Kuzul

All you ever hear about in Chicago is how the city is all about the Chicago Bears.You hear it on the radio. You read it in the newspapers. You hear fans and other Chicagoans say it.But, let me be the one to tell you that they're all wrong.You have two baseball teams in Chicago—the Cubs and the White Sox. But, there is only one football team.So, theoretically, everyone is a Bears fan. While that might be true, the difference is in the game. Nobody would argue that if you're talking baseball only, it's a Cubs town. For a while, some media tried to say that Chicago was a Sox town shortly after they won the World Series. Of course, that was proven wrong, because the Sox only draw good attendance to their games when they are winning. This brings me to the basis of my argument. The Cubs have generally been ...

With a wave of his hand, or should I say wallet, Mike Ilitch has dramatically altered the Detroit Tigers fortunes. With the signing of Prince Fielder, the cloud of despair that formed over the city when Victor Martinez went down has cleared. The forecast for next season is sunny skies and plenty of victories.It was surely one of the biggest, and most surprising, moves in Detroit sports history. It also showed how serious Ilitch is about winning. The addition of Fielder has made the 2012 season one of the most anticipated in Tigers' history.The Fielder signing has all the trappings of a feel-good story of the year. Everybody knows the story by now. He was born in 1984—the last time Detroit won the World Series—and grew up as a Tigers' bat boy. He learned baseball from his father Cecil, who holds the Tigers record for most home runs in a single seasonAs Ilitch pointed out at this ...

I for one was a bit surprised to hear that Heidi Watney's replacement is Jenny Bell, whose most recent assignment with ESPN was in Aspen, working on the upcoming Winter X Games.I am also reminded that she interviewed NFL players last year on their Super Bowl predictions, and hosted the AccuScore segments for ESPN.A month or so ago I presented you with 27 potential replacements for the lovely Heidi, which you can view here. Much to my chagrin, I did not include Jenny Dell as one of the 27.So, to make up for that omission, this slideshow will help you get to know Ms. Dell a little better. It will also describe the uphill battle she faces in the seasons to come.Begin Slideshow

Everyone around the Detroit Tigers organization knew that the massive signing of first baseman Prince Fielder would create a shift in the way that the team plays baseball going into the 2012 season.The biggest shift was thought to be the expected move of Miguel Cabrera from first base to third base, and how the slugger would react to such a move.Cabrera didn't mind the move at all, according to manager Jim Leyland. At that point, everything involving controversy should have ended.But it didn't. Enter underachieving third baseman Brandon Inge.Now, Inge has had a great career as a Tiger. For many years he was considered one of the best defensive third baseman in the game. However, as time has gone by and injuries have accrued, Inge has found himself as a solid, yet not spectacular, defender.Then there's his 2011 campaign. Inge had a .197 average, and for most of the season ...

Roy Oswalt turned down a one-year, $10 million contract offer from the Detroit Tigers this week, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Meanwhile, the Tigers continue to downplay interest in Chicago Cubs right-hander Matt Garza, and GM Dave Dombrowski said the team would not include top pitching prospect Jacob Turner in a package for Garza.From an objective, big-picture perspective, Dombrowski's public position is the right one. Turner is one of the top six or seven right-handed pitching prospects in baseball right now and looked pretty good in brief time with the parent club in 2011.At 20 years of age, Turner is as advanced for his age as any pitcher in baseball. He could be a Garza archetype within three or four years, a front-of-the-rotation stud with a deadly breaking ball and great command. Dealing away six seasons of Turner (plus another prospect) to get two seasons' worth of control ...

The ongoing circus that is the L.A. Dodgers ownership situation has introduced its latest acts. We’re a long way from learning who will buy the team from the departing Frank McCourt, but at least the field is narrowing. The Los Angeles Times reports that at least eight bidders (of MLB’s maximum of 10) are still in the running to buy the team from McCourt. Among the contenders are hedge-fund manager Steven Cohen, a group led by former Lakers icon Magic Johnson and another group including real estate developer Rick Caruso and former Dodgers manager Joe Torre. At this point, many Dodger fans will be glad just to be rid of McCourt, but bringing in a new owner who can provide some sanity is just as important. Of the candidates announced thus far, Torre and his partners would be the best bets for a long-term solution in L.A. Cohen’s base is ...

Roger Clemens doesn't back down. A man of principle, he fights for his rights. Monday, Oct. 25, 1999 was a World Series travel day for the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves.After one of his legendary workouts, Clemens was involved in an altercation with a "gentleman" in the Yankee Stadium parking lot. Clemens was signing autographs for fans. Magnanimous Roger, despite the fact that Steiner Sports now offers a signed Clemens baseball  for about $400, was more than happy to accommodate some of his fans. After autographing more than one dozen items, Clemens started to leave when he heard an individual ordering him to continue signing. Clemens later said that the man hadn't asked for his autograph and that he thought the man was simply being unruly. ''If you stand out there, you could probably see it happen 10 times a day, but I wouldn't consider him a fan,'' said ...

While trying to plan out book signings and other spring plans, I went on to redsox.com the other day and took my first look at the 2012 team schedule. Opting for the old-fashioned "printable" format with its familiar little white (away) and red (home) boxes, I learned that the Sox start the season in Detroit and Toronto and don't play their home opener until April 13—Friday, April 13. I immediately laughed, wondering how often (if ever) this has happened in team history and if there could be any worse time for such a bad omen. The collapse the 2011 Red Sox experienced in the final weeks of the season and the wings-and-beer headlines that followed were perhaps the most depressing period for Sox fans since Aaron Boone took Wakefield deep in 2003. Before that one has to go back to Bill Buckner (1986) and Bucky Dent (1978) for similar misery, and on ...

He has been, in a way, the Rasputin of the Tigers. Or the poetic feline who possesses nine lives. Take your pick. They’ve tried running Brandon Inge out of town for about eight years now. It’s all been done to him—free agents and trade acquisitions arriving to play his position (twice), talk radio blazing with anti-Inge venom. The Tigers even designated him for assignment last summer, and traded for a replacement: Wilson Betemit. Betemit has been signed by the Baltimore Orioles as a free agent. And Inge not only survived his DFA, he made it all the way back to the Tigers’ playoff roster. Betemit, the man the Tigers traded for to take Inge’s spot on the roster, is gone. And Inge is still here. Figure that one out. Nature even tried to nudge Inge out of Detroit, vis a vis the infamous bout of mononucleosis that befell him last ...

With the winter taking a heavy toll on the farm system, I thought it would be prudent to take a look at what the Reds still have at the minor league level.Some names people are familiar with include Billy Hamilton, Yorman Rodriguez, Kris Negron, Henry Rodriguez, Neftali Soto and Denis Phipps.Of course, there are several who are putting up decent numbers and getting very little recognition.The first player that I want to spotlight is outfielder Bill Rhinehart. If the name rings a bell, but doesn't seem to complete the circuit of instant recall, he came to the Reds in the deal that sent Jonny Gomes to the Washington Nationals for himself and pitcher Christopher Manno.Rhinehart is no spring chicken as far as minor league prospects are concerned. He is a 27-year-old power hitting outfielder who was drafted in the 11th round by the Nationals in ...