As baseball season approaches you can almost envision a day at the ballpark. Can’t you see it? The bright blue sky, the deep green grass cut to perfection and the boys of summer warming up out on the field. But with this year’s off-season shenanigans, I am reminded that the same bright blue sky has a fiery hot sun in it and my seats are nowhere near the shade, the smell of that same perfectly cut deep green grass makes my allergies go haywire and these boys of summer aren’t so perfect after all.

Seeing footage of the Yankee & “UV” Rays brawl over and over again gave me the opportunity to realize WOW Tampa’s new jerseys sure aren’t anything to get excited about! Now, I am no fashionista…I just play one on this blog! Tampa, if you were going to have a slightly ugly jersey-why the heck not go all the way? This blog is a tribute to those who came before you and did it right! I’m talking about some of the ugliest jerseys in sports!

The Detroit Tigers got a break they didn’t want. Curtis Granderson will start this MLB season on the disabled list. The Tigers had to place the center fielder on the 15 day DL after he suffered a broken finger on his right hand. It’s not going to be easy to replace Curtis. Detroit couldn’t ask for a Grand-er son! I know, I know, I couldn’t resist! But seriously, numbers say it all. 30-20-20-20 to be exact.

Baseball has a long and storied tradition that has stood the test of time. So it is only natural some baseball jargon has accumulated over all these years! Here are some sayings you might hear in a baseball broadcast this season…and now you will know what the heck they mean! Even if you know these terms, I put some nuggets of information in there for you. What can I say? I’m a giver!

“Bullpen”—This is the area where the pitchers warm up before entering the game. There is still a debate when and how this term came about. But my favorite explanation of the “bullpen” is the New York Giants theory. In 1880 around the time when the Giants first played at the Polo Grounds, the relief pitchers warmed up beyond the left-field fence. Out in that same area was a stockyard or a pen that housed bulls in it.

Lina’s Blog Bloopers…quick observations about the season thus far!  This week we’re catching numbers 1 through 5.  It’s easier than catching a Mark Buehrle pitch, right A.J. Pierzynski?  Oh yeah…sorry, Jeff Kellogg.

#1) Well, 1.7 to be exact.  This was the average number of runs per game the $138 million Detroit Tigers scored in their opening series with the $58 million Kansas City Royals.  The 1.7 runs per game average would put the Tigers scoring 275 runs this season, falling well short of the 1,000 run total my Tiger devoted friend predicted.  Hope it gets better for you buddy.