John Rogers – The Moscow Times: Baseball becoming a global game is essential to the future of the sport. Countries like China, Russia, India, and others becoming more interested in the sport of baseball is a great thing for the sport. The amateur level is where the game will truly grow and that’s why Russia renewing interest in the amateur side of the sport is good news. I’m all for baseball growing, I’m all for baseball becoming a sport that is played in more and more countries. If you’re not in agreement then you really don’t care about baseball.
Brian O’Neill – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Pittsburgh Pirates have problems beyond winning at the moment. Still, when the dust settles they are a professional baseball team that needs to win ball games. Just don’t tell the Pirates owner Bob Nutting that. He’s spent years shedding as much money as possible and fielding teams that would manage to be perfectly mediocre year after year. Winning should be the name of the game, the Pirates are simply saying the silent stuff out loud and letting all their fans know that profit trumps winning.
Patrick Mooney – The Athletic ($): Anthony Rizzo is the very definition of a team leader. That doesn’t mean he always says or does the right thing, it means that he leads. That may seem like a simplification, but the truest sign of a leader is someone who is willing to take responsibility for their actions. Rizzo does that, he leads in the community, is someone that kids can look up to, and who fans of all ages can root for. A player like Rizzo is special for what he does off the field as much as what he does on the field. It will be a shame when he is no longer occupying first base on the North Side.
Lead photo courtesy of Unknown – A.B.Log
