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The NL MVP has no clear-cut winner, with most of the favorites either succumbing to injuries, being a part of a mediocre club or lack of standout statistics. Here is my top three for this week, which could change significantly in a week. 1) Andrew McCutchen Stats: 127 G, .321/.399/.507/.907 OPS,  17 HR, 73 RBI, 60 BB, 81 K, 26/35 SB After years of elevating his level of play despite suffering through a string of sub .500 seasons in Pittsburgh, McCutchen has finally taken the Pirates to the level of a legitimate championship team. He is their most versatile player by a wide margin and is an outstanding defensive center fielder. The only knock is that his offensive numbers are not as gaudy as some of the other contenders, but I give him the nod because he is the closest thing to a complete p...

With about six weeks remaining in the MLB season, most of the key awards are becoming extremely tight. This will add intrigue to a season that will feature little-or-no-drama in many of the division races unlike the past two seasons. Here is my take on the AL MVP. AL MVP: 1) Miguel CabreraStats: .360 AVG, .452 OBP, .689 SLG, 40 HR, 120 RBI, 89 R, 306 TB, 72 BB Cabrera looked at his 2012 numbers and scoffed at it. He took a phenomenal season and added creatine to it. He does it with hand-eye coordination that is equivalent to Albert Pujols which enables him to swing at pitches on his fists and deposit it into the left-field bleachers. I have been a huge Trout supporter because of his superior all-around skills but if you take Cabrera off the Tigers they are not nearly the team they are. He ...

Seven years since the apex and five years into the stadium the fans have yet to experience anything close to prosperity, aside from Johan Santana’s no-hitter on June 1, 2012 and Matt Harvey’s All-Star Game start on July 16 of this year. While not all teams are able to create a new identity immediately as the 2008 Rays did by changing their name, logo and uniform, it was realistic to expect a competitive team in the near future. Fans have even lowered their expectations considerably during this time. No longer is the playoffs the only satisfying result, now simply fielding an “exciting .500 team” is worth it to the Citi faithful. It appears, however, that good fortune is just around the corner.  With a rock-solid ace like Matt Harvey under control the team can build ...

In a move that is sure to bring mixed feelings to Yankee fans in the area, the Boston Red Sox have signed Bobby Lanigan to a minor-league deal. Of course, a great deal of pride comes along with having a graduate of Adelphi University given the opportunity to further advance his career after stalling in the Minnesota Twins organization. At the same time, however, Yankee fans would prefer not to root for their most-hated rivals in Boston. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old native of Staten Island appeared to be on the fast track to the big leagues in 2011 when he began Spring Training with the big league club. Unfortunately, he struggled and spent the season with Double-A New Britain while posting a record of 8-9 with a 4.45 ERA. The Twins organization has long been respected for their developmen...

Photo is credited to J. Conrad Williams Jr. Despite Mariano Rivera receiving a hero’s welcome upon entrance into the All-Star game, which was won by the American League 3-0, Joe Nathan received the save. Nathan, a graduate of Stony Brook, has been one of the more unheralded pitchers in Major League Baseball throughout his career which began in 1999 with San Francisco. Now 14 years later, Nathan is a six-time All Star closer that has compiled 328 saves with a solid 2.80 ERA in 688 appearances. Nathan struck out the first two batters he faced, Matt Carpenter and Andrew McCutchen, before yielding an opposite field double to Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks. With the tieing run on deck, he got the dangerous Bronx-native, Pedro Alvarez, to pop out to second base to end the gam...

There were zero Long Islanders drafted on the first day of the draft, which included the top two rounds. That was not a shock. The next day was different. Hofstra’s Bryan Verbitsky was selected in the third round by San Diego. In a bit of a surprise, Stephen Woods of Half Hollow Hills East was picked by Tampa Bay in the sixth round. Woods, 18, compiled a 5-1 record, fired back-to-back no-hitters, struck out 90, yielded only 12 hits, walked 23 and posted a miniscule 0.63 ERA. The chips began to fall after that.  James Lomangino of St. John’s went Oakland with the 431st overall pick. Lomangino, a graduate of Connetquot in 2009, attended Suffolk for one year prior to transferring to St. John’s where he became the closer in his sophomore season. Also selected by Oakland with ...

Hofstra right-handed pitcher Bryan Verbitsky was selected in the third round of the 2013 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres. “So grateful and blessed to be a part of the San Diego Padres organization!! Dream come True!” Verbitsky had a solid junior season as he compiled a 3-4 record with a 2.66 ERA in 44 innings, accumulating 51 strikeouts and limiting the opponents to 27 hits and 10 walks. He really put himself on the map last summer by making the All-Star team in the prestigious Cape Cod league. Those who follow high school baseball are familiar with him dating back to 2007 when he helped Island Trees to the playoffs as a freshman. That year was the first time I watched him pitch, as I matched up against him in a summer league game which ended in a 1-1 tie through 7 innings. V...

Farmingdale 1 @ Ithaca 4 Coming off a big win in the opening round of the New York State Regional, #3 Farmingdale State Rams went up against #1 seed Ithaca on Thursday afternoon. They would have to face the incredibly tough pitching staff of the Bombers. Ithaca’s four starting pitchers on the year compiled a perfect combined record, going 31-0 with an ERA of 2.83, and would be sending out John Prendergast out to face the Rams. Jorge Ruiz started off the top of the third with a double for Farmingdale and later scored on an error by the shortstop. Ithaca answered back with three more runs in the bottom on the third. Kitt Cameron struggled to last only 2.2 innings, but the bullpen held Ithaca to just one more run in the bottom of the seventh. John Prendergast though did not surrender an...

It is rather ironic that the two players that I interviewed early in the season both were named All-Americans in 2013. Call it what you want, I call it impeccable talent evaluations. Dillon McNamara became the 14th Adelphi baseball player in the program’s decorated history to be named All-American, and the first since Robert Nixon went 11-2 in 2011. David Zilnicki became the first player (Tom Heeman was selected in 2009 but had it stripped after an NCAA investigation) in the history of Farmingdale State. McNamara was nearly spotless this season as the closer for the Panthers. The 6’5″ Staten Island native tossed 32 innings, struck out 42 and allowed one measly. Even that run wouldn’t have scored if not for a blown call by the second base umpire in the final game of ...

Photo Credit: Farmingdale Athletics 2013 did not feature the firepower that 2012 did in terms of Long Island baseball prowess. To be fair, not many years ever do. There were so many impact players it was easy to confuse Long Island for a southern baseball powerhouse like Texas or California. This year there was a significant drop off, but that is not to take away from the players that are on this list. There were still players able to compile monster seasons which have already landed them national recogniton. Stony Brook, a perennial 40-win team at the Division-I level limped to the finish line and will be forced to win the America East conference as a No. 4 seed. NYIT and Hofstra finished under .500 and were not factors in the conference playoffs. At the Division-II level, the most succes...

The New York regional may be owned by Cortland, but Farmingdale is looking for revenge on last year’s loss in the finals. They defeated Neumann (29-14) 7-2, behind the strong pitching of Mike Dolce and Alex Weingarten. For the fourth consecutive year, the Farmingdale Rams have won the first game of the Regionals. They are hoping to advance to the Division-III College World Series for the second time in program history. The biggest threat came in the top of the first inning, when Neumann loaded up the bases thanks to two errors, but Mike Dolce came through as he has all year long and eluded any damage. The game flew by as both pitchers cruised through the lineups until the bottom of the fifth when David Zilnicki drove in Mike Scarlato with an infield single. He then came around to sco...

The Stony Brook Seawolves will conclude their 2013 regular season this weekend at Hartford with a postseason berth on the line. It is a unique feeling, however, considering the Seawolves will be fighting for their playoff lives. They sit 1.5 games ahead of Hartford, which means it would take a sweep to fall behind. They entered the year as the overwhelming favorites due to their recent run of success. The roster from the previous year’s College World Series run had been gutted, however, leaving Head Coach Matt Senk to rely on a number of inexperienced players. After a dreadful 0-9 start, they have recovered commendably, and went 22-21 the rest of the way to finish with a respectable record. There was a lot to maturation on the roster. Frankie Vanderka has emerged as a staff ace, hold...