Mark Buehrle Is Perfect, Not Good Enough To Get Yahoo!'s Top Performer

C'mon Yahoo! Sports, gimme a break. Guy retires every batter and doesn't get top dog? I guess Josh Vitters Fields was due to get some sort of kudos for actually performing at the plate.

Mark Buehrle's Perfect Game [Yahoo! Sports Game Channel]

Mark Buehrle

PERFECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark Buehrle Is Perfect (No Homo)

27 up. 27 down. 1 "no homo" reference.

It's a good day to be a South Sider. More insight to come later.

Brewers need an ace in the hole

Without another starting pitcher, the rotation for the Milwaukee Brewers isn't good enough to win anything.

This is a team that NEEDS a Roy Halladay-type ace as current staff leader Yovanni Gallardo appears to be running on fumes.

And we won't even discuss how bad Jeff Suppan/Seth McClung and a host of other flunkies are.

The Brewers certainly are a team with a potent offense, even with guys like Corey Hart and J.J. Hardy having relatively down years.

They also have a loaded farm system in terms of position players.

With Brett Lawrie as the catcher of the future, Alicedes Escobar and Mat Gamel, the Crew has some of the top positional prospects in the game. And in the case of Escobar and Gamel, they don't have immediate places to play.

So what do you do if you're the general manager?

If I were I'd figure out by this weekend if I'm even a contender or not. While the St. Loyus Cardinals lead is only a game or two away, there are two other competitors in the division with the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros within striking distance of one and other.

If they are indeed going for it, the current team will not get the job done.

I would package either Escobar or Gamel but not both and call up one or the other to fill-in for a major league ready player that would already be part of a deal.

But if they really want to go all-in I'd package Gamel and Escobar along with Lawrie for Halladay and third baseman Scott Rolen. Rolen is among the league leaders in batting average and still plays will above average defense in the final year of his contract.

I would then package a couple of other minor leaguers for Zach Duke, a starting pitcher for the Pittsburg Pirates.

The Bucs always sell low on their players so buy now!

That gives you a formidable team with Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Scott Rolen, Corey Hart, Mike Cameron and J.J. Hardy pacing an offense that could be considered one of the league's elite.

Now add Doc Halladay to the staff and you have a decent 1-2-3 tandem of Halladay, Gallardo and Duke.

Sounds like a title contender to me.

If the Philladelphia Phillies weren't playing, they'd probably win the National League.

Jim Parque Comes Clean; He Was Dirty

When people think of the Steroid Era in baseball, they will likely think of bulky power hitters launching mammoth home run bombs even NASA struggled to track down. They will look at guys like Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramirez, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and other (allegedly) juiced-up and souped-up sluggers and consider them to be the Mount Rushmore of PED pushers.

But other than Roger Clemens' (alleged) use of performance enhancing substances, pitchers are commonly overlooked when it comes to this era of infidelity. That is, until former White Sox pitcher Jim Parque confessed to his use of performance enhancing drugs in an exclusive first-person story in the Chicago Sun-Times.

In the piece, Parque said he first admitted to substance abuse in 2006 while talking to approximately 100 youngsters about its perils and the pressure that comes with it. I don't want to take awaay from the read, but I will leave you with this excerpt:

"HGH was not banned by Major League Baseball when I ordered it. It was controversial and unethical, but it was not banned."

There, my friends, fans, and fellow readers, is the big asterik when it comes to this era. HGH was frowned upon, but not punishable. Kind of like having several girlfriends, except Joey Greco isn't stalking you in an unmarked white van with black-clad, video-camera wielding nerds searching for answers.

Parque proves that it wasn't just the Incredible Hulk-like hitters beneffiting from this. When mediocre pitchers like Parque confess their wrong doing, one of those "what came first, chicken or the egg" scenarios pops into my head.

Was it pitchers juicing in an attempt to catch up to big, beefy batters or was it the hitters trying to get an edge over hopped-up hurlers? And while the world will never know, the only thing for certain is that the black cloud that looms over Bud Selig and the rest of baseball's collective heads is not going away any time soon.

If ever.

Ex-Sox Pitcher Jim Parque Confesses: Why I Juiced [Chicago Sun-Times]

TBDS Late Night: Hawks' Hossa Injured,Offseason Roller Coaster Continues

Well, I make my debut to the late night edition. I think I can handle it, but I do not know if Chicago Blackhawks' fans can handle any more ups and downs in their team's roller coaster of a summer. Chicago did reach the conference finals this past year, right? It is hard to remember that with all the commotion the franchise has caused the last month.

The next episode in this soap opera?...finding out today that prized free-agent acquisition Marian Hossa may miss the start of the season. The Blackhawks also report that surgery has not been ruled out to repair a shoulder injury. They apparently knew this when they signed him, and when you have this guy signed for 12 seasons, it should not be a big deal on the ice. Yet, off the ice, it is a different story.

Who was mainly responsible for signing Hossa? It could have been a mix of people, from former GM Dale Tallon to new GM Stan Bowman to president John McDonough. Each person has had issues thrown at them based around the demotion of Tallon. All these people knowing that Hossa suffered an injury during the postseason does not look good on their record, especially with all the other problems this offseason.

Again, there are more Blackhawks fans now than there were in the 60's maybe. This also means there are more out there to be upset with what the team does. The fact that Hossa can be injury-prone is not what fans want to hear. Doesn't that remind you of the last main right wing for the Hawks? Martin Havlat had trouble staying on the ice as well.

Also, more fans may be upset that Hossa came from the Red Wings. At first, they were happy because we stole someone from the arch-rival, but an injured Hossa coming from Detroit is not what Chicagoans had in mind.

Well, he probably will not be hurt for 12 seasons, so I am sure Hossa will do enough on the ice to be liked. For now, though, there are more problems in this wild offseason. I bet more blogs will be coming about the Blackhawks because they sure are giving people a lot to talk about.

LeBron (More Like LeFraud!) James Exposed

Alright, well, TMZ has got the infamous LeBron James getting dunked on video and you don't even have to wait 'til their show comes on TV. It's already online for you.

Allow me to set the scene for you.

• Xavier's Jordan Crawford drives the lane.
• LeBron is too slow (lazy?) in shifting his feet.
• Crawford dunks on James.

Sounds almost as exciting as watching paint dry. The most over-hyped throwing down of the hammer in basketball injury. Even Jamaal Tatum thinks that dunk is weak!

Let's hear it for LeFraud James, everyone.