MLB on Fox Regional Coverage for 4/10/2010
Starting today we are adding something to our weekly posts about Fox Saturday baseball. We have a new baseball writer who will give us of his opinions on the upcoming games this week. If you would like to skip to the regional information click the following link, but we hope you like his take.
Below you can find the >>Regional Coverage information for this week’s games
Alas, the first Saturday of baseball season is here and it couldn’t have come at a better time for some of us. With all three games of the weeks starting less than an hour before the third round of the Masters, the timing is more welcome than usual for those of us seeking shelter from the torturous regurgitation of Tiger-related news that will no doubt be shoved down our throats throughout the weekend. With all three games featuring inter-division matchups of should-be playoff contenders, Saturday afternoon should be a real treat for baseball fans and Tiger-weary spectators alike. Not to mention, we’ll probably get to see Joe Buck for the first time since the Artie Lange incident.
New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays
Even with a World Series appearance two years ago, Tampa Bay seems it will never be rid of dark horse status as long as they’re in the same division as New York, Boston, and all that cash. But maybe even a bigger problem than competing against mass media markets and dollar bills being doled out on the reg is the fact that the Yankees and Red Sox play pseudo-home games whenever they visit Tampa Bay. Florida is transplant fan central (the Steinbrenners LIVE in Tampa Bay for goodness sake), so there is easily as many boos as cheers in Tropicana Field anytime Evan Longoria goes long (or looks for his hat) against Tampa’s division rivals. But none of that is stopping many (most notably the ESPN contributor/Japanese Baseball Jesus known as Bobby Valentine) from picking Tampa Bay to go deep into the playoffs. They have a nice nucleus of young talent, and while they didn’t have a spectacular off-season, getting Rafael Soriano who’s to me a top ten closer when he’s healthy, and betting that their young pitchers (Jeff Niemann, David Price, and Wade Davis) will be more mature and that much better with a year of big league experience under their belt, Rays fans have a lot to be excited about.
As for the Yankees, there’s no point in trying to palliate their spending and ability to get better each and every year. They gave up almost nothing (other than money) to get Curtis Granderson and Javier Vasquez, and they signed Nick Johnson and Chan-Ho Park on the cheap. Granderson is a huge upgrade defensively over anything they had in the outfield last year and should at least duplicate if not surpass any offensive production put out by the departed Johnny Damon. Javier Vasquez should be considered the best fourth starter in the game. Just think about this for a second: he was second in the NL in strikeouts last year, posted a sub-3.00 ERA, and he’s their FOURTH starter. If Johnson can stay healthy he’s a reliable on-base guy who never strikes out and never homers. Park will probably be what you expect: a mediocre middle reliever. As for the rest of the team, there’s no reason to think that A-Rod, Texeira, Cano, Jeter and Posada won’t do what they normally do. Same goes for Sabathia, Pettite, Burnett, and the rest of the pitching staff. The one wrinkle with this team is the move of Joba Chamberalin back to the set-up spot. It seems like it could go either way—he could be a complete disaster, or he may capture back the magic of his rookie season in the bullpen.
One other reason you may want to watch this game is to see how the season starts to unfold for C.C. Sabathia. I think it has all the intrigue of Tiger and the Masters—C.C. might not be the celebrity Tiger is, but there just as many polarizing questions surrounding the beginning of his 2010 season. Like, “Did he have an offseason workout regimen, and if so, what was it?”, “Do pitchers wingspans matter? And why hasn’t anyone coined a Tyrannosaurus Rex-related nickname for this guy yet?”, “Is the behind-the-pitcher view a bad camera angle for him?” or “What’s your estimate on the square footage of his uniform?”…
St. Louis Cardinals @ Milwaukee Brewers
Speaking of heft, has there ever been a more perfect fit for a player and team than Prince Fielder and the Brewers? Just look at the guy, and think about the fact that he’s playing for a team whose name references beer, and whose entertainment between innings features human-sized food items racing. And speaking of Prince, maybe the most enjoyable story line of Spring Training was the San Francisco Giants continuous beaning of Fielder. One of the reasons many people tire of professional sports is the stupid attention-calling antics of many athletes. Think T.O.’s sharpie, Ocho Cino’s popcorn, or LeBron’s poses for picture taking teammates. This happens a lot in football and basketball because there’s no real way for opposing players to retaliate without getting fined a good sum of money. But in hockey, can you imagine if Sidney Crosby celebrated a goal by sliding headfirst across half the rink into a bunch of waiting teammates who dramatically flopped over upon his arrival? He’d be beat to a pulp before the next line change. In baseball, an enthusiastic flip of the bat or tip of the helmet after a home run will assuredly get you beaned by a 90 MPH fastball the next time up. That’s why it was borderline enjoyable to see the Giants throw at Fielder after waiting all winter to get their retaliation for Fielder’s teammate-falling inducing stomp on home plate after a walk-off homerun last September. It might make the Giants and Brewers first matchup of the regular season in June the most captivating game of the regular season. But that’s neither here nor there.
Like a lot of smaller market teams, the Brewers didn’t do much to improve in the off-season. And with no real additions (unless you really want to count Randy Wolf or Jim Edmonds, and I guess you could argue that they’ll have Rickie Weeks for a full season) it seems that catching the Cardinals or even the Cubs in the central may prove to be too much for a team with no real reliable starting pitching (given that Gallardo can be pretty good) and only two real offensive weapons (given that Fielder and Braun are really good). But the thing about baseball, especially in the last couple of years, is that you never know. A team with seemingly marginal talent can, with a few breaks, compete with anyone, no matter the money or names involved. This Saturday is as good a time as any for the Brewers to make a statement to the rest of the division.
I don’t have a lot to say about the Cardinals—they made no real additions and I barely recognize anyone in their infield other than Pujols. While I’m on the subject, he’s probably not a human. This is his 10th season, and he’ll undoubtedly hit his 400th homerun. You do the math. They’re pitching is great—Carpenter and Wainwright is as good a one-two punch as there is in baseball, even though I have my doubts about their bullpen. But with their starting pitching, if they can get anything in terms of offense behind Pujols and Holliday, they should be the team to beat in the central.
Seattle Mariners @ Texas Rangers
It appears that a lot of people might consider the AL West as “boring,” and maybe with good cause. But one thing I think is for sure is that the Angels no longer have a stranglehold on the division, as both the Rangers and Mariners look as if they can contend for a playoff spot. This looks to be a matchup of opposites—the Mariners stellar pitching and anemic offense versus the Rangers usual potent offense and questionable pitching. Many considered the Mariners offseason a success, but other than Cliff Lee I don’t see how adding Milton Bradley, Chone Figgins and Casey Kotchman could be considered overly positive. They’re going to have to rely on winning games through good defense, the health of their pitching staff and wide-open space of Safeco Field.
As for the Rangers, the song is the same—they’re going to rely on their bats and hope for the best with their pitching. If Vlad Guerrero can find any of his old self, and if youngsters Chris Davis and Julio Borbon can live up to expectations, there’s no reason to think that this lineup won’t once again be one of the best in baseball. The Rangers brass will hope that Scott Feldmen can duplicate what he did last year, that Rich Harden can return to form in the same division he dominated five years ago, and that the move from the bullpen for C.J Wilson won’t be a complete train wreck. This game should be the start of an interesting and unpredictable season for all those involved in the AL West.
For questions of comments, or if you can think of a better fit for Prince Fielder (good luck) send mail to keegan@hdsportsguide.com.
For a full national schedule click here.
Regional information for April 10
| Fox regional MLB Information | |||
| DESCRIPTION | START TIME | COVERAGE | |
| New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays | 3:00 PM | 70% | |
MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston |
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| St. Louis @ Milwaukee | 3:00 PM | 18% | |
MARKETS INCLUDE: Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas City |
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| Cleveland Indians vs Minnesota Twins | 3:00 PM | 11% | |
MARKETS INCLUDE: Austin, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Portland, San Antonio, Seattle |
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Tags: MLB on Fox
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July 10th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
I live in St. Joe Michigan. Whenever there is a Tigers game on FOX national station, and the Cubs are on at same time..we get the Cubs. Where is the cut off to be considered being in the “Detroit Coverage Area”.