Excuse me for taking this space to brag a little about my family and excuse me for being a little long winded here (big shock). But today was my 6-year-old daughter's first day of T-Ball practice. This is her first forray into team sports. My daughter is very much a girlie girl. Sports have bored her, but she wanted to do T-Ball. So, with the weather just perfect for her first practice, we ventured out. Her coach asked for some parents to help with coaching. I jumped on that chance. Since I have a birth defect, I never had much of a chance to play sports, although I did have two years of little league (which was a thrill). So, I thought, I'd have a little father-daughter sports bonding time and share some knowledge with her other little team mates. Needless to say, I had a fantastic day with my daughter and her little team mates. We worked on fielding and hitting today. Proving that I'm not a very good coach, I struggled to teach the left handed hitter on her team the right way to swing, because it was the wrong way to swing for me. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this to any of dad's out there. It's a memory you'll cherish and look back on.

Thanks for letting me capture this in words. I hope you enjoyed hearing about it. If you're a parent, you'll really understand.  

This release is from the Cincinnati Reds: 

Tonight the Reds acquired from the Diamondbacks minor league OF Daniel Perales in exchange for LHP Jon Coutlangus.

Perales, 23, was selected by Arizona in the 22nd round of the June 2006 first-year player draft...last season at Class A South Bend he hit .282 and led the Diamondbacks organization with 92rbi while ranking among the Midwest League leaders in hits (156, 1st), extra base hits (58, 1st), doubles (32, 5th), runs scored (80, 3rd) and triples (10, 3rd)...he has been assigned to FSL Sarasota.

Coutlangus, 27, was designated for assignment as 1 of 11 roster moves on Opening Day.

Could someone please tell Kyle Petty to just go away?

The dude is an embarassment to the Petty name and by remaining in the spotlight of the camera from time to time it only reminds us all of what a disappointment he has been in the NASCAR circuit.  Then again it seems like a lot of drivers can't live up the the hype of their daddy.  Just ask Little E.

I saw Kyle going on about how he was splitting time driving with another racer and that he wasn't worried about losing his spot.

He should be worried that his sponsor's are falling faster than a one liner from Jimmy Dinsmore.

Drew Lavender was arrested and charged with public intoxication and possession of marijuana. But how can this be? Xavier players, as their fans will point out, aren't punks. They don't get into trouble like those thug UC players. They're smarter and better people than the criminals in Clifton. This must be some kind of mistaken identity. Perhaps it was really Chris Henry. But wait, this is Lavender's second run in with the police. He previously had the police called on him when he was biligerant in a downtown club and refused to leave peacefully. He was heard yelling F*** this white club. That can't be possible either. As everyone knows Xavier players are law abiding and not street punks. That's not how they act in Evanston, that's how they act in Clifton. These type of players just aren't recruited or sought out by Xavier, those are the types of players who take the court for the Bearcats.

Oh wait, that's not true. So, how bout this X fans. I'll never bring this up again (or go into details on the numerous other legal run ins with X players) if you all drop all the crap about the horse punching, etc. from Donald Little et. al. from a previous time. I personally did laugh aloud when I heard this and have given my X friends a hard time through email because they'd be the first ones to do the same should it have been a UC player who got arrested. I'll uphold my promise to let this go, but I'm sure X fans won't return the favor as they love to talk about the criminals at UC.

While the stats from the first week of the season often mean little by the end of September, they do count and should be acknowledged. Here is a look at some of the best performances from the first few games of the 2008 season:

The battle for the CY Young award in the NL could be very fierce this year. Johan Santana got off to a nice start with his new team going 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 11 strikeouts in two starts, but that is not that impressive compared to a few other guys. Former Cy Young winner Brandon Webb won both of his starts, posting a 2.08 ERA with 11 strikeouts. Jake Peavy was even better with two wins, a 0.56 ERA and 12 whiffs. However, no one was better than the Brewers Ben Sheets. He did not get a decision on opening day thanks to a meltdown in the bullpen but he did not allow a run in that start and struck out seven batters. He followed that up with a complete game shut-out on Sunday, striking out eight San Francisco hitters. He is one of only two starters to have not allowed a run in two games (Felix Hernandez is the other) and his 15 strikeouts is tied for the lead in the majors.

It was just a few years ago when Joe Mauer led the AL in batting average, something of a rarity for a catcher, but don't tell that to A.J. Pierzynski. The White Sox veteran leads everyone in hitting through the first week with an even .500 batting average. He also has 2 HR, 7 RBI and 4 doubles in the early season and to top it off, after a sweep of the Tigers, his Chicago team is tied for first place in the AL Central with the Royals at 4-2. (Yeah, it's early!)

In the world of fantasy baseball, Chase Utley was clearly the top pick for a second baseman in recent drafts. He did not let his owners down in the first week. The Phillies second baseman is batting .429 with 6 RBI and is one of six players with three home runs so far. More amazingly, Utley has yet to strike out through six games this year.

Of the six players that have three home runs this year, the most surprising may be Xavier Nady of the Pirates. Nady had a career high 20 HRs last season along with 72 RBI. If the first week is any indication, he should easily top those numbers in 2008. His nine RBI is the most by any player so far and he has a .385 batting average. While he won't keep up that torrid pace, his Pirates may actually creep out of the cellar this year. They are just 3-3 but are getting some good hitting and have a pretty good starting rotation. I'm not saying the Bucs will be in the post-season or even finish above .500, but there won't be too many easy wins in Pittsburgh. Regardless of what happens in the Steel City, at least Xavier Nady can put the GSI Player of the Week award on his mantle!