Hot corner could become a hot topic for Sox

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

June 18-19. That's the last time Mike Lowell has played on back-to-back days for the Red Sox.

It seemed only a matter of time until Lowell had problems with his surgically repaired hip. Now the fears are becoming realized. Having had his hip drained earlier today, Lowell is admitting that his hip is a problem and it doesn't just need rest. The question is this: Will this be the beginning of the end of this problem or are we be worrying about whether or not Lowell will be a the lineup every night for the rest of the year?

An if it's only the beginning of Lowell's hip issues this season, at what point do the Red Sox decide that they can't survive a postseason with Mark Kotsay the primary option at first base as Kevin Youkilis will surely move to third.

Any talk of moving a player, specifically Brad Penny, has just been spitballing to this point, but it could become a very real discussion if Lowell fails to prove he can play on a regular basis without his performance being totally hindered.

Penny is making himself an appetizing option to a lot of teams. Take a look at his June stats. 3.18 ERA, 1.34 ERA, 21 K in 28 IP. More than respectable. Toss out the blowup he had against the Rangers and you're looking at a 1.99 ERA.

The time is fast approaching when the Red Sox are going to have to take a long look at Lowell and decide if he's going to help the team. If not, they need to decide if Penny helps the team best as a Red Sox or a member of another squad. Stay tuned.

Fantasy Baseball: Chin Music

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Closers rarely get respect in fantasy circles, but getting those last three outs in a game can be a very tough job.

Once day you're a hero and the next you're a goat.

That's the life of a closer in a nutshell.

But in fantasy, the save category is sometimes volatile due to closers falling on their face and getting put in a setup role. And then you have to hope you land the replacement closer via a waiver wire. If you can't, then you just might be sitting and watching as people continue to climb in that category while you're left wondering what to do.

LEAGUE OF HIS OWN

Can you believe what Angels' lefty closer Brian Fuentes is doing? Yes, he's leading all of baseball with 21 saves. Angels fan are say K-Rod who?

Fuentes may lead in saves, but his ERA (3.91) and WHIP (1.34) aren't exactly great. But those saves sure are saving teams in that category.

San Francisco closer Brian Wilson isn't a household name and was perhaps a mid-level closer during the draft, but he's right behind Fuentes with 20 saves, along with Mr. Nasty Francisco Rodriguez and San Diego's Heath Bell. 

Bell has been a nice surprise all season long with 1.44 ERA and 0.99 WHIP --that's top-of-the-line stats.

ONE-WAY STREET

How about a big hand for Huston Street (18 saves, 3.00 ERA, 1.09 WHIP) in Colorado. Mind you, Street was terrible las year with 18 saves and a 3.73 ERA, a far cry from his 37-save effort in 2006 with the A's, but he's doing a solid job again this year.

WHO IS THIS GUY?

Seattle's David Aardsma, do you know who he is yet? If not, you've been sleeping under a large boulder. He's got a grasp on that closers job with the Mariners, that's for sure. Fifteen saves and a 1.53 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, and he's still only owned in 76 percent of standard 5 x 5 Yahoo! leagues. Get him if you can. People still aren't respecting his talents.

College Baseball Final Top 25 Poll

By Jorge Bannister
Fan Fanatic Sports

It’s been a week since the final out was registered at Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium.

And now, here’s my final Top 25:

Rank	School	Record
1	LSU	56-17
2	Texas	50-16-1
3	Arizona State	51-14
4	Arkansas	41-25
5	North Carolina	48-18
6	Virginia	49-15-1
7	Fullerton	47-16
8	Southern Miss.	40-26
9	UC-Irvine	45-15
10	Florida State	45-18
11	Florida	42-22
12	Rice	43-18
13	Mississippi	44-20
14	Clemson	44-22
15	East Carolina	46-20
16	Louisville	47-18
17	Georgia Tech	38-19-1
18	TCU	40-18
19	Oklahoma	43-20
20	South Carolina	40-23
21	Kansas State	43-18-1
22	Miami (Fla.)	38-22
23	Oregon State	37-19
24	Western Kentucky	42-20
25	Ohio State	42-19

U.S. soccer is all grown up

By Jorge Bannister
Fan Fanatic Sports

It was no secret to our readers that I thought the United States was fit for a bronze medal in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. Boy, was I wrong.

For 55 minutes, the U.S. played with such aggression and desire that I thought it was going to be Upset Special No. 2 in this tournament.

(For those of you who haven’t watched any of this tournament, or have been under a rock when it comes to American sports in recent news, the U.S. defeated Spain, 2-0, to gain the Final. Brazil advanced by defeating South Africa, 1-0, on a late goal.)

Sadly, in the 84th minute, Dempsey — who scored the first goal in the 10th — lost sight of Lucio and the defender headed home the winner off an Elano corner. U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard, who was named best goalkeeper of the tournament, had no chance.

U.S. players heading to the medal stand to accept their silver medals were downtrodden. Dempsey was the more emotional one, crying heavily on the pitch (that’s what they call the field in soccer) before slowly walking to the medal stand with his head hung low.

While this is great news for U.S. soccer fans, the players would’ve liked a win. Landon Donovan, who hasn’t beaten Brazil at any level, eluded to it in his post-game interviews.

If anything else, I know that I now have respect manager Bob Bradley a little more — even if his team did play tentative and scared in the second half. He proved that this group belongs among the world’s elite. However, he needs a way to get them to play a full 90-minute match every time much like they did against Spain. It seemed as though he managed the second half from the private VIP boxes rather than field level.

I know one thing for certain — if the U.S. makes the 2010 World Cup, which is scheduled to be played in South Africa as the Confed Cup was, nobody will take them lightly. Not even if they play like hell in any of the CONCACAF Cup games.