Baseballs bounce in surprising ways. None more surprising

than during the first couple of games."Now we know everything about 2019. Taylor Ward is going to drive in 1 million runs......Matt Thaiss is going to drive in 900 Michael Lorenzen Jersey ,000.....Albert Pujols is going to bat a 1000.......And Mike Trout is going hitless all season........Dillon Peters is going to win the Cy Young Award......and Noe Ramirez is going to be flipping burgers by June......The Angels will score 1648 runs in the regular season......And the regular season is all there will be, because the Halos will only win 50 games.We know all this. We know it because it’s Spring Training. And in Spring Training everything is true.Opening Spring Weekend is over. Everything from here on out is merely motion.That’s why you need to keep coming back to the interesting stuff, in Preseason-HaloLinks:A Little Bit Of Angels NewsMike Trout and Albert Pujols rolled out in uniform already...........Following in the footsteps of Jo Adell...........It’s Spring. We got bumps and bruises. Justin Bour and Michael Hermosillo..............And we got guys working through their bumps and bruises. Shohei Ohtaniis hitting off a tee.....And Ohtani is set to start soft tossing soon enough...........(You can see his TJ scar here.)..........Matt Harvey is throwing off a mound already. (And in that last link is a time frame for Nick Tropeano: 5 to 7 weeks from now.)...........Ty Buttrey has the goal of proving he is the real deal..............Kaleb Cowart hath returned. Claimed off the waiver wire from a Detroit team that was hoping to sneak him through so that they could develop his two-way skills (that’s all the rage now) in the low minors, Cowart can return to regaining his pitching form as a Halo. Here is a picture of Cowart pitching. I’m looking all over the place, and struggling to find a picture of Cowart hitting.............Lead this broken staff to the promised land, Luc Roy.............Taylor Ward using his ST moment to hit the ball.....Taylor Ward using his ST moment to show off his infield cannon. Well, maybe elephant gun, but still.............Anyway, this is your chance to take a step forward make us eat those doubts we had back on draft day...............Roberto Baldoquin does good.............Jose Briceno: the white knight.............Here we are, still debating the exit of Torii Hunter, and Torii Hunter, Jr. is already taking hacks as a pro in an LAA uniform.............Everywhere In BaseballClayton Kershaw is in trouble.....But no matter, trouble or not the Dodgers are going to run him out there for Opening Day.........Max Scherzer hates the pitch clocks. As in http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey , really really hates it. Hates the very idea that anybody would have the audacity to rule over his role as a baseball player...............But get over it, Max. The pitch clock is coming and there is nothing the MLBPA can do about it. And you might get a lowered mound, too............Aaron Hicks, you crack me up. “I want to win a World Series. I’m tired of losing. We’ve come so close, but I’m tired of saying we came close.” The Yankees have not even been IN the World Series since 2010. They have made it as far as the ALCS 3 times since then, winning only 5 of the 17 games they played there. And as for you, Aaron, you have only played in 6 seasons, and in only 2 seasons of those you appeared in more than 100 games............Addison Russell comes back to...the silent treatment..............Brian Cashman is not going to be very popular among long-time MFY fans. “You can’t have them all” is not something you say to millions of spoiled children who have spent decades under the impression that they are entitled to have them all.............If Rob Manfred is publicly trying to gain credit on behalf of MLB, by noting how “The Braves have taken steps to take out the tomahawk chop”, it’s more than fair for Deadspin to call out the Braves (and MLB) for selling merchandise that has no other purpose than to celebrate the chop, by teaching it to the observer.............Thank you Jerry................Hot StoveColor me surprised. The older a professional athlete becomes, the harder it is for that athlete to land a mega contract for future expectations...........Jon Heyman struggling to project why it is that Bryce Harper is worth $360M. “Cachet”. We can take from this that his boss Scott Feldman Jersey , Scott Boras, is now down to crunch time...........This is silly, of course. If Manny Machado set any kind of market for Harper, it’s that Harper shouldn’t be making even $300M.............But, groovy. We got mystery teams for Harper now. That’s Boras looking to work that last $20M from a panicky FO staff..............The Padres are probably not among them, since pitching is they need most and Dallas Keuchel is still out there to be had for those mega bucks...........J.D. Martinez must be talking about Bryce Harper when he complains that slow FA signings are becoming embarrassing. He is actually trying to call out the hordes of teams “not trying to win”, but there are 30 MLB teams and maybe only 5 of them are delighted to lose. The other 25 just don’t play by the old methods.............Craig Kimbrel does not have a contract. And it doesn’t look like anybody wants to pay his asking price. So if Kimbrel doesn’t want to lower his price, and franchises don’t want to pay that, one might be concerned that Kimbrel is not going to be playing this season. Kimbrel is convinced that this is not how the universe works............Hanley Ramirez signed by the Indians to a 1-year MiLB deal. This one actually surprises me. I would have categorized Hanley as a retiree. He just turned 35, and has had only one decent season since 2014. And that one good season had reasons.............The Duffle BagMy takeaway here is that the majority of baseball fans who watch Fox Sports come from the Boston area. That, or they did the survey during the Super Bowl...........Ladies and gentlemen, fans of all ages, the following game delay is brought to you by Mother Nature..............Watch a batter do something that has only been done once before: hit for the home run cycle. And she did it across only 4 innings...........(h/t reddit) Japanese players getting real pissed off. 18 minutes worth. A lot of them are surprisingly restrained http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-cliff-pennington-jersey , actually...........Oh great. Just when Jarrod Saltalamacchia retires, we get “Asher Wojciechowski”.............When you run out of ideas as to what to put on a guy’s baseball card.............. Shepard filled in as the play-by-play man late in 2018."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Detroit Tigers AnalysisDetroit Tigers Prospect NotebookDetroit Tigers Game ThreadsDetroit Tigers NewsDetroit Tigers PodcastsDetroit Tigers NewsMatt Shepard will be Fox Sports Detroit’s Tigers play-by-play broadcaster in 2019New,37commentsShepard filled in as the play-by-play man late in 2018.ESTShareTweetShareShareMatt Shepard will be Fox Sports Detroit’s Tigers play-by-play broadcaster in 2019Stan Szeto-USA TODAY SportsMatt Shepard will be Fox Sports Detroit’s primary Tigers play-by-play broadcaster in 2019. The story was first reported by Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press and confirmed by the network on Tuesday. The long-awaited announcement ended an offseason of rumors and speculation as to who would replace Mario Impemba in the broadcast booth.Shepard served as the network’s primary play-by-play man late in 2018 after Impemba and Rod Allen were suspended following an altercation in early September. Fox Sports Detroit announced shortly after the season that neither Impemba nor Allen would return in 2019. While the network cast a wide net in their search for their next play-by-play broadcaster — Fenech reported that over 100 people applied for the job — Shepard’s experience with the team and the network won out.Butch Dill-USA TODAY SportsWelcome to Bless You Boys!Feel free to write up a FanPost (here is a good guide to get you started).Follow us on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.Check out our most recent article: Wilkel Hernandez might be a trade steal for the TigersThis experience is why Shepard was considered one of the early favorites to land the job. He has been broadcasting in the Detroit area since the early 90s, and has appeared on Tigers, Pistons, and Red Wings broadcasts for several years in a number of different roles. Shepard has also served as the radio play-by-play broadcaster of Michigan basketball and Eastern Michigan football. Joining Shepard in the booth will be former Tigers Kirk Gibson and Jack Morris. The two will split duties as analysts, with Fenech speculating that Gibson’s workload will remain consistent with what he has done in previous seasons. Morris also serves as a color broadcaster for Fox Sports North (Minnesota), so his role and split between the two regional sports networks (RSNs) remains unclear.Former Tiger Dan Petry will also have a larger role on Fox Sports Detroit gameday broadcasts, though he will only serve as a studio host for now. He has previously filled in on radio broadcasts alongside current play-by-play man Dan Dickerson. Petry will join Craig Monroe on Tigers Live before and after games.