An Early Look at the Fantasy Football Rankings for the 2009 season

Tom Brady

Top 10o Rankings:

1. Adrian Peterson
2. Michael Turner
3. Steven Jackson
4. Maurice Jones-Drew
5. Chris Johnson
6. DeAngelo Williams
7. LaDainian Tomlinson
8. Matt Forte
9. Larry Fitzgerald
10. Frank Gore
11. Andre Johnson
12. Tom Brady
13. Drew Brees
14. Randy Moss
15. Clinton Portis
16. Calvin Johnson
17. Steve Smith
18. Marion Barber
19. Brian Westbrook
20. Steve Slaton
21. Greg Jennings
22. Peyton Manning
23. Reggie Wayne
24. Ronnie Brown
25. Anquan Boldin
26. Marques Colston
27. Aaron Rodgers
28. Terrell Owens
29. Marshawn Lynch
30. Roddy White
31. Thomas Jones
32. Kevin Smith
33. Dwayne Bowe
34. Kurt Warner
35. Ryan Grant
36. Wes Welker
37. Brandon Marshall
38. Pierre Thomas
39. Roy E. Williams
40. Phillip Rivers
41. T.J. Houshmanzadeh
42. Tony Romo
43. Braylon Edwards
44. Joseph Addai
45. Jonathan Stewart
46. Darren McFadden
47. Tony Gonzalez
48. Jason Witten
49. Willie Parker
50. Derrick Ward
51. Antonio Gates
52. Matt Ryan
53. Larry Johnson
54. Reggie Bush
55. LenDale White
56. Vincent Jackson
57. Antonio Bryant
58. Matt Schaub
59. Dallas Clark
60. Donovan McNabb
61. Chad Ochocinco
62. Lee Evans
63. Knowshon Moreno
64. Jamal Lewis
65. Le’ron McClain
66. Hines Ward
67. Matt Cassel
68. Bernard Berrian
69. Jay Cutler
70. Santonio Holmes
71. Willis McGahee
72. Ahmad Bradshaw
73. Santana Moss
74. Owen Daniels
75. Eddie Royal
76. Cedric Benson
77. Darren Sproles
78. Ben Roethlisberger
79. Carson Palmer
80. Kevin Walter
81. Chris Cooley
82. Jerricho Cotchery
83. Anthony Gonzalez
84. Chris Wells
85. Donald Driver
86. Steelers D/ST
87. Eli Manning
88. Earnest Graham
89. Fred Taylor
90. Torry Holt
91. Laveranues Coles
92. Lance Moore
93. Giants D/ST
94. Felix Jones
95. Donald Brown
96. Michael Crabtree
97. Greg Olsen
98. Steve Breaston
99. Derrick Mason
100. Julius Jones

Twins Beat The Cardinals

Justin Morneau

On Sunday, at Busch Stadium, it was Justin Morneau’s show as he homered in the top of the first inning to power the Twins to a 6-2 victory. Fransisco Liriano started for the Twins and pitched well to pick up his fourth victory of the season.

Morneau hit his seventeenth home run of the season off Joel Pineiro in the top of the first inning. Morneau went 1 for 4 in the game with three RBIs. Jason Kubel was the only other Twin to record an extra base hit with a double. Kubel went 3 for 4 in the game. Joe Mauer went 2 for 5 in the game with a run.

Fransisco Liriano pitched seven innings, and gave up the game’s only two runs. Liriano also struck out six, and walked two. Liriano lowered his ERA to 5.62 with today’s win. Jose Mijares, Matt Guerrier, and R.A. Dickey came in relief of Liriano. Joe Nathan recorded his nineteenth save with only pitching one-third of an inning. Nathan struck out the only batter he faced.

For the Cardinals, Joel Pineiro lost his ninth game of the season to push his record to 6-9. He gave up three runs, and struck out two, but walked none. Trevor Miller, Josh Kinney, and Blake Hawksworth came in relief of Pineiro.

Rick Ankiel, and Jason LaRue recorded the Cardinals only RBIs of the game. Ryan Ludwick, and Ankiel scored the Cardinals only runs of the game. Albert Pujols, Ludwick, and Ankiel all had the Cardinals only extra base hits of the game. Ankiel also stole his first base of the season. Pujols went 1 for 3 in the game with walk, and a double.

The Minnesota Twins go to Kauffman Stadium on Monday to face the Kansas City Royals. Nick Blackburn(6-3) takes the hill for the Twins, while Luke Hochevar(2-3) takes the hill for the Royals.

Twins Lose a Close Game to the Cardinals

Albert Pujols

The Twins lost a close game at Busch Stadium to the St. Louis Cardinals on  Saturday afternoon due to Pujols’ power surge against Kevin Slowey in the first and third inning. Kevin Slowey took the loss. Slowey is now 10-3 on the season.

Minnesota got on the board in the top of the 2nd inning when Brendan Harris singled to left, and brought in Mike Redmond, Matt Tolbert, and Denard Span. Michael Cuddyer accounted for the only Twins extra base hit for a double in the game.

Slowey pitched three innings while giving up five runs on six hits. He struck out four in the game. BobbyKeppel came in relief of Slowey and pitched very well. He struck out three while walking three. He gave up two hits. Keppel pitched four innings of no-hit ball. Sean Henn, and R.A. Dickey also came in relief of Slowey in the game.

For St. Louis, Todd Wellemeyer started for the Cardinals, but only pitched t wo and a third of an inning. He gave up all three runs on four hits. He also walked four, and struck out two. Josh Kinney got the win, while pitching one and a third of an inning. Ryan Franklin picked up his 18th save in the ninth to close out the game. Trevor Miller, Kyle McClellen, Dennys Reyes, and Jason Motte also came in relief of Wellemeyer.

Offensively, Albert Pujols provided the spark plug. Pujols hit two, two run homers, and collected 4 RBIs. Tyler Greene got an RBI in the third after he got plunked by Kevin Slowey. Chris Duncan scored on the play.

The Twins face the Cardinals at Busch Stadium again  on Sunday at 1:15 Central Time for a rubber match. Fransisco Liriano(3-8, 5.88 ERA) takes the mound against Joel Pineiro(6-8,.

Stories of Professional Baseball Athletes

There are many professional baseball players that have stories, and know life is more than just baseball.

Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton was approaching the end of the road in baseball until he found that drugs and tattoos weren’t everything. He would have dreams that would tempt him to use drugs. Now, though, he recites James 4:7, which says, Humble yourself before God. Resist the devil, and He will flee from you. He memorizes, and recites scripture now, and takes part in Bible studies. He also tells his story to people and to crowds. Josh Hamilton also has stayed clean from drugs and had a successful 2008 season with the Texas Rangers. This season he has been plagued by injuries.

Zack Greinke

This season, Zack Greinke has been an ace for the Kansas City Royals. He is currently 8-3 with an 1.96 ERA. In 2006, however, Greinke was away from baseball suffering from an anxiety disorder, and depression. Greinke had to take time off from baseball to get his life back together, and now, look where he is. When he came back, he has spent time in the minors, in the bullpen, and now, back in the starting rotation. At the end of the 2008 season, he got his game back to where he wanted it.  He finished with 13 wins, and finished the season with 14 scoreless innings. This season, he extended that streak to 38 scoreless innings. Zack Greinke is a true, up and coming star, but he has had his struggles, too.

Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols has always been a baseball player. He is one of great superstars in today’s game, but baseball is not the only thing that is important to Albert Pujols. Pujols is an active Christian, and is married, and has a daughter, who has down syndrome. He also has two other children. Pujols has created the Albert Pujols Family Foundation to the development of people with down syndrome. On their website, Pujols states, “We exist to honor God and strengthen families through our works, deeds, and our example.” Pujols has recognized that his gift to play baseball is from God, and because of that, he and his family’s lives have been blessed by God. Pujols has put God first in his life, and everything else second.

Hearing about Albert Pujols story encourages me, and shows me that

athletes are truly good role models.These athletes are truly role models, and are role models to look up to because they have the right mindset now, and know that there is more to life than just baseball.