…have been alive a shorter amount of time than John Smoltz has been pitching for the Atlanta Braves. However, he was at Atlanta’s Turner Field this morning to clean out his locker. Smoltz has agreed in principle to a $5.5 million, 1 year deal with the Boston Red Sox, who saved a lot in picking up a great pitcher.

Smoltz had 210 wins and 154 saves while a member of the Braves. In the mid-to-late 90’s he was a member of the greatest pitching staff ever; including future MLB Hall of Famer’s Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. The Braves won their division 14 straight years, but were only able to win 1 World Series.

Injuries and severe pain have hampered Smoltz the last few years, but, when healthy, he is still one of the most effective pitchers in the league. He joins a Red Sox team that is a perennial contender and on the short list of potential World Series Champions. While it will be strange to see him in another jersey, Smoltz career is old enough to make its own decisions.

#5 : Jose Canseco Gets Juiced
For years, Major League baseball fans watched as Jose Canseco launched homers into the uperdeck. With homerun records falling year after year, nobody seemed to care that these athletes had bulging biceps, thick neck, and huge legs.
That all changed when Jose Canseco retired and published Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big. Revealing his steriod abuse during his record baseball history.

#4: SMU Football receives the “death penalty”
The “death penalty” refers to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) power to force United States academic institutions not to compete in certain sports. It is the most severe punishment that a school can receive. Twenty years ago, money killed the SMU football program. The NCAA handed SMU the first and only “death penalty,” eliminating football for the 1987 season.

#3 : The O.J. Simpson Trails
Never has a professional athlete fallen from such heights to such depths as O.J. Simpson has. Simpson, a former Heisman Trophy winner, was arrested in 1994 and charged with the murder of former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

#2: Tonya Harding
This skating scandal was so huge that it made Olympic women’s figure skating competition the sixth-highest rated program in history.Trying to eliminate her competition in the 1994 Winter Games, Tonya Harding asked her then-husband to hire an attacker to take a pipe to Nancy Kerrigan’s knee. This led Harding to a victory gaining the U.S. title.

#1: The 1919 Black Sox Fix
The Cincinnati Reds’ 1919 world championship banner proudly hangs at their current home, The Great American Ballpark. One of the players banned for life by Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis. Most importantly, a signed confession by Jackson was somehow “lost” during the trial. The scandal damaged baseball badly.

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We love our lists here, so we decided to round up 2008’s top ten sports stories.

1. In Phelps We Trust. Who would have thought that a 23, an Olympic swimmer could take home seven world records, one Olympic record, and eight gold medals. This great moment even came with drama when in the 100-meter butterfly it Phelps had to catch up, touching out his Serbian rival by the narrowest possible margin of 0.01 seconds. Phelps achievement not only tops this list, but, arguably, stands as the greatest Olympic performance in history. Go America!

2. Giant Upset. It was one of the three greatest upsets in Super Bowl History, rivaling the Jets over the Colts in Super Bowl III and the Patriots over the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. Yet it was even more than that because the New York Giants‘ 17-14 win knocked the New England Patriots off an unprecedented perc.

3. Bolt Of Lightning. A bit ironic his name being Bolt, yet it still didn’t do justice to Usain Bolt’s astonishing Olympic performance. The gangly, 21-year-old Jamaican became the first sprinter to shatter world records in both the 100 and the 200 at the same Olympics. He won the gold in 9.69 despite slowing and beginning his celebration some five meters before the finish.

4. I Feel Like I’ve Been Here Before… In the 1980s, Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers and Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics would capture eight championships between them, resurrecting a storied NBA rivalry that had seen those two teams meet in seven finals between 1959 and 1969, and in the new millineum Kevin Garnett Ray Allen, and Paul Piercelead the Celtics to the league’s best record and a meeting in the finals with their old rivals the Lakers.

5. Tiger Limps To Victory. Well know that golf is hard, and that Tiger Woods is a god among mortals. For the U.S. Open Woods played the game coming out of a knee surgery. It would take to the 91st hold of play for Woods to finally out duel Rocco Mediate. Finally, Woods would do so in pain, capturing his 14th major overall (with one leg), getting him closer to Jack Nicklaus and his 18 Major Championships.

6. Three Times A Winner. Jimmie Johnson embarked into the 2008 NASCAR season as a two-time champion. He’ll enter the 2009 season as a three-time champion. Johnson, who drives the #48 Lowes Chevrolet, won his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship in November. The win allowed him to join Cale Yarborough as the only man to ever win three consecutive championships.

7. Nadal ousts Federer in “One of Greatest Matches Ever”. Federer was “The Master of the Grass”. Nadal was unbeatable on clay courts. Both tennis warriors would embark on the impossible. Nadal searched for his record setting sixth straight Wimbledon. Nadal wanted to prove to the world that he wasn’t just a clay court champion. Nadal would do just that, in a hard fought 4 hour and 48 minute barrage of power, accuracy, and intensity. Many consider it to be one of the greatest tennis matches of all time and there is no doubting that many tennis fans will never forget this 2008 epic for a long time to come.

8. Falcons, Dolphins experience HUGE turnarounds. A year ago, things looked dismal for both the Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons. Now, both teams are experience amazing comeback seasons. Under new rookie sensation Matt Ryan (above) and breakout running back Michael Turner, the Falcons rocketed to an 11-5 record and nearly won the NFC South. The Dolphins on the other hand had the greatest turnaround in the history of the league, going from 1-15 a year ago to an 11-5 record.Â

9. Lesnar KOs Couture to win UFC Heavyweight crown. This was by far one of the most anticipated matches in UFC history. It did get a lot of slack because of Brock’s MMA record (2-1), but the fight lived up to the hype. After a rough first round with Lesnar, Lesnar, followed by a round of hammer fists to end the fight, hit Couture on the crown of the head. He will now wait to fight Frank Mir to crown an Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion.

10. Danica Did It! While this may not be a big moment for a lot of people, it was a big one historically. Patrick becomes the first woman ever to win an Indy Car event. She also becomes the first one in recent memory to win an auto race.

Philadelphia Phillies left-handed specialist JC Romero has been suspended for 50 games by MLB because he tested positive for a banned substance.

Romero has denied the charge of cheating but won’t declare any formal appeals. MLB has had a problem with players such as Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds rumored to have taken steroids.

Give Romero credit for not doing something like driving drunk like Antoine Walker or rushing to receive sex like Charles Barkley, but Romero’s suspension starts as soon as the next MLB season starts in spring. And also good to see the World Series champions taking a firm stand.

This is the beginning, or maybe the end. The recession will reveal if the consumers and companies have to use their money to support favorite sports teams, in the mean time many sports are already planning for the worst that could happen. With customers eating fewer hot dogs or cutting days out of going to the ball park, companies reducing advertisement, all the major sports teams and parks could suffer badly.

“It’s unlikely that we won’t suffer (in 2009),” said Tim Finchem, commissioner of PGA Tour, the main U.S. golf tour. “What we’re seeing now is a pullback on spending by corporations … and those things come home to roost in ways that can negatively impact us.”

The weakness sign is already present to the NFL, MLB, Golf (PGA), and NASCAR. Sponsors spending less and lower attendance to cut jobs. The weak economy also has raised costs for such things as stadium financing, and has also hurt advertising, sponsorship and consumer spending. the NFL has cut a “substantial” amount of travel and entertainment, and promotional spending. While NASCAR was being hit with high gas prices.

“Next year, we will not obviously make that kind of a gain,” he said. “The question is, are we going to back up?”

We compiled a short list of what we feel are the top 10 sports moments. No offense if you don’t agree, you can go read someone elses top 10.

10. Goodbye Gherig (7/4/3). In perhaps one of the most touching sports moments, a dying man stood before over 60,000 people and the world to impart the genuine feeling that he was “the luckiest man in the world” for having the opportunity to endeavor through the love of his craft. Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse, who had not missed a game his entire 13-plus year career (spanning a mind-bending 2,130 consecutive games) lowered his head and became the symbol of what sports, and maybe all of life is about; accepting your destiny, giving it your all, and enjoying every moment, good or ill.

9. Go Get ‘Em Tiger (4/13/97)! In what turned out to be a phenomenon, Tiger Woods was both launched and cemented during a record 18-under Masters victory by 12 strokes over an awed field. At the tender age of 21, and only his fifteenth appearance as a pro, with the eyes of the world watching his every move, the highly touted Woods became the youngest player to win the Masters in the 61-year history of the tournament, winning an event that didn’t even invite a black player until the year he was born at a club that didn’t invite a black member to join until 1990.

8. Namath Saves The Day (1/12/69) In a great moment in football history, brash Broadway Joe Namath, the richest of athletes at the time, uttered the unthinkable and broke the code of centuries of competition, he guaranteed victory. Standing at a podium in downtown Miami, Florida, where he was to be given the upstart pro league, AFL Most Valuable Player, Namath vehemently predicted his team’s easy victory in a game two previous representative from his league had been embarrassed in and whose own team was an unprecedented 18 plus point dog in a championship contest. The New York Jets and Namath did convincingly defeat the 13-1 Baltimore Colts and the NFL’s best defense, 16-7 and helped merge both leagues into what is now the premiere professional sports franchise in America.

7. Roger Bannister Breaks Four Minute Mile (5/6/54) A 25-year-old British medical student becomes the first man to achieve the unthinkable; run a mile in less than four minutes. One afternoon on the Iffley Road track in Oxford, England, his miraculously close time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds was achieved during a 15mph crosswind with gusts of up to 25mph. Ironically, this nearly caused Bannister to call off the triumphant event witnessed by about 3,000 spectators.

6. Long Jump World Record, Long Gone (10/18/68) In what is widely considered the greatest individual physical feat in human competition, 24 year-old, New Yorker Bob Beamon obliterated an Olympic/World Record in the long jump by a mind-bending two feet. Fellow American, Ralph Boston established the record years before at 27 feet, 43/4 inches, and it was Boston who coached Beamon through his record leap. As the Mexico City crowd watched in stunned awe, Beamon tossed his 6-foot-3, 160-pound 8.90 meters — 29 feet, 21/2 inches for the most lopsided destruction of a world record ever.

5. Owens Debunks Aryan Myth (8/9/36) Son of a sharecropper from Oakville Alabama, world class, black American athlete, Jesse Owens marched into Adolph Hitler’s great Berlin arena and spit in the face of the Third Reich’s claims of Aryan superiority by setting three world records and one Olympic record, earning four track and field gold medals in the same Summer Olympiad, a performance that would remain unmatched for 48 years. In front of the visibly infuriated German dictator and a stunned international audience, Owens won the 100 meters in an Olympic-record 10.3 seconds, the long jump, setting an Olympic record of 26-53/8 and the 200 meters in an Olympic-record 20.7 seconds. Owens won his fourth gold medal, leading off the 4×100-meter relay that would set a world record at 39.8 seconds.

4. Bye Bye Babe (1/3/20) The greatest player in the history of the game is sold from the powerful Boston Red Sox to the burgeoning New York Yankees for $100,000 to finance a Broadway play produced by Boston owner Harry Frazee. At the time of the deal, the Red Sox had won five world championships and was the toast of American League baseball. The Yankees had only been around for 17 uneventful years and didn’t even have a ballpark to call their own. Since, the Red Sox have not won a title. The Yankees built a ballpark in Babe’s honor and on his financial back and have won 26 titles.Â

3. Robinson Breaks Racial Barriers (10 /30/45) Breaking the color barrier and paving the way for modern American sport, Jackie Roosevelt Robinson becomes the first African American to garner a Major League Baseball paycheck. Thanks to the efforts of Brooklyn president Branch Rickey, and the indomitable spirit of Robinson, in less than two years the newest Dodger, after enduring trials and tribulations beyond comprehension, failed player boycotts and insidious fan outrage to become Rookie of the Year, while leading his team to the World Series.

2. Ali Wins The Title (2/25/64) In one of the most amazing upsets in boxing, the young, 22-year old stood against the seemingly indestructible heavyweight champ, Sonny Liston. The event was more than a mere world championship bout due to Clay’s taunting and media manipulation. In one night in Miami Florida, the Louisville Lip, Cassius Clay told the world he was the greatest, won in six rounds, despite the alleged cheating of Liston (the champ’s corner was said to have put a foreign substance on his gloves, effectively blinding Clay for the entire fifth round) and became Muhammad Ali, the greatest, and invented the American icon of latter 20th century sport.

1. USA Dream Team.  Rag tag assembly of mostly teenaged amateurs, barely together a few months and playing a sport invented and perfected elsewhere, take on the most polished, professional and seemingly unbeatable team in the history of international hockey and win; producing the greatest upset in all of sports. What makes the ultimate upset even more unbelievable is the fact that the same two teams played only a week earlier in an exhibition match and the Soviet Union cruised to a 10-1 victory, setting the stage for the expected American embarrassment that never came.

Sources within the organization revealed yesterday that the Chicago Cubs have agreed in principle on a 3-year, $30 million contract with controversial outfielder Milton Bradley. The deal is pending a physical, but expected to be finalized no later than Thursday. After having the National League’s best record the Cubs were swept out of the playoffs for the second straight year. Their futility was blamed in large part on their lack of productive left handed hitters in the middle of the lineup. Bradley is coming off his first All-Star season and is the best available option to fulfill this need for the Cubs.

While playing for the Texas Rangers last season Bradley batted .321 with 22 homeruns and led the American League with an on-base percentage of .436. He will play in right field for the Cubs, taking over for Kosuke Fukudome. The Cubs committed $12 million per season to Fukudome last year but he was not able to meet their expectations. Chicago is hoping that Bradley can be that last piece of the puzzle that will come together as a Cubs’ World Series Championship.

Although only 30, Bradley will be on his 7th team after joining Chicago and is widely considered the most disruptive player in baseball. His Major League career has been marked by confrontations with coaches, players, umpires, and the media. Last season he tried to make his way to the broadcaster’s booth in Kansas City to confront the Royals’ announcer and the year before he was injured while being held back from attacking an umpire. Controversy has followed Bradley on every stop in his career, as he has very thin skin, and this bodes dangerously for the Cubs as the fans at Wrigley Field can be ruthless. However, when in the midst of a 100 year championship drought as the Cubs are, a chance to add a player of Bradley’s caliber cannot be passed up.

Alex Stepney - Manchester United

You’re probably aware of the expression “screaming your head off,” but here’s an incident of “screaming your jaw off.” Alex Stepney, a former Manchester United goalkeeper, was reaming out his defensemen in a match against Birmingham City in an effort to encourage a more spirited performance. He yelled so hard that he dislocated his jaw. Contrary to those who believe soccer is a slow sport, it does provide enough jaw-dropping plays.

Cal Ripken Jr. - Baltimore Orioles

Cal Ripken Jr. earned the nickname “Iron Man” for his impeccable toughness and endurance, both of which helped him to play in an MLB-record 2,632 consecutive games. But just because you’re made of iron doesn’t mean you will go without injury. In the 1996 All-Star Game’s pre-game photo session, pitcher Roberto Hernandez lost his balance and started to fall backward. He swung his arms in an effort to regain his balance and his forearm connected with and broke Ripken’s nose. In typical Ripken fashion, he still played — and started — the All-Star Game.

Derrick Mason - Baltimore Ravens

Most golfers scream the word “fore” during an errant shot, but NFL wide receiver Derrick Mason likely uttered a different four-letter word when playing golf during a charity tournament. Mason was teeing off when he made an awkward swing, causing his hand to twist and break his wrist. Unfortunately, a mulligan didn’t help in this situation.

Jaromir Jagr - New York Rangers

Enforcers are a dying breed in the new NHL, but the following example is one reason to keep them around. At the end of an ugly playoff loss to the rival New Jersey Devils, the New York Rangers’ goal-scorer Jaromir Jagr tried to punch Scott Gomez. Jagr used his left hand for the swipe but whiffed and dislocated his shoulder. Jagr has made many defenders and goaltenders look foolish with his stick, but the tables turned when he tried to use his fist.

Bret Barberie - Chicago Cubs

Brett Barberie, former baseball utility man and ex-husband of the foxy Jillian Barberie, obviously had good taste in women and seemingly had good taste in food. He was making nachos one night with all the mixings, including chili peppers and hot sauce, but he neglected to wash his hands after touching the spicy ingredients. He later went to put in his contact lenses and felt a severe burning sensation; consequently he missed a game. Talk about taking your eye off the ball.

Mark Smith - Milwaukee Brewers

By the time most of us reach the age of 3 we have been thoroughly lectured about sticking our hands into electrical sockets, fans or other potentially dangerous devices. Unfortunately, Mark Smith, a former MLB outfielder, must have missed that lesson. He was fairly average with his bat through his eight-year career, but he quite obviously didn’t excel in evaluating situations. When faced with a hotel room air conditioner that he thought was broken, Smith cut his hand after sticking it directly inside the unit to ascertain what was causing the malfunction. Maybe it was working fine after all.

Bill Gramatica - Miami Dolphins

They say NFL kickers are a dime a dozen, but Bill Gramatica found a way to stand out in an anonymous grouping. He wasn’t more skilled than your average kicker, but his exuberant celebration style made him stand apart. After one particular routine field goal with the Arizona Cardinals, he jumped high in the air for his typical superfluous celebration but landed awkwardly and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his nonkicking knee. He claimed that he wasn’t doing it for show, but his reasoning for excessive celebration didn’t have a leg to stand on.

David Seaman - Manchester City

Soap operas are fictional and seemingly never-ending, but most addicts can’t stand to go one day without their fix. Chalk up goalkeeper David Seaman as a fiend and his bad habit cost him: While trying to tape an episode of Coronation Street, Britain’s longest running soap, Seaman pulled a back muscle reaching for the remote. In his defense, it is perennially one the UK’s highest-rated shows.

Gus Frerotte - St. Louis Rams

NFL touchdown celebrations have run the gamut from Merton Hanks’ funky chicken dance to Chad Johnson’s Riverdance, but none were as foolish as Gus Frerotte’s festivity. After scoring in the second quarter of a game for the Washington Redskins, Frerotte went to headbutt the padded wall just outside the end zone. Unfortunately, the stadium wall consisted of a thin layer of foam and a very thick layer of concrete, which put Frerotte into a woozy state. He was then quickly ambulanced to the hospital to get treatment for his head injury.

Kevin Johnson - Phoenix Suns

After a walk-off hit, shot or goal, most teams clear their bench and euphorically celebrate together in a mob. After Phoenix Suns guard Kevin Johnson netted a game-winning basket, teammate Charles Barkley greeted him with a big bear hug. Barkley squeezed him like a tube of toothpaste and clasped so hard that Johnson’s shoulder popped and dislocated, making the moment truly bittersweet.

The New York Yankees said goodbye to the original Yankee Stadium at the end of last year’s disappointing season. In 2009 they will be playing in a new version of the historic ballpark, creatively titled the new Yankee Stadium. To kick off the MLB season and to celebrate the new ballpark the Yankees have invited the Chicago Cubs for two exhibition games.

To honor the old stadium, and celebrate the new one, admission to these two exhibition games will be 25 cents for the bleachers and $1.10 for the grandstand. The two games will take place on April 3rd and 4th. Prices are set as such to match what they were on April 18, 1923, the first game at old Yankee Stadium, against Boston.

Every ticket for these games will be discounted, with none costing more than $50. This might not seem like a great deal to some, but consider that tickets will cost as much $2,500 for regular season games. This is a perfect opportunity for young, single men to take advantage of. The bleachers, and stadium, will be packed with tons of beautiful women who will have plenty of money left over for beer.

Major League Baseball player Mark Texeira is considered the biggest commodity on the free agent market since the signing of C.C. Sabathia last week. Texeira went from a respected hitter on the Texas Rangers, to dangerous hitter on the Atlanta Braves, and is now considered worth more money than Manny Ramirez after half a season in Anaheim. He is expected to get a deal around 200 million dollars, becoming only the second player to ever sign a contract of that size.

There is no doubt that Texeira has come into his own as a ballplayer. He has two Silver Slugger and two Gold Glove Awards in his career. He made the Angels the hands-down best team in the AL for the regular season after he was traded to Los Angeles. However, his team lost handily in the first round after being the favorite to win the World Series.

With the free agents that are available this year, it is hard to justify Texeira even being a first choice in free agency. Manny Ramirez, a future hall of famer and greatest hitter in the game, is also available. He sparked the Red Sox to two World Series and carried the Dodgers to the playoffs after a mid-season trade. He is the kind of player that changes a whole team and wins titles. If a team is looking for a superstar this is where they should go first.

There is no doubt that Texeira is a first class player and valuable commodity. However, he has done little to justify the second richest contract in MLB history. Teams with that much money to spend can get a package of good, professional players or a superstar in Manny Ramirez. Don’t forget, Barry Bonds, the greatest of all time, whether legally or not, is available too.

Everyone loves a winner, but no one likes a gloater. As World Series champions, the Philadelphia Phillies have earned the right to show off their status. Pitcher Cole Hamels might have raken a little too far, and at the expense of the team’s bitter rival of course.

In an interview on New York sports talk station WFAN on Thursday, Hamels (the World Series MVP) responded positively when asked if he thought the Mets were “choke artists.”

“Last year and this year I think we did believe that [they were choke artists],” Hamels told the station, alluding to the Phillies winning the NL East in 2008 and ‘07. “Three years ago we didn’t because they smoked everybody, and I think we all thought they were going to win it all. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.”

“But, yeah, that’s kind of what we believed and I think we’re always going to believe that until they prove us wrong,” Hamels said. “For the past two years they’ve been choke artists.”

According to a source, CC Sabathia is very close to becoming a New York Yankee. An in-person meeting between general manager Brian Cashman and Sabathia in California just recently took place. Although the deal is not officially closed this source said there were “zero roadblocks” in the way of the 28 year old left hander becoming a Yankee.

How much is this mans left arm worth? About $23 million a year (Or if your used to hourly rates, thats roughly about $2,625 an hour), by far the biggest contract for any picther in history. ESPN reported to get the deal completed, the Yankees added a seventh year to their original six-year, $140 million offer, bringing the total package to seven years and $161 million.

Sabathia also had offers from Milwaukee Brewers, the San Francisco Giants and the Boston Red Sox. Sabathia had apparently expressed interest in playing in California because he had already lived there. But for $23 million a year, I would make the move.

The New York Yankees reportedly have a deal on the table that would make CC Sabathia the highest paid pitcher in all of baseball. The deal, which is reportedly for six years and a total of $140 million, would surpass the contract the New York Mets gave Johan Santana last season.

While Sabathia is a good pitcher who can oftentimes be great, signing Sabathia to a mega contract would be a colossal mistake for the Yankees. It’d go down alongside the signing of Barry Zito by the San Francisco Giants as the biggest wastes of money in baseball history.

The first problem is that Sabathia doesn’t pitch well under pressure. Examples can be found in many places. To start off the 2008 campaign, Sabathia struggled mightily due to the pressure of his pending free agency. In his career, he has also been horrid in the postseason.

Not being able to handle pressure will not go over well in New York. Everything he does will be under the microscope and each and every game will feel like a playoff game. Sabathia might have good stretches but he’ll get worn down by the pressure and eventually crack.

Secondly, Sabathia obviously doesn’t take the best care of his body. The 28-year-old 300 pounder will balloon up even more once he reaches his 30’s. His metabolism will slow and he will suddenly begin to tilt the scales at 350 instead of 300.

Last but not least is the fact that Sabathia has a ton of mileage on his arm already. In his eight years in the majors, he has pitched more than 1,650 innings. In the last two years ago, Sabathia has pitched more than 500 innings.

If the Yankees were smart, they’d be bargain hunting this winter. However, it appears that instead the Yankees will once again waste millions of dollars.

If you read the title of this article, I’m sure it was difficult for you not to roll your eyes. Manny Ramirez and the Boston Red Sox had an extremely bitter divorce in the middle of the 2008 baseball season. The result was Ramirez being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for pennies on the dollar.

While the ending was definitely acrimonious, the Red Sox should remember the good times with Ramirez. He helped the Red Sox, a team that hadn’t won anything in ages, to two World Series championships. He was not only a clutch hitter but he was also feared by every pitcher who ever threw a ball towards him.

Listening to Ramirez after all the incidents and the final divorce, you could tell that he didn’t like how it ended either. He didn’t like that fans and baseball experts were saying he stopped trying and gave up on the team. He didn’t like how he was portrayed as the bad guy in Boston.

If the Red Sox organization can swallow their pride and make him a contract offer, I’m sure the Boston fans will forgive Ramirez. He could come back to town as the returning hero. All the boos would turn back into cheers and Ramirez could get back to trying to bring championships back to Boston.

It may sound crazy but without Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox simply aren’t nearly as good. If it’s either championship contender with Ramirez or American League pretender without him, the Red Sox should forgive, forget and extend an offer.

10. The Rays Winning Game 2
Even though the Tampa Bay Rays didn’t go all the way, they were a great story. It was only right that they got to win Game 2 so their fans could celebrate one final time.

9. Brad Lidge Getting the Save
Brad Lidge has been labeled a choker. More specifically, a big game choker. But during the 2008 season, he was flawless. He completed all 48 of his save opportunities – including the final one to clinch the 2008 World Series.

8. Talking Baseball with your Friends
How fun was it to talk to your friends about baseball and get remarks such as “It’s the World Series?”, “You Still Watch Baseball?” and the always fun “!@#$ Baseball, That Sport is Boring!”

7. Ryan Howard Homers
Ryan Howard has been a feared slugger around the league. But his success in the World Series has now made him a certifiable beast. He’s well on his way to becoming one of the best sluggers of his generation.

6. The Rain Delay
The two-day rain delay might be the most lasting memory. We will likely never seen anything like it ever again. It was like someone pressed pause on a video game, forgot about it and then came back a couple days later.

5. Jaime Moyer be Successful
Apparently there is life after 45. Jaime Moyer proved that you can be up there in age and still compete at the highest level. True, pitching is hardly a contact sport – but hey, it’s something.

4. Not Having to Watch the Yankees or Red Sox
I think we can all agree on this one.

3. Philadelphia Celebrating
Philadelphia had waited a long time for this championship. For as much heartache as the Phillies, Flyers, Eagles and 76ers have caused over the years, that town deserves this.

2. Philly Fans Booing Bud Selig
You might think of cheesesteaks when you think of Philadelphia. I think of booing. Philadelphia is to booing as Las Vegas is to gambling. Philadelphia is to booing as San Francisco is to alternative lifestyles. Getting to listen to Bud Selig getting booed was a thrill.

1. Philly Ballgirls

Lost in all the Barry Bonds hoopla is the fact that Bonds is without a team for the 2008 campaign. After spending the last 15 years with the San Francisco Giants, the team decided to let him go and move on. Now the 43-year-old slugger is looking for a new home.

Last season was one of the most historic seasons of all-time in the game of baseball. The game’s most prized record of the most career homeruns was broken by Bonds. Bonds, who now has 762 homeruns in his 22-year career, overtook Hank Aaron to become baseball’s homerun king.

Heading into the 2008 baseball season, no one seems to want to touch Bonds. Not only is he surrounded in the steroids controversy, he’s also not a clubhouse favorite among prospective teammates. On top of that, his production on the field is a far cry from what it used to be just a few seasons ago.

That said, there’s one team that should look into signing Bonds – and that’s the New York Yankees. The Yankees and their giant payroll will try once again to get back on the winning track this season. I believe that Bonds can help the team reach their goals.

First of all, Bonds is still a damn good baseball player. Put him at designated hitter and he could probably go for 30 homers and more than 100 RBIs. He walks a lot and does a good job of making pitchers work.

Secondly, Bonds can absorb a lot of controversy. Alex Rodriquez is the best hitter on the Yankees but he doesn’t do well when all the media is focusing on him. If the Yankees were to sign Bonds, Rodriguez could move to the background while Bonds became the most scrutinized player on the team.

Third of all, Bonds is desperate to win a World Series title. The Yankees are all about championships. This is a match made in heaven. Bonds has accomplished everything statistically he could ever want to accomplish. It’s now all about winning for him.

Finally, the Yankees owe it to the fans of the game. The team everyone loves to hate should be forced to sign the player that everyone loves to hate. The Yankees could become the ultimate villain and could make the forthcoming season one of the most exciting in recent history.

With spring training underway, it’s time to start thinking about baseball once again. Even though the crackdown on steroids has robbed the game of some of its better power hitters, there are still some hitters out there that no pitcher wants to face.

Who are the top five most feared hitters in baseball? Let’s take a look.

5) Prince Fielder
This 23-year-old Milwaukee Brewer hasn’t even hit his prime yet and he has already made this list. In 2007, Fielder hit 50 homers and drove in 119 runs. He gets some bonus scary points for being Cecil Fielder’s son because Ol’ Cecil wasn’t a player you wanted to mess with.

4) Albert Pujols
Even though he’s coming off of a relatively down year, Pujols still is a nightmare matchup for any pitcher. He hit a career-low 32 homers last year but don’t expect Pujols to stay down for long. This year the big St. Louis Cardinals slugger should hit close to 50 bombs.

3) Ryan Howard
Over the last two seasons, Howard has hit 105 homers and has driven in 285 runs for the Philadelphia Phillies. The 28-year-old has room to get even better, which is a scary thought. In 2008, Howard will once again be an MVP candidate and will have pitchers finding a way to pitch around him.

2) Alex Rodriguez
Last season, Rodriguez put up sick numbers. He hit .314, smashed 54 homeruns and drove in 156 RBIs. If you are pitching in a regular season game, this is the last player you want to see in the batter’s box. He’s quickly becoming one of the best hitters in the history of baseball.

1) David Ortiz
While Rodriguez is the king of the regular season, Ortiz is the playoff assassin. In a clutch situation, Ortiz almost always comes through. While Rodriguez may be the best hitter in the game, no one has pitchers shivering in fright as much as Ortiz. If there’s a chance he can beat you, chances are he’ll beat you.