Jason Giambi keeps hanging in there

Like the drips falling off icicles on the eaves, baseball news comes in slowly but steadily during the month of January. I just did a quick check of the latest deals on MLB.com and chuckled when I read that the Rockies have reached a minor league deal with Jason Giambi. If Giambi finds a way […]

Oakland Raiders cut Cable, and other musings on big-league coaching

Word is out tonight from the Bay Area that Al Davis has given the heave-ho to Coach Tom Cable, who guided the Raiders to an 8-8 record this season, their best in recent years. Evidently improving operations is not enough in Oakland, where it’s “just win, baby.” Or so it’s supposed to be. The Raiders […]

Blowing the NL West notwithstanding, Bud Black wins NL manager of the year

Here’s how the story should read: “Bud Black, who guided the San Diego Padres on a 10-game losing streak that cost them the Western Division title, was named National League manager of the year on Wednesday. He edged Dusty Baker, whose Cincinnati Reds took the Central Division but didn’t win a playoff game, by one […]

Barry Zito crashes and burns as the Giants’ collars get tighter

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=barry+zito&iid=9900232″ src=”http://view1.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9900232/san-francisco-giants/san-francisco-giants.jpg?size=500&imageId=9900232″ width=”234″ height=”277″ /] I wanted Barry Zito to excel to today. To put the horrid outings behind him. To justify his gargantuan salary. To redeem himself, to be the hero, to be the man as the San Francisco Giants clinched the American League West title and advanced to a glorious […]

The Yankees’ evil empire keeps expanding

[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=Lance+Berkman&iid=8924515″ src=”http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/8924515/mlb-brewers-astros-may/mlb-brewers-astros-may.jpg?size=500&imageId=8924515″ width=”234″ height=”351″ /] A few years back my younger son and I marveled at the awesome display of power Lance Berkman put on at the home run derby during the All-Star break. Now the longtime Houston Astros slugger is wearing pinstripes for the Evil Empire that is the New York […]

Matt Garza no-hits the Tigers

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=Matt+Garza&iid=9263262″ src=”http://view4.picapp.com/pictures.photo/image/9263262/tampa-bay-rays-matt-garza/tampa-bay-rays-matt-garza.jpg?size=500&imageId=9263262″ width=”500″ height=”365″ /] Matt Garza entered his named in the record books at Cooperstown as he threw a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers tonight. In the old days, I’d have been lucky to catch the game late at night on the radio if the right stations with the right wattage […]

Tres bien: Andre Dawson elected to the Hall of Fame

[picapp align=”center” wrap=”false” link=”term=Andre+Dawson&iid=7473497″ src=”1/2/4/6/ANDRE_DAWSON_2172.JPG?adImageId=8829023&imageId=7473497″ width=”500″ height=”330″ /] Andre Dawson was elected to the Hall of Fame today, a rich reward for the speedy outfielder. He’s pictured above with Expos teammate Vance Law. Dawson only experienced the playoffs in two of his 21 years in the big leagues, so he didn’t get as much network […]

Don’t bother Tiger Woods, officer. He’s sleeping.

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=Tiger+Woods&iid=7029112″ src=”9/9/1/c/2009_Australian_Masters_8b90.jpg?adImageId=7920619&imageId=7029112″ width=”234″ height=”150″ /]Before the Tiger Woods story erupted this Thanksgiving weekend, I’d been ruminating on the differences between elite athletes and us mere men and women. Highly paid pro athletes like Woods in golf or Alex Rodriguez in baseball or LeBron James in basketball exist on a plane at which most of us mortals […]

The Bay Bridge series: Athletics vs. Giants

I’m on vacation for a week, and I celebrated by watching the San Francisco Giants host the Oakland Athletics in their first interleague games of the season. I wish I had one of those A’s-Giants combo caps that were available during the 1989 Bay Bridge World Series, the one that was interrupted by the Loma […]