The Week in Review

The biggest stories of the first full week in baseball:

A-Rod flexes his giant cock
Alex Rodriguez became the first player ever to have 6 homeruns and 15 RBI in his teams first 7 games (thanks to Tim Kurkjan for this nugget). This included a walk-off grand slam, and a nice little stretch that he hit a homerun in 4 straight games. George’s prediction for A-Rod to win the AL-MVP is looking like a better than even hedged bet right about now. Personally I think the big start is only because A-Rod is wearing those socks high.

Josh Hamilton has arrived
The Cincinnati Reds took a flyer on the 25 year-old phenom for 1ooK in trading for him from the Chicago Cubs. It has been a long and unreal journey for the guy, which included 7 years out of baseball and only 89 at-bats above the A-ball level before the season, Hamilton had a big week. His first big league hit was a homerun against the Diamondbacks, and then the next night the kid added a double and a homerun that was the difference in a 3-2 Reds win. I found a great read in which you can read more about Hamilton here.

King Felix trumps Daisuke Matsuzaka
I know that this matchup was the biggest headliner for me in terms of overall starpower, with two young studs going up against eachother in the baseball chapel that is Fenway Park. Felix Hernandez’s star shined bright by allowing only one hit to the Red Sox, and getting the win for his less talented and less experienced team. Hernandez hasn’t allowed a run yet on the year and is 2-0.

Jimmy Rollins on a power surge
The National League has some big time sluggers, but thus far none have been bigger than one Jimmy Rollins. Jimmy Rollins? With his 2-homer game last night against the Mets, Rollins now leads all NL hitters with 5 homeruns to start the season. Although the brash and cocky Phillies have yet to live up to the hype, Rollins has done his part to get this team off to a fast start.

The freezing weather
The Cleveland Indians home opening game series was postponed due to snow, and it headlined a week which saw frigid weather across the east and midwest play a factor in most of the games that were played. The Indians were forced to head to Milwaukee to play their ‘home opening’ series against the Anaheim Angels, in which they took 2 out of 3 ballgames. This series marked the first time that two American League teams played eachother in Milwaukee since 1997.