run into trouble with the law. In no way shape or form should they be involved in these criminal acts, they make millions of dollars a year(over paid much?) to play a sport that thy love, or at least should love. My memo to athletes who have been in trouble: YOUR SETTING A BAD EXAMPLE FOR THE WORLD!!! Not only their kids but kids, teens, and adults every where. If they keep following this path, future players will have the same problem whether its college or the pros. I guarantee it.