The Show.

Recently, as I scrolled through ESPN.com, I stumbled upon an article by Buster Olney about who he thinks are the 15 most irreplaceable players in baseball. Unfortunately, I was not able to see the list because you have to be an ESPN "Insider," to see it (and to no surprise, all it takes to be an insider is about 7 bucks a month.) So I thought to myself, instead of paying ESPN to see this list, why not make my own? After all, I think my list may be a little different than Buster's (for example, I'm only going to put the top 12, not 15), although I guess I'll never know how differnt our list's will be unless I become an exclusive insider.

Now, when I'm talking irreplaceable, I'm talking about guys who are leaders and producers - guys who, if I were a GM, I would never think about trading. I realize that this list will be disagreed with, and it may even infuriate people, but that's what makes it fun, right? One last point about the list: some may notice that no starting pitchers are on the list. This is because a starting pitcher is literally replaced every game, and no matter how good a starting pitcher may be for a game, he is inevitably replaceable. For each player I'll provide a few key stats, (and now keep in mind these stats don't count for everything) so without further ado, THE LIST:



Albert Pujols
- 30+ home runs in first 9 seasons in the league.
- Career average of .332
- .322 postseason average
- 5 Silver Slugger awards
- 3 NL MVP awards
- 100+ RBI's every year in the league







Joe Mauer
- Career average: .325
- Batted .365 in 2009
- 2 Gold Glove awards
- 3 Silver Slugger awards
- 2009 AL MVP
- *Minnesota product - hometown hero!*







Derek Jeter
- 5 World Series rings.
- Career average: .316
- 4 Gold Gloves
- 4 Silver Slugger Awards
- In 138 postseason games: 55 home runs, .313 average.







Ichiro Suzuki
- Career average: .333
- Gold Glover award every year since 2001
- 2001 AL MVP
- Averages 1.4 hits a game in his career








Mariano Rivera
- Inning to hit ratio: 1/0.76
- Inning to home run ratio: 18/1
- Over 1000 strikeouts in less than 1150 innings pitched
- 5 AL Relief Man awards







Ryan Howard
- Averages 48 home runs a year
- Averages 148 RBI's a year
- 2006 NL MVP
- Averages 104 runs a year








Ryan Braun
- Averages 37 home runs a year
- Averages 119 RBI's a year
- 2 Silver Slugger awards
- 26 years old







Evan Longoria
- Averages 33 home runs a year
- Averages 115 RBI's a year
- 1 Gold Glove award
- 1 Silver Slugger award
- 24 years old







Hanley Ramirez
- Career average: .314
- Averages 27 home runs a year
- 2 Silver Slugger awards
- Averages 42 stolen bases a year
- 26 years old







Miguel Cabrera
- Currently batting .337
- Career average: .313
- Averages 33 home runs a years
- Averages 119 RBI's a year
- 2 Silver Slugger awards
- Currently leads AL in home runs (20) and RBI's (68)







Chase Utley
- Career average: .294
- Averages 105 RBI's a year
- 4 Silver Slugger awards
- Averages 110 runs a year
- Averages 29 home runs a year







Vladimir Guerrero
- Career average: .322
- Current average of .336
- Averages 36 home runs a year
- Averages 117 RBI's a year
- 4 Silver Slugger awards
- 2004 AL MVP

This week we saw attention breifly divert from South Africa as the longest tennis match in history spanned over a 3 day period. In a first round match at Wimbeldon, John Isner defeated Nicholas Mahut after a match that lasted for over 11 hours. This, in the midst of the World Cup, the proclaimed biggest event in all of sports, grabbed the attention of the sports world. But why? It was only a first round match, so the implications were minimal, right? While this may be true, it's the idea of the competition that made it so appealing, so exciting. We saw two men who refused to budge, playing longer than anyone ever had so they could win, despite it being just a first round match. On the flip side, we've seen a World Cup filled with equality, not victory. In round play alone there were 14 draws. I know that at the end of the day the teams with the most points get into the next round, but should a team like the US really get in after winning only one game? I think it's great that they got in, but they got in because of the way the system is set up, and it's clear to see that the system is seriously flawed. The World Cup is one of, if not the, biggest event in all of sports, yet we're not seeing the true nature of sport when we watch it. The idea of a sport is to determine who is the best, and we saw a tennis match this week that reaffirmed the importance of that determination.

In the World Cup's round of 16 and beyond there are no ties, but rather shootouts. In fact, the final of the 2006 World Cup was decided by a shootout. Does this not seem right to anyone else? After two teams battle for weeks to get to the final, in arguably the biggest event in all of sports, should the outcome really come down to one shooter and a goalie? I don't think it's fair to the teams or the fans to have it come down to that, and I think the only way you can determine a champion is to simply play the game.

Of course, the World Cup is still a great event with all the ties, but why not play it out? At the 90th minute, why not play sudden death to get a winner? I understand that it's hard to score, but doesn't that make it more exciting? I think the World Cup could appeal to a lot more people, especially here in the US, if there weren't as many draws - it could turn indifference into passion. So even though soccer is in the spotlight right now, maybe it should take a peek out to learn about how to make the sport even better.

It's funny how a player's value can sometimes show when he's not on the playing field. Jimmy Rollins has been out of the Phillie's line-up since May 22nd with a strained right calf, and coincidentally, the team has struggled mightily since then. The Phillies are 6-15 since that date, one of their worst droughts in recent history. Over the past 30 days, the Phillies' average has been .223. That's the worst in all of baseball. That's right. Dead last. Keep in mind this is a team who has been known for having one of the best line-ups in baseball over the past couple years. However, this line-up, which has been so dominant over the last few years, is just not the same, and many tribute it to Rollins' absence. This absence is clearly bad for the Phillies, but for Rollins, it could be a blessing in disguise.

In 12 games this year Rollins hit .341 with 10 walks. The three-time Gold Glover and 2007 NL MVP has a career batting average of .275, but his true value may have been overlooked until now. Without Rollins the Phillies lose a leadoff man who can reach base and still be a threat. Rollins gives the Phillies speed on the bases, and he's a threat to pitchers no matter where he is on the field. So as Phillies fans sit and watch a Rollins-less line-up, an appreciation is mounting for the true value Rollins brings to this club - value that may earn him a lot of money come contract time.

Rollins is currently in the fifth year of a five year, $40 million contract. The Phillies exercised a team option for 2011 this past December. He's earning a big time salary now, but if the Phillies were to come out of this slump upon J-Roll's return, then what? There's no doubt that he gives this line-up life, and if they got back to their old form - the form they were in before he got hurt - it would speak volumes to the value he offers. Additionally, Rollins would have tons of leverage heading into contract negotiations, and he could take those negotiations just about anywhere in the league. Imagine for a second his agent negotiating a new contract, and simply saying, "see what happens when he's not in the line-up?"

With the Phillies recent re-signing of Ryan Howard, who signed for $125 million over five years, and the possibility of the team re-signing Jayson Werth, it is conceivable that Rollins may want to go somewhere that will pay him top dollar. It will take time to see what happens, but since Rollins has been out the Phillies have slumped to third in their division. There's still a lot of baseball left to be played this season, and it's clear that J-Roll's absence isn't the cause of all the Phillies' struggles, but what's also clear is that this line-up isn't the same without him, and as the Phillies sink downward, Rollins' image is floating up.

Over the years hockey has slowly been pushed down the totem pole of the professional sports ranks in the United States. TV ratings and attendance have been low while audience apathy has been up. However, the year that hockey has had could change that. This year two major events - the Olympics, and the NHL Playoffs - renewed feelings of excitement, pride, and passion towards the sport that was all but disregarded in the US. The only question is, were these events enough to make the excitement they produced last?

With the Olympics we saw a perfect script. The underdog US team, who wasn't even considered a top 3 contender, up against the powerhouse that is Team Canada for the ultimate prize. Two teams, two bitter rivals, battling for the gold, and just when people thought it couldn't get any better, it did when the game went into overtime and was won by none other than the man with the fairytale career, Sidney Crosby. This scenario could not have been more perfect for the game of hockey. The world saw exactly what it wanted to see, and this match up even peaked interest in the States which is exactly what the sport needs. In Canada, it wouldn't matter if Belarus were playing Latvia in the finals - they would still watch it. In the US, however, the case is slightly different. For the US to be interested they have to be involved, and because of this it's easy to see why it was so crucial for hockey that the US get into the finals. Even the fact that the US lost makes it even more favorable for the sport in my opinion. This way, instead of America assuming a typical cocky attitude about their team, they're hungry to win, and this should make hockey very appealing and exciting for Americans in the next Winter Olympics.

Following suit with the Olympics, the NHL Playoffs were extremely exciting this year. We saw four game 7's, a #8 seed beat a #1 seed in the first round, a team come back from an 0-3 series deficit, and an all-American final that didn't include the Red Wings or Penguins. This year's Cup Final was an historic one for the NHL as they got their highest TV ratings in 36 years. It's evident why this Final was appealing to Americans - two big-market cities, both with long Stanley Cup droughts, that were hard-working, physical, and evenly-matched teams. The series was close too, as four of the six games were decided by one goal, and two of those four games were in OT.

This kind of hockey is exactly what the sport needs to survive, and eventually thrive. For hockey to make a comeback and escape the depths of sports obscurity the US must have attentive and involved fans. Without a strong following from a US audience, the sport could crumble and be an afterthought. Luckily, hockey created some serious momentum this year. Many people who were not fans became "on the fence" fans, and many fans who were "on the fence" about hockey before this season crossed over and became legitimate fans. The key now is for the NHL to find a way to get fans over and away from this metaphorical fence.
The NHL has to take action and be proactive to carry their recent success and make it long-lasting, and now is the time to do it because it's as good a time as they've ever had.

With the multitude of issues in the sports world it's at times difficult to talk about everything, and even when you do it's exhausting. So, with that in mind, today will be the first ever, "Around the Horn" post. It'll be a monthlyish post where I select an issue from each major sport and briefly dissect and potentially come up with a solution to said issues. So, for this first installment, our issues from our four major sports are:

- Hockey: Jeremy Roenick Crying
- Football: USC's Violations and Punishments
- Baseball: Perfect Game Blunder
- Basketball: The Cloud of Free Agency


Issue #1 - Jeremy Roenick Crying

This may not be hockey's biggest issue at the moment, but it is an issue nonetheless. At the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals, as the Chicago Blackhawks emotionally hoisted the Stanley Cup for the first time in 49 years, emotions were also running high in NBC's analyst booth, leading to the following:



Are you kidding me!? If there's no crying in BASEBALL, how can there be crying in HOCKEY!? It bothers me that this happened because despite his stint in Chicago, Roenick also played in Philly. As an analyst he's supposed to be objective but here he is going on about, "the Chicago Blackhawks, man." When he's behind the booth he needs to be objective, other than that he can cry all he wants.


Issue #2 - USC Violations and Punishments

The NCAA has decided to step in and punish USC after it was discovered that certain players had accepted money, among other things, while still at school. The funny thing about this though is that the 3 central figures in this issue - Reggie Bush, OJ Mayo, and Pete Carroll - are all safely residing outside the not-so-long-reaching arms of the NCAA. Yes, they've taken away some wins, but at the end of the day the people who are mainly being punished are the ones who had nothing to do with the incident. Think of the juniors and seniors in USC's football program. They've paid their dues for years and now they won't have the chance to win a bowl game as leaders of their team because of how the NCAA has handled this situation. Also, if the NCAA is going to bust players and programs for accepting money, maybe they should open their eyes next NFL Draft when all the first round picks are walking up to the stage with $10,000 watches, diamond earings and $3,000 suits. How'd they get those? Allowance money?


Issue #3 - Perfect Game Blunder

This story has been beaten to death, and rightfully so, but I think two important things stand out:
1) The League made the right decision not giving Galarraga a perfect game. Yes, everyone wanted to see him get the perfect game because everyone knows he deserved it, but if you reverse that call you have to put into question every missed call baseball has ever had, big or small. I don't think you can jeopordize the integrity of the game like that, because the human element is part of the game after all. If that was the first out of the game would people have the same reaction? Of course not, and you can't react a certain way because of the circumstance, which in this case just happened to be an amazing individual feat.
2) The reaction of Jim Joyce was perfect. He admitted he was wrong countless times, and it's hard to be mad at the guy because of how sincere and genuine he was. In fact, I feel worse for Joyce than I do for Galarraga. Hopefully athletes who screw up in the future can learn from this guy and admit when they're wrong, rather than blaming others or avoiding consequences.

Issue #4: NBA Free Agency

The vast cloud of free agency has overshadowed this years NBA Playoffs, (which isn't too hard to do considering the overall excitement of this year's playoffs) and unfortunately this cloud seems to be turing into a thunderstorm. The national media has presented every possible scenario of where these free agents could go, constantly breaking down and analyzing each one as if the media is in the front office negotiating. At times it seems like they make stories and rumors up just to maintain any grasp they may have on their audience. I have a hard time regarding any opinions I hear because no one knows, and it doesn't make much sense to me to talk about it until these players are actually signed. At the present moment the NBA Finals are under way and all attention should be directed there, however the minds of analysts continue to stay on these situations that will not be resolved until July, so I suggest we wait to see what happens and then discuss it.

At the conclusion of every NHL hockey season the Stanley Cup is ceremoniously handed from the league's commissioner to the captain of the winning team, and this exchange is considered sacred. The championship team watches as their leader accepts one of the most cherished and sought-after items in all of sports. Once the captain accepts the Cup, he will inevitably raise it triumphantly over his head and then lower is so he can kiss its body, which is littered with the names of every person who has ever had the pleasure of hoisting it. As this takes place, one of the most important moments and hockey and perhaps one of the most underrated events in sports takes place: the passing of the Cup. This first exchange, beginning with the captain, is in no way random - it's a selective choice made by the teams leader, and it is intended to be an honor. To have the Cup passed to you first means being one of the most monumental, respected, and important figures on your team. The sequence in which the Cup is passed is in many ways a sort of pecking order in which those who have earned the right to touch the Cup first will. Many times we see the Cup go to a long time veteran who has gone a whole career without winning a Cup. We saw this in 2001 when Ray Borque won his first Cup as a member of the Colorado Avalanche after 22 years in the league. So as we reach the end of this year's Stanley Cup Final round, the question has to be asked: Who gets the cup first? Normally, the first people you look at are the assistant captains. The Blackhawks' A's are Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp and the A's for the Flyers are Chris Pronger, Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne and Kimmo Timmonen.

If the Blackhawks win I think it would make most sense for the trophy to go to Duncan Keith first - hes been nominated for a Norris Trophy this year as the league's best defenseman and he has been one of the most reliable players on the Blackhawks' roster this year. At this point in the playoffs he has 16 points in 21 games played, and during the playoffs he has averaged 28 minutes a game. If it doesn't go to Keith it'll most likely go to Sharp, but it'd be very surprising if that were the case.

For the Flyers, it seems that no player has been more feared, dominant, or respected than Chris Pronger. He's playing 29 minutes a game and has been an absolute force on the blue line. The Flyers have depended on him to shut down opposing teams' top guns through the entire playoffs and he has met the task. His competitiveness and toughness have made it extremely difficult on opponents to get in and around the net, which is a big reason why the Flyers are giving up less than 2.6 goals a game in the playoffs. Of course, Pronger has already won a Cup and if it were to go to another assistant captain who doesn't have a Cup, I'd pick Kimmo Timonen.

Of course, one of the great stories of this year's playoffs have been the Flyers' Ian Laperriere. He is a hero in Philadelphia. The fan's love this guy, and he is one of the most respected players in the whole league. People would love to see the Cup go to him, especially after all he has sacrificed for this team. The guy doesn't wear an A on his jersey but he plays like he wears a C. Despite not being an actual captain, he's considered a leader by anyone who has ever seen him play, and it would be awesome to see the Cup go to him.

The best part of this whole process to me is the fact that everyone is regarded. It doesn't matter if you were the best player on the team or the worst because you, in some way, contributed to the feat of winning the Cup, and that's what this tradition is all about. So as we watch the series come to a close we'll soon watch the camaraderie of the winning team as they share what they all earned together.