I’m no baseball historian due to the fact I’ve only been following the game for ten years shy of a half century. If my memory serves me well, there has never been a double sweep, dual elimination in the National League Divisional Series (NLDS). The disturbing events of this last week have broken the hearts and the spirits of the fiercely loyal and emotionally supportive fans of the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs. A river of tears and a mountain of lost hope are the requiem for the vanquished diamond heroes and outfield sluggers who captured the pollyannaism of the fans’ yearning for a shot at a World Series championship.

In the 1970’s, women burned their bras in a show of solidarity for the feminist movement. In 2007, Phillies and Cubs fans are burning their jerseys and rally caps in utter disgust brought on by the flirtation with greatness, the aspiration of a championship lost, the realization that the dream is over. In Chicago and Philadelphia, the facetious and irreverent statement “Better luck next year” falls upon deaf ears.

Our first pick for the BaseballTalkPro All Stars Blog is Chicago Cubs firstbaseman Derrek Lee. Derrek is smoking hot with a current batting average of .414 for this season, a .424 average for the last 30 days and a whopping .526 average for the first week of the month of May. Although not known to be a power hitter who drives in home runs, Derrek has already racked up an impressive 21 RBI’s and has an on base percentage of .496 which is only suprassed by the San Francisco Giant’s slugger Barry Bonds and Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies.

Derrek Lee has been a consistent performer since he was a 1st round draft pick in 1994 by the San Diego Padres. He was a part of the underdog 2003 World series Champion Florida Marlins, is a two-time Rawlings Gold Glove recipient, and is a career .994 fielder at first base. Derrek was honored with the Louisville Slugger Silver Bat Award (presented annually to each league’s batting champion) and a Silver Slugger Award in 2005 however a fractured wrist on April 19 2006 forced him to miss much of the season and Derrek finished with a personal low 50 games because of being on the disabled list for two months.

Now in his 14th year of MLB service, Derrek Lee is once again proving his capabilities and is well on his way to becoming a future Hall of Famer.